St David's Day & The Origins of Welsh Symbols (#153)

The day this episode goes out, 1st March, is St David’s Day in Wales. It’s something we’ve always celebrated, especially in primary school where we always had big assemblies as a celebration of Welsh music, folk dance and food, and we all dressed in traditional Welsh outfits. So today, I’m going to talk a little bit about how the man himself, St David, was, a bit about how we celebrate St David’s Day all over Wales, and also about the origins of some of the most popular Welsh symbols like leeks and daffodils.

I’m realising this seems to be an annual thing – my first Welsh mythology episode, about the Mabinogi and the story of Branwen, was in February 2020; my second, about the legend of the Welsh dragon, was in February 2021; and now this, my third, is being recorded in February 2023. That’s a very weird coincidence that definitely isn’t planned – although maybe I always just feel a little bit patriotic in the lead-up to St David’s Day!

How St David’s Day is celebrated

St David’s Day, celebrated every year on 1st March, is a day of parades, concerts and some places might host an eisteddfod (a festival of music, poetry, language and culture). Flags are flown, the national anthem is sung (which I will forever say is the best national anthem in the world, especially when sung with the most vigour at rugby matches played in Cardiff), children go to school in traditional Welsh dress, and a lot of people pin a little daffodil or a leek to their clothes.

People dust off their bakestones to whip up a batch of Welshcakes, which are little, round, almost scone-like, flat cakes that can be plain or have currents in them; or some might opt for Bara Brith, meaning ‘speckled bread’, which is basically a fruit cake soaked overnight in tea. Another traditional Welsh food you might choose to make is cawl, which is a meat and vegetable stew, often served with homemade fresh bread and cheese.

If you want to visit somewhere special on or around St David’s Day as part of your celebration, you might visit the little city of St David’s in Pembrokeshire. Established by the saint himself in the 12th century, the settlement of around 2,000 people is officially the UK’s smallest city.

Every year, the people of St David’s bring out colourful bunting for a weekend of events in St Davids Cathedral and around the town. There’s the annual Dragon Parade from Oriel y Parc, a really cool-looking park/museum hybrid created as a collaboration between the National Museum Wales and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority – it’s somewhere I’d love to visit. At the Dragon Parade, people design their own intricate dragons which they parade through the streets in a big celebration of Welsh culture.

Meanwhile, the Ras Dewi Sant is one of the toughest races, on what has been described as one of the prettiest courses in the country. The Ras Dewi Sant has a marathon, half-marathon, and 10K route that predominantly follow the Coast Path and pass by some of the most scenic and historical sites in Wales. These routes can be windy, muddy, sunny, rainy and anything in-between but are always stunning!

You don’t have to go all the way to Pembrokeshire though if it’s too far for a day trip! There are things happening all over Wales that you could visit. Cadw, the organisation that are basically like the Welsh National Trust and look after Wales’ castles and ancient monuments, arrange special events at some of their locations. Events including talks, craft activities, live folk music, and more happen at places like Caerphilly Castle, Castell Coch, Elan Valley, and at the many other castles, historical sites, and museums. The National Trust is also a reliable source of lavishly-daffodilled gardens and St David’s Day events. Most of their sites in Wales honour St David in one way or another.

If a parade is more your thing, the National St David's Day Parade is a celebration of Welsh heritage and culture that happens every year on 1st March in Cardiff city centre. It brings together various cultural groups, school children and musicians, and lots of locals in traditional Welsh costume. There are also annual processions and celebrations in several other towns across the country, including Aberystwyth, Wrexham, Carmarthen, Lampeter and Colwyn Bay.

Finally, if you want to go and visit a castle and take in the history, you’re hardly stuck for choices with over 600 fortresses dotted across our landscape (Wales has a world record for the most castles per square mile). There are famous UNESCO World Heritage Sites at Beaumaris, Caernarfon, Conwy and Harlech, plus lesser-known spots in smaller areas built by native Welsh princes.

So now we’ve got that bit done, let’s take a quick look at the big man himself. Obviously, as we always say, much of this is just legend because it’s impossible to know exactly everything that happened as early as the year 500. Not too much is known about St David except from a biography written around 1090 by Rhygyfarch, son of the Bishop of St. Davids.

Who was St David?

David is said to have been born around the year 520, in a time when Welsh kings ruled small kingdoms and their people made their living by farming. Most people in Wales were Christians, and monasteries were important centres of prayer and learning. David’s birth is said to have taken place on the cliffs in a wild thunderstorm, near the small city that’s now named after him.

It’s generally believed that both of his parents were descended from Welsh royalty – he was the son of Sandde, Prince of Powys, and Non, daughter of a chieftain (basically a leader of a clan or a tribe) of Menevia (which is now the city of St Davids). The site of David's birth is marked by the ruins of a tiny ancient chapel close to a holy well, and the more recent 18th century chapel dedicated to his mother Non can still be seen near St. David’s Cathedral. In medieval times, it was believed that St David was the nephew of King Arthur.

Around the year 550, David is said to have founded a monastery close to the place where he was born. Here, he and his fellow monks lived a simple life, drinking only water and eating only bread and herbs. David became known as Dewi Dyfrwr (David the water drinker). The monks farmed the land, but David insisted that they pull the plough and carry their tools without the help of animals. They spent the evenings in prayer, reading and writing, and weren’t allowed any personal possessions.

