Annotation:Towyn Castle
X:1 T:Castell Towyn T:Towyn Castle M:3/4 L:1/8 Q:"Majestic" B:Edward Jones - Musical and Poetical Relicks of the Welsh Bards (1794, p. 179) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:F (3cde|f2c2B2|{B}A2G2F2|G2c2B2|A2 GA F2| G2 [E2c2][E2c2]|c=Bcdec|fedcd=B|c4:| |:ef|g2 g>af>g|e2 de c2|f2 agfe|Td4 e2|f2 f>gf>g|e2 e>fe>f| dcdefd|T(c4 B2)|A2f2A2|T(B4A2)|G>A F2E2|F4:|]
TOWYN CASTLE (Castell Towyn). Welsh, Air (3/4 time). F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. "Castell Towyn" (Towyn Castle) was printed in the several late 18th/early 19th century publications of Wikipedia:Edward Jones (harpist), who added a note in his Relicks (1794): "There are no remains of a castle visible at present, only a hill near Towyn Meirounydd that still retains the name of Brynny Castell, or Castle Hill." Towyn is a place-name in some parts of Wales, however Towyn Castle was an ancient fortress on the seashore of the County of Merioneth. Jones printed the melody without words, but (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) composed a setting of the song in 1803 [Hob. XXXIb:26], with the following lyric:
Sweet Mary, where now on this turf we recline,
A proud lofty castle once frown'd o'er the plain,
Here Barons and Knights quaff'd their bowls of rich wine,
And throng'd to fair Towyn's wide spreading plain.
But now it is vanish'd, by time swept away,
Nor is there a trace of the once stately dome:
Forgot e'en their names, who, in splendid array,
With hearts full of pride, call'd the mansion their home.
Yet never, I trust, did the castle resound
With accents of pride or delight such as mine,
When late as we rov'd o'er this now desert ground,
My Mary with blushes, said, "Cadwal, I'm thine!"
Jones also included the melody twice among the sixty airs in his volume, the second time under the title "Ffarwel Ednyfed Fychan."
