St. Cyndeyrn Garthwys ab Owain, Bishop of Strathclyde

See Peter Bartrum, https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000173393042914 (February 5, 2023; Anne Brannen, curator)

Please see Darrell Wolcott: Maxen Wledig and the Welsh Genealogies; http://www.ancientwalesstudies.org/id19.html. (Steven Ferry, February 10, 2020.)

Please see Darrell Wolcott: Anwn Dynod ap Maxen Wledig; http://www.ancientwalesstudies.org/id21.html. (Steven Ferry, February 13, 2020.)

Please see Darrell Wolcott; Harleian Ms 3859; http://www.ancientwalesstudies.org/id129.html. (Steven Ferry, March 10, 2021.)

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Saint Mungo is the commonly used name for Saint Kentigern (also known as Cantigernus (Latin) or Cyndeyrn Garthwys (Welsh)). He was the late 6th century apostle of the Brythonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in modern Scotland, and patron saint and founder of the city of Glasgow.

Name

In Wales and the southern Brythonic regions of modern England, this saint is known by his birth and baptismal name: commonly Kentigern, more correctly Cyndeyrn. The name means 'chief prince'. The epithet 'Garthwys' is of unknown meaning. In Scotland and the Northern Brythonic areas of modern England, he is called by his pet name of Mungo, derived from Brythonic munghu, meaning 'dear one'. An ancient church in Bromfield, Cumbria is named after him, as are Crosthwaite Parish Church and some other churches in the northern part of the modern county of Cumbria (historic Cumberland).

Biographers

The 'Life of Saint Mungo' was written by the monastic hagiographer, Jocelin of Furness, in about 1185. Jocelin states that he rewrote the 'life' from an earlier Glasgow legend and an old Gaelic document. There are certainly two other medieval lives: the earlier partial life in the Cottonian MSS. in the British Library, and the later 'life', based on Jocelin, by John of Tynemouth.

Hagiographic life

Mungo's mother, Thenaw, also known as St. Thaney, was the daughter of the Brythonic king, Lleuddun (Latin, Leudonus), who ruled in the Haddington region of what is now Scotland, probably the Kingdom of Gododdin in the Old North. She became pregnant, after being seduced by Owain mab Urien according to the British Library manuscript. Her furious father had her thrown from the heights of Traprain Law. Surviving, she was then abandoned in a coracle in which she drifted across the River Forth to Culross in Fife. There Mungo was born.
Mungo was brought up by Saint Serf who was ministering to the Picts in that area. It was Serf who gave him his popular pet-name. At the age of twenty-five, Mungo began his missionary labours on the Clyde, on the site of modern Glasgow. Christianity had been introduced to the region by Saint Ninian and his followers welcomed the saint and procured his consecration by an Irish bishop. He built his church at the confluence of the Clyde and the Molendinar Burn, where the present medieval cathedral now stands. For some thirteen years, he laboured in the district, living a most austere life in a small cell and making many converts by his holy example and his preaching. A strong anti-Christian movement in Strathclyde, headed by a certain King Morken, compelled Mungo to leave the district, and he retired to Wales, via Cumbria, staying for a time with Saint David at St David's, and afterwards moving on to Gwynedd where he founded a cathedral at Llanelwy (now St Asaph). While there, he undertook a pilgrimage to Rome. However, the new King of Strathclyde, Riderch Hael, invited Mungo to return to his kingdom. He decided to go and appointed Saint Asaph as Bishop of Llanelwy in his place. For some years, Mungo fixed his Episcopal seat at Hoddom in Dumfriesshire, evangelising thence the district of Galloway. He eventually returned to Glasgow where a large community grew up around him, becoming known as Clas-gu (meaning the 'dear family'). It was nearby, in Kilmacolm, that he was visited by Saint Columba, who was at that time labouring in Strathtay. The two saints embraced, held long converse, and exchanged their pastoral staves. In old age, Mungo became very feeble and his chin had to be set in place with a bandage. He is said to have died in his bath, on Sunday 13 January.

