Daffodils and St David’s Day

Warm Up

March 1st is St David’s day, the patron Saint of Wales. How do you think the Welsh
celebrate this day?

You probably didn't guess the right answer. What actually happens is that children
wear two of Wales' symbols to school; leeks and daffodils, and that's about it.
Listening for General Understanding

We now know that daffodils and leeks are symbols of Wales. Look at the six pictures
below. How do you think they are connected? Speculate together and then listen and
check.
 C1 LEVEL

Listening for Detailed Understanding

Fill in the gaps with 1-3 words from the audio.

1. Before the daffodil became a national symbol for Wales, the leek had held that position for
__________.

2. When fighting against __________, Welsh soldiers were instructed by St David to

wear leeks, according to local legend.

3. The Welsh word for daffodil (cenhinen Bedr) means “__________”.

4. A __________ of the UK popularised wearing daffodils on St David's day.

5. The daffodil was promoted by Lloyd George as a symbol of __________ in newspaper

articles.

6. The ancient Greek character Narcissus fell in love with his reflection which he saw in a
pool __________.

7. According to a poet, daffodils are as beautiful as __________.

8. The Prophet Muhammed said that the flowers of the Narcissus are the food of
__________.

Synonyms

Match the words below to the highlighted words in the text.

Attracting attention
Having the same name
Ignored
Linguistics
Not showing pride
Self love
Story
Strong smell / taste
To become heartbroken
Valley
Speaking

1. Are there many daffodils in the area where you live?

2. How do you normally eat leeks?

3. What flowers are symbolic of where you live?

4. Do you know of any other cultures, which use flowers as a national symbol?

5. As you are not Welsh, you probably don’t think the daffodil is the most beautiful flower in
the world. In your opinion, which flower could be compared to the beauty of Marilyn Monroe
as was mentioned in the listening?

6. Before this lesson, did you know about the relationship between the ancient Greek
character Narcissus and the flower?

7. Do you agree that social media is turning people into narcissists?

8. Debate: selfie sticks are for narcissists only

Man: The Welsh already had a long standing association with a plant, the less showy and
more pungent leek, which had been a national emblem for Wales for hundreds of years.
Legend has it that St David, the patron saint of Wales, ordered his Welsh soldiers to identify
themselves in a battle against the Saxons, which took place in a leek field by wearing one of
the plants in their helmets. But the poor old leek was given short shrift in the 19th century
cultural revival. Why the Daffodil was chosen above other plants all came down to
semantics.

Woman: But why the Daffodil and not another flower? Well, quite simply because there was
some confusion with the Welsh language. The leek and the Daffodil have the same Welsh
name, which is "cenhinen". The only difference is the Daffodil is "cenhinen Bedr", which is
Peter’s Leek in Welsh. So it was quite an obvious flower to choose. They needed more
symbols, more wealth; strong images. And because of that confusion between the leek and
the daffodil, the Daffodil emerged as a symbol during that period.

Man: Maybe it was just that the Daffodil made a better buttonhole than a leak. But this is
when the humble Daffodil is thrust from a shady mossy woodland dell into the glaring lights
of the corridors of power. The idea of wearing a "daf" on some David's day, which is March
1st to signify Welshness was ceded by no less a person than the Prime Minister himself.

Woman: As a sort of symbol to wear on St David's Day that was something that Lloyd
George, the only sort of Welsh Prime Minister, had popularised really because he quite often
would go to events, wearing a daffodil. And that was around March 1st. And it... he also
wrote several articles for newspapers, promoting the daffodil as a national symbol and
describing why the daffodil should be used as a symbol of identity.
Man: Our fascination with the daffodil, whether we're Welsh or not, goes back thousands of
years. It's frequently linked with the ancient Greek tale of the self obsessed Narcissus, who
so loved his own reflection he couldn't stop staring at himself in a pool of water. Unable to
reach the object of his self love, he pined away, and we added the word narcissism to our
vocabulary. Where he died daffodils grew; their bowed heads gazing like their namesake
into the water. In Christianity, daffodils are also known as lent lilies as they flower during the
season of waiting for Easter Sunday. And are symbols of hope and resurrection. More
recently, the poet Dame Edith Sitwell compared the beauty of Marilyn Monroe to a daffodil.
The associations are many and varied throughout our history. In the Islamic faith, The
Prophet Muhammad said, "He that has two cakes of bread, let him sell one of them for some
flowers of the Narcissus. For bread is food for the body, but Narcissus is food of the soul".

