March the First Trivia Quiz

Answer: Britain's smallest city

St. Davids is located in Pembrokeshire and qualified as a city due to its impressive cathedral. With a permanent population of under 2,000 (actually noted as 1,348 in the 2021 census) it is easily the smallest city in the UK. During the tourist season, the number of people dramatically increases as Pembrokeshire, with its beaches, cliffs and wildlife, is a popular holiday destination.

Other Welsh cities include Cardiff and Swansea and other 'saintly' places are St. Albans and St. Helens, although although only the first of these is a city. There is no castle in St. Davids either, although Pembroke isn't too far away.

Answer: In the sixth century AD

Saint David is believed to have been born near St. Bride's Bay in Pembrokeshire around 520 AD with his mother being Saint Non, daughter of a local king. As well as the city named for David, there are remains of a well dedicated to Saint Non, with the water said to have the power of healing, and a ruined chapel bearing her name on the cliffs near St. David's.

David was a renowned preacher and travelled throughout Wales, the southwestern areas of England and into Brittany, France. He is said to have visited Jerusalem and the cathedral in St. David's has a stone reputed to have been brought from there by Saint David.

Answer: Grace Jones

Although Jones is one of the most common surnames in Wales, Grace is not from the country having been born in Jamaica. Famous Welsh singers with the surname are Aled and Tom, although the latter's real name is Woodward.

Bonnie Tyler has had hit records such as 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' and 'Lost in France' and was born in a village near Neath. Cerys Matthews was born in Cardiff and came to fame as the lead singer of the band Catalonia. Bryn Terfel, from Caernarfonshire, is an opera singer with a deep voice in the bass-baritone range - his real surname is Jones.

Answer: Rugby Union

Although all these sports are played in Wales, rugby union is the one primarily associated with the country and in which there has been most success. In the 1970s the Welsh team was all conquering with players like Barry John, J P R Williams and Gareth Davies being household names even in England.

The three men listed in the question are just a few of the Welsh captains over the years. John Dawes captained from 1968 until 1971, Stephen Jones was in charge between 2003 and 2007 while Sam Warburton was more recent, being Wales' captain from 2011 until 2016.

Answer: Daffodil

David Lloyd George is the man who proposed the daffodil as a Welsh symbol when he was Prime Minister of the UK. Daffodils are a common flower in Wales (and the UK) and are in bloom in the spring when St. David's Day falls.

The Welsh name for the daffodil is Cenhinen Bedr, which means Peter's leek - I can't see the resemblance myself. The wild daffodils are much smaller than the cultivated ones seen in gardens and are paler in colour.

Answer: Black

In heraldic terms, the colours are described as sable and or, and the flag is sometimes shown with the colours reversed - a black cross on a gold or yellow background. The flag seems to be a relatively recent (twentieth century) development rather than historic, although it is derived from the coat of arms of the bishopric of St. David's.

The flag may also owe something to the Cornish flag, that of St. Piran, which is a white cross on a black field.

Answer: Leek

The leek as a Welsh symbol does have a much longer history than the flower. The usual explanation is that it relates to a battle of the Hundred Years War, between England and France. The Welsh archers were the strongest and most successful part of the English army and the history of the leeks comes from the Battle of Crécy in 1346. The fighting took place in a field growing leeks, so the vegetable became associated with the Welsh.

Shakespeare mentions the tradition in his play Henry V in a conversation between the king and Captain Fluellen - the latter being a Welshman (if the name hasn't already given that away) refers to the leek being worn on 'St. Tavy's Day'. The leek is incorporated in the cap badges of Welsh regiments, such as the Welsh Guards.

Answer: Wood

Lovespoons are made from wood which is carved into various designs usually incorporating a heart as a declaration of love. The tradition dates back to at least the seventeenth century with a spoon from the 1660s on display at a folk museum near Cardiff. It is likely that they are earlier than that, though. Other designs include bells, horseshoes and crosses.

Lovespoons are also a tradition in parts of Scandinavia and other regions of Europe. The spoons have no practical purpose and are usually given as gifts following the birth of a child or on a wedding anniversary.

Answer: Chepstow

Conwy Castle is on the north coast of Wales, one of the many built on the orders of King Edward I in the late thirteenth century as part of his efforts to subdue the Welsh people. Beaumaris Castle is on the island of Anglesey off the coast of north west Wales and Harlech Castle in Gwynedd. Both Conwy and Harlech were left in ruins during the English Civil War while Beaumaris was never completed.

Chepstow Castle is in Monmouthshire, overlooking the River Wye and dates from the Norman invasion of Britain in the eleventh century.

Answer: Red

Y ddraig goch means the red dragon in Welsh (goch means red) and has long been the symbol of Wales. A large dragon appears on a flag of two horizontal bands with white on the top and green on the bottom.

In myth, as told by Geoffrey of Monmouth, the red dragon forms part of the story of Merlin, the wizard connected to the court of King Arthur. The Celtic lord Vortigern wanted to build a castle but the walls kept falling down. Merlin told him it was due to two sleeping dragons underneath the site and when the site was excavated the dragons awoke and fought with the red dragon triumphing. According to Merlin, the red dragon represented the Britons while the white was the invading Saxons. While the dragons are probably mythical, there is evidence of building on the site so maybe this is a grain of truth in there somewhere.