My listing of West Penwith place-names has been on the back burner for a couple of months. No, let’s be honest. It’s ground to a halt. I must get going again soon. In the meantime, here is a little information about St. Buryan. This is a sizeable (by West Penwith standards) village between Penzance and Land’s End. The name derives from that of an Irish female saint, Beriana. The earliest recorded Cornish form of the village’s name is Eglosborrie (= “Beriana’s Church”). The modern pronunciation of the name is .
Beriana, according to legend, had a chapel where the present church stands, and administered to the sick and needy, but she was abducted by King Geraint of Dumnonia, and was only released after St Piran interceded with a miracle. Gereint said he would release her if he were wakened by a cuckoo calling across snow — a highly unlikely occurrence. St Piran prayed all night, and in the morning sure enough, snow, snow, cuckoo, cuckoo! Gereint, however, was a bounder and a cad, apparently, and although he did release Beriana, he changed his mind and tried to nab her again. In this attempt poor Beriana died.
The present church was built in 931 by Athelstan in thanks for his defeat of a Cornish rebellion against the Saxons at a place called Boleigh south-east of the village.
St Buryan Church
Used under Gnu Free Documentation Licence: Mammal4
One of the modern claims to fame (or notoriety!) of St Buryan is that it was the location for the violent 1971 Sam Peckinpah film Straw Dogs starring Dustin Hoffman.
You may have noticed on the map the place-name Buryas [ˈbʌriəs] Bridge to the north-east of St Buryan. The name, apparently, has nothing to do with Beriana. Its original name was Nans Berres, meaning “short ford valley”.