CANWR GWERIN CYMRAEG
WELSH FOLK SINGER
Tylluan Cwm Cowlyd / The Owl of Cwm Cowlyd
Cerddoriaeth a geiriau / Music and lyrics – GBRh
Trefn. / Arr. – GBRh, GM, PR
Pryd y ganed lliwiau’r wawr?
A phryd y ganed ewyn y don?
A phryd y ganed y bryn a’r pant
a gwaed y mawn sy’n gwrido’r nant?
Pryd y ganed yr eirlaw oer
sy’n crychu gwyneb Ffynnon Lloer?
Tylluan Cwm Cowlyd â ŵyr.
o le ddaeth y lleuad, o le ddaeth yr haul?
Ac o le ddaeth gwythiennau y dail?
O le ddaeth rhubannau yr arian a’r glo
a’r dagrau o aur yn y graean a’r gro?
O le ddaeth yr awel sy’n gwyro y gwellt?
O le ddaeth gwreiddiau’r tarannau a’r mellt?
A’r sêr dirifedi fel canwyllau cwyr
sy’n britho mantell glasddu’r hwyr?
Tylluan Cwm Cowlyd â ŵyr
Pwy oedd yma ar y dechrau’n deg?
A phwy roddodd enw i’r afon a’r graig?
Ie pwy oedd yma yn gytna´ i gyd,
yn plethu´r perwellt santaidd ynghyd?
Ia pwy roddodd garreg ar garreg fan hyn
i ddilyn llwybr olwyn y nen?
Pwy oedd y cynta´ i lunio cân
wrth syllu i fyw gwynias y tân?
A phwy oedd y cynta´ i dorri eu cwys
a phrofi y madarch a’r mwyar a’r llus
a dysgu gwers eu gwenwyn sur?
Tylluan Cwm Cowlyd â ŵyr.
(according to Welsh folklore, this owl was the oldest animal in the world)
When were the colours of the dawn born?
And when was the crest of the wave born?
And when were the hill and the vale
and the blood of the peat that blushes the stream born?
When was the cold sleet born
that creases the surface of Ffynnon Lloer?*
The owl of Cwm Cowlyd knows.
Where did the sun and the moon come from?
Where did the veins of the leaves come from?
From whence came the ribbons of silver and coal
and the tears of gold in the gravel?
From whence came the breeze that bends the heads of the reeds?
And from whence came the roots of the thunder and lightning?
And the countless stars, like waxen candles
that speckle the blue-black mantle of the evening?
The owl of Cwm Cowlyd knows.
Who was here right in the start?
and who gave the rivers and crags their names?
Yes, who was here right in the start,
braiding sweetgrass together?
Yes, who laid stone upon stone in this place
to follow the path of the wheel of the heavens?
Who was the first to conjure a song
whilst staring into the blazing white heart of the fire?
And who was the first to cut their furrow
and to put to the test the mushrooms and the berries,
and learn the harsh lesson of their poison?
The owl of Cwm Cowlyd knows.
*(a lake in Eryri in north west Wales, literally – ‘the fountain of the moon’)