Subject: Welsh Drinking Songs From: j0_77 Date: 18 Mar 99 - 11:33 AM Any one got a Welsh Drinking Song in Welsh? I mean Cwmraig?(Xcuse the my spelling) Any help much appreciated. |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: Bert Date: 18 Mar 99 - 12:05 PM It's not in Welsh but the tune is Men of Harlech - Does that count? |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: j0_77 Date: 18 Mar 99 - 12:48 PM Thanx Bert - have that one already - but it's in English and not about Beer/Ale/....etc |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: Barbara Date: 18 Mar 99 - 10:28 PM Isn't saying "welsh" and "drinking" redundant? Or do you mean welsh songs about drinking? |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: j0_77 Date: 18 Mar 99 - 11:41 PM I mean songs in Welsh about Beer/Ale..etc Thanx |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: Brian Hoskin Date: 19 Mar 99 - 09:40 AM I'll have to go out over the weekend and do some research on this one, but I can't guarantee that by Monday I'll remember anything worth posting. Brian Prifysgol Cymru, Llanbedr Pont Steffan, Ceredigion, Cymru |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: j0_77 Date: 19 Mar 99 - 10:27 PM Thankx Brian |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: Alex Date: 20 Mar 99 - 12:44 AM Having run into the Welsh in various bars in Edinburgh over several years when they were up for the rugby at Murryfield, it is my (somewhat befuddled) impression that ALL Welsh songs must be drinking songs. |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: Brian Hoskin Date: 20 Mar 99 - 09:53 AM In general, most the songs the Welsh sing when they're drinking (or at Rugby matches, or both) are actually hymns. Apart from that, the most popular song around here is one sung to the tune of 'Down By the Riverside' - I'll see if I can get the words from anyone. Brian |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: j0_77 Date: 20 Mar 99 - 12:35 PM That is an interesting point, course I knew about the 'sacred' songs in bars already. Amazed me to find spontaneous 4 part harmonies on a saturday night. Is there a lot of tourism there these days?
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Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: Joe_F Date: 17 Mar 09 - 08:25 PM The following (tho I learned it in Scotland) is to the tune Cwm Rhondda & perhaps qualifies: You must eat when you are hungry,) You must drink when you are dry. ) (2x) You must rest when you are weary. Don't stop breathing, or you'll die. (2x) Father's pants will soon fit Willie. Will 'e wear 'em? Willie will. |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: Valmai Goodyear Date: 18 Mar 09 - 03:30 AM I've heard that to the tune of Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah. It went: Alwys eat when you are hungry, Always drink when you are dry. Always rest when you are weary, Don't stop breathing or you'll die. Bread from Hovis Tea from Liptons Beer from the Miner's Arms (Miner's Arms) Beer from the Miner's Arms. A Welsh drinking song is a bit of a Zen concept, if you ask me. Valmai |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: Mick Tems Date: 18 Mar 09 - 06:10 AM "Yr Wyf I Little Collier" definitely didn't fit in to the tune of Cwm Rhondda - it was a bright, foot-tapping kind of a melody: Yr wyf i little collier Un gweithio underground the rope will never torri When I go up and down Bara menyn when I'm hungry Cwrw when I'm dry Gwely when I'm tired and Nefoedd when I die Nefoedd when I die Nefoedd when I die Gwely when I'm tired and Nefoedd when I die. yr wyf i = I am yn gweithio = working torri = break bara menyn = bread and butter cwrw = beer gwely = bed nefoedd = heaven Learned from our friend Wyn Thomas, originally from Morriston, Swansea. Wyn is married to Beth Thomas, manager of St Fagans Welsh museum at St Fagans, Cardiff. The Elliots of Birtley sang us a similar song, learned phonetically from a Welsh miner who worked in the Durham coalfields. Calennig recorded it in 1985 for Greenwich Village. I will dig out a copy of a booklet called Caneuon