Saint Endellion

Saint Endellion was a daughter of King Brychan and a sister to Saint Nectan who followed her from Wales to Cornwall in search of a solitary life of prayer. She lived at Tretinny just half a mile from St Endellion, and quickly became renowned as a holy and kind woman. She lived a very simple life, drinking only the milk from her single cow.

One day the cow strayed on to the land of the local lord and he killed it, not realising that Endellion’s godparent was none other than King Arthur himself. King Arthur was furious at how his god daughter had been treated, and had the lord killed, but Endellion raised him back to life by her prayers.

When she was old and lay dying, Endellion asked her friends to put her body on a sledge when she died, and to let it be pulled by two oxen. Wherever they chose to stop was where she wanted to be buried. They stopped on top of a marshy hill not far away where St Endellion Church stands today. There she was buried, and a church in her honour was built afterwards.
In the early seventeenth century Nicholas Roscarrock, a local man, wrote down the story of Endellion. He also penned some verses of a beautiful hymn in honour of Saint Endellion. These are two verses of the hymn he wrote:

Sweet Saint Endellion, virgin pure,
Daughter of prince and saint, yes, sister dear
Of many saints, which stoutly did endure
Conflicts in the world with sinners living here.
Vouchsafe sweet saint my patroness to be,
To pray for him who humbly prays to thee.

For which a saint you worthily art crowned
In heaven above with everlasting bliss,
And here on earth below likewise renowned,
Where to your name a church erected is
Even there where your life did lead and leave,
And where I a wretch true life did first receive.