English Translation

[NLW 21286E, Letter 1005, Iolo Morganwg to Taliesin Williams, 17 January 1826



Flimston, January 17th 1826

Dear Tally,
Instead of inclosing your own copy of your address 'The Welsh Bards and Philologists (Cymreigyddion)', you will find in this a correct copy of it, which will save you double postage as I had room enough, having no long stories to tell you in my own part of it. I think your address very proper. You wished me to alter something in it for the better, but I cannot see in what I could do so. I think that your introducing with applause the name and conduct of the bishop very proper for, had it not been for what he has done, the Welsh could never have been stimulated to establish any such institutions. Of this no more at present ...

January 19th

I have not been able to proceed any farther until this. I have been, and still am, very ill since you left me, worse than ever you saw me.
I have almost finished a letter of importance to you which I cannot no[w] finish before it is too late to send the parcel away by coach this evening. You shall have it next Tuesday or Wednesday. I have been extremly sick and much worse have hitherto ever been ever since you and Nancy left us, and absolutely unable to write any how, treying to do all in my power by using a candle in the middle of the day, and by doing set this paper on fire. I have to day cobled it up as well as I can. I hope you are all well.
Love to all,
Edward Williams

Saturday morning, February 4th

You will do me the greatest kindness if you will procure a pair of crutches for me, and send them to Cardiff by next Saturday at Mr Pethericks, where a neighbour will call for them. I shall never more in all probability be able to walk but on crutches.


The dedicatory greeting of the bards and poets of the Merthyr Tydfil bardic Chair in the lordship of Glamorgan and Gwent and Ergyng and Ewias and Ystrad Yw, under their main boundaries, to the bards and poets of the Welsh nation
in the name of God and all goodness

