Gwaith Ieuan Brydydd Hir/A very Phantastic Sight
| ← Bounty Syr Watcyn | Gwaith Ieuan Brydydd Hir gan Evan Evans (Ieuan Brydydd Hir) golygwyd gan Owen Morgan Edwards |
Awdl y Nef → |
A VERY PHANTASTIC SIGHT.
DEAR Sir,[1]—I came here yesterday evening in hopes of receiving an answer to a letter I wrote to the Bishop of St. David from Lampeter last Monday sevennight; but have received none as yet. But the professions he made to me at Aber Gwylif make me hope that he will do something for me, particularly that he would apply for Brucer's Benefaction in my behalf. When I took my leave of him, he told me that he would write
word immediately to the Rev. Mr. Richard
Lewis, who lives in the Palace at Aber Gwylif,
what dependence I might have for relief from
that quarter. Possibly he might have wrote
to him ere now on that head. I desire, therefore, that on receipt of this you would write
a line to Mr. Lewis, to know whether he has
received any information on this matter. I
do not know whether I have given you any
direction how to write to me in case you
received any letters addressed to me at the
Post Office, or whether I desired my landlord
at Carmarthen to forward them to you. However, I am now recovered from the flutter of
spirits that untoward business of the dearly
purchased manuscript put me in. I thought
it advisable to write to you as soon as possible
how to direct to me, so as the letters may be
safely conveyed to my hands. For in my
present situation, I ramble here and there
among my old friends and acquaintance,
till I can get some curacy to fix in. If, therefore, you have received, or shall receive any
letters for me, be so kind as to inclose them
in a cover with this direction: "To the Rev:
Mr. Evan Evans, at the Rev. Mr. Isaac Williams, at Ystrad Teilo, in Llan Rhystud,
Cardiganshire."
Perhaps you may be desirous to know in what plight I arrived in Cardiganshire, and what adventures I met with on the road. I shall give you a brief narrative of what was most remarkable. I betook myself directly from the jurisdiction of the Worshipful Mayor. of Carmarthen, and got to Aber Gwylif the first day; from thence I reached Rhyd Argaeau, where I met with the Rev. Mr. Morgan, a sensible clergyman, to whom I related my troubles, and who notwithstanding insisted on my writing something in poetry, to testify my having past there. To oblige him I wrote the following Breichiau Cywydd, suitable to my temper and circumstances:
"Fo fethodd, pylodd y pen,
Dan rew mae'r dyner Awen.
Os rhydd Duw gwyn terfyn teg,
Ni chwynaf ddim ychwaneg.
Po gyfyngaf, trymaf tro,
Yr a'r gwan i oer gwyno,
Ehangaf, rhwyddaf er hyn,
Duw nef, od awn i'w ofyn."
All this poetry is nothing but a very pious Welsh proverb reduced to Cywydd metre. Po gyfyngaf yw gan ddyn, changaf yw gan Dduw. This I had found remarkably verified before I set out on my journey, of which you are well acquainted. The next day I set out in bad weather, and had very dirty roads to travel, and I was incommoded with the carriage of two handkerchiefs replenished with books and wearing apparel. To have seen me wading up to my ankles thus encumbered was a very phantastic sight, and to me very irksome; but, however, I put on resolution, and waded through thick and thin, till I reached the New Inn. Here, as Providence would have it, I met a man from the parish of Lledrod, who disencumbered me the inconvenient load of the handkerchiefs, and also of my great coat. I was next morning somewhat lighter both in body and mind, and reached Lampeter, where I preached on a text suitable to my condition: "It is good to me to be afflicted." Here I was informed of a remarkable robbery that had been committed on Friday night in a tailor's house of the sum of two hundred and eleven pounds, while the poor man and his family were hearing a sermon preached by the Rev. Mr. Perkins. This poor fellow's fate I thought remarkably hard, having lost his all in the compass of such short time. Man, say I, in the words of Holy Writ, is born to troubles, as the sparks fly upward. Here you have all that is interesting in my peregrination, and perhaps more than I ought to have wrote had I not time on my hands.
You will be so kind as to give my best respects to Mr. Gentleman and to Mr. Peter Williams, and all my good friends and benefactors at Rhyd y Gors and Carmarthen. They have a share in my prayers, which is all the retribution I am capable of making. I hope you have received the books from Mr. John Meredith. As to the box of clothes, I thought it best it should remain in his custody till I could be fixed in some place, and be able to send for it. I should be glad to receive a long-winded epistle from you, directed as above.
I am, with truth and sincerity, your affectionate friend and most obliged humble servant,
Nodiadau
golygu- ↑ Y Parch Benjamin Davies, Rhyd y Gors, brawd Dafis, Castell Hywel.