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CYFAILL Y LLYFRGELL FRIEND OF THE LIBRARY

Y ddawns yn Llsgr. LlGC 5017D, f. 6v The dance in NLW MS 5017D, f.6v llun / picture Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / National Library of Wales Gweler yr adolygiad gan Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan See the review by Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan

CYLCHLYTHYR CYFEILLION LLYFRGELL GENEDLAETHOL CYMRU NEWSLETTER OF THE FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF WALES Gaeaf 2002 Winter 35659_Cyfaill y Llyfrgell 11/11/02 1:13 pm Page 2

CYFAILL Y LLYFRGELL GAEAF 2002 WINTER FRIEND OF THE LIBRARY A REFUGE IN PEACE AND WAR: THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF WALES TO 1952 Paul O’Leary

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru, 2002, xvi+306 td., £29.95 National Library of Wales, 2002, xvi+306 pp., £29.95 (£19.98 i Gyfeillion Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), ISBN (£19.98 to Friends of the National Library of Wales),ISBN 1-86225-034-0 1-86225-034-0

Dywedodd yr hanesydd The historian of Indian gwyddoniaeth Indiaidd science, Deepak Kumar, Deepak Kumar wrthyf ryw once told me that the view dro fod yr olygfa o risiau from the steps of the Llyfrgell Genedlaethol National Library of Wales Cymru yn well nag eiddo was superior to that of any unrhyw lyfrgell yr oedd library he had visited in wedi ymweld â hi yng North America, the British Ngogledd America, yr Isles, or on the Indian sub- Ynysoedd Prydeinig, nac ar continent. This inter- yr isgyfandir Indiaidd. Mae’r national perspective is persbectif rhyngwladol hwn indicative of a wider yn mynegi amgyffrediad perception.Viewed from its ehangach. O’i weld o’i bentir yn edrych dros Fae promontory overlooking Ceredigion, soletrwydd y Cardigan Bay, it is the sefydliad yw’r peth mwyaf solidity of the institution trawiadol: mae’r Llyfrgell that is most striking: the Genedlaethol â golwg National Library exudes an parhauster sy’n cuddio ei air of permanence that hanes byr. I’r rhai ohonom belies its short history. To sydd wedi bod yn aelodau those of use who have been o’r staff a’i defnyddio fel members of the staff and darllenwyr, mae’r Llyfrgell used it as readers, the yn teimlo fel petai hi wedi Library simply feels as bod yno erioed. Mae hyn yn though it has always been rhannol oherwydd solet- there. This is partly a rwydd gweledol yr adeilad, consequence of the visual gyda’i bensaernïaeth glasur- Baeau’r Llawysgrifau / Manuscript Bays solidity of the building, with ol, ac yn rhannol oherwydd its classical architecture, and cyfoeth ei chasgliadau, sy’n ffoto/photo Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / National Library partly because of the wealth of Wales caniatáu i ysgolheigion of its collections, which ddogfennu llawer o allow scholars to document ganrifoedd o hanes a many centuries of Welsh diwylliant Cymru. Sut bynnag, fel y mae’r hanes caboledig history and culture. However, as this polished account of the hwn o’r ymgyrch i sefydlu llyfrgell genedlaethol a helyntion campaign to establish a national library and the vicissitudes blynyddoedd cynnar y sefydliad yn dangos yn eglur, gallai of the institution’s early years makes clear, it could easily yn hawdd fod wedi bod yn lle gwahanol iawn i’r lle rydym have become a very different place to that we know so well yn ei adnabod mor dda heddiw.Yn wreiddiol, roedd nifer o today. Originally, there were a number of divergent and syniadau gwahanol a chroestynnol ynglyˆn â beth ddylai conflicting ideas of what a national library should be, as well llyfrgell genedlaethol fod, yn ogystal â’r cynnwrf cyhoeddus as the inevitable public brouhaha about where it should be anochel ynglyˆn â lle y dylai gael ei lleoli. Meddyliai rhai am located. Some conceived of a narrowly defined specialist lyfrgell arbenigol wedi ei diffinio’n gyfyng a fyddai yn cael library attached to one of the constituent colleges of the ei chysylltu ag un o sefydliadau cyfansoddiadol Prifysgol University of Wales, while others embraced a wider and Cymru, tra cofleidiai eraill weledigaeth ehangach a mwy uchelgeisiol o sefydliad a fyddai’n cystadlu â llyfrgelloedd more ambitious vision of an institution to rival the other mawr eraill yr Ynysoedd Prydeinig. Drwy drugaredd, y great libraries of the British Isles. Fortunately, the latter weledigaeth olaf a orfu. vision prevailed. Mae David Jenkins yn peri i’r dramatis personae a gymerai David Jenkins brings to life vividly the dramatis personae ran yn yr ymgyrch dros y Llyfrgell ddod yn fyw o flaen ein involved in the campaign for the Library. Sir John Williams, llygaid. Mae’n debyg bod Syr John Williams, y noddwr the wealthy and remarkably benevolent patron, apparently

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cyfoethog a haelfrydig eithriadol, wedi dechrau ymddiddori became interested in old books and manuscripts by chance; mewn hen lyfrau a llawysgrifau drwy hap a damwain; ni all there can be few more providential accidents in the history fod llawer o ddamweiniau mwy rhagluniaethol na hyn yn of Welsh scholarship.Tom Ellis was an inspirational figure up hanes ysgolheictod Cymraeg. Roedd Tom Ellis yn ffigur o to his premature death in 1899, while J. Herbert Lewis ysbrydoliaeth hyd at ei farwolaeth gynamserol yn 1899, tra pushed the issue of fair play for funding for Wales in hyrwyddai J. Herbert Lewis chwarae teg i Gymru ym mater Parliament, and Gwenogvryn Evans tirelessly followed up ariannu yn y Senedd, ac olrheiniai Gwenogvryn Evans yn stories of valuable manuscripts in private hands and alerted ddiflino unrhyw sôn am lawysgrifau gwerthfawr mewn wealthy patrons to the possibility of acquiring them. Evans’s dwylo preifat a thynnu sylw noddwyr cyfoethog at y obsession with the threat to books and manuscripts from fire posibilrwydd o’u pwrcasu. Roedd gwreiddyn obsesiwn was rooted in the conflagrations that had destroyed Evans ynglyˆn â’r bygythiad i lyfrau a llawysgrifau oddi wrth irreplaceable collections in private hands. Each of these dân yn y tanau a oedd wedi dinistrio casgliadau unigryw individuals—as well as a few who became disillusioned on mewn dwylo preifat. Cyfrannodd pob un o’r unigolion hyn the way—contributed their mite to the grand project. — yn ogystal â nifer a gafodd ddadrithiad rywle ar y ffordd In fact, what is striking about the individuals who — eu hatling tuag at y prosiect mawreddog. cherished the dream of a permanent home for Welsh books Mewn gwirionedd, beth sy’n drawiadol ynglyˆn â’r and manuscripts is that they did not wait on the success of unigolion a goleddai’r freuddwyd o gartref parhaol i lyfrau protracted parliamentary initiatives but set about expending a llawysgrifau Cymraeg oedd nad oeddent yn fodlon aros am lwyddiant camau seneddol hirfaith ond yn hytrach a prodigious amount of energy and investing considerable dechreuasant dreulio egni aruthrol a buddsoddi symiau amounts of private money in collecting books and sylweddol o arian preifat mewn casglu llyfrau a llawysgrifau manuscripts that otherwise would have been lost for ever. a fyddai fel arall wedi mynd i ddifancoll. Nid oes esiampl There is no clearer example of a disparate group of gliriach o grwˆp o unigolion annhebyg yn peri i’w individuals forcing their dream into reality by systematically breuddwyd droi’n realiti drwy baratoi’n systematig ar gyfer preparing for the day when it would be embodied in bricks y diwrnod pryd y byddai’n troi’n frics a morter. Y canlyniad and mortar. The consequence was that when the Library oedd bod y Llyfrgell pan agorodd ei drysau yn medru opened its doors it was able to take in extremely important derbyn casgliadau pwysig dros ben o lawysgrifau a llyfrau a existing collections of both manuscripts and books that fodolai’n barod ac a’i sefydlodd ar unwaith fel canolfan immediately established it as the unparalleled centre for ysgolheictod ddihafal. Sut bynnag, cymerodd rhai scholarship. However, it took some libraries in Cardiff llyfrgelloedd yng Nghaerdydd nifer o ddegawdau i dderbyn several decades fully to accept this situation and finally y sefyllfa hon a rhoi’r gorau yn y diwedd i’w gobeithion relinquish their vain dreams of supplanting Aberystwyth; the ofer o ddisodli Aberystwyth; roedd cerrig sylfaen casgliad foundation stones of a national collection had been cenedlaethol wedi cael eu rhoi yn eu lle yn ddiwyd ac yn assiduously and meticulously put in place. drwyadl. The core of the debate in Parliament for government Craidd y ddadl yn y Senedd am gymhorthdal llywodraeth subsidy—without which a library on the scale we know — y byddai llyfrgell ar y raddfa yr ydym yn gyfarwydd â hi today would have remained a pipe dream—centred on the heddiw wedi aros yn freuddwyd gwrach hebddo — oedd i extent to which Wales could be considered a nation ba raddau y gellid ystyried Cymru yn genedl gyfatebol i comparable to Ireland and Scotland. For many English Iwerddon a’r Alban. I rai gwleidyddion Saesneg parhâi hwn politicians this remained an open question (for some it still yn gwestiwn agored (fel mae’n dal i fod i rai), a tharfodd y does), and this failure of perception at the heart of the diffyg amgyffrediad wrth galon y wladwriaeth Brydeinig ar British State bedevilled many plans to pass legislation for lawer o gynlluniau i basio deddfwriaeth ar gyfer Cymru.Yn Wales. In this context, the role of figures like Lloyd George y cyd-destun hwn, roedd rôl ffigurau megis Lloyd George in assisting the new library in its infancy was crucial. J. yn cynorthwyo’r egin-lyfrgell yn dyngedfennol. Cofnododd Herbert Lewis recorded the details (reprinted here) of an J. Herbert Lewis y manylion (a adargraffwyd yma) o astonishing meeting with the great man in 1909, while he gyfarfod rhyfeddol â’r gwˆr mawr yn 1909, pan oedd yn was Chancellor of the Exchequer and busy preparing for Ganghellor y Drysorlys ac yn brysur yn paratoi ar gyfer y the Budget. In the course of a ten-minute meeting Lloyd Gyllideb.Yng nghwrs cyfarfod deg-munud cymeradwyodd George sanctioned a larger grant for the Welsh colleges than Lloyd George grant i’r colegau Cymreig uwch nag yr oeddent wedi gofyn amdano a chododd grant y Llyfrgell they had asked for and raised the National Library’s grant Genedlaethol o’r amcangyfrif o £2,300 i £2,500, gan from the estimate of £2,300 to £2,500, adding:‘What’s the ychwanegu:‘What’s the use of being a Welsh Chancellor of use of being a Welsh Chancellor of the Exchequer if one can the Exchequer if one can do nothing for Wales?’ Mae’r do nothing for Wales?’ This priceless anecdote illuminates hanesyn amhrisiadwy hwn yn taflu goleuni ar faint y the extent of the influential networks of friends that rhwydwaith o gyfeillion dylanwadol a gynhaliai’r Llyfrgell supported the Library at every turn. bob cyfle. ‘Doing something for Wales’ took many forms. The first Cymerodd ‘Doing something for Wales’sawl ffurf. Roedd national librarian, Sir John Ballinger, was autocratic, y llyfrgellydd cenedlaethol cyntaf, Syr John Ballinger, yn pompous, and a disciplinarian who ensured that talented awtocrataidd, yn ymhongar, ac yn ddisgyblwr a sicrhaodd staff members like T. Gwynn Jones and Richard Ellis were fod aelodau talentog o staff megis T.Gwynn Jones a Richard persistently frustrated and prevented from undertaking Ellis yn rhwystredig ac yn cael eu cadw rhag ymgymryd â scholarly work. A strong and determined personality was

