Alawon Traddodiadol Cymreig - Traditional Welsh Melodies
Merch y Melinydd - The Miller's Daughter

Whereas most of John Thomas's Welsh Melodies are arrangements of traditional harp tunes, by contrast, Merch y Melinydd is based on a folksong.

Collected by Maria Jane Williams, probably in the Vale of Neath, Merch y Melinydd was included in her Ancient Airs of Gwent and Morgannwg, which, in the Abergavenny Eisteddfod of 1837, was awarded the prize for the 'best collection of original Welsh Airs, with the words, as sung by the peasantry of Wales'.

Os yw fy annwyl gariad/Yn caru dwy neu dair/ Ac yn eu caru'n ffyddlon/ Pob marchnad a phob ffair,/ Wel peidied yntau feddwl fod hynny'n boen i mi/ Rwyf i mor rhydd ag yntau/ I garu dau neu dri.

[If my boyfriend has two or three girlfriends whom he courts assiduously every fair and market day, let him not think it worries me, (because) I am just as free as he is to go courting with two or three young men].

Recordings of this music Click CD cover to go to Creighton's Collection for further information & audio clips

Pencerdd Gwalia by Elinor Bennett

Please note that some recordings may differ from the notation in Adlais scores Recordings might include an artists own arrangements either from an Adlais score or another source