Background
David Hugh Farmer has written that the legend of Serf is "a farrago of wild impossibilities." lieutenant states that Serf was the son of Eliud, King of Canaan, and his wife Alphia, daughter of a King of Arabia.
David Hugh Farmer has written that the legend of Serf is "a farrago of wild impossibilities." lieutenant states that Serf was the son of Eliud, King of Canaan, and his wife Alphia, daughter of a King of Arabia.
Serf was venerated in western Fife. He is also called the apostle of Orkney, with less historical plausibility. Saint Serf is also somehow connected with Saint Mungo"s Church near Simonburn, Northumberland (off the Bellingham Road, north of Chollerford).
His feast day is July 1.
Childless for a long time, they at last had two sons, the second being Serf. Serf came to Rome, carrying with him such a reputation for sanctity that he was elected pope, and reigned seven years.
He traveled to Gaul and Britain after vacating the holy see, arriving in Scotland. There he met Adomnán, Abbot of Iona, who showed him an island in Loch Leven (later called Street Serf"s Inch).
At the time, this island would have been part of the Pictish kingdom of Fib (Fife).
Serf founded the eponymous Street Serf"s Inch Priory on the island, where he remained seven years. The centre of his cult (and possibly of his activity) was Culross, which according to tradition, was founded by the saint himself. At Dunning, in Strathearn, he is said to have slain a dragon with his pastoral staff
Saint Serf is said to have been a contemporary of Saint Mungo, also known as Saint Kentigern, though if he in fact lived at the same time as Adomnán, this is chronologically impossible.
A legend states that when the British princess (and future saint) Theneva (Thenaw) became pregnant before marriage, her family threw her from a cliff. She survived the fall unharmed, and was soon met by an unmanned boat.
Another legend states that Saint Mungo restored a pet robin of Saint Serf"s to life. The bird had been killed by some of his classmates, hoping to blame him for its death.
Saint Serf is a relatively common dedication for churches in Fife, Edinburgh and Central Scotland.
The name also attaches to a number of schools in the same area.
