It was built up as a formidable quest for the Taff. The haggis hordes were to add us to their plate of succulent delights.'Tweren'tto be though as the sons of Cymru, cockles aflow,ran amok in the first half. Scotland didn't have a clue even when Wales were reduced to 13 men.

The second half was a very quiet affair where even the commentators started to pick their teeth. Thoughts of pints were in everyones mind 30 minutes before no side was called. And so it was a 24 - 6 victory to Wales.

Meanwhile the Saxon dealt a tremendous blow to the Azzurri. A proposed spaghetti feast turned into a boiled beef and carrot trouncing that could makeMichelangelo paint bugger on the Sistine chapel ceiling.

The press have eyed up the Grand Slam in this Royal Wedding year already. There's the small matter of getting past The Dublin Bay Prawns 15, Haggis untied and frogs legs before that can happen.

In the run up to this years Saint David's Day Parade AmeriCymru spoke to Gwenno Dafydd Welsh Actress, Singer, Writer and Broadcaster and former Partnership Consultant and Representative at NSDDP. Gwenno also co- wrote the official Saint David's Day song Cenwch y Clychau i Dewi'.

AmeriCymru: Hi Gwenno and many thanks for agreeing to be interviewed by AmeriCymru. You have been involved in the organization of the Annual St. David's Day Parade for some years now. Care to explain for our readers how you became involved in this project?

Gwenno: I wasn't in the very first National Saint David's Day Parade (NSDDP) in 2004 which was quite a small event of a couple of hundred attendees and little publicity. I did hear about it afterwards and decided as a very patriotic Welsh woman that I had to be there the next year, which I was.

AmeriCymru: You also wrote the official St David's Day Parade song 'Cenwch y Clychau i Dewi'. Care to tell us a little more about the song and in particular where readers can go to hear it online or purchase sheet music?

Gwenno: In the 2005 NSDDP I was taking part and ringing one of the six bells (reproductions) of Saint David's bells that had been made for the occasion and suddenly, as we were just approaching Cardiff Castle at the top end of Queen Street, I felt as if Id been struck by a bolt of lightning (literally!!!) I just had this feeling that I had to create a song, an anthem that could be sung by children, adults, brass bands and choirs.

I got really excited about this idea but didnt say anything to anyone. I just went away and wrote a verse and a chorus in both Welsh and English and took it to my song-writing partner at the time, Heulwen Thomas, a peripatetic violin teacher and told her what I had in mind. She wrote the music, I took it to the NSDDP Committee and in the 2006 Parade we performed the song in front of the National Museum of Wales at the end of the Parade.

The NSDDP Committee were delighted with the response we had with the song and asked if it could be sung the following year. They were trying to find ways of engaging schools and children in the parade and as I had worked as a supply teacher for fifteen years and also did a lot of Directing Theatre in Education, they invited me on the Committee as the Voluntary Schools Liaison Officer and since 2006 I have been responsible for engaging the schools and their pupils.

I have also been a professional broadcaster and performer for the last thirty years and I saw a way of using the song which I had co-written, as a way of levering a lot of publicity in the media which it did. When the children came on board was the year the parade grew phenomenally from a few hundred to well over 1,500. This growth meant that we had to ask for help from Cardiff City Council and the National Assembly for Wales as we were all volunteers. And it was all becoming too much for us as volunteers to organise.

In November 2009 I resigned from the NSDDP Committee as I was finding that the work to promote, lobby for additional funding, engaging interest and organising was taking over my own self-employed life so much so that I wasnt able to earn a living.

However, last year I was approached by Cardiff City Council and employed to bring the children on board. There were at least 900 schoolchildren present and probably another 600 including parents and friends. I also presented the Council with a very comprehensive report which would enable them to organise the childrens participation from now on from within their own Education Department.

Here are details and photographs of some of these events. You can also hear the youtube of me singing the song which I recorded as part of the Songs of our Nation project last year. www.gwennodafydd.co.uk/4html

The song made history by being the very first Welsh medium song to be sold as a download from a website and it was launched by World famous singer Bryn Terfel and Tim Rhys Evans Choir Master of Only Men Aloud, award winning choir. There are four versions of the song available piano and voice, SATB, (Mixed Voice Choir) male voice and female voice. http://www.ylolfa.com/dangos.php?ISBN=9781847711342

AmeriCymru: You were also involved with the design of the 'Pembrokeshire Banner'. Can you tell us more?

