Mawgan and Meugan (also Meigant) (Latin: Mauganus) are names referring to either one or two Brythonic saints who flourished in the 5th or 6th century.
Both names are widely attested in place-names and church dedications, Mawgan in Cornwall and Brittany and Meugan in Wales, but it is uncertain whether the names refer to one and the same person. The parishes of St Mawgan and Mawgan-in-Meneage in Cornwall derive their names from Mauganus.[1] There is also a Machan in West Lothian (Scotland), as shown by the place-name Ecclesmachan, but again this may be a distinct figure.
No hagiographical Life survives for Mawgan or Meugan, but figures bearing Latinised versions of either of these names appear in the Lives of Cadog and David. A saint called Maucan or Moucan features in an episode of the late 11th-century Life of Cadog, in which he arbitrates a quarrel between Cadog and Maelgwn, king of Gwynedd. A Life of David, also of the late 11th century, refers to a monastery of Mawgan (Maucannus). The "Mostyn Manuscript No. 88", in the National Library of Wales, records several Meugan festivals, including Manchan of Mohill.[2]
Later still, Meugan is mentioned in the Welsh genealogical collection known as Bonedd y Saint, which details the lineages of Welsh saints. The relevant section has been dated to c. 1510.
See also
References
Citations
- ^ Henderson, Charles (1925). The Cornish church guide and parochial history of Cornwall. pp. 155–156.
- ^ Baring-Gould & Fisher 1907, pp. 480.
Primary sources
- Broun, Dauvit (2004). "Mawgan (fl. 5th–6th cent.)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/18515. Retrieved 21 April 2010. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Secondary sources
- Baring-Gould, Sabine; Fisher, John (1907). Lives of British Saints: The Saints of Wales and Cornwall, and such Irish Saints as have decidations in Britain (PDF). Vol. III. London: The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorian by C.J. Clark.
Further reading
- Wade-Evans, A. W. (1923). Life of St David. London. pp. 58–62.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Bowen, E. G. (1977) [1969]. Saints, Seaways, and Settlements in the Celtic Lands (2nd ed.). Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 0-900768-30-4.
- Miller, Molly (1979). The Saints of Gwynedd. Studies in Celtic History 1. London: Boydell. ISBN 0-85115-114-0.
This page was last edited on 21 August 2022, at 06:18