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Lyr Req: Aderyn Du / Y Deryn Du / Blackbird (Welsh

MMario 09 Dec 02 - 03:38 PM
sian, west wales 09 Dec 02 - 04:52 PM
sian, west wales 10 Dec 02 - 04:52 AM
MMario 10 Dec 02 - 08:57 AM
GUEST,Mary Humphreys 10 Dec 02 - 11:18 AM
GUEST,chris 10 Dec 02 - 11:25 AM
sian, west wales 10 Dec 02 - 11:35 AM
Barry T 10 Dec 02 - 08:38 PM
Nigel Parsons 11 Dec 02 - 11:26 AM
Nigel Parsons 11 Dec 02 - 12:06 PM
sian, west wales 11 Dec 02 - 12:18 PM
MMario 11 Dec 02 - 12:31 PM
Nigel Parsons 11 Dec 02 - 12:37 PM
Mary Humphreys 11 Dec 02 - 01:09 PM
GUEST,radio acen 11 Dec 02 - 01:17 PM
GUEST,alun howell 30 Jan 14 - 12:38 PM
GUEST,Dilwyn Jones, York 18 May 23 - 05:02 PM
sian, west wales 19 May 23 - 11:00 AM
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Subject: Aderyn Du
From: MMario
Date: 09 Dec 02 - 03:38 PM

A welsh folk song - I can find two verses on the web - but the sound file I found appears to have four verses?

The two verses I found as text are:

Aderyn du a'i blufyn sidan,
A'i big aur a'i dafod arian,
A ei di dros ta'i i Gydweli,
I holi hynt yr un'rwy'n garu.

Un, dou, tri pheth sy'n anodd i mi,
Yw cyfri'r ser pan fo hi'n rhewi,
A doti'n llaw i dwtsh a'r lleard,
a deall meddwl f'annwyl gariad.


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Subject: RE: Aderyn Du
From: sian, west wales
Date: 09 Dec 02 - 04:52 PM

I can't find it quickly - not sure what book it's in. I think ... Plethyn? ... has recorded it, and probably with other 'floating' verses; possibly, "Llawn iawn yw'r wy o wyn a melyn...". I'll see if I can get hold of it for you. Where's the sound file? If it's online, I'll give it a listen.

sian


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Subject: RE: Aderyn Du
From: sian, west wales
Date: 10 Dec 02 - 04:52 AM

Right, I've found the words as recorded by Plethyn. I think we're supposed to have automatic line-breaks on the new improved Mudcat so let's see ...

Y Deryn Du *

Y deryn du a'i blufyn sidan
A'i big aur, a'i dafod arian,
A ei di drosta'i i Gydweli
I sbio hynt y ferch rwy'n caru.

Dacw'r ty^, a dacw'r sgubor,
A dacw glwyd yr ardd yn agor,
A dacw'r goeden fawr yn tyfu
O dan ei bôn rwy' am fy nghladdu.

Un, dau, tri pheth sy'n anodd imi
Yw rhifo'r sêr pan fo hi'n rhewi,
A dodi'm llaw i dwtshio'r lleuad
A deall meddwl f'annwyl gariad.

Llawn iawn yw'r w^y o wyn a melyn
Llawn iawn yw'r môr o swnd a chregyn,
Llawn iawn yw'r coed o ddail a blode
Llawn iawn o gariad ydw inne.

(Blackbird on silken wing,
Golden beak, silver tongued,
Fly from me to Kidwelly
To see how fares the girl I love.)

(There's the house, there the barn,
There's the open garden gate,
Over there the great tree growing
'Neath its shade may I be buried.)

(One, two, three things are difficult for me -
Counting the stars on a frosty night,
Reaching up to touch the moon,
Knowing the heart of my dearest love.)

(So full is an egg of white and yellow,
So full the sea of sand and shells,
So full the woods of leaves and flowers,
So full of love am I.)

