Am wneuthur, drwg antur gynt, A'u mam: ba ham y bai hi Yn fleiddiast? oerfel iddi! Ei fagl1 a wnaeth miragl mawr; A'r ceirw osgl-gyrn, chwyrn a chwai, Dyw Mawrth, Calan Mawrth, ym medd I farw aeth ef i orwedd. 81. Bu ar ei fedd, diwedd da, Cain glêr yn canu gloria; I bwll uffern ni fernir tention to this beautiful passage. Nowhere can truer poetry be found than in the account here given of St. David's miraculous life and triumphant death; where whiterobed choirs are described as singing over his entombment, and heaven's angels as hovering around the spot hallowed by his relics. Dyw Mawrth, Calan Mawrth. The saint died on Tuesday, in the calends of March. Hence, the first day of March has been dedicated to St. David, and the festival is kept to the present day. The reverence in which St. A gladder, di-ofer yw, 101. Odid fyth, er daed fai Dridiau a blwyddyn drwydoll5 David was held may be gleaned - lic', a ready writer'. Nottri 2 A phen dur ; an enthusiast 3 Bu budd, a being of good or Frut wyneb, having the fea- the time that St. David appeared tures of Brutus'. • Pabir, 'papyrus'. 1 Nottri Peblig, 'A notary pub- in public to take command in the 5 See St. John xxi, 25. III. CYWYDD I'R DRINDOD1 Duw, Ior y duwiau eraill, Dofydd a Llywydd y llaill; Dawns llawn-Duw yw 'n llawenydd Duw a weddïwn bob dydd. Dawn yw gweddïo Duw Naf, Duw byth, nis diobeithiaf! Heb Dduw ym' dysg, heb ddim dawn; A Duw agwrdd,1 a digawn.5 Mwyaf yw pwys fy mywyd, Ar Dduw byth, nag ar dda 'r byd. This poem is given as transcribed by Rhys Jones, of Tyddyn Mawr, Meirion, in his celebrated work, Gorchestion Beirdd Cymru. We have taken the liberty, however, of amending the text, where we found it manifestly incorrect. Rhys Jones was a poet and a no mean scholar; we consequently defer to his judgment on many points; but his book was printed in London, and bears evident marks of having passed through an English compositor's hands. 2 Ior, 'Lord', 'Prince'. Dawn. In the third line this term is used in its first intention, signifying, a gift', 'a present'; but in the fifth, it means a gift by way of ability to accomplish any mental function with effect'; as Dawn llefaru, 'the gift of eloquence'; dawn gweddio, 'the gift of praying'. Agwrdd, potent', 'powerful'. These two lines, it will be seen, are the Bard's poetical version of the well-known old proverb : "Heb Dduw, heb ddim ; The weight of my life', that is, my dependence, is ever upon God, not on the good things of the world'. There is a rough kind of devotion to be found throughout the whole of the Bard's compositions. According to the light of his day and the peculiar tenets of his Church, he is by no means deficient in religious knowledge. A glance at his Cyffes Iolo will prove this. C Rhodd yw, rhai addewynt, Pwy a oedd Dduw? pwy a ddaw? Greawdr. The orthography of this term, whether it be that of the Bard or of his Editor, is much to be preferred to that of Greawdwr -the affix gŵr not being applicable to the Godhead. in the last and present centuries. 9 Whatever were the errors into which the Roman Catholic Church had fallen, it ever held fast the doctrine of the Trinity. The explicit declarations the poet here makes are second only to those of the Athanasian Creed. So involved is this doctrine with that of the atonement, that we hail its presence with satisfaction in any Church, however erroneous in other matters. 1 Tadwys,-from tad and gŵys. The abstract is here used for the concrete fatherhood' for 'father' -a not unusual mode of diction among the poets. Trindawd yr Unduw ydynt; Un gadernyd, un fryd fry ; Un fraint, un feddiant, un frys,3 Un dôn, un wath, da 'n un wedd, A'r Gair a ddaeth o'r gwir Dduw. Y ganed Mab o gnawd Mair; 3 Frys, readiness', quickness', 'promptitude in performance'; as exemplified in that particular act of creation in which "God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light". Gwath, intent', 'design'—a term not to be found in Dr. Owen Pughe's Lexicon. 5 Gair. The poet uses this term as a name of our Lord. He does not say Y Gair. This accords with the similar use of Crist when used without the definitive article. The article, however, is used in the following line in accordance with Scripture. |