Saintly Miracles, Royalty - and Leeks!

Watercolour copy of a wall painting of St Ninian found in a church
at St Congan, Scotland in 1861. 

Today is the Feast of St Ninian, about whom myths and legends abound, but firm facts are few and far between.  Like many other early saints even his name is in doubt: he is also known as Ringan or Trynnian, and may really be St Finnian of Moville, given the wrong name due to an error on the part of an ancient scribe. Anyway, he has been St Ninian for more than 1,500 years, so as far as I am concerned that’s who he is!

His plant symbol is southernwood, a type of artemesia which is also called lad’s love, and traditionally on this day country lads used to present bunches of southernwood to their sweethearts. In Scotland the leaves were pressed in Bibles to perfume them, and  it’s common name is apple-ringie, which some experts think could mean St Ringan’s (or St Ninian’s) Wood, or even ‘pray to St Ninian’.  An old strewing herb, it has antiseptic properties and keeps insects and moths away. 

Whithorn Priory, Whithorn, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland 

Wikimedia Commons

St Ninian is said to have brought Christianity to Scotland in the late 4th and early 5th centuries - long before Columba arrived on the scene – and established a church at Whithorn, in Galloway, which became known as the cradle of Scottish Christianity and was a major shrine after his death. Some 300 years later the Venerable Bede briefly mentions Ninian in A History of the English Church and People, describing him as ‘a most reverend and holy man of the British race’  who had been ‘regularly instructed in the mysteries of the Christian faith in Rome’.

Stained glass in 

 the Whithorn Story 

Exhibition

 by Richard LeClerk, 

a copy of a Douglas Strachan 

window in 

Edinburgh Castle.

A 9th century poem, Miracula Nyniae Episcopi , describes some of the miracles attributed  to Ninian, while in the middle of the 12th century Ailred of Rievaulx wrote the Vita Sancti Niniani (A Life of St Ninian), which he claimed was based on earlier records. According to Ailred Ninian was the son of a Christian King, was consecrated a bishop in Rome, then in Tours (on his return to Britain), met St Martin who sent stone masons with him to build a church. Ninian is also said to have used a nearby cave as a retreat, where he could retire from the world when he needed peace for contemplation and prayer.

As for the miracles, he cured a blind king (allegedly) and proved a priest was not responsible for a pregnant girl pregnant by making the unborn baby speak to reveal the true father. He also brought back to life a man who had been gored by a bull, and solved a food shortage by making leeks appear in a garden – apparently, he planted seeds which ripened within hours. And there is a charming story that as the saint walked along reading Psalms God protected him (and the book) from the rain. However, one day he had an ‘unlawful thought’ and the divine protection vanished – but reappeared when he returned to his usual virtuous thoughts! 

Carved oak 14th century figure
 of a bishop found near Whithorn
 and thought to be St Ninian. 

According to Ailred, after Ninian’s death there were miraculous cures at his shrine: lepers were made well, a blind girl regained her sight, and a man found his skin disease disappeared when he prayed there. The shrine was housed in cathedral built on the site of his own church at Whithorn, and became a place of pilgrimage for rich and poor alike. In the 14th  century Robert the Bruce prayed (unsuccessfully) to be cured of leprosy, and in the 16th century Mary Queen of Scots went there, as her father James V did before her, and her grandfather James IV before that.

 The Cathedral is now a ruin but modern pilgrims still make the journey to Whithorn and St Ninian's cave, seeking peace and healing just as folk have done since St Ninian himself first decided to bring the word of God to the pagan Picts in the lawless lands north of Hadrian’s Wall.

I think we should pause for a moment and reflect on the legend of St Ninian (whether that was his true name or not). Then you could mark his day by sending flowers to a loved one, or plant southernwood in the garden, or make leek and potato soup or a leek and potato bake (soften sliced leeks in butter, parboil sliced potatoes, drain, tip into a dish, add home-made cheese sauce, grate cheese over the top, bung it in the oven until it’s golden brown and bubbling)... failing all else, cake and wine will suffice.

St Ninian's Cross

Soup for the Soul

I AM, as they say, on the horns of a dilemma, unable to decide what to write. I could expound upon the learning process and writing essays, or whinge about recycling and the rubbish collection or, as the days are drawing out and bulbs are beginning to bloom, I could wax lyrical about the joys of spring.

But I think I shall continue with yesterday's thoughts about saints and leeks. Today is St Chad's Day, when people used to plant their peas. One traditional old rhyme says: "St David and Chad, Sow peas, good or bad." However, it is still too cold to plant anything - and in any case the garden needs a major overhaul after the winter -I decided that cooking pea soup was a better way to mark the occasion. And, since I still had the leeks I didn't use yesterday, I thought I would try making a leek and pea soup - though a pea and leek risotto might have worked just as well.

