wennolied yn llangeitho

ebrill 22...

eiste dan ywen. gweld wennolied cynta'r flwyddyn.
wyn yn brefi...

Driver John Dewi Jones, Heatherdown,
RAOC Battalion yn North Africa Rhagfyr 22ain 1942 yn 23 oed

L. Sgt Thomas Jones, Plas,
East Surrey Regiment yn Tunisia, Ebrill 13eg 1943 yn 24 oed

(Corporal Jenkin Davies, Wenallt,
1st Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment yn Burma, Chwefror 16eg 1944 yn 29 oed)

mwyaf garw marw ymhell

hala i fi i feddwl am gan yma o de lloegyr

our captain cried, all hands and away tomorrow
leaving us girls behind in grief and sorrow.
what makes you go abroad, fighting for strangers
when you could stay at home, free from all dangers

you courted me a while just to deceive me
now you have gained my love, you meant o leave me
there's no trusting men, not my own brother
so girls if you would love, love one another

the drums are beating love the pipes are playing
i must be on my way no longer staying
dry off your brandy tears and leave off weeping
for happy we shall be at our next meeting

oh I'll roll you in my arms me dearest jewel
so stay at home with me and don't be cruel
she fell up on the ground like one was dying
this house was full of grief, sighing and crying


a chan siams twrfil, trelai ( ond a odd ganddo chysylltiade a tulu matthews ewenni a llangyfelach trwy mam edward williams?)

ffarwél fo i langyfelach lon
a'r merched ifenc i gyd o'r bron
fi'n mynd i drîo pa un sydd well,
p'une ngwlad y'n hunan neu'r gwletydd pell

a martsio wnes i yn y blân
nes imi ddod i dre bontfân
ac yno 'roeddent fawr eu sbort
yn listio'r gwyr at y duke of york

droies ymhen ac i ryw dy,
yr aur a'r arian odd yno'n ffri
y dryms a'r ffeiffs yn catw swn
a listo nes at y light dragoon

rôl ini martsho i lunden fry
duty caled ddath arnon ni
andlo'r dryll a'r cleddyf nôth,
y bwlets plwm a'r pwdwr pôth

ddâth despatch yn fore iawn,
ac un arall y prynhawn,
fod yr english fleet yn hwylo i mâs
a finne dros y cefnfor glas

ffarwél ynhad a'm hannwyl fam,
sy weti'n facu a'n nwyn i'r lan
yn dyner iawn ar aelwyd lân,
a chan ffarwel fo i'r merched glân

os holith neb pwy nâth y gân,
gwetwch iddynt ta merch fach lân
sydd yn gweddio nos a dydd
i'w hannwl gariad gael dod yn rhydd

cysylltu yn ymhen wedyn enwe daniel rowland llangeitho



ag evan rowlands

buodd john thomas cellan yn tynnu llunie yn llangeitho ar ei fordd i lerpwl. a oedd y folantein yn atseinio ym mhen bet fach, llangeitho? a'i wyr ath i ogledd affrica?

llwybre mal du pays

tunes may be thought of as paths, along which places and people are encountered. a tune can take us to a new place - a place we have never been to, one that excites or agitates us; or on the other hand to an old place which may hold for us memories or other emotions that we cannot name. more than yearning pehaps - more than hireth, more than mal du pays.



sometimes there exists a path between two tunes, tunes that may have a common ancestry but which have been seperated by time and culture



X:1
T:glory of the west
B:playford
M:C
L:1/8
Q:1/4=180
K:Em
GFGF E2 E2|FEFE D2 D2|G2 FG A2 GA|B2 FG E2 E2:|
BABA G2 dc |BcBA G2 G2|d2 de A2 A2|d2 de A2 A2|
e2 ef d2 de|BA BA G2 G2|d2 de B2 AG|AGFE D2 D2|
G2 FG A2 GA|B2 FG E2 E2:|

thomas hardy wrote of the roman road

the roman road runs straight and bare
as the pale parting-line in hair
across the heath. and thoughtful men
contrast its days of now and then,
and delve, and measure, and compare;

visioning on the vacant air
helmed legionaries, who proudly rear
the eagle, as they pace again
the roman road.

but no tall brass-helmed legionnaire
haunts it for me. uprises there
a mother's form upon my ken,
guiding my infant steps, as when
we walked that ancient thoroughfare,
the roman road.



