Translated by Mary Burdett-Jones
O God, to whom our prayers go, clement lord, my great Creator, would that everyone who lives in the world be like one man; who could be fairer? May he have a long life, the one to whom my heart gave love, an intense hawk who rose in honour; I’m fond of the place of Humphrey Llwyd of Rossendale, of the royal path of Henllan; let gold sound fair. Thus it is in my book of genealogy, everyone with his ancestry; who could be fairer? Like saying a bright sweet apple accords respect to a sweet tree, like gold compared with another apple is the lineage from one Llwyd to the next, formally of the privileged blood of a baron of Foxhall, with its dignified virtue. Suitably fair, to it is yoked the golden harness of many a good house.
What pure blood can gild him? He is, like Peg, a Piggott. Henry Hwcs is author in the roll. The lineage of Ieuan Llwyd of Gwynedd, a faultless lion and a lamb of God, if black can add dignity to his high degree, it is no wonder that, with the appearance of grace, Iarddur gives dignity.
The sister of Lord Lumley of no evil offence is she, of a gracious glowing countenance, lordly lineage, royal blood and great virtue. Her great-grandfather, Earl Neville, came of Westmoreland ancestors. She is through John of Gaunt of the lineage of Edward the Third. Long may you live, Barbara, for the host of the souls of men.
If he knows that something good comes to someone, goodness is seen in his face. There is so much nobility and virtue in his countenance. His body, endearing manner, and his goodness – an active man of princely blood.
Studying constantly – we should follow in his footsteps – the Astronomer of the course through the air of moon and winds, the sun and the stars and their journey, the hours of the degrees of the signs of the Zodiac. He can account for wherever they are with perfect knowledge, a continuing wheel, where the planets change course. Of the work of all the philosophers, I think it likely, he is knowledgeable in every aspect of Astronomy. Through much work he is proverbially a Ptolemy. A pillar of learning whom everyone believes, he has the reputation of Euclid. The Seven Arts would be poor if he were not in the world: Grammar, Logic, the fundamentals of Rhetoric, the bright sound of sweet Music, Arithmetic and counting, he embodies the lore of them all; was there ever in Geometry or in Astronomy the like?
Who has as great an authority? (A sincere question.) He is a pearl in Parliament. He made an Act for the Bible in our language in the House of Parliament: it was agreed at the instigation of the lion of Robert Llwyd.
He prospered and insisted it came into being; may his brave body have strength. And may he become yet more prosperous. Amen.
© copyright Mary Burdett-Jones 2025
‘In praise of Humphrey Llwyd: Poems by Gruffudd Hiraethog, Lewis ab Edward and Wiliam Cynwal, with translations by Mary Burdett-Jones’ in Philip Schwyzer (ed.) Inventor of Britain: The Work and Legacies of Humphrey Llwyd (University of Wales Press, 2025), pp. 215-28 (218-19) and online