|
01 Mar 14 - 11:16 AM (#3606194) Subject: Today is St David's Day! From: GUEST,Mick Tems (heb cwci) The sun is shining, the sparrows are coughing... and today is Dydd Dewi Sant, St David's Day! Olly and I have just got back from Caerffili Borough Council's all-day celebrations at the two ex-mining communities of Bargoed and Blackwood; we played for Gwerinwyr Gwent, the Newport dance team. As we left Bargoed, lovely harper and singer Bethan Nia and a smashing fiddler were just setting up. There was music and song everywhere, all over Wales; in Cardiff, the City Council sponsored the massive St David's Day parade, with fiddlers, pipers, drummers, pibgorn and crwth players, giant rugby players, film stars and more... the parade, which has grown and grown, wends its way through city streets before ending up in Cardiff Castle where the crowds are treated to a display of old and new Welsh tradition: Pibau Planed, Bagad Morgannwg, Sesiwn Clera, Samba Gales, Wonderbrass and The Hennessys (with radio personality and Celtic Heartbeat presenter Frank Hennessy bringing the show to a perfect end.) Incidentally, St David was the only patron saint of these islands to be born in the same country that now observes his day. St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland, came from Israel; St George (England) came from Armenia; St Piran (Cornwall) came from Ireland; and St Patrick (Ireland) was born in Wales. St David, however, was born in Wales and his day (March 1) is now celebrated in Wales! |
|
01 Mar 14 - 01:54 PM (#3606235) Subject: RE: Today is St David's Day! From: GUEST Happy St David's Day to all my Welsh friends. |
|
01 Mar 14 - 02:23 PM (#3606243) Subject: RE: Today is St David's Day! From: bubblyrat Good to see the use of the word "SAINT" , which was recently denied to another saint on "Valentine's Day " . |
|
01 Mar 14 - 02:31 PM (#3606245) Subject: RE: Today is St David's Day! From: GUEST,John Jones How lovely to hear Mick sing the praises of Dydd Dewi Sant. Believe me, it is one of the highlights of folk tradition in our nation of Wales! |
|
01 Mar 14 - 04:07 PM (#3606265) Subject: RE: Today is St David's Day! From: Nigel Parsons Strange about whether to include 'Saint'. Back in the 60s/70s I went to a church school. Although we celebrated "St David's Day", the Welsh name was always given as "Dydd Gwyl Dewi" (David's Feast Day). So even in a church school the 'Saint' was dropped. |
|
01 Mar 14 - 10:59 PM (#3606334) Subject: RE: Today is St David's Day! From: ChanteyLass Uh-oh! I am late! However, for all you people in Wales, I hope you had a wonderful St. David's Day! Actually, where I am and on Mudcat Time it is still about an hour before midnight on March 1, so at my home I guess that I am not too late! |
|
02 Mar 14 - 06:13 AM (#3606375) Subject: RE: Today is St David's Day! From: GUEST,Morgan the Organ You're never too late, ChanteyLass! Can't do Blue Clickies, so hope that St David according to Wikipedia is all right: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_David On the 'Saint' controversy: I live in Llantrisant, which translates as "the parish of the three saints." Our local church is dedicated to Saints Illtyd, Gwynno and Dyfodwg; only Illtyd was Welsh, and the other two were Breton. The Cornish language tradition chops off the "Saint"; hence their festival, held every October in Perranporth, is 'Lowender Peran" (St Piran's Festival.) |
|
02 Mar 14 - 06:14 AM (#3606376) Subject: RE: Today is St David's Day! From: GUEST,John James Gwyl Dewi Sant..that's what we called March 1st when I was in school. Ysgol mawr (big school)from 1959-65. March 1st was a big day with a mini eisteddfod in the school, and we could hear a Cymanfa Ganu belting out from the chapel opposite, mostly women singing as the men were all at their day jobs.Different now. In the late 60's when I first started travelling extensively around Scotland & England there was no mention of anything happening on St George or St Andrew's day Da Iawn Dr.Price JJ |
|
02 Mar 14 - 06:32 AM (#3606379) Subject: RE: Today is St David's Day! From: GUEST,Dewi Johns The whole account of St Illtud has been corrupted into "Llantwit." The ancient Welsh Llanilltud Faerdref has become Llantwit Fardre, and Llanilltud Fawr (the site of a Welsh monastery) has been corrupted into Llantwit Major! |
|
