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And the winner is Michael Nies of New York. We will be contacting Michael via email to arrange shipment of the prize - a copy of Geoff Brookes 'Stories in Welsh Stone'. Congratulations/Llongyfarchion Michael If you didn't win this time...fear not. There will be many more competitions with fantastic prizes on Americymru in the coming year. Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant Hapus! Happy St David's Day!

Greetings to all Welshmen and women throughout the world on St.Davids Day.Down here in NZ we start celebrating a little earlier and several of us will be meeting in the only Welsh pub in the Southern hemisphere this evening in Wellington..Hwyl

I was inspired to write this by a wooden drinking vessel which you can find in the National Museum in Cardiff, one of many such objects apparently, made from a great oak tree which blew down in a storm in 1813. The tree was called Derwen Ceubren yr Ellyll the Hollow Tree of the Demons - and it once stood on the old Nannau Estate near Dolgellau. And the legend will tell you that Owain Glyndwr once used the tree as a handy place in which to store the body of his cousin.The story of Owain Glyndwr is far too complex to explore properly here. His celebrity is based in part upon the fact that he was the last Welshman to hold the title of Prince of Wales although his dates are vague, from 1354 or 1359 to perhaps 1416. In the centuries since his death, so many different legends have accumulated around him. He has become a notable figure in popular culture and a famous military hero, beating the English forces through intelligent strategy and cunning. Like King Arthur he merely sleeps, waiting apparently for the moment when he will rise as the saviour of his homeland.He lived in turbulent times and his life was defined by conflict, leading a revolt against the rule of Henry IV. The rebellion ultimately failed and his last years were shrouded in mystery. He was neither betrayed nor captured and instead faded from view. Where he lived at the end of his life remained a mystery, although today it is generally believed that he lived with his daughter Alys at Monnington Straddel in Herefordshire, perhaps disguised as a friar.The episode which concerns me here comes from the height of the rebellion, in 1402. His cousin Hywel Sele, Lord of Nannau , was a supporter of the English crown. He invited Owain to his estate for what he claimed was to be the cut and thrust of political debate, with a bit of hunting thrown in. However, it appears to have turned into an assassination attempt.The two cousins went out hunting. Hywel Sele raised his bow to shoot a stag, but suddenly turned and fired directly at Owain. Clearly their relationship was not based upon trust on either side, for beneath his clothes Owain had prudently selected a chain mail vest. Owain did not have a particularly forgiving nature...At least that is one version. Another would suggest that as Hywel Sele aimed and turned to follow his target he suddenly discovered that he was aiming unexpectedly straight at Owain. He, well versed in the techniques of self preservation, immediately ran him through with his sword.Either way Hywel Sele was dead. Owain hid his body in the hollow oak tree and made off.Another version has an enraged Glyndwr obviously surviving the assassination attempt and imprisoning Hywel Sele in the tree before burning down his house, which just goes to show you how cross they could be in those days.But whichever version you prefer, they all come back to the idea of the body in the tree. And this legend certainly gave the tree its reputation as a haunted place of evil. Fire was said to hover above it; strange noises could be heard. It was the terror of every peasant for miles around.The family searched for Hywel but could not find him. He remained on the missing list until his skeleton was found inside the tree trunk 40 years later. Hywel Sele might have drifted into obscurity but at least the trees reputation was assured.Of course by the early nineteenth century Derwen Ceubren yr Ellyll was misshapen and ancient, in the last stages of decay. When the oak fell after being hit appropriately by lightning the wood was used to make commemorative items for the coming of age party of Robert Vaughan on 25 June 1824. He was a direct descendant of Hywel Sele and later became 3 Baronet of Nannau. It was quite a party they say, for which the Great White Ox of Nannau was slaughtered and roasted, which is certainly more dramatic than sending out for a pizza. The newspaper, the Salopian Journal said that the air was, resounding with joyful acclamations and that a number of Welsh bards and harpers were in attendance. It was definitely the place to be seen that special June day.At least the ancient tree wasnt just turned into firewood. A nineteenth century text tells us that the items made from the oak were valued by their fortunate possessors...as relics of so venerable and remarkable a parent. If you chose to believe the legends then those objects were made from a living coffin from long ago. It is one of these Ceubren cups that the museum holds.

Dont forget to tune in to IRFT Celtic Radio for 38 hours of music by Welsh artists in celebration of St. David's Day! http://www.irftradio.comlu.com/stdavids.html Starting at Noon (12:00 p.m.) Pacific Standard Time, February 28th, and running until 2 a.m., Pacific Standard Time, March 2nd! Add Your St. David's Day Greeting Here!

