Demystifying St. Keverne and his Feast

St. Keverne
d. 6th century
Feastday: November 18
Saint of Cornwall, England. a friend of St. Kieran.

St. Keverne (Irish, c. 530)

And then another site tells us that:

St Keverne and St Just:

Gained a reputation for being aggressive rivals.

So, that's three saints all linked together. Mind you, this last site starts out by telling us that:

Cornwall has had more than its fair share of saints. It has been said that Cornwall boasts more saints than were ever enthroned in heaven. For about a hundred years in the 5th and 6th centuries Celtic missionaries arrived in numbers from Wales and Ireland, settled on the shores of Cornwall, and began converting small local groups of people to Christianity. Most of these missionaries established a cell or church near sites that were already in use for religion - places like holy wells, springs, standing stones, shrines. Although many of these men were never officially designated saints by the church in later years, their names do continue to live on with the designation saint in over 200 old Cornish churches. Legend and reality became confused in the telling of the stories. various saints were credited with arriving floating on such diverse craft as a millstone, a barrel or a stone alter. Many were reported to have embarked on stone throwing contest with local Cornish giants, which the saints invariably won thanks to divine intervention. Many have also left their names to the present day in town names like St Austell or St German

The Church of St Keverne is extremely old. A Celtic monk by the name of St Kieran built a small wooden church on the site of the present church by about AD 600. Nothing is known about this saint who gave his name to this parish. The more permanent building which followed the original church survived the Saxon invasion, but was destroyed by the Normans some time before 1085. The church was dedicated to St Keveran (sic) in 1266.

St. Keverne lived on the Lizard peninsula and felt that he didn't get enough respect from the local people and so declared that 'no metal will run within the sound of St. Keverne's bells.' To this day tin has never been found in that area.

One visitor to the St. Keverne parish church commented that:

The saint of this church has an engaging little stone portrait in a niche above the south doorway,

but failed to provide a picture of it.

So we're not finding out much about St. Keverne himself but we are starting to find other references to the name of St. Keverne. Following those links might get amusing.

We'll ignore the fact that there is a daffodil known as the St. Keverne since none of the sites I found were willing or able to trace the name back to its origin. Perhaps someone with more time can do that.

Then there is a reference to an (Anglican?) hymn in the Oremus Hymnal (among others) sung to the the St. Keverne tune.

From glory to glory advancing

From glory to glory advancing, we praise thee, O Lord;
thy name with the Father and Spirit be ever adored.

From strength unto strength we go forward on Zion's highway,
to appear before God in the city of infinite day.

Thanksgiving, and glory and worship, and blessing and love,
one heart and one song have the saints upon earth and above.

Evermore, O Lord, to thy servants thy presence be nigh;
ever fit us by service on earth for thy service on high.

        Words: Liturgy of Saint James;
        trans. Charles William Humphreys, 1906

        Music: Sheen, St. Keverne

        Meter: 14 14 14 15

Once again my research failed to discover the origins of the tune. More grist for someone else's search mill I guess.

More fun arose from the discovery that the church of St. Keverne is still going strong. And that it sits in the Cornish town of St. Keverne. And the town has a rather nice web-site. Feel free to visit it at: www.stkeverne.org.uk.

Probing for information about St. Keverne and St. Keverne's Feast Day ( which is still celebrated) we find:

St. Keverne Feast is the day on which the early Celtic saint, after whom our village is named, is remembered. As early as 1236 records show that the Feast of St. Keverne was held on the nearest Sunday to the 18th November, a celebration releasing villagers from their daily drudgery. Until World War II the Feast was still an eagerly awaited village event. During the weekend a Feast Sale of Works was held in the Church Hall and on Sunday there was a special Church service after which families traditionally ate a large roast dinner with Feast Pudding. Monday was for going to market and hunting, while on Tuesday morning the hounds met in the square, in the afternoon stalls from Helston, known locally as "Stannings", were set up. The children were given two days holiday from school in order to enjoy the celebrations.

Carew the historian writes "The Saint's Feast" is kept on Dedication day by every householder of the Parish, within his own doors, when he entertains all comers.

St. Keverne Feast Day is l8th November, when the Parish is remembered in prayers at the Cathedral. At the Parish Church it is celebrated on the Sunday nearest to that date. In an old record dated 1st June 1236 we read that Thomas- de-Prideas and his wife, Sibilla were ordered by the Justices to pay the Abbott of Beaulieu and Parson of St.Keveran, one pound of wax yearly at the Feast of St.Keveran, so evidently the Feast was a well known festival even in those early days. It probably dates back to the period before the Norman Conquest when St.Keverne was a collegiate Church with Deans and Canons.

During the period of want and distress in the l8th and part of the l9th centuries, St. Keverne Feast was like a ray of sunshine on a wintry morning. Then, the poor with their Dorcas Club tickets obtained the food and clothing they so sorely needed. The annual market was also held in the market house in the village square. Feast Monday and Tuesday were recognised holidays in the earlier years of this century. The schools were closed, while farmers and others enjoyed the time hunting and shooting. The Tuesday evening was always a lively time in the square, when the various stalls - lit with paraffin flare lamps- sold such things as home made rock to a toy monkey on a stick.

Our Feast is still kept in a modified way, with the sale in the Church Hall, Services on Sunday, Male Voice Choir Concert, and the Meet of the local Hunt, and so the memory of our Patron Saint, who brought Christianity to this place and established our Church, is remembered in this present age of so many changes.