Skip to content

Poet Islwyn Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

GizmoKyla: As the owner has not responded to our previous log requesting that they check this cache we are archiving it. Please note that as this cache has now been archived by a reviewer or HQ staff it will NOT be unarchived.

If you wish to email us please send your email via our profile (click on our name) and quote the cache name and number.

Regards

GizmoKyla
Volunteer UK Reviewers
UK Geocaching Policies Wiki
Geocaching Guidelines
Geocaching Help Centre

More
Hidden : 6/24/2014
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

Magnetic Cache placed near an old chapel whe the Famous Welsh poet Islwyn is buried. From the Cache you can see the side of the chapel as it is about 30 meters away.

 


This Cache is placed near the Babel Chapel, It is a small chapel in the village of Cwmfelinfach, not far from where Islwyn was born. The chapel boasts a visitor centre, which unfortunately no longer appears to be open. There are several danger signs plastered to the fence and gates warning people to stay out as the graves are dangerous...

William Thomas (ISLWYN) was born in Britain on 3 April 1832, near Ynysddu (then in Monmouthshire). Born to an English-speaking family, he learnt Welsh from his uncle. He was educated at Cowbridge Grammar School. Both his elder brothers were engineers, and he was intended for the same profession, training initially as a mining surveyor. However, he showed an aptitude for the Christian ministry, and was sent to an academy run by Dr Evan Davies at Swansea. He was at one time tutored by a namesake, the poet William Thomas (Gwilym Marles). He became engaged to a Swansea girl, Ann Bowen. Her death in 1853, at the age of twenty, became a source of poetic inspiration to him. He was a regular winner of local Eisteddfod prizes from the 1850s onwards, taking his bardic name from the mountain Mynyddislwyn, above his home. His two best-known poems are both entitled "Yr Ystorm" ("The Storm"), a long philosophic poem over 9,000 lines long. His poems are noted for their confident expressions of Christian faith, expectation of reunion in heaven, fulfilment of Christian duty and completion of a life fulfilled in God's work. He began preaching in 1854, and was ordained a Calvinistic Methodist minister in 1859, but he never took charge of a church. In 1864 Thomas married Martha Davies, Ann Bowen's stepsister. He edited several periodicals, and the Welsh column of the Cardiff Times. His poetry, although not always greatly regarded in his own lifetime, found favour after his death and is now thought to be amongst the finest of the nineteenth century. He also wrote twenty-nine poems in English. He died from bronchitis in Ynysddu in 1878. He is buried in Babell Chapel, located in Cwmfelinfach.

 

 

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

vs lbhe ybbxvat sbe gur Lalf Uljry prager sbyybj gur fvtaf

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)