On Sunday 1 March along with Welsh citizens around the World, I will celebrate St David’s Day. Tradition has it that St David, or Dewi Saint in the Welsh language, died on this day in 569AD and from the 18th Century he was adopted as the Patron Saint of Wales, and the date celebrated as are 17 March, 23 April and 30 November for St Patrick, St George and St Andrew for Ireland, England and Scotland respectively.
Being born and raised in Wales and still with a home there, the day has strong significance and good memories for me. People wear either a daffodil flower or a small leek on their lapel. As a youngster I remember girls and ladies resplendent in Welsh traditional costume of red woollen dress, white blouse, black checked scarf and tall traditional black hat. A popular spring flower the radiant yellow of daffodils alights many parks and gardens across Great Britain from February to April and is a welcome sign of Spring.
Many Welsh dishes are made and consumed including leek and potato soup, including cawl, a cross between soup and stew, and many lamb dishes,Wales being a lush and mountainous agricultural region where sheep farming is very common. Welsh cakes are a sweet flat cake with raisins and currants, very easily made and which taste delicious.
Many parades and activities take place including poetry recitals and singing. Wales has a strong tradition of singing with many Male Voice Choirs. In the past many of these were associated with coal mines, now long closed-down, but also steel works and other companies: nowadays they are more socially arranged organisations.
In Wales the day is a national holiday created in 2000 by the Welsh (National) Assembly. Rugby Union is a very popular sport played across Wales and is arguably bigger than football despite both Cardiff (the capital city) and Swansea being top football clubs. Much is always expected of the national rugby side in the annual six nations competition. Often luck and coincidence would schedule a home match at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff adding further advantage to the home side. Not this year though as Wales played France in Paris on 28 February but pleasingly won 20 points to 13!
My Regiment, 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards, is the ‘Welsh Cavalry Regiment’ with the majority of its soldiers recruited from Wales and some from the neighbouring border counties. The association is more recent in the Regiment’s 330 year history. Now an armoured reconnaissance unit serving in Germany, it recently returned from its 3rd tour in Afghanistan. As part of the day’s celebrations the youngest officer and soldier will race in consuming a raw leek and against drinking a can of Welsh beer, with the results often being not a pretty sight! On 18th June 2015 the Regiment will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, the Regiment’s leading battle honour.
For me this year’s St David’s Day will be spent along with my family in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. It will be another memorable day shared with new friends.
Dydd Hapus Gŵyl Dewi! – Happy St David’s Day
Lt Colonel Richard Parry, Defence Attache for Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia