THE PULPIT ROCK, SCILLY ” 329 From a photograph. CORNWALL CHAPTER I. THE CORNISH SAINTS A saint or squab pie--The saints belong to five classes--I. The members of the royal Dumnonian family--II. Irish-Welsh colonists--The invasion of Brecknock--Brychan--The invasion of Cornwall and Devon--Murtogh Mac Earca--III. Irish in West Cornwall--IV. Welsh-Breton saints--V. Pure Breton importations--Ecclesiastical colonies--Llans and cells--Tribal organisation--Ecclesiastical also tribal--The sanctuary--How a tribe was recruited--Jurisdiction--What a Celtic monastery was--Rights exercised by the saints--That of ill-wishing--Missionary methods of the Celtic saints--Illand and S. Bridget--The power of the keys as the saints understood it--Reciprocal rights--The saint expected to curse the enemies of the secular tribe--Asceticism--A legal process carried into religion--Story of the three clerks--A higher idea of asceticism gained ground--S. Columba and the nettles--The saints and animals--And children--How they used their powers--What they did for womankind--The biographies, how far trustworthy--The interest in knowing something of the founders of the Churches. The story goes that the devil one day came to the Tamar from the Devon side and stood rubbing his chin and considering. “No,” said he, “I won’t risk it. Yonder every person is made into a saint, and everything into squab pie. I do not feel qualified for either position.” And it is a fact that nowhere else in England are there so many villages bearing the names of saints, and these names strange, and such as may be sought out in vain in the calendars that are easily accessible. One is impressed with the idea that the vast majority of these saints are unknown and negligible quantities. This, however, is an entirely false assumption, and it is based on the fact that their history has not been studied. On close examination it will be found that the saintly names in Cornwall belong to certain well-defined groups, and when we have determined the localities occupied by these groups we have taken the first step towards the elucidation of some important problems in the early history of Cornwall. Now let us look at these groups. I. The first belongs to members of the royal Dumnonian family that ruled Devon and Cornwall. The first-known prince was Constantine the Blessed (about 460), whose brother Aldor migrated to Brittany, and married the sister of Germanus of Auxerre, who came to Britain in 429 and 447 to oppose the spread of the Pelagian heresy.