Saint David's Day

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Saint David's Day

St David
Official name	Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant
Observed by	Wales
Type	National day in Wales.
Date	1 March
Celebrations	Children take part in eisteddfodau.
Observances	Wearing of the Welsh emblems

Saint David's Day (Welsh: Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant) is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on 1 March each year. The date of 1 March was chosen in remembrance of the death of Saint David on 1st March, 589, and has been celebrated by followers since then. The date was declared a national day of celebration within Wales in the 18th century. In 2006 Saint David's Day was officially celebrated on 28 February by Roman Catholics and on 2 March by the Anglican Church in Wales as saints' days are not celebrated on Ash Wednesday, which is a day of penitence ([1], [2]). A poll conducted for Saint David's Day in 2006 found that 87% of the Welsh wanted 1st March to be a bank holiday, with 65% prepared to sacrifice a different bank holiday to ensure this.[3] A petition in 2007 to make St David's Day a bank holiday was rejected by Prime Minister Tony Blair. [4]

1 St.David's Day Parade
2 The significance of St David's Day
3 Who was St David?
4 Traditions
5 External links
6 References

St.David's Day Parade

Every year on March 1st, parades are held in Wales to commemorate St.David. The largest of these is held in Cardiff. "Ring out the bells for Dewi!" A new song for children to sing at St.David's Day festivities was composed by Gwenno Dafydd and Heulwen Thomas and first performed in 2007. This can be downloaded from here

The significance of St David's Day

For centuries the first of March has been a national festival. St David was recognized as a national patron saint a very long time ago, at the height of Welsh resistance to the Normans. In our time, on this one day, everyone and anyone with a connection to Wales remembers their Welsh origins and connections. In 2003 in the United States, St David's Day was recognized officially as the national day of the Welsh, and on 1st March the Empire State Building was floodlit in the national colours, red, green and white. It is invariably celebrated by Welsh societies throughout the world with dinners, parties, recitals and concerts. On this day many people wear (where they can find them!) a daffodil, traditionally Wales's national flower. St David's Day unites Welsh people worldwide in a celebration of their shared identity. Above politics and petty differences, St David is a peerless, noble figurehead for the Welsh nation, a unifying and benevolent symbol in a dangerous and greedy world. In the Armes Prydain, an epic written more than a thousand years ago, the poet prophesied that in the future, when all might seem lost to us, the Cymry would unite to follow David as their leader: 'A lluman glân Dewi a ddyrchafant' 'And they will raise the pure banner of Dewi' .

Who was St David?

Dewi Sant - St David was born towards the end of the fifth century, less than a hundred years after the last Roman legions had marched out of Wales. He was the son of Sant a scion of the royal house of Ceredigion, his mother was Non, daughter of Cynyr of Caio, remembered by numerous churches and holy wells in Wales, Cornwall and Brittany. Educated at Henfynyw (Old Menevia) in Ceredigion, where he 'learned the alphabet, the psalms, the lessons for the whole year, the Masses and the Synaxis', he founded a Celtic monastic community at Glyn Rhosin (The Vale of Roses) on the western headland of Sir Benfro, at the spot where St Davids Cathedral stands today. The spot may well have been the site of a very early religious community, for it is also associated with St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, who, having been born in south Wales, is said to have spent some time at Glyn Rhosyn before embarking for Ireland from Porth Mawr nearby. David's fame as a teacher and ascetic spread throughout the Celtic world. He earned the curious nickname Dewi Ddyfrwr - David the Waterman - no doubt reflecting the harsh bread-and-water regime of Celtic monks. Many traditions and legends are associated with him. When he rose to address to a great crowd at a synod at Llanddewi Brefi in Ceredigion, the ground rose under his feet forming a little hill so that all could hear him speak. Again, a golden-beaked dove is said to have landed on his shoulder as a symbol of his holiness. His foundation at Glyn Rhosin became one of the most important shrines of the Christian world, and the most important centre in Wales. Roads and tracks from all over the nation led to it and in the Middle Ages two pilgrimages to Menevia was equal to one to Rome (Dos i Rufain unwaith ac i Fynyw ddwywaith). Over fifty churches and innumerable holy wells were dedicated to him in Wales alone. The religious centre of St Davids thus became a focus for the religious aspirations of the Welsh nation and as Gerallt Cymro (Giraldus Cambrensis) relates: 'The Bishopric of St Davids became .....a symbol of the independence of Wales...and that is why David himself was exalted into a Patron Saint of Wales.' St Davids has for more than a millennium been the spiritual heart of our nation and the focus of its ideals. The date of Dewi Sant's death is recorded as 1st March, but the year is uncertain - possibly 588. As his tearful monks prepared for his death St David uttered these words: 'Brothers be ye constant. The yoke which with single mind ye have taken, bear ye to the end; and whatsoever ye have seen with me and heard, keep and fulfil' and as he died 'Lords, brothers and sisters, be cheerful, keep the faith, and do those little things which ye have seen me do and heard me say.' Dewi Sant, was incidentally, the only patron saint of the four chief nations of these islands to have been born in the land which adopted him.

Traditions

Children take part in school concerts or eisteddfodau, with recitation and singing being the main activities. Formerly, a half-day holiday was afforded to school children. Officially this custom does not continue, although the practice can vary on a school-to-school basis. Many Welsh people wear one or both of the national emblems of Wales on their lapel to celebrate Saint David: the daffodil (a generic Welsh symbol which is in season during March) or the leek (Saint David's personal symbol) on this day. The association between leeks and daffodils is strengthened by the fact that they have similar names in Welsh, Cenhinen (leek) and Cenhinen Bedr (daffodil, literally "Peter's leek"). Males usually wear leeks whilst girls wear daffodils. The younger girls usually wear their Welsh costumes to school. This costume consists of a long woollen skirt, white blouse, woollen shawl and a Welsh hat. The Flag of Saint David is most commonly seen flying on Saint David's Day.