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Enjoy this curated selection of theme-related dances for celebrations and holidays, or find a dance associated with a special calendar day, or EVEN your own birthday!
Mar 1
St. David's Day
Ddraig Goch (Red Dragon)
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"Cymru am byth" (Wales forever)
Get out your favorite St David's Day symbol for any dancing tonight, which might be a traditional leek, a tulip, or the red dragon of Wales!
Celebrate the national day of Wales with this 3 couple reel that might look like a friendly dragon chase in the sky — or perhaps the Welsh dragon stretching his wings.
The Red Dragon of Wales — Y Ddraig Goch — comes to us from very old stories. He appears in the medieval Welsh tales known as the Mabinogion, and in early chronicles like the Historia Brittonum, where he already stood as a symbol of the Britons. Later, Geoffrey of Monmouth told the famous tale of Merlin seeing a red dragon battling a white one — the red for the Britons, the white for the Saxons — a story of endurance and identity.
Over the centuries, that dragon became the emblem of Welsh pride and resilience, and in 1959 he was officially placed on the national flag! 💚 🤍 ❤️ 🐉 🏴
Ddraig Goch (Red Dragon)
March 1 is Saint David's Day, the patron saint of Wales.
The flag of Wales (Welsh: Baner Cymru or Y Ddraig Goch, meaning "The Red Dragon") consists of a red dragon passant on a green and white field.
The flag incorporates the Red Dragon of Cadwaladr, King of Gwynedd, along with the Tudor colours of green and white.
The oldest known use of the dragon to represent Wales is from the Historia Brittonum, written around 830, which describes a struggle between two serpents deep underground, which prevents King Vortigern from building a stronghold. This story was later adapted into a prophecy made by the wizard Myrddin (or Merlin) of a long fight between a red dragon and a white dragon.
Besides resident dragons, Wales' wildlife is typical of Britain but with some distinctions. Because of its long coastline, Wales hosts a variety of seabirds including gannets, Manx shearwater, puffins, kittiwakes, shags and razorbills. Birds of prey include the merlin, hen harrier and the red kite, a national symbol of Welsh wildlife. Today, mammals include shrews, voles, badgers, otters, stoats, weasels, hedgehogs and fifteen species of bat!
Two species of small rodent, the yellow-necked mouse and the dormouse, are of special Welsh note being found at the historically undisturbed border area.
Click the 15th century depiction of this battle of the white and red dragon for more on this draconian legend.
And for a video of the Scottish Flowers dancing "Y Ddraig Goch" at the 14th Highland Gathering in Peine, click the video below.
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
