Editing Twm Siôn Cati (section)

== Biography ==
=== Early life ===
Twm is said to have been born at Porth y Ffynnon on the outskirts of [[Tregaron]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Tregaron and area |url=https://www.discoverceredigion.wales/areas-of-ceredigion/cambrian-mountains/communities-of-the-cambrian-mountains/tregaron-and-area/ |website=Discover Ceredigion |access-date=4 February 2025}}</ref>

Although John Dee recorded Twm's date of birth as 1532 (either 1 August or 10 August),<ref>{{cite book |last1=J. Roberts and Andrew G. Watson |title=John Dee's Library Catalogue |date=1990 |pages=45-46}}</ref> there is little written record of his birth and childhood, suggesting he may have been illegitimate. While his mother was Cati Jones of Tregaron, his father is sometimes stated to be Siôn ap Dafydd ap Madog ap Hywel Moetheu of Porth-y-ffin, Tregaron.

As an illegitimate son, he unofficially took both his father and mother's names, becoming known as Thomas Jones in English, but as Twm Siôn Cati in common Welsh convention.

In the tale told by Llewelyn Prichard, Twm is the illegitimate son of Cati Jones following attentions from John Wynn of Gwydir ([[John "Wynn" ap Maredudd]]); the Welsh forms of the names of his parents became incorporated into his name.

=== Robber and exile ===
In the tale told by Llewelyn Prichard, he grows up in Tregaron and after a spell working for a farmer, he works for a [[landed gentry|local landowner]]. He is trusted to take a large sum of the squire's money to England. The journey is fraught with encounters with [[highwayman|highwaymen]], footpads, and villains, all of whom Twm is able to best.

[[George Borrow]] disapproved of the veneer of respectability in Prichard's book: "''Its grand fault is endeavouring to invest Twm Shon'' (a name Borrow spells with varying consistency) ''with a character of honesty, and to make his exploits appear rather those of a wild young waggish fellow than of a robber.''" According to the stories which Borrow picked up around Tregaron, Twm's career was more straightforward. "''Between eighteen and nineteen, in order to free himself and his mother from poverty which they had long endured, he adopted the profession of a thief, and soon became celebrated through the whole of Wales for the cleverness and adroitness which he exercised in his calling''".

He was supposedly a [[Protestant]] by faith at a time when [[Mary I of England]], a [[Catholic]] monarch, ruled and he had to gain an income as best he could, choosing robbery as his trade as his religion had him marked out as a rebel already and his low status meant that he could not rely on any advantage or protection from others. As a young man he fled to [[Geneva]] in 1557 to escape the law. After the accession of the Protestant [[Queen Elizabeth I]], he was able to obtain a pardon for his thievery, enabling his return to Wales in 1559.

=== Marriages and children ===
Twm was active in [[west Wales]], with forays into England, in the late sixteenth century. Stories centre on his tricks, with which he outwitted law-abiding people and criminals alike.

In the tale told by Llewelyn Prichard, Twm woos and eventually marries the Lady of Ystrad-ffin and subsequently becomes a [[Magistrate (England and Wales)|magistrate]] and mayor of [[Brecon]].

The name of his first wife is unknown; his second, whom he married in 1607, was Joan, widow of Thomas Williams of Ystrad-ffin and daughter of Sir John Price of Brecon Priory (1502?-1555).<ref name=WBO></ref>

It is rumoured that Twm had a number of illegitimate children during his time as a highway man. To hide the true identity of their father, the children were given religious or biblical surnames.