Moving to Cornwall (an in-comers view)
Cornblogger - blogging about Cornwall
Saint Piran’s Day in Cornwall Patron Saint of Tin Miners |
| Posted on Jun 23 2008 >> Back |
Saint Piran - Sen piran - Perran
Saint Piran is the patron saint of tin miners in Cornwall and widely regarded as the United Kingdom’s national Saint of Cornwall, although there are several other saints of Cornwall such as Saint Michael and Saint Petroc who might have claim to this title.
Saint Piran’s feast day is 5th March.
Saint Piran is thought to be of Irish origin having (so legend has it) been tied to a huge mill-stone and thrown into a stormy sea by Irish peasants. The sea calmed and Saint Piran was taken by the tide across the sea to land on the sandy Cornish beach at Perranzabuloe.
Here he built a very small oratory and was (again so legend has it) joined by his followers and Christian converts.
To be honest nobody really knows who Saint Piran was, where he lived or what he did and as with many myths and legends in Cornwall there is probably fact amongst the fiction.
I think this is the enduring legacy of Saint Piran and what keeps the idea of him so close to the Cornish people’s hearts.
Saint Piran’s Flag
The Saint Piran flag is a white cross on a black background and has been widely adopted as the flag of Cornwall.
It is supposed to have been adopted by Saint Piran after seeing molten tin form a white cross on the black hearth stone he was using in his fire place - evidently a slab of tin-bearing ore!
Apparently this ‘re-discovery’ of tin smelting by Saint Piran lead him to be adopted as the patron Saint of tin miners even though tin was in use a few centuries earlier.
Saint Piran’s Day
St Piran’s Day is extremely popular in Cornwall with the term ‘Perrantide’ being used to describe the week prior to the 5th March.
Many different events are held throughout Cornwall on the 5th including the walk of hundreds and even thousands of people across the sand dunes to Saint Piran’s Cross.
Dressed in black and gold, they carry daffodils to lay on the cross and in recent years enact a play about the life of Saint Piran in Cornish.
I’ve been told that this is an event worth going to.
The Saints of Cornwall
- Saint Michael
- Saint Piran
- Saint Petroc
- Saint Pinnock
- Saint Germanus
- Saint Julian
- Saint Cyriacus
- Saint Constantin
- Saint Nonna
- Saint Geraint
As with all my posts if you have anything to add please get in touch. Thank you.