Eof

The standard Lives,^[2] and Saint Egwin and his Abbey of Evesham ^[3] say Eof was a swineherd. In the legend, Eof encountered three supernaturally beautiful women singing in the woods while he searched for a missing pig. He immediately shared the experience with Bishop Egwin, who returned to the site and also encountered the three women. One of the women carried and book and a gold cross and St. Egwin identified her as the Virgin Mary. According to this legend, this is how the site of Evesham Abbey was selected.^[4]

A letter, apparently written by Ecgwin, says "... primum cuidam pastori gregum ...", and the Acta Sanctorum (Lives of the Saints) states something similar: " ...pastores gregum ..." The Latin means either a shepherd or a herdsman. William Dugdale in Monasticon Anglicanum says "Eoves, a herdsman of the bishop ...". George May, the most eminent of Evesham historians, gives both herdsman and swineherd.^[5]

The story that Eof was a swineherd goes back at least to William of Malmesbury, writing in the twelfth century. The obverse of the conventual seal of Evesham Abbey clearly shows stylised pigs rather than sheep;^[6][7] the monks of the Abbey clearly thought Eof kept pigs.

The legend of Eof's vision has been commemorated by a bronze statue sited in the town centre paid for by public subscription and created by the British born sculptor John McKenna. The statue was unveiled in a public ceremony that took place on Sunday 15 June 2008.^[8]

The question of whether the swineherd was named Eof or Eoves is a long-standing question. Writing in 1920, the historian O.G. Knapp argued that the real name of the Swineherd was not Eoves, Eofes, or even Eofa, but Eof.^[9]