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gwaith ysgolheigaidd.Yn ddiau roedd angen personoliaeth undoubtedly required for the fledgling institution in its gref a phenderfynol ar gyfer y cyw llyfrgell yn ei early years, but it could be argued that Ballinger imposed his blynyddoedd cynnar, ond gellid dadlau bod Ballinger wedi will to the detriment of bringing out the best in his most mynnu cael ei ffordd ar draul amlygu’r gorau yn ei staff able staff. Nevertheless, he brought to the post a deep mwyaf galluog. Serch hynny, daeth i’r swydd ag ymroddiad commitment to the public library ethos, stemming from his dwfn i ethos y llyfrgell gyhoeddus, a ddeilliai o’i ddyddiau days at Cardiff Free Library, and pioneered an innovative yn Llyfrgell Rydd Caerdydd, ac fe arloesodd gyda system extramural loans system. This included supplying duplicate benthyciadau allanol newydd. Cynhwysai hyn ddarparu copies of books to extramural classes,TB sanatoria and, after copïau dyblyg o lyfrau i ddosbarthiadau allanol, sanatoria he had retired, to troops during World War Two.This meant TB, ac, ar ôl iddo ymddeol, i’r lluoedd arfog yn ystod yr Ail that many more people than were able to visit the Library Ryfel Byd. Golygai hyn fod llawer mwy o bobl nag oedd yn itself were able to share in its resources and, arguably, this medru ymweld â’r Llyfrgell ei hun yn medru cyfranogi o’i policy helped to counteract the perceived remoteness of hadnoddau ac roedd hyn, gellid dadlau, yn gymorth i Aberystwyth as a location for a national institution during a wrthweithio pellter ymddangosiadol Aberystwyth fel crucial period in its development. lleoliad sefydliad cenedlaethol yn ystod cyfnod Of course, Ballinger had to deal with the consequences of tyngedfennol yn ei ddatblygiad. onerous external conditions, especially the First World War Wrth gwrs, roedd yn rhaid i Ballinger ddelio â and the interwar depression that devastated so much of life chanlyniadau beichus amgylchiadau allanol, yn arbennig yn ystod y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf a’r dirwasgiad rhwng y ddau in Wales.These were not auspicious times for a new body ryfel byd a ddinistriodd gymaint o fywyd Cymru. Nid oedd that needed regular increases in funding to enable it to put y rhain yn amseroedd ffafriol ar gyfer corff newydd a oedd down strong roots. Ballinger’s successor from 1930, Sir ag angen cynydd ariannu yn rheolaidd i’w galluogi i fwrw William Llywelyn Davies, who faced similar external gwreiddiau dwfn. Fe ymddengys olynydd Ballinger o 1930, constraints, emerges from this book as a less colourful Syr William Llywelyn Davies, a wynebodd gyfyngiadau character than the first national librarian. Given Ballinger’s allanol tebyg, yn gymeriad llai lliwgar na’r llyfrgellydd abrasiveness this was no bad thing. Davies embarked on a cenedlaethol cyntaf. O ystyried natur grafog Ballinger, nid vigorous policy of establishing the Library as a repository for oedd hyn yn beth drwg i gyd.Ymgymerodd Davies â pholisi official records.The Second World War imposed enormous egnïol o sefydlu’r Llyfrgell fel ystordy cofnodion swyddogol. constraints on the Library’s development, as staff were lost Gosododd yr Ail Ryfel Byd gyfyngiadau aruthrol ar to the armed forces and because a number of museums ddatblygiad y Llyfrgell oherwydd colli staff i’r lluoedd arfog evacuated their collections to Aberystwyth. Even so, one ac oherwydd bod nifer o amgueddfeydd wedi symud eu advantage of the latter was that the co-operation with casgliadau i Aberystwyth. Serch hynny, un fantais a ddeilliai London institutions bore fruit in the immediate post-war o’r olaf oedd bod cydweithrediad gyda sefydliadau years when some individuals who had either spent time at Llundeinig wedi dwyn ffrwyth yn y blynyddoedd yn union Aberystwyth or seen their collections cared for here became ar ôl y rhyfel pan ddaeth nifer o unigolion a oedd naill ai advocates for increasing National Library of Wales’s grant. wedi treulio amser yn Aberystwyth neu wedi gweld eu This book is at its best when the narrative is driven casgliadau yn cael gofalu amdanynt yma yn hyrwyddwyr forward by the campaign for the Library and the struggle to cynyddu grant Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru. establish a coherent role and identity during its early years, Mae’r llyfr hwn ar ei orau pan fydd y naratif yn cael ei whereas it tends to become more episodic when dealing yrru ymlaen gan yr ymgyrch dros y Llyfrgell a’r frwydr i with developments after 1945. Once the great events of the sefydlu rôl a hunaniaeth gydlynol yn ystod ei blynyddoedd first half of the twentieth century fade from the picture, it is cynnar, tra tuedda i ddod yn fwy episodig wrth drafod more difficult to discern a connecting theme. In fact, ending datblygiadau ar ôl 1945. Unwaith bod digwyddiadau mawr the book in 1952—when William Davies ceased being hanner cyntaf yr ugeinfed ganrif wedi mynd o’r golwg, librarian—seems like a rather arbitrary terminus for the mae’n fwy anodd canfod thema gysylltiol. Yn wir, mae book. Individual national librarians have left their own gorffen y llyfr yn 1952 – pan beidiodd William Davies â bod distinctive imprint on policy,but post-war developments do yn llyfrgellydd – yn ymddangos fel terfyn mympwyol ar not seem to have been shaped decisively by individual gyfer y llyfr. Mae llyfrgellwyr cenedlaethol wedi gadael eu librarians in the way that they clearly were by Ballinger. hôl neilltuol ar bolisi, ond nid ymddengys i ddatblygiadau ar ôl y rhyfel gael eu siapio yn ddigamsyniol mewn ffordd Whoever takes up the baton where David Jenkins laid it amlwg fel y cawsant gan Ballinger. Bydd gan bwy bynnag down will have the difficult task of deciding how to sy’n codi’r baton lle y gadawodd David Jenkins ef y dasg structure a history that was not punctuated by the economic anodd o benderfynu sut i strwythuro hanes na thorrwyd ar and military crises that disrupted the Library’s formative ei draws gan yr argyfyngau economaidd a milwrol a darfodd years. That will be the story of an established national ar flynyddoedd ffurfiannol y Llyfrgell. Bydd hwnnw yn institution with a secure place in the cultural life of the hanes sefydliad cenedlaethol sefydledig gyda lle diogel ym country and a burgeoning reputation outside it. In the mywyd diwylliannol y wlad a bri cynyddol y tu allan.Yn y meantime, this excellent account of the early years provides cyfamser, mae’r hanes gwych hwn o’r blynyddoedd cynnar ample scope for others to pursue further some of the themes yn rhoi digon o sgôp i eraill ddilyn ymhellach rai o’r themâu raised in outline here. a amlinellwyd yma.

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CYFAILL Y LLYFRGELL GAEAF 2002 WINTER FRIEND OF THE LIBRARY COLOFN Y CYDLYNYDD CO-ORDINATOR’S COLUMN

Helo unwaith eto! Ga’ i gychwyn trwy ddiolch yn fawr Hello again! First of all, may I start on a personal note and iawn i chi am y dymuniadau da a dderbyniodd Wyn a thank you all very much for the good wishes Wyn and I minnau ar achlysur ein priodas yn ddiweddar. Cawsom sawl received on the recent occasion of our wedding. We cerdyn a galwad ffôn a braf iawn oedd clywed gennych — received many cards and phone calls and it was very nice to diolch o galon. hear from you — thank you very much. Nawr te, at waith! Adroddais yn y rhifyn diwethaf o Now then, back to work! I reported in the last edition of Cyfaill y Llyfrgell fod taflen gyhoeddusrwydd newydd ar y Friend of the Library that a new publicity leaflet was about to gweill. Wel, erbyn hyn mae’r daflen wedi ymddangos ac yn be published. It has now appeared and looks very attractive edrych yn ddeniadol iawn! Ynddi mae nod ac amcanion y indeed! In it are the aims and objectives of the society and Cyfeillion a ffurflen ymaelodi, sy’n rhoi’r dewis o dalu drwy a membership form, which gives the choice of paying by archeb banc. Felly, os gwyddoch am unrhyw un fyddai â banker’s order. So, if you know of anyone who wishes to diddordeb cefnogi gwaith a chasgliadau’r Llyfrgell, support the Library’s work and its collections, please contact cysylltwch â mi yn ddi-oed a gallaf ddanfon taflen atynt. me and I will send them one of these forms. Cynhaliwyd Cyfarfod Blynyddol y Cyfeillion yma yn y The Annual General Meeting was held here at the Library Llyfrgell ym mis Gorffennaf. Croesawyd Robin Chapman in July. Robin Chapman was welcomed to the meeting i ddarlithio ar Gofiannau yn ystod y prynhawn, a dangosodd during the afternoon to give us a lecture on Biographies y drafodaeth mor diddorol oedd ei ddarlith i’r Cyfeillion. and the discussion afterwards showed how interesting Yna ym mis Awst croesawyd y Gwir Barchedig John Wyn Friends found his lecture. Then in August, The Right Evans, Deon Tyddewi, i’r Pagoda ar Faes yr Eisteddfod Reverend John Wyn Evans, Dean of St David’s, joined us at Genedlaethol i ddarlithio i’r Cyfeillion ar Lyfrgell yr Eglwys the Pagoda on the National Eisteddfod field to talk to us Gadeiriol. Cafwyd cynulleidfa deilwng i’r ddau about the Cathedral Library. A considerable number ddigwyddiad uchod a mawr yw ein diolch i’r ddau ohonynt gathered together for both these events and our thanks goes am eu cyfraniadau gwerthfawr. to both of them for their valuable contribution. Daeth mis Medi a threfnwyd taith i Amgueddfa Then came September and a trip was organised to visit Genedlaethol Cymru, Caerdydd. Cafwyd ymateb The National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. Once again a calonogol i’r daith yma eto a chafwyd diwrnod bendigedig good number of members attended and we had glorious

Iestyn Huws,Archif Genedlaethol Sgrin a Sain Cymru / National Screen and Sound Archive, Dr Nesta Lloyd, Cadeirydd y Cyfeillion / Chairman of the Friends, a John Watkin,Trysorydd y Cyfeillion / Treasurer of the Friends

ffoto/photo Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / National Library of Wales