Our ingenious brothers,
Noticing the unexpected commotion which is now spreading through our country, we thought it fitting to introduce our ideas for your consideration in the following way.
The aim of such stirrings is to restore the renown and prestige of our old poetry, as closely as is possible, to the honour which was formerly deservingly and rightfully hers; and with this to reform our excellent old language from the corruptions under which it is now in ruin, and as if lying in their blood; and most of all in the hope that we shall succeed in some measure to rid [our language] of the cawr-lygredigaethau {'cawrlygriad neu lygredigaeth', gigantic corruption or barbarism} which now appear as jack-o'-lanterns surrounding it everywhere, as if arising from the stench of the bottomless pit. Such as we put before you on this subject at this time is a warning, and we hope that it is enough. It would be beneficial to take care and time to consider [the matter].
Around the years from 1451 to the year 1462, namely in the time and under the patronage of Gruffudd ap Nicolas, Lord of Dinefwr and Abermarlais, bardic chairs and eisteddfodau were held in order to restore and reform our poetry, and at the second great eisteddfod of Carmarthen in 1461, to the misfortune of the praiseworthy aim, a disagreement occurred which led to the separation of the learned bards of Glamorgan and Gwynedd into two factions, through the work of one Dafydd ab Edmwnd of Gwynedd, setting forth to bring in some innovations and empty exploits [--] and [these] no better than the hobby-horse of small children on which luminous sense cannot be sung or sustained, [while keeping -- in] and in use under the judgement of the Chair and Gorsedd of a single old art in accordance with wisdom and the muse. Some of the bards of the Chair of Glamorgan were Ieuan Gethin ab Ieuan ap Lleison, Llawdden Fardd from Glyn Llychwr (so he himself says in one of his cywyddau) in the parish of Llandeilo Tal-y-bont in the Vale of Gower in Glamorgan (not Llandeilo Fawr ar Dywi), Ieuan ap Hywel Swrdwal of Tir Iarll, Hywel Dafydd ap Ieuan ap Rhys, and Gwilym ap Ieuan Hen, known as Gwilym Tew, these two also from Tir Iarll, and others, but the poets of Gwynedd and Dyfed were in a gorfodrif {'gorfodrif', majority in number}. The decision of the eisteddfod went in their favour and against the bards of Glamorgan, and Dafydd ab Edmwnd's classifications established a lifelong bond (as it was called) over Dyfed and Gwynedd, under the name of the Carmarthen Classification.
The Glamorgan bards withdrew, choosing to continue as they were before, none other than Bards by the Privilege and Rite of the Bards of the Isle of Britain, and so they still remain [---] to this day in the Chair of Glamorgan under the same appellation and the motto [-] of their Gorsedd is 'Truth against the world' in the Gorsedd of the Bards of the Isle of Britain and, separately in the Chair of the lordship of Morgan under the motto of its Gorsedd, their motto is 'God and all goodness'.
There is another Chair in Glamorgan under the name of the Chair of Tir Iarll & the Chair of the Round Table, which was first organized according to the old records by the emperor Arthur at Caerleon-upon-Usk, and was moved thence to Tir Iarll, the central part of Glamorgan, by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, who was noble king and lord of Glamorgan through the prerogative of his wife, Mabel, daughter and heiress of Sir Robert Fitzhamon. And at that time the appellation Tir Iarll was given to the place previously known as Maes Mawr [the Great Plain] in Glamorgan, and it is said that the Prison of Oeth and Annoeth was built underground in Maes Mawr with the bones of the Caesarians who were slain on Maes Mawr by Caradog ap Brân ap Ll^yr Llediaith, the most renowned of all our chief princes and rulers. The motto of the Chair of Tir Iarll or the Round Table is 'Nothing is truly good that may be excelled'. And the Chair of Tir Iarll is held under the protection and in the bosom (as it is said) of that of Glamorgan.
Subsequently, having rejected entirely the classifications and empty exploits of the Chair or eisteddfod of Carmarthen, the Glamorgan bards resolved to call, to bring acknowledgement back to the old privileges and rites of the bards of the Isle of Britain, and to the old and chief art of poetry, resolving themselves under the ancient pledges of old, reforming and improving where it was seen fit, and putting all under the preservation of the writing and the utterance of the Gorsedd, as it once was [-]; and such preservations remain in existence to this day, and also in the use of Chair and Gorsedd in so far as occurrences and the accidents of time make it possible to do so, and this in canlyniadau diymdor {'canlyniadau diymdor', uninterrupted succession}. There are also among us one or two of the old bards of such issue, and one of them now over four score years old, having laboured since he was around ten years old to collect as many as he could of our old manuscripts and to copy such old ones as he could not acquire in exchange for payment, or in some other manner, and to take the cream of the whole, as one might say. He is prepared to give us as much assistance as he can, but this only for as long as he lives. The time remaining to him is very short, but following his death, having affirmed his entire collection, which is undoubtedly by far the greatest in number, and the most refined in Wales and in the whole of the Isle of Britain and in the whole world; but, woe betide us, following his death no one in the world other than the issue of his own body will be permitted to look at them until the beginning of the twentieth century or the year 1901, and this only because of the disgraceful misbehaviour which he has experienced from his nation in general and from the great, wholly uninspired, blockhead Myfyr, completely inconstant his nature and, most of all, wholly feeble in his understanding, however great his self-glory and his unparalleled duplicity to win it; great in nothing save deceit, small in every virtuous quality that a man could have. As his fellow and, if possible, more than his fellow, let us name the bill-hook craftsman of the great jack-o'-lanterns, Dr Southcott, and the domestic bard of Hu Gadarn, and with these two giant blocks, the recent eisteddfodau of Carmarthen and Brecon, and others which can be named. The above verbal portraits are his own words, word for word as far as they can be remembered. He does not give out the names of these contemptible beetles of men, one and all, as he would wish. Lest he should do so, he must stop. Truth to tell, it is not worth knowing their names.
The aims of the Chair of Merthyr Tydfil are to preserve the memory of the old art, the musical accompaniment and the old rites of Chair and Gorsedd; the old and excellent Welsh language; to collect as many Welsh words as can be judged pure, though they have not yet acquired the place that is fitting to them in our dictionaries; also all the old idioms or idiomatic modes of speaking and manners of expression, some of which, yea, and many in number, are full of great sense and with that are very succinct and extremely beautiful in their significance, and are dazzling ornaments to our language. Often old traditional stories are heard circulating, full of life from ages long gone by, in the neighbourhoods of old castles, old monasteries, &c., &c., very much resembling that which could be the truth, and yet notable and entertaining enough to satisfy those who hear them. We would wish to collect such stories as briefly and tersely as possible. There are very pleasing, and no less innocent, old songs or free-metre poems rife all over our country. Let the best among them be collected. Also, old Welsh airs, some of them very sweet-sounding - let the best among them be collected &c. There are also among us some old customs of nation and household. It is fitting that they should be mentioned and noticed.

