Ffynh 4B

A phan roes [y brenin] eisoes gymaint o ddoniau presennol i genedl y Cymry ni fydd llesgach i ganiatau iddynt ddoniau ysbrydol. Am hynny gweddus yw rhoi yn Gymraig beth o’r Ysgrythur lan, oherwydd bod llawer o Gymry a fedr ddarllen Cymraeg heb fedru darllen un gair o Saesneg na Lladin, ac yn enwedig y pynciau sy’n angenrheidiol i bob rhyw Gristion eu gwybod dan berygl ei enaid, sef yw hynny: pynciau’r ffydd Gatholig, a’r weddi a ddysgodd Duw inni, a elwir y Pader, a’r Deng Ngair Deddf ...

Ac er bod y rhain gyda llawer o bethau da eraill yn ysgrifenedig mewn bagad o hen lyfrau Cymraeg, eto nid yw’r llyfrau hynny’n gyffredinol ymysg y bobl. Ac yn awr y rhoes Duw y print yn ein mysg ni er amlhau gwybodaeth ei eirau bendigedig ef, iawn yw i ni, fel y gwnaeth holl Gristnogaeth heb law, gymryd rhan o’r daioni hwnnw gyda hwy fel na bai ddiffrwyth rhodd cystal a hon i ni mwy nag i eraill ...

Ac am hynny gyda gweled fod rhan fawr o’m cenedl y Cymry mewn tywyllwch afrifed o eisiau gwybodaeth Duw a’i orch- mynion ac oherwydd hynny y digwyddant mewn dyfnder pechodau ...

(And since [the King] has already given so many temporal gifts to the Welsh nation he will be no more loth to allow them spiritual gifts.

Therefore it is fitting to translate into Welsh some of the Holy Scriptures since there are many Welsh people who can read Welsh, though they cannot read a single word of English or Latin, especially those matters which every Christian should know at the peril of his soul: namely the chief items of the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and the Ten Commandments ...

And although these things, together with many other good things, are found in writing in many old Welsh manuscripts, yet these manuscripts are not common among the people. And now that God has given us the printing-press in our midst to multiply knowledge of his blessed words, it is right for us, as all Christendom has done besides, to take a share in that virtue with them, so that a gift as excellent as this should not be without fruit for us as for others ...

For that reason, because I see that a large part of my nation the Welsh is lost in untold darkness for want of knowledge of God’s words and his commandments and for that reason falls into the depths of sin.)

(Sir John Price, Yn y llyfr hwn ... in G.H. Hughes, Rhagymadroddion, 1547–1659, 1951, pp. 3–4 [Tip: daliwch Ctrl a chliciwch dolen i'w agor mewn tab newydd. (Cuddio tip)] )