Yn yr wythdegau gynnar, ro'n i wrthi'n sefydlu gweithdy 'saer dodrefn' yn y ganolfan crefft (hen wedi diflannu)yn Mathew Street, Lerpwl. Ro'n i wedi bod yn gwrando'n gyson ar ddeg munud o 'Catchphrase' gyda Basil Davies a chwpl o ddysgwyr ar Radio Wales, ac yn sbio o bryd i'w gilydd ar 'Welsh is Fun', llyfr a digwydd bod yn y tŷ. Dwi'n cofio yn ystod y cyfnod hynny yn switsio radio y gweithdy drosodd o Radio 1 i Radio Cymru (amser 'Our Tune' gyda Simon Bates mwy na thebyg), yn y gobaith pell o wneud mymryn o synnwyr o'r hyn o'n i'n clywed. 'Sŵn' cyfarwydd oedd yr iaith a golchodd drosta i, ond dim llawer mwy nag hynny. Dwn i ddim be ro'n i'n disgwyl a dweud y gwir, efallai rhyw deffroad yn yr isymwybod, Cymraeg plentyn pedwar oed yn dychweled o rai cwr tywyll fy meddwl wedi tua hugain mlynedd heb ei defnydd? Mewn gwirionedd teimlais ddim ond dryswch o eiriau, a'r sylweddoliad, ni fasai'r tasg o fy mlaen yn mynd i fod un hawdd. Taswn i i gael siawns o lwyddo i ddysgu'r iaith, basai angen arnaf i fynd yn ôl i'r dechrau cyntaf...
In the early eighties I was busy establishing a cabinetmakers workshop in the Craft Centre (long since vanished) in Mathew Street, Liverpool. I had been listening regularly to 'Catchphrase' with Basil Davies and a couple of learners on Radio Wales, and looking from time to time at 'Welsh is Fun' which happened to be in the house. I remember during that period, switching the workshop radio over from radio 1 to Radio Cymru ('Our Tune' with Simon Bates time more than likely), in the distant hope of making some sense of what I heard. The language that 'washed' over me was a familiar sound, but nothing more than that. I don't know what I was expecting to be honest, perhaps some awakening in the subconscious, a four year olds Welsh returning from some dark corner of my mind after twenty years without use? In truth I felt only only a confusion of words, and the realisation that the task ahead wasn't going to be an easy one. If I was to stand a chance of succeeding to learn the language, I'd have to go bach to the very beginning...
pennod 2.... ysbrydoliaeth
Ces i fy ngeiriadur Cymraeg gyntaf yn 1986, yn o^l y nodyn mi ysgrifennais tu mewn i glawr fy nghopi o'r 'Geiriadur Cymraeg Cyfoes'. Ni alla i gofio yn benodol yr hyn a taniodd fy nhiddordeb yn yr iaith, ond mae gen i gof o ofyn i fy Nain a Taid am eiriadur Cymraeg fel anrheg Nadolig y flwyddyn honno, cyfrol sy'n cael llawer o ddefnydd o hyd.
Mi gafodd fy Nhaid ei eni a'i fagu yng Nghilgwri. 'Cymraes' o Lerpwl oedd ei fam, a brodor o Ynys Mo^n oedd ei dad a symudodd o i Lannau Mersi fel dyn ifanc er mwyn gweithio yn y diwydiant adeiladu. Mi wnaethon nhw ymgartrefu ar gornel gogleddol Cilgwri, ardal sy'n erbyn hyn maestref Wallasey. Ystyr yr enw Sacsonaidd hon yw 'ynys y diethriaid', enw sy'n cyfeirio at cymysgedd o ddaearyddiaeth yr ardal, ac i fodolaeth cymuned sylweddol o Geltiaid y fan'ma tua'r amser cyrhaeddodd y Sacsoniaid yn y penrhyn. Rhai mil a hanner o flynyddoedd yn diweddarach, un pentre ymhlith nifer ar gwr creigiog Cilgwri oedd Wallasey. Ond roedd yr hen 'ddieithriaid' ar fin dychweled mewn llu a chwarae rhan hanfodol ym mhennod newydd hanes yr ardal. Dianc rhag ddiweithdra yng Nghymru oedd nifer fawr ohonynt, a fanteisio ar y trawsffurfiad chwyrn oedd yn mynd ymlaen yn ystod ail hanner y nawfed canrif ar hugain o amgylch yr afon Mersi.
