village of Wendron, Cornwall, are named in his honour. He was commemorated on October 9th.

S. Wenn is commemorated at the Churches of Morval and S. Wenn, Cornwall.

S. Weonard is commemorated at the Church and village of S. Weonard, Herefordshire, and is said to be a corruption of S. Leonard.

S. Werberge, or Warburga, V. A., A.D. 675. Was daughter of Wulphere, king of Mercia. When very young she consecrated herself to a holy life in the monastery of Ely, which was founded by her aunt, S. Etheldreda, and afterwards by the aid of her uncle King Ethelred founded several monasteries; of one, Hanbury, in Huntingdonshire, she became abbess, and died and was buried there. In the reign of King Alfred her body was translated to Chester, the Cathedral for many years being named in her honour, and she being considered the patroness of the city. She is commemorated on February 3rd, and has nine Churches in England dedicated in her name.

S. Werstan, M. The legend of this saint appears to be in a great degree lost, but the substance of it has been preserved in the painted glass of a window in Great Malvern Church, Worcestershire. He appears to have been a hermit in that neighbourhood, and to have built a chapel near the site of the present Abbey Church, and to have suffered martyrdom by being beheaded. The only ancient writer who mentions him is Leland; but Mr. Albert Way has very

ingeniously drawn out the legend from the paintings, of which he has given a series of engravings in the second volume of the Archaeological Journal.

S. Wilfrid, Abp., A.D. 709. One of the most celebrated of our Saxon Bishops; at the age of fourteen he entered the monastery of Lindisfarne, and after some years passed there in diligent study he went to Rome to perfect himself in ecclesiastical matters. After his return to England he was sent at the age of thirty into France to be consecrated a Bishop, and succeeded S. Chad on his retirement from the episcopal chair of York; here he acquired such enormous influence and popularity, that King Egfrid, thinking it too great for a subject to possess, expelled him from his see. S. Wilfrid then made a second journey to Rome, to enlist on his side the Pope's influence and authority. This is the only instance of an English Churchman before the Conquest who tried to use the Pope's authority against the sovereign and the Church of his own country P. "He afterwards returned to Britain, and though he could not by reason of the enmity of the aforesaid king be received into his own country or diocèse, yet he could not be restrained from preaching the Gospel; for taking his way into the province of the South Saxons, which contains 7000 families, who at that time were still pagans, he administered to them the word of faith and the baptism of salvaP Churton's Early English Church, p. 82.

tion," and overthrew their idols. He was restored

to his see upon the death of King Egfrid by his successor, but at the end of five years he was again deposed by a council of Bishops for attempting to rearrange the northern sees, and for the third time went to Rome and obtained papal authority in favour of his institution, and after some further oppo

sition he was admitted to his see, which he occupied until his death four years afterwards, having at the end of his troubled and remarkable life been fortyfive years a Bishop. He was buried in the Church of the monastery now the Cathedral, of Ripon, which he founded". He is commemorated in the old English calendar on Oct. 12th, and thirty-three Churches, all in the northern and midland counties, are named in his honour. Ripon Cathedral is dedicated in the

a Bede, Eccl. Hist., b. iv. e. 14.

At Ripon he built a new Church of polished stone with columns variously ornamented, and porches. Eddius, Vit. Wilf., c. 17.

joint names of SS. Peter and Wilfrid. In reference to his conversion of the South Saxons, he is represented as a Bishop preaching to, or baptizing the pagans. Idols thrown down are sometimes introduced into the picture.

S.Winefride, V. M., c. A.D. 650. Was the daughter of noble parents in North Wales, and was very extensively honoured in this country during the middle ages, a particular office of nine lessons having been appropriated to her in the Sarum Breviary. The legend relating to her is, that her head was cut off by Caradoc, a Welsh prince, for not yielding to his proposals, and bounding down the hill where she was beheaded, a copious spring of water burst from the place where it stopped. A holy man, her instructor, S. Benno, took up the head, and fitted it so exactly on the body, that the parts re-united, and she lived fifteen years afterwards, "to the admiration of the whole world for so famous a miracle; the blood sprinkled the stones ineffaceably, and imparted a fragrant odour to the moss growing thereabouts "." An elegant Perpendicular structure (c. 1450) still surmounts the well, the village itself, Holywell, Flintshire, being named after it; in former days it was the resort of thousands of pilgrims, from the supposed virtues of the waters; and to this day the hill, the fragrant moss, and the blood-stained stones, are pointed out in confirmation of the legend. Her body was transEnglish Martyrologe, p. 303.

lated to Shrewsbury c. 1138. She is commemorated on November 3rd, and the Churches of Branscombe and Monaton, Devon, and Screveton, Notts., are dedicated in her name.

S. Winnier is commemorated at the Church of Gwinnear, Cornwall.

S. Winnow, or Winnoc, B. A British Bishop of eminent sanctity in the fifth century, the friend and coadjutor of S. Patrick in his apostolical labours in Ireland. The village and Church of S. Winnow, Cornwall, are named in his honour, and he was commemorated on February 6th.

S. Winwallow, A., A.D. 529. Was a native of England, and a disciple of S. Budoc. He was obliged by the Saxon invasions to seek a refuge in a foreign country, and afterwards became abbot of Tauracum, in Bretagne, where "his wonderful sanctity has made his name illustrious;" his relics are preserved in the Abbey Church of Ghent. He is commemorated on March 3rd, and the village and Church of Gunwallow in Cornwall are named in his honour.

S. Wistan, or Wyston, M., A.D. 849. Was son of Witlus, king of Mercia, and was treacherously assassinated by his uncle Berdulph, lest he should dispute his possession of the throne of Mercia. It is said that the place where he was martyred was for thirty nights illuminated with a heavenly light. William of Malmesbury' says of him", "There was nothing

t Memorial of British Piety, p. 45.

u Book ii. c. 13.