Lyr Req: Dole Teifi (Welsh, from Fernhill)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dole Teifi (Welsh, from Fernhill)
From: GUEST,ottery
Date: 24 Mar 21 - 04:53 AM

Just noticed an error in the translation

bradwyr doesn't mean brothers (that would be brodyr) - it means betrayers.

Pity - I quite liked the idea of the love-lorn protagonist of the ballad living next door to a couple of pathological liars, possibly called Borus and Domynyc.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dole Teifi (Welsh, from Fernhill)
From: GUEST,ottery
Date: 02 Jul 19 - 05:31 PM

Hmm, I'd forgotten that I attempted a translation last year.

Here it is, with the rider that I'm not a Welsh speaker. There will be mistakes.

Blewyn glas ar ddole Teifi
A blade of glass on a bend of Teifi
Tidl a-dl dai
Dwyllodd lawer buwch i foddi
Tricked many a cow into drowning
Tidl a-dl dai
Tidl a-dl do

Llawer merch a ‘nhwyllodd inne
Many a girl tricked me
O’r union ffyrdd i’r anial lwybre
From the straight roads to the remote paths

Beth wy’n hidio gweled bachgen
What do I mind seeing a boy
Yn treto ‘nghariad yn fy nghefen?
Courting my love behind my back?

Ei weld e’n llanw glasied iddi
See him filling a glass for her
Finne’n ddigon siwr ohoni
Me sure enough of her

Petawn ddim ond cael y cyfle
If I only had the chance
Tretawn i ei gariad ynte!
I'd court his love!

Rhoddaf goron wen i’r ‘ffeirad
I'll give a silver crown to the minister
Am roi cwlwm sownd â’m cariad
For giving a sound bond to my love

Coron wedyn i’r un person
Another crown to the same person
Gael fy nwylo bach yn rhyddion!
That kept my little hands free!

‘Rown i’n rhodio rhyw foreuddydd
I was wandering some morning
Rhwng y glaswellt a’r mân goedydd
Between the pasture and the little wood

Cwrddyd wnes â hen gymydog
I met with an old neighbour
Un o’r bradwyr dauwynebog
One of the two-faced brothers

Cynta’ peth ofynnais iddo
The first thing I asked him
“Sut mae caru merch a’i chario?”
“How to love a girl and win her?

“Rho di heibio’i chwmni flwyddyn,”
“Give up her company for her year,”
“Daw i’th garu bob yn ronyn,”
“She will come to love you little by little,”

Fe wnes gyngor ‘r hen ffwl hynny,
I followed the advice of that old fool
Am flwyddyn rhois i heibio’i chwmni
For a year I gave up her company

Es i’n ôl ymhen y flwyddyn
I went back at the end of the year
Gan feddwl cawn ei chwmni wedyn
Thinking afterwards to have her company

Y ferch atebsai, ‘n hawdd ei deall,
The girl would answer, easy to understand,
“Ffaelest ti â chael neb arall?”
“Did you fail to get someone else?”

“Cer di ‘mhell! Na ddeua’n agos!”
“Get far away! Don't come near!”
“Rwy’n priodi cyn pen wythnos!”
“I'm marrying before the end of the week!”

Un ferch arall nid wy’n ‘mofyn,
I'll not ask another girl,
Hi oedd ‘y nghariad er yn blentyn
She was my love since childhood

Es i’r ardd i ddewis powsi
I went to the garden to choose a posy
Heibio’r “Lemons”, heibio’r lili,
Past the “Lemons”, past the lily,

Heibio’r “Pink” a’r “New Carnation”
Past the “Pink” and the “New Carnation”
Powsi ges o ddynad poethon
I had a posy of stinging nettles

Rhosyn gwyrdd yng ngardd y gardner
A green rose in the garden of the gardener
Ac enw hwn yw “Caru’n Ofer”
And the name of this is “Loving Vainly”

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dole Teifi (Welsh, from Fernhill)
From: GUEST,ottery
Date: 07 Sep 18 - 02:05 AM

Oops, thanks Freddy.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dole Teifi (Welsh, from Fernhill)
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 06 Sep 18 - 07:29 PM

In case anyone else was confused...

