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Bells of Rhymney

  • Idris Davies / Pete Seeger

    Oh what will you give me
    Say the sad bells of Rhymney
    Is there hope for the future
    Say the brown bells of Merthyr
    Who made the mine owner
    Say the black bells of Rhondda
    And who robbed the miner
    Say the grim bells of Blaina

    They will plunder willy-nilly
    Say the bells of Caerphilly
    They have fangs, they have teeth
    Shout the loud bells of Neath
    Even God is uneasy
    Say the moist bells of Swansea
    And what will you give me
    Say the sad bells of Rhymney

    Throw the vandals in court
    Say the bells of Newport
    All would be well if if if if if if
    Say the green bells of Cardiff
    Why so worried, sisters, why
    Sang the silver bells of Wye
    And what will you give me
    Say the sad bells of Rhymney

    As sung by The Ian Campbell Folk Group

Susannes Folksong-Notizen

  • [1993:] Idris Davies, a coal miner in Wales, was a friend of Dylan Thomas. I came across his poem reprinted in one of Thomas' essays 'So Early One Morning'. After the failure of the British general strike of 1926, Idris Davies, then a teenager, determined to leave coal mining. He studied nights for four years, [...] became a school teacher in London, and published three slim volumes of poetry. Died of cancer at the young age of 44.

    In 1960 [my wife] Toshi and I were able to visit Mrs. Davies, Idris's mother, still living in Rhymney - a typical coal mine town: 50 yards wide and one mile long. Caerphilly is nearby [...]. Wye is a more prosperous valley 50 miles east.
    The tune came to me once on tour, in Montreal. (Seeger, Flowers 98f)

  • http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=10091&messages=15

Quelle: Wales

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