John Dyer was a painter and Welsh poet who became a priest in the Church of England. He was most recognised for Grongar Hill, one of six early poems featured in a 1726 miscellany. Longer works published later include the less successful genre poems, The Ruins of Rome (1740) and The Fleece (1757). His work has always been more anthologised than published in separate editions, but his talent was later recognised by William Wordsworth among others.
The Bard of the Fleece, a portrait provided by a relative and incorporated into a design engraved by the Brothers Dalziel, 1855
Aberglasney House, home of the Dyer family from 1710
Title page of The Fleece
Grongar Hill is located in the Welsh county of Carmarthenshire and was the subject of a loco-descriptive poem by John Dyer. Published in two versions in 1726, during the Augustan period, its celebration of the individual experience of the landscape makes it a precursor of Romanticism. As a prospect poem, it has been the subject of continuing debate over how far it meets artistic canons.
The hill as seen from nearby Dryslwyn Castle
William Gilpin's sketch of Dinevawr Castle, illustrating his theory of perspective, 1782
Grongar Hill, Carmarthenshire, a print by William Wallis after Henry Gastineau. Steel engraved with hand colouring
