author
Elias Owen
Best known for preserving Welsh legends and traditions, this 19th-century cleric and antiquarian turned folklore into lively reading. His work helped record stories from North Wales that might otherwise have been lost.
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About the author
Born in 1833, he was a Welsh cleric, school inspector, and antiquarian whose writing grew out of a deep interest in local history and tradition. Reliable biographical sources describe an early career in teaching before he became more widely known for church work and for his research into Welsh antiquities and folk belief.
He is especially remembered for books including The Old Stone Crosses of the Vale of Clwyd and Welsh Folk-Lore (1896). That later volume gathered tales, customs, and beliefs from North Wales, and it remains the work for which many readers know him today.
He died in 1899, but his writing still offers a vivid window into Welsh culture, combining the careful eye of a researcher with a clear desire to preserve voices and traditions from everyday life.