Reservoirs, R.S.Thomas. Wedi cael syrffed o’r lluniau Llyn Efyrnwy, er mor hardd ydyn nhw.

There are places in Wales I don’t go:
Reservoirs that are the subconcious
Of a people, troubled far down
With gravestones, chapels, villages even;
The serenity of their expression
Revolts me, it is a pose
For strangers, a watercolour‘s appeal
To the mass, instead of the poem’s
Harsher conditions. There are the hills,
Too; gardens gone under the scum
Of the forests; and the smashed faces
Of the farms with the stone trickle
Of their tears down the hills’ side.

Where can I go, then, from the smell
Of decay, from the putrefying of a dead
Nation? I have walked the shore
For an hour and seen the English
Scavenging among the remains
Of our culture, covering the sand
Like the tide and, with the roughness
Of the tide, elbowing our language
Into the grave that we have dug for it.

Llythyrau o’r Rhyfel Cartref America. Dros 80 o lythyrau, yn y Gymraeg, gan Corporal John Griffith Jones (1843-1864) o’r 23rd Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers. Un peth sy’n taro yn syth yw faint o Gymry (Cymry Cymraeg o hyd, siwr o fod) oedd yn ymladd yn y Rhyfel erchyll honno:

31 Awst 1862

..rwyf wedi bod yn siarad hefo 18 o gymry diarth…

17 Medi 1862

…wedi gwelad 5 o gymry yma…

Gwallgorwydd yr Arglwyddes Elizabeth Dayrell.

On 19 November [1677], Lady Dayrell burst into the house of Mr Hopegood, a merchant in Lothbury, and there challenged her husband’s brother, Mr John Morgan, to meet with her in Southampton Fieldsy, 3 o’clock the next day, to fight with her there.

But about 6 o’clock in the morning she and two servants came to the house in her carriage with naked swords, and after much knocking, the servant rose and opened the gate. She and her servants entered the house with their naked swords in their hands and demanded whether Mr John Morgan was in the house, and being answered that he was in bed, she replied that she had him sure, and would kill him.

Llythyrau at Gresffordd. Casgliad o lythyrau a ddaeth o bob cwr Cymru a Phrydain Fawr ar ôl y trychineb yng Ngresffordd, 22 Medi 1934. Dyma rywbeth sy’n rhan o hanes fy nheulu i – roedd fy hen daid, Robert Henry Williams, un o’r glowyr o’r ardal cyfagos a aeth i Gresffordd i geisio achub bywydau’r glowyr a’u claddwyd yno.

Cofnodion i fi yw’r rhain, ond falle bydd diddordeb ’da pobl eraill ynddyn nhw.

Arian Wrecsam.

Billy Meredith – “The Welsh Wizard”. Oedd e’n gweithio gyda fy hen hen daid ym mhwll glo Black Park, mae’n debyg:

The son of a mining family, Meredith began working at the Black Park Colliery as a pony driver and ‘hutcher’ when he was twelve years of age. By the 1890s his footballing skills had become apparent and he joined the ranks of Chirk’s successful first-team, winning his first Welsh Cup medal in 1894. Following a brief period as a semi-professional at Wrexham, and as a professional with Northwich Victoria in the English 2nd Division, Meredith joined Manchester City in late 1894. However, he continued working underground during the week until 1896, when his club finally insisted that he give up his colliery job.

Lluniau o Ryfel y Degwm.

Llyfr patrymau gweheydd o Holt, 1775-82.

Erthygl am “Lake Vyrnwy”, London Illustrated News, 23 Chwefror 1889. Gyda lluniau wedi’u chwythu, fel yr un o neuadd Eunant, a’i boddwyd gan y gronfa ddwr.

Lluniau bryngaeriau Cymru, o wefan Casglu’r Tlysau. Duw, mae stwff da ’da nhw.

Troseddwyr Sir Ddinbych – 48 tudalen o “mugshots” gan Heddlu Sir Ddinbych y ganrif diwetha ond un.

Ffeindiwyd yn Casglu’r Tlysau – trysordy o eitemau am hanes diwylliannol Cymru.

Araith diddorol gan Mary McAleese ym Mhrifysgol Aberystwyth diwrnod o’r blaen, sy’n sôn am y “perthynas arbennig” gwreiddiol.