One respondent to Mike's query was probably right in suggesting that St.
Barbara became the protector of miners after the advent of explosives.
There was, to my knowledge, no observation of dedicated miners holy days in
England and Wales, and none are recognised in those mining customs codified
or recited in the late medieval period. If St. Barbara was a creation of the
gunpowder era, then she would not have found favour with a mining industry
which was to develop as a breeding ground for protestant non-conformism.
Peter
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Peter Claughton, Blaenpant Morfil, Rosebush, Clynderwen,
Pembrokeshire, Wales SA66 7RE.
Tel. 01437 532578; Fax. 01437 532921; Mobile 0831 427599
University of Exeter, Dept. of Economic and Social History
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Co-owner - mining-history e-mail discussion list.
See http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/mining-history/ for details.
Mining History Pages - http://www.exeter.ac.uk/~pfclaugh/mhinf/
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