Saint Kea ( Breton and Cornish: ''Ke''; french: Ké) was a late 5th-century British saint from the ''

Hen Ogledd Yr Hen Ogledd (), in English the Old North, is the historical region which is now Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands that was inhabited by the Brittonic people of sub-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages. Its population sp ...

'' ("Old North")—the

Brythonic Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to: *Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain *Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic *Britons (Celtic people) The Br ...

-speaking parts of what is now southern Scotland and

northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

. According to tradition he was chiefly active in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

and

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period o ...

, and his

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal ...

was popular in those regions as well as throughout

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glouce ...

. St Fili or Filius, to whom the parish church of Philleigh is dedicated, probably came from Wales and is said to have been a companion of St Kea.

Legend

Kea is chiefly known through a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

summary of a lost

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...

written by Maurice of Cleder in the 17th century, as well as ''

Beunans Ke ''Bewnans Ke'' (''The Life of Saint Ke'') is a Middle Cornish play on the life of Saint Kea or Ke, who was venerated in Cornwall, Brittany and elsewhere. It was written around 1500 but survives only in an incomplete manuscript from the second ha ...

'', an incomplete 16th-century Cornish-language

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

rediscovered in 2000. According to these, he was the son of King Lleuddun Luyddog of

Lothian Lothian (; sco, Lowden, Loudan, -en, -o(u)n; gd, Lodainn ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Sco ...

, and served as

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

in North Britain before moving on to become a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite ( adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a C ...

. He first went to

and then moved south, founding churches at

Street A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of d ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

and Landkey,

(holy place of St Kea). He finally settled at

Old Kea Old Kea ( kw, Lanndege) is a hamlet in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the west bank of the Truro River approximately two miles (3 km) south of Truro. This and the nearby village of Kea are said to have been named ...

in Cornwall, which was subsequently named for him. He was harassed by the Cornish king, Teudar, when he sheltered a deer that Teudar was hunting. Having his oxen confiscated, he used the deer to plow the soil instead. He later travelled over the Channel to Cleder in

, where he eventually died. In Brittany, he is known as "St. Quay". The work also describes Kea's dealings with King Arthurs passage probably explains the Arthurian section in ''Beunans Ke'', which describes Arthur's conflict with the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

emperor Lucius Hiberius and Mordred's subsequent treachery. Plaque at Playing Place - geograph

An alternate legend describes Kea as an Irish monk, who, standing on the shore watching Christian missionaries depart for Cornwall, prayed that he not be left behind. At that point, the granite slab upon which he stood began to float and carried him across.Hunt, Robert. "St. Kea's Boart", ''Popular Romances of the West of England'', 3rd ed., London, Chatto and Windus, 1903
/ref> A similar tale is told of Saint Piran, who is said to have floated safely over the water to land upon the sandy beach of Perranzabuloe in Cornwall. Plays featuring St Kea were performed at

Playing Place Playing Place is a village southwest of Truro in Cornwall, England, UK. It is to the east of the A39 road.Ordnance Survey ''One-inch Map of Great Britain; Truro and Falmouth, sheet 190''. 1961 The name derives from Cornish ' plain an gwarry' ( ...

, where a plaque marks the

plain-an-gwarry Plain-an-Gwarry ( kw, Plen an Gwari) is a hamlet in the west of Redruth, Cornwall, England, UK.Ordnance Survey ''One-inch Map of Great Britain; Land's End, sheet 189''. 1961 The name derives from Cornish ''plen an gwari PLEN is a small desk ...

field in which they were staged.

Legend

References

Further reading