Wednesday, February 01, 2017

D is for Delilah and Dragon

Let me tell you first that I am Welsh. I come from Wales, a country once described to me as 'that bit on the side of England'. A proud would-be independent country with its own language, traditions and flag. A country whose mood can change in sync with the fortunes of its rugby team.

We can get very worked up at an international rugby game.

And we do love to have our allegiance clearly shown on our faces. This is me a few years ago in Cardiff for a game. You can tell it's taken before the match as my Welsh dragon is not yet smudged by tears - of joy or misery? Nobody remembers the score afterwards.
The dragon has been associated with Wales since Roman times when the cavalry were believed to have used a dragon emblem on their pennants. The dragon was later used by Welsh kings to symbolise their authority and later formed part of the Tudor monarchs' coat of arms. The flag of Wales as it is now was officially recognised in 1959.
Something else that features at Welsh rugby matches is the singing of a song made famous by Tom Jones, Delilah. Released in 1968 it tells the story of an unfaithful woman and her boyfriend's response - murder. (Interestingly there have been moves to have the singing of Delilah at rugby matches banned because it legitimises violence towards women. Police reports indicate that numbers of assaults on women increase after an international - regardless of who's won.)

When we travelled across the world two years ago to visit Malaysia and Vietnam I decided to take a dragon with me. The idea was that I would take photos of her in various locations so my grandchildren could follow our travels. Unreliable internet connection meant I wasn't able to maintain a complete log but nevertheless the dragon, whom I named Delilah, did get to see quite a lot of the world.

Here she is sunning herself on a beach in the beautiful Perhentian islands.
Other entries in ABC Wednesday can be found here.

8 comments:

MelodyK said...

Your origin is something to be proud of isn't it ;-)

Have a nice ABC-Wednesday / _ Week
♫ M e l ☺ d y ♫ (abc=w=team)
http://melodymusic.nl/abc-wednesday-20d/
(want to take a preview at the new url starting round 21 ? http://abcwednesday.wordpress.com)

Trubes said...

Welcome to ABCW Liz,
This is my second attempt to write a message
to you so fingers crossed this time.
I enjoyed reading all about Delilah and her Asian trip.
Also I am a keen Rugby fan but love watching the Welsh team play so I support Wales
when they're not playing England.
I love hearing the Welsh fans singing Delilah....pure magic!
For those of you who don't know Liz, she is a published author and I have a signed copy
of her very funny novel called 'This time Next Year' all about the trials and
tribulations of a newly divorced lady
called Allis Turner.
Well worth a read most suited when relaxing on a sun lounger, G*T in one hand and book
in the other Cheers, Bonne Sante', Prost, Proost, Buena Salud... (apolo's if I've got the spelling wrong )

Best regards,
Di.
ABCW team.

Su-sieee! Mac said...

Very cool idea taking Delilah with you on your travel. :-)

Roger Owen Green said...

nice design!

ROG, ABCW

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

A whole stadium singing Bread of Heaven sounds wonderful .Delilah's more Magaluf .

mrsnesbitt said...

Oh Liz - you have joined in and there was I missing a round. Gosh - made me think.
Great post - looks like I am back in.

Anne in Oxfordshire said...

I have a copy of Liz's amazing book too. Loved it. :-)

Leslie: said...

I take pride in my 1/4 Welsh ancestry and LOVE the country and people.