A distinctive form of Welsh once heard in the communities of north Pembrokeshire was brought to life at the National Eisteddfod y Garreg Las through an unusual project combining the Gospels, local speech and the preservation of linguistic heritage.
Y Beder Ifingyl – The Four Gospels – is a version of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John produced by the late Lyn Lewis Dafis (1960–2022), a native of Mynachlog-ddu in north Pembrokeshire. Rather than using standard written Welsh, Lyn rendered the Gospels in the Welsh dialect of his home area, capturing something of the vocabulary, pronunciation and patterns of speech familiar to generations of local Welsh speakers.
For English-speaking readers, the geography behind the project is important.
Pembrokeshire has a particularly interesting linguistic history. For centuries, a well-known language boundary divided the predominantly Welsh-speaking communities of the north of the county from the more heavily Anglicised south. The boundary became popularly known as the Landsker Line.
North of the Landsker, Welsh remained the community language in many places and developed distinctive local characteristics. The Welsh of north Pembrokeshire – distinct and immediately recognisable to Welsh speakers from elsewhere – preserves words, expressions and pronunciations associated with the area.
It was this living, spoken language that Lyn Lewis Dafis wanted to capture in Y Beder Ifingyl. His work therefore represents more than an alternative translation of a familiar text. It is also a record and celebration of a particular local voice.
In the months leading up to the Eisteddfod, a group of Pembrokeshire speakers came together to give that voice a new lease of life by recording Y Beder Ifingyl.
The project was celebrated at the National Eisteddfod y Garreg Las, where visitors had an opportunity to hear about the work, listen to the recording and remember Lyn and his distinctive contribution to Welsh language and culture.
Sian Wyn Rees chaired the event, and the project received support from the Union of Welsh Independents and Bible Society.
For Cytûn, the project also offers an intriguing example of the relationship between Christianity, language and place. The Christian scriptures have been translated into thousands of languages across the world, but Y Beder Ifingyl brings that principle much closer to home: asking what the familiar Gospel stories sound like when they are told in the words and rhythms of a particular Welsh community.