02 Mar 14 - 10:28 AM (#3606422) Subject: RE: Today is St David's Day! From: GUEST,leeneia We are Dinas Kansas are having the Gymanfa next week. And that's lucky, because this Sunday the city is shut down by ice and snow. In fact, much of the continental US is in the grip of a storm which started in California and is headed east to cause misery all the way to the Atlantic. Today is a fine day to stay home, get out your instrument, and play some beautiful Welsh music. If you don't know any, get out any old hymnal you have around and look in the back for an index named "Sources of Tunes" (or similar). Look in that index for Welsh folk melody or with LL , and there you go. My churches current hymnal has nine tunes in it. |
|
03 Mar 14 - 09:50 AM (#3606741) Subject: RE: Today is St David's Day! From: GUEST,crazy little woman Mick, the parade and the music sound great! I wish I could have been there. But I also wish that the big saints had had the foresight to have their days when the weather's nice. March 1? March 17th? Why not May 27th? September 5th? |
|
03 Mar 14 - 10:00 AM (#3606744) Subject: RE: Today is St David's Day! From: GUEST,eldergirl on another computer the monthly acoustic meeting is this coming Thurs so St David and St Patrick will likely both get a shout. in The Shed at back of the Sportsman pub, Croxley Green, SW Herts UK. 8.15pm or thereabouts ahuge room tho. 🏡 |
|
03 Mar 14 - 10:14 AM (#3606749) Subject: RE: Today is St David's Day! From: Nigel Parsons Our morning eucharist yesterday included the hymn tunes: Cwm Rhondda (Guide me O thou great Jehovah) St Deiniol (Immortal invisible, God only wise) Aberystwyth (Jesu lover of my soul) So a touch of Welsh in there! |
|
03 Mar 14 - 10:44 AM (#3606761) Subject: RE: Today is St David's Day! From: GUEST,eldergirl on another computer oh, good fief. bloody tablet. that should have read Croxley Green, SWHerts, UK. cheers Nigel, Welsh hymn tunes are wonderful! |
|
03 Mar 14 - 09:03 PM (#3606915) Subject: RE: Today is St David's Day! From: GUEST,leeneia I'm glad to hear it, Nigel. We did Cwm Rhondda recently, but I think it was a coincidence. I asked for a volunteer and got somebody to play a hand drum (timidly, but she did it) on it. |
|
04 Mar 14 - 03:14 AM (#3606970) Subject: RE: Today is St David's Day! From: beeliner There aren't many facts about St David; but here are the only undisputed ones: He really existed He was at the heart of the Welsh church in the 6th century He came from an aristocratic family in West Wales His mother was a saint, Saint Non His teacher was also a saint, St Paulinus He founded a large monastery in West Wales He was one of the early saints who helped to spread Christianity among the pagan Celtic tribes of Western Britain He became Archbishop of Wales, but remained in his community at Menevia (now called St Davids) He was active in supressing the Pelagian heresy His shrine became a great place of pilgrimage; four visits to the shrine at St David’s was considered the equivalent of two to Rome, and one to Jerusalem! The most famous story about Saint David tells how he was preaching to a huge crowd and the ground is said to have risen up, so that he was standing on a hill and everyone had a better chance of hearing him. St David's Day has been a national festival in Wales since the 18th century, and is still marked with gusto. Many people will wear either a daffodil or a leek, which are both symbols of Wales. The other Welsh symbol, Y Ddraig Goch (the Red Dragon, Wales's national flag), will be flown on many more buildings than usual. Concerts are held to mark the occasion, particularly male voice choirs. Any Cymry (Welsh folks) here who can share with us how they celebrate the holiday? Is it as big an occasion in Wales as St. Patrick's Day is in Ireland? |
|
04 Mar 14 - 04:23 AM (#3606982) Subject: RE: Today is St David's Day! From: Musket 1 March was my birthday, hence my name. Err... Unfortunately I have an older brother called David. Mind you, I still shout White Rabbits when I wake up looking for my pressies. On a related matter, today is St Pancake's Day. |
|
04 Mar 14 - 05:23 AM (#3607006) Subject: RE: Today is St David's Day! From: Nigel Parsons Beeliner: The other Welsh symbol, Y Ddraig Goch (the Red Dragon, Wales's national flag), will be flown on many more buildings than usual. For many years Cardiff City Hall confused many people by flying the St David's flag (Gold upright cross on a black background) on 1st March. Today it is more easily recognised as it has been adopted (for some purposes) by Cardiff City Football Club. |
|
04 Mar 14 - 03:53 PM (#3607228) Subject: RE: Today is St David's Day! From: Dave the Gnome I was Christened on Saint David's day 61 years ago. I don't remember it myself. Iechyd da! Dafydd 'r gnome |