Annotation:Blodau'r Drain
X:1 T:Blodeu'r Drain M:3/4 L:1/8 R:Air B:Edward Jones – Musical and Poetical Relicks of the Welsh Bards (1784, p. 74) F: https://s9.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/7/72/IMSLP40016-PMLP87702-Jones_Welsh_Bards_1784.pdf Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Gmin V:1 G4-A2|B2A2G2|(d2 c)BAG|A4-^F2|G2 GBAc|B2A2G2|^F3- AGB|A4z2:| |:[D4B4][D2B2]|[A4c4] [A2c2]|[B4d2]-[c2e2]|Td4-c2|BABc B2|cBcd c2|dcdede|f3- edc| BABcdB|c=Bcdec|d2d2g2|(^f4a2)|{cd}g2d2B2|{cd}e2d2c2|B2 cBAB|G4 z2:| V:2 clef = bass G,,2B,,2D,2|G,4 z2|^F,4G,2|D,6|G,,2B,,2D,2|G,6|A,2^F,2G,2|[D,4A,4D4]z2:| |:B,,2B,A, B,2|F,,2 F,=E,F,2|B,A, B,2E,2|F,4 z2|[B,,6B,6]|[A,,6A,6]|B,2B,,2C,2|D,3 C,B,,A,,| B,,2D,2F,2|A,,2C,2F,2|B,,2D,2E,2|A,,2D,2^F,2|G,4G,,2|C,2B,,2A,,2|D,4D,,2|G,,2G,2G,,2:|
BLODAU'R DRAIN (The Flowers of the Thorn). AKA- "Blodam Drain." "Blodau y Drain," "Blossoms of the Thorn." Welsh, Air (3/4 time). A Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. Purists maintain it should be played strictly as a slow air, however, it is just as often heard (even among Welsh musicians and country dancers) set in waltz tempo for the couple dance (i.e. played slightly faster, and even "swung"). Composer Franz Joseph Haydn arranged "Blodau'r Drain" [Hob. XXXIb:35], one of several Welsh airs he composed settings for in the earliest years of the 19th century.
The band Horslips recorded the piece in 1972, released on 45 RPM, as the second tune of a medley entitled "Fairy King".
