Opening
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THE
HISTORIANS OF SCOTLAND.
VOL. VI.
Edinburgh : Printed by Thomas and Archibald Constable,
FOR
EDMONSTON AND DOUGLAS.
LONDON HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO.
CAMBRIDGE MACMILLAN AND CO.
GLASGOW JAMES MACLEHOSK.
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EDMONSTON & DOUGLAS. EDINBURGH.
THE
IISTOBIANS OF SCOTLAND
VOL. VI.
jLife of ^>aittt Columba,
EDINBURGH
\ Xrt EDMONSTON AND DOUGLAS V/ \<\
1874.
of
aint Columba,
FOUNDER OF HY.
WRITTEN BY ADAMNAN,
NINTH ABBOT OF THAT MONASTERY.
EDITED BY
WILLIAM BEEVES, D. D., M. B. I. A.,
RECTOR OF TYXAX, AND CANON OF ARMAGH.
EDINBURGH
EDMONSTON AND DOUGLAS
1874.
4-"] oo
PRELIMINARY NOTICE.
THE Life of St. Columba by Adamnan has always excited much interest, from the undoubted authenticity of the Biography, the early period in which it was compiled, and its connexion with the foundation of the ecclesiastical establishment at lona, and the intro duction of Christianity into the north of Scotland ; but until the appearance, in 1856, of Dr. Reeves's edition of the Life, its real character, and that of the establishment at lona, was little understood, and its history perverted to suit the purposes of a polemical controversy. The accuracy of learning and the thorough research displayed in Dr. Reeves's edition has now placed the subject beyond the reach of con troversy, and his truly admirable edition is accom panied by a wealth of illustration almost unrivalled. His work, however, was printed for the Irish Archaeo logical Society and for the Bannatyne Club, and is accessible only to the members of these bodies. It is
viii PRELIMINARY NOTICE.
therefore with much pleasure that the Publishers of the Series of Scottish Historians are enabled, by Dr. Reeves's permission, to present this work to the sub scribers of that Series.
Dr. Reeves has permitted them, in order to adapt the work more to the general reader, to add an English translation, and to re-arrange the matter contained in his learned and exhaustive Notes.
The principal alteration in the latter is to throw the elaborate Additional Notes added to the Life in an Appendix into the form of an Introduction, and to transfer the numerous footnotes from the bottom of the page to the end of the Latin text.
The Eight Reverend the BISHOP OF BRECHIN has, at the Publishers' request, kindly superintended the preparation of the translation, and Mr. W. F. SKENE is responsible for the re-arrangement of the matter contained in the Notes.
EDINBURGH, December 1874.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
I'AGK
INTRODUCTION, .... . xxxiii
1. Chronological Summary of St. Columba's Life, . xxxiii
2. Battles with which St. Columba was connected, . xli
3. St. Columba's Churches, xlix
4. St. Columba's Twelve Disciples, .... Ixxi
5. The year of St. Columba's Death, . . . Ixxvi
6. The Relics of St. Columba, . . . Ixxix
7. The Monastery of Hy, c
8. The Topography of Hy, .... cxxvii
9. Chronicle of Hy, . . . . . . cxlvi
TRANSLATION OF THE LIFE OF ST. COLUMBA :—
SECOND PREFACE, 2
BOOK I.
OF HIS PROPHETIC REVELATIONS.
CHAPTER VII.— Of the Battles,
CHAPTER IX. — Of the two boys who died at the end of a
week, according to his word, .... CHAPTER X. — Of Colca, son of Aid Draigniche, and of a
certain hidden sin of his Mother, CHAPTER XI. — Prophecy of St. Columba regarding the
sign of the same man's death, ..... CHAPTER XII. — Of Laisran the gardener, CHAPTER XIII. — How he prophesied of a large Whale, CHAPTER XIV. — Of a certain Baitan, who sailed with others
to a desert in the ocean, ......
CHAPTER XVII. — Of the vowel letter I, which alone was
wanting in the Psalter,
CHAPTER XVIII.— Of the Book which fell into the watervessel, .........
CHAPTER XIX. — Of the Inkhorn overturned, .
CHAPTER XXI. — Of a poor man who shouted at the Sound
when about to die, .......
CHAPTER XXIL— Of the city of the Roman jurisdiction, on
which fire fell from heaven, .....
CHAPTER XXX.— Of Lugud Clodus, ;. . . .28 CHAPTER XXXI.— Of Enan, the son of Gruth, . 29
BOOK II.
ON HIS MIRACULOUS POWERS.
CHAPTER I. — Of the Wine which was made from water, . 38
CHAPTER II. — Of the very bitter fruits of a tree changed into sweet by the blessing of the Saint, . . .39
CHAPTER III. — Of the land which was ploughed and sown after midsummer, and yielded a ripe harvest in the begin ning of the month of August, . . . . .39
CHAPTER IV. — On a Pestilential Cloud, and the cure of those sick from it, . . . . . .40
CHAPTER V. — Of Maugina, a holy virgin, and the healing of her broken thigh, 41
CHAPTER VI. — Of the healing the diseases of many people at the Ridge of Cete, by the touch of the hem of his garment, 42
CHAPTER VII.— Of a lump of salt blessed by the Saint which could not be consumed by the fire, . . .42
CHAPTER VIII. — Of the volumes of books in the Saint's handwriting, which could in no way be destroyed by water, . . . . • • •
CHAPTER X. — Of the fountain of water which the Saint blessed and healed beyond the Dorsal Eidge of Britain, .
