Edward Davies (7 June 1756 – 7 January 1831), known as 'Celtic' Davies, was a Welsh Anglican clergyman and writer whose most influential books examined the origins of Celtic languages and the meaning of Celtic mythology. They became part of the recovery and re-invention of druidic tradition in the nineteenth century.
Born in Llanfaredd, Radnorshire he attended Christ College, Brecon alongside his friend Theophilus Jones. He was the curate of Olveston, Gloucestershire and was made rector of Bishopston, Gower, in 1805. Davies wrote a number of collections of poetry and plays but it was his works on myth and history which were most successful. Davies' historical works influential in their time and later are wildly inaccurate and speculative by modern standards. He was not fluent in Welsh and used unreliable sources and guesswork in his attempt to make Celtic myth correspond with Biblical history but Davies was not guilty of deliberate forgery unlike his contemporary Iolo Morganwg. Indeed Davies was one of the few at the time who was suspicious of some of Iolo's work which led to a literary feud between them. Davies like most of his contemporaries fell for a number of Iolo's frauds which further undermine the reliability of his work, he did however publish a discourse on the authenticity of Ossian in 1825. One keen reader of Davies's books who was interested in his theories was William Blake. Davies’ status in his day is seen by the fact he was one the first ten writers to be selected by the new Royal Society of Literature to be awarded the honour of Companion of Literature in 1823.