I have a fairly uncomplicated genealogy: Cornish, Scottish and Welsh (Pollock/Polk, and Lloyd) on my father’s side, and Scottish, back into the remotest mists of time (along the Calder/Cawdor and Morrison lineages) on my mother’s. (That my name is Pollack, not Pollock, is only due, as it turns out, to a paperwork error that happened when my parents came to the US in 1956 — which I was startled to learn only about a year ago.)
So, because I am caught up in a busy social swirl today, with scant time for scribbling, here is an old Welsh song for you all to enjoy, as transcribed for us by the late, great Robert Benchley:
Welsh SongWirion digon gul noch noch
With a hey down derry and a ddwpllwdpoch
Ei gsith och deb nam ryddid gam
With a hey derry derry di-do caethion pam.
Llewsithery fwllned dinam cru
Gwerthyr yw brenin myy fansth
Sing hey for the nhaith meddyn ddica gstrth.
Rousing, no?
Speaking of Robert Benchley, by the way, you haven’t really gotten to know the fellow without having seen his Oscar-winning short documentary from 1935, How to Sleep. Here it is.
3 Comments
No wonder I couldn’t understand what the heck anyone was saying when I was in Wales.
Absolutely beautiful country, though, both Wales and Cornwall (unfortunately never got to visit Scotland). I hiked along the coastal path in Cornwall for a few days, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. I would move there if I thought I could get away with it.
ah Robert Benchley …
remember the bar I was part owner of – in 1982-83 ? Yes, -it was Benchley’s… & we sold it before it was renamed as Troy street…
even before that I was a big fan…
love to all- Pat
M,
Welsh is just about jabberwocky!
Jeanie