CHAPTER XI. — Of the Saint's danger at sea, and the mighty tempest changed at once into a calm ',by his prayers, .
CHAPTER XII. — Of another similar peril at sea, and how Saint Cainnech prayed for him and his companions,
CHAPTER XIII. — Of the Staff of St. Cainnech forgotten in the harbour, .....
CHAPTER XIV. — Of Baithene and Columban, the son of Beogna, who asked of the Saint that he would grant them on the same day a favourable wind, though they were to sail in different directions, ....
CHAPTER XV. — Of the driving out of a demon that lurked in a milk-pail, . . .
CHAPTER XVI. — Concerning a vessel which a certain sorcerer by diabolical art filled with milk taken from a bull, and how, at the Saint's prayer, that which seemed to be milk was changed into its own proper nature of blood,
CHAPTER XVII. — Of Lugne Mocumin, whom the Saint, by touch of his fingers and prayer, cured of a flow of blood which frequently poured from his nostrils, .
CHAPTER XVIII. — Of a large salmon found in a river according to the Saint's word,
CHAPTER XIX. — Of two fishes found, by his prophecy, in the river which is called Boo,
CHAPTER XX. — Regarding a certain peasant who was called Nesan the Crooked, . . ...
PA(JK
CHAPTER XXIII.— Of the death of Johan, son of Conall, on the very day he threw dishonour upon and contemned the Saint, . . ... . ... . . . . 51
CHAPTER XXVI. — Another oppressor of the innocent, who, in the province of the Lagenians, fell down dead, like Ananias before Peter, the same moment that he was terribly reproved by the Saint, . . . . .54
CHAPTER XXVII. — Of the death of a wild boar, which was caused to fall prostrate at some distance from the Saint by the sign of the Lord's Cross, . . . .55
CHAPTER XXVIII. — Of an Aquatic Monster which, by his prayer and the raising of his hand against it, was driven back and prevented from hurting Lugne, who was swim ming near it, . . . . . . .55
CHAPTER XXIX. — Of the Reptiles and Serpents of the louan island, which, from the day the Saint blessed it, were able to hurt neither man nor beast, . . .56
CHAPTER XXX. — Of the Spear signed by him, which, though driven with all one's force, could never after hurt any living creature, . . . . . .57
CHAPTER XXXI. — Of the cure of Diormit when sick, . 57
CHAPTER XXXII. — Of the cure of Finten, the son of Aid, when at the point of death, . . . . .58
CHAPTER XXXIII. — Of the boy whom the holy man
PAGE
raised from the dead, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the country of the Picts, . . . *• . 58
CHAPTER XXXV. — Of the manner in which the blessed man overcame Broichan the Druid, and of the contrary wind, . . . . . . . ;> . 61
CHAPTER XXXVI. — Of the sudden opening of the door of the royal fortress of its own accord, . . . .62
CHAPTER XXXVII. — Of a similar unclosing of the Church of the Field of the Two Streams, . . . . 62
CHAPTER XXXVIII. — Concerning a certain peasant in poverty, and begging, for whom St. Columba made and blessed a stake for killing wild beasts, . . . .63
CHAPTER XXXIX. — Concerning a leathern vessel for hold ing milk which was carried from its place, and brought back again to land by the tide, . ; . .64
CHAPTER XLI. — Of a certain woman who was relieved in great and extremely difficult pains of childbirth, . 69
CHAPTER XLII. — Of the wife of Lugne the pilot, who hated him, : . • • - , . . „ ' • . . , . 70
CHAPTER XLIII. — The prophecy of St. Columba regarding Cormac, the grandson of Lethan, and his voyages, . .71
CHAPTER XLIV. — Of the venerable man's drive in a chariot without the protection of the proper linch-pins, . .73
CHAPTER XLV. — Of the rain which, after several months of drought, was poured by God's gift upon the thirsty ground in honour of the blessed man, . '. .- . 74
CHAPTER XL VI. — A miracle which we are now by God's favour going to relate, as it happened in our own day, and
PAGE
before our own eyes. Of the unfavourable winds which, through the prayers of the venerable man, were changed into propitious breezes, . .74
CHAPTER XLVIL— Of the Plague, . . . 76
BOOK III.
THE APPARITIONS OF ANGELS.
