Cysylltiad rhwng dawnsio gwerin a'r Blygain	Connection between folk dancing & Plygain
Beth yw "Plygain"	What is a "Plygain"
"Y Fedle Fawr"	"Y Fedle Fawr"
Dyddiadau Plygeiniau 2000/01	Plygain Dates 2000/01

Beth yw'r cysylltiad rhwng dawnsio gwerin a thraddodiad y Blygain? Dim llawer, medde chi? Beth am y cysylltiad felly rhwng Dawnsiau Llangadfan a'r Blygain? Mae'r ddau draddodiad yn hanu o Sir Drefaldwyn ym Mhowys, ac yn dyddio o'r ddeunawfed ganrif neu yn gynt. Ysgrifennodd William Jones ei lythyr at Edward Jones, Bardd y Brenin, yn Llundain rhywbryd rhwng 1780 a 1790 yn son am ddawnsiau yr ardal - "The dances formerly in this Country were by parties of six, longways and round about 40 years ago they extended no more than 4 or 5 parish & about 15 years ago they were wholly laid aside it begins to revive a little at present...". Ysgrifennod ef eto at Edward Jones yn disgrifio'n fanwl y dawnsiau "Roaring Hornpipe", "Aly Grogan", "Lumps of Pudding" a'r "Round O", gan orffen gyda'r paragraff " They formerly here had Dances to Ffarwel Ned Puw, Y Fedle Fawr, Neithiwr ac Echnos, Crimson Velvet & such like, but these were left off before my Time." (Cofiwch mai gyda Dawnsiau Llangadfan, enw yr ALAW sy'n rhoi enw i'r ddawns.)     Diflannodd y dawnsiau ar ol llythyr William Jones (bu farw ar 30fed o Dachwedd 1795) a ni atgyfodwyd hwy tan y 1920au wrth i'r llythyr/llawysgrif (sydd nawr yn Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru, Aberystwyth) dod i'r golwg. Pobl fel Hugh Mellor, W.S. Gwynn Williams, Lois Blake wnaeth ymddiddori yn y dawnsiau, eu arbrofi a'u deall, a phwysicaf fyth, eu dawnsio.   Ond ni ddigwyddodd yr un peth i'r alawon. Fel gyda phob alaw dda, boblogaidd, gaethon nhw eu defnyddio i ganu'r carolau Plygain. Hyd at heddiw, mae Ffarwel Ned Puw yn dal yn boblogaidd iawn yn y plygeiniau, hyn ar ol dwy ganrif a hanner. Mae dwy garol arall a enwyd yn Llawysgrif Llangadfan sef "Y Fedle Fawr" a "Crimson Velvet". Mae'n debyg fod yr alawon wedi pontio bydoedd y traddodiad eglwysig a'r traddodiad gwerinol wrth eu defnyddio ar gyfer y Blygain a'r ddawns. Ond p'un daeth yn gyntaf? Y dawnsiau neu'r carolau?		What is the connection between Welsh folk dancing and the Plygain? Very little, you think? What about the connection between the Llangadfan Dances and the Plygain? Both come from the same part of the world - Montgomeryshire (now a part of Powys), and date from the 18th century or earlier. William Jones wrote his letter to Edward Jones, "the King's Bard" in London sometime between 1780 and 1790, and he mentioned dances that were performed in the area - "The dances formerly in this Country were by parties of six, longways and round about 40 years ago they extended no more than 4 or 5 parish & about 15 years ago they were wholly laid aside it begins to revive a little at present...". He wrote again to Edward Jones descibing the dances of "the Roaring Hornpipe", "Aly Grogan", "Lumps of Pudding" a'r "Round O" in detail. He ended the letter with the paragraph stating that "They formerly here had Dances to Ffarwel Ned Puw, Y Fedle Fawr, Neithiwr ac Echnos, Crimson Velvet & such like, but these were left off before my Time.". (Remember, with Llangadfan Dances, it is the name of the TUNE that gives the dance its name). The dances vanished after William Jones' letter (he died on 30th November 1795) and it wasn't until the 1920s that the dances were revived with the discovery of the letter/manuscript (now in the National Library of Wales Aberystwyth). It was people such as Hugh Mellor, W.S. Gwyn Willaims and Lois Blake who took interest in the dances, experimented and understood them, and more importantly, danced them. But the tunes did not go the same way and vanish. It's difficult to beat a good, popular tune, and some of the tunes fitted perfectly with strict metre of the Plygain carols. Ffarwel Ned Puw is still a very popular Plygain carol, even after more than 250 years. There are also two other carols named in the Llangadfan Manuscript namely "Y Fedle Fawr" (the Great Medley) and "Crimson Velvet" (2). It is likely that the tunes spanned both secular and sacred traditions by being used for both dancing and Plygain. But which came first? The dances or the carols?
