Thomas Pennant, Emanuel Mendes Da Costa, a ‘Nod Glas Mawddwy’

Jones, Ffion Mair (2022) Thomas Pennant, Emanuel Mendes Da Costa, a ‘Nod Glas Mawddwy’. Cylchgrawn Cymdeithas Hanes a Chofnodion Sir Feirionnydd, XIX (1). pp. 35-48.

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Abstract

Mewn rhifyn diweddar o’r Cylchgrawn, cafodd y darllenwyr gyfle i ddilyn hynt Thomas Pennant, y teithiwr a’r naturiaethwr, ar ei Daith drwy Feirionnydd.1 Un lleoliad y tynnwyd sylw ato oedd Dinas Mawddwy, man ag iddo arwyddocâd arbennig i Pennant oherwydd cysylltiadau teuluol. Yn yr ysgrif hon, ystyrir ymhellach berthynas Pennant â’r ardal hon gyda thri nod: yn gyntaf, cwestiynu cronoleg y Teithiau yng Nghymru a argraffwyd yn y 1770au a’r 1780au; yn ail, datgelu diddordeb y Pennant ifanc mewn maes ar astudiaethau gwyddonol nad yw’n gyson yn cael ei gydnabod fel rhan o’i ddatblygiad ffurfiannol – ei waith fel daearegwr; ac yn olaf, asesu grym yr iaith Gymraeg ym mhrofiad a datblygiad cynnar Pennant. This article takes another look at Thomas Pennant’s relationship with the Dinas Mawddwy area, a location of particular significance to him in his youth because of a connection through his mother’s family with the lordship of Mawddwy. The discussion aims to shed light on three questions, through the use of the available evidence – ranging from the published account which appeared as The Journey to Snowdon in 1781, to the manuscript account of a 1770 tour in north Wales, to an important correspondence of the 1750s. Firstly, it considers what Pennant’s accounts of visits to Dinas Mawddwy tell us about the chronology of the published Tour in Wales, and how they unsettle the confident authorial narrative of his progress through Merioneth as presented there. Secondly, it uncovers the youthful Pennant’s fascination with the world of geology and shows how he developed his cognizance in this field alongside one of the most prominent geologists of his day, the Jewish fossilist Emanuel Mendes da Costa (1717–91). Thirdly, drawing further on Pennant and da Costa’s correspondence, it considers the significance of the Welsh language to Pennant’s early experience, showing how he was awake to the use of Welsh in the remote, virtually monoglot area of Dinas Mawddwy, and used contact with local people alongside intellectual curiosity regarding seminal works of Welsh scholarship by Edward Lhuyd (1660–1709) and John Davies (c.1567–1644), Mallwyd, to advance and enrich his scientific studies.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain Q Science > QE Geology
Divisions:	Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies
Depositing User:	Lesley Cresswell
Date Deposited:	29 May 2025 08:32
Last Modified:	29 May 2025 08:33
URI:	https://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/id/eprint/3746

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