Yr Hen Iaith

Cawn gyfle yn y bennod hon i ystyried dwy wedd ar yrfa lenyddol Marged Dafydd. Yn enedigol o’r Coetgae-du ym mhlwyf Trawsfynydd, cafodd fywyd hir a chysegrodd lawer iawn o’i hamser i ddiogelu ac astudio barddoniaeth Gymraeg. Creodd nifer o lawysgrifau swmpus sy’n dangos ôl meddwl ysgolheigiaidd, a diolch iddi hi mae rhai cerddi Cymraeg gan ferched eraill wedi goroesi. Roedd hefyd yn fardd yn ei hawl ei hun. Gan fod tystiolaeth bod ei mam a’i modryb yn barddoni hefyd, gellid dweud ei bod yn perthyn i linach o feirdd benywaidd. Roedd hefyd yn perthyn i rwydweithiau ehangach o feirdd, ac roedd yn cael ei chydnabod fel cryn awdurdod ac fel athrawes farddol. Trafodwn rychwant o’i cherddi, gan gynnwys englyn hwyliog sy’n talu teyrnged i grythor a cherdd grefyddol ddwys sy’n dangos ei bod yn Gristion o argyhoeddiad ac yn realydd a allai grisialu hanfod y natur ddynol. *** Marged Dafydd (c.1700-c.1785) In this episode we consider two aspects of Marged Dafydd’s literary career. From Y Coetgae-du, Trawsfynydd, she lived a long life and devoted a great amount of her time to preserving and studying Welsh poetry. She created a number of substantial manuscripts which display the workings of a scholarly mind, and it is thanks to her that some Welsh poems by women have survived. She was also a poet in her in own right. As there is evidence that her mother and her aunt composed verse as well, one could say that she belonged to a lineage of female poets. Marged Dafydd also took part in wider networks of poets, and she was recognized as somewhat of an authority and as a bardic teacher. We discuss a range of her poems, included a lively englyn to a crowther and a serious religious poem which shows that she was a Christian of conviction and a realist when it came to crystalizing the essence of human nature. Cyflwynwyd gan: Yr Athro Jerry Hunter a'r Athro Richard Wyn Jones Cynhyrchwyd gan: Richard Martin i Cwmni Mimosa Cymru Cerddoriaeth: 'Might Have Done' gan The Molenes Darllen Pellach/Further Reading: - Cathryn Charnell-White (gol), Beirdd Ceridwen: Blodeugerdd Barddas o Ganu Menywod hyd tua 1800 (2005). - Katie Gramich a Catherine Brennan (goln.), Welsh Women’s Poetry 1460-2001 (2003).

Bydd dilynwyr Yr Hen Iaith yn gyfarwydd iawn â’r modd y mae Richard Wyn Jones yn agor pob pennod trwy sôn am ‘hogyn o Ohio’ sy’n dysgu ‘hogyn o sir Fôn’ am hanes llenyddiaeth ei iaith ei hun. Dyma bennod a recordiwyd yn Ohio, a hynny o flaen cynulleidfa fyw fel rhan o gynhadledd NAASWCH eleni. Gan ein bod ni wedi gorffen y bennod ddiwethaf trwy sôn am ddiwedd oes Goronwy Owen yn Virginia, ailgydiwn yn y stori honno a thrafod yr unig gerdd a gyfansoddwyd gan y bardd enwog o Fôn yn America sydd wedi goroesi. Ond yn gyntaf rydym ni’n trafod y testunau Cymraeg cynharaf a ysgrifennwyd yn America – gan ddechrau â barddoniaeth gan forwyr o Gymru a gyfansoddwyd yn y Caribî. Dyma gyfle i ddysgu ffaith ysgubol: cyhoeddwyd llyfr Cymraeg yng Ngolgedd America dros hanner canrif cyn genedigaeth y wlad newydd honno, yr Unol Daleithiau. Nodwn hefyd nad ffaith yw’r chwedl boblogaidd am y Tywysog Madog, gan wybod yn iawn y bydd y datganiad yn siom i rai pobl. *** ‘A Country of forests and wild hills’: The Beginnings of Welsh-language American Literature Followers of Yr Hen Iaith will be very familiar with the way Richard Wyn Jones opens each episode by saying that ‘a lad from Ohio’ is teaching ‘a lad from Anglesey’ about the literature of his own Language. Here’s an episode that was recorded in Ohio, in front of a live audience as part of this year’s NAAWCH conference. Since we finished the previous episode by talking about Goronwy Owen in Virginia, we pick up that story again and discuss the only poem