Môr-ladron Cymraeg – The Welsh Pirates  (scroll down for our English translation)

Yn ein dosbarth Cymraeg rydym wedi bod yn gwneud dipyn o waith ymchwil i rai o’r  môr-ladron a oedd yn Gymru.

Mae dau yn hysbys’n weddol dda i ni drwy straeon a glywsom yn ein plentyndod a’r ddau yma yw Barti Ddu a Harri Morgan.

Dyma rhan bach o’i storiau.

Stori Barti Ddu

Ganed Barti Ddu, neu ‘Bartholomew’ Roberts, yng Nghasnewydd Bach, tua chwe milltir i’r de o Abergwaun, Sir Benfro, tua 1682.

John Roberts oedd ei enw iawn: fe fabwysiadodd yr enw “Bartholomew” pan ddaeth yn forleidr. Credir ei fod o deulu tlawd, ond tystiodd wrth eraill ei fod yn awchu am gael byw gwell.

Aeth i’r môr yn ifanc, efallai tua 1695, yn 13 oed. Tystia’r Capten Charles Johnston iddo fod yn forwr am tua 20 mlynedd cyn mynd yn fôrleidr. Daeth yn feistr ar grefftau morwriaeth, yn enwedig ar lunio a dilyn cwrs yn gywir.

Roedd yn aelod o griw’r llong gaethion “Princess”, pan gipiwyd y llong gan forladron o dan arweiniad Howell Davies (Hywel Dafis) ar 5 Mehefin 1719. Cafodd Barti gynnig i ymuno â’r morladron, ac fe dderbyniodd ar yr esgus mai bywyd tlodaidd a gwael oedd i forwr cyffredin ar long fasnach.

Dechreuodd Barti ar yrfa ryfeddol fel morleidr, yn cipio tua 400 o longau mewn llai na thair blynedd. Erbyn iddo gael ei ladd yn 1722, ef oedd yr enwocaf o gannoedd o forladron oedd ar waith yng Ngorllewin Affrica, y Caribî ac arfordir De America.

Erbyn Chwefror 1722 roedd dwy o longau’r Llynges Frenhinol ar drywydd Barti, a daeth un ohonynt, sef HMS “Swallow”, o dan arweiniad y Capten Challoner Ogle, ar draws Barti a’i dair llong ger Cape Lopez. Dioddefodd y “Royal Fortune”, sef llong Barti, ergydion lawer, a lladdwyd Barti gan ergyd i’w wddw. Bwriwyd ei gorff i’r môr, rhag i’r awdurdodau gael gafael arno.
Stori Harri Morgan

Roedd Harri Morgan yn fôr-leidr o fri, gyda nifer o’i hynafiaid yn enwog hefyd – cafodd un ohonynt ei ethol yn Is-lywodraethwr Ynys Providence a daeth un arall yn Lefftenant-Lywodraethwr Jamaica.

Ganwyd Harri Morgan yn Llanrhymni, Sir Fynwy, tua 1635. Credir ei fod yn byw yn Neuadd Llanrhymni am gyfnod. Pan oedd tua ugain oed hwyliodd i’r Caribî gydag un o fyddinoedd Cromwell o dan arweiniad yr Is-lyngesydd Penn, tad William Penn, sylfaenydd talaith Pennsylvania.   Bu’n rhan o frwydrau ffyrnig yn erbyn y Sbaenwyr, a gwnaeth y fath argraff ar y swyddogion fel y cafodd ei long ei hun.

Yn 1659 cipiodd long o Ffrainc a’i meddiannu gan ymosod yn llwyddiannus ar Santiago del Hispaniola. Arbedodd fywyd y Llywodraethwr, nid oherwydd unrhyw sentiment ond yn hytrach am lwgrwobr o 60,000 darn arian.

Ymhen tair blynedd, ymosododd yn llwyddiannus ar Santiago del Cuba ac yna ymlaen ag ef i Campeache lle dinistriodd lynges o 14 o longau’r gelyn. Y tro hwn llwyddodd i gipio 150,000 o ddarnau arian.  Yn 1665 trodd ei sylw at Gulfor Mecsico.

Dychwelodd Morgan i Jamaica i gael ei ddyrchafu’n Is-lyngesydd, ac yntau ond yn 30 oed. Erbyn 1668, ef oedd pennaeth herwlongwyr y Caribî a cafodd lynges o ddwsin o longau a 700 o longwyr.

Treuliodd y blynyddoedd nesaf yn ymosod ar eiddo Sbaenaidd ar hyd arfordir Fflorida a Thecsas cyn troi am Portobello. Yno, lle’r oedd amddiffynfeydd cryfaf y Sbaenwyr, y trefnodd Harri ei ymosodiad mwyaf eofn.