Miracles

In the 'Life of Saint Mungo', he performed four religious miracles in Glasgow. The following verse is used to remember Mungo's four miracles:
Here is the bird that never flew Here is the tree that never grew Here is the bell that never rang Here is the fish that never swam The verses refer to the following: The Bird — Mungo restored life to the pet robin of Saint Serf, which had been killed by some of his fellow classmates, hoping to blame him for its death. The Tree — Mungo had been left in charge of a fire in Saint Serf's monastery. He fell asleep and the fire went out. Taking branches from a tree, he restarted the fire. The Bell — the bell is thought to have been brought by Mungo from Rome. It was said to have been used in services and to mourn the deceased. The original bell no longer exists, and a replacement, created in the 1640s, is now on display in Glasgow. The Fish — refers to the story about Queen Languoreth of Strathclyde who was suspected of infidelity by her husband. King Riderch demanded to see her ring, which he claimed she had given to her lover. In reality the King had thrown it into the River Clyde. Faced with execution she appealed for help to Mungo, who ordered a messenger to catch a fish in the river. On opening the fish, the ring was miraculously found inside, which allowed the Queen to clear her name. (This story may be confused with an almost identical one concerning King Maelgwn of Gwynedd and Saint Asaph.)

Analysis

Mungo's ancestry is recorded in the Bonedd y Saint. His father, Owain was a King of Rheged. His maternal grandfather, Lleuddun, was probably a King of Gododdin. Lothian was named after him. There seems little reason to doubt that Mungo was one of the first evangelists of Strathclyde, under the patronage of King Rhiderch Hael, and probably became the first Bishop of Glasgow.
Jocelin seems to have altered parts of the original life that he did not understand; while adding others, like the trip to Rome, that served his own purposes, largely the promotion of the Bishopric of Glasgow. Some new parts may have been collected from genuine local stories, particularly those of Mungo's work in Cumbria. S. Mundahl-Harris has shown that Mungo's associations with St Asaph were a Norman invention. However, in Scotland, excavations at Hoddom have brought confirmation of early Christian activity there, uncovering a late 6th century stone baptistery. Details of Mungo's infirmity have a ring of authenticity about them. The year of Mungo's death is sometimes given as 603, but is recorded in the Annales Cambriae as 612. 13 January was a Sunday in both 603 and 614. David McRoberts has argued that his death in the bath is a garbled version of his collapse during a baptismal service. In a late 15th century fragmentary manuscript generally called 'Lailoken and Kentigern', Mungo appears in conflict with the mad prophet, Lailoken alias Merlin. Lailoken's appearance at the Battle of Arfderydd in 573 has led to a connection being made between this battle, the rise of Riderch Hael and the return of Mungo to Strathclyde. The Life of Saint Mungo bears similarities with Chrétien de Troyes's French romance Yvain, the Knight of the Lion. In Chrétien's story, Yvain, a version of Owain mab Urien, courts and marries Laudine, only to leave her for a period to go adventuring. This suggests that the works share a common source.

Veneration

On the spot where Mungo was buried now stands the cathedral dedicated in his honour. His shrine was a great centre of Christian pilgrimage until the Scottish Reformation. His remains are said to still rest in the crypt. A spring called "St. Mungo's Well" fell eastwards from the apse.
His festival was kept throughout Scotland on 13 January. The Bollandists have printed a special mass for this feast, dating from the 13th century. His feast day in the West is 13 January. His feast day in the Eastern Orthodox Church is 14 January. Mungo's four religious miracles in Glasgow are represented in the city's coat of arms. Glasgow's current motto Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of His word and the praising of His name and the more secular Let Glasgow flourish, are both inspired by Mungo's original call "Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of the word". Saint Mungo's Well is a cold bath near Knaresborough.