I added an onion, some potato and celery to my my chopped leeks, swetaed everything in butter until it was soft, then added peas, water and stock powder, simmered gently for 20 mnutes or so and whizzed everything together with some mint. A dollop of cream would have been good, but in its absence I added a swirl of plain yogurt. And, for good measue, I threw in some pot barley while the soup was cooking, having discovered the following gem in my trusty boo of saints: "Upon St David's Day, Put oats and barley in the clay."

Now I am not religious, but last year on Facebook I tied to find an interesting saint each day - and to think of a way celebrating, so this soup fits the bill for not just one, but two saints. And while it may be very green, it tasted jolly good, so in the months ahead I may re-instate by saintly calendar on this blog. Tomorrow , by the way, is St Winnold's Day, when accoding John Vince's Discovering Saints in Bitain: "First comes David, then comes Chad, And then comes Winnold, as if he were mad." But you will have to wait to find out more.

Anyway, Chad was a 7th century Bishop of Lichfield, who studied under St Aidan at the Celtic monastery in Lindisfarne. Much of what we know about him comes from A History of the English Church People, written by the monk the Venerable Bede's, who claimed to have spoken to people who actually knew him.

A page from the Lichfield Gospels.

He includes the tale of how Chad converted the Mercian Princes Wulfhad and Ruffin, but the boys wre slain by their father Wulfhere, who had lapsed back into paganism. Repenting, the King rushed off to beg forgiveness from Chad, saw the light and became a devout Christian.

Chad, whose three brothers were all involved with the church, became a saint almost immediately after his death and remained popular throughout the Medieval period, attracting pilgrims to Lichfield, initially to see his simple wooden tomb, and much later to view his ornate shrine. Over the centuries all kinds of healing miracles were recorded including, according to Bede, a that of a madman who sheltered in the church building overnight and was restored to his right mind the following morning.

His shrine and bones disappeared during the Reformation, but during recent excavations in the cathedral fragments from an Anglo-Saxon shrine chest were discovered, carved with the figure of an angel, and this is thought to be the saint's shrine. And bones preserved in a relinquary at St Chad's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Birmingham are believed to be those of St Cad.

You can still find reminders of him in and round Lichfield. By St Chad's Church, overlooking Stowe Pool, is the well (now housed in a special edifice) where Chad baptised people and is said to have stood and prayed.

And among the Cathedral's prized possessions are the Lichfield Gospels (also known as the St Chad Gospels), written in the 8th century, and known to have been kept at Lichfield from the 10th century, though whether they were actually written there is uncertain.

Lists, leeks and love stories

This is The Cat, looking all peaceful, but while I wrote this he woke up and ended the day, as he began it it, by demanding to be fed... so he may feature twice on tomorrow's task list.

TODAY I have a little list. I have written 'Tasks of the Day' in large red letters and beneath that I have inscribed the words 'I Must'. I case you wonder, I must feed The Cat, get dressed, ring my mother, finish OU essay, post letters for Younger Daughter, buy food, meet friend for lunch, dry washing, bring dustbin in, put recyling bin out

This last item is due to he fact that late last night, clad in nightie and dressing gown, I put the bin out, only to discover early this morning that today is blue bin day, not black bin day. Once upon a time we had a metal dustbin, into which all the rubbish went, and the dustmen, most obligingly, took it away without complaint. These days I spend hours sorting through our unwanted items to ensure they are placed in the correct receptacle - and haranguing my loved ones if they fail to get it right.

Anyway, back to the list. During the day items were ticked off, entries scratched out and chores added: make a leek and cheese bake, I wrote (after all, it is St David's Day, he is the patron saint of Wales, and one of the Welsh emblems is a leek). Go to bank was another reminder, along with water the house plants.

In the event I failed to dry the washing, I forgot to water the plants, I didn't cook a meal (the Man of the House fell asleep and The Daughters went out). Nor did I complete the OU essay - although I did print off a first draft, which is progress.

On the plus side I did feed The Cat, I did post Younger Daughter's letters, and I did get dressed (before I sorted the bins out, I hasten to add). I even found time to discover why the leek is a Welsh emblem. Apparently King Cadwaladr of Gwynedd, engaged in battle in a leek field, told his men to fix one of the vegetables to their helmet, so they would realise they were on the same side.

Best of all I kept my lunch appoinment and spent a lovely couple of hours with my novelist friend Phillipa Ashley, who has just teamed up with two fellow authors to produce an E-book of short love stories - well, romantic encounters at any rate. They really do need your support, so take a look at their website, and vote for which cover you want to see on their E-book by going to http://romanticbriefencounters.blogspot.com/2011/02/great-cover-debate.html

Meanwhile, at her suggestion, I am writing another list. She has suggested a new approach in my search for a job so, on her advice, I am producing a list of things I enjoy doing, which should focus my thoughts and help me think of the types of work I could do.