“Am Tomos fel gwahoddwr, yr wyf yn ei weled yn awr o flaen llygaid fy meddwl.
“Dyn byr, llydan, baglog, yn gwisgo coat o frethyn lliw yr awyr, breeches penglin corduog, gwasgod wlanen fraith, a rhuban glas yn hongian ar ei fynwes, yn dangos natur ei swydd a’i genadwri dros y wlad a dramwyid ganddo; hosanau gwlan du’r ddafad am ei goesau, a dwy esgid o ledr cryf am ei draed; het o frethyn garw am ei ben haner moel; dwy ffrwd felingoch o hylif y dybaco yn ymlithro dros ei en; pastwn cryf a garw yn ei ddeheulaw. Cerddai yn mlaen i’r ty lle y delai heb gyfarch neb, tarawai ei ffon deirgwaith yn erbyn y llawr, tynai ei het a gosodai hi dan y gesail chwith, sych besychai er clirio ei geg, a llefarai yn debyg i hyn:—‘At wr a gwraig y ty, y plant a’r gwasanaethyddion, a phawb o honoch sydd yma yn cysgu ac yn codi. ‘Rwy’n genad ac yn wahoddwr dros John Jones o’r Bryntirion, a Mary Davies o Bantyblodau; ‘rwy’n eich gwahodd yn hen ac yn ifanc i daith a phriodas y par ifanc yna a enwais, y rhai sydd yn priodi dydd Mercher, tair wythnos i’r nesaf, yn Eglwys Llansadwrn. Bydd y gwr ifanc a’i gwmp’ni yn codi ma’s y bore hwnw o dy ei dad a’i fam yn Bryntirion, plwyf Llansadwrn; a’r ferch ifanc yn codi ma’s y bore hwnw o dy ei thad a’i mam, sef Pantyblodau, yn mhlwyf Llanwrda. Bydd gwyr y “shigouts” yn myned y bore hwnw dros y mab ifanc i ‘mofyn y ferch ifanc; a bydd y mab ifanc a’i gwmp’ni yn cwrdd a’r ferch ifanc a’i chwmp-ni wrth ben Heolgelli, a byddant yno ar draed ac ar geffylau yn myned gyda’r par ifanc i gael eu priodi yn Eglwys Llansadwrn. Wedi hyny bydd y gwr a’r wraig ifanc, a chwmp’ni y bobol ifanc, yn myned gyda’u gilydd i dy y gwr a’r wraig ifanc, sef Llety’r Gofid, plwyf Talyllechau, lle y bydd y gwr ifanc, tad a mam y gwr ifanc, a Daniel Jones, brawd y gwr ifanc, a Jane Jones, chwaer y gwr ifanc, yn dymuno am i bob rhoddion a phwython dyledus iddynt hwy gael eu talu y prydnawn hwnw i law y gwr ifanc; a bydd y gwr ifanc a’i dad a’i fam, a’i frawd a’i chwaer, Dafydd Shon William Evan, ewyrth y gwr ifanc, yn ddiolchgar am bob rhoddion ychwanegol a welwch yn dda eu rhoddi yn ffafr y gwr ifanc ar y diwrnod hwnw.
“‘Hefyd, bydd y wraig ifanc, yn nghyd a’i thad a’i mam, Dafydd a Gwenllian Davies, yn nghyd a’i brodyr a’i chwiorydd, y wraig ifanc a Dafydd William Shinkin Dafydd o’r Cwm, tadcu y wraig ifanc, yn galw mewn bob rhoddion a phwython, dyledus iddynt hwy, i gael eu talu y prydnawn hwnw i law y gwr a’r wraig ifanc yn Llety’r Gofid. Y mae’r gwr a’r wraig ifanc a’r hwyaf fo byw, yn addo talu ’nol i chwithau bob rhoddion a weloch yn dda eu rhoddi i’r tylwyth ifanc, pryd bynag y bo galw, tae hyny bore dranoeth, neu ryw amser arall.’”
Rendered into English the above reads as follows:—
“I can see Thomas, in the capacity of a Gwahoddwr,—Bidder,—before me now in my mind’s eye. A short man, broad, clumsy, wearing a coat of sky-blue cloth, corduroy breeches to the knee, a motley woollen waistcoat, and a blue ribbon hanging on his breast, indicating the nature of his office and message through the country which he tramped; black-woollen stockings on his legs, and two strong leathern boots on his feet; a hat made of rough cloth on his half-bare head; two yellow-red streams of tobacco moisture running down his chin; a rough, strong staff in his right hand. He walked into the house he came to without saluting any one, and struck the floor three times with his staff, took off his hat, and put it under his left arm, and having coughed in order to clear his throat, he delivered himself somewhat as follows:—
“To the husband and wife of the house, the children and the servants, and all of you who are here sleeping and getting up. I am a messenger and a bidder for John Jones of Bryntirion and Mary Davies of Pantyblodau; I beg to invite you, both old and young, to the bidding and wedding of the young couple I have just mentioned, who intend to marry on Wednesday, three weeks to the next, at Llansadwrn Church. The young man and his company on that morning will be leaving his father and mother’s house at Bryntirion, in the parish of Llansadwrn; and the young woman will be leaving that same morning from the house of her father and mother, that is Pantyblodau, in the parish of Llanwrda. On that morning the shigouts (seekouts) men will go on behalf of the young man to seek for the young woman; and the young man and his company will meet the young woman and her company at the top of Heolgelli, and there they will be, on foot and on horses, going with the young couple who are to be married at Llansadwrn Church. After that, the young husband and wife, and the young people’s company, will be going together to the house of the young husband and wife, to wit, Llety’r Gofid, in the parish of Tally, where the young man, the young man’s father and mother, and Daniel Jones, brother of the young man, and Jane Jones, the young man’s sister, desire that all donations and pwython due to them be paid that afternoon to the hands of the young man; and the young man, his father and mother, his brother and sister, and Dafydd Shon William Evan, uncle of the young man, will be very thankful for every additional gifts you will be pleased to give in favour of the young man that day.
“Also, the young wife, together with her father and mother, Dafydd and Gwenllian Davies, together with her brothers and sisters, the young wife and Dafydd William Shinkin Dafydd of Cwm, the young wife’s grandfather, desire that all donations and pwython, due to them, be paid that afternoon to the hand of the young husband and wife at Llety’r Gofid.
“The young husband and wife and those who’ll live the longest, do promise to repay you every gift you will be pleased to give to the young couple, whenever called upon to do so, should that happen next morning or at any other time?”
The Bidder then repeated in Welsh a most comic and humorous song for the occasion.
Another well-known “Gwahoddwr,” or Bidder in Cardiganshire was an old man named Stephen, who flourished at the end of the eighteenth, and the beginning of the nineteenth century.