Tan yn ddiweddar, Ann Griffiths oedd yr unig fardd benywaidd a welid mewn canonau llenyddol Cymraeg. Nid yw’n syndod felly i Richard Wyn Jones ddweud ei fod yn lled gyfarwydd â hi wrth i ni ddechrau trafod yr emynyddes enwog yn y bennod hon. Ond mae Richard yn dysgu’n fuan fod agweddau syfrdanol ar hanes y brydyddes ryfeddol hon nad oedd yn gwybod amdanynt – gan gynnwys hanes ei henw!

Trafodwn gyd-destun cyfansoddi barddoniaeth ysbrydol Ann a holi a yw’n bosibl awgymru’i bod yn ‘gyfrinydd’? Rydym ni’n ystyried y wedd ‘nwydus’ ar ei gwaith y mae rhai darllenwyr wedi’i synhwyro hefyd. Ac wrth olrhain hanes cyfansoddi, trosglwyddo a chyhoeddi’i gwaith hi, mae Jerry yn gofyn cwestiwn pryfoclyd: a yw’n iawn i bobl ganu, darllen ac astudio emynau Ann Griffiths heddiw gan ei bod hi wedi dweud nad oedd am i neb ‘eu cael nhw’ ar ôl iddi farw?

*

Until recently, Ann Griffiths was the only female poet seen in Welsh literary canons. It is therefore no surprise that he’s fairly familiar with her as we begin to discuss the famous hymnist in this episode. But Richard soon learns that there are surprising things about the history of this amazing poet which he didn’t know previously – including the history of her name!

We discuss the context in which Ann’s spiritual poetry was composed and ask if it’s possible to suggest that she was a ‘mystic’? We also consider the ‘passionate’ aspect which some readers have senses in her work. And while tracing the history of the composition, transmission and publishing of Ann’s work, Jerry asks a provocative question: is it right for people to sing, read and study the hymns of Ann Griffiths today seeing as she herself said that she didn’t want anybody ‘to have them’ after her death?

Cyflwynwyd gan: Yr Athro Jerry Hunter a'r Athro Richard Wyn Jones

Cynhyrchwyd gan: Richard Martin ar gyfer Mimosa Cymru

Cerddoriaeth: 'Might Have Done' gan The Molenes

Darllen Pellach/Further Reading:

- E. Wyn James, Gwefan Ann Griffiths (Prifysgol Caerdydd): https://www.anngriffiths.cardiff.ac.uk/cynnwys.html

Edrychwn yn y bennod hon ar un o gymeriadau mwyaf enigmatig y traddodiad llenyddol Cymraeg (ac efallai un o gymeriadau mwyaf enigmatig hanes Cymru yn gyffredinol), sef Edward Williams neu Iolo Morganwg (1747-1826).

Ystyriwn ei radicaliaeth wleidyddol gan ei chysylltu â rhai o’i gerddi gwreiddiol. Talwn deyrnged i’w gyfraniadau diwylliannol a’i allu ysgolheigiaidd. Ond, wrth gwrs, mae’n rhaid i ni oedi a thrafod ei ffugiadau hefyd. Mae llu o gwestiynau gwefreiddiol yn codi. Ai siop Iolo oedd siop fasnach deg gyntaf Cymru? Pam aeth ati i ffugio cymaint o bethau? I ba raddau yr oedd yn ffigiwr cwbl unigryw ac i ba raddau y gellir ei gysylltu â mudiad Rhamantaidd ehangach? Trafodwn ei ymwneud â Chymdeithas y Gwyneddigion hefyd a chawn gyfle i sôn ychydig am un o’i gydnabod, Morgan John Rhys.

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Bard of Liberty and Arch-Forger: Iolo Morganwg

In this episode we look at one of the most enigmatic characters of the Welsh literary tradtion (and perhaps one of the most enigmatic characters of all of Welsh history), Edward Williams or Iolo Morganwg (1747-1826).

