Llyn a Diwylliant Harri Parri

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-They say that culture is like wine.

-Wine is wine everywhere.

-But the taste of the wine

-depends on where its roots are.

-My roots grew here

-on the Lleyn Peninsula.

-Travelling around, I can see

-that things have changed a lot.

-There is an alien culture here now.

-Today, I've noticed,

-more than ever...

-..the number of English people here.

-The houses are empty

-more than nine months of the year.

-They only come

-for the occasional weekend.

-Thank you.

-It's good to find a Welsh speaker!

-My home village, Llangian,

-is full of visitors these days...

-..including these colourful ones

-from Anglesey.

-How are you?

-How are you?

-

-Fine, how are you?

-I'm fine.

-I'm fine.

-

-It's appropriate clothing.

-Lleyn gave me my language,

-not a college.

-But now, they learn these things

-at school, not at home.

-I want to see what influences

-Lleyn's culture today.

-Where better to start

-than at my old school?

-I'm going to give you homework.

-Here it is.

-I want you to write a dialogue.

-It must include

-at least six idioms from Lleyn.

-BELL

-It's time for me

-to do my homework...

-..and discover the state

-of our culture now.

-Tess Urbanska's family

-comes from Poland...

-..and have put down roots in Lleyn.

-The land has influenced her greatly.

-What inspires you?

-A lot harks back

-to childhood memories...

-..and where I live.

-Lleyn, the places

-where I played as a child.

-Where is this, Tess?

-Where is this, Tess?

-

-This is Porth Dinllaen.

-I know the place very well.

-When I was a child,

-I spent a lot of time on the beach.

-This is made from many pieces

-stuck together.

-Tell me how it works.

-I have a lot of pictures

-that I made in college.

-They're lying around

-and I do nothing with them.

-I like ripping them up

-and sticking them on the canvas.

-Really?

-Yes. For me, it adds history

-to the picture.

-It adds depth to the picture.

-It adds depth to the picture.

-

-Yes.

-What about the colours?

-Yes.

-I use this turquoise colour.

-It's in every picture

-that I create at the moment.

-It works with many other colours.

-It's the colour

-of the sea and the sky.

-They're important to me.

-How do you work?

-How do you work?

-

-Good question.

-Do you find starting

-something difficult, Harri?

-Yes, starting to write is difficult.

-I start by creating texture

-before beginning the picture.

-I just take PVA glue,

-put a lot of glue on the base...

-..and stick pieces all over it.

-It breaks up the surface.

-Then I don't feel so worried.

-It's similar with writing.

-An author puts sentences

-onto a screen...

-..then moves them or alters them,

-so there is a similarity.

-You mentioned that you get ideas

-when you're out driving.

-I'm exactly the same,

-especially on my way to work.

-One of the best places is the bath.

-Really?

-Really?

-

-Yes!

-LAUGHTER

-LAUGHTER

-"Howarth's wife

-has slipped in the Suzuki!"

-"Do you mean the jacuzzi?"

-"She's gone arse over tit, anyway."

-"She's lying there flat out...

-"..her legs up in the air...

-"..looking like a naked turkey,

-ready for the oven."

-If I have any skill with words...

-..it's because I listened

-to people talk and discuss things.

-I learnt about words

-at the local events...

-..that flourished on the peninsula.

-People met to discuss literature,

-to write poetry...

-..to enjoy language and culture.

-They weren't college-educated,

-but they revelled in wordplay.

-They wrote simple poems.

-Because of this enthusiasm...

-..halls were built

-to hold meetings and classes.

-Rhoshirwaun Hall is one of them.

-It's the home

-of a few eisteddfod chairs.

-Are some of the chairs here?

-Yes.

-They were donated to the hall

-by the people who won them.

-The stage is this way.

-The stage.

-Catherine Mary Roberts has written

-a book about Rhoshirwaun's poets.

-More chairs.

-More chairs.

-

-You've been here to preach.

-Yes, a preaching festival

-is held in the hall.

-Yes.

-The names of some famous

-local figures and poets...

-..are displayed on the walls.

-The only opportunity

-for local poets...