"Y Fedle Fawr" Pa le mae manwaith dannau mwynion? Pa le mae cwyraidd lais cantorion A ffraeth brydyddion fro? Os oes lawenydd ac awenydd, Dewch, cenwch eurglod fawr i'r Arglwydd yn gelfydd, bawb dan go'. Tan go' yn gyfan i'r dydd hwn y rhoes ei fwrddiwn fawrdda. Trwy enedigaeth Iesu Grist Na ddoed yn athrist yma! Cyd uned, cyd ganed, a chydlawened llais! Pob genau, a thannau, a'n gorau rhoddwn gais. Haleliwia! Haleliwia! Seiniwn, seiniwn bawb 'Hosanna!', Hosanna! Dyma'r dydd! Dyma o'r dyddiau y dydd dedwydda',  Haleliwia! Haleliwia! I'n Duw Hosanna sydd! Rhoed Nef a Daear, a phob rhyw Ganiadau heddiw a haeddiant, I'r Tad a'r Mab, a'r Ysbryd Glan, Rhown fyth ar gan ogoniant. Gogoniant! Gogoniant! Gogoniant fyth ar gan! Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna'n loyw lan!
Y Blygain Heddiw - Geraint Vaughan Jones (o becyn "Cadw Gwyl") Ar ddechrau canrif newydd beth yw rhagolygon y Blygain am y dyfodol? Calonogol dros ben, mi gredaf, oherwydd yr adnewyddiad gwyrthiol yn niddordeb y genhedlaeth bresennol ynddi; mae yr angen am y pecyn hwn (Cadw Gwyl) yn dyst o hynny. A'r hyn sydd y tu ol i'r diddordeb hwn, sydd yn rhedeg yn groes i'r duedd gyffredinol, yw rhyw ddyheu am ddolen gydiol a'n gorffennol traddodiadol. Y mae peth ansicrwydd o hyd ynglyn a gwreiddiau'r Blygain ac y mae dau o'r cyfranwyr i'r llyfryn hwn yn dyst i'r amrywiaeth barn. Ond yn sicr y mae'r Blygain fel y datblygodd yn niwedd y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg yn angor cyfarwydd mewn mor o newidiadau nad ydynt bob amser yn dderbyniol i ieuenctid sydd i raddau wedi troi eu cefnau ar syniadau chwyldroadol y chwedegau.   Bryd hynny 'roedd y Blygain hithau yn dechrau simsanu o dan ddylanwadau estron a gwelid yr hen garolau yn cael eu disodli yn raddol gan garolau 'ffasiwn newydd' - cysylltuedig o'r Saesneg, a llawer o'r rheini wedi eu mewnforio o'r Byd Newydd, rhai ohonynt heb unrhyw gysylltiad a Nadolig y Crist. (Cof gennyf glywed 'Scarlet Ribbons' yn cael ei chanu - i gyfeiliant gitar wrth gwrs, a hyd yn oed 'Jingle Bells' fel solo ar y trombon!) At hyn 'roedd rhai wedi dechrau darllen darnau o farddoniaeth yn y plygeiniau, ac ambell ddatganiad ar yr organ. Yn fyr, yr roedd y Blygain mewn llawer man, un ai wedi ildio lle i wasanaeth naw llith a charol, neu wedi troi yn rhyw fath o Gyngerdd Nadolig.   Tua canol y saithdegau dechreuodd pethau wella yn araf deg pan ddaethpwyd i sylweddoli mor agos yr oeddem at golli rhywbeth a oedd yn unigryw i'r genedl Gymreig. Ond 'bu galed y bygylu' a diolch i'r cyfryngau am ddod a'r Blygain i sylw y werin unwaith eto. Erbyn hyn mae'r sefyllfa wedi ei thrawsnewid a diddordeb y werin yn cynyddu o flwyddyn i flwyddyn. Buddiol felly, fyddai amlinellu sut y'i cynhelir yn ein heglwysi heddiw.   Newidiwyd amser cynnal y wasanaeth mewn llawer man o'r bore cynnar i saith o'r gloch yr hwyr, ar unrhyw noson yn nhymor y gwyliau, ac mewn rhai lleoedd i ddyddiau olaf Adfent hefyd. Ar y noson benodedig, dechreua'r offeiriad gyda ffurf dalfyredig o'r Hwyrol Weddi, sef o 'Arglwydd, agor ein gwefusau' ymlaen i un llith o'r Testament Newydd (addas i'r Nadolig neu'r Ystwyll), Caniad Mair, y Litani Leiafa'r Colectau ac yna ar ol carol neu emyn gynulleidfaol, dywed 'Mae yn bleser gennyf gyhoeddi Plygain Eglwys Sant ... yn agored.'   