My wife is Welsh and I even have a few relatives who have Welsh as a first language, so naturally I’ve tried to learn Welsh. But that’s actually quite hard in London, where there are no classes, and learning it from a book simply doesn’t work.
So even though I know the rules and have been to Wales a reasonable amount, correctly pronouncing Welsh placenames (and most Welsh words) is still a little beyond me and mostly evokes laughter from my wife. Ah, the merriment we had yesterday (St David’s Day) as I tried to sing a Welsh hymn:
I bob un sydd ffyddlon
Dan Ei faner Ef,
Mae gan Iesu goron
Fry yn nheyrnas nef:
Lluoedd Duw a Satan
Sydd yn cwrdd yn awr:
Mae gan blant eu cyfran
Yn y rhyfel mawr.Cytgan:
I bob un sydd ffyddlon
Dan Ei faner Ef
Mae gan Iesu goron
Fry yn nheyrnas nef.Awn i gwrdd y gelyn
Bawb ag arfau glân;
Uffern sydd i’n herbyn
A’i phicellau tân.
Gwasgwn yn y rhengau,
Ac edrychwn fry;
Concrwr byd ac angau
Acw sydd o’n tu!
So have a care for the poor old cast of EastEnders as they try to pronounce a few Welsh placenames, in honour of St David’s Day. Kudos to Dad’s Army‘s Ian Lavender, mind, whom I didn’t even know was on the show and is actually quite good, even doing a relatively good rendition of the almost always fatal Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
