> From: Bob Trubshaw [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
>
> Except in Leicestershire where St Michael dedications are almost
> invariably
> *not* on hill top sites (but those Leics churches dedicated to that
> lesser-known dragon-slaying saint, Catherine, *are* mostly on hill tops .
> . . )
>
> The suggestion that St Michael churches are usually on hill tops owes its
> origin to John Michell's work in the 1970s and was widely accepted as
> 'gospel' by various other Earth Mysteries writers in the 70s and 80s. It
> gained wider circulation in Broadhurst and Miller's undiluted bunkum on
> the
> St Michael line.
>
> A little-known secret is that various Earth Mysteries researchers who made
> an effort to study church dedications in their area show that churches
> dedicated to St Michael are no more likely to appear on hill tops than any
> other saints. But truth is less infectious than fiction . . .
>
Hmm, I've not seen Michell's book, but I have read Richard Morris'
discussion in _Churches in the Landscape_ which covers some of the evidence.
Aside from that, there are some outstanding examples of St. Michael on the
heights--the twin monasteries of Mont St. Michel and St. Michael's in
Cornwall being the two island examples, and Skellig Michel (which actually
means BIG Skellig), a similar island off Kerry, also had a St. Michael's.
Supposedly the fashion for mountaintop Michaels sites grew out of a medieval
apparition of Michael on a tall spot in Italy (can't recall the name of the
site--was it Monte Cassino?).
Sites dedicated to Michael in Celtic areas often can be traced back
to previous dedications to Celtic Mercury (in Gaul and other Continental
sites) and to Lugh in Ireland. Lugh was a storm god who apparently was the
focus of beginning of harvest festivals. Folk customs related to beginning
of harvest in Scotland are often dedicated to St. Michael (see the Carmina
Gadelica's Consecration of the Seed for such a reference) and Michaelmas
seems to be a replacement for Lughnasa in Scotland (where harvest began
later) inasmuch as many Michaelmas customs seem to be cognates of Irish
Lughnasa customs.
Graham Jones, if he's lurking about, probably has something to add
on the subject of Michael dedications.
Francine Nicholson
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|