Pilgrimage II

Last week I posted about a little pilgrim stop I made, quite by accident, on the way to a brocante sale. One of the comments on that post was by a lady I'd never met before, and who turns out to have a very special blog called 'My scallop -shell of quiet'.
This is the quotation which inspires her blog title:

GIVE me my scallop-shell of quiet,

My staff of faith to walk upon,

My scrip of joy, immortal diet,

My bottle of salvation,

My gown of glory, hope's true gage;

And thus I'll take my pilgrimage.

It's by Sir Walter Raleigh - I'd forgotten he was a poet too.
So the image of the scallop-shell is still inspiring people today. I find that very pleasing. If you remember, I mentioned that the pilgrims on the way to Santiago de Compostela used to carry their scallop shells both as a symbol and also as a way of asking for food and drink along the way - they could ask anyone, rich or poor, for enough sustenance to fill their scallop shell. Is it greedy to immediately think of seeking-out one of those really big scallops?
I found this picture of a medieval pilgrim on the blog of someone who has recently cycled to Compostela! The labelled parts (OK, in Spanish, but I'm giving it a go...) give me an idea of what Sir Walter Raleigh was talking about.
j
The scallop shell we know - and Sir WR thought of it as 'quiet'. Just a tiny bit of quiet in each day?
j
The staff of faith - 'to walk upon' - I though of 'to lean' upon, but no, he says it's to walk upon. That's a more active image of faith.
j
The scrip of joy - I know this one! (Thanks to Ellis Peters and Brother Cadfael). I've just checked and confirmed that it's a small leather bag for carrying food and money. But we'll carry joy in ours! If you really want one, you can buy one here. Joy not included.
j
A bottle - al vino, says the picture above! Salvation, says Sir WR. So that's a link to the blood of Christ, our salvation and also to our communion wine.
j
A gown - which must have been both practical protection from the elements and also a symbol of the pilgrimage. And that's glory, and our hope. Wrapped in glory...
j
What a lot to learn from a detour, a shell, an Elizabethan adventurer and blogging!