impo

today the fruit trees i have planted in the garden budded.
it was warm in the sun but a very cold north wind blew. four of the apples are planted as trees, one, the pig aderyn, as a standard. the rest are in two cordons, which include the four pear trees. the gage and the cherries are planted as trees.





many of the trees belong to the west herefordshire and south-east welsh 'tradition' most of the others are older breed english varieties. some belong to the the area in which i now live, south west wales. the pig aderyn possibly found its way here via the cistercian monks at llandudoch. twll tin gwydd translates as gooses arsehole. all the apples and pears have fascinating histories. some of the trees i bought from keepers nursery in kent. i used to live on a nearby farm building some twenty five or more years ago. more apple info to be had here. most of them i aquired from paul davis' nursery in dolau hirion applewise@tiscali.co.uk. the top drawing represents the cordon i planted the winter before last and the bottom drawing represents last winters' planting. below is a list of the names of the varieties in their pairings

saint cecilia = twll tin gwydd
pig aderyn = marged (morgan) niclas

ashmeads kernel = lord derby
thurston august = sunset
grenadier = lord lambourne

d'arcy spice = monmouth green
perthyre = burr knot
court pendu plat = lodgemore nonpareil
landore = morgan sweet
glansefin = cissy

pears
black worcester = catillac
louise bonne of jersey = beth

cherries
nutberry black = early rivers

cambridge gage

the southern vernacular word for 'to bud' is impo, from the english (?) word imp. english speaking south walians also call budding, 'impin'. the word has been in use since at least 1670

er torri brîg brenhinbren
a bwyell lem yn syden
yn lle bob cainc o’r bon di-freg
f’all impo deg ar ucen
(wiliam phylip 1580 -1670)

and in literal english

though cutting a branch of king of the trees
with a sharp axe suddenly
instead of every branch from the unfragile trunk
it can bud thirty


wiliam phylip was celebrated in a much later composition. here it is

X: 1
T:Difyrrwch William Phillip
M:4/4
L:1/8
R:Hornpipe
S:Llewellyn Alaw
N:Harpist, Aberdare. Nineteenth century
K:Dm
DEFG AB c2|d2d2cBA2|B2A2A3G|F2E2D4:|
F2FGA2AB|c2c2B2A2|d2def3e|d2^ced4:|




this is probably the product of a romantic imagination. it is in the collection of manuscripts that thomas david llewellyn (llewellyn alaw) collected. the collection is of his own manuscripts, old fiddle tune books, printed material &c that he used in his work as professional harper. the collection is now in the national library of wales manuscript room