Y mae hanes am fab i amaethwr a breswyliai yn yr Ystrad[20], Betws Garmon[21], pan yn dychwelyd adref o daith yn hwyr un noswaith, đarfod iđo weled cwmni o’r Tylwyth Teg ynghanol eu hafiaeth a’u glođest. Syfrdanwyd y ỻanc yn y fan gan degwch anghymarol un o’r rhianod hyn, fel y beiđiođ neidio i ganol y cylch, a chymeryd ei eilun gydag ef. Wedi iđi fod yn trigo gydag ef yn ei gartref am ysbaid, cafođ ganđi ađaw bod yn wraig iđo ar amodau neiỻduol. Un o’r amodau hyn ydoeđ, na byđai iđo gyffwrđ ynđi ag un math o haiarn. Bu yn wraig iđo, a ganwyd iđynt đau o blant. Un diwrnod yr oeđ y gwr yn y maes yn ceisio dal y ceffyl; wrth ei weled yn ffaelu, aeth y wraig ato i’w gynorthwyo, a phan oeđ y march yn carlamu heibio goỻyngođ yntau y ffrwyn o’i law, er mwyn ceisio ei atal heibio; a phwy a darawođ ond ei wraig, yr hon a điflannođ yn y fan aỻan o’i olwg?
‘The story goes, that the son of a farmer, who lived at the Ystrad in Bettws Garmon, when returning home from a journey, late in the evening, beheld a company of fairies in the middle of their mirth and jollity. The youth was at once bewildered by the incomparable beauty of one of these ladies, so that he ventured to leap into the circle and take his idol away with him. After she had tarried awhile with him at his home, he prevailed on her, on special conditions, to become his wife. One of these conditions was that he should not touch her with iron of any description. She became his wife, and two children were born to them. One day the husband was in the field trying to catch the horse; seeing him unsuccessful, the wife went to him to help him, and, when the horse was galloping past him, he let go the bridle at him in order to prevent him from passing; but whom should he strike but his wife, who vanished out of his sight on the spot.’
Just as I was engaged in collecting these stories in 1881, a correspondent sent me a copy of the Ystrad tale as published by the late bard and antiquary, the Rev. Owen Wyn Jones, better known in Wales by his bardic name of Glasynys[22], in the Brython[23] for 1863, p. 193. I will not attempt to translate Glasynys’ poetic prose with all its compound adjectives, but it comes to this in a few words. One fine sunny morning, as the young heir of Ystrad was busied with his sheep on the side of Moel Eilio, he met a very pretty girl, and when he got home he told the folks there of it. A few days afterwards he met her again, and this happened several times, when he mentioned it to his father, who advised him to seize her when he next met her. The next time he met her he proceeded to do so, but before he could take her away, a little fat old man came to them and begged him to give her back to him, to which the youth would not listen. The little man uttered terrible threats, but the heir of Ystrad would not yield, so an agreement was made between them, that the latter was to have the girl to wife until he touched her skin with iron, and great was the joy both of the son and his parents in consequence. They lived together for many years; but once on a time, on the evening of the Bettws Fair, the wife’s horse became restive, and somehow, as the husband was attending to the horse, the stirrup touched the skin of her bare leg, and that very night she was taken away from him. She had three or four children, and more than one of their descendants, as Glasynys maintains, were known to him at the time he wrote in 1863. Glasynys regards this as the same tale which is given by Williams of Ỻandegai, to whom we shall refer later; and he says that he heard it scores of times when he was a lad.
Lastly, I happened to mention these legends last summer among others to the Rev. Owen Davies, curate of Ỻanberis, a man who is well versed in Welsh literature, and thoroughly in sympathy with everything Welsh. Mr. Davies told me that he knew a tale of the sort from his youth, as current in the parishes of Ỻanỻechid and Ỻandegai, near Bangor. Not long afterwards he visited his mother at his native place, in Ỻanỻechid, in order to have his memory of it refreshed; and he also went to the Waen Fawr, on the other side of Carnarvon, where he had the same legend told him with the different localities specified. The following is the Waen Fawr version, of which I give the Welsh as I have had it from Mr. Davies, and as it was related, according to him, some forty years ago in the valley of Nant y Bettws, near Carnarvon:—
