One Year, Week 15 - Llangranog

Yes, yes... I know.  Been ages, right?  Well, happily it's because I've been so ridiculously busy that I haven't been able to get to the blog.  Must be at least eight months behind.  I'm tempted just to start in the here and now but so many amazing things have happened that I think I'll try to recount all of that.  Probably will lump a few things together for brevity's sake.

So here it is, imagine it now, last summer, a warm and lovely day, visiting my families old home...

One Year, Week 13 - Relations and Irish music

Borscht (beetroot soup) is my favourite food.  Just to let you know...

My dad used to say that Y Gof (the blacksmith) was magic.  That must have been true.  They seemed to have had some sort of secret knowledge anyway.  My grandfather, who was descended from a Blacksmith family on his father's side, was an exceptional poet.  I think he mainly wrote in the old style, using a form of Welsh poem called the Englyn.  Englyn are amazing little snapshots, using only 30 syllables (7+3, 6, 7, 7) and a form of alliteration that twirls in upon itself like Celtic knotwork.

My grandfather, John "Jac Carnowen" Owen-Jones, was captain of a ship and his first mate was his cousin, Jac Alun Jones of Cilie.  Jac Alun was also descended from a blacksmith and his family were quite well known for their poetry at one point.

The two wrote several poems to each other, some of which are published in Morwyr y Cilie by Jon Meirion (mab Jac Alun).