Y llawysgrifau
Cadwyd testun o’r gerdd hon mewn dwy lawysgrif, sef Pen 57 (c.1440), a chopi uniongyrchol o’r llawysgrif honno gan John Jones, Gellilyfdy, a geir yn Pen 312. Ar Pen 57 yn unig, felly, y seiliwyd y testun golygedig. Mae ansawdd y testun yn ddi-fai hyd y gellir barnu.

Trawsysgrifiad: Pen 57.

Stema

Pwrpas y cywydd hwn yw mynegi pryder ynghylch salwch Rhys, abad Ystrad-fflur, a dymuno gwellhad iddo. Ymddengys i Rys gael ei daro’n wael mewn lle o’r enw Actwn, sef Acton. Ni wyddys pam roedd wedi mynd yno, a chan na ellir penderfynu gydag unrhyw sicrwydd pa Acton yw hwn o blith amryw leoedd â’r enw hwnnw yn Lloegr (ac un ger Wrecsam), mae’n anodd dyfalu. Cynigiodd I. Williams yn GGl 321 mai’r Acton sydd bellach yn rhan o orllewin Llundain ond a oedd gynt yn bentref ar y ffordd rhwng Llundain a Rhydychen yw hwn. Nododd fod yno ffynnon iachaol ac awgrymodd fod Rhys yn profi’r dyfroedd yno, ond fel y sylwodd E. Salisbury (2009: 66), ni ddarganfuwyd y ffynnon tan yr ail ganrif ar bymtheg. Cynigia Salisbury (ibid.) Acton ger Nantwich yn swydd Gaer, lle roedd eglwys y Santes Fair yn eiddo i Abaty Sistersaidd Combermere, gan awgrymu bod Rhys wedi mynd yno i geisio gwellhad. Ond yr argraff a gyfleir yn y gerdd hon yw bod Rhys wedi cael ei daro’n wael yn sydyn pan oedd eisoes i ffwrdd o Ystrad-fflur (sylwer ar linellau 23–4). Os felly, efallai nad oedd wedi mynd yn unswydd i Acton, ond yn digwydd bod yno pan aeth yn sâl. Gallai fod cysylltiad â’r daith i Rydychen sydd dan sylw yng ngherdd 6, ac os felly, mae Acton-Beauchamp rhwng Henffordd a Chaerwrangon ac Acton-Turville ger Chipping Sodbury yn swydd Gaerloyw yn bosibiliadau. Ac o gofio i Rys fod yn Rhydychen am o leiaf fis yn ôl cerdd 6, dichon iddo fynd o’r fan honno i Lundain a chael ei daro’n wael yn Acton ar y ffordd. Os oedd Rhys ar berwyl arall, dylid ystyried hefyd Acton-Burnell, saith milltir i’r de o Amwythig.

Yn ôl ail ran y gerdd daeth y newyddion i Ystrad-fflur ddydd Mercher fod bywyd Rhys mewn perygl, a buwyd yn poeni’n fawr amdano am y tridiau nesaf, nes i newyddion gwell gyrraedd ddydd Sul, sef y diwrnod y mae’r bardd yn cymryd arno ei fod yn canu’r gerdd. Disgwylia glywed drannoeth fod Rhys wedi gwella’n llwyr.

Dadleuodd Salisbury (2009: 69, 83), ar sail y cyfeiriadau yn y cywydd hwn at ‘gaethiwed, erlyniaeth a dioddefaint yr abad’, mai hon oedd y gerdd olaf a ganodd Guto i Rys yn uniongyrchol, naill ai yn ystod 1439 neu’n gynnar yn 1440, ac mai yn sgil y salwch hwn yn benodol y bu Rhys farw yng ngharchar Caerfyrddin yn 1440. Ond dylid cofio mai anogaeth i Rys i drechu ei salwch yw’r cyfeiriadau at ei helyntion blaenorol yn y cywydd hwn. Mae’n amlwg fod salwch yr abad yn bur ddifrifol os oedd pobl yn ei abaty yn poeni am ei einioes, ond eto nid oes dim yma i ddangos na chafodd y bardd ei ddymuniad a gweld ei noddwr yn gwella o’r salwch hwn. Os felly, gellid dyddio’r cywydd unrhyw bryd rhwng tua 1435 a 1440.

Dyddiad
c.1435–40

Golygiadau blaenorol
GGl cerdd VII; CTC cerdd 96.

Mesur a chynghanedd
Cywydd, 68 llinell.
Cynghanedd: croes 45.5% (31 llinell), traws 40% (27 llinell), sain 13% (9 llinell), llusg 1.5% (1 llinell).

10 dyfr  Ffurf luosog dwfr, gw. G 401 lle nodir hon yn enghraifft o’r ffurf. Cymerir mai at ddagrau’r bardd y cyfeirir. Ond nid annichon mai dyfroedd rhyw ffynnon iachaol a olygir.

12 Actwn  Gw. y drafodaeth yn y nodyn cefndir uchod.

18  Cf. 105.48 A deigr byth a’i dwg i’r bedd.

27 y dref draw  Anodd gwybod pa dref a olygir, ond sylwer ar y cyfeiriad at Gaerfyrddin yn 8.6–7.

