Pennod 44 - Yr Hen a’r Newydd, Y Gwir a’r Gau: Rhagymadrodd Richard Davies

Yr Hen Iaith

‘Dwi wir wedi fy llorio gan hyn’ yw un o’r pethau a ddywed Richard Wyn Jones ar ôl clywed am ragymadrodd syfrdanol yr Esgob Richard Davies i Destament Newydd 1567. Dyma ysgrif lenyddol fywiog sy’n hynod ddiddorol – ac yn hynod arwyddocoal – o safbwynt hunaniaeth Gymreig y cyfnod. Mae hefyd yn ddarn o bropanda Brotestannaidd sy’n troi’r gwirionedd y tu chwith allan gan ddarlunio’r Hen Frytaniaid fel rhyw fath o broto-Brotestaniaid a honni mai dychwelyd eu hen ffydd iddynt yn hytrach na’u cyflwyno i ffydd newydd yr oedd y Diwygiad Protestannaidd. Ond mae hefyd yn cyflwyno cnewyllyn o wirionedd o fath arall wrth drafod yr hen ryfeloedd rhwng Cymru a Lloegr ac mae’n rhyfeddol gweld Richard Davies yn trafod coron Loegr mewn modd negyddol gan ei fod yn gwasanaethu’r goron honno fel esgor yn Eglwys Loegr! * The Old and the New, The True and the False: Richard Davies’ Introduction ‘I am really floored by this’ is one of the things which Richard Wyn Jones says after hearing about Bishop Richard Davies’ amazing introduction to the Welsh New Testament published in 1567. Here is a lively literary piece which is incredibly interesting – and incredibly significant – in terms of Welsh identity in the period. It’s also a piece of Protestant propaganda which turns the truth inside out by portraying the Ancient Britons as some kind of proto-Protestants and claiming that the Protestant Reformation was returning their old faith to the Welsh rather than presenting them with a new one. But it also presents a kernel of truth of some kind while discussing the old wars between Wales and England, and it’s extraordinary to see Richard Davies discussing the English crown in such a negative manner, considering the fact that he was serving that crown as a bishop in the Church of England! Cyflwynwyd gan: Yr Athro Jerry Hunter a'r Athro Richard Wyn Jones Cynhyrchwyd gan: Richard Martin Cerddoriaeth: Might Have Done gan The Molenes Darllen Pellach / Further Reading: - Prys Morgan, Beibl i Gymru (1988). - Glanmor Williams, ‘Richard Davies, Bishop of St. Davids, 1561-81’, Trafodion Anrhydeddus Gymdeithas y Cymmrodorion, 1948, 147-169.