Trafodwn yn y bennod hon y modd yr aeth Rhys Prichard (c.1579-1644), ficer Llanymddyfri, ati i ddefnyddio barddoniaeth rydd seml i ledaenu gwersi crefyddol.

Yn ogystal ag ystyried ei agenda gyffredinol, craffwn ar un gerdd sy’n dangos ei fod yn poeni’n fawr am y bywyd pechadurus a welai yn ei blwyf ei hun ac sy’n darlunio Llanymddyfri fel rhyw Sodom a Gamora. Dim ond ar ôl iddo farw y cyhoeddwyd ei waith, a hynny yng nghasgliad Cannwyll y Cymry. Byddai’r gwaith yn cael ei adargraffu’n gyson, gan sicrhau bod ‘y Ficer Prichard’ ymysg beirdd Cymraeg mwyaf adnabyddus y cyfnod cyn 1800. Ond i’n tyb ni, y peth mwyaf diddorol am y bardd hwn yw’r modd y cafodd Rhys Prichard ei wneud yn rhan o olyniaeth lenyddol y Piwritaniaid Cymraeg; o edrych o’r newydd am y dystiolaeth am fywyd a’i ddaliadau’i hun, casglwn ei fod ar y pegwn arall i’r Piwritaniaid a ymladdai yn erbyn y brenin mewn gwirionedd. Dyma felly enghraifft drawiadol o lenyddiaeth wedi’i chymryd allan o’i chyd-destun gwreiddiol a’i defnyddio at ddibenion hollol wahanol.

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Sin in Llandovery: The Vicar Prichard

In this episode we discuss the way Rhys Prichard (c.1579-1644), vicar of Llandovery, used simple free-metre poetry to spread religious lessons.

In addition to considering his general agenda, we look in detail at one poem which shows that he was very worried by the sinful life he saw in his own parish, and which depicts Llandovery as a kind of Sodom a Gomorrah. It was only after his death that his work was published as a collection under the title Cannwyll y Cymry [‘the Candle of the Welsh’]. The work would be reprinted repeatedly, ensuring that ‘the Vicar Prichard’ was among the most popular Welsh poets of the period before 1800. However, in our opinion the most interesting thing about this poet is way in which Rhys Prichard was made part of the Welsh Puritan lineage; looking anew at evidence about his life and his own beliefs, we conclude that he was actually diametrically opposed to the Puritans who fought against the king. We thus have here a striking example of literature taken out of its original political and religious context and used for completely different ends.

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:

- Siwan Non Richard, Y Ficer Prichard (1994).

- Nesta Lloyd, ‘Late Free-Meter Poetry’ yn R. Geraint Gruffydd (gol.), A guide to Welsh Literature c.1530-1700 (1997 ).