Madog the Prince

Madog the Prince

In fourteen hundred and ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue... and discovered America. But, according to legend, Prince Madog ab Owain Gwynedd got there first – a whole 300 years earlier.

Madog and his brother Riryd set sail from what we know today as Rhos-on-Sea in 1170, and dropped anchor possibly in modern day Alabama. He returned to Wales with tales of high adventure and set sail a second time, taking a band of settlers with him. It’s thought they landed at Mobile Bay and then headed inland along the Alabama river. But the story doesn’t end there: stone forts along the river dating from around the time of Madog’s arrival are said to be of a similar design to Dolwyddelan Castle, and early explorers are thought to have found evidence of Welsh influence among various tribes of North American Indians – including the use of coracles – a type of boat still in use in Wales today.

Whether fact or legend, Madog’s story has provided fertile inspiration for generations of poets, novelists and cultural historians.

Madoc was allegedly the son of Owain Gwynedd a 12^th Century prince of Gwynedd, widely considered one of the greatest Welsh rulers of the Middle Ages. Following his death in 1170, a bloody feud broke out between his heir Hywel (known as the ‘Poet Prince’) and Maelgwn, Rhodri and Dafydd his younger sons. They were sons of Owain’s second wife, Cristin. In total he had at least 13 children from his two wives and several more born out of wedlock but - as was the tradition in Wales - fully acknowledged. According to the legend, Madoc and his brother Rhirid were among these.

The legend claims that Madoc was disheartened by the fighting between his half brothers and so he and Rhirid decided to explore the western ocean with a small fleet of boats. This they did, setting sail from Llandrillo, Rhos-on-Sea.

The story tells that they discovered a distant and abundant land where one hundred Welshmen disembarked and established a settlement.  It has been suggested that their landing place was west Florida or Mobile Bay, Alabama in the US. Madoc and some others then returned to Wales to recruit more settlers and then returned across the Atlantic a second time, never to return.

While there is no absolute proof, there have been some tantalizing anecdotes that seem to support the legend. On November 26, 1608, Peter Wynne, a member of Captain Christopher Newport’s exploration party to the villages of the Eastern Siouan Monacan, above the falls of the James River in Virginia, wrote a letter to John Egerton. In it he informed Egerton that some members of Newport’s party believed that the pronunciation of the Monacans’ language resembled “Welch” which Wynne spoke. Furthermore, the Monacans were among those non-Algonquian tribes collectively referred to by the Algonquians as “Mandoag” – a term tantalisingly close to ‘Madoc-ian’.

Another early settler to claim an encounter with a Welsh-speaking Indian was the Rev. Morgan Jones. He told Thomas Lloyd, William Penn’s deputy, that he’d been captured in 1669 by a tribe of Tuscarora called the Doeg. According to Jones, his life was spared when the tribe’s chief heard him speak Welsh. The chief seemed to be familiar with the language, understanding much of what Jones said. Jones’ report says that he then lived with the Doeg for several months, preaching the Gospel in Welsh before returning to the British Colonies where he recorded the adventure in 1686.

Folk tradition has long held that a site called “Devil’s Backbone” at Rose Island, about fourteen miles upstream from Louisville, Kentucky, was once home to a colony of Welsh-speaking Indians.

In 1810, the first governor of Tennessee, Jon Sevier wrote to his friend, Major Amos Stoddard regarding a conversation he’d had years earlier in 1782 with the old Cherokee chief, Oconostota about the ancient fortifications built along the Alabama River. In the letter, Sevier claims that the old chief told him  that the forts had been built by a white people called “Welsh”, as protection against the ancestors of the Cherokee. Sevier had also written in 1700 of the alleged discovery of six skeletons in brass armor bearing Welsh coat-of-arms.

This story is corroborated in a later letter, dated 1824 by Thomas S Hind, who wrote to the editor of the American Pioneer regarding the Madoc tradition. In this letter, Hind also claimed that in 1799, six soldiers had been dug up near Jeffersonville, Indiana on the Ohio River with breastplates decorated with Welsh coat of arms.

It is probable that the truth will never really be known, that no artifact nor evidence will ever be found to prove beyond doubt that a Welsh nobleman discovered America three centuries before Columbus. Nevertheless, it is a tantalizing story and a legend that has withstood the test of time.

Y TYWYSOG MADOG AB OWAIN

‘In fourteen hundred and ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue’... yn ôl y dywediad, a darganfod America. Ond, yn ôl y chwedl, roedd y Tywysog Madog ab Owain Gwynedd yno yn gyntaf - rhyw 300 mlynedd ynghynt.

Hwyliodd Madog a'i frawd Rhiryd o’r lle a wyddom heddiw fel Llandrillo-yn-rhos ym 1170, a gollwng angor o bosibl ar arfordir Alabama fel y gelwir heddiw. Dychwelodd Madog i Gymru gyda straeon o antur uchel cyn cychwyn yr eil waith, gan gymryd band o ymsefydlwyr gydag ef. Credir eu bod wedi glanio yn Mobile Bay, cyn dilyn afon Alabama i mewn i’r tir. Ond dyw’r stori ddim yn gorffen yno: dwedir bod caerau cerrig ar hyd yr afon sy'n dyddio o gwmpas yr amser cyrhaeddodd Madog ar ddyluniad tebyg i Gastell Dolwyddelan, a chredir i anturiaethwyr cynnar gael tystiolaeth o ddylanwad Cymreig ymhlith gwahanol lwythau Indiaid Gogledd America - gan gynnwys y defnydd o gwryglau - math o gwch dal mewn defnydd yng Nghymru heddiw.

