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Copyright
Helen Forder
2004
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Costume
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GWENLLIAN LLWYD and DEWI CLWYD
David and Mary Roberts, of Min Nant,
Llangollen
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in the garden at Min
Nant
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David Roberts, otherwise
known as Dewi Clwyd, was a quarryman, born in Denbigh about 1842. To his
friends he was "Dai Nimble", due to his prowess as a clog dancer.
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While working in a quarry
near Llangollen, he met his future wife, Mary Ann Lloyd, the daughter of
David and Gwenllian Lloyd.
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Mary Ann was born in
Eglwyseg, near Llangollen, in about 1845. Her father, the quarry
supervisor, was from Conway, and her mother's family from Anglesey.
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About 1864, when Aberystwyth
railway station was being built, David Roberts (Dewi Clwyd) went to work
there, supplying stone for the building. Soon, as they had planned
beforehand, Mary Ann made the train journey to Aberystwyth, where they were
married.
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From Aberystwyth the young
couple moved to Arthog, in North West Wales, where David was involved in
supplying stone for the construction of Barmouth Bridge.
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Eventually, the Roberts
family moved back to Llangollen. Both David and Mary Ann were keen
eisteddfodwyr, and adopted the bardic names of Dewi Clwyd and Gwenllian
Llwyd. When the National Eisteddfod was held in Llangollen, in 1908, Dewi
Clwyd organised the Gorsedd stones, and at another eisteddfod, Gwenllian
Llwyd was the bearer of the Corn Hirlas (the Horn of Plenty).
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Collecting fossils became a
hobby for Dewi Clwyd, and he became well known as an amateur geologist. He
gave his collection of fossils to the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff,
shortly before he died in 1923.
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After Gwenllian Llwyd's death
in 1930, one of her daughters gave her Welsh national costume to the Museum
of Welsh Life, St. Fagans.
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Click HERE for details of Gwenllian's costume
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Photographs and Information courtesy of
Mr. C. Granville Morris
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