Year of the Water Hare

Happy Losar!

The zodiac animal for the Tibetan New Year 2023 is the water hare.

The hare is a symbol of longevity, peace and prosperity.

Kanguk – the Snow Goose

An arctic tale for Winter Solstice.

Among the Inuit peoples there are tales of the goose wife who is wed to either a man, raven or owl.

In the story featuring a man, he steals the goose’s feathered skin while she is bathing in human form with her fellow geese. He takes her as his wife and she lives with him but she is unhappy. The goose wife finds human food not to her taste and adds grass to it for flavour, which does not please her husband and mother-in-law. She secretly collects enough shed feathers from the shores to enable her to transform back to her goose form. With her new wings she takes flight and returns back to her goose people.

Source: based on a story told by Sakkariasi Tukkiapik
https://www.inuitartzone.com/pages/oral-traditions-and-myths

St Muirgen feast day

St Muirgen (Muirghein) is an Irish mermaid saint and her feast day is 27 January. My illustration depicts her holding a salmon, which she had once taken shape.

According to the the Martyrology of Donegal (17th century), Muirghein – woman of the sea – was first known as Liban, daughter of Eochaidh, son of Muireadh. She lived 300 years under the sea and was ensnared in a net by St Beoan. She was baptised after telling her story and adventures.

Liban (Lí Ban) comes from Old Irish word lí, ‘beauty’, and ban, ‘of women’. Another Lí Ban is known from the tale of the Wasting Sickness of Cú Chulainn, where she is responsible for the curse of illness upon Cú.

In the Annals of the Four Masters (17th century) it is said she was captured AD 558 on the strand of Ollarba in the net of St Beoan, son of Inli, who was the fisherman of Comghall of Beannchair.

The earlier Lebor na h-Uidri, ‘Book of the Dun Cow’ (12th century), however, provides more details about St Muirgen. It states Liban was a daughter of Eochaidh who lived at Loch Eathach (Lough Heagh). He was drowned with all his children circa AD 90 except Liban and her brothers Conaing and Curnan. Liban survived living in a palace or fort under the loch. She then willingly transformed into a salmon. Centuries later, a crew associated with St Beoan were in a currach at sea on mission to Rome and heard a celebration held by angels beneath their boat. Liban surfaced and declared she had dwelled within the sea for over 300 hundred years. She also mentioned she will meet with Beoan in a year’s time. Sadly, after hearing about this incident, Beoan set out to trap her. Liban was caught, however, in the net of Fergus of Miliuc and pulled to shore. A dispute broke out over her ownership between Beoan, Fergus and St Comhgall. Prayers for an answer resulted in the arrival of a chariot pulled by two wild oxen. She was carried by the chariot to Teach-Dabeoc where she was baptised by St Comhgall and became St Muirgen, ‘Born of the Sea’. She is also know as Muirgeilt, ‘Traveller of the Sea’, and Fuinchi.

Reference
Muirgen The Mermaid Saint, January 27
http://omniumsanctorumhiberniae.blogspot.com/2013/01/muirgen-mermaid-saint-january-27.html

A Warning to the Curious

My little illustration is based on the famous ghost story “A Warning to the Curious” by M. R. James. It was one of many tales found in his book A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories, first published in 1925.

The story follows Paxton, an antiquarian who holidays in Seaburgh, a quiet village on the east coast of East Anglia. He learns of the local legend about a Anglo-Saxon crown that protects the country from invasion. Paxton discovers its location and digs it from its barrow. The crown, however, has been guarded by the Ager family, who are all but deceased. Poor Paxton now finds he is being followed by some mysterious entity. He has to get rid of the crown or face the consequences.

St Hilda’s Feast Day (CofE)

19th November is the feast day in the Church of England calendar for St Hilda (AD 614–680). In AD 657, Hilda came to Whitby, North Yorkshire to administer the abbey. As the abbess of Whitby, she managed one of the most important religious centres in the Anglo-Saxon world. Traditionally her feast day is 17th November, which is recognised in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches as well as the Anglican Church of Canada. Some parts of the Anglican Communion also celebrate in it on 18th November while Church of England’s calendar places it on the 19th November.

