Welsh Country / Stories In Welsh Stone Competition

Win a free year's subscription to 'Welsh Country' magazine.

AND a signed copy of 'Stories in Welsh Stone' by Geoff Brookes

Just answer the following three questions ( correctly ):-


1. Which famous Welshman instigated a revolt against the rule of Henry IV of England on September 16th 1400? Was it:-


A. Owain Glyndwr

B. Ron Davies

C. Neil Kinnock


2. Which great Welsh poet wrote "Under Milk Wood"? Was it:-


A. Dylan Thomas

B. Max Boyce

C. Rolf Harris


3. What is "The Mabinogion"? Is it:-


A. A collection of prose stories from early medieval Welsh manuscripts.

B. A holiday drink made with egg-yolk, fermented apple cider and nutmeg.

C. An ancient Welsh clan of ninja like assassins.



SUBMISSION GUIDELINES


The competition is open to the general public. You do not need to be a member of Americymru to participate. Please send all entries to americaneisteddfod@gmail.com and title them Welsh Country Competition in the subject line. Only one entry per email address is permitted. Duplicates will be disqualified.

The winning entry will be selected randomly by line number from the email address above and announced at the Left Coast Eisteddfod in Portland Oregon on August 22nd 2009. The winner will be contacted by email and provided with the necessary contact details to claim their prize.

We do not sell lists of email addresses. We wouldn't on principle and besides we don't associate with the kind of people who buy them.

David Western's Lovespoon Blog: "Staying Inside the Vines"

Reprinted with permission from http://davidwestern.blogspot.com, © 2009 David Western, all rights reserved.

This week I'll climb down off the soapbox for a while and will get some carving done on the vine section of the Eisteddfod spoon.

I'm going to carve the back of this spoon quite extensively so that it is pretty much the equal of the front. I think that especially with vine and Celtic knot patterns, the look of the spoon is vastly improved when both sides are done. Now because there is an over and under pattern to the vine, I am going over it carefully with a pencil to mark out the pattern before I commit to the knife. It's REALLY easy to get things out of order on the back, especially since you have to think about what is happening on the front and then do the exact opposite. It's always a lot easier to erase a pencil line than to have to repair a errant cut, so the couple of minutes I spend with the graphite is time well spent!

With the lines marked and double-checked, I go at it with the straight knife and with the small chisel. My cuts are shallow at first but get progressively deeper once I know the pattern is all cut correctly.

With the over under pattern cut away and the sharp edges of the vines eased with some chamfer cuts, it is time to round the edges more vigourously. I use cloth backed abrasive paper for this job, BUT I never touch sandpaper to the project until I am fully confident that I won't need to do any more knife carving. All abrasive papers leave behind microscopic bits of abrasive grit which gets lodged in the wood being sanded. When the knife blade passes through this buried grit, its razor sharp edge is quickly dulled and ruined.

With the rounding completed, I use progressively finer grades of abrasive paper to take out any scratches and leave the surface almost finished. Because the cloth backed abrasive has been largely used across the wood's grain, often times lots of scratches will remain which have to be taken out for the piece to look attractive. Never use a coarser grade than 150 cloth backed abrasive on your project or you will be left with deep scratches that are murder to remove. With paper abrasives, follow the direction of the grain and work up to 220 grade for a nice silky, smooth finish.

The vines and back of the bowls are now nearly completed. I will do a final shaping and sanding immediately prior to finishing, but for now this will be good.

Speaking of being good...please be good by donating a couple of dollars to the Left Coast Eisteddfod and helping the idea of a fabulous Welsh cultural event become a reality. All donations, big or small are gratefully received and all enter you in the running to win this lovespoon when it is finished and presented on August 22 in Portland Oregon.

The Journey of the Taf

This afternoon we received the following communication from Mike Jenkins ( excerpted ) ".....dear friends, Here is a poem which I recently wrote , which you can use on your site if you wish......"

We are extremely pleased and proud to present "The Journey of the Taf". We resisted the temptation to add complementary graphics of Castell Coch, Pen y Fan etc because we wanted nothing to distract from, or dilute in any way the power of these words.

Journey of the Taf - Mike Jenkins

It begins in the centre of a mountain,

waters breaking.

Nobody can say

exactly where

I come from :

parents Earth and Water

and the midwife Air.

Soon Fire, the sun

and everything

I feed upon.

This place of summits

called a watershed :

tears as light

stings my eyes.

I am just a stream

a nant, a toddler

finding my way

downslope, over the edge

of my mother

and with my father's constant

push of rain.

One like many others

till I start to cut teeth,

to haul stones

to erode the bed

and banks into a gorge.

I'm moving quicker

with steeper gradient,

my veins pulse

with the thrust of water

like a salmon at the point

of a journey across the world.

Soldiers with back-packs

and booted outward-bounders.

fight against my movement,

believing it's a challenge.

The children who paddle

squeal, splash and fling

their stones, sound like

an echo in my bones.

The Sun, my teacher,

comes and goes

promising destinations

and then, dips down low;

so any season

I could be bellyfull

or parched to a trickle.

Sheep sip clear water

heads bowed as in prayer

to a lost mother ;

or they're dead weight,

blood mingling with light,

soon a veil of flies.

Winding and wending around

scarp and spur

I reach a sudden drop,

a ledge of resistant rock:

the descents of childhood

then youth when greys

and blues and browns

become a frothing white ;

into the devil's punchbowl

and a whirling might.

Here secret swimmers come

to shed their many skins

and exuberant leapers

plunge into a scream

and come out laughing.

I am joined by others.

by brothers and I'm 'Fawr'

to their 'Fechan',

they emerge on the scene

demanding confluences,

driving deep into chasms

before we're all lost

in a man-made lake :

they term it 'llyn'

but it is reservoir,

a store of water

we are schooled into

( even in most vivid reflections

we wear our grey uniforms ).

I straighten, I widen,

my girth held by bridges

and above are viaducts

which span into another age.

Rocky islets - trees and bushes

growing from them - bring doubts

as I begin to be fixed,

my route determined by walls

and a weir which parodies

the earlier waterfalls.

Now salmon struggle upstream,

as I welcome the many heron

whose measured wing-beats

are like the peace I strive for

and the returning colours

of the kingfishers diving

like winged rainbows.

All this, as I am dumping-place

for trolleys, cans and bottles

like some cess-pit of the past,

some cholera-infested slum.

My parents seem so far away :

mountains aloof, quarried or conifered

and clouds that drop their load

then move on. They call me Taff

but I much prefer my Welsh name

(it’s what I call myself

and sounds like a stone’s edge).

Sometimes I seem to slumber along

all controlled by sluice and gate ;

sometimes I’m far too busy

to notice those who gaze

like seagulls on the bars,

or those who cavort in heat ;

too busy with the flow, the downward trek.

I have too many shadows :

rail and trail, the once canal,

higher up the road obeys the curve.

Each shadow more purposeful

to traffic and trade;

I begin to wonder

why I move in such haste

and whether I will be

beyond it all, lost.

There are so many white weeds

hanging in the trees,

fluttering like flags of surrender

sometimes falling and filling

into tumours on my surface.

Just as cormorants are fishing

so I begin to sense the sea.

Silt accumulates in my bed,

slows me down after years

of scraping and scouring;

I begin to meander,

to waver across the floor,

the buildings start to ignore

my presence and there are outpourings

secretive and poisonous

which seep into my limbs.

