Lyr Req: Lisa Lan (Welsh)

Subject: Looking for Welsh song called 'Lisa Lan'
From: GUEST,Debbie C
Date: 05 Feb 02 - 11:56 AM

I'm looking for the lyrics to a Welsh song called Lisa Lan, set to a beautiful tune in the mixolydian mode, of which I already have a copy. I also have the first verse:

'How long ago it seems, Lisa Lan
Since we those carefree moments passed
But still their memories with me last
Like fragments from dreams, Lisa Lan'

I'd love to know the rest of the words - or at least the story of the song, if anyone knows it. Any hints as to where else to look would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks Debbie C

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for Welsh song called 'Lisa
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 05 Feb 02 - 12:27 PM

One version, unfortunately with no information as to source, can be seen at these two sites:

Fair Lisa  Welsh lyric, midi.

Lisa Lân  Same Welsh lyric, same midi.

A longer version appears in Peter Kennedy's Folksongs of Britain and Ireland (1975), with an English translation and some additional verses collected around 1909.  The tune is related to the one used in England for Barbara Allen.

Subject: Lyr Add: LISA LÂN in English and Welsh
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 05 Feb 02 - 12:35 PM

I've found this in Singing Together - BBC schools radio Spring Term 1967. They acknowledge the Oxford University Press for the words.

How long ago it seems, Lisa Lan,
Since we those carefree moments passed;
But still their memories with me gay,
Like fragments of old dreams, Lisa Lan

When we together went, Lisa Lan,
Through Fields all jewelled with cowslips gay,
And sang and laughed the hours away,
What happy times we spend Lisa Lan

Now we are far apart, Lisa Lan
And youth has fled, and joys are few,
The love we shared, the bliss we knew,
Remains within my hart, Lisa Lan


I also found this on the internet, in Welsh first but they give a different set of English words.

LISA LÂN

1. Bûm yn dy garu lawer gwaith
Do lawer awr mewn mwynder maith
Bum yn dy gusanu Lisa gêl
Yr oedd dy gwmni'n well na'r mêl.

2. Fy nghangen lân, fy nghowlad glyd
Tydi yw'r lanaf yn y byd
Tydi sy'n peri poen a chri
A thi sy'n dwyn fy mywyd i.

3. Pan fyddwy'n rhodio gyda'r dydd
Fy nghalon fach sy'n mynd yn brudd
Wrth glywed swn yr adar mân
Daw hiraeth mawr am Lisa Lân.

4. Pan fyddwy'n rhodio gyda'r hwyr
Fy nghalon fach a dôdd fel cwyr
Wrth glywed swn yr adar mân
Daw hiraeth mawr am Lisa lân.

5. Lisa, a ddoi di i'm danfon i
I roi fy ngorff mewn daear ddu?
Gobeithio ddoi di, f'annwyl ffrind
Hyd lan y bedd, lle'r wyf yn mynd.


1. Full many a time I came to woo,
Oft, Lisa came a courting you;
I kissed your lips when we did meet,
No honey ever was so sweet.

2. My dainty branch, my only dear,
No woman comes your beauty near;
'Tis you who with my passion play,
'Tis you who steals my life away.

3. Whene'er at eve I walk apart,
Like wax will melt my lovesick heart;
And but to hear the small birds sing,
The longing to my soul will bring.

4. Ah, will you come to bid good-bye,
When in the earth my form must lie?
I hope you too will there be found,
When men shall lay me in the ground


Jon

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for Welsh song called 'Lisa
From: sian, west wales
Date: 05 Feb 02 - 01:23 PM

Historically, there isn't a lot to be said about it. From historian Huw Williams, "a folk song of which many versions have been recorded in Anglesey; two have been published in "Alawon Gwerin Môn II" (1924). Some versions are quite similar to the Irish tune, "Charlie Reilly". For notes on the variations see Welsh Folk Song Society Journal Vol 1 Pt ii, 1909."

As luck would have it, I only have Part i of that Journal. I might be able to find it somewhere.

In "Traditional Songs of the Welsh" we have, "This interesting form of Lisa Lân with its flat 7th, was noted by Dr. J. Lloyd Williams from the singing of his wife, who had heard it from her mother."