X:2
T:blote'r gorllewin (flowers of the west)
O:traditional welsh
M:C
L:1/8
Q:1/4=90
K:Em
G/F/|E>GEG|EGFE|EAFE|D3E/F/|G3F/G/|A3G/A/|
BEGF/G/|E2-E:||
d|BGA/B/c/A/|BG2d|BGA/B/c/A/|BG2B/c/|
d-d/e/dc/B/|cAzB|d-d/e/dc/B/|cAzB|e2ed/c/|d2dc/B/|cBAG|BA2B|
d>edc|BABc|dGF/G/E/F/|D3E/F/|G3F/G/|A3G/A/|BEGF/G/|E3:||

glory of the west first appears in print in playford's collection of dance music
and blote'r gorllewin in, i think john parry's british harmony.

the version printed above is a currently played variant from a facsimile of a book entitled davidson's musical miracles - two hundred and fifty welsh airs for a shilling, adapted for the violin, flute, accordion or any treble instrument about which i know nothing other than it is a llannerch press reprint of the edition of 1859. ISBN 1 86143 084 1. the book was given to me by boston/aberystwyth flute player william mahon

fidelity to the living

cerdd arall gan vernon watkins yw

fidelity to the living

tenuous life, i have wronged you. you are the leaves, the sun,
the light, the bird at peace in the sky, though pulled by a
plummet of lead.
out of dark books i accused you. o look at her face: there is spun
a thread of light from her silence: she holds that beautiful thread.

the mother lifts her child to her breast. o what infinite, tender
frailty! she laughs near his eyelids: o, above solomon blest!
the great magnanimous leaves have opened. plucked from their
judgement in splendour,
even now, by the very thread that binds them, they are at rest


heddi ma'r prenne fale plannes dros y gaea wedi impo.
dyma driban gan wiliam phylip (1580 -1670)

er torri brig brenhinbren
a bwyell lem yn syden
yn lle bob cainc o'r bon di-freg
f'all impo deg ar ucen

a dyma diwn o glasciad llywellyn alaw, telynor o aberder odd yn byw yn y ddeunawfed ganrif. yfe rhoddws yr enw i'r tiwn

X:1
T:Difyrrwch William Phillip
M:C
L:1/4
Q:200
K:EAEO
EFGA Bc d2|e2e2dcB2|c2B2B3A|G2F2E4:||
G2GAB2Bc|d2d2c2B2|e2efg3f|e2^dfe4:||



perthyn yr afal, a'r gelli i deulu'r rhosynnod ac mae'r afale bwytadwy gyntaf yn dod o alma ata. ffrwyth llafur canrifoed o gerddwyr yw'r afale sydd gyda ni heddi. y mathe dwi wedi plannu yw

ashmeads kernel, discovery, grenadier, lord derby, lord lambourne, sunset, pig aderyn, saint cecilia, marged niclas a twll tin gwydd. y gellyg yw beth a catillac. afal sy'n dda i weitho seidir yw pig aderyn

fidelity to the dead

is a poem by vernon watkins

fidelity to the dead

the whithered leaf is blest, and the bird with shrunk claw in the shingle.
under the shawl of the life-yielding hand has caught the passionate thread.
immortal slience tranfigures them. o ultimate faith found single,
o light of immense meditation, from the timid you have fled.

love steals from the fortunate man and gives to the heart it bereaves.
dark thunders descend on prometheus. a light over earth is shed.
how, with love's great example, should i fear what the blind fate weaves?
love is fidelity to the unfortunate dead

vernon watkns would visit the glynn vivian galleryduring his lunch break on an almost daily basis. his friend alfed janes' portrait of vernon is displayed there. here is an exquisite nature mort by alfred janes



watkins, janes, dylan thomas, daniel jones and others would drink coffe in the kardomah cafe together and all had connections with the gower peninsula. the gower nightingale, phil tanner would sing a tune he called the manchester hornpipe when the gower reel was to be to be danced in llangennith. this tune was known by other names in other parts of the country. in port einon the following tune was used to dance the gower reel

X:8
T:Port Einon Whim / Mympwy Portheinon
M:2/4
L:1/16
K:G
B2Bc dedc|B2Bc dedc|B2G2 GABG|A2D2 D2dc|!
B2Bc dedc|B2Bc dedc|BdGB| AcFA|GFGAG4:||!
gfga gdBd|gfga gdBd|gfga b2g2|fefg afed|!
edef gece|dcde dBGB|AGAB cAFA|GFGAG4:||



the south wales version of the end of year veneration of the dead was known locally as y feri or y fari lwyd.

though vernon lived in pennard for most of his adult life he came from near maesteg and the feri would visit his house on nos galan when "judgment hangs in the balance, just after midnight, between the old year and the new"

his long poem the ballad of the outer dark begins

come to me, mother of god, come down as the old year ends, frost-mother, mother of the stars and the of the white, wave-beaten sands. i hear the sea wave fall like a knife, dividing exiles and frends