Lyr Req: Golden Wheat / Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn

Subject: Lyr Req: the golden wheat
From: wiggy
Date: 17 Jul 03 - 12:02 PM

I sang along to a welsh song recently with the only verse I know to a song known to me as the Golden wheat from many years ago at school the players would like more....?

I only know the following :
A young and foolish Lad am I.
I go where fancy leads me I stand and guard the golden wheat another does the reaping.
the wind blows colder day by day and you grow ever fairer.
September comes and I must go will you not follow after.
Any one know further words for my Welsh chums?

Subject: Lyr Add: THE GOLDEN WHEAT
From: Sorcha
Date: 17 Jul 03 - 12:10 PM

THE GOLDEN WHEAT

"The Golden Wheat" is a delightful song that I came across in Geoffrey Brace's Something to Sing. Geoffrey Brace says that some people consider its melody to be the most beautiful of all Welsh tunes. He attributes the English words to Will Sanhow. In such cases I cannot help thinking that the original Welsh must be even more impressive.
It's of a young man, deeply in love but unsure of his intended's intentions. He has to leave her, he swears undying love and wishes his loved-one will follow him.
"The Golden Wheat" has been recorded by:
[CD] Geoff Grainger on "Manifold Love"
[CD] Geoff Grainger on "DAM/CD Ditty Box Vol. 3: Manifold Love"

http://www.grainger.de/music/songs/goldenwheat.html

A simple youthful lad am I
Who loves at fancy's pleasure:
I fondly watch the blooming wheat,
Another reaps the treasure.
Oh! Wherefore still despise my suit,
Why sighing keep thy lover?
For some new charm, thou matchless fair,
I day by day discover.

2. Each day reveals some newborn grace,
Or does fond faith deceive me?
In love to Him who formed thy face,
With pity now receive me,
Then lift thine eyes, one look bestow.
Give me thy hand, my fairest,
For in thy bosom, lovely maid,
My heart's true key thou bearest.

3. While hair adorns this aching brow
Still I will love sincerely,
While ocean rolls its briny flow
Still I will love thee dearly.
Then tell the truth, in secret tell,
And under seal discover,
If it be I or who is blest
As thy true heart's best lover.

1. Mi sydd fachgen ieuanc ffol.
Yn byw yn ol fy ffansi
Myfi'n bugeilior gwenith gwyn,
Ac arall yn ei fedi.
Pam na ddeui ar fy ol,
Ryw ddydd ar ol ei gilydd?
Gwaith 'rwyn dy weld, y feinir fach,
Yn lanach, lanach beunydd!

2. Glanach, lanach wyt bob dydd,
Neu fi a'm ffydd yn ffolach,
Er mwyn y Gwr a wnaeth dy wedd,
Gwna im drugaredd ballach.
Cwnn dy ben, gwel acw draw,
Rho i mi'th law wen dirion;
Gwaith yn dy fynwes bert ei thro
Mae allwedd clo fy nghalon!

3. Tra fo dwr y mor yn hallt,
A thra fo 'ngwallt yn tyfu
A thra fo calon yn fy mron
Mi fydda'n ffyddlon iti:
Dywed imi'r gwir dan gel
A rho dan sel d'atebion,
P'un ai myfi neu arall, Ann
Sydd orau gan dy galon

A folk song describing the tragic love affair of Wil Hopcyn and Ann, the daughter of a wealthy farmer from Cefenydfa, Llangynwyd, S. Wales. Ann, betrothed through her parents, married the man of their choice. She later died of a broken heart, since her first love was Wil, a farm hand.
MIDI here.
Sequenced by Barry Taylor

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the golden wheat
From: masato sakurai
Date: 17 Jul 03 - 12:50 PM

There're several titles & translations to this song. See the thread: Lyr Req: Watching the wheat.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the golden wheat
From: wiggy
Date: 18 Jul 03 - 06:12 AM

thank's for that folks.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the golden wheat
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 19 Jul 03 - 06:34 AM

Can't get this tune out of my head after listening to the midi!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the golden wheat
From: Sorcha
Date: 20 Jul 03 - 02:56 AM

Just a dumb question--how can the Welsh 'siver' also translate to 'golden'?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the golden wheat
From: sian, west wales
Date: 21 Jul 03 - 04:58 AM

Sorcha, where'd you see 'siver'? (silver?) Anyway, the Welsh 'gwyn' would mean 'white' which, in this case, refers to the grain being ripe. I suppose when you're preparing singable translations, you adapt the native idiom. In English I guess this would be 'golden' although I can see where poetic license would embrace 'silver' ...

I just added some thoughts to the other thread to which Masato refers, above ...

sian

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the golden wheat
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 03 Aug 03 - 11:18 AM

This page, which seems to be the source of the text given by Sorcha above, gives the English title WATCHING THE WHITE WHEAT and the Welsh title BUGEILIO'R GWENITH GWYN. It says it was written by Wil Hopcyn (b.1700). It also has a midi file.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the golden wheat
From: Janet Elizabeth
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 09:06 AM

Sadly the Robocopp page (that's what "this page" was) is no longer around.

If you want to hear Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn in Welsh, there are (in 2010) versions on YouTube by Mary Hopkin (was she Welsh?), Aled Jones and Tom Jones, eg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXpUkO600HU

Thanks for all the info, both here and at http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=8424 xx

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the golden wheat
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 10:24 PM

And if you have a MIDI music program, you can go to Contemplator's site:

http://www.contemplator.com/wales/idledays.html

download the tune, get some nice harmony, and see what the chords are.

