Viewranger – yr ap mapio gorau

Fel mynyddwr brwd ers 40 mlynedd (a rhagor) ac yn cael dileit mewn cyfeiriannu a darllen mapiau fe ddechreuais ddefnyddio teclynnau GPS tua diwedd y 90au.

Dwi hefyd wastad wedi bod yn berson 'gadgets', ac wedi tipyn o ymchwilio a gwaith cartref dyma benderfynu ar Garmin 12, yn costio £160 (arian mawr yr adeg hynny) o Dickie's ym Mangor, yn declyn sylweddol o ran maint a gwneuthuriad, wedi ei bweru gan 4 batri AA (toeddan nhw ddim yn para'n hir iawn!). O'i droi ymlaen, fel arfer fe gymerai funudau lawer i ddarganfod y lloerenni ar y sgrin unlliw LCD. O'i gymharu hefo'r teclynnau soffistigedig sydd ar gael heddiw roedd yn sylfaenol iawn ond eto'n hawdd i'w ddefnyddio, yn solat ac yn dal dwr.

Dwi'n cofio unwaith treulio noson gyfan yn mewnbynnu i'r Garmin gyfeirnodau grid 20 copa i daith hir ar y Berwyn ym 2000 heb sylweddoli drannoeth mod i heb newid llythrennau grid fy sgwâr grid 100km lleol, SH, i lythrennau SJ ardal y Berwyn, ac er bod ffigyrau'r cyfeirnod yn gywir roedd y pob dim 100 cilomedr allan ohoni! Ta waeth, roedd yn ddefnyddiol tros ben i ddarganfod yn union ble'r oeddwn, a chan fod y map ar y sgrin fechan yn un sal iawn roedd yn rhaid cario a dibynnu ar fap papur. 

Fe'i gwerthais am £48 sawl blwyddyn yn ôl – roedd yn edrych fel newydd gan ei fod yn declyn mor solat, tipyn gwahanol i declynnau simsan heddiw.

Yn y cyfamser roedd nifer o gwmnïau yn datblygu meddalwedd mapio digidol y gellid eu defnyddio ar gyfrifiaduron, ar declynnau GPS neu ar ffonau symudol. Bu bron i mi brynu teclyn GPS Satmap, ond roedd yn fawr, yn ddrud ac yn declyn arall i'w gario hefo chi ar y mynydd. Darllenais am Viewranger fel app mapio i'w roi ar ffôn symudol a gweld Nokia 5800 ffôn ar werth yn ail-law hefo meddalwedd Viewranger a nifer o fapiau OS arno. Cyn prynu, cysylltais a'r cwmni i sicrhau perchnogaeth y mapiau ac os fyddai'n bosib trosglwyddo'r mapiau os byddwn yn diweddaru unrhyw galedwedd newydd yn y dyfodol. Atebwyd fy holl ymholiadau gyda throad yr ebyst - un ai gan Mike Brocklehurst neu Craig Wareham, sylfaenwyr y cwmni.

Roedd y mapiau ar y ffôn yn cynnwys Prydain gyfan ar raddfa o 1:50,000 gydag ychydig ardaloedd ar raddfa o 1:25,000. Ychwanegais fap o Barc Cenedlaethol Eryri ar raddfa  1:25,000 (£58, ond yn hanner y pris erbyn heddiw) a llawrlwythais sawl teilsen unigol o ardaloedd dieithr eraill. Roedd y meddalwedd yn gweithio'n hwylus iawn, yn cael ei ddiweddaru'n aml, a roedd y ffon ar gael yn fy mhoced. Fodd bynnag, roedd y Nokia'n cambyhafio'n aml ac yn 2011 fe brynais iPhone 3GS 16gb ac wedi rhywfaint o gyngor technegol gan Viewranger ar sut i drosglwyddo'r ffeiliau, abracadabra, fe ymddangosodd yr holl fapiau ar yr iPhone.

Mae'r ffôn Afal yn fwy sythweledol ac yn haws i'w ddefnyddio ond y broblem fwyaf oedd oes y batris! Ar ddiwrnod hir allan ar y mynydd, heb fatris sbâr, byddai'r ffôn wedi marw erbyn canol y prynhawn. Prynais declyn Powermonkey fel dyfais batri wrth gefn, ond roedd braidd yn drafferthus i'w ddefnyddio. Yn y cyfamser, roedd Viewranger yn gwella a diweddaru eu meddalwedd yn rheolaidd, ac erbyn heddiw gellir defnyddio'r ffôn i edrych ar y map, dilyn llwybr, neu i lawrlwytho mapiau ychwanegol (os oes signal) a threulio diwrnod llawn ar y mynydd heb boeni dim am y batris.

Gallwch ddefnyddio Viewranger ar 4 teclyn gwahanol ar yr un pryd. Pan yn Ysgrifennydd Gweithgareddau Clwb Mynydda Cymru defnyddiwn Viewranger i ddarganfod cyfeirnod grid man cychwyn ein teithiau – ar yr iPad y cwbwl roedd raid i rywun ei wneud oedd rhoi croes y cyrchwr tros y lleoliad ar y map a darllen y cyfeirnod! Gartref gallwch edrych ar fapiau ar yr iPad, ond tydwi heb ei ddefnyddio allan ar y mynydd! Tybed a fyddai iPad Mini mewn cwdyn plastic sy'n dal dwr a chyswllt 3G yn declyn delfrydol ar fynydd – ond gyda map papur yn nhop y sach rhag ofn! Sgwn i faint o effaith y mae'r teclynnau newydd yma wedi gael ar werthiant mapiau'r OS a Harvey, ac hefyd ydi cerddwyr o'r newydd yn gwybod sut i ddefnyddio map a chwmpawd – neu a ydynt yn or-ddibynnol ar eu ffôns (neu eu prat-nav) i'w hachub pan ant i drybini?  

Mae llawer o dimau Achub Mynydd ledled Mhrydain yn defnyddio Viewranger ac yn defnyddio'r nodwedd Buddy Beacon i gadw llygaid ar union leoliad aelodau o'r tim pan maent allan ar y mynydd.

Bu Chris Townsend, sy'n gerddwr 'proffesiynnol', yn defnyddio Viewranger ar un o'r tabledi llai yn y maes yn ddiweddar, gweler y linc isod …

http://www.christownsendoutdoors.com/2012/09/nexus-7-tablet-for-outdoors.html

Ar wefan Viewranger (Rhagfyr 2013) gellir prynu map o Brydain gyfan ar raddfa o 1:25,000 am £250, mae mapiau unigol o'r Parciau Cenedlaethol ar gael am oddeutu £20 neu fwy, neu gellir prynu tocyn credyd i lawrlwytho teils unigol. Gellir eu defnyddio ar declynnau iPhone, Android a Symbian … ond nid ar ffonau Windows.

Dyma linc i'w gwefan … http://www.viewranger.com/en-gb

Viewranger – the best OS map app

As a keen mountaineer for over 40 years and an avid orienteer and map reader I've been using GPS devices since their first appeared in the late 90s.

I've always been a gadget man, andmuch deliberation I eventually decided on a Garmin 12 Personal Navigator, cost then was £160, and it was a well built, heavy device powered by 4 AA batteries (which didn't last very long!). When you switched it on it took several minutes to obtain a fix and had a monochrome LCD screen which showed a rudimentary map in plot form and various other information screens, easy to use but very crude compared to today's gadgets.

I remember once spending a whole evening inputting information for a long trek over 20 tops in the Berwyn in 2000 only to realise on the day that I had forgotten to change the grid letters from my local 100 km grid square, SH, to the Berwyn SJ, which meant that all the summits had the correct 8 figure grid reference, but were a 100 kilometres out! However, it proved to be a quite useful standby to a paper map, and I used it mostly just to get an instant location fix. 

I eventually sold it a few years ago for £48 – it was so well put together that it looked in pristine condition even though it was 10 years old. Modern devices are much flimsier in comparison.

In the meantime several software companies had brought mapping apps to the market that could be used on computers, their own dedicated handsets or on mobile phones. I did look into buying the Satmap handheld device but was put off by the initial cost and of carrying an extra device, and eventually found a secondhand Nokia 5800 phone which had the Viewranger software and several maps installed. Before buying I contacted Viewranger re any licensing problems with ownership of the installed maps and to future updating to any new hardware. They were very helpful and replied to all my queries almost immediately – via Mike Brocklehurst or Craig Wareham.

The installed maps included the whole of Britain at 1:50,000 and several pockets of 1:25,000 dotted around the country. To these I added a 1:25,000 map of the Snowdonia National Park (£58 then but half price by now) and downloaded several tiles at 1:25,000 scale of various other areas that I visited or required more detail. The software worked very well, was updated frequently, and I carried the phone with me on all my travels. However, the Nokia phone was very glitchy and in 2011 I updated to an iPhone 3GS 16gb and after some technical advice from Viewranger re map file transfer, all the maps from the old handset magically appeared on the iPhone.

The Apple phone is a lot more intuitive to use, its only problem was battery life! On a long day in the mountains, without any power backup, the phone usually died by mid-afternoon. I bought a Powermonkey backup device, but this proved to be a bit fiddly in use. In the meantime, as Viewranger updated and improved their software on a regular basis, the power problem, by today, had virtually disappeared and I can use the app, track a route, download any extra map tiles (if any signal) and spend a long day out without any fear of the phone dying on me. The Viewranger interface has also developed over the years, is intuitive and easy to use and has many features that I don't use.

Viewranger also allows you to view the maps on 4 devices. I used to be a meets secretary for Clwb Mynydda Cymru and using Viewranger to plot a grid reference for an activity proved a godsend – it was as easy as placing the cursor over the starting point and reading off the reference. At home I can view all my maps on an iPad, but have not ventured out with it! An iPad mini in a waterproof holder and with a 3G connection might be the next logical step – but always with a paper map in your sack as a backup! It would be interesting not only to find out how these new devices have affected the sales of OS and Harvey maps, but also if people new to walking actually know how to use a map and compass – do they rely too heavily on their phones to get them out of trouble (as they do with their prat-navs before starting on any road journey)? 

Many Mountain Rescue teams use Viewranger in the field and the software's Buddy Beacon  feature lets others keep an eye on where you are.

Chris Townsend recently reviewed Viewranger on a tablet device in the field …

http://www.christownsendoutdoors.com/2012/09/nexus-7-tablet-for-outdoors.html

Viewranger now (December 2013) sell the whole of Britain at 1:25,000 scale at a cost of £250 or one can buy maps which cover the National Park from £20 upwards, or download individual tiles for the cost of a music download. These can be used on the iPhone, Android and Symbian platforms … but not on Windows phones.

Here is a link to their website … http://www.viewranger.com/en-gb

Diogelu enwau lleoedd – Ieuan Wyn

Cyflwyniad gan y Prifardd Ieuan Wyn i Gynhadledd Enwau Lleoedd, Prosiect Llên Natur, ar Ddiogelu enwau lleoedd ym Mhlas Tan y Bwlch, 20 Tachwedd, 2010. Yn sgil y gynhadledd sefydlwyd Cymdeithas Enwau Lleoedd Cymru … linc isod 

Diogelu enwau lleoedd

Pam diogelu enwau lleoedd? Beth sydd yna ynglŷn â nhw sy’n peri inni deimlo’u bod nhw’n bwysig ac yn werth eu cadw a’u gwarchod? Digon yw nodi bod ein gwreiddiad ni mewn llefydd, a’n hymuniaethiad ni â’r llefydd hynny, yn greiddiol i’n profiad ni fel bodau dynol. Mae llefydd, a’u henwau nhw o raid felly, yn llawn arwyddocâd i ni am amryfal resymau ni waeth pa ddiwylliant bynnag yr ydym yn ei etifeddu. Dyna sydd gan y bardd Waldo Williams yn ei gerdd Cwmwl Haf wrth gyfeirio at yr arferiad o arddel gwreiddiau trwy roi enw’r hen le ar dy.

     ‘Durham’, ‘Devonia’, ‘Allendale’ – dyna’u tai
     A’r un enw yw pob enw,
     Enw’r hen le a tharddle araf amser ...

O’n magu yn sŵn enwau llefydd ein cynefin ni, mi rydan ni’n eu hanwylo nhw, - yn enw tŷ, mynydd a phant, traeth a phorth, llwybr a chae, – enwau’r llefydd cyfagos hynny sy’n rhan o’n plentyndod ni. Dyma’r man cychwyn. Maen nhw’n dŵad yn rhan o’n hunaniaeth bersonol ni, ac yn dŵad yr un pryd yn rhan o’n hunaniaeth genedlaethol ni, yn rhan annatod o’n gwead ni, yn un o’r clymau diwylliannol sy’n ein gwneud ni’n Gymry. Yr enwau yma sydd yn gwneud y tir hwn, y rhan neilltuol hwn o ddaear y byd, yn fröydd ac yn wlad inni, yn gwneud y darn daear hwn yn Gymru. Fel yna yr ydym ni’n dod i nabod a charu bro a gwlad. Mae’r enwau ar bob bryn a dyffryn, craig a chlogwyn, llyn ac afon, cilfach a chwm yn arwyddion byw sy’n dangos yn glir yr hyn a alwyd gan yr athronydd Athro J.R.Jones yn “gydymdreiddiad iaith a thir Cymru”. Fel hyn y dywedodd y bardd Waldo Williams:

     Dyma’r mynyddoedd. Ni fedr ond un iaith eu codi
     A’u rhoi yn eu rhyddid yn erbyn wybren cân.
     Ni threiddiodd ond un i oludoedd eu tlodi
     Trwy freuddwyd oesoedd, gweledigaethau munudau mân...

Mae’r bardd yn dweud yr un peth â’r athronydd, - mai’r Gymraeg fel priod iaith Cymru sy’n gwir ddehongli daear ein gwlad:

     Tŷ teilwng i’w dehonglreg

Mae barddoniaeth yn gallu rhoi mynegiant effeithiol i’r ymlyniad cynhenid hwn wrth lefydd. Pwy na all deimlo hiraeth yr alltud am weld ei henfro unwaith eto, ac yntau’n enwi’r mynydd:

     Dim môr a dim myharen, - dim afon
             Dim mefus na mawnen;
       Aberthwn aur byrth y nen
       Am weld eira Moel Darren.

Mae enwau lleoedd yn deffro’n cyneddfau deallol ac emosiynol oherwydd eu bod yn rhan o’n cof personol ac yn rhan o’r cof cenedlaethol. Mae eu tarddiadau a’u hystyron yn ddiddorol ynddyn nhw eu hunain, ac yn ennyn chwilfrydedd parhaus, ond mae hanes y llefydd hyn, ac arwyddocâd yr hanes, yr un mor bwysig ac yn cael effaith arnom ni. Mae eu gwahanol gyd-destunau’n allweddol ac mae eu clywed yn ddigon:
     Pengwern, Penyberth, Capel Celyn, Tryweryn, Epynt. Beth am Langeitho, Talgarth, Dolwar Fach, Pantycelyn? Beth am Hengwrt, Heniarth, Peniarth, Hendregadredd? Beth am Lanfihangel Bachellaeth, Llanfihangel Genau’r Glyn, Llanfair Mathafarn Eithaf? A beth am Hendy-gwyn ar Daf, Aberffraw, Dinefwr, Mathrafal, Abergarthcelyn, Cilmeri, Sycharth, Glyndyfrdwy, Hyddgen, Bryn Glas, Pwll Melyn?

     Mae cyplysu enw cartref ac enw personol yn hen arferiad yn y gymdeithas amaethyddol: Richard Tanyfoel, Carys Hendre, Emrys Waun-hir, Idris Bryn Poeth, Sioned Blaen-nant, Elwyn Glan Môr Isaf. A beth am enwau rhai a ddaeth yn enwogion gwlad? Mae enwau lleoedd wedi hen lynu wrthynt: Pantycelyn, Ieuan Glan Geirionnydd, Twm o’r Nant, Tanymarian, Gwilym Hiraethog, Jac Glanygors, Guto’r Glyn, Dafydd Nanmor. Mae’n byd a’n bywyd ni’n llawn enwau lleoedd.
     Fel sy’n wir ym mhob diwylliant, mae yna enwau sy’n llawn cyfaredd i ni am mai Cymry ydym ni. Maen nhw’n meddu ar ryw swyn oherwydd natur y Gymraeg, - enwau sydd oherwydd eu rhythmau a’u delweddau yn gerddorol ac yn farddonol. “Yr enwau persain ar fan a lle”, chwedl T. H. Parry-Williams. Beth am y rhain? Llond dwrn yn unig o enwau hyfryd sy’n disgrifio mannau arbennig mewn un rhan o Eryri: Llyn y Gaseg Fraith, Nant y Gilfach Felen, Buarthau Braich y Prysgyll, Nant y Garreg Goch, Braich y Llyn-gwm, Gwastad Ffynnon Deg, Gwaun Cwys Mai, Clogwyn Drws y Neuadd, Carnedd y Filiast, Pen yr Helgi Du, Bwlch y Tri Marchog, Cwm yr Afon Goch, Pyllau’r Ewigod, Buarthau Merched Mafon, Castell y Geifr, Cwm Pant y Darren, Bwlch Eryl Farchog, Cwm y Bedol Arian, Castell y Gwynt, Pen Llithrig y Wrach, Crib y Grimog Lem, Perth yr Ewig, Clogwyn yr Heliwr, yr Ysgolion Duon a’r Bryniau Melynion. Ac enwau ffosydd hyd yn oed: Ffos y Rhufeiniaid, Ffos Hafoty Belyn, Ffos y Foelgraig, Ffos Pant yr Ychain. Rhaid gwarchod y cyfoeth rhyfeddol hwn fel rhan hanfodol o’n hetifeddiaeth.
     Meddyliwch am yr holl enwau sydd gennym ni i ddisgrifio tirwedd. Dyma nifer ohonyn nhw: cwm, dyffryn, glyn, pant, bwlch, dôl, nant, ceunant, ystrad, tywyn, tyno, morfa, twmpath, banc, carn, carnedd, twr, ponc, poncen, bryn, bryncyn, bre, tomen, cnwc, mynydd, moel, curn, curnos, clog, clogwyn, twll (hafn), craig, crug, crugen, crugyn, copa, ban, crib, cribin, cribell, llethr, llechwedd, ysgafell, garth, penrhyn, pentir, penfro, rhiw, gallt, tyle, y ro, trum, tu, tarren, cyfrwy, gobell, tyno, marian, pelan, twyn. Ac mae eraill, sy’n enwau rhannau o’r corff: pen, trwyn, cefn a chefnen, braich, bron, ael, crimog, esgair, garan.
     Roedd yr hen Gymry a roddodd yr enwau ar y lleoedd hyn, a’r cenedlaethau a’u holynodd am ganrifoedd, yn gwybod yn union beth oedd y gwahaniaeth rhwng marian a llechwedd, rhwng pelan a thwyn, rhwng clog a tharren, rhwng garth a chefn, rhwng ysgafell a braich, rhwng cribell a thrum, rhwng esgair a chrimog.
     Roedd gwybod y gwahaniaeth rhwng y rhain yn hanfodol oherwydd roedd adnabod y diffiniad manwl yn allweddol am y rheswm syml mai dyma’u byd nhw. Roedd rhaid bod yn fanwl gywir wrth ddisgrifio pob rhan o’r amgylchedd. Mae angen symbylu ymchwil i ystyron topograffaidd manwl y geiriau hyn. Dyma oedd cyfraniad arbennig y ddiweddar Margaret Gelling yn Saesneg, yr arbenigwraig ar enwau lleoedd yn Lloegr a fu’n gweithio i Gymdeithas Enwau Lleoedd Lloegr ac a ddaeth yn llywydd arni. Dyma un swyddogaeth hanfodol i Gymdeithas Enwau Lleoedd Cymru.

     Mae’r angen am ddiogelu enwau lleoedd yn codi oherwydd bod yna dair proses niweidiol ar waith. Y broses gyntaf yw colli enwau am nad ydyn nhw wedi eu cynnwys ar fapiau; yr ail yw enwau Cymraeg yn cael eu disodli gan enwau Saesneg; a’r drydedd yw disodli enwau Cymraeg gwreiddiol gan enwau Cymraeg sy’n gyfieithiadau o enwau Saesneg.
     Dewch i ni edrych ar y broses o golli enwau am nad ydyn nhw wedi eu cofnodi ar fapiau. Trwy ohebu efo swyddfa’r Arolwg Ordnans er 1983 cafwyd peth llwyddiant, ac mae’n rhaid cydnabod cyfraniad pobl fel Duncan Brown, Twm Elias, Clive James, Hywel Roberts, Aled Job a’r diweddar Geraint George, ynghyd â’r ddau gyfnodolyn Gwaith Maes a Dan Haul. Ac eto, mewn un ardal - y Carneddau a’r Glyderau - mae tua thrigain o enwau yn dal yn absennol o fapiau’r Arolwg Ordnans. Ac nid sôn am greigiau yr ydym ond mynyddoedd, bylchau, pantiau, clogwyni, llethrau a llwybrau: Dyma rai ohonyn nhw: Cwm Ocwm, Llwybr Cimwch a Llwybr Llechen Goch ar Dryfan, Y Foelgoch yn Nant y Benglog, Mynydd Moel wrth Gyrn Wigau, Bwlch y Brwyn, Afon Cwm Perfedd, Afon y Fron, Clogwyn Mawr, Llyn Coch, Llethrau Llwyd, Pant Brwynog, Pant y Pistyll. Mae hi’n rhestr hir.
     Yr ail broses yw enwau Cymraeg yn cael eu disodli gan enwau Saesneg. Weithiau bydd yr enw Cymraeg a’r enw Saesneg efo’i gilydd ar fapiau fel yn achos Craig Cwrwgl uwchlaw’r Marchlyn. Mae enw Saesneg, Pillar of Elidir, wrth ei ymyl ar fap yr Arolwg Ordnans a does mo’i angen o gwbl. Cafodd y Foelgoch yn Nant y Benglog, rhwng Llyn Ogwen a Chapel Curig, ei galw’n Nameless Peak, a bu Nameless Cwm yn enw ar Gwm Cneifion, un o’r cymoedd crog yng ngheg Cwm Idwal. Aeth Coed Cerrig y Frân a’r Rhiwiau ym mhen uchaf Nant Ffrancon yn Mushroom Garden; aeth Llwybr Gwregys ar Dryfan yn Heather Terrace Path, ac aeth Pen-llyn yn Ogwen Cottage ers tro byd.
     Rai wythnosau’n ôl roedd hen lun wedi ei atgynhyrchu yn y Daily Post, - llun o hen borthladd Degannwy. Yn y disgrifiad o dan y llun, cyfeiriwyd at Deganwy Dock yn y blaendir, a Vardre yn y cefndir. Erbyn heddiw, mae’r porthladd wedi hen fynd, ac mae yna dai a gwesty newydd ar y lan. Yr enw ar y lle bellach ydi The Quay. Ond yr enw gwreiddiol ar y rhan yma o’r lan oedd Cored Maelgwn. Pysgodfa neb llai na’r brenin Maelgwn Gwynedd yn y chweched ganrif. A Vardre? Dyma faerdref llys cwmwd y Creuddyn, rhan o drefn llywodraeth leol y tywysogion.
     Dyma gyfeirio at fannau ar ddwylan afon Menai. Sylwais ar hysbyseb tŷ ar werth ym Miwmares yn ddiweddar. Er mwyn gwneud y tŷ yn fwy atyniadol crybwyllwyd ei fod yn agos at Fryars Bay. Dim sôn am Borth Llanfaes. A beth am Borth yr Esgob a Gored y Gút ar lan y Fenai ym Mangor? Water’s Edge yw enw’r lle ers tro. I ble’r aeth Y Borthwen, enw’r lanfa ym Môn gyferbyn â hen lanfa’r Garth ym Mangor? Ac enw hen dŷ’r cychwr, y Borthwen Bach? Gazelle yw’r enw ar y lanfa a’r adeilad ers tro. I ble’r aeth yr enw Penrhyn Safnes gyferbyn ag Aberogwen, - disgrifiad perffaith o’r penrhyn isel, main yn ymestyn ar dro i’r sianel? Gallows Point a gewch chi heddiw ar fap, mewn llyfr ac ar lafar gwlad. Ac i ble’r aeth y Cefn Gwyn rhwng Abercegin ac Aberogwen sy’n enghraifft o’r gair ‘cefn’ yn cyfateb i sandbank?
     Dyma ddod at y drydedd broses, sef disodli enwau Cymraeg gwreiddiol gan enwau Cymraeg newydd sy’n gyfieithiadau o enwau Saesneg. Mae’r cyfryngau, yn bapurau newydd, radio a theledu, yn hyrwyddo’r broses o achos eu bod yn defnyddio enwau

