Welsh History

Lesson 4: Union with England

The Welsh Bible

In 1546, Sir John Price of Brecon published the first book in the Welsh language, his collection of basic religious texts Yn Llyvyr Hwnn (In This Book). Tradition has it that the very first book actually printed in Wales itself was Y Drych Gristianogawl (The Christian Mirror), produced in a cave at Llandudno, as a surreptitious counter-reformation text in 1585. The pioneer of publishing in Welsh, however, was not Price, but William Salesbury.

An outstanding scholar, Salesbury strongly felt that the new spate of publications needed a more perfect language in which to express their most worthy contents.

In 1563, after John Penry and others had petitioned Queen and Parliament, a bill was passed ordering that the Bible be translated into Welsh. Penry was helped by the fact that Elizabeth and her parliament were appalled at the slow progress of the Welsh people in learning the English language, and more, perhaps, at their sluggishness in converting from Roman Catholicism.

The Government welcomed Penry's suggestions, thinking that by having Welsh translations placed next to the English texts in Church the congregations would learn English. It was also a good method to establish Protestantism in Wales, certainly the main reason. Whatever the intent, the Welsh language was given an unintended status and a place of honor by being used as a medium for the Holy Scriptures.

The Welsh bishops entrusted the momentous task of translation mainly to Salesbury, who had prepared the way with his earlier translation of the Prayer Book. He was aided by Bishop Richard Davies of Abergwili. Unfortunately the erudition of these most learned gentlemen produced a book that could be read by scholars but was practically worthless for the common people. The day (and perhaps the language itself) was saved by William Morgan, parish priest of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, and later Bishop of Llandaf and St. Asaph.

In 1588, with a group of fellow-scholars including the brilliant Richard Davies, Morgan completed his work. Its influence upon the subsequent religious direction of the Welsh people was expected, but it also had enormous, unanticipated effects upon their language and literature.

Many historians believe that it was this book alone that prevented Welsh from becoming nothing more than a bundle of provincial dialects or of even disappearing altogether. Perhaps it is due to this early publication that much of the strength of present-day Welsh is owed, compared to Irish (which did not get its own Bible until 1690), and Scots Gaelic (which had to wait until 1801).

In addition, the Book became the foundation and inspiration for all the literature written in the Welsh language after the end of the sixteenth century.

The Welsh Bible was so successful that all one thousand copies quickly became worn out (or stolen) and a new edition was desperately needed. In 1620, Dr. John Davies of Mallwyd was responsible for minor corrections and standardization in his revision version that is a classic of Welsh literature, similar to the King James Bible in English.

Generation after generation of Welsh children would learn to read and write from this book, or more correctly from the cheaper, smaller version published in 1630, Y Beibl Bach, the only book many families could afford. Most scholars agree that the influence of the Welsh Bible is incalculable: because of it, and strengthened by it, through their faith, their religious leaders, their language and their literature, the people of Wales were able to continue the struggle.