The Croyland Knives

Because St Bartholomew was flayed alive, a knife became his emblem. At Croyland Abbey it was an ancient custom, kept until the time of Edward IV, to give little knives to all comers on St Bartholomew’s Day. Many such knives of various sizes were later found in the ruins and the river, and three of them appear with the whips of St Guthlac on the arms of the abbey and on a Croyland halfpenny token of 1670. A popular saying held that St Bartholomew brings the cold dew.