A Book of Dartmoor: Second EditionBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
History
A Book of Dartmoor: Second Edition
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Dartmoor (England)
There are several Petrock churches round the moor--Harford, South
Brent, Clannaborough; and probably the original founder and patron of
Buckfast Abbey was this saint.
The great distinction between British foundations and those that were
Roman was this: a British church was called after its founder, whereas
a Roman church received its name from some scraps of dead bones of a
saint laid under the altar, or placed in it. Unhappily, we have no
record of S. Petrock's labours in Devon, but there can exist little
hesitation in holding that he was an apostle of the district about
Dartmoor and of a tract north of it as well, as also that he laboured
and died in Cornwall.
Here is what Bede tells us of the manner of consecration among the
Celts. It must be premised that the historian is speaking of Cedd,
Bishop of the East Saxons from 653 to 664, to whom Oidilvald, King of
the Deisa, had given a piece of land. Cedd had received his training
from Celtic monks at Iona.
"This man of God, wishing by prayer and fasting to purge the place
of its former pollution of wickedness, and so to lay the foundation
of the monastery, entreated the king that he would grant him the
means and permission to dwell there for that purpose, during the
whole time of Lent, which was then at hand. In all the days of this
time, except on Sundays, he fasted till the evening, according to
custom, and then took no other sustenance than a little bread, one
hen's egg, and a little milk mixed with water. This, he said, was
the custom of those of whom he had learned the rule of regular
discipline; first to consecrate to our Lord, by prayer and fasting,
the places which they had newly received for building a monastery
or a church.
"When there were ten days of Lent still remaining there came a
messenger to call him to the king, and he, that the religious
work might not be intermitted, on account of the king's affairs,
entreated his priest, Cynebil, who was also his brother, to
complete the work that had been so piously begun. Cynebil readily
complied, and when the time of fasting and prayer was over he there
built the monastery, which is now called Lastingham."[15]
The name Petrock is really Peterkin, the Celtic diminutive of Peter,
and it is probable that Peter Tavy is another of his foundations, as
well as certain other churches now regarded as dedicated to the great
apostle.
The Saxons, who were saturated with Latin ideas, when they obtained
supremacy, rededicated the churches to saints of the Roman calendar,
if they were able to obtain from Italy some scraps of bone that it was
pretended had belonged to one of the saints of the Latin calendar. But
there is no evidence that the British Christians did other than call
their churches after the names of the founders.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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