medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On Saturday, March 19, 2005, at 8:07 pm, Phyllis wrote:
> Today (20. March) is the feast day of:
> Cuthbert (d. 687) Some say he was Irish, some a Scot; Bede says he
> was a Briton. Whoever he was, he became a monk at Melrose and then
> Ripon. He was an active missionary, but became a hermit. Against
> his will, C. was made bishop of Hexham in 685 (swapping with St. Eata
> so C. got Lindisfarne instead).
And, of course, C. has a bird named after him: the Cuddy duck (a.k.a.
Common Eider; a.k.a. Somateria mollissima). A site from Northumberland
showing breeding locations and other places to see this species (in that
county) is here:
http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/vg/eider_duck.htm
The map may be helpful in placing Lindisfarne, the Farne Islands, and
Coquet Island.
A couple of good photographs illustrating males and females in adult
plumage are here:
http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/vg/eider/images/gallery1.jpg
http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/vg/eider/images/gallery3.jpg
Of course, even in the UK there are other places where one can see these
birds (in high summer they occur regularly, for example, in the Tyne
estuary).
And here's a North American account with maps for nearctic breeding
range and wintering distribution (doesn;t manage to mention Cuthbert,
though):
http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=38
Best,
John Dillon
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