CHAPTER I. — Of the apparition of angels which were shown either to others regarding the blessed man, or to him regarding others, v. . ' :. ... . 78
CHAPTER XV. — Of the apparition of angels who came to meet Emchath's soul, . . . • .. . . .87
CHAPTER XVI.— Of the angel of the Lord that came so quickly and opportunely to the relief of the brother who fell from the top of the round monastery in the Oakwood Plain, . . . . . » . .87
CHAPTER XVIII.— Of the pillar of fire seen to burn upon the Saint's head, . ... . . . 89
CHAPTER XIX. — Of the descent or visit of the Holy Spirit, which continued upon the venerable man for three whole days and as many nights, in the same island, . .90
CHAPTER XXI. — Of another vision of almost equal bril liancy, . . .91
CHAPTER XXIV. — Of the departure of our patron, St. Columba, to the Lord, . .94
TEXT OF THE ( LIFE OF ST. COLUMBA, WITH THE
VARIANT READINGS OF THE DIFFERENT MSS., . .103
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS :—
Notes to Preface, . . . . . .223
Notes to Introduction, V . 224
Notes to the Life, . . . . . . .248
APPENDIX :-
I.— Identification of Localities, . , » . .303
II. — Explanation of Names on the Map of lona, . .329
III. — Chronicon Hyense, . . . . .334
IV. — Notes on the History of the Ruins at lona, . . 342
V. — Records relating to lona from the Vatican, . .353
INDEX, ... . . . 359
MAP OF ION A, to face Title.
PREFACE.
BEFORE St. Columba was long in the grave, it is likely that some member of the brotherhood set himself to collect his patron's acts, and to record such events of his life as were suited to the taste of the day, or were calculated to promote the veneration of his memory. In furtherance of this design, he probably turned his attention rather to the marvels than the sober realities of the Saint's life, and consulted more for the excitement of admiration in a simple and credulous age, than for the supply of historical materials to meet the stern demands of remote posterity. When Adamnan, a century after St. Columba's death, in compliance with his brethren's urgent re quest, drew up the memoir which has immortalized both the subject and the writer, his information was derived, as he him self states, in part from written, in part from oral, authorities. In the latter respect, he was quite near enough to the fountainhead, both in time and place, to draw from authentic sources, for in his boyhood he had frequent opportunities of conversing with those who had seen St. Columba, and he was now writing almost on the very spot where his great predecessor had indited his last words, and surrounded by objects every one of which was fresh with the impress of some interesting association. As regarded his documentary materials, he had before him the account of Cummene the Fair, whom he cites by name, and whose entire narrative he has transferred, almost verbatim, into his own compilation, where it is for the most part incorporated with the Third Book. He had also another memoir, on the authority of which he relates an occurrence not recorded in
Cummene's pages. Besides these compositions, which were written in Latin, there existed in our author's day certain poems on the praises of Columba, in the Scotic tongue, among which was probably the celebrated Amhra, or panegyric, which was written by a contemporary of the Saint. Baithene Mor, who enjoyed St. Columba's friendship, is said to have commemorated some particulars of his life, and poems ascribed to Baithene are more than once referred to by O'Donnell. Metrical composi tions bearing the name of St. Mura are also cited by the same compiler, who adduces them as his authority, in part, for the history of St. Columba's infancy. Thus furnished with record and tradition, and quickened, moreover, with zeal for the honour of a kinsman after the flesh, the ninth abbot of Hy became the biographer of the first, and produced a work, which, though not ostensibly historical, and professing to treat of an individual, is " the most authentic voucher now remaining of several other important particulars of the sacred and civil history of the Scots and Picts," l and is pronounced by a writer not over-given to eulogy to be " the most complete piece of such biography that all Europe can boast of, not only at so early a period, but even through the whole middle ages."2 Our author is indeed as free from the defects of hagiology as any ancient writer in this de partment of literature, but it must ever be subject of regret that he chose an individual instead of a society as his subject, and reckoned the history of his Church a secondary consideration to the reputation of his Patron. If Bede had contented himself with being the biographer of St. Cuthbert, instead of the histo rian of England, would he be now par excellence the Venerable ? If Adamnan had extended to history the style and power of description which appear in his tract on the Holy Places, with the experience, the feeling, and the piety, which characterize his Life of St. Columba, the voice of Christendom would have borrowed the word from his countryman, and irreversibly have
1 Tnnes, Civil and Eccl. Hist., p. 145.
- Pinkerton, Enquiry, Pref., vol. i. p. xlviii.
coupled his name with the title of Admirable. Even in the limited sphere which he chose, he soon acquired, to use a modern expression, a European celebrity, and the numerous copies of his writings which are found scattered over the Con tinent show in what esteem he was held abroad. It was there fore more rhetorical than just in a late historian of the English Church, to create a silent sister beside the vocal Lindisfarne, and state that " splendid as is the fame of lona, the names of almost all its literary men have perished." x Surely Adamnan and Cummene are more than names, and if names be wanting, the Chronicle of Hy is not so barren as to suggest the old lament —
" Omnes illacrymabiles
Urgentur, ignotique longa
Nocte."
