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Sosban Fach (Welsh for "little saucepan") is a traditional Welsh folk song. It is one of the best-known and most often sung songs in the Welsh language.
The song is based on a verse written by Mynyddog in 1873 as part of his song Rheolau yr Aelwyd ("Rules of the home") — see below. Talog Williams, an accountant from Dowlais, created the song we have today by altering Mynyddog's verse and adding four new verses. [1] The song catalogues the troubles of a harassed housewife.
The song is associated with the rugby union club Llanelli RFC and, more recently, the Scarlets regional rugby side. The association derives from Llanelli's tin plating industry, which used to tin-plate steel saucepans and other kitchen utensils as a cheap supply to the British public. During the final years of Stradey Park, the former ground of Llanelli RFC and the Scarlets, the goalposts were adorned with Scarlet saucepans as a tribute to the town's history; the utensils have been transferred to the clubs' new ground, Parc y Scarlets. The Scarlets' official magazine is titled Sosban.
Bryn Terfel recorded the song on his 2000 album We'll Keep a Welcome . [2]
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This song has been adopted by the fans of the rugby team, the Llanelli Scarlets. Many English variations can be heard in the stands during rugby matches.
After Llanelli beat a strong New Zealand side on 31 October 1972, a new English chorus could be heard:
Honouring the Llanelli RFC teams which beat the touring Australian national teams in 1908 and 1992, a further English chorus variation has been sung alongside the All Blacks verse:
Other variations include the following.
Dafydd James refers to a player who scored the winning points in a Heineken Cup match.
A verse was "uncovered" in Patagonia that is sung by descendants of Welsh settlers and follows the second original verse: [3]
("The cat was buried in a funny place / In a box where Granny kept starch / Her body was placed in a grave / And the band is playing the death march.")
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Author Diana Wynne Jones refers to the song several times as 'Calcifer's silly saucepan song' in her book Howl's Moving Castle .
The Welsh rock band Man has a recording of the song on the live album Back Into the Future, 1973. It is sung by the Gwalia Male Choir.
Llanelli is a market town and community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary and is the largest town in the county of Carmarthenshire. The town is 11 miles (18 km) north-west of Swansea and 12 miles (19 km) south-east of Carmarthen. The town had a population of 25,168 in 2011, estimated in 2019 at 26,225. The local authority was Llanelli Borough Council when the county of Dyfed existed, but it has been under Carmarthenshire County Council since 1996.
Philip Bennett was a Welsh rugby union player who played as a fly-half for Llanelli RFC and the Wales national team. He began his career in 1966, and a year later he had taken over from Barry John as Llanelli's first-choice fly-half. He made 414 appearances for the Scarlets over the course of a 15-year career he scored 131 tries, 43 drop goals, 293 pens and 523 convs. He made his Wales debut in 1969, but it was not until John's retirement from rugby in 1972 that Bennett became a regular starter for his country. He led Wales to the Five Nations Championship title, including the Grand Slam in 1978, which culminated with his retirement from Wales duty.
Dafydd Iwan Jones is a Welsh singer and nationalist politician who rose to fame writing and performing folk music in the Welsh language. From 2003 to 2010, Iwan was the president of Plaid Cymru, a political party which advocates for Welsh independence from the UK.
The Ospreys, formerly the Neath–Swansea Ospreys is one of the four professional rugby union teams from Wales. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team formed as a result of Neath RFC and Swansea RFC combining to create a new merged entity, as part of the new regional structure of Welsh rugby, that began in 2003. They are also affiliated with a number of local semi-professional and amateur clubs, including Welsh Premier Division sides Aberavon RFC, Bridgend Ravens, and original founding clubs Neath and Swansea. The regional area represented by the team has widely become known for rugby purposes as 'Ospreylia'.
The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby.
The Scarlets are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. The club was originally named the Llanelli Scarlets but was renamed at the start of the 2008–09 rugby season.
Ray "Chico" Hopkins is a Welsh international rugby player who was also a member of the British Lions.
Llanelli Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club founded on 30 March 1872.
Dafydd Rhys James is a Welsh former rugby union footballer who played on the wing or in the centre. He toured with the British & Irish Lions in 2001. James was born in Mufulira, Zambia, but earned 48 caps for Wales and three for the British & Irish Lions. At club level, he played for Bridgend, Pontypridd, Llanelli, Celtic Warriors, Harlequins, Scarlets, Cardiff Blues and Sale Sharks.
Stradey Park was a rugby union stadium located near the centre of the town of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It was the home of the Scarlets region and Llanelli RFC rugby teams. The stadium was a combination of seating and standing with a total capacity of 10,800. Following the Scarlets' move to Parc y Scarlets in 2008, Stradey Park was demolished two years later and replaced with housing.
Pemberton is an area situated east of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is part of the Llanelli Rural community bordering Llanelli and the villages of Cwmcarnhywel, Dafen, Cefncaeau and the outskirts of Llanelli town.
Dafydd Aled Rees Jones is a Welsh former rugby union player who played as a flanker for the Scarlets regional side and the Wales national team. First capped in 2002, he made 42 appearances in a seven-year international career. He also played over 200 times for Llanelli, including appearances for both Llanelli RFC and the Scarlets.
Richard Davies (Mynyddog) was a popular Welsh-language poet, singer, and Eisteddfod conductor. The original source of the name Mynyddog is from Newydd Fynyddog, a hill near his home. Another submission is the name comes from Mynyddog Mwynfawr, a character in an early Welsh poem. Use of an adopted Welsh-language pseudonym or bardic name is common among Welsh poets.
Lyn Jones is a former Wales international rugby union player. Originally playing as a flanker, Jones subsequently became a coach. He played most of his playing career for Neath RFC and started his coaching career at the same club. Jones has coached professional clubs in Wales and England and, in 2018, became head coach of the Russian national rugby union team. He subsequently beame a coach with national rugby team of the Netherlands.
Llandovery RFC is a Welsh rugby union club based in Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The club is an inaugural member of the Welsh Rugby Union, currently play in the Welsh Premier Division and is a feeder club for the Scarlets, a Pro14 club. Llandovery won the Premier Division during the 2022–23 season, defeating reigning champions Cardiff RFC in the final.
Tumble RFC or Clwb Rygbi Y Tymbl (Welsh) is a rugby union club representing the village of Tumble, near Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, South Wales. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Llanelli Scarlets.
Parc y Scarlets is a rugby union stadium in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, that opened in November 2008 as the new home of the Scarlets and Llanelli RFC.
Yma o Hyd is a Welsh language folk song by Dafydd Iwan. The song was released during Iwan and Ar Log's 'Taith Macsen' tour in 1983. Since then it has continued to gain popularity at cultural and sporting events.
We All Had Doctors' Papers is a live album by Welsh comedian and singer Max Boyce, first issued in 1975 and recorded at Pontarddulais Rugby Club. It was his fourth album release and followed his breakthrough recording Live at Treorchy. The album contains a mixture of comedic and traditional songs, along with Boyce's interactions with the crowd. Two songs on the album, "Sosban Fach" and "Ar Lan y Môr", are in the Welsh language. It is the only comedy album to have topped the UK Albums Chart.
We'll Keep a Welcome is a 2000 album by singer Bryn Terfel of traditional hymns and folk songs associated with Wales. Terfel was accompanied on the album by the Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera, the Risca Male Choir and The Black Mountain Chorus. The majority of the songs are sung in the Welsh language.
Live performance here :