My illustration above depicts Hilda wearing Anglo-Saxon costume from the 7th century, as there is little evidence of what nuns and abbesses wore prior to the formalisation of their apparel circa AD 1000.

My illustration is also inspired by Hilda’s associations with the ammonite fossils found in the cliffs of Whitby. According to legend she cast out the serpents in Whitby to clear ground for a new convent. After her devout praying the snakes coiled up, turned to stone and fell off the edge of the cliffs. She also supposedly cut off their heads with a whip. A 15th-century Latin manuscript found in the Durham University library indicates this ammonite legend goes back to at least late medieval times.

Ammonites collected from the cliffs of Whitby were reshaped with snake heads and examples of these snakestones are found in the Whitby Museum. Moreover, Victorian geologists named one of the local species after her – Ammonite hildroceras.

St Urith’s feast day

My illustration above depicts St Urith (Latin Heiritha; possibly Welsh Iwerydd, Iwarith, Ewrith). She was born at East Stowford, Devon (near Barnstaple) and perhaps martyred during the 8th century AD. Her feast day is 8th July and her shrine was located in St Hieritha’s Church, Chittlehampton, Devon.

Not much is know about her and the fullest known account is found in The Glastonbury Commonplace Book at Trinity College, Cambridge. The manuscript contains a Latin rhyming poem about her which the medieval scholar (and future ghost story writer) M. R. James published a transcription in 1902.

Urith was killed by local female haymakers at the instigation of a jealous pagan stepmother. She was beheaded by a scythe and a miraculous spring immediately sprang up where she fell along with flowers sprouting from her drops of blood hitting the ground (possibly scarlet pimpernels). Urith was buried near the site of her death and a church was later built above her grave.

St Urith’s holy well still exists and is found in eastern part of Chittlehampton, but is locally known as Tiddy Well, St Ura’s or St Teara’s Well. Medieval pilgrims suffering from eye diseases came to anoint themselves with the holy water.

Urith was buried in Chittlehampton Church and her shrine was a noted place of pilgrimage providing good revenues to the church’s coffers. Her cult was suppressed during the Reformation (1540) that involved the destruction of her shrine and statue. The position of her chapel, and shrine where her body is thought to buried, is located in a small chamber off the north transept, adjoining the chancel.

St Urith on the Chittlehampton pulpit (left) and newer statue outside (right)

The late 14th-century stone pulpit in the church features Urith holding a martyr’s palm and the foundation stone of the church. A present-day statue was placed in a niche high up on the exterior of the church tower and has her holding a scythe along with her chopped off head. St Urith is set beside St Sidwell holding her chopped off head on the 15th-century rood screen at Hennock Church, Devon – both are carrying scythes. St Urith shares the archetypal story of beheading with the other cephalophorus female saints, including St Sidwell of Devon and St Juthwara of Dorset.

 

References

Chanter, J. F. “St Urith of Chittlehampon: A Study in an Obscure Devon Saint”, Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art, July 1914, 290–308.

St Urith of Chittlehampton [M. R. James connection]

St Urith of Chittlehampton

St Alkelda’s feast day

March 28 is the feast day of St Alkeda (Alkelda, Athilda, Alcelda), who is recognised by two churches in the Yorkshire Dales – Church of St Mary and St Alkelda, Middleham, near Richmond and St Alkelda’s Church, Giggleswick, near Settle.

When the Middlham church was renovated in 1878, an Anglo-Saxon stone coffin was discovered that contained the remains of a woman, who is thought to be the martyred St Alkelda.

The legend goes that she was a Saxon princess, nun or abbess called Alkelda who was murdered by a heathen Viking woman during the Danish raids 28 March AD 800. This scene was recreated in a stain glass window in the Middlham church.

