Saint David´s Day

Saint David´s  Day is the national day of Wales, and it is celebrated on the first of March. The popular flower for Saint David´s is the daffodil. It is a custom to wear leeks or daffodils attached to your clothes with a pin. Children and women often will wear some traditonal clothes. Saint David´s day is a bank holiday in Wales.

The daffodils are considered the national flower of Wales. Wales has many different symbols which are: the leeks, the dragon, the daffodils, the welsh lovespoon and the red kyte (bird). The daffodil became associated with Wales in the 19th century, but, how they became the national emblem of Wales it is still difficult to say. Mostly, it is said that it is based on different legends, there is one legend that says that Saint David advised the Britons to wear leeks on their clothes, so that in the time of the battle against the Saxons they could distinguish one to another. After following the advice done by Saint David´s on the eve of the battle, secured them the victory against the Saxons. Shakespeare writes about this legend in the play Henry V. On the other hand, in the Welsh language the term daffodil and leek are the same term: Cenhinen for leek and Cenhinen Pedr for daffodil. This means that in this way they could have adopted both the Daffodil and the leek as the national symbols of Wales given the linguistic nature of the term in the Welsh language, which makes reference to these two different English words. Also, the daffodils blossom at the beginning of March, just when the day of Saint David´s is celebrated.

Happy Saint David´s day in Welsh is: Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus, however the pronunciation is quite difficult for those who don´t know Welsh.

Saint David was a Welsh byshop that became the patron of Wales in the sixth century. After being a bishop, he was proclaimed as a Saint by the Church. He was born in Pembrokeshire, where there is a cathedral having his nane (Saint David´s cathedral) and he appears with a white dove. Since that, the white dove it is also considered a national emblem in Wales.

Even though the time of his dead is not exactly known, it is belived it was the first of march, making him the national patron of Wales since that time. His life is quite well documented and there are many books and manuscrips narrating his miracles around Wales. Saint David helped to found approximately twelve monasteries in Wales.

As is custom in this day, they will cook something containing leeks, such as leek tart, leek and potatoes or leek soup. One of the most appetizing recipes is "Welsh goat cheese and leek tart". I leave the link here: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3445/welsh-goats-cheese-and-leek-tart