So, I will be preaching at a Church named St. David's next week......

.... it's St. David's Episcopal Church in South Yarmouth, MA

 It is named for  Saint Dafydd , the Patron Saint of Wales.


As I have thought about my impending visit to St. David's in South Yarmouth, I have mused upon the beauty of the Welsh language as it is spoken or sung.  I have not needed to understand the language in order to enjoy it  (although it would be lovely if I could speak some Welsh).

 Here are a few samples of singing in Welsh -  published here to give you goosebumps.


(1)  Gwahoddiad  ( In English "I hear Thy welcome voice").

https://youtu.be/b5mqR-ehY9s

(2)  The Welsh "National Anthem"  -  stirring indeed. Makes me teary eyed when they break into harmony.

https://youtu.be/0LFxK003nlA


(3)  "Myfanwy"   another tear-jerker

https://youtu.be/hNtn8B3zz8g

(4) "David of the White Rock"  (which I sang in English when I was in 5th Grade.  Even then it haunted me).

https://youtu.be/8lemqAXxFXE


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTES

(a)  Should you visit Brittany you would find many towns and villages which have names which could well be in Wales.   The Bretons and the Welsh have similar cultural, linguistic  and ethnic heritages. I was once at a Choral Concert in Roscoff,  Brittany.  When I closed my eyes and listened to the music I imagined that I was in Wales.

(b)  The Welsh language has survived in spite of the best efforts of Wales's English overlords to stamp it out for many centuries, right up until the mid 20th Century,

When you rob a people of their language, you also rob them of their history.

(c) When I asked my Mum why Welsh people were so disliked in our home City of Bristol (across the Severn Estuary from Wales)  she told me that "they" came to Bristol in the 1920/1930 depression and took "English jobs".

Such has been the complaint about every immigrant group --  "they are taking our jobs",

In this case the English residents of Bristol and the "immigrants" from Wales were each citizens of the same United Kingdom..  Go figure!


(d)  If all you know about Wales is based on the 1941 film "How Green Was My Family'  you need re-education.    The film itself is sentimental clap-trap.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shoe insults

Last year I consulted with a local podiatrist: Dr. Robert F Herbold Jr. D.P.M. 4717 Swift Rd., Sarasota , FL – 34231  because I was being bothered with a couple of bunions  (yes I am at that age). I was very impressed with this Doctor.  He agreed that I had bunions, but he ventured that it was much too soon for surgery. (Now there’s a first). Instead he recommended some “arch supports” to relieve the tension for my feet, a tension which was exacerbating the bunions. What’s more -  he told me that he sells these arch supports at the miserly sum of $2.50 each (about 1/5 of the price in the local pharmacies). He is an honest man, and I recommend him to anyone with foot problems. So, a couple of weeks ago, having purchased some new walking shoes, I knew that I needed to buy a couple of new arch supports I took myself to his office. Once there, my mind went blank. I wanted to ask his front desk Clerk if I could buy some “shoe inserts” , as I could not rem...
Read more

It began in Bristol U.K. "A man dies" and "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Image
I well remember the swirling controversy in Bristol, U.K. when a (Presbyterian) Minister the Revd, Earnest Marviin created a ":Rock Opera", called "A Man Dies"  in and for his congregation in the Lockleaze area of Bristol, U.K. Earnest Mrvin I was a sixteen years old member of the Plymouth Brethren Church back in those days, so I most likely disapproved of "A Man Dies" .  We, (the Plymouth Brethren),  disapproved of everything! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had forgotten all about "A Man Dies" until earlier today when saw these pictures on the "Bristol, Then and Now"  Facebook page.   St. James Presbyterian Church, Lockleaze, Bristol  The Bristol Then and Now page includes the following commentary: Lockleaze, Bristol  -  'Jesus Christ Superstar' began at St.James (Presbyterian) Chur...
Read more

The background, the couple, my friends, the wedding ceremony, the Shaykh, the Priest,

Image
The background   I have known the Keller/Bonsey family since 2000 when I became the Rector at St. James's, Cambridge, MA. They (Elisabeth Keller and the Revd. Steven Bonsey with their four children Noah, Sam, Josiah and Annie) had come back to Cambridge from Hawaii where Steve had been the Rector of an Episcopal parish. Steve had just been appointed as a Chaplain at Tufts University (no Sunday morning duties) so the entire family was able to enrich our common life at St. James's - which they did with great love and joy. I count them as friends and have stayed in touch with them since my retirement.  Noah, the oldest son is eloquent in Arabic (he spent a year in Damascus when Syria was a safe place).  He has developed a super career as an analyst of social media in the near East.    Noah worked in Tampa for a while a few years ago, so he and I were a...
Read more