ST BENEDICT AND ST VINCENT 117 



did as he was told, abstained, " though ravenous," 

 from eating it himself, and came back, after three 

 hours' absence, to receive his usual dole of food from 

 the hand of the Saint. 



And what about St Vincent? He is, perhaps, 

 less universally famous and his story less known 

 than the preceding ; but he has left his mark upon 

 the map of Europe. He had been put to death 

 witty torture, at Saragossa, and his body thrown, by 

 the tyrant's order, to the wild beasts ; but they were 

 driven off by a raven, and the body was carried by 

 the brethren to Valencia, and buried there. * Cen- 

 turies afterwards, when the Moors took the place and 

 turned the Christians out, the exiles went forth, carry- 

 ing with them the body and the relics of the Saint as 

 their greatest treasure. The ship which bore it and 

 them, was driven ashore on a promontory in Portugal ; 

 his relics were duly reburied there, and were again 

 guarded by ravens. The promontory has, ever since, 

 been called after him St Vincent, a spot famous, 



* See Appendix I. for the story of St Vincent and the 

 raven, as told in verse, in a South English Legendary, circa 

 A.D. 1285, Bodleian MSS. My friend, Canon Christopher 

 Wordsworth, who first brought it to my notice, has, along 

 with other help, kindly given me a vigorous poetical para- 

 phrase, done by himself, of the rather difficult southern English. 

 It, too, will be found in the Appendix. 



