Folk Tales

Introduction

As well as the long and rich tradition of writing prose and poetry in Welsh found in Wales since the 6th century, there has also been a particular emphasis on oral storytelling. Wales, a country of some 8,000 square miles at the western edge of Britain with a population of just under three million, is geographically speaking indisputably small. Despite this, the native language of Wales, Welsh (one of the Celtic languages belonging to the Indo-European group), has been spoken since the 6th century. It is one of the oldest living languages in Europe today and 21 per cent of the population of Wales still speak it, while a far greater number have some understanding of it.

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Authors

Mary Thomas (1905-83) Thomas Davies (1901-82) Gwilym Roberts Ifan Gruffydd (1896-1971) Cassie Davies (1898-1988) Lewis T Evans (1882-1975) Gwilym Major (1906 - 96) Kate Davies (1892-1980) Owen T(homas) Jones

Stories

Burying the Sailor from a Faraway Land Hearing a Hymn Sung at Three o' Clock in the Morning Little Yellow Cheese Fetches Yeast for his Mother Crossing the Boundaries on Christmas Day, and the Little Family by Peter Green's Cave Dafydd Morgan, Pant-y-craf, is Pressed Against the Hedge by a Funeral Enoc Ysguboriau and Pegi, His 'Little Girl', See a Funeral Procession on the Road The Farmer's Will and the Three Counsels He Gave His Son The Farmer Who Does His Wife's Housework A Farmhand Sees the Ghost of John Morris, Pen-crug A Fine Gentleman Helps Two Coal Miners to Divide Three Gold Sovereigns A Man from Ysbyty Ystwyth sees a Corpse Candle The Ffair-rhos Brwcsod Where Are You Going Today, Lively Little Bird? The Lewises of Dre-fach Felindre and the Crock of Gold in the Manure Heap A Young Man Coming Home after Courting Sees the Ghost of his Best Friend 'I Have a Hen,' said Richards, Cefen-gâr... The Horseman of Ceunant y Cyffdy 'I'll Tell You a Story...' Who is the Boss - The Husband or the Wife? Putting Sugar in Tea in Glamorganshire, Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire Robin Ddu And His Brothers Robin the Sailor and the Woman of the Brown Cow Inn The Story of Siôn and Siân and the Dribbling Cow The Story of Twm and Siôn and Dai and the Three Roan Calves The Story of the Little Old Woman and the Lamb Three Brothers Make Their Fortunes The Treasure of Tyddyn Cwtyn y Ci The Heron, the Cat and the Bramble The Little Sheep and the Big Sheep Went Gathering Nuts The Big Crow and the Little Crow Go Gathering Nuts in the Woods The Three Jolly Lads and the Innkeeper