* Aderyn is "a bird" or simply "bird". Correct Welsh for "the bird" would be "yr aderyn" but orally it becomes "y 'deryn" so the song is known as "Y Deryn Du". Along with several others, I might add; there are a lot of Welsh songs involving blackbirds - particularly as love messengers.

Your version had a couple of errors, but a lot of the other variations are simply a matter of dialect.

Aderyn du a'i blufyn sidan,
A'i big aur a'i dafod arian,
A ei di drosta'i i Gydweli, (close gap in dros ta'i)
I holi hynt yr un rwy'n garu. (no ' after un)

holi = enquire
sbia = espy

Un, dou, tri pheth sy'n anodd i mi,
Yw cyfri'r ser pan fo hi'n rhewi,
A doti'n llaw i dwtsha'r LLEUAD, (close gap in dwtsha'r)
a deall meddwl f'annwyl gariad.

This is just a slightly more dialectal version than Plethyn's (above) ... and probably the more 'original'.

As I said above, the last three verses tend to turn up in various songs and are typical of very traditional forms of verse. The last one, for instance, shows up in "Ar Lan y Mor" (which I think Nigel P. was interested in recently). I think v. 2 is what is classed as a Triban, which lists three things (often impossible, sometimes comic).

Hope that helps.

sian


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Subject: RE: Aderyn Du
From: MMario
Date: 10 Dec 02 - 08:57 AM

Thank you!


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Subject: RE: Aderyn Du
From: GUEST,Mary Humphreys
Date: 10 Dec 02 - 11:18 AM

We have put a sound file of this song on our site http://www.treewind.co.uk/mha/mha-recordings.html
It may be this one which you heard.
I have put a couple of floating verses from the Welsh tradition into the middle of the song because it is so beautiful and so short! I wanted to spin it out a little longer.
The verses are very like the one Sian has typed in. The meaning is the same - the dialect, reflecting my origins, is more North Welsh, ( even though the song was collected in Barry, South Wales.)There is a story behind the song. It was collected by a teacher ( as I am at work, I forget his name ) from an old lady in Barry. She wouldn't let him go away until he had learnt the song orally. He kept having to sing it back to her until he was note and word perfect.
I suppose two verses isn't too hard to learn in an afternoon.
Hope you all go away and learn them!


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Subject: RE: Aderyn Du
From: GUEST,chris
Date: 10 Dec 02 - 11:25 AM

see www.acenfm.fm for words and music to some Welsh songs - the site is in a test phase, so keep trying.
they told me the site will also be playing Welsh Christmas music soon.


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Subject: RE: Aderyn Du
From: sian, west wales
Date: 10 Dec 02 - 11:35 AM

Do you mean www.radioacen.fm, Chris?

sian


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Subject: RE: Aderyn Du
From: Barry T
Date: 10 Dec 02 - 08:38 PM

This one might be off the mark, but for what it's worth...
A ei di'r deryn du?


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Subject: RE: Aderyn Du
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 11 Dec 02 - 11:26 AM

The above reference gives:
A EI DI'R DERYN DU

A ei di'r deryn du
To my dearest love?
O cais fy nghangen gu
For I'm so deep in love.
Ni welaf yn un man
Such a damsel in my sight
Â'r ferch mor lân o liw
She is a beauty bright.

Mae'i gwallt yn felyn aur
Just like a ring of gold
A'i phryd fel eira gwyn
The truth it must be told.

One might expect the alternate English/Welsh lines to be a translation, but this is clearly not the case. My translation would be extremely slow, but the first line would appear to be "I sent a blackbird"

As with Mary Humphries' comments above, this would appear to be another 'blackbird' song, also sourced from 'Barry' (T)

Nigel


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Subject: RE: Aderyn Du
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 11 Dec 02 - 12:06 PM

Just a thought, is "Aderyn Du" a 'blackbird', or a 'black bird' (i.e. blackbird, crow, raven etc.,) Just that I remember (vaguely) a poem learnt in high school (c 1966) "Y Fwyalchen" which also means "The Blackbird" and would seem to be species specific.