Cipiodd gaer ar ôl caer.  Cafodd gadw pump y cant o’r ysbail honno ond, wrth gwrs, y Brenin a gâi’r ganran uchaf.

Yn 1666 cafodd Morgan ddihangfa ffodus wrth i bowdwr ffrwydro’n ddamweiniol tra oedd yn trefnu ymosodiad ar y Ffrancwyr yn Cartagena. Newidiodd Morgan ei feddwl ac ymosod yn hytrach ar arfordir Feneswela, gan anelu am Maracaibo. Ymlaen ag ef wedyn i Gibraltar gerllaw. Yn y fan honno, ymddangosai fel pe bai llwyddiant y Capten Harri Morgan wedi dod i ben.

Roedd 2,400 o filwyr Sbaenaidd yn disgwyl amdanynt yn Ninas Panama. Ymosododd Morgan ar 21 Ionawr 1671. Cipiwyd y ddinas heb i’r Cymro golli ond pump o’i ddynion tra oedd y gelyn wedi colli 400 o’u dynion hwy. Unwaith eto, wedi iddo gyrraedd yn ôl i Port Royal, derbyniodd Morgan ganran o’r ysbail, sef tua 7,500 darn o aur.

Yn anffodus i Morgan, yn ystod yr ymosodiad ar Banama, daeth Prydain a Sbaen i gytundeb a chafwyd cadoediad. Danfonwyd y Cymro beiddgar i Lundain i wynebu llys barn. Erbyn hyn roedd hanes ei orchestion wedi ei droi yn destun chwedl.

Derbyniodd groeso tywysogaidd wrth iddo ddisgwyl am ymron ddwy flynedd i’w achos gael ei ddwyn gerbron y llys. Pan ymddangosodd o flaen Siarl II ym mis Tachwedd 1673 llwyddodd i ddadlau ei achos yn llwyddiannus. Yn wir, bu’r Capten Harri Morgan yn gyfrifol am lenwi pocedi’r Brenin, ac yn hytrach na’i gosbi fe’i hurddwyd yn Farchog a’i wneud yn Is-lywydd Jamaica. Gadawodd Lundain am y Caribî ar ddechrau 1675.

Yn Jamaica enwodd un o’i blanhigfeydd yn Llanrhymni, er cof am fan ei eni, ond bu ffrae rhyngddo â rhai o wŷr mawr yr ynys, yn cynnwys y Llywodraethwr, a dygwyd ef unwaith eto o flaen llys ar gyhuddiad o gynllwynio gyda’r Ffrancwyr. Unwaith eto, penderfynwyd nad oedd ganddo gyhuddiad i’w ateb a rhyddhawyd ef.

Yn 1680 fe’i dyrchafwyd yn Llywodraethwr Jamaica ac yna cafwyd datblygiad annisgwyl. Penderfynodd yr archysbeiliwr wahardd môrladrata a chynigiodd bardwn i’r holl fôr-ladron dim ond iddynt dyngu llw i roi’r gorau i ysbeilio. Doedd ganddo ddim trugaredd at y rhai a wrthododd y cynnig. Dedfrydwyd y rheiny i’w crogi.

Erbyn diwedd ei oes credir fod Morgan wedi casglu cynifer â miliwn o ddarnau aur, a hynny’n bennaf rhwng 1669 a 1671. Er hynny, roedd wedi gwario cymaint fel iddo fynd i ddyled. Erbyn hyn, roedd yn yfed yn drwm iawn hefyd. Enwyd diod rym enwog ar ei ôl, gyda’i lun yn ymddangos ar y label.

Bu farw Harri Morgan yn 1688 o’r dropsi – neu oedema – a gormod o alcohol. Yn ei angladd taniwyd pob gwn yn yr harbwr yn deyrnged iddo wrth i fôr-leidr enwoca’r byd gael ei gladdu ar dir sych. Ond, ‘rhagluniaeth fawr y nef, mor rhyfedd yw’.

Ar 7 Mehefin 1692 bu daeargryn cryf a llusgwyd mynwent Port Royal i’r môr gan don anferth – enghraifft gynnar o tsunami, mae’n debyg. Llusgwyd gweddillion Harri Morgan i’r eigion – tynged addas a chymwys i un a fu’n teyrnasu’r tonnau am flynyddoedd.

Fe erys ei ddylanwad o hyd. Yn wir credir mai ef yw ysbrydoliaeth cymeriad ffuglennol Capten Jack Sparrow yn ffilmiau hynod boblogaidd Disney, ‘Pirates of the Carribean. Ac ym mis Awst 2011, cred Archaeolegwyr o Brifysgol Texas State eu bod wedi darganfod gweddillion o un o longau Harri a suddodd ger y safle yn 1671. Roedd e ar ei ffordd i ddinas Panama gyda’i ddynion. Dywed yr archaeolegwyr eu bod wedi darganfod rhan o’r llong a blychau cargo a chistiau’r môr-ladron.

