1st March 2013 Ottawa, Canada
St David’s Day: Welsh-Canadian connections
It’s well known that the Year of the Dragon is one of the luckiest years in the Chinese calendar; to the Welsh, every year is the year of the dragon, and the red dragon proudly adorns the Flag of Wales. But today is a particularly special day in the Welsh calendar – St David’s Day.
St David’s Day is celebrated in Wales, of course, and by Welsh communities across the world on 1st of March, to honour the life of the Welsh patron saint, Dewi Sant (St David) who died on this date in 589AD.
St David’s birth date is unclear, but some say that he was 100 when he died. It could be the leeks (St David’s personal symbol, and a national emblem of Wales) that were the secret to St David’s long life. Or maybe it was his famous piety and self-discipline that was to thank. St David founded several churches and a monastery in Wales, became an archbishop and was canonised in 1120.
During the 18th century, it was declared that 1 March would be a national day of celebration for St David. Every year since then festivals, events and parades are held in towns and villages throughout Wales and around the world for people of Welsh descent.
And there are strong Welsh connections in Canada of course. The first Welshman to arrive in Canada is believed to have been Sir Thomas Button, who led an expedition to find the Northwest Passage in 1612. These days, around 440,000 Canadians claim some element of Welsh descent, including around 60,000 Albertans. Many of them came at the start of the 20th century from mining and industrial regions of Wales to work in the coal mines around Edmonton. And Welsh-Canadians have of course been active in Canada’s cultural life – supplying Canada with some of its more lively characters including novelist Robertson Davies, Powys Thomas (co-founder of the national theatre school) and Robert Harris, painter of the Fathers of Confederation. The Wales-Canada trade, research and cultural links are still thriving today, and long may that continue.
Happy St David’s Day! Dydd Gwyl Dewi hapus i bawb!
Glad to see that St David’s Day is still observed in many parts of Canada. Wish that the U.S. did as well. I find today that most of the young people have never heard of Wales and consequently have no idea where it is. The are amazed to find that it is part of the United Kingdom.
Oh well, I have been (and still am) part of two welsh groups in Florida.
I tell all the St. Pat people that at least St. David was a native of his country. We will keep putting out the word.
Cymru am byth