Rise Up Bal Maidens

Grand Bard Merv Davey explains how cornwall’s bal maidens - mine women - led the way for female suffrage.

- Merv Davey

FEBRUARY brings us the first quarter day of the year, the mid-point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. In Celtic mythology this was a feast day recognising the importance of women in society which translated into a celebration of St Brigid in Ireland and our own St Ia in Cornwall. St Ia is the patron Saint of St Ives and celebrated on the town’s feast day, the first Monday after 3 February.