John ap John
'John ap John' by Elaine Miles
Have you ever heard of John ap John,
Of Coed Cristionydd not far from Ruabon?
Son of a modest arable farmer,
More solid than John and a great deal calmer,
John now thought it was time to move on.
Their nearest established church in Clwyd,
Was under the care of Morgan Llwyd
(Where they owed their tithes and had to attend).
But Morgan was a man who risked his stipend
To not tithe Welshmen of improverished fywyd
He’d heard of George Fox, an itinerant preacher,
Whose meetings sometimes shared the feature
Of worshipping God in the open air;
So he sent two churchmen to Lancashire, where
They might find and report on this famous teacher
When they arrived at the home of Justice Fell,
They climbed the steps and they rang the bell,
And Mistress Fell came to answer the door
Of the house we know today as Swarthmoor;
And invited them in and treated them well.
But when Fox arrived it was a different matter;
All immediately stopped their household clatter,
Such was his presence. John never forgot –
Even twenty years later in his family plot –
He felt the power of the Lord without the chatter.
The visit of John’s companion was fleeting –
He went back, having thanked Margaret Fell for her greeting.
But John stayed on and returned to Wales.
There might have been others who thought of Pales,
But it was John ap John who started our Meeting.
Comments
It is generally accepted that John Ap John was born about 1625 at a freehold property called Pen y Cefn. There is very little else known about this property and even its precise location has alluded those in search.Some historians claim that Pen y Cefn was part of the ancient township of Coed Cristionydd while others are equally certain that it belonged to the township of Cristionydd Kenrick. However A N Palmer on page 122 of his book Nonconformity of Wrexham says that it is absolutely established that John ap John lived in the township of Trevor (this township is within the parish of Llangollen). The writer knows of only one document of which mentions the location of Pen y Cefn (this is an Indenture dated 1714) which states that Pen y Cefn was located in Cristionydd Kenrick.
By howiepaddock on 28th May 2016 - 16:20
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