Behind the lyrics – ‘Shwnidygon’

I have a friend called Phil Gill. And he’s a poet. You couldn’t make it up, could you? But it’s very true.

Phil is also an actor who has appeared in a few strange films. He told me about one of them, which is called Tracking the Shwnidygon. “Shwnidygon? What the hell is that?” I asked. The strange tale that Phil told me left me fascinated. So I decided to write a song...

The mineworkings underneath South Wales are vast. They stretch for hundreds, possibly thousands of miles and are home to all sorts of creatures, some of which have yet to be identified. Maybe they never will. Only recently, a new species of millipede, Maerdy Monster was documented at Maerdy in the Rhondda.  Maerdy  is also home to the Shwnidygon. 

The Shwnidygon have never been photographed or officially identified as a species. Mineworkers described them as a cross between a spider and a beetle and being the size of an average mouse. They were never seen anywhere else other than the former Maerdy Colliery (now closed. Thanks, Thatcher). This spawned the theory that they came from North America and were hibernating inside trees which were imported and used for timber in Maerdy mineshafts. This is reflected in the pre chorus “rumour is they were in hibernation, when they awoke they thought they’d lost their sight. They found themselves in a cold, faraway nation, underground where they could see no light”.

The scary little creatures were known to bite miners and sneak into their lunch boxes to steal their food. Many a Shwnidygon left the colliery via workers’ clothing and bags and would often turn up in workers’ homes, causing fear and panic. Hence the lyrics “tiny little creatures, frightening grown men. Getting in your lunchbox, driving you around the bend”.

The Welsh are great storytellers and as such the legend of the Shwnidygon has grown. Children were scared to go into local woodlands for fear that the Shwnidygon should “get” them. Shwnidygon have often been blamed for missing pets and even people. Now that the mines are closed, the Shwnidygon have more or less been left in the past. But those who migrated from the mines via workers’ clothing or bags are said to have mutated in order to survive the contrasting habitat. Many a Maerdy resident claims to have seen the creatures, with many saying they’ve grown wings and are the size of dogs!

We hope you enjoy the song. And be careful if you’re walking in the woods around Maerdy!