“In speaking of our adopted citizens of foreign birth, we hardly ever make any mention of the Welsh miners who have settled in Allegany and Garrett Counties, although they form a most industrious and intelligent portion of the mining population. We have no information as to their numbers, but from the fact that they have at least two churches at Frostburg, we infer that there must be not less than five hundred Welsh families living near the coal fields.” – the Baltimore American, 1873
The previous owner of my copy of the circa 1980 “Favorite Recipes from the Women’s Welsh Club of Baltimore” tried at least two of its recipes. In the margins next to the recipe for “Welsh Bara Brith (Speckled Bread)” they wrote “1981 good St. David’s Day.” Beside the recipe for “Welsh Ginger Cream Cake (Teisen Hufen Sinsir)” they wrote “St. David’s Day 1981 odd but good.”
The feast of Saint David, patron saint of Wales, is observed on March 1st, the anniversary of his death in 589 AD. The holiday is a celebration of all things Welsh, from food to clothing to flora.
Although no single wave of immigration resulted in a large Welsh community in Baltimore, people of Welsh origin came to work in the city’s industries, or ended up there via migration from Appalachia and the “Welsh Tract” of Pennsylvania.
In the 1830s, miners were recruited from Wales to Western Maryland due to their familiarity with the equipment and technology used by the George’s Creek Coal and Iron Company.
The superintendents of the company kept journals, which chronicle the predictable conflicts between management and workers, as well as scuffles between Welsh and Cornish miners. In 1839, one journal mentioned St. David’s Day as a “holiday among the Welsh” employees.
The Frostburg Mining Journal newspaper announced St. David’s Day celebrations at the Mt. Zion Welsh Baptist Church annually starting in 1902.
In Baltimore, Welsh workers moved into a section of the Canton neighborhood that was briefly known as “the Welsh Colony.” A Baltimore Sun writer described the area in 1928, which by then had only remnants of its past, including a church on Toone Street and a row of dilapidated houses on Clinton.
The Welsh residents of Baltimore may have dispersed throughout the metro area, but they still held onto their culture. In the 1970s, The Women’s Welsh Club of Baltimore held meetings at the Enoch Pratt Free Library. “All women of Welsh origin or wives of men of Welsh origin are invited,” read newspaper announcements.
Some of the notices stated that Mildred Hailey, a club member “who was born in Wales,” would be a guest speaker.
Hailey, maiden name Mildred Jones, was born and raised in Cardiff. She came to the United States after marrying William Thomas Hailey, an American serviceman she met while she was working for the Red Cross.
Her 2012 Baltimore Sun obituary mentions many places the Haileys lived, but singled out her time in Linthicum Heights because during her time there, Mildred “provided ‘delicious food for many festivities,’ including her Welsh cakes based on an old family recipe.”
Is St. David’s Day one of Maryland’s sacred holidays? Well, maybe not anymore. But Mildred’s “odd but good” cake represents the best of celebrations anywhere – communities small and large finding a reason to feast, share and remember. It could be a chance to start a new tradition, or at least to try something new, leaving a memory to be preserved in the margins of a cookbook.
Recipe:
