It has been rightly said that both the nation of Wales and its language would not exist today, at least not in the form that we know it, if it wasn’t for the existence of a Bible translated into Welsh.

That would seem at first sight to be an extreme view – but it happens to be true.

Let me start with a poem written by the Reverend Thomas Jones, vicar of Llanfair or Llandeilo Bertholau in Monmouthshire.

Without the help of God’s own book

Or learning of any kind,

Without true teaching given him,

The Welshman was quite blind

But now it is my earnest hope,

In this my faith is bright,

That after suffering ages long

The Welshman is given sight.

...

To Bishop Morgan for his pains

We must give thanks the most,

For putting into Welsh the Book

With the strength of the Holy Ghost.

The year is 1588 and a troubled one in the history of both Wales and England – Thomas Jones had already written a ballad of thanksgiving for relief from the Spanish Armada.

The Bible in Welsh had come from the printers in London in the Autumn, reaching Wales late in the year – hence it was a ‘present’ around Christmas time.

As Paul wrote to Timothy :-

2Tim. 3:16,17 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

But that’s not much consolation if you cannot read it!

Being as how most people did not know how to read and write in their own language – it meant the Bible was off limits to all but a select few highly educated people.

With the Reformation the Bible began to be translated into German and English, but the ‘dawn’ was slow to break in Wales

When in 1558 Queen Mary’s bloody persecution of protestants came to an end and Queen Elizabeth came to the throne, two acts of parliament in 1559 and 1563 re-established a moderate form of the Church of England – conformity was the ideal.

What then, of the Bible in Welsh?

In 1563 came a big surprise

Parliament passed an act allowing the Bible and Book of Common prayer to be translated into Welsh. As soon as the act was passed, it would be compulsory to use the Welsh versions everywhere that Welsh was a common language

Bishops of Wales and Hereford were commissioned to carry out the work of translation

The effect on the use of the Welsh language was profound – it has been said that the act of 1563 to translate the Bible into Welsh was as important in its consequences as the Act of Union in 1536 !

How did it ever get past an English parliament?

Probably because unity in religion was more important than unity in language

English parliaments were afraid that Wales would turn Catholic – so promoting the Welsh language was a small price to pay for the nation becoming staunch protestants.

Early translations struggled because of the use of obscure and difficult Welsh phrases, and did not find much favour. The result was pretty unreadable an incomprehensible. The translators fell out after the New Testament was published (it is said over the translation of a single word!)

So there was a long gap before Sir John Wynn of Gwydir handed over the partly completed translation to Bishop William Morgan in 1572

William Morgan was born in a house called Ty Mawr in the parish of Penmacho, in the Conwy valley near Betws-y-Coed (now a national trust property)

He was the son of a tenant on the estate of Sir John Wynn, and he arranged for the young William Morgan to be educated, first locally and then at St. John’s college Cambridge.

An intelligent student his circle of friends combined Protestantism with Welsh bardistry.

He studied Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Divinity, mathematics, logic, rhetoric and philosophy, gaining an MA in 1571

A Welsh Bard – Sion Tudor commented in a poem of thanks for the Welsh Bible :

You translated and took the Word of God

At great pains from the Hebrew text,

This you did when the age of Christ

Was sixteen hundred years but twelve,

Translating every chapter

Of the Bible for the sake of benighted folk.

In 1583 he gained a Doctorate in Divinity from Cambridge.

Unlike other translations of the Bible which have been done by committees – the Bible that William Morgan translated was all his own work, although based in part on the previous half finished foundations.

As well as undertaking his parish work as Bishop of Llandaff he translated the Bible from 1579 – finishing in late 1588 when a copy was given to the library of Westminster Abbey – where it remains to this day.

It was a great work, and a great struggled – he nearly gave up several times – but was sustained by the encouragement of the Archbishop of Canterbury – Whitgift.

His great motivation – to present the Welsh with the truth – so they could make out what was from the Bible, and what was other people’s commentary.

You made each word sound so sensible

The word of God so comprehensible!

What was the effect of publishing this Bible?

Well Protestantism was firmly established as men and women could read it for themselves.

But also it had the effect of creating a scholarly version of standardised Welsh (based on the Northern Welsh dialect) – it gave a sense of unity to the nation

It was so good that it received a warm reception.

Revised by one of Morgan’s successors at St Asaph – Bishop Richard Parry in 1620 it remained the basis for all subsequent revisions up to the twentieth century, much like the King James Version of 1611 was the basis for English Bibles.

These Bibles were big -- Chained to the lecterns of churches, and shelves of libraries!

It was only in 1630 that a smaller version was produced – the “Little Bible” costing a (very expensive) 5 shillings.

Then what?