which the famous poet from Anglesey composed in America which has survived. But first we discuss the earliest Welsh-language texts written in America – beginning with poetry by sailors from Wales composed in the Caribbean. Here’s an opportunity to learn an astounding fact: a Welsh-language book was published in North America more than half a century before the birth of that new Country, the United States! We also note that the popular legend about Prince Madog is not true, acknowledging that this ‘myth-busting’ will be a disappointment to some people. Cyflwynwyd gan: Yr Athro Jerry Hunter a'r Athro Richard Wyn Jones Cynhyrchwyd gan Richard Martin i Cwmni Mimosa Cymru Cerddoriaeth: 'Might Have Done' gan The Molenes Darllen Pellach/Further Reading: - Er mwyn dysgu am NAASWCH: https://www.naaswch.wales/saesneg-home - Ellis Pugh, Annerich i’r Cymry (Philadelphia, 1721): https://www.library.wales/discover-learn/digital-exhibitions/europeana-rise-of-literacy/expatriate-literature/annerch-ir-cymry-iw-galw-oddiwrth-y-llawer-o-bethau-at-yr-un-peth-angenrheidiol-er-mwyn-cadwedigaeth-eu-heneidiau . - Jerry Hunter, ‘Y Gymraeg y tu allan i Gymru: Cipolwg ar Lenyddiaeth Gymraeg yr Unol Daleithiau, 1838-65’, yn Angharad Naylor, Llion Pryderi Roberts a Dylan Foster Evans (goln.), Beth yw’r Gymraeg? (Caerdydd, 2023): https://www.uwp.co.uk/app/uploads/9781786839503_WEB-1.pdf . - Gwyn Alf Williams, Madoc: The Making of a Myth (Rhydychen, 1987) - Pennod 4: ‘Yr Indiaid Cymreig: Y Cyfaill o’r Hen Wlad a Llên y Madogwys’ yn Jerry Hunter, Llwybrau Cenhedloedd [:] Cyd-destunoli’r Genhadaeth Gymreig i’r Tsalagi (Caerdydd, 2012). - Jerry Hunter, ‘Myth and Historiography: One Hundred and Sixty Years of Madog and the Madogwys’, yn Kristin A. Cook a Robert Lawson-Peebels (goln.), Writing the Americas, 1480-1826 (rhifyn arbennig: Yearbook of English Studies, 2016).

Ac yntau’n hogyn o sir Fôn, mae Richard Wyn Jones yn ebychu ar ddechrau’r bennod hon na chlywodd ‘un sill’ am y brodyr llengar hyn o’r Ynys pan oedd yn yr ysgol. Dyma gyfle felly i unioni’r cam wrth i ni drafod y pedwar brawd o Bentrerianell, Llanfihangel Tre’r Beirdd. Yn ogystal â Lewis, Richard, William a Siôn Morris, nodwn fod cylch ehangach y Morrisiaid yn cynnwys cymeriadau fel Evan Evans (Ieuan Fardd) a Goronwy Owen. Pwysleisiwn fod gan y Morrisiaid rychwant eang iawn o ddiddordebau, gan gynnwys y gwyddonol yn ogystal â’r llenyddol. Ac yn ogystal ag astudio hen lenyddiaeth eu gwlad, roedd rhai ohonynt yn ysgrifennu rhyddiaith a barddoniaeth wreiddiol. Edrychwn yn benodol ar gwpl o gerddi Lewis Morris wrth i ni drafod y modd yr aeth ati i ailwampio agweddau ar yr hen draddodiad barddol Cymraeg a gwneud cyfoeth yr hen oesau yn berthnasol mewn oes newydd. Cawn gyfle i ystyried ychydig o’i ryddiaith hefyd, sy’n fodd i werthfawrogi ymhellach ei hiwmor dychanol miniog. Rhaid picio draw i Lundain hefyd wrth egluro bod rhai o’r Morisiaid yn ei chanol hi pan sefydlodd y gymdeithas Gymreig ddylanwadol honno, y Cymmrodorion. ** The Morris Brothers of Anglesey Seeing as he’s from Anglesey, Richard Wyn Jones exclaims at the start of this episode that he didn’t hear so much as ‘a single syllable’ about these literary-minded Brothers from the Island when he was in school. This is an opportunity to correct that lack, as we discuss the four brothers from Pentrerianell, in the parish of Llanfihangel Tre’r Beirdd. In addition to Lewis, Richard, William and Siôn Morris, we note that the wider circle of the Morrises included characters like Evan Evans (Ieuan Fardd) and Goronwy Owen. We emphasize that the Morris brothers had a wide range of interests, including the scientific as well as the literary. And in addition to studying the old literature