Most of my grandchildren celebrating today in Wales
A blog featuring whatever I fancy, often on the Christian faith but not exclusively
Showing posts with label St David's Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label St David's Day. Show all posts
Rhywbeth ar gyfer Gwyl Dewi Sant
I thought we ought to have something to celebrate St David's Day here. You'll have to listen for a while to spot it, mind.
London Welsh
I was in central London yesterday (the day after St David's Day) and it was a joy to see the Welsh flag flying over Westminster Abbey. My wife is in the nearby St Margaret's today for the annual St David's day service of the Houses of Parliament (she was celebrating last Friday at the London Welsh Centre and last night at the Guildhall - you can't over do it).
Gwyl Dewi Sant 2013
It's March 1 I understand from somewhere. (Don't pretend you haven't seen this already).
Gwyl Dewi Sant 04
Okay last one. I haven't mentioned the rugby this six nations as although Wales have won two of three games they haven't been playing at their best. I came across this the other day, though, and thought I might pop it on here. Look out for one of the few B&W sections and an utterly amazing try by the previously mentioned Keith Jarrett.
TTRMOMD 08
Being in St David's Day mode my mind has gone back to St David's Day as a child in Junior School, when it was always a half day at school (we'd spend the morning drawing something Welsh - a leek or a daffodil - the girls would wear traditional clothes with black top hats you could buy from local shops). We'd also get a half day if there was a rugby game on (my dad was a soccer man and would sometimes moan that they didn't do that for soccer). Anyway on the afternoon of December 6, 1967 (I was 8) my dad took me to Rodney Parade in Newport to watch Monmouthshire play the touring New Zealanders (who only lost one game that tour). The great Keith Jarrett (not the jazz pianist) whose career was tragically cut short by strokes when only 25, was playing, and Monmouthshire did well thanks to his kicking, eventually losing 23-12. All I remember is Jarrett kicking a lot of goals and that they wore black shorts. It might have been the only rugby game my dad took me to (not sure how he had time off work).
Gwyl Dewi Sant 03
The other thing I thought I might put down here on this St David's Day was a little bit about Afon Leri (the Eleri River), the interest being that my wife's name is drawn from it.
Mae hen delynau yn y gwynt
Am ddyddiau gynt yn canu
A llif Eleri yn y glyn
A’r niwl yn dynn amdani
[The wind like harps singing Of times that have gone And Eleri’s waters flowing Through the mists of the glen]
The valley of the river Leri (as it is named on maps) or Eleri, as those who know her call her, begins on the western edge of the Cambrian Mountains where the river waters fall from a lake into the narrow gorge of Craig y Pistyll. They run for twenty miles or so to reach the sea through the salt marsh between Borth Bog (Cors Fochno) and the sand dunes of Ynys-Las. In spite of the natural settings of both her source and her estuary, both are engineered places. At the end of the lake where the waters fall into the gorge there is a dam to regulate the flow down to the water pumping station on the nearest road in the
Gwyl Dewi Sant 01
This has probably never bothered anyone else but living on the very edge of the Welsh language as I do I have often wondered about how that man Meic Stevens could produce both erudite tomes of lingusitic excellence and be the original Welsh popstar. My wife said to me the other day that he is coming to the school and so I thought now is the time to get this sorted out. A little research showed (not for the first time) how dumb I can be. Meic Stephens (b 1938) and the author of "Golygydd The Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales", etc, is one person and Meic Stevens (b 1948) and "the Welsh Dylan" is someone else. Now it all makes more sense. Just to complicate it slightly Meic Stephens, the academic not the singer, is father to Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens.
Well, I thought it was interesting.
Childhood Songs 7 Huna, Blentyn
As part of our St David's Day celebrations here we are featuring one of the few Welsh songs I remember learning as a child. In my last year in Junior School we had a singing lesson every week with Mrs Richards and this lullaby is one of the songs we learned. Great tune.
Huna, blentyn, ar fy mynwes,
Clyd a chynnes ydyw hon;
Breichiau mam sy'n dynn amdanat,
Cariad mam sy dan fy mron.
Ni chaiff dim amharu'th gyntun,
Ni wna undyn â thi gam;
Huna'n dawel, annwyl blentyn,
Huna'n fwyn ar fron dy fam.
Huna'n dawel heno, huna,
Huna'n fwyn, y tlws ei lun;
Pam yr wyt yn awr yn gwenu,
Gwenu'n dirion yn dy hun?
Ai angylion fry sy'n gwenu
Arnat ti yn gwenu'n llon?
Tithau'n gwenu'n ôl dan huno,
Huno'n dawel ar fy mron.
Paid ag ofni, dim ond deilen
Gura, gura ar y ddôr;
Paid ag ofni, ton fach unig
Sua, sua ar lan y môr;
Huna blentyn, nid oes yma
Ddim i roddi iti fraw;
Gwena'n dawel yn fy mynwes
Ar yr engyl gwynion draw.
[Trans:
Sleep, my child, upon my bosom,
It is snug and warm;
Your mother's arms wrapped tightly around you,
'Tis a mother's love lies in my breast.
Nothing shall disturb your slumber,
Nobody will do you harm;
Sleep in peace, dear child,
Gently sleep on your mother's breast.
Sleep in peace tonight, sleep,
Gently sleep, my beautiful;
Why do you now smile,
Smile so gently in your sleep?
Is it that the angels on high
smile upon you as you happily smile?
While you return the smile, still sleeping,
Sleeping in peace upon my breast.
Fear you not, 'tis but a leaf
Beating, beating at the door;
Fear you not a lone wave's
Murmur, murmuring on the seashore;
Sleep, my child, for there is nothing
Here to frighten you.