Yna heb eu cymell na chyhoeddi eu henwau, daw y carolwyr ymlaen yn eu trefn i ganu. Yr arferiad yw i barti'r Eglwys ganu yn gyntaf, ac yna bob yn dipyn daw y lleill ymlaen. Ond un o nodweddion hynotaf y Blygain yw nad oes neb yn siarad nac yn cymeradwyo rhwng y carolau. A bid siwr ni ddylai neb feirniadu'r carolwyr. "Does na ddim barnu i fod mewn plygain' meddai'r hen bobl. Gwasanaeth o addoliad ydyw a dylid pwysleisio hynny, ac yn y tawelwch ar ol pob carol ceir amser i fyfyrio ar y geiriau a glywyd. Rhaid cofio bob amser mai'r geiriau sy'n bwysig, fel yng ngherdd dant, ac nid ansawdd y canu. Ac afraid dweud na ddylid defnyddio offerynnau - digyfeiliant dylai'r carolau hyn fod bob amser. Hefyd ni ddylid canu'r un garol ddwywaith yn yr un blygain, hyd yn oed ar donau gwahanol, fwy na buasid yn canu yr un emyn ddwywaith mewn oedfa.       Wedi i bob parti neu unigolyn ganu, cenir carol neu emyn arall gan y gynulleidfa cyn symud ymlaen i'r ail gylch, pryd y daw y carolwyr ymlaen i ganu unwaith eto os dymunant, gan wneud yn sicr eu bod yn dilyn yr un drefn. A dylai pob parti fod a charol neu ddwy "yn sbar" bob amser rhag ofn i rywun o'u blaen ganu y garol yr oeddynt wedi arfaethu ei chanu.   Ar ddiwedd yr ail gylch cenir emyn arall gan y gynulleidfa, pryd gan amlaf y gwneir y casgliad. Yna rhoddir gwahoddiad gan yr offeiriad i'r dynion, a'r dynion yn unig yw'r arferiad, ddod ymlaen i ganu 'Carol y Swper' i orffen y Blygain. Wedi iddynt canu a dychwelyd i'w lle, cyhoedda'r offeiriad y Fendith.		The Plygain Today - Geraint Vaughan Jones (from the CD package "Cadw Gwyl") At the start of a new century, what is the future of the Plygain? Especially heartening, I believe, because of the exception renewal of interest in the the present generation; the need of this CD package (Cadw Gwyl - Keeping the Celebration) is testement of this. And what is behind this interest, that runs against the general run of things, is ????? a grasp of our traditional past. There is still an amount of uncertainty in the roots of the Plygain and two of the contributors to this booklet are testament to this variation of opinion. What is certain is that the Plygain as it developed at the end of the nineteenth century is a familiar anchor in a sea of changes that aren't always acceptable to young people that gradually turned their backs on the revolutionary ideas of the 1960s. Then the Plygain itself started to buckle under outside influences that saw the old carols being displaced gradually by the "new fashion" - linked to English, some of these imported from the New World, some of them without any connection whatever with the Christmas of Christ. (I remember hearing "Scarlet Ribbons" being sung - to the accompanyment of a guitar of course, and even "Jingle Bells" as a trombone solo!) At this time, some had started reading excerpts from poetry in Plyeiniau (plural), and even recitals on the organ. In short, the Plygain in many places had either given way to a service of nine lessons and carols, or had turned into some form of Christmas concert. In the mid-seventies, things started to improve slowly when realisation came as to how close we were to losing something that was unique to the Welsh nation. But thanks to the media for bringing the Plygain to the public notice once again. By now, the situation has been transformed and public interest increases year on year. It's beneficial therefore to outline how the Plygain is held in our churches today.   