Cariad Cynaf

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Un o fy hoff gantorion gwerin yw Julie Murphy. Des i ar draws hi’n gyntaf pan cefais CD hi a Dylan Fowler, Ffawd, yn anrheg Dolig pan oeddwn i’n 16 mlwydd oed. Ar y pryd roeddwn i’n mynychu Coleg Rhyngwladol Unedig yr Iwerydd yn Llanilltud Fawr, Bro Morgannwg, sydd yn coleg chweched dosbarth preswyl. Mae hi’n CD arbennig a doeddwn i methu mynd a llawer o CDs efo fi i’r coleg felly gwrandewais ar yr un yma drosodd a throsodd a throsodd. Ymunais â band gwerin yn y coleg a roedd y CD yma – a ffordd unigrwy Julie o gyflwyno caneuon – yn ddylanwad mawr ar y ffordd roeddwn i’n dechrau dysgu a gosod caneuon i’r band.

Erbyn hyn dwi wedi dysgu ac yn perffromio tua hanner y caneuon ar y CD (gweler y post ar Y Bachgen Main) ond dyma’r cyntaf i mi ddysgu oddi ar y CD. Fel Dod Dy Law mae Cariad Cyntaf yn gân fyr ond pwerus iawn. Mae pob pennill yn cyflwyno dedlwedd newydd o gariad a serch cryf a mae fel petai’r holl gân yn adeiladu tuag at y llinell prydferth “Yn dy lygaid caf wirionedd / Yn serenu gras a rhinwedd” yn y bennill olaf.

Calon ar y traeth, gan chsh/il via flickr

Yn y gân clywn rhywun yn dweud wrth ei gariad bod o’n caru hi a bod o eisiau priodi hi. Monolog yw’r gân felly dyden ni ddim yn clywed ateb y ferch. Dwi wastad yn dweud wrth gynulleidfaoedd bod rhaid iddyn nhw dyfalu beth oedd ateb y ferch ond bod yr alaw drist yn rhoi syniad i ni. Ond efallai dydy hi ddim yn fater syml o ddyn yn caru merch sydd ddim yn caru fo yn ôl – efallai bod y ferch yn ei garu ond bod rhywbeth, megis rhieni ymyrrus, yn mynd i gadw’r ddau ar wahan a dyna pam mae’r bachgen yn ‘glaf’ ac mae’r alaw mor alarus.

Gall y llinell olaf cael ei ymestyn i agor y possibilrwydd o arbrofi yn gerddorol. Dwi wedi perfformio’r gân yma ar ben fy hun, efo Shanti (fy nghyn grŵp gwerin), fel deuawd efo Patrick Dean ac efo’r Foxglove Trio a’r llinell olaf yw’r un mwyaf diddorol yn gerddorol bob tro. Daw’r recordiad uchod o’n parti i lansio CD cyntaf Y Foxglove Trio o’r enw Like Diamond Glances. Gallwch prynnu copi o’r CD (£5 +P&P) drwy ebostio thefoxglovetrio @ gmail.com.

Gwreiddiau

Dwi wedi methu dod o hyd i lawer o wybodaeth am y gân brydferth yma. Dywedai Merêd bod y gân yn dod o’r 18fed ganrif ac ar wefan prifysgol Rydychen mae’n dweud bod hi wedi cael ei gasglu yn c.1912. Dwi ddim yn gwybod, serch hyn, pwy wnaeth casglu’r gân gan bwy na phryd. Os ydych chi’n gwybod, gadewch sylw isod!

Mae’n ddiddorol i nodi bod llawer o gantorion yn gadael allan y trydydd pennill. Dwi ddim yn meddwl bod yn pennill yma wedi cael ei fenthyg gan gân arall – rhywbeth sy’n digwydd yn aml – felly os oes unrhywun yn gwybod o ble mae’r pennill yma wedi dod gadewch sylw!

