Ar lan y môr - traditional welsh song
A few years back, Maharaja Rich and Maharaja Jonathan recorded this song with their dear friend Aled Hughes at the Maharaja Palace in Ogmore by Sea. Very appropriate as the title means Beside the Sea.
It's such a beautiful song: Have a listen.
🌊 Welsh Lyrics / Geiriau Cymraeg
Ar lan y môr mae rhosys cochion,
Ar lan y môr mae lilis gwynion,
Ar lan y môr mae 'nghariad inne,
Yn cysgu’r nos a chodi’r bore.
Ar lan y môr mae cerrig gleision,
Ar lan y môr mae blodau’r meibion,
Ar lan y môr mae pob rinweddau,
Ar lan y môr mae nghariad innau.
Mor hardd yw’r haul yn codi’r bore,
Mor hardd yw’r enfys aml ei liwie,
Mor hardd yw natur ym Mehefin,
Ond harddach fyth yw wyneb Elin.
🌹 English Translation
Beside the sea there are red roses,
Beside the sea there are white lilies,
Beside the sea is my true love,
Sleeping at night and rising in the morning.
Beside the sea there are blue pebbles,
Beside the sea golden flowers glowing,
Beside the sea are all virtues,
Beside the sea is my dearest.
So beautiful is the sun rising in the morning,
So beautiful the rainbow with its many colours,
So beautiful is nature in June,
But more beautiful still is Elin’s face.
✨ Meaning & Context
- The song is both a love poem and a hymn to nature.
- Many believe the “cariad” (love) is the seaside itself, until the final verse reveals the beloved’s name: Elin.
- It belongs to the tradition of hen benillion (old verses), simple rhyming stanzas passed down orally.
🦩 The Pink Flamingo Nonsense Chronicler’s Addendum: The Maharaja Blues/Aled Hughes Performance of Ar Lan y Môr
🎶 The Haunting Harmonica
The Chronicler insists that Maharaja Jon’s harmonica is not merely an instrument—it is a ghostly tide whistle, summoning phantom ships from the horizon. Each note drifts like sea mist, curling around the roses and lilies of the lyrics, reminding the audience that love is both fragile and eternal. The harmonica becomes a spectral archivist, cataloguing every sigh of the waves in minor key.
🎸 The Beautiful Slide Guitar
Meanwhile, the slide guitar glides across the melody like a silver gull skimming the surf. Its tone is liquid, bending and shimmering, as if the strings themselves were made of seawater. The Chronicler declares it the true rainbow of the song, bending light into sound, colouring Elin’s face with chords that shimmer between longing and joy.
🦩 Flamingo Verdict
Together, Jon’s harmonica and the slide guitar transform Ar Lan y Môr from a folk hymn into a ceremonial tide ritual.
- The harmonica: a haunting call to unseen spirits.
- The slide guitar: a radiant bridge between sea and sky.
- The flamingos: stamping approval with pink webbed feet, declaring the performance “an audit of love, certified nonsense.”
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