25th November - Saints 'B'

 Well I have already covered two saints who's name begins with 'B'.  In 2009 I found Beuno, very cross at the Saxons moving in with their terrible language and vowing to move deeper inland.  You can find him here and he protects Curlews, though he is not doing a very good job at the moment.

Then there was Brynach, let us think of him as protector of cuckoos in his church at Nevern.  Renowned for its Bleeding Yews, the church is pretty old and the story of the cuckoo flying back maybe just a story but funny how these things still cling to the folds of Saint Brynach's robe.  Anyway, you can find his story here.

But there is a third with a very similar name to Brynach, not exactly a saint but a king, King Brychan.  According to his story he fathered 24 male children and 24 female children.  One's suspicions grow at exact numbers, magic numbers in the Celtic period are more likely to go for, 3, 7, or 9.

He was the first king of Brecon after the Romans left, the girls (all 24?) led saintly and virginal lives 'dedicated from their youth to religious observance'.  But both sets of children seemed to have become saints and their names are all given by Breverton, though there seems to be some marriages in the family.  His wives were, I think they should be mentioned for their heroic ability to have so many children  - Eurbrawst, Proestri and Rhybrawst.

Though the legend of the 24 girls is wound through a very Celtic story assigned to a river.  That they remained virgins and on their deaths were transformed into rivers flowing into the River Severn (Hafren).

Breverton gives their place of living as on a crannog (fortified island) in Llangors Lake in Brecon.  This according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 

The written word was the task of monks, many books may have been copied, almost like ledgers of the names of people in the small tribal areas of this country.  Some of these books were obviously lost to Viking raids and various warfares, but what remains, either copied or original gives a visual impression, of often battles, but just as importantly, the 'royal' nature of the families.