On St David’s Day Welshmen are apt to make speeches. For once in the year the virtue of speaking Welsh is generally conceded. One of the objections to giving much time to Welsh in the schools used to be its lack of ‘commercial value’: Welsh, it was argued reasonably enough, brought no dividends. John Capgrave, in his Legenda Nova Historiæ Angliæ, tells a story which suggests that Welsh may be very useful indeed:

‘A certain Welshman coming from the diocese of Menevia was captured by the Saracens, and was put in chains together with a German. The Welshman cried aloud day and night in his own language to St David, “Dewi, wared!”, which is to say, “David, come to my aid!” And, wonderful to relate, he suddenly found himself restored to his own country. Making this known to Gervase, at that time the bishop of those parts, he was taken into the dwelling of the latter on account of so notable a miracle. But his companion the German, considered to be privy to what had happened, was submitted to beatings and placed in even stricter custody.