Cân y Bugail in Dinas Mawddwy

Cân y Bugail in Dinas Mawddwy, February – March 2024 A story told mainly in pictures

So, after months touring the Western and Northern Isles of Scotland, the wandering exhibition arrived back in Wales – until this April, when it will leave again for the Aran Isles off Connemara and then Amerland, off the North Sea coast of Fryslân in the Netherlands, Just as we’d hoped, it continues to grow as it goes, and carry forward the traditions, skills and concerns of every community that hosts it.

Here in Bro Ddyfi and the southern slopes of Eryri, we’ve been eagerly anticipating our turn to be the hosts, and began our preparations months in advance.

Perhaps the first stage was the creation of a lifesize sheep, visualised and made of local willow by the artist and puppeteer Swsi Kemp from Ceinws.

The sheep became our icon, and was mounted outside Meirion Mill, the exhibition’s focal point. To everyone’s delight, it lambed during the night before the exhibition’s opening. Swsi’s work was supported by a grant from the Arts Council of Wales

During the same time, we began a series of workshops in Ysgol Bro Idris, the primary school in Dinas Mawddwy village. The triple harpist Rhiain Bebb from Machynlleth spent several sessions with the children learning and performing Welsh folk songs featuring sheep and farming in the hills, leading to a performance at the exhibition’s opening in mid-February

We owe a big thank you to Rhiain, to Heledd Glyn the school’s head teacher, to Naomi Jones and Parc Genedlaethol Eryri who supported the workshops, and above all to the children themselves. They do seem to have enjoyed themselves.

Two other sets of workshops preceded the exhibition’s formal opening, and added spice to the show itself. The ceramicist Cathy Knapp worked with a mixed group ond adults and children at the Mid-Wales Arts Centre in Caersws to create pottery on the themes of sheep and shepherding.

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The last of our workshops was led by the multi-media artist Luned Rhys Parri, supported by Elinor Wigley and Elin Vaughn Crowley. Children from the Aberhosan Sunday School group met during the school half-term holiday to create the exuberant farming models shown below. Both these workshop sessions were supported by a grant from the Arts Council of Wales’ “Create” scheme, and couldn’t have taken place without their help. We’re specially grateful to Elin Roberts of ACW for her support and encouragement throughout.

The children’s work is now on its way to the Urdd Eisteddfod, Wales’ largest and most prestigious annual youth event.

The exhibition’s opening day was a great success. We were joined by Jacob Bosma from Fryslân whose community created the woollens that inspired this travelling show; by Mairtín O Flaheartha and Beartla O Flatharta, farmer-spinner and arts support worker from the Aran Islands who will be hosting the exhibition next, the researcher and poet Siún Carden from Shetland, Elin Roberts from ACW, farmers, craftspeople and artists, and many others. We drank cider made in Abercegir from Dinas Mawddwy apples and ate sheeps’ cheese from Aberdyfi.

We admired the woollens from Fryslân and Aran, the traditional patterns from Benbecula in the Hebrides and a range of exhibits from Shetland, as well as Welsh tapestries and more modern products. And in addition, we held two short symposiums, involving our guests and native animateurs, leading to the creation of an action group “Cerrig Camu/ Stepping Stones” which will stimulate and support cultural collaborations between out highland and island communities in the future.

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That same weekend, thanks to the generous spirit of Tegwyn Jones from Dinas Mawddwy, Mairtín and Beartla spent a day on his farm Talglannau, sharing ideas about sheep-breeding, wool production and the future of hill farming. Beartla commented “we travelled a great distance that day, taken to one of the highest spots in the area as well as beautiful scenic remote areas. We also drove by the man made artificial lake, over the hydro electric dam and also saw 2 hydro plants on the farm. Large vistas of forest, farming and non farming land, plenty of sheep and pheasants. we also enjoyed a wonderful home made meal with Tegwyn and Catherine at their generous and kind abode. It’s a beautiful country made better by wonderful people.” It’s a relationship we need to nurture, and we hope to send Tegwyn to stay with Mairtín and enjoy the opening of Cân y Bugail on Aran next month.

The opening gave us an excuse to organise a celebration concert, and to facilitate a short tour together by two of the giants of modern Celtic music, the Welsh-language singer-songwriter Meinir Gwilym from Ynys Môn and Padraig Jack from Aran, who writes and sings in Irish and English. Their final performance, in Neuadd Cemaes, was a sell-out, and between them they created so much electric creative energy that they are planning to tour together, in Fryslôn this autumn and Ireland in the winter. As has so often been the case, the ACW funding stream ‘Noson Allan/ Night Out’ played a crucial part in supporting this tour, enabling future collaborations to flourish.

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Another element in the exhibition has been a collection of video material, including a short film made recently by Merched y Wawr Ceregion, “Gwlân Gwlân” looking at the history and present-day culture of sheep farming in West Wales from a feminine viewpoint, and a compilation of archive material sent to us by the Shetland Film Archive. Three media students from Coleg Ceredigion in Aberystwyth are currently documenting the experience of lambing on small hill farms as part of this project, and as well as showing here, their work will travel onwards to Ireland, Euskal Herria (the Basque Country) and Fryslân as part of the travelling exhibition.