Becoming sluggish, my murky waters

of blurred vision in the suburbs.

I try to remember stretching terraces

where the only vines were children

spreading tendrils of imagination.

The mud is gathering,

the flood-plain’s a resting-place

for birds on their journey south.

Anglers wade out to tempt

the fish with threaded flies.

I yawn into the city

past a parkland of lovers

and solitary office-workers,

I am broad and straight now

without the energy of gradient.

The grand stadium looms

as if it were a ship of state,

but finds no reflection.

I have almost forgotten

the distant mountains I came from,

the fact I am water at all.

‘Afon’ is a slow way of saying ,

it seems to suit me better

than the rip of ‘river’.

Already I can feel the saltiness

creep into my body

and seagulls’ mocking calls

hover then swoop all day.

At the Bay, I’m trained and tamed.

On calmer days feel stagnant;

when there’s a restless breeze

I begin to wave and voices

of my ancestors come back :

‘Once you were black, all thick

with dust like a collier’s throat.

Once this was flats of mud

where waders and dippers

would pick for worms.’

Now I am becalmed,

waiting for the gates to open,

where I will lose my name.

It is a different sun,

one that threatens to burn up,

to leave me dispersed

into the Channel and after.

A roof of slate, façade of glass,

the twirling pipes of a carousel

all bring back reminiscences

of pebbles carried, reflections borrowed,

stirrings under a waterfall.

It is night-time and the moon

is whole and crying out

like a barn-owl over moorland.

I must go and never know

what will become of me.