Smile in peace here on my bosom
At the white angels yonder.]
Gwyl Dewi Sant
Yesterday was St David's Day, of course, and so like all Welsh people (you didn't?) we had cawl cennyn/leek soup and bakestones for tea. Owain, my youngest, also met the speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow who was involved this year in the annual St David's Day service in St Mary Undercroft. As usual, the London Welsh School took part, as did a male voice choir Eschoir. This time the children recited Ffrindiau bach a mawr and sang Dewi Sant.London Welsh
To mark St David's day I thought I might do a little something on the four roads here in Childs Hill with Welsh names. It is the biggest concentration of such names in London. Elsewhere you will find one or two Welsh names but never, I believe, as many as four. Aral tradition suggests that they were given by a Welsh builder. There is still a Welsh builder nearby (D W Bevan) though that is probably a coincidence. The Welsh have been in London for centuries and there is no concentration of Welshies in Childs Hill or any other one area. The names of the streets are
Llanelly Road, Llanvanor Road, Crewys Road and Nant Road
The first (pronounced Lanuly locally) suggests a Llanelli connection. The second is perhaps the name of a farm. The third is a main road in Cardiff (there is no 'e' in the Cardiff version. It is pronounced Crooz locally). The fourth and most interesting is the Welsh for brook or stream, and indeed there is one although it is now almost entirely underground.
More interesting again is the fact that near Cross Ash in Monmouthshire, there is a small settlement called Llanfaenor with both a Nant Farm and a Great Crwys Farm too. There is a Llanelly not too far away. Perhaps that Welsh builder was from the same corner of Wales as me.
The local residents association is called CLAN after the three main streets of the four.
More interesting again is the fact that near Cross Ash in Monmouthshire, there is a small settlement called Llanfaenor with both a Nant Farm and a Great Crwys Farm too. There is a Llanelly not too far away. Perhaps that Welsh builder was from the same corner of Wales as me.
The local residents association is called CLAN after the three main streets of the four.
This and that
The younger boys were dressed up for school again today. Last Friday it was St David's Day waistcoats and breeches and today they were Sirius Black and Dennis the Menace for World Book Day.
As for me this week has included rare visits to the hospital and (even rarer) the magistrates court. Someone I know had got in trouble with the law and wanted some moral support as he faced the magistrates. That went off as well as could be expected. One of the ladies I visit fortnightly at Spring Court had fallen and broken her hip when a motorised contraption had hit her while in the bank on Monday. They seem to be looking after her very well in the Royal Free.
There's plenty to complain about in this country but certainly some things work as they should. In the first case the detection and justice seemed to work well and in the second the doctors, nurses and therapists seemed to be working well to aid recovery. We have a lot to be thankful for in the UK.
Debriefing
As ever the last few days have been hectic and I feel in need of a debriefing. Do excuse me.
Wednesday - Meetings
Yesterday I was at my regular meetings for older folk - one am and one pm. The morning one was fine and I enjoyed walking the Kilburn High Road after it. Got my hair cut and bought a man bag and one or two other things en route. Evidence of the recession abounds with several shops closed down. In the afternoon one at the BUPA home we were low in numbers and the organiser was rather stressed busy putting up a display for St David's and St Patrick's Day (I've never seen green dragons for Wales before). Eleri's cousin's eldest, Ifan was with us overnight - up to check out London's art galleries. He joined us at our midweek meeting - and prayed in English! We were looking at the next bit in Deuteronomy 19 especially about two or three witnesses, which has a surprisingly large number of applications (just check the NT references).
Tuesday - EMF and LTS
The day before that I was lecturing in Welwyn at the EMF School on Seventh Day Adventists, Freemasons and Spiritualists. Rather a disastrous morning in some respects as I arrived late and had to leave early. In the afternoon we were interviewing at LTS.
Monday - LTS
On Monday I was at the LTS for the John Owen Centre Theological Study Group. We were discussing Tim Keller's book The Reason for God under the leadership of Mostyn Roberts. There was general agreement that while we have a lot of admiration for Keller and his book and like his zeal for souls some of the exegesis and theology leaves something to be desired. There are one or two surprisingly uncalvinistic statements in it. We agreed to do Catch the Vision by John J Murray next time.
Monday night was rather frustrating as Eleri was out then there was a problem with the internet on the laptop. Phoning BT is always a nightmare and though we eventually got the problem sorted it was frustrating and time consuming and by the time I was sorted I'd missed the University Challenge final, which I had to watch on iplayer later knowing the Trimble girl had won it for Corpus Christi. Ah well.
Weekend - Preaching, quiz night and party
On Sunday I preached on the final three chapters of Ezekiel and was not only glad to have completed the task but felt it came to something of a climax. We were in Hebrews 10 in the evening, a very searching passage.
The night before Rhodri had organised a quiz night for kids 15+ and around 15 showed up - half of them "outsiders". One old friend, Edmund, came and stayed with us for the weekend. I spoke (rather convolutedly I thought in the end, sadly) on learning from Agur (Proverbs). One fellow took a Bible and one a copy of my book on Regeneration (he's read most of Keller - he thought the negative first part better than the second positive part) and another person was very interested.
Saturday was Owain's birthday. He had a pirate themed party and enjoyed it a lot. Thankfully the weather was fine and they could spill out into the garden. They loved the trampoline and the rabbits (BTW did I mention there's been another litter recently? It's like a farm out there. I suggested that we put a rabbit in each of the party bags but we didn't in the end ;-).
Hiraeth
Just wanted to put up something patriotic for today. I do miss it sometimes. Less than a minute this one.
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