English: The philosopher Michael Oakeshott said that beyond bare facts, 1066 and all that - perhaps I should say 1282 - history is an act of making - it was interesting how Mick started - or at least apprehension, a seeking for understanding. And each generation does that, and it requires great skill. Our great-great grandparents would have put the battle of Bosworth as one of the main items that forged Welsh identity. I don't suppose - . Well, only a fraction of children would now learn about that, but we had great pageants in Cardiff castle re-enacting it and just how that demonstrated the return of Arthur in the form of the Tudors, if you want to be really, really fancy about it. But it's just layer on layer of how different generations approach things. I'm not quite sure if it was Dr John Davies or R. Davies - it was a 'Davies' historian of massive stature - who said that medieval Welsh society was the medieval equivalent, really, of the Gurkhas, and that martial society committed to the most ferocious type of warfare - that's what was the great speciality and what kept many men in employment, not just all around Britain but Europe. Well, now, we would be taught, quite rightly, much more about our nineteenth-century tradition of seeking peace and harmony, and in the twentieth century as well, and the goodwill message that children send through the Urdd and these things. Wales at the Reformation was highly Catholic - probably with East Anglia and Lancashire the strongest areas to hold out. Protestantism was rejected with a passion amongst the people, who very much liked their faith tradition and their folk religion, with its colour and all its ceremonies. But, then, in the eighteenth century, the turn to nonconformity was absolutely massive, and had such an important influence, really, on making modern Wales. So, there are all sorts of threads there that require deep understanding. I suppose the art of history is to do that without imposing our preferences on those former generations of Welsh men and women, because they lived real lives. Those values were really important to them, and they're radically different, many of them, from the way we think today. I do notice in this whole area that it's been contentious for some time - I think Leighton Andrews was the first Minister to say that we needed to look at the history curriculum, and then commissioned Dr Elin Jones to write a report, which we found very, very useful as a base to our study. Can I say that I welcome broadly the Government's response to our report? But, it's unfortunate that recommendation 2, which is that some sort of guidance needs to be given about the thread that students should be getting, in terms of what the significant events are and then how they may be interpreted - I think that is very useful in a national story. I do notice that, despite rejecting recommendation 2, you are committed to developing new resources, and that, I think, is hugely welcome. I do think that the historical understanding of our culture is really important, because if we don't do it, then I don't think those outside Wales are really going to be convinced of a need to look at us, and to look at the unique experience we have in terms of the emergence of Wales and its place in Britain and, indeed, the wider world. I do think that the public understanding of Welsh history and culture throughout the UK is something that we should look at - it was one of the suggestions I made at one point in the committee - because the history of Wales is of British and European importance. Some institutions around the rest of Britain, in London or - . I went to the National Museum of Scotland, and I asked for some materials on the kingdom of Strathclyde, that great repository of Welsh culture, in terms of its literature - many of our texts were found there. I had very blank looks, I have to say, because it's not really part of the national Scottish story, so why was I asking that? But actually, we have five national stories in these islands - the four home nations and Britain. I think the way we try to apprehend and understand them today is really, really important for our cultural integrity and, indeed, the way we make use of the very rich resources that have come in our heritage, but also, then, how we fashion them today. Thank you.
