MDDM 18: The Veery Brothers

[Dave Monroe]

   "The Veery Brothers, professional effigy makers,
run an establishment south of the Shambles at second
and Market Streets, by the Court House." (M&D, Ch. 29,
p. 289)

Continuing on Cosmo and Damian ...

   "Early Christian physicians and martyrs whose feast
is celebrated on 27 September. They were twins, born
in Arabia, and practised the art of healing in the
seaport Ægea, now Ayash (Ajass), on the Gulf of
Iskanderun in Cilicia, Asia Minor, and attained a
great reputation. They accepted no pay for their
services and were, therefore, called anargyroi, 'the
silverless'. In this way they brought many to the
Catholic Faith. When the Diocletian persecution began,
the Prefect Lysias had Cosmas and Damian arrested, and
ordered them to recant. They remained constant under
torture, in a miraculous manner suffered no injury
from water, fire, air, nor on the cross, and were
finally beheaded with the sword. Their three brothers,
Anthimus, Leontius, and Euprepius died as martyrs with
them. The execution took place 27 September, probably
in the year 287. At a later date a number of fables
grew up about them, connected in part with their
relics. The remains of the martyrs were buried in the
city of Cyrus in Syria ....  Cosmas and Damian are
regarded as the patrons of physicians and surgeons and
are sometimes represented with medical emblems. They
are invoked in the Canon of the Mass and in the Litany
of the Saints."

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04403e.htm

   "Born in Cilicia, (now known as Arabia), in the
third century, Cosmas and Damian were the first
children born in a family of seven boys. The twins
studied medicine and are credited for being the first
to attempt a limb transplant on a human being. They
devoted themselves to rich and poor alike, accepting
no payment for their medical services, thus earning
their title, 'The Silver-less Ones'.  These miraculous
patrons of medicine were accused of being Christians
by two fellow doctors and arrested by Lisia, the
governor of the city of Aega.  They were tried in a
court of Ceasar's and sentenced to death by torture. 
   "The first torture was being cast into the sea with
both hands and feet bound.  A miracle occurred as they
became free, enabling them to swim ashore.  Their
second torture was burning at the stake.  A second
miracle occurred as the flames failed to burn them. 
The third torture was flogging. A third miracle
occurred as the whips would not hit their marks.  
   "After a  final demand that they renounce their
Christian faith was refused, Saints Cosmas & Damian
were decapitated.  The day was September 27 in the
year 287. 
   "Saints Cosmas & Damian are the patrons of the city
of Gaeta, Italy.  It is believed that through their
intercession the city's population was spared during
an 18th century plague."

http://www.cosmas-and-damian.com/story.htm

   "At the feast of Saints Cosmo and Damianus, on the
27th of September, the 'big toe' of Saint Cosmo was
exhibited and barren women hoped to be bestowed with
fertility by the saint .... Cosmas and Damian were the
patron saints of surgery ...."

http://home.hetnet.nl/~mavds/08-pan-european.htm

And on Veery ...

>From Henry David Thoreau, "Natural History of
Massachusetts," The Dial (Vol. III, No. 1, July, 1842)
...

Sometimes I hear the veery's clarion, 
Or brazen trump of the impatient jay, 
And in secluded woods the chicadee 
Doles out her scanty notes, which sing the praise 
Of heroes, and set forth the loveliness 
Of virtue evermore.

http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transweb/nathist.htm

Veery (?), n. (Zoöl.) An American thrush (Turdus
fuscescens) common in the Northern United States and
Canada. It is light tawny brown above. The breast is
pale buff, thickly spotted with brown. Called also
Wilson's thrush.

http://machaut.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/WEBSTER.sh?WORD=Veery

Main Entry: veežry 
Pronunciation: 'vir-E
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural veeries
Etymology: probably imitative
Date: 1838
: a thrush (Catharus fuscescens) common in the eastern
U.S.

http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary

http://www.birding.com/6300v.asp

http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i7560id.html

http://oden.nrri.umn.edu/mnbirds/newaccounts/veera2.htm

A veery, by the way, is of the Family Passerine ...

http://www.earthlife.net/birds/passer.html

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0109&msg=59200&keywords=passerine

And see also "The Veery," by Henry Van Dyke (1900) ...

http://www.bartleby.com/248/1097.html

Hope that's of some help ...




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