Adamnan's life of St. Columba has obtained due publicity in print, yet has always appeared in such a form as to render it more a subject of research than of ordinary study. It was first printed by Henry Canisius, in the fifth volume of his Antiqiice Lectiones, on the authority of a manuscript preserved in the monastery of Windberg in Bavaria. Twenty years afterwards, Thomas Messingham, an Irish priest, reprinted the tract from Canisius, in his Florilegium, adding titles to the chapters, and appending a few marginal glosses, together with testimonies of Adamnan, at the beginning, and of St. Columba, at the end, of the Life.
About the same time, Stephen White, a learned Jesuit, a native of Clonmel, discovered, while in search of Irish manu scripts on the Continent, a venerable copy of Adamnan in the Benedictine monastery of Eeichenau, and the transcript which he made supplied the text of the fourth Life of St. Columba in Colgan's Trias Thaumaturga, published in 1647. The editor of the work prefixes numbers to the chapters, which are not in the original, and errs wherever White has made an omission or
1 Carwithen, Hist, of the Church, v. i. p. 6.
alteration in the text, but in other respects is remarkably faith ful. The notes display considerable learning and vast acquaint ance with the ecclesiastical records of his country, but his conjectural emendations are often peculiarly unhappy, and his constant endeavour to find a place in the Irish Calendar for Adamnan's worthies sometimes tempts him into misspent labour. Stephen White furnished a copy to the Bollandists also, from which the text was again printed, in 1698, under the editorial care of Francis Baert, but in a less faithful form than the previous one. The editor took many liberties with the copy, changing the division of the chapters, introducing new titles, displacing the original ones, and occasionally altering the text. The notes which he has added are principally from Colgan, and are neither as rich nor erudite as his materials might have led one to expect.
The next publication of the Life was the reprint of Canisius's Lectiones in Basnage's Thesaurus, in the first volume of which it is reproduced in its earlier defective form.
Lastly, it appeared, in 1789, in Pinkerton's Collection, a work of much smaller dimensions, and which might have had a wide circulation but for a whim of the editor, who limited the im pression to a hundred copies. The text of Adamnan in this work professes to follow a manuscript preserved in the British Museum ; but the editor, who made the text of Canisius the basis of his collation, has very often neglected his professed exemplar, and fallen in with the old readings of the Windberg, instead of the British, manuscript. On the whole, the text is certainly an improvement on that in the Canisian family, but is greatly inferior to Colgan's, with which the editor seems to have been unacquainted, for he supplies the deficiency at the com mencement of the British manuscript from Canisius's meagre authority, and, when he might have drawn from Colgan's rich store, he adds a few foot-notes, which do more to prove the editorial incompetency of the commentator than to illustrate the text of his author.
All who have compared the text of Adamnan as given by Canisius or his copyists, with that in Colgan, the Bollandists, or Pinkerton, have observed a great difference in their length. Ussher noticed the brevity of Canisius's compared with the Cotton and Keichenau MSS. ; so did Colgan and Pinkerton ; and Dr. Lanigan has gone so far as to state it to be his opinion that the shorter text was the genuine production of Adamnan, and that the longer one owed its difference to a later hand. In deciding, therefore, between the recensions, the question is one of abridgment or interpolation. A strong presumption in favour of the longer text arises from the fact that it is found in the oldest and most respectable manuscript, as well as in two others of totally independent authority, one of which professes to follow a Scotch transcript. To which may be added, that Fordun and O'Donnell used and received the longer text, as is proved by their citing passages which do not exist in the shorter. The style of Adamnan is apparent in these extra portions, and the arrangement of the chapters in the longer text agrees better with the character of his other work. This view is confirmed by the consideration that the shorter text owes its peculiar character, at least as far as regards the absence of titles and the fewness of proper names, to an assignable cause, namely, the convenience of congregational reading, as expressed in St. Bene dict's Eule : " Ideo omni tempore, sive jejunii sive prandii, mox ut surrexerint a ccena, sedeant omnes in unum, et legat unus Collationes, vel Vitas Patrum, aut certe aliquid quod sedificet audientes " (cap. 42). It is reasonable to suppose that the in terruption of the narrative by titles, or the encumbering of it with proper names, would be avoided as opposed to the pur pose of edification ; hence, considering the longer memoir to be the genuine one, it is easy to imagine the creation of an abbreviated text, and this revision becoming the favourite one for conventual reading.
