'Ben Bach', Mathri / Ben, the Mathry ballad singer

Yma (yr ail o’r chwith) gyda’i gydweithwyr mae y baledwr poblogaidd o bentre’ Mathri,- Ben Phillips. Y mae yn ei ddillad gwaith yn Lochtwrffin. Tynnwyd y llun ym 1910.

Mae cryno ddisg ‘The Ultimate Guide to Welsh Folk’ yn cynnwys sgwrs brin gyda’r crwt bywiog  o Fathri. Wedi’i recordio yn 1953, roedd gan Ben ‘Bach’ lais anferthol ac fe fyddai, yn ôl Cerys Matthews, “i’w weld yn aml yn neidio neu’n sefyll ar fwrdd i ganu ei hoff faledi a chaneuon. Yma clywn Ben yn sôn am eu ymweliad cyntaf â Bryste … lle mae’n dweud: ‘Hoffwn pe gallwn fynd yn ôl i’m hen ddyddiau eto, ond ni allwch fynd yn ôl o gwbl, rhaid dal ati’”

Seen here (second from the left) with his work colleagues is the renowned and popular ballad singer from Mathry – Ben Phillips. He was employed at Lochtwrffin. The picture was taken in 1910.

‘The Ultimate Guide to Welsh Folk’ CD includes a rare talk with the lively Mathry lad. Recorded in 1953, Ben ‘Bach’, (meaning ‘small’ in Welsh), was  a tiny figure with a huge voice who, according to Cerys Matthews, “would often be seen jumping or be stood on a table to holler out favourite ballads and songs. Here we hear Ben talking about visiting Bristol for the first time… where he says: ‘I wish I could go back to my old days again, but you can’t go back at all, you must keep going on’”.