Still Here; Yma O Hyd

A rousing song

On 25th January the storm had ended and the sun came out as I joined a local peace gathering. We were celebrating Burns night next to his statue with poetry and song. We had readings of some Burns poems, and one was put to music, as well as talks about Burns the radical, and the humanity of his words. We also had Arabic poems, and celebrated the poems and life of Mahmoud Darwish.

My contribution was translating Dafydd Iwan’s “Yma o hyd” from the Welsh, and talking about its relevance to all nations and people resisting oppression. I even sang the chorus (and believe me, I don’t normally sing in public!)

Firstly, if you have never heard the song, you can watch Dafydd singing it in 2022 here:

Wow. :-)

I spoke using just a few notes, so can’t give a verbatim recreation of what I said, but here is a rough version.

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Hello everyone.

I came here from Wales. Today is about song, and resilience, so I wanted to talk about a song I consider to be the true Welsh national anthem.

It is called “Yma o Hyd”, a Welsh-language folk song by Dafydd Iwan. The title means “Still here” in English.

I’m going to talk briefly about its meaning when you translate it to English. You can look up videos of it being sung by huge groups of Welsh people at sporting events, tears in their eyes.

The song was written by Iwan in 1983, and released during a period of economic and political turmoil in Wales. Thatcherism had led to many coal pits closing, destroying livelihoods and communities. The song is about Welsh culture and language and community surviving despite oppression.

“It was a very dark time,” Iwan said in an interview. “Margaret Thatcher was in power and closing factories and coal mines, farmers were feeling the pressure, there was a lot of uncertainty in regards to the future, economy and society as a lot of communities were ruined due to these changes. It was a difficult time and of course although things were improving with the language’s status, it still felt like we had to create songs to lift people’s spirits and Yma o Hyd became exactly that.

‘Er gwaethaf pawb a phopeth, r’yn ni yma o hyd’ - that is the message of the song, in spite of everyone and everything, we are still here. In spite of the challenges we face, we are still here and I think people to this day can relate to that. We are still here, overcoming challenges and fighting for a better future.”

To me it’s about resisting settler-colonialism, one of the great evils. Native Americans, Aboriginal Australians, New Zealand Maori, all had their lands taken by English and European settler colonists, as part of attempts to destroy the indigenous peoples and their culture. Palestine is no different. And it obviously applies to Scotland, Wales and Ireland too, when Anglo-Saxon settler-colonisers invaded and stole land from the Celts, creating England in the process. We are all united, and stand together against oppression.

The first verse is about the foundation of modern Wales after the original settler-coloniser Romans left. Then we get to the second verse:

Chwythed y gwynt o’r Dwyrain,
rhued y storm o’r môr,
hollted y mellt yr wybren,
a gwaedded y daran “encôr”!
Llifed dagrau’r gwangalon,
a llyfed y taeog y llawr.
Er dued yw’r fagddu o’n cwmpas,
ry’n ni’n barod am doriad y wawr!

This translates as:

Let the wind blow from the East,
let the storm roar from the sea,
let the lightning split the heavens,
and the thunder shout “encore!”
Let the tears of the faint-hearted flow,
and the servile lick the floor.
Despite the blackness around us,
we are ready for the breaking of the dawn!

The “wind blowing from the East” is a reference to England, which had conquered Wales, installed its own rulers, taken land, destroyed communities, flooded villages to provide water for England, and tried to destroy the welsh language, even punishing children for speaking it.

This is the third verse:

Cofiwn i Facsen Wledig
adael ein gwlad yn un darn
A bloeddiwn gerbron y gwledydd,
“Mi fyddwn yma tan Ddydd y Farn!”
Er gwaetha pob Dic Siôn Dafydd,
er gwaetha ’rhen Fagi a’i chriw,
byddwn yma hyd ddiwedd amser,
a bydd yr iaith Gymraeg yn fyw!

Which translates as:

We remember that Macsen the Emperor
left our country in one whole piece.
And we shall shout before the nations,
“We’ll be here until Judgement Day!”
Despite every Dic Siôn Dafydd,
despite old Maggie and her crew,
we’ll be here until the end of time,
and the Welsh language will be alive!

“Dic Siôn Dafydd” is an insult, referring to Welsh people who betray their nation by wanting to be English, or bowing down to the English.

“Despite old Maggie and her crew”: yep, that’s Margaret Thatcher, the Rusty Old Bucket lady (she wasn’t iron, just an unlikeable right-wing sociopath, sort of like Keir Starmer).

And now I’ll translate the verse which appears between each verse, and acts as an extended finish to the song. It is:

Ry’n ni yma o hyd,
ry’n ni yma o hyd,
er gwaetha pawb a phopeth,
er gwaetha pawb a phopeth,
er gwaetha pawb a phopeth.
Ry’n ni yma o hyd,
ry’n ni yma o hyd,
er gwaetha pawb a phopeth,
er gwaetha pawb a phopeth,
er gwaetha pawb a phopeth,
ry’n ni yma o hyd.

In English:

We are still here,
we are still here,
in spite of everyone and everything,
in spite of everyone and everything,
in spite of everyone and everything.
We are still here
we are still here,
in spite of everyone and everything,
in spite of everyone and everything,
in spite of everyone and everything,
we are still here.

Thank you for listening and for putting up with my voice. Resist oppression! Stand together! Free Palestine!

Peace and love, my friends.