Nicholas Roscarrock's 'Lives of the Saints': Cornwall and Devon

Nicholas Roscarrock's (d. 1548-1634) dictionary of British and Irish saints brings together earlier saints' lives with precious folklore not recorded elsewhere.

Nicholas Roscarrock (c.1548-1634) was a Cornish Catholic who suffered torture and imprisonment in the Tower of London, and afterwards wrote a great dictionary of British and Irish saints. Using medieval Latin saints' lives together with precious folklore not recorded elsewhere, he wrote accounts of Petroc and Piran, Neot and Samson, Sidwell and urith, and many lesser-known figures. Here are many familiar and some unique stories: St Columb's well whose water would not boil; St Endelient, King Arthur and the cow; and St Menfre who threw her comb at the Devil. This edition provides, for the first time, a printed text of all Roscarrock's articles which relate to the saints of Cornwall and Devon. An introduction tells the story of Roscarrock's life and describes his book, and detailed notes explain what is known today about the saints.