We went to see Mum on Monday, and of course she wanted to know all about our holiday, the one in North Norfolk with the family over Easter, and our adventure in May into Spain! We took our hats to show her! We talked about Santiago and some of the stories, myths and legends regarding St. James, and the significance of the pilgrim badges, and the sign of the shell. It is all rather fascinating! There's a lot written about St. James, and there are several versions of the the stories! It goes something like this! During his lifetime the apostle James visited Spain, and following his death in Jerusalem, his headless body returned to Spain in a crew less / stone boat! As it approached the Spanish Coast it disturbed a wedding party on the beach, and the groom and his startled horse ran into the sea, causing much distress. However, they returned safely to the land covered in scallop shells. Another story is that the vessel carrying James floundered and James's body was returned to the shore covered in scallop shells. Hmmmm!
We all enjoyed the stories, and Mum told us that she would be thinking of us all the time! We told her we would be thinking of her too! I had this idea, so on our way home we stopped at Old Leigh and I collected cockle shells from the beach! I told Mum that I would get David to drill a small hole in the top of the cockle shells, wide enough to get a bit of garden wire through so that I could string the shells onto the wire and attach them to my day rucksack. I thought I would add a shell for my sisters family, one for my brothers family, one for David's sisters family and one for our family, including some friends too. I told Mum I would do her a special one! She said she doesn't want a special one, she wants to be included with all of us :-)
Jingle shells all the way from Sarria to Santiago!
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