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i deithio i lawr i’r De. Wrth gwrs, mae mynediad i’r weather to travel to the South. Of course, entry to the Amgueddfa am ddim ran, felly efallai fod hyn yn rhan o’r Museum is free now, so this may have been part of the apêl! Er hyn talwyd swm bychan i fynd i weld arddangosfa appeal! Even so, a small fee was paid to view a special go arbennig o waith yr artist enwog Ceri Richards, sef exhibition of Ceri Richards’s work entitled ‘Themes and ‘Themâu ac Amrywiadau’. Roedd yr arddangosfa hon yn Variations’. This exhibition concentrated on musical and canolbwyntio ar themâu cerddorol a barddonol a oedd yn poetic themes that influenced the work of Ceri Richards, ddylanwad ar waith Ceri Richards, a oedd yn un o artistiaid who was one of Britain’s most important artists from the pwysicaf Prydain o ganol yr ugeinfed ganrif ymlaen. mid-twentieth century onwards. A pleasant day was spent Treuliwyd diwrnod pleserus iawn yno, gan gymryd mantais there taking advantage of the opportunity to roam around ar y cyfle i grwydro gweddill yr Amgueddfa, gan gynnwys y other parts of the Museum, including the restaurant and gift bwyty a’r siop. shop. Yn ystod y misoedd diwethaf yma bu cryn drafod mewn During the past months there has been considerable cyfarfodydd o’r Pwyllgor Gwaith a’r Is-bwyllgor discussion in the meetings of the Executive Committee and Cyhoeddiadau ar y syniad o gyhoeddi’r darlithoedd a the Publishing Sub-committee of the idea of publishing the gyflwynwyd i ni yn Ysgol Undydd Arglwyddes Llanofer. Y lectures presented to us during the Lady Llanover Day teimlad oedd fod yr wybodaeth a drosglwyddwyd i ni mor School last year. The general feeling was that the werthfawr a diddorol y dylid trosglwyddo’r neges i information given was of great value and interest, and that gynulleidfa fwy eang na’r hyn a fynychodd yr Ysgol we should share the information with a wider audience Undydd. Felly, daethpwyd i’r casgliad mai’r dewis doethaf than those who attended the day school. So we came to a a’r ffordd orau i ddangos y darlithoedd hyn i’r byd oedd i’w conclusion that the best way to share these lectures with the gosod ar y We. Gofynnwyd am farn y darlithwyr a world was to place them on the Internet. The lecturers chytunodd y pedwar ohonynt fod hyn yn syniad da. were approached and all four of them agreed that this would Rydym ar hyn o bryd yn casglu’r deunydd at ei gilydd ac be a good idea. We are at the moment gathering the yn trefnu cyfieithiad o’r darlithoedd, fel bo popeth yn information and organising translations so that everything ymddangos yn ddwyieithog. Bydd y darlithoedd i’w gweld will appear bilingually. The lectures will be seen on the ar safle Gwe y Llyfrgell Genedlaethol o dan adran ‘Y Library’s main Website under ‘The Friends’’ section early Cyfeillion’ ddechrau’r flwyddyn nesaf. Cyfeiriad safle Gwe next year. The Library Website address is www.llgc.org.uk y Llyfrgell Genedlaethol yw www.llgc.org.uk a darperir and instructions will be available for those of you who are cyfarwyddiadau i’r rhai ohonoch nad ydych yn gyfarwydd â unfamiliar with using computers. defnyddio cyfrifiaduron. The Welsh Political Archive Lecture by Hywel Williams Cyhoeddwyd darlith yr Archif Wleidyddol a roddwyd was published under the title Of Princes, Powers and Plots.To gan Hywel Williams dan y teitl Of Princes, Power and Plots. coincide with a stunning exhibition of David Griffiths’s Hefyd, i gyd-fynd ag arddangosfa drawiadol o waith David work, Portreadau / Portraits was also published. All Library Griffiths, cyhoeddwyd y llyfr Portreadau / Portraits. Mae holl publications are available with a 10% discount to all Friends, gyhoeddiadau’r Llyfrgell ar gael i’r Cyfeillion gyda so if you wish to place an order, please contact me or visit gostyngiad o 10%, felly os am archebu, cysylltwch â mi neu the Gregynog Gallery at the Library. The publications will gallwch ymweld ag Oriel Gregynog. Bydd y cyhoeddiadau be on display here for a short period before being moved to i’w gweld yma am gyfnod eto ond cyn hir bydd siop the new shop which is due to open soon and which will newydd yn agor yn y Llyfrgell fydd yn cynnig ystod offer a wider variety of gifts and cards together with the ehangach o nwyddau a chardiau ac yn y blaen, gan gynnwys Library’s publications. The ‘Pendinas’ restaurant is now open cyhoeddiadau’r Llyfrgell. Eisoes mae bwyty ‘Pendinas’ wedi and is well worth a visit. agor i’r cyhoedd ac yn sicr yn werth ymweliad. A ceremony was held during one of our Committee Cafwyd seremoni fach yn un o’r Pwyllgorau Gwaith i Meetings to present a cheque to the National Screen and gyflwyno siec i Archif Genedlaethol Sgrin a Sain Cymru. Sound Archive. As you may already know, the Friends Fel y gwyddoch, mae’r Cyfeillion yn cyfrannu’n flynyddol contribute annually towards equipment or items for the tuag at offer neu eitem i’r Llyfrgell ac eleni cyflwynwyd Library and this year a cheque of £5,000 was presented to £5,000 i’r Archif tuag at offer sain pwerus fydd o fudd i’r the Archive towards a new sound system. This will be of Archif ac i’r Llyfrgell. Bydd hefyd yn cael ei ddefnyddio great value to the Archive, the Library,and indeed for use at mewn pwyllgorau a darlithoedd a gynhelir gan y Cyfeillion. Friends’ meetings and lectures. Ac yn olaf, rhaid adrodd y newydd trist o farwolaeth aelod And finally,I must report the sad news of the death of one o Bwyllgor Gwaith y Cyfeillion sef Major Harry Davies. Committee member, Major Harry Davies. He was an active Roedd yn aelod gweithgar o’r pwyllgor ac yn wˆr bonheddig member of the committee and a very warm, kind-hearted hoffus dros ben. Gweithiodd yn galed dros y Cyfeillion, yn gentleman. He worked hard for the Friends, especially enwedig yn ddiweddar yn ystod y gwaith o lunio during the process of forming a new constitution for the cyfansoddiad newydd i’r gymdeithas. Cynhaliwyd ei association. His funeral was held in July and Mary Burdett- angladd nôl ym mis Gorffennaf a mynychodd Mary Jones, editor of Friend of the Library, attended on the Friends’ Burdett-Jones, Golygydd Cyfaill y Llyfrgell, ar ran y behalf. Cyfeillion.

Rhiain Vaughan Williams Rhiain Vaughan Williams 01970 632858 01970 632858

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CYFAILL Y LLYFRGELL GAEAF 2002 WINTER FRIEND OF THE LIBRARY SYSTEM SAIN SOUND SYSTEM Iestyn Hughes

Rhai blynyddoedd yn ôl fe fu’r Cyfeillion cyn garediced â Some years ago the Friends kindly purchased for the Library phrynu ar gyfer y Llyfrgell system sain gludadwy i’w a portable sound system for use at lectures, exhibition defnyddio mewn darlithoedd, agoriadau arddangosfeydd, ac openings, and various other events. Since that time, events amrywiol ddigwyddiadau eraill. Ers yr adeg honno, have increased significantly in number, and often in scale. gwelwyd cynnydd sylweddol yn nifer y digwyddiadau Over the last year or so, it became increasingly evident that hynny, a hefyd yn eu maint. Dros y flwyddyn ddiwethaf, the single system, now suffering from a mid-life crisis, could daeth yn fwyfwy amlwg na allai’r system unigol, bellach yng not cope with the demands being placed upon it. nghrafangau argyfwng canol oed, ymdopi â’r gofynion a Thankfully, the Friends have once again stepped in with a roddid arni. Ond mae’r Cyfeillion unwaith eto wedi camu generous donation of £5000 towards the purchase of an i’r bwlch drwy gyfrannu rhodd hael o £5000 tuag at upgraded system. uwchraddio’r system. The donation was made to the National Screen and Cyflwynwyd y rhodd i Archif Genedlaethol Sgrin a Sain Sound Archive of Wales, which is part of the National Cymru, sy’n rhan o’r Llyfrgell Genedlaethol ac yn gyfrifol Library and is responsible for providing audio-visual am ddarparu offer a chymorth clyweledol drwy holl adeilad equipment and assistance throughout the building and at y Llyfrgell a hefyd mewn digwyddiadau a drefnir gan y Library events elsewhere. Last year alone, the Archive was Llyfrgell mewn mannau eraill. Y llynedd yn unig called upon to provide nearly one hundred equipment derbyniodd yr Archif bron gant o geisiadau am fenthyca loans. offer. The donation will not only mean that the Library will get Bydd y rhodd yn golygu nid yn unig y bydd y Llyfrgell a more powerful sound system, but also that the Archive will yn gallu cael system sain fwy pwerus ond hefyd y gall yr be able to concentrate its own funds on the work of Archif ddefnyddio’i chyllideb ei hun ar y gwaith o developing, interpreting, and preserving its incredible ddatblygu, dehongli, a chadw ei chasgliad anhygoel o ffilm, collection of film, television, radio, and recorded voice and teledu, radio, a recordiadau lleisiol a cherddorol. music. Yn y Diwrnod Ffilm a gynhaliwyd gan y Cyfeillion ym The Film Day held by the Friends in October provided a mis Hydref, cafwyd cipolwg amheuthun ar gyfoeth tantalising glimpse into the wealth of Wales’s audiovisual etifeddiaeth glyweledol Cymru, a chydag agor cyfleusterau heritage, and from early 2003 the Archive will prove much newydd yn gynnar yn 2003 mae’r Archif yn edrych ymlaen more welcoming and approachable to users, as new facilities yn eiddgar at groesawu mwy o ddefnyddwyr. Mae dyfodol are launched. The future of study in Welsh media is now astudiaethau’r cyfryngau yng Nghymru yn edrych yn fwy looking brighter than ever, thanks in no small part to addawol nag erioed, a gall y Llyfrgell Genedlaethol a’i National Library and its Friends. Chyfeillion hawlio cryn dipyn o’r clod am hynny.

