Monday 16 September 2019

16 MEDI 1400 REMEMBERED 2019 IN DESPAIR! WHAT CAN PATRIOTS DO ABOUT IT?



BRYN OWAIN TAFARN OUTSIDE BONTFAEN.


GREEN  AND WHITE "These are the colours in which the Black Prince, Edward of Woodstock, was to dress his Welsh contingent at Crécy in 1346: these men were, as D.L. Evans remarked, 'the first troops to appear on a continental battlefield in national uniform.' Thus, by the middle of the fourteenth century, green and white appear to have been understood as the national colours of Wales; they were to be used later by Henry Tudor as the field for the Red Dragon, and they remain to this day the colours of the national flag, upon which the Red Dragon is set."

"Throughout the Middle Ages the colour of the Dragon fluctuates between gold and red. This, like so much else, is a legacy from Geoffrey of Monmouth, for while the dragon of the Britons seen by Ambrosius is plainly red ('rubeus draco'), the one displayed by Uther Pendragon [legendary father of Arthur] is gold ('vexillum, aureus draco'). The princes of Gwynedd, whose family colours were red and gold, had no reason to prefer one colour to the other."

Jasper, son of Owain Tudor (along with his brother Edmund) used "a red blunt-tailed dragon" as crest and supporter to his arms and on his seal. He "campaigned long and hard, leading the Welsh Lancastrians against the Yorkist English king. Though repeatedly driven into hiding or exile, he showed great resilience and kept returning to the attack. He earned great praise from the poets ... Deio ap Ieuan Du (c.1460-80) refers to Jasper's patriotic struggle when he produced the line which was later to become famous as motto of the nation: 'Y draig coch, ddyry cychwyn' ('the Red dragon advances')."

Thus, side by side, Henry honored St. George of England, the Red Dragon of Wales, and the family arms of the Lancastrian house of Beaufort. Another chronicler tells of Henry's standard showing a Red Dragon passant, breathing flames, upon a field divided horizontally green and white, with a background of flames, white and red roses and golden fleur-de-lis."
"In 1807, after the union of the parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland, it was declared that 'a red dragon passant standing on a mound should be the King's badge for Wales'."
"... in 1953, Queen Elizabeth II decreed that the royal badge for Wales should be augmented, and to its red dragon there was added the famous motto 'Y ddraig goch ddyry cychwyn'. This augmented badge was placed on a white flag and flown over government buildings on appropriate occasions. But in 1958 the Gorsedd of Bards expressed the wish that the Red Dragon flag be recognised as the national flag of Wales, instead of this augmented badge. Accordingly, in 1959 Her Majesty commanded that in future 'only the Red Dragon on a green and white flag should be flown on Government buildings in Wales and in London where appropriate'. The augmented badge was to continue in use for other purposes, i.e. for its display as a badge in accordance with established heraldic procedure."

I have just been watching the recent BBC A History of Scotland presented by Neil Oliver. The programme displayed a dragon flag, which from what I could see had its tail presented to the staff but I'm unsure of how its head was pointed, e.g., was it regardant ? Neil Oliver was emphatic about it being a signal of giving no quarter and that it was a red dragon on white but the only reference I can dig up is the following which agrees with the facts stated in the programme but doesn't emblazon the flag. Since Edward 1st had just recently conquered Wales it is tempting to wonder whether this was a bunch of Welsh in his service...



WE NEED GWERIN OWAIN NOT POUND SHOP PATRIOTS

https://gwerinowain.blogspot.com/2011/05/croeso-welcome-to-continuing-gwerin.html

https://glyndwrramblers.blogspot.com/2011/06/hanes-glyndwr-introduction-to-pobl.html

https://coffadglyndwr.blogspot.com/2010/05/intro-post-to-encourage-active.html

SORRY TO SAY BUT OUR MAB DAROGAN WILL NOT RETURN WHILST SO MANY POUND SHOP PATRIOTS ABOUT, SO GUESS IT'S FIN?