I found this little Welsh New Years Day song in British Goblins, Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1880) by Wirt Sikes…
"A Welsh song sung on New Year’s Day, in Glamorganshire, by boys in chorus, somewhat after the Christmas carol fashion, is this:"
Blwyddyn newydd dda i chwi,
Gwyliau llawen i chwi,
Meistr a meistres bob un trwy’r ty,
Gwyliau llawen i chwi,
Codwch yn foreu, a rheswch y tan,
A cherddwch i’r ffynon i ymofyn dwr glan.A happy new year to you,
Merry be your holidays,
Master and mistress – every one in the house;
Arise in the morning; bestir the fire,
And go to the well to fetch fresh water.
Does anyone know if it’s still sung? It’s sweet!
Happy New Year – Blwyddyn newydd dda!
Mama Lisa
This article was posted on Saturday, January 1st, 2011 at 3:05 pm and is filed under Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, England, English, Holiday Songs, Holidays Around the World, Languages, New Years, New Years Songs, United Kingdom, Wales, Welsh, Welsh Children's Songs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
One Response to “A Happy New Year to You – Blwyddyn newydd dda i chwi”
Leave a Reply
January 13th, 2016 at 7:01 pm
Del wrote, “As a child growing up in Wales, we were never allowed to go Carol singing. But on New Years Day, before 12 o clock we could sing Blwyddyn Newydd Dda around the houses and householders would give us money. My grandparents said that in their time women would not be allowed on the street before twelve because it was considered very unlucky.”