Richard Davies
Ganwyd Richard Davies yn y 1500au cynnar yn Gyffin, Conwy, lle roedd ei dad Dafydd ap Gronw, yn gurad yn eglwys St Bened. Aeth i New Inn Hall yn Rhydychen, lle graddiodd gydag M.A. yn 1530 a B.D. yn 1536.
Cafodd ei ordeinio yn Eglwys Loegr ac o 1549 roedd yn rheithor Maids Moreton, Bucks ac yna yn 1550 yn ficer yn Burnham, Bucks lle priododd Dorothy Woodforde.
Aeth i alltudiaeth yn Genefa yn ystod teyrnasiad y frenhines Mari I, a dychwelyd pan ddaeth Elizabeth yn frenhines yn 1558.
Cafodd ei gysegru yn esgob Llanelwy yn 1560. O 1561 ymlaen roedd yn esgob Tyddewi, ac yn byw ym mhalas yr esgob yn Abergwili ger Caerfyrddin (sydd bellach yn Amgueddfa Sir Gaerfyrddin).
Y Testament Newydd Cymraeg
Yn 1563 pasiwyd deddf yn enw’r Frenhines Elizabeth I,, yn galw ar Esgobion Cymru a Henffordd i drefnu i’r Beibl a’r Llyfr Gweddi Cyffredin, gan gynnwys y Salmau, gael eu cyfieithu i’r Gymraeg.
Richard Davies oedd yn goruchwylio’r gwaith o gyfieithu’r Testament Newydd o’r Roeg i’r Gymraeg, gyda chymorth ei gantor Thomas Huet, a William Salesbury. Buont yn gweithio gyda’i gilydd yn Abergwili.
Richard Davies ysgrifennodd y rhagair i Epistol at y Cembru. Roedd y Testament Newydd terfynnol yn cynnwys ei gyfieithiad o 1 Timotheus a’r llyfrau o Hebreaid i 2 Pedr (Hebreaid, Iago, 1 Pedr a 2 Pedr). Thomas Huet gyfieithodd Lyfr y Datguddiad, a gwaith William Salesbury oedd y gweddill. Cyhoeddwyd y Testament Newydd yn 1567.
Epistolau Bugeiliol
Tua 1564, cyfieithodd Richard Davies yr Epistolau Bugeiliol, sef 1 ac 2 Timotheus, Titus a Philemon. Mae’n debyg mai drafftiau cyntaf ar gyfer y Testament Newydd oedd y rhain. Ni chawsont eu cyhoeddi, ond fe’u cadwyd yng nghasgliad llawysgrifau Gwysaney, a mae’r llawysgrifau gwreiddiol bellach yn Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru yn Aberystwyth.
Cofebau
Bu farw Richard Davies yn 1581, a’i gladdu yn Eglwys Dewi Sant, Abergwili. Mae llechen er cof amdano yn yr eglwys bresennol, ar ôl i’r eglwys wreiddiol gael ei hailadeiladu ym 1841. Mae cerflun ohono i’w weld ar gofeb cyfieithwyr y Beibl yn Llanelwy, godwyd yn 1892.
Argraffiad Digidol
Trawsgrifiodd yr Hybarch D. R. Thomas, archddiacon Maldwyn y pedair epistol hyn, o’r gwreiddiol yn llawysgrifau Gwysaney, fel rhan o’i ymchwil i’r Esgob Richard Davies. Fe’u cyhoeddwyd yn ei lyfr The Life and Work of Bishop Davies amp William Salesbury : With an Account of some Early Translations into Welsh of the Holy Scriptures and the Prayer Book, together with a Transcript of the Bishop’s Version of The Pastoral Epistles of St.Paul from the autograph MS at Gwysaney now first published… a gyhoeddwyd yn Saesneg yn Croesoswallt yn 1902. Y trawsgrifiad hwn fu’n sylfaen i’r fersiwn digidol, ond wedi’i ddiwygio rywfaint ochr yn ochr a’r gwreiddiol https://viewer.library.wales/4682811#?c=ampm=amps=ampcv=10ampmanifest=https%3A%2F%2Fdamsssl.llgc.org.uk%2Fiiif%2F2.0%2F4682811%2Fmanifest.jsonampxywh=-1911%2C-1521%2C7629%2C4847
Yn y llawysgrif wreiddiol mae Davies weithiau wedi ysgrifennu cyfieithiad posib arall uwchben gair neu ymadrodd. Mae'r geiriau hyn wedi'i rhoi mewn (cromfachau crwn). Dro arall mae Davies wedi rhoi blwch o amyglch gair neu ymadrodd. Mae'r geiriau hyn wedi'i rhoi mewn [cromfachau sgwâr]. Pan mae wedi croesi allan air neu ymadrodd, mae'r geiriau hynny wedi'i rhoi mewn [[cromfachau sgwâr dwbl]]. Mae rhifau'r adnodau, nad oeddynt yn y gwreiddiol, wedi'i hychwanegu at y fersiwn digidol i'w gwneud yn haws i'w ddefnyddio.
