St. Patrick, the Serpents and the Stolen Sheep

From "The Golden Legend," by Jacobus de Voragine, A.D. 1275


S. Patrick on a day as he preached a sermon of the patience and sufferance of the passion of our Lord Jesu Christ to the king of the country, he leaned upon his crook or cross, and it happed by adventure that he set the end of the crook, or his staff, upon the king's foot, and pierced his foot with the pike, which was sharp beneath. The king had supposed that S. Patrick had done it wittingly, for to move him the sooner to patience and to the faith of God, but when S. Patrick perceived it he was much abashed, and by his prayers he healed the king. And furthermore he impetred and gat grace of our Lord that no venomous beast might live in all the country, and yet unto this day is no venomous beast in all Ireland.

After it happed on a time that a man of that country stole a sheep, which belonged to his neighbour, whereupon S. Patrick admonested the people that whomsoever had taken it should deliver it again within seven days. When all the people were assembled within the church, and the man which had stolen it made no semblant to render ne deliver again this sheep, then S. Patrick commanded, by the virtue of God, that the sheep should bleat and cry in the belly of him that had eaten it, and so happed it that, in the presence of all the people, the sheep cried and bleated in the belly of him that had stolen it. And the man that was culpable repented him of his trespass, and the others from then forthon kept them from stealing of sheep from any other man.


:toast: to St. Patrick

There are no toads or lizards of any kind in Ireland, either. (Never were, either, for that matter) One explanation I found for the Patrick/snake connection is that it stems from the Viking days. Y'see, they had a word for creepy-crawlies - "paud"- and wondered why there were no "pauds" in Ireland. Well, obviously the good Saint "Paudrig" (Irish pronunciation) must have has something to do with that!
Either a language misunderstanding or a very early Irish leg-pull on the invaders!

because so many people have a dislike, if not a fear, of snakes. Fewer people fear toads, frogs, lizards, salamanders.

Me, I'm looking forward to eventually seeing "Snakes on a Plane," as I've read that Samuel L. Jackson is excellent as always. I'm a fan of his, and, obviously, not afraid of snakes. But there are other movies I'd never watch. We all have different fears, sometimes including things that seem non-threatening to most people, like cats or clowns.

I know a woman who's terrified of cats. She was once at a cocktail party, chatting with a psychiatrist, when a cat entered the room and she practically climbed on top of the man's shoulders in her terror. Naturally, she was embarrassed, and even more so to have had this happen while talking to a shrink. Fortunately, he said, "Don't worry about it. Some people are afraid of children, which is much harder to deal with." Imagine trying to avoid children. You can tell people you're allergic to cats, as this woman always does, but who'd believe anyone saying they were allergic to children?