In this episode we have fun discussing John Jones (1766-1821), a multi-faceted character who is better known today as Jac Glan-y-Gors. Originally from Cerrigydrudion, Denbighshire, Jac spent most of his life in London. He became the manager and perhaps the owner of several pubs in the city and he played a big part in two of London’s Welsh societies – the Gwyneddigion and the Cymreigyddion.
Jac Glan-y-Gors was a masterful satirical poet and he used his talent to attack various kinds of hypocrisy. His poem on ‘Dic Siôn Dafydd’ satirizes those Welsh people who turn their backs on the Welsh language and pretend that they’re English; the fact that the phrase Dic Siôn Dafydd is still used in Welsh today to describe such a Welshman testifies as to the success of Jac’s satire. Embracing the radical values of the age of revolution, Jac published Welsh-language pamphlets which contain the ideas of Tom Paine, Seren Tan Gwmwl and Toriad y Dydd, and it’s likely that he was persecuted by the authorities because of it.