Dechreuodd staff Sain Ffagan Amgueddfa Werin Cymru recordio hanesion pobl ym 1958, gan deithio Cymru gyda Land Rover a charafán. Ers hynny, mae haneswyr, cerddorion, ieithyddion ac ymchwilwyr wedi bod yn darganfod trysorau ymhlith y 13,000 o recordiadau sain sydd yn y casgliadau heddiw. Yma clywir lleisiau o bob math; o ffermwyr, glowyr a chwarelwyr i botswyr, meddygon esgyrn, carcharorion rhyfel o’r Eidal ac Iddewon Cymreig, mae rhywbeth yma i ddiddori pawb.

Wrth darllen manylion y siaradwyr cyntaf yng nghronfa ddata’r casgliad sain, sylweddolais bod nifer wedi eu geni yn y 19eg ganrif, ac un ddynes oedd wedi’i geni ym 1865! Oherwydd hyn, gallwn ni ddarganfod byd gwahanol yn y recordiau, lle oedd bywyd yn anodd iawn ond hefyd yn llawn brawdoliaeth. Byd llawn ofergoelion, ysbrydion a chreaduriaid o bob math...

Felly pan ddechreuais i ddigideiddio ein casgliad, roeddwn i’n gwrando gyda chyfaredd ar yr hyn oedd y tapiau yn eu dadorchuddio, roedd yn fêl i’r glust. Roedd y tapiau cyntaf yn hynod ddiddorol gan fod nifer yn fy atgoffa i o acen ein ffermwyr ni yn Llydaw – roedd hynna’n deimlad rhyfedd a rhyfeddol.

Ond rhaid cyfaddef, ar ôl digideiddio miloedd ar filoedd o recordiadau stopiodd fy meddwl dalu sylw bob yn dipyn. Fel rhyw mantra cyfrin Cymreig, roedd y lleisiau yn mynd i mewn drwy un glust ac allan drwy’r llall, a’r sain analog yn troi’n ddigidau a rhifau ym mhob ystyr y gair! Ond weithiau, fodd bynnag, roedd pytiau o sain fel larwm yn tynnu fy sylw. Perlau soniarus ar goll yn y mor o sŵn yn codi i’r wyneb...

Dyma isod tri enghraifft ohonynt fy mod yn cynnig i chi wrando ar:

YR HWYL

Fy nheimlad cyntaf wrth glywed y recordiad hwn oedd bod gan y dyn yma broblem go iawn. Roeddwn ni hefyd yn dechrau amau bod fy hen nain yn iawn pan fyddai hi’n dweud bod y Protestaniaid wedi damnio! Mae rhywbeth bygythiol a dychrynllyd yn y ffordd mae’n cyfathrebu, fel petai’r llais yn dod o fyd gwahanol.

Y GWAEDDWR

Dw i’n hoffi y ffordd y mae’r gwerthwr yma yn hanner canu, hanner gweiddi. O’i gymharu â’r enghraifft gyntaf, mae’n fodd tangnefeddus a difyr o gyfathrebu.

(I'w barhau yn y blog nesaf).

We are busy preparing our Natural History #MuseumAdvent calendar and we couldn't resist sharing with you a sneak preview! This year the backdrop for the calendar is a snowy National Museum Cardiff. Each of our 24 natural science curators and scientists have selected one of their favourite objects from the collections to showcase each day. The advent calendar will feature on the @CardiffCurator Twitter account, so why not tune in each day and see what natural science specimen or object is behind each door. The calendar will feature plants, insects, sea worms, shells, fossils, minerals, seaweed and diatoms to name but a few. Once we have opened all of the doors, we will reveal the curators behind the favourite objects.

Hi Bulb Buddies!

I hope you all enjoyed your half term holidays!

I want to say a big thank you for all your hard work on planting day. You helped to plant over 17,000 bulbs across the country! And from the photos I’ve seen, it looks like you all had a great time doing it!

