The Celtic Christianity of Cornwall: Divers Sketches and StudiesTaylor, Thomas
History
The Celtic Christianity of Cornwall: Divers Sketches and Studies
Taylor, Thomas
Cornwall (England : County) -- Church history
En Cornoualle n’a parroise
Ou la novele n’en angoise
Que, qui porroit Tristan trover
Qu’il en feïst le cri lever.
Ogrin, as a man of sense, advises the Queen to return home, and himself
undertakes the delicate task of reconciling the lovers to King Mark.
Throughout the narrative he is represented as a man of God. It does not
seem to have occurred to the romancer that there is something slightly
incongruous in selecting a hermit for a shopping expedition to the
market of St. Michael’s Mount, where, for the fair Iseult:
Assés achate ver et gris
Dras de soie et de porpre bis,
Escarlates et blanc chainsil,
Asez plus blanc que flor de lil,
Et palefroi souef amblant
Bien atorné d’or flanboiant.
The hermit, as a man of affairs, may have been familiar to those for
whose ears the romance was intended. It is difficult, otherwise, to
assign a reason why the writer exaggerated his character beyond the
bounds of recognition. The position which the hermit occupied in the
popular estimation, august as it undoubtedly was, was not more exalted
than that which was voluntarily conceded to him by those who were highly
placed. To this fact must doubtless be attributed the more or less
successful attempts to perpetuate the office when its occupant was
removed by death. It is therefore possible that in the hermit of
Colemanshegg, mentioned in a Roll of 1258, we have a reference to one of
Ogrin’s successors.[101] Of this latter personage we know nothing save
that Richard hermit of Colemanshegg received 50s. yearly to find a
chaplain to celebrate divine service for the soul of Catherine the
King’s daughter.
But for this mention of Richard of Colemanshegg the earliest notice of a
Cornish hermit after the Norman Conquest would have been that contained
in the Assize Roll of the 30th year of Edward I (1301-1302) in which it
is recorded that _Thomas de Penmargh noctanter intravit domum Andreae
Paugan heremitae infra capellam Divi Justi et eum occidit. Johannes
filius Andreae heremitae primus invenitor_. The entry is under the
heading of the hundred of Penwith. Penmargh is doubtless Penmarth in
Wendron. Pagan, of which Paugan may be a variant, is not uncommon as a
personal name in early records. We are not told why Thomas of Penmargh
killed Andrew, or how long it was before John discovered the dead body
of his father, but it looks as if Andrew had been seen alive the day
before his death and found dead by his son the day after. Where was the
hermitage? It is described as below the chapel of St. Just, but St. Just
was not a chapel (_capella_). It was a church (_ecclesia_), and the
terms are never used indiscriminately. If it be allowable to render the
passage “below a chapel of St. Just,” that is, below a chapel in the
parish of St. Just, the record is very significant.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account