Annotation:Nos Galan
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NOS GALAN (New Year's Eve). Welsh, Air (2/4 time). F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. This Welsh harp tune fist appears in John ("Blind Parry of Ruabon") Parry's (c. 1710-1782) Twelve Airs for One and Two Guitars, 1781 edition (where it is an untitled air). It was followed by a printing in Edward Jones's Musical and Poetical Relicks of the Welsh Bards (1784, p. 159) who gave it the name "Nos Galan," with a lyric in English and Welsh (that seems to have little to do with the holiday). It is ancestral or a precursor to the air for the familiar Christmas carol "Deck the Halls," but originally was a dance tune, the melody providing the musical vehicle for dancers who would circle around, improvising spontaneous lyrics (with the harp playing the tag melody that is now sung as "Fa-la-la-la-la". It was not until later, in the 19th century, that Welsh lyrics were added.
The tune also accompanies the Welsh dance "Dawns Flodau Nantgarw."
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