Kora

2021 June - Campfire Stories - Origins of an Orphaned Culture - Part 1

The Stars: new version of old Welsh poem (Martin Shaw with Tony Hoagland)

Cân Y Melinydd (The Miller's Song)
Forgotten for over 250 years and never before recorded, this version of 'Can Y Melinydd' is a ballad composed by David Jones of Llanybydder during the American War of Independence. It documents the effect the war was having on people in rural Wales, including rocketing prices and young men being dragged to away to fight to appease the upper classes.

Here's a rough translation:

Dear friends and gentle comrades
I'm asking for your views
About the dying market
In coal and iron ore
And also on the cotton 
From inner Lancashire
There's thousands in hardship
Worrying for many a year

We'll see little Mary, we'll see little Mary
We'll see dear Mary

The answer thousands provide
Good times will not arrive
Until the war has ended
On America's foreign soil
They are so unmerciful
Killing just like fire
The poor they drag to warfare
To please the upper class

Some supernatural order 
Is this as some might say
If so we must be content
With nowhere to lay blame
But this is my true feeling
Though you may call me mad
I say that brotherly love
Is all that needs be had

Cân Y Melinydd
Dyma’r tro cyntaf i’r gân yma gael ei recordio, wedi iddi fynd yn angof am dros 250 o flynyddoedd. Wedi ei chyfansoddi gan David Jones, Llanybydder yn ystod y Rhyfel Annibyniaeth yn America, mae’r fersiwn yma o ‘Cân Y Melinydd’ yn dyst i effaith y rhyfel ar werin cefn gwlad Cymru. Clywn gŵyn am y codiad mewn prisiau ac am hanes y bechgyn ifanc a chafodd eu llusgo i ffwrdd i ymladd er mwyn bodloni dymuniadau’r dosbarthau uchel.

Gyfeillion manwl mwynion 
Rwy'n gofyn beth yw'ch barn 
Ynghylch y fasnach farwaidd 
Ar glo ac ar haearn 
A hefyd ar y cotwm 
O fewn i Lancashire 
Mae miloedd mewn caledi 
Yn poeni ers amser hir 

Welwn ni, welwn ni Mari fach 
Welwn ni, welwn ni Mari fach 
Welwn ni Mari annwyl 

Yr ateb sydd gan filoedd 
Na chawn ddim amser da 
Nes y terfyna'r rhyfel 
Ar dir America 
Y maent mor anrhygarog 
Yn llidiog yno'n lladd 
Y tlawd wnaent lisgo i ryfel 
Er boddio'r uchel radd 

Rhyw deddf goruwchnaturiol 
Yw hyn fel dywed rhai 
Os felly rhaid bodloni 
Heb le i daflu'r bai 
Hyn yw fy meddwl innau 
Os gall fy nghalw'n ffol 
Rwy'n dweud mae cariad brawdol 
Sydd braidd rhy bell ar ôl

Cân Y Melinydd (The Miller's Song)

Angelina Baker - In the Valley of the Flowers

Cân bach i gachu o uchder ar y gwarth gwastrafflyd wicend ma.

Royal Wedding denunciation. Shameful, wasteful bullshit.

#cymrurydd
#downwiththemonarchy
#punksoul
#protest

Cachlysur

Ken Rose interviews Stephen Jenkinson in a series of sessions about death and dying and Stephen's work at his Orphan Wisdom School. (http://orphanwisdom.com).

2014 - The Sessions Part 4/4 , Ken Rose interviews Stephen Jenkinson

Cynefin (a Welsh noun with no direct equivalent in English) is somewhat of a linguistic enigma. Originally a farming term used to describe the habitual tracks and trails worn by sheep in hillsides – the word has morphed and deepened over the centuries to conjure a very personal sense of place, belonging and familiarity. The artist Kyffin Williams describes it as ‘that relationship: the place of your birth and of your upbringing, the environment in which you live and to which you are naturally acclimatised.’

This ‘Cynefin’ is the musical brainchild of Clettwr valley native Owen Shiers and is a journey to discover the musical landscape and contours of Ceredigion and West Wales. Following a chance discovery of a long forgotten song by a local ballad singer, Owen was inspired to uncover more of the untold stories of the locals who’s voices have been lost over the centuries. A research scholarship from the Finzi Trust has further aided the project, enabling him to delve through unseen archive material, look through rare books as well as source songs from ballad singers and cultural historians. 

From the grumbles of millers past, musings of balladeers to the every day tales of ‘y werin’ (the common folk) – the resulting material is unique both in its originality (some of the songs have not been sung for over hundreds of years) but also in the arrangements which are ambitious and distinct.

Cân Y Melinydd (The Miller's Song)

Cynefin

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