There she settled for a time, leading a life of exemplary piety, then, fearing the raids of pirates which were starting along the coast, she moved over to Northumbria".

Wishing to dedicate her life to God she built for herself a virgin cell in a grove near the seashore, where she remained for many years in strict seclusion.

A version of the snow miracle is also found in the Sandford manuscript; it was written in English after the dissolution of the Benedictine priory in 1539, and was formerly in the Dean and Chapter archives at Carlisle Cathedral.

His mother warned him against theft on the land of St Bega, but her son was scornful and moving his hands to the private parts of his buttocks he tauntingly said, "What can that little old woman do to me?"

Philip Carter states: "The discovery of inconsistencies between these medieval texts, coupled with the significance attached to her jewellery (said to have been left in Cumbria on her departure for the north-east), now indicate that the abbess never existed.

[10] The 1999 edition of the Dictionary of National Biography includes an article (by Professor Robert Bartlett) that treats St Bega as a mythical figure.

A 1980 paper by John Todd offers a comprehensive review of the historical references to that date, including a discussion of her existence.

[8] Unfortunately some 19th-century local historians unquestioningly accepted the pre-Viking era date given in the Life, and presumably prompted by Leland, they embellished the tale with the founding of a convent.

[9] At the granting of the first charter of the Benedictine priory, one of the witnesses was Gillebecoc; meaning devotee of Beghoc, indicating a cult dedicated to Bega was already in existence.

[14] An Eastern Orthodox parish dedicated to Saints Bega, Mungo, and Herbert worships at the former Methodist chapel in Braithwaite.

[citation needed] Melvyn Bragg wrote the long historical novel Credo,[18] with St Bega as the central character.

A fresh adaptation by Gus Kennedy was similarly staged in the Priory in November 2010 in the week of the feast of St Bega.

[19] Folklore author, psychogeographer and esoteric explorer Alex Langstone has written about St Bega in his controversial psychic questing book Spirit Chaser: The Quest for Bega, which includes parts of her legendary life and connections to Bassenthwaite and St Bees in Cumbria.