'Tra Bo Dau' (While There Are Two) is a traditional love song. Three verses were published in 1909 in the Journal of the Welsh Folk Song Society, and a fourth verse (given as the second one below) appears in both 'Caneuon Traddodiadol y Cymry' and 'Cant o Ganeuon Gwerin'. According to 'Canasg Music', it was the runaway success of 'Tra bo dau' and its uptake by the large Caernarfon Choir that helped give impetus to the folk song revival in Wales and the formation of the Welsh Folk Song Society in 1906.
Lyrics
1. Mae'r hon a gâr fy nghalon i The one whom my heart loves
Ymhell oddi yma'n byw; Lives far from here;
A hiraeth am ei gweled hi And longing to see her
A'm gwnaeth yn llwyd fy lliw. Made my colour grey.
Cyfoeth nid yw ond oferedd, Wealth is but vanity
Glendid nid yw yn parhau; Purity does not last;
Ond cariad pur sydd fel y dur, But pure love is like steel,
Yn para tra bo dau. Lasting when there are two.
2. Mil harddach yw y dêg ei llun A thousand times more beautiful is her fair form
Na gwrid y wawr i mi; Than the blush of dawn for me;
A thrysor mwy yw serch fy mun And a treasure greater is my sweetheart's love
Na chyfoeth byd a'i fri. Than the world's wealth and its prestige.
3. O'r dewis hardd ddewisais i From the beautiful choice I had to make
Oedd dewis lodes lân; Was the choice of a pure lass;
A chyn bydd 'difar gennyf fi And before I regret it
O rhewi wnaiff y tân. The fire will freeze.
4. Mae f'annwyl riain dros y lli, My love is over the sea,
Gobeithio'i bod hi'n iach! I hope that she is well!
Rwy'n caru'r tir lle cerddo hi I love the ground where she walks
Dan wraidd fy nghalon fach. From the core of my little heart.
Recordings
Cerys Matthews sang verses 1, 3 & 4 with harp and ukulele accompaniment in 2021.
'Bois y 'Steddfod' sang verses 1, 3 & 4 wiith orchestral accompaniment, harmonizing the chorus.2016.
Cerys Hafana sang Verses 1, 2 & 4, accompanying herself on the harp, in 2025.
Notes for Welsh learners
"Bo" this is short for 'byddo', the third-person singular present subjunctive form of the verb bod (to be); the subjunctive is rarely used in speech, except in a few expressions
"Gâr" this is the third-person singular short form of the present tense of 'caru' (to love)
"Y dêg ei llun" lierally 'the fair one [of] her form'; this is a classic feature of Literary Welsh grammar where an adjective is followed by a noun and a possessive pronoun to specify in what respect the person is described
"A chyn bydd 'difar gennyf fi" means 'Before I shall regret it; "'difar' is short for 'edifar' (regret), and in Welsh is expressed as regret being with someone
"Wnaiff" is the literary form of 'wneith', meaning 'will do', or just 'will' when used with another verb to construct the future tense
"Cerddo" this is the third-person singular present subjunctive of the verb cerdded; in literary Welsh, the subjunctive is used after lle (where) to imply a sense of possibility, habit, or indefinite action
