St David's Day
Wales's patron saint lived on bread, herbs and water, and his national day has two emblems, the leek and the daffodil, because of a happy linguistic muddle.
Published
Quick Facts
- Date
- 1 March every year
- Welsh name
- Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant
- Who he was
- David (Dewi Sant), a 6th-century monk, abbot and bishop
- Canonised
- 1120, by Pope Callixtus II
- Emblems
- The leek and the daffodil
- Saint's flag
- A yellow-gold cross on a black field
- Home of the saint's shrine
- St Davids Cathedral, Pembrokeshire
- Famous last words
- "Gwnewch y pethau bychain" (do the little things)
The saint who lived on leaves and water
David was a monk who founded a monastery on the wild Pembrokeshire coast, at the spot now called St Davids. Medieval tradition says he and his followers worked the land themselves, with no oxen to pull the plough, and ate only bread, herbs and water. That earned him the nickname Dewi Ddyfrwr, David the Waterman. Most of what we know about him comes from a Latin Life written around 1090 by Rhygyfarch, a scholar based at Llanbadarn Fawr near Aberystwyth and the son of Sulien, bishop of St Davids. It was written centuries after David's death, which tradition places on 1 March in the late 6th century. It is full of miracles and was partly meant to argue that St Davids deserved great standing in the Church. The best-known miracle took place at Llanddewi Brefi. As David preached to a huge crowd, the ground is said to have risen beneath his feet so everyone could see and hear him. A white dove settled on his shoulder. A little hill still stands in the churchyard there.
Why Wales wears both a leek and a daffodil
The leek is the older emblem. One story says David told Welsh soldiers to wear leeks in their caps during a battle against the Saxons, so they could tell friend from foe in a field of enemies. There is no firm evidence for it, but the tale stuck. Shakespeare had it in his head too: in Henry V, the Welsh captain Fluellen talks of wearing a leek in his cap on St David's Day. The daffodil arrived later, and possibly by accident. In Welsh, a leek is cennin and a daffodil is cennin Pedr, literally "Peter's leek". The names are close enough that the flower slipped into the celebrations, helped by the fact that daffodils are in bloom in Wales in early March. The Victorian and Edwardian era, including David Lloyd George's promotion of it, helped make the daffodil a favourite. Today people wear whichever suits them. The daffodil is easier to pin on a lapel than a leek.
Tall hats, rugby shirts and a day in school
For many Welsh families, the day begins with a child being dressed up. Girls wear the national costume: a long red skirt or woollen shawl, a white apron and a tall black hat. Boys may wear a rugby shirt, or a miner's outfit with a flat cap. Schools hold concerts and eisteddfodau, where children recite, sing and compete in Welsh and English. The food of the day is cawl, the lamb and vegetable broth that is Wales's great comfort dish, followed by Welsh cakes or bara brith. Towns hold parades, with the biggest in Cardiff, and the Welsh flag, Y Ddraig Goch, flies everywhere. The black-and-gold flag of St David is also increasingly flown on the day, and it is easy to spot among the red dragons. The greeting is Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus, Happy St David's Day.
The great bank holiday argument
Strangely, St David's Day is not a public holiday in Wales. Campaigners have long called for one, pointing out that Scotland and Ireland both mark their patron saint's days with more official recognition. Petitions come up regularly, and supporters argue the day deserves a place in the calendar as Wales's national day. Opponents point to the cost to business of adding another day off. So most people still get up, go to work or school, and squeeze in a parade or a bowl of cawl around the edges. In the Welsh Guards, the tradition is more dramatic: soldiers mark the day by eating raw leeks, and new recruits are expected to join in.
Small things, big reach
David's last sermon is traditionally said to have urged his followers to keep the faith and do the little things they had seen him do. In Welsh, "gwnewch y pethau bychain" is now one of the most quoted phrases in the country, and it appears on cards, posters and school walls every March. The day has travelled far from Pembrokeshire. Welsh people in London were marking it in the early 18th century, and the Honourable and Loyal Society of Ancient Britons was founded in 1715 to support Welsh causes, and held a St David's Day dinner. Welsh societies from Patagonia to North America still gather on 1 March. Back home, pilgrims still head to St Davids Cathedral, in the smallest city in the UK. In the Middle Ages, a pope is said to have ruled that two pilgrimages there equalled one to Rome.
Notable people
- Saint David (Dewi Sant)
- Rhygyfarch
- Pope Callixtus II
- David Lloyd George
- William Shakespeare
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