'Ac yr oedd yn y wlad hono bugeiliaid'. These words are the start of Christmas for me. 'And there were in that land shepherds'.
Igo for months without attending a religious service, but these words come to mind as we go through December.
I was brought up in a Welsh Chapel, in the Carmarthenshire countryside, but I also went to church. When I attended Gowerton Grammar School,we had a religious Assembly each morning, in Welsh an English.
After we'd eaten the main course during our school Christmas lunch we sang 'So bring us some figgy pudding, so bring some out here' while we wawaited for the pudding.
The food eaten and cleared away, we finished our music making with the carol 'Adeste Fideles': 'Oh, come all ye faithful'.
Most people have a favourite carol and my daughter was talking about this today. My grandchildren have all gone to a Welsh medium school and for the last fifteen years I have joined them in singing a 'modern' carol each year.
'Seren wen uwch ben y byd, baban annwyl yn ei crud'. Translated this reads:
'A white star above the world, A dear baby in the cradle'.
We have sunf this in little country chapels, like Cas Blaidd, in north Pembrokeshire and in bethesda, Ebenezer and Tabernacle, in Haverfordwest.
Imagine a cold, dark night, a chapel packed with relatives, all joining the singing, creating memories that last.
Most people like what they know and know what they like. Traditional tunes often win over newer ones, but 'Seren wen' never fails to capture my heart.
