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27/06/2009

Welsh words for Ivor Novello statue.

On June 27, at the Wales Millennium Centre, Grahame Davies attended the unveiling of a statue of Ivor Novello, for which he has provided the Welsh-language couplet. The £80,000 statue, placed outside the centre near the Pier Head Building, is the work of Gower-based sculptor Peter Nicholas, and commemorates Novello, (David Ivor Davies) the Cardiff-born film matinee idol, singer and composer. Around 250 people attended the event in the Wales Millennium Centre. The Welsh couplet is:

'Ar aelwyd dinas glo cynheuwyd cān,
gynhesodd genedl gyfan gyda'i dān.

which means 'On a hearth in the city of coal was born a song, which warmed a whole nation by its fire.' It is a reference to one of Novello's greatest songs, 'Keep the Home Fires Burning', from 1915, which was a huge success during the First World War, and which is still performed by artists, today, such as in this version, by Cerys Matthews. The couplet also refers to the fact that, when Novello was born in 1893, Cardiff was the coal capital of the world.