Llun trwy Garedigrwydd Archifau a Chasgliadau Arbennig, Prifysgol Bangor
Photograph courtesy of Archives and Special Collections, Bangor University
~~~~~~~~~~
Dyma ‘Ela Salmon’ sydd ar dudalennau 82-83 o lawysgrif Bangor 2296, sef llawysgrif Robert Thomas o Gaernarfon (darllenwch fwy o wybodaeth am lawysgrif Robert Thomas yma).
Mae’r alaw yn gwneud synnwyr yn gerddorol, gyda diweddglo’r adran 1af a’r 3ydd adran mwy neu lai’r un peth. Mae’r adrannau hefyd â strwythur cyweiriau cyfarwydd (tonydd-llywydd-tonydd).
Ond mae yna nifer o elfennau anghyffredin yn ‘Ela Salmon’; mae hi’n alaw hir o’i chymharu â rhai eraill o lawysgrifau’r cyfnod. Mae yna 12 bar yn yr adran gyntaf, 13 yn yr ail a 12 yn y drydedd, sydd yn strwythur anarferol. Mae’r alaw hefyd fel petai ddim yn setlo ar y cywair. Oherwydd yr elfennau yma, tybed a oedd swyddogaeth arall gan yr alaw, er enghraifft ar gyfer canu penillion?
Mae yna fersiwn tebyg iawn o ‘Ela Salmon’ i’w gweld yn llawysgrif Morris Edwards (Bangor 2294, t. 33) ble mae yna 4 bar ychwanegol yn yr adran olaf.
~~~~~~~~~~
‘Ela Salmon’ is found on pages 82-3 of the Bangor 2296 manuscript, which is Robert Thomas from Caernarfon’s manuscript (you can find more information about the Robert Thomas manuscript here).
This tune is logical, with the end of the 1st and 3rd sections more or less the same. The sections also follow a straightforward key structure (tonic-dominant-tonic).
But there are some unusual elements in ‘Ela Salmon’; it’s a long tune compared to others from similar manuscripts of the period. There are 12 bars in the first section, 13 in the second and 12 in the third, which is unusually inconsistent. The melody is as if it doesn’t sit right on the key. Because of these elements, I wonder if the tune had a different function, perhaps for singing ‘penillion'(verses)?
There’s a very similar version of this tune in the Morris Edwards manuscript (Bangor 2294, p. 33) where there are an extra 4 bars in the last section.
~~~~~~~~~~
Ewch yma i weld yr alaw mewn nodiant safonol/Click here to see the tune in standard notation: Ela Salmon
Dyma nodiant abc o’r alaw/Here’s the melody in abc notation: Ela Salmon
Dyma fi yn chwarae’r alaw ar y ffidil:
Here’s my version of the tune on the fiddle:
Alawon Bangor 