Briocus, Saint

Briocus, Saint as is not uncommon with the early Celtic saints who led a wandering life, is claimed by several of the Celtic tribes. According to Acta Sanctorum, May 1, Briocus was born of idolatrous parents in Corriticia, and educated from the age of ten years by Germanus, bishop of Paris. He settled in Brittany, where he died at the age of ninety. His monastery at St. Brieuc was made the centre of a bishopric about 844, but his body was soon after translated to the monastery of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus, near Angers, the monks flying before the Dalies. His bell was still existing in 1210. The parish of St. Breock, in Cornwall, is on the river Camel, and the parish fair is held May 1, the day of the saint's translation, but his feast day at St. Poi de Leon was April 28 (or 29). He is known in Scotland as Brayoch, Broc, Brock, and Bryak, and had dedications at Montrose, Rothesay, and Dunrod, in Kirkcudbrightshire, but does not appear in Scotch calendars (see Forbes; Kal. Scott. Saints, page 291; Orig. Par. Scot. 2:223).