Iolo Morganwg
A Welsh stonemason, poet and forger whose invented ‘ancient’ bardic ceremonies became part of modern Druidry.
1 min read · Updated 11 November 2026 · Last checked 11 November 2026
Life and work #
Edward Williams, who wrote as Iolo Morganwg, was born in the Vale of Glamorgan in 1747 and died in 1826. The Gorsedd of the Bards, a society of Welsh poets and musicians, was the product of his imagination.1
He held the first Gorsedd at midsummer, 21 June 1792, on Primrose Hill in London, and a second at the autumn equinox that September. In 1795 he held the first in his native Glamorgan.2
He presented the ceremonies and his supposed ancient documents as the survival of Druid lore. 3,4
What to be careful about #
Historians describe much of what he offered as ancient as his own invention. That does not make the Gorsedd worthless to those who take part in it, but it is not an unbroken ancient rite.
On this site #
See also: Ross Nichols, Gerald Gardner.
Notes
- 'Our own pageantry and peacockry': the Gorsedd of the Bards, Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales) blog. ↩
- Museum Wales, Gorsedd of the Bards. ↩
- Museum Wales, Gorsedd of the Bards. ↩
- Ronald Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain (Yale University Press, 2009). Hutton’s history of the Druids covers Iolo and the Romantic revival. ↩
Modern works cited
- 'Our own pageantry and peacockry': the Gorsedd of the Bards, Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales) blog — read online
Dates the first Gorsedd to midsummer day, 21 June 1792, on Primrose Hill in London, and describes the Gorsedd as the invention of Edward Williams (Iolo Morganwg). A museum blog, not a scholarly history. - Ronald Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain (Yale University Press, 2009)
Covers the invention of the modern Druid tradition, including the forgeries of Edward Williams (Iolo Morganwg). Page numbers are not given here.
Cite this page. The Garden, ‘Iolo Morganwg’, https://camelmaps.org/garden/person.php, last updated 11 November 2026, last checked 11 November 2026. What has changed.