-..to use and develop

-their creative skills...

-..was in events

-such as Eisteddfod Hyd y Gannwyll.

-It was a unique eisteddfod.

-It was held by candlelight.

-Lighting the candle

-marked the start of the eisteddfod.

-Yes.

-If it was windy

-and a draught affected the flame...

-..it was a very short eisteddfod...

-..compared to a calm night,

-when the candle burnt slowly.

-In that case, the eisteddfod

-lasted much longer.

-When the candle finished,

-so did the eisteddfod?

-Yes. It was called

-the candle-length eisteddfod.

-This cultural enthusiasm

-filled the peninsula's halls.

-Even R Williams Parry

-participated in some of the events.

-Am I right in thinking

-that the culture has ebbed...

-..and isn't as lively as it was?

-It isn't as lively, but it's here.

-The Tir Mawr team takes part

-in the Talwrn poetry competition.

-Writing poems in cynghanedd

-is still popular...

-..but not to the same extent

-as in the Rhoshirwaun poets' day.

-We were all the product

-of these communities' culture.

-It was the only cultural expression

-that we had.

-Yes, there was a school eisteddfod

-and we were educated at school.

-But we picked up local culture

-in local activities.

-It was something we picked up,

-as we would catch a cold.

-You picked it up,

-rather than learning it.

-R Williams Parry immortalized

-Mynytho Hall in his englyn.

-"Built by poverty

-"Love, not stones, form its walls

-"Its joists a joint endeavour

-"A common aspiration built it"

-Who could describe it

-better than that?

-CHILDREN SING

-In the second part, I search

-for culture that belongs to the soil.

-And are Lleyn's unique idioms

-still alive and kicking today?

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-What is culture?

-Roots, probably.

-They come with one's upbringing.

-Not to mention values.

-Those grow from the land.

-Felin Uchaf cultural centre

-in Rhoshirwaun...

-..was established six years ago

-by Dafydd Davies-Hughes.

-Ancient traditions are revived here.

-Dafydd is a talented storyteller.

-He uses the language of the soil...

-..and the natural resources

-around him.

-Harri, come in out of the rain.

-Harri, come in out of the rain.

-

-Dafydd, how are you?

-Welcome to Felin Uchaf.

-I'm fine, thank you, come in.

-This is our biggest roundhouse.

-How many are there altogether?

-How many are there altogether?

-

-Three, so far.

-In two years, there will be five.

-It's almost a small village.

-This is the hub of the village,

-the meeting place.

-We use this space

-to share local music.

-Festivals are held here

-and storytelling in the evenings.

-Languages from all over the world

-are heard here.

-There was a group from Korea

-here recently.

-They helped to build

-an outside toilet, as it happens.

-I've visited South Korea.

-My son lived there for a while.

-It's very far. It's amazing

-that South Koreans come here.

-Lleyn attracts people.

-It's still a place of pilgrimage...

-..although they don't go

-as far as Bardsey now.

-People are drawn to the west

-and they sense its magic.

-Are these mud walls?

-Yes. Oak pillars within them

-hold up the roof.

-They're covered in mud,

-straw and gravel from the river...

-..just like the houses

-built here over the centuries.

-Is the roof made of sedge?

-Yes. It's harvested annually

-at a nature reserve in Pwllheli.

-For more than 15 years...

-..we've been going there

-to cut it with a scythe or sickle.

-People experience

-living off the land here.

-Seeds are planted organically,

-according to the planets' positions.

-The buildings and garden

-are really an excuse...

-..to get people working

-with their hands on the land.

-What is the value of that?

-In a world where everything

-is so cerebral...

-..it's important

-to have roots in the soil.

-It isn't unfamiliar

-to the people of Lleyn.

-For people who come here,

-many of them young...

-..having roots in the soil

-is very important.

-Agriculture is Lleyn's language.

-Here, culture is in the soil.

-I left Lleyn when I was young.

-But I hope the language rhythms

-that I learnt have never left me.

-One gets that from one's upbringing.

-My Aunt Mary lived here.

-She was a rural poet.

