Thanks to Julia for reminding me about the hart which demarcates the land for
Thanet minster. Is there a common source for such tales and similar legends such
as that of St Leonard being given as much land at Noblac as he could ride
around during one night?
It really would be very useful to have a reading list of discussions of these
animal legends' origins and diffusion. Goodness knows how many there are. For
example, Elissa Henken listed no fewer than twelve in Wales alone.
Graham Jones
Leicester
> > Dear Laura,
> >
> > The answer was to get two young steers, never broken to the
> > yoke, and put them in the same yoke, and let them loose at night. Where they
> > were found the next morning was the proper site for the church. This method
> > of locating a church or determining the resting place of a relic was used in
> > Spain to locate the church of St. James of Compostella, and in Italy to
> > determine St. Luccia was the proper place for the Cross.
> >
> > Good hunting, Jim
>
> Similarly, yoked cattle (I think... Help me out here, Miriam) determined the
> resting place of St Walstan in Norfolk; a cow determined the site of St
> Arilda's church at Oldbury-on-Severn, Gloucestershire; another revealed the
> grave (and church site) of St Kenelm at Romsley, Worcestershire. That's three
> cases from England. From Catalunya I can offer yoked mules determining the
> resting place of a miraculous Mother-of-God at Montblanc. Can someone point us
> in the direction of a detailed discussion of this motif?
>
> Graham Jones
> Leicester
>
> We need to add the hart on Thanet in the Mildrith legend.
> Julia Barrow
>
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