of their country, some of them wrote original prose and poetry. We look specifically at a few poems by Lewis Morris as we discuss how he went at it to rework aspects of the old Welsh bardic tradition and make the wealth of the old ages relevant in a new age. We also get an opportunity to consider a little of his prose, which helps us appreciate his sharp satirical humour even more. We also have to pop over to London as we explain that some of the Morris brothers were in the thick of it when that influential society, the Cymmrodorion, was founded. Cyflwynwyd gan: Yr Athro Jerry Hunter a'r Athro Richard Wyn Jones Cynhyrchwyd gan Richard Martin i Cwmni Mimosa Cymru Cerddoriaeth: 'Might Have Done' gan The Molenes Darllen Pellach/Further Reading: - Saunders Lewis, A School of Welsh Augustans (Wrecsam, 1924) - Alun R. Jones, Dawn Dweud: Lewis Morris (Caerdydd, 2004) - John H. Davies (gol.), The letters of Lewis, Richard, William, and John Morris, of Anglesey (Morrisiaid Môn), 1728-1765, dwy gyfrol (Aberystwyth, 1907-09)

Cewch gyfle yn y bennod hon i gyfarfod â Gwagsaw, Syr Caswir, Ffowcyn Gnuchlyd a rhai o ffyliaid eraill yr anterliwtiau. Wrth graffu ar rôl y ffŵl, nodwn fod ganddo nifer o swyddogaethau mewn anterliwt draddodiadol. Yn gyntaf, mae’n agor y chwarae â’i gastiau doniol a’i eiriau dychanol er mwyn ceisio denu cynulleidfa. Awn ati’n fwy athronyddol i awgrymu y gellid gweld gwaith y ffŵl ar ddechrau anterliwt yn nhermau troi torf afreolus gwylmabsant, marchnad neu ffair yn gynulleidfa sy’n fodlon aros yn eu hunfan a gwylio drama am ddwy neu dair awr. Ond os yw’n gorfodi trefn weithiau, mae’r ffŵl yn chwalu trefn hefyd, gan droi byd y cybydd â’i ben i waered. Wrth ystyried Hanes y Capten Ffactor gan Huw Jones o Langwm, sylwn fod y ffŵl Gwagsaw yn chwalu ffiniau’i stori a’i anterliwt ei hun, a gwelwn hon fel enghraifft o’r modd y gallai’r anterliwtwyr weithio’n greadigol oddi mewn i ffiniau’r traddodiad. * A Fool without Bounds: The Anterliwt (part 3) In this episode you’ll get an opportunity to meet Gwagsaw [‘Frivolous One’], Syr Caswir [‘Sir Harsh Truth’], Ffowcyn Gnuchlyd [‘Fucking Foulke’] and other fools from the anterliwtiau. As we examine the role of the fool, we note that he has many functions in a traditional anterliwt. First of all, he begins the play with his funny capers and his satirical words in order to attract an audience. We go on in a more philosophical vein and suggest that one could view the fool’s job at the start of an anterliwt in terms of turning the unruly crowd at a gwylmabsant, market or fair into an audience willing to stay put and watch a play for two or three hours. But if he compels order at times, the fool also destroys order, turning the miser’s world upside down. While considered ‘The History of Captain Ffactor’ by Huw Jones of Llangwm, we observe how the fool Gwagsaw destroys the boundaries of his own story and his own play, and we see this as an example of how the anterliwt-composers could work creatively within the boundaries of tradition. Cyflwynwyd gan: Yr Athro Jerry Hunter a'r Athro Richard Wyn Jones Cynhyrchwyd gan Richard Martin i Cwmni Mimosa Cymru Cerddoriaeth: 'Might Have Done' gan The Molenes Darllen Pellach/Further Reading: - G.G. Evans, ‘Yr Anterliwt Gymraeg’, Llên Cymru, cyf. 1, rhifyn 2 (Gorffennaf 1950). - G. G. Evans, ‘Yr Anterliwt Gymraeg [:] II’, Llên Cymru Cyfrol II (Gorffennaf 1953). - Dafydd Glyn Jones, ‘The Interludes’, yn Branwen Jarvis (gol.), A guide to Welsh literature c.1700-1800 (Caerdydd: Gwasg Prifsygol Cymru, 2000). - Jerry Hunter, Llywodraeth y Ffŵl: Gwylmabsant, Anterliwt a Chymundeb y Testun, llyfr sydd yn y wasg ar hyn o bryd (Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru).