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Notes: Source: http://www.theglasgowstory.com/story/?id=TGSAH02 Kentigern (Welsh: Cyndeyrn Garthwys; Latin: Kentigernus), known as Mungo, was an apostle of the British Kingdom of Strathclyde in the late 6th century, and the founder and patron saint of the city of Glasgow. Name: In Wales and England, this saint is known by his birth and baptismal name Kentigern (Welsh: Cyndeyrn). This name probably comes from the British *Cuno-tigernos, which is composed of the elements *cun, a hound, and *tigerno, a lord, prince, or king. The evidence is based on the Old Welsh record Conthigirn. Other etymologies have been suggested, including British *Kintu-tigernos 'chief prince' based on the English form Kentigern, but the Old Welsh form above and Old English Cundiʒeorn do not appear to support this. Particularly in Scotland, he is known by the pet name Mungo, possibly derived from the Cumbric equivalent of the Welsh: fy nghu 'my dear (one)'. The Mungo pet name or hypocorism has a Gaelic parallel in the form Mo Choe or Mo Cha, under which guise Kentigern appears in Kirkmahoe, for example, in Dumfriesshire, which appears as 'ecclesia Sancti Kentigerni' in the Arbroath Liber in 1321 A. D. An ancient church in Bromfield is named after him, as are Crosthwaite Parish Church and some other churches in the northern part of Cumberland. Biographers: The Life of Saint Mungo was written by the monastic hagiographer Jocelyn of Furness in about 1185 A. D. Jocelin states that he rewrote the 'life' from an earlier Glasgow legend and an Old Irish document. There are certainly two other medieval lives: the earlier partial life in the Cottonian manuscript now in the British Library, and the later Life, based on Jocelyn, by John of Tynemouth. Hagiographic life: Saint Mungo (University of Glasgow) Mungo's mother Teneu was a princess, the daughter of HRM King Lleuddun (Latin: Leudonus), who ruled a territory around what is now Lothian in Scotland, perhaps the kingdom of Gododdin in the Old North. She became pregnant after being raped by Owain mab Urien according to the British Library manuscript. Her furious father had her thrown from the heights of Traprain Law. Surviving, she was then abandoned in a coracle in which she drifted across the River Forth to Culross in Fife. There Mungo was born. Mungo was brought up by Saint Serf who was ministering to the Picts in that area. It was Serf who gave him his popular pet-name. At the age of twenty-five, Mungo began his missionary labours on the Clyde, on the site of modern Glasgow. He built his church across the water from an extinct volcano, next to the Molendinar Burn, where the present medieval cathedral now stands. For some thirteen years, he laboured in the district, living a most austere life in a small cell and making many converts by his holy example and his preaching. A strong anti-Christian movement in Strathclyde, headed by a certain King Morken, compelled Mungo to leave the district, and he retired to Wales, via Cumbria, staying for a time with Saint David at St David's, and afterwards moving on to Gwynedd where he founded a cathedral at Llanelwy (St Asaph in English). While there, he undertook a pilgrimage to Rome. However, the new King of Strathclyde, Riderch Hael, invited Mungo to return to his kingdom. He decided to go and appointed Saint Asaph/Asaff as Bishop of Llanelwy in his place. For some years, Mungo fixed his Episcopal seat at Hoddom in Dumfriesshire, evangelising thence the district of Galloway. He eventually returned to Glasgow where a large community grew up around him. It was nearby, in Kilmacolm, that he was visited by Saint Columba, who was at that time labouring in Strathtay. The two saints embraced, held long converse, and exchanged their pastoral staves. In old age, Mungo became very feeble and his chin had to be set in place with a bandage. He is said to have died in his bath, on Sunday 13 January. Miracles: In the Life of Saint Mungo, he performed four miracles in Glasgow. The following verse is used to remember Mungo's four miracles: Here is the bird that never flew Here is the tree that never grew Here is the bell that never rang Here is the fish that never swam The verses refer to the following: The Bird — Mungo restored life to a robin, that had been killed by some of his classmates. The Tree — Mungo had been left in charge of a fire in Saint Serf's monastery. He fell asleep and the fire went out. Taking a hazel branch, he restarted the fire. The Bell — the bell is thought to have been brought by Mungo from Rome. It was said to have been used in services and to mourn the deceased. The original bell no longer exists, and a replacement, created in the 1640s A. D, is now on display in Glasgow. The Fish — refers to the story about Queen Languoreth of Strathclyde who was suspected of infidelity by her husband. King Riderch demanded to see her ring, which he claimed she had given to her lover. In reality the King had thrown it into the River Clyde. Faced with execution she appealed for help to Mungo, who ordered a messenger to catch a