30.3.06

rhyddyd i gelfyddyd

much is made of bardic poetry in wales. historically, it was usually comissioned or written in praise of a patron. although today the social context which gave rise to this highly wrought, almost enclosed world of word labour is gone much of the consonant trickery (as well as difficult verse forms) remains in the modern poetry. i can't do it...

there was poetry before this canu caeth (caeth = bondman n.m. (caethion) slave n.m. (caethion) bond adj. confined adj. close adj. strict adj. stringent adj. draconian adj. impacted adj.) as well as during and after, that was free from the bonds of cynghanedd as well as being structurally different from the 24 recognised bardic meters. it was sung by the cler
as the professional bards called them. cler means flies or dung beetles.

one of these meters is called englyn milwr

du dy farch du dy capan
du dy ben du dy hunan
iad du. ai ti yscolan

mi yscolan yscolheig
yscon ei bwyll. yscodig
gwae ni bawdd a gawdd gwledig

o losgi eglwys a lladd buwch ysgol
a llyfyr rodd - ei foddi
fy penyd yw trwm cyni

creawdwr y creadurie. perthide mwya
madde di imi fy gau
a’th fradws ti a’m twylles inne

blwyddyn llawn y’m doded
ym bangor ar pawl cored
edrych di. poen i mi gan môr bryfed

bai ys gwypwn ar wn. mor amlwg gwynt.
o flaen brig gwydd ffaw llwm.
ar a wneuthum e byth nis gwnawn.


here is my rough translation

black your horse, black your cloak
black your head, black your self
black skull, is it you, yscolan?

i am yscolan the champion.
you are light brained you wild phantom
woe to him who does not give what the hero wants

for burning a church and killing school cattle
and drowning of a gift book
my sentence is heavy anguish.

creator of creatures strangest wonders
forgive my wrong
he that betrayed you deceived me.

i was put for a full year
in a wattled fence on the stake of a dam
see the pain I have from sea insects

if I had known what I know. as plain as wind
before branches that are brittle on sick trees
i would never have done what I did


the original can be veiwed here

the englyn milwr form changed slightly and is alive in todays tradition and known as a triban

it is not much concerned with the fabric of poesy any more but rather uses that fabric to make jokes about bottoms and genitals. it reached its zenith in south wales in the early twentieth century when its ribaldry came face to face with religious fundamentalism. as the language declines so does the tradition

fi gwnes acha bora
fi nethoi fargen deche
fi brynes fochyn gan ryw ddyn
a thwll ei din yn ishe

tri peth ni saif yn llonydd
yw niwl ar ben y minydd
col o fangor heb un clwm
a chala twm sion dafydd

mi weles merch lliw'r lili
yn pisho ar y bili
ag wrth ei waith yn gyllwng dwr
bu dounaw gwr ar foddi

tri pheth ni saif heb shiglo
yw llong ar mor yn seilo
dail yr aethnen un yr haf
a thin merch braf wrth ddanso


these verses can be sung to the melody given below - y folantein

29.3.06

binary, ternary and crug-y-bar

in an interview here with, i think, brad hurley, jean michel veillon says, regarding the playing of breton music on the wooden flute for dancing that,

rhythms are never as simple as they seem to be at first: in the majority of breton tunes, there is an almost omnipresent swing between binary and ternary rhythms; sometimes imperceptible, but important.

crug y bar is a famous welsh hymn tune, now sung to words by david charles but credted in hymn books as being traditional welsh. a tune called saron (also known by other names) was pricked down by ifor ceri (john jenkins) before 1820, thus predating the binary rhythm tune crugybar, which was incidentally also known as bozra. not what jmv is directly talking about perhaps but certainly an example of words dictating tune rhythm


X:1
T:Saron
N:casglwyd gan ifor ceri cyn 1820
M:3/4
L:1/4
Q:100
K:D %Transposed from G
D/E/|FFG|AAF|D/F/ D D/E/|FBA/B/|AFE|D2:||
A/G/|FGA|Bdc|BAA/G/|FED/E//F//|GGF|E2D/E/|
FFG|AAF|D/F/DD/E/|FBA/B/|AFE|D2:||


X:2
T:crugybar
M:4/4
L:1/4
Q:100
C:tradd.
K:D
D|F2FF|FA2F|DE2D|AB2A/B/|AF2E|D3:||
A|A2GF|B2Bd|BA2G|FA2B|B2AF|E3|
D|F2FF|FA2F|DE2D|AB2A/B/|AF2E|D3|

27.3.06

battle of the trees

here is the text for kat godeu, or the battle of the trees, - as i can make it out.
it is copied from the drych digidol, an online resource from the national library in wales.
the x's and ?'s are letters i can't make out. it is found in peniarth 2.
it is associated with taliesin, and was written, if i remember correctly, near gorseinon in south west wales