sydd wedi eu cofnodi gan gyrff eraill. Dyma rai enghreifftiau: Rhaeadr y Graig Llwyd yn troi yn Rhaeadr Conwy dan ddylanwad yr enw Saesneg Conwy Falls; Y Rhaeadr Fawr yn troi yn Rhaeadr Aber dan ddylanwad yr enw Aber Falls; Rhaeadr y Benglog yn troi yn Rhaeadr Ogwen dan ddylanwad yr enw Ogwen Falls; Llyn Celanedd yn Aberogwen yn troi yn Llyn Llanw dan ddylanwad yr enw Tidal Pool; Pen y Gogarth yn troi’r Gogarth Fawr dan ddylanwad yr enw Great Orme, a Thrwyn y Fuwch yn troi yn Gogarth Fach dan ddylanwad yr enw Little Orme; a’r Twll Du yng Nghwm Idwal yn troi yn Gegin Cythraul dan ddylanwad yr enw Devil’s Kitchen. Hen enghraifft yw Pont y Borth yn troi yn Pont Menai dan ddylanwad dau enw, yr enw swyddogol Saesneg ar y bont, The Menai Suspension Bridge, a’r enw Saesneg ar Borthaethwy, Menai Bridge. Pont Menai sydd gan Dewi Wyn hyd yn oed, yn ei englynion enwog i’r bont pan godwyd hi yn 1826.
     Sut mae diogelu enwau lleoedd? Rwy’n gwbl argyhoeddedig y dylid rhoi enwau lleoedd a’u hystyron yn rhan o raglenni astudiaeth cwricwlwm hanes, daearyddiaeth ac iaith yn yr ysgolion. Dyma’r man cychwyn. Dysgu’r plant a’r bobl ifanc i werthfawrogi eu cyfoeth. Yn ail, sicrhau bod swyddfa’r Arolwg Ordnans yn cynnwys enwau lleoedd sydd heb fod ar eu mapiau ar hyn o bryd ond a ddylai fod arnyn nhw. Yn drydydd, sicrhau bod cronfeydd data'r cynghorau yn gyflawn ac yn gywir ac yn defnyddio ffurfiau Cymraeg yn unig, a’i bod hi’n ofynnol i gyrff eraill ddefnyddio’r ffurfiau hynny gan gynnwys cwmnïau sy’n cynhyrchu mapiau ffyrdd ar gyfer cyhoeddiadau a gwefannau. Yn bedwerydd, pan fo datblygiad newydd, mae hi’n hanfodol bod y cynghorau’n mynd ati i holi am enwau’r llecynnau hynny. Yn bumed, dylid cyfyngu’r enwau Saesneg sydd ar ddringfeydd i lyfrau dringwyr yn unig fel nad ydyn nhw ddim yn tresmasu mewn meysydd eraill ac yn disodli enwau Cymraeg, a dylid galw ar Gyngor Mynydda Prydain i ailedrych ar y modd y maen nhw’n enwi dringfeydd newydd. Yn chweched, cymell cynghorau sir a chymuned a chymdeithasau lleol i hyrwyddo prosiectau cofnodi enwau caeau, llwybrau a lonydd ledled Cymru. Yn seithfed, symbylu ymchwil i ddyfnhau ein dealltwriaeth o darddiadau ac ystyron enwau lleoedd. Dyma raglen go lawn i Gymdeithas Enwau Lleoedd Cymru.
     Mi rof y gair olaf i Gerallt Lloyd Owen:

     Cawsom wlad i’w chadw,
     darn o dir yn dyst
     ein bod wedi mynnu byw.

     Cawsom genedl o genhedlaeth
     i genhedlaeth, ac anadlu
     ein hanes ni ein hunain.

     A chawsom iaith, er na cheisiem hi,
     Oherwydd ei hias oedd yn y pridd eisoes
     A’i grym anniddig ar y mynyddoedd.

Ieuan Wyn 

Fe'i cyhoeddwyd yn wreiddiol yn Y Naturiaethwr, Rhif 27, Ionawr 2011

Linc i Gymdeithas Enwau Lleoedd Cymru …

http://www.cymdeithasenwaulleoeddcymru.org/

Disgleirwaith England's Glory – Llosgi'r Ysgol Fomio

Pan yn clirio ty ffrind i berthynas yn ddiweddar daeth y wraig ar draws llyfryn, yn yr iaith fain, o dystiolaeth Saunders Lewis a Lewis Valentine yn achos llosgi'r Ysgol Fomio ym Mhenyberth ar yr 8fed o Fedi, 1936.

Why we burnt the Bombing School – llyfryn a gyhoeddwyd gan Blaid Genedlaethol Cymru, Swyddfa'r Blaid, Caernarfon ac a argraffwyd gan Wasg Gee, Dinbych.

Er mai yn y Saesneg y cynhaliwyd yr achos, tybed a oes na fersiwn Gymraeg o'r dystiolaeth? Rwyf wedi ychwanegu rhai sylwadau ar y diwedd sy'n rhoi ychydig o hanes yr achos … 
   

Saunders Lewis, Lewis Valentine a D. J. Williams, tua 1960 © Plaid Cymru

The following is the address which Mr Saunders Lewis prepared for delivery in Court at Caernarvon, October 13, 1936.