There are many stories of St David’s miracles. They include bringing a dead boy back to life by splashing the child’s face with tears, and restoring a blind man’s sight. David’s best-known miracle allegedly took place in the village of Llanddewi Brefi. He was preaching to a large crowd, but some people had difficulty hearing him. Suddenly a white dove landed on David’s shoulder, and as it did, the ground on which he stood rose up to form a hill, making it possible for everyone to see and hear him.

Today, a church stands on the top of this hill. The dove became St David’s emblem, and often appears on his portraits and stained glass windows. Churches and chapels dedicated to David are found not just in Wales but also in south-west England and Brittany.

David’s influence also spread to Ireland, where the Irish embraced his beliefs about caring for the natural world. His last words to his followers were: “Be joyful, keep the faith, and do the little things that you have heard and seen me do.” The phrase “Gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd”, meaning “do the little things in life”, is still a well-known maxim in Wales, and these words still inspire many people today.

St David is believed to have died on 1 March 589. 500 years later, his first biography was written by Rhygyfarch, which is the biography I mentioned earlier. As his popularity grew over the centuries, poems and songs were written about him. By the 12th century, more than 60 churches in Wales had been dedicated to him and pilgrims visited his monastery at St Davids, and a shrine was built in his honour.

Welsh symbols and their origins

To finish off, I’m going to talk about some of the most common Welsh symbols and why they became synonymous with Wales.

Leek

I’ll start with the leek, which has been associated with Wales for hundreds of years. It’s said that St David told Welsh soldiers to wear the leek on their helmets, so they could better spot each other when in battle against the Saxons who wore similar armour. The tactic worked and secured the Welsh army a great victory. It’s also thought that the battle was fought in a field that was full of leeks, and also that leeks made up a big part of St David’s diet.

This Welsh symbol was even brought up in Shakespeare’s play Henry V. The Welsh Captain, Fluellen, has to explain to another character, Gower, why he is wearing a leek on his helmet. Fluellen says that the previous day, a soldier named Pistol mocked him by sending him bread and salt and suggesting that Fluellen eat the leek. When they next meet, Fluellen forces Pistol to eat the leek as a punishment for his insult and making fun of his Welsh accent.

It’s also thought that the association of the leek with Wales goes back to the times of pagans and druids, who worshipped nature. They saw the leek as something that could help cure colds, take some pain out of childbirth, tell the future, and keep away evil spirits. Another belief was that if a young woman or girl put a leek under her pillow as she slept, she would dream of her future husband.

A few more fun facts about leeks: the leek was brought over to Wales by the Romans, as they found the climate perfect for growing them. You can see the Welsh symbol of the leek on the back of £1 coins alongside the English rose, Scottish thistle and Irish shamrock. And there’s still a tradition that exists today where young soldiers in the Welsh regiment have to eat a raw leek on St David’s Day.

Daffodil

Daffodils are the national flower of Wales. Daffodils that grow wild in South Wales are often referred to as the true St David’s Day daffodil, and they’re slightly different from the common daffodil as they have an all-yellow flower, rather than paler yellow petals.

The daffodil, when compared to the leek, is a lot more recent as a symbol of Wales. It became associated with Wales in the 19th century, and by the 20th century, Prime Minister David Lloyd George chose to wear one on St David’s Day.

Nowadays, the daffodil is considered the national flower of Wales as they bloom early in the year, just in time for St David’s Day, when a lot of people wear them as a pin or those comically big headpieces you see worn at rugby matches. Plus, as lovely and symbolic as leeks are, they can be pretty smelly, so you can understand why people would rather pin a daffodil to their clothes!

It’s also thought that the daffodil may have become a symbol, as the Welsh words for leek and daffodil are very similar. As a result, people have confused the two over time. Now, people in Wales tend to celebrate the leek and the daffodil in equal measure.

Welsh Love Spoons

A lesser known symbol for those not too familiar with Welsh culture is a lovespoon, an intricately carved wooden spoon. This symbol has a very old history.

We know the term “spooning” today mainly as a way of cuddling, but in historical Wales, around the 17th century, this was a tradition of exchanging lovespoons. They were carved by men into pieces of art, with the handles cut into Celtic-style patterns and shapes that would then be presented to his sweetheart as a way of showing affection. They were particularly common with those in poorer classes as they couldn’t afford expensive gifts, but could instead use their practical and artistic skills. They were also common among sailors who would spend their time on long journeys carving them.

As time went on, the Welsh symbols of love became more and more elaborate. Certain symbols in the lovespoons had specific meanings, for example: balls or circles within a loop or “cage” showed how many children were hoped for in the future; hearts meant true love; knots symbolised the two lives intertwined together; rings represented marriage and being together forever; horseshoes meant good luck; locks were symbols of security and safety; and other symbols found include creatures, animals and birds, as well as flowers, wheels, crosses, dragons and diamonds.

Today the tradition isn’t so common but is still used between Welsh people for special occasions such as weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, Valentine's Day and the birth of a new child.

I hope you enjoyed this little look into Welsh culture and learnt something you didn’t know before. And if you’re doing anything to celebrate St David’s Day, let us know!