The serjeant-porter’s leek

1 March · The royal court, London

No longer kept

The Flying Post of 1699 reported that on St David’s Day the king, according to custom, wore a leek in honour of the ancient Britons. It was presented to him by the serjeant-porter, whose office it was, and who claimed as his fee the clothes the king wore that day. The courtiers wore leeks too, in imitation of the king. Misson likewise noted that the king was so obliging as to keep the Welsh company in the custom.

the King, according to custom, wore a leek in honour of the ancient Britons, the same being presented to him by the Serjeant-porter, whose place it is

From Brand's Popular Antiquities, vol. 1, pp. 103-104. Read the original

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The serjeant-porter’s leek

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