Date sent: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 20:21:11 GMT
Subject: Re: FEAST 19 April
From: Bill East <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
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At 21:01 30/04/98 +0100, you wrote:
>Sorry to come to this late, and apologies for appearing contrary, but the jury
>may still be out on this one, Bill.
>> There are several other non-existent saints whose name derives from
>> a linguistic misunderstanding... St Aldate - simply the Old Gate, near
which, in Oxford, stands the
>> Church of St Aldate's.
>>
>> Oriens.
>
>
>Not at all - I'd be thrilled to hear that he (or she?) really existed.
What about
the nearby St Ebbe? Was there an Anglo-Saxon Ebba, or was this merely the low-
water mark on the Isis? Is there a St Flo on higher ground?
Doctor Elasticus.
Ebba (Aebbe) was abbess of Coldingham, and St Abbs Head is named after her.
Look her up in Bede's Ecclesiastical History. I'm not sure how she got to be
venerated in Oxford, but lots of Northumbrian saints were venerated south of
the Humber so I suppose devotion to Ebba fits into that pattern.
Julia Barrow
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