Saturday 6 May 2017

Merthyr Rising 1831 Song : Cheese and Bread by David Rovics - English and Welsh







1831, the age of industry begun
For the working folk of Wales, life was short
With wages cut again it was only sensible that then
Folks took over and shut down the debtors' court
The gentry pulled the wire, told their men to open fire
And restore the rule of their estate
But as the night descended and the battle ended
The soldiers had all fled behind a gate

They chanted “cheese and bread”
And “our children must be fed”
In the days when Wales rose against the crown
They chanted “cheese and bread”
With a bloody loaf above their heads
When the red flag flew in Merthyr Town




The message went out east and west to put the gentry to the test
The cavalry was ambushed and turned back
After so long playing defense, the time had come now whence
The workers were the ones on the attack
The crown sent soldiers by the score until order was restored
Then came Dic Penderyn's execution
Another martyr for the cause, meant to give us pause
The next time the people call for revolution





Gwrthryfel Merthyr, Cymru, 1831. Y tro cyntaf yn y byd y chwifiodd y faner goch fel symbol chwyldro.

Cyfieithiad Steve Blundell o’r gân “Cheese and Bread”, gan David Rovics o Efrog Newydd, canwr/cyfansoddwr ac anarchwr.

1831, yr oes diwidiannol ar waith,
Bywyd byr oedd tynged gweithwyr gwerin Cymru
Wedi rhagor o doriadau tal, penderfyniad call a wnaed
i gymryd drosodd a chau lawr y llys dyledwyr

Rhoddodd y bonedd gair, a tanio’u harfau drwg a wnaeth…
eu filwyr, er mwyn adfer grym eu ‘stâd, (hystâd)
Disgynnodd nos ymlaen, ac ar ddiwedd y brwydr aeth
y milwyr i gyd i ffoi tu ôl i giât.

  Y cor-gan oedd “bara chaws”
  a “rhaid ni bwydo’n plant”
  Yn y dyddiau cododd Cymru wrth y goron
  Y cor-gan oedd “bara chaws”
  Gyda torth gwaedlyd uwch eu bennau
  Pan chwifiodd y faner goch yn Nhref Merthyr

I’r gorllewin ac i’r de, aeth neges rhoi’r bonedd i’r her
ymosodwyd y farchoglu a’u wrthyrru,
Ar ôl amddiffyn hir erioed, daeth amser y cyffroed,
y gweithwyr oedd y rhai oedd yn ymosod


  (cytgan)


Halodd y goron milwyr llu, tan daeth y drefn yn ôl i hwy,
Yna daeth dienyddiad Dic Penderyn,
Un merthyr fwy i’r fudaid, er mwyn darbwyllo cymryd pwyll
Y tro nesaf daw y werin am eu chwyldro


  (cytgan)

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