A traditional saying followed by a traditional poem.

Nid Arwr y Wlad yn Arwr teulu. This is an old Welsh expression which I just made up which has meanings for Welsh royalist republicans who drop their families for other motivational circumstances or life meaning situations.
Cofia Caradog, cofia Llywelyn,
Cofia Owain a'r hanes Cymru,
Cofia'r Wlad a chofia'r Gwaed,
Ond peidiwch ag anghofio Dydd Gwyl Dewi.

A proverb a day keeps the world at bay.300 o ddiarebion cymreig

Y groes waethaf yw bod heb yr un

A proverb a day keeps the world at bay.300 o ddiarebion cymreig

Cymraeg/Welsh- English/Saesneg and Llydaweg/Breton-Ffrangeg/French Toponomy

On; ash trees. Onn; frenes.

Welsh or Walsh

Because someone is called Welsh or Walsh or Galician or Galatian or Gaulois or Gallois or whatever, does not mean that he or she comes from a respective Country, it only means that in some way or other he or she is different, or comes from the other side of the river or could even refer to someone who stutters or is immoral or a criminal. When Hitler annexed Alsace-Lorraine, he told them that they would not be speaking Welsh any longer, meaning French. The German Swiss refer to the Romansch Swiss as Welsh. It is not always written W.E.L.S.H. but it is from the German root Waelisc, meaning them over there,not us, they whom we encounter, we couldn't call a Brazilian or Peruvian Welsh , it has to be somebody directly in front of us.We have this huge shadow hanging over us so we can't even identify ourselves anymore. Welsh does not mean Cymreig, it's a German word meaning foreigner,no wonder we have a complex. Q; How does one recognise a well balanced Welshman? A; He has a chip on both shoulders.

Goidelic, Gaelic, Gwyddeleg is welsh for a wild man, a foreigner or a stutterer, someone who is not like us, even a criminal.

The Kings of Britain

1115- 1075 B.C.; Eli's judgeship..... Brutus, first King of Britain (reigns 23 years). Loerinus '10 years).

The primitive saga of Arthur

How many of you can relate to the ancient saga without relating to Thomas Mallory or Chretien de Troyes, i.e.; Caladbolg, The magic sword of the 'Tuatha Dé Danann' of Ireland.
Caletfwlch; Arthur's sword, with which he held on to the sovereignty. We found it later in the name Excalibur in the Arthurian legends.

Cymraeg/Welsh- English/Saesneg and Llydaweg/Breton-Ffrangeg/French Toponomy

Newydd; new. Nevez; nouveau,neuf.

A proverb a day keep the world at bay.300 o ddiarebion cymreig

Ni chel grudd gystudd calon.

Cymraeg/Welsh- English/Saesneg and Llydaweg/Breton-Ffrangeg/French Toponomy

Maen; stone. Men,Mean,min; pierre.
Maerdy; dairy farm. Merdy;maison du Maire, l'intendant
Magor,magwyr; wall. Moguer,magor; mur.
Mawr; great,big. Meur; grand,vaste.
Melin; mill. Melin,milin. moulin.
Melyn; yellow. Melen; jaune.
merthyr; burial place. Merzer; martyrium.
Mynachdy; monastery Manaty; monastère.
Mynydd; mountain. Menez,mene,mine; montagne,hauteur.

A proverb a day keeps the world at bay.300 o ddiarebion cymreig

Ni thyr dyrnod gwrach yr un asgwrn

The Kings of Britain

c.1240 B.C. Troy v11a destroyed by the Greeks after a long siege. Aenas escapes from Troy, with his son Ascanius, and eventually becomes King of Italy. On the death of Aeneus, Ascanius becomes King of Italy. He is the father of Silvius; and Silvius has a son called Brutus. This Brutus, who is thus the great-grandson of Aeneus, leads the subject Trojans out of Greece and westwards through the mediterranean, joins with Corineus and comes eventually to Britain.

Iconic leaders

The two greatest English iconic leaders of the 20th century are swear words in the South Wales Valleys: Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.

