| Author | Topic: Add: Migildi magildi | |
| dmcg | Posted - 28 Mar 05 - 11:27 am | |
What a fine and pleasant sight Migildi magildi hey now now, Is a smithy warm and bright Migildi magildi hey now now, From the anvil gay sparks glancing Migildi magildi hey now now, 'Neath the blacksmith's hammer dancing Migildi magildi hey now now. What a fine and pleasant race, Migildi magildi hey now now, For the warmest brightest place, Migildi magildi hey now now, When without the winds are blowing Migildi magildi hey now now, And inside the fire is glowing, Migildi magildi hey now now. What a fine and pleasant sound, Migildi magildi hey now now, When the songs and tales go round, Migildi magildi hey now now, Clang of hammer, blow of bellows, Migildi magildi hey now now, In the company of good fellows, Migildi magildi hey now now. Source: Singing Together, Spring 1975, BBC Publications Notes: English words by Jack Dobbs to a Welsh folk tune, taken from Oxford School Music Books Teachers' Manual, Senior Part 2 | ||
| Jon Freeman | Posted - 28 Mar 05 - 12:09 pm | |
I rember singing this in Welsh at school although the words meant nothing to me. I have found some Welsh words Ffeind a difyr ydyw gweled, Migldi magldi, hei, now, now. Drws yr efail yn agored, Migldi magldi, hei, now, now. Ar go' bach a'i wyneb purddu, Migldi magldi, hei, now, now. Yn yr efail yn prysur chwythu, Migldi magldi, hei, now, now. Ffeind a difyr hirnos gaea' Migldi magldi, hei, now, now. Mynd i'r efail am y cynta'; Migldi magldi, hei, now, now. Pan fo rhew ac eira allan Migldi magldi, hei, now, now. Gorau pwynt fydd wrth y pentan, Migldi magldi, hei, now, now. Ffeind a braf yw sŵn y fegin, Migldi magldi, hei, now, now. Gwrando chwedl, cÃ?¢n ac englyn, Migldi magldi, hei, now, now. Pan fo'r cwmni yn ei afiaith, Migldi magldi, hei, now, now. Ceir hanesion llawer noswaith, Migldi magldi, hei, now, now. Pan ddaw'r mÃ?´r i ben y mynydd, Migldi magldi, hei, now, now. A'i ddwy ymyl at ei gilydd, Migldi magldi, hei, now, now. A'r coed rhosys yn dwyn 'fala, Migldi magldi, hei, now, now. Dyna'r pryd y cei di finna', Migldi magldi, hei, now, now. I've not been able to find an English translation. The second line of this one is one I can translate without resorting to a dictionary and guessing. Drws yr efail yn agored - The door of the smithy is open. I would imagine that Dobbs has used a similar theme to the Welsh but not a literal translation. | ||
| dmcg | Posted - 28 Mar 05 - 12:19 pm | |
Thanks. I hoped you or Pip come come up with some Welsh lyrics, otherwise it would have fallen foul of my rule-of-thumb that I only put in songs where I have a set of lyrics in the original language. | ||
| masato sakurai | Posted - 28 Mar 05 - 12:24 pm | |
From The King's Singers' Folk Songs (Faber, 1985, pp. 56-64). They recorded it on Watching the White Wheat: Folk Songs of the British Isles. Migildi Magildi | ||
| Jon Freeman | Posted - 28 Mar 05 - 12:56 pm | |
I'll see what turns up here but I migh take it over to Mudcat tomorrow and see if Sian can offer a translation. I get the first line to. A fine and pleasant sight to behold. The online dictionary I use is missing a couple of words on line 3 (I'm not counting the nonsense [I think]lines BTW) line 4 I get to something like In the Smithy busy puffing. Maybe the King's Singers have that right. | ||
| Jon Freeman | Posted - 08 Apr 05 - 05:28 pm | |
"sian, west wales" has kindly supplied the following on Mudcat. ------------------ Ffeind a difyr ydyw gweled, Agreeable and fun it is to see Drws yr efail yn agored, The smithy door open Ar go' bach a'i wyneb purddu, And the little blacksmith with his pitch-black face Yn yr efail yn prysur chwythu, Busily puffing (bellows) away. Ffeind a difyr hirnos gaea' Amusing and fun it is on a long winter's night Mynd i'r efail am y cynta'; Being first to the smithy. Pan fo rhew ac eira allan When it is snow and ice outside. Gorau pwynt fydd wrth y pentan, The best place is by the mantlepiece. Ffeind a braf yw s�?�µn y fegin, Amusing and fun is the sound of the bellows Gwrando chwedl, ca^n ac englyn, Listening to stories, song and englyn (type of short poem) Pan fo'r cwmni yn ei afiaith When the company is at its merriest Ceir hanesion llawer noswaith, You'll hear stories of many other nights. Pan ddaw'r mo^r i ben y mynydd, When the oceans comes to the mountaintop A'i ddwy ymyl at ei gilydd, And it's two sides meet together A'r coed rhosys yn dwyn 'fala, And rose bushes bear apples Dyna'r pryd y cei di finna', That's when you will have me. Another example of canu penillion - lit. 'singing verses' - in the sense that the company gathered together to sing whichever verses fit the meter, often with an element of competitions ("I know more verses that you do. You'll run out before I do.") Hence the fact that the last verse doesn't really fit; it would usually be preceded by another verse of the male-meets-female-on-the-road-and-tries-his-luck ilk. Oh - and the Migildi magildi of course are nonsense bits, but are meant to imitate the sound of the hammer on the anvil. | ||