The Barddas of Iolo Morganwg Vol. I

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Who was the first that made a Roll 1 in connection with letters?


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Bran the Blessed, 1 son of Llyr of Defective Speech, learned that mode at Rome, and brought it with him to Britain, where he taught it to the Cymry, as well as the manner of dressing the skins of kids and goats, so as to be suitable for written letters. And that mode became customary, so that the Bards alone practised, as it were by bare rescue, the old style of inscribing letters on wood, for the purpose of preserving the memorials of the old and primitive sciences of the nation of the Cymry; thence it came to be called Coelbren of the Bards. At present there are only the Bards that keep it in memory, by engraving their songs and records on wood, according to the ancient art, with the view of preserving in reliable memory the primitive sciences of the nation of the Cymry.

Who was the first that made paper?

A man from Constantinople, named Moran; he ground flax, which on its being thinly spread out, became paper.

What is the virtue of letters?

They are mute organs that speak--a body without a soul, and without life, guiding thought--dead ones, knowing more than the living--a hand speaking better than the tongue--an eye hearing better than the ear, without either noise or sound--speech without a tongue--hearing without an ear--


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language without words--form of voice--a messenger uttering the truth, without knowing it--the dead teaching the living--memory with no one guiding it--the understanding of the dead--the principal skill of the art of the living--the preservation of all arts and sciences--and the demonstration of all that is demonstrable.


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Footnotes

11:1 p. 10 Probably the same as Elishah, in Gen. x. 4.

11:2 It is remarkable that, contrary to the popular notion which represents Gomer as the progenitor of the Cymry, Nennius, the Genealogy of Gruffydd ab Cynan, in the 2nd volume of the Myvyrian Archaiology--and other Pedigrees registered by Lewis Dwnn, all support the view of the text as to the descent of that people from Javan. Nennius, indeed, asserts positively that his information was derived "ex traditione veterum, qui incolæ in primo fuerunt Britanniæ."

11:3 That is, wood of credibility. The ancient mode of cutting letters on wood is frequently alluded to in the poems of the Bards, both early and medieval. Thus;

TALIESIN, 520--570.


Wyf llogell cerdd wyf lle ynydd (llëenydd),
Caraf y gorwydd a gorail clyd.

I am the depository of song, I am a reader,
I love the sprigs and the compact wattling.
                       Buarth y Beirdd.


p. 11


Gwydion ap Don--
A rithwys gorwyddawd y ar plagawd.

Gwydion, son of Don--
Formed wood knowledge upon plagawd.
                             Kadeir Keridwen.


RHYS GOCH AB RICCERT, 1140-1170.


Bu bwyall brenn bardd anghymmen
Yn naddu can i Wenllian.

The wooden axe of an unpolished bard
Has been hewing a song to Gwenllian.


CYNDDELW, 1150-1200.

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O ffyrfioli tri o draethaut berffaith
Oe gwyded ieith oe gwydaur. p. 12

From composing three complete treatises
Of wood language--of wood letters.--Canu i Dduw.


DAVYDD AB GWILYM, 1300-1368.


Hwn fydd ar wydd i’w hannerch.

This will address them on wood.

O myn wawd orddawd arddof
Aed i’r coed i dorri cof.

If he would have an encomium of gentle character,
Let him go into the wood to cut a memorial.
                                           I Ruff. Grug.

Haws yw cael lle ho gwael gwydd
Saerni dwfn saer na defnydd.

It is easier to obtain, where the wood is poor,
The carpentry of a skilful wright, than materials.--Ib.

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IOLO GOCH, 1315-1402.


Arwain i Owain a wnaf
Ar eiriau mydr ir araf
Peunydd nid naddiad gwydd gwern,
Pen saerwawd.

I will bear for Owain,
In metrical words, fresh and slow,
Continually, not the hewing of alder wood
By the chief carpenter of song.--I. O. Glyndwr.


RHYS GOCH ERYRI, 1330-1420.


Ni welir mwy ol bwyall
Flodau saer ar gerddgaer gall.

No longer will be seen the mark of the axe
Of the flower of carpenters on a song-loving and wise one.
                                                Mar. Gruff. Llwyd.


