Llywelyn Siôn

Llywelyn Siôn (1540 – c. 1616) was a Welsh language poet and bard and the "greatest professional copyist of his time".^[1]

His instructors included Meurig Dafydd and Thomas Llewelyn. Around 1575, he is mentioned under the name Lewelyn John by Sir Edward Mansel in his History of the Norman Conquest of Glamorgan, as a learned and diligent collector of Welsh manuscripts. Following in Meurig Dafydd's footsteps, Siôn became (in 1580) president of the 'Gorsedd' or bardic congress of Glamorgan. He presided at the Glamorgan gorsedd at Tir Iarll in 1580, and was commissioned to collect and publish and traditional lore of the bardic order.

Thirteen of his handwritten manuscripts survive to date. They preserve works of Glamorgan-based poets, but also of other parts of Wales. His writing also provides the largest surviving collection of carols, but also cywyddau, awdlau and other poetry.^[2] His prose books are also of scholarly importance: His translation of the Gesta Romanorum is the only Welsh copy; His transcription of Gruffydd Robert's Drych Cristnogawl is the only complete copy; The Seven Wise Men of Rome (welsh: Chwedl Seith Doethon Rufain) differs significantly from other surviving versions.^[1][3]

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Llywelyn Siôn [Llywelyn of Llangewydd] (c.1540–c.1615), Welsh language poet and copyist, by Glanmor Williams.
• "Llywelyn of Llangewydd" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
• "Sion Llywelyn" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.