Local council

In the south Wales valleys we always had what was never called nepotism and corruption; I was born in a little house in 'Trevethick Street'at the bottom of Penydarren on the old track of the first steam locomotive to run on rails in the world. My father went to see a local councillor to get a house on a new estate, which we got.My father idolised that councillor for what he did for us.Emrys Roberts, Plaid Cymru, put in a points system, no nepotism, no corruption, they were voted out the following election. Mind you in saying that there was a Plaid councillor who did try and work the old system, no names mentioned.

Labour hypocricy

Apparently there is an M.P. in Merthyr Tydfil who calls himself 'Dai', working welsh nickname as it is , apparently , from what I've read he wouldn't be recognised on the streets; there is a Merthyr Tydfil A.M. who is trying to turn history around. I am not a Liberal-democrat and I don't even live in the Country, but I know that it's stupid to deny Welsh history, as it was the Liberal party who fought for Wales before the Labour Party was voted into power.I am Merthyr Tydfil born and bred and yes, I have met Claude Stanfield, Bryn Watkins, Tal Loyd and I even stood against Terry Mahoney, my father marched with ;vote, vote,vote for R.C. Wallhead and I was in the Town Hall for the S.O.Davies result.The Labour Party never gave a hoot where their majority was guaranteed,why as Welsh people should we trust them now?

Cymraeg/Welsh- English/Saesneg and Llydaweg/Breton-Ffrangeg/French Toponomy

Isel; low. Izel; bas, inferieur.
Llein; strip of land. Lein; non repertorié en ce sens
Llan; church Lan; Eglise, terre consacrée
Llawr; flat, valley, bottom. Leur; aire,place.
Llety; shelter. Letty; non repertorié.
Llwch; lake. Loc'h. etang.
Llys; court, hall. Léz; manoir, residence.

A proverb a day keeps the world at bay.300 o ddiarebion cymreig

Allwedd tlodi, seguryd.

A proverb a day keep the world at bay.300 o ddiarebion cymreig

A hauo ddrain na fydded droed-noeth

Arthurs' men

I've missed a day because I've gone back to work and I don't finish before 1 0'clock in the morning.I'm lucky that I have unique contact with certain things which I will now add on. Bide with me because I may be the only person who has this:- "Arthur won six battles against the Saxons, he was joined by: Taliesin, the chief of the poets from the north, Lleeleawg-the Gael from Ireland, Morvran son of Tedig & Keridwen, Sgitli light foot, Old Teithi, Drem, Osla big fork,Sol,Gwadyn Ossol,Gwadyn Odyeith, Long Edwam, Long Atrwm, Sugyn, Gawfyl, Gwaslstawt the interpreter, Klus, Gwaiawn cat's eye, Bedwni, Kynddelicle the guide, Menw the magician.

Correction

Bear with me , I wrote Aide somewhere,when obviously I wanted to write 'aid'

A proverb a day keeps the world at bay.300 o ddiarebion cymreig

5) Gwell myn'd i gysgu heb swper na deffro mewn dyled

Cymraeg/Welsh- English/Saesneg and Llydaweg/Breton-Ffrangeg/French Toponomy

Isel; low. Izel; bas,inferieur.

Papur newydd

Was it that long ago that Gwynfor Evans threatened to go on a hunger strike if Margaret Thatcher broke her promise to go ahead with a 4th Welsh television channel and now we have a Plaid Cymru Minister breaking an election promise in refusing to give financial aide to a daily Welsh Language newspaper.I understand Elis- Thomas' argument, but a promise is a promise, even if it wasn't fully thought out in the first place, it doesn't look right somehow given the fundamental philosophy of the Party in putting the Language back where it has always belonged, in the home (yr aelwyd) and on the streets. Not everyne has an i-phone nor wants one.

Yr oedd hi'n rhy hawdd efallai cyn y gemae rhwng Iwerddon a Ffrainc

Cymru 47 - Yr Eidal 8.

Lexicon:-
This has nothing to do with the match
butI have put an excellent lexicon, Welsh/English
on the site and once inside English/Welsh also.

Cymraeg/Welsh- English/Saesneg and Llydaweg/Breton-Ffrangeg/French Toponomy

Helyg; willows. Halec; saules.
Hen; old. Hen; vieux, ancien.
Hir; long. Hir; long.

A proverb a day keeps the world at bay

4) Nid oes dy heb ei gyfrinach

'Shock'; England beat France.Grand slam open to Cymru/Wales.

