Reading Notes: Saint Comgall and the Mice, Part A

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Saints: Saint Comgall and the Mice
  • Takes place next to the Irish Sea
  • On Saint Patrick’s island
  • Saint Comgall built a monastery (thirteen hundred years ago)
  • Comgall is an Irish world that means “the goodly pledge of friendship between man and beast”
  • This can be described as when a human has a deep connection with an animal
  • Comgall had a lot of friends (pupils) in his monastery that he built
  • He had many friends that lived nearby the monastery and they all loved and adored saint Comgall
  • He spendid time with them doing “splendid” things
  • It says that Saint Comgall’s best stories include his friends who did not speak his language or wear clothes
  • Aka his best stories were with his animal friends
  • The first part of this story is about swans
  • Comgall is walking along the bank of a pond with his friends
  • One of his friends saw six white beautiful swans through some tall gras
  • The swans were floating on the pond and showing their necks proudly
  • The swans admired their reflections in the water
  • Comgall’s friends called him “Father”
  • His friends want to play with the swans so they ask for Comgall’s permission to do so
  • Comgall laughs at his friends because he does not think that the swans will come to the shore for his friends because they are strangers
  • He tells them yes though
  • They were going to try to get the swans to come by tempting them with bread crust and crumbs
  • They had nothing though so they just tried calling them over
  • The swans squawked at them and told them to leave their pond
  • Comgall walks up to the pond with nothing to tempt the swans with and he put his hands towards the swans
  • The swans had never seen him before but when they heard his voice, they came to him as fast as possible
  • The swans loved everything about Comgall and let him know
  • His friends realized that the swans came to him because he looks like someone who loves all animals


Swans Love Saint Comgall



Bibliography
Saint Comgall and the Mice (part one)
The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts by Abbie Farwell Brown (1900).
Saint Comgall and the Mice Source
Swan Picture Source

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