23
Kat godeu.
B um yn lliavs rith kyn bum dis///
| gyfrith. bum cledyf culurith. credaf pan
writh. bum deigyryn awyr. bum serwav syr.
bum geir yn llythyr. bum llyfyr ym prifder.
bum llugyrn lleufer blvydyn ahanher. bum
pont ar triger ar trugein aber. bum hynt bu
eryr. bum corvc ymyr. bum drwed yn llat.
bum dos ygkawat. bum cledyf yn aghat. bum
yscvyt yg kat. bum tant yn telyn lletrithaut
nav bloydyn. yn dvfyr yn ewyn. bum yspvg
yn tan. bum gvyd yn ^ gwarthan. nyt in i vyf ny
gan keint yr yn bychan. keint yg kat godeu
bric. rac prydein wledic. gveint veirch canholic.
llyghessoed meuedic. gveint xxx mavrem. ar
navyd oed canpen. a chat erdygnavt dan von
ytauavt. a chat arall yssyd ynywegilyd. llyff/
an du gaflav. Cant ewin arnav. neidyr bre/
ith gribavc. cant eneit trvy bechavt aboenir
__________________________________

24
yny chnavt. bum ygkaer nefenhir nav yt gryssynt
wellt gvyd. kenynt gerdoryon kryssynt katna
on. dacv yrein y brythron aoreu gvytyon. gelwyf
sit ar neifon argrist o achvysson. hyt pan y gva
rettei yren ru digonsei. as attebvys dofyd trvy
ieith ac eluyd. rithuch riedivc wyd. gantav yn
lluyd. arvystrav peblic. kat arllav annefic. pan
svynhvyt godeu. ygobeith an godeu. dygot torynt
godeu opedrydant canheu. kvydynt am aeveu.
trychvn trymdieu. dyar gardei brin. tardei am
atgun. Blaen llin blaen brin. budyant buch
anhun. nyn gvnei emellun. gvaet guyr hyt
an clun. muyhaf teir aryfgryt. athweris ym
byt. ac un aderyv o ystyr dilyv. achrist ycroccav
adydbraut racllau. Gvern blaen llin awant gys/
seuin. helyc a cherdin. buant hvyr yr bydin.
P?irmwyd yspin anwhant o dynin. keri kywir/
nhim. gvrthrychyat gvrthrin. ffuonwyd eith/
yt. erbyn llu o gevryt. duanwyd gvneithyt. ny
goreu emwyt. yr amgelvth bywyt. Byswydd
agvyduvyt. ac eido yr y bryt. mor eithin yr gryt.
siryan senyssit. Bedw yr y baur bryt. bu hvyr gv
iscyssit. nyt yr y lyfyrder. namyn yr y bavred.
anron delis bryt. allmyr uch allfryt. ffeintwyd
ygkynted. kadeir gygwryssed. am goreu ar dyrched rac bron teyrned. llvyf yry baranhed
_____________________________________

25

nyt o scoes troetued. ef lladei a pherued ac eithaf
a dixed. collwyd beriussit eiyf ac (^ dv)arygryt. gvy
ros gvyn y byt. taiv trin teyrn byt. moravt a
?yoryt. ffawydd ffynyessit. kelyn glessyssit bu ef
ygvrhyt. yspydat amnat. heint ech yaghat.
gvmwydd gortho(^r)at. gorthoryssit ygat. redyn
anreithat. banadyl rac bragat yn rychua bu
wat. eithin ni bu bat. yr hynny guerinat.
bruc budyd amnat. dywerin suynat. hydguyr
erlynyat. Derv buanavr. racdav crynei nef all
aur. G?elyn glev drussyaur y env ym peullavr. daf
uswyd kygves kymrav arodes. Gurthod? gvrth
odes eraill o tylles. Per gorev gormes ym plym
lvyt maes. gorvthavt kuwyd aches beilon
wyd. kastan kewilyd gvrthryat fenwyd. han/
tit du muchyd. handit crvm mynyd. handit
kyl coetdyd. handit kynt myr mavr. erpan
giglev yr avr. andeilas blaen bedv. an datrith
datedv. an masglas blaen derv o warchan ma
elderv. wherthmavc tu creic. ner nyt ystereic.
Nyt o vam athat pan ymdigonat. am creu
am creat. o naw rith llafanat. o ffrvyth offrvy
thev. offrvyth duv dechrev. o briallu a blodeu
bre. o blavt gvydau a godeu. o prid o pridret y.
pan ymdigonet. o blaut danat o dvfyr ton nav
uet. am svynvys i vath. kyn bum dia(^c)vet.
__________________________________

