Ich Dien. NOT!

I don't recall Y Pant's history curriculum including a large slice of specifically Welsh history, apart from an annual pilgrimage to the namesake battlefield of one's House, in my case Caerau, perhaps it did but the only thing I remember from Miss Jones' class more than 30 years ago is Henry VIII and 1066 and all that. Since that time, I've learned more about medieval Welsh history through Sharon Kay Penman's Here Be Dragons trilogy and a tiny but interesting snippet just recently from Ken Follett's World Without End (backed up by Wikipedia and Simon Schama), that being the origin of the Prince of Wales' three feather symbol and Ich Dein motif.

At the Battle of Crécy on the 26th August 1346, the English, or perhaps I should say the mixed British forces, for there were Welsh and undoubtedly other nation's mercenaries amongst the ranks, were led by Edward III, the grandson of Longshanks (Hammer of the Scots). Edward II was the first English "Prince of Wales", the title bestowed upon him by the aforementioned Longshanks, Ed the first. Longshanks' great grandson, Edward of Woodstock, the Black Prince (he never became the fourth but also held the title of Prince of Wales), was also there commanding one of the three divisions at only 16 years of age.

At the end of the battle the Black Prince had been so impressed with the deeds of another (mercenary) commander, John of Bohemia, who despite being blind stood his ground bravely on the British side. Blind?? How the blazes can someone fight in a battle of 30 thousand tightly packed screaming men in armour if one's blind?? I wonder how much "collateral damage" (a US defence secretary's euphemism) he caused. Well, apparently it was so. In an act of honour to the dying blind man, the Black Prince took John's sheild and symbol for his own, and it was thus incorporated as the symbol for generations of English Princes of Wales.

The three ostrich feathers and Ich Dein then are a symbol of the English (or half German, half Greek??) "Prince of Wales" and not of Wales itself. However, as I have already mentioned, amongst the forces were Welsh mercenaries and many of them making up a large part of the Longbowmen force, one of the main factors for the ensuing victory. Had one of the Welsh longbow leaders got to the dying Bohemian first perhaps we could have claimed the three feathers really for ourselves. This would be unlikely though I guess as the humble bowman wouldn't be allowed probably even to talk to the noblemen. Here's our real three feathers, courtesy of The Red Dragonhood (with kind, er..permission, thanks).