Welsh Folk-Song Society

The Society’s Objectives

The Welsh Folk-Song Society was founded in 1906 to collect, preserve, interpret and make known the folk-songs of Wales, to publish examples and to promote research on the literary and musical background of the songs, as well as fostering interest in folk song and folk literature in general.

Its objectives were clearly set out in the first issue of the Society’s Journal (1909):

“The Society has been established for the purpose of collecting and preserving Welsh folk-songs, ballads and tunes, and of publishing such of these as may be deemed advisable; in short, to carry out for Wales the work that is already being done by the Folk-Song Society for England and the Irish Folk-Song Society for Ireland.”

Canu Gwerin, the Society’s journal, appears every August, and there is an annual meeting for lectures, discussion and song as well as a lecture at the National Eisteddfod. Volumes of songs and arrangements are also published. The language of the Society is Welsh, but there is also information available in English on this bilingual website.