The English words which Jon gives are a translation by a Sir H.I.Bell, from "Un ar ddeg o Ganeuon Gwerin Cymru" (Eleven Folk Songs of Wales). (missing the 3rd Welsh verse) The Welsh are the ones I have - in a slightly different order, but that doesn't matter.

Hope this helps.

sian, west wales

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for Welsh song called 'Lisa
From: GUEST,adonisroadshow
Date: 06 Feb 02 - 08:14 AM

I along with my group recorded a version of Lisa Lan in 1981 on the Forces go Folk album.I played guitar and rachel tiller sang it look it up she sang it bueatifully. I can give you the chords but not the lyrics. Is this anygood for you?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for Welsh song called 'Lisa
From: sian, west wales
Date: 06 Feb 02 - 08:47 AM

Forces go Folk? Interesting. Background?

Re: Malcolm's blickies, I don't think that is the tune to which Debbie refers. Those sites have the tune which was recorded (sometime in the 1980s) by Ar Log - very pretty ; along with the other, these seem to be the most popular two versions sung these days. Perhaps they are the two mentioned in Alawon Gwerin Môn II - I haven't seen a copy so can't say.

sian

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for Welsh song called 'Lisa
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 06 Feb 02 - 09:12 AM

I have put a MIDI of the tune I have from Singing Together . It is similar to the version in Malcolms links but it does have a flattened 7th in a couple of places.

Jon

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for Welsh song called 'Lisa
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 06 Feb 02 - 09:14 AM

I don't know what's up with me and links at the moment... try here

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for Welsh song called 'Lisa
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 06 Feb 02 - 09:19 AM

I thought I recognized one of Barry Taylor's midis in Malcolm's two links. See the original here in his Tunebook. Curiously, he includes the name Lisabeth also.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for Welsh song called 'Lisa
From: sian, west wales
Date: 06 Feb 02 - 10:43 AM

I'm not sure you've got one particular note right, there, Jon. The one where you'd sing "moments" in your translation (or 'mwynder' in the Welsh). But otherwise I'd say that's the tune that Debbie (who seems to have disappeared?) knows.

sian

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for Welsh song called 'Lisa
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 06 Feb 02 - 11:02 AM

You were right Sian. I have corrected it. It was me forgetting music theory. The music I copied from gives a Db as an accidental and I made the next D a natural, forgetting that the bar would have needed a natural sign to cancel the previous accidental.

A question for those who know about modes: The tune I copied is in Eb giving the Db as an accidental. If the tune is mixolydian, wouldn't it be more correct to show 4 flats rather than 3 in the key signature?

Jon

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for Welsh song called 'Lisa
From: GUEST,Jeremy Clark
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 09:15 AM

Try This...
www.earsight.co.uk/Lisa%20Lan.htm

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for Welsh song called 'Lisa
From: sian, west wales
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 10:02 AM

Just one small point - the music at the bottom of that page Jeremy Clark posted is the tune to Oes Gafr Eto (Counting the Goats) not Lisa Lan. Might confuse if you try to use if for Lisa Lan.

siân

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for Welsh song called 'Lisa
From: Mary Humphreys
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 01:05 PM

I remember Bert Lloyd singing ' The Hand loom Weaver and the Factory Maid'to a tune very similar to that of Lisa Lan. When I first heard it I though it was familiar, but couldn't place it. Over the years I have become convinced that he married the tune and text.
I wait to be shot down in flames!
Mary

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for Welsh song called 'Lisa
From: GUEST,rambling steve appleseed
Date: 30 Jul 09 - 02:22 PM

A belated thanks for posting this. I remembered the song from my childhood, did it at school, and the tune stuck in my head.
I recorded a version of it which you can find on youtube. And now Kathryn Jenkins has recorded it!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lisa Lan (Welsh)
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Dec 09 - 04:58 AM

Dear Debbie,

Hope you get this message as I recorded and arranged the song some time ago and this can be found about half way down on

http://www.earsight.co.uk/Main%20Page%20Folk%20Music.htm

You will find links to the recording, midifile and words

All the best,

Wayne Morris

Subject: Lyr Add: Lisa Lân
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 29 Nov 11 - 11:51 AM

Not quite as listed above:

Lisa Lân

How long ago it seems, Lisa lân,
Since we those carefree moments passed,
But still their memories with me last,
Like fragments of old dreams, Lisa lân

