C Y M R A E G

Owain Myfyr to Iolo Morganwg, 30 September-6 October 1782


(NLW 21281E, no. 230)



Owain Myfyr experiments with Welsh orthography by using 'x' for 'ch'. This letter shows how crucial letters were for maintaining social networks and companionship. Here, Owain Myfyr congratulates Iolo on his recent marriage to Euron (Margaret) and imparts news regarding John Walters and David Samwell (Dafydd Ddu Feddyg) who was away at sea with Captain Howe at the time.

Ewch at y cyfieithiad Saesneg

Address: Mr Edward Williams, Marble Mason, St. Mary Church, Cowbridge,Glamorganshire

Postmark: 00/8

Source: NLW 21281E, no. 230


Llundain, y dydd diweddaf o Fedi 1782

Llythyr Owain Myfyr at Iolo Morganwg, 30 Medi-6 Hydref 1782

Llythyr Owain Myfyr at Iolo Morganwg, 30 Medi-6 Hydref 1782

Y caredig gyfaill,
Dyma fi o'r diwedd y ceisio rhyw fath ar atteb ith lythyr a gefais y mis Ebrill diweddaf. Amser ddigon! Eithr coeliaf mae hwn yw'r cyntaf a ysgrifennais i Gymru o fewn y flwyddyn hon a dyma gymaint o Gymraeg hefyd a roddais ar bapur. Blwyddyn lled galed a gefais i yleni gan hocced a thwyll y byd. Clefyd beth o'r amser, siomedigaeth hefyd a gafodd ei rhan &c. Eithr ni wiw gwingo. Er nas gwel, y mae llwybr dyn drwy'r byd yma oi fywyd {febyd} iw fedd wedi ei osod ac yn hwnw rhaid tramgwyddo.

Da iawn gennyf dy lwyddiant, sef meddu ohonot y ferx a geri ac ath gar. Dyna eithaf dedwyddwx dyn yn y byd hwn. Cofia fi yn barxedig at Euron. I'r wyf yn diolx itti am dy garedig wahoddiad ith blasdy gorwyn ymorganwg, ac os iexyd a hoedl a gaf y mae'n fy mryd gymeryd hynny o daith rhyw ddydd a ddaw. "Eithr pa bryd y bydd hynny?", meddi dithau. Yn wir nis gwn, eithr gobeitho y daw'r dydd.

Y mae'n gywilyddus gennyf ddywedyd iti fod y cywyddau yn bresennol ar gyfyrgoll ac ni fedraf fi pei crogid fi ddyfeisio gan bwy maent. 'E fuont gan y Meddyg Du ar ei ddyxweliad o'r Deheufor gyda'r Cadpen Cooke. Y mae'r Meddyg yn awr yngwasanaeth y Brenin gyda'r Arglwydd Howe ond odid ar orror Sibralter, yr hwn a obeithiwn a faedda, a ddryllia <a>c a ddifetha y Ffraingiad, yr Ysbaeniad ai llongau yn ysgyrion a dellt yn ulw, yn lludw colledig! Felly gweddiaf fi. Dywed dithau "Amen!" Hyd yma heddyw.
Hydref y 6ed

