HC Deb 21 October 1912 vol 42 cc1721-2
82. MARQUESS Of TULLIBARDINE

asked why the daffodil has been used on the insurance stamp, instead of the leek, as emblematic of the Principality of Wales; what is the historical authority; and what was the incident that occasioned the adoption of the daffodil?

Mr. LLEWELYN WILLIAMS

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Welsh name for the daffodil is Ceninen Pedr, which is, being interpreted, Peter's leek, and whether it is not due to a blunder of Shakespeare or Bacon, or some equally ignorant Saxon, that the Welsh national emblem has been changed from a charming flower to a stinking vegetable?

Mr. LLOYD GEORGE

I am afraid I cannot follow my hon. Friend in his rather recondite question. The use of the daffodil in lieu of the leek on the health insurance stamps followed the precedent of the insignia of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales at his investiture at Carnarvon.

MARQUESS Of TULLIBARDINE

What is the authority for using the daffodil at the inauguration of the Prince of Wales? May I also ask if, when the ladies of Wales, in 1863, gave the late King a present, they did not give him a leek made of diamonds, and emeralds?

Mr. ORMSBY-GORE

Is it not recorded in one of the early chronicles that the Welsh at Crecy wore a leek as a distinguishing mark, and is not the leek a great deal older than the daffodil, and also is not the word pronounced by the hon. Member (Mr. Llewelyn" Williams) derived from the Anglo-Saxon daffadowndilly?

Mr. LLOYD GEORGE

That is not a Welsh word. I notice that the hon. Member very carefully avoids pronouncing the word.