The whole of society is like a cabbage-stalk covered with caterpillars, and none is satisfied till it has crawled to the top. – Sabine Baring-Gould
Black was not the universal hue of mourning in Europe. In Castile, white obtained on the death of its princes. – Sabine Baring-Gould
In the primitive church, it was customary for the Holy Eucharist to be celebrated on the anniversary of the death of a martyr – if possible, on his tomb. – Sabine Baring-Gould
The great majority of the nobility and gentry of England clung to the doctrine and ceremonies of the ancient church, and yet were united in determination to oppose the papal claims. – Sabine Baring-Gould
The Devonian and Cornishman will be found by the visitor to be courteous and hospitable. There is no roughness of manner where unspoiled by periodic influx of strangers; he is kindly, tender-hearted, and somewhat suspicious. – Sabine Baring-Gould
Verdiana was the child of poor though well-born parents, and her knowledge of the sufferings of the poor from her own experience in early years made her ever full of pity for those in need. – Sabine Baring-Gould
Cornwall, peopled mainly by Celts, but with an infusion of English blood, stands and always has stood apart from the rest of England, much, but in a less degree, as has Wales. – Sabine Baring-Gould
Man, double-faced by nature, is placed by Revelation under a sharp, precise external rule, controlling his actions and his thoughts. – Sabine Baring-Gould
The Celtic Church as we know it, till gradually brought under Roman discipline, was purely monastic. The monasteries were the centres whence the ministry of souls was exercised. – Sabine Baring-Gould
I gave up the notion of writing the life of Joan of Arc, as I found that there was absolutely no new material to be gleaned on her history – in fact, she had been thrashed out. – Sabine Baring-Gould
In France, successive waves of Gaul, Visigoth, and Frank have swept over the land and have dominated it. But the fair hair and blue eyes and the clear skin of the conquering races have been submerged by the rising and overflow of the dusky blood of the original population. – Sabine Baring-Gould
Among the old Norse, it was the custom for certain warriors to dress in the skins of the beasts they had slain, and thus to give themselves an air of ferocity, calculated to strike terror into the hearts of their foes. – Sabine Baring-Gould
The Dumnonii, whose city or fortress was at Exeter, were an important people. They occupied the whole of the peninsula from the River Parret to Land’s End. East of the Tamar was Dyfnaint, the Deep Vales; west of it Corneu, the horn of Britain. – Sabine Baring-Gould
The original settlers in Iceland were the nobles of Norway who left their native land to avoid the tyranny of Harold Fairhair, who tried to crush their power so as to make himself a despotic king in the land. – Sabine Baring-Gould
History, whether sacred or profane, hides her teaching from those who study her through coloured glasses. She only reveals truth to those who look through the cold clear medium of passionless inquiry, who seek the Truth without determining first the masquerade in which alone they will receive it. – Sabine Baring-Gould
In North Germany, a troublesome ghost is bagged, and the bag emptied in some lone spot or in the garden of a neighbour against whom a grudge is entertained. – Sabine Baring-Gould
The charm of Brittany is to be found in the people and in the churches. The former, with their peculiar costumes and their customs, are full of interest, and the latter are of remarkable beauty and quaintness. – Sabine Baring-Gould
Saint Ignatius was a convert and disciple of S. John the Evangelist. He was appointed by S. Peter to succeed Evodius in the see of Antioch, and he continued in his bishopric full forty years. – Sabine Baring-Gould
When the British became Christian, Christianity in no way altered their political organisation. – Sabine Baring-Gould
Ireland was, of old, called the Isle of Saints because of the great number of holy ones of both sexes who flourished there in former ages or who, coming thence, propagated the faith amongst other nations. – Sabine Baring-Gould
In the depths of the moor, the peat may be seen riven like floes of ice, and the rifts are sometimes twelve to fourteen feet deep, cut through black vegetable matter, the product of decay of plants through countless generations. – Sabine Baring-Gould
The universal practice of closing the eyes of the dead may be thought to have originated in the desire that he might be prevented from seeing his way. – Sabine Baring-Gould