"On the first of March, The crows begin to search." "First comes David, next come Chad, And then comes Winnold as though he was mad."] In the Diverting Post, No. 19, from Feb. 24 to March 3, 1705, we have these lines : "Why on St. David's Day, do Welshmen seek Right, Sir, to die or fight it is, I think; But how is't dulce, when you for it stink?" To a Querist in the British Apollo, 1708, vol. i. No. 10, asking, why do the Ancient Britons (viz. Welshmen) wear Leeks in their hats on the first of March? the following answer is given: "The ceremony is observed on the first of March, in commemoration of a signal victory obtained by the Britons, under the command of a famous general, known vulgarly by the name of St. David. The Britons wore a Leek in their hats to distinguish their friends from their enemies, in the heat of the battle." So Rolt, in his Cambria, 1759, p. 63, "In Cambria, 'tis said, tradition's tale Recounting, tells how fam'd Menevia's Priest Misson, in his Travels in England, translated by Ozell, p. 334, says, speaking of the Welsh, "On the day of St. David, their Patron, they formerly gain'd a victory over the English, and in the battle every man distinguish'd himself by wearing a Leek in his hat; and, ever since, they never fail to wear a Leek on that day. The King himself is so complaisant as to bear them company. In the Royal Apophthegms of King James, 1658, I read the following in the first page: Welchmen, in commemoration of the Great Fight by the Black Prince of Wales, do wear Leeks as their chosen ensign" and the Episcopal Almanack for 1677 states that "The St. David, who was of royal extraction, and uncle to king Arthur, "died aged a hundred and forty-six years, on the first of March, still celebrated by the Welsh, perchance to perpetuate the memory of his abstinence, whose contented mind made many a favourite meal on such roots of the earth." The commemoration of the British victory, however, appears to afford the best solution of wearing the Leek. I [It would appear from some lines in Poor Robin's Almanack for 1757, that in England a Welshman was formerly burnt in effigy on this anniversary,— "But it would make a stranger laugh To see th' English hang poor Taff: A pair of breeches and a coat, Hats, shoes, and stockings, and what not, All stuffed with hay to represent The Cambrian hero thereby meant: With sword sometimes three inches broad, And other armour made of wood, They drag hur to some publick tree, To this custom Pepys seems to allude in his Diary for 1667, “In Mark Lane I do observe (it being St. David's Day) the picture of a man dressed like a Welshman, hanging by the neck, upon one of the poles that stand out at the top of one of the merchant's houses in full proportion, and very handsomely done, which is one of the oddest sights I have seen a good while.” Possibly arising from this was the practice till lately in vogue amongst pastrycooks of hanging or skewering taffies or Welshmen of gingerbread for sale on St. David's Day.] Coles, in his Adam in Eden, says, concerning Leeks, "The Gentlemen in Wales have them in great regard, both for their feeding, and to wear in their hats upon St. David's Day." In an old satirical Ballad, entitled "The Bishop's last ' [Dr. Owen Pughe, the British lexicographer, differing from his martial countrymen, supposes that the custom originated in the Cymmortha, still observed in Wales, in which the farmers reciprocate assistance in ploughing their land, when every one contributes his leek to the common repast.-Hampson's Kalend. i. 170. See also p. 107.] Good-night," a single sheet, dated 1642, the 14th stanza runs thus: "Landaff, provide for St. David's Day, Lest the Leeke and Red-herring run away, You are called for Landaff: Come in, Landaff." Ray has the following proverb on this day, "Upon St. David's Day, put oats and barley in the clay." In Caxton's Description of Wales, at the end of the St. Alban's Chronicle, 1500, speaking of the "Manners and Rytes of the Walshemen," we read,— as also, "They have gruell to potage, And Leekes kynde to companage." "Atte meete, and after eke, Her solace is salt and Leeke." In Shakespeare's play of Henry the Fifth, Act. v. Sc. 1, Gower asks Fluellen, "But why wear you your Leek to-day? Saint Davy's Day is past." From Fluellen's reply we gather, that he wore his Leek in consequence of an affront he had received but the day before from Pistol, whom he afterwards compels to eat Leek, skin