On Monday I travelled to Enniskillen to spend a few hours with the priests of Clogher Diocese. It was part of their gathering for some reflection on ministry and life in the diocese. I am very thankful to all for their kind welcome and gracious listening. I hope they day was of some benefit to them, certainly I was happy to be in their midst.
As I travelled to Enniskillen, I listened to Max Boyce (mentioned him in a recent blog) and I very much enjoyed his wit, humour, story-telling (which was part of the theme chosen by the Clogher priests) and, of course, his singing. I don’t get all the rugby references as I’m not really a fan and some of the place names are beyond my grasp. Laughter is a common language though and I understood most of it. So too, the power of song.
Somewhere between the laughter and Rugby songs, Max Boyce sang this one! Loved it. I looked it up just now and am happy that Max refers to it as his favourite song.
A boy came home to play
With paints and coloured pencils
And his homework for the day
We’ve got to paint the valley mam
For Mrs Davies art
What colour is the valley mam
And will you help me start
And paint the Welfare blue
Paint old Mr Davies red
And all his pigeons too
Paint the man who kept our ball
Paint him looking sad
What colour is the valley mam
What colour is it dad
To fetch the milk and bread
Ask her fetch me back some paint
Some gold and white and red
Ask her fetch me back some green
The bit I’ve got gone hard
Ask her fetch me back some green
Ask her will you dad
And they walked down Albion Street
Down past the old Rock Incline
To where the Council put a seat
Where old men say at the close of day
Dy’n ni wedi g’neud ein sair (Translates “We’ve done our share”)
And the colour in their faces say
The tools are on the bar
The tools are on the bar (Miners’ saying referring to the end of the shift – day’s work)
That no shop has ever sold
You can’t buy that in Woolies lad
With your reds and greens and gold
It’s a colour you can’t buy lad
No matter what you pay
But that’s the colour that we want
It’s a sort of Rhondda grey
No matter what you pay
But that’s the colour that we want
They call it Rhondda grey
Rhonnda grey.
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