Edward Lhuyd
Encyclopedia
Edward Lhuyd (ˈɬuɪd, Hloo-id; sometimes rewritten as Llwyd in recent times) (1660 – 30 June 1709) was a Welsh
naturalist
, botanist
, linguist
, geographer
and antiquary. He is also known by the Latinized form of his name, Eduardus Luidius.
Lhuyd was born in Loppington
, Shropshire
, the illegitimate son of Edward Lloyd of Llanforda, Oswestry
and Bridget Pryse of Llan-ffraid, near Talybont
, Ceredigion
, and was a pupil and later a master at Oswestry Grammar School
. His family belonged to the gentry of south-west Wales
; though well-established, his family was not well-off, and his father experimented with agriculture and industry in a manner that brought him into contact with the new science of the day. Lhuyd attended grammar school
in Oswestry
and went up to Jesus College, Oxford
in 1682, but dropped out before his graduation
. In 1684, he was appointed assistant to Robert Plot
, the Keeper
of the Ashmolean Museum
and replaced him as Keeper in 1690; he held this post until 1709.
Whilst employed by the Ashmolean he travelled extensively. A visit to Snowdonia
in 1688 allowed him to construct for John Ray's
Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Britannicorum a list of flora
local to that region. After 1697, Lhuyd visited every county in Wales, and then travelled to Scotland
, Ireland
, Cornwall
, and Brittany
and the Isle of Man
. In 1699, with financial aid from his friend Isaac Newton
, he published Lithophylacii Britannici Ichnographia, a catalogue of fossil
s collected from places around England
, mostly Oxford, and now held in the Ashmolean. In 1707, having been assisted in his research by fellow Welsh scholar Moses Williams
, he published the first volume of Archaeologia Britannica: an Account of the Languages, Histories and Customs of Great Britain, from Travels through Wales, Cornwall, Bas-Bretagne, Ireland and Scotland. Lhuyd noted the similarity between the two Celtic language
families: Brythonic
or P–Celtic (Breton
, Cornish
and Welsh
); and Goidelic
or Q–Celtic (Irish
, Manx
and Scottish Gaelic). He argued that the Brythonic languages originated in Gaul
(France), and that the Goidelic languages originated in the Iberian Peninsula
. Lhuyd concluded that as the languages had been of Celtic
origin, the people who spoke those languages were Celts. From the 18th century, the peoples of Brittany
, Cornwall
, Ireland
, Isle of Man
, Scotland
and Wales
were known increasingly as Celts, and are regarded as the modern Celtic nations
today. This book is also an important source for its linguistic description of the Cornish language
.
In the late 17th century Lhuyd had been contacted by a group of scholars, led by John Keigwin of Mousehole
, who were trying to preserve and further the Cornish language and he accepted the invitation to travel to Cornwall to study the language. Early Modern Cornish was the subject of a study published by Lhuyd in 1702, and differs from the medieval language in having a considerably simpler structure and grammar.
In 1701, Lhuyd was made MA
honoris causa by the University of Oxford, and he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society
in 1708. Lhuyd died of pleurisy
in Oxford in 1709.
The Snowdon lily Lloydia serotina
bears his name, as does Cymdeithas Edward Llwyd
, the National Naturalists' Society of Wales.
He is responsible for the first scientific description and naming of what we would now recognize as a dinosaur
: the sauropod tooth
Rutellum implicatum
(Delair and Sarjeant, 2002).
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, botanist
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, linguist
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, geographer
Geographer
A geographer is a scholar whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society.Although geographers are historically known as people who make maps, map making is actually the field of study of cartography, a subset of geography...
and antiquary. He is also known by the Latinized form of his name, Eduardus Luidius.
Lhuyd was born in Loppington
Loppington
Loppington is a village and parish in Shropshire, England, situated a few miles west of Wem. The population of the parish is 576 and there are 206 households.Loppington was recorded in the Domesday Book as Lopitone....
, Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, the illegitimate son of Edward Lloyd of Llanforda, Oswestry
Oswestry
Oswestry is a town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483, and A495 roads....
and Bridget Pryse of Llan-ffraid, near Talybont
Talybont
Talybont is the name of several villages in Wales:*Tal-y-bont, Ceredigion*Tal-y-bont, Conwy*Talybont, Bangor near Bangor in Gwynedd*Talybont, Barmouth near Barmouth in Gwynedd*Talybont-on-Usk, Powys*Talybont Reservoir...
, Ceredigion
Ceredigion
Ceredigion is a county and former kingdom in mid-west Wales. As Cardiganshire , it was created in 1282, and was reconstituted as a county under that name in 1996, reverting to Ceredigion a day later...
, and was a pupil and later a master at Oswestry Grammar School
Oswestry School
Oswestry School is a co-educational independent school, located in the town of Oswestry, Shropshire, England. Founded in 1407 by David Holbache and his wife Guinevere Holbache, it is the second oldest non-denominational school in England....
. His family belonged to the gentry of south-west Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
; though well-established, his family was not well-off, and his father experimented with agriculture and industry in a manner that brought him into contact with the new science of the day. Lhuyd attended grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
in Oswestry
Oswestry
Oswestry is a town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483, and A495 roads....
and went up to Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...
in 1682, but dropped out before his graduation
Graduation
Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
. In 1684, he was appointed assistant to Robert Plot
Robert Plot
Robert Plot was an English naturalist, first Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford, and the first keeper of the Ashmolean Museum....
, the Keeper
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
of the Ashmolean Museum
Ashmolean Museum
The Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is the world's first university museum...
and replaced him as Keeper in 1690; he held this post until 1709.
Whilst employed by the Ashmolean he travelled extensively. A visit to Snowdonia
Snowdonia
Snowdonia is a region in north Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three National Parks in Wales, in 1951.-Name and extent:...
in 1688 allowed him to construct for John Ray's
John Ray
John Ray was an English naturalist, sometimes referred to as the father of English natural history. Until 1670, he wrote his name as John Wray. From then on, he used 'Ray', after "having ascertained that such had been the practice of his family before him".He published important works on botany,...
Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Britannicorum a list of flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
local to that region. After 1697, Lhuyd visited every county in Wales, and then travelled to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, and Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
and the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
. In 1699, with financial aid from his friend Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
, he published Lithophylacii Britannici Ichnographia, a catalogue of fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s collected from places around England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, mostly Oxford, and now held in the Ashmolean. In 1707, having been assisted in his research by fellow Welsh scholar Moses Williams
Moses Williams
Moses Williams was a Welsh antiquarian scholar.He was born the son of Samuel Williams, Vicar of Llan Dyfriog and Rector of Llan Gynllo, Cardiganshire, and his wife, Margaret, daughter of Jenkin Powell Prytherch, in Y Glaslyn, near Llandysul, Ceredigion, in south-west Wales.He was ordained a deacon...
, he published the first volume of Archaeologia Britannica: an Account of the Languages, Histories and Customs of Great Britain, from Travels through Wales, Cornwall, Bas-Bretagne, Ireland and Scotland. Lhuyd noted the similarity between the two Celtic language
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
families: Brythonic
Brythonic languages
The Brythonic or Brittonic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family, the other being Goidelic. The name Brythonic was derived by Welsh Celticist John Rhys from the Welsh word Brython, meaning an indigenous Briton as opposed to an Anglo-Saxon or Gael...
or P–Celtic (Breton
Breton language
Breton is a Celtic language spoken in Brittany , France. Breton is a Brythonic language, descended from the Celtic British language brought from Great Britain to Armorica by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages. Like the other Brythonic languages, Welsh and Cornish, it is classified as...