Mi aeth fy Hen-daid ymlaen i brynu darnau o dir a chodi tai a siopau arnynt, fel sawl adeiladwr Cymreig arall. Mi dennodd adeiladwyr Cymreig saeri a llafurwyr o'r 'hen wlad', a mi dyfodd cymunedau sylweddol o Gymry ar ddwy ochr y Mersi, digon i gynnal o leiaf pedwar capel Cymraeg yn Wallasey, a saith ym Mhenbedw erbyn troad y canrif. Roedd rhai gweithleoedd yn y diwydiant adeiladu'n hollol Cymraeg, a mor gryf oedd presenoldeb y 'mewnfudwyr', cynhalwyd Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru 1917 ym Mharc Penbedw, arwydd o Gymreictod yr ardal yn ystod plentyndod fy Nhaid.
Er hynny, gyda dechrau'r Rhyfel Mawr, roedd newididiadau ar y gweill. Mi arafodd dyfiant economaidd, a gyda hynny'r llif o Gymry ifanc i lannau'r Mersi. Mi aeth cenhedlaeth o ddynion ifanc i wynebu eu thynged yn y baw a ffosydd dros y Mo^r Udd.
Mi adawodd fy Nhaid i wasanaethu yn y fyddin. Mi dreuliodd amser yn Iwerddon wedi i'r 'Easter Rising' yn 1916, cyn mynd i frwydro ar y Cyfandir a dod adre gyda darnau o shrapnel yn ei gorff, ond gyda ei fywyd o leiaf. Mi aeth o i Lundain i weithio mewn swyddfa (cyfrifydd dwi'n credu), cyn dychweled i Wallasey wedi marwolaeth ei dad er mwyn edrych ar ol y tai a siopau a codwyd ganddo fo, yn ogystal a sefydlu mentrau busnes eraill.
Dwi ddim yn credu, er gwaethaf gwreiddiau a chymreictod ei rhieni, a magwyd fy Nhaid yn aelwyd Cymraeg. Yn sicr mynychodd y teulu un o gapeli Cymraeg Wallasey, dwi'n cofio Taid yn son am eistedd yn y capel fel plentyn heb ddeall y gwasanaethau. Baswn i wedi hoffi cael cyfle i'w holi fo am ba iaith siaradodd ei rieni yn y ty^ , neu wrtho fo, ond wrth cwrs rydyn ni'n meddwl am bethau felly yn rhy hwyr fel arfer. Siaradodd sawl 'Cymry oddi cartref' Saesneg yn unig gyda eu phlant, siwr o fod er mwyn eu helpu nhw yn yr ysgolion, agwedd dealladwy yng nghyd-destun yr oes efallai , pan oedd sawl pobl yn wir yn credu mi fasai'r Gymraeg yn eich rhwystro chi rhag lwyddo yn y byd mawr. Ta waeth, mi benderfynodd fy Nhaid i fynd ati i ddysgu y Gymraeg, rhywbryd yn ei arddegau mae'n debyg. Mi lwyddodd i'w meistroli a'i defnyddio'n gyson am weddill ei naw deg naw o flynyddoedd.
Felly os dwi'n ceisio dod o hyd i ysbrydoliaeth o dro i dro, meddwl am fy Nhaid ydwi, a'i ymdrechion o i ddysgu'r iaith tua canrif yn o^l.
I got my first Welsh dictionary in 1986, according to the note I wrote within the cover of my copy of 'Y Geiriadur Cymraeg Cyfoes'. I can't remember specifically what fired my interest in the language, but I've got a memory of asking my Naini and Taid for a Welsh dictionary as a Christmas present that year, a volume which still gets much use.
My Taid was born and brought up on the Wirral. His mother was 'Liverpool Welsh', and his father was a native of Anglesey who moved to merseyside as a young man in order to work in the building trade. They settled on the northern corner of the Wirral, an area that's now suburban Wallasey. The meaning of this Saxon name is 'Island of Strangers', a name which points to the areas geography, and to the existence of a sizeable Celtic community there around the time the Saxons arrived on the penninsula. Some fifteen hundred years later, Wallasey was just one of a few villages on a rocky corner of the Wirral, but the 'strangers' of old were about to return in force and play an essential part in a new chapter in he areas history. Very many of them were escaping from unemployment, and taking advantage of the rapid transformation that was going on during the second half of the nineteenth century around the River Mersey.
My 'hen-daid' went on to buy pieces of land and build houses and shops on them, like many other Welsh builders. Welsh builders drew craftsmen and labourers from the 'old country', and substantial Welsh communties grew on both sides of the Mersey, sufficient to sustain at least 4 Welsh chapels in Wallasey and 7 in Birkenhead by the turn of the century. There were some workplaces in the construction industry that were completely Welsh , and so strong was the prescence of the 'immigrants' that the Welsh National Eisteddfod was held in Birkenhead Park in 1917, an indication of the Welshness of the area during my Taids childhood.
