Proud as a Peacock

to be Welsh-American

(Postcard reproduction courtesy Youngstown Memories web site.)

I was born in Youngstown Ohio, an industrial city on the banks of the Mahoning River. I grew up on the South Side, and graduated from Woodrow Wilson Senior High. My great-grandmother, Charlotte “Lottie Lute” Williams, spoke about the Eisteddfod Society all the time, and told me, “Never forget that you're Welsh!” Lottie attended the historic Welsh Congregational Church on Elm Street in Youngstown, the oldest church building in the city! Lottie's father's family came to Youngstown from Swansea, Wales in 1865. Historians tell us that Abraham Lincoln halted U.S. immigration during the Civil War, but made an exception with new immigrants from Wales, because of their reputation as experts in industries like steel-making, crucial to the Union's war effort. Great-grandpa Williams' mother was born in Wales, and brought her family to Youngstown at the end of the Civil War. My great-great-great Grandma Williams refused to learn English, speaking Welsh until the day she died. Apparently, there were so many Welsh immigrants in Youngstown at that time, that she never felt the need to assimilate into English-speaking American society..

Youngstown, Ohio — Birthplace of the Welsh-American Movement. According to the Welsh National Gymanfa Ganu Association “North American Festival of Wales” WNGGA web site, “To the Welsh-Americans of Youngstown, OH goes the greatest credit for starting the movement.”

WELSH-AMERICAN LINKS

Youngstown, Ohio is an incredible place, and even though the city has not yet recovered from the loss of the steel industry. But with awesome scenery like Mill Creek Park, I hope to eventually shoot a film there. The proximity of the Appalachian mountains, Ohio River, Lake Erie, and low production costs make film production in Ohio attractive and tempting. Meanwhile, why not sing along . . .

YOUNGSTOWN
By Bruce Springsteen
From The Ghost of Tom Joad Album

(Courtesy Jason Groce)

NOTES
This song is pretty simple. The picking pattern at the beginning
is a simple bass-chord strum that you should be able to hear easily.

CHORDS
Dm C Cadd9 F
-----1------|-----0------|-----0------|-----1------|
-----3------|-----1------|-----3------|-----1------|
-----2------|-----0------|-----0------|-----2------|
-----0------|-----2------|-----2------|-----3------|
------------|-----3------|-----3------|------------|
------------|------------|------------|------------|

LYRICS
Dm
Here in northeast Ohio, back in 1803
Cadd9 Dm
James and Dan Heaton found the ore that was lining Yellow Creek.
Dm
They built a blast furnace here along the shore,
Cadd9 Dm
And they made the cannonballs that helped the Union win the war.

Cadd9
Here in Youngstown
Dm
Here in Youngstown
F C
My sweet Jenny I'm sinkin' down
Dm
Here darlin' in Youngstown

Well my daddy worked the furnaces, kept 'em hotter than hell
I come home from 'Nam, worked my way to scarfer,
A job that'd suit the devil as well.
Taconite coke and limestone fed my children and made my pay
Them smokestacks reachin' like the arms of God
Into a beautiful sky of soot and clay

Here in Youngstown
Here in Youngstown
My sweet Jenny I'm sinkin' down
Here darlin' in Youngstown

F C
Well, my daddy come on the Ohio works
Dm
When he come home from World War Two.
Cadd9
Now the yard's just scrap and rubble
Dm
He said "Them big boys did what Hitler couldn't do."
F C
These mills they built the tanks and bombs
Dm
That won this country's wars.
Cadd9
We sent our sons to Korea and Vietnam.
Dm
Now we're wondering what they were dying for.

Here in Youngstown
Here in Youngstown
My sweet Jenny I'm sinkin' down
Here darlin' in Youngstown

From the Monongahela Valley to the Mesabi iron range
To the coal mines of Appalachia, the story's always the same.
Seven hundred tons of metal a day,
Now, sir, you tell me the world's changed.
Once I made you rich enough, rich enough to forget my name.

And Youngstown
And Youngstown
My sweet Jenny I'm sinkin' down
Here darlin' in Youngstown

F C
When I die I don't want no part of heaven
Dm
I would not do heaven's work well
Cadd9
I pray the devil comes and takes me to stand
Dm
In the fiery furnaces of hell.

Youngstown, Ohio — Birthplace of the Welsh-American Movement. According to the WNGGA web site, “To the Welsh-Americans of Youngstown, OH goes the greatest credit for starting the movement.”

ENTER MARK’S WORLD

WELSH-AMERICAN LINKS

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