Folk Traditions: Cynefin discusses the oral traditions of Wales' 'beirdd gwlad'

Shimli, the latest album by Cynefin aka Welsh folk singer and researcher Owen Shiers, is rooted in the traditions and history of Ceredigion in west Wales. It features words written by Wales’ beirdd gwlad, folk poets, who for many years would have been the holders of oral history, but whose position in society is dying out. Owen describes their unique role: “Beirdd gwlad do not belong to any sanctioned literary profession; they are practitioners and keepers of an oral craft, passed on in hearth, workshop and stable loft. Historically, they were poets whose skill with a pen was equal to that with a plough – everyday wordsmiths whose aim was not accolade, or even the preservation of their work through publication, but simply to serve their communities through crafted verse and carefully considered insight. The poems of beirdd gwlad such as Dafydd Isfoel, T Llew Jones and D Jacob Davies read as a living testimony to a world which has now all but passed; their words bear faithful witness to lives, struggles and humble achievements of their communities as well as exhibiting remarkable wisdom and foresight. A kinship and love for the natural world is self-evident through a keen eye and time-honed observation – the connection between cultural decline, depopulation and plummeting biodiversity obvious for those willing to join the dots.”