Saint Medan was a saint, apparently of the early British or Irish period, whose existence and name are inferred from the name

Kirkmaiden Kirkmaiden is a parish in the Rhins of Galloway, the most southerly in Scotland; the present Church of Scotland parish has the same name as and is approximately coterminous with the original pre-Reformation parish. The parish takes its name fro ...

Wigtownshire Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown (, ) is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an administrative county used for local government. Since 1975 the area has f ...

, but who is also associated with

Angus Angus may refer to: Media * ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film * ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record'' Places Australia * Angus, New South Wales Canada * Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario * East Angus, Quebec Scotland * An ...

and

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

The occurrence and legend of Medan

There is a

both in the Rinns of

Galloway Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. A native or i ...

and also on the other side of Luce Bay in the parish of

Glasserton Glasserton is a civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It is on the Machars peninsula, in the traditional county of Wigtownshire. The parish is about in length, varying in breadth from , and contains . The Parish It is thou ...

near Monreith in the Machars – both in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. A legend relates how the saint with her nuns is said to have travelled from the one location to the other across Luce Bay, using a rock as a boat.

Who was Medan?

Some points about the name suggest problems in transmission. First, the name "Medan" sounds similar to the English word "maiden": this may mean that an originally masculine name was interpreted later by ill-informed or unsophisticated Anglophones as a woman's. Second, the name may well begin with the

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

element "mo" meaning "my" – an honorific or a diminutive. The name has been related to several women saints recorded elsewhere. The element "edan" is similar to "Etáin", a name occurring once in the 15th century in Scotland, and argued as the virgin saint of Tumna near

Boyle Boyle is an English, Irish and Scottish surname of Gaelic, Anglo-Saxon or Norman origin. In the northwest of Ireland it is one of the most common family names. Notable people with the surname include: Disambiguation *Adam Boyle (disambiguation), ...

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

in the diocese of

Elphin Elphin may refer to: Places Canada * Elphin, Ontario, a hamlet in North Sherbrooke, Lanark County Ireland * Elphin, County Roscommon, Ireland * Diocese of Elphin, a diocese in Ireland * Roman Catholic Diocese of Elphin Scotland * Elphin, Highl ...

– though another authority derives ''Cill Medoin'' in the diocese of Tuam not from an apocryphal saint Etáin but prosaically from the Irish for "middle church". Again, the name may be a version of Modwena (Moninne or Darerca), who was abbess of ''Cill Sléibe Cuilinn'' in Killevy near

Slieve Gullion Slieve Gullion ( or ''Sliabh Cuilinn'', "Culann's mountain") is a mountain in the south of County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The mountain is the heart of the Ring of Gullion and is the highest point in the county, with an elevation of . At the ...

and died on 5 July 517 or 519; it is said that she founded a number of churches in Scotland. There is a 1901 dedication to a female St Medan in

Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O Ferrie ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

. There are other perhaps stronger arguments for the name being that of a man. The name is similar to a man's name, Muadán, which occurs in commemorations on both sides of the Irish Sea, including Glendaruel in

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

, and has been glossed as a version of "my

Aedan Aidan or Aiden is a modern version of a number of Celtic language names, including the Irish male given name ''Aodhán'', the Scottish Gaelic given name Aodhan and the Welsh name Aeddan. Phonetic variants, such as spelled with an "e" instead of ...

": 16 saints bore the name Aedan, including the well-known Aedan of Lindisfarne. Again, a male saint named Medan was buried at

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...

and perhaps commemorated at Tregavethan, both 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 Atlantic ...

. A male Modan is the saint of

Rosneath Rosneath (''Ros Neimhidh'' in Gaelic) is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It sits on the western shore of the Gare Loch, northwest of the tip of the Rosneath Peninsula. It is about by road from the village of Kilcreggan, which is sited ...

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

, Kirkton of Airlie in Forfar,

Fraserburgh Fraserburgh (; sco, The Broch or ; gd, A' Bhruaich) is a town in Aberdeenshire (unitary), Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census at 13,100. It lies at the far northeast corner of Aber ...

and Fintray in

, and Freswick in

Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded by ...

. The church at Kingoldrum in

, which was given to Arbroath Abbey in 1211-14 by William the Lion, was dedicated to St Medan; not far from it is a St Medan's Well, and it is thought that originally it was a Celtic establishment. St Medan is also said to have been one of the three companions of St

Drostan Saint Drostan (d. early 7th century), also Drustan, was the founder and abbot of the monastery of Old Deer in Aberdeenshire. His relics were translated to the church at New Aberdour and his holy well lies nearby. Biography Drostan was a Scotti ...

, the evangeliser of

and founder of

Deer Abbey Deer Abbey was a Cistercian monastery in Buchan, Scotland. It was founded by 1219 under the patronage William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan, who is also buried there. History There was an earlier community of Scottish monks or priests, nev ...

. There is no consensus about these possibilities.

Other information

Near the Kirkmaiden at Monreith in the Machars there is a golf course named St Medan's.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medan 6th-century Christian saints Medieval Scottish saints