RHYS, SIN DAFYDD

born 1534, Llanfaethlu, Anglesey, Wales died c. 1609, , Clun Hir?, Brecknockshire also called John David Rhys, or John Davies Welsh physician and grammarian whose grammar, Cambrobrytannicae Cymraecaeve linguae institutiones et rudimenta (1592), was the foundation of all later Welsh grammatical studies. Rhys spent some time at Oxford then earned a degree in medicine from the University of Siena, Italy. He practiced as a physician at Cardiff, Wales, before devoting all his time to his grammar. He attempted to set down the rules of bardic poetry and the principle of the Welsh language but did so according to the Latin grammatical structure. His book includes a greeting in Welsh, a grammar of the Welsh language, a discussion of the poetic art, and a collection of Welsh poetry. It is valuable in that it contains items of knowledge that otherwise might have been lost.