The Physicians of Myddfai

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Any desired alteration to the Constitution, shall be proposed and seconded by members present at the Annual or Special General Meeting. Notice of such proposals should be circulated with the Agenda.

Lewis Jones, a hill farmer who went to the village school and remembers Myddfai as a busy hub, said he wanted it "put on the map again". He said: "It has been known for centuries for its physicians. We want life here again."

Medieval Welsh Medical Texts: Volume One: The Recipes [Internet].

The "second" manuscript printed in the 1861 book consists of materials found in a manuscript formerly known as MS Llanover C.24 and now held by the National Library of Wales. It was brought to light by, and is partly in the hand of, the antiquarian, bard and literary forger Iolo Morganwg (Edward Williams). The text purports to be a collection of herbal medicinal prescriptions and herb names compiled by Hywel Feddyg ab Rhys ab Llywelyn ab Philip Feddyg, a descendant of Rhiwallon through his son Einion. It is supposed to have been copied by Williams in 1801 from a manuscript owned by Thomas Bona, physician, of Llanfihangel Iorwerth, Carmarthenshire, itself supposed to be a copy taken by Bona's brother William in the 1740s from a manuscript belonging to John Jones of Myddfai, the last of the family of physicians. [8] Williams' manuscript is followed by a smaller collection of medicinal prescriptions in different handwriting, said to have been compiled by Harri Jones of Pontypool. [8] This book is the story of a parish; that of Myddfai which is situated in what was formerly ( and is now again) the county of Carmarthenshire. The chairman will be elected initially for a term of four years but with the option of further terms of office. The oldest of the charities is known as the Bishop of Llandaff or Bishop Owen's Charity. Morgan Owen was born at Glasallt Fawr, Myddfai in 1595. In his will dated 1644 it is written

Within the period 1180 to 1280 much of Cantref Bychan which included Myddfai was held by an assortment of Welsh lords or princes. These were principally Meredydd ap Rhys Arglwydd and Rhys Grug with their respective descendants. The comment of the Rev. Gruffydd Evans on this period is telling. 'Cantref Bychan was bandied about from one Welsh prince to another until at last King Edward I got a firm grip on it and passed it to one of his barons'. There can be little doubt that Roman soldiers and their auxilliaries once marched and stayed, even if temporarily, within the confines of the parish. One wonders what effect the sight of the Roman standards had on its then denizens. Roman presence is testified by the existence of a number of earthworks. The most well known are at Y Pigwn where there is a pair of superimposed marching camps. Close by, there are two other earthworks of Roman origin but very much smaller. These four structures lie essentially alongside the Roman road leading from Llandovery to the Brecon Gaer. There is a fifth and very small oval earthwork at Penybylchau which may be of Roman origin.............. But the slaps or blows, innocuous as they were, were enough to cause the lady to immediately return to the lake. No matter how fast the farmer ran she was always ahead of him and soon she had reached the lake and disappeared into the water, leaving the farmer heartbroken and alone. The Lords Audley, Lords of Llandovery until 1497. At this stage the Lordship of Llandovery reverted to the crown and was in the direct gift of the monarch from hence forth. It is very probable that the word, Myddfai, has some specific meaning and possibly with a physical significance. This is suggested by the fact that the word is not unique to the one locality but is also seen as the name of a hamlet rendered Blaenmyddfai or Mothvey, which is within the parish of Llanarthne. There is also in the parish of Aberystruth in Monmouthshire a small stream called Myddfai with an associated Cwm Myddfai and an Abermyddfai.The scenery, which is strongly diversified, is characterised by features of picturesque beauty and of romantic grandeur. The luxuriant richness of the vales is finely contrasted with the rugged barenness of the mountains; and the numerous rivers that flow through the lower groves add greatly to the beauty of the scenery, which is further enlivened by the several gentlemen's seats scattered over the parish." At the heart of the village, and of the effort to revive its fortunes, is the tale of a lady who rose from a lake to marry a local man, with whom she had three sons. She eventually retreated to the lake but passed on her knowledge of the medicinal properties of plants and herbs to the eldest son. The son and his descendants did exist, even if the lady in the lake did not. They became the real-life physicians of Myddfai, who were renowned across Europe for their expertise. James I gave the lease in 1614 to John Vaughan of Golden Grove and to descendants of his. Sir Francis Bacon held the lease for a time around 1617. Of course, as the fame of the physicians grew so, too, did legends and stories mystifying their craft and origins. One of them suggested that their powers had fairy origins. It is a story that is told in the Mabinogion and, like the list of the physicians' herbal remedies, is contained in the Red Book of Hergest. Mr David James, the author, has very kindly agreed that Genuki might extract material from the book