Dic Aberdaron by William Roos.
Because of his lack of interest in his father's craft he was obliged, either of his own free will or under compulsion, to leave home at an early age. As a result both of his own inclination and of the force of circumstances he was throughout his life a wanderer, and consequently our knowledge of his history is uncertain and scrappy. It is known that he had begun to learn Latin when he was about 12 years of age, and that he was learning Greek before he was 20. He visited Liverpool in 1804 and London in 1807, and stayed for short periods at Bangor, at Caernarvon, and in Anglesey . In the course of his wanderings he found opportunities to learn Hebrew, and also modern languages, such as Spanish and Italian .
The large number of books which he always carried about his person he had sometimes to sell in order to procure food and clothing, and buy back again. He took no interest in literature, and it is said that he could read whole books and yet gain hardly any knowledge of their contents. The compilation of his Welsh-Greek-Hebrew dictionary occupied him during the years 1831 and 1832 , but he did not succeed in securing a sufficient number of subscribers for its publication. He died at St. Asaph on 18 December 1843 and was buried there. (Source Dictionary of Welsh Biography)
I bet a pound to a shilling he was Special Needs. Pity he wasn't born later and had he been mixed race with a bit of of LBGT by gum he could be in charge of us all now but for the fact he is dead.
ReplyDeleteI speak several languages, I can't write English, I just chatter in the tongue I hear. The more one listens and sees the better you get. I do have a tendancy to muddle language. Last weekend or the weekend just passed a German couple of children were staying next door. I shout Guten Morgen Kinder. They ran away. Not to worry.
Fascinating story, and he sounds rather an enigma.
ReplyDeleteSounds like he may have had what they now call Savant Syndrome, someone with extreme intelligence in only one area. Today he might have worked at the UN as a translator.
ReplyDeleteIntriguing. I agree, he may have had some sort of 'issue' - or whatever euphemism is appropriate. It is creditworthy that some knowledge of him has filtered down through the years, though.
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