S. Patrick in Ireland did not require his bishops to be unmarried; all he demanded of them was that they should follow the apostolic rule, and that each should be the husband of one wife. The same regulation continued in force in Wales till the Norman invasion in the twelfth century. S. Patrick was no doubt mainly guided in making his rule by what was ordered in Scripture, but he was also doubtless satisfied that on practical grounds it was the best course, for he had a difficult team of missionaries to drive. This comes out clearly enough in the “Lives” extant. CHAPTER XVI. THE LIZARD Meneage--The meaning of Lizard--The character of the district--Helston--The Furry Day--Pixy pots--Loe Pool--Tennyson--Serpentine--The Cornish heath--The Strapwort--Other plants--Woad--S. Piran and the woad--Windmill--Peter Odger--Mullion--Tregonning Hill--S. Ruan--S. Winwaloe--One and All--Gunwalloe Church--Cury--The colonisation of Brittany--Wrecks. “The learned Scotus”, says Addison in the 174th number of the _Tatler_, “to distinguish the race of mankind, gives to every individual of that species what he calls a seity, something peculiar to himself, which makes him different from all other persons in the world.” What the learned Scotus said of individuals may as truly be said of localities; and indisputably the seity of the Lizard is most pronounced. In itself the district is not beautiful. It consists of a tableland elevated a few hundred feet above the sea, very bald and treeless, and without hills to break its uniformity. [Illustration: THE LIZARD] Properly it is not the Lizard at all, but Meneage, _i.e._ the land of the Minachau, the monks. Lizard--Lis-arth, the high-placed or lofty Lis(court)--applies merely to the head and point where stands now Lizard Town, and where was formerly the enclosed court of a prince of the district, or perhaps that of the Irish monks, who occupied the region and appropriated it. It is almost an island, for the Helford river runs up to Gweek, five miles from the Helston river, that opens into Loe Pool. Helston is not a particularly interesting place in itself. It consists of a long street leading to the old bowling-green, which is preserved, and stands above the ravine of the Cober (Gael. _cobhair_, foam), where is an archway to William Millett Grylls, designed for execution in sugar-candy and executed in granite. What makes Helston interesting is the annual observance of the Furry Day, on May 8th. It has been often described. The morning is ushered in by a peal of bells from the church tower, and at about nine o’clock the people assemble and demand their prescriptive holiday. They then collect donations, and repair to the fields “to bring home the May.”