Nigel


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Subject: RE: Aderyn Du
From: sian, west wales
Date: 11 Dec 02 - 12:18 PM

Both mean "blackbird", Nigel. Regional and poetic variations.

sian


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Subject: RE: Aderyn Du
From: MMario
Date: 11 Dec 02 - 12:31 PM

Don't forget as well - that if Wales is anything like other places - "blackbird" may mean one species in one village - and another species in another!!!!


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Subject: RE: Aderyn Du
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 11 Dec 02 - 12:37 PM

Thanks Siân. Of course the raven has a rather poor history as a messenger. It was the first bird released from the Ark by Noah, and returned without finding dry land. The dove later returned with an olive leaf in its beak. Would this now be re-written so that the white was not successful after the failure of the black ?

Nigel


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Subject: RE: Aderyn Du
From: Mary Humphreys
Date: 11 Dec 02 - 01:09 PM

Going back to the posting about A Ei Di'r 'Deryn Du?

I have translated as best I can the Welsh lines in the song. They appear underneath the Welsh lines. 'Cangen' ( mutated to 'nghangen') is a word for ' branch of a tree' but is often found in conjunction with 'cu' as in the song to mean 'dearest darling'. I left Wales before I needed to use such terms of endearment, but I am sure Sian will put me right on the translation of such a pretty way of addressing one's dearest.


A ei di'r deryn du
Will you go, blackbird
To my dearest love?
O cais fy nghangen gu
O try to find my dear one
For I'm so deep in love.
Ni welaf yn un man
I cannot see anywhere
Such a damsel in my sight
Â'r ferch mor lân o liw
As the girl so fair of countenance
She is a beauty bright.

Mae'i gwallt yn felyn aur
Her hair is golden yellow
Just like a ring of gold
A'i phryd fel eira gwyn
And her skin like snow white
The truth it must be told.


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Subject: RE: Aderyn Du
From: GUEST,radio acen
Date: 11 Dec 02 - 01:17 PM

right, Sian - www.radioacen.fm. Sorry for the error.   Need to proof better.
What do folks think about this site and acen? Does anyone know what their plans are?
Chris


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aderyn Du / Y Deryn Du / Blackbird (Welsh
From: GUEST,alun howell
Date: 30 Jan 14 - 12:38 PM

Reading through the above I think people are perhaps mixing up two songs about blackbirds 'Y deryn du a'i blufyn sidan' and 'A ei di'r deryn du' which have different tunes although the idea is very similar ie using an animal to send a message to a loved one. The second one is written in Welsh and in English for an audience which spoke both or either language - a type of verse which is called 'macaronic verse' I believe


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aderyn Du / Y Deryn Du / Blackbird (Welsh
From: GUEST,Dilwyn Jones, York
Date: 18 May 23 - 05:02 PM

Called llatai songs in Welsh: Where blackbird (specifically?)acts as messenger between lovers. Blackbird aka Mwyalch, y fwyalchen is the diminutive. Occurs in fourth verse of version of y Gelynnen, the Holly, I know. It is out of place,probably a hen bennill.

Aderyn y tô a gafodd dy
A cheiliog dy'r fwy'n fwyalchen
Ac eistedd mae fannwylyd Gwen
Tan gysgod pren y gelynnen
Ffal dyral dy raldi.........


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aderyn Du / Y Deryn Du / Blackbird (Welsh
From: sian, west wales
Date: 19 May 23 - 11:00 AM

There are so many "aderyn du" songs in Welsh. Also tunes. When Robin Huw Bowen plays "A ai di deryn du" on the triple harp - not a tune to which the words above can be sung - we both are pretty close to tears in memory of Siwsi George. When Siwsi passes away in 2005 (?) (far too young) she had been working on a new album on the theme of birds in the Welsh repertoire. She told me once that Welsh folk songs praised different birds in different ages: blackbird, seagull, owl, etc. I think she had even laid down many of the backing tracks for an album. So sad it was never completed.

s.w.w.


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