Friday 5 March 2010

st piran's day

Today is St Piran's Day.

Now, I know what you're thinking - especially those who know me well - what's a heathen like me doing spending his time explaining obscure Saints' Days?*

St Piran was the Patron Saint of Cornish Tin miners.  On the 5th March each year, they would take the day off and get really drunk to celebrate his special day.  That's the sort of saint I'm interested in.  If only as a child these sort of wondrous characters were brought to life by telling me stories of debauchery and drunkenness then I might have not strayed so far away from the righteous path.  Or I might not have bunked off from Sunday School and hidden in that tree . . .  another story for another time, perhaps.  Perhaps I wouldn't have ended up living amongst Catholics - not that I have a problem with that.  They're the ones with the problem (me).

* boredom.

8 comments:

Brendini said...

Had he established a monastery would an acolyte be a friar Piran?

Dave Leeke said...

. . . he did and they had their own language/he did and he established it in a mountain range in South-West Europe (delete appalling joke as necessary).*



* It's late.

Andy Wright said...

And, according to an article in the Lancet that I read recently, he was the first recorded Saint to suffer from a bone wasting disease later classified as 'Piranknees'. Boom boom *


* It's now very late and time that I got my coat.

Dave Leeke said...

Eyethangyew - kindly leave the stage!

Andy Wright said...

Hi again. I should have mentioned, much earlier, that in respect of your post of 17th January and the Isle of Lewis Chess pieces, I have recently visited a place you know in the land of the Cheese eating surrender monkeys (good job I'm not still doing what I did do for 30 years or I would be sacked and taken out and shot in the back of the head for saying that sort of thing)and I had a lengthy conversation with the Chessmen at chez nous. They are happy there and would resist any attempt to return them to the frozen north. Leave them be I say.........and so did the King!

Dave Leeke said...

Is the Church Commission that retributive?

Andy Wright said...

Mmmmmm ...the Church Commissioners, probably not.The organisation I gave the majority of my adult life to (so far) .........probably.

Dave Leeke said...

Probably best to draw a veil over that, then!