Welsh Word of the Day: Cennin (leeks)

How do you celebrate Dydd Gŵyl Dewi (Saint David’s Day)? As a child, I often went into school dressed in traditional Welsh costume, and we’d have a special assembly to sing songs and talk about lessons from the life of Dewi Sant (Saint David). Of course, I don’t do that anymore, but it’s still nice to put a bunch of daffodils in the kitchen, and listen to some of my favourite Welsh folk music.

As we gear up for this important Welsh festival, let’s take the time to look at possibly one of the Welsh-est Welsh words there is. I’m talking, of course, about cennin (leeks), which is also the root of the equally relevant term cennin Pedr (daffodils, literally Saint Peter’s leeks).

Cennin is a collective noun, meaning the default form is plural. The singular is cenhinen (a leek).

Here’s how cennin mutates:

Since the singular, cenhinen, is a feminine noun, it becomes y genhinen (the leek). But the same doesn’t apply to plural nouns whatever their gender, so the leeks is still y cennin.

The importance of cennin to the Welsh is said to originate in the reign of King Cadwaladr, who ruled Gwynedd in the mid-7th century. Although Cadwaladr was a real person, most of the stories about his reign are chwedlonol (mythical).

One such tale is that in one brave brwydr (battle) against the Saxons, he ordered his troops to identify themselves by affixing cennin to their helmets. Why he chose this particular plant is somewhat unclear. Theories include that the brwydr took place in a leek field, or that he did so in homage to Dewi Sant himself, who was said to be a fan of this llysieuyn (vegetable).

Although this story is probably not historical, the likely real root of the symbol isn’t actually that different. It still refers to a brwydr and to wearing cennin on one’s head! In 1346, an English army defeated the French in Northern France, with Welsh saethwyr (archers), who were fighting from a field of cennin, being central to the victory. The Welsh were then said to have begun wearing cennin in their capiau (caps) every Dydd Gŵyl Dewi as a way to honour their bravery.

The cultural history of cennin may be unclear, but for once the linguistic history is pretty straightforward. This collective noun most likely appeared in proto-Celtic as something like *kasnina, probably referring to cennin, winwyn (onions) and / or garlleg (garlic).

The similar word kennin in modern Breton, in fact, means onions, and the botanical mix-up doesn’t end there. Chives in Welsh are cennin syfi. The confusion continues – wild leeks in Welsh are often called garlleg mawr (big garlic), and even flowers get in the mix with one of the many terms for bluebells being cennin y brain (crows’ leeks). So check twice next time you’re following a Welsh rysáit (recipe)!

In fact, ryseitiau Cymraeg (Welsh recipes) often include a fair amount of cennin, with the mythological significance of these llysiau (vegetables) extending right back to the cegin (kitchen).

This is because, in historical Wales, vegetables other than cennin and bresych (cabbages) were quite hard to come by. The medieval Welsh diet was based mainly on ceirch (oats) and cynnyrch llaeth (dairy products). Herbs were mostly used for medicine rather than for cooking.

So, cennin became quite important! Of course, they’re a key ingredient in cawl, which is not only the generic Welsh word for soup but also a specific dish of stewed cig oen (lamb) and llysiau. They also show up in the Selsig Morgannwg (Glamorgan sausage), a vegetarian sausage made of caws (cheese), cennin and briwsion bara (breadcrumbs).

Now, before we move on to talking about the all-important cennin Pedr (daffodils), here is some miscellaneous vocabulary you might find useful when talking about cennin:

• dail = leaves
• bỳlb= bulb
• hadau = seeds
• gwraidd = root
• blodau = flowers
• blasus = tasty
• berwi = boil
• cawl cennin = leek soup
• salad = salad
• gwely’r cennin = leek patch

You might think the last term is a bit of a random inclusion. I mention it because it shows up in a quite yucky Welsh idiom, which is cachu’r gath yng nghwely’r cennin. This describes a cat going to the toilet in a vegetable bed and is a profanity used when things have gone very wrong – but do remember cachu is a swear word in Welsh, so don’t ever use this in a formal setting or with anyone you don’t know well.

