The Real Patron Saints
First shown on Channel 4 in December 2005
In this fascinating Channel 4 documentary, author and lecturer
Dr Robert Beckford examines the myths and contradictions attached
to the patron saints of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. He
explores the stories and legends about them and disentangles history
from mythology. Of the four patron saints of Great Britain and
Ireland, only St David was born and bred in the land he is said
to protect. St Patrick did spend his adult life in Ireland but
the other two – St George and St Andrew – lived in
the Middle East and Asia Minor, and never set foot in the British
Isles. So who were the real patron saints? And what is their significance
today?
St Patrick
St Patrick – a fanatical missionary who thought the end of the world was imminent – would have been bewildered by the parties, parades and politicking that go on all over the world on 17 March today. In the aftermath of the Troubles, he symbolises the conflicting dreams of people on both sides of the sectarian divide. But as Robert Beckford travels the length and breadth of Ireland, north and south, he discovers some communities that are working hard to use St Patrick's Day to overcome the bitterness and suspicion.
St Andrew
Travelling from Galilee, where Andrew was a fisherman, to St Andrews in Scotland, Robert Beckford traces the story of the only saint of the four to have been a direct disciple of Jesus. He was Jewish and never set foot in Scotland but spent his early life in Palestine, before, according to legend, carrying the Gospel to Asia Minor. The story goes that some of his bones were brought to Scotland, where he was adopted as the patron saint – a symbol of ecclesiastical and secular power, and independence from England.
St David
The landscape of west Wales is the backdrop to the story of David, the only saint of the four to have been born in the country he represents. On 1 March, St David's Day, Beckford visits the tiny city of St David's, where the saint is said to have been born as the result of rape, and where he ultimately founded his great monastery. Despite David's modest lifestyle, pilgrimages to St David's gained extraordinary Papal recognition. William I and Henry II both went there, and the Pope decreed that two pilgrimages to St David's were equivalent to one to Rome itself.
St George
The white racists and fascists who have appropriated the flag of St George would be astonished to discover that he is front runner as the ideal multicultural saint. Far from the genocidal warrior of the Crusaders' legend, he is venerated by Muslims as well as Christians. George, the 'English' saint of Mummers' plays, was born in Turkey. Some believe he is buried at in Lod (Lydda), in Israel. He is honoured at the shrinedhere and throughout the Holy Land, where he is known to Palestinian Christians and Muslims as Al-Khadr.
Modern meaning
Exploring all these myths, complexities and contradictions, Robert Beckford concludes that the saints do have meaning for the 21st century – for unexpected reasons. George, in particular, is more representative of today's multicultural society than of historic England. And Patrick is the perfect saint to bridge the gulf between the strife-torn communities of Northern Ireland.