The fact that we set fire to the buildings and building materials at the Penrhos Bombing Range is not in dispute. We ourselves were the first to give the Authorities warning of the fire, and we proclaimed to them our responsibility. Yet we hold the conviction that our action was in no wise criminal, and that it was an act forced upon us, that it was done in obedience to conscience and to the moral law, and that the responsibility for any loss due to our act is the responsibility of the English Government.
     We are professional men who hold positions of trust, of honour, and of security. I must speak now with reluctance for myself. I profess the literature of Wales in the University College of Wales at Swansea. That is my professional duty. It is also my pride and delight. Welsh literature is one of the great literatures of Europe. It is the direct heir in the British Isles of the literary discipline of classical Greece and Rome. And it is a living, growing literature, and it draws its sustenance from a living language and a traditional social life. It was my sense of the inestimable value of this tremendous heirloom of the Welsh Nation that first led me from purely literary work to public affairs, and to the establishment of the Welsh Nationalist Party. It was the terrible knowledge that the English Government's Bombing Range, once it are established in Llyn, would endanger and in all likelihood destroy an essential focus of this Welsh culture, the most aristocratic spiritual heritage of Wales, that made me think my own career, the security even of my family, things that must be sacrificed in order to prevent so appalling a calamity. For in the University lecture rooms I have not professed a dead literature of antiquarian interest. I have professed the living literature of this Nation. So that this literature has claims on me as a man as well as a teacher. I hold that my action at Penrhos aerodrome on September 8th saves the honour of the University of Wales, for the language and literature of Wales are the raison d'être of this University.
     And now for my part in Welsh public life. I speak briefly about it. I have been for ten years President of the Welsh Nationalist Party, and Editor of its organ Y Ddraig Goch. I've been a member of the Advisory Committee of the University of Wales on Broadcasting, the chairman of which has been the Pro-Chancellor of the University, the Bishop of Monmouth. I have made a special study of the economic problems of Welsh unemployment and reconstruction, and was the originator of the Welsh National Industrial Development Council.
     In South Wales I have been in constant touch with my unemployed fellow-countrymen and have successfully founded a Club, the membership of which is growing and spreading over Wales, whereby on Thursday of every week a man whose position in life is comfortable gives up his dinner and sends the price of it to provide a three-course dinner for an unemployed fellow-Welshman whose larder on Thursday is empty.
     Now, if you examine these activities and if you examine the record of the Welsh Nationalist Party during the last ten years, you will find that our works, our programme, our propaganda have been entirely constructive and peaceful. There have never been any appeal to mob instincts. In fact, our leadership has been accused of being too highbrow and academic. I have repeatedly and publicly declared that the Welsh nation must gain its political freedom without resort to violence or physical force. It is a point I wish to re-affirm today. And I submit to you that our action in burning the Penrhos Aerodrome proves the sincerity of this affirmation. Had we wished to follow the methods of violence with which national minority movements are sometimes taunted, and into which they are often driven, nothing could have been easier for us than to ask some of the generous and spirited young men of the Welsh Nationalist Party to set fire to the Aerodrome and get away undiscovered. It would be the beginning of methods of sabotage and guerilla turmoil. The Rev. Lewis Valentine and I determined to prevent any such development. When all democratic and peaceful methods of persuasion had failed to obtain even a hearing for our case against the Bombing Range, and when we saw clearly the whole future of Welsh tradition threatened as never before in history, we determined that even then we would invoke only the process of law, and that a jury from the Welsh people should pronounce on the right and wrong of our behaviour. We ourselves public men in Wales, and leaders of the Welsh Nationalist Party, fired these buildings and timbers. We ourselves reported the fire to the police. We have given the police all the help we could to prepare the case against us. Is that the conduct of men acting "feloniously and maliciously?" I submit that we are in this dock of our own will, not only for the sake of Wales, but also for the sake of peace and unviolent, charitable relations now and in the future between Wales and England.
     It is charged against us that our action was "unlawful". I propose to meet that charge by developing an argument in four stages. First, I shall show with what horror the building of a Bombing Range in Llyn was regarded by us and by a great number of Welsh people in every part of Wales. Secondly, how patiently and with what labour and at what sacrifice we tried and exhausted every possible way of legitimate persuasion to prevent the building of the Bombing Range. Thirdly, how differently the protests and remonstrances of Wales and Welsh public men were treated by the English Government, compared with similar protests, though less seriously grounded protests, made in England in the same period. Fourthly, I shall try to put before you the dilemma and the conflict of obedience in which the Government's cruelty placed the leaders of the crusade against the Bombing Range, and the limits to the rights of the English State when it transgresses the moral law and acts in violation of the rights of the Welsh Nation.
     In an English pamphlet stating the case against the Bombing School in Llyn, Professor Daniel has expressed with pregnant brevity the heart-felt fear of all thoughtful Welshmen. He says:
     It is the plain historical fact that, from the fifth century on, Llyn has been Welsh of the Welsh, and that so long as Llyn remained unanglicised, Welsh life and culture were secure. If once the forces of Anglicisation are securely established behind as well as in front of the mountains of Snowdonia, the day when Welsh language and culture will be crushed between the iron jaws of these pincers cannot be long delayed. For Wales, the preservation of the Llyn Peninsula from this Anglicisation is a matter of life and death.
     That, we are convinced, is the simple truth. So that the preservation of the harmonious continuity of the rural Welsh tradition of Llyn, unbroken for fourteen hundred years, is for us a "matter of life and death." I have said that my professional duty is the teaching of Welsh literature. My maternal grandfather was a minister of religion and a Welsh scholar and man of letters. He began his ministerial career in Pwllheli. He wrote the greatest Welsh prose work of the 19th century, Cofiant John Jones Talsarn. One of the most brilliant chapters in that book is the seventh chapter, which is a description of the religious leaders of Llyn and Eifionydd in the middle of the 19th century. It is impossible for one who had blood in his veins not to care passionately when he sees this terrible vandal bombing range in this very home of Welsh Culture. I have here in my hand an anthology of the works of the Welsh poets of Llyn, Cynfeirdd Llyn, 1500-1800, by Myrddin Fardd. On page 176 of this book there is a poem, a Cywydd, written in Penyberth Farmhouse in the middle of the 16th century. That house was one of the most historic in Llyn. It was a resting-place for the Welsh pilgrims to the Isle of Saints, Ynys Enlli, in the Middle Ages. It had associations with Owen Glyndwr. It belonged to the story of Welsh literature. It was a thing of hallowed and secular majesty. It was taken down and utterly destroyed a week before we burnt on its fields the timbers of the vandals who destroyed it. And I claim that the people who ought to be in this dock are the people responsible for the destruction of Penyberth Farmhouse. Moreover, that destruction of Penyberth House is, in the view of most competent Welsh observers, typical and symbolic. The development of the Bombing Range at Llyn into the inevitable arsenal it will become will destroy this essential home of Welsh Culture, idiom and Literature. It will shatter the spiritual basis of the Welsh Nation.
     It was the knowledge of the catastrophe that the proposed Bombing Range would bring to Welsh culture and tradition in this, one of the few unspoilt homes of that culture, which led us and thousands of Welshmen not normally interested in political affairs to protest vigorously against such an outrage. I have to show now that these protests were on a national scale, that they were representative of the Welsh Nation, that nothing was neglected or left undone to convince English Government of the seriousness of the occasion, and that efforts of peaceful, legitimate persuasion were exhausted in our endeavour to prevent the catastrophe. I shall summarise the story of the protests as briefly as possible.
     It was in June, 1935, that the Air Ministry's proposal to establish a Bombing Range in Llyn was first announced. Immediately the Caernarvonshire branches of the Welsh Nationalist Party held a delegate committee and sent to the Ministry a statement of their unanimous objection to the plan.
     In the autumn of 1935 the war in Abyssinia, the general expectation of an Anglo-Italian war and of a general European war, and then the dissolution of the English Parliament and the general election, all threw the Llyn bombing range proposal into obscurity. But Professor J. E. Daniel made it a special matter of protest and condemnation in his election address in Caernarvonshire.
     In January, 1936, the campaign against the Bombing Range was renewed with urgency, and from that time on it ceased to be a matter of local interest. It was taken up throughout Wales and became a national concern. Protest meetings were organised generally in Llyn and Caernarvonshire. Resolutions of protest were passed by Welsh churches and representative meetings of the religious bodies throughout Wales. It is a tribute I rejoice to pay to the ministers and leaders of the Welsh Nonconformist churches that they gave a lead to the whole country in the matter.
     Protests were equally general from all the Welsh secular societies and institutions. The University of Wales Guild of Graduates and the Welsh national youth movement (Urdd Gobaith Cymru), as well as Welsh Cymmrodorion Societies in Cardiff, Swansea, Llanelli, Aberystwyth, and representative meetings of Welshmen living outside Wales, in London, in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham. Before the first day of May more than 600 Welsh societies and religious bodies had passed unanimous resolutions demanding the withdrawal of the Bombing Range. These resolutions were sent on to the Air Ministry, and the agitation of the Welsh Press was a sign of the widespread approval of the protests.
     We kept the Prime Minister* and the English Air Ministry fully informed of our opposition. On March 31st I wrote to the Prime Minister begging, in view of the gravity of the affair, for an interview. I said in my letter:
     "An important body of Welsh people regard this proposal as one to prevent which even liberty, even life itself, might properly be thrown away."
     The Prime Minister declined to grant an interview, and sent in answer a stereotyped statement exactly similar to that sent to all other protesters.
     On May 1st I was invited to broadcast a talk through the national wavelength of the British Broadcasting Corporation on Welsh Nationalism. I took the opportunity to make an urgent appeal for the saving of Llyn from this bombing range. The talk was later published in The Listerner. The Government continued to ignore every appeal.
    We organised a plebiscite of the people of Llyn. It was conducted entirely by voluntary workers giving their spare time to tramping the scattered villages and farmhouses of the peninsula and paying their own expenses in food and 'bus fares. Over 5,000 of the electors of Llyn signed the petition to Parliament and to the Prime Minister asking for the cessation of the Bombing Range. Our workers were welcomed everywhere. They met with a practically unanimous sympathy, and with time they would have obtained the signatures of almost the entire rural population of Llyn.
     Similar plebiscites were conducted in Llanberis and among the Welsh of Liverpool, where 5,000 adult Welsh men and women also signed petitions. Before the end of May well over one thousand Welsh churches and lay bodies, representing over a quarter of a million Welsh people, had passed resolutions of protest.
     On May 23rd we held a final national demonstration at Pwllheli. It was attended by seven or eight thousand people and they had come in motor 'buses from all parts of South Wales and central Wales, as well as from Welsh centres outside Wales, such as Liverpool and Birmingham. The meeting received much notice in the English newspapers everywhere because of the attempt of a gang of some 50 drunken roughs in Pwllheli to prevent speeches from the platform.
     The platform represented the whole of Wales, leaders of religion, of scholarship and public life. The chairman was the most eminent literary man in Wales, Professor W. J. Gruffydd. A newspaper report (Liverpool Daily Post) says:
     "Professor Gruffydd put the resolution calling on the government to withdraw their plans for Llyn and inviting the Prime Minister to receive a deputation on the subject. A show of hands revealed an overwhelming majority in favour of the resolution. The negative did not exceed fifty."