One has to understand that I have known throughout my life that the media, paradoxical to the meaning of the word, is England based in Gt. Britain, but the first interview, after the matches, highlighted the fact with the English trainer,which is obvious in itself I suppose,was not that Wales is now the only team able to win the 'Grand Slam' but that England can now share the championship: why do we still carry on listening to them. I emphasise; not that we are the only team able to win the grand slam, but that they can also now share the 'championship.

Rugby tomorrow

Cymru/Wales versus Yr Eidal/Italy = 37-15, after James Hook comes on in 2nd half.
France will beat England 33-20.

A Roman Aqueduct

You are about to become dis-illusioned, these are photos I took the other day of sections of a Roman aqueduct that provided the town that Carhaix was built on with water during the 2nd century A.D.

Cymraeg/Welsh- English/Saesneg and Llydaweg/Breton-Ffrangeg/French Toponomy

Garth; enclosure. Garz; haie, talus.
Glas; blue, green. Glaz; vert, bleu.
Godre; skirt, edge. Gourré; haut, partie superieure.
Gwaelod; bottom. Gouélet; fond, extrémité.
Gwaun; moor. Geun, yeun, yun; marais.
Gwig; town, village. Guic; bourg.
Gwyn, fém. gwen; white, blessed. Guen; blanc, sacré.

A proverb a day keeps the world at bay

3) Gwna dda ni waeth i bwy.

The Penydarren Ironworks engine

On this day February 21st ran the first steam locomotive to run on rails in the world, carrying goods and passengers from the Penydarren Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil to the canal basin at Abercynon following a bet between two of the Iron Masters Crawshay and Homfray. I was brought up on the Homfray site and educated on the Crawshay site. George Stevenson's 'Rocket' which was invented many years later was the first statutary passenger carrying railway.

Rambling

If there were no Breton Sea/English Channel, nor Severn Sea/Bristol Channel and I decided to walk home northwards I would come to the main road between Porthcawl and Aberavon before adjusting north-eastwards to Merthyr.

Tad Perrot

Times were hard for the Bretons during the 2nd world war, these are photos of Abbé, or Tad, as he was called around here, Perrot's chapel, he was a priest with nationalist ideas, French wasn't spoken on the streets around here until recently. He is buried here in this little isolated spot, lost, out in the woods off a side road near Sgrignac after he was shot dead by the Communists who accused him of being a Nazi sympathiser.

Cymraeg/Welsh- English/Saesneg and Llydaweg/Breton-Ffrangeg/French Toponomy

Ffos; ditch,trench. Fos; Fossé.
Ffrwd; stream. Frout; ruisseau rapide.
Ffynnon; spring,well. Feunteun; Fontaine.

A proverb a day keeps the world at bay

2); A ddysger i fab ddydd Sul ef a'i gwybydd ddydd Llun.

'Y Byd'

I see that the daily Welsh newspaper 'Y Byd' didn't get off the ground due partly to a not big enough subsidy from the Assembly Government. I note that 290,000 German speakers in the South Tyrol in Italy have 2 newspapers and that 300,000 Swedish speakers in Finland have 10.Edward V111 would have said "something must be done".

Ramblings and a bit of name dropping

I notice that there's a book out published by Plaid Cymru with Bethesda Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil on the front cover. I was on the dole once and received a letter from Margaret Roberts, Emrys's wife asking me if I'd volunteer to go down and clean it up for voluntary organisations to use it as offices, which I did. Bethesda was the home chapel of Joseph Parry, the composer of Myfanwy, amongst many other pieces, anyway one of the offices was later used by John Jenkins of MAC fame and at lunch times, because I worked just up the road by that time, I used to go down to see him for a chat.Last year I went to Cardiff for the annual St. David's day march, John was there leading a band so I went over to see him, I was also a founder member of 'Cofiwn,' but apparently he'd fallen a little earlier and was feeling a bit weak, the point is, he didn't recognise me, which is hardly surprising because it was over thirty years ago that he last saw me.
P.S.Owen John Thomas did recognise me but it was hectic and we didn't get a chance to talk.

Cymraeg/Welsh- English/Saesneg and Llydaweg/Brezhoneg/Breton-Ffrangeg/French Toponomy

Eglwys; church. Ilis; église.
Erw; acre. Erv, Ero; Sillon.

A prophecy a day keeps the world at bay.300 o ddiarebion cymreig

No.1); Pechodau athrawon ydynt athrawon pechodau.

Religious journey through the ages

I went on a journey today, a religious journey through the ages; the grand church at St.Herbot,the Abbey at Landevennec founded in the 6th century, the megaliths at Commana, passing by Mont St. Michel de Braspart on top of the hill and the little church at Botmeur.

Cymraeg/Welsh- English/Saesneg and Llydaweg/Brezhoneg/Breton- Ffrangeg/French Toponomy

Derw; oak. Derv,Dero; chenes.
Diserth; hermitage. Dezerz; terre pauvre.
Du; black. Du; noir.
Dwr; water. Dour; eau, ruisseau.

I think that I should be doing this on 'messages' on my site http://www.tyelise.com
but I haven't got the key, therefore I will do it here now; Kuzul gevelin/Comité de jumelage, Carrog/Plouie,Salle polyvalente de Plouye, Bro Gembre/Pays de Galles Breizh/Bretagne, Sadorn/samedi 1 a viz Meurzh/Mars 2008, 19 eur/heures, 12 euros
Pred;
kig bevin Coreff
Fourmaj/keuz
Dibenn-pred/
Repas;
Boeuf a la Coreff
Fromage
Dessert
21 eur/heures;
Fest-Noz
Digoust/gratuit
Sonerien Ar Menez
LE HIR, Pere et fils
Marco Diraison, George Cadoudal
Yann PLOUGOULM,
Michelle et Fanch Blejean
Jean-Marie LE SGRAIGNE/Lucien LOZAC'H
Reservation des repas au 0298999339

Cymraeg/Welsh- English/Saesneg and Llydaweg/Brezhoneg/Breton - Ffrangeg/French Toponomy

Cae; field, enclosure. Qué (kae); cloture, haie.
Caer; fort, stronghold. Ker; village.
Carreg; stone, rock. Carec,carreg; rocher,roche.
Carn; cairn,rock. Carn; tumulus.
Castell; castle,stronghold. Castel; chateau,motte féodale.
Celli; grove,copse. Quilli; bocage,bosquet.
Celyn; holly. Quélen; houx.
Clawdd; dyke,hedge. Cleuz; fossé, cloture.
Clegyr; rock. Cléguer; (non répertorié)) rochers.
Clwyd; hurdle,gate. Clouet; claie,barrière.
Cnwch; hillock,knoll. Quénec'h,crec'h; hauteur,cote.
Coed; wood. Coat; bois,foret.
Cors; bog. Cors; marais,roseaux.
Croes. cross. Croaz; croix.
Crug; knoll,tump; Crug; tumulus.
Cwm; valley,combe. Coum,Com; non répertorié.
Cyff; stock,stump. Queff; tronc.
Cymmer; confluece. Quemper; confluent.
I'm following the book but I wouldn't normally use a 'Q' e.g. I would write 'Kemper' as is the sign leading into and out of the town.

The church steeple as seen on the road from Huelgoat to Plouye, the same steeple from the front of the bar, and the park Cornel Carrog, consacrated to Carrog our twinned village in north Wales, across the road from the bar seen from opposite sides.

St. Andrew's day

From this year St. Andrew's day will be an official Bank holiday in Scotland, but, it will not lead to an extra day off.

Welsh council bottled water spending per annum

Statistics:what do you make of this? in Pounds sterling, I live in Brittany therefore I don't have the relevent sign.
Carmarthenshire: 70,000
Swansea: 44,531
Vale of Glamorgan: 30,042.33
Bridgend: 30,000
Cardiff: 27,222
Wrexham: 26,822.54
Neath Port Talbot: 26,605.48
Torfaen: 21,357.57
Rhondda Cynon Taf: 12,906.50
Ceredigion: 12,432.85
Blaenau Gwent: 7,410.60
Gwynedd: 3,756
Flintshire: 486.30
Anglesey: 450
Monmouthshire: 423.96
Merthyr Tydfil: 0
Discuss.