Ar brydnawngwaith hyfryd yn Hefin, aeth ỻanc ieuanc gwrol-đewr ac anturiaethus, sef etifeđ a pherchennog yr Ystrad, i lan afon Gwyrfai, heb fod yn nepeỻ o’i chychwyniad o lyn Caweỻyn, ac a ymguđiođ yno mewn dyryslwyn, sef ger y fan y byđai poblach y cotiau cochion—y Tylwyth Teg—yn arfer dawnsio. Yr ydoeđ yn noswaith hyfryd loergannog, heb un cwmwl i gau ỻygaid y Ỻoer, ac anian yn đistaw dawedog, ođigerth murmuriad ỻeđf y Wyrfai, a swn yr awel ysgafndroed yn rhodio brigau deiliog y coed. Ni bu yn ei ymguđfa ond dros ychydig amser, cyn cael difyrru o hono ei olygon a dawns y teulu dedwyđ. Wrth syỻu ar gywreinrwyđ y đawns, y chwim droadau cyflym, yr ymgyniweiriad ysgafn-droediog, tarawođ ei lygaid ar las lodes ieuanc, dlysaf, harđaf, lunieiđiaf a welođ er ei febyd. Yr oeđ ei chwim droadau a ỻedneisrwyđ ei hagweđion wedi tanio ei serch tu ag ati i’r fath rađau, fel ag yr oeđ yn barod i unrhyw anturiaeth er mwyn ei henniỻ yn gydymaith iđo ei hun. O’i ymguđfa dywyỻ, yr oeđ yn gwylio pob ysgogiad er mwyn ei gyfleustra ei hun. Mewn mynud, yn đisymwth đigon, rhwng pryder ac ofn, ỻamneidiođ fel ỻew gwrol i ganol cylch y Tylwyth Teg, ac ymafaelođ a dwylaw cariad yn y fun luniaiđ a daniođ ei serch, a hynny, pan oeđ y Tylwyth dedwyđ yn nghanol nwyfiant eu dawns. Cofleidiođ hi yn dyner garedig yn ei fynwes wresog, ac aeth a hi i’w gartref—i’r Ystrad. Ond diflannođ ei chyd-đawnsyđion fel anadl Gorphennaf, er ei chroch đolefau am gael ei rhyđhau, a’i hymegnion diflino i đianc o afael yr hwn a’i hoffođ. Mewn anwylder mawr, ymđygođ y ỻanc yn dyner odiaethol tu ag at y fun deg, ac yr oeđ yn orawyđus i’w chadw yn ei olwg ac yn ei feđiant. Ỻwyđođ drwy ei dynerwch tu ag ati i gael ganđi ađaw dyfod yn forwyn iđo yn yr Ystrad. A morwyn ragorol oeđ hi. Godrai deirgwaith y swm arferol o laeth ođiar bob buwch, ac yr oeđ yr ymenyn heb bwys arno. Ond er ei hoỻ daerni, nis gaỻai mewn un mođ gael ganđi đyweud ei henw wrtho. Gwnaeth lawer cais, ond yn gwbl ofer. Yn đamweiniol ryw dro, wrth yrru
Brithen a’r Benwen i’r borfa,
a hi yn noswaith loergan, efe a aeth i’r man ỻe yr arferai y Tylwyth Teg fyned drwy eu campau yng ngoleuni’r Ỻoer wen. Y tro hwn eto, efe a ymguđiođ mewn dyryslwyn, a chlywođ y Tylwyth Teg yn dywedyd y naiỻ wrth y ỻaỻ—‘Pan oeđym ni yn y ỻe hwn y tro diweđaf, dygwyd ein chwaer Penelope ođiarnom gan un o’r marwolion.’ Ar hynny, dychwelođ y ỻencyn adref, a’i fynwes yn ỻawn o falchder cariad, o herwyđ iđo gael gwybod enw ei hoff forwyn, yr hon a synnođ yn aruthr, pan glywođ ei meistr ieuanc yn ei galw wrth ei henw. Ac am ei bod yn odiaethol dlos, a ỻuniaiđ, yn fywiog-weithgar, a medrus ar bob gwaith, a bod popeth yn ỻwyđo dan ei ỻaw, cynygiođ ei hun iđi yn wr—y celai fod yn feistres yr Ystrad, yn ỻe bod yn forwyn. Ond ni chydsyniai hi a’i gais ar un cyfrif; ond bod braiđ yn bendrist oherwyđ iđo wybod ei henw. Fođ bynnag, gwedi maith amser, a thrwy ei daerineb diflino, cydsyniođ, ond yn amodol. Ađawođ đyfod yn wraig iđo, ar yr amod canlynol, sef, ‘Pa bryd bynnag y tarawai ef hi â haiarn, yr elai ymaith ođi wrtho, ac na đychwelai byth ato mwy.’ Sicrhawyd yr amod o’i du yntau gyda pharodrwyđ cariad. Buont yn cyd-fyw a’u gilyđ yn hapus a chysurus lawer o flynyđoeđ, a ganwyd iđynt fab a merch, y rhai oeđynt dlysaf a ỻunieiđiaf yn yr hoỻ froyđ. Ac yn rhinweđ ei medrusrwyđ a’i deheurwyđ fel gwraig gaỻ, rinweđol, aethant yn gyfoethog iawn—yn gyfoethocach na neb yn yr hoỻ wlad. Heblaw ei etifeđiaeth ei hun—Yr Ystrad, yr oeđ yn ffarmio hoỻ ogleđ-barth Nant y Betws, ac ođi yno i ben yr Wyđfa, ynghyd a hoỻ Gwm Brwynog, yn mhlwyf Ỻanberis. Ond, ryw điwrnod, yn anffortunus đigon aeth y đau i’r đol i đal y ceffyl, a chan fod y ceffylyn braiđ yn wyỻt ac an-nof, yn rhedeg ođi arnynt, taflođ y gwr y ffrwyn mewn gwyỻtineb yn ei erbyn, er ei atal, ac ar bwy y disgynnođ y ffrwyn, ond ar Penelope, y wraig! Diflannođ Penelope yn y fan, ac ni welođ byth mo honi. Ond ryw noswaith, a’r gwynt yn chwythu yn oer o’r gogleđ, daeth Penelope at ffenestr ei ystafeỻ wely, a dywedođ wrtho am gymmeryd gofal o’r plant yn y geiriau hyn:
Rhag bod anwyd ar fy mab,
Yn rhođ rhowch arno gób ei dad;
Rhag bod anwyd ar liw’r can,