ENNYN

As part of the Dolau Dyfi project, Ennyn comissioned a song by the Welsh folk singer, Owen Shiers. 

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Owen beautifully arranged a poem by Crwys to music. The poem describes a herb garden his mother had, and refers to many of the herbs people would use for medicinal purposes, including Mint, Thyme and Lavender. 

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Here is an English translation of the lyrics by Sharon Larkin:

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The Small Border

 

Along the edge of a narrow path
that divided the garden in two
my mother had her little border,­
the prettiest flowers of the parish.

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A little root of this and that,
here and there, now and again
and, in this way, a little Eden
came quite simply into being

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somehow, by chance, every time.
I don’t know how, but Dad always
swore that nothing ever failed
when planted by the hand of Mam.

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Yes, almost all the plants were
simple flowers of poor people
and miraculous vegetables, notable
for goodness rather than appearance.

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Among them were snowdrops,
mint and thyme and moschatel,
winter savory, sweet lavender,
and a vigorous bush of box.

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Two or three primroses
and daffodils were sure to be
– all the plants of the small border
in the care of some ‘old man’.

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They were a host of common folk.
None of them in that small border
could claim the pedigrees of those
blooming in the mansion’s gardens.

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With a stab to the chest one day,
I came across an old alien, wild,
without precedent in the border –
a dandelion blown in from a distance,

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smiling an insolent smile
in sun and dew, and­ I wondered
how that old coloniser knew
that Mam was growing old.

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Click on the media player below to enjoy

this beautful song. 

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