DOLWAR FECHAN***


Transcribed from the 1900 Geo. H. Durham edition by David Price, email
ccx074@pglaf.org





                               _THE HYMNS_
                                    OF
                             _ANN GRIFFITHS_,
                                    OF
                             _DOLWAR FECHAN_,


                      Translated into English Verse
                                    by

                       GEORGE RICHARD GOULD PUGHE,

                     VICAR OF MELLOR, NEAR BLACKBURN.

                                * * * * *

                                BLACKBURN:
                PRINTED BY GEO. H. DURHAM, EXCHANGE WORKS.
                                  1900.

                                * * * * *

                   “DULCES MORIENS REMINISCITUR ARGOS.”

Forty years lived in Lancashire have not lessened my love for
Llanfihangel yng Nghwnfa, where my father, the Rev. Richard Pughe, of
Mathafarn descent, B.A., and a Magistrate for Co. Montgomery [ob. Jan.
30th, 1858, in his sixty-sixth year], was for twenty-nine years the
Rector,—where also my brother-in-law, the Rev. Edward Evans, B.A. [ob.
Nov. 3rd, 1899, aged eighty-six], was Rector thirty-nine years.

Dolwar Fechan, a little, lonely farm house in their old Parish, was the
birthplace and abode of one who composed such pathetic hymns as will last
while the British language endures: her obelisk in Llanfihangel
Churchyard bears an Epitaph recording its erection, in 1864,

                                  “IN MEMORY
                                      OF
                                ANN GRIFFITHS,
                              OF DOLWAR FECHAN,
                                  Born 1776,
                                 Died 1805.”

while a verse from the PROVERBS, xxxi, 30:—“Favour is deceitful and
beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth The Lord, she shall be praised,”
fitly prefaces her Biography by the late Mr. Morris Davies, of Bangor.

   Old Dolwar Fechan cannot now be found,—
   Its fabric has been levelled with the ground.
   Nevertheless, imperishable fame
   Perpetuates that humble homestead’s name;
   For there was born,—there dwelt, declined and died,
   Ripe for the reapers at God’s Harvest Tide,
   A mother,—but ten months before, a bride,—
   Ann Griffiths,—whose effusions will be sung
   So long as our old language lives among
   The wooded wilds, the waterfalls and vales
   Of “Home, Sweet Home!”  Incomparable Wales!

                             G. R. G. PUGHE,

                                                          MELLOR VICARAGE,
                                                                BLACKBURN.

_Christmas_, _1900_.

                      NID MEDDYG, OND MEDDYG ENAID.

   Only The Kind Physician of the Soul
   Can calm the mind, and make the sinner whole.




HYMN I.


    “_He who was manifested in the flesh_.”  1 TIM. III. 16.

                        “Dyma babell y cyfarfod,”

   THY Pavilion’s One Foundation,
      Fortress for the fugitive,
   In Thy Blood we see salvation,
      Jesu, through Thy Death we live.
   At Thy footstool humbly bending
      Only can we be forgiven,
   On Thy Righteousness depending
      Only have we hope of Heaven.

   Prior to this earth’s creation
      Man’s redemption was ordained,—
   By Thy predetermination
      Long lost Eden was regained.
   Undeserved regeneration,
      Blissful immortality,
   Pardon, peace, purification,—
      All are offered, Lord, by Thee.

   Victim of the foul deceiver,
      Faint at heart and travel stained,
   Recognise in Thy Redeemer
      More than Paradise regained.
   Faithfulness is what the golden
      Girdle of Thy God displays,
   This memento should embolden
      Every penitent who prays.

   O the fulness of Salvation!
      Merciful, mysterious plan!
   When the God of all creation
      Dignified the dust of man,
   To redeem us yearning, sighing,
      Pleading, bleeding on the tree,
   And in dying verifying
      Promise, type and prophecy.

   Lowly born to be The Brother
      Of the powerless and poor,
   To unite us to each other
      And invite us to be pure,
   With one touch The Famed Physician
      Healed the blotch of leprosy,
   For His voluntary mission
      Was to free humanity.

   Ark of Refuge, Rock Eternal,
      Balm beside the dying bed,
   Tree of Life for ever vernal,
      Fountain to revive the dead,
   One with us, our pardon pleading,
      One with God, He grants the plea,
   While His Spirit interceding
      Certifies His victory.




HY