Crowland abbey, and in other representations, he is habited as a monk, with a scourge in his hand, and a small dragon or evil spirit at his feet, allegorical of his imaginary fighting with the powers of evil.

S. Gwythian, M. One of the numerous missionaries who crossed over from Ireland into Cornwall about the middle of the fifth century, and who landed near the village which with its Church is now named in his honour. He was martyred by Tewdor the chief of the province or district in which he resided".

S. Helen, Emp., A.D. 328. The mother of Constantine the Great, who, soon after her son succeeded to the imperial throne, A.D.

306, embraced the Christian faith, and spent the remainder of her life in zealously promoting it. Constantine being desirous of erecting a magnificent Church on the spot where our Lord was buried, his mother (whom he had proclaimed empress) went to Jerusalem to see his wishes carried out, and there, having an anxious desire to discover the Holy Sepulchre and the Cross upon which our Lord suffered, she directed all her

8. HELEN.
from a brass at Castle

Ashby. Northants.

" Archæological Journal, vol. ii. p. 230.

enquiries and energies to that end, and after a long and patient search she succeeded in her holy desires. (See Calendar, May 3rd.) She died A.D. 328, having erected many magnificent Christian Churches, and leaving behind her abundant proofs of unbounded charity and liberality in the cause of religion. Some writers make her born in Bithynia, but the tradition that she was a native of this country is almost universal, and seems to be confirmed by her popularity here as a patron saint during the middle ages, seventy-two Churches being dedicated in her name; three in the joint names of SS. Mary and Helen, one in the names of SS. Giles and Helen, and one in the names of SS. John Baptist and Helen. She is also one of the saints most frequently met with, carved, or painted on roodscreens, &c. The old English calendar commemorates her on August 18th. She is represented with an imperial crown on her head, and supporting a cross of large proportions; sometimes she holds three nails in her left hand, and more rarely a model of the Church which she erected at Jerusalem on the site of the holy sepulchre. In Le Clerc she is giving directions to labourers who are digging in search of the cross.

S. Hilary. See Calendar, January 13th, p. 36. S. Hilda, V. A., 680. Embraced the Christian faith through the preaching of Paulinus at the same time as her relation S. Edwin the king. She was

See also p. 58.

afterwards trained up by S. Aidan, and founding many monasteries became eventually Abbess of Whitby, where she lived in great sanctity. "She was a person of eminent ability and prudence as well as piety, so that her counsel in difficulties was sought, not only by persons in the common class of life, but also by kings and princes y." Bede says that her death was revealed to S. Beza, who at the distance of thirteen miles from Whitby saw her soul ascending to heaven surrounded by angels and streams of light. Among other legends she is said to have caused by her prayers the snakes that infested the precincts of her convent to be beheaded and then changed into stone; these are still found headless and in great quantities about Whitby; and are a kind of shell called by geologists Ammonites. Sir Walter Scott alludes to this in Marmion.

66

of thousand snakes, each one Was changed into a coil of stone When holy Hilda prayed."

She was held in much veneration in her own neighbourhood, as is evident from four Churches in Durham and five in Yorkshire still retaining dedications in her honour. She was commemorated on November 18th.

S. Hippolytus, M., A.D. 258. Was the gaoler who had charge of S. Laurence while he was immured in a dungeon, and the courageous fortitude he then displayed so touched Hippolytus, that he and

y Churton's Early English Church, p. 100.

his family became converts to Christianity. After the martyrdom of S. Laurence he took the body off the gridiron and buried it, and this becoming known he was carried before the Roman prefect Decius, and acknowledging himself and his family to be Christians was condemned to death; after seeing all his family beheaded he suffered martyrdom by being tied to the tails of wild horses and dragged to death. He is commemorated in the Roman calendar on August 13th, and the Churches of Ryme Intrinseca, Dorsetshire, and Ippolyts, Herts., are named in his honour. He is represented in the garb of a gaoler with keys in his hand or at his girdle; sometimes with a horse near him, or with his feet bound to the tails of two wild horses. This is another instance of the emblem agreeing with the name, Hippolytus in Greek signifying "torn by horses."

Holy Cross. See Calendar, Sept. 14th, p. 107.

S. Hubert, B., A.D. 825, was a nobleman of Aquitaine, so much addicted to the pleasures of the chase that he frequently hunted on fast days; and one day while hunting during Holy Week in the forest of Ardennes, a milk-white stag appeared to him with the crucifix between his horns; this so touched S. Hubert, that he renounced the world, and became a hermit in the forest where this visitation appeared to him. He afterwards became the pupil of S. Lambert, and eventually was created Bishop of Liege. Though no Churches in England are named in his

honour, representations of him are frequently met with. He is considered the patron of hunting and dogs, and is very popular in Bel

gium and France. His legend is very similar to that of S. Eustace, and they are often confounded together. S. Hubert is generally represented in the attire of a hunter, or more frequently as a Bishop; the legendary stag is his usual accompaniment, either standing near him, or on a book which he carries in his hand; he also frequently has a horn. When

with the stag he may be distinguished from S. Eustace by his attire, the latter being dressed

S. HUBERT,

as a Roman soldier or knight; from a painting by Wilhem. without the stag he may also be distinguished from S. Cornelius, who is represented as a pope. He is commemorated in the Church of Rome on November 3rd.

S. Hugh. See Calendar, Nov. 17th, p. 136.

S. Hybald, or Hygbald, A., A.D. 685. An Abbot in the province of Lyndsay, whom Bede terms a most holy and most mortified man”.” His memory is still preserved in Lincolnshire in the village named after him, Hybaldstowe, the Church of which, and

Eccl. Hist., lib. iv. c. 3.