Mike Jenkins

An Interview With Peter Thabit Jones

The Man Peter Thabit Jones was born in Swansea, Wales, Great Britain, in 1951. His work, particularly his poetry for children, has been featured in books from publishers such as Penguin, Puffin Books, Letts Educational, Macmillan Educational, Heinemann Educational, Oxford University Press, Simon and Schuster, Heinemann Centaur (South Africa), Scholastic Publications (Australia), and Titul Publishers/ British Council Moscow (Russia). The latter was a major British Council Moscow educational project to teach English to secondary school children throughout Russia.His poem Kilvey Hill has been incorporated into a permanent stained-glass window by the leading Welsh artist Catrin Jones in the new Saint Thomas Community School built in Swansea, Wales, which was officially opened in July, 2007. Peter has been invited back to America in May 2009. He will carry out a a series of poetry readings and literary talks in New York, where he will be hosted by Professor Sultan Catto of City University of New York, The Graduate Center, and his American publisher Stanley H. Barkan. Whilst in New York he will also participate in a new project with Stanley, who is planning to produce a dvd based around the popular Walking Guide of Dylan Thomas's Greenwich Village , written by Peter and Aeronwy Thomas, Dylan's daughter, which was commissioned by Catrin Brace of the Wales International Center, New York in May 2008. Peter will produce a narrative contribution and Swansea singer-songwriter Terry Clarke, a frequent participant at The Seventh Quarry/Cross-Cultural Communications Visiting Poets Events, will sing original songs and compose the incidental music. Peter Thabit Jones is also one of the judges of the Left Coast Eisteddfod Poetry Competition. The Interview Americymru: Where else in the US are you visiting this year? Peter: Firstly, I have literally just returned from the World Conference in Boulder, Colorado. I was visiting poet for ten days. I had a truly wonderful time, spent with a variety of leading creative people from around the world (a filmmaker, cowboy singer-songwriter, jazz musicians, politicians, Irish storyteller, scientists, journalists etc.) on stimulating debating panels and I also read my poems whilst there. In mid-May I go to New York, as visiting poet, sponsored by Professor Sultan Catto of CUNY, The Graduate Center, New York, and Stanley H. Barkan, my New York publisher (Cross-Cultural Communications). I will be giving readings and talks, including a major event at the Mid-Manhattan Library, whilst there. I will also be involved in the making of a celebration dvd built around the Dylan Thomas Guide to Greenwich Village, which I wrote with Aeronwy, his daughter, for the Wales International Centre, New York. The dvd is being produced by my New York publisher, who came up with the idea, and will feature original songs about Dylan by singer-songwriter Terry Clarke, and a group of Cross-Cultural Communications- published poets from across America. Americymru: Do you set out to write a collection for publication, or do you simply write and eventually gather up the ones that seem to go together? Peter: I tend to write poems in batches and eventually shape them into a collection, Usually, my final choice is powered by poems that seem to fit into certain themes, such as childhood, people etc. However, my last book, The Lizard Catchers, was a kind of Selected Poems for the American market and it comprises poems taken from my books published in Britain. Americymru: Is poetry a priestly calling for all poets, or just a few? I’m thinking of “The Priest-Poet R.S. Thomas.” Peter: I think it is for the true poet. R.S. said, 'Poetry is religion, religion is poetry' and I think he was echoing Wordsworth's 'priest-like task'. Poetry for me is a vocation, like the priesthood, and I certainly believe a poet can have - to quote St John of the Cross - 'a dark night of the soul', when he doubts the importance of poetry, in the same way some priests go through moments of doubt about their faith. Alternatively, a true poet can experience visions of eternity. I am, in fact, a real admirer of R.S. Thomas's work. Americymru: Are poets born or made? Peter: Well, John Clare, echoing Horace I believe, said 'A poet is born not made'. However, we have Edward Thomas, the First World War poet ( he's of Welsh descent and gave his three children Welsh names), who started writing poems around the age of 37 years at the suggestion of the American poet Robert Frost. Thomas had written quality prose for decades and Frost pointed out that some of the passages were ideal for turning into poems. I have taught potential poets for sixteen years at the Adult Education Department at Swansea University. I think the hardest thing is to develop an individual vision and poetic voice. Maybe one is born with those two vital things. Americymru: When you teach writing, what’s the most important thing you want your students to apprehend and incorporate in their writing efforts? Peter: I try to get over a real sense of the importance of craft. Vernon Watkins, Dylan Thomas's much under-rated friend, said, 'Cold craftsmanship is the best container of fire': an important statement. It's craft that takes over from that initial and exciting spurt of inspiration. I cover metre and poetic devices and try to get over the importance of the musical aspect of poetry, 'the colour of saying', to quote Dylan Thomas. Americymru: Post-modern “cool” poets write in free verse. Why do you choose rhyme & metre? Did you choose them, or did they choose you? Why do you like the traditional styles so well? Peter: It's possible we chose each other. I think it is because I believe passionately in the music of poetry, the sound as much as the sense. It's also, of course, a Welsh thing: Dylan, the Welsh-language bardic poets. I was lucky in the 1980s when I met the Welsh-language poet Alan Llwyd, the cynghanedd master, who taught me quite a bit about cynghanedd devices. He won the Chair and the Crown twice at Royal National Eisteddfods. I also think the rubber band of poetry can be stretched to take in all kinds of poems. For me, though, if I write free verse I try to sound-texture it with poetic devices. When I toured America last year (and at Colorado a few weeks ago) it was something people pointed out time and time again: the musical quality of my poems, which for me was rewarding when it was noted. I like the traditional styles because I see them as an adventure rather than a strait-jacket. Americymru: Why do you think landscape is such an important witness and mnemonic device for you? How do you think it holds memory the way you’ve depicted it – I’m thinking of Kilvey Hill and the Lion’s Head here? Peter: My first memory is of landscape. I recall, as a toddler, looking through the open kitchen door of my Grandmother's home (she and my Grandmother raised me) and seeing this huge, sulking shape dominating every thing: Kilvey Hill. As soon as I was old enough to explore it, I explored every corner of it. For me, Kilvey and the landscape of Eastside Swansea (Dylan's ugly side of his 'ugly, lovely town' - luckily for me he did not write about it!) confirms a pantheistic belief in me that we are connected to nature (The force that through the green fuse drives the flower). Kilvey Hill is also, for me, the touchstone to that reality that down the years has changed into a memories: my first bonfire night, first gang of boys, first camping out experience, first love etc. I have just finished, after ten years of working on it, a verse drama, The Boy and the Lion's Head, based on my Lion's Head poem and my grandfather's experiences as a soldier on the Somme. It is about the impact of a grandfather's stories and a particular landscape (the industry-spoilt Eastside Swansea) on a boy's imagination. I am very excited by it and two American friends have been very, very enthusiastic about it. Americymru: How many years of your life do these poems in “The Lizard Catchers” cover? Peter: From adolescence (My Grandfather's Razor) to poems written recently (Night, The Green Bird), whilst in my mid-fifties. Americymru: How long did it take you to find your voice as a poet? Peter: A long time. The turning point for me was a deep personal grief in my life, the death of my second son, Mathew. I did not write for a long time. When poetry came back to me I knew I could not fall back on someone else's voice or experiences. To be honest, though, I think it is only in the last twelve years that I have really started to understand and use, as I would like to, my own voice. My dear friend and mentor, Vince Clemente, a New York poet and critic (an expert on Walt Whitman) has helped me immensely since we first started corresponding in 1997 and showing each other poems-in-progress. Americymru: Why do you think it is that you can see so deeply into the world? Do you think this is a native ability or did you have to cultivate it? Peter: Even as a small boy I was curious about the reality of things, the depth of experiences. Also, my only memories of my grandfather are of him, seriously unwell, in a bed in our parlour. I think such nearness to death at such a young age makes one really focus on life, the living things. The part of the landscape of Wales where I was born and raised offered so much to focus on, Kilvey Hill, the nearby (then) busy docks, the beach, and the (then) seaside town of Swansea. As I got older I read famous poets, such as Wordsworth, Tennyson, R.S., Ted Hughes, and I soon realised I was not alone in wanting, almost needing, to see 'shootes of everlastingness' beyond the curtain of reality. So I suppose I 'cultivated' my inborn strengths. They say the Welsh are a curious people and I certainly have that trait. Americymru: What is it about the little things and passing vignettes of life that catch your attention? Peter: I think the little things are all revelations of the big things, thus when observing soemthing like a frog or a lizard one is observing an aspect of creation, a thing that is so vital and part of the larger pattern that none of us really understand. Edward Thomas said, 'I cannot bite the day to the core'. In each poem I write I try to get closer to the core of what is reality for me, be it the little things or the big things such as grief and loss. Americymru: When you write, do you write a poem and then pare it down to its bones, or, do the bones come first? Peter: For me the bones come first, a word, a phrase, a line, or a rhythm, usually initiated by an observation, an image, or a thought. Then once I have the tail of a poem I start thinking of its body. Nowadays, within a few lines I know if it will be formal or informal. If it is formal, all my energies go into shaping it into its particular mould, a sestina or whatever. If it is informal, I apply the same dedication. Eventually after many drafts, a poem often then needs cutting back because of too many words, lines or ideas. R.S. indicated that the poem in the mind is never the one on the page, and there is so much truth in that comment. The actual writing of a poem for me is the best thing about being a poet: publication, if possible, is the cherry on the cake. Americymru: You have such an elegant and clean style; how did you develop it? Peter: Thank you,. I think from reading and studying the great poets, especially the Welsh ones (R.S., Dylan T., Vernon Watkins and Merthyr-born Leslie Norris) and the Irish ones (Yeats and Heaney). I also believe a poem should last for more than one reading, that a reader should be able to enter a poem again and again and get some thing from it. So, again, I think if I have such a style it is connected with my commitment to craft. Americymru: You paint such impressionistic word-pictures the way you hyper-focus on little details and hang the whole rhythm of the poem on them. Can you remember how old you were when you first encountered Monet, and what the process was for you to acquire that same technique he had in paints, for yourself with words? Peter: I first encountered a painting by Monet in a library book (I joined Swansea Central Library when I was sixteen, mainly to take out poetry books) and the real thing on a school trip to the National Museum in Cardiff. Again, I think by carefully focusing on the little things, and by trying to choose the right words to convey, indeed replicate, a visual experience, you can present a larger picture. Robert Frost (I'm paraphrasing) said that one first had to be provincial to be universal. Also, in the Welsh-language they talk of a poet 'being a master of the exact word', the ability to choose the right and only word. It was a single word rainbow in the Welsh poet W.H. Davies's The Kingfisher that started me writing at the age of eleven. My teacher at Danygraig Boys' School, a superb teacher called Mr. James, read out the poem to the class. The opening line did it for me, 'It was the rainbow gave thee birth'. I could not believe that one single word could convey so much. It lit up in my mind and kick-started my love of language, my love of the wonder and magic of words. Seamus Heaney said, 'Words are doors themselves' and I love that possibility, that way of using them. Americymru: In Psalm for the Twentieth Century you talk about what a sacrilege we’re committing on everything that is sacred. Is there something about that desecration you see, that makes the planet more blessed? Can environmental degradation somehow bestow blessings? One line really stood out “Blessed is the child that the city drives wild.” Do you think the cities bring out the native wildness in children, or do they shatter it? Do you think that the urban wilderness can give us mad and prophetic poets like Lailoken and Taliesin? Peter: I think as one gets older, certainly for me, the world becomes more incredible, my part in it so insignificant; and, despite what we are doing to it, it is still full of wonders and I do try to see the loveliness amongst ugliness, and the ugliness amongst the loveliness. So I do see the blessings. I think in that line about the child I was thinking of both things: that the packed, impersonal city can impact dreadfully on a child's physical and mental being, and, of course, it can push them into using their innate survival equipment in order to survive. Well, poets like Allen Ginsberg certainly faced many of the obvious problems of modern life in a very individual and impressive way. I think good poets, whether country-based or city-based, attempt as best as they can to respond to their immediate surroundings, and, yes, many are prophetic in their own way. As Wilfred Owen said, 'All a poet can do today is warn. Americymru: How did you get the job working with special needs children, why did you take it, and did it change or enhance the way you see the world? Peter: I was a freelance writer and I was doing a lot of work in schools, colleges etc. The opportunity came up to learn sign language on a college course (I used to ride a motorbike - my first one at the age of thirty something - from Swansea to Barry College, very scary and exciting). Then from that came the opportunity to do work with special needs children. I took it because I wanted to experience a world beyond my world, a world unknown to so many of us. It changed me in that it changed my perceptions of their world, their daily problems, their incredible bravery, and, at times, sheer tenacity. I'm sure, as with all ultimately rewarding and humbling experiences, it contributed to the way I see the world. Americymru: The themes in The Lizard Catchers – childhood and its traumas, the relationships of children to adults and vice versa, the loss and grief they inflict on each other, illness, death, mortality, urban ruin and the omnipresence of Nature even in the pit of industrialization – make this a very emotional collection. If our humanity is the connecting thread, then do you really think it’s possible to re-arrange the beads on the rosary as it were, to get them all to make sense? Peter: I certainly believe our humanity is the connecting thread. We all share these things, childhood, relationships, grief, the environmental demise of our world etc. We are all, ultimately, very fragile. One of the panels at the World Conference in Boulder, Colorado, was titled Death: Go Gentle into that Good Night, and one of my contributions was that if we all actually considered our own mortality more often then maybe we would be nicer to each other. These things, though, don't occur in sequence, For example, some experience death very early in life, others very late in life. So it is often difficult to get them to make sense, in a logical, a rosary-bead way. Again, getting older places some of them in more of a context and a kind of acceptance that starts to make sense. Americymru: Why do you think grief makes all the little things stand out so starkly? Why, or how, does it cause the hyper-focusing that comes out in your poems? Peter: Because it is such a cliff-edge thing, a paring down to the real basics, the real essence of what we are: fragile and naked. You see this in the big tragedies, world wars, 9/11 etc. People suddenly focus on what really matters, the little things, and they focus more deeply. Many soldiers in the First and Second Worlds Wars suddenly started writing poems, men who had never written one in their lives. When we find ourselves in the the cold corner of grief, the cul-de-sac of shock, the little things seem to light up, be of more importance: a child's smile, a friend's hug etc. The playwright Dennis Potter said in one of his last interviews, before dying of cancer, that the blossoms in his garden seemed to be more bright than they ever were. In my poems, the little things are a kind of reassurance, a kind of confirmation of a small pattern in the bigger pattern of it all. Americymru: Is childhood really that terrifying an experience for a majority of people, do you think? I’m thinking of the Boy and the Lion’s Head and The Protest. Peter: Probably not. But I do think children experience fears of what is not understood, such as the boy in the poem about the strange man and the Lion's Head. The Protest is one way of me looking at my not having my real parents as a child. It's not, of course, as emotional or as powerful as John Lennon's Mother. Americymru: So, Seamus Heaney has been known to praise Eminem’s rap-poetry. Any thoughts on that, on rap as a poetic form born of urban ruin, and on where that might fit into a 1000 year old poetic tradition? Peter: I can understand Seamus Heaney's praise for Eminem, certainly the musical quality. I have always liked Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues, probably the first 'rap song'. At the World Affair Conference I shared the stage several times with Lynne Johnson, a young female Hip Hop poet from New York, who was really great, engaging, musical and exciting. Rap seems the ideal response of young people to urban ruin and I'm sure the form will snuggle into its rightful place in poetic tradition. Americymru: Wildness and Nature always seems to overcome our best efforts to cage, encrust, or otherwise tame it. Why do you think so many people, and the “modern” world as a whole, think they can best it? What is it about people, do you think, that they just have to keep trying at that? Peter: Well, man has to dominate, not just nature but each other. Man strives to be godlike and getting nature/wildness under his thumb maybe confirms that side of his ego. Maybe there is an element of envy too, the freedom of an eagle in the sky, the sheer force of a river, the dignity of a mountain. Modern man has also lost his respectful relationship with nature. Pre-literate people understood and appreciated the preciousness of the world they inhabited, that they were mere brief visitors to the Earth, protectors of it for the generations to come. Americymru: Do you think mankind can save ourselves from our own bloodthirsty destructive tendencies, and if so, how do you think we’re going to be able to do it? Peter: I hope so but one feels so pessimistic for so much of the time. Materialism seems to gnaw away at our sanity, fool us into not wanting to see what damage we are actually doing. We have to try to do something for future generations, our grandchildren and their children and so on. To achieve changes, we have to consider this whole business of materialism, this 'fast food' approach to everything, this 'I want, so I must have' mentality. Maybe mankind will arrive at a cliff-edge that cannot be ignored, a natural or man-made catastrophe that will stop everything in its tracks: and then force a real change in things. Americymru: Are we going to destroy ourselves do you think, or will Nature beat us to the punch? Peter: A big question again. I hope no-one is mad enough to set off the first bonfire of vanity that will mean our mutual annhilation. Our daily destruction of the actual planet is probably a bigger threat and one we cannot ignore forever. Nature, of course, can happily get on without us. Interview by Kathleen O'Brien Blair