26

am svynvys i wytyon mavnut o brython. o
eurwys o euron. o euron o vodron o pymp
pumhvnt kelvydon. arthavon eil math pam
ymdygyaed. amfvynvys i wledic. pan bei
letloscedic. amfvynvys sywyddon sywytkyn
byt. pan bei genhyf y bot pan bei benit byt.
hard bard bud an gnaut arwavt ytuedaf atra
etho tauavt. Gvaryeif yn llychvr. kysceis i
ymporffor. neu bum yn yscor gan dylan eil
mor. ygkylchet ym perved rvg deulin teyrrned.
yndeu wayv anchwant o nef pan doethant.
yn annvyfyn llifereint vrth urvydrin dybyd
ant petwar vgeint cant. agveint yr eu whant.
nyt ynt hyn nyt ynt ieu no mi yn eu bareu.
aryal canhvr agem(?) pavb anav cant oed gen/
hyf inheu. yg cledyf brith gvaet bri am dir/
wed o douyd o golo lle yd oed. o dof yt las baed.
ef gvrith ef datwrith. ef gvrith ieithoed. llach/
ar y env llavffer. lluch llywen nifer. ysceinynt
yn usel. o dof yn uchel. bvm neidyrbreith y
mryn. bvm gviber yn llyn. bum ser gan gyn/
byn. bum bvystuer hyn. vygcassul am kavc
arma af nyt yn drvc. petwar ugeint mvc ar
pavb adydvc. pymp pemhnvnt aghell aymtal
am kyllell. whech march melyn a ell. canweth yssyd well. vy march melyn gan kyfret agvy
____________________________________

27
lan. mihun nyt eban. kyfrvg mor aglan. neu
gorvyf gvaethan. arnav cant kynran. rud em
vyg kythvy. eur vy yscvytrvy. ny ganet ynadvy
axx ym gowy namyn goronvy o dolev edryyy?.
hir wynn vy myssavr. pell na bum henssavr.
treiglais ymyvn llavr kyn bum lle enavr. Trei/
gleis kylchyneis kysceis cant ynys. cant
caer athrugys. derwydon doethur. darogenvth
y arthur. yssit yssyd gynt. neur uu ergenhynt.
acvn aderyv o ystyr dilyv. achrist ycvoccav. a dyd
bravt raclav. eurem yn euryll. mi hudvyf berth/
yll ac vydyf drythyll o orymes fferyll.

20.3.06

madness, rattleskull and old flute tunes

john clare was a contemporary of mad ned; edward williams, iorwerth, or iolo morgannwg (as well as robert burns and other radicals who spent time in london and elsewhere).

he was an opium* user, like iolo, and also a flute* player, like iolo. (* my mistake - see comments) they both collected folk tunes from their respective areas (northamptonshire and glamorganshire) and were among the first to do so. it is also noteworthy that they belonged to the social class from whom they were collecting, unlike other, later, tune collectors or the earlier music publishers

the enclosing of fields was particulary distressing for clare who ended up in an asylum but the symbolism of the enclosures must also have affected other neo classicists and romantics in their artistic perception as well as in the making of their art. iolo, the great neo classicist, has been dismissed by some as a mere forger and clare as simply being not very good and mad to boot

in hilly-wood. john clare

how sweet to be thus nestling deep in boughs,
upon an ashen stoven pillowing me;
faintly are heard the ploughmen at their ploughs,
but not an eye can find its way to see.
the sunbeams scarce molest me with a smile,
so thick the leafy armies gather round;
and where they do, the breeze blows cool the while,
their leafy shadows dancing on the ground.
full many a flower, too, wishing to be seen,
perks up its head the hiding grass between.-
in mid-wood silence, thus, how sweet to be;
where all the noises, that on peace intrude,
come from the chittering cricket, bird, and bee,
whose songs have charms to sweeten solitude.


pennill gan iolo morgannwg

canu ddwyf a bod yn llawen
fel yr eos ar y ddraenen
bod y draenen yn fy mhigo
canu ddwyf a gatel iddo


here is a tune collected by clare. it is known in wales as, variously, mopsi don, obsidion, upside down



X: 25
T:Welsh Jigg. JC.025
M:6/8
L:1/8
Q:240
S:John Clare,Poet,Helpston. (1793-1864)
R:Jig
O:England
A:Northamptonshire
N:
Z:vmp.P. Headford
K:Bb
ABcc2d|c2B cAF|BcB ded|BcB ded|!
ABcc2d|c2B A2A|Bcde2d|cBAB3:||:!
fdf ece|dBd cAF|B2B dcB|A2Bc3|!
fdf ece|dBd cAF|dcB gfe|decB3:||

11.3.06

llwyn onn

wedi cael y pleser rhyfedda yn whare fersiwn mixolydian o'r alaw hon wthnos yma unwaith eto.
node abc wedi'u casglu o'r wahannol casgliade ar y we

