Here is an old Welsh nursery rhyme for Mothering Sunday! Do you remember it? The lyrics are quite strange but children enjoy singing it. Here is a link to it being sung. Why not share with your mam?
Ar ben y Gamfa Wen,
Rhywbeth yn ei ffedog,
A phiser ar ei phen.
Y fuwch yn y beudy
Yn brefu am y llo,
A’r llo’r ochor arall
Yn chwarae Jim Cro
Jim Cro Crystyn
Wan, tŵ, ffôr,
A’r mochyn bach yn eistedd
Mor ddel ar y stôl.
Over the white stile,
Something in her apron
With a pitcher on her head.
The cow is in the cow shed
Lowing for her calf,
And the calf is on the other side
Playing Jim Crow.
Jim Crow Crust
One, two and four,
And the little pig is sitting
Pretty on the stool.
Jim cro was a card game popular with the Welsh miners during their lunch breaks. It has also been linked to awful 'Jim Crow' Laws in America, a brutal segregation of black and white people. You can read the BBC Wales news story here
There is another version of the song with yn gweiddi 'Jim Cro' (shouting 'Jim Crow') or 'Ar Ben y garreg wen' (over the white stone) which one do you remember? As these songs were passed from generation to generation by word of mouth there are often many variations. There are often differences between North and South Welsh songs too.
These old folk songs are often very mysterious - which makes them so fascinating!
10 comments
Just love this nursery rhyme. my nain taught it to me when i was little (im 23 now) she learnt it as a child and she was born in the 40s! my nain has passed away but always think of her when im singing all the songs she taught me… like dau gi bach yn mynd ir coed esgid newydd ar bob troed dau gi back yn dwad adra wedi colli un or sgidiau dau gi bach :D
we sang ‘Ar ben y garreg wen’ together with ‘yn chwarae jim cro’
what was the possible connection with the jim crow laws? the link to the bbc is now dead…
I remember this from infant school in Wales..I didnt know what the words meant, but loved singing it about 1959..
I can remember my dad teaching me these as a child Im now 51 and still remember them. Sadly my passed on 18th March 2017 age 86.
Hia Becca,sut wyt ti? yes i do remember this nursery rhyme very well and also another one. Mi welais Jac y Do yn eistedd ar y to,het wen ar eu ben a dwy goes bren, ho ho ho ho ho ho!
I would think Ann remembers it?
Cariad Wendy x