medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Intrigued by the gudgeon and with an idle moment to Google, I came up with a BBC web-page which asked
'Are you a Bradford Gudgeon or a Trowbridge Knob?'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/moonraking/folklore_name_calling.shtml
It compares Anne's gudgeon with the ball on the top of the 'blindhouse' in the neighbouring town of Trowbridge.
Perhaps more to the point, it seems that 'to swallow a gudgeon' is to be deceived, and that the gudgeon is easily caught - 'the fool gudgeon' in Shakespeare's phrase (T. F. Thiselton-Dyer, The Folklore of Shakespeare, 1883).
Probably doesn't tell us anything about devotion to Nicholas, but you learn something every day...
More to the point for Anne, Gudgeon is a surname and apparently occurs in Wiltshire in 1221 as Guiun. Was the founder of your chapel a Gudgeon?
Best wishes
Graham
________________________________________
From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Jane Stemp Wickenden [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 07 June 2014 15:18
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] St Nicholas
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
For anyone who doesn't know the chapel, a picture here
https://www.stnicholascenter.org/galleries/gazetteer/4219/ where I notice
they simply attribute the usual Christian symbolism to the fish. Another
page on the same site offers Nicholas as a patron saint of fishermen for the
Bulgarians, complete with fish traditions:
https://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/bulgaria/
Bradford-on-Avon is lovely (lucky you, Anne!) and I thoroughly recommend the
Bridge Tea Rooms (patron saint presumably St Julian, for hospitality).
Jane
-----Original Message-----
From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious
culture [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Graham Jones
Sent: 07 June 2014 13:42
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] St Nicholas
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear Anne
You might also like to take a look at the references to Nicholas in my book
on dedications, Saints in the Landscape (Tempus, 2007), and my article 'St
Nicholas, icon of mercantile virtues: transition and continuity of a
European myth’, in Richard Littlejohns and Sara Soncini (eds), Myths of
Europe in Transition (Amsterdam, Rodope, 2006), pp. 73-88.
St Nicholas is absolutely appropriate for a bridge chapel, especially where
it leads directly, as at Bradford on Avon, on to the (infilled) market place
and shambles.
I suspect the gudgeon has some local significance.
Best wishes
Graham Jones
________________________________________
From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious
culture [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Bill Schipper
[[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 07 June 2014 11:40
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] St Nicholas
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Anne,
First, the title of Jones’s book is St. Nicholas of Myra, Bari, and
Manhattan; it was published in 1978. If you read German, you can consult
Karl Meisen, Nikolauskult und Nikolausbrauch im abendlande; eine
kultgeographisch-volkskundliche untersuchung (Düsseldorf: L. Schwann, 1931);
it has been reprinted. There are other books that are more recent, such as
Adam English, The Saint who would be Santa Claus: the true History of
Nicholas of Myra (2012); and Gerald Bowler, Santa Claus: a Biography.
(2005).
Bill Schipper
From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious
culture [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Anne Willis
Sent: Friday, June 06, 2014 8:43 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [M-R] St Nicholas
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Some queries:
I live in Bradford on Avon where there is a chapel/lock-up on the town
bridge. As a chapel it is said to have been dedicated to St Nicholas.
There is a lovely 16th century gudgeon on the top of the roof. Is this a
usual symbol for St Nicholas?
Someone told me that St Nicholas was the patron saint of travellers, which I
queried as I thought St Christopher had that role. I know Nicholas was a
patron saint for seamen (unlikely in land-locked Wiltshire) and merchants
(very likely in this part of the world. Would a chapel dedicated to him at
the entry to the town have had any significance?
Westwood nearby used to be dedicated to St Nicholas, but the dedication was
changed to St Mary sometime in the 19th century. A very wealthy merchant
lived in the adjacent manor and added the upper stage to the tower (see
http://www.brad-avon-ht.org.uk/westwood.html ; do look at the photos on the
right)and probably the north aisle. Could the church have been re-dedicated
to a favourite saint?
Thanks
Anne
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