But the shorter text possesses internal evidence that such a reduction has taken place. The second Preface declares the author's intention to give at the outset of his memoir a summary of the wonders contained in it, which was to serve as a foretaste for those whose eagerness to learn something of the Saint would not wait for the patient perusal of the whole. Now, this promise is fulfilled in the first chapter of the longer text, but is left un accomplished in the shorter. Again, the thirty-second chapter of the First Book (p. 139) places St. Columba "in Scotiensium paulo superius memorata regione," and then goes on to speak of Trioit, a place now known as Trevet, in the county of Meath. In the longer text the chapter but one preceding relates St. Columba's doings in the Campus Breg, the old name of East Meath, and thus the reference above mentioned is easy and intelligible. But in the shorter text, where the said passage also occurs, six of the antecedent chapters, as given in the longer, are omitted, and the place which is last mentioned is Skye, and further back, for several chapters, the scene is laid in Hy. It is evident, therefore, that the true correlative to supra memorata does not exist in the shorter text, and, as a necessary consequence, that it is mutilated. Moreover, as regards the tituli, they form an integral part of each chapter, for the names which occur in them are often not repeated, though referred to, in the substance of the chapter, so that their removal, as in the Bollandist edition, from their proper places to the beginning of the books, that they may not break the thread of the story, illustrates the principle upon which they were entirely omitted in the manu scripts ; and occasionally renders the insertion of some words in the text necessary, in order to complete the construction. Thus, at p. 145, all the copies have supra memorata munitione, but there is no antecedent mention of a munitio except in the titulus, which speaks De hello in munitione Cethirni, the absence of which evidently bears witness against the integrity of the shorter text, and, in the Bollandists, demanded a note of explanation. The very title of Canisius's manuscript, Incipit prima Prcefatio Apologiaque Adamnani Abbatis sancti scriptoris, indicates a later hand ; as the Bollandist editor observes, " quis enim seipsuni sanctum vocet ? " Accordingly, in giving the preference to the Keichenau manuscript, he comes to the con clusion that the " Windbergense MS. videatur ex hoc desumptum, pluribus rebus, tsedio forsitan vocum barbaricarum, vel librarii incuria, prsetermissis." l
Of the seven manuscripts which furnish the various readings in the present work, three contain the longer, and four the shorter text.
These are under the several signatures which are employed to represent them.
I. Codex A. A MS. of the beginning of the eighth century, formerly belonging to Eeichenau, but now preserved in the Public Library of Schaffhausen.
II. Codex B. A vellum MS. of the middle of the fifteenth century, preserved in the British Museum, Bill. Reg., 8 D. ix.
III. Codex C. The Canisian text, which was published in 1604 " ex Membranis MS., Monasterii Windbergensis in Bauaria." It belongs to the shorter recension.
IV. Codex D. The second tract (fol. 39 aa to 51 la), in a large vellum MS. of the thirteenth century, preserved in Primate Marsh's library, Dublin, vulgarly, though erroneously, called the Book of Kilkenny, and marked v. 3, 4. Its text is of the shorter recension.
V. Codex F. A vellum MS. in 4to, Ssec. x., consisting of fifty leaves. It formerly belonged to the Church of Freisingen, situate at the junction of the Moosach and Isar, in Bavaria ; under the number 141, and is now in the Eoyal Library of Munich, 6341. It is the most respectable MS. of the shorter recension.
VI. Codex S. A small quarto MS. on vellum, of the early part of the ninth century, preserved in the library of St. Gall, No. 555. It consists of eighty-three folios, and contains the text of the shorter recension.
1 Act. SS. Jim., torn. ii. pp. 190 6, 198 a.
VII. Codex Cottonianus. This copy of the Life is contained in a large folio volume, which formerly belonged to Sir Kobert Cotton, and is now to be found in the British Museum, under the mark Bill. Cotton. Tiberius, D. Hi. It is a vellum MS. in double columns, written in a fine large hand of the latter part of the twelfth century.1
Besides these seven manuscripts, which furnish the various readings of this edition, there are reported to be in existence the following : —
1. At Admont, a cathedral town of Styria, in the circle of Judenburg, and valley of the Enns river, a manuscript Vita 8. Columbce presbyteri et confessoris, beginning " Sanctus igitur Columba nobilibus fuerat oriundus natalibus, patrem habens Fedilmitum filium Fergusa."
2. Heiligenkreutz (Holy Cross), in Austria, is reported as having a Vita S. Columbce. There are eight places of the name in the Austrian empire ; but of the two which are in the archduchy of Austria, this is probably the Cistercian monastery, in the district of the Vienna forest.
3. Salmansweiler, a Cistercian monastery, one mile from Ueberliugen, on the north side of the Lake of Constance, is reported to have Adamannus Abbas de Vita S. Columle con-
4. Tegernsee, a monastery of Bavaria, between the rivers Isar and Inn, and the lakes of Schlier and Tegern, is said to have j Vita, Columbi Confessoris ; Saec. xiii. This, however, as well ! as No. 2, may be by Cummene.
5. In the Codex Salmanticensis, belonging to the library of the Dukes of Burgundy at Brussels, is a fragment of a Life of St. Columba, differing very little from Adamnan's. Owing to the loss of several folios, the greater part of this tract is wanting, and what remains, beginning at iii. 18 of Adam-
1 For an elaborate account of these manuscripts the reader is referred to Dr. Eeeves's Preface in the original work, pp. xiii-xxxi., from which part of the Preface this account of the seven MSS. is abridged. — W. F. S.
nan, is printed by Colgan as the second part of his Vita Secunda.
The other Lives of St. Columba are the following : —
I. That by Cummene, already mentioned.
II. The first part of Colgan's Vita Secunda, which he found in the Salamanca MS., and erroneously supposed to be by Cumineus. It is a succinct and chronological digest of the principal recorded events of the Saint's life, and supplies from
, the old Irish Life some particulars not recorded by Adamnan.