Mae'r epistolau hyn wedi eu digideiddio i Gymdeithas y Beibl yn 2021, fel rhan o brosiect Digideiddio Ysgrythyrau Cymraeg. Fe'i galwyd yn Epistolau Bugeiliol c.1564 (Esgob Richard Davies).
English:
Richard Davies
Richard Davies was born in the early 1500s in Gyffin, Conwy, where his father Dafydd ap Gronw, was curate at St Bened’s church. He went to New Inn Hall at Oxford, where he graduated with M.A. in 1530 and B.D. in 1536.
He was ordained into the Church of England and from 1549 was rector of Maids Moreton, Bucks and then in 1550 was vicar at Burnham, Bucks where he married Dorothy Woodforde.
During the reign of Queen Mary I he went into exile to Geneva, and returned when Elizabeth became Queen in 1558.
He was consecrated bishop of St Asaph (Llanelwy) in 1560. From 1561 he was bishop of St David’s, and lived at the bishop’s palace at Abergwili near Carmarthen (which is now Camarthenshire County Museum).
The Welsh New testament
In 1563 a law was passed in the name of the Tudor Queen Elizabeth I, which instructed the Anglican Bishops in Wales and Hereford to arrange for the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer, including the Psalms, to be translated into Welsh.
The work to translate the New Testament from Greek into Welsh, was overseen by Richard Davies, with the help of his cantor Thomas Huet, and William Salesbury. They worked together at Abergwili.
Richard Davies wrote the preface (Epistol at y Cembru). The final New Testament included his versions of 1 Timothy, and the books from Hebrews to 2 Peter (Hebrews, James, 1 Peter and 2 Peter). Revelation was translated by Thomas Huet, and the rest was the work of William Salesbury. The New Testament was published in 1567.
Pastoral Epistles
In about 1564, Richard Davies translated the Pastoral Epistles of 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon. These epistles were likely first drafts for the New Testament. They were unpublished and remained preserved in the Gwysaney manuscript collection, and the originals are now at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth.
Memorials
Richard Davies died in 1581, and was buried at St David’s church, Abergwili. There is a tablet in his memory in the current church, after the original church was rebuilt in 1841. A statue of him also appears on the Bible translators’ memorial at St Asaph, built in 1892.
Digital Edition
The Ven. D. R. Thomas, archdeacon of Montgomery, transcribed these 4 epistles from the originals in the Gwysaney manuscripts as part of his research into Bishop Richard Davies. They were published in his book The Life and Work of Bishop Davies amp William Salesbury : With an Account of some Early Translations into Welsh of the Holy Scriptures and the Prayer Book, together with a Transcript of the Bishop’s Version of The Pastoral Epistles of St.Paul from the autograph MS at Gwysaney now first published… which was published in English at Oswestry in 1902. This transcription is the basis of this digital edition, which has been corrected against the original which can be found at https://viewer.library.wales/4682811#?c=ampm=amps=ampcv=10ampmanifest=https%3A%2F%2Fdamsssl.llgc.org.uk%2Fiiif%2F2.0%2F4682811%2Fmanifest.jsonampxywh=-1911%2C-1521%2C7629%2C4847
In the original manuscript Davies has sometimes written an alternative translation above a word or phrase. These words have been put in (round brackets). Sometimes Davies has put a box around a word or phrase. These words have been put in [square brackets]. Sometimes he has crossed out a word or phrase. These words have been put in [[double square brackets]]. Verse numbers, which were not in the original, have also been added to the digital version to make it easier to use.
These epistles have been digitised for the Bible Society in 2021, as part of the Welsh Digitisation project. They have been called Epistolau Bugeiliol c.1564 (Esgob Richard Davies).
