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Sebastian (St.)

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Patron saint of archers, because he was bound to a tree and shot at with arrows. As the arrows stuck in his body, thick as pins in a pin-cushion, he was also made patron saint of pin-makers. And as he was a centurion, he is patron saint of soldiers.

The English St. Sebastian. St. Edmund, the martyr-king of East Anglia. He gave himself up to his enemies under the hope of saving his people by this sacrifice. The Danes first scourged him with rods, and then, binding him to a tree, shot arrows at him, and finally cut off his head. A legend tells how a wolf guarded the head till it was duly interred. The monastery and cathedral of St. Edmundsbury were erected on the place of his martyrdom.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Sea Deities
Sea-girt Isle
Sea-green Incorruptible (The)
Sea Legs
Sea Serpent
Seaboard
Seal
Seamy Side (The)
Seasons (The)
Sebaraim
Sebastian (St.)
Sebastianistes
Second
Second-hand
Second Sight
Second Wind (The)
Second of Time (A)
Secondary Colours
Secret de Polichinelle (Le)
Secular Clergy (The)
Secular Games