The Cenarth Collection

The Cenarth collection comprises almost a thousand items collected by David Henry Davies (1828-1910), vicar of Cenarth, and was acquired in 1904. It consists of Welsh religious literature, history and antiquities, Bibles, Prayer Books, hymns, ballads, sermons, catechisms, pamphlets and translations of religious classics. Perhaps the highlight of the collection is the four volumes of printed ballads in pamphlet form. They cover a variety of subjects, including criminal offences, especially murders; hangings; accidents, including coal mining disasters; shipwrecks; religion and various revivals; love; the arrival of the railways in Wales, and local events, such as the Rebecca Riots. The ballads relate mostly to Wales, and some were written by famous Welsh poets such as Tegid and Eben Fardd. Also among the treasures of the collection is a first edition of Casgliad o Hymnau by Ann Griffiths. The poems and letters of this farmer’s daughter from mid-Wales, who died in 1805 at the age of 29, are considered among the highlights of Welsh literature.

The Cenarth collection was assembled by David Henry Davies, who was vicar at the village of Cenarth from 1877. He was born in New Quay, Cardiganshire, in 1828, the son of Daniel Owen Davies, surgeon, and his wife Margaret. Davies was educated at New Quay and Cardigan, before entering St. David's College, Lampeter in 1862. He was ordained a curate in 1864, and was made a priest in 1867. From 1864 to 1865 he acted as curate in the parish of Llanboidy, Carmarthenshire, and then spent three years as a curate at Oystermouth, Glamorganshire. In 1868 he became vicar of Llannon, Carmarthenshire, leaving in 1877 to take up the post of vicar of Cenarth. Davies was known for his excellent library, which he probably inherited, and later added to. He also wrote a number of ballads, including 'I fechgyn yr Ysgol Rammadegol, Emlyn' (1909).