The antiquities of Bridgnorth : $b with some historical notices of the town and castle — John Shaqi
The antiquities of Bridgnorth : $b with some historical notices of the town and castleBellett, George
History
The antiquities of Bridgnorth : $b with some historical notices of the town and castle
Bellett, George
Bridgnorth (England) -- Antiquities
The following is the substance of the narrative of the event given
by John Brompton, an ancient chronicler, who lived in the reign of
King John:—In the year 1082 Roger de Montgomery married his second
wife, Adelissa, daughter of Ebrard de Pusey, one of the chief nobles
of France. As she was sailing into England to join her husband, she
was overtaken by a dreadful tempest, from which the mariners thought
there could be no escape. In the midst of this furious storm one of
the ecclesiastics, who accompanied her, wearied with watching, fell
asleep; and in his sleep he dreamed that a female appeared to him, and
thus addressed him:—“If thy lady would wish to save herself, and her
attendants from the present danger of the sea, let her make a vow to
God, and faithfully promise to build a church in honour of the blessed
Mary Magdalene, on the spot where she may first happen to meet her
husband, the Earl, in England; especially where groweth a hollow oak,
and the wild swine have shelter.” The story goes on to state, that,
when he awoke from sleep, he communicated to his lady the particulars
of this singular dream, and that she at once made the prescribed vow.
The tempest soon calmed, and she and her attendants landed safely in
some port in England, from whence she immediately made her journey to
her husband’s estates in Shropshire; and just on the top of Quatford
hill, which was at that time in the outskirts of the Earl’s hunting
ground, and near a spot where an oak tree was growing, she met him,
engaged in his favorite pastime: and there at her request, in
fulfilment of her vow, he built a church and richly endowed it.[7]
[7] This narrative may possibly be somewhat tinctured with the
superstition which prevailed at the time; but there is no reason to
doubt the general truth of it. Mr. Eyton, to whom I am indebted for
my acquaintance with it, after giving the whole of the narrative in
detail, in Vol. 1, part 2, p. 107, of his Antiquities of Shropshire,
makes this comment on it:—“The whole of this narrative is credible in
itself, and minutely consistent with other ascertained facts; nor need
we take exception even to the Priest’s dream, for who knows not that
the feverish sleep of over fatigue will invest our hopes and anxieties
with some garb of life-like reality. Moreover this priest lived at a
time when priests were taught to believe in and to expect such special
revelations of the divine will.”
“Parts of this story nevertheless, require explanation; and the whole
of it must be tested by other facts and dates before we admit it to
that credence, which the details of a legend most seldom deserve.”
He has applied such tests, and has been fully satisfied with the result.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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