Although some degree of smugness on St David’s Day is excusable, it is important to acknowledge that the day has been, and indeed is, contested. Furthermore, the day has been ignored. Nations and national symbols are prominent features of modern life. Yet their prominence should not be mistaken as being an indication of their permanence or solidity. In fact, symbols and nations are there because they are flexible. If they lose that flexibility, then they become fragile. St David regained his flexibility during the Victorian era. There were many more twists and turns to the ‘representational history’ of St David and his day than those I’ve outlined above. The Victorians did not see the saint or his day in as concrete a sense as we do today. A supposed age of certainties was as uncertain our age; the only difference is that they were unsure about different things.