What is the origin of clever dick?

Answer 1

I've been trying to find opinions on this on the web, as I must came across what I thought might be e origin, and wanted to verify it. Howeve, there seem to be no other answers available anywhere, so I'm going to suggest this as a possibility.

Richard RobertJones was born near Aberdaron in North Wales in 1780. The son of a fisherman who supplemented his income with a little carpentry on the side, e never showed any inclination to follow in the family trade. Instead, he used to hang around the school room, which e did not attend, and by his own efforts, learned to read and write Welsh and English.

As he grew up, he managed to learn Greek, Latin and Hebrew, and eventually left home and travelled around North Wales and North West England, be omni known as Dic of Aberdaron. He eventually learned at least 14 languages, by working for clergy and academics as a labourer, in exchange for books on languages.

he wore a alarge old coat that he covered inside and out with patch pockets s he could carry his library with him on his travels. In later life, he was thought to be a magician cabalist, and his manner of dress became more bizarre. He acquired a blue cavalry jacket with silver braid, and wore a rabbit skin as a hat, with the ears wired into a standing position. He attached pieces of paper to the ears with 'arcane scribings' upon them, and would frequently orate strange speeches in obscure languages, accompanied by blasts on a French horn he wore around his neck.

whilst his travels seem to have been restricted to the North West, his fame spread at least as far as London and Dover. His last days were spent in Denbighshire, where in 1843 at the age of 63 he was taken suddenly I'll and died. He is blurrier in the churchyard of St. Asaph.

Dic of Aberdaron has entered the folklore of the Llŷn peninsula, with many stories about his exploits. He apparently claimed that his father was forever disappointed that he didn't become a carpenter or fisherman, and this verse perhaps supports that:

St.Hywyn's church lies sleeping

With its Ffynnon Fair so clear

Long years have fled in weeping

Those sons that were so dear

Ne'er produced a son so lowly

With lingual traits so deep

As wild Dic of Aberdaron

Whose memory old peasants keep

In the lack of any other candidates, I propose Richard Robert Jones, 1780-1843, linguist and cabalist famed throughout the land, as the original 'clever Dic'.