Gwenno: Whilst I was still on the NSDDP Committee we were looking for ways to engage more people and one of our members had seen that the Saint Patricks Day Parade in Birmingham had a big focus on County participation. Another of the Committee had talked about getting the old Colliery Lodge Banners involved so I came up with an idea of having County Banners for every Welsh County so that people could walk behind their County Banner every Saint Davids Day and even if they didnt come to Cardiff for the NSDDP there would be something that would link them to the Mother parade in Cardiff. The banner is based on the words and images of some of the lyrics ain the song and also symbols of Saint Davids Cathedral. It seems fitting that the first County Banner should come from Pembrokeshire, spiritual home of our Nations Patron Saint and also where I grew up. The full story about the banner and beautiful and inspiring images can be found here: http://www.fishguardartssociety.org.uk/ThePembrokeshireBanner.html

The Banner is now permanently on display in Saint Davids Cathedral and was blessed by The Right Reverend Wyn Evans, Bishop of Saint Davids in a Homecoming Ceremony attended by Fishguard Choir, Goodwick Brass Band, Civil Dignitaries, the makers and their friends and families last February.

Although the National Saint Davids Day Parade happens in Cardiff every year, the only thing that is really mobile about the parade is the song and banners which can be re-created anywhere in the world by schools, Welsh ex-patriot groups, choirs and chapels.

I was recently invited to become an Ambassador for Cardiff in recognition of all the voluntary work I have done in developing Saint Davids Day Celebrations in Wales and further afield. I would like to develop this role long term to becoming the Saint Davids Day Ambassador for Wales working towards developing world-wide celebrations of our Nations Patron Saint, Dewi Sant.

AmeriCymru: Do you think March 1st should be, or ever will be , a national holiday in Wales?

Gwenno: Back in the sixties all Welsh schools had a half day for Saint Davids Day with the Eisteddfod in the morning and the afternoon free. I think this would be a good compromise so that people would be able to go along to the Parade in the afternoon.

Image by Ben Bore (Rhys) / Rhys Wynne License CC Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5

AmeriCymru: OK...prediction time. How many people are going to turn out for the parade this year and what's the weather going to be like?

Gwenno: No idea how many people will be there this year. I do hope it will be successful as a huge amount of peoples hard work has gone into it over the last few years and it would be very sad for those efforts to have been wasted. I am no longer involved in the practical organisation as it was just too time consuming and I gave several years service during which time it grew from a few hundred to many many thousands so I feel I have made my contribution on one level. I will continue to develop my own projects including the two Facebook groups I have set up and am focusing my efforts on developing the idea of encouraging and inspiring others in Wales and world-wide to become really proactive about their Saint David's Day celebrations.

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?

Gwenno: Yes use the two Facebook groups I have set up Celebrate Saint Davids Day and National Saint Davids Day Parade to let others know how you intend to celebrate Saint Davids Day. Get a copy of the song and sing it, make a banner either based on the Pembrokeshire Banner or on your own design, lets grow these celebrations world-wide and make all those who came originally from this tiny little speck of a Nation realise that it is a very special place and we need to make a big noise about it. Come here on holiday, go and visit the Pembrokeshire Banner in Saint Davids Cathedral and remind yourself what a privilege it was for you to have Welsh blood coursing through your veins.

Dydd Dewi Sant Hapus/Happy Saint David's Day

Check out our Events page for ideas and events to help you mark the occasion.

Please feel free to add your St. Davids Day greeting in the comments boxes below:-

If you, your school, choir, church or dinner wants to sing the Saint Davids Day song which has already been performed in Ontario, Patagonia, Vancouver, Disneyland Paris, the Houses of Parliament, Llandaff and Saint Davids Cathedral, by choirs and schools throughout Wales then you can buy a manuscript copy online from: http://www.ylolfa.com/dangos.php?ISBN=9781847711342 SATB, Male Voice, Female Voice and Piano and Voice versions are available.

More info about the St David's Day Song and Pembrokeshire Banner here. www.gwennodafydd.co.uk/4.html

Cenwch y Clychau i Dewi - Piano a llais by Gwenno Dafydd a Heulwen Thomas, published by Y Lolfa
www.ylolfa.com Chwilio'r catalog | Search the catalogue,Y Lolfa - Welsh Books. Buy online: books in Welsh and English for adults, children, Welsh learners and visitors to Wales from Wales' leading printers and publishers.

Reprinted with permission from David Western's blog , all material 2011, David Western --

Well after the downer tone of my recent blog, I am happy to say that all is well again in the lovespoon world and that good things have happened in threes....which makes a very welcome change from the usual 'bad things in threes' that seem so much more common.First, I am delighted to say that the unpaid lovespoon situation has been happily resolved! The cheque has arrived, my 100% record is back on track and my faith in humanity has been restored! So although the situation definitely had some down moments, in the end it has all worked out.

Next, I am thrilled that my "Legend of Taliesin" lovespoon is now on display at the National History Museum of Wales at St Fagans near Cardiff. For me it is an absolute thrill to have a piece of my art on display in the very institution which inspired my passion many, many, many years ago! St Fagans, as it is more commonly known, is a true gem in the Welsh crown and is a world class museum of history and culture. Their collection of historical lovespoons is unrivalled and I feel very honoured to have my work be a small part of it. I also want to congratulate fellow carvers Mike Davies and Sion Llewellyn whose spoons are also on display!