Dyma’r gyntaf mewn cyfres o benodau sy’n archwilio gwahanol agweddau ar draddodiad yr anterliwt. Mae Jerry Hunter newydd orffen ysgrifennu llyfr am y pwnc ac “yn llosgi am y stwff `ma”, chwedl ei gyd-gyflwynydd, ac erbyn diwedd y bennod hon mae Richard Wyn Jones yntau’n “ysgwyd ei gynffon” gyda chyffro. Awn ati i ddiffinio’r anterliwt yn fras, gan egluro’i bod hi’n ddrama fydryddol gyda cherddoriaeth, canu, dawnsio a chwffio slap-stic yn greiddiol i berfformiadau a oedd yn debygol o barhau am ddwy neu dair awr. Pwysleisiwn fod agweddau traddodiadol iawn ar y testunau anterliwt niferus sydd wedi goroesi yn ogystal â’r straeon gwreiddiol a ddewiswyd gan y beirdd a’u lluniodd. Gan ystyried yr hiwmor masweddus sy’n ganolog i’r rhan fwyaf ohonynt, cyfeiriwn at ymosodiadau’r diwygwyr crefyddol ar yr anterliwt a’r wylmabsant a oedd yn gyd-destun ar gyfer y fath sioe. * * Dirty Jokes and Moral Lessons: The Anterliwt (part 1) This is the first in a series of episodes which examine various aspects of the anterliwt tradition. Jerry Hunter has just finished writing a book about the subject and “is on fire to discuss this stuff”, as his co-presented says, and by the end of this episode Richard Wyn Jones is “shaking his tail” with excitement as well. We provide a basic definition of the anterliwt, explaining that it was a metrical play with music, singing, dancing and slap-stick fighting central to performances which likely lasted for two or three hours. We stress that the numerous anterliwt texts which have survived are characterized by very traditional aspects as well as the original stories chosen by the poets who fashioned them. While considering the bawdy humour which is central to most of them, we refer to the attacks of the religious reformers on the anterliwt and the gwylmabsant festival which provided a context for this kind of show. Cyflwynwyd gan: Yr Athro Jerry Hunter a'r Athro Richard Wyn Jones Cynhyrchwyd gan: Richard Martin Cerddoriaeth: 'Might Have Done' gan The Molenes Darllen Pellach/Further Reading: - E. G. Evans, ‘Er Mwyniant i’r Cwmpeini Mwynion’ [:] Sylwadau ar yr Anterliwtiau’, Taliesin 51 (1985), 31-43. - G. G. Evans, Elis y Cowper (Caernarfon: Gwasg Pantycelyn, 1995) - A. Cynfael Lake, Huw Jones o Langwm (Caernarfon: Gwasg Pantycleyn, 2009). - Dafydd Glyn Jones, ‘The Interludes’, yn Branwen Jarvis (gol.), A guide to Welsh literature c.1700-1800 (Caerdydd: Gwasg Prifsygol Cymru, 2000), 210-55. - Anterliwtiau Huw Jones o Langwm, wedi’u golygu gan A. Cynfael Lake, ar wefan Prifysgol Abertawe: baledihuwjones.swan.ac.uk.

