Bachgen bach o Felin Y Wig
Bachgen bach o Felin Y Wig
A Little Lad from Melin Y Wig
Nursery Rhyme
Nursery Rhyme
(Welsh)
(English)
Bachgen bach o Felin Y Wig
Welodd o rioed damed o gig
Gwelodd falwen ar y bwrdd
cipiodd ei gap a rhedodd i ffwrdd.
A little lad from Melin Y Wig*
Had never before seen any meat
He saw a snail on the table
Took up his hat and ran away.
Notes
*Melin Y Wig is a village in northeast Wales. The name changes in the Welsh version of the rhymeto Felin y Wig. Selwyn wrote: "In Welsh we mutate certain letters. If you wanted just to say the place name it would be 'Melin Y Wig' (mill of the woodland), but because we put something in front of it i.e. Bachgen bach- Melin becomes Felin.
The mutation is like how the word "cath"(cat) becomes.... fy nghath (my cat)..... dy gath (your cat).... ei chath (her cat).
It's complicated i know...but as a natural Welsh speaker it just 'happens'....."
Many thanks to Selwyn Lloyd-Jones for contributing this rhyme with the translation and for recording it for us!