III. A Life by John of Tinrnouth, pirated by Capgrave, and reprinted by Colgan with notes, in the Trias, where it appears as the Vita Tertia. It is principally compiled from Adamnan, and ends with the monition : " Est autem sciendum quod Hibernia proprie Scotorum est patria : antiquitus igitur Scotia pro Hibernia saepius scribi solet sicut hie in vita sancti Columbe diligenter intuentibus apparet. Et etiam venerabilis Beda de gestis Anglorum multis in locis Hiberniam exprimere volens, Scotiam scripsit."
IV. The office in the Breviary of Aberdeen, containing nine short lessons, borrowed, in an abridged form, from Adamnan.
V. An abridgment of Adamnan, printed by Benedict Gonon under the title Vita S. Columbce, sive Columbani, Presbyteri et Confessoris (qui alius est cb S. Columbano Luxoviensi ablate) ex ilia prolixa quam scripsit Adamannus abbas Insulce Huensis in Scotia. It occupies three folio pages, double columns, and is accompanied by three trifling notulse.
VI. An ancient Irish memoir, frequently referred to in the following pages as the old Irish Life. It is a composition pro bably as old as the tenth century, and was originally compiled, to be read as a discourse on St. Columba's festival, on the text Exi de terra tua et de cognatione tua, et de domo patris tui, et vade in terram quam tibi monstravero. This curious relic of Irish preaching is preserved in four manuscripts : — 1. The Leabhar Breac, or Speckled Book of Mac Egan, in the library of the Eoyal Irish Academy (fol. 15 a I). 2. The Book of Lismore
(fol. 49 6 a)} of which the original is in the possession of his Grace the Duke of Devonshire, and a beautiful copy in the Koyal Irish Academy. 3. A quarto vellum MS., formerly belonging to the Highland Society of Scotland, and now deposited in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh. It is a thin fasciculus without covers, probably of the twelfth century, and written in double columns. The Life begins in fol. 7, and is continued to the end, namely, 1 4 &. It modernizes all the old words and constructions of the earlier copies, and subjoins the account of St. Columba's proceedings at the convention of Drumceatt, taken from one of the prefaces to the Amhra Choluim-cille. This MS. may be the one of those mentioned by Martin, circ. 1700 : " The Life of Columbus, written in the Irish Character, is in the Custody of John Mack Neil, in the Isle of Barray ; another Copy of it is kept by Mack-Donald of Benlecula." A facsimile of some lines has been engraved in one of the Highland Society's publications. 4. MS. Eoyal Library, Paris, Ancien Fond., No. 8175. It forms fol. 53 aa to fol. 56 llt of a small folio parchment volume found by the Eevolutionary Commissioners, during the Eepublic, in a private house in Paris, and by them presented to the library.
This ancient Life, evidently held in great esteem, furnished O'Donnell with a considerable portion of his narrative, and he has transferred the whole into his collection. Ussher was ac quainted with it, as is shown by his reference : " Ut habet anonymus, qui acta ipsius Hibernico idiomate descripsit ;" but Colgan does not seem to have been aware of its existence, and the Irish Life which he cites is always that of O'Donnell.
VII. The latest and much the most copious collection of the Saint's acts is that by Manus O'Donnell, chief of Tir-Connell, which professes to be, and is, a chronological digest of all the existing records concerning the patron of his family. His frame work consists of Adamnan and the old Irish Life ; into this he has worked: — 1. The historical allusions found in the volume of poems ascribed to St. Columba ; 2. The substance of the preface to the Amhra Choluim-cille ; 3. Extracts from the prefaces to the Latin hymns ascribed to St. Columba, and from the hymns themselves, as preserved in the Liber Hymnorum ;
4. Some notes from the comments on the Feilire of Aengus ;
5. The matter in the poems on Cormac Ua Liathain ; 6. Passages from the lives of contemporary saints, especially St. Mochonna, or Machar, of Aberdeen ; 7. The alleged prophecies of Berchan of Clonsast ; 8. Some legendary poems on the wanderings of certain Columbian monks, which far outdo St, Brendan's Navi gation in wildness of incident. O'Donnell's statement is : " Be it known to the readers of the Life, that it was buried in oblivion for a long time, and that there was not to be found but a frag ment of the book which holy Adamnan compiled of it in Latin, and another small portion in Irish, compiled by the Irish poets in a very difficult dialect ; and the remainder in legends scat tered throughout the old books of Erin." These materials, with one or two trifling exceptions, all exist at the present day, and have more or less been consulted for the present work. It would be quite possible for a good scholar and patient investi gator, endowed with an inventive wit and a copious style, to compile from materials existing in the year of grace 1856,1 a narrative to the full as circumstantial, as diffuse, and as marvel lous, as that contained in the great volume of O'Donnell, and much more correct. It would, however, labour under one great defect, — the Irish would not be as good. When and where this work was compiled, and at what cost, the following declaration of the noble author will set forth : " Be it known to the readers of this Life, that it was Manus, the son of Hugh, son of Hugh Eoe, son of Mall Garve, son of Torlogh of the Wine, O'Donnell, that ordered the part of this Life which was in Latin to be put into Gaelic; and who ordered the part that was in difficult Gaelic to be modified, so that it might be clear and compre hensible to every one ; and who gathered and put together the
