Friday 9 November 2007

St. Illtud Farchog

My father–in-law, who is the source of much good advice, has drawn to my attention the cautionary tale of St. Illtud the Knight.

St. Illtud was the son of Lady Rhieinwylydd, daughter of Prince Amlawdd Wledig and sister of High-Queen Ygerna. He was, by necessity, good at spelling.

He started off as a bad knight and harassed travellers on the roads of Glamorgan. But one day his band of unchivalrous knights made the mistake of stealing from St. Cadog's monastery. The monks chased them all into a bog where the earth swallowed them up. St.Illtud alone survived and was so chastened that he turned to a religious life. However, his life was transformed by the knowledge that bogs could resolve problems and he continued to use them to get rid of his enemies.

There are many lessons that could be drawn from this story – not all of them inspirational.

The one that I shall focus on is the fact that you must enjoy today because tomorrow you may be swallowed by a bog.

Or, as my father-in-law would say, it teaches us about the impermanence of worldly pleasures.

And that, as MissM would say, is SO TRUE.

4 comments:

Mary said...

never mind the spelling - it's the pronunciation that would bother me.

I love how the time difference means that I am reading blogs whilst my kids are having their bath and you are embarking on your day and doing your writing.

BreadBox said...

"He was, by necessity, good at spelling."

May I send you the bill for dry-cleaning the coffee out of my clothes?

Thanks for more than a smile:-)
N.

blackbird said...

I am completely put off by the lesson of this as I, along with bmmary, am tangled in the pronunciation.

oh, and,
you are very welcome dear...

dottycookie said...

We were struggling in a bog in the lakes once. I did wonder if we would be there all day but I didn't realise quite how much peril we were in! That's the best excuse for staying put on the sofa I can think of.