29. SAINT CLYDOG,MARTYR-PRINCE OF HEREFORDSHIRE

St. Clydog (or Clodock or Clitaucus) was the son of Clewyn, Prince of Ewyas (Monmouth-Hereford), and was related to the family of Brychan, Prince of Brecon in South Wales, and ruled in Ewyas. His brother was Dedyw; and both brothers, under the influence of a saintly cousin, Cadoc, did much missionary work in their particular areas. According to The Book of Llandaff, a nobleman's daughter fell in love with St. Clydog and said that she would marry no-one but him. This aroused the jealousy of a companion of the Saint, and he was killed by the sword while hunting. His body was placed in a cart and driven to a ford in the river Monnow, but the yoke broke, the oxen refused to go further, and the prince was buried on the spot at a place called Clodock or Merthir Clitauc (Hereford and Worcester), where a church was built (its Protestant successor still stands). Whytford says that St. Clydog was a man of «straight justice, a lover of peace and pure chastity», and that miracles were performed at his death and after his burial. He died in the sixth century.

St. Clydog is commemorated on November 3.

Holy Father Clydog, pray to God for us!

(Sources: A local pamphlet; David Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978, p. 85)