School Motto

[toby webb]

This is a school motto
GOREU   GOLUD   GOLUD  GWYBOD
Can anyone help with the translation?
Also can anyone give me some idea of how Ysgeifiog is pronounced? Since my g.g.grandfather was married there in 1833, I feel I should not be as ignorant as I currently am.
Thanks. Toby.

[taidgazacaz]

I haven't seen this motto before, but the words translate as follows:

Gorau (note the spelling) = best
Golud = wealth
Gwybod(aeth) = knowledge

However, if you're certain of the spelling, my dictionary shows an obsolete word "goreu" which means "He made" or "He did".

Either way, you should be able to give some meaning to the motto.

Pronunciation of Ysgeifiog!! Try this:

"us" as in bus
"g" as in go
"ay" as in hay
"vee" as in neck jumper
"og" as in dog.

Have fun.

[toby webb]

Hi Taidgazacaz,
                         Thanks. That is a jolly good start. I checked my source which is a book about the County School for Girls, Pontypool and it give GOREU. Mind you that's almost England so perhaps the printer didn't get it right.
    Incidentally, can "she" be substituted for "he" in your obsolete word? If so it starts to make a lot of sense.
    Thanks for Ysgeifiog. I can show off to my family now!
Best wishes, Toby.

[taidgazacaz]

Hi,

Yes, I'm pretty sure that "she" and "he" are interchangeable.

 

[toby webb]

On going through the papers of a former pupil, I found a cutting from the Free Press of Monmouthshire of 14? January 1972. It concerned the 75th anniversary of Pontypool Girls intermediate School and after giving the motto in Welsh it added a translation:-
"The Best Wealth is the Wealth of the Mind.
   I think this should finally put the subject to bed.
Toby.