FUGUE, WILLIAM OWEN. 



PUCJIN, AUGUSTIN WELBY NORTHMORE. 



between five and six yers ; but what afterwards become of that 

 valuable collection of drawings is Dot known. 



(in hi* second return from Italy he executed several works in 

 painting ; but his exoawive application to that art so seriously affected 

 his health, that he renounced the practice of it. and confined himself 

 thenceforth to architecture and sculpture. His talents met with 

 employment at Toulon and Marseille, for which Utter city be projected 

 many embellishments, which established hit reputation an an architect ; 

 and he further gave proof of his skill in engineering by different inge 

 nious machines and inventions which he introduced into the marine at 

 Toulon. 



lie was tent by Fouquet to Genoa for the purpose of selecting 

 marble for some of the works proposed to be executed at Marseille; 

 but that minister being shortly afterwards disgraced, instead of 

 returning homo, Puget preferred remaining at Genoa, where he pro- 

 duced some of his most noted pieces of sculpture, the two statues of 

 St Sebastian and St. Ambrosius, and the grand bas-relief of the 

 Assumption, in the chapel of the Albergo de' Poveri, besides various 

 architectural ornaments. At length he was recalled by Colbert, who 

 obtained for him a pension of twelve hundred crowns, in consequence, 

 it is said, of the earnest recommendation of Bernini. That the 

 patronage of the one and the recommendation of the other were not 

 discredited, is proved by his two celebrated performances at Versailles, 

 the Milo of Crotona, and the group of Perseus and Androrue la, the 

 former of which is generally reckoned the chef-d'oeuvre of his chisel, 

 and a work that will bear comparison with the antique. He afterwards 

 retired to Marseille, where he built himself a small residence, which 

 he occupied until his death, December 2nd, 1694, at the age of 

 seventy-two. 



PUGHE, WILLIAM OWEN, originally known as William Owen 

 only, the name of Pughe not having been assumed by him till ad- 

 vanced in life, was born at Tyn y Bryn, in the parish of Llonfihangel 

 y Pennant in Merionethshire, on the 7th of August 1759. Soon after 

 his birth his family removed to Egryn in Ardutiwy, a district where 

 old customs were more prevalent than in any other part of Wales. 

 He first heard English when sent to school at seven years old, and 

 "in trying to attain to a little smattering of this language," he 

 tells us, "I soon was enabled to read my own." The family was 

 numerous, and at the age of seventeen he was sent to London to 

 earn his living. " Here, though everything seemed new, even the 

 language," he observes, "yet so powerful were the effects of early 

 habits, that Welsh books still continued among the leading objects 

 of my pursuits, but I continued in this great city till about the year 

 1782 without knowing that any other person in it besides myself ever 

 thought of the Welsh language or of its literature." Chance threw 

 him into the way of Robert Hughes, a Welsh poet and critic, who 

 introduced him to Owen Jones, a tradesman in Thames-street, of whom, 

 as Pughe remarked, "it may be truly said, that he extended greater 

 patronage towards preserving the literary remains of Wales than any 

 other person, either in ancient or modern times." With his support 

 and encouragement, Owen Pughe entered on a course of laborious and 

 long-continued exertion for preserving and elucidating the ancient 

 literature of Wales, which entitled him to the thanks of every European 

 scholar, though unfortunately his judgment and talents were not on a 

 par with hu zeal and diligence. In 1789 he edited in conjunction 

 with Owen Jones the poems of Dafydd ap Owilym, a bard of the 14th 

 century, spoken of in terms of the warmest enthusiasm by Borrow, in 

 his 'Lavengro.' These, which were printed in Welsh only, were 

 followed in 1792 by an edition of the poems of Llywaroh Hen, supposed 

 to date from A.D. 550 to 640, with an English translation. These 

 piece* are of a very striking character, in particular the dreadful 

 ' Lament of Old Age, in which every stanza concludes with " Curse on 

 the young, curie on the happy." As early as 1785 Owen began the 

 compilation of a Welsh and English dictionury on a very extended 

 scale, the publication of which was commenced in 1798, and brought 

 to a close in 1808. Though indispensable in every Welsh library, it u 

 often complained of by those who consult it, on account of the number 

 of words it contains which appear to be of the lexicographer's own 

 manufacture, of the vagueness of many of the English explanations, 

 and of the perplexity occasioned by the spelling, which is on a system 

 of Owen's own, differing from that made use of in ordinary books. A 

 second edition, which was issued at Denbigh in 1832, is in more 

 request than the first, as the author permitted the printer to make use 

 of the usual spelling. In the year 1801 two volumes were issued of 

 the 'Myvjrian Archaiology of Wales,' and in 1807 a third, under the 

 superintendence of Owen Jones, Edward Williams, known by bis 

 bardic name of lolo M organ wg, and William Owen. This is by far the 

 ino-t important publication in the whole compass of Welsh literature, 

 being a collection of all the remains of it* poetry, triads, and chronicles, 

 from the earliest period* to about the year 140(1, extending, if all be 

 genuine, over the space of about nine hundred years. Junes, at 

 who>e expense it was principally done, had made large collection* of 

 transcript* for its continuation, which arc now deposited in the manu- 

 script library of the llritish Museum, to which they were presented by 

 the Welsh School in 1844. The continuation of the work seems to 

 have bean prevented by disagreements among the editors. Soutbcy, 

 who took much interest in Welsh literature, and was personally 

 acquainted with both Williams and Owen, had a high opinion of Wil- 



liams, but said of Owen in a letter to Wynne in 1823, full of Welsh 

 information certainly he wu, but a muddier-minded man I never met 

 with." Williams, in a letter dated 1813, which i pv, n in his I 

 Waring, says, "I am determined Mver to write In conjunction with 

 any man whatever, and least of all with William Owen, who ha with 

 his kuUiyhonitmi absolutely ruined everything he ever took in hand. 

