E N G L I S H

Gwaith Iolo


Amlygir natur bolymathig Iolo yn yr amrywiaeth eang o bynciau a drafododd yn ei weithiau cyhoeddedig ac yn ei lawysgrifau anghyhoeddedig. Y mae'r amrywiaeth hon hefyd yn ddrych o'r modd y taniwyd ei feddwl gan ysbryd yr oes oherwydd traethodd ar hanes a datblygiad y traddodiad barddol Cymraeg, Barddas, mydryddiaeth Gymraeg, materion ieithyddol, hanes lleol, Undodiaeth, crefydd y Dwyrain, digwyddiadau gwleidyddol cyfoes, amaethyddiaeth, datblygiadau diwydiannol, hirhoedledd, alawon gwerin, meddyginiaethau naturiol, sut i gymysgu sment a pha goed oedd yn gweddu orau i'w plannu mewn perth.

Ei anallu i ganolbwyntio ar un pwnc penodol, a'r rheidrwydd i gynnal ei deulu trwy ennill ei fara menyn fel saer maen sy'n cyfrif am y ffaith na lwyddodd Iolo i wireddu pob cynllun o'i eiddo. Dyma sut y disgrifiodd y profiad anodd o geisio cwblhau 'The History of the Bards' a chyflawni'r gwaith a addawsai ar gyfer The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales (1801-7):

my materials lay in great confusion, owing to the necessities of my being obliged to leave off my studies for other occupations, to work at my trade for bread, &c, and owing to such things and the frequent and long interruptions of my studies, my chain of ideas and arrangement were so broken and all their connections so broken, as to escape my memory, so that on returning to those studies and not recollecting what I had previously written, I wrote the same again over again and again and in other things only added more and more to my mass of confusion, so that I found myself more and more obstructed in my progress rather than going on.
(Llythyr Iolo Morganwg at Owen Jones (Owain Myfyr), 5 Ebrill 1806.)


Er gwaethaf ei dlodi a'i ddiffyg amser hamdden i ysgrifennu, llwyddodd Iolo i ddod â sawl prosiect i fwcwl, yn ogystal â chyfrannu'n werthfawr at eraill: Dagrau yr Awen (1772), Barddoniaeth Dafydd ab Gwilym (1789), The Heroic Elegies of Llywarç Hen (1792), Poems, Lyric and Pastoral (1794), Trial by Jury (1795), The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales (1801-7), Salmau'r Eglwys yn yr Anialwch (1812), Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain (1829).

'Castles in the air' oedd disgrifiad Margaret, ei wraig, am ei duedd i beidio â gorffen prosiectau ac yn wir, defnyddiodd Iolo yr un ymadrodd ar fwy nag un achlysur i ddisgrifio ei gynlluniau a'i ddiddordebau niferus ei hun. Ymhlith y prosiectau eraill na welodd erioed olau dydd mae'r canlynol. Ceir nodiadau a chynlluniau ar gyfer y rhan fwyaf o'r eitemau hyn ymysg papurau a llawysgrifau Iolo:


• 'Diddanwch y Cymry' (blodeugerdd, 1770au)
• 'Dywenydd Morganwg' (cylchgrawn chwarterol, 1780au)
• 'Selected Pieces of Ancient Welsh-Poetry' (cyfieithiadau o farddoniaeth beirdd canonaidd cyfnod y Cywyddwyr, 1790au a 1810au)
• 'The History of the Bards' (1794)
• 'Christianity versus Kingcraft, with a Plan proposed for abolishing the Christian Religion, as inimical to the Rights of Man' (1794)
• 'Dissertation on the Rights of Man, with four Plans of Republican Government, humbly addressed to the American States, in their United and Individual capacities. To which will be added observations on the ancient Constitution of Britain deduced from the Welsh Laws of Howel Dda, and a new Plan of Limited Monarchy on Patriarchal Principles' (1794)
• 'The History of the Ancient Bards of Britain, compiled from Authentic Manuscripts in the Welsh Language, with elucidating Extracts from ancient Poems, The Bardic Triades, and a review of what Ancient foreign writers have said on the subject. Or an attempt to ascertain the true principles of Liberty, Natural and Political, and the Duties of man as a member of society' (1794)
• 'Christian prophecy fulfilled in French infidelity, and thereby the evidences of Revealed Religion corroborated, with a new argument advanced for the existence of a Deity and the connective necessity of Divine Revelation' (1794)
• 'A new plan for civilizing the American Indians, and other Barbarous Nations, addressed to the british Protestant Dissenters' (1794)
• 'A new and equitable plan for the Abolition of slavery. Addressed to Parliament of Great Britain' (1794)
• 'An additional Volume of Poems as partly original and partly translations from the Welsh' (1794)
• 'A Dissertation on Infant Baptism or sprinkling The clearest and in its arguments the most conclusive of any that has ever been written hitherto. By E.W. Explorer of the Den of Thieves to his most Supernal Majesty the King of Kings'
• 'Traethawd ar Areithyddiaeth gan Dr Blackwell wedi ei gyfieithu gan Iolo Morganwg, B.B.D.'
• 'Translation of Young's Farmer's Calendar by E.W.'
• 'A Grammar of the Welsh Language, with Canons of Celtic Etymology and the Rules of Welsh Versification'
• 'The History of Caerfilly Castle from the first notice of it to the time of Henry the eighth By Edwd. Wms'
• 'To the prince of the Powers of the Air, King of Corsica, Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, Defender of Billy Pit's Faith, Head under God of the Church of Britain. This little work is with all the pomposity, all the adulation, all the Church and Kingism, and all the Blasphemy, of Regal etiquette, inscribed, addressed, Dedicated, &c, &c, &c, by his most sacred majesty, most redoubter and Democrat, Antagonist and Republican opponent'
• 'War incompatible with spirit of Christianity' - An Essay by Edwd Wms

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