Welsh: Dywedodd yr athronydd Michael Oakeshott, y tu hwnt i ffeithiau moel, 1066 a hynny i gyd - efallai y dylwn ddweud 1282 - mai gweithred o wneud yw hanes - roedd yn ddiddorol sut y cychwynnodd Mick - neu o leiaf amgyffrediad, ymgais i ddeall. Ac mae pob cenhedlaeth yn gwneud hynny, ac mae'n gofyn am sgìl mawr. Byddai ein hen hen neiniau a'n hen hen deidiau wedi dweud mai brwydr Bosworth oedd un o'r prif bethau a greodd hunaniaeth Gymreig. Nid wyf yn tybio - . Wel, ychydig iawn o blant a fyddai'n dysgu am hynny erbyn hyn, ond cawsom basiantau gwych yng nghastell Caerdydd yn ei ail-greu a sut yn union roedd hynny'n dangos dychweliad Arthur ar ffurf y Tuduriaid, os ydych chi eisiau bod yn wirioneddol ffansi yn ei gylch. Ond mae'n haen ar ben haen o sut y mae gwahanol genedlaethau'n edrych ar bethau. Nid wyf yn hollol siŵr ai Dr John Davies neu R. Davies a ddywedodd - roedd yn hanesydd 'Davies' o fri enfawr - a ddywedodd fod cymdeithas Gymreig yn y canol oesoedd yn cyfateb mewn gwirionedd i'r Gyrcas, a chymdeithas filwraidd a oedd wedi ymrwymo i'r math mwyaf ffyrnig o ryfela - dyna oedd yr arbenigedd mawr a'r hyn a gadwai lawer o ddynion mewn gwaith cyflogedig, nid yn unig ym mhob cwr o Brydain ond drwy Ewrop. Wel nawr, byddem yn cael dysgu lawer mwy, yn gwbl briodol, am ein traddodiad o geisio heddwch a chytgord yn y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg, ac yn yr ugeinfed ganrif hefyd, a'r neges ewyllys da y mae plant yn ei hanfon drwy'r Urdd a'r pethau hyn. Roedd Cymru adeg y Diwygiad Protestannaidd yn hynod Gatholig - gydag East Anglia a Swydd Gaerhirfryn, dyma'r ardaloedd cadarnaf eu gwrthwynebiad yn ôl pob tebyg. Gwrthodwyd Protestaniaeth gydag angerdd ymysg y bobl, a oedd yn hoff iawn o'u traddodiad ffydd a chrefydd y werin, gyda'i holl liw a'i seremonïau. Ond wedyn, yn y ddeunawfed ganrif, roedd y newid i anghydffurfiaeth yn enfawr, a chafodd y fath ddylanwad pwysig ar greu'r Gymru fodern. Felly, ceir pob math o linynnau yno sy'n galw am ddealltwriaeth ddofn. Mae'n debyg mai celfyddyd hanes yw gwneud hynny heb orfodi ein dewisiadau ni ar y cenedlaethau blaenorol o ddynion a menywod yng Nghymru, oherwydd roeddent yn byw bywydau go iawn. Roedd y gwerthoedd hynny'n bwysig iawn iddynt, ac maent yn wahanol iawn, lawer ohonynt, i'r ffordd rydym yn meddwl heddiw. Sylwaf yn yr holl faes hwn ei fod wedi bod yn ddadleuol ers tro - credaf mai Leighton Andrews oedd y Gweinidog cyntaf i ddweud bod angen inni edrych ar y cwricwlwm hanes, a chomisiynodd Dr Elin Jones wedi hynny i ysgrifennu adroddiad, ac roedd hwnnw'n ddefnyddiol iawn fel sylfaen i'n hastudiaeth. A gaf fi ddweud fy mod yn croesawu'n fras ymateb y Llywodraeth i'n hadroddiad? Ond mae'n anffodus fod argymhelliad 2, sef bod angen rhoi rhyw fath o arweiniad ynglŷn â'r llinyn y dylai myfyrwyr ei gael, o ran beth yw'r digwyddiadau arwyddocaol ac yna sut y gellir eu dehongli - credaf fod hynny'n ddefnyddiol iawn mewn stori genedlaethol. Er i chi wrthod argymhelliad 2, sylwaf eich bod wedi ymrwymo i ddatblygu adnoddau newydd, ac mae hynny i'w groesawu'n fawr yn fy marn i. Credaf fod dealltwriaeth hanesyddol o'n diwylliant yn bwysig iawn, oherwydd os na wnawn ni hynny, nid wyf yn credu y bydd y rheini y tu allan i Gymru yn cael eu hargyhoeddi o ddifrif fod angen edrych arnom, ac edrych ar y profiad unigryw sydd gennym mewn perthynas â datblygiad Cymru a'i lle ym Mhrydain ac yn y byd ehangach yn wir. Credaf fod dealltwriaeth y cyhoedd o hanes a diwylliant Cymru ledled y DU yn rhywbeth y dylem edrych arno - roedd yn un o'r awgrymiadau a wneuthum ar un adeg yn y pwyllgor - gan fod i hanes Cymru bwysigrwydd Prydeinig ac Ewropeaidd. Mae rhai sefydliadau o gwmpas gweddill Prydain, yn Llundain neu - . Euthum i Amgueddfa Genedlaethol yr Alban, a gofynnais am ddeunyddiau ar deyrnas Ystrad Clud, y gloddfa fawr honno o ddiwylliant Cymreig, o ran ei llenyddiaeth - cafwyd hyd i lawer o'n testunau yno. Nid oedd neb i'w weld yn deall, oherwydd nid yw'n rhan o'r stori genedlaethol yn yr Alban, felly pam y gofynnais hynny? Ond mewn gwirionedd, mae gennym bum stori genedlaethol ar yr ynysoedd hyn - y pedair gwlad a Phrydain. Rwy'n credu bod y ffordd y ceisiwn eu hamgyffred a'u deall heddiw yn wirioneddol bwysig, o ran ein cyfanrwydd diwylliannol ac yn wir, y ffordd y defnyddiwn yr adnoddau tra chyfoethog sydd wedi dod yn rhan o'n treftadaeth, ond hefyd, sut rydym yn rhoi ffurf arnynt heddiw. Diolch.