DAFYDD GORLECH (1410?-1490?), a writer of cywyddau brud (vaticinations);
‘Dafydd Gorlech Caermden’ according to Pen. MS. 49 (167b). Twenty-five cywyddau are attributed to him in the manuscripts, but eleven of these are attributed to other writers as well. Among the fourteen attributed to him alone there is a cywydd which begins ‘Am eryr braich môr a bryn’ and contains references to Sir Roger Vaughan (see under Vaughan of Tretower family). Sir Roger was caught by Jasper Tudor in 1471 and executed at Chepstow (see G.G.G., 342). The poet is old and asks for protection. Couplets in the cywydd beginning ‘Y brud hen wyd yn bratàGu’ suggest that Dafydd Gorlech survived Dafydd Llwyd ap Llywelyn ap Gruffydd (q.v.). His cywyddau contain references to prophecies attributed to Myrddin, Taliesin, and Y Bardd Glas.
Author:
Raymond Wallis Evans, M.A., (1910-2001), Swansea / Bangor
