CHAPTER XXVIII

Skippers of Padron—­Caldas de los Reyes—­Pontevedra—­The Notary
Public—­Insane Barber—­An Introduction—­Gallegan Language—­
Afternoon Ride—­Vigo—­The Stranger—­Jews of the Desert—­Bay of
Vigo—­Sudden Interruption—­The Governor.

After a stay of about a fortnight at Saint James, we again mounted our horses and proceeded in the direction of Vigo.  As we did not leave Saint James till late in the afternoon, we travelled that day no farther than Padron, a distance of only three leagues.  This place is a small port, situate at the extremity of a firth which communicates with the sea.  It is called for brevity’s sake, Padron, but its proper appellation is Villa del Padron, or the town of the patron saint; it having been, according to the legend, the principal residence of Saint James during his stay in Galicia.  By the Romans it was termed Iria Flavia.  It is a flourishing little town, and carries on rather an extensive commerce, some of its tiny barks occasionally finding their way across the Bay of Biscay, and even so far as the Thames and London.

There is a curious anecdote connected with the skippers of Padron, which can scarcely be considered as out of place here, as it relates to the circulation of the Scriptures.  I was one day in the shop of my friend the bookseller at Saint James, when a stout good-humoured-looking priest entered.  He took up one of my Testaments, and forthwith burst into a violent fit of laughter.  “What is the matter?” demanded the bookseller.  “The sight of this book reminds me of a circumstance”:  replied the other, “about twenty years ago, when the English first took it into their heads to be very zealous in converting us Spaniards to their own way of thinking, they distributed a great number of books of this kind amongst the Spaniards who chanced to be in London; some of them fell into the hands of certain skippers of Padron, and these good folks, on their return to Galicia, were observed to have become on a sudden exceedingly opinionated and fond of dispute.  It was scarcely possible to make an assertion in their hearing without receiving a flat contradiction, especially when religious subjects were brought on the carpet.  ‘It is false,’ they would say; ’Saint Paul, in such a chapter and in such a verse, says exactly the contrary.’  ’What can you know concerning what Saint Paul or any other saint has written?’ the priests would ask them.  ‘Much more than you think,’ they replied; ’we are no longer to be kept in darkness and ignorance respecting these matters:’  and then they would produce their books and read paragraphs, making such comments that every person was scandalized; they cared nothing about the Pope, and even spoke with irreverence of the bones of Saint James.  However, the matter was soon bruited about, and a commission was dispatched from our see to collect the books and burn them.  This was effected, and the skippers were either punished or reprimanded, since which I have heard nothing more of them.  I could not forbear laughing when I saw these books; they instantly brought to my mind the skippers of Padron and their religious disputations.”