As an after thought, there's a dichotomy in the way that certain things are perceived between Welsh and Breton. On the bi-lingual place names, the Welsh go to the roots,whereas the Bretons go for colloquialisms, e.g. in my village, and this is Breton to Breton, Kerbleizic has become Kerleit because that is the way that it is pronounced. Pontivy has become Pondi, Plomelin has becomle Ploveilh. Every village now has its sign, not translated from French to Breton but written in the form that it is pronounced locally.

I've just brought 2 books into my house that could keep me going for years depending on how I intend to use them,'bulletin de la société archéologique du finistère' and 'DICTIONNAIRE ETYMOLOGIQUE DU BRETON'. As I'm living in Brittany and I am from Merthyr Tydfil (Cymru/Wales), I think That I should work on the close relationships. I was very surprised when I first came here to find that it was all Ireland, but that was the so called celtic renaissance during the mid 70's when all the 'Breton' Parisians came home and to them Wales was part of England: the French call Great Britain 'England', the 'Battle of Britain' is the 'Battle of England' , anyway I'll most probably come to that another day;
TABLEAU DES TERMES PREFIXES
GALLOIS (1) BRETONS (2)
Aber; estuary, confluent. Aber; estuaire,vallée marine.
Afon; river. Aven; rivière.
Allt; hill, slope. Aod; grève,rive.
Bod; bode, dwelling. Bod; demeure,buisson.
Bron; hill, breast. Bron; sein,colline.
Bryn; hill. Bren; colline, hauteur.

I know this shouldn't have anything to do with Llydaw/Brittany nor Cymru/Wales but I notice the frequency that we are adopting the pre-Celtic Megalithic monuments for our commemorations.There are five here ,three were invented; Cilmeri,Gwynfor Evans and the park opposite my pub to celebrate our twinning with Carrog in North Wales.The other two are my daughter standing next to Maen Llia on the side of the Roman road, Sarn Helen, between Neath and Brecon in the Black Mountains and the fifth is a menhir three miles up the road from where I live in Brittany.

This was written by T.E.Clarke in Merthyr Tydfil in 1848; "The English language is pretty generally spoken in some of the Welsh towns, but it is not at all probable that it will ever be so generally adopted as to supercede the native tongue";
"Eu Ner a folant, eu Hiaith a gadwant".
Their Lord they shall praise,
Their language they shall keep,
Their land they shall lose
Except Wild Wales
Taliesin : Destiny of the Britons
"Brython iaith wiwlon hwy a etholant,
Bythoedd, cu ydoedd, hwy a'i cadwant,
Oesoedd, rai-miloedd, hir y molant -Ner;
Moler, in gwiwner rhown ogoniant." (Goronwy Owain.)
I spent the first four years of my life on the Gellideg Estate and moved to Penydarren when I was 5 years old, If anyone had asked me the question I wouldn't have been able to reply that all my direct neighbours spoke Welsh 1st language.I didn't know that until I dropped French for Welsh,they came out of their shell when they heard me practicing my homework. Until I was about 11 or 12 I believed that I lived in a monoglot town, yet there are more people speaking yr iaith y nefoedd in Merthyr than in the villages of North Wales.
I am from Merthyr Tydfil and I know the Afon Taf length and breadth but I didn't know that it rises upon Tre'Bedw mountain. I mean we don't refer to the Black mountains(Llandeio Fawr to Crughywel) anymore,or to the Banuwchdeni, which is the real name, but rather to the Brecon Beacons.

I saw 'Aberdare Blog' and as I'm from Merthyr I had a look, I won't be looking again. I've just started my own blog so I'm looking around and I thought that as it's near Merthyr I'd give it a go; I shouldn't have and I won't be going back.These Labour people today are in a different time zone, holding us back in the 50's and 60's. They tried their best to crawl over everyone to get elected, leaving us behind, completely ignoring the valleys as they went to their homes in London and Brussels, democratically elected representatives who couldn't care a sod for their Country and they manage successfully to camouflage it under political gestures.Obviously it works. You have to understand that I'm not talking 'old' old Labour such as the Jim Griffiths' and the young S.O. Davies, I'm talking about the 'Kinnock' generation. Today we've got the young Turks in the valleys who are supported by such as 'Aberdare Blog', I wonder what they feel when they put on a red scarf and go down to Cardiff or how they would relate going to California and explaing that they are Welsh. People starved in the valleys to support Labour. Keir Hardie, as a certain ethnic group were purported to say "would be turning in his grave if he were alive today". There are two stories consistent in each valley constituency, 1; Their respective M.P.'s came down either to Newport or Cardiff, got out of the chauffeur driven Rolls Royce, changed clothes, put on his 'Dai cap' and made his way to the constituency, 2; Put his arm up once in his Parliamentary career to interrupt proceedings, only to ask if he could close the window because there was a draught. This is not an M.P. as such but is a South Walian 'Urban myth' applied to the 50's and 60's valley representatives when they didn't have to fear being voted out. I'll stop there otherwise I'll start on about the councillors.