LLYWELYN MOEL Y PANTRI, 1400-1430.


Pan glywyf hiraethwyf hoed
Pensaergerdd pain is irgoed.

When I hear, I regret the delay,
The chief carpenter of song--a peacock beneath the green wood.


GWILYM TEW, 1430-1470

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Llun ei gorph yn darllain gwydd.

The form of his person reading wood.


IEUAN DU’R BILWG, 1460-1500.


Aed dy fawl, ydwyd filwr,
Ar wydd hyd mae dydd a dwr.

May thy praise go--thou art a soldier
Upon wood, as long as day and water continue.


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LEWYS MON, 1480-1520.


Bwyall gerdd pan ballai gant
Byth naddai beth ni wyddant.

The axe of song, when a hundred failed,
Always hewed what they knew not.
                             Mar. Rhys Nanmor.


SION TUDUR, 1560-1602.


Ni wnai brydydd na brawdwr
Roi gwydd gwael ar gywydd gwr.

No poet or judge
Used better wood for a poem to man.
                         Mar. Sion Brwynog.


RHYS CAIN, 1580.

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Yscerbwd mewn cwd, nid min call--a’i mawl,
Llyfr moliant bardd cibddall,
Anhawdd yw ei iawn ddeall,
Fe wna i ddyn a fo’n ddall.

A skeleton in a bag--the lips of the wise will not praise it,
The eulogistic book of a purblind bard,
It is difficult to rightly understand it,
It will do for a man who is blind.--I lyfr pren.


A long string of similar quotations might be adduced, but the foregoing are sufficient to show that the practice in question was known to the Bards from the 6th down to the 17th century.

It may be observed that several words in the Cymric language, which relate to knowledge or literature, have a primary reference to wood. Thus; arwydd, a sign; cyfarwydd, skilful; cyfarwyddyd, information; cywydd, a species of versification, also revelation; dedwydd, having recovered knowledge, happy; derwydd, a Druid; egwyddawr, a rudiment, an alphabet; gwgddawr, a rudiment; gwyddon, a man of science; gwynwyddigion, men of sacred knowledge.

13:1 Though Roll, as in the text, primarily refers to the schedule that was turned up with the hand in the form of a pipe, it came also to denote a system, or arrangement, as in the phraseologies, Rhol y Crythor, Rhol y Telynor, Rhol y Mesurau, Rhol Iolo Goch, Rhol Achau, Rhol Cof a Chyfrif, and Rhol y Beirdd. It is alluded to by many of the Bards; thus--

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DAVYDD AB GWILYM, 1300-1368.


Bydd yr un Rhol ag Iolo
Ddefod hardd, hen fardd y fro.

He will be of the same Roll as Iolo,
Fair usage--the old Bard of the district.


GRUFFYDD AB IEUAN AB LLYWELYN VYCHAN, 1470.


Y rhai na wyppont eu Rhol
Yu csgud aent i ysgol. p. 14

They who know not their Roll,
Let them quickly go to school.


HUW AP DAVYDD AP LLYWELYN AP MADAWC, 1480-1520.


Goreuro Rhol geiriau rhawg,
Grafio dadl gref odidawg.

He gilt a Roll of long words,
He engraved a controversy, strong and excellent.
                                          Mar. Tudur Aled.


HARRI AP RHYS AP GWILYM, 1530.

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Graddau a Rhol gorwyddawd,
Gwraidd gwybodau er gwau gwawd.

The degrees and Roll of wood-knowledge,
The root of sciences, for the weaving of a song of praise.
                                  Mar. Gwilym ap Ieuan Hen.


DAVYDD BENWYN, 1550-1600.


Eurai bwnc oran bencerdd,
Arail gwawd a Rhol y gerdd. p. 15

He embellished a subject--the best chief of song--
He attended to encomium, and the Roll of song.
                                    Mar. Lewys Morgan.


LEWYS AP HYWEL, 1560-1600.


Rhin gwawdiaith a’i rhoi’n gadarn,
Rhol beirdd yn rheoli barn.

The charm of panegyric, firmly placed,
The Roll of the Bards ruling judgment.
                       Mar. Iorwerth Vynglwyd.


SION TUDUR, 1560-1602.

