Young girl with bunch of yellow daffodils wearing traditional welsh costume on Saint David's Day, 1st Davids
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 that day in 589, and has been celebrated by followers since then. The date was declared a national day of celebration within Wales in the 18th century. Cross party support resulted in the National Assembly voting unanimously to make St. David’s Day a public holiday in 2000. A petition in 2007 to make St. David's Day a bank holiday was rejected by office of the "british" Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Dewi Sant – St. David was born towards the end of the fifth century. He was a scion of the royal house of Ceredigion, and founded a Celtic monastic community at Glyn Rhosin (The Vale of Roses) on the western headland of Sir Benfro, at the spot where St. David's Cathedral stands today. David's fame as a teacher and ascetic spread throughout the Celtic world. His foundation at Glyn Rhosin became an important Christian shrine in Wales. The date of Dewi Sant's death is recorded as 1 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'. For centuries the first of March has been a national festival. St David was recognised as a national patron saint at the height of Welsh resistance to the Normans. In 2003 in the United States, St. David's Day was recognised officially as the national day of the Welsh, on 1 March the Empire State Building was floodlit in the national colours, red, green an white. To celebrate this day, people wear a symbol of either a leek, or daffodil. The leek arises from an occasion when a troop of Welsh were able to distinguish each other from a troop of English enemy dressed in similar fashion by wearing leeks.
Size: 3744px × 5616px
Location: Haverfordwest Pembrokeshire Wales UK
Photo credit: © Hire Image Picture Library / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: Yes
Keywords: 1st, apron, bonnet, bunch, costume, cymru, daffodils, davids, day, dewi, frock, girl, hat, jemima, lace, leek, march, saint, sant, smile, smiling, symbol, tradition, traditional, wales, welsh, yellow
