Folk Songs
Malltraeth Cob
T. Morris Owen.
If Malltraeth cob breaks, my mother will drown;
I fear it in my heart ti–rai, twli wli
I fear in my heart that I shall be the one to suffer.
I can neither patch nor wash my shirt;
I fear it in my heart, ti–rai, twli wli wli ei,
I fear in my heart that I shall soon perish.
But, thank heaven, the old lady was seen
Safely taking refuge, ti–rai, twli wli wli ei,
Safely taking refuge in the shelter of the rock.
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Malltraeth Cob
SFNHM Tape 69. Collected 10.9.63 from T. Morris Owen (Defence Ministry Officer, b. 1887), St David's, Pembrokeshire, but learned by the TMO around 1900 in his native Anglesey – from farmhands who would congregate in the evenings at the village of Llanfachreth, about 7 miles from Holyhead.
Notes
At the beginning of the twentieth century 'Cob Malltraeth' was much sung in Anglesey – Malltraeth village, with its sea embankment (completed 1812), is located on the island's southern coast. The song, for the most part, sustains a mock–tragic note but this is triumphantly dispelled in the final stanza.
Cf. the tune with that of Song No. 3 above, and for general comparative material, see especially JWFSS, ii; 704–3.
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