Robert Williams (Robert ap Gwilym Ddu)

His father was a small freeholder, and he succeeded him in the occupation of Betws Fawr, moving, however, towards the end of his life to Mynachty in the same district.

A close friend and the bardic tutor of his neighbour David Owen (1784–1841) ("Dewi Wyn o Eifion"), he shared Owen's mistrust of the eisteddfod authorities of the day.

[1] "Robert ap Gwilym Ddu", as William was styled, became first known as the winner in 1792 of the Gwyneddigion Society's medal for the best ode on the Massacre of the Bards.

His poems, almost entirely religious or commemorative, were published at Dolgelly in 1841 under the title Gardd Eifion; and include some well-known stanzas.

His only child, a daughter Jane Elizabeth, died in 1834, at the age of seventeen, and Gardd Eifion contains an elegy upon her.