Welsh Journals

ysgolheigion digon sicr a goleuedig i fentro ar ei gyfieithiadau annibynnol ei hun ac i anwybyddu'i gynseiliau pan welai angen am hynny. Un peth a amlygir yn gliriach hyd yn oed na chynt ydyw ein dyled aruthrol i Morgan; ei waith ef yn anad neb arall oedd Hen Destament y Beibl Cymraeg traddodiadol. Gwir fod Parry a Davies wedi diwygio'i gyfieithiad yng ngoleuni Beibl Awdurdodedig 1611; ond yng ngeiriau Parry ei hun, Morgan fu'n 'casglu', a 'lloffa' yn unig a wnaeth y ddau arall. Barn Syr Ifor Williams oedd mai'r Beibl oedd 'y rhodd fwyaf a gafodd y Cymry erioed; lawn mor deg yw maentumio mai un o roddion mwyaf y ganrif hon inni ydyw ysgolheictod gorchestol Dr. Isaac Thomas. (Words like 'epic', 'heroic' or 'superhuman', spring most readily to mind when considering Dr. Isaac Thomas's magisterial studies of the early Welsh translations of the Bible. He has now performed for the Old Testament the same magnificently detailed, thorough and precise service that he rendered for the New back in 1976. He has shown the same incomparably meticulous and exact scholarship in handling the sources used by the translators, their mastery of the Hebrew language, and their profound instinct for the genius of their own language. Whereas earlier commentators dipped their toes in the pool of Biblical scholarship, he has immersed himself thoroughly in a way unlikely ever to be repeated. Sir Ifor Williams declared the Welsh Bible to be the 'greatest gift' ever conferred upon the nation; Dr. Isaac Thomas's books must surely rank among the greatest gifts to Welsh scholarship in this century.) GLANMOR WILLIAMS Swansea MODERN IRELAND, 1600-1972. By R. F. Foster. Allen Lane, London. 1988. Pp. xiv, 688; 14 maps; 4 tables and 3 figures. £ 18.95. The stock of general histories of Ireland, once modest, is large and growing. Much good, detailed research has laid the foundations for this development; and more Irish historians are able, and willing, to stray outside their specialist field and draw a bow at a venture. Roy Foster has attempted something different, and altogether more ambitious, than the usual 'general survey'. He has sought to integrate what are in effect a series of interpretative essays, on topics of particular significance, with a chronological historical account. He has succeeded in saying many new things about the history of Ireland, and in saying them about the early modern as well as the later modern period; and yet at the same time he has coped with the brute fact that history is grounded upon brute facts. He acknowledges that 1891 follows 1890; and yet he has selected his special topics and subjected them to a rigorous and highly readable analysis. The result is an exciting book: and the measure of Foster's success lies in his ability to speak with his own voice, despite his freely and generously acknowledged reliance upon various specialist authorities. He has worked very hard indeed; what is more,