Welsh Journals

Statute of Gruffudd ap Cynan A document apparently compiled for the Caerwys Eisteddfod of 1523, setting out a series of regulations for various categories of poets and musicians, to bring order to the crafts of cerdd dant and cerdd dafod. The Statute claims to be based on earlier regulations set down by Gruffudd ap Cynan, Prince of Gwynedd (c. 1055-1137). It was later revised and the requirements made more demanding for the second Caerwys Eisteddfod of 1567. (For a full text and trans- lation see Klausner, 'Statud Gruffudd ap Cynan', pp. 282-98. See also Datgeiniad, Disgybl, Pencerdd.) Tagiad (pl. Tagiadau): see Crychiad Telyn (pl. Telynau): harp. A succession of different harps, most with horsehair strings, were played in Wales during the period (c. 1340-1485) represented by the pieces in the manuscript. Harps of c.1300 had sound-boxes carved from a single block of timber, but by the early fifteenth century, a classic Welsh harp design had emerged, characterized by sound- boxes covered with mare's skin and fitted with brays (crooked wooden pegs, or gwrachìod), which lightly touched the strings and caused them to buzz. Tri mwchl (pl. Tri mychlau) A particularly advanced type of cwlwm used as an examination piece for the most proficient of the penceirddiaid on the harp. The Statute of Gruffudd ap Cynan indicates that the 'Tri mwchl odidog' was ranked equal to fifty clymau. Two other pieces incorporate the term in their title: the 'Tri mwchl newydd' (referred to in later copies of the Statute) and the 'Tri mwchl Gwas Mair'. William Owen Pughe's Dictionary of 1803 defines mwcwl as 'a mixture; that is full of transitions', perhaps indicating a show-case of varied techniques (cf. Irish mocol, a mesh, network or web). Tyniad (pl. tyniadau): literally a drawing out, from tynnu: to draw, subtract, or deduct. A term having some affinity with earlier European musical systems, which has several different meanings within cerdd dant. Two uses of the term are perhaps most significant in this context: (i) the secondary of two repeated harmonic units which formed an inegral element of each of the measures of cerdd dant; (ii) any string, pitch, or musical event occurring within the tyniad unit in (i) above. (See also Cywair, Cyweirdant, Mesur.) Compiled by Sally Harper