We consider his political radicalism and connect it to some of his original poems. We pay tribute to his cultural contributions and his scholarly ability. But, of course, we have to linger over his forgeries as well. A host of tantalizing questions emerges. Was Iolo’s shop the first fair trade shop in Wales? Why did he devote himself to forging so many things? To what extent was he a completely unigue figure and to what extent can we connect him to a broader Romantic movement? We also discuss his connection with the Gwyneddigion Society and we take an opportunity to mention one of his associates, Morgan John Rhys.

Cyflwynwyd gan: Yr Athro Jerry Hunter a'r Athro Richard Wyn Jones

Cynhyrchwyd gan: Richard Martin ar gyfer Mimosa Cymru

Cerddoriaeth: 'Might Have Done' gan The Molenes

Darllen Pellach/Further Reading:

- G. J. Williams, Iolo Morganwg (1956).

- Ceri Lewis, Iolo Morganwg (1995).

- Geraint Jenkins, A rattleskull genius: the many faces of Iolo Morganwg (2005).

- Mary-Ann Constantine, The truth against the world: Iolo Morganwg and Romantic forgery (2007).

- Marin Löffler, The literary and historical legacy of Iolo Morganwg, 1826-1926 (2007).

- Geraint Jenkins, Bard of Liberty: the political radicalism of Iolo Morganwg (2012).

- Prys Morgan, ‘From a Death to a View: The Hunt for the Welsh Past in the Romantic Period’, yn Eric Hobsbawn a Terence Ranger (goln.), The Invention of Tradition (1983).

Cawn hwyl yn y bennod hon wrth drafod John Jones (1766-1821), cymeriad amryddawn a adwaenir yn well heddiw fel Jac Glan-y-Gors. Yn wreiddiol o Gerrigydrudion, sir Ddinbych, treuliodd Jac y rhan fwyaf o’i oes yn Llundain. Aeth yn rheolwr ac efallai’n berchennog ar sawl tafarn yn y ddinas ac roedd yn chwarae rhan amlwg mewn dwy o gymdeithasau Cymreig Llundain – y Gwyneddigion a’r Cymreigyddion.

Roedd Jac Glan-y-Gors yn fardd dychanol penigamp a defnyddiodd ei ddawn i ymosod ar ragrith o wahanol fathau. Mae ‘Cerdd Dic Siôn Dafydd’ yn dychanu’r Cymry hynny sy’n cefnu ar yr iaith Gymraeg ac yn cogio’u bod yn Saeson; mae’r ffaith bod yr ymadrodd yn cael ei ddefnyddio hyd heddiw yn tystio i lwyddiant dychan Jac. Ac yntau’n coleddu gwerthoedd radicalaidd oes y chwyldro, cyhoeddodd Jac bamffledi Cymraeg sy’n cynnwys syniadau Tom Paine, Seren Tan Gwmwl a Toriad y Dydd ac mae’n debyg iddo gael ei erlid gan yr awdurdodau o’r herwydd.

***

In this episode we have fun discussing John Jones (1766-1821), a multi-faceted character who is better known today as Jac Glan-y-Gors. Originally from Cerrigydrudion, Denbighshire, Jac spent most of his life in London. He became the manager and perhaps the owner of several pubs in the city and he played a big part in two of London’s Welsh societies – the Gwyneddigion and the Cymreigyddion.

Jac Glan-y-Gors was a masterful satirical poet and he used his talent to attack various kinds of hypocrisy. His poem on ‘Dic Siôn Dafydd’ satirizes those Welsh people who turn their backs on the Welsh language and pretend that they’re English; the fact that the phrase Dic Siôn Dafydd is still used in Welsh today to describe such a Welshman testifies as to the success of Jac’s satire. Embracing the radical values of the age of revolution, Jac published Welsh-language pamphlets which contain the ideas of Tom Paine, Seren Tan Gwmwl and Toriad y Dydd, and it’s likely that he was persecuted by the authorities because of it.

