JAMES, JOHN (Ioan ap Iago ), poet and hymnwriter, who lived in the second half of the 18th cent. and the early part of the 19th;
there is considerable uncertainty about the dates of his birth and death. He lived in the Cil-y-cwm district of Llandovery and was a carpenter by trade. He never received formal schooling, but through his own efforts became a good scholar, his main interests being history, political economy, and poetry. He turned to religion at an early age, was a member of Soar Calvinistic Methodist chapel at Cil-y-cwm for forty-six years and an elder for twenty-five years. He was generally known as ‘Jacki Siams.’ He became a fairly well known poet in his day and wrote a number of hymns. In 1828, after his death, J. Jones of Llandovery published a small volume of his works, Ehediadau Barddonol.
Bibliography:
- Ehediadau Barddonol, 1828.
Author:
Rev. Daniel Evans, B.A., ( -1962), Llandybie / Llandovery