Yfed, which gives the words to 100 Welsh drinking songs (all in the Welsh language.) The wonderful Swansea poet Harri Webb, who died years ago, was a noted toper, and wrote many marvellous drinking verses in the anglo-Welsh tradition: We started drinking at seven And finished at half past ten And all the stars in heaven said: "Go back and drink again!" or... Tooralee, tooralye, In Rhosllanerchrugog we drank the pub dry! Harri even credits Undeb Yr Tancwyr (the Welsh Drinkers' Union), who are mentioned in the preface of Caneuon Yfed. I have a booklet called Broadsides, collected (I think) by Pete Meazey (owner of the Welsh bookshop Siop Y Triban) Denis O'Neill and Meic Stevens, which is rollicking, irreverent, subversive and just the ticket for the disaffected Welsh when they've had a few: I'm the man, the very fat man, in charge of the Labour Club I'm the man, the very fat man, in charge of the Labour Club I'm a champion of the working class, as long as they pays their sub I've a nice big Rolls and a private plane made out of the Labour Club! Or, the Meic Stevens classic, which he says generated many versions across Wales and the world, of Llantrisant's notorious druid: There once was a man named Doctor Price Who lived on lettuce, nuts and rice His idols were the moon and sun And he roamed the hills with nothing on CHORUS: Singing: I don't give a bugger, I don't give a bugger I don't give a bugger what anybody thinks of me! Llantrisant Folk Club used to bring the proceedings to a roaring close with what we regarded as out theme song - and my Mudcat name is Dr Price, which explains a lot! Mick Tems |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: sian, west wales Date: 18 Mar 09 - 06:37 AM I don't suppose the original poster is still around but the obvious one, in Welsh, apart from Mick's "Little Collier" is "Cwrw Melyn Bach" (Small Yellow Beer) which is also, interestingly, one from the mining districts. It's also interesting as being one of the few, perhaps only, songs which actually mention the societal shift from old agricultural Wales to the new industrial one. I don't have the words to hand this minute and have other things to be 'getting on with' but I'll try to find them this evening. sian |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: GUEST Date: 18 Mar 09 - 12:51 PM I think the original of "Deck The Halls" is in Welsh (though I've never seen it). That's a drinking song. :-) |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: Mick Tems Date: 18 Mar 09 - 02:58 PM I now have 100 O Ganeuon Yfed, published by Y Lolfa. Cwrw Melyn Bach is number 84! Please PM me. |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: Jim Carroll Date: 18 Mar 09 - 03:09 PM I suspect things have changed considerably since I used to nip across from Liverpool 40-odd years ago, but in those days "I don't Like Sundays" would have fitted the definition perfectly!! Jim Carroll |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: Joe_F Date: 18 Mar 09 - 09:13 PM Valmai Goodyear: The tune of "Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah" *is* Cwm Rhondda. |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: sian, west wales Date: 19 Mar 09 - 05:58 AM Oddly, Cwrw Melyn Bach doesn't seem to be in the 'updated' version of 100 o Ganeuon. I know I have the original around here somewhere but it was getting pretty knocked-about so I've put it somewhere safe. Ergo, it's unlikely to come to light for some months. Maybe Mick could provide the words ... There's also a tune in Nicholas Bennett's "Alawon Fy Ngwlad - Old Welsh Airs" (1896) called 'Molawd y Brâg' (In Praise of Malt); the group Ar Log sang verses to this which ended in "O gwrw da" (Oh, good beer). I don't have the words and don't have the recording so can't check. I also don't know if this is the same tune as was in the 1848 publication, "The Welsh Harper 2", collected by John Parry; can't check as I don't have that publication - unfortunately. (If anyone has a spare copy, I'll give it a good home.) Re: Nos Galan, as has been said several times on the 'Cat I think, "Deck the Halls" are words