Speaking about Vaughan Roderick, which we weren't, we used to be part of a little group of young Plaid Cymru supporters.I can't remember exactly who were with us at the time except for Cherry (Ceirios) Lewis from Bargoed.We finished the evening in his parents' house in Rhiwbina sleeping on the floor in sleeping bags and I will always remember his mother the following morning turning them inside out and hanging them up on the line outside. And then (that 'And' after the full stop was deliberate)there was Aled Eurig who came in to my bar, didn't recognise me and didn't even realise, and still doesn't know, that he was my chauffeur from Sian Tesni's house,Y pobydd, ei dad hi, Bryngolau, Pencae, Llanarth, to the Eisteddfod in Aberteifi;there was a boy with us who's been to my bar more than once who was from that area who went to work in the National library in Aberystwyth; we also went together to the Colonel's house in Talgarreg,Llandysul(Neil ap Siencin or Neil Jenkins as I know him from Merthyr)he used to teach up the road from my house,in Gellifaelog school, and we used to drink in the same bar, 'The Lamb,' although I was younger,the bar where I met Harri Webb for the first time when I was 17 or 18 years old,I was arguing for Owain Glyndwr and they got someone to invite me into their corner, now I've started digressing I will continue. Whilst sitting at a table in the 'Llew du' I think it was, also during the Eisteddfod Aberteifi, Harri wrote for me;
There was a young fellow called Byn
Who thought the Eisteddfod was fun,
In Cardigan town he was drinking it down
'Cos Plaid Cymru in Merthyr had won.
He wrote me three poems right there on the table.The next one is directly connected to the first and is an extra one for Meic Stephen's collection,they were written just after the Labour party had lost power to Plaid cymru;
Sad is the face of Tal lloyd,
Bryn Watkins is feeling annoyed,
And all the old gang are going to hang,
'Cos their racket has now been destroyed.
In hindsight it didn't quite work out.
Another episode with Vaughan, we all wanted to go down to Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen)to celebrate Gwynfor's 10th anniversary of having been elected to Parliament and at the time I was regularly hiring coaches for some reason or other, so Vaughan telephoned me to get a bus to come down from Merthyr and meet the Cardiff contingent outside the Welsh Office; there is still a girl whom I can see in my mind's eye who didn't pay: her father was or perhaps still is a broadcaster on an evening programme and she had her sister with her,they were both beautiful dark eyed, dark haired girls.

There's something familiar about living in brittany,as all my life having travelled the road up from Cardiff to Merthyr I used to go past the Maindy barracks, Maindy Stadium and the Maindy Pub(they once gave me a plastic 'pewter' jug to bring back to my bar).Did you ever read the superman D.C.comics in the 60's,there were two dimensions where Flash in the one dimension was slightly different to Flash in the other dimension; being Welsh living in Brittany these name plates make me think of the C.D. comics.Look at the signs; Uchelgoed,Caerleon, Penoen, Coedmawr,Llandeilo, Merthyr, Dowlais, Penywern,Penlan,Maindy and Melin yr alarch.

I'll begin with an original poem for St. Valentines day that I wrote a little bit tongue in cheek for a girl friend of mine;
I like your ears,
I like your eyes,
I like your nose,
I like your clothes,
I like your hair,
I like your mouth,
I like your chin,
I like your teeth,
But underneath,
Who knows?.

Acknowledgements for my holiday in Wales March'07

Yesterday I forgot to thank Gareth ap Sion for not denying me lodging space the night before the St. David's day march and for not throwing me out when his computer stopped working after he put the cup of coffee too close to it; thanks to Rhobert ap Steffan for getting me to the festival in Porthcawl and the caravan and his wife Marilyn for putting me up for days in Llangadog; to Mike Davies for showing us his boat in Neyland, taking us to that lovely little rustic pub at the top of one of the Cleddyfs where the landlady sold the beer from the barrel behind the bar to jug to glass and to his wife for the meal at their home in Llandovery with Mike's own honey in the coffee; to Geoff and Ann Thomas, thanks for getting me back in the Imp, and for putting me up at the Parade, Thomastown, Merthyr Tydfil; to Graham Rees for getting his wife and daughter to drive me back and forth in Merthyr and for a good evening in the pubs,the "Red Cow" in Pontsticill, "Anchor" and "Imperial" in town, where are you Graham, I've lost your co-ordinates and you were supposed to be getting back in touch with me last summer; to 'Al Tal' Williams for letting me stay with him and his family in Pontardawe, I've known him for 25 years and hadn't realised that he is a gifted photographer and concert pianist;then back to Ap Sion's with a gift of a pot of bara law and for such a patriotic Welshman, I was astonished when he didn't know what it was.Now I'm about to digress; off to Mike Steven's 65th birtday party in the coal exchange, we missed 'Bara Menyn' with Heather Jones and Geraint Jarman. It was their 1st concert for over 20 years, I think, anyway I'd never been to a pub in the area and I told Ap Sion that they always put the low class acts on first, by the time we got back they'd been and gone. I spoke to Heather for the first time except for perhaps a hello in Llangrannog, in Nantes for the Canada rugby match, she was with Catherine from the group that they were in together. I met Catherine for the first time in the Imp in Merthyr Tydfil I think it was, or rather it was most probably upstairs in the Belle vue, I used to organise the fund-raising events in Merthyr for Plaid Cymru in the mid 70's, she thinks she knows me from the Conway. I once got a gig for her group 'Nellie' in Pontypridd organised by Philip Goodwin. I also remember that anytime we needed a bit of extra money I'd telephone Max Boyce and he never refused, then one day his Agent answered, I never bothered again. He told me once that the worst thing he ever did was to go on opportunity knocks, Mary hopkin had previously done remarkably well, they both began their careers singing in Welsh at the same time. Max had recently been building up a following in the valleys and he'd brought out a record of songs in Welsh, but after his television appearence the clubs got back in touch with him and he had to painstakingly rebuild his career. Anyway, back to the holiday; thanks Ap Sion for letting me stay in your flat and for taking me down to the 'Mochyn Du' to watch us lose controversially to Italy. End of holiday.

A new beginning.

Rhobert ap Steffan

As I have failed to start on the last few occasions and then when I did Blogger sent me to my site and not to the blog to see my post, I am obliged to create a new one and here we are. Anyone wanting to visit my site will find it at http://www.tyelise.com/ Anyone wanting to see my photos; http://picasaweb.google.fr/www.tyelise.com Spring is upon us , Sun. 10th Feb. my 1st daffodils flowered and we put out our terraced tables & chairs with the parasol for the first time. To my friends in Wales, I won't be coming over this March like last year, I had a car accident which put me off work for 5 months and as I had drunk more than 2 glasses of beer the insurers refused to pay out and rescinded my licence. I will miss the St. David's day march in Cardiff, the rugby international, and Derek's Traditional music festival in Porthcawl. No Meic Stevens' birthday party in the coal exchange. Last year was great, shared between; Cardiff, Porthcawl, Llangadog, Llandovery, under the bridge at Neyland, Merthyr Tydfil, Pontardawe, Swansea and back to Cardiff.Bought some laverbread for a patriotic Welshman in Cardiff and was surprised to hear that he'd never tasted it. That was after I had driven to Paris on the tuesday, got my new pass-port on the friday, watched the match on the saturday and drove up to Calais on the sunday to catch the train to England and find the M4 to Cardiff. I carried St. David's flag in the march and stood on the steps while the speeches were being made. The following day, off to a caravan in Porthcawl with Rhobert ap Steffan.The week finished with Meic's birthday party on the friday night and the Italy match in a "Y Mochyn Du" off Cathedral Rd. the sunday afternoon. at 5 o' clock I got into my car and drove off to Plymouth>Roscoff>Morlais>Plouye, home.