John Ceiriog Hughes (1832 –1887), was a poet and collector of folk tunes. He was born near Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog. The Ceiriog valley is a few miles south of Llangollen. On leaving home Hughes worked as a grocer in Manchester and later on the railways, and became a station master at Llanidloes and manager at Caersws. Sadly he drank heavily and died age 54.
Hughes wrote collections of poetry and song lyrics including Ar Hyd Y Nos, Dafydd y Garreg Wen and Clychau Aberdyfi. In his work he tried to raise the status of Welsh culture after the 1847 Blue Books had concluded that the Welsh language and nonconformity were the reasons for poor education in Wales. His poetry was based on traditional folk song and he won the Llangollen Eisteddfod in 1858 with his poem “Myfanwy Fychan o Gastell Dinas Brân”.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ceiriog_Hughes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treachery_of_the_Blue_Books