PRESS RELEASE - DATGANIAD I’R WASG Unique Welsh Mass Launches Series of St. John Roberts Commemorative Events

Unique Welsh Mass launches series of St. John Roberts commemorative events.

St. Teilo’s Church welcomes a unique pilgrimage.

Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas looks forward to “an important event in Wales’ historical and religious calendar”

On Saturday, April 25th, St. Teilo’s Church, St. Fagans will play host to a very different Mass; for the first time ever, a Welsh language Mass will take place in this historic church. All seats have already been taken for the Mass, which is to be the first in a series of events scheduled to take place across Wales to celebrate the 400th anniversary of St. John Roberts of Trawsfynydd’s martyrdom.

The event organiser, Sue Roberts who is Vice-Chairman of Cylch Catholig (Catholic Circle) said: “The response has been incredible. We could have easily filled the church three times over and the fact that this is the first Welsh Catholic Mass to be held in this church for almost five hundred years, makes this a truly unique occasion.”

St. John Roberts is an important Welsh historic and religious figure and is even more celebrated in France and Spain, where many commemorative celebrations will be held in 2010. Born at Rhiw Goch farm, Trawsfynydd, he was educated at Cymer Abbey, near Dolgellau, he then went on to Oxford to study Law before moving to France where he converted to Catholicism. Following his time in France, he moved to Valladolid, Spain where he trained as a Priest, he then returned to London to care for the poor but was exiled many times by the anti-catholic authorities before eventually being sentenced to death in Tyburn on December 10th, 1610. He was canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970. (See image attached of St. John Roberts).

One of the St. John Roberts anniversary celebration’s co-organisers, Keith O’Brien from the Llys Ednowain Heritage Centre in Trawsfynydd, a centre that documents the history of St. John Roberts and Hedd Wyn, said that the Mass “is a really great way to launch the commemorative celebrations in Wales, while ensuring that the celebrations will be as impressive in the Saint’s native country as on the continent.”

The celebrations will continue in 2010 with a Mass in the ruins of Cymer Abbey, Dolgellau on June 6th, 2010. Following this there will be a series of performances of the ‘St. John Roberts Requiem’ by Brian Hughes, with the part of the saint played by operatic tenor Rhys Meirion with the accompaniment of choirs and orchestra. The Requiem will be performed in six cathedrals across Wales. In July 2010 there will be a pilgrimage from Rhiw Goch to Tyburn, with the highlight being a multi-faith service at Westminster Cathedral attended by the Heads of all Churches.

This will be the first time ever for a Welsh Mass to be conducted in St. Teilo’s Church, that was moved from Pontarddulais and re-built at the Museum of Welsh Life in St. Fagans two years ago. The Archbishop of Cardiff; Peter Smith, the Bishop of Wrexham; Edwin Regan and the former Bishop of Menevia; Daniel Mullins, will be conducting the service along with a number of Welsh priests. Also giving readings in the Mass will be pupils from the Catholic Schools of South Wales. (See image attached of St. Teilo’s Church - please credit Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales.)

