Our Song of the Day comes from Bob Delyn a’r Ebillion who are back with a brand new album. Their latest release ‘Dal i ’Redig Dipyn Bach’ (Still ploughing on a little bit) is out on 24 November (Sain / Proper Music Distribution). We’ll be bringing you more on the new album soon. In the meantime, enjoy Y Mab Penfelyn (The Golden Haired Boy).
Poet and musician Twm Morys of Bob Delyn a’r Ebillion shared the following: This is a traditional song from Maesteg, which means:
What do you see, my golden-haired boy who loves the flowers of the valley? What is that way, what is this way? The cloud is lifting.
I see Blaen Garw top; I see the moor of Croes Erw, and I see the girl I want; I see the Valley of the Birches.
What will you do with Blaen Garw top? What will you do with the moor of Croes Erw? What will you do with the girl you want? What will you do with the Valley of the Birches?
I’ll find coal on Blaen Garw top; I’ll find water on the moor of Croes Erw, and I’ll take the girl I want for a walk in the Valley of the Birches.
It was the custom in the industrial valleys of Glamorganshire for people to climb out of the noise and the grime of the valley to the top of a hill. From this there developed a particular kind of question-and-answer verse. ‘What do you see?’ one would ask, and another would name farms or villages, sometimes people, they could see from the high place. The three places named in this song can all be seen from a hill near Maesteg.
Dal i ’Redig Dipyn Bach, Bob Delyn a’r Ebillion’s new album, is in some ways a look over the shoulder to their folky beginnings. It’s a mixture of unfamiliar folk-songs (like this track) and original material, mostly in Welsh, and some in Breton.
Twm Morys
Diolch! (thanks)
Dal i ‘redig dipyn bach is released on 24 November via Sain / Proper Music Distribution.