St. Piran of Cornwall (SAE 01) Postcard

In the Early Middle Ages, Ireland was the source of many missionaries. Perhaps no Irish monk set out for his mission in a more dramatic fashion than St. Piran (Peran in Cornish; d. 480): He was thrown off a cliff in the middle of a storm with a millstone tied round his neck. Already somewhat advanced in years and with a well-deserved reputation for healing, St. Piran had incurred the jealousy of the local Irish chieftains. He did not die according to plan, however. Tradition tells us that the millstone popped up like a cork, acted as a raft, and St. Piran floated on it safely to the coast of Cornwall, England. Upon disembarking at Perran Beach, he made his first converts: a bear, a badger, and a fox. He built an oratory nearby which is, perhaps, still “the oldest place of Christian worship in England with its four walls still standing”. And, he established the Abbey of Lanpiran and several other churches, chapels, and holy wells. St. Piran died at his Oratory of natural causes on 5 March 480. + The artwork is a Saints_Aplenty Exclusive. The figure of St. Piran is a pastiche of elements—a hand here, another hand there, etc.--primarily drawn from various Pustet devotional prints grafted onto the base figure of St. Simon Stock. St. Piran’s Oratory held in his right hand is derived from a 19th-century engraving; the chough (or palores in Cornish) perched on his left hand, from heraldry. His brooch is patterned after an Irish altar stone. And, finally, his millstone is adapted from the one hung from St. Florian’s neck in PM 03. + Image Credit (Tin Bearing-Ore): Hand-colored copper-plate engraving (1803) of cassiterite from Cornwall depicting a 3-inch specimen presumably in the collection of James Sowerby, published in Sowerby's British Mineralogy, vol.1, pl. 18. Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain. This work has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights. Image Credit (Tools): Adapted from public domain clipart silhouettes. + Image Credit (St. Piran’s Cross): Adaptation of a 19th century engraving. + Image Credits (Animals): Extracted from 19th century trade cards. + Feast: March 5