Lyr Add: Sospan Fach / Sospan Vach

Subject:
From: Roger the zimmer
Date: 10 Aug 99 - 08:44 AM

For Bron (the non-phonetic version which is not in the DT ). I filched it from the Liberator website:Click Here
(www.liberator.org.uk/songs/)

Sospan Fach

Mae bys Mari Ann wedi brifo
A dafydd y gwas ddim yn iach.
Mae'r baban yn y crud yn crio,
A'r gath wedi scrapo Johnny bach!

Chorus:
Sospan fach yn berwi ar y tan,
Sonpan fach yn berwi an y llawr,
A'r gath wedi scrap Johnny bach!

Dai bach yn sowldiwr,
Dai bach yn sowldiwr,
Dai bach yn sowldiwr,
A gwt ei grys e'mas

Chorus:

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sospan Fach
From: alison
Date: 10 Aug 99 - 09:13 AM

The rugby version is to the tune of the

Dai bach yn sowldiwr,..... bit of the tune

Who'll beat the All Blacks (or insert name of rugby team)
Who'll beat the All Blacks
Who'll beat the All Blacks
??but ??????Sospan Fach

heard a Max Boyce recording of it years ago.....

It's a great sound to hear a welsh crowd singing at a rugby match

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sospan Fach
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Oct 12 - 08:09 AM

Should be:

Sospan fach yn berwi ar y tan,
Sospan fawr yn berwi an y llawr

(Little saucepan boiling on the fire, big saucepan boiling on the floor)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sospan Fach
From: sian, west wales
Date: 10 Oct 12 - 03:48 PM

Except for the typo. "ar y llawr" should be.

Don't you just hate it when that happens?

sian

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sospan Fach / Sospan Vach
From: GUEST,J M Anderson
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 09:31 AM

I found this version in an old newspaper online (possibly http://cymru1914.org/en/view/newspaper/4093725/1).

[i]Mae bys Meri-Ann wedi chwyddo,
A Dafydd y gwas ddim yn iach;
Mae’r babi yn y cryd yn crio,
A’r gath wedi crafu Sioni bach.
Sosban fach, yn berwi ar y tân,
Sosban fawr, yn berwi ar y llawr,
Ar gath wedi–huno.[/i]

Dai bach yn sowldiwr,(x3)
A chwt i grys e’ mas.

[i]Mae bys Meri-Ann wedi gwella,
Ond Dafydd y gwas sydd yn ei fedd;
Mae’r babi o’r cryd wedi tyfu,
Ar gath yn huno mewn hedd.

Mae Mari y forwyn yn becso,
Am Dafydd, hoff gariad ei chol,
Y gath sydd yng ngwaelod y dyffryn,
A’r cwrcin ei hunan sydd ar ol.

Mae’r babi yn nawr bron priodi,
Ei gariad yw merch Felinwen,
Mae’n squinto yn rhyfedd o salw,
A brwynen yn tyfu ar ei phen.

Terfynwn yn mawr yn ddifrifol,
Y band ddaw i chwaren’r “Dead March”,
A’r gath ga’dd ei chladdu’n dra doniol,
Mewn bocs wedi bod yn cadw starch.[/i]

It didn't give a translation: can anybody supply one?

(The only other thing I know about this is that Calcifer keeps singing it in Howl's Moving Castle: why is a Japanese fire demon singing an old Welsh rugby song?)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sospan Fach / Sospan Vach
From: GUEST,Peter
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 12:43 PM

"The only other thing I know about this is that Calcifer keeps singing it in Howl's Moving Castle: why is a Japanese fire demon singing an old Welsh rugby song?"
Because the original story is by a British author and partly set in Wales perhaps?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sospan Fach / Sospan Vach
From: Senoufou
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 12:52 PM

This sounds strangely Russian to me!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sospan Fach / Sospan Vach
From: Senoufou
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 12:59 PM

I found the irreverent 'phonetic lyrics' to the Welsh National Anthem very funny.
The chorus went, "Dad! Dad! Why don't you oil Auntie Glad?"

