WELSH MYTH - CENYDD

I have a hut in the wood,

none knows it but my Lord;

an ash tree this side, a hazel beyond,

a great tree on a mound enfolds it.

Two heathery door-posts for support

and a porch of honeysuckle

around its close the wood sheds

its mast upon fat swine.

The size of my hut, small yet not small,

a place of familiar paths

the she-bird in dress of blackbird colour

sings a melodious strain from its gable.

—Anonymous, Irish, “The Song of Manchin of Liath,”
eighth to tenth century

LLANGENNITH - HERMIT BEEHIVE HUT

St. Cenydd is one of the early Celtic Christian figures, the local mythic saint of Llangennith, Village of Cenydd, in the Gower peninsula of South Wales – where Jen’s family lived for many years.

Llangennith is built on a brackened hill above the sweeping sands of Rhossilli Bay. The ancient village looks out over the wild sand dunes that stretch to the rocky headland where St. Cenydd the Celtic hermit monk lived – fed only by the mouths of seagulls and the milk of a doe.

It is a beautiful and quintessential Welsh myth of a hermit Holy Man,
which tells the story of communion between nature and man, spirit and healing,and is a wonderful example of a Celtic Christian myth of the early sixth century.

CENYDD STORY

Baby Cenydd was born with a crippled leg, which was seen to be the mark of his mother’s sin.

When he was brought before King Arthur, some said that the child bore the evil sign and should be put to death.

But Arthur felt that God alone should decide, and ordered that Cenydd be cast to the elements to determine his fate.

The unwanted baby was put into a wicker basket woven of osiers and cast adrift upon the waters of the Loughor estuary, which soon took him out to sea.

It was a wild and stormy night, and the waves tossed the small wicker boat-basket up and down as it came ever closer to the jagged rocks of Bury Holmes Island.

CENYDD STORY

Just as baby Cenydd was to be doomed upon the black rocks, a flock of seagulls came down and rescued him.

Snatching up the basket in their long beaks, they flew high up to the top of a cliff and set him down in safety.

The gulls kept the baby warm by making a nest with their soft feathers, and sheltered him from the driving rain. Calling out above the cold, loud wind, the gulls pleaded with the stormy elements to cease their battering of the innocent young boy.

For eight days and nights the gulls protected Cenydd from the worst of the storm

On the ninth day, some say an angel came down to the baby and placed a bell, known as the Titty Bell, in Cenydd’s mouth. This miraculous breast-shaped bell gave constant nourishment to the boy, who grew tall and strong as the angel watched over him and educated him in the new faith.

Others say that a deer came out from the woods and nurtured the boy, sharing her milk and teaching him the ways of the animals, the secrets of the woods and the elements.

Cenydd lived close to the sea, collecting shellfish from the rock pools and wild herbs gathered from the local woods. He had an affinity with the ocean birds who rescued him and the gentle doe that nurtured him, and understood that God was within all living things.

CENYDD's PRIORY

Strangely, Cenydd’s clothes grew as he grew, and he passed his days in prayer and contemplation, living as a hermit in a humble stone hut upon the rocky cliffs of Bury Holmes. The ruins of a small monastic cell can still be seen there today.

When he was grown to a young man, Cenydd moved from the island to the village of Llangennith, where he became known far and wide as a Holy Man, famous for his miracles and healing gifts. He founded Saint Cenydd’s Priory, which was the largest parish church in Gower.

Although the Danes burned the church down, in 986, it was restored, and inside, a carved slab marks the grave of the saint.

Text & Illustrations from Jen Delyth’s Full Color Hardbound Coffee Table Book

Celtic Folk Soul – Art, Myth and Symbol
Signed Copies Available Here

Design - Publishing - Licensing
Oakland California

Ninth Wave Publishing LLC

JEN DELYTH

ARTIST, AUTHOR, DESIGNER

Since 1987, artist Jen Delyth has illustrated and designed a wide range of books, textile products, stationary.

Celtic Art Studio is HOME STUDIO SITE of Jen Delyth – and Celtic Mythic Line