Letting My Fingers Do The Talking ...

( Behind here )

Dafydd Iwan, Dydd Gwyl Sant Dwynwen a Robbie Burns

For the non-Welsh speakers:- The above song is the signature tune of Dafydd Iwan, a famous Welsh language activist and singer. Dafydd plays it at the end of all his concerts.

"Dwyt ti'm yn cofio Macsen,
Does neb yn ei nabod o;
Mae mil a chwe chant o flynyddoedd
Yn amser rhy hir i'r co';
Pan aeth Magnus Maximus o Gymru
Yn y flwyddyn tri-chant-wyth-tri,
A'n gadael yn genedl gyfan
A heddiw: wele ni!

[Chorus]
Ry'n ni yma o hyd,
Ry'n ni yma o hyd,
Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth,
Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth,
Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth
Ry'n ni yma o hyd.
Ry'n ni yma o hyd,
Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth,
Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth,
Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth
Ry'n ni yma o hyd.

Chwythed y gwynt o'r Dwyrain,
Rhued y storm o'r môr,
Hollted y mellt yr wybren
A gwaedded y daran encôr,
Llifed dagrau'r gwangalon
A llyfed y taeog y llawr
Er dued yw'r fagddu o'n cwmpas
Ry'n ni'n barod am doriad y wawr!

[Chorus]

Cofiwn i Facsen Wledig
Adael ein gwlad yn un darn
A bloeddiwn gerbron y gwledydd
'Mi fyddwn yma tan Ddydd y Farn! '
Er gwaetha pob Dic Sion Dafydd,
Er gwaetha 'rhen Fagi a'i chriw
Byddwn yma hyd ddiwedd amser
A bydd yr iaith Gymraeg yn fyw!

[Chorus]
Ry'n ni yma o hyd,
Ry'n ni yma o hyd,
Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth,
Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth,
Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth ...

a.y.y.b."

I can tell you right away that the chorus translates to English as:-

"We are still here!
We are still here!
Despite everyone and everything,
Despite everyone and everything,
Despite everyone and everything
We are still here!"

I'll try and look for an English translation, but it might be easier if everybody just learned to speak Welsh instead.

No, wait. Here's the Wikipedia translation of the words. You can stop looking for Welsh dictionaries tonight.

You don't remember Macsen,
nobody knows him;
Sixteen hundred years
Is too long to remember;
Magnus Maximus left Wales
In the year 383
Leaving us a proper nation
And today - look at us!

We're still here x2
Despite everyone and everything x3
We're still here x2
Despite everyone and everything x3
We're still here.

Let the wind blow from the East
Let the storm roar from the sea
Let the lightning split the heavens
Let the chorus of thunder shout out loud
Let the tears of the weak-hearted flow
Let the servile lick the floor
Despite the blackness around us
We are ready for the breaking of the dawn!

We remember that Macsen the Emperor
left our country in one whole piece,
And we will shout before all nations
'We'll be here until the Judgement Day!'
Despite every Dic Siôn Dafydd
Despite old Maggie and her crew,
We'll be here until the end of time,
And the Welsh language will live!

It's Burns Night to Scots the world over, but to us Welsh January 25th is Saint Dwynwen's Day, the Welsh St Valentine.

Now before Rimble got his paws on the formatting and ran the latter half of this post through a ruddy Kenwood Chef, I'd posted a couple of brilliant links to various sites. But I'll leave them out of the edit. I'll post something later instead.

Now to go and kick Trickster in the nuts. Squarely in the nuts.