Cumbrian lullaby

Gaynor Madoc Leonard
@gaynor-madoc-leonard
02/09/14 04:16:33PM
302 posts

In the Telegraph this weekend, a journalist wrote about walking around Cumbria. For those of you unfamiliar with the UK, Cumbria is in the north-west of England and what is generally known as the Lake District (very beautiful). The name Cumbria is related to the name Cymru and, as I have mentioned in the past, sheep are still counted using Brythonic Welsh numbering. The article contained part of a Cumbrian lullaby in the ancient Cumbrian/Welsh language:

Peis Dinogat, e vreith, vreith

O grwyn balaat ban wreith

Chwit, chwit, chwidogeith

Gochanwn gochenyn, wythgeith

The translation was given as:

Dinogad's smock, speckly, speckly

Sewed from the fur of martens

Whistle, whistle, whistly

We sing, the eight slaves sing

That's as odd a lullaby as I've ever come across but there it is!


updated by @gaynor-madoc-leonard: 11/11/15 10:39:06PM