fish in the river. On opening the fish, the ring was miraculously found inside, which allowed the Queen to clear her name. (This story may be confused with an almost identical one concerning King Maelgwn of Gwynedd and Saint Asaph.) Analysis: Mungo's ancestry is recorded in the Bonedd y Saint. His father, Owain was a King of Rheged. His maternal grandfather, Lleuddun, was probably a King of the Gododdin; Lothian was named after him. There seems little reason to doubt that Mungo was one of the first evangelists of Strathclyde, under the patronage of King Rhiderch Hael, and probably became the first Bishop of Glasgow. Jocelin seems to have altered parts of the original life that he did not understand; while adding others, like the trip to Rome, that served his own purposes, largely the promotion of the Bishopric of Glasgow. Some new parts may have been collected from genuine local stories, particularly those of Mungo's work in Cumbria. S. Mundahl-Harris has shown that Mungo's associations with St Asaph were a Norman invention. However, in Scotland, excavations at Hoddom have brought confirmation of early Christian activity there, uncovering a late 6th-century stone baptistery. Details of Mungo's infirmity have a ring of authenticity about them. The year of Mungo's death is sometimes given as 603, but is recorded in the Annales Cambriae as 612. 13 January was a Sunday in both 603 A. D. and 614 A. D. David McRoberts has argued that his death in the bath is a garbled version of his collapse during a baptismal service. In a late 15th-century fragmentary manuscript generally called 'Lailoken and Kentigern', Mungo appears in conflict with the mad prophet, Lailoken alias Merlin. Lailoken's appearance at the Battle of Arfderydd in 573 A. D. has led to a connection being made between this battle, the rise of Riderch Hael and the return of Mungo to Strathclyde. The Life of Saint Mungo bears similarities with Chrétien de Troyes's French romance Yvain, the Knight of the Lion. In Chrétien's story, Yvain, a version of Owain mab Urien, courts and marries Laudine, only to leave her for a period to go adventuring. This suggests that the works share a common source. Veneration: Tomb of St. Mungo in the crypt of Glasgow Cathedral On the spot where Mungo was buried now stands the cathedral dedicated in his honour. His shrine was a great centre of Christian pilgrimage until the Scottish Reformation. His remains are said to still rest in the crypt. A spring called "St. Mungo's Well" fell eastwards from the apse. His festival was kept throughout Scotland on 13 January. The Bollandists have printed a special mass for this feast, dating from the 13th century. His feast day in the West is 13 January. His feast day in the Eastern Orthodox Church is 14 January. Mungo's four religious miracles in Glasgow are represented in the city's coat of arms. Glasgow's current motto Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of His word and the praising of His name and the more secular Let Glasgow flourish, are both inspired by Mungo's original call "Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of the word". Saint Mungo's Well was a cold water spring and bath at Copgrove, near Ripon, North Yorkshire, formerly believed effective for treating rickets. Glasgow Fire Brigade also named their fireboat St. Mungo, which served the around the Clyde from 1959 A. D. to 1975 A. D. One of Arthur H. Peppercorn's A1 Pacific locomotives (ordered by the LNER but not built until after nationalisation of Britain's railways) was named Saint Mungo, entering service in 1949 A. D. and carrying the BR number 60145. This was the last of the design to be withdrawn in 1966 A. D., and it would be over 40 years before a member of the class would be seen running again, in the form of the brand-new 60163 Tornado. Other churches and schools: St Mungo's Church, Townhead, Glasgow Saint Mungo founded a number of churches during his period as Archbishop of Strathclyde of which Stobo Kirk is a notable example. At Townhead in Glasgow there is a modern Roman Catholic church dedicated to the saint. St. Mungo's Academy is a Roman Catholic, co-educational, comprehensive, secondary school located in Bridgeton, Glasgow. Another church established by the saint himself was St. Kentigern's Church of Lanark, founded shortly before his death, and which now stands in ruins. Another church called St. Kentigern's was built in the town in the late 19th century. It is still present but has been converted to housing and office space. In Kilmarnock, a Church of Scotland congregation is named St. Kentigern's. St. Kentigern's Academy opened in Blackburn, West Lothian in September, 1974 A .D. In Alloa, a chapel dedicated to St. Mungo is thought to have been erected during the fourteenth or fifteenth-century. The present Church of Scotland St. Mungo's Parish Church in Alloa was built in 1817 A. D. In the Lake District village of Caldbeck there is a church and a well named after him. The Cumbrian parish churches at Crossthwaite in Keswick, Mungrisdale, Castle Sowerby, and Irthington are also dedicated to