Yr Uwch-gapten/Major Edward Harry Charlton Davies, MBE 1921 – 2002 Nesta Lloyd

Gofid personol oedd gorfod cyhoeddi yn y It was with great sadness that I had to announce Cyfarfod Blynyddol diwethaf ar 13 Gorffennaf in the A.G.M. on 13 July 2002 that one of the 2002, fod un o Gyfeillion gorau’r Llyfrgell wedi Library’s Friends had died and that his funeral was ein gadael a bod ei angladd y prynhawn hwnnw. that afternoon. Harry Davies died on the 8 July Bu farw Harry Davies ar 8 Gorffennaf ar ôl after enduring a cruel illness for several months. dioddef gwaeledd enbyd am rai misoedd. Yr He had been a faithful member of the Executive oedd wedi bod yn aelod ffyddlon o Bwyllgor Committee of the Friends since 1989 and had Gwaith y Cyfeillion ers 1989 ac wedi ymroi’n frwdfrydig i waith y pwyllgor. Bu ei graffder a’i contributed greatly to its deliberations. His Harry C. Davies ofal yn gyfraniad arbennig o werthfawr pan attention to detail and accuracy had been particularly valuable when we had to work on the aethpwyd ati i arolygu’r cyfansoddiad newydd a ffoto/photo Murray dderbyniwyd yn derfynol yn y Cyfarfod Chapman new constitution which was finally accepted in Blynyddol ar ddiwrnod ei angladd. the A.G.M. on the day of his funeral. Milwr oedd Harry, yr oedd y Gurkhas yn agos drwy garedigrwydd/ Harry Davies was a soldier, who had a special at ei galon. Edrychai’n union fel y milwr Seisnig courtesy of Bill place in his heart for the Gurkhas. He looked nodweddiadol, yn dalsyth a chwrtais bob amser, Britnell every inch the typical English military man, tall,

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CYFAILL Y LLYFRGELL GAEAF 2002 WINTER FRIEND OF THE LIBRARY

gyda’i Saesneg yn gaboledig a chryno. Eto, nid Sais straight-backed and always courteous, his spoken English traddodiadol mo Harry Davies o gwbl, ond Cymro i’r carn clipped and polished. But he was not the typical English ac aelod o’r dosbarth prin a dethol hwnnw o Gymry soldier at all, but a proud Welshman, a member of that rare bonheddig sydd, ar hyd y canrifoedd, wedi gwasanaethu’r and diminishing class of Welsh gentlemen who have for Goron ac wedi bod yn noddwyr a chymwynaswyr i’w cyd- centuries served the Crown and have also been patrons and Gymry yr un pryd. Perthynai i deulu Maes-mawr Hall, benefactors to their compatriots. He belonged to the family Caersws, sir Drefaldwyn, a chyda chefndir felly nid yw’n of Maes-mawr Hall, Caersws, Montgomeryshire, and it is no rhyfedd ei fod wedi ei fagu’n ddigymraeg yn naudegau a thridegau’r ganrif ddiwethaf. Un o’r pethau yr ymfalchiai surprise that as such he was not taught any Welsh as a child ynddynt yn ei henaint oedd y ffaith ei fod wedi llwyddo i in the twenties and thirties of the last century. He was ddysgu Cymraeg fel oedolyn a gwnâi ymdrech i siarad yr justifiably proud that he learnt to speak the language as an iaith bob cyfle a gâi. Ond ei bennaf diddordeb oedd hanes adult and he spoke it whenever he could. His greatest Cymru, yn arbennig hanes Sir Drefaldwyn, fel y dengys ei interest, however, was Welsh history,especially in the history gyhoeddiadau, ac yr oedd wrth ei fodd yn siarad am y of Montgomeryshire, as his publications show, and he loved cyfnod a dreuliodd fel myfyriwr yn adran Hanes Cymru, to talk about his years as a mature student in the Welsh Aberystwyth, a’i barch a’i edmygedd tuag at ei athrawon yn History department in Aberystwyth, and his respect and yr adran honno. Un o’i gymwynasau mwyaf i’r Llyfrgell admiration for his teachers there. One of his greatest oedd gofalu fod papurau teuluol yn eiddo i’w frawd, R.S.P. contributions to the Library was to ensure that the family Davies, yn cael eu cyflwyno i’r Llyfrgell ar adnau, ac yr oedd papers belonging to his brother, R.S.P. Davies, were yn hollol nodweddiadol ohono fod y papurau wedi eu deposited in the Library,and it was typical of Harry that for trefnu’n dwt a’i fod, gyda’i fanylder arferol, wedi ysgrifennu nodiadau ar wahanol aelodau’r teulu i helpu ymchwilwyr y the benefit of future researchers they were meticulously dyfodol a fyddai’n pori yn eu mysg. Gan fod y casgliad o arranged and annotated by him with information on the bapurau a dogfennau’n ymestyn o ddiwedd yr unfed ganrif family members to whom they referred. Since the ar bymtheg hyd yr ugeinfed ganrif ac yn ymwneud â collection contains papers and documents from the thiroedd mewn nifer o siroedd yr oedd hon yn dasg sixteenth to the twentieth century, covering a number of sylweddol. counties, this was no small task. Yr oedd Harry yn eglwyswr selog a hyd at ei salwch olaf Harry was a devout churchman, and until his last illness he bu’n darllen y gwasanaeth yn Gymraeg yn eglwys read the service in Welsh in the church at Llangadfan, where Llangadfan, lle’r ymgartrefai ar ôl ymddeol o’i swydd gyda’r he made his home on retirement from his post at the Weinyddiaeth Amddiffyn. Tyst i barch ei gymdogion a’i Ministry of Defence. The numbers who attended his gydnabod tuag ato oedd y niferoedd a ddaeth i’w angladd, funeral, many representing societies and organizations with llawer ohonynt yn cynrychioli mudiadau a chymdeithasau y which he had been connected during his life, testified to the bu Harry’n gysylltiedig â hwy yn ystod ei fywyd; cynrychiolwyd y Cyfeillion yn y gwasanaeth gan Mary respect in which Harry was held by his neighbours and Burdett-Jones, a fynegodd ein cydymdeimlad â’r weddw a’r friends; the Friends were represented by Mary Burdett- teulu. Jones, who conveyed our sympathy to his widow and family. Braint ac anrhydedd oedd cael adnabod y gwˆr urddasol, It was a privilege and honour to know this dignified, hoffus, hwn, un o Gyfeillion gorau’r Llyfrgell Genedlaethol. likeable man, one of the National Library’s best Friends.

GWASANAETH LLUNGOPÏO PHOTOCOPYING SERVICE

Cofiwch fod modd defnyddio gwasanaeth llungopïo You are reminded that you can use the photocopying Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru am bris rhesymol. service of the National Library of Wales for a Dyma’r amserau agor: reasonable price.These are the opening times:

Llun – Gwener Monday – Friday 9.30 – 6.00 9.30 – 6.00

Sadwrn Saturday 9.30 – 4.45 9.30 – 4.45

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CYFAILL Y LLYFRGELL GAEAF 2002 WINTER FRIEND OF THE LIBRARY CASGLIADAU CERDD LLYFRGELL THE MUSIC COLLECTIONS OF THE GENEDLAETHOL CYMRU NATIONAL LIBRARY OF WALES

Rhidian Griffiths

Pan sefydlwyd Llyfrgell When the National Genedlaethol Cymru Library of Wales was yn 1907 roedd ‘Cymru, established in 1907 gwlad y gân’ wedi hen ‘Cymru, gwlad y gân’ ymsefydlu yn fyth (Wales, the land of song) cenedlaethol. Roedd had long become cerddoriaeth yn established as a national boblogaidd a myth. Music was popular gweithgarwch and musical activities cerddorol yn gyffredin common in town and mewn gwlad a thref, country, many successful corau lawer yn and unsuccessful choirs llwyddiannus ac yn in eisteddfodau but still aflwyddiannus mewn competing; and soloists eisteddfodau ond yn dal in Wales and beyond i gystadlu; ac unawdwyr enjoying busy careers. yng Nghymru a thu Oratorio was at the height of its popularity hwnt yn mwynhau and singing festivals were gyrfâu prysur. Roedd numerous and well- oratorio yn ei fri a attended. It is no surprise chymanfaoedd canu yn therefore that music was niferus ac yn wlithog. one of the categories of Does dim rhyfedd felly Edward Jones: The Bardic Museum (1802) material which the fod cerddoriaeth young Library was ymhlith y categorïau o ffoto/photo: Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / National Library of Wales supposed to collect from ddeunydd y disgwylid the start. It is true that i’r Llyfrgell ifanc eu there is no special casglu o’i dechreuad. provision here for music Mae’n wir nad oes yma ddarpariaeth arbennig i gerddoriaeth — — no music room, and no music librarians as such, but there is dim ystafell gerdd, a dim llyfrgellwyr cerdd fel y cyfryw, ond mae plenty of space for the black notes between the print and the ink digon o le i’r nodau duon rhwng y print a’r inc ar y silffoedd. on the shelves. Mae Siarter sylfaenu’r Llyfrgell yn ei hannog i gasglu deunydd The foundation Charter of the Library urges it to collect ym mhob fformat sydd yn berthnasol i Gymru a’r cenhedloedd material in every format which is relevant to Wales and the Celtic Celtaidd, ac hefyd i gasglu deunydd a fydd yn diwallu anghenion nations, and also to collect material which will fulfil the needs of addysg uwch ac ymchwil yng Nghymru. Mae hyn yn golygu bod higher education and research in Wales. This means that its ei chasgliadau yn adlewyrchu Cymru yn ei chyfanrwydd, ond collections reflect Wales in its entirety, and it also reflects hefyd yn adlewyrchu rhywbeth o’r traddodiad gorllewinol yn something of the western tradition generally — Europe and gyffredinol — Ewrop a Gogledd America yn fwyaf arbennig.Yma North America in particular. I intend here to try to give an idea rwy’n bwriadu ceisio rhoi sylw i’r ddwy agwedd trwy sôn am of the two aspects by referring to examples of the kinds of music enghreifftiau o’r math o ddeunydd cerddorol sydd o fewn ein material which are in our collections. casgliadau. Wales has its history,and music has its history; but it is extremely Mae gan Gymru ei hanes, ac mae gan ei cherddoriaeth ei hanes difficult to trace that history before the eighteenth century.The hithau; ond anodd ar y naw yw olrhain yr hanes hwnnw cyn y most famous manuscript of our early music is that which is ddeunawfed ganrif. Llawysgrif enwocaf ein cerddoriaeth gynnar associated with the name of Robert ap Huw,and it is not here but yw honno a gysylltir ag enw Robert ap Huw, ac nid yma ond yn in the British Library, a manuscript of medieval music probably y Llyfrgell Brydeinig y mae honno, llawysgrif o gerddoriaeth (although 1613 is the date of the manuscript itself) which has ganoloesol mae’n debyg (er taw 1613 yw dyddiad y llawysgrif ei caused trouble and distress to the many musicians who have hunan) sydd wedi peri gofid a loes i’r llu cerddorion sydd wedi attempted to interpret it.A facsimile of it has been published, and ymdrechu i’w dehongli. Cyhoeddwyd ffacsimili ohoni, ac mae there is a copy of it here on microfilm.Another manuscript which copi ohoni yma ar ficroffilm. Llawysgrif arall a geir yn Llundain is in London (in the library of the Royal College of Music), again (yn llyfrgell y Coleg Cerdd Brenhinol), eto ar ficroffilm yma, yw on microfilm here, is the second unpublished part of ‘Antient ail ran anghyhoeddedig Antient British Music, casgliad a grëwyd British Music’, a collection made by John Parry, the blind harpist, gan John Parry, y telynor dall, ac Ifan Wiliam, a’r ymdrech and Ifan Wiliam, and the earliest attempt in print — more or less gynharaf mewn print — fwy neu lai — i gofnodi cerddoriaeth — to record Welsh music. Another rich and varied manuscript is the one in J. Lloyd Williams’s collection (which I will discuss Gymreig. Llawysgrif arall gyfoethog ac amrywiol yw honno a geir later), i.e. the manuscript of John Thomas the fiddler, dated 1752 yng nghasgliad J. Lloyd Williams (y soniaf amdano eto), sef — an interesting collection of airs which is a reflection of the

