Sgyrsiau Hanes Chwaraeon Gwynedd Dr Meilyr Emrys sports lectures #2

FOR ENGLISH PLEASE SCROLL DOWN

This Lecure will be conducted through the Medium of Welsh

Mae haneswyr wedi tueddu i bortreadu cymunedau chwarelyddol Fictoraidd ac Edwardaidd Gwynedd fel ‘cadarnleoedd y diwylliant Cymreig’, ble ’roedd ‘llygad geryddgar Anghydffurfiaeth yn effeithio’n ddwfn’ ar ymddygiad y trigolion o ddydd-i-ddydd, gan fod ‘gafael y capel yn ddwys a heb ei gyfyngu i ddyddiau Sul’.

Nid yw’n syndod felly bod sylwedyddion y cyfnod bron yn ‘unfrydol gytûn ynglŷn â pharchusrwydd dyrchafedig’ gweithwyr llechi siroedd Caernarfon a Meirionnydd a bod y chwarelwyr hefyd yn cael eu canmol am eu tueddiad i arddel ‘lefel uchel o ddiwylliant Cymraeg’. Wedi’r cyfan, ynghyd â hyrwyddo a hybu rhinweddau difyrion brodorol ‘derbyniol’ a ‘thraddodiadol’– megis eisteddfodau, cyfarfodydd canu a chymdeithasau llenyddol – byddai llawer o weinidogion Anghydffurfiol dylanwadol oes Fictoria hefyd yn mynd ati’n fwriadol i geisio llesteirio twf unrhyw adloniannau ‘estron’ ymwthiol, megis pêl-droed neu griced. Honnwyd fod campau o’r fath yn gynrychioliadol o’r ‘diwylliant cableddus oedd yn gysylltiedig â’r byd diwydiannol newydd’ a’u bod yn cyd-fynd â ‘ffordd [baganaidd, llawn pechod] a fygythiol o fyw, oedd yn cael ei fewnforio o Loegr’.

Ond er gwaethaf ymdrechion taer y capeli i atal y boblogaeth leol rhag ymwneud â gweithgareddau ‘hollol anfad’ o’r fath, ’roedd gan y rhan fwyaf o bentrefi chwarelyddol gogledd orllewin Cymru eu timau pêl-droed eu hunain erbyn y 1890au, tra ’roedd prif glybiau’r rhanbarth – sef Bangor, Caernarfon a Phorthmadog – hefyd yn derbyn cefnogaeth frwd gan y gweithwyr llechi. Ymhellach, mae nofel led-hunangofiannol Caradog Prichard, Un Nos Ola Leuad – sy’n ddatguddiad damniol o natur wirioneddol bywyd mewn pentref chwarelyddol ar ddechrau’r ugeinfed ganrif – yn cynnwys hanes camymddwyn treisgar mewn gêm bêl-droed drwg ei thynged, ochr yn ochr â disgrifiad manwl o ornest focsio ffyrnig (ac anghyfreithlon, yn ôl pob tebyg) mewn tafarn leol.

Yn amlwg, nid yw cofnodion o’r fath yn cytgordio o gwbl gyda’r canfyddiad o barchusrwydd dyrchafedig ac maent hefyd yn mynd yn groes i’r honiadau ynglŷn ag awdurdod hydreiddiol a diwrthwynebiad Anghydffurfiaeth o fewn y cymunedau chwarelyddol. Felly, a oedd gweithwyr llechi Fictoraidd ac Edwardaidd gogledd orllewin Cymru yn fwy duwiol a pharchus nag unrhyw garfan gydoesol arall o weithwyr diwydiannol, mewn gwirionedd? Gan ganolbwyntio ar ddiwylliant chwaraeon Gwynedd ar ddiwedd y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg a dechrau’r ugeinfed ganrif, bydd y sgwrs hon yn dadlau nad yw’r farn hanesyddol draddodiadol ynglŷn â chwarelwyr y rhanbarth yn gyfan gwbl gywir ac felly – trwy estyniad – nad oedd goruchafiaeth a dylanwad y capeli mor drwythol a hollgwmpasog â’r hyn sydd wedi cael ei awgrymu’n flaenorol chwaith.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

The late-Victorian and Edwardian slate quarrying communities of Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire have long been portrayed as ‘bastion[s] … of a Welsh culture’, where ‘the censorious eye of nonconformity deeply affected’ the day-to-day behaviour of the inhabitants and ‘the chapel’s embrace was intense and not restricted to Sundays’.

It’s not therefore surprising that contemporary observers were unanimous in their high regard for the respectability of Gwynedd’s slate workers and that the quarrymen also acquired a reputation for espousing a high level of Welsh culture. After all, whilst the influential chapels continually and vehemently promoted the virtues of ‘acceptable’ and ‘traditional’ native amusements – such as eisteddfodau, singing meetings and literary societies – many Victorian Nonconformist ministers also deliberately attempted to stifle the local growth of rival ‘foreign’ pastimes, such as association football or cricket, which were derided as being representative of ‘the profane culture associated with the new industrial world’ and ‘a touchstone’ of an emerging ‘[heathenous, sin-laden] and threatening way of life imported from England’.

But despite the chapels’ best efforts to discourage the local population from indulging in such ‘positively wicked’ activities, there were well-established soccer clubs in most north-west Wales quarrying villages by the 1890s and the region’s larger clubs – at Bangor, Caernarfon and Porthmadog – also owed much to the enthusiastic backing of the slate workers. Furthermore, Caradog Prichard’s semi-autobiographical novel, Un Nos Ola Leuad (One Moonlight Night) – a damning expose of the true nature of life in an early twentieth century quarrying village – includes meticulous descriptions of crowd disorder during a riotous soccer match and a brutal (and apparently illegal) boxing match at a local public house.

Whilst such accounts clearly contradict any notions of superior respectability, they also seem to undermine the previous claims about Nonconformity’s pervasive social authority within the quarrying communities. So, were the Victorian and Edwardian slate workers of north-west Wales actually any more devout or respectable than any other contemporary group of industrial workers? By focusing on the sporting culture of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century Gwynedd, this talk will argue that this was not in fact the case and – by extension – that the dominance and influence of the supposedly omnipotent chapels was not therefore as far-reaching or all-encompassing as has previously been suggested.

Host or Publisher Megan