William Middleton
Ganwyd William Middleton, wedi’i sillafu weithiau fel Midleton neu Myddleton, tua 1550 yn Llansannan, Sir Ddinbych. Roedd y teulu Middleton wedi bod yn noddwyr i feirdd, a dysgodd William grefft y canu caeth pan yn fachgen ifanc. Yn 1593 cyhoeddodd lyfr am y grefft yn dwyn y teitl Bardhoniaeth, neu brydydhiaeth, y llyfr kyntaf; trwy fyfyrdawd Capten William Midleton. Ei enw barddol oed Gwilym Ganoldref.
Salmau Capten Middleton 1596
O 1589 ymlaen roedd Middleton yn gweithio fel capten llong i’w gefnder, y masnachwr Syr Thomas Myddelton. Yn y cyfamser bu’n gweithio ar ei freuddwyd o gyfieithu’r Salmau i farddoniaeth gaeth, gan ddefnyddio nifer o amrywiol fesurau. Yn 1595 cyhoeddodd ran o lyfr y Salmau ar gynghanedd yn Llundain, dan y teitl, Rhann o Psalmae Dauyd, a Phrophwyti eraill gweddi i kynghanedhu. Yn ddiweddarach ym 1595, hwyliodd gyda Syr Francis Drake a Syr John Hopkins, fel capten y Salomon Bonaventure ar gyrch anllwyddiannus i Banama. Cwblhaodd ei fydryddiad o’r Salmau ar Ionawr 24ain, pan oedd wedi angori ar ynys anghyfannedd Scutum (a elwir heddiw yn Isla Escudo de Veraguas) ar arfordir Panama. Galwodd ei Salmau yn Psalmae y Brenhinol Brophwyd Dafydh. Dychwelodd Middleton o Panama ym 1596 a bu farw yn fuan ar ôl cyrraedd Falmouth yng Nghernyw.
Argraffiad 1603
Cyflwynodd William Middleton y gyfrol i’w gefnder Syr Thomas Myddelton a oedd yn byw yng Nghastell y Waun yn Sir Ddinbych. Yn 1602, ar ôl i William Middleton farw talodd ei gefnder Thomas Myddelton £30 tuag at argraffu’r Salmau. Casglwyd y Salmau gan Thomas Sailsbury, oedd wedi cyhoeddi gweithiau eraill yn y Gymraeg hefyd. Yn 1603, cyhoeddwyd y salmau yn Llundain gan Salisbury a’i argraffu gan Samuel Stafford, dan y teitl Psalmæ y brenhinol brophvvyd Dafydh: gwedi i cynghanedhu mewn mesurau Cymreig. Salmau Middleton oedd y Salmau mydryddol llawn cyntaf yn y Gymraeg, a’r unig un ar y gynghanedd.
Ail Argraffiad 1827
Arhosodd salmau Middleton yn y Llyfrgell Brydeinig, lle daethant i sylw Walter Davies. Bardd, golygydd, cyfieithydd, hynafiaethydd a chlerigwr Anglicanaidd oedd y Parch. Walter Davies, wedi ei eni yn Llanfechain, Sir Drefaldwyn. Astudiodd yng Ngholeg y Drindod, Caergrawnt, lle derbyniodd ei M.A. ym 1803. Fel bardd defnyddiai yr enw barddol Gwallter Mechain. Yn 1807 daeth yn ficer Manafon, lle’r arhosodd am 30 mlynedd a gwneud y rhan fwyaf o’i waith llenyddol. Ysgrifennodd y Rhagymadrodd i salmau Middleton ym mis Ionawr 1827, gan egluro mesurau’r farddoniaeth. Trefnodd iddynt gael eu cyhoeddi gan Robert Jones yn Llanfair Caereinion, Sir Drefaldwyn ym 1827 dan y teitl Psalmau Dafydd: wedi eu cyfansoddi ar amrywiol fesurau cerdd, gan Y Cabden William Middleton.
Argraffiad Digidol
Digidwyd salmau Middleton i Gymdeithas y Beibl, drwy gymorth MissionAssist. Nid oedd yr argraffiad gwreiddiol yn cynnwys rhifau’r adnodau, ond ychwanegwyd y rhain yn yr argraffiad digidol. Cwblhawyd yn 2021 fel rhan o Brosiect Digideiddio Ysgrythurau Cymru.
English:
William Middleton
William Middleton, also spelt Midleton and Myddleton, was born around1550 at Llansannan, Denbighshire in North Wales. The Middleton family had been patrons to poets, and he learnt the craft of Welsh bardic poetry in his youth. In 1593 he published a book about the bardic craft called Bardhoniaeth, neu brydydhiaeth, y llyfr kyntaf; trwy fyfyrdawd Capten William Midleton. He used Gwilym Ganoldref, the Welsh translation of his name, as his bardic name.
Captain Middleton’s Psalms 1596
From 1589 Middleton worked as a ship’s captain for his cousin, the merchant Sir Thomas Myddelton. Meanwhile he worked on his dream of translating the psalms into the strict, traditional Welsh poetic style called cynghanedd, using a variery of metres. In 1595 he published part of the psalms in cynghanedd as Rhann o Psalmae Dauyd, a Phrophwyti eraill gweddi i kynghanedhu in London. Later in 1595 he set sail with Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hopkins, as captain of the Salomon Bonaventure in their abortive expedition to capture Panama city. He completed his version of the psalms on 24th January whilst anchored at the uninhabited island of Scutum (today called Isla Escudo de Veraguas), off the coast of Panama. He called his psalms Psalmae y Brenhinol Brophwyd Dafydh . Middleton returned from Panama in 1596 and died shortly after his return at Falmouth in Cornwall.
1603 Edition
William Middleton’s psalms were dedicated to his cousin Sir Thomas Myddelton who lived at Chirk Castle in Denbighshire. In 1602, after Willliam Middleton had died, his cousin Thomas Myddelton advanced £30 to print the psalms. The psalms were collected by Thomas Salisbury, who also published other items in Welsh. In 1603 Salisbury had the psalms published in London by the printer Samuel Stafford, as: Psalmæ y brenhinol brophvvyd Dafydh: gwedi i cynghanedhu mewn mesurau cymreig. Middleton’s psalms were the first full metrical Psalter in Welsh, and the only one in full cynghanedd.
Second Edition 1827
Middleton’s psalms remained at the British Library, where they came to the attention of Walter Davies. Rev. Walter Davies (1761-1849) was a Welsh poet, editor, translator, antiquary and Anglican clergyman, born in Llanfechain, Montgomeryshire. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he received his M.A. in 1803. As a poet he used the bardic name of Gwallter Mechain. In 1807 he became vicar of Manafon, where he remained for 30 years and did most of his literary work. From there he wrote an introduction (Y Rhagymadrodd) to the Middleton psalms in January 1827, and explained about their poetry. He arranged for them to be published by Robert Jones in Llanfair Caereinion in Montgomeryshire in 1827. He reprinted them as Psalmau Dafydd: wedi eu cyfansoddi ar amrywiol fesurau cerdd, gan Y Cabden William Middleton.
Digital Edition
Middleton’s psalms were digitised with the help of MissionAssist, for the Bible Society. The original edition did not include verse numbers, but these have been added in the digital edition. This project was completed in 2021 as part of the Welsh Scriptures Digitisation Project.