St. Kentigern. There are two Cumbrian churches dedicated to St. Mungo, one at Bromfield (also a well and castle) and one at Dearham. There is a St. Kentigern's school and church in Blackpool. In Fallowfield, a suburb of the city of Manchester, a Roman Catholic church is dedicated to Saint Kentigern. St. Kentigern's is a small Roman Catholic Church in the village of Eyeries, on the Beara peninsula in West Cork, Ireland. Mungo or Kentigern is the patron of a Presbyterian church school in Auckland, New Zealand, which has three campuses: Saint Kentigern College, a secondary co-ed college in the suburb of Pakuranga, Saint Kentigern Boys School, a boys-only private junior primary school in the suburb of Remuera, and Saint Kentigern Girls School, a girls-only private junior primary school also in Remuera. Fiction: St. Mungo is referenced in the Father Brown series of books by G. K. Chesterton, as the titular saint of Father Brown's parish. St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries is the primary hospital of Magical Britain in the Harry Potter series of books by J. K. Rowling. Kentigern Gardens is the location of a murder in The Cuckoo's Calling, a novel published under J. K. Rowling's pseudonym Robert Galbraith. St. Kentigern's Church - dedicated churches Sources and references: The Magnificent Gael [Reginald B. Hale] 1976, World Media Productions* Baring-Gould, Sabine & Fisher, John (1907: 2000) Lives of the British Saints. 8 vols. Felinfach: Llanerch (Facsim. reprint in 8 parts of the 4 vol. ed. published: London: Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1907–1913.) Chrétien de Troyes; Burton Raffel, ed. (1987) Yvain, the Knight of the Lion. New Haven: Yale University Press. Davies, John Reuben, "Bishop Kentigern among the Britons," in Boardman, Steve, John Reuben Davies, Eila Williamson (eds), Saints' Cults in the Celtic World (Woodbridge, Boydell Press, 2009) (Studies in Celtic History), Delaney, John J. (1983) Pocket Dictionary of Saints. Image Books. Lowe, Chris (1999) Angels, Fools and Tyrants. Edinburgh: Canongate Books & Historic Scotland Rees, Elizabeth (2000) Celtic Saints: passionate wanderers. London: Thames & Hudson "St. Kentigern". "The Catholic Encyclopedia". New Advent. Tranter, Nigel (1993) Druid Sacrifice. London: Hodder & Stoughton (historical novel) Wade-Evans, A. W. (1934) Welsh Christian Origins. Oxford: Alden Press McArthur Irvin, Lindsay, "Building a British Identity: Jocelin of Furness's Use of Sources in Vita Kentigerni," in Identity and Alterity in Hagiography and the Cult ofSaints, eds. Ana Marinkovic and Trpimir Vedris (Zagreb: Hagiotheca, 2010), 103 – 117 Notes: "Saint Kentigern". Saints.sqpn.com. Jackson, Kenneth (1953). Language and History in Early Britain. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 676. ISBN 1-85182-140-6. It may also be worth noting that the Welsh cynt and Cornish and Breton equivalents mean 'sooner, earlier, prior' and not 'chief' as is assumed by the derivation. Suggestions that the name may derive from British *Kon-tigern with *kom- 'with' (= Latin com-, con-, co-) are unfounded. The element is barely known in Brythonic personal names and the meaning 'co-prince' or 'our ruler' (sic.) seems unlikely as a birth name. Moreover, the Brit. Kontigernos would have rendered Welsh **Cynteyrn which does not occur. However the meaning is disputed; as noted in Donald Attwater's The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1965; p. 213 On this life by Jocelin, i.e. the Vita Kentigerni, see Lindsay McArthur Irvin, "Building a British Identity: Jocelin of Furness's use of sources in Vita Kentigerni, in Identity and Alterity in Hagiography and the Cult of Saints, eds. Ana Mariković & Trpimir Vedriš; Zagreb: Hagiotheca, 2010; pp. 103 – 17. Hale, Reginald B., The Beloved St. Mungo, Founder of Glasgow, University of Ottawa Press, 1989 Hunter-Blair, Oswald. "St. Kentigern." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 6 May, 2014 "Kentigern", Foghlam Alba Duggan, Joseph J. (1987). In Chrétien de Troyes; Burton Raffel, Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, pp. 214 – 216. Yale University Press. "The grandchildren of Lady Anne Clifford were sent to Utrecht in 1655 for the treatment of rickets and returned two years later in a man-of-war. On their return they were taken off to St Mungo's well, near Knaresborough, for further treatment by cold bathing." (Swinburne, L. M. "Rickets and the Fairfax family receipt books" Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 99, 2006:391 – 95). "Yorkshire Holy Wells". Halikeld.f9.co.uk. Kirkwood, Graeme. "Fire Boats". Fire Boats. Archived from the original on 30 June, 2012. "St Kentigern's Church, Lanark". Clydesdale's Heritage. Lanark and District Archaeological Society. 13 October, 2011. "HOPE STREET ST KENTIGERN'S CHURCH (CHURCH OF SCOTLAND)". Historic Scotland: Designations. Historic Environment Scotland. St. Kentigern’s Catholic Church on Eyeries website "Identity and Alterity in Hagiography and the Cult of Saints". Centreleonardboyle.com. 19 December, 2010. Source: http://www.wikipedia.org