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<< Books/Products >> Book Review: Celtic Saints of Wales by Elizabeth Rees

Submitted by PAB on Friday, 02 October 2015  Page Views: 4870

Springs and Holy WellsCountry: Wales Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring

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Beuno's Well (Clynnog Fawr)
Beuno's Well (Clynnog Fawr) submitted by AngieLake : St Beuno's Well, or Fynnon Beuno, at Clynnog Fawr. This was once very popular with pilgrims and looked very inviting from the road. (Beware when visiting, as this road is lethal - the traffic whizzes past about an inch from your nose; and, fool that I am, I was there at leaving work time! There are no pavements and it's quite narrow, with no verge. I walked along it trying to catch a glimpse of th... (Vote or comment on this photo)
Peter Boyle writes: I picked up a new book this week Celtic Saints of Wales by Elizabeth Rees. The cover claims: 'Most books about Celtic saints are based on their legendary medieval lives; this book however focuses on the sites where these early Christians lived and worked. Archaeology, early inscriptions, and texts offer us important clues that help piece together something of the fascinating world of early Christianity.'

After a useful summary of what was happening in Wales before the Celtic saints came on the scene, the book is divided into Saints of South Wales and those of North Wales, describing both their lives and the locations they primarily lived or worked in.

For each region, there are significant sections on the main early saints who had been prominent there. By way of example, the section on Saints Beuno and Winifred describe their primary locations and some churches dedicated to them, and also give a fair amount of information about related standing stones and sacred wells. This approach gives a nicely rounded picture of the individuals and their followers, which feels far more valuable than looking only individual sites in isolation.

In addition to these sections, there are geographically-defined chapters which deal with more individual saints who are less well known. Rather more than half the contents relate to the northern half of Wales, with Anglesey and the Llyn Peninsular (including Bardsey) featuring very strongly. All parts of Wales are represented however, including a chapter on the saints of the Borderland or Marchers.

Overall, I think the mixture of person-centred information and material related to ancient sites and customs is one which will appeal to many of those who post here on the Portal. In particular, the text is very well referenced, so those who wish to follow up relevant aspects in greater depth would almost certainly find lots of scope for further reading/research.

I did notice that the author hasn't given any map references for the places she mentions. Personally, I like having to find them (it's a very good test for the Portal's search facility!), but some people might find it a shame that these haven't been included in the text.

I haven't read Elizabeth Rees' other publication I came across in a Portal posting (Celtic Saints in their Landscape), so I can't say how much overlap there is between the two, but others may be able to comment on this.

The book retails at £16.99, but it's available for less online, and Christmas is coming.... I certainly haven't regretted buying it, as I like both its range and its depth.

Review by Peter Boyle (PAB)

Celtic Saints of Wales by Elizabeth Rees
Published by Fonthill, 2015
192 pages
ISBN 9781781554623
Available from Amazon.co.uk
and Amazon.com



More about Holy Wells in Wales on the Megalithic Portal or try some of the links in the review

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"Book Review: Celtic Saints of Wales by Elizabeth Rees" | Login/Create an Account | 3 News and Comments
  
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Re: Book Review: Celtic Saints of Wales by Elizabeth Rees by Hatty on Thursday, 05 November 2015
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It's a puzzle how these 'saints', whose names are linked with standing stones and wells -- sites clearly of Megalithic interest -- are still described as Christian. In many (all?) cases their "Life" is suspect, some incidents dismissed as apocryphal by the church. One wonders if they should be seen as guardians of sites of special (Megalithic) interest rather than as emblems of Celtic Christianity, whatever that's supposed to mean.
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Re: Book Review: Celtic Saints of Wales by Elizabeth Rees by Elijah on Friday, 16 October 2015
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A must buy book, as I'm personally interested in knowing why early Christian monks, hermits, and other holy men in general, chose to live on rocky outcrops and in caves in an effort to get nearer their gods. Hopefully this book might shed some light on the practice and its origins.
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Re: Book Review: Celtic Saints of Wales by Elizabeth Rees by Sunny100 on Monday, 12 October 2015
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Yes, probably 'true' most books about Celtic saints of Wales are based on 'their medieval early lives' and, to a large extent on their 'legends'.This is probably because not much is known about these early Christian holy men and women, apart from the place-names, churches, wells and shrines, that still venerate their names today. Many saints only having one single church dedication, or even a single place-name.

This looks to be an interesting "new" book on the Celtic saints from Wales and, no doubt we shall hear much more about it in the coming months, when those interested in this subject, have had time to read through it and add their comments. We shall see.
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