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| St Just Well |
When hordes of invaders, Angles, Saxons, Vikings, Jutes, and others,
arrived from the Continent of Europe, the indigenous Celtic people were driven to outlying
lands, to Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall. In these places, the Celtic languages survived, and we have traditions handed down the generations by the Druids, famed throughout the
ancient world for poetry and storytelling, their love of family ties and their
knowledge of the law.
The
magic of Cornwall is created by standing stones and cairns, and at its farthest
point, Tintagel Castle, Land’s End, we have the reputed birthplace of Arthur,
the Once and Future King, who will come again to rule once more - and sort out the
difficulties of the country of his birth!
The
Roseland Peninsula on the south coast is steeped in legends of mermaids seen in
the coastal waters and of spectral smugglers who are seen around the cob
cottages and the steep, narrow streets that lead down to the ancient fishing
village of St Mawes.
The
13th century church of St Just in Roseland has a story of how Joseph
of Arimathea brought Jesus to Britain and landed at this tidal creek to trade in
the local tin mines.
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England’s favourite poet and mystic, William Blake,
asks the question: “And did those feet in ancient times, walk upon England’s
mountains green?” Here he refers to the early Christian legend that the wealthy
Joseph of Arimathea was Jesus’ uncle and brought Jesus to the Southern shores
of Britain. It is likely that Joseph was a close relative of Jesus because
Israelite and Roman law placed an obligation on the nearest male relative to
remove the body of any deceased person, and it is recorded in the New Testament
that Joseph of Arimathea provided his own tomb for the body of Jesus following
the crucifixion. He could have been a merchant who made the journey to the tin
mines of Cornwall with his nephew, Jesus. It is known that two thousand years
ago, the Phoenicians came from the Middle East via the Mediterranean Sea to
purchase metals in Britain, and the historian and traveller, Heroditus, speaks
of Cornwall as the ‘Tin Islands’ where Greeks sought high quality mining ores.
At
Tintagel Castle on a dark, wind-swept evening as the sun was dipping into a
wild, Atlantic ocean, a sliver of a moon was rising and the following strange
message was channelled from a Druid Bard by Wendy Stokes by automatic
writing:
They
came in great ships to trade with us
And
brought us magic from the East
We had such fame in those great
days
We mined the priceless weapon ore
Our
fame spread, our wealth increased
We
dressed to impress, built, travelled and loved
And
carved our name in the mists of time
Our
cleverness now is forever lost
We
sleep in graves beneath your feet
Do not wait for Arthur’s return
Your country will burn
Merlin sleeps - his wisdom keep
This message I send, you must
attend - or meet your end!
Padstow May Day Carnival
Article: Wendy Stokes Cornwall Gazette
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