This site is a delightful place for wonderful arrangements. I appreciate it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the golden wheat
From: Mick Tems
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 01:33 PM

"Mary Hopkin (was she Welsh?)..."

Yes, Mary came from Pontardawe in the Swansea Valley.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the golden wheat
From: Mick Tems
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 01:48 PM

There is a memorial in Llangynwyd for Wil and Ann, who married Anthony Maddocks, a solicitor. Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn was supposedly written by Wil, but Iolo Morgannwg, the South Wales forger, probably had a hand in it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Golden Wheat / Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn
From: Janet Elizabeth
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 03:30 PM

Thanks to Hilary and Trefor I've now been lucky enough to have been taught how to pronounce this wonderful song in Welsh - North Walian actually - and I actually sang it with Trefor (what a privilege!) in the "harmony pairs" session.

I can now tell readers of this thread that Mary Hopkin on You-Tube does not pronounce it the same way, she's from South Wales. Mary's version is incomplete too. The North Walian pronunciation can be heard from Aled Jones at www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJY7yPUEvLw

Just in case anyone was thinking of learning it in Welsh ...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Golden Wheat / Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn
From: Janet Elizabeth
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 03:43 PM

To add to previous entry, it was Trefor who taught me the pronunciation, so we could sing it together later. Trefor is from North Wales and he said the song was written in North Wales. I had no idea there was more than one way the speak Welsh.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Golden Wheat / Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn
From: Pibydd
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 06:02 PM

I've never heard that 'Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn' was from the north. The story of Wil Hopcyn and Ann is very well known, and firmly geographically based. Having said that, songs travel, as we all know. Research has also proved that the story as normally told can't be exactly true, either. However, Wil's gravestone certainly does claim that 'he watched the white wheat' - although it was erected quite a while after his death, as I recall.

There's a word in the song, as given above and as I learned it, which is characteristic of south east Wales. 'Cwnn dy ben..' - Raise up your head. The verb here is 'cwnnu' = to lift, rise, get up. The standard Welsh is 'codi', so in context it'd be 'co^d dy ben', which some people do indeed sing. The word used for key is 'allwedd', whereas in north Wales it'd perhaps more likely be 'agoriad' or 'goriad'. So, the version above, which I'd pretty much regard as a standard version, is characteristic of south east Walean Welsh.

So, there are differences in pronunciation and vocabulary between the Welsh spoken various parts of Wales, just as there are in most languages. Understanding is mainly a matter of getting used to them, really. And, yes, songs travel and are adopted and adapted. That could eb why someone from the north feels it's one of their. It belongs to all Wales, really. Good to be able to share it with everyone else!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Golden Wheat / Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn
From: Janet Elizabeth
Date: 19 May 11 - 03:45 PM

Thank you for your reply, Pibydd. I went away and looked around the web a bit (before reading your reply) and I think I must have mis-understood what Trefor was saying. Trefor is from north Wales. He sings it north Walean and this is almost certainly because he (Trefor, not Wil Hopcyn) is from North Wales.

Having misheard what Trefor was saying I then went and put the wrong info on Mudcat. Should I try and get the false information removed?

I suppose (dare I?) that the way Mary Hopkin sings is likely to be closer to the original. If I try and learn it, perhaps I'd better try using her sounds. I could be murdering it, but it doesn't get sung often enough and it's so lovely.

Although I did not know Welsh I am interested in how languages change both geographically and through time, so I really enjoyed your reply. Thanks again xx

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Golden Wheat / Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 06:38 AM

I did 'sing together with the a radio schools programme' lessons in primary school (1982-ish). We were given an English translation of the song I had known in South Wales as a smaller child. They called it The Silver Wheat

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Golden Wheat / Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn
From: GUEST,Ann
Date: 08 Feb 12 - 03:03 PM

Oh tell me truly gentle Ann
Oh tell me do you love me
Will you be mine for ever more
Or do you love another
Until the salt dries in the sea
Until my eyes cant see you
Until my heart dies in my breast
I'll surely surely love you

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Golden Wheat / Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn
From: GUEST,Glow
Date: 18 Mar 14 - 04:13 PM

A young and foolish Lad am I.
I go where fancy leads me I stand and guard the golden wheat another does the reaping.
the wind blows colder day by day and you grow ever fairer.
September comes and I must go will you not follow after.                Oh tell me truly gentle Ann
Oh tell me do you love me
Will you be mine for ever more
Or do you love another
Until the salt dries in the sea
Until my eyes cant see you
Until my heart dies in my breast
I'll surely surely love you.                                                                                                                                                      

Thank You Guest Ann & Wiggy. Have been singing this in my head for years, but only remembered wiggy's part plus Oh tell me truly gentle Ann. In Primary School my Headmaster loved this song and would always have us sing this in Friday assembly. Thank you for the correct ending .

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Golden Wheat / Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn
From: GUEST,Jo Pace
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 07:12 PM

I remember it as you have written it, except for the second and sixth lines of the second verse.

Oh tell me truly gentle Ann
Oh truly give your answer
Will you be mine for evermore
Or do you love another
Until the salt dries in the sea
And whilst my eyes can seek you
Until my heart dies in my breast
I’ll surely surely love you

I learnt this piece on the piano for my music o’level in 1979 and still play it, from memory though as I lost the music all that time ago.