C2 LEVEL

Listening for Detailed Understanding

Fill in the gaps with 1-3 words from the audio.

1. Before the daffodil became a national symbol for Wales, the leek had held that position for
__________.

2. When fighting __________ in a leek field, Welsh soldiers were instructed by St David
to wear leeks, according to local legend.

3. The Welsh word for daffodil (cenhinen Bedr) means “__________”.

4. Having been popularised by a Prime Minister, the daffodil was symbolically and
dramatically transferred from a quiet wooded valley and placed in the __________.

5. The daffodil was promoted by Lloyd George as a symbol __________ in newspaper

articles.

6. The ancient Greek character Narcissus fell in love with his reflection on stumbling upon it
in a __________.

7. According to __________, daffodils are as beautiful as Marilyn Munroe.

8. The Prophet Muhammed said that the flowers of the Narcissus are the food
__________.

Synonyms

Match the words below to the highlighted words in the text.

 showy / pungent / given short shrift / semantics / humble /
dell / tale / pined away / narcissism / namesake

Attracting attention
Having the same name
Ignored
Linguistics
Not showing pride
Self love
Story
Strong smell / taste
To become heartbroken
Valley

Speaking

1. Are there many daffodils in the area where you live?

2. How do you normally eat leeks?

3. What flowers are symbolic of where you live?

4. Do you know of any other cultures, which use flowers as a national symbol?

5. As you are not Welsh, you probably don’t think the daffodil is the most beautiful flower in
the world. In your opinion, which flower could be compared to the beauty of Marilyn Monroe
as was mentioned in the listening?

6. Before this lesson, did you know about the relationship between the ancient Greek
character Narcissus and the flower?

7. Do you agree that social media is turning people into narcissists?

8. Debate: selfie sticks are for narcissists only

Man: The Welsh already had a long standing association with a plant, the less showy and
more pungent leek, which had been a national emblem for Wales for hundreds of years.
Legend has it that St David, the patron saint of Wales, ordered his Welsh soldiers to identify
themselves in a battle against the Saxons, which took place in a leek field by wearing one
of the plants in their helmets. But the poor old leek was given short shrift in the 19th century
cultural revival. Why the Daffodil was chosen above other plants all came down to
semantics.

Woman: But why the Daffodil and not another flower? Well, quite simply because there was
some confusion with the Welsh language. The leek and the Daffodil have the same Welsh
name, which is "cenhinen". The only difference is the Daffodil is "cenhinen Bedr", which is
Peter’s Leek in Welsh. So it was quite an obvious flower to choose. They needed more
symbols, more wealth; strong images. And because of that confusion between the leek and
the daffodil, the Daffodil emerged as a symbol during that period.

Man: Maybe it was just that the Daffodil made a better buttonhole than a leak. But this is
when the humble Daffodil is thrust from a shady mossy woodland dell into the glaring lights
of the corridors of power. The idea of wearing a "daf" on some David's day, which is March
1st to signify Welshness was ceded by no less a person than the Prime Minister himself.

Woman: As a sort of symbol to wear on St David's Day that was something that Lloyd
George, the only sort of Welsh Prime Minister, had popularised really because he quite often
would go to events, wearing a daffodil. And that was around March 1st. And it... he also
wrote several articles for newspapers, promoting the daffodil as a national symbol and
describing why the daffodil should be used as a symbol of identity.

Man: Our fascination with the daffodil, whether we're Welsh or not, goes back thousands of
years. It's frequently linked with the ancient Greek tale of the self obsessed Narcissus, who
so loved his own reflection he couldn't stop staring at himself in a pool of water. Unable to
reach the object of his self love, he pined away, and we added the word narcissism to our
vocabulary. Where he died daffodils grew; their bowed heads gazing like their namesake
into the water. In Christianity, daffodils are also known as lent lilies as they flower during the
season of waiting for Easter Sunday. And are symbols of hope and resurrection. More
recently, the poet Dame Edith Sitwell compared the beauty of Marilyn Monroe to a daffodil.
The associations are many and varied throughout our history. In the Islamic faith, The
Prophet Muhammad said, "He that has two cakes of bread, let him sell one of them for some
flowers of the Narcissus. For bread is food for the body, but Narcissus is food of the soul".