Weather records started on 5th November. There is a resource on the website with more information on weather records. I’ve attached this here in case you haven’t already seen it! This resource helps you to answer important questions, such as ‘why rain fall and temperature readings are important to our investigation into the effects of climate on the flowering dates of spring bulbs’!

Use your Weather Chart to log the rain fall and temperature every day that you are in school. At the end of each week, log into the Spring Bulbs website to add your weekly readings. You can also leave comments or ask questions for me to answer in my next Blog!

Let me know how you get on! You can share photos with me via email or Twitter.

Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies!

Professor Plant

Lava medallions and coins in lava from Mount Vesuvius, Italy

The National Museum Wales Petrology (Rock) collection comprises 35,000 specimens, with many interesting rock samples from across Wales and the wider World. In the drawers of the Italian collection, alongside the pumice, volcanic ash and obsidian are these curious rocks.

NMW 15.133.GR.1 - Vesuvius, 1834. ‘note with specimen 'medallion struck in lava when it was in a hot and pasty condition’ (front)

What are lava medallions?

They are called lava medallions, medals or tablets, and along with coins embedded in lava they were probably first produced in the mid-18^th Century when the ‘Grand Tour’ become fasionable among the wealthy elite of Europe.  Taking in European cities like Paris, Rome, Venice, Florence and Naples, the ‘students’ would travel with a tutor on a Grand Tour to learn about languages, geography, culture, art and architecture. When passing through Naples, the volcano of Mount Vesuvius (Vesuvio) became a must see stop on the tour. Forget postcards, fridge magnets and selfies, the take home souvenir of the day was the lava medallion!

People have long been fascinated by destructive power of Mount Vesuvius, the volcano had lain dormant for centuries before the famous eruption in 79 A.D. when the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed. Over the last two thousand years, the volcano has erupted many times. Between eruptions, Vesuvius can lie almost dormant for long periods of time before erupting violently once again. Volcanoes the world over that erupt in this explosive style after long periods of dormancy are known as Vesuvian eruption volcanoes.

How were lava medallions made?

To make a lava medallion, molten lava would have been retrieved (by some very brave individual with a long stick!) from a recent lava flow or lava close enough to the surface that was accessible and still hot enough to be malleable. It was then moulded, pressed with a stamp, or embedded with a coin, cooled in a bucket of water and sold to a passing grand tourist.

The French Revolution in 1789 marked then end of Grand Tours as they were known, but with the advent of the railways in the early 19^th Century and the beginnings of mass tourism, these distinct souvenirs once again became popular take-home keepsakes, and they were produced in their thousands.

Over the years many of these medallions and lava coins have found their way into museum collections across the world. They often depict kings, Roman Emperors, famous scientists or events. All of the medallions and coins in the AC NMW collection date from the 19^th Century, and originate from Mount Vesuvius, but examples in other collections have originated from Mount Etna, Sicily.

If you would like to know more about lava medallions, please contact Andrew Haycock via:

https://museum.wales/staff/665/Andrew-Haycock/

NMW 15.133.GR.1 - Vesuvius, 1834. Note with specimen 'medallion struck in lava when it was in a hot and pasty condition’.

Hello Bulb Buddies,

It's planting day for schools in Wales, England and Northern Ireland! Schools in Scotland will be planting next Friday.

Click here for activities and resources that will help you with this part of the project and with looking after your bulbs over the coming months! 

These resources will help you on planting day:

• Adopt your Bulb (an overview of the care your Bulbs will need)
• Planting your Bulbs (guidelines for ensuring a fair experiment)

And these activities are fun to complete:

• Bulb Adoption Certificate
• Make Bulb Labels

It's important that you read these as they contain important information! For example, do you know to label your pot so that you know where the Daffodil and Crocus are planted?

Remember to take photos of your planting day to enter the Planting Day Photo Competition!

Keep an eye on Professor Plant's Twitter page to see photos from other schools.

Best of luck Bulb Buddies! Let us know how you get on!

Professor Plant & Baby Bulb