THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE APPLE AND PEAR. 
I I 
is recorded in the Liber Landavensis. It is thus mentioned by Montalembert in his “ Les Moines 
d'Occident” which, translated says : “When St. Brieuc and his eighty monks from Great Britain 
landed in Armorica (Brittany), and marked the site on which the town which bears his name was 
afterwards built : they acted just as the soldiers of Csesar did in the forests sacred to the Druids. 
“ They first surveyed the ancient woods with curiosity,” says the chronicle : “ they hunted every¬ 
where through them, and finding a branching valley with pleasant shade and a stream of clear 
water running through it: they all set to work. 
. . . frequently replacing the trees of the forest by fruit trees ; like the British 
monk Teilo who planted with his own hands, aided by St. Samson, an immense orchard, a true 
forest of fruit trees, three miles in extent in the neighbourhood of Dol.” (Book vi. p. 394). Teilo 
was the son of Tegwedd, who was also the mother of Bishop Afan of Buallc (Builth). She is said 
to have suffered martyrdom at Llandegveth, near Caerleon. Teilo received his religious education 
at this college of Iltutus, or Illtyd, situated at the village now known as Llantwit Major, in 
Glamorganshire. Teilo succeeded Dubricius in the see of Llandaff; and on the death of St. David 
he was appointed to the see of Menevia (St. David’s). He placed his nephew Ishmael there as 
suffragan, and continued himself at Llandaff, with the title of Archbishop. “ He is known as one 
of the three blessed visitors of the Isle of Britain, Dewi (St. David’s) and Padarn, being the other 
two. They were so called from the zeal with which they preached the faith in Christ, to rich and 
poor alike, without fee or reward, and from their deeds of charity.” (Williams Cymry p. 133.) 
Samson was Bishop of Dol, but it seems there were two Bishops of Dol of the same name, 
and both were educated at the college at Iltutus. In early life Teilo passed over to Armorica and 
spent some years with his old fellow-student, Bishop Samson of Dol. The Liber Landavensis says : 
“ St. Teilo also left there another testimony of his patronage, for he and the aforesaid Samson planted 
a great grove of fruit-bearing trees to the extent of three miles, that is from Dol as far as Cai, and 
these woods are honoured with their names until the present day, for they are called the “Groves of 
Teilo and Samson.” (Liber Landavensis. Llfr. Teilo. Welsh M.S. Soc. Chap. III. p. 346). This 
orchard still existed in the twelfth Century, under the name of “Arboretum Teliavi et Samsonis.” 
(Vie St. Brieuc , by the Canon of La Devison, 1627; cited by La Bordirie). Tradition states that the 
planting of this orchard first led to the manufacture of cider in Normandy, and certainly no notice 
of it is to be found until some centuries afterwards, when the cider of Normandy began to attain the 
celebrity it afterwards gained. Teilo died a.d. 540, and was succeeded at Llandaff by his nephew 
Oudoceus, also a person of eminent sanctity. Samson died a.d. 599. There are twelve churches 
in the Diocese of St. David’s, founded by St. Teilo, or dedicated to him, of which Llandeilo Fdwr 
in Carmarthenshire is the principal. In the diocese of Llandaff the Cathedral is dedicated to St. 
Teilo and St. Peter, and there are five other churches, including Llanarth, Llandeilo Cresseney and 
Llandeilo Pertholly in Monmouthshire. 
In the Sarum Missal there is a special blessing for apples, which is appointed to be used on 
St. James’ Day, July 25th, but this form does not appear either in the Missal, or Breviaries of the 
Hereford use. 
It must also be mentioned, that it is a common belief in the Midland Counties, that apples 
are not fit to be cooked until they have been christened by the showers of St. Swithin on July 15th. 