Midway through the exhibition’s stay came dydd Dewi Sant, Saint David’s Day, and we celebrated the event over the weekend of 1st and 2nd March. The focus of activity moved to the village of Cemaes, where first of all the cookery writer and activist of rural Welsh cuisine Carwyn Graves gave a talk and demonstration in Tŷ Cemaes, the neighbourhood shop, cafe, social centre and community hub run by Isabel Bottoms, who hosted the event. As well as cooking roast mutton with laver, a seaweed common on our coastline, served with tatws dau funud Two Languages, Dwy Iaith, Meinir Gwilym & Padraig Jack Un Galon One Heart 7:30yh/pm, Nos Sadwrn/ Sat 17 Chwefror/ Feb ‘ 24 Tocynnau/ Tickets: £10 Plant Am Ddim/ Children Free Neuadd Cemaes Village Hall Archeb/Booking: 01650 511350 – potatoes with bacon and onions – Carwyn shared his insights into Welsh cooking traditions and the challenges of modernity with a full and appreciative audience.

The next day, we called together a collection of craftworkers from the valley, all havinf a connection with wool and farming – weavers, spinners, knitters, felters, dyers and more – to sell their work in Neuadd Cemaes, the village holl and share skills and ideas.

The Literary Cat bookshop in Machynlleth brought a selection of books, and the musicians Rhiain Bebb (triple harp and accordion) and Bruce Caldwell (uillean pipes and whistles) provided delicious entertainment.

As I write, the exhibition, swollen with Welsh tapestries, artwork and histories, books and films, in Cymraeg and English and an efflorescence of children’s creativity, is awaiting shipment to Galway docks and the Aran Islands. We have one more major event still to take place, a celebration supper for farmers and their familes in three weeks when lambing on the mountains will be almost over. This will include freshly-written poetry in praise of the sheep, music and singing, a first showing of the film the students are making, visions of the valley’s future, good food, good beer and excellent convivial company.

When they asked Chou En-Lai, President of China in the late 20th century, what he thought the effects of the French Revolution had been on Europe, he replied “It’s far too early yet to tell.” But we can say with some certainty that ‘Côn y Bugail’ in Dinas Mawddwy has had some impacts, although others may take time to reveal themselves.

Our international network has been strengthened and as I mentioned earlier we’ve created a new splinter group ‘Cerrig Camu/ Stepping Stones’ dedicated to launching further collaborations; some farmers in Bro Ddyfi and the Aran Islands have come together and are determined to stay together; a network of farmers, schools and colleges, artists and craftspeople has begun to emerge; and some people who had never been aware of each other before have found allies and potential collaborators. Certainly, we’ve been amazed and delighted by the unexpected help and energy people and community groups have put into what became much more than an exhibition – an extravaganza – whether it was the editor of our community newspaper, the committees of village halls, the publicans and hotel owners, teachers and lecturers, and above all the farming community of the valley.

Perhaps most important of all, new active and creative friendships are growing up, and perhaps – just perhaps – there is already a greater sense in this upland valley of wholeness – that we will share our challenges and difficulties in the future, crossing barriers that we sometimes thought were impassable. What else might emerge? Ask me in a century or two.

Canmol y Ddafad
Dathliad mewn barddoniaeth

Fel rhan o arddangosfa ‘Can y Bugail’ a chyfres o ddigwyddiadau (10fed Chwefror – 5ed Ebrill) rydym yn gwahodd yr holl feirdd i gyfrannu cerdd ‘moliant y defaid’. Os hoffech gymryd rhan, a fyddech cystal ag anfon eich cyfraniad at Pryderi Jones ar bryderi83@gmail.com os bydd yn Gymraeg, neu Diane Bailey yn penralltbooks@gmail.com os bydd yn Saesneg, o dan y teitl ‘Canmol y Dafydd’. Anfonwch hi naill ai fel pdf neu recordiad clyweled digidol.

Bydd yr holl gerddi a gyflwynir yn cael eu dangos ar sgrin ym Melin Meirion a lleoliadau eraill drwy gydol yr arddangosfa, a bydd yr awduron yn cael eu gwahodd i berfformio eu gwaith mewn swper yr ŵyl yn Y Llew Coch, Dinas Mawddwy ar ddydd Sadwrn 12fed Ebrill. Cyfrannwch os gwelwch yn dda – mae ffermio defaid a defaid angen ein cefnogaeth yn y cyfnod anodd hwn.

In praise of the sheep
A celebration in poetry

As part of the ‘Can y Bugail’ exhibition and series of events (10th February – 5th April) we invite all writers to contribute a poem ‘in praise of the sheep’. If you would like to take part, please send your contribution to Pryderi Jones at pryderi83@gmail.com if it will be in Welsh, or Diane Bailey at penralltbooks@gmail.com if it will be in English, under the title ‘Canmol y Dafad’. Please send it either as a pdf or a digital audio-visual recording.

All poems submitted will be shown on screen at Melin Meirion and other venues throughout the exhibition, and their writers will be invited to perform their work at a festival supper in Y Llew Coch, Dinas Mawddwy on Saturday 12th April. Please contribute – sheep and sheep farming need our support in these difficult times.