[{"text_idx": "#000001", "text": "Gemau a Chwaraeon yn yr 17eg ganrif"}, {"text_idx": "#000002", "text": "Please scroll down for the English version"}, {"text_idx": "#000003", "text": "Ymysg y rhestrau geiriau a luniodd yr ysgrifydd John Jones o Gellilyfdy pan oedd yng ngharchar y Fflyd yn y 1630au, ceir y rhestr ddiddorol hon o chwaraeon a gemau. Dyma\u2019r 49fed allan o 130 rhestr ganddo ac fe\u2019i lluniwyd tua diwedd 1632. Mae\u2019n gymysg o gemau a chwaraeon plant ac oedolion ac, fel sy\u2019n arferol ganddo, mae\u2019n dilyn trefn thematig yn hytrach na threfn yr wyddor."}, {"text_idx": "#000004", "text": "Ar o\u0302l cyfres o eiriau cyffredinol, mae\u2019n cychwyn gyda gemau plant (9\u201314). Mae chwarae chwyrligwgan (12) \u2018troi top\u2019 a chwarae mig ymguddied (13) \u2018chwarae cuddio\u2019 yn ddigon cyfarwydd. Prin yw\u2019r cyfeiriadau at chwarae buarth baban y tu allan i\u2019r rhestr hon, ond disgrifir y buarth baban yn y geiriadur (GPC) fel rhyw fath o ffon danllyd a droellid i ddifyrru plentyn. Peryglus! Mae chwarae dwylo gwynion (10) yn ddirgelwch, ond ceir disgrifiad da o chwarae minddu manddell (11) gan y geiriadurwr Thomas Wiliems o Drefriw wrth iddo ddiffinio\u2019r Lladin digitis micare yn ei eiriadur (Peniarth 228, 1604\u20137): \u2018pan fo un yn codi\u2019i fysedd a\u2019r llall, yn troi ymaith oddi wrtho, a ddyfala pesawl un a gyfyd ef ... yng Nghymru Chwarae Minddu Manddell\u2019. Ge\u0302m ddyfalu faint o fysedd felly. Methais ddod o hyd i esboniad am chwarae cat i\u2019r wern (144), ond mae nifer o gemau plant yn yn cynnwys yr elfen cat neu gath."}, {"text_idx": "#000005", "text": "Mae\u2019r chwech nesaf (15\u201320) yn gemau taro. Mae\u2019n bosibl mai fersiwn ar gnapan yw horling pen ffon (15), ge\u0302m o daro pe\u0302l bren galed a\u0302 ffon. Wrth drafod y ge\u0302m hurling yng Nghernyw meddai George Owen o Henllys (1552\u20131613): This plaie is vsed in Wales, and the balle is called Knappan ... and our ancient cozens the Cornishmen haue the selfe same exercise among them yet obserued, which they call hurlinge. Posibilrwydd arall yw mai rhyw fath o hoci yw horling pen ffon, tebyg i\u2019r hurling traddodiadol a chwaraeir yn Iwerddon."}, {"text_idx": "#000006", "text": "Mae\u2019r siw\u0302r mai ffurf ar coetan yw coeta (16), sef \u2018quoits\u2019, ge\u0302m o daflu cylch dros be\u0300g, a dyna hefyd yw pedoli\u2019r gaseg (20), ond gan ddefnyddio pedolau ceffyl yn lle\u2019r cylchoedd arferol. Roedd caelys (17) yn dipyn o ddirgelwch i mi nes dod o hyd i gyfeiriad yng nghyfrol Vernon Bartlett, The Past of Pastimes, at ge\u0302m o\u2019r enw kayles (o\u2019r Ffrangeg quilles), a chwaraeid \u2018many centuries ago, with the players throwing a stick at the \u201ckittle pins\u201d, the tallest of which was the \u201cking pin\u201d.\u2019 Dyna darddiad y gair kingpin felly! Roedd nawtwll (18) yn ge\u0302m arall yn seiliedig ar gael pe\u0302l i darged (OED nineholes \u2018Any of various games of skill involving nine target holes, spots, etc.\u2019) ac mae\u2019n siw\u0302r mai\u2019r un fath o ge\u0302m yw sitenna (19), er na lwyddais i ddod o hyd i unrhyw wybodaeth amdani."}, {"text_idx": "#000007", "text": "Nesaf cawn gyfres o gemau yn ymwneud a\u0302 tharo pe\u0302l a\u0302 bat, llaw, neu droed: chwarae pe\u0302l ddwylo (21) a chwarae pe\u0302l draed (22) \u2013 ac mae\u2019n ddiddorol mai traed, nid troed, a geir yn y cyfeiriadau cynharaf at y ge\u0302m hon. Wedyn chwarae tenys (23) a chwarae palet (24) sy\u2019n debygol o fod yn fersiynau ar real tennis neu royal tennis, rhagflaenydd ein tennis modern ni, yna chwarae\u2019r humog (25) sydd eto\u2019n ge\u0302m o daro pe\u0302l, ond y tro hwn a\u0302 human, sef bat fforchog, fel y disgrifiodd John Jones ef yn 1618: Human: fforch i chware a\u0302 phe\u0302l. Mae\u2019n bosibl mai rhyw fath o hoci yw bwrw\u2019r gamog (26), ond ni ellir bod yn sicr."