Cerys Elizabeth Matthews MBE (/'k?r?s/; born 11 April 1969) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster.
She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the "Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerys_Matthews 


Ceri Rhys Matthews was born in the district of Treboeth, in Swansea, Wales.(29 May 1960 in Swansea.)
As a soloist and member of the Welsh folk group Fernhill, he has been called "a key figure in the renaissance of Welsh musical traditions", by journalist Julian May in Songlines(magazine) and described by him as "a one man Welsh music industry"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceri_Rhys_Matthews 

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dole Teifi (Welsh, from Fernhill)
From: GUEST,ottery
Date: 06 Sep 18 - 04:59 PM

Here's my transcription of the lyrics from the songbook that Ceri sent me photos of - apologies in advance for errors and infelicities of punctuation,as well as for the ruthless treatment of the tidl a-dl dai refrain.

Blewyn glas ar ddole Teifi
Tidl a-dl dai
Dwyllodd lawer buwch i foddi
Tidl a-dl dai
Tidl a-dl do

Llawer merch a ‘nhwyllodd inne
O’r union ffyrdd i’r anial lwybre

Beth wy’n hidio gweled bachgen
Yn treto ‘nghariad yn fy nghefen?

Ei weld e’n llanw glasied iddi
Finne’n ddigon siwr ohoni

Petawn ddim ond cael y cyfle
Tretawn i ei gariad ynte!

Rhoddaf goron wen i’r ‘ffeirad
Am roi cwlwm sownd â’m cariad

Coron wedyn i’r un person
Gael fy nwylo bach yn rhyddion!

‘Rown i’n rhodio rhyw foreuddydd
Rhwng y glaswellt a’r mân goedydd

Cwrddyd wnes â hen gymydog
Un o’r bradwyr dauwynebog

Cynta’ peth ofynnais iddo
“Sut mae caru merch a’i chario?”

“Rho di heibio’i chwmni flwyddyn,”
“Daw i’th garu bob yn ronyn,”

Fe wnes gyngor ‘r hen ffwl hynny,
Am flwyddyn rhois i heibio’i chwmni

Es i’n ôl ymhen y flwyddyn
Gan feddwl cawn ei chwmni wedyn

Y ferch atebsai, ‘n hawdd ei deall,
“Ffaelest ti â chael neb arall?”

“Cer di ‘mhell! Na ddeua’n agos!”
“Rwy’n priodi cyn pen wythnos!”

Un ferch arall nid wy’n ‘mofyn,
Hi oedd ‘y nghariad er yn blentyn

Es i’r ardd i ddewis powsi
Heibio’r “Lemons”, heibio’r lili,

Heibio’r “Pink” a’r “New Carnation”
Powsi ges o ddynad poethon

Rhosyn gwyrdd yng ngardd y gardner
Ac enw hwn yw “Caru’n Ofer”

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dole Teifi (Welsh, from Fernhill)
From: GUEST,ottery
Date: 06 Sep 18 - 04:53 PM

Thanks for the suggestion, Freddy. But it looks like it won't be necessary! Ceri Rhys Matthews from the band got back to me last night and sent the following email - also included were photos of the lyrics in a songbook:

"there are two versions of this song from cardiganshire we sing & i guess the one we recorded is an amalgam of the two. the tune we use is the north cardiganshire version as sung by thomas rowlands of lledrod, aberystwyth to a collector in the 1960s. the remainder of the words we sing come from south cardiganshire & were collected by j ffos davies in the 1920s. i'm ashamed to say i can't remember the name of the singer off hand"

Today, she also emailed:

"the other singer who sings a different version - the one i couldn't recall last night - is thomas herbert of tangaer, cribyn, near llambed. he had an amazing & unique repertoire, even among the richness of cardiganshire song. he called the song y bobl dwyllodrus - the deceitful people. we sing his version too. here is j ffos davies' sol-fah notation..." (Photos of a handwritten document were attached)

Thanks for your comment, Jim. It encouraged me to just take the most straightforward solution and contact Fernhill - without it, I'd have been too shy to take the step.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dole Teifi (Welsh, from Fernhill)
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 06 Sep 18 - 07:06 AM

Apparently the English translation is printed in the cd booklet, maybe someone could work back from those?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dole Teifi (Welsh, from Fernhill)
From: GUEST,ottery
Date: 05 Sep 18 - 03:41 PM

I've also sent a message to Fernhill via their website. I doubt very much they'll get back to a random nosy member of the public, but it's worth trying.

