Columba of Cornwall

Columba of Cornwall, was a 6th-century Cornish saint. According to tradition, she was born to pagan royalty but converted to Christianity and was later martyred after refusing an arranged marriage. She is associated with St Columb Major and St Columb Minor, where she is venerated as a local patron saint. Her feast day is variously given in November.

Life Columba was born in the 6th century, to pagan royals King Lodan and Queen Manigild, probably in Lothian, Scotland. According to hagiographer David Nash Ford, her parents' name may be corrupt forms of names of King Lot and Queen Morgause in the Arthurian legends. She might have had nine sisters, one of whom was named Wendon (or Wedern). Most of what is known of Columba is due to two parishes in Cornwall that name her as their patron saint and a manuscript in the collection of the University Library of Cambridge, written by Cornish Roman Catholic activist and scholar Nicholas Roscarrock during the reign of Elizabeth I and based on local tradition.

Columba became a Christian when the Holy Spirit appeared to her in a vision, in the form of a dove, promising her love and blessings. imprisoned her. An angel helped her escape and led her into the desert, where she was captured again by a local king, who admired her beauty and grace, and offered to marry her to his son if she renounced her faith. She is the patron of the churches of St Columba Major and St Columba Minor in Cornwall, documented in c.1240 and 1284 respectively. Local tradition states that at the site of Columba's execution, "a spring gushed forth along the path of her fallen blood", and was marked in Roscarrock's day by a well; as of 2000 traces of the well and a cemetery remained there. Roscarrock reports the legend that the water from the well would not boil.

Orme states the feast day of Columba has "a complex history". There are differences in the date it was celebrated; at St Columba Major, the dates cited are the Thursday after 1 November, the nearest Sunday to 17 November and the Sunday after the second Thursday before 13 November. At St Columb Major, her feast day was held on about 15 November, "depending upon the full moon". Her feast day was then moveable, like at other Cornish parishes, but at some point apparently changed from Thursday to Sunday at St Columb Major. Fairs were held at St Columb Major on 25 April and on 24 June.