S. Winnow was son of Gildas the historian. Gildas and Finian were together for some time at S. David’s monastery, and became close friends. Then Gildas entrusted his son Winnoc, or Winnow, to Finian to be educated, and Finian took the boy with him to Clonard and educated him. When Winnoc thought that it was time for him to leave, he returned to Britain and settled in Cornwall. As he was allied to the royal family, he received large grants of land, and certainly chose a lovely spot for his establishment. S. Veep, or Wennapa, was his aunt, and he served as her spiritual adviser. After a while, for some reason unknown, but probably on account of a breeze with his kinsman King Constantine, whom Winnow’s father, Gildas, has abused in the most uncompromising terms, and Constantine’s mother as well, Winnow left Cornwall and settled in Brittany. He was accompanied by his brother Madoc and his sister, whom the Welsh call Dolgar and the Bretons Tugdonia. He landed in the neighbourhood of Brest, where he was found by Conmor, Count of Vannes, the usurper, who was killed in 500. Conmor granted him as much land as he could enclose in a day. The story goes that Madoc, or Madan, as the Bretons call him,[18] took a pitchfork and drew it behind him, and it formed a ditch and a bank that enclosed a bit of land. The fosse and embankment exist to the present day, and the story means no more than that under Madoc’s supervision the _lis_ or _rath_ was thrown up to enclose the monastic settlement. Within this defensive work Winnow constituted his establishment, built a church, and erected a number of beehive cells. Outside he set up stones to mark the bounds of his _minihi_, or sanctuary, and all who took refuge in this were allowed to pass under his protection and become members of his tribe. One day Winnow went to Quimperlé, where some building was in progress. He incautiously stood under the scaffolding, and a mason who was above let fall his hammer on his head. This killed him. The Welsh call him Gwynnog, and the Bretons Gouzenou. A very funny story is told of his establishment. It became a custom to beat the bounds every Ascension Day. The clergy with banners, and preceded by a cross, led the procession. One day the rain came down in torrents, and the clergy did not relish being wet to the skin, so they decided not to beat the bounds. However, cross and banners would not be done out of their little flirt, and to the astonishment of all, away they trotted, none bearing them, and made the rounds by themselves. Popular tradition is prudently silent as to when this took place. That Winnow should have been forced to leave Cornwall after his father had addressed the king in such forcible but inelegant terms as “Tyrannical whelp of the unclean lioness of Dumnonia,” is not surprising. You could not well stay in the house of a man in whose face your venerable father has spat--not if you have any self-respect.