12 8. V. JAN., 1919.]
NOTES AND QUERIES.
King's guard presented a leek on St. David's
Day to his elder daughter, the Princess
Mary.
This connexion is alluded to by Shake- speare in ' King Henry V.' in the scene (Act IV. sc. Vii.) between the king and the Welshman Fluellen, which would appear to be the ^arliest reference to the origin of the custom in English literature. It is there referred to as "an ancient custom."*
This pamphlet makes out, I think, a very strong case why the leek, and not the daffodil, should be regarded as the national emblem for Wales. But was not this question practically concluded in favour of the leek when His Majesty, a few years ago, ordained that the leek should be worn, as we now see it, in the head- dress of his newly formed Welsh Guards, in conjunction with the rose, the thistle, and the shamrock of the other royal regi- ments of foot-guards ?
Nevertheless, the red dragon, as I stated, borne as the badge of the old Welch Regi- ment, is a very popular cognizance in the public estimation ; and if there should be any difficulty, heraldically, in deciding upon the proper set of lions to represent the ancient arms of Wales, the choice might well be left to His Majesty as the " Fountain of Honour." In which case the leek might well take, I think, the place of the red dragon, if the latter be promoted to the rank of arms, in the series above mentioned of the royal badges, and would, as a plant, be more consonant to the other national emblems, the rose, the thistle, and the shamrock.
It is interesting to note in this connexion the circumstance, to which Mr. Hughes refers, that our Tudor sovereigns wore green and white as their royal colours, the colours of the leek. I am not aware of any other suggestion as to the origin of the Tudor livery colours, for they are certainly not derived from the tinctures of their arms, as is usually the case in these matters.
In conclusion we may all agree with Hotspur when he says :
The arms are fair When the intent of (for) bearing them is just.
<1 Henry IV.,' Act V. sc. ii.
J. S. UDAL, F.S.A.
- See also Michael Drayton's ' Polyolbion,'
published in 1612, and his ' Battle "of Agiacourt,' published later.
SAMUEL OWEN,
UNCLE OF AUGUST STRINDBERG.
SAMUEL OWEN, who, as his name indicates, probably had Welsh blood in his veins, was born at no great distance from the border between Wales and England. He first saw the light on May 12, 1774, at Norton-in- Hales, near Market Drayton, Shropshire. The boy had practically no schooling, but was set to look after geese, pigs, and sheep. Later on he worked as a horse -driver on the canal, and then, at the age of eighteen, was apprenticed to a carpenter. Owen soon displayed considerable mechanical ability, and attracted attention by his eagerness to learn. At the cost of great sacrifices, he acquired knowledge in an evening school when the day's work was done. After the lapse of some years he left his native county, and worked as a joiner at Bolt on and at Watt's new factory near Birmingham. Here it was that he became familiar with the steam - engine knowledge which was destined to stand him in good stead. Next he proceeded to a works at Leeds, whence he was sent to Stockholm in 1804 to set up a number of steam-engines which had been bought from the firm by a prominent Swede. In 1806 he again visited Stock- holm for a similar purpose, and this time remained in Sweden for good. For three years he was foreman at Bergsund foundry, and then in 1809 he started at Kungsholm in Stockholm a foundry and machine- factory. This works played an extremely important part in the development of Swedish industry. Threshing-machines and many other implements often the first of their kind in Sweden were manufac- tured by Samuel Owen. The men who had worked under him were employed by other firms, and the Kungsholm works thus became a centre for the dissemination of knowledge in engineering.
Not le'ss useful was Owen's activity as a shipbuilder. He is known, and justly, as the father of the Swedish steamboat in- dustry. It is worth noting that, some time before John Ericsson satisfactorily demonstrated the possibilities of the pro- peller, Owen had conducted experiments with a boat called the Witch of Stockholm. These experiments were made in 1816, and King Charles XIV., who took a great interest in Owen's efforts, had a vessel built specially for further investigations. The latter were, however, not a success,
