I've always loved that story about the faithful hound, even if it is heartbreaking. And obviously, we should definitely decide to believe in it! Boo to Celert, hurrah for the hound!
It is definitely that mixture of heartbreaking and beautiful all at the same time! And reveals that medieval people had that same relationship with dogs that so many of us have today.
That’s a good point about the same relationships - it shows emotions and feelings were the same, and that has huge ramifications when contemplating the social attitudes of people in the past, and indeed therefore the kinds of decisions they made and the social organisation - as you are highlighting, they’re just the same!
I was there this year! Gorgeous place, but I am gutted it isn’t named after a dog but instead yet another Welsh saint. It’s a beautiful spot to go on retreat, that’s for sure.
We have a Gelert in France, same story from the 13th century, a sighthound called Guinefort. His master built him a tomb and he was revered as a saint despite several angry papal injunctions to stop it and his grave being desecrated and his remains scattered. Didn't make any difference. Eventually he was allowed to share a saint's day with another Guinefort, August 22. People still venerated him and made offerings into the 1930s when we had other problems on our minds and religious practice took a nose-dive. Those of us with sighthounds still remember him.
I think there’s a variant of the story in almost every country in Europe and Asia. What I like about Saint Guinefort is that the story isn’t a poem written centuries later. Within days of the (apparent) tragedy, people were bringing offerings to the place the dog was buried. The owner had to build a proper tomb so they had somewhere to leave their votive offerings. He was the go-to (dog) saint for curing sick children.
Oh wow! There’s something so beautiful about the go-to saint being a dog: they can be so, so caring, and instinctively know when someone is unwell. Thank you for sharing!
I've always loved that story about the faithful hound, even if it is heartbreaking. And obviously, we should definitely decide to believe in it! Boo to Celert, hurrah for the hound!
It is definitely that mixture of heartbreaking and beautiful all at the same time! And reveals that medieval people had that same relationship with dogs that so many of us have today.
That’s a good point about the same relationships - it shows emotions and feelings were the same, and that has huge ramifications when contemplating the social attitudes of people in the past, and indeed therefore the kinds of decisions they made and the social organisation - as you are highlighting, they’re just the same!
I was there this year! Gorgeous place, but I am gutted it isn’t named after a dog but instead yet another Welsh saint. It’s a beautiful spot to go on retreat, that’s for sure.
Yes! The medievallist (& church historian) in me loves the probable origin story, but there is something so romantic about the dog legend.
I love learning about place names - your photos are gorgeous, thank you for sharing them.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Loved it. I love place names and where they came from.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
We have a Gelert in France, same story from the 13th century, a sighthound called Guinefort. His master built him a tomb and he was revered as a saint despite several angry papal injunctions to stop it and his grave being desecrated and his remains scattered. Didn't make any difference. Eventually he was allowed to share a saint's day with another Guinefort, August 22. People still venerated him and made offerings into the 1930s when we had other problems on our minds and religious practice took a nose-dive. Those of us with sighthounds still remember him.
Oh wow! I knew I'd heard the story before so perhaps that's where - I didn't think it was Welsh but just couldn't quite put my finger on where...
I think there’s a variant of the story in almost every country in Europe and Asia. What I like about Saint Guinefort is that the story isn’t a poem written centuries later. Within days of the (apparent) tragedy, people were bringing offerings to the place the dog was buried. The owner had to build a proper tomb so they had somewhere to leave their votive offerings. He was the go-to (dog) saint for curing sick children.
Oh wow! There’s something so beautiful about the go-to saint being a dog: they can be so, so caring, and instinctively know when someone is unwell. Thank you for sharing!
I’d trust a dog more than many people. That includes some doctors too…
Yes, sadly so.