St. George’s Day is celebrated annually on 23rd April, as this is the generally accepted date of St. George’s death. St. George, who famously slew the dragon and saved the maiden, is patron of archers, armorers, Boy Scouts, butchers, cavalry, chivalry, Crusaders, equestrians, farmers, field hands, field workers, horsemen, horses, husbandmen, knights, lepers, Order of the Garter, Palestinian Christians, riders, Romanian Army, saddle makers, saddlers, sheep, shepherds, soldiers, Teutonic Knights; Canada; England; Ethiopia; Georgia; Germany; Greece; Lithuania; Malta; Portugal; Cappadocia; Catalonia; Palestine; over 20 cities and diocese around the world.
St. George was a cavalryman in the Roman army at Lydda, now in modern-day Israel. He was a Christian at a time when Rome was ruled by the emperor Diocletian, who was anti-Christian. He refused to make sacrifices to the Roman gods. As a result, he was tortured over several years and eventually suffered a martyr’s death, when he was beheaded in 303 AD.
Not everyone believes the story about the dragon:
To save a Maid, St. George the Dragon slew
A pretty tale if all is told be true
Most say there are no Dragons, and ’tis said
There was no George; pray God there was a Maid.
— John Aubrey, Remains of Gentilism (1688)
St. George and the Dragon – Raphael (National Gallery of Art)
me too…
Bargain!
SIGNZ
and no paddle
Today is the birthday, in 1940, of Dale Houston, American singer who, along with his performing partner, Grace Broussard, hit the Billboard chart as Dale & Grace with two rock and roll singles. The first was the No. 1 gold record ‘I’m Leaving It Up to You’ in 1963. ‘Stop and Think It Over’ reached No. 8 in 1964. Their recordings are highly regarded examples of the Louisiana-Texas style known as “Swamp Pop”. Houston died on 27 September 2007. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5L5i7ARdAY
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