, Cornish
Cornish language
Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...
and Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
); and Goidelic
Goidelic languages
The Goidelic languages or Gaelic languages are one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages, the other consisting of the Brythonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland through the Isle of Man to the north of Scotland...
or Q–Celtic (Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
, Manx
Manx language
Manx , also known as Manx Gaelic, and as the Manks language, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, historically spoken by the Manx people. Only a small minority of the Island's population is fluent in the language, but a larger minority has some knowledge of it...
and Scottish Gaelic). He argued that the Brythonic languages originated in Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
(France), and that the Goidelic languages originated in the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
. Lhuyd concluded that as the languages had been of Celtic
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
origin, the people who spoke those languages were Celts. From the 18th century, the peoples of Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
were known increasingly as Celts, and are regarded as the modern Celtic nations
Celtic nations
The Celtic nations are territories in North-West Europe in which that area's own Celtic languages and some cultural traits have survived.The term "nation" is used in its original sense to mean a people who share a common traditional identity and culture and are identified with a traditional...
today. This book is also an important source for its linguistic description of the Cornish language
Cornish language
Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...
.
In the late 17th century Lhuyd had been contacted by a group of scholars, led by John Keigwin of Mousehole
Mousehole
Mousehole is a village and fishing port in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately 2½ miles south of Penzance on the shore of Mount's Bay.The village is in the civil parish of Penzance...
, who were trying to preserve and further the Cornish language and he accepted the invitation to travel to Cornwall to study the language. Early Modern Cornish was the subject of a study published by Lhuyd in 1702, and differs from the medieval language in having a considerably simpler structure and grammar.
In 1701, Lhuyd was made MA
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
honoris causa by the University of Oxford, and he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
in 1708. Lhuyd died of pleurisy
Pleurisy
Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....
in Oxford in 1709.
The Snowdon lily Lloydia serotina
Lloydia serotina
Lloydia serotina is an arctic-alpine flowering plant of the lily family. It is the only member of the genus Lloydia to live outside central and eastern Asia, and is widespread across western North America, from Alaska to New Mexico, and in Europe is found in the Alps and Carpathians, as well as in...
bears his name, as does Cymdeithas Edward Llwyd
Cymdeithas Edward Llwyd
Cymdeithas Edward Llwyd is a Welsh natural history organization whose name commemorates the great Welsh natural historian, geographer and linguist Edward Llwyd.-External links:*...
, the National Naturalists' Society of Wales.
He is responsible for the first scientific description and naming of what we would now recognize as a dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
: the sauropod tooth
Tooth
Teeth are small, calcified, whitish structures found in the jaws of many vertebrates that are used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores, also use teeth for hunting or for defensive purposes. The roots of teeth are embedded in the Mandible bone or the Maxillary bone and are...
Rutellum implicatum
Rutellum
Rutellum is the pre-Linnaean name given to a dinosaur specimen from the Middle Jurassic. It was a sauropod, possibly a cetiosaurid, which lived in what is now England. The specimen, called Rutellum implicatum, was described in 1699 by Edward Lhuyd, and is notable as the earliest named entity that...
(Delair and Sarjeant, 2002).
Further reading
- Delair, Justin B. and William A.S. Sarjeant. "The earliest discoveries of dinosaurs: the records re-examined." Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 113 (2002): 185-197.
- Emery, Frank. Edward Lhuyd. 1971.
- Evans, Dewi W. and Brynley F. Roberts (eds.). Archæologia Britannica: Texts and Translations. Celtic Studies Publications 10. 2007. Description.
- Gunther, R.T. The Life and Letters of Edward Lhuyd. 1945.
- Roberts, Brynley F. Edward Lhuyd, the Making of a Scientist. 1980.
- Williams, Derek R. Prying into every hole and corner: Edward Lhuyd in Cornwall in 1700. 1993.
- Williams, Derek R. Edward Lhuyd, 1660-1709: A Shropshire Welshman. 2009.
- "Never at rest" A biography of Isaac Newton by Richard S. WestfallRichard S. WestfallRichard S. Westfall was an American academic, biographer and historian of science. He is best known for his biography of Isaac Newton and his work on the scientific revolution of the 17th century.-Life:...
ISBN : 0-521-27435-4 pp581,
External links
- Biography of Edward Lhuyd from the Canolfan Edward Llwyd, a centre for the study of science through Welsh.