Dewi Sant - St David - what a guy. Patron Saint of Wales. He died in 601 according to the Annales Cambriae (that's Welsh Chronicles to you, Nine Oh Dee) but that wasn't written until the 10th century, so you can't be sure. He was the Bishop of Moni Judeorum (later St David's) in Pembrokeshire and presided over two Welsh synods (church bashes) ...
... Is that it? You don't have to do much to be a patron saint these days, do you?
In other news ...
One of the most over-rated books of all time hit French newsstands today in 1555. It was called the Book of Centuries and was written by Michel de Notre Dame, better known by his Latin monicker Nostradamus. In this mischievous piece of nonsense, believed in implicitly by millions worldwide, is a series of predictions including the Great Fire of London (inevitable in a city built on too small an area and almost entirely of wood); the French Revolution (they'd already had several by Nostradamus' time); the rise of Hitler (from a country that had already produced Attila the Hun). In short, nothing surprising at all. as somebody once said, isn't it strange, if Nostradamus was such a know-all, that he didn't see fit to warn us about Pot Noodles.
And there's something even spookier. Did you notice the book was published in 1555? That's not only nearly the Number of the Beast, it's also, according to TV cop shows, the telephone number of everybody in America.
Coo.
But seriously, if you, my sensible follower, know anyone worried by Nostradamus, Mother Shipton, Mayan prophecies and the rest - steer them to
Good Omens by Gaiman and Pratchett, for a hilarious alternative look at prophecy and the end of days. Even if they are still worried when they have read it, they will at least have had a laugh.
