Flag of Wales
March 1 is St. David’s Day, patron saint of Wales. St. Patrick, patron saint of neighboring Ireland is much better known. He must have had a better press agent.
The truth is, I never heard of St. David while growing up in Lime Springs. I only learned of him much later, probably while talking with my uncle, Rev. R. Lewis Jones, or looking at one of the Welsh newspapers he had.
With all the Welsh in our town, wouldn’t you think it would have been more prominent? (The fact is, I never saw a Welsh flag in LS, either.)
I think I know why. Back in the first half of the 1900s, most of those of Welsh descent whom I knew were first or second generation Americans by birth. Their goal, and that of their parents, was to become an American!
They had no intention of bringing their old-country living with them to the New World. In fact, that is why many came: to escape or leave behind the difficulties of their homeland. When the got here, they wanted to become Americans and Americanized as soon as possible.
That meant, among other things, learning English (although my great grandfather never got around to that,) and leaving the old ways, including celebrations, behind.
I remember Margaret Jones telling me that it was not pleasant being teased for being “a red-headed Welshman.” There was yet another reason for becoming “American” as quickly as one could.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if today’s immigrants yearned to become Americanized with the same enthusiasm!
But maybe our forefathers went just a bit too far. Many, even those of Welsh descent who grew up in Lime Springs, are unaware, I’m sure, of even the slightest aspects of their heritage. Why not celebrate St. David’s Day? It would be an annual reminder of the land of our forefathers and the sacrifices they made to become Americans—so we could be born Americans!