Recently, I was planning an evening out in Caerdydd (Cardiff) with two good friends. We were talking about going to a restaurant, Daffodil, which we hadn’t been to before and serves food inspired by traditional Welsh cynhwysion (ingredients) and ryseitiau (recipes).

One of the group, who’s learning the language at the moment, wondered what daffodil is in Welsh. And we found in the conversation that followed that there are dozens of different options! Aside from the default cenhinen Pedr, we thought of blodyn Mawrth (March flower), cenhinen y gwinwydd (vine leek), lili’r cennin (leek-lily), daffidwndili, and simply dwndili.

Some people will opt for cenhinen Bedr, mutating Pedr as cenhinen is a feminine noun (the plural is cennin Pedr, daffodils, either way), or simply leave it as cenhinen. And it’s really common to just say daffodil, too. In fact, until we looked it up, one of us had actually assumed daffodil was a word that originated in y Gymraeg (the Welsh language) – it’s certainly got the look and sound of a Welsh word!

Of course, with such a solid foundation in the synonym-finding game, when I sat down to write this article, I couldn’t resist looking it up to see if there were any more that I hadn’t come across. And I wasn’t disappointed!

In general, words for planhigion (plants) and blodau (flowers) in Welsh tend to have a lot of variation throughout the country. Often, there is one ‘standard’ word that may have been borrowed from Latin or English, and plenty of regional variants that are quite idiomatic or slang-y. I think this really reflects the nation’s connection with natur and also its diversity.

Cennin Pedr are no exception, with this cheery yellow bloom receiving the attention it deserves as the national flower. I found all of the following synonyms:

• croeso’r gwanwyn (spring’s welcome)
• pibell felen (yellow flute)
• melyn Clamai (May Day yellow)
• narsisws / gylfinog (narcissus)
• jinipedars
• lili bengam (wonky lily)
• blodyn mis bach (the little month’s flower)
• cenhinen aur (golden leek)
• gwayw’r brenin (the king’s spear)
• clych doli / clych babi (doll’s bell / baby’s bell)

Cennin Pedr became a symbol of Wales much more recently than cennin, in the early twentieth century, and it’s unclear why they even developed cultural significance. It might be as simple as the fact that they share a name! It’s almost like cennin Pedr are just a prettier version of your average cenhinen. 😉

To be fair, there is a particular species of cennin Pedr, the cenhinen Dinbych (Tenby daffodil), which is native to South Wales. Technically, this is the variety that should be used to signify Cymru. They’re known for being completely melyn (yellow) rather than yellow and white, so if you’re fixing a cenhinen Pedr to your lapel to celebrate the first of March, make sure you get your colours correct.

Like the humble cenhinen, cennin Pedr are very firmly associated with Wales, to the extent that you might be surprised to find they have significance in other cultures, too.

In Greek mythology, the gylfinog symbolises vanity, whereas in Persian literature and poetry, it’s used as a metaphor for harddwch (beauty), particularly beautiful eyes. In Cristnogaeth (Christianity), they’re associated with y Grawys (Lent) and Pasg (Easter) and often referred to as lili’r Grawys (Lenten lilies).

They represent the New Year in regions as far apart as Kurdistan and China, and are also often interpreted as symbols of lwc (luck). Because they bloom in the gwanwyn (spring), across cultures, they’re taken to symbolise rebirth and new life. So they’re a blodyn worth celebrating whether you’re Welsh or not.

I’ll leave you with a recording of a song that I loved singing as a child on Dydd Gŵyl Dewi, and which still gets stuck in my head all the time. It’s called Mis Mawrth Unwaith Eto (It’s March Again), and the lyrics describe learning from the life of St David to gwnewch y pethau bychain (do the little things). Why don’t you try singing along?