Happy St David's Day

[julesjones]

The Google icon reminds me that it is St David's Day. A few years ago predatrix and I wrote a little something in the Syndicate universe set on St Patrick's Day, with Vaughan sulking about how nobody ever remembers St David's Day:


"Remind me again what culture this all refers to?" Allard asked, picking up a shamrock-shaped beermat and putting it back down again.

"Irish. It's an old Earth thing, I think," she said.

He paid for the green beer, at least reassured that it would taste like beer.

Back at the table, Vaughan had pretty much the expression Allard thought was on his own face.

"I know, I know. They're not even from Dendrotriffidus IV."

"That's not what's bothering me."

"Oh?"

"Bloody Irish. Everybody thinks the Irish are cute. Everybody wants to shag the Irish."

"Actually I want to shag the Welsh," said Allard. Long experience was leading him to head off one of Vaughan's rants before it built up a full head of steam.

The gambit failed. "St Patrick's Day. Everybody loves St Patrick's Day. Everybody drinks green beer on St Patrick's Day..."

"I'm only drinking green beer out of a choice of 'green beer' or 'no beer'," Allard said. "I'd have been much happier with normal beer that didn't make me look either alien or poncy."

"Everybody claims to be Irish even if their last Irish ancestor was two fucking millennia ago."

Allard remembered that he'd read a book suggesting the Welsh were good at keeping chips on their shoulders. He did not think it politic to remark on this.

"Every bloody place we go they celebrate St Patrick's Day. Even aliens celebrate St Patrick's Day. And tell you they're Oirish, really, you know. Nobody ever celebrates St David's Day, but everybody celebrates St Patrick's Day. Except for the real, actual Irish themselves, of course."

Allard picked the relevant detail out of all that. "I take it St David's Day is the Welsh equivalent."

"Festooned with leeks and daffodils, yes." Vaughan sulked. "Buckets of hwyl and gloomy Methodism all over the place. No wonder it isn't sexy even if we have better singing voices."

"I could try decorating you with a daffodil on the relevant day," Allard suggested. "What is it, by the way?"


The complete story is on my website. It involves quite a lot of Allard demonstrating that he'd rather shag the Welsh.

Comments

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Happy St David's day to you too!

I was planning to go out later and photograph something Welsh, though I'm not sure what yet. The daffodils are very behind this year.

[julesjones]

The bulbs here are very behind, but then I wondered if they're not behind, they're just back to what used to be normal twenty years ago.

I'm now feeling the urge to go and buy a pot from the greengrocer's.

[treva2007.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm proud to say I actually noted it was St. David's Day today. Not something most folks in the U.S. do note.

[julesjones]

I had the impression that your typical USian had never heard of St David's Day. :-) Not that I usually remember it, in spite of being exceedingly few generations away from Welsh Methodists on one side of the family.

[treva2007.livejournal.com]

I confess that it was only because it was on the calendar. And I suppose it was on there because a flower company gave it to me and I expect they look for any reason to have you buy flowers.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

I'm celebrating by having breakfast in bed listening to streaming radio of a friend's Celtic folk music program (http://www.kzyx.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=7&Itemid=9) which is doing an all-Welsh program today. The show doesn't normally play much Welsh music at all -- dunno if we have to wait until St. David's day comes around again to the show's "every second Sunday" schedule to have it happen again. But I shall enjoy the moment (and tease the dj later about his pronunciation).

[julesjones]

"Oak and Thorn"? Used to listen to that occasionally, although less so now.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

I confess it's the first time I've actively listened to the show (despite getting the regular nudges from Tim (albionwood) on his LJ. Damn does he have a nice radio voice!