Happy St. David’s Day!
It probably doesn’t feel much like the first day of Spring in many parts of Wales today as an Arctic blast sweeps across Britain. Today is also St. David’s Day (Dydd Dewi Sant), who is the patron saint of Wales.
It is claimed that Dewi lived for over 100 years, and it is generally accepted that he died in 589. His last words to his followers were in a sermon on the previous Sunday. Rhigyfarch transcribes these as ‘Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed. Do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us.’ ‘Do the little things’ (’Gwnewch y pethau bychain’) is today a very well-known phrase in Welsh, and has proved an inspiration to many. On a Tuesday, the first of March, in the year 589, the monastery is said to have been ‘filled with angels as Christ received his soul’.
Children take part in school concerts or eisteddfodau, with recitation and singing being the main activities. Formerly, a half-day holiday was afforded to school children. Officially this custom does not continue, although the practice can vary on a school-to-school basis.
Many Welsh people wear one or both of the national emblems of Wales on their lapel to celebrate Saint David: the daffodil (a generic Welsh symbol which is in season during March) or the leek (St. David’s personal symbol) on this day. The association between leeks and daffodils is strengthened by the fact that they have similar names in Welsh, Cenhinen (leek) and Cenhinen Bedr (daffodil, literally “Peter’s leek”).
Males usually wear leeks or daffodils. The younger girls usually wear their Welsh costumes to school. This costume consists of a long woollen skirt, white blouse, woollen shawl and, of course, a Welsh hat.
Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 23 Oct. 2005. Wikimedia Foundation. 23 Oct. 2005 http://en.wikipedia.org
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