X:1
T:Cease Your Funning [1]
L:1/8
M:6/8
S:Sharp – English Folk-Song (1907)
N:There have been some claims that “Cease Your Funning” was derived (‘stolen’) from the Welsh tune “The Ash Grove,” despite the fact that the latter first appeared in print in the Bardic Museum of 1802. As above, it clearly derives from “Constant Billy,” and the claim for Welsh provenance has no merit, according to Kidson (Groves). Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Time), Vol. 2, 1859; pgs. 119?120. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 61. Sharp (English Folk-Song), 1907; pg. 113.
AKA and see "Lofty Mountains," "Constant Billy." English, Air (6/8 time). The song appears in John Gay's Beggar's Opera (1729) and The Fashionable Lady (1730). Chappell reminds us that the tune is, as are all the tunes in Gay's famous work, older than the opera. Kidson (1922) dates the tune to the late 17th century where he finds it on half?sheet music attached to the song "Constant Billy."  In fact, the air appears as "Constant Billy" in the third volume of Playford's Dancing Master. Sharp (1907) explores the relationship between “Constant Billy” and “Cease Your Funning,” and points out that Gay was not a musician himself and employed the services of a German, Pepusch, by name, to note down and arrange the airs which Gay sang to him. “It needs but a cursory examination of this opera to see that the airs are anything but faithful transcriptions of genuine peasant-tunes…” and concludes that Gay or Pepusch, or both, were guilty of alterations or ‘improvements.’ “The rhythm of the fine old melody ‘Constant Billy’ is changed that it might fit the metre of the new words of ‘Cease Your Funning’, and the tune adorned with a dominant modulation at the middle cadence.”
Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion
K:B
B2f dB2|e2c AF2|d2B GE2|cFA B3|B2f dB2|e2c AF2|d2B GEG|cFA B3:|
||B2b b2f|B2g g2e|A2f fBA|Gf =e f3|B2f dB2|e2c AF2|d2B GEG|cFA B3||

X:2
T:Constant Billy
M:6/8
L:1/8
S:Adderbury
K:A
E|A2e cBA F2E|1 EFG A2:|2 EFG A3||cde f3|
Bcd e3|cde f3|Bcd e2 (3e/f/g/|a2e cBA F2E|EFG A2||

X:1
T:Ash Grove
R:Waltz
C:Trad.
M:3/4
N: The untitled tune for John Gay's "Cease your funning" in 'The Beggar's Opera', 1728, is "Constant Billy" in vol. III of 'The Dancing Master', 2nd edit., c 1726. However, it is in Eb lydian, rather than G major. Welsh title, Llwyn Onn. Tune first published in Edward Jonesís "The Bardic Museum", 1802. With words, in Bardd Alawís "Welsh Melodies with appropriate English Words", 1809.Much later, patriotic words were written by the poet Talhaiarn (1810-1869), "Gogoniant i Gymru", literally "Glory to Wales", translated by the poet himself as "All hail to thee, Cambria, the land of my fathers". The tune maybe lends itself to poignant words, although as always parodies have appeared,e.g. [in the West of Scotland] "In yonder green valley there lived a wee Tally, and the hair on her dicky-di-do hung down to her knee" or so. ("Tally" = "Italian", a common slang term, quite affectionate; a "tally shop" is one typically kept by Italians, such as one selling fish and chips, ice cream, etc.). The tune just appeared out of the blue, and its origin is unknown, though a connection has been made with an 18th-century tune, "Cease Your Funning", which likewise appeared out of nowhere in "The Beggarís Opera" of 1728. "Llwyn Onn" has always been a favourite song with penillion singers.
The air is considered by some to be an early 18th century melody from Wales, perhaps because it is attributed to that country in Gow’s Strathspey Reels (book 4, pg. 24), where it appears as "Sir Watkin William Wynn." In fact the earliest Welsh printing is not until Jones’s Bardic Museum (1802), where it is given that it was named after ‘Mr. Jones’s mansion near Wrexham’. It appears under different guises in period publications and can be found in Gay’s Beggar’s Opera (1729) and in the repertoire of Irish harper Turlough O’Carolan (1670-1738). “The Ash Grove” was used as a vehicle for English morris dancing, and various words were set to it, bawdy and otherwise. One set begins:
L:1/8
K:D
|:"A"A|"D"d2f2ag|f2d2d2|"G"e2gfed|"A"c2A2A2|"D"d2fedc|"G"B2G2B2|"D"A2d2"
A"c2|"D"d4:||:efg||"D"a2fgab|a2g2f2|"A7"g2efga|g2f2e2|"D"f2defg|"Bm"f2e2
d2|"A"c2a2^"E"g2|"A"a4A|"D"d2f2ag|f2d2d2|"G"e2gfed|"A"c2A2A2|"D"d2fedc|"
G"B2G2B2|"D"A2d2"A"c2|"D"d4:||