Gwallter Mechain was closely associated with the London-Welsh circles, particularly the Gwyneddigion Society; with David Rowland (1782-1820) (q.v.), he became instrumental in the formation of provincial eisteddfodic societies. During his long life he saw several of his works published. Among them were: Rhyddid: Traethawd a ennillodd ariandlws y Gwyneddigion (London, 1791); Diwygiad neu Ddinystr, 1798, a translation of a work by T. Bowdler; Eglur Olygiad o'r Grefydd Gristionogol, 1801, a translation of a work by T. Gisborne; General View of the Agriculture and Domestic Economy of North Wales (London, 1813), and a similar work, in two volumes, on South Wales, 1815 [which owed much to Iolo Morganwg]; he also edited the works of the poets Huw Morys (q.v.), 1823, and Lewis Glyn Cothi (q.v.), 1837 — the latter in collaboration with John Jones (Tegid, 1792-1852, q.v.); and further published in 1827 an edition of the metrical translation of the Psalms into Welsh made by William Midleton (q.v.).

Though his poetry is neither here nor there, Walter Davies was a man of extraordinarily wide and varied interests; his studies ranged over medicine, astronomy, literature, genealogy, antiquities, etc. He was a great book-collector; and the National Library has more than 300 of his manuscripts. He rendered yeoman service to the eisteddfodau of his day and was in demand as an adjudicator at such gatherings. Politically he was a Whig of the Walpole school: this explains largely why, in his essay ‘Rhyddid,’ he failed to understand the significance of the French Revolution. He d. [5 Dec.] 1849.