Phallic saints were actual saints or local eities who were invoked for fertility. More than vulgar representations of the phallus, phallic saints were benevolent symbols of prolificacy and reproductive fruitfulness, and objects of reverence and especial worship among barren women and young girls. Many were legitimate saints who acquired their priapic attributes through the process of folk-etymology. Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803) reported that, among the wax representations of body parts then presented as offerings to Cosmas and Damian at Isernia, near Naples, on their feast day, those of the penis were the most common.