Ble nesaf

Mae Gustav Holst wedi gwneud gosodiad corawl o Cariad Cyntaf a gwnaeth Bryn Terfel canu’r gân fel rhan o noson olaf y proms yn 2008. Mae fideo ar gael ar vimeo. Mae’r gosodiad yma (3 pennill yn unig) ar gael ar ei CD o’r enw First Love: Songs from the British Isles (Deutsche Grammaphon, 2008).

Dyma lle gallwch dod o hyd i fersiynnau mwy gwerinol:

• The Foxglove Trio, Like Diamond Glances, 2013 – 4 pennill
• Sian James, Gweini Tymor, Sain, 2010 A Pur, Recordiau Bos Records, 2001 – 3 pennill. Gwrandewch at youtube.
• Ríoghnach Connolly – 4 pennill. Gwrandewch ar soundcloud.
• 9bach, 9bach, Sain, 2009 – 4 pennill
• Eleri Llwyd, Welsh Rare Beat 2, Finders Keepers Records, 2007 – 4 pennill
• Meredydd Evans, Traditional Welsh Songs, Essential Media Group LLC, 2009 – 4 pennill. Gwelwch mwy o wybodaeth a’r nodiadau llawes ar wefan Folkways.
• Huw M, Cân o’r enw Michelle Michelle (Cariad Cyntaf), Os Mewn Sŵn, 2010 Rasal Miwsig, – gyda geiriau gwreiddiol ychwanegol.
• John Eifion, cân o’r enw Y Cariad Cyntaf (Mae Prydferthwch Ail I Eden), John Eifion, Sain, 2009.
• Carreg Lafar, Profiad, Sain, 2002 – 4 pennill
• Rachel, O’r Dwy Ochr / Both Sides, Sain, 2003 – 3 pennill.
• Julie Murphy & Dylan Fowler, Ffawd, Fflach, 2001 – 4 pennill.

Hefyd…
Mae trac o’r enw Lliw Gwyn Rhosyn yr Haf / Cariad Cyntaf ar CD Carwyn Tywyn o’r enw Alawon o’r Stryd (2011) ond nid dyma alaw y gân Cariad Cyntaf.
Mae Ghazalaw yn defnyddio Cariad Cyntaf mewn un o’u caneuon ond dyd hi ddim ar gael ar CD eto.

Geiriau

Mae prydferthwch ail i Eden
Yn dy fynwes gynnes, feinwen,
Fwyn gariadus liwus lawen.
Seren syw, clyw di’r claf.

Addo’th gariad i mi heno,
Gwnawn amodau cyn ymado
I ymrwymo, doed a ddelo;
Rho dy gred, a dwed y doi.

Liwus lonnach, serch fy mynwes,
Wiwdeg orau ‘rioed a gerais
Mi’th gymeraf yn gymhares;
Rho dy gred, a d’wed y doi.

Yn dy lygaid caf wirionedd
Yn serennu gras a rhinwedd,
Mae dy weld i mi’n orfoledd:
Seren syw, clyw di’r claf.

First Love

One of my favourite folk singers is Julie Murphy. I first came across her when I got hers and Dylan Fowler’s CD, Ffawd, as a Christmas present when I was 16 years old. At the time I was attending an international sixth form boarding college called United World College of the Atlantic in Llantwit Major, Vale of Glamorgan. Partly because it’s an incredible album and partly because I wasn’t able to take many of my CDs with me to college I listened to this CD over and over again. I joined a folk band at the college and this CD – and especially Julie’s unique way of presenting songs – was a big influence on the way I started to learn and arrange songs for the band.

By now I’ve learnt and regularly perform about half of the songs on the CD (see the post on Y Bachgen Main) but this is the first song I learnt. Like Dod Dy Law it’s a short but powerful song. Each verse portrays a different image of strong love and lust and it’s as if the whole song builds towards the beautiful line “Yn dy lygaid caf wirionedd / Yn serenu gras a rhinwedd” (“In your eyes I find truth / That shines like stars of grace and virtue”) in the last verse.

