Dinogad's Coat
Dinogad's Coat Specked, specked, Dinogad's coat, I fashioned it of pelts of stoat. Twit, twit, a twittering, I sang, and so eight slaves would sing. When your daddy went off to hunt, Spear on his shoulder, club in his hand, He'd call the hounds, so swift of foot: "Giff, Gaff-seek 'im, seek 'im, fetch, fetch. He'd strike fish from a coracle As a lion strikes a small animal. When to the mountain your daddy would go, He'd bring back a stag, a boar, a roe, A speckled mountain grouse, A fish from Derwennydd Falls, Of those daddy reached with his lance, Whether a boar or a fox or a lynx, None could escape unless it had wings. This Briton cradle song, composed around the year 650, may be the earliest recorded poem by a woman. Here, set to music -