Shapnots: Botolph’s Bridge
Eep! It’s enough to drive you to drink, this sign. It’s monks, burying the body of St Botolph at midnight.
Or, as we have taken to calling him, St Butt-Elf. Because, all things considered, we’d rather go to hell together.
Botolph was born in the 7th Century…sometime. He died in 680 and was buried in the foundation of the church he founded in Icanho. Wherever Icanho is. Nobody knows. In 970, King Edgar moved his remains to Burgh. In 1020, Cnut moved them to Bury St Edmunds. Later, parts of him were moved to Thorney, parts of him to Westminster Abbey, and his head was taken to Ely.
Not surprisingly, he’s the patron saint of travel.
Botolph led to Botolphston led to Boston. Uh huh. Weasel don’t make this up.
Posted: May 25th, 2007 under adventure, international, personal.
Comments: 4
Comments
Comment from Steamboat McGoo
Time: May 24, 2007, 8:28 pm
So all Bostonites are related to butt-elves?
I knew it! God knows what New Bedford folk are heir to.
I bet they call it the Butt-elf’s Inn for short.
St. Botolph should be the patron saint of pieces-parts, kinda like McNuggets.
Guess they like to spread the elf. (ba-dum Pah!)
So – seriously – this guys’ claim to fame was simply that he had a silly name and was spread around after he croaked? He didn’t, like, teach the blind to silently break wind or the deaf to modulate eructations in harmony or sumpin? Hummph. Look up Elmer McCurdy some time. He’s a dead guy you can sink your teeth into. No, wait….
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: May 25, 2007, 5:07 am
Elmer McCurdy! I remember reading about the mummified corpse that turned up on the set of the Six Million Dollar Man. There was a woman…shoot, I forget. I have the book at home. Similar story. Couldn’t pay her undertaker’s bill, I think. Her body toured all over the South.
And, yes, I moved this post to the top. It was supposed to publish just after midnight, but I got the date wrong. Never let a drunken weasel fiddle your timestamps.
Comment from Steamboat McGoo
Time: May 25, 2007, 6:11 am
“Never let a drunken weasel fiddle your timestamps.”
No problemo, Weasel! You’re on vacation – and providing a really interesting travel-log, too.
Yeah – McCurdy’s body travelled for 60-70 years before finally getting buried. They poured about 2 cubic yards of concrete over his coffin in the grave to make sure he – finally – rested undisturbed.
Comment from mesablue
Time: May 25, 2007, 1:43 pm
If that place sells t-shirts with that image — I wants me one.
Guessing that they don’t have an online store.
Write a comment
Beware: more than one link in a comment is apt to earn you a trip to the spam filter, where you will remain -- cold, frightened and alone -- until I remember to clean the trap. But, hey, without Akismet, we'd be up to our asses in...well, ass porn, mostly.<< carry me back to ol' virginny