Yn nathliad Santes Dwynwen, in celebration of Saint Dwynwen, Welsh patron saint of lovers. Since her special day, January 25, fell on a Tuesday this year, the Colorado Welsh Society held our first ever celebration rather than our Tuesday evening Welsh language classes.

      The first part of the evening displayed the talents of some of our members, and consisted of music, poetry and song. Lee Bonsall introduced each participant in this mini-eisteddfod. It was a pleasure to hear native Welsh speaker Alison Hill read a brief story of Saint Dwynwen in Welsh. I'm sure many of us in the language class felt inspired to speak as fluently. Nancy Getzinger and her husband, Lee Bonsall, combined their talents for a traditional folk song, "Nant y Mynydd." Nancy sang the Welsh words, with Lee accompanying on the pennywhistle. The love these two have for each other shines through their music.

      Pauline Frank is one of our newer students, having joined Trefor Roberts' beginning Welsh class in October. She has also been playing the harp for a few months. Our Saint Dwynwen's celebration was her first public performance. Ginny Grove commented, "And you're very brave to do it." Pauline charmed us with her lovely renditions of "Fair Molly" and "The Butterfly." We look forward to hearing more from her in future programs.

      Nancy Noyes is another member of many talents. Our intermediate Welsh instructor, this evening she shared the very beautiful love song, "Dacw ‘Nghariad i Lawr yn y Berllan." Nancy indicated that it's not a happy love song, since the woman doesn't care for the man nearly as much as he cares for her, but we always enjoy Nancy's singing. She sounds more like a native Welsh speaker than one learning the language.

      Poetry is also an important part of the Welsh tradition. Introduced by Lee as "one of our poet laureates," advanced class instructor Audrey Fulton shared an original poem. She read "Yn Nathliad Santes Dwynwen, In Celebration of Saint Dwynwen" in Welsh and English.

      Ginny Grove studied Welsh on her own for a number of years before joining our advanced class a couple years or so ago. She has been playing the harp for about five years, and is another of our poets. This evening she performed three pieces on the harp: "True Thomas" and her own arrangement of "Marwnadyr Ehedydd, the Skylark's Elegy." Her third piece, "Marwnadyr Owain ab Urien," which she wrote, was inspired by one of Taliesen's poems. Her poem, "Maelon," expressed the young man's love for Dwynwen and his despair that she would never be his.

      Lee Bonsall then commented that our Society is very lucky to have so many talented musicians, harpers and poets. He then played the traditional Welsh folk tune, "Myfanwy," on the flute. Lee's own love for music and Wales is evident.

      In celebration of Saint Dwynwen, in celebration of all things beautiful, in celebration of love. The final song of the evening, "Ar Lan y Mor," was sung by Nancy Getzinger. Lee again accompanied on the pennywhistle. We appreciate Nancy and Lee sharing their love of music and of each other with us. "Not quite newlyweds, but almost," was the way they put it.

      Following our mini-eisteddfod, we enjoyed each other's company and friendship. During this time, Virginia Lightsey shared another Welsh tradition with us: folk dancing. She was very pleased to teach a couple dances to some very eager students. Thank you, Virginia, for a wonderful experience. It was a lot of fun.

      An evening to celebrate traditions, an evening to celebrate love. May Saint Dwynwen bless you all.

Audrey Fulton
Colorado Welsh Society

We enjoyed the performances.