First love, from sodahead.com

In the song we hear someone telling his lover that he loves her and that he wants to marry her. It’s a monologue so we don’t get to hear her response. I always tell audiences that they have to guess what her answer was to the question about getting married but that the sad melody gives us a clue. But perhaps it’s not a simple matter of unrequited love – perhaps the girl does love him back but something, such as meddling parents, is going to keep them apart which is why the boy is lovesick and the tune is so mournful.

The last line of the song can be extended to open up all sorts of musical experiments. I’ve performed this song as a soloist, with Shanti (one of my previous folk groups), as a duet with Patrick Dean and with The Foxglove Trio and it’s always the last line which provides the most musical interest. The above recording comes from the launch party for The Foxglove Trio’s debut EP, Like Diamond Glances. You can buy a copy of the CD (£5 +p&p) by emailing thefoxglovetrio @ gmail.com.

Origins

I haven’t been able to find much information about this beautiful song. Merêd says that the song comes from the 18th century and the Oxford University website says that it was collected in c.1912. I don’t know, however, who collected the song from whom or when. If you know, please leave a comment below!

It’s interesting to note that lots of singers leave out the third verse. I don’t think this verse has been borrowed from another song – as is often the case – so if anyone knows its origin please leave a comment!

Where next

Gustav Holst has written a choral arrangement of Cariad Cyntaf and Bryn Terfel sang it as part of his Last Night of the Proms performance in 2008. There’s a video of this on vimeo. This arrangement (3 verses only) is available on a CD called First Love: Songs from the British Isles (Deutsche Grammaphon, 2008).

Here’s where you can find some more folky arrangements:

• The Foxglove Trio, Like Diamond Glances, 2013 – 4 verses
• Sian James, Gweini Tymor, Sain, 2010 A Pur, Recordiau Bos Records, 2001 – 3 verses. Listen on youtube.
• Ríoghnach Connolly – 4 verses. Listen on soundcloud.
• 9bach, 9bach, Sain, 2009 – 4 verses
• Eleri Llwyd, Welsh Rare Beat 2, Finders Keepers Records, 2007 – 4 verses
• Meredydd Evans, Traditional Welsh Songs, Essential Media Group LLC, 2009 – 4 verses. See more information and the sleeve notes on the Folkways website.
• Huw M, a song called ‘Michelle Michelle (Cariad Cyntaf)’, Os Mewn Sŵn, Rasal Miwsig, 2010 – with additional original lyrics.
• John Eifion, a song called ‘Y Cariad Cyntaf (Mae Prydferthwch Ail i Eden)’, John Eifion, Sain, 2009
• Carreg Lafar, Profiad, Sain, 2002 – 4 verses
• Rachel, O’r Dwy Ochr / Both Sides, Sain, 2003 – 3 verses.
• Julie Murphy & Dylan Fowler, Ffawd, Fflach, 2001 – 4 verses.

Also…
There’s a track called Lliw Gwyn Rhosyn yr Haf / Cariad Cyntaf on Carwyn Tywyn’s CD called Alawon o’r Stryd (2011) but it isn’t the tune for the song Cariad Cyntaf.
Ghazalaw use Cariad Cyntaf in one of their songs but it isn’t available on CD yet.

Lyrics

In the sleeve notes of Meredydd Evans, Traditional Welsh Songs, originally released on LP in 1954, Merêd wrote “the words are highly metophorical in parts and hence no translation could convey the beauty of them.” I think it’s worth trying nevertheless! This translation is adapted slightly from martindardis.com

There is beauty only second to Eden
In your warm bosom, fair maiden.
Dear loved one, bright and happy;
Beautiful star, hear this lovesick one.

Promise your love to me tonight,
We’ll make vows before we leave
To engage, come what may.
Place your trust, and say you’ll come.

Bright happier one, love of my breast
Best and fairest that I ever loved
I will take you as a partner
Place your trust, and say you’ll come.

In your eyes I find truth
That shines like stars of grace and virtue;
For me, seeing you is a joy.
Beautiful star, hear this lovesick one.

 

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