“Mae arnaf flys ysgrifennu hanes fy mywyd fy hun, nid i eraill, ond i mi fy hun; ac yn sicr nid i’w argraffu, ond yn hytrach fel math o hunan-gymundeb.”

Although Rhys Lewis wanted to write his life story as a form of self-connection, his autobiography is still read well over a hundred years after first written.

Rhys Lewis describes his home life with his mother and brother Bob, in school under the harsh hand of Robyn y Sowldiwr, as an apprentice at Abel Hughes's shop and as a student at Coleg y Bala before being appointed Minister of Capel Bethel. The chapters in the company of Wil Bryan and Thomas Bartley are jovial and funny but there is deep sadness in the Lewis family background – the break-up between Robert and Mary, Bob's horrific accident at the coal-mine and Rhys's sickness after returning to Bethel.

Daniel Owen, 1836–1895, was a tailor in Mold (Yr Wyddgrug) and described his society at the end of the 19th Century. His novels were published one episode at a time in magazines and newspapers: Enoc Huws and Gwen Tomos in Y Cymro; Rhys Lewis in Y Drysorfa.