January 27th

Because the world has become so selfish, one can expect nothing without giving a prize for it, or with regard to it, whether it be poetry or prose, linguistics or antiquarianism, or whatever else it might be. Because of this, we plan to give prizes according to our means. We would hope that our subjects were always and on every occasion at least harmless to the listener and the reader and that, as far as we are able, they tended to lead their minds to some good and to amiable and beautiful friendship, and not to lead them astray to vanity and immorality. And in so far as this is the case, our aim is that they are as interesting and entertaining as would befit a man in a literate country. But, more's the pity, there are some who delight in all kinds of indecency. We hope that the like shall not be found in our midst. Among our gentry, as they are called, there is neither the will nor the effort nor the least inclination to encourage a reform in morals among us and an improvement in the conduct and behaviour of one group towards the other, but, contrary to all such things, they, rather, set about leading us to such monstrosity of conduct as is evident among many in our midst; instead, they resolve to set themselves up as examples in every feat which is judged improper in a man; they dedicate themselves to making rough the morals of their neighbours, rather than refining them, and subsequently their cries for new laws to punish those whom they see following the example which they set before the common people are shrill. Let the wise among us, the plebeians and the middle classes, aim higher than this in our way of life, and let us adapt our subjects for prizes to such an effort in order that they attract our equals, especially the youngsters of our country, towards nobility and beauty of conduct; and in order to cherish laudable knowledge, let such godebau {'godebau' ideas; 'godeb' an idea} take a prominent part in all our aims.
On this note, let us resolve to restore our language to the purity which was evident before William Owen's repugnant corruption was disseminated over it, and to rid it of the filthy torrent which was poured over it under the venomous firmament of a shooting star which incorporated itself as an abhorrent cloud of the mist or fog of the great jack-o'-lantern which preceded it. We call upon Cymreigyddion societies and the eisteddfodau of the poets of our country to join us in our attempt to deliver our pure, beautiful and excellent old language from the swamp which is full of toads more abominable than the Egyptian toads of old, in which pit it is currently immersed. We propose this in the name of God and all goodness, and in order to declare the truth against the world and, heart to heart, may everyone join in the attempt [in] time, before it should be too late.
Besides the immense corruptions of William Owen, there are others spreading near and far over the Welsh language. Among the most repugnant are the ones of Gwynedd in their manner of shortening the endings as if it could be justly done, in such words as these: 'cla', 'ha', 'bra', 'cna', 'ara', 'ne', 'cru', 'rhi', 'lli', 'co', 'go', 'plu', 'tw', 'praw', 'naw', 'hy', 'pry', 'ry', 'cry', 'nwy', 'plwy', &c., &c., &c., instead of 'claf' [sick], 'haf' [summer], 'braf' [fine], 'cnaf' [rascal], 'araf' [slow], 'nef' [heaven], 'cref' [strong], 'rhif' [number], 'llif' [flood], 'cof' [memory], 'gof' [smith], 'pluf' [feathers], 'twf' [growth], 'prawf' [test], 'nawf' [swim], 'hyf' [bold], 'cryf' [strong], 'pryf' [insect], [--], 'nwyf' [vigour], 'plwyf' [parish], and many more such words. Another corruption in Gwynedd which is very much in use among the dissenters of south Wales, is to put the syllable 'ol' as a tail no less monstrous than old Satan's tail - as in the words 'uniongyrchol' [direct], 'parodol' [ready], 'hynodol' [remarkable], 'cyffredinol' [general], 'anferthol' [huge] and others of the same kind, great numbers of them, instead of 'uniongyrch', 'parod', 'hynod', 'cyffredin', 'anferth', &c., &c. There are many more corruptions in our language. They are almost all the offspring of Gwynedd, but wherever they were born, may they all be hanged.
Following Gruffudd ap Nicolas's eisteddfod of competence at Carmarthen, the effect of the disagreement there between the bards of Glamorgan and the bards of almost every other part of Wales, led to a schism between them. The Glamorgan bards adhered to their old Chair and Gorsedd rites, and they have kept them to this day better than it might have been expected in the memory of country and Chair. They also have a written record more consistent with reason than we could believe [it] to be, were it not that we see the old bards in every part of Wales referring to [it] with very unequivocal understanding. The memory of these things has slid away, gone astray into oblivion in Gwynedd, although rememberance of them remained there until the days of Siôn Tudur (the age of Queen Elizabeth). But who in Gwynedd today knows what Siôn Tudur meant at the beginning of his cywydd in praise of that queen:

