Giles

Giles ST. (Lat. Egdius; Fr. Gilles; Span. Gib), patron saint of woodlands, also of Edinburgh. The Roman Catholic Church has set apart September 1 for the commemoration of a saint of this name, though it is doubtful whether such a person ever lived. The hagiographers describe two such persons: the first an Athenian of the 6th century, who wrought various miracles, and finally took up his abode in a cave near the mouth of the Rhone, liming upon the milk of a hind, and upon herbs and fruits. The king's hunters once wounded the hind, and the arrow also passed through the hand of St. Gileg (whose attribute, in legendary art, is a wounded hind). He died in his cave, and the noble monastery of St. Giles was erected near the spot. The other claimant to the name of St. Giles was abbot of a monastery near Arles in the 6th century. The first legend, as the more striking and poetical one, is naturally the most popular. St. Giles has been especially venerated in Eagland and Scotland. In spite of the Reformation, the name of this legendary saint is still retained in the English calendar. — A. Butler, Lives of Saints, September 1; Mrs. Jamieson, Legends of the Monastic Orders, page 28.