Finally, my book publisher, ;Fox Chapel Publishing , have generously offered three copies of my book to the eventual winners of our upcoming Left Coast Eisteddfod "Help design the lovespoon" competition!! This year we will be soliciting help to design the lovespoon which we use as a draw prize incentive to help raise funds in support of our event!

This year we want YOU, yes, YOU, to help us design the 2011 West Coast Eisteddfod lovespoon. As you can see on this year's spoon sketch, below, three circular spaces have been left blank and it is our hope that they will be filled in by supporters of our Eisteddfod.

We welcome Americymru members, Welsh society members, school kids, enthusiastic artists and poets, lovespoon carver wannabies, people who have no connection to Wales at all but wouldn't mind having their idea included on our lovespoon... in short, anyone who wants to have a bash at it!! Enter one, two, three or more ideas, we're open to anything and everything! Not an artist? No big deal. Write a very brief poem (but keep in mind, these circles are only 2 inches in diameter, so I can't fit a sonnet in there!!) make a collage, write a description of your idea, like I said, we're game for anything!!

Really keen artists among you may have noticed that the circles are placed at the dragon's heart, wings and feet, so there's some more idea fodder!! We'll be releasing full contest details very soon, but in the meantime, let your design imaginations run wild!

Americymru: Hi Ashleigh and many thanks for agreeing to an interview with AmeriCymru. Can you tell us a little about POBshop Cymru ?

Ashleigh: Well, it's just as the name implies- (POB means all / everything in Welsh). I do a little bit of everything. I have tried to develop a one stop shop for quality modern Welsh / Welsh language gifts. We do handmade wool cushions, bunting (pennants I think they would be called in America) tea towels, mugs, posters, bags and cards. The link between all of these items is the Welsh language. I only do things that incorporate Cymraeg or have a direct link to Cymru.

Americymru: What type of goods do you carry?

Ashleigh: Anything special for St David's Day? Well, as I said we do a bit of everything. Our cushions are made here in Wales using all British materials, we do mugs and tea towels with Welsh sayings or poetry. We have translated the British WW2 slogan 'KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON' into 'GAN BWYLL A DALIWCH ATI'. This is available as a card, tea towel,poster or mug. This has proven to extremely popular, and quite apt in these trying financial times! The largest proportion of my business though is greeting cards. At the minute, including the designs in production I have 113 different designs. I haven't as of yet done anything specifically for Dydd Gwyl Dewi- St David's day- I have concentrated on the day to day events like birthdays, babies, new house etc...

Americymru: You are from North Carolina originally. Care to tell us how you came to be living in Wales?

Ashleigh: Long story this one! My father as it happens is of Welsh stock, his family came over to mine in the States and liked it-I am an Edwards by birth so in a roundabout and totally accidental way have made it to my homeland. I came over to England initially in 1993 for university but as so often happens met someone and ended up in Wales- very happily I might add too.

Americymru: When did you embark upon the POBshop Cymru venture ? How did it get started ?

Ashleigh: I started this in earnest on New years day 2010. I had become increasingly frustrated with the lack of good quality well thought out / produced items available for the Welsh market. Everywhere you turned there seemed to be a Union Jack but the only place one saw the Draig goch was on a flag or a nylon cushion. I wanted to show my pride in Wales in a modern way and was sure I wasn't alone in this but the market just didn't seem to cater for it.

What really forced me was the small choice when it came to greeting cards. With 5 children, as you can imagine I am always in need of a card for some sort of occasion. I found myself constantly buying and sending the same cards- and receiving them too! There are literally millions of cards to choose from out there in English but a very small choice when it comes to Welsh Language. I wanted to fill what I saw as a gap in the market. I wanted to produce original, high quality modern greeting cards.

Americymru: Where can people find POBshop Cymru on the web?

Ashleigh: At the moment I am primarily a wholesaler. There are two outlets www.bodlon.com and www.adrahome.com I do also have the facility to sell thorough my facebook page. Were anyone to be interested in wholesaling any of my goods I would be happy to discuss it.

Americymru: What's next for Ashleigh Stevens and POBshop Cymru ?

Ashleigh: Well, I have the Eisteddfod to get ready for. I have several projects lined up to be released at the Urdd in May. Apart from that, I just want to carry on growing the business and , hopefully, providing a much needed service.

Americymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?

Ashleigh: DIolch am eich amser, thanks for your time. Keep supporting your Eisteddfod, a wonderful and unique thing, almost as wonderful as being Welsh!

Find more Card images like this and much more at POBshop Cymru

Having trouble finding something on AmeriCymru? Fret no more. Just 'Like' it and it will appear in the new 'My Likes' page in the left hand column on your profile page. A convenient way to bookmark and share your favorite content on the site.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12343778

Ray Gravell bronze sculpture unveiled at BBC Wales

The bronze sculpture of Ray Gravell stands in the BBC Wales reception

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-12373750

Brian Jeffrey, 65, started on Mumbles Lifeboats in 1961, following his father who also volunteered