John Ceiriog Hughes, was a Welsh poet and well-known collector of Welsh folk tunes.
Background
Ceiriog was born at Penybryn farm overlooking the village of Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog, in the Ceiriog Valley, which was then in Denbighshire but today is part of Wrexham County Borough, in north-east Wales. His mother Phoebe was a midwife and an expert on herbal medicine. He was one of eight children, and his mother spoiled him as her favourite son.
His first attempts at poetry were as a pupil at Nant y Glôg School after his father gave him a book on Welsh grammar, including a section on cynghanedd.
Career
Sometimes referred to as the "Robert Burns of Wales". At 18 he left the village to live in Manchester. He worked as a grocer there and opened his own shop in 1854.
He met William Williams (Creuddynfab), who was a station master in the Pennines, who befriended him and gave him a job on the railway.
He was a great influence on the young poet. Williams had been appointed as the first secretary of the National Eisteddfod Society.
Hughes decided to sell his shop and concentrate on writing poetry. This change led him to start to drink heavily.
He returned to Wales in 1865 after being appointed as station master at Llanidloes.
He was employed as a station master and Manager of the Van Railway at Caersws railway station from 1868 until his death in poverty in 1887 at age 54, having continued to drink heavily. His fascination with Welsh folk music led to an investigation of the history of the music, and particularly the harpists who would often accompany songs. This led to a grand project to publish four volumes of Welsh airs, of which only the first volume actually made it to press in 1863: Cant O Ganeuon ("A Hundred Songs").
Like many Welsh poets, he took a bardic name – "Ceiriog", from the Ceiriog Valley, where he was born.
In his home village, the public hall contains a memorial inscription to him.