While reading, expert authority,
A word of nine agonies on a wooden chronicle &c., &c.

or this englyn in Dafydd ap Gwilym's awdl to Ifor Hael:

Ifor, with his upright body, our lord,
Putting the men of Deira on a stake,
Was the best of those who have been, he of precious stock,
Of those who live now, and all who ever shall in the future.

There is nobody there who understands a jot in them. Nobody! Not a single one of them all! And not only this, but nothing remotely resembling the order of the classification of Chair rites is seen in Gwynedd. Wherever they meet there or in London, they have not a single shred of a society's order, other than that which they borrow from the English.
It is not easy to see or to fail to hear about any of the lineages nor the old rites of the bards of the Isle of Britain, for so they should always be called, but for the last two or almost three hundred years, they have been called the Glamorgan classifications. But whatever they are called, we poets of Merthyr Tydfil see beauty and luminous hanbwyll {'hanbwyll', derivative reason, from 'han', derivation, and 'pwyll', vide 'han' in Dr Davies & in Richards} in them, and intend gradually to restore them in our Chair. We must establish some kind of a pupilage or state of being licensed among us, exerting ourselves to give the instruction that we can to each other. In the meantime, although we are not in fact chaired poets, not masterpoets, is there anyone in Wales more so than us? We are all too far behind in the infancy of bardic knowledge and learning to presume to take upon ourselves such great names or titles. Let others do as they wish, what their great presumptuous pride sees fit, on the banks of the Taff, the banks of the Teifi, the banks of the Cothi, or on any river bank they wish. As for us, we do not hitherto give ourselves titles higher than the poets of Merthyr Tydfil bardic Chair under the patronage and privileges of the bardic Chair and Gorsedd of Morgannwg and Gwent and Ergyng and Ewias and Ystrad Yw, and our motto is God and all goodness (or light) {light would do well enough, E. W.}.
Yet, in spite of what we have said, we are obliged to use in our Chair eisteddfod, to take and use such titles, in order to place the appropriate appearances and forms and graddenwau {'graddenwau', titles or official names and appellation} of office of a worthy Chair and Gorsedd before the common people and to display the forms and the orders which should be maintained in the hope that we succeed up to the point when worthiness [comes] justly in the privilege of truly bardic learning.
In the name of God and all goodness, and in truth against the world.]