The colourful ceremony, will start at 2pm with a procession from the Workmen’s Institute to St. Teilo’s Church, led by the Archbishop, bishops and priests, all dressed in their ceremonial robes with the altar boys carrying the cross and incense.

Archbishop Peter Smith said of the event: “I am extremely glad that we are able to draw on old Welsh traditions and celebrate a Welsh Catholic Mass in this fantastic church for the first time since the Protestant Reformation. The fact that the Mass will be conducted in Welsh shows that the Church plays an active role in modern Welsh life. I would also like to extend an invitation to the public to come and watch the colourful procession that will take place prior to the Mass.”

Another exciting element of the celebration will be the use of the Dowlais Chalice, which dates from the same period as St John Roberts. In addition, a 100 year old replica of the Cymer Abbey Chalice and Paten, which is the abbey where St John Roberts received his early education, will be on display on the altar (kindly on loan from the National Museum of Wales).

St. Teilo’s Church will be full to the rafters with 150 guests attending. Bishop Edwin Regan of Wrexham said: “I’m very excited that people from all over Wales will be taking part in the Mass and it’s a pleasure to have contributions from Welsh learners from the Catholic Schools of South Wales. Our roots as Welsh Catholics lie in St Teilo’s and the children can be inspired by this for the future. It’s fantastic to see this church restored to its former glory and I can’t think of a better way to launch a year of celebrating Wales’ martyrs than with this Mass.”

Amongst the distinguished guests will be Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales, Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: “I’m looking forward to the Mass as well as all the performances taking place over the next year that will draw attention to an important event in Wales’ historical and religious calendar”.

Press and Media Enquiries

For more information please contact: Lydia Jones at Mr Producer

Tel: 02920 916 667

Email: lydia@mrproducer.co.uk

Mass at St. Teilo’s Church, Museum of Welsh Life, St. Fagans: General Information

The Mass will take place in St. Teilo’s Church, Museum of Welsh Life, St. Fagans on Saturday 25th April 2009 at 14:0)Entry to the Museum of Welsh Life in St. Fagans is free. Car Parking £3. Museum of Welsh Life

St. Fagans
Cardiff
CF5 6XB
Phone: 02920 573500
Website: www.museumwales.ac.uk

The Archbishop Peter Smith, Bishop Edwin Regan, Bishop Daniel Mullins and Alan Jones, who is studying for the priesthood in Milton Keynes, will all be taking part in the Mass.

Special guests include: Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas, the Ambassador for Lithuania; Anthony Parker, Welsh folk life expert; Dr Robin Gwyndaf, Dafydd Pritchard and Prof. David Thorne

2010 Events

‘St. John Roberts Requiem’ by Brian Hughes with Rhys Meirion will be performed across Wales to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the martyrdom of St John Roberts.The celebrations are organised by Sue Roberts (Vice-Chairman of “Cylch Catholig” (Catholic Circle) and Keith O’Brien (Director of Llys Ednowain Heritage Centre, Trawsfynydd)

Sue Roberts Delfryn
Yr Ala
Pwllheli
Gwynedd
LL53 5BL
Phone: 01758 614 977
E-mail: sue@inc-cyf.com

Keith O’Brien TrawsNewid

Llys Ednowain
Trawsfynydd
Gwynedd
LL41 4UB
Phone: 01766 540 528

Celebration Timetable 2010

· 6th June 2010 – Open-air Mass in the remains of Cymer Abbey, near Dolgellau (over 1000 people expected)

· St. John Roberts Requiem performances

· 11th June 2010 – St Giles, Wrexham

· 12th June 2010 – Bangor Cathedral

· 13th June 2010 – Aberystwyth University

· 18th June 2010 – Brecon Cathedral

· 19th June 2010 – Llandaf Cathedral, Cardiff

· 20th June 2010 – Swansea Cathedral

· 8 – 10 July or 15 – 18 July 2010 – Pilgrimage from Rhiw Goch to Tyburn

There will be a special book launch of ‘Achub Eglways Sant Teilo’ on Saturday 26th April. A new book on the history of St. Teilo’s Church, the medieval church in St. Fagans which has grasped the imagination of so many people over the years. Discount copies will be available in the Mass on the 25th April 2009.

The Archbishop of Canterbury officially opened St. Teilo’s Church in October 2007. The church was moved stone-by-stone from its home on the flood plain of the River Loughor near Pontarddulais and today stands proudly at St. Fagans.

The fully restored medieval church now looks as it would have done in about 1520 and contains all the elements associated with a late medieval Catholic church including a striking rood screen and a loft elaborately carved out of oak. The interior is decorated with copies of an extremely rare series of colourful wall paintings, which were discovered under layer upon layer of paint.

Offeren Gymraeg unigryw yn lansio cyfres o ddathliadau Sant John Roberts.

Eglwys Sant Teilo, Sain Ffagan yn croesawu pererindod unigryw.

Yr Arglwydd Dafydd Elis-Thomas yn edrych ymlaen at “ddigwyddiad pwysig yng nghalendr hanesyddol a chrefyddol Cymru”.

Ar ddydd Sadwrn, Ebrill 25 eleni, cynhelir Offeren dra gwahanol yn Eglwys Sant Teilo, Sain Ffagan; am y tro cyntaf erioed, bydd Offeren Gymraeg yn cael ei chynnal yn yr eglwys hanesyddol hon. Mae pob tocyn eisoes wedi mynd ar gyfer yr Offeren, sef y digwyddiad cyntaf mewn cyfres o ddigwyddiadau ar draws Cymru i ddathlu pedwar can mlwyddiant merthyrdod Sant John Roberts o Drawsfynydd.

Meddai Sue Roberts, Is-gadeirydd y Cylch Catholig, sy’n trefnu’r dathliadau: “Roedd yr ymateb i’r Offeren yn anhygoel. Gallwn yn hawdd fod wedi llenwi’r Eglwys deirgwaith drosodd. Ac mae’r ffaith mai yn Gymraeg fydd yr Offeren Gatholig gyntaf i’w chynnal yn yr Eglwys ers bron i bum can mlynedd yn rhoi blas arbennig ar yr achlysur.“

Mae Sant John Roberts yn gymeriad hanesyddol, yn ogystal â chrefyddol, pwysig iawn i Gymru gyfan ac mae’n enwocach fyth yn Ffrainc a Sbaen ble bydd nifer fawr o ddigwyddiadau i’w goffáu yn cael eu cynnal yn 2010. Yn enedigol o fferm Rhiw Goch, Trawsfynydd, cafodd ei addysg gynnar yn Abaty Cymer, ger Dolgellau, yna aeth ymlaen i Rydychen i astudio’r gyfraith cyn symud i fyw i Ffrainc ble cafodd ei droedigaeth a’i dderbyn i’r Eglwys Gatholig. Aeth ymlaen i Valladolid yn Sbaen ble cafodd ei hyfforddi’n offeiriad, yn dilyn hyn, dychwelodd i Lundain i weini ar y tlodion ond cafodd ei alltudio sawl gwaith gan yr awdurdodau gwrth-gatholig cyn cael ei ddedfrydu i farwolaeth yn Tyburn 10 Rhagfyr, 1610. Cafodd ei ganoneiddio yn 1970 gan Pab Pawl VI. (Gweler darlun o’r Sant wedi atodi).

