GRIFFITHS, ANN (1776-1805), hymn-writer;
b. April 1776 at Dolwar Fach, Llanfihangel yng Ngwynfa, Mont., daughter of John and Jane Thomas. Her parents were church-goers. As a girl she was fond of a gay life but sobered down after hearing Benjamin Jones (1756-1823) (q.v.) of Pwllheli preach. She joined the Methodist society at Pont Robert in 1797 and came into contact with John Hughes (1775-1854) (q.v.), the teacher and preacher, with whom she corresponded extensively. In 1804 she m. Thomas Griffiths, a Meifod farmer, and d. in Aug. 1805 after the birth of her child; she was buried at Llanfihangel, 12 Aug. She used to recite her hymns to her maid, Ruth Evans, who treasured them in her memory; when Ruth m. John Hughes, the latter wrote them down in two note-books. It was he, doubtless, who gave them to Thomas Charles of Bala, but it is thought that Robert Jones (1745-1829) (q.v.) of Rhos-lan prepared them for publication. They were published in the 1805 ed. of Grawn-Syppiau Canaan and later (1806) in Casgliad o Hymnau gan mwyaf heb erioed eu hargraffu o'r blaen (Bala, R. Saunderson). Another impression under the same title was published in 1807 by J. Evans of Carmarthen's press; and yet another in 1808 under the title Hymnau o Fawl i Dduw a'r Oen (Bala, Saunderson). The contents of John Hughes's note-books were published by Sir Owen M. Edwards in Gwaith Ann Griffiths (‘Cyfres y Fil’), 1905; here at last the original version of the hymns is to be found. They are characterized by a wealth of scriptural allusion, by deep religious and mystical feeling, and by bold metaphors. They are written, for the most part, in an anacrustic 8-7 metre — a form which has given considerable trouble to composers of hymn-tunes.
Bibliography:
- Y Traethodydd, 1846, 420-33;
- Cymru (O.M.E.), Jan. 1906;
- Y Llenor, iii, 110-29, 172-87;
- Cylch. Cymd. Hanes M.C., vi, 2-7;
- Morris Davies, Cofiant Ann Griffiths;
- E. Griffiths, Ann Griffiths: ei Llythyrau a'i Hemynau;
- J. Thickens, Emynau, 14-18;
- N.L.W. MSS. 682, 694, 4756;
- C.M. Archives, N.L.W. 5863-4;
- Elfed, Ann Griffiths: ei Hanes a'i Hemynau.
Author:
Rev. Gomer Morgan Roberts, M.A., (1904-93), Pont-rhyd-y-fen / St Dogmael's / Llandybïe
