How many leeks have you seen today?

February Fill-Dyke has gone, leaving soggy ditches and brimming pools and puddles across the land. Now it's March and the first day of the month is of course St David's, or Gwyl Dewi here in Wales.

Small children get dressed up as old-fashioned Welsh ladies, rugby players or miniature farmers in caps and corduroys. There are  processions and parades, dragons and daffodils. So many daffodils. Social media is awash with daffodils accompanying every Gwyl Dewi greeting whether from individuals, associations or institutions.

This host of golden daffodils does not my heart with pleasure fill.
In fact I'm puzzled. Whatever happened to the leek, that traditional symbol of Welshness that is the subject of discussion in Shakespeare's Henry V, no less? Has it dropped out of favour entirely (except perhaps among rugby supporters at Cardiff Arms Park)? 

When I was at primary school in Wales in the 1950s every child turned up on March 1st wearing a leek, nicely washed and trimmed (the leek that is, not the child.)
And by the end of the day most of those leeks had been nibbled down to the root. This made an impression on me because at that time I would not dream of eating a raw vegetable but for these country kids having a handy snack at mouth's reach was impossible to resist.

Today I dug up my last two leeks in honour of Dewi Sant and I shall enjoy them, not raw, but cooked in any one of several favourite ways: soup, tart, au gratin or a la Grecque. You can't do that with daffodils - they're toxic.