WHITECHURCH CANONICORUM. 6 1 



than conjecture. By some it has been thought that she was a 

 virgin-martyr saint who suffered death under Maximian at 

 Carthage, but it would be difficult to explain what she could 

 possibly have had to do with a Dorset village. Some think that 

 the abbots of S. Wandrille, perceiving a desirable connexion 

 with a saint in the Roman calendar of the name of Candida, or 

 White and Whitechurch, had her bones conveyed here. Others, 

 again, that it is possible that a male saint of the name of White, 

 or S. Candidus as he might be called, who suffered martyrdom 

 near Utrecht in A.D. 755, is intended, as he was believed to be a 

 nathe of western Dorset. But the best and most probable 

 explanation of the mystery is that recently advanced by the Rev. 

 S. Baring-Gould, who is a recognised authority on such sub- 

 jects. He has kindly written the following notes expressly for 

 this paper : 



" Who was S. Candida, or S. White ? No legend exists of 

 her in England, but she has received recognition in Brittany 

 under the Celtic name of Gwen, the Latin name of Candida, 

 and the French name of Blanche, all of which have their 

 equivalent in the English name of White. We can only 

 conjecture as to her identity. Of Gwen we know a good deal. 

 She was twice married. By her first husband she became the 

 mother of S. Cadfan, the founder of Tywyn Church in 

 Merionethshire, where his stone with inscription still remains. 

 She was the daughter of Emyr Llydaw, a prince of Brittany, 

 and her first husband was Eneas Lldewig. On his death she 

 married Fragan, cousin of Cado, Duke of Cornwall. For some 

 unknown reason, Fragan resolved on leaving Britain and cross- 

 ing over to Brittany, in the latter part of the fifth century, and 

 took with him his wife Gwen ' of the three breasts,' and his two 

 sons with her, Gwenthenoc and James, and he settled near 

 where is now the city of S. Brieuc, at a place still called 

 Ploufragan, or the Plebs or tribal residence of Fragan. 



" Shortly after their arrival in Brittany, Gwen gave birth to 

 another son who was named Winwaloe, a notable saint, who 

 died in the year 550. Gwen received the name of 'the three 



