Think St. Valentine’s Day has a lock on love? For most of us, this holiday does, but not for the Welsh. If you visit reading her compelling story, you’ll understand why.
Dwynwen, a 5th century Welsh princess, was the most beautiful of King Brychan Brycheiniog’s twenty-four daughters. She fell head over heels in love with a handsome local young man named Maelon Dafodrill and the pair hoped to marry.
Tragedy, however, soon shattered their dreams when they learned they could no longer be together.
It seems that King Brychan had already arranged for the princess to marry another man, a prince. Maelon, of course, took the devastating news to heart; Dwynwen, broken-hearted and hoping to avoid this arranged marriage, fled into the woods to weep and pray to God for guidance. An angel visited her during her sadness giving her a sweet potion that would make her forget momentarily about Maelon while this same angel froze him in a thick block of ice.
God then answered her prayer and conferred on the princess three wishes. For her first wish, she asked that Maelon be thawed. Her second wish pleaded for God to help all true lovers; while the third asked that she never marry. Once all of her wishes were granted, Dwynwen, whose name means “she who leads a blessed life”, was so grateful, she became a nun and set up a convent on Llanddwyn Island, a scenic tidal island off the coast of Anglesey in North Wales. The picturesque ruins of her church remain on this small island and are visited by lovers of all ages during the year. They remember her favorite saying “Nothing wins hearts like cheerfulness.”
St. Dwynwen’s Day is by far the most romantic day in Wales, more so then Valentine’s Day which the Welsh celebrate as well. There are special cards, romantic dinners, and many hoping to propose present a most unique gift to their intended, a love spoon. The tradition of the love spoon is an old one, many think going back to men of the sea, who carved their beloved spoons of wood each with a specific intricate design on the handle. Keys, for example, are symbolic of a man’s heart. They then gifted the love spoon on St. Dwynwen’s Day to the woman they hoped to marry. This lovely tradition still holds true today with gifts of intricately carved spoons and spoon jewelry.
A few years back, I was fortunate to visit the beautiful island of Anglesey where my husband gifted me with a lovely love spoon necklace with a heart on its handle. Most recently, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle received love spoons during a recent royal visit to Cardiff, Wales. As we approach Valentine’s Day, let’s remember the date matters little, the gifts differ, but it’s the love in our hearts that really counts.
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Prior to visiting Anglesey, I visited my friends in Darbyshire, England. They took me to the most beautiful royal residence in Derbyshire called Chatsworth, the home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. The manor house, surrounded by gardens, boasts over thirty rooms all furnished with valuable antiques and works of art. As we toured this lovely estate, my mind wandered wondering what life as an 18th century duchess would have been like.
A few years later, I began to write THE DUCHESS’ NECKLACE. Of course her fictional manor was influenced by my visit to Chatsworth. My duchess, Amelia, does not fit the role of a royal woman of her time. She is feisty refusing to marry and relinquish her royal authority to a husband.
She soon meets and seduces a handsome young Time Traveler who steals her jeweled necklace, proof of her royal title. He Travels to the present to sell the jewels; she, with the help of a gypsy seer, follows hoping to find the scoundrel, kill him, and retrieve her title, but something called love gets in her way. Amelia is faced with the most difficult decision of her life. Love in the present or wealth and power in the past?
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