.jpg)
Thomas Edwards (1739–1810), better known by his bardic name Twm o'r Nant — 'Tom of the Brook' — was one of the most distinctive Welsh-language writers of the 18th century, famed for his anterliwtau, or interludes: rowdy, satirical verse-plays performed on makeshift stages across North Wales.
He was born at Llannefydd and grew up near Nantglyn, from which he took his pen-name. His formal education amounted to little more than a brief spell at one of Griffith Jones's circulating schools and a fortnight at a school in Denbigh to learn English; he taught himself to write using paper he cadged and ink he made from elderberries. From 1749 he toured with a company of actors performing from the back of a cart, and by 1763, when he married Elizabeth Hughes in Denbigh, he had settled in the town, working as a timber-hauler between performances.
Financial trouble — he lost money standing surety for a bankrupt uncle — sent him south for a period, working in timber haulage and running an inn in Llandeilo, before he returned to North Wales in 1786 to resume touring and writing, later working as a stonemason. He died in Denbigh in 1810 and is buried at St Marcella's Church on the edge of the town, where a memorial marks the grave of one of Wales's great self-taught literary voices.
Thomas Edwards — almost universally known by his bardic name Twm o'r Nant, 'Tom of the Brook' — was born in 1739 near Llannefydd and spent much of his working life around Denbigh as a timber haulier, an occupation that gave him his nickname. Largely self-taught, he became the most celebrated writer of anterliwtiau, Welsh interludes: satirical verse dramas performed at fairs and markets that combined broad comedy with moral and social commentary.
His interludes were hugely popular in their day, performed across North Wales and often skewering the pretensions of the gentry and clergy, earning him a reputation as a Welsh 'Shakespeare of the common people'. Twm o'r Nant died in Denbigh in 1810 and is buried in the churchyard of St Marcella's, where his grave remains a point of interest for visitors tracing Wales's rich tradition of popular literature.