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.