Welsh Journals

Cemais ydyw'r marc yma; Os dewr doeth, call dyallwn, Os hael, Siors Owens yw hwn. Henwaf, fenaid, hen fonedd, Henllys yw ei lys a'i wledd; O'i dai rhoddir, gywir gan, Yn wir, y delyn arian, A dyfod eisteddfod yn' Yma dal am y delyn; Ar ei law, Siors gywirlew sad, Yma'n rhwydd y mae'r rhoddiad. Am hyn, gerddwyr, mewn gwiriaith Awn at hwn, gyfiawna' taith, I ddangos, oedd achos da, Ein hamarch, i hwn yma Ar gerdd i ddymuno'r gwr, lawn gais, fod yn negeswr, I geisio 'steddfod, clod cler, Ag ymbarch i wlad Gamber. Hwn a wyr, fry hoywner fron, Hoff iawn, lygad y ffynnon, Duw fo'n geidwad, llawnrad lies, Yn hen ar ein brenhines. Aed hwn, sy gywir 'teni. At hon, a'i chynghoriaid hi, A doed ag Eisteddfod yn' I'w dor ef, lie da'r ofyn. Pendefig, eurfrig wirfraint, Pared i ni'n bri a'n braint. The gist of all this, shorn of its poetry, is that the bards had fallen on bad times. Once they were held in high honour, taking their degrees in poetry and minstrelsy at the eisteddfodau, and their lore and language kept un- defiled. Still, there was one who supported the language the lord of Cemais, George Owen. If they could get an eisteddfod again. Henllys would be the place for the silver harp.4 George was the one to give it. So let the bards go to him, show him their sorry state, and ask him to be a messenger to ask for an eisteddfod. He knew the fountain head, their Queen. God protect her! Let him go to her and her Council and bring them an eistedd- fod. This is where George Owen Harry found a meeting point between Tudor antiquarian studies and the waning native bardic culture of Wales, and an inspiration for his literary work. It was a bonus over his means of livelihood, which he owed to George Owen of Henllys and his patronage. For he was not a Pembrokeshire man. His native heath in Llanelli, or his mother's background in Gower, was entirely different. From the pedigree of his family, which he registered with Lewys Dwnn, deputy herald, in 1597. he had other connections with Gower Anglicana and with Pembrokeshire.' The pedigree traces him thrice from Gwlhafed ab Einon and back to Urien