     On June 4th the request was sent to the Prime Minister to receive a Welsh National deputation. It was sent on behalf of the 5,000 petitioners of Llyn, the thousands of petitioners outside Llyn and the fifteen hundred bodies representing nearly half a million Welshmen who had resolved to protest against the Llyn bombing range. The letter, requesting the Prime Minister to receive a deputation, was signed by over twenty eminent Welsh leaders. They included the Principals of Aberystwyth and of Bala and of Bala-Bangor Theological Colleges, the secretary of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, the Bishop of Menevia, Moderators of the Presbyterian Church of Wales and the Chairman of the Congregational Union of Wales, Editors of important Welsh journals and the Proofessors of Welsh Language and of Welsh Literature at the University Colleges of Bangor and Aberystwyth.
     A secretary to the Prime Minister replied that:
     "The Prime Minister does not feel that any useful purpose would be served by his acceding to the request that he should receive a deputation."
     On June 15th the English newspapers circulating in Wales reported thus:
     "More than 200 acres at Penyberth Farm have been cleared and levelled for the aerodrome site. The contractors are beginning to erect an aerodrome today."
     Thus ended peaceful persuasion along legitimate democratic lines. There only remained now the way of sacrifice.
     But the effect of the English Gobvernment's contemptuous rejection of this nation-wide protest from Wales, both on Welsh national sentiment in general and on the Reverend Lewis Valentine and myself as the accepted leaders of the crusade, cannot be properly gauged without considering also the contrast between the Government's treatment of Wales and their treatment of England.
     Let me recount briefly the story of three bombing range site proposals to be set up in England at the same time as the Llyn establishment. One was at Abbotsbury in Dorsetshire. It is a well known breeding place for swans. Because of that, and because English writers and poets were allowed space in the Times newspaper and generally in the English Press to express their passion for swans and natural beauty of scene, the Dorsetshire site was moved.
     Then came Holy Island in English Northumberland. Mr G. M. Trevelyan wrote a letter to the Times on January 13th to explain that Holy Island was a sacred region: it was a holiday resort for city workers; it had historical associations with Lindisfarne and St. Cuthbert; it was the most important home of wild birds in England. He argued that the Northumberland duck were no less sacred than Dorset swans. He was supported by leaders of English scholarship and letters. The Air Ministry summoned a public conference to consider the matter, and the Bombing Range was withdrawn.
     This again at Friskney on the Wash. Here the local authorities of the area took the lead and protested against the waste of so large ar area of excellent agricultural land and the destruction of fishing. The Air Ministry withdrew.
     Will you try to understand our feelings when we saw the foremost scholars and literary men of England talking of the "sacredness" of duck and swans, and succeeding on that argument in compelling the Air Ministry to withdraw its bombing range, while here in Wales, at the very same time, we were organising a nation-wide protest on behalf of the truly scared things in Creation – a Nation, its language, its literature, its separate traditions and immemorial ways of Christian life – and we could not get the Government even to receive a deputation to discuss the matter with us? The irony of the contrasts is the irony of blasphemy.
     On June 22nd the Union of the Congregational Churches of Wales met at Bangor. The chairman was one of the foremost divines in Welsh Nonconformity and he was also newly appointed Archdruid of Wales – the Reverend J. J. Williams. Speaking to a resolution condemning the Llyn bombing range, he said:
     "It is our intention to prevent the establishment of this bombing school by every legitimate means possible. But if legitimate means finally fail, I believe there is enough resolution in the Welsh Nation to remove the bombing camp by other means."
     The Rev. J. J. Williams spoke for Wales. But – and I come now to a crucial point in my argument – he spoke also for the universal moral law which is an essential part of Christian tradition and is recognised by moral theologians to be binding on all men.
     "Remember that the God Who created men ordained nations," said Emrys ap Iwan, and the moral law recognises the family and the nation to be Moral Persons. They have the qualities and the natural rights of Persons. And by the law of God the essential rights of the family and of the nation, and especially their right to live, are prior to the rights of any State. It is part also of the moral law that no State has the right to use any other national entity merely as a means to its own profit, and no State has a right to seek national advantages which would mean genuine harm to any other nation. All that is universal Christian tradition.
     It is also universal Christian tradition that men should obey the moral law rather than the law of a State whenever the two should clash. It is universal Christian tradition that it is the duty of members of a family and of a nation to defend the essential rights of the family and of the nation, and especially it is a duty to preserve the life of the nation, or to defend it from any mortal blow, by all means possible short of taking human life unjustly or breaking the moral law.
     That is the Christian tradition as Emrys ap Iwan understood it, as the Reverend J. J. Williams understands it today, and as the Universal Christian Church has always maintained it.
     It was in the clear light of this fundamental principle of Christendom that Lewis Valentine, D. J. Williams and I resolved to act in Llyn. The responsibility of leadership was ours. We could not shirk it. We saw the English State preparing mortal danger to the moral person of the Welsh nation. We had exercised the greatest patience in attempting every possible means of persuasion and appeal to prevent the wrong. We had the unanimous voice of all the religious leaders of Wales with us. English government took no heed at all. The bombing range was begun. Building was proceeding.
     We resolved to act. We determined on an action that would proclaim our conviction that the building of this bombing range in Llyn is by all Christian principles wrong and unlawful. We resolved on an act that would compel English government to take action at law against us. We made absolutely sure that no human life would be endangered. You have heard the pitiful story of the night-watchman. The only true statement in all his story is that he suffered no harm at all.
     We damaged property. It is valued at some two thousand pounds odd. Exactly by that action we have compelled the English State to put us in this dock. Only by appearing in this dock on a charge sufficiently serious to allow a maximum sentence on us of penal servitude for life could we bring the action of the English State to the bar of conscience and of Christian morality. Every other means had failed. But we have put our lives in the balance against this act of Government iniquity. It was in preparation for this day and this hour, when we should appear before you twelve, our fellow-Christians and fellow-countrymen, and should explain all our action to you and the meaning and significance of that action, and should ask your judgment on us – it was for this and in belief that we could prove the moral justice, the absolute justice, of our act that we have lived and hoped from the moment that our decision was made.
     It is perhaps necessary to say something about the amount of the damage we caused by our fire. It exceeds two thousand pounds, we are told. It is obvious that the damage caused is frivolous compared with the harm that the successful establishment of this Bombing Range in Llyn will cause. Actually, if it were practicable to estimate in terms of money the cost to us of the efforts we all expended in our crusade to persuade the Government to withdraw the Bombing Range, the cost of the time and labour freely given by all our fellow-workers and by Welsh religious leaders who have travelled to and fro addressing protest meetings, it could be shown that the Bombing Range has already cost us very many hundreds of pounds.
     But the loss that this Bombing Range, if it be not withdrawn, will cause to Wales is not a loss that can be estimated in thousands of pounds. You cannot calculate in figures the irreparable loss of a language, of purity of idiom, of a home of literature, of a tradition of rural Welsh civilisation stretching back fourteen hundred years. These things have no price. You cannot pay compensation for them. It is only in Eternity that the destruction of these things can be valued. We were compelled, therefore, to do serious damage to the Bombing School buildings. Only serious damage could ensure that we should appear before a jury of our fellow-countrymen in a last desperate and vital effort to bring the immorality of the Government's action before the judgment of Christian Wales.
     You, gentlemen of the jury, are our judges in this matter. As you have to give verdict on a case that is not only exceptional but a case that is of momentous importance. I suppose there is no previous example of the leaders of a struggle for the defence of a nation's culture against an alien and heedless State staking their freedom, their livelihood, their reputation and almost their lives, and putting themselves in the dock in order that a jury of their countrymen should judge between them and the brute power of the State. To do this is to show our trust not only in your justice as the jury, but also in your courage. We ask you to have no fear at all. The terminology of the law calls this Bombing Range "the property of the King." That means the English Government. It means these bureaucrats in the Air Ministry in London to whom Wales is a region on the map and who know nothing at all of the culture and language of Wales, but will desecrate our sanctuaries like a dog raising its hind leg at an altar.
     But there is another aspect to this trial that gives it special importance. We have said from the beginning, and it was the point we emphasised in our letter to the Chief Constable of Caernarvonshire, that our action was a protest against the ruthless refusal of the English State even to discuss the rights of the Welsh nation in Llyn. Now, everywhere in Europe today we see Governments asserting that they are above the moral law of God, that they recognise no other law but the will of the Government, and that they recognise no other power but the power of the State. These Governments claim absolute powers; they deny the rights of persons and of Moral Persons. They deny that they can be challenged by any code of morals, and they demand the absolute obedience of men. Now that is Atheism. It is a denial of God, of God's Law. It is the erudition of the entire Christian tradition of Europe, and it is the beginning of the reign of chaos.
     English Government's behaviour in the matter of the Llyn bombing range is exactly the behaviour of this new Anti-Christ throughout Europe. And in this assize-court in Caernarvon today we, the accused in this dock, are challenging Anti-Christ. We deny the absolute power of the State-God. Here in Wales, a land that has no tradition except Christian tradition, a land that has never in all its history been pagan or atheist, we stand for the preservation of that Christian tradition and for the supremacy of the moral law over the power of material bureaucracy. So that whether you find us guilty or not guilty is of importance today to the future of Christian civilisation and Christioan liberty and Christian justice in Europe.
     If you find us guilty the World will understand that here also in Wales an English Government may destroy the moral person of a nation, may shatter the spiritual basis of that nation's life, may refuse to consider or give heed to any appeal even from the united religious leaders of the whole country, and then may use the law to punish with imprisonment the men who put those monstrous claims of Anti-Christ to the test. If you find us guilty you proclaim that the law of the English State is superior to the moral law of Christian tradition, that the will of the Government may not be challenged by any person whatsoever, and that there is no appeal possible to morality as Christians have always understood it.
     If you find us guilty you proclaim the effective end of Christian principles governing the life of Wales.
     On the other hand, if you find us not guilty you declare your conviction as judges in this matter that the moral law is supreme; you declare that the moral law is binding on Governments just as it is on private citizens.
     You declare that "Necessity of State" gives no right to set morality aside, and you declare that justice, not material force, must rule in the affairs of nations.
     We hold with unshakeable conviction that the burning of the monstrous Bombing Range in Llyn was an act forced on us for the defence of Welsh civilisation, for the defence of Christian principles, for the maintenance of the Law of God in Wales. Nothing else was possible for us. It was the Government itself that created the situation in which we were placed, so that we had to choose either the way of cowards, and slink out of the defence of Christian tradition and morality, or we had to act as we have acted, and trust to a jury of our countrymen to declare that the Law of God is superior to every other law, and that by that law our act is just.
     We ask you to be fearless. We ask you to bring in a verdict that will restore Christian principles in the realm of the law, and open a new period in the history of nations and governments. We ask you to say that we are not guilty.

