Herefordshire Through Time
Herefordshire Through Time
Even though we know that Dubricius was a real person who lived in the south-west of Herefordshire in the 6th century, many stories have grown up around him and turned his life into legend. D.M. Annett in his book, Saints in Herefordshire: A Study of Dedications (Logaston Press, 1999, p. 16), tells the story of Dubricius' birth at Madley:
"One day Peipiau, King of Ergyng (Archenfield), noticed that his daughter Ebrdil was pregnant. In anger he ordered her to be tied in a sack and thrown into the Wye. Each time she was thrown into the river she was miraculously swept back to the bank, so in frustration the king ordered her to be burnt alive on a pyre. This attempt also failed, for the girl would not catch alight - possibly because of her recent immersion. The king then appears to have given up his murderous intentions, for next day Ebrdil was found nursing a new-born son who, because of his ante-natal ordeal, she named Dyfrig - 'water baby'. Peipiau, struck by remorse, took the infant in his arms. The child stretched up and touched his grandfather's face, thereby miraculously curing him of a distressing affliction from which he suffered - a perpetual foaming at the mouth."
Dyfrig - Dubricius in Latin - went on to become a founder of churches, monasteries and schools. He is said to have been the first bishop of Llandaff, as well as archbishop of Caerleon, and to have spent his last years as a hermit on Bardsey Island in North Wales.
Several churches in Herefordshire were dedicated to this saint, for example those at Hentland, Ballingham, Whitchuch and St. Devereux (Norman for Dubricius). The dedication of a church to a Celtic saint points to a very early pre-Norman foundation.
[Original author: Toria Forsyth-Moser, 2002]