Keyne (; also referred to as Keane, Kayane
[J. Meyrick ''A Pilgrim's Guide to the Holy Wells of Cornwall'', pp. 68–69] Keyna, Cenau, Cenedion,
[ Ceinwen][Ray Spencer ''A Guide to the Saints of Wales and the Westcountry'', pp. 51–52][David Hugh Farmer ''Oxford English Dictionary of Saints'']) was a 5th-century holy woman and hermitess who was said to have traveled widely through what is now South Wales and 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 Atlantic ...
.
Sources
Numerous dedications to Saint Keyne exist in areas as diverse as South Wales, Anglesey, Somerset, Hertfordshire, and Cornwall. The only literary source on the life of Saint Keyne is the ''Vita Sanctae Keynae'', which was edited by John of Tynemouth and included in his ''Sanctilogium Angliae Walliae Scotiae et Hiberniae'' in the 14th century. Unfortunately, this account is probably not trustworthy, as it was recorded nearly 800 years after her death. No contemporary sources about her or her life have survived.
Life
Keyne was one of the 12 daughters of the Welsh king Brychan
Brychan Brycheiniog was a legendary 5th-century king of Brycheiniog (Brecknockshire, alternatively Breconshire) in Mid Wales.
Life
According to Celtic hagiography Brychan was born in Ireland, the son of a Prince Anlach, son of Coronac, and ...
of Brycheiniog
Brycheiniog was an independent kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Norman ...
in what is now South Wales (A different source, ''De Situ Brecheniauc'', says that he actually had 24 daughters, all of whom were saints). Although she was a great beauty and received many offers of marriage, Keyne took a vow of virginity and pursued a religious life (hence her Welsh name, ''Cain Wyry'', or Keyne the Maiden). Her ''vita'' reports that she traveled widely, and is said to have founded several oratories, including Llangeinor
Llangeinor (Welsh: ''Llangeinwyr'') is a small village (and electoral ward) located in the Garw Valley around north of Bridgend in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. The ward population taken at the 2011 census was 1,243. The entire village is now ...
in mid Glamorgan, Llangunnor
Llangunnor is a village and community located in Carmarthenshire, Wales.
It is the southern suburb of Carmarthen town and consists mainly of typical suburban housing which has expanded in recent years. It has a small shop, two chapels, a church ...
and Llangain
Llangain is a village and community in Carmarthenshire, in the south-west of Wales. Located to the west of the River Towy, and south of the town of Carmarthen, the community contains three standing stones, and two chambered tombs as well as the ...
in Dyfed, and Rockfield (Llangennon) in Runston, Gwent.[ Eventually she is said to have crossed the ]Severn
, name_etymology =
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, map_c ...
into 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 Atlantic ...
, where she resided as a hermitess for many years. The village of St Keyne in Cornwall is named after her and is the site of a church and a holy well which also take her name.
Around 490, she is alleged to have visited her nephew Saint Cadoc at St Michael's Mount.[ Cadoc persuaded her to return to Wales, and healing spring marked the location where she settled and eventually died. She died a virgin on 5 October in either 490 or 505. ]Llangeinor
Llangeinor (Welsh: ''Llangeinwyr'') is a small village (and electoral ward) located in the Garw Valley around north of Bridgend in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. The ward population taken at the 2011 census was 1,243. The entire village is now ...
in Glamorgan has been proposed as a likely spot, as an ancient well is situated there, which is still said to have healing properties.
Legacy
Saint Keyne's feast is celebrated on 8 October, although it is also recorded as 30 September. She was the original patron saint of what is now St Martin-by-Looe (Penndrumm) and is linked with the River Kenwyn
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
in Truro. However, her most enduring and romanticized legacy is linked to the holy well that takes its name from her, located in St Keyne, Cornwall. According to legend, whichever partner in a marriage drinks from the well first will have the upper hand in the marriage, and rule over the other. This story was known in the Middle Ages, and was memorialized in Robert Southey's poem "The Well of St Keyne."
Some sources credit her as the patron saint of Keynsham in Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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, where she is said to resided near the banks of the Avon, which was swarming with serpents and uninhabitable. After Saint Keyne issued a fervent prayer, the serpents were transformed to stone, and the area became habitable. (Today, these are considered to be the fossilized remains of ammonites). However, a similar miracle is also attributed to St. Hilda, and it has been suggested that Keynsham instead takes its name from "Ceagin's (Caega) Hamm."
There is a tradition that one of a pair of altars in the Berkeley Chapel in Bristol Cathedral
Bristol Cathedral, the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is the Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England. Founded in 1140 and consecrated in 1148, it was originally St Augustine's Abbey but after the Dissolu ...
was dedicated to St Keyna.
Interpretations
The Edwardian
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
scholar G.H. Doble found it hard to accept that a woman could have traveled so far or founded so many settlements, and therefore she "quite may well have been a man." He believed that the journeyings were more in character with male saints from this period, a sentiment which was shared by the scholar Alban Butler
Alban Butler (13 October 171015 May 1773) was an English Roman Catholic priest and hagiographer.
Biography
Alban Butler was born in 1710, at Appletree, Aston le Walls, Northamptonshire, the second son of Simon Butler, Esq. His father died when ...
, who believed a number of female saints had actually been men. This view has been challenged by scholars such as Jane Cartwright, who states that this is indicative of a school of thought in which male saints are much more likely to be real historical figures than female saints, and that maleness alone is greater evidence of historicity than femaleness.
St. Keyne's well
The holy well
A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its guar ...
of Saint Keyne is located about southeast of St. Keyne's Church in Cornwall, and is now in a small housing made of dressed granite. The original housing was built in the 16th century, it was rebuilt in 1936 after the adjoining lane was widened. The plaque next to the well describes the spell which Saint Keyne is said to have cast upon the water of the well. The plaque reads: "The legend of Saint Keyne Well. Saint Keyne was a princess who lived about 600 AD. She laid on the waters of this well a spell thus described by Richard Carew in 1602 AD—'The quality that man or wife / Whom chance or choice attaines / First of this sacred stream to drinke / Thereby the mastery gains.'"
In Victorian times
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardi ...
the well had the reputation of conferring supremacy to the marriage partner who first tasted it. There is also a ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
called ''The Well of St Keyne'' written by Robert Southey
Robert Southey ( or ; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a ra ...
; it is set to an adaptation of the air of the Helston Furry Dance.[MacMahon, Desmond (1939) ''Nelson's New National and Folk Song Book; pt. II''. London: Thomas Nelson; pp. 176-77]
See also
* St Ceinwen's Church, Cerrigceinwen
St Ceinwen's Church, Cerrigceinwen, is a former parish church in the countryside of central Anglesey, north Wales. The present building dates from 1860, although the site has been used for worship since at least the 7th century. The doorway reus ...
– a church in Anglesey dedicated to her
References
External links
Catholic Online: St. Keyne
Latin text and English translation of the Vita Sanctae Keynae
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keyne
Medieval Cornish saints
People from Powys
Children of Brychan
5th-century Welsh people
5th-century births
Late Ancient Christian female saints
5th-century Christian saints
Welsh Roman Catholic saints
Female saints of medieval Wales
Southwestern Brythonic saints
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
Welsh royalty
Welsh hermits
5th-century Welsh women
Holy wells in Cornwall