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CYFAILL Y LLYFRGELL GAEAF 2002 WINTER FRIEND OF THE LIBRARY

llawysgrif John Thomas y ffidlwr, wedi’i dyddio 1752 — casgliad repertoire, taste, and style of playing of a Welsh fiddler of the diddorol o alawon sy’n ddrych o repertoire, chwaeth, a dulliau eighteenth century. chwarae ffidlwr Cymreig o’r ddeunawfed ganrif. That period, the eighteenth century, was the period when the Y cyfnod hwnnw, sef y ddeunawfed ganrif, oedd cyfnod agor y door was opened on traditional music in Wales through drws ar gerddoriaeth draddodiadol yng Nghymru trwy gyhoeddi. publication. The first printed volume to include music in Welsh Y gyfrol brintiedig gyntaf i gynnwys cerddoriaeth yn Gymraeg was Edmwnd Prys’s Llyfr y Psalmau,a collection of metrical psalms oedd Llyfr y Psalmau Edmwnd Prys, casgliad o salmau mydryddol which appeared in 1621, with musical editions in 1630 and 1638, a ymddangosodd yn 1621, gydag adargraffiadau cerddorol yn 1630 and we have copies of those editions. Some Welsh tunes were ac 1638, ac mae copïau o’r argraffiadau hynny gennym. included in a little volume called Aria di Camera yn 1726 (we Cynhwyswyd rhai alawon Cymreig mewn cyfrol fach o’r enw don’t have an original copy here); then in 1743 Antient British Aria di Camera yn 1726 (nad oes copi gwreiddiol yma); yna yn Music was published by John Parry and Ifan Wiliam, to be 1742 cyhoeddwyd Antient British Music gan John Parry ac Ifan followed by other volumes by Parry in 1761 and 1781, and the Wiliam, i’w dilyn gan gyfrolau eraill gan Parry yn 1761 ac 1781, influential volume of Edward Jones, ‘Bardd y Brenin’ (the King’s a chyfrolau dylanwadol Edward Jones, ‘Bardd y Brenin’; dau Poet); two editions of Musical and Poetical Relicks of the Welsh Bards argraffiad Musical and Poetical Relicks of the Welsh Bards yn 1784 ac in 1784 and 1794, The Bardic Museum in 1802, and Hen Ganiadau 1794, The Bardic Museum yn 1802, a Hen Ganiadau Cymru yn Cymru yn 1825. In the line belong the rich collections of the 1825. Yn llinach y rhain mae casgliadau moethus y bedwaredd nineteenth century, which were made for the London salons, Bardd Alaw’s Welsh Harper,Pencerdd Gwalia’s Welsh Melodies, and ganrif ar bymtheg, a luniwyd ar gyfer salons Llundain, Welsh Harper the ever-present Songs of Wales by Brinley Richards, which Bardd Alaw, Welsh Melodies Pencerdd Gwalia, a’r hollbresennol appeared in 1873.All these, which reflect the London tradition of Songs of Wales gan Brinley Richards, a ymddangosodd yn 1873. Welsh music of the period, are to be seen in the collections of the Mae’r rhain i gyd, sy’n adlewyrchu traddodiad Llundeinig Library. A pioneer of recording of folk songs in Wales itself was cerddoriaeth Gymreig y cyfnod, i’w gweld yng nghasgliadau’r Maria Jane Williams of Aberpergwm, in the Neath Valley; and Llyfrgell. Arloesydd cofnodi caneuon gwerin yng Nghymru ei there is a great deal of material relating to her collection, Ancient hunan oedd Maria Jane Williams o Aberpergwm, Dyffryn Nedd; National Airs of Gwent and Morganwg (1844), in the papers of the a cheir llawer iawn o ddeunydd perthnasol i’w chasgliad hi, Aberpergwm estate, which were used by Daniel Huws, a former Ancient National Airs of Gwent and Morganwg (1844), ym mhapurau Keeper of Manuscripts at the National Library, in his edition of stad Aberpergwm, a ddefnyddiwyd gan Daniel Huws, cyn- the volume in 1988. Geidwad Llawysgrifau yn y Llyfrgell Genedlaethol, yn ei olygiad Collecting of Welsh folk music continued during the twentieth o’r gyfrol yn 1988. century, especially with the founding of the Welsh Folk Song Parhaodd y casglu ar gerddoriaeth werin Gymreig yn ystod yr Society in 1908. One of the greatest pioneers of this tradition was ugeinfed ganrif, yn enwedig gyda sefydlu Cymdeithas Alawon the botanist and musician John Lloyd Williams, and his collection Gwerin Cymru yn 1908. Un o bennaf arloeswyr y traddodiad of papers are a mine of unpublished folk songs, interesting hwn oedd y botanegydd a’r cerddor John Lloyd Williams, ac mae correspondence about folk traditions, and important individual ei gasgliad ef o bapurau yn fwynglawdd o ganeuon gwerin heb eu manuscripts such as John Thomas the fiddler’s manuscript just cyhoeddi, gohebiaeth ddiddorol am draddodiadau gwerin, a referred to.That London aspect is also reflected in the diaries of llawysgrifau unigol pwysig megis llawysgrif John Thomas y the performer and musician John Orlando Parry,the son of ‘Bardd ffidlwr, rwyf newydd gyfeirio ati. Mae’r wedd Lundeinig honno Alaw’, and the compositions of John Thomas,‘Pencerdd Gwalia’, hefyd yn cael ei hadlewyrchu yn nyddiaduron y perfformiwr a’r the Welshman from Bridgend who was harpist to Queen Victoria. cerddor John Orlando Parry, mab ‘Bardd Alaw’, a phapurau a There is therefore a great deal of traditional music, music which chyfansoddiadau John Thomas, ‘Pencerdd Gwalia’, y Cymro o had been preserved in the oral tradition and transmitted from Ben-y-bont ar Ogwr a fu’n delynor i’r Frenhines Victoria. generation to generation before it was put on paper when the Mae llawer felly o gerddoriaeth draddodiadol, cerddoriaeth transmission was on the point of failing. But the same period, the oedd wedi ei diogelu yn y traddodiad llafar a’i throsglwyddo o nineteenth century, saw the development of a strong tradition of genhedlaeth i genhedlaeth cyn cael ei tharo ar bapur pan oedd y printing, publishing, and composing Welsh music.The tradition of trosglwyddo ar fin methu. Ond yn yr un cyfnod, y bedwaredd congregational singing developed from the 1830s onward, and ganrif ar bymtheg, gwelwyd datblygu traddodiad cryf o argraffu, collections of tunes and a grammar book, which explained the cyhoeddi, a chyfansoddi cerddoriaeth Gymreig. Datblygodd elements of music — in Welsh, of course, were published. In the traddodiad o ganu cynulleidfaol o’r 1830au ymlaen, a 1860s the tonic sol-fa system became popular and appealed to chyhoeddwyd casgliadau o donau a llyfrau gramadeg, sy’n esbonio people. A generation of amateur composers grew up who busily elfennau cerddoriaeth — yn Gymraeg, wrth gwrs.Yn yr 1860au wrote songs, anthems, and part-songs which were sung in the dechreuodd cyfundrefn tonic sol-ffa ddod yn boblogaidd a chael eisteddfodau. Chapel, church, and local choirs were established, gafael ar y bobl. Magwyd to o gyfansoddwyr amatur a fu wrthi’n and the custom of performing concerts at Christmas time and at llunio caneuon, anthemau, a rhanganau a genid yn yr other seasons become common. A number of Welsh music eisteddfodau. Sefydlwyd corau capel, eglwys, ac ardal, a daeth yr periodicals were started, a tradition which continued unbroken from 1861 to 1939. A number of publishers and printers arfer o berfformio cyngherddau ar adeg y Nadolig ac ar dymhorau established themselves throughout Wales, the largest and most eraill yn gyffredin. Cychwynnwyd nifer o gyfnodolion cerddorol venturous ones printing old notation, and many more printing Cymraeg, traddodiad a barhaodd yn ddi-dor o 1861 hyd 1939. sol-fa, causing the historian John Graham said to say Ymsefydlodd nifer o gyhoeddwyr ac argraffwyr ar hyd a lled (exaggerating, of course) in 1923 that there was not a village in Cymru, y mwyaf a’r mwyaf mentrus yn argraffu’r hen nodiant, a Wales without its sol-fa printer. llawer mwy yn argraffu sol-ffa, nes peri i’r hanesydd John Graham The result of all this was that a mass of Welsh music was ddweud (a gor-ddweud, wrth reswm) yn 1923 nad oedd un published during the nineteenth century and the first half of the pentref yng Nghymru heb ei argraffydd sol-ffa. twentieth, much of it on individual sheets and booklets which Canlyniad hyn i gyd oedd fod toreth o gerddoriaeth Gymreig only had a local circulation, It was all published for use, and not to wedi ei hargraffu yn ystod y 19eg ganrif a hanner cyntaf yr 20fed, be kept in a respectabe condition; and because of that many things