From the rest of the song I can pick out words, but rarely phrases, and unfortunately the phrases I can pick out are so generic as to be fairly useless.

"Rhown i roddion..."

"...rhwng y glaswellt..."

"...priodi cyn penwythnos...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dole Teifi (Welsh, from Fernhill)
From: GUEST,ottery
Date: 05 Sep 18 - 02:52 PM

Sorry, just noticed the second line of the third verse should read "Un yn oer a'r llall yn gynnes"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dole Teifi (Welsh, from Fernhill)
From: GUEST,ottery
Date: 05 Sep 18 - 01:48 PM

Thanks, Jim Dixon.

By coincidence, today at work I found what I thought was a closely related song in a book of Welsh folk songs. However, having compared them, I'd say they aren't that close after all. The first stanza is almost identical except for being relocated from the Teifi to the Dyfi. I believe that this stanza has a long heritage - it's one of the Hen Benillion.

The Fernhill song is much longer than the one from the book. After the first stanza, I think the lyrics are almost entirely different, except that near the end Fernhill sing something similar to the second stanza given here - about passing by the nice flowers to cut a posy of stinging nettles.

Blewyn glas ar afon Dyfi
Ffa-rei-ti-rei-ta-ral
Ffal-di-ro-a-rei-ta-ral
Hudodd lawer buwch i foddi
Ffa-rei-ti-rei-ta-ral
Ffal-di-ro-a-rei-ta-ral
Lodes wen a'm hudodd innau
O'm hun iawn ffordd i'w chroesion lwybrau
Ffa-rei-ti-rei-ta-ral
Ffal-di-ro-a-rei-ta-ral

Mynd i'r ardd i dorri pwysi,
Pasio'r lafant, pasio'r lili;
Pasio'r pincs a'r rhosys cochion,
A thorri pwysi o ddanadl poethion

Mae dwy galon yn fy mynwes,
Un un oer a'r llall yn gynnes;
Un yn gynnes am ei charu,
A'r llall yn oer rhag ofn ei cholli.

Mi wrthodais, ffôl yr oeddwn,
Ferch a garai'r tir a gerddwn,
Ac a gerais, do'n garedig,
Ferch a'm gwerthai am ychydig.

Tyn dy gleddyf gloyw gwisgi,
Tor fy mhen, maddeuaf iti.
Gwell yw gennyf hynny'n dawel
Na rhoi fy llaw i ganu ffarwel.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dole Teifi (Welsh, from Fernhill)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 05 Sep 18 - 01:16 PM

Here’s the band’s website: http://www.fernhill.info/

Strangely, I couldn’t even find any mention of the song there, let alone lyrics. They do have quotes from reviews of the album “Whilia,” but they don’t even have a track list for it.

They also have http://fernhillmusic.tumblr.com/ but it seems to be a mirror of www.fernhill.info.

I tried searching in Google Books for “Dole Teifi” and came up with nothing. I did find “Dolen Teifi” (Google even asks: “did you mean----”) which apparently means “the bend in the (river) Teifi” and also is the old name of a constellation.

Can you quote even a phrase from the lyrics—anything other than the title? (and, hopefully spell the words correctly in Welsh). That would be very helpful to search with.

Subject: Lyr Req: Dole Teifi
From: GUEST,ottery
Date: 28 Aug 18 - 02:50 PM

I love listening to the album Whilia by Fernhill, and one of my favourite songs on it is Dole Teifi. Unfortunately my Welsh isn't good enough to pick out the words from just listening. I've looked online for the lyrics, but without luck. I believe the song is traditional. Can anyone help?

Thanks, folks.