everyone here in the states seems to know about st patrick's day, but not about the others (unless it is part of your religion of course). growing up in england, one learned about the 4 patron saints: george of england, david of wales, patrick of ireland and andrew of scotland. we knew the dates as well (or most of them - i sometimes have trouble remembering st andrew's) - st george and the dragon is 23rd april, david and the leeks and daffodils is 1st march, patrick and shamrocks is 17th march and andrew is 30th november (had to look that one up ... for an englander, the least-known day).
for the history of dewi sant and what is known about him see here.
another version, with personal memories of celebrating the day in wales, is here. this one actually mentions leeks, as well as noting that dewi sant was a vegetarian :-)
wikipedia (not always correct but often not wrong) notes that the leek was david's symbol and that he died on 1st march.
the weather here is so weird - i saw a squirrel today making a nest in a tree and thought it was a bit late to hibernate. on the other hand, maybe there are some baby squirrels on the way. in any case, the days when the daffodils bloom are the happiest for me, knowing that the dark of winter is truly over.
and i do love leeks :-)
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