The times of the cervices were cahnged in many places from early morning to 7 o'clock in the evening, on any evening in the celebration period, and in some places to the last day of Advent as well. On the appointed evening, the minister would commence with a shortened version of Evening Prayers, namely from "Lord, open our lips" on to a reading from the New Testament (appropriate for Christmas or Epiphany), and then after a congregational carol or hymn, would pronaounce "I am pleased to anounce that the Saint .......'s Plygain is now open". Then without any prompting or pronouncement of their names, the carollers would come forward in their turn to sing. The custom is for the Church's party to sing first, and then in their own time, the other parties come forward. However, one of the ioldest traditions of the Plygain is that nobody speaks nor applauds between the carols. And most definately, no-one criticises or adjudicates the singers. "There sohoulld be no adjudicating in a Plygain" the old people would say. It is a service of worship and this should be emphasised, and in the silence following the each carol is used to reflect on the words heard. It should be remembered that it is the words that are important , as in penillion singing, and not the quality of singing. It should be unnecessary to say, but instrumental accompanyment should not be used - unaccompanied should the singing be everytime. Also, the same carol should never be sung in the same Plygain, even to a different tune, as much as a hymn would not be sung twice in one service. After each party or individual has sung, a hymn or carol is sung by the congregation before moving on to the second round, when the carollers would come forward again to sing if they wished, ensuring that they followed the same order. And every party should keep a "spare" carol or two everytime just in case that one of the preceding parties sings a carol they had intended to sing! At the end of the second round, another hymn is sung by the congregation, usually followed by a collection. Then the men, and only the men as per the tradition, are invited to come forward to sing "Carol y Swper (Supper)" to finish the Plygain. After they've finished singing and returned to their seats, the minister would administer the Blessing.

	Llawlyfr a DC Handbook & CD
Hen Garolau Plygain - Y Lolfa	Church in Wales, Woodland Place, Penarth, Wales CF64 2YQ	Mwy o Garolau Plygain - Y Lolfa

Dyddiad / Date (dechrau/start 7 neu 7:30pm)	Lleoliad /Location
Nos Wener / Friday 1/12/2000	Llansilin
Nos Fawrth / Tuesday 12/12/2000	Y Trallwm / Welshpool
Nos Wener / Friday 15/12/2000	Cymanfa garolau Abergwaun / Fishguard
Nos Fawrth / Tuesday 19/12/2000	Y Parc, Bala
Nos Iau / Thursday 21/12/2000	Penrhyn-coch, Aberystwyth
Nos Sul / Sunday 24/12/2000	Peniel, Llanfair Caereinion
Nos Fercher / Wednesday 27/12/2000	Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog
Nos Iau / Thursday 29/12/2000	Cefnblodwel
Nos Sul / Sunday 31/12/2000	Llanrhaeadr-ym-mochnant
Nos Sul / Sunday 5/1/2001	Llanymawddwy Seilo, Llanfair Caereinon
Nos Lun / Monday 8/1/2001	Darowen
Nos Sul / Sunday 7 o Ionawr	Llanerfyl
12/1/2001	Mallwyd

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