Megan Watts Hughes (1842 – 28 February 1907) was a Welsh soprano, music teacher, and folk‑song collector. Born in the village of Rhydyfelin near Pontypridd, Wales, she demonstrated musical talent from an early age and pursued a career as a professional vocalist, performing in concerts throughout the United Kingdom during the late 19th century.
In addition to her performance career, Hughes developed an interest in the traditional music of Wales. She systematically collected, transcribed, and preserved a substantial body of Welsh folk songs, many of which had previously been transmitted only orally. Her fieldwork involved traveling to rural communities, interviewing local singers, and notating melodies and lyrics in both Welsh and English. The material she gathered contributed to the burgeoning Celtic Revival movement and was utilized by contemporary scholars, including the folklorist Charles Peters and the musicologist John Parry.
Hughes' most significant publication is Welsh Folk Songs, a two‑volume collection issued between 1897 and 1902. The anthology comprises over 200 songs, accompanied by musical notation and contextual commentary that elucidates regional variations, lyrical themes, and performance practices. Her work is recognized for its methodological rigor and for providing one of the earliest comprehensive documentary records of Welsh vernacular song.
Beyond her collecting activities, Hughes taught voice and piano at several private institutions in Cardiff and later in London, influencing a generation of Welsh musicians. She was an active member of the Welsh Society of Music and an advocate for the preservation of Welsh cultural heritage. Her contributions are acknowledged in modern ethnomusicology as foundational to the study of Celtic folk traditions.
Megan Watts Hughes died in London in 1907 and was interred in the family grave at St. Mary's Cemetery, Cardiff. Posthumously, her collections have been digitized by the National Library of Wales and continue to serve as primary sources for researchers of Welsh music and folklore.