}, {"text_idx": "#000008", "text": "Gemau neu chwaraeon a ddisgrifir yn draddodiadol fel y Pedair Camp ar Hugain a geir nesaf, sef gemau yr oedd disgwyl i bob uchelwr gwerth ei halen fod wedi eu meistroli, yn enwedig yn y bymthegfed ganrif: saethu gyda bwa saeth neu gyda dryll (28), rhedeg (29), neidio (30), bwrw maen a throsol (31, 32) ac ati, ac yna gemau ymladd gydag arfau (36\u201342), gan gynnwys y cleddau a bwcled (38), lle byddai dau ymladdwr yn ymladd a\u0302\u2019i gilydd gan ddal tarian fach gron, y bwcled, yn y llaw chwith a chleddyf byr yn y llaw dde."}, {"text_idx": "#000009", "text": "Daw\u2019r rhestr i ben gyda gemau bwrdd (43\u20138), gan gynnwys y gemau traddodiadol gwyddbwyll (46), tawlbwrdd (47), a ffristial chwegwyr (48) sydd hefyd yn cael eu rhestru ymysg y Pedair Camp ar Hugain. Mae\u2019n debyg mai rhyw fath o ge\u0302m o symud gwerin ar glawr yw ffristial \u2013 ac mae\u2019n siw\u0302r mai fersiwn gyda chwech o werin yw hon. Daeth chwarae disiau (43) a chardiau (45) yn arbennig o boblogaidd tua diwedd yr unfed ganrif ar bymtheg, ac yn wir daeth gamblo yn dipyn o broblem gymdeithasol. Roedd gan John Jones ddiddordeb arbennig mewn gemau cardiau \u2013 ac mewn llyfr nodiadau a luniodd pan oedd yn yr ysgol ramadeg, ceir disgrifiadau o sawl ge\u0302m gardiau ganddo, a chyfarwyddiadau ar sut i gael y gorau (yn seicolegol, yn aml!) ar eich gwrthwynebydd!"}, {"text_idx": "#000011", "text": "Am ragor o wybodaeth am rai o\u2019r gemau a grybwyllir yma, gweler"}, {"text_idx": "#000016", "text": "Ymhellach ar restrau geiriau John Jones, gweler y postiadau blaenorol."}, {"text_idx": "#000018", "text": "Among the lists of Welsh words that the scribe John Jones of Gellilyfdy compiled whilst incarcerated in the Fleet Prison in the 1630s is this interesting list of games and pastimes. This is his 49th list of 130, and was written towards the end of 1632. It contains a mixture of children\u2019s and adult\u2019s games and, as was his usual practice, it follows a thematic rather than an alphabetic order."}, {"text_idx": "#000019", "text": "After opening with a few general terms, he starts with children\u2019s games (9\u201314). Chwarae chwyrligwgan (12) \u2018to spin a top\u2019 and chwarae mig ymguddied (13) \u2018to play hide-and-seek\u2019 are familiar enough. The references to chwarae buarth baban outside this list are scarce, but buarth baban is defined in the dictionary (GPC) as some sort of blazing stick that was twirled to entertain a small child. Sounds dangerous! Chwarae dwylo gwynion (10), literally \u2018to play white hands\u2019, is a mystery, but the lexicographer Thomas Williems of Trefriw has a good description of Chwarae minddu manddell (11) in his entry under digitis micare in his Latin\u2013Welsh dictionary (Peniarth 228, 1604\u20137): \u2018when one person raises some fingers and the other, facing away from him, tries to guess how many fingers he has raised ... in Wales Chwarae Minddu Manddell\u2019. So it\u2019s a game of guessing how many fingers. I failed to find an explanation of chwarae cat i\u2019r wern (144), but many children\u2019s games contain the element cat or cath."}, {"text_idx": "#000020", "text": "The next six (15\u201320) are games involving the striking of a ball. Horling pen ffon (15), may be a variant of cnapan, a game of striking a hard wooden ball with a stick. Commenting on the game of hurling in Cornwall, George Owen of Henllys (1552\u20131613) said: This plaie is vsed in Wales, and the balle is called Knappan ... and our ancient cozens the Cornishmen haue the selfe same exercise among them yet obserued, which they call hurlinge. Another possibility is that horling pen ffon is a type of hockey, similar to the traditional hurling played in Ireland."