Pennod 98 - O. M. Edwards

Gan barhau â thema sy’n hydreiddio penodau diweddar, sef cydberthynas diwylliant llenyddol Cymraeg a gwleidyddiaeth mudiad Cymru Fydd, mae’r bennod hon yn ystyried rhai o gyfraniadau cynnar Owen Morgan Edwards (1858-1920). Ac yntau’n diwtor hanes yn Rhydychen, disgwylid iddo gyhoeddi ymchwil o bwys yn ei faes arbenigol, sef cyfnod y Dadeni Dysg a’r Diwygiad Protestannaidd, ond Cymraeg oedd iaith y rhan fwyaf o’i ysgrifau a defnyddiodd ei wybodaeth am hanes Ewrop a Chymru er mwyn llunio ysgrifau poblogaidd sy’n hyrwyddo agenda genedlaetholgar.

A nodwn wrth fynd heibio fod y modd y mae’n trafod Protestaniaeth gynnar yn arddangos y math o wrth-Gatholigiaeth sy’n hollbresennol ar dudalennau gwasg gyfnodol Gymraeg y cyfnod, er bod gan driniaethau O. M. Edwards veneer boneddigaidd. Sylwn hefyd y modd y mae’n honni bod uchafbwyntiau llenyddol Cymraeg yn ganolog i bob ‘deffroad’ cenedlaethol Cymru. Wrth gofio’i waith diflino fel golygydd sawl cylchgrawn cenedlaethol, rhyfeddwn at hyd a lled ei weithgarwch, gan gyfeirio at gofiant gorchestol Hazel Walford Davies a nodi hefyd fod O. M. Edwards ei hun a rhai o’r bobl o’i gwmpas wedi dioddef oherwydd hyn oll.

* Continuing with a theme which is shot through recent episodes, namely the interrelatedness of Welsh-language literary culture and the Cymru Fydd movement, this episode considers some of the early contributions made by Owen Morgan Edwards (1858-1920). A history tutor in Oxford, he was expected to produce substantial research in his special field, the history of the Renaissance and Protestant Reformation, but Welsh was the language of most of his writings and he used his knowledge am the history of Europe and Wales in order to fashion popular pieces which promote a nationalistic agenda.

We note in passing that the way in which he discusses early Protestantism displays the kind of anti-Catholicism which is omnipresent on the pages of the Welsh periodical press in the period, although O. M. Edwards’ treatments have a more polite veneer. We also take note of the way he maintained that Welsh literary highpoints were and are central to each of Wales’ national ‘awakenings’. While recalling his tireless work as the editor of several national periodicals, we are amazed by the breadth and depth of his activities, referring to Hazel Walford Davies’s masterful biography and also noting that O. M. Edwards himself and some of the people around him suffered because of all of this.

Cyflwynwyd gan: Yr Athro Jerry Hunter a'r Athro Richard Wyn Jones Cynhyrchwyd gan: Richard Martin ar gyfer Mimosa Cymru Cerddoriaeth: 'Might Have Done' gan The Molenes

Darllen Pellach/Further Reading: - Hazel Walford Davies, Writers of Wales: O.M. Edwards (1988). - Hazel Walford Davies, O.M.[:] Cofiant Syr Owen Morgan Edwards (2020).