St Dwynwen’s Day: Welsh Valentine’s

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This weekend people across Wales will be celebrating St Dwynwen’s Day. It’s basically the Welsh version of Valentine’s Day, and has grown in popularity massively over the last few years. So we’ll be taking a look at why we celebrate it and how you can take part.

Transcript

00:00Oh yes, I don't know, the Santa's doing one. It's been going on for a long, long time,

00:09yes. I mean, we've got cards here and we've had quite a few people actually come in and

00:16buy them. So it's not everybody knows about it, but it is slowly getting more and more

00:21popular each year, I think, yes. But it's been around for a long time and people have

00:26been celebrating it for decades and more. But it's getting more and more popular, I

00:31think, now.

00:32There is a massive growth in celebrating Welsh culture and what's in your heart, that kind

00:37of hereith, you know. So we've tried to mix in a bit of Welsh language, you'll notice

00:43on the shop floor, there's some bilingual signage about. And we've actually got a sneaky

00:50new launch that's exclusive to Wales. And yeah, we're really doing the most to celebrate

00:55what it is to be Welsh here.

00:57Liz is one of the managers of Lush in Cardiff, and she says that she's happy her stores got

01:01involved and it's great to be able to celebrate the story of St. Doinwen and celebrate the

01:05loveliest of Welsh festivities. The story of the 5th century saint is a classic love

01:10tale that can be told through the ages.

01:13She's one of the daughters of Brecon Bohiniog, who was the king. And she was betrothed to

01:18marry someone she didn't want to marry. So she ran away to the forest where she prayed

01:23and an angel came down to grant her three wishes. And her wishes were to dethore, I

01:29think it's Maenor, the partner that she didn't want to marry, that all true lovers' wishes

01:36be fulfilled, and that she never had to marry. And she opened a convent on Anglesey, and

01:42you can see the ruins there today still. But a lot of people celebrate, instead of Valentine's

01:47Day, St. Doinwen instead. So we're kind of just lining up with that as a Cardiff store.

01:54On St. Doinwen's Day, just like Valentine's Day, people love to give their loved ones

01:58gifts. And one of the classics here in Wales is a proper Welsh love spoon that are only

02:02found here. I'm here at Castle Welsh Crafts, finding out all about the history of love

02:07spoons and how they link to St. Doinwen's Day.

02:10Love spoons are completely unique to Wales. You won't find them anywhere else now. And

02:16they're also to show love. So if a young man wanted to show his affection for a young

02:22lady or if they wanted to get engaged, then he would carve a love spoon for her. But it

02:27has to be made out of one piece of wood. And then whatever he carves is what he wishes

02:32to say to her. So if there's two hearts together, they're united in love. If there's a Celtic

02:37knot, it means everlasting love. If there's a chain, that means he's going to be faithful.

02:43The dragon is also strength and to protect. And the daffodil is for hope and affection

02:52and growth in a relationship. So yes, whatever he'd like to say, he carves.

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