Yr Ysmygwr: Rhyddiaith Fer a Barddoniaeth (Daniel Owen)

“Pa fath bobol, syr, ydach chi yn ein galw ni y Cymry? Slaves dienaid a di-ynni yr ydw i yn ’u galw nhw, yn diodde y pla yma ers oesoedd. Mi fyddaf yn synnu na fasen ni ers talwm wedi codi fel un gŵr i ymlid y lot ddiog hyn oddi ar ein porfeydd! Maent yn casáu ein hiaith, ac 
wedi gneud eu gorau i’n cael dan draed y Saeson, ac ar yr un pryd 
y maent yn bwyta braster ein gwlad a chynnyrch ein tiroedd
—a ninnau a’n llaw wrth ein het iddynt am neud hynny!”

Daniel Owen was the most important prose writer of his age in Welsh. Although best known for his novels, he also wrote a number of shorter works in the form of short stories and essays and was also an occasional poet.

A number of these shorter works were collected in a volume in 1886 under the title Y Siswrn, which was to prove one of the most popular publicationsof the ninteenth century in Welsh. This new volume includes everything that was included in that volume including the author's best short story, Yr Ysmygwr (The Smoker), along with a large number of new works and poems not previously published in book form. 

“...tour de force, a rare achievement in a completely unfamiliar field."
—Saunders Lewis, about Yr Ysmygwr

Paperback, 179 pages.