}, {"text_idx": "#000021", "text": "Coeta (16) is probably a form of coetan or \u2018quoits\u2019, a game involving throwing a ring over a peg, and the same is also true of pedoli\u2019r gaseg \u2018shoeing the mare\u2019 (20), but using horseshoes instead of the usual rings. Caelys (17) was a bit of a mystery to me until I found a reference in Vernon Bartlett\u2019s volume, The Past of Pastimes, to a game called kayles (from the French quilles), played \u2018many centuries ago, with the players throwing a stick at the \u201ckittle pins\u201d, the tallest of which was the \u201cking pin\u201d.\u2019 So that is the origin of the word kingpin! Nawtwll (18) was another game based on getting a ball to a target (OED nineholes \u2018Any other games of skill involving nine target holes, spots, etc.\u2019) and sitenna (19) is probably the same type of game, although I failed to find any information about it."}, {"text_idx": "#000022", "text": "Next we have a series of games involving the hitting of a ball with a bat, hand, or foot: chwarae pe\u0302l ddwylo \u2018handball\u2019 (21) and chwarae pe\u0302l draed \u2018football\u2019 (22) \u2013 and it\u2019s interesting that the earliest references to this game are to traed \u2018feet\u2019, not troed \u2018foot\u2019. Then chwarae tenys (23) and chwarae palet (24) are likely to be versions of real tennis or royal tennis, the precursor of lawn tennis. Chwarae\u2019r humog (25) is again a ball-striking game, but this time with a human, a forked bat, as John Jones described it in 1618: \u2018Human: a fork to play with a ball\u2019. Bwrw\u2019r gamog (26) may be some kind of hockey, but we cannot be certain."}, {"text_idx": "#000023", "text": "Games or sports traditionally described as the Pedair Camp ar Hugain \u2018The Twenty-four Feats\u2019 come next, games that every nobleman worth his salt was expected to have mastered, especially in fifteenth-century Wales: saethu \u2018shooting\u2019 with a bow and arrow or a gun (28), rhedeg \u2018running\u2019 (29), neidio \u2018jumping\u2019 (30), bwrw maen and bwrw trosol \u2018pitching a stone or iron bar\u2019 (31, 32) etc., followed by fighting games with weapons (36\u201342), including cleddau a bwcled \u2018sword and buckler\u2019 (38), where two opponents would fight each other holding a small round shield, the buckler, in the left hand and a short sword in the right hand."}, {"text_idx": "#000024", "text": "The list ends with board games (43\u20138), including the traditional games of gwyddbwyll \u2018chess\u2019 (46), tawlbwrdd \u2018backgammon\u2019 (47), and ffristial chwegwyr (48) which are also listed among the \u2018Pedair Camp ar Hugain\u2019. Ffristial is probably some kind of game involving moving pieces or pawns on a board \u2013 and this is probably a six-pawn version. Chwarae disiau \u2018dice\u2019 (43) and cardiau \u2018cards\u2019 (45) became especially popular towards the end of the 16th century, and indeed gambling became quite a problem in society. John Jones was particularly interested in card games \u2013 and in a notebook he wrote when he was in grammar school, there are descriptions of several games, and instructions on how (often psychologically!) to get the better of your opponent!"}, {"text_idx": "#000026", "text": "For further information on some of the games mentioned here, see:"}, {"text_idx": "#000029", "text": "Buchfrech, y cowpog a\u2019r gwrthfuchfrechwyr"}, {"text_idx": "#000031", "text": "Tybed a gawn ni Nadolig gwyn eleni?"}]