Sunday 1 March 2009

St David's Day - Dewi Sant - Patron Saint of Wales .. c500 - 589


Dear Mr Postman .. thank you for your concern about my mother .. we've had an interesting time reminding ourselves about the first day of March ... here's our positive story ..

My Ma was comfortable today and wasn't so worried about her drink .. I made sure she had some gel to alleviate her throat .. and told her it was St David's Day, 1st March .. and reminded her that the Welsh emblem is the leek .. Mum immediately responded - the Daffodil, known as the Lent Lily .. something I didn't know! Both are depicted today as the Welsh emblem.

Going back to the Leek .. I was saying that St David during a skirmish ordered his men to wear a leek in their caps to distinguish them from their Saxon (English) foes! .. & that the green would have stood out .. my Ma saying that leeks are mostly white!! No fooling her then ...

"To eat the leek" .. apparently means to eat your own words or retract what you have said .. something else I didn't know: it comes from Shakespeare's Henry V, V, i.

St David certainly was highly respected, as he was a native of Wales & lived there throughout his long life, and because of his reputation as a teacher and preacher founded any number of monastic settlements - so St David's cathedral became a popular place of pilgrimage .. promoting Wales as an early "tourist" centre .. bringing wealth and knowledge into the Country establishing a wealthy middle class by the 1800s - 1900s.

St David's last words to his followers has today become a very well-known phrase, and has proved an inspiration to many: "Do the little things in life .... and the larger things will follow". Do you do the little things in life ..?

It's interesting this discipline of history and learning about your snippets Hilary .. thank you - see you tomorrow ...



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