The Welsh Pirates

In our class Welsh we have been doing a bit of research to some of the pirates who were Welsh.
There are two fairly well known to us through the stories we heard in our childhood and the two are Black Bart and Henry Morgan.

‘Black Bart’ or ‘Bartholomew’ Roberts was born in Little Newport, about six miles outside Fishguard around 1682.

His real name was John Roberts but he took on the name Bartholomew when he became a pirate.  He came from a poor Welsh family but had ambitions for a better life.

He was around 13 years of age when he first went to sea under the leadership of Captain Charles Johnson and he was a sailor for some twenty years before he fell in with a bad crowd and took up piracy.  Whist an ordinary sailor he mastered the craft of seamanship and was especially good at setting and navigating a course correctly.  This was to stand him in good stead when feeling from the Spanish navy!!

In 1719 the ship Bartholomew was on, ‘The Princess’ a slave transportation vessel, was seized by pirates led by Howell Davies ‘Hywel Dafis’.   Bartholomew was given a choice, of sorts, join the crew or else!!  He decided that the life and pay of a common sailor wasn’t much of an incentive to stay so he made a major career change and became a Pirate.

Howell Davis (ca. 1690 – 19 June 1719), was also a Welsh pirate whose career lasted just 11 months, when he was ambushed and killed. His protégée was to become far more well known.

Black Bart as he became known, had an amazing success as a pirate, capturing around 400 ships in less than three years.  By 1722, which is the year he died, he was the most famous of hundreds of pirates operating in West Africa, the Caribbean and the South American coastline.

In 1722 there were two Royal Navy ships in pursuit of Barti; one was the HMS Swallow which under the captaincy of Challoner Ogle found Barti and his three ships near to Cape Lopez.  Barti’s ship the ‘Royal Fortune’ received many broadside from the Swallow’s cannons and Barti himself received a fatal wound to his neck.  His crew, almost down to the last man, ensured that Barti’s body would never be taken and threw him overboard into the sea.

True to the Pirates’ lifestyle Black Bart had a short but very eventful life!!

Sir Henry Morgan

Henry Morgan was a pirate of renown, with many of his famous ancestors too – of whom one had been elected Vice-governor Providence Island and became Lieutenant Governor of another Jamaican.
Henry Morgan was born in Llanrumney, Monmouthshire, around 1635. It is believed that he lived for a time in Llanrumney Hall. When he was about twenty years old he sailed to the Caribbean with one of Cromwell’s armies led by Vice Admiral Penn, father of William Penn, founder of the province of Pennsylvania.

He was part of many fierce battles against the Spanish and made such an impression on the officers he fought alongside that he was given command of his own ship.

In 1659 Henry captured a French ship and attacked Santiago del Hispaniola where he saved the life of the Governor; not because of sentiment but because he received a bribe of some 60,000 gold coins!

He went on to invaded Santiago del Cuba and in 1665 turned his attention to the Gulf of Mexico.  He returned to Cuba and was promoted to Vice Admiral when he was only 30 years of age. By 1688 he was head of the Caribbean Privateers and gained the rank of Admiral with a fleet of a dozen ships and 700 sailors in his charge.

Henry spent the next few years attacking property in Hispanic Florida, he captured fort after fort returning to Port Royal with piles of treasure and money.  He kept part of the loot but the lion’s share went to the King, Charles II.

In 1666 Henry had a lucky escape as blasting powder went off accidentally while he was organising a raid on the French in Cartagena!

In 1671 there was a ceasefire agreed between England and Spain and the daring Welshman was sent to London to face a court of law.  When in 1673 he appeared before Charles II (who had profited the most from Henry’s exploits) he was able to argue his case successfully and instead of being punished he was given a knighthood and made Vice-President of Cuba.  He returned home to Cuba in 1675.

He named one of his Jamaican plantations Llanrumney in memory of his birthplace but fell out of favour with the Governor of Jamaica and was arrested on charges of conspiring with the French!  Henry was released in 1680 and was in fact promoted to Governor of Jamaica.  Following he gave an offer of pardon to all Pirates who were willing to sign an oath that guaranteed they would change their ways, those who did not sign were hanged!

By the end of his life it is believed that Henry had accumulated as much a million gold coins but that he had spent as much on drink and was deep in debt.  His fondness for drink has led to his picture appearing on the famous Captain Morgan rum bottle!

Henry died of dropsy and excessive drinking in 1688.  At his funeral every ship in the harbour fired a gun in tribute to him.  Oddly enough, the world’s most famous pirate was buried on land but ……..

In 1692 there was a strong earthquake and Port Royal cemetery was dragged into the sea by a huge wave – an early tsunami maybe.  A fitting end maybe that the sea claimed one of its own.