1832-1887
John Ceiriog Hughes (25 September 1832 – 23 April 1887), was a Welsh poet and well-known collector of Welsh folk tunes. Sometimes referred to as the "Robert Burns of Wales". 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. 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 Wil