CHRONICLES OF CORNISH SAINTS. II. — S. PETROCK. 7 



over." It is not improbable therefore that the change which God's 

 grace wrought in Constantino was brought to pass by the instru- 

 mentality of S. Petrock, and that he occasionally occupied a cell 

 on the sands of the northern shore, to hold frequent intercourse 

 with his spiritual guide. At the time, however, of Petrock' s re- 

 turn, the country in the immediate neighbourhood of Padstow 

 seems to have been in the hands of pirates. A band of Saxon 

 plunderers,* taking advantage of the defenceless condition of the 

 inhabitants, had made a descent upon the northern coast and were 

 in possession of a tract of land contiguous to the port. It was 

 the season of harvest, and those pagan robbers were reaping the 

 corn that grew on the hill slopes beside the river Alan. Seeing 

 a strange vessel enter the river, they rushed down to the shore, 

 intent on plunder ; but, finding no booty worth seizing, they re- 

 viled and scoffed at the Saint and his company. Petrock inquired 

 of them if any Christian remained in the province ; and they told 

 him of one Sampson who dwelt in a hermitage not far distant, 

 and who was in great repute for his zeal and sanctity. Thither 

 Petrock betook himself, and found the holy man living in great 

 poverty, and labouring with his own hands in an adjoining field. 

 This Sampson was, no doubt, the famous disciple of S. Iltutus, 

 who became Bishop of Menevia, and afterwards of Dol in Brit- 

 tany. We gather from his memoirs that he was much addicted 

 to the life of a recluse ; and there is local evidence confirmatory 

 of this incidental mention of his residence in Cornwall. The 

 parish of Golant was in ancient times called by his nan\e, and 

 there Avas formerly an old Chapel called S. Sampson's standing on 

 the spot now occupied by Place House, at Padstow. This Chapel 

 was no doubt built on the site of his Oratory, and was probably 

 the spot to which Petrock was directed by the Saxon pirates. 



In returning to his native country with a band of fellow- 

 labourers, Petrock's object was to establish a Monastery in Corn- 

 wall. He had seen the value of such institutions in Ireland. S. 

 Patrick's famous establishment at Armagh, as well as Finian's at 



* " Jam loca ilia occupaverat Saxo, Britannosque inde fugaverat ; vel 

 qui cum Porto nuper, vel qui cum Gerdicio venerat prius ; unde sequitur in 

 Capgravio ; Egressis de nave discipulis, messores illic operantes amard illis 

 locuti sunt." Alford : Annates Ecclesice, Vol. 2, p. 10. 