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llawer iawn ohoni ar ddalennau unigol a llyfrynnau a gylchredwyd have not been preserved at all.Although the Library collection of yn lleol yn unig. Cyhoeddwyd y cyfan at iws, ac nid i’w gadw’n Welsh music is the most comprehensive one anywhere, not barchus; ac oherwydd hynny mae llawer iawn o bethau heb eu everything, especially from the period before the Library was diogelu o gwbl. Er mai casgliad y Llyfrgell yw’r casgliad mwyaf established in 1907, is available here. Having said that, one must cynhwysfawr o gerddoriaeth Gymreig yn unman, nid yw popeth, acknowledge that there is a very great deal, and here are some yn enwedig o’r cyfnod cyn sefydlu’r Llyfrgell yn 1907,ar gael yma. examples: Wedi dweud hynny, rhaid cydnabod bod llawer iawn ar gael, a The collections of early tunes and the grammar books include dyma rai enghreifftiau: such things as John Williams, ‘Siôn Singer’’s Cyfaill mewn llogell Mae’r casgliadau tonau cynnar a’r llyfrau gramadeg yn cynnwys (Friend in a pocket), which was published in 1797; John Ellis’s pethau megis Cyfaill mewn llogell John Williams, ‘Siôn Singer’, a Mawl yr Arglwydd (Praise of the Lord) (1816); Grisiau cerdd arwest gyhoeddwyd yn 1797; Mawl yr Arglwydd John Ellis (1816); Grisiau (Steps of minstrelsy) by John Ryland Harris, Gomer’s son (1823), cerdd arwest gan John Ryland Harris, mab Gomer (1823), a sawl and several editions of the most popular and influential, John argraffiad o’r mwyaf poblogaidd a dylanwadol, Gramadeg Mills’s Gramadeg Cerddoriaeth (Grammar of Music) (1838 and cerddoriaeth John Mills (1838 ac ar ôl hynny). Tua 1860 daeth later).About 1860 there came a great change to the printing world newid mawr dros y byd argraffu wrth i’r trethi ar bapur gael eu as the taxes on paper were repealed and the steam press became dileu a’r wasg ager ddod yn fwy cyffredin — gellid nawr argraffu’n more common — it was now possible to print more quickly and gynt ac yn rhatach. Ceir yn y Llyfrgell gyfresi cyfan bron o bob cheaply.There are in the Library complete series of nearly every Welsh music periodical, including Y Cerddor Cymreig (The Welsh cylchgrawn cerddorol Cymraeg, gan gynnwys Y Cerddor Cymreig, Musician), Cerddor y Cymry (Musician of the Welsh), Cronicl y Cerddor y Cymry, Cronicl y Cerddor, ac Y Cerddor, ynghyd â’u Cerddor (The Musician’s Chronicle), and Y Cerddor (The hatodiadau cerddorol, yn anthemau a chytganau gan Musician), together with their music supplements, anthems, and gyfansoddwyr Ewropeaidd a Chymreig. Hefyd, mae darnau choruses by European and Welsh composers.There are also choral corawl yn amrywio o anthemau i fadrigalau, o gytganau corau pieces varying from anthems to madrigals, from male-voice and meibion a merched i gantatas ac oratorïau gan gyfansoddwyr women’s choir choruses to cantatas and oratorios by composers megis Joseph Parry,D.Emlyn Evans, John Thomas ac R.S. Hughes such as Joseph Parry, D. Emlyn Evans, John Thomas and R. S. a Daniel Protheroe, a chan gyfansoddwyr mwy diweddar megis Hughes, and Daniel Protheroe, and by later composers such as David Vaughan Thomas, T. Hopkin Evans, ac eraill. Yr oes hon David Vaughan Thomas,T.Hopkin Evans, and others.That period, hefyd, o 1860 hyd 1939, oedd oes y gân Gymreig. Cyhoeddwyd from 1860 to 1939, was the age of the Welsh song. Single songs caneuon unigol gan wasg Isaac Clarke yn Rhuthun yn yr 1860au, were published by the press of Isaac Clarke in Rhuthun in the ond o’r 1870au roeddent yn llifo o’r gweisg, a cheir cyfoeth 1860s, but from the 1870s they flowed from the presses, and there ohonynt yma — gwaith R. S. Hughes, D. Emlyn Evans, D. Pughe are a wealth of them here — the work of R. S. Hughes, D. Emlyn Evans a William Davies, a’u holynwyr. Ac mae’r traddodiad yn Evans, D. Pughe Evans a William Davies, and their successors.And para trwy’r ugeinfed ganrif at heddiw, fel bod y casgliadau’n dal i the tradition continues through the twentieth century till today,so adlewyrchu’r amrywiaeth o gyfansoddi cyfoes, yng nghaneuon a that the collections continue to reflect a variety of contemporary gweithiau eraill Dilys Elwyn-Edwards, Llifon Hughes-Jones, composition, in the songs and other works of Dilys Elwyn- Gareth Glyn, a Robat Arwyn. Edwards, Llifon Hughes-Jones, Gareth Glyn, and Robat Arwyn. Agwedd amlwg arall ar y traddodiad Cymreig yw canu Another aspect of the Welsh tradition is congregational singing. cynulleidfaol. Yma, yn nhraddodiad y capel a’r eglwys, a thrwy Here, in the tradition of the chapel and the church, and through weithgarwch undebau dirwestol, y gosodwyd sylfeini’r traddodiad the activities of the temperance unions, was laid the foundations corawl yn ogystal â hoffter diarhebol y Cymry o ganu emynau. O of the choral tradition as well as the proverbial love of the Welsh fewn casgliadau’r Llyfrgell fe gewch lyfrau emynau o bob cyfnod for singing hymns.Within the collections of the Library you find yn y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg a’r ugeinfed, ond hefyd lawer hymn books of every period of the nineteenth and twentieth o lyfrynnau lleol a rhaglenni cymanfaoedd canu, wedi eu casglu centuries, and also many local booklets and programmes of ynghyd yn ôl enwad ac yn ôl lle. Mae casgliadau fel hyn ymhell o singing festivals, collected together according to denomination fod yn gyflawn, er bod ynddyn nhw filoedd o enghreifftiau o and place. Collections such as this are far from complete, although raglenni cymanfa o bob rhan o Gymru ac o barthau eraill lle mae’r they contain thousands of examples of festival programmes from Cymry wedi trigiannu, yn Lloegr, Gogledd America, Patagonia, every part of Wales and from other places where the Welsh lived, Awstralia a De Affrica. Mae hyn hefyd yn adlewyrchu gwedd in England, North America, Patagonia,Australia, and South Africa. bwysig ar gasgliadau cerddoriaeth y Llyfrgell (ar y casgliadau’n This also reflects an important aspect of the music collections of gyffredinol, ond mwy felly yn achos cerddoriaeth), sef eu dyled the Library (of the collections in general, but even more so in the nhw i roddwyr. Hyd yn oed yn yr 20fed ganrif, ar ôl gweithredu case of music), i.e. their debt to donors. Even in the twentieth Deddf Hawlfraint 1911 sy’n caniatáu i’r Llyfrgell hawlio copi rhad century, with the implementing of the Copyright Act of 1911 ac am ddim o bob peth printiedig a gyhoeddir ym Mhrydain, which allows the Library to claim a free copy of everything dibynnwyd llawer ar ewyllys da rhoddwyr, yn enwedig am printed which is published in Britain, we have had to depend eitemau lleol megis rhaglenni cymanfaoedd canu a rhaglenni greatly on the good will of donors, especially for local items such as singing festival programmes and the programmes of concerts cyngherddau a digwyddiadau eraill. and other events. Ond ewyllys da rhoddwyr hefyd sy’n bennaf gyfrifol am But the good will of donors is also mainly responsible for the amrywiaeth y casgliadau. Er enghraifft, pan fu farw’r cyfansoddwr, variety of the collections. For example, when the composer, y llenor, a’r beirniad David Emlyn Evans yn 1913, gadawodd i’r writer, and critic David Emlyn Evans died in 1913, he left to the Llyfrgell ei gasgliad o gerddoriaeth brintiedig, sy’n cynnwys llu o Library his collection of printed music, including his bethau gwerthfawr a diddorol, ond hefyd ei bapurau correspondence and scrapbooks of his critical articles on Welsh anghyhoeddedig, gan gynnwys ei ohebiaeth a llyfrau lloffion o’i music which appeared in newspapers, manuscripts of some of his erthyglau beirniadol ar gerddoriaeth Gymreig a ymddangosodd compositions, and other items. Amongst these there are examples mewn papurau newydd, llawysgrifau rhai o’i gyfansoddiadau, ac of tune books of local choral conductors.There are also a number eitemau eraill.Ymhlith y rhain y mae enghreifftiau o lyfrau tonau of these amongst the papers of the tailor and musician David

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arweinyddion canu lleol. Mae nifer o’r rhain hefyd ymhlith Lewis of Llanrhystud — an interesting source of airs used by papurau’r teiliwr a’r cerddor David Lewis, Llanrhystud — yn precentors in the days before printed hymn books became ffynhonnell ddiddorol o alawon a ddefnyddid gan godwyr canu yn common in Wales. These are not the only collections of music yr oesoedd cyn bod llyfrau emynau printiedig yn gyffredin yng papers from this period: amongst other we can note the music Nghymru. Nid y rhain yw’r unig gasgliadau o bapurau cerddorol manuscripts of W.T. Rhys, ‘Alaw Ddu’, David Vaughan Thomas, o’r cyfnod hwn: ymhlith eraill gellir nodi llawysgrifau cerddorol Daniel Protheroe, and Joseph Parry; and in a later age, David Evans W. T. Rees,‘Alaw Ddu’, David Vaughan Thomas,Daniel Protheroe, and W. Bradwen Jones. The tradition of giving has indeed not a Joseph Parry; ac mewn oes ddiweddarach, David Evans a W. ended. Recently the Library received a collection of the papers of Bradwen Jones. Nid yw’r traddodiad o roi yn pallu chwaith.Yn the singer David Lloyd and a scrapbook summarising the history ddiweddar cafwyd i’r Llyfrgell gasgliad o bapurau’r canwr David of Cymdeithas Gorawl Pontarddulais (Pontarddulais Choral Lloyd a llyfr lloffion yn crynhoi hanes Cymdeithas Gorawl Society), which I received from the hands of the former Pontarddulais, a dderbyniais i o law’r cyn-arweinydd, T. Haydn conductor, T. Haydn Thomas, who has recently celebrated his Thomas, sydd newydd hundred and third birthday. ddathlu ei ben-blwydd yn 103 The thing which oed. characterises the collections of Yr hyn sy’n nodweddu the National Library in casgliadau’r Llyfrgell general, rather than other libraries, is the wide range of Genedlaethol yn gyffredinol, forms which are found in it. rhagor llyfrgelloedd We have, as well as books and cenedlaethol eraill, yw’r manuscripts, large collections amrywiaeth eang o ffurfiau a of pictures, photographs, and geir ynddynt. Mae gennym, ephemeral material. From the yn ogystal â llyfrau a musical standpoint this means llawysgrifau, gasgliadau mawr that there are here many o luniau, ffotograffau, a pictures of musicians — deunydd effemeraidd. O photographs of Pencerdd safbwynt cerddorol mae hyn Gwalia, Joseph Parry — and yn golygu bod yma luniau o of choirs and bands; portraits gerddorion — ffotograffau o in oil of singers like the late Bencerdd Gwalia, Joseph Sir Geraint Evans and Bryn Parry — ac o gorau a bandiau; Terfel, and many others.There portreadau mewn olew o are also iconographic pictures gantorion megis y diweddar such as that of the decorated Syr Geraint Evans a Bryn cup which Côr Caradog won Terfel, a llawer o rai eraill. Ceir in the Crystal Palace in 1872 hefyd luniau eiconograffig and 1873 (the cup itself is in megis o’r cwpan addurnedig a the Museum of Folk Life, St enillodd Côr Caradog yn y Fagan); and examples of tonic Palas Grisial yn 1872 ac 1873 sol-fa certificates and posters (mae’r cwpan ei hunan yn Y Deryn Pur/Recording Angels for concerts and musical Amgueddfa Werin Cymru, events. Sain Ffagan); ac enghreifftiau £11.99 neu / or £10.80 i Gyfeillion Llyfrgell Genedlaethol But the essence of music is o dystysgrifau tonic sol-ffa a Cymru / to Friends of the National Library of Wales in the hearing, and the Library phosteri cyngherddau a is not lacking in regard to digwyddiadau cerddorol. sound either. Since about Ond hanfod cerddoriaeth yw ei chlywed, ac nid yw’r Llyfrgell 1978 we have been developing a collection of audio-visual ar ei hôl hi o ran deunydd sain ychwaith. Ers tua 1978 buom yn material, which has developed into the Collection of Sound and datblygu casgliad o ddeunydd clyweled, a datblygodd i fod yn Moving Images.This collection was combined in 2001 with the Gasgliad Sain a Delweddau Symudol. Unwyd y casgliad hwn yn Welsh Film and Television Archive to form the Welsh National 2001 ag Archif Ffilm a Theledu Cymru i ffurfio Archif Archive of Screen and Sound, a crucially important national Genedlaethol Sgrin a Sain Cymru, casgliad cenedlaethol hanfodol collection, which includes a great deal of music material, bwysig, sy’n cynnwys llawer iawn o ddeunydd cerddorol, gan including old recordings from a very early period up to today, gynnwys hen recordiadau o gyfnod cynnar iawn hyd at heddiw, tapes and broadcasts of musical items.The historical riches of the tapiau a darllediadau o bethau cerddorol.Ychwanegwyd at gyfoeth collection were added to through the kindness and support of the company Sain, which has assured for us copies of all their hanesyddol y casgliad trwy garedigrwydd a chefnogaeth cwmni products, and through the important John Davies collection of Sain, sydd wedi sicrhau inni gopïau o’i holl gynnyrch, a thrwy early Welsh recordings, some of which have now been transferred gasgliad pwysig John Davies o recordiadau Cymreig cynnar, y mae from 78s to CDs. In 1999 the Library published a CD under the rhai ohonynt wedi eu trosglwyddo bellach o 78 i gryno-ddisg.Yn title Y Deryn Pur, which contains examples of early recordings 1999 cyhoeddodd y Llyfrgell gryno-ddisg dan y teitl Y Deryn pur, from the collection. sy’n cynnwys enghreifftiau o recordiadau cynnar o’r casgliad.

(i’w barhau) (to be continued)

Dr Rhydian Griffiths yw Cyfarwyddwr Gwasanaethau Dr Rhidian Griffiths is Director of Public Services at the National Cyhoeddus Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru. Library of Wales.

