Hiraeth

[john1]

This seems like a good day to start this discussion off. Hiraeth can be translated as a yearning, nostalgia, homesickness, or grief depending on the context it is used within a sentence.

Welsh being an ancient language doesn’t always have a direct translation that truly fits modern language, I personally translate it as a longing for home. The meaning of Hraeth was truly encapsulated in the song:

Far away a voice is calling,
Bells from memory do chime
Come home again, come home again,
They call through the oceans of time.
We'll keep a welcome in the hillsides,
We'll keep a welcome in the vales,
This land you knew will still be singing,
When you come home again to Wales.
This land of song will keep a welcome,
And with a love that never fails,
Well kiss away each hour of hiraeth,
When you come home again to Wales

At this time of year I often get very nostalgic for Snowdonia and have a great yearning to go home to visit old friends and places. Being a Welshman living in the heart of England and after reading the forum this yearning is even greater this year.

How do the forum members feel on Saint David’s Day or when they are reminded of songs like Well Keep A Welcome?

[rikoshea]

Very proud mate very proud. lived in Ireland for 5 years, couldnt wait to get home to the land of my Fathers. A DEWI SANT.

[Paul Hinge]

John
Hiraeth is a wonderful descriptive word in Welsh that I feel ultimately describes how a Welshman feels in difficult/challenging situations like yours having to live away from the Land of your Father's.
Having lived (during the week) and worked in London for a number of years I certainly felt the Hiraeth pulling and made a decision to return home to Aberystwyth and run my company operations from Wales. I still have to on occasions pay a visit to the Old Smoke but hey my lungs are clear and I can look out of my office window each day down the valley to the sea and feel very privilaged that I'm able to do that.
Have a good St David's Day and remind everyone you meet , that your proud to be Welsh!!

Hwyl fawr

Hingey

A Ddewi Sant

[Thom15]

I moved away from Wales when I joined the army in 1968, however as far as I was concerned I was still in Wales when serving with the RWF wherever we were posted. I left in Tidworth, 1976, lived in Andover, Ludgershall and Basingstoke for many years until moving here to Canada.
I have never failed to celebrate Saint Davids Day wherever I may be in the world. I have an area in my basement which is full of everything Welsh. On this day I proudly wear my Welsh rugby shirt and blast out Welsh choir music all day.
I even baked about 50 Welsh cakes yesterday in readiness for a small gathering on the weekend. We will also have a joint of Welsh lamb for dinner. Yummy, can't wait.
When very young I hated my name, Dilwyn, because it was different. I wanted to be a John, David or Paul, anything but Dilwyn. Now I absolutely love it because it is different and people always ask where it originated when introduced to them.
Because of my accent, which has softened considerably due to being away for so long, Canadians say "Are you Irish, Scottish or is that an English accent". Very rarely does anyone get it right the first time.
I am a very proud Welshman living in a foreign land. I love coming home to Wales and visiting friends and family whenever possible.
So "Hiraeth" sums it up perfectly.
Sorry I've gone on for so long but nostalgia is a powerful emotion.
A Dewi Sant
Dilwyn

[Barry69]

Living away all ways makes you, want for home at this time of year and thats good because Home will always be Wales and home is where the heart is!

When I was serving away on attachment with the D&Ds at the time on thier rear party I paraded the rear party some 140 English & Scotishmen and conducted a leek eating ceremony issuing certificates to the chosen, and a SSgt in the REME played the side drum, the OC at the time a Maj Don Jellard was not to happy but hey thats life

But the guys where quite proud to have eaten the leek and displayed thier certificate with pride.

So I guess its a kind making Wales come to you when you need it!

[Clive Rees (08)]

When I was stationed with the Battalion in Tidworth it was, for me, a little Wales in England. I can remember Max Boyce visiting the Battalion and putting on a show in the local theatre, cant remember which one, but it was great!! Because .........................................I was there!!.

When I was in the Met Police in London I always had that calling to go back home. as the saying goes;

YOU CAN TAKE THE BOY OUT OF WALES BUT YOU CANT TAKE WALES OUT OF THE BOY.

Clive

[John Turner]

"It is difficult to define hiraeth, but to me it means the consciousness of man being out of his home area and that which is dear to him. That is why it can be felt even among a host of peoples amidst nature's beauty; like a Christian yearning for heaven" ~ D. Martin Lloyd Jones

Listen to the song 'Hiraeth' by clicking on the link below, it won't take you directly to the song, but you'll find it on the playlist, click and listen - lots more good welsh songs there too





ENJOY