*Stanley Baldwin oedd y Prif Weinidog / was the Prime Minister

The following is the address which the Reverend Lewis Valentine prepared for delivery in Court at Caernarvon, October 13, 1936.

I am a minister of the Gospel, and I realise that I have a special responsibility for the part I took in setting fire to the Bombing School buildings at Penyberth at the beginning of September.

     It was not lightly or thoughtlessly that I decided that there was on me a compelling necessity to do what was done, but rather after long and serious consideration, and it was in the fear of God that I went out that night.

     The last thing I did before leaving home on that day was to take my four-year-old little girl to school for the first time, and it was natural for me to ponder what the course of her life would be, and silently I prayed that her burdens in life would not be too heavy and her path too rough, and especially that her lot would not be as sorrowful as that of the mothers of my own generation. I hoped that my own mother's sorrow would never be hers, and in motherhood that she would never have to see her sons – three of them – compelled to leave all the tenderness and kindliness of life in Wales, and dragged into the wars of the surly nations.

     I would do anything to save her from the sorrow and grief which the mothers of Wales experienced during the last war.
     I am proud of belonging to a nation that is peace-minded and, during her long history, has never fought a single war except in her own self-defence. She is a nation that has the will for peace, but more's the pity she has not the power to live peacefully with her neighbours in Europe, for the wars that have been were not our wars, and terrible has been the plight of Wales after each one of them.
     I regard it as an all important part of my high office as Minister of the Gospel in Wales to demand for my people the power to enforce their will of peace, and to destroy the arrogant spirit of war. I do not consider any sacrifice too great to achieve this end, for there is no more dangerous enemy to Welsh civilisation – a civilisation which is kindly and Christian.
     A. This in the first place is my personal conviction. I enlisted voluntary to fight in the last war, and in my innocence I believed the nonsense we were told that it was a war to end war. I believed that the political leaders of England were sincere in their protestations, and that the steely spirit of militarism would no longer be a part of the life and the policy of the country.
     To-day, the people are terrified of war, and the leaders of the English Government are once more sounding the trumpets of war, and on every occasion possible they speak of the next war without fear or terror or responsibility, and often they speak of it as something which is bound to come and which ought to be welcomed.
     B. This is not only my personal conviction, but it is also the unanimous and unshakeable conviction of the denomination to which I belong – from whose pulpits I am privileged to preach the Gospel.
     Sufficient proof of this is the Resolution passed by the Baptist Union od Wales in its annual assembly at Rhosllannerchrugog in September, 1932, and that resolution has subsequently been frequently confirmed, not only by the Union itself, but by its County Associations and by individual Churches that are affiliated to it. Here is the resolution:
     "That we, Ministers and Representatives of the Churches of the Baptist Union of Wales and Monmouthshire, in this our Yearly Assembly, having perceived the cruelty, the folly and the shame of War, and having observed its terrible aftermath in the present crisis of the whole world, with its economic poverty, its distress, its hatred, its hopelessness, and after serious and prayerful consideration, we declare our definite and profound conviction that war is opposed to the teaching and example of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and that our clear duty as Baptists is to honour our allegiance to Him by renouncing armaments, as our fathers did in the early days of the Christian Church, and at the beginning of the Protestant Reformation."
     The Baptist tradition is one of resolute action and not one of passive resolutions, and it was a natural thing, therefore, for the foregoing resolution to contain the following significant words: "That we make it known that it is our purpose to do all in our power to prevent war."
     This attitude is not a new one in the history of my denomination, but courageously and consistently it has always opposed war as being unworthy of man's high status as a son of God, and of the splendour which the Gospels places upon him.
     I believed that my denomination was in earnest when it passed this resolution so unanimously and enthusiastically, and on that morning of September the eighth, when I was privileged to participate joyfully with my friends in burning the buildings of the Bombing School, I was wholly convinced that I was acting in the spirit of this resolution, and doing the utmost in my limited power to spare my nation the hell of another war.
     The standpoint of my denomination is the standpoint of Welsh Nonconformity to-day, and I have here in this court hundreds of letters from Ministers of Religion and leaders of Welsh religious life, commending my act, and rejoicing in the soundness of our interpretation of the Gospel.
     But I will refer merely to the declaration of the Archdruid of Wales from the Chair of the Congregational Union at Bangor this year:
     "Our purpose is to prevent the establishment of this camp (i.e. this bombing camp) by lawful methods. But if every lawful method fails, I believe that there is sufficient will power in the Welsh nation to eliminate the bombing camp by other methods."
     C. Not only is there a personal conviction and the conviction of Welsh Nonconformity, it is the clear conviction of the Welsh nation. It is no easy thing to secure unanimity in Wales on any issue. The English Government has succeeded only too well in destroying the unity of our land, and its propagandists have achieved perfection in their craft. But in spite of that, during the last year in the Peace Ballot, almost a miraculous unanimity was secured in Wales. In that Ballot, the people of England and Scotland and Wales were asked to declare their opinion concerning war. The third of the five questions was this:
     "Are you in favour of the all found abolition of national military and naval aircraft by international agreement?"
     The pleasantest thing concerning this ballot was the way the churches of Wales threw themselves into the task of securing the returns. An army of supporters was secured without any difficulty to go from house to house to collect the answers to these questions – Old and middle-ages and young vying with one another to take part in the work. There was seen here in our country an uncommon enthusiasm. The peace ballot was the topic of every conversation throughout the land, at every street corner, and on every hearth, in the secular market, and in the religious Society, and it was also the burden of the prayers in our congregations.
     In the County of Caernarvon, eight out of ten of the electors recorded their votes, and this county, together with Montgomeryshire and Merionethshire, Cardiganshire and Angkesey, was the highest in the while of England, Scotland and Wales, and throughout the whole of Wales almost a million people voted for the abolition of the use of the bombing plane in war.
     The percentage in England was only 37; it was only 34 in Scotland; but in Wales it was 62 per cent. In the Lleyn Peninsula, the voting was wonderfully unanimous against the use of bombing planes.
     But all this had no effect on the Rearmament Scheme of the English Government, although it boasts that it governs by the will of the people. Its only reply to this noble declaration of the people's will for peace was to make known its plans to build a bombing school here – HERE in the county of Caernarvon that had so ardently declared its opposition to war preparations – HERE, where the desire for peace is strongest – to plant HERE of all places the foulest and the cruellest form of armament – a form which makes even the Prime Minister of England physically sick when he thinks of it.
     "The air armies will be the most important in the next war," said Saunders Lewis, "and the chief aim of bombing planes will be to destroy cities, to burn them and poison them, to turn civilisation of centuries into ashes, to throw down from the security of the air the cruellest death on women and children and defenceless men, and to make secure, if any should escape with their lives, that there be no food to sustain them, and no hearth to keep them alive."
     And the holy ground of Lleyn is to be used to discipline and train men for this vile and godless work, and in the wake of this evil thing, there will come to Lleyn all the corruptions and depravities which usually are associated with a military camp.
     In this court, to-day, is heard the history of this remarkable protest that the Welsh nation made against this abomination. No cost was counted, we spared neither energy or strength, but sacrificed our leisure and comfort, in order to prevent this evil in every legitimate way, but the English Government was dumb and deaf to every appeal.
     There remained to us a choice of two methods:
     One choice was to be silent, and say "We have done everything in our power – this evil thing must prevail – we can only look sadly and helplessly at the Government proceeding with its fell scheme contrary to the wishes of the religious people of the country – contrary to the will of the nation."
     In an old book, universally revered, but seldom read, is the story of another small nation in serious straits, and the story of one who was raised to a high position, and an appeal was made to her to save her people in these words:
     "For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father's house shall perish."
     Alas, we had no hopes of relief or deliverance from another place, and we could not hold out our peace.
     This was the position – we dared not hold our peace – if we kept silent, life would not be worth a straw for us. It would be a betrayal of our children's heritage of peace, and life would be a shameful thing for us, and we would deserve the just contempt of our contemporaries, and the contempt of generations yet unborn, and to every healthy man a short life on the side of truth is better than a long life allied with shame. To be silent was the one thing we could not be.
     Therefore, we had to continue our protest, and since every courteous and legitimate protest had failed, any further protest would have to be in a manner that would be considered illegal.
     We were faced by a great MUST – the greatest MUST of all – the MUST of conscience. In the name of Christianity and in the name of our nation, conscience urged us compellingly to do what might be considered the breaking of the law of the land, and in the name of our Christianity and of our nation, and thus urged on by our conscience, we did that in order to obey a greater law than the law of England.
     We define our Christianity and Nationalism in terms of responsibility, and the measure of our responsibility to this nation of ours is the measure of our responsibility to God, for we believe with Emrys-ap-Iwan, and with all the great theologians of the Church, that God, who made men, ordained nations also, and the destruction of a nation is almost as great a crime as the destruction of the human race itself.
     The establishment of this Bombing School in Lleyn would make imminent the death of our nation, and this we cannot endure, for the nation is sacred and holy, it is the instrument of the Kingdom of God, and, therefore, every fight waged for its life is a just fight.
     This is not the isolated faith of a few opinionated men. In 1923 was published "Welsh in Education and Life" – the report of the Departmental Committee appointed by the President of the Board of Education. On that committee sat principals of various colleges, including the Principal of the college of the Church in Wales, and the Principal of a Congregational College, and the Chairman of that committee was the most beloved of Welsh Bishops, the late Bishop of St. David. They also maintained the faith which we hold, for they unanimously subscribed to these pregnant words:
     "A nation's individuality is its birthright. War or conquest may overcome it; a foreign culture may overflow it; the influx of strangers may weaken it; and yet that nation is fighting for its life, and that fight is a just one."
     Our fight is also against this evil that endangers the very existence of our nation, and our fight is just. It was my responsibility for the Kingdom of God in Wales that urged me to strike a blow for Wales in this act, for there is a higher law than the law of an English State, and our allegiance to Christianity is an infinitely higher thing than our allegiance to the laws of England. A man's supreme loyalty is to God, and when a State seeks to dislodge God, and by doing so, set at nought the judgment and conscience of men, when the state tramples the moral rights of a nation that it has conquered, then to a man who has a vestige of self-respect, be the cost what it may, there remains only the duty of challenging that state by what might be considered an unlawful act.
     And because I believe that obedience to God comes before obedience to men, I now stand my trial in this court.
     But my nation has already judged me; my fellow Christians in Wales have already passed sentence on me. I have spent the last three weeks travelling from place to place in North and South Wales, preaching at the anniversary services of our churches. Not a single Church requested me to cancel my engagement, but rather urged me to keep them, and my own Church beseeched me to continue to preach to them. I was given a reception greater than that given to a prince or a king – I was welcomed as a prophet of God – they approved my action – they gave me their blessing, and, to-day, as this court considers its verdict, their prayers are a wall of defence to me and an encouragement, and, therefore, I ask you also to declare the verdict of my fellow-countrymen, that I am not guilty.