probably written and originally published in the States to the Welsh tune, "Nos Galan" (New Year's Eve). It's a tune to which you can 'canu penillion' - that is, sing any verses you like and that fit - but it does have a set of three verses that are commonly sung; these are about entering a new year, so it's actually a new year song rather than a Christmas one. sian |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 19 Mar 09 - 01:05 PM I suggest that y'all not sing cheap drinking words to 'Cwm Rhondda'. This is an important tune to many Welsh people. It carries emotional, religious and national meaning. Imagine how you would feel if you heard foreigners singing cheap, insolent words to 'Motherless Child,' 'Silent Night' or 'Lift Every Voice.' On a positive note, see if you can find the Welsh dance tunes 'The Wheatsheaf' or 'Ty Coch' (Red House), which refer to pubs. |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: greg stephens Date: 19 Mar 09 - 01:16 PM Singing humorous words to favourite hymn tunes is a longstanding habit throughout the British Isles, and is not considered in the least disrespectful. Apart from the Cwm Rhonnda parody already mentioned, everyone knows Lloyd George Knew My Father to Onward Christian Soldiers, just as an example. The unprintable Engineer's Wheel used to go to an old hymn tune, though now normally sug to A Frog Went A-Courting. Uncle George and Aunty Mabel (to Hark the Herald Angels Sing) is another pub classic. This is not a habit you will be able to stop, leeneia! |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: GUEST,g cott Date: 02 Apr 09 - 11:13 PM Iechyd da fy ffrindiau tlws Iechyd da, Iechyd da Mae'n hwyr mae'n amser cwsg Iechyd da, Iechyd da Beth sydd tu ol i'r drws Iechyd da, Iechyd da Beth sydd tu ol i'r drws Iechyd da, Iechyd da Oh Iechyd Mae merched rheina'n tlws Iechyd da, Iechyd da Mae merched rheina'n tlws Iechyd da, Iechyd da Camgymeriadau, taflwch i'r môr Iechyd da, Iechyd da Camgymeriadau, taflwch i'r môr Iechyd da, Iechyd da Oh Iechyd Iechyd da fy ffrindiau tlws Iechyd da, Iechyd da Mae'n hwyr mae'n amser cwsg Iechyd da, Iechyd da Beth sydd tu ol i'r drws Iechyd da, Iechyd da Beth sydd tu ol i'r drws Iechyd da, Iechyd da Oh Iechyd translated: Good health my pretty friends Good health, good health It's late it's time for bed Good health, good health What is behind the door Good health, good health What is behind the door Good health, good health Oh, health Those girls are pretty Good health, good health Those girls are pretty Good health, good health Mistakes, throw to the sea Good health, good health Mistakes, throw to the sea Good health, good health Oh, health (repeat the first) |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: GUEST,Bobi Bob, Ynys Manaw Date: 03 Apr 09 - 05:25 AM Singing nonsense words to hymn tunes is something that's come up before. Someone who is knowledgeable in West Gallery music and its traditions told me that church choirs would get together to practice on the week, but didn't think it appropriate to sing the actual hymn words when they were stopping and starting and trying things out. Instead, they would sing nonsense words - which is probably the origin of songs such as 'Ilkley Moor Baht At'. When universities were closed colleges with a strong religious ethos, parodying hymns would have been a fairly standard way of youthful protest. The Carmina Burana, thanks to Carl Orff, have become a well-known example of that. The idea of not being *allowed* to parody a well-known lyric, or sing nonsense (or filth!) to a well-known tune, whether a hymn or not, because it may have emotional, religious or national meaning seems dubious, if not dangerous. As with everything, there would be times and places where it wouldn't be appropriate or even safe. But a ban? I think not. Bobi Bob, Ynys Manaw |
Subject: RE: Welsh Drinking Songs From: Artful Codger Date: 04 Apr 09 - 11:47 PM Since many "edifiers" have stolen tunes to earthy folk songs for hymns, they have no real grounds to object when other folks do the reverse. |
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