When we together went, Lisa lân,
Through fields all jewelled with cowslips gay,
And sang and laughed the hours away,
What happy times we spent, Lisa lân

Now we are far apart, Lisa lân
And youth has fled, and joys are few,
The love we shared, the bliss we knew,
Remains within my heart, Lisa lân


X: 1
T: Lisa Lân
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
S: Singing Together Summer 1973
Z: NP 29/11/2011
K: Eb
z2zEGB| B/AF2EE | E3EFB |_d3edc | B3EGB | _d3edc | B3EGB | B>AFEE | E3zz2 ||
w: How long a-go it seems, Li-sa lân, Since we those care-free mo-ments passed, But still their me-mories with me last, Like frag-ments of old dreams, Li-sa lân


From "Singing Together Summer 1973"
"Singing together: A series of broadcasts provided by the BBC
for the Schools Broadcasting Council for the United Kingdom"

NP

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lisa Lan (Welsh)
From: GUEST,Julia Henderson
Date: 31 Dec 16 - 01:22 AM

I remember learning this song when we did Singing together, at school, it was a favourite, and I still remember it today, but does anyone know who the composer was.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lisa Lan (Welsh)
From: GUEST,Mike Whitaker
Date: 19 Mar 19 - 07:36 AM

On the off chance anyone else still follows this thread: this is my translation/reworking to make a singable, more contemporary version. It's not an exact translation, and leaves the last line repeated in Welsh as a coda.

Lisa Lân (Fair Lisa)
Melody: Trad Welsh
Welsh lyrics: Trad
English lyrics: Mike Whitaker

So long have I loved you / Oft have I lain
Wrapped in your arms / Time and again
Lost in your kiss / Like honey so sweet
Lady of mystery / Made me complete

You were my own / my dearest love
Pure as the stars / Burning above
Anguish and pain / Now you are gone
My life you have stolen / Yet still I live on

When I was walking / At break of dawn
The sound of the birds / Made my heart mourn
They rose on dark wings / Crying songs of despair
Oh how I miss you / My Lisa fair.

When I was walking / As the night fell
The sound of the birds / Made my heart melt
They rose on dark wings / Crying songs of despair
Oh how I miss you / My Lisa fair.

Lisa, come lead me / To where you lay
I would lay down / From cold earth not stray
You here with me / Is all that I crave
Together always / In the dark of the grave

Daw hiraeth mawr / am Lisa lân.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lisa Lan (Welsh)
From: GUEST,Clare Harding
Date: 19 Apr 20 - 10:45 AM

Yesterday afternoon a few notes came to mind that made me think 'that is a song I know'. After singing them over and over and trying to work out what came before and after, I eventually recognised them as the first halves of lines 2 and 3 of 'Lisa Lan'.
I know it from the 'Singing Together' version (learned from the younger brother and sister who had the luck to share that term's songs). But a quick check showed that that lyric - although suitable for 8/9 year olds - missed the heart of the song.
So I worked from a literal translation and the 'Singing Together' pattern to create this version:


Long have I lov-ed you, Lisa lan,
such tender hours you spent with me,
so sweet your kiss, your company,
more sweet than honey, sweet Lisa lan.

Your arms, your warm embrace, Lisa lan,
were all my world, but now you see
the pain your leaving's causing me -
you'll steal my life away, Lisa lan.

Now when I walk by day, Lisa lan,
and hear all round the small birds' song,
my heart grows sad - for you I long,
my heart belongs to you, Lisa lan.

And when I walk at dusk, Lisa lan,
as small birds sing themselves to rest
my poor heart melts within my breast:
it longs to rest with you, Lisa lan.

Soon it will beat no more, Lisa lan,
and to my grave they'll carry me.
If you're there when they bury me
sweet will my long sleep be, Lisa lan.


(It could be 'Lisa, dear' if fully in English, but keeping the old name in the new translation shows its roots.)

If/when we get out of lockdown and start singing together again, I'll add it to my list.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lisa Lan (Welsh)
From: GUEST,Alan
Date: 12 Apr 25 - 06:04 AM

There are recorded versions by Endaf Emlyn ((more modern version!), 9 Bach, Nogood Boyo and Bob Delyn a'r Billion. There are probably a lot more as it is a very well known folk song. Bizarrely there is a version on the soundtrack of the film Crash!