The scallop is a symbol for St. James, and the church you mentioned was a
pilgrimage stop during and after the Crusades of the Middle Ages. To prove
to the folks at home that the pilgrim had been there, they purchased the
scallops and wore them like badges. Other places had other souviners.  Karen
-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas E. Eichhorst <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Monday, November 08, 1999 2:32 PM
Subject: Re: Curiosity


>> Here's a curiosity from The Baltimore Sun, October 26, 1999. A picture
>> shows a pilgrim in front of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in
>> Galicia, Spain, dressed in traditional costume, a cloak and a pilgrim's
>hat
>> adorned with a large scallop shell. Would anyone like to hazard a guess
as
>> to the significance of the scallop shell to a religious pilgrim? Is there
>a
>> religious iconography of sea shells?
>
>
>Kathleen,
>
>There are a number of shells involved with religion, with the most well
>know, probably being the sacred chank of India and the scallop you
>mentioned; the St. James Scallop or Pecten maximus jacobaeus.  The Apostle
>James was beheaded by Herod.  His followers took the remains to Spain for
>burial.  Off the coast of Portugal they ran into a bridal party.  The
>bridegroom and his horse ended up in the ocean and were saved by (the now)
>St. James.  Upon emergence from the water, both bridegroom and horse were
>covered with scallops.  The scallop was thus linked to St. James.  His
>remains were buried, and lost, and found, and lost, etc on the coast near
>the Ria de Arosa.  Eventually a shrine was built nearby called Compostela
>and in the 12th century when pilgrims were unable to journey to the Holy
>Land, the shrine of St. James grew in popularity (I'm leaving out a whole
>lot of stuff here that happened over centuries).  The scallop was used as
>sort of a token (like a snow globe) that the pilgrim had indeed made the
>pilgrimage.  Thus the scallop went from symbolizing St. James to
symbolizing
>pilgrims.  It is still a popular site and stories abound about the
different
>laws and such to control the booming scallop trade in the area.  I know
>Abbott's book ("Kingdom of the Seashell") has the story and it is also in
>the book by Mary Saul ("Shells: An Illustrated Guide to a Timeless and
>Fascinating World").
>
>There are lots of other religious tie-ins to seashells.
>
>Tom