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Calenick​/​C​â​n Merthyr /Map Rus

from Signature by IONA

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We start with Calenick, a traditional Cornish tune in 9/8. A tradition that became popular when English began to be spoken in Wales, macaronic verse, or a combination of the two languages, is featured in the comedic song, Cân Merthyr. It is the plaint of a man married to a controlling wife who dictates where he goes, armed with a wooden soup ladle (lletwad), refuses to provide him with tobacco and eats the meat while relegating him to soup - "that's the devil of a partner"! We intersperse the verses with another Cornish tune, Map Rus.

lyrics

Ye lads all thro' the country,
Gwrandewch ar hyn o stori. x2
You better go dros ben y graig x2
Then go with gwraig i'r gwely.

{Ye lads all through the country,
Listen to this story.
You'd be better going over the top of a cliff
Than going with the wife to bed.}

My wife did send me waerad
Down to the River Deifad.x2
I told her I wouldn't go, x2
She knock me with the lletwad.

{My wife did send me away
Down to the River Deifad.
I told her I wouldn't go,
She knocked me with a wooden soup ladle.}

My wife did send me i weithio
Without a bit of bacco; x2
She got plenty in the house x2
Ni chawn i ounce ohono.

{My wife sent me to work
Without a bit of tobacco.
She's got plenty in the house -
I wasn't allowed an ounce of it.}

My wife did go to dinner,
Cig moch a phalfais wether; x2
She eat the cig, give me the cawl, x2
A dyna' i chi ddiawl o bardner.

{My wife did go to dinner,
Bacon and shoulder of lamb;
She ate the meat, gave me the soup.
Now there's a devil of a partner}.

© 2017 Barnaby Productions Inc.

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from Signature, released December 1, 2017

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IONA Washington, D.C.

IONA has been taking its unique brand of traditional Celtic music to festivals, arts centers, schools & house concerts all over North America and Europe since 1986, blending music from the various Celtic traditions with stories and a little humor - Barbara Ryan (vocals, bouzouki, bodhran), Bernard Argent (flute, doumbek), Chuck Lawhorn (bass), Jim Queen (fiddle, banjo) & Kathleen Larrick (dance). ... more

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