William Grainge suggested in the 1800s that her name al-kelda could have meant a holy woman of the spring. It was perhaps derived from Old English hǣlcelde (halig kelda), healing spring, holy well or spring – root Anglo-Saxon word for holy was halig, while a well was kelda. Keld is a word that is used in Yorkshire where it means “well” or “spring”, such as Keldholme and Keld Head.

The area around Middleham became known Hallikeld and in 1157 an administrative division near Richmond was called Halikeldshire. There is also a St Alkelda’s Well close to the Middleham church.

Giggleswick’s links with St Alkelda became known in 1528 when James Carr expressed a wish to be buried in “the church of Gigleswicke of the Holie and Blessed Virgin Saint Alkelda”.

Part of the Anglo-Saxon tomb cover with interlace decoration was set into the floor of the Church of St Mary and St Alkelda, Middleham and you can view my photogrammetry model of it here virtually …

St Tibba’s feast day

Saint Tibba is the patron saint of falconers, as visualised in my illustration above. Tibba along with her sainted sisters Kyneburga and Kyneswide were daughters of the legendary Penda, King of Mercia.

Tibba was believed to live at Ryhall, Rutland in the 7th century. She was also buried there, but in the 11th century her relics were translated to Peterborough Abbey making her feast day 6th or 7th March, though her other official saint day is 16th of December.

A shrine and a holy well were apparently dedicated to her at Ryhall but its location remains a mystery. According to lore cited by Robert Charles Hope (1893, 127) in the past the locals called her “Queen”, and say she used to walk up to Tibbal’s hill and wash in a spring there. According to Pastscape, Tibbal’s hill has not been located as of yet on any old maps (https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=348337).

 

Reference
Robert Charles Hope 1903 The Legendary Lore of the Holy Wells of England. Elliot Stock, London.

Jólakötturinn – the Icelandic Yule Cat

My illustration is based on Icelandic accounts of Jólakötturinn, the Yule (Jól) Cat (köttur) – a monstrous feline with razor whiskers, blazing eyes and terrible claws.

The oldest written sources on the Yule Cat come from the 19th century. They  mention those who do not get a new item of clothing for Yule were destined to become offerings for the Yule Cat. Farm workers needed to finish processing autumn wool before xmas. Those who took part in production would be rewarded with new clothes, but those who did not got nothing. And the scare story of a big, mean kitty out to get lazy workers provided a good incentive.

The tale of the Yule Cat became popularised after the publication of the Icelandic Yule poems written by Jóhannes úr Kötlum in 1932. Here the monstrous feline prowled the streets looking into people’s houses. Women had to spin new xmas clothes for their children or Jólakötturinn would come and sweep them away.

St Jadwiga’s feast day and footprint

St Jadwiga (1373/4 – 17 July 1399) was the first female monarch of the Kingdom of Poland, reigning from 1384 until her death. Her feast day is 17 July.

She was born in Buda, the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary circa 1373 or 1374. The 10 year old Jadwiga was crowned in Poland’s capital, Kraków, on the 16th of October 1384 after many political intrigues.

During her reign she established new hospitals, schools and churches, as well as restoring established ones. Jadwiga promoted the use of vernacular in church services, especially singing hymns in Polish, and had scriptures translated into Polish.

She gave birth to Elizabeth Bonifacia who died 3 weeks old on the 13th of July 1399. A few days later Jadwiga died on 17th July 1399 (aged 25) in Kraków. Jadwiga and her daughter were buried together in Wawel Cathedral on the 24th of August 1399.

Note: regretfully the source for the Jadwiga painting is unknown.

Jadwiga was venerated in Poland soon after her death and legends grew about the miracles she performed. One wonderful tale features her footprint that is set into the external wall of of the Church of Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (also known as the Church Na Piasku), Kraków, Poland. According to legend the Queen stepped on a stone while handing a gold clasp from her slipper to a stone mason, who desperately needed assistance for his ill wife. When she left, he noticed her footprint in the plaster floor of his workplace, even though the plaster had already hardened before her visit.

In 1997 she was canonised by the Roman Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II.

View St Jadwiga’s footprint in 3D at sketchfab