Cyflwynwyd gan: Yr Athro Jerry Hunter a'r Athro Richard Wyn Jones

Cynhyrchwyd gan: Richard Martin ar gyfer Mimosa Cymru

Cerddoriaeth: 'Might Have Done' gan The Molenes

Darllen Pellach/Further Reading:

- E. G. Millward, Cerddi Jac Glan-y-Gors (2003).

- Gellir darllen Seren Tan Gwmwl a Toriad y Dydd ar wefan Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru:

https://viewer.library.wales/4789818#?xywh=-3760%2C-966%2C9796%2C5459

https://viewer.library.wales/4789875#?xywh=-3895%2C-985%2C10285%2C5732

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.

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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).

Mae crybwyll y cysylltiadau rhwng Angharad James a Marged Dafydd yn fodd i ni ystyried y ffaith mai dim ond yn ystod y degawdau diwethaf y mae’r byd academaidd Cymraeg wedi dechrau rhoi’r sylw dyledus i farddoniaeth Gymraeg gan ferched.

Canolbwyntiwn wedyn ar waith Angharad James (1677- 1749), Cymraes amryddawn o Ddyffryn Nantlle a enillodd enw iddi’i hun fel telynores, bardd a chopïydd llawysgrifau. Cawn ein swyno gan y cynhesrwydd a’r diffuantrwydd sy’n nodweddu’i barddoniaeth hi, ac wrth ddarllen cerdd sy’n gofyn i gyfeilles ymweld â hi awgrymwn ei bod yn apelio’n fwy atom na chywydd ar yr un thema gan ei chyfoeswr enwog, Goronwy Owen. Ar ôl bwrw golwg ar gerdd hwyliog am briodas craffwn yn fanwl ar y farwnad deimladwy a gyfansoddodd yn sgil marwolaeth ei mab. Ond beth am ddirgelwch ‘Llyfr Coch Angharad James’?

***

Mentioning the connections between Angharad James and Marged Dafydd allows us to consider the fact that it is only during the past decades that Welsh academia has started giving women’s poetry the attention it deserves.

We concentrate then on the work of Angharad James (1677- 1749), a multitalented Welsh woman from the Nantlle Valley who earned a reputation as a harpist, a poet and a manuscript copyist. We are charmed by the warmth and sincerity which characterizes her poetry, and while reading a poem asking a female friend to come and stay with her we suggest that it appeals to us more than a cywydd on a similar theme by her famous contemporary, Goronwy Owen. After glancing at a lively poem about marriage, we examine the emotional elegy which she composed following the death of her son. But what about the mystery of ‘The Red Book of Angharad James’?

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).

- Pennod 27 Yr Hen Iaith [Gwerful Mechain].

- Pennod 38 Yr Hen Iaith [Alis ferch Gruffudd].

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.

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‘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).

Caiff Richard Wyn Jones ragor o hanes llenyddol ei fro enedigol yn y bennod hon wrth i ni drafod Goronwy Owen, bardd enwocaf Ynys Môn. Awgrymwn fod delfrydau llenyddol cylch y Morrisiaid i’w gweld ar eu mwyaf eglur ym marddoniaeth ‘Goronwy Ddu’, gan fod ei feistrolaeth ar y mesurau caeth wedi gwireddu i raddaeth health yr awydd i ailafael yn safonau’r beirdd Cymraeg canoloesol.

Ac wrth esbonio’r estheteg sy’n gyrru llawer iawn o’i waith, cynigiwn ddiffiniad o ‘Awgwstaniaeth’ (gyda golwg ar y llyfr a gyhoeddwyd gan Saunders Lewis yn 1924). Gwrthgyferbynnwn y cerddi cain a gyfansoddwyd ganddo sy’n mynegi’i hiraeth am Ynys Môn â’r ffaith na ddychwelodd i Gymru ar ôl iddo ymadael, gan yn gyntaf ddilyn gyrfa eglwysig yn Lloegr a diweddu’i oes yn America fel perchennog planhigyfa dybaco a phedwar o gaethweision. Trafodwn hefyd y dylanwad a gâi ei farddoniaeth ar fudiad eisteddfodol y ganrif ddilynol.

