Mabyn

Mabyn, also known as Mabena, Mabon, etc., was a medieval Cornish saint. According to local Cornish tradition she was one of the many children of Brychan, king of Brycheiniog in Wales in the 5th century. The village and civil parish of St Mabyn is named for her, and the local St Mabyn Parish Church is dedicated to her.

History

The earliest known source to mention Mabyn is the 12th-century Cornish Latin Life of Saint Nectan. She appears in the appended list of the various children of King Brychan of Brycheiniog, which includes Nectan himself and many other saints. Brychan and his saintly children appear earlier in Welsh sources and were known also in Ireland and Brittany, though none of these sources mention Mabyn. The fact that the Life includes Mabyn alongside several other saints with churches dedicated to them in the West Country suggests that St Mabyn Parish Church was already established when the list was written. At any rate the associations of Mabyn with the family of Brychan as it appears in the Life of Saint Nectan proved quite strong in Cornish tradition, and apparently survived until at least the 16th century. Nicholas Roscarrock records hearing, from people alive at the time St Mabyn Church was rebuilt around 1500, that at that time a "song or hymn" to Mabyn was sung that corresponded strongly with the list in the Life. He further records her feast day as 18 November. stained glass window in the local church in the nearby village of St Neot, which lies to the east of the village. The window portrays her wearing robes and a crown, carrying a book and a palm branch, a symbol of martyrdom. Five of these six saints used to appear on windows donated by three single-sex associations: the wives of the western part of the parish, the "sisters" (probably unmarried women) and the young men. The wives were the donors of St Mabyn's window, which also features St Meubred of Cardinham. It is possible that all her sisters had tombs erected for them.