Happy St David’s Day!
Saint David is the patron saint of Wales. It is the feast day of Saint David and falls on 1st March, the date of his death in 589 AD.
Celebrations
For centuries, 1st March has been a national festival. Saint David was recognised as a national patron saint in the 12th century at a peak time of Welsh resistance to the Normans.
Traditional festivities include wearing daffodils and leeks, recognised symbols of Wales and Saint David respectively, eating traditional Welsh food including cawl and Welsh rarebit, Welsh cakes and women wearing traditional Welsh dress.
Cawl is recognised as a national dish of Wales. Historically, ingredients tended to vary, but the most common recipes are with lamb or beef with leeks, potatoes, swedes, carrots and other seasonal vegetables.
Who was St David?
Saint David (Welsh: Dewi Sant) was born in Caerfai, south west Wales into an aristocratic family. David’s fame as a teacher and his asceticism spread among Celtic Christians, and he helped found about 12 monasteries.
We have come along way since Wales was encompassed with castles to subdue the native population ( and protect from invasion ) and became known as the ” principality ” hence our Prince of Wales, currently Charles. The two nations are so intertwined that probably only accent really differentiates us .
The Welsh are renown for their choirs and proudly sing their anthem ” bread of heaven ” but are also patriotic enough to sing ” God save our Queen ”
Fiercely patriotic as are all the peoples of these Islands, we celebrate their patron St Daffed day with them and hope all realise we are BETTER TOGETHER