1 When this Preface was written.— W. F. S.
parts of it that were scattered through the old books of Erin ; and who dictated it out of his own mouth, with great labour, and a great expenditure of time in studying how he should arrange all its parts in their proper places, as they are left here in writing by us ; and in love and friendship for his illustrious Saint, Relative, and Patron, to whom he was devoutly attached. It was in the castle of Port-na-tri-namad that this Life was indited, when were fulfilled 12 years, and 20, and 500, and 1000 of the age of the Lord."
This work exists in all its original dimensions, beauty, and material excellence, in a large folio of vellum, written in double columns, in a fine bold Irish hand, and is preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, where it was deposited, together with the other Irish manuscripts of Mr. Eawlinson, having previously cost that gentleman, at the sale of the Chandos collection in 176|-, the formidable sum of twenty-three shil lings ! Colgan published a copious abstract of this compilation in Latin, preserving the principal particulars of the narrative, but omitting the outrageously fabulous portions, as well as those which were not in accordance with his ecclesiastical feel ings, and divided the whole into three books, agreeing with the three chief eras of the Saint's life : — 1 . From his birth to the battle of Cooldrevny. 2. From that event, as the cause of his departure from Ireland, to his temporary return to attend the convention of Drumceatt. 3. From the convention of Drumceatt to his death. This compilation is important as a depository of all the existing traditions concerning St. Columba, but it throws no real light on Adamnan, either in solving a difficulty or identifying a place; and its great prolixity only serves to show how much superior Adamnan's memoir is to any other record professing to be an account of the Saint's life ; and, after all, how little historical matter has been added to that work by the utmost endeavours of those best qualified to succeed in the attempt ! To Adamnan is, indeed, owing the historic precision, and the intelligible operation, which characterize the second stage of the ancient Irish Church. In the absence of his memoir, the Life of St. Columba would degenerate into the foggy, unreal species of narrative which belongs to the Lives of his contemporaries, and we should be entirely in the dark on many points of discipline and belief, concerning which we have now a considerable amount of satisfactory information.
Adamnan's memoir is, therefore, to be prized as an inestimable literary relic of the Irish Church : perhaps, with all its defects, the most valuable monument of that institution which has escaped the ravages of time. The editor, at least, felt it to be so : and has therefore taken great pains, in the midst of many difficulties and discouragements, to call into his service all the means of illustration which books, places, and men could afford.1
BALLYMENA, November 25th, 1856.
1 The few concluding sentences of this Preface are omitted, as more appro priate to the origiual edition. — W. F. S.
i.
ST. COLUMBA was born at Gartan, a wild district in the CHRONO- county of Donegal, on the very day that St. Buite, the founder g°^^Y of Monasterboice, departed this life. Thus the 7th of December OF SAINT is determined for an event, the date of which might otherwise T.?^™BAS have been unrecorded; and the Irish Calendars, in noticing it, present at that day the anomaly of a secular commemora tion. Authorities vary as to the year, ranging from 518 to 523; but calculation from Adamnan's data gives 521 as that most likely to be the true period.
Fedhlimidh, the father of Columba, belonged to the clan which occupied, and gave name to, the territory surrounding Gartan, and was, moreover, a member of the reigning families of Ireland and British Dalriada. Eithne, the mother of Columba, was of Leinster extraction, and descended from an illustrious provincial king. Thus the nobility of two races was combined in their son, and, no doubt, contributed to the extended influence which he acquired, when education, piety, and zeal were superadded to his honourable antecedents.
He was baptized by the presbyter Cruithnechan, under the name Colum, to which the addition of cille, signifying "of the church," was subsequently made, in reference to his dili gent attendance at the church of his youthful sojourn. The tradition of the country is, that he was baptized at Tulach- Dubhglaise, now called Temple-Douglas, a place about halfway between Gartan and Letterkenny, where there is a cemetery { of considerable extent, containing the roofless walls of a large I chapel, and, at a short distance on the north-east, within the j enclosure, a square, elevated space, which appears to have been ; artificially formed, and to be the spot which in O'Donnell's j time was coupled with the memory of the Saint.
The place where St. Columba is said to have spent the ; principal portion of his boyhood was Doire-Eithne, a hamlet in | the same territory, which afterwards exchanged this name, j signifying, Eoboretum Eithnece, for Cill-mac-Nenain, in com memoration, it is supposed, of the " Sons of Enan," whose mother was one of St. Columba's sisters. The absence of any mention of this place in the ancient Irish Life, coupled with the fact that this .parish was the original seat of the O'Donnells, might suggest the conjecture, that it was introduced into the biography of the Saint as an expedient of a later age to add lustre to the chiefs of Tirconnell, by associating the history of their patron with the origin of their race, were it not that there is evidence of a very early relation between St. Columba's family and the place, in the circumstance that the O'Freels, who were the ancient herenachs of the church lands there, were descended, not from Dalach, the forefather of the O'Don nells, but from Eoghan, the brother of St. Columba. The name Cill-mac-Nenain, also, as explained above, indicates a like connexion.