Dydd Dewi Sant Hapus/Happy Saint David's Day Check out our St. David's Day USA 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:-

Wales Week in NYC
If you love music:

come to Karl Jenkins Carnegie Hall concert

Music Masters of Wales at Carnegie Hall with a premiere ofthe Euphonium Concerto by renown composer Karl Jenkins, and a premiereof Dewi Sant by ArwelHughes. (March 6)

Karl Jenkins: Euphonium Concerto (US Premiere) & SacredSongs (Selections)

Karl Jenkins, Guest Conductor/Composer
David Childs, Euphonium

Arwel Hughes: Dewi Sant (New York Premiere)

Jonathan Griffith, DCINY Artistic Director & Principal ConductorPennsbury High School Concert Choir & The Pennsbury Community Chorus
James Moyer, Director
Susan Holsonbake, Tenor
Mark Womack, Baritone

Location: 881 7th Ave at 57 ^th St.

Time: 8pm

Price: $20-$100

or come to this tribute:

Its Alec Templeton Time! with Rhian Davies and pianist SimonCrawford-Phillips showcasing and performing the work of the famous blindcomposer-pianist at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Bornin Cardiff, Wales, on July 4, 1909, the blind composer-pianist Alec Templeton wasbrought to America by the bandleader Jack Hylton in the mid 1930s. Templetonsoon had his own weekly radio show Alec Templeton Time sponsored byAlka-Seltzer and relayed coast to coast on the NBC Red Network. Templetontoured widely in America and crossed over to television and film, earning apersonal star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This show combines archive filmfootage, broadcasts and recordings with live performances from SimonCrawford-Phillips of Templetons classical, jazz and blues compositions. (March6)

Location: Bruno Walter Auditorium, 111 Amsterdam Ave., between 64 ^th St. and 65 ^th St.

Time: 3pm

Price: Free

or hear David Enlow's Organ concert

The Organ Works of Cesar Francks Southfield Organ performed byWelsh-Canadian organist David Enlow at Rutgers Presbyterian Church (March 7)

• Grand Piece Symphonique
• Fantaisie in A Major
• Pastorale
• Choral No 1 in E Major

Location: Rutgers Presbyterian Church, 236 West 73 ^rd Street at Broadway

Time: 4pm

Price: Free

,

and if you like poetry:

join Peter Stead on a walking tour of Dylan Thomas Greenwich Village
Meet outside the Church of St. Lukes in the FieldEpiscopalean Church, 487 Hudson Street at the corner of Grove Street

Time: 9.30 11.30 am

Price: $25 (limited space, contact catrin.brace@wales-uk.com

or come see rare photos, letters and poems at the Morgan Library and Museum 2 - 7th March free
Madison Avenue at36th Street, New York, NY 10016

www.walesweekusa.com

http://www.tescoentertainment.com/store/mp3/darren-parry-matters-of-the-heart/2:35841275/

Octavius Pitt's second novel, 'The Doorkeeper' is set in pre-World War II Britain, the story of an eight-year-old boy who goes to live with his grandparents in Wales. Jonathan Webster's mother has left him and his father for what seemed to her a more glamorous life in fascist Italy. Jonathan's father must briefly leave him also, for work in the United States. Jonathan goes to stay with his maternal grandparents on their farm in Wales, a part of his family his mother turned her back on and about which he knows next to nothing. In Wales, Jonathan finds the love and shelter of a greater family and a place in which he fits. The beauty of his new home can't dispel his concern for his parents but he finds an unusual and unexpected ally who comes to his aid. The Doorkeeper contains passages of lyrical prose which bring the landscape of its setting to vivid life. The rustic routine of daily life on the farm is described in many passages:- 'Peat, fuel for cooking and winter heating, they cut high up on the hafod land at Fawnog-fawr. Black, wet peat, sliced into rectangular blocks by Mr Williams with his special spade made for the purpose, whilst he sang out happily in the breezes in his lovely baritone voice. Each piece was then laid out by the boys for drying in the warm July winds - plentiful up there now, among misty mountains beyond the distant Conwy river in a picture book panorama. They returned when the blocks were dried, at least as far as the weather had allowed, Prince pulling the big wooden wain down to the hendre, it stacked high with partly dry peat blocks looking like solidified treacle and Jonathan as tired as a virgin navvy holding the reins manfully, the farmer, his pipe burning strongly, giving out gentle instructions to two loved grandsons among curling wreaths of cheerful blue smoke.' But there is much more here to intrigue and delight the younger reader. What is the secret of the old Mithraic Roman temple? What is the connection between Squire Bellamy and Old Mad Silas? The Doorkeeper controls access to the hidden world of 'Ansaurius' where the real power of 'Mother Earth' is revealed to Jonathan as he is prepared for future adventures he could little have anticipated. This delightful and occasionally profound tale is ideally suited for older children and younger adults. Mr Pitt has said that this will be the first of several volumes in the series. The reviewer sincerely hopes that volume two will be published soon.