Walpurga
WALBURGA, or WAL- PURGIS, a female saint; born in Eng land early in the 8th century, died 779.
She was for many years a nun in a Dorsetshire convent. As a niece of St.
Boniface, and sister of St. Willibald, first bishop of Eichstädt, Bavaria (741- 786), she was induced to proceed to Germany to found convents, and in 754 she SIR ROBERT WALPOLE V ود became abbess of Heidenheim, a convent within her brother's bishopric. She died at the latter place, but was buried at Eichstädt, and her shrine was visited by many pilgrims and was the scene of WALRUS many miracles. Though her feast properly falls on Feb. 25, the eve of May 1, associated with some of the most popular of the witch superstitions of Germany, is called Walpurgis' Night. On that night witches were believed to ride through the air on broomsticks, etc., to some witch hill where they held a rendezvous with the devil. Such meetings were called the "Witches Sabbaths." The most famous witch hill was the highest part of the Hartz Mountains, called the Brocken or Brocksberg. The Beltane or Beltain festival was observed in Scotland and Ireland on the same date.