and all, in revenge for the insult; quaintly observing to him, "When you take occasion to see Leeks hereafter, I pray you mock at them, that is all.” Gower too upbraids Pistol for mocking "at an ancient tradition-begun upon an honourable respect, and worn as a memorable trophy of pre-deceased valour." [This seems to show that Shakespeare was acquainted with the tradition above quoted from the Festa Anglo-Romana. It is, however, sufficiently singular that Grimm quotes a passage from an ancient Edda in which a chieftain is repre sented as carrying an onion either as a returning conqueror, or because it was a custom to wear it at a name giving. See a paper by Mr. Thoms in the Archæologia, xxxii. 398. The onion was held sacred by the ancient Egyptians, a superstition ridiculed by Juvenal, ""Tis dangerous here To violate an onion, or to stain The sanctity of leeks with tooth profane."] In the Flowers of the Lives of the most renowned Saints, we read of St. David, that "he died 1st March, about A.D. 550, which day, not only in Wales, but all England over, is most famous in memorie of him. But in these our unhappy daies, the greatest part of this solemnitie consisteth in wearing of a greene Leeke, and it is a sufficient theme for a zealous Welshman to ground a quarrell against him that doth not honour his capp with the like ornament that day." Ursula is introduced in the old play of the Vow-breaker, or the Fayre Maid of Clifton, 1636, as telling Anne-"Thou marry GerHis head's like a Welchman's crest on St. Davie's Day! He looks like a hoary frost in December! Venus blesse me, I'de rather ly by a statue!" man! Now "In Owen, in his Cambrian Biography, 1803, p. 86, says: consequence of the romances of the middle ages which created the Seven Champions of Christendom, St. David has been dignified with the title of the Patron Saint of Wales: but this rank, however, is hardly known among the people of the Principality, being a title diffused among them from England in modern times. The writer of this account never heard of such a Patron Saint, nor of the Leek as his symbol, until he became acquainted therewith in London." He adds, "The wearing of the Leek on Saint David's Day probably originated from the custom of Cymhortha, or the neighbourly aid practised among farmers, which is of various kinds. In some districts of South Wales, all the neighbours of a small farmer without means appoint a day when they all attend to plough his lands and the like; and at such a time it is a custom for each individual to bring his portion of Leeks, to be used in making pottage for the whole company; and they bring nothing else but the Leeks in particular for the occasion." The reader is left to reconcile this passage with what has been already said upon the day. For a Life of St. David, Patron Saint of Wales, who, according to a Welsh pedigree, was son of Caredig, Lord of Cardiganshire, and his mother Non, daughter of Ynyr, of Caer Gawch, see Anglia Sacra, vol. ii. The battle gained over the Saxons, by King Cadwallo, at Hethfield or Hatfield Chase, in Yorkshire, A.D. 633, is mentioned in Britannia Sancta, ii. 163; in Lewis's Hist. of Britain, pp. 215, 217; in Jeffrey of Monmouth, Engl. Translat. Book xii. chaps. 8 and 9; and in Carte's History of England, i. 228. [An amusing account of the origin of the leek custom is given in Howell's Cambrian Superstitions. The Welsh in olden days were so infested by ourang-outangs, that they could obtain no peace by night nor day, and not being themselves able to extirpate them, they invited the English, who came, but through some mistake, killed several of the Welsh themselves, so that in order to distinguish them from the monkeys, they desired them at last to stick leeks in their hats! The leek is thus mentioned in the Antidote against Melancholy, 1661, speaking of Welsh food, "And oat cake of Guarthenion, With a goodly leek or onion, As e'er did harper Ellis." The following amusing lines are found in Poor Robin's Almanack for 1757, "The first of this month some do keep, For honest Taff to wear his leek: ST. PATRICK'S DAY. THE Shamrock is said to be worn by the Irish upon the anniversary of this Saint, for the following reason. When the Saint preached the Gospel to the Pagan Irish, he illustrated the doctrine of the Trinity by showing them a trefoil, or three-leaved grass with one stalk, which operating to their conviction, the Shamrock, which is a bundle of this grass, |