Forgotten and untranslated Welsh classics

[John]

Hello, a hesitant contributor here in that I seem to be ranging much further back than is typical- but this won't always be the case.

I'm a retired academic whose retirement project is to find and translate forgotten classics of Welsh literature. My current project is "Cerrig y Rhyd" (Stones of the Ford), by Winnie Parry, a collection of creepy children's stories. These were written in the late 1890s and collected into book form in 1907, and never before translated from Welsh. An illustrated copy is available online, but the few illustrations are oddly twee, and don't convey the unsettling nature of the text.

I wondered if there were other readers of Welsh literature that might nominate any titles of interest. Books pre-1929 are public domain so of particular interest.

[Capn]

I'd just like to welcome you, John - this is very interesting, and we are glad to benefit from your expertise! (Steps aside for better read people to comment, whilst adding Cerrig y Rhyd to the TBR pile..!)

edit: If any member with a GR Librarian designation would like a project, Winnie Parry only seems to be present via Sioned: Darluniau o fywyd gwledig yng Nghymru (Clasuron Honno)/Sioned Darluniau o Fywyd Gwledig Yng Nghymru (Cyfres Clasuron Honno) by Winnie Parry. winnie-parry

[John]

May I add a call for "Y Ddau Hogyn Rheiny", 1928? This would complete Parry's conventionally published books. Longer-term however I'm hopeful to be in a position to collect together her "Catrin Prisiard", which never appeared as a book, from archived editions of "Y Cymro".

Meanwhile, my translation of "Sioned" is out there!
Sioned: A New English Translation

[Len]

I am probably offering you information you already have but I will give it anyway.

The National Library of Wales website, www.newspapers.library.wales/search, has 43 entries of Catrin Prisiard from Y Cymro available to view.

[John]

Len wrote: "I am probably offering you information you already have but I will give it anyway..."

Thanks Len, that is indeed my port of call. But, I'm grateful for any sources, and encourage all Goodreads users to assume I don't know them!

[John]

So, I've sent for a copy of Y Ddau Hogyn Rheini. Once I've completed the Cerrig y Rhyd translation, I intend to submit a scan of Hogyn in the original Welsh to the Internet Archive (unless any copyright issues crop up- 1928 vintage, but if a later formatting is involved...)

So hopefully, that'll be one more link on the Winnie Parry page. And of course an electronic copy will help my translation efforts.

[Cheryl]

Good on ye!

[Abigail]

John wrote: "Hello, a hesitant contributor here in that I seem to be ranging much further back than is typical- but this won't always be the case.

I'm a retired academic whose retirement project is to find and..."

Welcome to the group! I am an infrequent but interested member, who didn't even realize there was recent activity over here (mea culpa!), as I no longer receive notifications.

Alas, I have no Welsh (although I love listening to Welsh folk singing), but I do have a title that I would be very interested in seeing translated. I am not sure it reaches the status of a classic, but I have read about it, and I understand there has been some recent interest in it (apparently there was a documentary about it, and it was reprinted in Welsh in 2013). When I was getting my masters in children's literature around that time I considered studying Welsh, in order to be able to read it, as there is an English-language children's novel (also very obscure) that I thought had interesting parallels to it (I was thinking of a paper, at the time). I'm no longer on that track, but would still love to read the book!

It is Teulu Bach Nantoer. Are you familiar with this one? It doesn't appear to be very long, and the single review here on the site says the language is fairly simple.

[Abigail]

Capn wrote: "I'd just like to welcome you, John - this is very interesting, and we are glad to benefit from your expertise! (Steps aside for better read people to comment, whilst adding Cerrig y Rhyd to the TBR..."

I have fixed the author name, and added a photograph and dates, from wikipedia: Winnie Parry. I have also combined the original edition of Sioned with the new translation from John. I hope this helps!

John, I have just ordered a copy of your translation, and am intrigued by your description of it as a Welsh What Katy Did. By sheer coincidence, I began reading the Katy books just recently for the first time, and am currently on the fourth.

[Capn]

(Thank you VERY much, Abigail!!! Very much appreciated!) <3