Ceir chydig o hanes yr achos yn 88 Not out, hunangofiant W. R. P. George …

Gan i'r rheithgor fethu a chytuno ar ddedfryd, gofynodd y barnwr, Mr Justice Lewis i'r fforman, J. Harlech Jones o Gricieth … "whether, if they retired for further consideration, there was a chance of agreement … " ei ateb oedd, "No chance at all." Dywedodd y barnwr … "Very well then, the case will go over to the next Assizes."

Gwnaed cais i symud yr ail-wrandawiad i'r Old Bailey yn Llundain a phan glywodd Lloyd George am hyn, dywedodd "… I think it an unutterable piece of insolence, but very characteristic of this Government. They crumple up when tackled by Mussolini and Hitler, but they take it out on the smallest country in the realm which they are misgoverning … This is the first Government to try Wales at the Old Bailey. I wish I were there and I certainly wish I were 40 years younger. This Government will take no heed of protests which do no menace to it. I hope the Welsh members will make a scene, and an effective one, in the House … To take the case out of Wales altogether and above all to the Old Bailey is an outrage which makes my blood boil. It has nothing to do with my views as to the merits of the case. It will reinforce the pacifist movement in England."

Cynhaliwyd yr ail achos yn yr Old Bailey ar yr 19eg o Ionawr,1937 ac fe ddedfrydwyd y tri, gan gynnwys D.J. Williams, i naw mis o garchar yr un (yn Wormwood Scrubs) gan yr Ustus Charles, gan nodi "… a plain case of arson and malicious damage not to houses in which people reside but to empty places and doing damage to a large amount."



Cyhoeddwyd pamffled enwog 'Paham y Llosgasom yr Ysgol Fomio' (1937) gan Blaid Cymru i ddathlu rhyddhau "Y Tri" ac ystyrir anerchiad gwleidyddol Saunders Lewis yn y llyfryn yn un o'r pwysicaf yn hanes Cymru. Cyhoeddwyd pamffled arall,'Coelcerth Rhyddid' yn ogystal, a gafodd ei dosbarthu i'r cefnogwyr a'r cyhoedd pan gawsant eu rhyddhau ar 27 Awst 1937, ac fe'u croesawyd gan dros 15,000 o bobl ym Mhafiliwn Caernarfon ar 11 Medi.

Wedi ymchwilio, mae na gopi o'r datganiad llys yn y Gymraeg yn y Llyfrgell Genedlaethol, gweler …

http://centenary.llgc.org.uk/en/XCM1927/book/2/1/1.html 

Hefyd mae na negeseuon gan y tri i'r Ddraig Goch …

http://centenary.llgc.org.uk/en/XCM1927/book/2/3/1.html


Mae gan Waldo ddarn o farddoniaeth i'w gyfaill D.J. yn mynd ‘rownd ar bererindod/ Er mwyn hyn, i’r mannau od’ (sef y carchar), a hyn oherwydd Penyberth, ‘y berth lle bu/ Disgleirwaith England’s Glory’. 

Mwy o hanes D.J. ar flog Robert Rhys sy'n ymchwilio i'w fywyd a'i waith …

http://www.cofiantdj.net/

Sylw yma gan Dr Brett Holman ar wefan Airminded, Airpower and British Society, 1908-1941 am y llosgi …

http://airminded.org/2009/08/17/the-fire-in-lln-1936/


Mwy o hanes y tri (yn Saesneg) yma o flog gan Welldigger … 

http://daibach-welldigger.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/lewis-valentine-prophet-among-people.html