Despite this, with the start of the First World War, big changes were to come. Economic growth slowed, and with this the flow of Welsh youth to Merseyside. A generation of young men went to face their fate in the mud and trenches accross the English Channel.
My Taid left to serve with the army. He spent time in Ireland after the Easter Rising of 1916, before going to fight on the Continent and coming home with pieces of shrapnel in his body, but at least with his life. He went to London to work in an ofiice ( an accountants I believe) before returning to Wallasey on his fathers death to look after the houses and shops he had built, as well as starting other business ventures.
I don't think, despite his parents roots that my Grandfather was brought up in a Welsh speaking household. Certainly the family attended one of Wallaseys Welsh chapels, I remember Taid talking about sitting in the chapel as a child and not understanding the services. I would have liked to have had the chance to ask him about which language his parents spoke in the house, or with him, but of courese we usually think about such things too late. Many 'Welsh outside Wales' spoke only English to their children, no doubt in order to help them in their schools, perhaps an understandable attitude in the context of the times, when many people really believed that Welsh would prevent you succeeding in the 'big world'. Anyway, my grandfather decided to set about learning the language, sometime in his teenage years it's likely. He succeded to master the language and use it regularly through the rest of his 99yrs.
So if I'm trying to find inspiration from time to time, I think about Taid, and his efforts to learn the language around a century ago.
Mi gafodd fy Nhaid ei eni a'i fagu yng Nghilgwri. 'Cymraes' o Lerpwl oedd ei fam, a brodor o Ynys Mo^n oedd ei dad a symudodd o i Lannau Mersi fel dyn ifanc er mwyn gweithio yn y diwydiant adeiladu. Mi wnaethon nhw ymgartrefu ar gornel gogleddol Cilgwri, ardal sy'n erbyn hyn maestref Wallasey. Ystyr yr enw Sacsonaidd hon yw 'ynys y diethriaid', enw sy'n cyfeirio at cymysgedd o ddaearyddiaeth yr ardal, ac i fodolaeth cymuned sylweddol o Geltiaid y fan'ma tua'r amser cyrhaeddodd y Sacsoniaid yn y penrhyn. Rhai mil a hanner o flynyddoedd yn diweddarach, un pentre ymhlith nifer ar gwr creigiog Cilgwri oedd Wallasey. Ond roedd yr hen 'ddieithriaid' ar fin dychweled mewn llu a chwarae rhan hanfodol ym mhennod newydd hanes yr ardal. Dianc rhag ddiweithdra yng Nghymru oedd nifer fawr ohonynt, a fanteisio ar y trawsffurfiad chwyrn oedd yn mynd ymlaen yn ystod ail hanner y nawfed canrif ar hugain o amgylch yr afon Mersi.
Mi aeth fy Hen-daid ymlaen i brynu darnau o dir a chodi tai a siopau arnynt, fel sawl adeiladwr Cymreig arall. Mi dennodd adeiladwyr Cymreig saeri a llafurwyr o'r 'hen wlad', a mi dyfodd cymunedau sylweddol o Gymry ar ddwy ochr y Mersi, digon i gynnal o leiaf pedwar capel Cymraeg yn Wallasey, a saith ym Mhenbedw erbyn troad y canrif. Roedd rhai gweithleoedd yn y diwydiant adeiladu'n hollol Cymraeg, a mor gryf oedd presenoldeb y 'mewnfudwyr', cynhalwyd Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru 1917 ym Mharc Penbedw, arwydd o Gymreictod yr ardal yn ystod plentyndod fy Nhaid.
Er hynny, gyda dechrau'r Rhyfel Mawr, roedd newididiadau ar y gweill. Mi arafodd dyfiant economaidd, a gyda hynny'r llif o Gymry ifanc i lannau'r Mersi. Mi aeth cenhedlaeth o ddynion ifanc i wynebu eu thynged yn y baw a ffosydd dros y Mo^r Udd.
Mi adawodd fy Nhaid i wasanaethu yn y fyddin. Mi dreuliodd amser yn Iwerddon wedi i'r 'Easter Rising' yn 1916, cyn mynd i frwydro ar y Cyfandir a dod adre gyda darnau o shrapnel yn ei gorff, ond gyda ei fywyd o leiaf. Mi aeth o i Lundain i weithio mewn swyddfa (cyfrifydd dwi'n credu), cyn dychweled i Wallasey wedi marwolaeth ei dad er mwyn edrych ar ol y tai a siopau a codwyd ganddo fo, yn ogystal a sefydlu mentrau busnes eraill.
