Celebrate the Great British Lawn and St George
St George is famed for slaying a dragon in popular imaginations but most people know very little about his past and his somewhat obscure links to England.
An Englishman's home is his castle and the carpet of the room outside is the lawn so that's the tenuis link to St George!
He went to Silene, in Libya, which was being plagued by a sea dragon. The people of the city were being forced to hand over their children to the creature.
George slayed the dragon after the king sacrificed his own daughter. But the soldier only carried out the mighty task after everyone was baptised.
There followed an uprising against Christianity, and George left the army and protested against it. He was later arrested and beheaded. St George's Day is marked on April 23 because it is believed to be the day he died in AD303.
It was only in medieval times that he came to be associated with England.
The story emerged that he had travelled here during his time in the army. Later still, there were claims he had slayed another dragon here.
While all the tales are of dubious truthfulness, one thing is for certain - he was definitely not English. Indeed, he is also the patron saint of Catalonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Portugal, Germany and Greece.
So head out this weekend and let's hear it for the Great British Lawn. You shoould have mown it about three of four times by now. What are you waiting for? If you need lawn care products take a look at The Lawn Shop.
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