Llangollen Market
Image:Llangollenviewfromstation.JPG
"Llangollen Market" is a song from early 19th-century Wales. It is known to have been performed at an eisteddfod at Llangollen in 1858.{{cite book|author=Frank Howes|title=Folk Music of Britain – and Beyond|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2aVACwAAQBAJ&pg=PA255|date=22 December 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-33458-3|pages=255}}
The text of the song survives in a manuscript held by the National Museum of Wales, which came into the possession of singer Mary Davies, a co-founder of the Welsh Folk-Song Society.{{cite book|author=Phyllis Kinney|title=Welsh Traditional Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SUyuBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA181|date=15 April 2011|publisher=University of Wales Press|isbn=978-0-7083-2358-8|pages=181}}
The song tells the tale of a young man from the Llangollen area going off to war and leaving behind his broken-hearted girlfriend. Originally written in English, the song has been translated into Welsh and recorded by several artists such as Siân James, Siobhan Owen, Calennig and Siwsann George.
Lyrics
:It’s far beyond the mountains that look so distant here,
:To fight his country’s battles, last Mayday went my dear;
:Ah, well shall I remember with bitter sighs the day,
:Why, Owen, did you leave me? At home why did I stay?
:Ah, cruel was my father that did my flight restrain,
:And I was cruel-hearted that did at home remain,
:With you, my love, contented, I’d journey far away;
:Why, Owen, did you leave me? At home why did I stay?
:While thinking of my Owen, my eyes with tears do fill,
:And then my mother chides me because my wheel stands still,
:But how can I think of spinning when my Owen’s far away;
:Why, Owen, did you leave me? At home why did I stay?
:To market at Llangollen each morning do I go,
:But how to strike a bargain no longer do I know;
:My father chides at evening, my mother all the day;
:Why, Owen, did you leave me, at home why did I stay?
:Oh, would it please kind heaven to shield my love from harm,
:To clasp him to my bosom would every care disarm,
:But alas, I fear, 'tis distant - that happy, happy day;
:Why, Owen, did you leave me, at home why did stay?