Dwi ddim yn credu, er gwaethaf gwreiddiau a chymreictod ei rhieni, a magwyd fy Nhaid yn aelwyd Cymraeg. Yn sicr mynychodd y teulu un o gapeli Cymraeg Wallasey, dwi'n cofio Taid yn son am eistedd yn y capel fel plentyn heb ddeall y gwasanaethau. Baswn i wedi hoffi cael cyfle i'w holi fo am ba iaith siaradodd ei rieni yn y ty^ , neu wrtho fo, ond wrth cwrs rydyn ni'n meddwl am bethau felly yn rhy hwyr fel arfer. Siaradodd sawl 'Cymry oddi cartref' Saesneg yn unig gyda eu phlant, siwr o fod er mwyn eu helpu nhw yn yr ysgolion, agwedd dealladwy yng nghyd-destun yr oes efallai , pan oedd sawl pobl yn wir yn credu mi fasai'r Gymraeg yn eich rhwystro chi rhag lwyddo yn y byd mawr. Ta waeth, mi benderfynodd fy Nhaid i fynd ati i ddysgu y Gymraeg, rhywbryd yn ei arddegau mae'n debyg. Mi lwyddodd i'w meistroli a'i defnyddio'n gyson am weddill ei naw deg naw o flynyddoedd.
Felly os dwi'n ceisio dod o hyd i ysbrydoliaeth o dro i dro, meddwl am fy Nhaid ydwi, a'i ymdrechion o i ddysgu'r iaith tua canrif yn o^l.
I got my first Welsh dictionary in 1986, according to the note I wrote within the cover of my copy of 'Y Geiriadur Cymraeg Cyfoes'. I can't remember specifically what fired my interest in the language, but I've got a memory of asking my Naini and Taid for a Welsh dictionary as a Christmas present that year, a volume which still gets much use.
My Taid was born and brought up on the Wirral. His mother was 'Liverpool Welsh', and his father was a native of Anglesey who moved to merseyside as a young man in order to work in the building trade. They settled on the northern corner of the Wirral, an area that's now suburban Wallasey. The meaning of this Saxon name is 'Island of Strangers', a name which points to the areas geography, and to the existence of a sizeable Celtic community there around the time the Saxons arrived on the penninsula. Some fifteen hundred years later, Wallasey was just one of a few villages on a rocky corner of the Wirral, but the 'strangers' of old were about to return in force and play an essential part in a new chapter in he areas history. Very many of them were escaping from unemployment, and taking advantage of the rapid transformation that was going on during the second half of the nineteenth century around the River Mersey.
My 'hen-daid' went on to buy pieces of land and build houses and shops on them, like many other Welsh builders. Welsh builders drew craftsmen and labourers from the 'old country', and substantial Welsh communties grew on both sides of the Mersey, sufficient to sustain at least 4 Welsh chapels in Wallasey and 7 in Birkenhead by the turn of the century. There were some workplaces in the construction industry that were completely Welsh , and so strong was the prescence of the 'immigrants' that the Welsh National Eisteddfod was held in Birkenhead Park in 1917, an indication of the Welshness of the area during my Taids childhood.
Despite this, with the start of the First World War, big changes were to come. Economic growth slowed, and with this the flow of Welsh youth to Merseyside. A generation of young men went to face their fate in the mud and trenches accross the English Channel.
My Taid left to serve with the army. He spent time in Ireland after the Easter Rising of 1916, before going to fight on the Continent and coming home with pieces of shrapnel in his body, but at least with his life. He went to London to work in an ofiice ( an accountants I believe) before returning to Wallasey on his fathers death to look after the houses and shops he had built, as well as starting other business ventures.
I don't think, despite his parents roots that my Grandfather was brought up in a Welsh speaking household. Certainly the family attended one of Wallaseys Welsh chapels, I remember Taid talking about sitting in the chapel as a child and not understanding the services. I would have liked to have had the chance to ask him about which language his parents spoke in the house, or with him, but of courese we usually think about such things too late. Many 'Welsh outside Wales' spoke only English to their children, no doubt in order to help them in their schools, perhaps an understandable attitude in the context of the times, when many people really believed that Welsh would prevent you succeeding in the 'big world'. Anyway, my grandfather decided to set about learning the language, sometime in his teenage years it's likely. He succeded to master the language and use it regularly through the rest of his 99yrs.
So if I'm trying to find inspiration from time to time, I think about Taid, and his efforts to learn the language around a century ago.
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