Welsh traditions - the Welsh dragon, leeks, daffodils and Saint David

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Did you know that each of the countries that make up the United Kingdom each have their own patron saints who have been chosen as the protector of the nation.

For Wales it is Saint David who is their patron saint and they celebrate Saint David's day each year on March 1st.
England has Saint George and Scotland has Saint Andrew.

In addition to Saint David for Wales, the Welsh also have a Dragon as their emblem, how cool is that, like out of Harry Potter! You can see it on their national flag.

Here's the story
centuries ago a red dragon fought with an invading White Dragon. His pained shrieks caused women to become ill, animals to perish and plants to become barren. Lludd, king of Britain, went to his wise brother Llefelys in France. Llefelys told him to dig a pit in the centre of Britain, fill it with mead (a drink made with honey and water), and to cover them with cloth. Lludd did this and then dragons drank the mead and fell asleep. Lludd imprisoned them, still wrapped in their cloth, in Dinas Emrys in Snowdonia (Snowdon).

The dragons remained at Dinas Emrys for centuries until King Vortigern tried to build a castle there. Every night the castle walls and foundations were demolished by unseen forces. The king consulted his advisers, who told him to find a boy with no natural father, and sacrifice him. The King found a boy (who is later, in some tellings, to become Merlin as in MERLIN the MAGICIAN!!) ) who is supposed to be the wisest wizard to ever live.

On hearing that he was to be sacrificed to save the castle the boy told the king of the two imprisoned dragons and the King decided to excavate the hill, freeing the dragons. They continued their fight until the red dragon finally defeated the white dragon. The boy told the King that the white dragon symbolised the Saxons (the English) and that the red dragon symbolised the people of Vortigern (Wales).
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What a cool story don't you think?!

The Welsh also use the leek and the daffodil as national symbols and they proudly sported every St. David’s Day on 1st March and at every international rugby match. The leek is now widely recognised as the national symbol of Wales. But why is it that patriotic Welshmen and women across the world attach this strong smelling member of the onion family to their clothing? The true origins are now perhaps lost in myth and legend; however the history can certainly be traced back at least seven hundred years
There are two possible reasons
- first because the leek is linked to St. David because he ordered his soldiers to wear them on their helmets when they fought a victorious battle against the Saxons (the English) in a field full of leeks.
- the second reason which is more likely, however, is that the leek was linked with St. David and adopted as a national symbol because of its importance to the national diet in days of old, particularly in Lent.

And why a daffodil? Possibly the reason why the daffodil is used as an emblem is that the word for daffodil and for leek are the same in Welsh (Cenhinen = Leek, Cenhinen Pedr = Daffodil). This confusion means that both have been adopted as national emblems.

It is said by some that the daffodil was encouraged more by the English government, as it does not have the nationalistic overtones that the leek has, with its association with the defeat of Saxons. However, the stinky leeks are the preferred choice for school children who love choosing the largest and smelliest leeks rather than daffodils!

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Photos

Traditional dress
This is traditional dress for Welsh women when there are national celebrations.