Does anyone know where I can find the Welsh words for The Ash Grove (along with a pronunciation guide and a translation)? I’ve loved this tune for years…sung many different words to it, and played it on both whistle and recorder…and I’d love to be able to sing it in the original language.
Redwolf
http://sniff.numachi.com/~rickheit/dtrad/pages/tiASHGROV3;ttASHGROV1.html
you’re on your own for the pronunciation
It is beautiful isnt it.
It’s absolutely lovely. Along with “The Water is Wide,” I think it’s among the most beautiful of folk tunes. I just finished transposing it for my whistle, and have been happily practicing (I’ve played it for years on the recorder…it’s a bit trickier on the whistle, 'cause I’m a wuss about half-holing, but very pretty).
Redwolf
This is really weird!!! This eve I had to go play the organ for choir practice at church and the priest gave me some new tunes she’d found in some hymn collection. I started one and immediately said, this is the Ash Grove tune, looked at the bottom of the page and there it was!! Strange.
Would that be “The Master Hath Come”? It’s a lovely hymn, and yes, the tune is "The Ash Grove. I actually used a Scorch transposition of that hymn to find a nice key for the whistle.
Redwolf
The hymn “Oh Come Ye To Zion” is also to the tune of The Ash Grove.
Also, include the hymn “Let All Things Now Living.” This puppy has many sets of religious lyrics.
A brief pronunciation guide:
In general, letters take their ‘hard’ rather than soft sounds.
ch - a very nasal sound, a bit like ch in ‘loch’, comes from the throat rather than the mouth.
dd - soft ‘th’ sound
f - v as in vine
ff - f as in fine
ng - like ng in sing
i - ee
ll - not really describable, but the closest I can think of is ‘thl’, with lots of air!
ph - as in english
r - rolled
rh - as written
th - harder than dd
u - ee
w - can be oo or w
y - uh, except i (as in live) if in the last syllable of the word and ee if it’s the last letter.
All of the above are letters in the welsh alphabet (I’ve left out the obvious ones).
the word ‘mae’ is pronounced ‘my’.
‘si’ makes a sh sound.
Llwyn - thl-oy-n
oedd - oy-th
I live in South Wales, so a person from north wales might tell you somethings differently.
Jo.
[ This Message was edited by: Jo C on 2002-06-06 10:19 ]
Thanks so much!