Cylchgronau Cymru

Chwiliwch trwy dros 450 o deitlau a 1.2 miliwn o dudalennau

77 tain home ^at Llansannan, where, according to tra¬ dition, he lay hidden in a secret chamber, engaged upon the blessed work which was destined not only to save multitudes of his countrymen from per¬ dition, but to crown his ewn name with an imperish¬ able fame. B. G. S. ODDS AND ENDS. Hugh Stomas, the great Welsh poet, who died ■onthe 31st of August, 1709, and was buried at Llan- gilin, must have been a strange compound of sin and of piety. David Samuel, in his life, admits that at times he drank to excess, and that upon one occa¬ sion he was in company with Edward Morris, another bard, both of them were so drunk that they had to lie upon the ground for a whole night, at a time too when they were expected at Plas Newydd, Llan- silin, to take their part in some festivities going on there. The two bards, conscious of their condition, prayed thus:— E. M.—" Archa, Dduw, mae march a ddel." H. M.—" Archa, Iesu, am farch isel.". 8o ready were they both in their art. Hugh is de¬ scribed " a tall man, with a long face, sallow com- flexion, and marked with the smallpox," and upon eing pointed out to a countryman as the celebrated Huw Morris, that uncouth Welshman exclaimed, "Ai'r hwrdd yna?" which the^bard, over-hearing, answered :— " Dyn wyf ft, nid wyf fi hwrdd; Gwnfl fy hun nad wyf ft hardd: Dywed i fi, os wyt ti fardd, Lie mae colofnau cynghan cerdd." The Rev Robert Wynne, vicar of Gwyddelwern, wrote the following epitaph for his gravestone:— "Dyma Huw, a fu byw yn y byd—yn bencerdd Am bynciau celfyddyd; Gwir organ y g&n i gyd, Diammau yw, dyma ofid. Er Groegiaid, blaeniaid, aer blys—iawn naddiad Awt nyddiaeth fedrys Lladirigwyr, ledwyr dilys, Hwya mawredd Huw Morys." The Rev Edward Samuel, of Llangar, wrote a masterly elegy upon his death, in which he says:— " Caned beirdd, cwyned y byd, Aeth gwr i eitha' gweryd; Anneddwr awenyddiaeth Gorau'i gerdd o Geiriog aeth. Aeth i'r bedd, oeredd arwyl, Od aeth Huw odiaeth ei hwyl, Oer yw Pelydr Apol-lo " Wrth ganfod ei feddrod fo." Whether, in the prospect of death, he began to reflect upon the mistakes of his life, or that he was touched with a deep sense of religion, we know not, but he exclaimed :— " Cospady natur, a d'allt y ffordd eglur I gasglu drwy gussur dy lafur i'th lys, ; Pan fytho drwg siamplau, i'th droi dros y llwybrau, Meddwl am eiriau Huw Morys." Iolo Ddu. SEPTEMBEfl 74th, t878. The Holy Scbiptubrs in Welsh.—Mr Williams* when referring to William Salisbury's history, says: " He resided for some time at Cae Du, during the reign of Queen Mary, to whom his Protestant zeal had rendered him particularly obnoxious, and a small Chamber was curiously contrived for his con¬ cealment in that house, accessible only by climbing inside the chimney." Goldwell and Wood wotb bishops of St. Asaph at that time, the former having been appointed to. the see in 1555, the later holding it in 1558. Griffith and Alay ne were deans, for Dean Salisbury bad died in 1543 when Puskin succeeded, and ke was evidently deprived by Queen Mary because he was a Protestant. The ecclesiastical powers of the district were thus the enemies of Salisbury, but his own, and his wife's families were powerful there, more powerful perhaps than any other laymen of their day in that part Of Wales, and it is fair therefore to assume that al¬ though William Salisbury was "in hiding," his person was comparatively safe, for at that time it was just as difficult to surprise him at Llansannan, from any side, as it would have been to do so even inGeneva itsei f. He was able therefore to attend to his studies with¬ out molestation, and being an accomplished Greek and Latin scholar, and well acquainted with the Welsh language, he could proceed with his transla¬ tion of the Testament from the Greek into the Welsh regardless of books, collating it with the Latin vers¬ ion afterwards, and so preparing for that more careful examination of the text, when in later times he had the advantage of having Huet and Bishop Davies for his co-workers in that more serious part of the undertaking. His elder brother Robert had died without issue, and it has been said that his brother succeeded to a great portion of his estates. This is not correct, for nearly the whole of that property passed through his nieces to the Wynns when they married, and he could have derived but small advan¬ tage from the property. He never was a rich man, and the honour due to him is all the greater on that account, for he gave up his time and a good deal of his me»ns to the prosecution of the one great object of his life—the good estate of his country, regardless of all monetary considerations. I am proud to say that I never met with a single one of his des¬ cendants who for a moment deplored the sacrifices he had thus made in the prosecution of his great work, because they were wise enough to see how1 incalculably greater was the value of the praise thua derived to them from his labours than any small share they might have had in his possessions, had he been ever so careful of the riches which perish in the using. The death of Mary left Salisbury free to return to London at his pleasure, and some believe that he derived a great personal advantage through the succession of Elizabeth to the throne. I do not believe this statement, for although his kindred at Lleweni might have been benefitted by their con¬ nection with the queen, this accident could be of no service to him, seeing that he was by that time so