June 19, 2022, column from the Amarillo Globe-News:

The legends behind St. Mungo of Glasgow

By Mike Haynes
“Here is the bird that never flew
“Here is the tree that never grew
“Here is the bell that never rang
“Here is the fish that never swam.”
If you’re like me, those four lines are new to you. Also new to me is the name of St. Mungo, a

The crypt of Glasgow Cathedral contains the tomb of St. Mungo.
(Photo by Mike Haynes)

missionary in Scotland in the sixth century who is credited with founding the city of Glasgow and is buried at Glasgow Cathedral, which my wife Kathy and I were blessed to visit this month. The bird, tree, bell and fish are associated with miracles attributed to Mungo.
Stay tuned for the fish story.
Kentigern, which means “hound-lord,” was Mungo’s real name. I don’t know its significance, but this man must have been quite zealous in spreading the gospel, and he also must have been a strong leader.
His nickname, Mungo, means “dear beloved,” which makes sense considering the adoration he has received centuries after his death around 612. Much that we know about him comes from two biographies written by churchmen in the 1100s that probably include more legend than fact.
According to Historic Scotland, Mungo was born at Culross, Fife, Scotland. His grandfather, King Loth, had put his mother, Thenew, in a boat to drift after she was accused of adultery. He ended up growing up in a monastery before traveling on his own, probably in his 20s, to do God’s work.

St. Mungo's tomb is in the lower level of
Glasgow Cathedral. (Photo by Mike Haynes)

The story is that he accompanied a cart carrying the body of Fergus, a holy man, looking for a burial site. Mungo let the oxen pulling the cart go where they wanted, and they stopped at the spot where Glasgow Cathedral now stands. Apparently Mungo already had a high position in the Catholic Church, because he eventually had a cathedral built at Glasgu, “the green hollow,” and became the bishop of a diocese there that corresponded with the British kingdom of Strathclyde.
The cathedral is one of two in Scotland to have survived the Reformation intact. It is part of the Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian denomination.
In addition to establishing a strong Christian presence on the Clyde River, where Glasgow eventually would surpass a million in population, Mungo’s reputation was built in part on four “miracles” summarized in those four “never” lines.
The bird: Mungo supposedly brought a robin back to life after some young friends had killed it.

The four miracles of St. Mungo
– the bird, tree, bell and fish –
are depicted on light poles near
Glasgow Cathedral. (Photo by Mike Haynes)

The tree: As a boy, Mungo was charged with being sure a fire at the monastery kept burning. He fell asleep, and the fire went out. He rekindled it with branches from a hazel tree that were either wet or frozen.
The bell: Mungo is thought to have brought a bell for the cathedral from Rome when he visited there.
The fish: This story is the most interesting. Queen Languoreth of Strathclyde was accused of adultery, and her husband, the king, claimed she had given her wedding ring to her lover. The king actually had thrown the ring into the Clyde River, but he demanded that the queen produce it for him.
She appealed to Mungo for help, and he had someone catch a salmon from the river. When the fish was cut open, the ring was inside, thus saving the queen from punishment.
I have not found a reason for the “nevers” in the miracle verse, but the four images have persisted not only in the church but in Glasgow civic life. They are on the city”s coat of arms, and the name “St. Mungo” has been applied to everything from a fireboat to a locomotive.

Kathy and I walked by Mungo’s tomb, covered with a colorful cloth and a small wooden cross, in the crypt of Glasgow Cathedral. (For some readers, I have to insert here that the lower-level crypt was used to represent a Paris church in filming “Outlander” scenes when the character Claire, working as a “healer,” took care of poor patients.)
The stories and legends may have been key factors in making Mungo beloved, but the evangelist himself probably would have preferred that people remember his saying that became the motto of his city:
“Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of the Word.”

Mike Haynes taught journalism at Amarillo College from 1991 to 2016 and has written for the Faith section since 1997. He can be reached at haynescolumn@gmail.com. Go to www.haynescolumn.blogspot.com for other recent columns.