Glenys James speaks to Tommy Edmund.

Description

Tommy Edmund, conductor of the Montreal Male Welsh Voice Choir, sings ‘Iach i ti Gymru,’ ‘Mentra gwen’ and ‘Cyfri'r geifr’ accompanied on the piano. Mr. Edmund moved to Canada from Godre’r Graig, Cwm Tawe in 1929. Talking to Glenys James, he describes how he had come over to Canada with the British Navy and had been a band master for a band in Birmingham. The Montreal Male Voice Choir was established in 1930 and had initially been singing Welsh songs in English, however now, being the only Welsh speaker in the Choir, Mr Edmund reads the words to the 28 members of the choir for them to learn the songs. He would also teach Welsh folk songs to school children, all over the world, and knows that they have passed the songs on to their own children. He has competed in many Eisteddfods, though had not been entirely successful over the years! Though he felt his Welsh had improved thanks to one of the choir members starting to learn Welsh himself, he is disappointed at the lack of opportunity to speak the language, and that his grandsons do not seem to want to take on the language either. As a child, he remembers the strikes as well as happy memories, such as the woman from Llanelli who would come through the village to sell cockles (cocos) and lava bread.