 In his Dictionary and Grammar he has introduced into a : 

 cacophony of pronunciation a most barbarous orthoKMphy. In the 

 Welsh Archaiology he has altered the orthography into that of his 

 Dictionary and Grammar, thus forging fiatitioua authoritii-a for what 

 he has done. His Welsh writings may be said to be lin^li-li written 

 iu Welsh words, or Welsh words construed on the principles and 

 according to the rules of the English grammar." Williams also says 

 that in Owen's 'Cambrian Biography,' "more than half the articles are 

 erroneous." The ' Cambrian Biography,' which was published in ] s03, 

 has the merit of being the first work of the kind, and of containing a 

 great number of names, but the articles are unusually dry, and if 

 they have not the merit of accuracy can have no other. The 

 ' Cambrian Register,' a miscellany of which Owen seems to have edited 

 three volumes (the first in 1796, the last in ISIS), is of a superior 

 kind, and contains an unusual quantity of new and entertaining infor- 

 mation. A Webb magazine which he edited, called ' Y Greal,' bean 

 also a high reputation. In the year 1806 he succeeded to tho estate 

 of Tros-y-Parc, near Denbigh, and finally took up his residence there, 

 assuming in connection with his inheritance the name of Pughe. It 

 was probably during some visits to London which he made about this 

 time, that he became what Southcy tells us he was, " one of Joanna 

 Southcott's four-and-twenty elders," a distinction which was unit <1 in 

 bia person with that of a Fellow of the Society of Antiquari< 

 an honorary Doctor of the University of Oxford. A translation of 

 ' Paradise Lost ' into Welsh, under the title of ' Coll Owynfa,' appeared 

 from his pen in 1819, and he rendered into the same language Helier's 

 ' Palestine,' and many of Mrs. Hemans's poetical pieces. He died on 

 the 4th of June 1835, at Dolyddy Cac, a house at the foot of Cader 

 idris, ending his life not far from the spot where it bad begun, near 

 the mountain from which in his writings he often assumed the name 

 of Idrison. Ho was married in 1790, and left two daughters and one 

 eon : the latter, who bore the came of Aneurin Owen without the 

 addition of Pughe, was born in 1792, and died in 1851, at his n> . 

 of Tros-y-Parc. He edited the 'Ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales, 1 

 published in 1841 by the Record Commission. 



PUGIN, AUGUSTUS, an eminent architectural draftsman, was a 

 native of France, but settled iu London at an early age. Ho was 

 engaged as a draftsman and assistant by Nash, with whom he re- 

 mained many years. He then found employment among publishers 

 in the preparation of architectural drawings for engraving; one of 

 the most important of his earlier works being the buildings in Acker- 

 man's ' Microcosm of London,' 1803-11. He also made the drawings 

 for a ' Series of Views in Islington and Pentonville, with descriptions 

 by E. W. Braylcy.' Subsequently he directed his attention more 

 particularly to the architecture of the middle ages; and in Is21 he 

 began the publication of his 'Specimens of Gothic Architecture, 

 selected from various Ancient I'.dilices in England, consisting of Plans, 

 Elevations, Sections, and part* at large; calculated to exemplify the 

 various styles, and tho practical construction of this class of admired 

 Architecture:' it was completed iu 1K23, and forms 2 vols. folio and 

 4to, containing 114 plates, with descriptions, chiefly by Mr. I'.. .1. 

 Wilson. In 1824 he commenced, in conjunction with Mr. John I'.rittou, 

 'Architectural Illustrations of the Buildings of London,' also com- 

 pleted in 2 vols. 4to ; and with the same gentleman he published, iu 

 folio and quarto, 1325-28, ' Specimens of the Architectural Antiquities 

 of Normandy, measured and drawn by A. Puuiu, and engraved by 

 John and Henry Le Keujc." This ia bis best and most important work, 

 and did much to enlarge our knowledge of mediaeval architecture ; he 

 was assisted in this work by his son, tho subject of the succeeding 

 notice. In 1829 Mr. Pugin made tho drawings for a work entitled 

 ' Paris and its Environs displayed;' and iu 1831 he prepared, with 

 the assistance of his son, ' Gothic Ornaments, selected from various 

 buildings in England and France.' He died December 19th, 1832. 



PUGIN, AUGpSTlN WK1.UV XORTHMOKK, son of the pre- 

 ceding, was born in 1811. Instructed by his father in the principles 

 of architecture, he early acquired under him remarkable facility in 

 drawing, and travelled with him as his assistant, collecting mat 

 in Normandy and England for his works on Gothic architecture. 

 . A.] His first uMinct employment was as assistant to Messrs. 

 Grieves, in painting the architectural scenery in her Majesty's and 

 Covent Garden theatres. He afterwards made drawings for the furni- 

 ture in Windsor Castle, and designs for plate in the mediaeval style 

 for Messrs. Rundell and Bridge. In 1833 he removed to lUmsgato, 

 and commenced preparing for publication a series of work* illustrative 

 of the furniture and ornamental work of the middle ages. In 1835 

 appeared his ' Designs for Gothic Furniture, in the stylo of the 

 Fifteenth Century,' and ' Designs for Iron and Brass-Work, iu the 

 style of the XVtu and XVIth centuries.' These were follow. 1 in 

 1880 by 'Designs for Gold and Silver-smiths' Work,' and 'Ancient 

 Timber Houses,' all of which met with a ready sale, and tended not 

 a little to stimulate the growing taste for gothic forms. His next 

 work was one that, by its caustic and irritating way of setting forth 