43–50  Gw. Yr Abad Rhys ap Dafydd.

47 mawrIal  Cf. 113.62, lle cyfeirir yn benodol at ardal abaty Glyn-y-groes.

49  Cymerir bod prif acen y gynghanedd yn hanner cyntaf y llinell ar wrth.

58 Bened  O’r Saesneg Benet, ffurf ar enw Sant Benedict (c.480–c.550), awdur y Rheol a fu’n sylfaen i fynachaeth y Gorllewin. Cf. 8.13 a GLGC 118.15.

60 Berned  Sant Bernard (1090–1153), abad Clairvaux a sylfaenydd Urdd y Sistersiaid. Cf. 8.12.

Llyfryddiaeth
Salisbury, E. (2009), ‘ “Y traed ataw a redant”: Golwg ar ganu Guto’r Glyn i Rys, abad Ystrad-fflur’, LlCy 32: 58–84
Robinson, D. (2006), The Cistercians in Wales: Architecture and Archaeology 1130–1540 (London)

This poem expresses concern about the illness of Rhys, abbot of Strata Florida, and wishes him a speedy recovery. It appears that Rhys was taken ill in a place called Acton. It is not known why he went there, and it is difficult to guess since it cannot be decided with any certainty which this is of various places of that name in England (and one near Wrexham). Ifor Williams proposed in GGl 321 that this is the Acton that is now part of west London but which was formerly a village on the road between London and Oxford. He noted that there was once a healing spring there and suggested that Rhys had gone there to take the waters, but as pointed out by Salisbury (2009: 66), the spring was not discovered until the seventeenth century. Salisbury (ibid.) proposes Acton near Nantwich in Cheshire, where St Mary’s church belonged to the Cistercian abbey of Combermere, suggesting that Rhys had gone there to seek a cure. But the impression given in this poem is that Rhys had been taken ill suddenly when he was already absent from Strata Florida (note lines 23–4). If that was the case, he may perhaps not have gone deliberately to Acton, but merely happened to be there when he fell ill. There may have been some connection with the trip to Oxford which is the subject of poem 6, and if so then Acton-Beauchamp between Hereford and Worcester and Acton-Turville near Chipping Sodbury in Gloucestershire are possibilities. And bearing in mind that Rhys was in Oxford for at least a month according to poem 6, he may have gone from there to London and been taken ill in Acton on the way. If Rhys was on a different journey then Acton-Burnell, seven miles south of Shrewsbury, might be considered.

According to the second paragraph of the poem the news reached Strata Florida on a Wednesday that Rhys’s life was in danger, and there was grave concern about him over the following three days, until better news arrived on the Sunday, that is the day on which the poet is speaking in the poem. He expects to hear the following day that Rhys has made a complete recovery.

Salisbury (2009: 69, 83) proposed on the basis of references in this poem to the abbot’s (figurative) captivity, persecution and suffering that this was the last poem that Guto composed to Rhys directly, either in 1439 or early in 1440, and that this was the illness from which Rhys died in Carmarthen prison in 1440. But it should be borne in mind that the references to Rhys’s earlier troubles in this poem were intended as a means of urging him to overcome his illness. That illness was clearly serious if people were concerned for his life, but nevertheless there is nothing here to suggest that the poet’s wish to see his patron recover from his illness was not fulfilled. If so then the poem can be dated any time between about 1435 and 1440.

Date
c.1435–40.

The manuscripts
The poem is preserved in two manuscripts, Pen 57 (c.1440) and a copy of that text by John Jones, Gellilyfdy in Pen 312. The edited text is based on that in Pen 57 which seems entirely satisfactory.

Stemma

Previous editions
GGl poem VII; CTC poem 96.

Metre and cynghanedd
Cywydd, 68 lines.
Cynghanedd: croes 45.5% (31 lines), traws 40% (27 lines), sain 13% (9 lines), llusg 1.5% (1 line).

10 dyfr  Plural form of dwfr ‘water’, see G 401 where this is noted as an example of the form. It is assumed that this refers to the poet’s tears, but it is not impossible that the waters in question were those of a healing spring.

12 Actwn  See discussion in the background note above.

18  Cf. 105.48 A deigr byth a’i dwg i’r bedd.

27 y dref draw  It is difficult to decide which town is meant, but note the reference to Carmarthen in 8.6–7.

43–50  See Abbot Rhys ap Dafydd.

47 mawrIal  Cf. 110.62, where the region of Valle Crucis abbey is meant.

58 Bened  From the English Benet, a form of the name of St Benedict (c.480–c.550), the author of the Rule which was the foundation of western monasticism. Cf. 8.13 and GLGC 118.15.

60 Berned  St Bernard (1090–1153), abbot of Clairvaux and founder of the Cistercian Order. Cf. 8.12.

Bibliography
Salisbury, E. (2009), ‘ “Y traed ataw a redant”: Golwg ar ganu Guto’r Glyn i Rys, Abad Ystrad-fflur’, LlCy 32: 58–84
Robinson, D. (2006), The Cistercians in Wales: Architecture and Archaeology 1130–1540 (London)

Stema fwy