St Ursula sails again

The commonest version of the legend of St Ursula tells how she was betrothed to a prince but obtained a 3-year moratorium because she wished to remain a virgin 1]. She spent this time cruising with 11 noble companions, each of whom occupied a ship with 1000 more. After visiting Cologne and Basle and making a pilgrimage to Rome they were all massacred by Huns for their Christianity, Ursula having refused to marry the chief. Variations on this legent include providing her with a Cornish origin and saying that she sailed to Brittany with 11 000 maidens. Whatever her origin and whatever happened to her, it is now thought that the remarkable number of her companions may have stemmed from a medieval copyist's error. This involved expanding the abbreviation 'XI MV' into '11 000 virgins' when it should have read '11 virgin-martyrs'. Whilst there is no real evidence for any of the story (her cult was suppressed by the Roman Catholic authorities in the reforms of 1969) it may be contended that morals may be drawn from it.