The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-02-08
HUMORS OF CELTIC SAINTS.
W0RTHEES IRGRAINED WITH
 CHARACTERISYICS


 CHARACTERlSTTCS
 Of Frsii Humantty-The Beautifu
 ChnIice Which Dissolved the Oath 6
 Friendship and the Vow of HoIines
 Why No Child Is Chrtstened ssJo
 anna' at the Font of Leven's We'll
 How Piran Brought From IceIan,
 the Precious Art of Dfstiiling.
 We do not usually expect to find hll. nlor in reading the lives of the Saints and when we do meet with it is is cer- tainly of that rare quality which is un' conscious. Those who set themselves to compile the records Cor more often tc invent themD did not lay themselves out to provide jests for the enjoyment of ar irreverent later generation. They did provide the jests none the less. Celtic saint-lore is specially rich on the hu- morous side. In early Celtic days the title of Saint simply meant that man or woman belonged to a religious settle ment or family; it did not necessarily imply any degree whatever of what we call hiliness. Such holiness there might be, and very often there was; but some times it seems to have been conspicu- ously absent
 THE EPISODE OF SAINTS JUST
 AND KEVERNE.
 One thing is certain, there is a deal of 7,it aI ha al i,,tc They quareled and threw stones at each other, they robbed each other, and they called each other names. The names were not always f1attering. One very delightful story is that of the Cornish Saints, St. Just and St. Keverne. St. Just lived in the Lands End dist trict. St Keverne near the Lizard. St. Just came to pay his brother saint visit, and the two had good time together, drinking from Keverne's beautiful chalice. Perhaps the wine got into the head of St. Just; in any case, he took a geat fancy to Keverne's precious drink ing cup, and at parting, amid many protestations of eternal friendship, he contrived to conceal it on his person and to make off with it. Presently Keverne missed his cup.
 He searched high and low, in vain; at last, let us hope unwillingly, he was constrained to think that his saintly visitor had stolen 1t. In a great rage he hastened in pursuit. Passing over the Crowza Downs where lie many bould- CTS and fragments of ironstone, he picked up few of fthese for future use. After proceeding several miles he spied his absconding friend in the distance, He shouted to him to stop, but St. Just either did not or would not hear. Then Keverne began to throw his stones He threw so we'll that St. Just, becoming alarmed, dropped the chalice and made the best use he could of his legs. But though he had recovered his treasure, the anger of St. Keverne was not quite exhausted and he hurled the remaining stones after the retreating figure.
 THE INCIDENT INDIsPUTABLY
 PROVED.
 As a proof of the incident, the stones remained till this day-or at least, re- mained till comparatively recent times, when they were broken up to mend the roads The spot still bears the name of Tremenkeverne, ''the three stones of Keverne,' and they lay in a. district where no such fronstone was to be found, having evidently been brought from a distance. What further proof can we wish? But the story does not seem to have damaged St. Just's repu- tation. This same saint on another oc- casion quarrelled with his neighbor, St. Senan They hurled rocks at each oth- CT, but apparently with little damage.
 Another Lands End saint was St. Leven He used to live on one fish & day, and this fish he would himself catch at a spot near his church. One Sunday he was engaged in angling for his dinner when a woman named Jo- anna, who was gathering hotherbs in her garden, abused him for fishing on the Sabbath. The saint argued that it was no worse to catch a fish than to gather herbs; but the Womans tongue had clearly irritated him. He proceed ed to say that in future, if any girl were in his well with the name of Joanna, that girl should be bigger fool than she herself. To this day no pa rents would think of bringing child to St. Leven's to be baptized with the name of Joanna. VIRTUE OF ST. LUDG-
 VANS WE'LL. The saints often made similar ar- with regard to their wells. St. Ludgvan promised that no child i baptized in his well should ever be | hanged One day a lLsudgvan woman avs actually convicted of murder, and | suffered the penalty; the whole parish l was in consternation. At last it was | proved that the woman had really been | ,hristened somewhere else, and public l 'aith in the waters of the holy we'll was | 'estored. One thing is certain with re- | gard to these Celtic saints; they were 'onder of personal cleanliness than most saints of the Latin calendar, and l heir ablutions have been reported by |