(Apologies to Welsh people)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sospan Fach / Sospan Vach
From: sian, west wales
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 03:19 PM

For you, JM Anderson:

[i]Mae bys Meri-Ann wedi chwyddo,
A Dafydd y gwas ddim yn iach;
Mae’r babi yn y cryd yn crio,
A’r gath wedi crafu Sioni bach.
Sosban fach, yn berwi ar y tân,
Sosban fawr, yn berwi ar y llawr,
Ar gath wedi–huno.[/i]

Meri-Ann's finger has swollen
And Dafydd the servant is unwell;
The baby in the crib is crying,
And the cath has scratched little Sioni.
The little saucepan, boiling on the fire,
The little saucepan, boiling onto the floor,
And the cat has fallen asleep.

Dai bach yn sowldiwr,(x3)
A chwt i grys e’ mas.

Little David the soldiwr
With his shirt tail hanging out.

[i]Mae bys Meri-Ann wedi gwella,
Ond Dafydd y gwas sydd yn ei fedd;
Mae’r babi o’r cryd wedi tyfu,
Ar gath yn huno mewn hedd.

Meri-Ann's finger has improved/is better,
But Dafydd the servant is in his grave;
The baby has outgrown its crib,
And the cat sleeps in peace (dead).

Mae Mari y forwyn yn becso,
Am Dafydd, hoff gariad ei chol,
Y gath sydd yng ngwaelod y dyffryn,
A’r cwrcin ei hunan sydd ar ol.

Mari the maid is worrying
About Dafydd, dear love of her ??
The cat is at the bottom of the valley
And the tomcat himself is left.

Mae’r babi yn nawr bron priodi,
Ei gariad yw merch Felinwen,
Mae’n squinto yn rhyfedd o salw,
A brwynen yn tyfu ar ei phen.

The baby is now almost married,
His love is the daughter of Felinwen (name of a farm or place),
She squints really badly
And rushes grow on her head. (trying to be funny/insulting)

Terfynwn yn mawr yn ddifrifol,
Y band ddaw i chwaren’r “Dead March”,
A’r gath ga’dd ei chladdu’n dra doniol,
Mewn bocs wedi bod yn cadw starch.[/i]

I'll end now (I think "mawr" should be "nawr") on a serious note,
The band comes to play ("chwarae'r") "Dead March"
And the cat has been buried in quite a funny way
In a box that used to hold starch.

Sorry I can't make out that one bit.

I'm not familiar with the verses after Meri Ann's finger improves but it's a song that lends itself to being embroidered upon.

sian, west wales

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sospan Fach / Sospan Vach
From: Brian Peters
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 03:22 PM

Regarding the rugby version referenced (eek) 19 years ago, the correct lyric is:

Who beat the All Blacks?
Who beat the All Blacks?
Who beat the All Blacks?
Good old Sospan fach

This refers to Llanelli's (aka 'The Sospans') win over the touring New Zealanders in 1972. My Dad (though a Merthyr man) used to take me to watch Llanelli for their Boxing Day fixture when we were down in Wales for Christmas. Back in the day most of the stars of that great early 70s Welsh team played for Llanelli. And I believe that the saucepans that used to sit on top of the posts at Stradey Park are still there in the Scarlets' new ground. Good luck to them in Dublin on Saturday!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sospan Fach / Sospan Vach
From: GUEST,J M Anderson
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 06:44 PM

Thanks for the translation!

After checking the newspaper article, I'm inclined to think I must have read it, or one very like it, a couple of years ago, from which I copied the text. If the tune was only composed then and there, as the article claims, it's hard to see how it could have come from Norway, as the Wikipedia account suggests. Despite Swansea's origins as a Viking port, it seems unlikely that it would retain such close cultural ties with Scandinavia into the 19th/20th Century. But I could be wrong…

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sospan Fach / Sospan Vach
From: sian, west wales
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 08:50 PM

Well, I can't think of any Welsh sources off hand that specifically point to a Norwegian connection for the tune. Huw Williams who wrote pretty comprehensively on Welsh folk songs wrote, (in translation)"It is not know what the tune is, except that some Welsh hymn tunes have left a heavy mark upon it."