Soniodd un o gyd-drefnwyr dathliadau coffa Sant John Roberts, Keith O’Brien o Ganolfan Treftadaeth Llys Ednowain, Trawsfynydd, sef canolfan sy’n olrhain hanes Sant John Roberts a Hedd Wyn fod yr Offeren “yn ffordd wirioneddol wych o lansio’r digwyddiadau i gofio am y sant yng Nghymru a sicrhau bod y dathliadau’r un mor wefreiddiol yn ei wlad enedigol ac y byddant ar y cyfandir.”

Bydd y dathliadau yn parhau yn 2010 gydag Offeren yn Abaty Cymer, Dolgellau ar Fehefin 6, 2010. Yn dilyn hyn, bydd cyfres o berfformiadau o ‘Requiem Sant John Roberts’ gan Brian Hughes; caiff rhan y Sant ei berfformio gan Rhys Meirion gyda chyfeiliant côrau a cherddorfa. Bydd y Requiem yn cael ei pherfformio mewn chwe eglwys gadeiriol ar draws Cymru. Fis Gorffennaf 2010 bydd pererindod o Riw Goch i Tyburn ac uchafbwynt fydd gwasanaeth cydenwadol yn Eglwys Gadeiriol Westminster gyda phenaethiaid yr Eglwysi’n bresennol.

Dyma’r tro cyntaf erioed i Offeren Gymraeg cael ei chynnal yn Eglwys Sant Teilo a gafodd ei symud o Bontarddulais a’i hailgodi yn Amgueddfa Werin Cymru, Sain Ffagan ddwy flynedd yn ôl. Archesgob Caerdydd; Peter Smith, Esgob Wrecsam; Edwin Regan a chyn-Esgob Mynwy; Daniel Mullins, fydd yn cyd-ddathlu ynghyd â nifer o offeiriaid Cymru gyda darlleniadau gan ddisgyblion ysgolion Catholig De Cymru. (Gweler llun atodedig – Eglwys Sant Teilo. Angen cydnabod - Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales).

Bydd y seremoni liwgar yn cychwyn am 2 o’r gloch gyda gorymdaith o Sefydliad y Gweithwyr i Eglwys Sant Teilo dan arweiniad yr Archesgob, yr Esgobion, Offeiriaid a’r gweision allor ifanc, i gyd yn eu gwisgoedd seremonïol. Bydd un o’r gweision yn cario’r groes ac un arall yn cario’r arogldarth.

Dywedodd yr Archesgob, Peter Smith “Rwyf wrth fy modd ein bod yn gallu tynnu ar hen draddodiadau Cymru a dathlu Offeren Gatholig Gymraeg yn yr eglwys hynod hon am y tro cyntaf ers y Diwygiad Protestannaidd. Mae’r ffaith fod yr Offeren yn cael ei chynnal yn y Gymraeg yn dangos fod yr Eglwys hefyd â rhan lawn ym mywyd Cymru heddiw. Hoffwn hefyd estyn gwahoddiad i’r cyhoedd ddod i wylio’r orymdaith liwgar cyn yr Offeren.”

Elfen gyffrous arall o’r dathliad fydd y defnydd o Gwpan Dowlais (Dowlais Chalice), sy’n dyddio o’r un cyfnod a Sant John Roberts. Hefyd bydd ‘replica’ amrhisiadwy o Gwpan a Phaten Abaty Cymer (Cymer Abbey Chalice and Paten), sef yr abaty ble cafodd Sant John Robert ei addysg gynnar. Bydd y gwpan, sydd dros 100 mlwydd oed ac ar log hael gan yr Amgueddfa Cymru, yn cael ei arddangos ar yr allor yn ystod y seremoni.

Bydd Eglwys Sant Teilo dan ei sang gyda 150 o westeion yn mynychu’r gwasanaeth. Dywed yr Esgob Edwin Regan o Wrecsam “Rwyf wrth fy modd fod pobl o bob rhan o Gymru yn yr Offeren ac mae’n bleser cael plant sy’n dysgu Cymraeg yn ysgolion Catholig y de-ddwyrain i gymryd rhan. Mae ein gwreiddiau fel Catholigion Cymraeg yn Eglwys Sant Teilo ac mae’r plant yn gallu tynnu maeth o hynny at y dyfodol. Rwy’n hynod falch fod yr eglwys hyfryd hon wedi’i hadfer. Mae dechrau ar flwyddyn o ddathlu merthyron Cymru gyda’r Offeren hon yn rhoi’r dechrau gorau posibl i’r holl ddathliadau yn 2010."

Ymysg y gwesteion anrhydeddus fydd Llywydd y Cynulliad Cenedlaethol, yr Arglwydd Dafydd Elis-Thomas. “Rwy’n edrych ymlaen yn fawr at yr Offeren yn ogystal â’r digwyddiadau eraill fydd yn cael eu cynnal dros y flwyddyn nesaf a fydd yn tynnu sylw at achlysur pwysig yng nghalendr hanesyddol a chrefyddol cymru.”

Diwedd-
Ymholiadau’r wasg a’r cyfryngau

Am fwy o fanylion cysylltwch â Lydia Jones - Mr Producer

Ffon: 02920 916 667

Ebost: lydia@mrproducer.co.uk

Cyfweliadau ar gael ar gais cyn yr Offeren ac ar y dydd.

Croeso i newyddion radio a theledu ar y dydd, cysylltwch ar swyddfa i drefnu os gwelwch yn dda.

Manylion cyffredinol Offeren Eglwys Sant Teilo, Sain Ffagan

* Bydd yr Offeren yn cael ei dathlu yn Eglwys Sant Teilo, Amgueddfa Werin Cymru, Sain Ffagan, ddydd Sadwrn, Ebrill 25, 2009 am 14:00.

* Mae mynediad i Amgueddfa Werin Cymru, Sain Ffagan, yn rhad ac am ddim, parcio ceir £3.
Amgueddfa Werin Cymru,
Sain Ffagan,
Caerdydd,
CF5 6XB
Ffon: 02920 573500
Gwefan: www.amgueddfacymru.ac.uk

* Mae’r Archesgob Peter Smith, yr Esgob Edwin Regan, Esgob Daniel Mullins ac Alan Jones sydd yn astudio am yr offeiriadaeth yn Milton Keynes i gyd yn cymryd rhan yn yr Offeren.

* Gwesteion arbennig yn cynnwys: yr Arglwydd Dafydd Elis-Thomas, Llysgennad Lithuania; Anthony Parker, Dr Robin Gwyndaf sy’n awdurdod ar fywyd gwerin, y Prifardd Dafydd Pritchard, Prif Lenor Harri Pritchard Jones a’r Athro David Thorne.

* Digwyddiadau 2010

* Requiem Sant John Roberts gan Brian Hughes gyda Rhys Meirion, a fydd yn cael ei berfformio ar draws y wlad i ddathlu pedwar can mlwyddiant marwolaeth Sant John Roberts.