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CYFAILL Y LLYFRGELL GAEAF 2002 WINTER FRIEND OF THE LIBRARY Alcuin Blamires & Gail C. Holian: THE ROMANCE OF THE ROSE ILLUMINATED: MANUSCRIPTS AT THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF WALES

Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan

Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, 2002, £35, ISBN 0-7083-1751-0 University of Wales Press, 2002, £35, ISBN 0-7083-1751-0

Pan ddienyddiwyd Llywelyn Bren, bonheddwr o Forgannwg, When Llywelyn Bren, a gentleman of Glamorgan, was ym 1317 am gychwyn gwrthryfel, nodwyd yn y rhestr o’i executed in 1317 for leading a rebellion, he had in his eiddo fod yn ei feddiant chwe llyfr, yn eu plith lawysgrif o’r possession six books, which included a manuscript of the rhamant Ffrangeg, Le Roman de la Rose. Yn ôl yr Athro French romance, Le Roman de la Rose. According to Professor Meradith McMunn o Goleg Rhode Island, sydd wedi Meradith McMunn of Rhode Island College, who has ymchwilio’n fanwl i draddodiad llawysgrif y rhamant, dyma’r undertaken detailed research on the manuscript tradition of dystiolaeth gynharaf a ddarganfuwyd hyd yn hyn fod copïau o’r this romance, this is the earliest known evidence of an exemplar of the text in Britain. Llywelyn Bren’s own copy has testun hwn ar gael ym Mhrydain. Nid yw copi Llywelyn Bren not survived, and no copy now extant can be shown to have wedi goroesi, ac yn wir, nid oes yr un copi ar glawr y gallwn been in Wales during the Middle Ages,even though some three brofi iddo fod yng Nghymru yn ystod yr Oesoedd Canol, er hundred manuscripts of the Roman de la Rose have been bod ryw dri chant o lawysgrifau’r Roman de la Rose wedi eu preserved, but we can at least rejoice that by 1922 seven of cadw hyd heddiw, ond medrwn ymhyfrydu yn y ffaith fod them, dating from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, had saith ohonynt, o’r bedwaredd ganrif ar ddeg a’r bymthegfed, found a lasting home in Aberystwyth. Of these, five (NLW erbyn 1922 wedi ymgartrefu yn Aberystwyth. O blith y rhain, MSS 5011E, 5013D,5014D,5016D,5017D) contain important mae pump yn cynnwys mân-ddarluniau pwysig (llsgrau LlGC miniatures, whilst the other two (NLW MSS 5012E and 5011E, 5013D, 5014D, 5016D, 5017D), ac mae’r ddwy arall 5015D) have gaps left for illustrations; of the five which (llsgrau LlGC 5012E a 5015D) yn cynnwys bylchau ar gyfer include miniatures, NLW MSS 5011E and 5014D confine darluniau; o’r pump sydd â lluniau, ar y cychwyn yn unig y them to the opening page, a practice common to many kinds digwyddant yn LlGC 5011E a 5014D, arfer digon cyffredin of manuscripts. It is therefore those manuscripts which contain mewn pob math o lawysgrifau. Yn anorfod, felly, y extended series of miniatures which are discussed at greatest llawysgrifau hynny sydd yn cynnwys cyfresi estynedig o fân- length in this volume, which includes colour plates of every ddarluniau yw prif destun sylw y gyfrol bresennol, sydd yn picture from the five illustrated manuscripts, as well as cynnwys atgynyrchiadau lliw o bob un o’r lluniau a geir yn y providing for comparison sixteen black-and-white pum llawysgrif, gan ychwanegu un ar bymtheg o ffotograffau reproductions of images from other manuscripts held in du a gwyn o ddelweddau o lawysgrifau eraill o gasgliadau yn collections in England, France, and the United States. Lloegr, Ffrainc, a’r Unol Daleithiau, er cymhariaeth. Le Roman de la Rose was undoubtedly the most influential of all romances produced in mediaeval France. In its present Y Roman de la Rose, mae’n debyg, oedd y mwyaf dylanwadol form it is also one of the longest. It belongs to the genre of o’r holl ramantau a gyfansoddwyd yn Ffrainc yn ystod yr verse romance – in sharp contrast to the contemporary Welsh Oesoedd Canol. Yn ei ffurf bresennol mae hi hefyd ymhlith yr tradition, where narrative was confined to prose. The first 4000 hwyaf. Rhamant ar fydr ac odl yw hi — yn wahanol i’r lines of the Roman de la Rose were composed between 1225 traddodiad Cymraeg, lle y perthynai naratif yn yr un cyfnod i and 1230 by Guillaume de Lorris, who most probably died ryddiaith yn unig. Cyfansoddwyd 4000 llinell gyntaf y Roman before completing the work. Later on, between 1269 and de la Rose rhwng 1225 a 1230 gan Guillaume de Lorris, a fu 1278, another poet, Jean de Meun, brought the romance to a farw,yn ôl pob tebyg, cyn cwblhau’r gwaith. Yn ddiweddarach, conclusion by adding some 17,700 lines. Little is known about rhwng 1269 a 1278, daeth llenor arall, Jean de Meun, i’r fei ac Guillaume de Lorris, but Jean de Meun’s career is better ychwanegu rhyw 17,700 o linellau cyn cyrraedd y diweddglo. documented. He was born in Meung-sur-Loire, not far from Ni wyddys fawr ddim am Guillaume de Lorris ond cadwyd Orléans, but moved to Paris, perhaps in order to study at the mwy o fanylion am yrfa Jean de Meun. Roedd yn enedigol o Sorbonne. He died there, in the Rue St-Jacques, close to the Meung-sur-Loire, nid nepell o Orléans, ond ymsefydlodd ym university,in 1305. He was also a noted literary translator, who Mharis, efallai er mwyn astudio yn y Sorbonne. Bu farw yno, produced French versions of Latin texts, including the famous yn Rue St-Jacques, yn agos i’r brifysgol, ym 1305. Cofir letters of Héloïse and Abelard, and Boethius’s essay, De amdano hefyd fel cyfieithydd llenyddol a fu’n gyfrifol am drosi Consolatione Philosophiae (On the Consolation of nifer o destunau Lladin, yn eu plith llythyron enwog Héloïse Philosophy), which was very popular at the time. (It is worth ac Abelard, a thraethawd Boethius, De Consolatione Philosophiae noting here that Geoffrey Chaucer, author of the Canterbury Tales, translated both the Roman de la Rose and De (Ar Gysur Athroniaeth), testun poblogaidd iawn ar y pryd. Consolatione Philosophiae into English, and the National (Diddorol yw nodi, yn y cyswllt hwn, fod Geoffrey Chaucer, Library owns a copy of the latter, Peniarth MS 393D, which awdur Chwedlau Caergaint,wedi trosi y Roman de la Rose a De Estelle Stubbs has recently shown to be in the same hand as Consolatione Philosophiae i Saesneg: mae gan y Llyfrgell Peniarth MS 392D, the famous copy of the Canterbury Tales Genedlaethol gopi o’i gyfieithiad o’r olaf, llsgr. Peniarth 393D, known as the ‘Hengwrt Chaucer’.) sydd, fel y dangosodd Estelle Stubbs yn ddiweddar, yn yr un un It is no surprise to find major differences between the section llaw â llsgr. Peniarth 392D, y llawysgrif fyd-enwog o Chwedlau of the Roman de la Rose composed by Guillaume de Lorris and Caergaint a adnabyddir fel yr ‘Hengwrt Chaucer’.) Jean de Meun’s lengthy continuation. This may well be owing

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Fel y gellid disgwyl, mae cryn wahaniaeth rhwng rhan to changes in fashion, but one may suppose that differences of Guillaume de Lorris o’r Roman de la Rose a’r ychwanegiad taste and personality also played their part. Jean de Meun hirfaith gan Jean de Meun. Siawns fod ffasiwn wedi newid yn picked up the narrative where Guillaume had left it, but his y cyfamser, ond hawdd credu fod gwahaniaeth personoliaeth a work is very different in style and mood: it is certainly more chwaeth yn cyfrif hefyd. Cydiodd Jean de Meun yn y naratif earthy, whilst at the same time reflecting contemporary lle y’i gadawyd gan Guillaume, ond newidiodd ei naws gryn academic debate at the university in Paris. The narrative is dipyn: mae’r ail ran yn sicr yn fwy cnawdol, tra’n adlewyrchu allegorical, and traces the progress of a young poet of twenty, ar yr un pryd ddadleuon dysgedig cyfoes ym Mhrifysgol Paris. who dreams of love whilst asleep in his bed. In his dream he Alegori yw naratif y rhamant, sydd yn olrhain hanes bardd follows a stream until he comes to a garden encircled by a wall, the hortus inclusus (enclosed garden), an important concept at ifanc, ugain oed, sydd wrth gysgu yn ei wely yn breuddwydio the time. On the wall the dreamer notices portraits of a am gariad. Yn ei freuddwyd dilyn nant nes cyrraedd gardd a number of allegorical characters such as Haine (Hatred), wal uchel o’i chwmpas, yr hortus inclusus (ardd gaeedig) oedd Avarice, Envie (Jealousy),Tristesse (Sadness), and so on. A door yn ddelwedd bwysig iawn yn y cyfnod. Ar y wal gwêl y in the wall is opened by a girl called Oiseuse (Idleness), a friend breuddwydiwr bortreadau o nifer o gymeriadau alegorïaidd of Deduit (Pleasure), who owns the garden. The poet is megis Haine (Casineb), Avarice (Ariangarwch), Envie introduced to Amour (Love), and the rest of the romance (Cenfigen),Tristesse (Tristwch), ac yn y blaen. Agorir drws yn follows his progress as he tries to approach a beautiful rose, y wal gan ferch o’r enw Oiseuse (Segurdod), cyfaill i berchen which is carefully guarded. The theme is thus love between yr ardd, sef Deduit (Pleser). Cyflwynir y bardd i Amour man and woman, and how the man should go about winning (Serch), ac mae gweddill y rhamant yn olrhain troeon yr yrfa the object of his love, the rose representing the woman. After wrth iddo geisio nesáu at rosyn hardd, sydd yn cael ei warchod having to overcome many obstacles, with the help of Venus the yn ofalus. Serch rhwng dyn a merch, a sut y dylai’r dyn fynd poet eventually succeeds in reaching the castle where the rose ati i ennill ei gariad, yw’r thema felly, a’r rhosyn yn is kept, and with his stick pushes his way between two pillars cynrychioli’r ferch. Ar ôl wynebu nifer o rwystrau, gyda and along a narrow passage until he reaches the rose, which he chymorth Fenws llwydda’r bardd o’r diwedd i gyrraedd y plucks. If this sexual symbolism is unsubtle, it is in keeping castell lle cedwir y rhosyn, gwthio rhwng dau biler gyda with Jean de Meun’s insistence on the importance of physical chymorth ei ffon, a thramwyo ar hyd cyntedd gul nes cyrraedd love in order to fulfil Nature’s work and ensure the y blodyn a’i dorri. Nid oes cynildeb yn y symbolaeth rywiol continuation of the human race. hon, ac mae hyn yn gydnaws ar y pwyslais a rydd Jean de The Roman de la Rose manuscripts at the National Library were purchased as part of the collection of Francis William Meun ar garu corfforol er mwyn cyflawni gwaith Natur a Bourdillon (1852-1921) of Buddington in Sussex, a very pharhau’r hil ddynol. cultured man, a scholar, and a discriminating collector. When Prynwyd y llawysgrifau o’r Roman de la Rose sydd yn y he died, the Library acquired the greater part of his private Llyfrgell fel rhan o lyfrgell Francis William Bourdillon (1852- library of over six thousand volumes, amongst them early 1921), o Buddington yn Sussex, dyn diwylliedig, ysgolhaig, a printed editions of the Roman de la Rose as well as the chasglwr sicr ei chwaeth. Pan fu farw,i’r Llyfrgell Genedlaethol manuscripts of that romance and of other mediaeval French y daeth y rhan helaethaf o’i lyfrgell bersonol, oedd yn cynnwys texts. Since then many scholars from Britain and abroad have dros chwe mil o gyfrolau, yn eu plith copïau printiedig cynnar made the journey to Aberystwyth in order to consult this o’r Roman de la Rose yn ogystal â’r llawysgrifau o’r rhamant ac remarkable collection. In the 1980s the manuscripts received o destunau canoloesol Ffrangeg eraill. Dros y blynyddoedd even closer attention thanks to the establishment of a project ymlwybrodd nifer o ysgolheigion o Brydain a gwledydd to record every manuscript containing miniatures in tramor i Aberystwyth i weld y casgliad godidog hwn. Yn y collections in Wales and to bring together photographs of each 1980au cafodd y llawysgrifau hyn sylw pellach pan lansiwyd miniature. The project was directed by two scholars from the prosiect i gofnodi pob llawysgrif mewn casgliadau yng English department at the university in Lampeter, Dr William Nghymru oedd yn cynnwys lluniau, ac i ddod â ffotograff o Marx and Dr Alcuin Blamires, the latter one of the authors of bob mân-ddarlun ynddynt at ei gilydd. Dr Alcuin Blamires, un the present volume, and the research undertaken for that o gydawduron y gyfrol hon, a Dr William Marx, y ddau o’r project was the starting point for this new study. This is not, Adran Saesneg yn y brifysgol yn Llambed, oedd cyfarwyddwyr however, simply a product of the project, for it includes a detailed study of the Roman de la Rose miniatures. y gwaith, a’r ymchwil a wnaethpwyd ar gyfer y prosiect The volume opens with a survey of earlier published work hwnnw oedd man cychwyn yr astudiaeth newydd hon. Serch on the illuminated manuscripts of the romance, which will be hynny,nid ffrwyth y prosiect yn unig sydd yma, oherwydd ceir of considerable value to those approaching the subject for the ynddi astudiaeth fanwl o fân-ddarluniau’r Roman de la Rose. first time. This introductory section discusses the ways in Agorir y gyfrol gydag arolwg o gyhoeddiadau blaenorol ar which various critics and art historians have approached the lawysgrifau goreuredig y rhamant, fydd yn sicr yn ddefnyddiol miniatures, especially as regards the relationship between text iawn i rai sydd yn dod at y pwnc am y tro cyntaf. Yn y and image. Since the artist responsible for the decoration and rhagymadrodd hwn ceir eglurhad ar y ffordd y dewisodd illustrations would normally start work after the scribe had gwahanol feirniaid a haneswyr celf ymdrin â’r mân-ddarluniau finished his task, two important questions arise: to what extent o ran eu perthynas â’r testun. Gan fod yr arlunydd neu do the pictures reflect or illustrate the text, and also to what addurnwr fel arfer yn dod at y gwaith wedi i gopïydd y testun extent do they interpret it, whether deliberately or gwblhau ei orchwyl yntau, cyfyd dau gwestiwn pwysig, sef nid accidentally? Blamires and Holian argue that chance plays an yn unig i ba raddau y mae’r lluniau yn adlewyrchu neu’n important role in this respect. Their view thus differs from that darlunio’r testun, ond hefyd i ba raddau y maent yn ei of some earlier critics, especially the late Michael Camille, who ddehongli, yn fwriadol neu beidio. Awgrym Blamires a Holian maintained that every detail of pictorial decoration in yw bod hap a damwain yn elfen bwysig yn y cyswllt hwn. Yn manuscripts offers a conscious and intentional commentary on