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Hiraeth for Anglesey: Goronwy Owen

Richard Wyn Jones receives more of his native region’s literary history in this episode as we discuss, Goronwy Owen, Anglesey’s most famous poet. We suggest that the literary ideals of the Morris circle are seen most clearly in the poetry of ‘Dark-haired Goronwy’, for his mastery of the strict metres realized to a great extent the desire to bring back the stands of the medieval Welsh bards.

And as we explain the aesthetics driving much of his work, we offer a definition of ‘Augustanism’ (with an eye to the book which Saunders Lewis published in 1924). We contrast the finely-crafted poems expressing his hiraeth or longing for Anglesey with the fact that he never returned to Wales after leaving, first to follow a career in the Church in England and ending his life in America as the owner of a tobacco plantation and four slaves. We also discuss the influence which his poetry would have on the eisteddfod movement of the following century.

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)

- Branwen Jarvis, Goronwy Owen [:] Writers of Wales (Caerdydd, 1986)

- Alan Llwyd, Goronwy Ddiafael, Goronwy Ddu [:] Cofiant Goronwy Owen 1723-1769 (Llandybïe, 1997).

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)

Yn bell o fod yn unffurf, roedd llenyddiaeth Gymraeg y ddeunawfed ganrif yn faes ymrafael. Rydym ni’n archwilio’r canfyddiad hwnnw yn y bennod hon wrth gloi ein trafodaeth estynedig ar yr anterliwt a’i chyd-destun(au). A ninnau wedi ystyried ymosodiadau’r diwygwyr crefyddol ar y diwylliant traddodiadol hwn mewn pennod gynharach, dyma gyfle i weld yr anterliwtwyr yn taro’n ôl.

Craffwn ar ddwy anterliwt sy’n llwyfannu’r ymrafael crefyddol ac ideolegol hwn, Protestant a Neilltuwr gan Huw Jones o Langwm a Ffrewyll y Methodistiaid gan William Roberts, Llannor. Gwelwn ffyliaid y dramâu hyn yn lladd ar y Methodistiaid yn y modd mwyaf anllad a thrafodwn y ddeuoliaeth ddiddorol sy’n nodweddu’r testunau hyn. Ond wrth nodi bod yr anterliwtiau hyn yn hyrwyddo ideoleg eglwyswyr ceidwadol, sylwn hefyd fod rhai oddi mewn i’r gymuned honno yn poeni am natur y traddodiad.

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The Fool and the Preacher: The Anterliwt (part 4)

Far from being uniform, Welsh-language literature of the eighteenth century was a contested field. We examine that realization in this episode as we conclude our extended discussion of the anterliwt and its context(s). As we have considered the attacks by religious reformers on this traditional culture in an earlier episode, here’s an opportunity to see the composers of anterliwtiau strike back.

We look at two anterliwtiau which stage this religious and ideological struggle, Protestant a Neilltuwr [Protestant (or ‘Anglican’) and Nonconformist] by Huw Jones of Llangwm and Ffrewyll y Methodistiaid [‘The Methodists’ Whip’] by William Roberts, Llannor. We see the fools of these plays belittling the Methodists in the bawdiest of ways and we discuss the interesting dualism which characterises these texts. But as we note that these anterliwtiau promote the ideology of conservative Anglicans, we also observe that some within that community worried about the nature of the 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:

- A. Cynfael Lake (gol), Huw Jones o Langwm (Caernarfon: Gwasg Pantycleyn, 2009).

- A Cynfael Lake (gol.), Ffrewyll y Methodistiaid William Roberts (Caerdydd: Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, 1998)

- 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).

- Jerry Hunter, Safana (Talybont: Y Lolfa, 2021).

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.

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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).