* Trefnir y dathliadau gan Sue Roberts, Is-gadeirydd y Cylch Catholig a Keith O’Brien, Cyfarwyddwr Canolfan Treftadaeth Llys Ednowain, Trawsfynydd.
Sue Roberts

Ffôn: 01758 614 977

Ebost: sue@inc-cyf.com


* Keith O’Brien
Trawsnewid
Ffon: 01766 540 528

Amserlen dathliadau 2010

· 6 Mehefin 2010 – Offeren awyr agored yn adfeilion Abaty Cymer, ger Dolgellau (disgwylir dros 1000 o bobl)

· Perfformiadau Requiem Sant John Roberts

· 11 Mehefin 2010 – St Giles, Wrecsam

· 12 Mehefin 2010 – Eglwys Gadeiriol Bangor

· 13 Mehefin 2010 – Prifysgol Aberystwyth

· 18 Mehefin 2010 – Eglwys Gadeiriol Aberhonddu

· 19 Mehefin 2010 – Eglwys Gadeiriol Llandaf

· 20 Mehefin 2010 – Eglwys Gadeiriol Abertawe

· Pererindod i Lundain – 8 – 11 Gorffennaf neu 15 -18 Gorffennaf 2010

* Ar ddydd Sul, 26 Ebrill, bydd lansiad llyfr arbennig 'Achub Eglwys Sant Teilo'. Dyma hanes yr eglwys ganoloesol yn Sain Ffagan sydd wedi gafael yn nychymyg gymaint o bobl dros y blynyddoedd. Bydd copiau ar ddisgownt ar gael ar y 25ain.

Agorodd Archesgob Caergaint Eglwys Sant Teilo yn swyddogol yn Hydref 2007. Symudwyd yr eglwys fesul carreg o’i chartref ar orlifdir afon Llwchwr ger Pontarddulais, a heddiw mae’n sefyll yn Sain Ffagan. Mae’r eglwys ganoloesol wedi ei hadfer yn llwyr erbyn hyn, ac mae’n edrych fel y byddai wedi bod tua 1520 gyda holl elfennau eglwys Gatholig o ddiwedd y cyfnod canoloesol, gan gynnwys croglofft drawiadol wedi ei cherfio o goed derw. Addurnwyd y tu fewn i’r eglwys gyda chopïau o gyfres brin iawn o furluniau lliwgar, a ddarganfuwyd dan haenau di-ri o baent.

David Western's Lovespoon Blog

This week you'd have to be living under a rock not to have heard about the sensation caused by Scottish spinster and remarkable songstress Susan Boyle. Her magical turn in front of noted misery-guts and all-round sourpuss Simon Cowell has been the hit of the internet and the subject of world-wide water cooler chit chat.

As terrific as that was though, it's worth considering that at this very moment, the greatest tenor of all time could be tending a flock in the Bolivian highlands while the sweetest soprano to have ever sung a note could be spreading asphalt in Tibet. The next Picasso could be plowing a field in the Ukraine while a novelist of rare insight is building I.E.D's for the Taliban. How many millions of glorious musicians, artists and visionary thinkers has mankind lost over the centuries to anonymity, lack of opportunity or disinterest? That Susan Boyle existed out there with her beautiful voice going unnoticed is not in the least unusual...that millions of us were able to share in and enjoy her moment in the sun was.

So where in the hell am I going with this? As a carver and artist, I know that many times success is not so much a matter of talent and ingenuity as it is a matter of good fortune. In the case of Susan Boyle, the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to appear on television in front of millions of strangers has been the difference between fame and obscurity. For the Bolivian shepherd and his ilk, there will likely be no such chance. Without the chance to perform for an audience, talent is never noticed, which finally brings me to the point of this rather long-winded preamble.

In August, the Left Coast Eisteddfod will make its inaugural appearance as a cultural event. Without support, events of this kind do not succeed and the opportunity to present a platform for talent both known and undiscovered is lost. Somewhere out there could be the next great author, poet, photographer, swashbuckling pirate, or leather-lunged Tom Jones...this is your opportunity to help find them!

I have donated the Left Coast Eisteddfod lovespoon as a way to help make donating to this worthy event a bit more enjoyable. For every dollar you donate, you get a chance to win the spoon when it is completed and presented at the Eisteddfod. As a Welshman working a traditional (and somewhat obscure) craft thousands of miles from 'home', I have enjoyed wonderful good fortune bringing my work to a larger audience. I hope that the small part I play in helping to raise funds for the Left Coast Eisteddfod will make it possible for others to display their talents too.

Finally, even if you can't donate financially at this time, consider supporting the Eisteddfod by mentioning it to people you know, by trying your hand at some of the online competitions and by attending the event on August 21 and 22 in Portland, Oregon.

An Interview With Mike Brooks of Here Be Dragons

Here Be Dragons have released three CDs, "Alcohol & Rain, Celtic Bonding and "Bright New Tomorrow".Their live shows have had crowds dancing and partying in festivals and venues across Europe and in the USA. From 2009 they will also be offering an "Unplugged" set for more acoustic venues.They've played to many thousands of people around the world. Their largest crowd was 30,000 in Bologna. Americymru: Who are Here Be Dragons? Mike: A band who play wild Celtic music from Wales. Mike Brooks Vocals (and various stringed instruments), "Big Willy" Morrsion on drums, Kyle Jones on bass, Helen Blackburn fiddles and Delyth Jones squeezes (Accordion) Americymru: What are the backgrounds of the people in the band and how did you end up together? Mike: I originally formed the band when I was an expat; I was living in London. Lineups have changed over the years but Will has been there since pretty much the beginning. The rest we met as friends of friends. Kyle is from Cardiff like me. A friend from West Wales told me his sister plays accordion in a duo with a fiddler and that's how we met Del and Helen. Americymru: You perform your own version of "Sospan Fach" . This , of course, is a traditional Welsh folk song about a small saucepan. For the benefit of our American readers can you tell us a little about this rather surreal ditty? Mike: Sospan Fach words are silly but the song is more than the words. It's sung pasionately at rugby matches to support Wales or Llanelli (Town in West Wales). It was also sung going to te trenches in the first World War. So it's sort of more about the singing than the song, if that makes any sense. Sospan Fach Americymru: You've played the States before? Can you tell us a bit about that? How did you enjoy the experience? Mike: We've come across twice for Celtic festivals in Florida and Chicago. On our first trip Will kept shouting "Where are we?" and we'd joyfully answer "In America!" it was a big deal, a big trip. The gigs went well and we were well recieved. I wrote the song "One Night Stand" on that trip - enough said! Chicago was great too. A well organised Welsh society, The "Chicago Taffia" met us there, with a limo. In fact both trips we got met at the airport and were given beer to drink on our way back from the airport. Each time I thought "I could like this country!" (Easily bought, eh?) Chicago is a huge and impressive town. The festival was big too, big crowds and a warm reception. It was great standing on stage looking at the Chiacgo skyline behind the crowd in Grant Park. That night we got to meet the locals to which always helps, if you can't do that then why travel? We're still in touch with a people in Chicago. I hope we return before too long. Americymru: OK...now for a dumb question. A lot of your songs are about drinking. How important is that in Welsh culture and in particular in Cardiff? Mike: Anyone who has seen St Mary's Street on a Friday or Saturday night would know. On those nights 50,000 people come into town to get drunk. Hen nights, stag nights, nights out with the lads or girls, birthdays, work nights, you name it. Drink is part of the culture the way food is in France or Italy. In Europe there is a North South divide with drink. Wales along with Irish, Scots amnd Scandinavians drink way more than those in the South. Tonight Cardiff Blues Rugby won a major cup so the fans will get drunk to celebrate. Cardiff City (Soccer) lost six nil so, to drown their sorrows, the fans get drunk. I'm Not Drunk Americymru: You have a song entitled "The Senghenydd Explosion" Care to tell us a little about the background to that? Mike: This is true story about the worst mining disaster in Britsh history. 439 died in an explosion in a mine not that far North of Cardiff. Mining is a big part of the history of South Wales. To anyone who comes here I'd reccomend a visit to Big Pit mining museum where you actually go underground and get a glimpse of what life was like. Mining was and is a horrible job but it binds the community together as every day the miners put their lives in each others hands. Obviously this is true of miners the world over as well as of soldiers and sailors. Americymru: "Auntie Henrietta o Sicago"...any resemblance to any real person alive or dead? Mike: I didn't write this so I can't say if she was real. It's a fun song in Welsh about Chicago so we had to sing it when we went there. It's nice to sing about places you visit. Our accordion player at the time has an Auntie in Chicago so we dedicated it to her. I like to write songs about places we visit often blurring fact and fiction like in a drunken memory. "Celtic Bonding" is like that. I enjoy singing "The Modena Rambler" in Modena (Italy) or about Cardiff in Cardiff. Any Welsh songs about Portland? Auntie Henrietta o Sicago Americymru: Where can people go to hear you play and buy your music? Mike: We're on Silverwolf Records in the USA. If you can't get a CD in your local idependant record store, I'd say go to our Website www.herebedragons.info and we'll sell you one. I'll sign it too if you like. If you're too stingy to buy a CD then you get (different) songs for FREE buy joing the supporters club on the same site. Americymru: What are your future recording and performance plans at the moment? Mike: Well both are work in progress. We have gigs in the pipe line for Italy, Wales and the USA. The Left Coast Eisteddford is on 22nd August in Portland, Oregon. Hopefully we'll get a few other dates around it in the USA. At the moment we're working on three albums:- A "Best of" in English and Welsh translating songs we've done before, an album of songs connected with Welsh rugby and a new album of original material. Americymru: Any further message for the members and readers of "Americymru". Mike: Keep flying the flag, singing the songs and drinking the beer when you can. Also don't keep Welsh culture a secret, let non Welsh friends have a taste too. Hwyl fawr! Mike Here Be Dragons Interview by Ceri Shaw Email