Dyma fi'r awron yn xwilio pob cilfax a xongl am y cywyddau. Wawx wyllt! Dyma hwy! Ymha le debygi ei cefais? Ynghronfa y Beirdd, a hanner y cywydd cyntaf wedi ei ysgrifenny, yr hyn a wneuthym o liaf ddwy flynedd ir amser hyn. "Ai e?" meddi dithau, "dyna serx y Myfyr ir Gymraeg?" Ni thal gwadu, felly y bu, ond nid felly y bydd. Mi gefais lythyr yn ddiweddar oddiwrth Mr Walters ac ef a ddywaid fod cywydd marwnad Mr Morris yn y byd o waith Bardd Morganwg ac hefyd fod y Bardd yn addo ei ddanfon ar fyrr amser i Lundain at Owain Myfyr, ynghyd a xywydd arall o glod i wlad Gymru, pan fu n haeddu clod (eithr nid yr oes hon yw honno, nage!). Dywed ith frawd Twm fod ei ddillad ef yn fy meddiant a darfod imi dalu i felldith ei fam Sion Lygad y Geiniog 1.11.6 heblaw a dderbyniais yn y llythyr, sef 10s 6d. Disgwyl 'r wyf yn awr am gyfrwyddyd iw danfon iddo. Gan ei fod yn fynyx ar dramgwydd a fe allai yn rhyw barth o Lloegr, nis gwyddwn i ba le yn sicir yw danfon. Os cartref y mae gyda thi ymorganwg, dymunaf ei orxymyn yn ebrwydd iw danfon yn ol iawn gyfrwyddyd, ac ef all pan dderbyn y dillad dalu i Mr Walters yr 1.11.6. Disgwiliaf, er na's haeddaf, lythr o'r eiddot cyn bo hir. Y mae'n fy mryd osod o ddifri i gopio y cywyddau ac ei danfonaf itti yn lled ebrwydd. Cofia fi etto eilwaith at Euron.

Dy gyfaill diffuant,

Ywain Myfyr

Endorsement: Owain Jones


English Translation


London, the last day of September 1782

Kind friend,
Here I am at last attempting some kind of an answer to your letter which I received last April. High time! But I believe that this is the first I have written to Wales this year and this is as much Welsh as I have put on paper too. It has been a pretty difficult year for me because of the fraud and deceipt of the world. Illness some of the time, and disappointment also have had their share &c. But it is of no use flinching. Although he does not see it, man's path through this world from his life {infancy} to his grave has been determined and he must follow that path.

I am very glad of your success, namely securing the girl you love and who loves you. That is the height of man's happiness in this world. Remember me respectfully to Euron. I thank you for your kind invitation to your bright white mansion in Glamorgan, and if I am given health and life it is my intention to take that journey one of these days. "But when will that be?", you ask. Indeed, I do not know, but I hope the day will come.

It is to my great shame that I must tell you that the cywyddau have gone astray for the time being, and I cannot if I were to be hanged imagine who has them. They were with Dafydd Ddu when he returned from the South Seas with Captain Cooke. He is now in the King's service with Lord Howe, probably near Gibraltar. Let us hope that Howe shatters and crushes and destroys utterly the French, the Spanish and their ships into splinters and staves, like perishable ashes! So pray I. Say you "Amen!" Thus far today.

6th October
Here I am now looking into every nook and cranny for the cywyddau. Heavens above! Here they are! Where do you think I found them? In the Poets' Collection, and half the first cywydd copied, which I did at least two years ago. "Indeed", say you, "is that the extent of Myfyr's love for the Welsh language?" I cannot deny that it has been so, but it will not be so in the future. I received a letter recently from Mr Walters, and he says that an elegiac cywydd to Mr Morris exists of the work of the Bard of Glamorgan and also that the Bard promises to send it shortly to London to Owain Myfyr, together with another cywydd of praise to the land of Wales, in the days when it deserved praise (but that is not in this age, oh no!). Tell your brother Tom that I have his clothes and that I had to pay for him - miserly, accursed one that he is - 1.11.6 in addition to the amount I received in his letter, which was 10s 6d. I am now waiting for instructions to send them to him. Since he is often travelling and could be in some part of England, I do not know for certain where to send them. If he is at home in Glamorgan with you, I wish for his command quickly to send them according to correct instructions, and he can pay the 1.11.6 to Mr Walters when he receives the clothes. I expect a letter from you before long, although I do not deserve it. It is my intention to set about in earnest to copy the cywyddau and I shall send them to you fairly soon. Remember me a second time to Euron.

Your sincere friend,

Ywain Myfyr]

Endorsement: none

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