Ellis Wynne

He is remembered mainly for one of the most important and influential pieces of Welsh-language literature, Gweledigaetheu y Bardd Cwsc (Visions of the Sleeping Bard).

[1] Born in Lasynys Fawr (grid reference SH596327) near Harlech, Gwynedd, Wynne excelled at school and entered Jesus College, Oxford on 1 March 1692.

There is historical debate as to whether or not he graduated and little evidence to support either claim, but local tradition suggests he was studying law before he was convinced to take holy orders by a friend, Humphrey Humphreys, Bishop of Bangor and afterwards of Hereford.

Gweledigaetheu y Bardd Cwsc (Visions of the Sleeping Bard), first published in London in 1703, was an adaptation of Sir Roger L'Estrange's translation of the Spanish satirist Francisco de Quevedo's Sueños (1627; "Visions"), giving savage pictures of contemporary evils,[3] and is seen as a Welsh-language classic.

It is generally said that no better model exists of "pure", idiomatic Welsh, as yet uninfluenced by English style and method.