FAIRY MUSIC AND DANCING.
The Rev. Z. M. Davies, Vicar of Llanfihangel Genau’r Glyn, told me that he once heard an old man in the Vale of Aeron saying that when he was out late one night, he heard the Fairies singing, and that their music was so delightful that he listened to them for hours; and we find from many of the Fairy Tales that one of their chief occupation in their nightly revels was singing and dancing, and that they often succeeded in inducing men through the allurements of music to join their ranks.
The beautiful old Welsh Air, “Toriad y Dydd” (Dawn of Day) is supposed to have been composed by the Fairies, and which they chanted just as the pale light in the east announced the approach of returning day.
The following “Can y Tylwyth Teg,” or the Fairies’ song, was well-known once in Wales, and these mythical beings were believed to chant it whilst dancing merrily on summer nights.
“O’r glaswellt glan a’r rhedyn mân,
Gyfeillion dyddan, dewch.
‘E ddarfu’r nawn—mae’r lloer yn llawn,
Y nos yn gyflawn gewch;
O’r chwarau sydd ar dwyn y dydd,
I’r Dolydd awn ar daith,
Nyni sydd lon, ni chaiff gerbron,
Farwolion ran o’n gwaith.
“Canu, canu, drwy y nos,
Dawnsio, dawnsio, ar waen y rhos,
Yn ngoleuni’r lleuad dlos:
Hapus ydym ni!
Pawb o honom sydd yn llon,
Heb un gofid dan ei fron:
Canu, dawnsio, ar y ton—
Dedwydd ydym ni!”
“From grasses bright, and bracken light,
Come, sweet companions, come,
The full moon shines, the sun declines.
We’ll spend the night in fun;
With playful mirth, we’ll trip the earth,
To meadows green let’s go
We’re full of joy, without alloy,
Which mortals may not know.
“Singing, singing, through the night,
Dancing, dancing, with our might,
Where the moon the moor doth light;
Happy ever we!
One and all of merry mein,
Without sorrow are we seen,
Singing, dancing, on the green:
Gladsome ever we!”