Having said that, there was a lot of 'borrowing' of tunes from Scandanavia particularly at a time when the sailing ships were still plying the waves to harbours in North Wales where lies the roots of the song.

sian, west wales

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sospan Fach / Sospan Vach
From: GUEST,J M Anderson
Date: 21 Apr 18 - 05:21 PM

Or indeed, the transmission might have been the other way…

Anyway, after further research, I found this: like the pirates in the Asterix books, it seems the parody has become better known than the original:

Rheolau yr Aelwyd (Rhowch broc i’r tan)

Ar ol bod trwy'r dydd yn llafurio
A'r morthwyl, y trosol, neu'r rhaw,
A dioddef eich gwlychu a'ch curo
Gan genllysg a gwyntoedd a gwlaw;
'Rol cyrraedd eich bwthyn eich hunan,
Mor ddifyr fydd cau'r drws yn hy,
A'r oerfel a'r t'w'llwch tu allan,
A'r cariad a'r tan yn y ty;
      Rhowch broc i'r tan,
      A chanwch gan,
   I gadw cwerylon o'r aelwyd lan.

Pan fyddo y gwr wedi monni,
A'i weflau'n lled lipa i lawr,
A'i lygaid gan dan yn gwreichioni,
A'i drwyn braidd yn hir ac yn fawr;
Edryched y gwragedd dan wenu,
A pheidiwch dweyd gair wrtho fe,
Daw amser a'r gwr at ei ganu,
A'r gweflau a'r llygaid i'w lle.
      Rhowch, &c.

Os bydd rhai o'r gwragedd ar brydiau
Yn edrych yn sarrug a sur,
A'u llygaid fel cwmwl taranau
Yn lluchio y mellt at y gwyr;
Mae cariad yn well yn y diwedd
Ar ol bod mewn helbul ei hun,
'Dyw'r mellt sydd yn llygaid y gwragedd
Erioed wedi lladd yr un dyn.
      Rhowch, &c.

Pan fyddo yr aelwyd yn oeri,
A'r anwyd yn dyfod i'r gwaed,
Pan fyddo y trwyn wedi rhewi,
A'r winrhew ar fysedd y traed,
Pan fo Catherine Anne wedi briwo,
A Dafydd y gwas ddim yn iach,
A'r babi yn nadu a chrio,
A'r gath wedi crafu John bach,
      Rhowch, &c.

How many are familiar with this part of the story?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sospan Fach / Sospan Vach
From: sian, west wales
Date: 22 Apr 18 - 05:20 PM

Certainly, Sospan Fach has become the better known of the two - probably because it's popular with little Welsh as well as Welsh speakers - although Arfon Gwilym did a great rendition of the above on his album, Proc i'r Tan (Sain Records). It's been revived somewhat in sessions of recent years - I think that's largely due to Arfon.

sian, west wales

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sospan Fach / Sospan Vach
From: GUEST,J M Anderson
Date: 24 Apr 18 - 09:06 AM

According to Secondhandsongs.com, "an additional bridge was added circa 1911 by persons unknown referring to Dai Bach the soldier (which was possibly a mishearing of 'the solderer')", which would fit in with the Llanelli/Sosban connection. I don't know if he actually existed (again, a possibility) but there are at least two more verses concerning him:

Shwd grys oedd ganddo? (x3)
Un wen â streipen las.

O hwp e mewn, Dai, (x3)
Mae'n gas ei weld o mas.

(as performed by Cerys Matthews)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sospan Fach / Sospan Vach
From: GUEST,J M Anderson
Date: 26 Apr 18 - 11:49 AM

Further to previous posts, it seems that there was a debate even then as to who actually wrote the song as we now have it. See http://cymru1914.org/en/search/grouped?query=sospan&submit=Search