William Rees (Gwilym Hiraethog)
Ganwyd William Rees yn 1802, ar fferm yn nythu wrth droed mynydd Hiraethog, ym mhlwyf Llansannan, Sir Ddinbych. Yn 1826 enillodd y wobr farddoniaeth yn Eisteddfod Aberhonddu. Yn 1831 aeth yn weinidog ar eglwys Annibynol ym Mostyn, ac yna o 1837, yn Ninbych. Yn 1843 aeth i weinidogaethu i'r gymuned Gymraeg yn Lerpwl, lle yr arhosodd hyd 1875, pan symudodd i Gaer, a dyna lle bu'n byw hyd ei farwolaeth yn 1883.
Roedd ganddo ddiddordeb mewn llawer o bynciau, fel seryddiaeth a gwyddor wleidyddol. Roedd hefyd yn fardd a newyddiadurwr, ac roedd yn un o brif ffigyrau llenyddiaeth yng Nghymru yn oes Fictoria.
Fel bardd, fe'i gelwid wrth ei enw barddol Gwilym Hiraethog. Yn 1843 sefydlodd y cyfnodolyn Cymraeg Yr Amserau yn Lerpwl, a olygodd tan 1852. Defnyddiodd y papur newydd i ymgyrchu dros ddatgysylltu'r Eglwys yng Nghymru. Yn 1877 cyhoeddodd Helyntion Bywyd Hen Deiliwr a oedd yn ymgais arloesol i greu nofel Gymraeg.
Tŵr Dafydd 1875
Ysgrifenodd a chyhoeddodd Gwilym Hiraethog lawer o farddoniaeth. Tra roedd yn weinidog yn Lerpwl, ysgrifennodd ei fersiwn o'r Salmau ar gân. Ei fan cychwyn oedd y Salmau ym Meibl William Morgan. Argraffwyd y Salmau Cân hyn mewn dwy golofn gyda salmau William Morgan ar y chwith, a'i fersiwn barddonol ar y dde. Y teitl llawn oedd Tŵr Dafydd sef, Salmau Dafydd wedi eu cyfaddasu ar gan ynhyd a nodiadau ymarferol ac eglurhaol ar bob Salm. O dan bob salm mae ganddo nodiadau esboniadol. Fe'i cyhoeddwyd mewn rhwymiad hardd gan Thomas Gee o Ddinbych yn 1875.
Bu farw William Rees ym 1883 yn 81 mlwydd oed, a chafodd ei gladdu yn Lerpwl.
Yr Argraffiad Digidol
Cafodd y salmau hyn eu digido i Gymdeithas y Beibl, gyda chymorth MissionAssist. Cwblhawyd y prosiect yn 2021 fel rhan o Brosiect Digideiddio Ysgrythurau Cymraeg.
English:
William Rees (Gwilym Hiraethog)
William Rees was born in 1802, at a farm nestling at the foot of the mountain called Hiraethog, in the parish of Llansannan, Denbighshire, in north Wales. In 1826 won the poetry prize at Brecon Eisteddfod. In 1831 he became a Congregational minister, first at Mostyn, and then from 1837 at Denbigh. In 1843 he ministered to the Welsh community in Liverpool, where he remained until 1875, when he went to Chester, where he lived until his death in 1883.
He took an interest in many subjects such as astronomy and political science. He was also a poet and journalist, and was one of the major figures of Welsh Victorian literature.
As a poet, he was usually known by his bardic name of Gwilym Hiraethog. In 1843 he founded the Welsh language journal Yr Amserau (The Times) in Liverpool, which he edited until 1852. He used the newspaper to campaign for the disestablishment of the Church in Wales. In 1877 he published Helyntion Bywyd Hen Deiliwr (Predicaments of an Old Tailor) which was a pioneering attempt to fashion a Welsh-language novel.
Tŵr Dafydd 1875
Gwilym Hiraethog wrote and published a lot of poetry. Whilst he was a pastor in Liverpool, he produced a metrical version of the Psalms. His starting point was the Psalms from the William Morgan Bible, which he put to verse. These metrical Psalms were published in two columns with the William Morgan psalms on the left, and his metrical version on the right. The full title was Tŵr Dafydd sef, Salmau Dafydd wedi eu cyfaddasu ar gan ynhyd a nodiadau ymarferol ac eglurhaol ar bob Salm. Underneath each psalm are his expository notes (Nodiadau). It was published in a beautiful binding by Thomas Gee of Denbigh in 1875.
William Rees died in 1883 aged 81 and is buried in Liverpool.
Digital Edition
These psalms were digitised with the help of MissionAssist for the Bible Society. This project was completed in 2021 as part of the Welsh Scriptures Digitisation Project.