-She had a daughter,

-my cousin Ann Jane.

-She was 20-25 years older than me.

-This is the parlour

-where she worked.

-I haven't been there since 1947.

-I'd really like to see inside.

-I don't think

-I'd have written anything...

-..if it wasn't for what I saw

-and heard in that room.

-The room has changed.

-But I can easily refurnish it

-in my mind.

-The fireplace was here.

-There was a table here...

-..where the poet

-worked in the evenings.

-My cousin and I

-would sit by the fire...

-..and play cards or ludo.

-The poet sat here

-with a pencil and paper.

-My aunt, Mary Griffith from

-Tyddyn Talgoch, was a rural poet.

-She wrote poems or elegies

-to commemorate local people.

-They were published

-and read by thousands of people.

-I saw how she worked.

-Some words were changed,

-others taken out or added.

-Rhymes didn't always come easily.

-She named people and places.

-It isn't easy to find rhymes

-for Trwyn yr Eryr or Bwlch Cottage.

-All that rhymes with cottage

-is passage, cabbage or sausage.

-I regarded the Welsh alphabet

-as divine.

-One could create

-or recreate things with it.

-It was always possible to improve.

-The view is similar.

-Some things haven't changed.

-This was a smallholding

-with a few cows, hens and a pig.

-Now, there's a caravan site too.

-There have been many changes.

-LAUGHTER

-"But Cein, the parrot is ours now.

-"It knows a lot of hymns,

-apparently."

-"So do I - more, possibly!"

-Ceinwen threw the tablecloth

-over the cage.

-"Lord, night is falling."

-LAUGHTER

-For me, a story begins with the seed

-of an event or experience.

-It's the same if the story

-is serious or amusing.

-People often think that writing

-an amusing story is very easy...

-..because it's light-hearted.

-But I think the conditions

-and requirements are the same.

-I like fun.

-I prefer a bellyful of laughter.

-Laughter is good for the soul.

-Margiad Roberts lives on Lleyn...

-..and writes

-about what surrounds her.

-An agricultural vein

-runs through her work.

-The popularity of the Tecwyn

-y Tractor books proves that.

-I draw on my own experiences.

-I've spent most of my life

-close to the land.

-That's what I write about

-and know best.

-I prefer to write about that.

-Does the quiet, agricultural Lleyn

-still inspire her?

-You must have new experiences...

-..meet people and listen

-carefully to dialogue.

-What I like most

-is to be in the company of people.

-It does me good.

-I prefer it to anything else.

-People say, get up

-off your backside and do something.

-It's the opposite for me,

-I have to sit to do something.

-I hate sitting down.

-I prefer to be outdoors.

-Back at Ysgol Botwnnog...

-..is the language I heard

-as a child still heard today?

-Do you use these idioms?

-Yes.

-I used seven of those.

-I can see one now.

-Feet under the table -

-that's a good one.

-Do you enjoy learning idioms?

-Do you enjoy learning idioms?

-

-Yes.

-If Mrs Maelor wasn't here,

-would you still say that?

-Yes!

-Do you remember the last lesson?

-I think that what is unique

-about most of the pupils...

-..is the fact that they do a lot

-as a community.

-Their families live here.

-They've inherited the language

-and they hear it.

-Many children today...

-..tend to be very isolated

-when they go home.

-They communicate

-on the Internet, on Facebook.

-Look who's here!

-Dai Jones, Llanilar!

-But on Lleyn, they can go

-to the local shop, hopefully...

-..to chat to people

-who are part of their community.

-They hear the language naturally.

-Sion!

-You're so greedy.

-You're a real Hell's Mouth.

-Not worth a sheep's fart.

-I thought

-that it was unique to Pen Lleyn.

-A sheep's fart

-isn't worth much, is it?

-Will the culture survive?

-I hope so. We have to be hopeful.

-Don't we?

-I came to see whether the culture

-was alive and kicking, and it is.

-Many of the youngsters might leave,

-but they might return.

-Celebrating a unique way of life

-is part of our culture.

-That way of life is still here...

-..for the moment, at least.

-S4C Subtitles by Gwead

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