Giles Watson's poetry and prose
The Seaweed Spell of Gwydion
The Seaweed Spell of Gwydion
Dulse and wrack, dulse and wrack,
Pick them while the tide is slack.
Prick them, stitch them, make them float
Upon the sea, a red-sailed boat,
Strong as steel, sleek as leather,
Fit to sail in any weather.
Conjure out of crabs and fish
A hundred sailors. Make my wish
Come true: raise anchor, haul the sheet
And set the sail. Thrive, deceit!
Dulse and wrack, dulse and wrack,
Seaweed red and seaweed black.
Prick them, stitch them, tan with brine,
Keel them with a fish’s spine.
Helmsman, turn the wheel of fate,
Steer her up the Menai Strait.
Truth be damned: sight denies
That my men have stalks for eyes.
By this mirror, raise a fleet
To catch the wind. Thrive, deceit!
Source material: The Fourth Branch of the Mabinogion. Incensed by Gwydion’s trickery, Arianhrod swore that his foster-son would never have a name unless she gave it to him. So Gwydion made a ship out of seaweed, and changed the likenesses of himself and his foster-son into those of shoemakers. He approached Caer Arianrhod in the ship, and through a series of deceitful negotiations, enticed her on board. A wren landed on the deck, and the boy severed its leg with an arrow, causing her to exclaim, “It is with a skilful hand that the fair-haired one has hit it!” Thus Lleu Llaw Gyffes (“fair-haired one with the skilful hand”) got his name. See Sioned Davies’ translation of The Mabinogion, Oxford, 2007. Throughout the Fourth Branch, Gwydion is presented as an illusionist of exceptional power, second only to King Math himself, with whom he later joined forces to make the flower-maiden Blodeuedd. It is clear that Gwydion too was a god, albeit a fickle and self-serving one. Lyric by Giles Watson, 2009.
The Seaweed Spell of Gwydion
The Seaweed Spell of Gwydion
Dulse and wrack, dulse and wrack,
Pick them while the tide is slack.
Prick them, stitch them, make them float
Upon the sea, a red-sailed boat,
Strong as steel, sleek as leather,
Fit to sail in any weather.
Conjure out of crabs and fish
A hundred sailors. Make my wish
Come true: raise anchor, haul the sheet
And set the sail. Thrive, deceit!
Dulse and wrack, dulse and wrack,
Seaweed red and seaweed black.
Prick them, stitch them, tan with brine,
Keel them with a fish’s spine.
Helmsman, turn the wheel of fate,
Steer her up the Menai Strait.
Truth be damned: sight denies
That my men have stalks for eyes.
By this mirror, raise a fleet
To catch the wind. Thrive, deceit!
Source material: The Fourth Branch of the Mabinogion. Incensed by Gwydion’s trickery, Arianhrod swore that his foster-son would never have a name unless she gave it to him. So Gwydion made a ship out of seaweed, and changed the likenesses of himself and his foster-son into those of shoemakers. He approached Caer Arianrhod in the ship, and through a series of deceitful negotiations, enticed her on board. A wren landed on the deck, and the boy severed its leg with an arrow, causing her to exclaim, “It is with a skilful hand that the fair-haired one has hit it!” Thus Lleu Llaw Gyffes (“fair-haired one with the skilful hand”) got his name. See Sioned Davies’ translation of The Mabinogion, Oxford, 2007. Throughout the Fourth Branch, Gwydion is presented as an illusionist of exceptional power, second only to King Math himself, with whom he later joined forces to make the flower-maiden Blodeuedd. It is clear that Gwydion too was a god, albeit a fickle and self-serving one. Lyric by Giles Watson, 2009.