Prun ai ffaith neu chwedl ydyw, mae stori Madog wedi bod yn ysbrydoliaeth ffrwythlon i genedlaethau o feirdd, nofelwyr a haneswyr diwylliannol.

Honnir mai mab anghyfreithlon i Owain Gwynedd, tywysog Gwynedd a ystyrir yn eang yn un o arweinwyr blaenllaw Cymru yn y Canol Oesoedd, oedd Madog. Yn dilyn Marwolaeth Owain Gwynedd ym 1170, dechreuodd gweryl gwaedlyd rhwng ei etifedd Hywel a Maelgwn, Rhodri a Dafydd a'i feibion iau. Roedd y rhain yn feibion i ail wraig Owain, Cristin. Yn gyfan gwbl, roedd ganddo o leiaf 13 o blant o'i ddwy wraig, a ganed nifer mwy y tu allan i briodas; ond – yn ôl y traddodiad Cymreig, roedd pob plentyn yn cael eu cydnabod yn llawn. Yn ôl y chwedl, roedd Madog a'i frawd Rhiryd ymhlith y rhain.

Mae'r chwedl yn honni bod Madog wedi digalonni gan yr ymladd rhwng ei frodyr ac felly penderfynodd ef a Rhiryd deithio’r môr gorllewinol gyda llynges fach o gychod. A dyna a wnaethant, gan hwylio o Landrillo, Llandrillo-yn-rhos.

Mae'r stori yn dweud eu bod wedi darganfod gwlad bell, ffrwythlon lle’r ymgartrefodd cant o Gymry a deithiodd gyda Madog. Awgrymir mai yng ngorllewin Florida neu Mobile Bay, Alabama yn yr Unol Daleithiau y glaniodd llong Madog. Yna bod Madog a rhai eraill, wedi dychwelyd i Gymru i recriwtio mwy o ymsefydlwyr ac yna dychwelyd ar draws yr Iwerydd yr eildro, byth i ddychwelyd eto.

Er nad oes prawf cadarn, cafwyd rhai hanesion diddorol sy'n ymddangos i gefnogi'r chwedl. Ar 26 Tachwedd, 1608, ysgrifennodd Peter Wynne, aelod o griw archwilio Capten Christopher Newport i bentrefi dwyreiniol Siouan MONACAN, uwchben y rhaeadr Afon James yn Virginia, lythyr at John Egerton. Ynddo dywedodd wrth Egerton bod rhai aelodau o griw Newport yn credu bod ynganiad iaith y Monacans yn 'debyg' i’r Gymraeg a siaradodd Wynne. Ar ben hynny, mae'r Monacans ymysg llwythau nad ydynt yn perthyn i’r Algonquian. Cyfeirir atynt gan y Algonquians fel "Mandoag" - term pryfoclyd o agos at 'Madoc-ian'.

Ymsefydlwr cynnar arall i honni cyfarfod gydag Indiaid oedd yn siarad Cymraeg oedd y Parch Morgan Jones. Dywedodd wrth Thomas Lloyd, dirprwy William Penn, ei fod wedi ei gipio ym 1669 gan lwyth o Tuscarora a elwir y Doeg. Yn ôl Jones, arbedwyd ei fywyd pan glywodd pennaeth y llwyth yn ef yn siarad Cymraeg. Mae'n debyg bod pennaeth y llwyth yn gyfarwydd â'r iaith, ac yn deall llawer o'r hyn a ddywedodd Jones. Adroddiad Jones ei fod wedyn wedi byw gyda'r Doeg am sawl mis, gan bregethu yr Efengyl yn y Gymraeg atynt, cyn dychwelyd i'r Wladfa Brydeinig lle recordiodd yr antur ym 1686.

Mae traddodiad gwerin wedi hir ddal bod safle o'r enw ‘Devil’s Backbone’ yn Ynys Rose, tua phedwar ar ddeg milltir i fyny'r afon o Louisville, Kentucky, unwaith yn gartref i lwyth o Indiaid oedd yn siarad Cymraeg.

Ym 1810, ysgrifennodd llywodraethwr cyntaf Tennessee, Jon Sevier at ei ffrind, Major Amos Stoddard ynghylch a sgwrs roedd wedi cael blynyddoedd ynghynt ym 1782 gyda'r hen bennaeth y Cherokee, Oconostota am amddiffynfeydd hynafol a adeiladwyd ar hyd Afon Alabama. Yn y llythyr, mae Sevier yn honni bod yr hen bennaeth wedi dweud wrtho fod y caerau wedi eu hadeiladu gan bobl gwyn o'r enw "Cymraeg", fel amddiffyniad yn erbyn y Cherokee. Ysgrifennodd Sevier hefyd ym 1700 ynglŷn â darganfyddiad honedig o chwe sgerbwd mewn arfwisg bres ac arnynt arfbais Gymreig.

Mae'r stori yn cael ei chadarnhau mewn llythyr diweddarach, dyddiedig 1824 gan Thomas S Hind, a ysgrifennodd at olygydd y Pioneer Americanaidd ynglŷn â thraddodiad Madog. Yn y llythyr hwnnw, honnodd Hind, bod olion chwech o filwyr wedi cael eu cloddio ger Jeffersonville, Indiana ar Afon Ohio ym 1700 a rheini hefyd yn gwisgo brestbladau gydag arfbais Gymreig arnynt.

Mae'n debygol na wyddwn ni byth mo’r gwir, na ddaw unrhyw arteffact na thystiolaeth i glawr a fedr  brofi y tu hwnt i amheuaeth bod uchelwr Cymreig wedi darganfod America dair canrif cyn Columbus. Serch hynny, mae'n stori ddiddorol ac yn chwedl sydd wedi gwrthsefyll prawf amser.

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