Ffeil / File BB/3 - Cerddi'r Bugail

Ganed y bardd Ellis Humphrey Evans (Hedd Wyn) (1887-1917) yn Nhrawsfynydd, yn fab i Evan a Mary Evans. Derbyniodd addysg sylfaenol yn ysgol y pentref cyn ymadael yn bedair ar ddeg oed i weithio ar y fferm deuluol, Yr Ysgwrn. Ennillodd sawl cadair eisteddfodol, y cyntaf pan oedd yn ugain oed. 'Roedd dylanwad Rhamantaidd cryf ar ei gerddi, a oedd yn bennaf yn ymwneud â thirlun/natur a chrefydd, hyd nes dyfodiad y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf, pan ddechreuodd gynnwys themâu rhyfel yn ei farddoniaeth. Ar y dechrau, gwrthododd ymuno â'r fyddin ar sail ei heddychiaeth a'i Gristnogaeth, ond, ym mis Mehefin 1917 - yn bennaf er mwyn rhwystro ei frawd iau rhag listio - fe ymunodd â 15fed Bataliwn y Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig yn Ffrainc. Yma fe gwblhaodd ei awdl ar gyfer cadair Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Penbedw ar destun 'Yr Arwr' dan y ffugenw 'Fleur de Lis'. Lladdwyd Hedd Wyn ar ddiwrnod cyntaf Brwydr Passchendaele (31 Gorffennaf 1917) a phan gyhoeddwyd y newyddion o lwyfan yr eisteddfod taenwyd y gadair farddol â llen ddu. Cerddi'r Bugail (1918), oedd y casgliad cyntaf o farddoniaeth Hedd Wyn i'w gyhoeddi. 'Roedd Hedd Wyn a Robert (Silyn) Roberts yn gyfeillion agos.

= The poet Ellis Humphrey Evans (bardic name Hedd Wyn) (1887-1917) was born in Trawsfynydd, the son of Evan and Mary Evans. He received a basic education in the village school before leaving at fourteen to help work his family farm, Yr Ysgwrn. He won several eisteddfod chairs, the first at twenty years of age. His work was heavily influenced by Romantic poetry, largely involving themes of landscape/nature and religion, until the outbreak of the First World War saw him including more martial themes. He initially refused conscription on the basis of his pacifism and Christian beliefs; however, in June 1917 - mainly to prevent his younger brother enlisting - he joined the 15th Battalion of Royal Welsh Fusiliers in France. It was here that he completed his awdl (lengthy strict-metre poem) for the Birkenhead National Eisteddfod bardic chair competition on the theme of 'Yr Arwr' ('The Hero') under the pseudonym 'Fleur de Lis'. Hedd Wyn was killed on the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele (31 July 1917) and, when the news was announced from the Eisteddfod platform, the bardic chair was draped with a black cloth. Cerddi'r Bugail (1918) was the first volume of Hedd Wyn's poetry to be published. Hedd Wyn and Robert (Silyn) Roberts were close friends.

Ganed y gweinidog Annibynol a'r bardd John James Williams (1869-1954) yn Nhaigwynion, ger Talybont, Ceredigion, yn fab i William ac Elizabeth Williams, a'i addysgu yn academi Pontypridd, Coleg Coffa Aberhonddu a Choleg Prifysgol Cymru Caerdydd. Dechreuodd bregethu yng Nghapel y Tabernacl, Ynys-y-bŵl, Rhondda. Fe'i ordeinwyd ym 1895 a bu'n gweinidogaethu yn Rhymni, Pentre (Rhondda) a Threforys, lle bu o 1915 hyd ei ymddeoliad ym 1944. Fe'i etholwyd yn gadeirydd Undeb yr Annibynwyr ym 1935. Ennillodd gadair Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Caernarfon 1906 a chadair Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Llangollen 1908. Beirniadodd gystadleuaeth y gadair am tua chwarter canrif a bu'n archdderwydd o 1936 hyd 1939. Ymysg ei weithiau cyhoeddedig mae dwy ddrama gerdd, Ruth (1909) ac Esther (1911), a chyfrol o gerddi dan y teitl Y lloer a cherddi eraill (1936), yn ogystal â nifer o emynau. Bu'n olygydd colofnau barddol cylchgronnau Annibynol Y Tyst (1924-1937) a'r Dysgedydd (1933-1936), ac ef a olygodd Cerddi'r Bugail (1918), cyfrol goffa o gerddi Hedd Wyn. Priododd, yn gyntaf, Claudia Bevan, Aberpennar (1899) ac, yn ail, Abigail Jenkins, Pontlotyn (Morgannwg) (1903). Ystyriwyd J. J. Williams yn un o bregethwyr mwyaf poblogaidd ei ddydd.
= The Independent minister and poet John James Williams (1869-1954) was born in Taigwynion near Talybont, Ceredigion, the son of William and Elizabeth Williams, and educated at Pontypridd academy, Brecon Congregational Memorial College and University College of Wales Cardiff. He started preaching in the Tabernacle Independent Chapel, Ynysybwl, Rhondda. He was ordained in 1895 and ministered at Rhymni, Pentre (Rhondda) and Morriston, where he remained from 1915 until his retirement in 1944. He was elected chairman of the Union of Welsh Independents in 1935. He won the chair at the Caernarfon National Eisteddfod (1906) and the Llangollen National Eisteddfod (1908). He adjudicated the bardic chair competition for some twenty-five years and served as archdruid from 1936 to 1939. Among his published works are two musical dramas, Ruth (1909) and Esther (1911), and a volume of poetry titled Y lloer a cherddi eraill (1936), as well as many hymns. He edited the poetry sections of Independent periodicals Y Tyst (1924-1937) and Y Dysgedydd (1933-1936), as well as Cerddi'r Bugail (1918), a commemorative anthology of Hedd Wyn's poetry. He married, firstly, Claudia Bevan, Aberpennar (1899) and, secondly, Abigail Jenkins, Pontlotyn (Glamorgan) (1903). J. J. Williams was considered one of the most popular preachers of his day.