Stars and Ribbons — Winter Wassailing in Wales

Disgrifiad Cymraeg / Welsh Description

Astudiaeth o'r amryfal ffurfiau o waseila yng Nghymru, yn y gorffennol ac yn y presennol. Canolbwyntir yn benodol ar y farddoniaeth a berfformiwyd wrth ddathlu'r defodau ar adeg y Nadolig, Dydd Calan a Nos Ystwyll, defodau a gynhelid er mwyn gwella ffrwythlondeb y tir, anifeiliaid a dynolryw.

Disgrifiad Saesneg / English Description

This study identifies and discusses the various forms of winter wassailing found in Wales, in times past and present. It focuses specifically on the poetry performed at the celebration of several rituals held at Christmas, the turn of the year, and on Twelfth Night, which aspired to improve the productivity of the land, the animal kingdom, and the human race.

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Cynnwys / Table of Contents

Acknowledgements List of Illustrations An Introduction to Winter Wassailing in Wales Christmas Wassailing Wassailing at the New Year Hunting the Wren Stars and Ribbons: the Mari Lwyd ritual Gŵyl Fair y Canhwyllau (Candlemas) Illustrations Tunes Beth sy mor feinion Calennig (1) Calennig (2) Cân Hela’r Dryw Cân y Dryw Cân y Fari Lwyd Cerdd Dydd Calan Consêt Prince Rupert or Prince Rupert’s Conceit The Cutty Wren Cyfri’r Geifr (1) Cyfri’r Geifr (2) Y cyntaf dydd o’r Gwyliau or The first day of Christmas Deffrwch! Benteulu Dibyn a Dobyn Y Fedle Fawr Ffarwel Gwŷr Aberffraw Hyd yma bu’n cerdded Joan’s Placket Leave Land or Gadael Tir May Day Y Mochyn Du Peg O’Ramsey Pilgrim Sosban Fach Susannah Tri Thrawiad Gwynedd Y Washael (Wel, dyma enw’r feinwen) Ymdaith Gwŷr Harlech or The March of the Men of Harlech Winter Wassailing Songs and Poems 1–49 Bibliography Verse forms Index to first lines Index to poets Index to tunes General Index

Bywgraffiad yr Awdur / Author Biography

Rhiannon Ifans is retired Dyson Fellow in the Faculty of Humanities and Performing Arts, University of Wales Trinity Saint David. She is General Secretary of the Welsh Folk Song Society, and editor of the annual journal Canu Gwerin / Folk Song .

Adolygiad y Cyhoeddwr / Publisher Review

• This is a lively introduction to a little-known subject, the Welsh wassailing poems, and it should benefit historians, social scientists, and linguists. • The volume presents poems copied from manuscripts held at various libraries, and from personal collections of unpublished poems, all forming part of a social custom celebrated at the turn of the year. It presents translations of those poems, along with music where possible. It should provide musicologists and folklorists with further material for their studies. • The book identifies five rituals in particular when Welsh wassail songs were sung: at Christmas, the New Year, during the Mari Lwyd celebrations, at the Wren Hunt, at Candlemas (2 February). • The book is not argumentative or controversial, but is more concerned with solid descriptive scholarship rather than with the discussion of theoretical issues; many would regard this as one of the book’s major strengths. This volume makes two original contributions to knowledge and understanding. The first contribution is to provide a rich collection of songs for the first time in their original language, translated into English and with musical notation. It also provides a comprehensive analysis of these poems and of the society in which they were sung. In so doing, it advances new insights into the tradition of winter wassailing in Wales. ‘Drawing upon her own authoritative doctoral thesis on our native wassail songs, Rhiannon Ifans has now achieved her long-held ideal of publishing an English-language volume on their significant seasonal tradition of earlier centuries, thus introducing it, and worthily so, to an international readership.’ Roy Saer, Welsh Folk-Song Society ‘From Mari Lwyd to hunting the wren, the customs associated with winter wassailing in Wales are many and varied. This study presents a rich tapestry of folk traditions linked to the New Year, the greeting of neighbours, and the promotion of prosperity and fertility.’ Rhidian Griffiths