Saint David
March 1st , St David's Day, is now the traditional day of the Welsh. An
account of his life was written towards the end of the 11th century by
Rhygyfarch, a monk at Llanbadarn Fawr near Aberystwyth. St David, Dewi Sant died
in 589 or 601 just after founding a monastery in the area of Pembrokeshire which
now bears his name.
St. David founded a total of ten monasteries (including Glastonbury). The
monks of these monasteries were vegetarian and their regime included manual
labour, study and worship. In the 9th Century, St. David gained the name
Aquaticus, because he and the monks of his establishments only drank water!
Many miracles were attributed to him. One miracle often recounted is that
once when Dewi was preaching to a crowd at Llandewi Brefi those on the outer
edges could not hear, so he spread a handkerchief on the ground, and stood on it
to preach, whereupon the ground rose up beneath him, and all could hear.
The celebration usually means singing and eating. The singing of traditional
songs followed by a Te Bach, tea with teisen bach and bara brith. Y Ddraig Goch,
the Red Dragon, is flown as a flag or worn as a pin or pendant, and leeks are
worn, and sometimes eaten. St David's Day is now celebrated by Welsh people all
over the world.
The red dragon has long been a symbol of Wales. It was first seen in Wales in
Roman times. The dragon standard was used by the Anglo Saxons. It was the
standard of King Harold. In 1190, it was borne before the army of Richard
Coeur-de-Lion in an attack at Messina.
Recipe:
Bara Brith
You will need:
- 350g mixed fruit
- sugar (quantity to come)
- 300ml cold black tea
- 450g wholemeal flour
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- 1 egg
1. Soak the fruit and sugar in the strained tea overnight.
2. Next day heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
3. Add all the other ingredients to the fruit and tea mixture and beat well.
4. Pour the mixture into a prepared loaf tin and bake for approx 1 ½ hours
until firm to the touch.
5. Allow to cool and place in a cake tin for 24 hours before cutting. You
will end up with a lovely moist fruit bread.
6. Serve thinly sliced with butter spread on it or plain. Delicious!
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