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Gwreiddiau
gan Cheryl Mitchell
Y darn o ryddiaeth ail-le yn nghystadleuaeth Gadair Cymdeithas
Madog, Cwrs Cymraeg Bro Ohio, 1990
Cyfieithiad Saesneg
English Translation
Nol I Dudalen Cartref Cystadleuaeth Y Gadair
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Fel llawer o Americanwyr, rydw i'n disgyn o amrywiol genhedloedd. Fe ymfudodd
cyndadau fy nhad o'r Almaen, o Loegr ac o Iwerddon, ac fe ddaeth cyndadau fy mam o'r Eidal, o'r Alban, o'r Almaen
ac o Gymru. Rydw i'n falch o bob un ohonyn nhw ond, ar ôl fy nhaith gyntaf i Gymru ym 1984, fe benderfynais
i ganolbwyntio ar fy ngreiddiau Cymreig. Yn raddol, es i i mewn i'r byd swynol Cymreig ac, yn fuan, roedd hiraeth
arnaf i am Gymru. Ar ôl marwolaeth fy rhieni, roedd rhaid i fi ddwfnhau fy nghysylltiadau ac wrth gwrt, dysgu
mwy o Gymraeg. Wedi'r cwbl, roedd taid a hen ewythr fy mam yn gallu siarad Cymraeg.
Roedd fy nghyndadau Cymreig, y teulu Robert Owen, o Fron Goch a Rhiwlas ger
Y Bala, yn Grynwyr. Yn yr ail ganrif ar bymtheg roedd erlid mawr yn erbyn y Crynwyr ac roedd rhaid i lawer o bobl
adael Cymru. Fe adawodd y teulu Owen ym 1690 ac fe aethon nhw i dref o'r enw Merion ger Philadelphia. Pan oeddwn
i ar fy ngwyliau ym 1987, fe es i i'r Bala. Doeddwn i ddim yn gwybod ble yn hollol roedd Rhiwlas. Fe ofynnais i
ddwy ferch ganol oed yn y Ganolfan Wybodaeth ac fe ges i ateb a chroeso mawr wrthyn nhw. Roedden ni'n siarad ac
yn chwerthin am amser hir. Fe deimlais i'n gartrefol iawn yn Y Bala achos bod y dref yn edrych fel tref ym Mhensilfania.
Roedd y siop lyfrau Awen Meirion yn le dymunol hefyd, ac roeddwn i wrth fy modd yn mynd trwy'r llyfrau a'r gerddoriaeth.
Mae'r perchennog yn ddyn cadarnhaol, ac rwy'n siwr ei fod e'n genedlaetholwr.
Ar ôl hynny, fe yrrais i i fferm Rhiwlas. Pan welais i adeilad a oedd
yn edrych yn addas, fe stopiais i i ofyn i'r merched o flaen yr adeilad, "Rhiwlas ydy hwn?" "Ie,"
oedd yr ateb. Fe eglurais i beth oeddwn i a pham roeddwn i yno. Fe chwarddon nhw, efallai am fod y sefyllfa yn
un mor anghyffredinol - neu achos fy mod i wedi anghofio'r treigladau! Roedd eu chwerthin nhw yn gyfeillgar fel
y chwerthin cyfeillgar ar gyrsiau Cymraeg.
Beth oedd yn Fron Goch? Saith neu wyth o hen dai, swyddfa bost gyda siop fach,
ac i lawr y ffordd, canolfan ganwio. Efallai fe aeth pawb i Bensilfania amswer maith yn ôl.
Ymlaen â fi i Ysbyty Ifan i weld y pentref lle roedd fy nghyndadau yn
byw cyn iddyn nhw symud i Fron Goch a Rhiwlas yn y Canol Oesoedd. roedd ias arbennig arnaf i pan gerddais i dros
y bont gul dros yr afon Conwy. Roedd popeth yn y pentref yn hen iawn ac o'r un fath o garreg lwyd. Roedd capel
ar gyrion y pentref a hen eglwys yn y canol, gyda mynwent o amgylch yr eglwys. Fe sefais i yn y fynwent yng nghysgod
yr hen goed yn myfyrio am fy hen gyndadau a oedd yn uchelwyr bach yno. Fe deimlais i fy mod i'n rhan o linyn hir
o hen Gymry.
Ond o'r diwedd roedd rhaid i fi dorri ar draws yr ennyd dawel yma mewn pentref
anghysbell, ac ar ôl cael sgwrs gyda phobl yn y siop fach, fe es i trwy Betws y Coed i Lanrwst lle ces i
groeso mawr gan Beryl Roberts o'r "Gwely a Brecwast." Wedyn fe es i i'r Eisteddfod, lle gwnes i lawer
o gysylltiadau newydd gyda Chymru - gyda'r iaith, y diwylliant a'r bobl - a gosod gwreiddiau newydd, cryf. |
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Roots
gan Cheryl Mitchell
The runner-up piece of prose in the Cymdeithas Madog chair
competition,
Cwrs Cymraeg Bro Ohio, 1990
Cerdd Wreiddiol (Yn Y Gymraeg)
Original Poem (In Welsh)
Nol I Dudalen Cartref Cystadleuaeth Y Gadair
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Like many Americans, I am a descendant of a variety of nationalities. My father's
ancestors emigrated from Germany, England, and Ireland, and my mother's ancestors came from Italy, Scotland, Germany
and Wales. I am proud of each one of them, but after my first trip to Wales in 1984, I decided to concentrate on
my Welsh roots. Gradually, I entered the enchanting Welsh world and soon I had a longing for Wales. After the death
of my parents, I felt it necessary to deepen my connections and, of course, learn more Welsh. After all, Mother's
grandfather and her great uncle could speak Welsh.
My Welsh ancestors, the family of Robert Owen of Fron Goch and Rhiwlas near
Bala, were Quakers. In the 17th Century there was a great persecution against the Quakers and many people had to
leave Wales. The Owen family left Wales in 1690 and they went to a town near Philidelphia named Merion. When I
was on my vacation in 1987, I went to Bala. I didn't know exactly where Rhiwlas was. I asked two middle-aged women
in the Information Centre and received an answer and a big welcome. We talked and laughed for a long time. I felt
very much at home in Bala because it looks like a town in Pennsylvania. The Awen Meirion shop was also a pleasant
place, and I was in my element going through the books and music there. The owner was a positive man, and I am
sure he is a nationalist.
After this I drove to Rhiwlas farm. When I saw a building that looked suitable,
I stopped to ask the girls in front of the building, "Is this Rhiwlas?" "Yes," was the answer.
I explained what I was and why I was there. They laughed, perhaps because it was such an unusual situation, or
because I forgot my mutations! Their laughter was friendly like the laughter at Welsh courses.
What was in Fron Goch? Seven or eight old houses, a post office with a small
shop and, down the road, a canoeing centre. Perhaps everyone went to Pennsylvania so many years ago.
On I went to Ysbyty Ifan to see the village where my ancestors lived before
they moved to Fron Goch and Rhiwlas in the Middle Ages. A special feeling came over me as I walked over the narrow
bridge across the Conwy River. Everything in the village was very old and from the same kind of gray stone. There
was a chapel at the edges of the village and an old church in the middle with a cemetary around the church. I stood
in the cemetary under the shade of the old trees thinking about my old ancestors who were minor nobility there.
I felt that I was a part of a long line of old Welsh people.
But finally I had to interrupt this quiet moment in a remote village, and after
having a conversation with people in the small shop, I went through Betws y Coed to Llanrwst where I received a
great welcome from Beryl Roberts of "The Bed and Breakfast". Then I went to the Eisteddfod, where I made
many new connections with Wales - with the language, culture and the people - and set new, strong roots. |
