“To be born in Wales, not with a silver spoon in your mouth, but with music in your blood and with poetry in your soul, is a privilege indeed.”
Brian Harris
Welcome to this week's CST 'Saint David's Day' Activities Page, celebrating all things Welsh.
To begin with, ask members what they like or love about Wales and the Welsh. Who was born and bred here? Are there any stories about growing up in Wales?
Has anyone a favourite place in Wales they would recommend others to visit?
What is Wales most famous for? It's mountains, countryside, castles, beaches, it's food or language?
Has anyone got a favourite Welsh celebrity? Why do they like them so much?
How would people try and explain what Wales is like to an American?
DAFFODILS
After Welcome and Introductions, hand each member a daffodil. Use it as a short Mindfulness practice. Ask members to examine the daffodil, it's shape, colour, texture, smell and so on. As they do so, read the following poem by Wordsworth. (Be aware of any risk that a member might taste or ingest their daffodil and observe more closely.)
"I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils."
– William Wordsworth (1815)
SOME WELSH PHRASES AND THEIR MEANINGS
Ask members to guess at the meanings of these common Welsh phrases and words ...
Cymru am byth - WALES FOR EVER
Croeso I Gymru - WELCOME TO WALES
Bore da - GOOD MORNING
Diolch yn fawr - THANK YOU VERY MUCH
Chwarae teg - FAIR PLAY
Iechyd da - GOOD HEALTH
Eglwys - CHURCH
Traeth - BEACH
Ysgol - SCHOOL
Heddlu - POLICE
Ysbyty - HOSPITAL
Hiraeth - HOMESICKNESS
Cariad - LOVE AFFECTION
Dwr - WATER
Bara - BREAD
Drws - DOOR
Ty bach - TOILET
Ych a fi - DISGUSTING
Cwtch - CUDDLE
A favourite saying on St David's Day is 'Gwnewch y pethau bychain' - do the little things. These were apparently St David's last words.
IDIOMS AND PROVERBS
Next, ask members to complete the following Welsh themed phrases ...
Land of - MY FATHERS / SONG
Severn - BRIDGE
The green green grass - OF HOME
Black sheep of - THE FAMILY
How green was - MY VALLEY
Under Milk - WOOD
Bread of - HEAVEN
Six - NATIONS
Grand - SLAM
Wooden - SPOON
Brecon - BEACONS
Prince of - WALES
Men of - HARLECH
Welsh - DRESSER
Love - SPOON
Welsh Border - COLLIE
Welsh - CORGI
Spitting - FEATHERS
HARP - on about something
Take a - LEEK
Red - DRAGON
Oggy Oggy Oggy - OI OI OI
And for fun ...
Whose coat is that - JACKET?
I'll be there now in a - MINUTE
How's it going - BUTT?
I'm not being funny - RIGHT
Where you - TO?
I'm not gonna lie - TO YOU
That is absolutely - BUZZING, HUMMING, MINGING
She's under the - DOCTOR
Poor - DAB
Tidy - LIKE
Cheers - DRIVE
This is cowing - LUSH
WELSH MUSIC & PICTURE QUIZ
Next, complete the music and picture quiz with members, taking time to share stories, sing along with songs and enjoy the photographs.
ROUND 1. Famous Welsh Places
1. Name this Italian styled village in North Wales?
Which cult TV series was filmed here, where Patrick McGoohan was chased by a giant balloon?
Bonus point if you know his number?