Old Welsh

Description

Wales is the only part of the British Isles in which a version of the Brythonic language has been spoken without a break down to the present day. For most people in Wales their first language, it developed into Old Welsh during the 500s and 600s.Old Welsh: from the Juvencus poems, written down in the 800s. Transcription of the audio passage:1. Niguorcosam nemheuaur henoidMitelu nit gurmaurMi am [franc] dam ancalaur.2. Nicanãniguardam nicusam henoidCet iben med nouelMi amfranc dam anpatel.3. Namercit mi nep henoidIs discirr micoueididDou nam riceus unguetid. English translation1. I shall not talk even for one hour tonight,My retinue is not very large,I and my Frank, round our cauldron.2. I shall not sing, I shall not laugh, I shall not jest tonightThough we drank clear mead,My Frank and I, round our bowl.3. Let no one ask me for merriment tonight,Mean is my company,Two lords can talk: one can only speak.Englynion were three-line verses. This one is a lament on the lone soldier, whose only companion is a mercenary from the Continent. While they can fight together, communication is limited.Ifor Williams thought the word franc denoted a 'foreign mercenary soldier', comparing it to the Irish francamais for the same. If the word refers to someone originally from the Carolingian Empire, he would have spoken a form of Gallo-Romance (or if from the eastern areas, perhaps Germanic)..