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THE WORDS There are some striking differences between the Welsh traditional carols and the more modern carols. 1. The content. Most modern carols tend to concentrate on the nativity story itself: the manger, the straw bed, the wise men and shepherds, even the weather! The traditional carols on the other hand place the birth of Jesus in a much wider context: from the days of the Garden of Eden, the prophets of the Old Testament right through to the crucifixion. 2. They contain the basic tenets of the Christian faith and are full of theological references. The composers of these carols were fully conversant with their Bible. 3. Quite often (but not always) the verses are long, sometimes 12 or even 15 lines. They have more in common with ballads than with hyms. Very often the same tunes and metres would be used for carols and ballads. 4. The poetic craftmanship.. Many of the older carols are a unique blend of the old strict metres (‘cynghanedd’) and the newer free metres - patterns that became popular from the 17th century onwards. A good example of this is the carol by Jane Ellis (Bala/Mold), which contains six examples of ‘cynghanedd sain’ (e.g., in the first two lines there are three rhymes, Cristion/awron/dirion and alliteration between dirion and Duw. O deued pob Cristion i Fethlem yr awron i weled mor dirion yw Duw; O ddyfnder rhyfeddod, fe drefnodd y Duwdod dragwyddol gyfamod i fyw: Daeth Brenin yr hollfyd i oedfa ein hadfyd er symud ein penyd a’n pwn; Heb le yn y llety, heb aelwyd, heb wely, Nadolig fel hynny gadd hwn. Rhown glod i’r Mab bychan, ar liniau Mair wiwlan, daeth Duwdod mewn baban i’n byd: Ei ras O derbyniwn, ei haeddiant cyhoeddwn, a throsto ef gweithiwn i gyd.

THE METRES The Welsh term ‘mesur’ when used in the context of the traditional carols, denotes the form or framework within which the words are composed: the template. In English poetry these ‘templates’ have titles such as ‘iambic pentameter’ or ‘trochaic tetrameter’. But many Welsh carol meters - the older ones in particular - have specific names, such as Difyrrwch Gwŷr y Gogledd (The Northmen’s Delight), Ehediad y Golomen (The Pigeon’s Flight) or even Duw Gadwo’r Brenin (God Save the King)! The words, once composed, can then be fitted on to any number of different tunes on that particular metre. So a carol on the metre Ffarwel Gwŷr Aberffraw for example, can sound quite different to another carol composed on the same metre. The following is a selection of metre titles. They are obviously folk tunes in their original form. While many of them are Welsh tunes, others have been imported from England and other countries, but when sung by plygain singers have their own unique Welsh flavour and style. Agoriad y Melinydd ( The Miller’s Key) Difyrrwch Gwŷr Bangor (The Delight of the Men of Bangor) Dydd Llun y Bore (Monday Morning) Ehediad y Golomen (The Pigeon’s Flight) Ffarwel Ned Puw (Farewell Ned Pugh) Gwêl yr Adeilad (See the Building) Llygoden yn y Felin (The Mouse in the Mill) Susan Lygat-ddu (Black-eyed Susan) Y Ceiliog Gwyn (The White Cockrel)

GWÊL YR ADEILAD (See the building) Y dirion wawr a dorrodd Ar ddynion y cyfododd Haul cyfiawnder; Ym mro a chysgod angau Disgleiriodd ei belydrau Mewn eglurder. Yn awr daeth ei oleuni i lawr Tywyllwch gorddu A orfu chwalu O flaen yr Iesu, Holl lu y fagddu fawr A ffoesant yn ddiaros Fel nos o flaen y wawr. Mewn llwydd, dring i’w orseddol swydd, Mae’n dwyn plant dynion Oedd garcharorion O law y creulon A’u gwneud yn rhyddion rhwydd, Gan ddryllio, darnio’i deyrnas A gordd ei ras o’n gwydd. (Huw Derfel)

Y TRI THRAWIAD (Three Strikes, or beats) At one time, this was the most popular metre. It was a favorite of Rhys Prichard (Vicar Prichard), 1579-1644, of Llanymddyfri: Rhown foliant o'r mwyaf i Dduw y Goruchaf Am roi 'i fab anwylaf yn blentyn i Fair I gymryd ein natur a'n dyled a'n dolur I'n gwared o'n gwewyr anniwair. It was also a favorite metre of Huw Morys from the Ceiriog Valley 1622-1709: probably the most prolific of all carol composers. He belonged to a slightly later period than Rhys Prichard and was more careful to include 'cynghanedd' (alliteration) in his verses: Dewch yn galonnog at Iesu'n Pen T'wysog, Y sawl sydd yn llwythog neu'n feichiog o fai, Ef ddwg y ffyddloniaid o ffyrdd pechaduriaid I gorlan ei ddefaid yn ddifai.

FFARWEL NED PUW (Ned Pugh’s Farewell) Wel dyma’r bore gore i gyd Fe roed i’r byd wybodaeth Am eni’r gwaraidd Iesu gwyn I’n dwyn o’n syn gamsyniaeth; Fe ddaeth ein Brenin mawr a’n Brawd Mewn gwisg o gnawd genedig, Rhyfeddod gweled mab Duw Nȇr Ar fronnau pȇr forwynig; Rhyfeddod na dderfydd yw hon yn dragywydd, O rhoed y Dihenydd i bob dawn adenydd, Llawenydd a gwenydd i ganu; Nid caniad plyeginiol a’i naws yn hanesol I’r enaid crediniol sydd gynnes ddigonol, Ond dwyfol ddewisol wedd Iesu. (Dafydd Ddu Eryri)

MENTRA GWEN (Venture, Gwen) Ar gyfer heddiw’r bore’n faban bach, yn faban bach Y ganwyd gwreiddyn Jesse’n faban bach Y cadarn ddaeth o Bosra Y deddfwr gynt ar Sina Yr Iawn gaed ar Galfaria’n faban bach, yn faban bach, Yn sugno bron Maria’n, faban bach (Eos Iâl)