St Woolos
St Woolos the Bearded founded the city of Newport in the fifth century. He was King Gwynllyw of Glamorgan and a fierce warrior until he was converted by Saint Cadoc. He then had a dream in which an angel spoke to him and revealed a white ox with a black mark on its forehead. The next day he saw the ox in reality on Stow Hill and founded a hermitage there.
Six hundred years later, Harold Godwinson burst into the church of St.Woolos in Newport, hell-bent on destroying it, and saw, to his astonishment, a huge cheese on the altar. He slashed it with his sword, blood spurted out of it and he and his men fled, leaving the church intact. This was thought to be an omen presaging his death at Hastings.
posted by Whispering Walls at 7:49 am
9 Comments:
Great stuff, WW.
I wonder what Quentin Tarantino would make of this.
Gosh, WW ! When it comes to Welsh history, "You knows it.." as the GLC might say...
Very interesting blog. A bleeding cheese; well maybe.
On a related 'bleeding' note, check out the details of the 'Bleeding Yew at Nevern'. Very interesting, with pagan overtones about the 'mother earth'. Well worth a visit if you are down in that neck of the woods.
Anon - I've never heard of that. Have you seen it bleed?
Oh it certainly 'bleeds', a kind of red wine/purplish hue.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/29469
I'm not sure if there are bouncers to keep the Church and pagan people apart, although one suspects this is why they have two different calendars.. - Although what happens at the Bacchanalian orgy which Christmas has reverted to is best left to the imagination...
While we are on the topic of yew trees and the 'mother goddess' you may want to check out the details of the 'yew tunnel' at Aberglasney..
http://www.aberglasney.org/index.php?page=yew_tunnel
I am always worried that this will be invaded for the use of al fresco love making by those anxious to conceive, which might lead to an alarming rise in 'fertility tourism'...
That looks amazing. I must go to Wales in 2008 to see all those yews. Are you a fertility tourist?
Hmm.. not unless you are offering - and the Welsh climate isn't really that amenable to it, to be honest..
Take care though, when asking 'Where to see the yews' - you might end up in a field full of lambs...
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