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hyn o beth mae eu barn yn wahanol i rai beirniaid blaenorol, the text or interpretation of it. It should not be forgotten, yn enwedig y diweddar Michael Camille, a fynnai fod pob however, that artists would often follow existing models for the elfen o addurn darluniadol mewn llawysgrifau’r cyfnod yn composition of their illustrations, following set patterns for, say, cynnig sylwebaeth neu ddehongliad cwbl fwriadol ar y testun. portraying particular activities or stock characters, and did not Rhaid cofio, fodd bynnag, y byddai’r arlunwyr yn aml yn dilyn always pay close attention to the narrative context but looked patrymau parod o ran cyfansoddiad lluniau a’r ffordd y no further than the rubrics left by the scribe. But cyflwynid gwahanol weithgareddau, er enghraifft, neu fathau o misunderstanding or misinterpretation can give rise to gymeriadau, ac nad oeddent bob tro yn astudio’n fanwl y cyd- accidental inconsistencies which may jolt the reader into destun storïol eithr yn bodloni ar gyfarwyddiadau cryno y looking afresh at the meaning and significance of narrative episodes, even if this were not the original intention. penawdau a adawodd y copïydd. Ond gall camddeall neu In the next section various aspects of the iconography of gamsynio ar eu rhan greu cyferbyniadau damweiniol ond sydd Roman de la Rose manuscripts are outlined, setting the eto, er yn anfwriadol, yn ysgogi’r darllenydd i edrych o’r miniatures in the Library’s manuscripts in a wider context, and newydd ar ystyr ac arwyddocâd episodau yn y naratif. various critical interpretations of the visual images are Amlinellir nesaf agweddau penodol ar eiconograffeg discussed. A detailed analysis is then provided of all the llawysgrifau’r Roman de la Rose, fel y gallom yn y man osod y miniatures in the manuscripts at Aberystwyth, taking each mân-ddarluniau yn llawysgrifau’r Llyfrgell Genedlaethol subject in turn. Here the authors discuss the visual treatment mewn cyd-destun ehangach, a chyflwynir yma syniadau rhai of the same subjects in Rose manuscripts in general, and the beirniaid ar sut i ddehongli’r delweddau gweledol. Dilynir yr extent to which the Library’s examples conform to, or differ adran hon gan ddadansoddiad manwl o’r holl fân-ddarluniau from, the main tradition(s). Small details can be shown to affect yn y llawysgrifau yn Aberystwyth, yn ôl pwnc pob llun. Yma the way we read the text, and the reasons for the choice of one nodir yn fyr sut yr ymdrinnir yn weledol â phob pwnc yn particular element rather than another are considered, as well llawysgrifau’r rhamant yn gyffredinol, gan ddangos i ba raddau as the implications of that choice. Interpretation will always be y mae enghreifftiau’r Llyfrgell yn cydymffurfio â’r prif subjective, but even if one does not always fully endorse the draddodiad(au) neu beidio. Dengys yr awduron fel y gall conclusions, this discussion will certainly encourage the reader manylion bychain effeithio ar y ffordd y darllenir y testun, gan to give further thought to the purpose and meaning of the drafod pam y dewiswyd un elfen yn hytrach nag un arall, a beth images. yw goblygiadau’r dewis. Mater o farn yw pob dehongliad, The final chapter is devoted to detailed catalogue wrth reswm, ond hyd yn oed os na chytunir â’r casgliadau, descriptions of the manuscripts prepared by Daniel Huws, formerly Keeper of Manuscripts at the Library. The authors bydd yr ymdriniaeth hon yn sicr yn peri i’r darllenydd feddwl rightly note that nobody else knows these manuscripts as well ymhellach am bwrpas neu ystyr y delweddau. as he does, and the descriptions bear this out. They are Cysegrir y bennod olaf i ddisgrifiadau manwl, safonol o’r prefaced by a brief but extremely useful biographical sketch of llawysgrifau gan Daniel Huws, cyn-Geidwad Llawysgrifau’r Francis William Bourdillon and of his career as a collector. For Llyfrgell. Gwir y dywed yr awduron nad oes neb arall yn many of us, this chapter will be the most lasting contribution adnabod y llawysgrifau hyn cystal ag ef, ac mae’r disgrifiadau in the book. It is disappointing that Daniel Huws is not named hyn yn brawf o hynny. Ceir yma hefyd fraslun cryno ond as a co-author. hynod ddefnyddiol o fywyd Francis William Bourdillon, a’i Although the volume is distributed in Britain by the yrfa fel casglwr. I nifer ohonom, y bennod hon fydd calon y University of Wales Press, whose imprint it bears, it should be gyfrol. Gresyn na nodwyd enw Daniel Huws fel cydawdur. noted that it is an American publication, from Arizona State Er mai gwasgnod Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru sydd ar y copïau University,which explains the American spelling and some less a werthir yn y wlad hon, dylid sylwi mai cynhyrchiad familiar terms. One may resign oneself to those, but it is harder Americanaidd gan Wasg Prifysgol Talaith Arizona ydyw,yr hyn to accept the style, which at times favours a critical vocabulary sydd yn esbonio’r orgraff Americanaidd ac ambell derm llai lacking in clarity and elsewhere can even be downright cyfarwydd. Os gellir goddef hyn, anos yw dygymod ag arddull slipshod. This can create barriers between the reader and the sydd yn simsanu rhwng ieithwedd beirniadaeth go dywyll a intended meaning: what, for example, are we to understand by llacrwydd anghelfydd. Ar adegau mae’r nodweddion hyn yn ‘if the subject is eventually to be got under control’? Lack of codi rhwystr rhwng y darllenydd a’r ystyr: beth, e.e., a olygir precision can create ambiguity or even potentially mislead, as in the references to ‘the Aberystwyth artist’ as short-hand for gan ‘if the subject is eventually to be got under control’? Dro ‘the artist of this particular manuscript now kept at arall, mae’r llacrwydd yn creu amwysedd neu gamargraff, e.e. Aberystwyth’. cyfeirio at ‘the Aberystwyth artist’ fel llaw-fer am ‘the artist of Despite these weaknesses, however, this volume will be this particular manuscript now kept at Aberystwyth’. warmly welcomed and the authors’ determination to bring Ond er gwaethaf y gwendidau hyn, rhaid croesawu’r gyfrol some of the most important illuminated manuscripts at the hon yn gynnes iawn. Dyma ymgais clodwiw i gyflwyno rhai National Library to the attention of a wider audience is to be o lawysgrifau goreuredig pwysicaf y Llyfrgell Genedlaethol i applauded. The full-colour plates, showing every single one of gynulleidfa ehangach. Bydd y lluniau lliw yn adnodd hynod o the miniatures, will be a most valuable resource not only for werthfawr nid yn unig ar gyfer arbenigwyr ar y Roman de la Roman de la Rose specialists but also for researchers into Rose ond hefyd ar gyfer ymchwilwyr ar ddelweddau ac addurn mediaeval manuscript iconography and decoration in general. llawysgrifau canoloesol yn gyffredinol. Darperir llyfryddiaeth A comprehensive bibliography is provided which further adds lawn sydd yn ychwanegu at werth parhaol y gwaith. to the lasting value of this work.

Dr Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan yw Pennaeth Uned Llawysgrifau Dr Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan is Head of the Manuscripts Unit Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru. at the National Library of Wales.

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Y bardd yn cysgu ac wedyn yn golchi ei ddwylo yn Llsgr. LlGC 5014D, f. 1r The poet sleeping and afterwards washing his hands in NLW MS 5014D, f. 1r llun / picture Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / National Library of Wales Gweler adolygiad Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan See the review by Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / National Library of Wales Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3BU ffôn / phone +44 (0) 1970 632800 ffacs / fax +44 (0) 1970 615709 [email protected] www.llgc.org.uk

Argraffwyd gan / Printed by Cambrian Printers,Aberystwyth

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