Saint Serf

Saint Serf or Serbán (Servanus) (c. 500 — d. 583 AD) is a saint of Scotland. Serf was venerated in western Fife. He is also called the apostle of Orkney, with less historical plausibility. Saint Serf is also somehow connected with Saint Mungo's Church near Simonburn, Northumberland (off the Bellingham Road, north of Chollerford). His feast day is July 1.

Legends

David Hugh Farmer has written that the legend of Serf is "a farrago of wild impossibilities." It states that Serf was the son of Eliud, King of Canaan, and his wife Alphia, daughter of a King of Arabia. Childless for a long time, they at last had two sons, the second being Serf. Serf came to Rome, carrying with him such a reputation for sanctity that he was elected pope, and reigned seven years.

He traveled to Gaul and Britain after vacating the holy see, arriving in Scotland. There he met Adomnán, Abbot of Iona, who showed him an island in Loch Leven (later called St Serf's Inch). At the time, this island would have been part of the Pictish kingdom of Fib (Fife). Serf founded the eponymous St Serf's Inch Priory on the island, where he remained seven years.