#cranogewen

Cafodd Catherine Prichard, ‘Buddug,’ ei geni ar y 4ydd o Orffennaf, 1842, yn y Cae-crin, Ynys Môn, i Gweirydd ap Rhys (Robert John Pryse) a Grace Prys (née Williams). Fel bardd, defnydda Catherine y ffug enw ‘Buddug’ o 1860, ac hefyd wrth amddiffyn hawliau merched. Ysgrifennodd Catherine cerddi fel ‘Cranogwen’, ‘Neges y Blodyn’, ‘Blodyn yr Eira’, ‘Brwydr Dirwest a Bacchus’ ac ati. Cafodd ei cherddi eu cyhoeddi yn cylchgronnau, ac yn ‘Caniadau Buddug’ ar ol ei farwolaeth, gan ei gŵr.

Cafodd Catherine ei phriodi i Owen Prichard yn Ionawr 1863 ond gallwn dal gweld y cerdd hon i Sarah Jane Rees, Cranogwen, a oedd yn ysgrifennu cerddi i fenywod oedd hi yn caru, fel cerdd ‘queer’. Bu farw ar y 29 o Fawrth, 1909.

“‘Rwyf bron a'th addoli, anfarwol Granogwen, ‘Rwyt wedi fy synnu, a’m swyno yn lân, Y mae dy athrylith a'th awen ddisgleirwen, Yn twymo fy enaid - yn ennyn fy nghân. Dy ryfedd huawdledd a'th ddwys dduwiolfrydedd, A'th ddoniau gwahanol enillodd fy serch: Pwy bellach faidd wadu nas gall arucheledd A mawredd meddyliol babellu mewn merch?”

Catherine Pritchard, ‘Buddug’, was born on the 4th of July, 1842, in Cae-crin, Anglesey, to Gweirydd ap Rhys (Robert John Pryse) and Grace Prys (née Williams). Buddug was her bardic name, given to her in 1860, which she also used in writings defending women’s rights. She wrote poems such as ‘Cranogwen’, ‘Neges y Blodyn’ (’The Flower’s Message’), ‘Blodyn yr Eira’ (’Snowdrop’), ‘Brwydr Dirwest a Bacchus’ (’The Battle of Temperence and Bacchus’) and more. Her poems appeared in journals, including in English, and her own ‘Caniadau Buddug’ was published after her death by her husband.

Catherine married Owen Prichard in January 1863 but we can see the following poem to Cranogwen, Sarah Jane Rees, who wrote poetry to her female partners, as a ‘queer’ poem. Catherine died on the 29th of March, 1909.

“I almost worship you, deathless Cranogwen, You’ve amazed me and charmed me for so long, Your genius and your dazzling skill with the pen, Quicken my soul - and inspire my own song. Your rare eloquence and intense piety; Your many different gifts have won my admiration: For who today can claim that superiority And intellectual greatness can’t exist in women?” 

Poems from Welsh Women’s Poetry 1460-2001: An Anthology, 2003.