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Ai Rhol achau rhy lychwin.

And their Roll of pedigrees, too much covered with mould.



15:1 Father of the celebrated Caractacus. Bran is said to have remained at Rome for seven years as hostage for his son. (Tr. 35. Third Series). It was then that be acquired the information imputed to him in the text.



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THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF LETTERS.--THE NAME OF GOD.--THE BARDIC SECRET.

Pray, my skilful and discreet teacher, if it be fair to ask, how was the knowledge of letters first obtained?

I will exhibit the information of men of wisdom and pro-found knowledge, thus;--When God pronounced His name, with the word sprang the light and the life; for previously there was no life except God Himself. And the mode in which it was spoken was of God's direction. His name was pronounced, and with the utterance was the springing of light and vitality, and man, and every other living thing; that is to say, each and all sprang together. And Menw 1 the Aged, son of Menwyd, 1 beheld the springing of the light, and its form and appearance, not otherwise than thus, , in three columns; and in the rays of light the vocalization--for one were the hearing and seeing, one unitedly the form and sound; and one unitedly with the form and sound was life, and one unitedly with these three was power, which power was God the Father. And since each of these was one unitedly, he understood that every voice, and hearing, and living, and being, and sight, and seeing, were one unitedly with God; nor is the least thing other than God. And by seeing the form, and in it hearing the voice--not otherwise--he knew what form and appearance voice should have. And having obtained earth under him coinstantaneously with the light, he drew the form of the voice and light


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on the earth. And it was on hearing the sound of the voice, which had in it the kind and utterance of three notes, that he obtained the three letters, and knew the sign that was suitable to one and other of them. Thus he made in form and sign the Name of God, after the semblance of rays of light, and perceived that they were the figure and form and sign of life; one also with them was life, and in life was God, that is to say, God is one with life, and there is no life but God, and there is no God but life.

It was from the understanding thus obtained in respect of this voice, that he was able to assimilate mutually every other voice as to kind, quality, and reason, and could make a letter suitable to the utterance of every sound and voice. Thus were obtained the Cymraeg, and every other language. And it was from the three primary letters that were constructed every other letter,--which is the principal secret of the Bards of the Isle of Britain; and from this secret comes every knowledge of letters that is possible.

Thus was the voice, that was heard, placed on record in the symbol, and meaning attached to each of the three notes:--the sense of O was given to the first column, the sense of I to the second or middle column, and the sense of V to the third; whence the word OIV. That is to say, it was by means of this word that God declared His existence, life, knowledge, power, eternity, and universality. And in the declaration was His love, that is, coinstantaneously with it sprang like lightening all the universe into life and existence, co-vocally and co jubilantly with the uttered Name of God, in one united song of exultation and joy--then all the worlds to the extremities of Annwn. It was thus, then, that God made the worlds, namely, He declared His Name and existence

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Why is it not right that a man should commit the Name of God to vocalization, and the sound of language and tongue

Because it cannot be done without misnaming God, for

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no man ever heard the vocalization of His Name, and no one knows how to pronounce it; but it is represented by letters, that it may be known what is meant, and for Whom it stands. Formerly signs were employed, namely, the three elements of vocal letters. However, to prevent disrespect and dishonour to God, a Bard is forbidden to name Him, except inwardly and in thought.

Pray, my beloved and discreet teacher, show me the signs that stand for the Name of God, and the manner in which they are made.

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Thus are they made;--the first of the signs is a small cutting or line inclining with the sun at eventide, thus, the second is another cutting, in the form of a perpendicular, upright post, thus,

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 and the third is a cutting of the same amount of inclination as the first, but in an opposite direction, that is, against the sun, thus and the three placed together, thus, But instead of, and as substitutes for these, are placed the three letters O I W. And it was in this manner that the Bard inserted this name in his stanza, thus,

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The Eternal, Origin, Self-existent, Distributor,--holy be the lips
That canonically pronounce them;
Another name, in full word,
Is O. I. and W--OIW 1 the word.--Ieuan Rudd sang it. 2

This name God gave to Himself, to show that He is in existence, and that there is no one but Himself, except by gift and permission; for truly all of us men, and other living beings, are and exist only by the gift and permission



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