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The Blackbird’s Wings polka

Also known as Aden Y Fran Ddu, The Black Crow’s Wing, The Blackbird’s Wing, The Wing Of The Black Crow.

There are 3 recordings of this tune.

The Blackbird's Wings has been added to 14 tunebooks.

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Three settings

1
X: 1
T: The Blackbird's Wings
R: polka
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
AG|:FA Ad|f2 ef|gf ed|dc BA|
AB GA|FG EF|DD FA|1d2 AG:|2d2 fg||
ae ef|g2 fg|ae ef|g2 fg|
ae (3eee|ae (3eee|ag fe|dc BA|
FA Ad|f2 ef|gf ed|dc BA|
AB GA|FG EF|DD FA|d2||
2
X: 2
T: The Blackbird's Wings
R: polka
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
FAde f2 ef | gfed dcBA | AB G2 FGEF | DDFA d2 AG |
FAde f2 ef | gfed dcBA | AB G2 FGEF | DD FA d2 :|
aeef g2 e/f/g | aeef g2 e/f/g | aeee aeee | agfe dcBA |
FAde f2 ef | gfed dcBA | AB G2 FGEF | DDFA d2 :|
3
X: 3
T: The Blackbird's Wings
R: polka
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
A-part ~ |: B/A/G | FAde f2 d/e/f | gf e/d/c dcBA | ABGA FG D/E/F | DDFA d2 ~
B-part, measure 3: ~ | aeee aeee | ~ | ae/e/ee ae/e/ee | ~ | ae e/f/g ae e/f/g | ~
d3 ||: (3e/f/g/ | aeef g3 (3e/f/g/ | ~

Six comments

Probably learned from an Ar Log album.It would be "The Blackbird’s Wings" in English.

"Aden Y Frân Ddu" = "The Blackbird’s Wing"

adain / aden = wing (adenydd = wings) ~ ‘ah-dan’
y = the ~ ‘uh’
brân = crow ~ ‘bran’ ~ frân ~ ‘vran’
du = black / dark
y + brân + du = Y Frân Ddu = Blackbird ~ ‘vran thee’ ~ ‘th’ voiced as in ‘thee’ & ‘thou’ 😉

"ah-dah uh vran-thee"

brân dyddyn = carrion crow
brân goesgoch = chough
Ydfran = rook
Cibfran = raven

Oops! ~ "ah-dan uh vran-thee"

"Aden Y Frân Ddu" = "The Wing of the Black Crow" ~ Ar Log’s translation & take

I’ve transcribed this from Ar Log, who define the rhythm in their playing as 4/4, the repeats are theirs ~

K: D Major
|: AG |
FAde f2 ef | gfed dcBA | AB G2 FGEF | DDFA d2 AG |
FAde f2 ef | gfed dcBA | AB G2 FGEF | DD FA d2 :|
|: e/f/g |
aeef g2 e/f/g | aeef g2 e/f/g | aeee aeee | agfe dcBA |
FAde f2 ef | gfed dcBA | AB G2 FGEF | DDFA d2 :|

I’m pretty sure I have other recordings of this ~ I’ll check…

Frân Ddu ~ Black Crow

Frân Ddu ~ while it seems some will translate this as blackbird, another more direct Welsh take on this would be Aderyn Du, which is more literal ~ aderyn = bird & du = black… Brân does mean ‘crow’, so Ar Log’s translation could be considered closer to the bone, in the literal sense…

"Aden Y Frân Ddu" = "The Black Crow’s Wing"

“Scwîsbocs: Neil Browning”

Neil only uses this tune as a kind of ‘sign-off’ at the end of the set ~ “Y Lili” /
“Seren Y Bore” / “Y Lili” ~ & then he fades out with parts of “Aden Y Frân Ddu” ~ once through the first four bars of the A-part, a pause, and then the first four bars of the B-part, another pause, and then 4 bars of the A-part to finish… However, he does suggest and play some variations, so, since I’m adding content here, it may as well be a few more choices and possibilities:

A-part ~ |: B/A/G | FAde f2 d/e/f | gf e/d/c dcBA | ABGA FG D/E/F | DDFA d2 ~

B-part, measure 3: ~ | aeee aeee | ~ | ae/e/ee ae/e/ee | ~ | ae e/f/g ae e/f/g | ~

B-part (or A-part), the use of triplets, an ‘example’:

d3 ||: (3e/f/g/ | aeef g3 (3e/f/g/ | ~