Mae’r penodau diwethaf wedi canolbwyntio ar y Diwygiad Methodistiaidd a’r hyn a enillwyd yn sgil y trawsffurfiad crefyddol, cymdeithasol a llenyddol hwnnw, gan edrych yn benodol ar waith William Williams, Pantycelyn. Edrychwn yn y bennod hon ar yr hyn a gollwyd wrth i Ymneilltuaeth Gymreig wthio rhai agweddau traddodiadol ar ddiwylliant a llenyddiaeth Cymru i’r cysgodion. Awgrymwn y dylid ystyried llwyddiant yr emyn Methodistaidd ochr yn ochr â hen fathau o ganu crefyddol Cymraeg a nychodd oherwydd y llwyddiant hwnnw, gan gynnwys y canu plygain a’r halsing. I’r perwyl hwnnw, darllenwn ychydig o garol Nadolig hir gan Edward Samuel, bardd o Benmorfa, sir Gaernarfon, a fu farw yn 1748. Caiff yr wylmabsant sylw gennym wedyn, sef math o ŵyl gymunedol leol a oedd yn gyd-destun ar gyfer pob math o arferion gwerin a pherfformiadau diwylliannol, traddodiad yr aeth pregethwyr ymneilltuol ati’n egnïol i’w ladd. * * * The Other Side of the Coin Recent episodes have concentrated on the Methodist Revival and the things which Wales won because of that religious, cultural and literary transformation, looking specifically at the work of the William Williams, Pantycelyn. In this episode we look at that which was lost as Welsh Nonconformism pushed some traditional features of the culture and literature of Wales into the shadows. We suggest that the success of the Methodist hymn should be considered side by side with old types of Welsh religious song which languished because of that success, including the plygain song and the halsing. To that end, we read some of a long Christmas carol by Edward Samuel, a poet from Penmorfa, Caernarfonshire, who died in 1748. The gwylmabsant comes under consideration then, a type of local community festival which was the context for all kinds of folk customs and cultural performances, a tradition which nonconformist preachers attempted energetically to kill. Cyflwynwyd gan: Yr Athro Jerry Hunter a'r Athro Richard Wyn Jones Cynhyrchwyd gan: Richard Martin Cerddoriaeth: 'Might Have Done' gan The Molenes Darllen Pellach/Further Reading: - Geraint Jenkins, Hanes Cymru yn y Cyfnod Modern Cynnar 1530-1760 (Caerdydd, 1983). - E. G. (gol.), Blodeugerdd Barddas o Gerddi Rhydd y Ddeunawfed Ganrif (Llandybïe, 1991).

Ymdreiddiwn ychydig yn ddyfnach i emynau Pantycelyn yn y bennod hon, gan ganolbwyntio ar un thema. Ar ôl trafod yr emyn poblogaidd sy’n dechrau ‘Pererin wyf mewn anial dir’, nodwn nad dyna oedd yr unig dro na’r tro cyntaf i Williams ddechrau cyfansoddiad gyda’r ddau air hyn. Ar ôl dangos y modd y bu iddo ailgylchu elfennau o’i waith ei hun trwy gydol ei yrfa lenyddol faith, awn ati i ystyried ystyr ac arwyddocâd y ‘pererin’ – fel thema, fel delwedd ac fel persona – yn ngwaith yr emynydd Methodistaidd mawr. Mae hyn yn ein harwain i drafod dylanwad John Bunyan a’i lyfr Taith y Pererin ar waith Pantycelyn ac ar emynyddiaeth Gymraeg yn gyffredinol. Ac bu’n rhaid crybwyll barn Saunders Lewis am Williams ac am Bunyan wrth fynd heibio hefyd! ** ‘I am a Pilgrim’: Williams Pantycelyn (part 2) We dive a little deeper into Pantycelyn’s hymns in this episode, concentrating on one theme. After discussing the popular hymn beginning ‘Pererin wyf mewn anial dir’ (‘I am a pilgrim in a desert’), we note that that was neither the only time nor the first time that Williams begun a composition with these two words. After demonstrating the fact that he recycled elements of his own work throughout his long literary career, we get down to considering the meaning ans significance of the ‘pilgrim’ – as a theme, as an image and as a persona – in the work of the great Methodist hymnist. This leads us to discuss the influence of John Bunyan and his book Pilgrim’s Progress upon Pantycelyn’s work and upon Welsh hymnology in general. And we had to mention Saunders Lewis’ views on Williams and Bunyan in passing as well! Cyflwynwyd gan: Yr Athro Jerry Hunter a'r Athro Richard Wyn Jones Cynhyrchwyd gan: Richard Martin Cerddoriaeth: 'Might Have Done' gan The Molenes Darllen Pellach/Further Reading: - Derec Llwyd Morgan, Meddwl a Dychymyg Williams Pantycelyn (1991). - Kathryn Jenkins, ‘Y Llenor o Bantycelyn’, Efrydiau Athronyddol , IV (1992). - Glyn Tegai Hughes, Williams Pantycelyn [Writers of Wales], (1983).