[MR] Death of Saint Mungo

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Today, 13 January, is the Feast Day of Saint Mungo, and is also the
traditional anniversary of his death in 614. Or maybe it was 612 or 604. Or
maybe even some other date. (Sheesh!).

Mungo's real name was Kentigern (Mungo is a Cumbric/Welsh word meaning
"Dear Friend"). He was born in the independent Brythonic pre-Scotland
kingdom of Alt Clut (later known as Strathclyde).

Mungo is the patron saint of Glasgow, which sprang from his church and
monastery there. He is considered by Glaswegians as the founder of their
city. You can find his symbols in the city's heraldry, plus carved on the
fronts of various older buildings around the city. He was also Glasgow's
first bishop. The city's intact medieval cathedral is generally known as
St. Mungo's, and his tomb (whether still occupied or not) is in the
undercroft.

In case you are wondering, I am NOT named for him. My SCA name comes from
Mungo Napier, Burgess of Dumbarton, who flourished about 1580 (one of my
real direct ancestors). When I joined the SCA in 2007, I had never heard of
Saint Mungo. That said, I have developed a soft spot for the saint, and
eagerly visited the cathedral (in garb!) on our Scotland trip in 2017.

Personal story: We visited Glasgow Cathedral on the Saturday before Easter.
Although the building is owned by Historic Environment Scotland and
operated as a museum, it is still home to a very active Church of Scotland
(Presbyterian) congregation which meets in the chancel. That day the church
was buzzing with preparations for the next day's Easter service. After
touring the church, I was sitting in a pew in front of Mungo's tomb in the
undercroft, doing a semi-meditiation on his life. Unknown to me I was
seated in front of the 32-foot pipes for the organ hidden in the shadows.
When the organist suddenly opened up with a practice riff, I jumped up and
shouted, "I get it God, I get it!" I'm not sure what I got, but it was one
of those amazing and unexplained experiences that I will remember forever.

To learn more about this remarkable saint, I invite you to read the story
on my blog at https://mallardlodgehousehold.blogspot.com/2022/11/ . There
are some other interesting saints in that posting as well.

More about Saint Mungo is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Mungo .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.