Cadeirydd: Non Mererid Jones
In 1848 and 1886 respectively, the Nova Scotian communities of Blue Mountain, Pictou County, and Orangedale, Cape Breton, were each rocked by a violent murder. Although these murders were unrelated in terms of locale and time period, they share a striking commonality. The first tragedy involved a perpetrator, a Crown witness, and interpreters, all Gaelic speakers, and the second inspired the creation of a lengthy forty-three verse Gaelic lament. Clearly, the Gaelic voices of Nova Scotia’s Scots during the nineteenth century found self-expression at both ends of life and death’s continuum, from the cradle to the grave, and beyond. This talk will be contextualized within the broader matrix of Gaelic’s role in Nova Scotia’s deathways, as well as in Nova Scotia’s legal system, both much overlooked aspects of the history of the province’s Highland immigrants.
Er 1570 bu’r Cymry yn naddu englynion marwnadol ar gerrig bedd ac mae hwn yn draddodiad a bery’n rymus hyd heddiw. Mae’r englynion hyn yn britho ein mynwentydd a chladdfeydd pellennig y Wladfa, Lloegr a’r Unol Daleithiau, heb sôn am fynwentydd milwrol y ddau Ryfel Byd. Y mae eisoes rhyw ddeng mil ohonynt ar gael mewn gwahanol gyhoeddiadau neu gasgliadau preifat ond amcangyfrifir bod rhyw ddeng mil o hyd yn aros i’w cofnodi. Digwydant ym mhob ardal lle siaredid y Gymraeg yng nghanol y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg ac mae’n draddodiad sydd ag elfennau trawiadol, arloesol a chignoeth iddo ar brydiau. Coffeir bonedd a gwreng gyda’r rhan fwyaf o’n beirdd mawr wedi llunio o leiaf un englyn bedd. Mae’n gofnod unigryw o agweddau’r Cymry at farw, byw, crefydd, colled, gwaith, diwylliant a chymdeithas yn gyffredinol. Mae’n draddodiad amrywiol tu hwnt sy’n ymwneud â chyn gaethweision, lladdedigion y Rhyfel Mawr, damweiniau mewn glofeydd a chwareli, gwŷr a gollwyd ar y môr, bydwragedd, cerddorion modern, prif-weinidog ac ati. Ar y meini eu hunain yn unig y digwydd y rhan fwyaf o’r englynion ac yr ydym yn prysur golli llawer ohonynt i draul yr hin ac mae’r wybodaeth gefndir anghenrheidiol yn diflannu o’r tir. Bydd y cyflwyniad darluniadol lliwgar hwn yn darparu gorolwg cronolegol o ddatblygiad y traddodiad o’r cychwyn cyntaf hyd heddiw ac yn egluro rhediad y datblygiad trwy ffocysu ar englynion trawiadol a nodweddiadol.
Ogham inscriptions by their nature are of interest to various disciplines, primarily Celtic studies, Celtic linguistics, archaeology and history. Irish ogham inscriptions have been discovered, studied and published on since the 1800s. The work of RAS Macalister, in particular, has ensured that the majority of Irish ogham inscriptions have been visited, recorded and published. In more recent times, the publication of Damian McManus' A guide to Ogam (1991) was a major leap forward in the linguistic aspects of ogham studies. Articles and papers by Anthony Harvey continue to explore the linguistics questions. On the archaeological and historical perspectives, Fionnbarr Moore and Catherine Swift, in particular, have also made significant contributions in recent decades. In 2010 DIAS launched the Ogham in 3D project, which was aimed at using the latest technology to create 3D digital records of the surviving ogham stones. In 2013 the Ogham in 3D website (https://ogham.celt.dias.ie) was launched to make the digitised data, along with associated metadata, freely available. In 2015, an Ogham Studies Workshop was organised to gather together experts in various fields relating to ogham to consider the value of 3D recording of ogham stones and to consider future directions for ogham studies. One of the conclusions arising from this workshop was the need for a thorough, modern, multidisciplinary study of Irish ogham inscriptions on the model of A Corpus of Early Medieval Inscribed Stones and Stone Sculpture in Wales.