St. George and the Dragon

The truth behind English folklore.

There probably isn't an English, man, women, or child in the country who has not heard of the legend of St. George. His slaying of a fire breathing Dragon, and the rescuing of a maiden from a Dragon's castle are probably also known the world over, yet how many actually know the truth behind the myth.

For the truth we have to look at Wales and to how that country became and still is today a pricipality of England. For it is they the Welsh Dragons that we are concerned with here and led to the legends of England's St.George.

Dragons have been around in British folklore for centuries perhaps even in Roman times, but Britain's Dragon legends were created in the middle ages at the time when English and Welsh hostilities were coming to a head. The Welsh have always had a fascination with Dragons, and their warrior leaders were often given the name Dragon, their facination even extended to the point of giving their mythical King Arthur the name Pendragon and their nation eventually having adopted a picture of a Dragon on their national flag.

Story tellers of the time helped in creating the myth by depicting these Welsh leaders as fiery Dragons, and only the mention of a Dragon instilled fear in the peasants’ of the time. Dragons started appearing all over England as landlords used this fear to stop peasants from wandering off and not working on their land, agreeing to provide them with protection and security.

The Welsh Dragons operated in the border Marcher counties of Cheshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire which were known as the Dragon haunted lands. These Welsh Dragons would cross over the English border to rape and pillage English villages, and when they left they would set them on fire, the smoke from which could be seen for miles around and said to be the breath of the Dragon.

One such Dragon called Llewelyn, was a Prince of Wales who had desires above his station. After gaining support in part of Glamorgan he had intentions on marrying Elinor the daughter of the powerful English lord Simon de Montfort without the English Kings consent. The new English King, Edward (1st) believed the prince (Dragon) was seeking to stir up another barons’ war in England, and in 1275 he sent English forces into Wales and freed Elinor from the Prince's (Dragon's) castle to prevent the wedding.

Eventually the English King got fed up with the Welsh Dragons incursions into England and he gathered an army to bring them under English control.

When the English and their supporters joined together to fight a common cause they did so under the flag of St.George, and the army became known as that of St George. Any battles won were then said to have been won by St.George.

The two pictures most commonly seen of St. George and the Dragon represent the defeat of the Welsh ( St. George slaying fire breathing Dragon) and the rescuing of the Simon de Montfort's daughter from a Welsh castle. ( St. George in front of a castle with a maiden in the tower)

The present day British Parliament with their devolutionary policies are sending our island nations back to these Middle Ages and their actions have already begun to wake up these sleeping Dragons both in England and Wales. The heat is again being felt most in the border areas where one side of the road gets things free and cheaper than the other side, and across England, the Dragons are being stoked up with the fires of regionalism.

Before these Dragons escape and destroy England, the English must rise again to St.George, and with the help of his virtues of courage, honour and fortitude, we can again put out the fires in their bellies.

J. Stanhope
The Englishman