Left Coast Eisteddfod Now Extending to Second Day!

The Left Coast Eisteddfod in Portland Oregon is being extended to a second day. The event will now run from Fri 21st August to Sat 22nd August. A concert on Friday night will feature Here Be Dragons, Jesus Presley and other bands still to be announced.

We are also pleased to announce that Welsh author Chris Keil will be attending the event along with Niall Griffiths and Penny Simpson. Chris is the author of two novels:- "The French Thing" and "Liminal". See our interview with Chris here.

All three will be giving a series of readings both at the Eisteddfod and at the Central Library amongst other venues. Here is the Library Event page on Americymru:- Welsh Month at Portland Library. If you are an Americymru member and planning to attend please RSVP on the event page. The Library event is free and, of course, open to non-Americymru members.

Alcemi Write Up on The Left Coast Eisteddfod.

Read the Alcemi write-up on The Left Coast eisteddfod here. Alcemi is a leading Welsh publishing house and a key sponsor of the Left Coast eisteddfod.

Find more videos like this on Americymru

"Oh Dad! A Search For Robert Mitchum" - Lloyd Robson

Lloyd Robson is a writer and broadcaster from Cardiff. As a poet he has performed and been published on five continents."Oh Dad! A Search For Robert Mitchum" ( reviewed below ) was first published by Parthian Books in 2008.

I dont normally read biographies because they always end the same way. But Lloyd Robson has solved this problem. His "biography" of Mitchum is as much about the author as it is about its subject. Fortunately for the reader both are fascinating characters.

For the hardcore Mitchum fan there is a wealth of biographical information. For instance we are told that at the time of his marriage ( aged 16 ) to Dorothy Spence:- " Mitchum was already a drinker - since he was eight - and Mary-Jane smoker; had already hobo'ed up and down the eastern seaboard; had already served time in jail. She was a good girl and younger. He was sixteen, she was fourteen - the age when according to Mitchum, 'A girl falls for derelicts'."

The book is peppered throughout with amusing and revealing quotes. Here is Mitchum discussing his 'range':- " I have two acting styles: with and without a horse." We are also told that:- "Famously when asked if he followed the Stanislavski method he replied, 'I follow the Smirnoff method'."

The plot of every movie, both major and minor, that Mitchum appeared in is referenced at some point in the narrative, usually in the context of some random encounter on the author's travels through the thirteen states that he visited in order to research this book. And what a strange and wonderful book it is. It works on so many levels. It is a meticulously researched account of the life, times and career of one of Hollywood's greatest actors but it is also a travelogue written from a perspective which should prove particularly interesting to members and readers of this site.

Anyone who has emigrated to these shores from the other side of the Atlantic will recall the many minor 'culture shocks' which they experienced when first they arrived and the many ways in which things seemed 'oddly familiar'. There are many instances of this in the book and it works well as a travelogue. Scattered throughout its 500 pages there are occasional reflections on Wales' image in modern America and on notions of 'Welshness' . At one point Robson reflects on an article in a Bridgeport newspaper about a visit by David Lloyd George which describes him as 'a little Welshman':- " Still at least it proves the American press knew he was not English, and therefore they recognized there was a difference between being Welsh or English. So what's happened since to America's awareness of Wales? It struggles within the swamp of more assertive cultures."

Later in the book he encounters a Southerner who informs him that the "real" South is confined to Georgia and the Carolina's and that other parts of the former Confederacy have changed beyond all recognition. This leads to the following rather interesting reflection ( with apologies for the length of the quote ):- "So many Welsh people consider the major urban spread of Cardiff as not 'really' Welsh, nor the lowlands of Gwent, nor border towns like Chepstow and Monmouth, nor the north-east corner which comes under the influence of Merseyside. So what does this leave us with? Shrinkage. Geographically, culturally and emotionally. A different type of Wales - just as with a different type of the South - is viewed as a change too far. It's like saying, 'There is only one Wales, only one South - and you're not it, whatever you believe yourself to be.' And so we get smaller and weaker. It reeks of the modern age being judged as robbing now-urban areas of their rightful heritage. Well, change happens - we either accept and develop or get very, very lonely in an ever-reducing club, sat all on our lonesome in our chilly tai bach. And that's where we'll stay for as long as the question remains: are you as Welsh, are you as Southern as I am?"

The book is liberally spiced with accounts of bar room encounters and sexual adventures along the way. Indeed at times it is more autobiography than biography. This is not surprising since the author's main concern is to examine the notion of masculinity in the modern age. If Robert Mitchum is the paradigm ( and certainly Robson's father seems to have thought so ), how does he measure up? Together with the standard accounts of boozing, womanizing and fist-fights, there is a determined effort to track down Mitchum's sensitive side. He wrote and self-published his own poetry as a child. What we are left with is an engrossing account of an intellectual and emotional quest which reveals a great deal about both the author and his subject.

All in all this is a first rate read. I'd give it six stars if I could but unfortunately our graphics department was out tonight and she didn't have time to make me a six star jpeg.

Review by Ceri Shaw Email