Saint Keven and King O'Toole

DESCRIPTION: "Saint Keven once was traveling through a place called Glendalough, He chanced to meet with King O'Toole." The king mourns his sick gander. Kevin cures it for the land over which it flies. The king complains that it's too much land but yields
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (Hylands-Mammoth-Hibernian-Songster)
LONG DESCRIPTION: "Saint Keven once was traveling through a place called Glendalough, He chanced to meet with King O'Toole." The king calls him a stranger but offers to share his pipe. The king mourns his sick gander. Kevin offers to cure it in return for the land over which it flies. The gander is cured, flies over "twenty miles of land"; the king complains but yields
KEYWORDS: royalty bird disease promise
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hylands-Mammoth-Hibernian-Songster, p. 159, "St. Keven and King O'Tool" (1 text)
Roud #31617 and V37545
NOTES [274 words]: Hard to believe this is traditional, but apparently there is an Irish manuscript copy that might be folk (that's Roud #31617), so I index it.
This is almost a prototype for legends of Saint Kevin: It happened at Glendalough, it involves an animal, and it has very vague historical roots. David Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, fifth edition, 2003 (I use the 2004 paperback edition), p. 302. says of Keven/Kevin: "KEVIN (Coemgen) (d. c.618), founder and abbot of Glengalough (Co. Wicklow). The Latin and Irish lives all date from at least 400 years after his death, tell little about the saint, and were written to further the claims of Glendalough, by then an important monastery and diocese." According to the legends, his family was said to have included Leinster royalty but to have been displaced, and he is said to have been educated by monks. He became a hermit near Glendalough (there are some alleged Kevin sites there, none of which have any demonstrable accuracy).
His special skill with birds and animals is reflected in a tale of a blackbird that actually laid an egg in his hand while he prayed, and he stayed still until it hatched successfully. An otter is also said to have brought salmon which fed his community. He is said to have lived to the age of 120.
The "King O'Toole" of the song was presumably inspires by Laurence O'Toole. Laurence O'Toole, according to Farmer, p. 314, is historical but not a king and not contemporary with Kevin; born probably 1128, and having spent time at Glendalough, he was Archbishop of Dublin 1162-1180 (i.e. at the time of the English invasion); he himself was canonized in 1225. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.1
File: HMHS159A

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography