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Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
Widely known as 'Poor Taff', this painting depicts the satirical Welsh character Shon-Ap-Morgan. Setting out on his journey to London, he intends to average the annual insults dealt out by the "rabble" English every St David's Day. His attributes include the goat he rides, leeks, cheese and herring.
These anti-Welsh symbols werepromoted in London's popular print culture in the late eighteenth century. As later prints condemned English abuse, Shon-Ap-Morgan becamse an affectionate symbol of Welsh national identity. This painting may have been commissioned by a London-based Welsh society for this reason.
The background text, a later addition, remains a mystery.
