Sosban Fach (lit. "little saucepan") is a Welsh folk song, known outside Welsh culture through tongue-in-cheek references to the song throughout literature and sports media. One such reference exists within the novel Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne-Jones; the non-Welsh-speaking narrator describes another character as "singing a haunting tune, something about a saucepan."
The lyrics in Welsh:
Mae bys Mary Ann wedi brifo
A Dafydd y gwas ddim yn iach
Mae’r baban yn y crud yn crio
A’r gath wedi sgrapo Jonni bach.
Sosban fach yn berwi ar y tan,
Sosban fawr yn berwi ar y llawr,
A’r gath wedi sgrapo Jonni bach.
Dai bach yn soldiwr,
Dai bach yn soldiwr,
Dai bach yn soldiwr,
A gwt ei grys e mas.
Mae bys Mari Ann wedi gwella
A Dafydd y gwas yn ei fedd
Mae’r baban yn y cryd yn ddistaw
A’r gath nawr yn cysgu mewn hedd.
Sosban fach yn berwi ar y tan,
Sosban fawr yn berwi ar y llawr,
A’r gath nawr yn cysgu mewn hedd.
Literal Translation into English:
Mary-Ann has hurt her finger,
And Dafydd the servant is not well.
The baby in the cradle is crying,
And the cat has scratched little Johnny.
A little saucepan is boiling on the fire,
A big saucepan is boiling on the floor,
And the cat has scratched little Johnny.
Little Dai is a soldier,
Little Dai is a soldier,
Little Dai is a soldier,
And his shirt tail is hanging out.
Mary-Ann’s finger has got better,
And Dafydd the servant is in his grave;
The baby in the cradle has grown up,
And the cat is ‘asleep in peace’.
A little saucepan is boiling on the fire,
A big saucepan is boiling on the floor,
And the cat is 'asleep in peace'.
Rhyming "Accepted" Translation into English:
My sweet Mary Ann's hurt her finger,
And David the servant's feeling weak;
And the baby's crying now in its cradle,
The cat's scratching Johnny on the cheek
Little saucepan is boiling on the fire,
Big saucepan boils over on the floor,
The cat's scratching Johnny on the cheek.
David the soldier,
David the soldier,
David the soldier,
His shirttail's hanging out.
My sweet Mary Ann's feeling better,
And David the servant's in his grave;
And the baby's sleeping now in his cradle,
The cat has decided to behave.
Little saucepan is boiling on the fire,
Big saucepan boils over on the floor,
The cat has decided to behave.
David the soldier,
David the soldier,
David the soldier,
His shirttail's hanging out.
Sometimes an additional verse is added to the end:
Aeth hen Fari Jones i Ffair y Caerau
I brynu set o lestri de;
Ond mynd i'r ffos aeth Mari gyda'i llestri
Trwy yfed gormod lawer iawn o 'de'
Sosban fach yn berwi ar y tân
Sosban fawr yn berwi ar y llawr
A'r gath wedi huno mewn hedd.
Translated:
Old Mary Jones went to the fair in Caerau,
To buy a tea set;
But Mary and her teacups ended up in a ditch,
Through the consumption of rather too much "tea".
A little saucepan is boiling on the fire,
A big saucepan is boiling on the floor,
And the cat is 'asleep in peace'.
To those who do not speak Welsh natively, Sosban Fach sung slowly or with organ accompaniment sounds stunningly like an hymn, which has been cause for much humour when it is understood that the song itself is meant to parody the day-to-day troubles of family life in Wales.
The rugby team "Scarlets" of Llanelli has adopted Sosban Fach as its unofficial theme song, and many modified and parodied forms of it exist, both in English and Welsh.
Sources:
-Wikipedia
-Welshpedia
-Alister and Aisling, the twins who moved from Cardiff to the house next to mine when I was five years old
-Howl's Moving Castle