^ The Scented Qarden ffe 



Conlaeth, a hermit who was famed for the bells he made. 

 He became bishop ' to govern the church with her in 

 episcopal dignity.' Even when he was a bishop Conlaeth 

 continued to work at his anvil, and made many croziers 

 and bells. Whether St. Bride loved bells we do not know, 

 but it is on record that St. Gildas sent her a bell from 

 Brittany. Numerous churches are named after this 

 beloved saint, amongst others, St. Bride in Fleet Street. 



Beyond St. Bride we see another form, still more remote 

 and almost lost in the darkness of antiquity — Bride the 

 Beautiful, the Gaelic goddess of poetry. A goddess of 

 flame also, for she was born at sunrise, and has never 

 ceased to light the hearts of poets with divine fire. She, 

 too, lights the kindly flame of the dandelion, the first 

 fire of spring. In the clouds which shroud the hill-sides 

 the shepherds hear the crying of the young lambs she is 

 bringing earthward, and they rejoice at her coming. She 

 watches over young children in their cradles, and when 

 they smile it is because they have seen gentle St. Bride's 

 face. 



Long before the royal gold of the buttercups, the 

 joyous gold of the dandelion gladdens our eyes. She 

 scatters her humble lovable flower even by trodden paths 

 to enliven the heart of the wayfarer, and all lovers of 

 simple, lowly flowers are cheered when they see her kindly 

 flame. 



30 