The youth Columba, when arrived at sufficient age, left the scene of his fosterage, and, travelling southwards, came to Moville, at the head of Strangford Lough, where he became a pupil of the famous bishop, St. Finnian. Here he was ordained deacon ; and to the period of his sojourn in this monastery is referable the anecdote which is told by Adarnnan in the open ing chapter of the second book.
From Moville, St. Columba proceeded further southwards, and, arriving in Leinster, placed himself under the instruction of an aged bard called Gemman. At this stage of the Saint's
.
life, he being still a deacon, occurred an incident which Adamnan records in the course of his narrative (B. n. c. 26).
Leaving Gemman, he entered the monastic seminary of Clonard, over which St. Finnian, the founder, then presided. Here St. Columba is said to have been numbered with a class of students who afterwards attained great celebrity as fathers of the Irish Church. St. Finnian does not appear to have been a bishop, and when Columba was subsequently judged worthy of admission to superior orders, he was sent to Etchen, the bishop of Clonfad, by whom he was ordained a priest.
According to the Irish memoirs, St. Columba left St. Finnian, and entered the monastery of Mobhi Clarainech, whose estab lishment at Glas Naoidhen, now Glasnevin, near Dublin, consisted of a group of huts or cells, and an oratory, situate on either bank of the Finglass. Here also are said to have been, at the same time, SS. Comgall, Ciaran, and Cainnech, who had been his companions at Clonard. A violent distemper, how ever, which appeared in the neighbourhood about 544, broke up the community, and Columba returned to the north. On his way he crossed the Bior, now called the Moyola water, a small river which runs into Lough Neagh on the north-west, and, in doing so, prayed, it is said, that this might be the northern limit to the spread of the disease. Mobhi died in 545, and in the following year, according to the Annals of Ulster, the church of Derry was founded by St. Columba, he being then twenty-five years of age. In 549 his former teacher, St. Finnian of Clonard, was removed from this life.
About the year 553, he founded the monastery of Durrow, of which, as his chief institution in Ireland, Bede makes special mention. We have no means of ascertaining the dates of his other churches ; and all we can do with any probability is to allow generally the fifteen years' interval between 546 and 562 for their foundation.
In 561 was fought the battle of Cooldrevny, which is believed to have been, in a great measure, brought about at St. Columba's instigation. A synod, which Adamnan states (B. ill. c. 4) was assembled to excommunicate St. Columba, met at Teltown, in Meath, probably at the instance of the sovereign who was worsted in the battle; for Teltown was in the heart of his patrimonial territory, and was one of his royal seats. The assembly, however, was not unanimous, and St. Brendan of Birr protested against the sentence. St. Finnian of Moville, also, soon after testified his sense of veneration for the accused, who had been once his pupil (B. m. c. 5).
Whether the censure which was expressed against St. Columba by the majority of the clergy had, or could have had, any influence on his after course, is difficult to determine. Irish accounts say that St. Molaisi of Devenish, or of Inishmurry, was the arbiter of his future lot, who imposed upon him the penance of perpetual exile from his native country. But this seems to be a legendary creation of a later age, when missionary enterprise was less characteristic of Irish ecclesi astics than in St. Columba's day. In removing to Hy, he did no more than Donnan, Maelrubha, and Moluoc voluntarily performed, and Cainnech wished to do. Scotland was then a wide field for clerical exertion, and St. Columba's permanent establishment in one of its outposts, within a day's sail of his native province, entailed very little more self-denial than was required for the repeated and, perhaps, protracted visits of St. Finbar, St. Comgall, St. Brendan, the two Fillans, St. Eonan, St. Flannan, and many others. It was a more decided, and therefore a more successful course than theirs; but it was equally voluntary : at least, there is high authority for sup posing it to have been such. " Pro Christo peregrinari volens, enavigavit," the common formula of missionary enterprise, is Adamnan's statement of his motive (Pref. 2) : with which Bede's expression, " ex quo ipse prsedicaturus abiit " (Hist. EC. iii. 4), is in perfect keeping. That he returned more than once, and took an active part in civil and religious transactions, is demon strable from Adamnan. How much oftener he revisited Ireland is not recorded ; but these two instances are quite sufficient to disprove the perpetuity of his retirement. That he was not banished by secular influence is clear even from the legend which represents his dismissal as an ecclesiastical penalty. Early in the next century, St. Carthach, or Mochuda, was driven by the secular arm from his flourishing monastery of Kahen ; but then he only changed his province, and established himself at Lismore. In doing so, however, he took his fraternity with him, and gave up all connexion with Eahen. But St. Columba, when he departed, severed no ties, surrendered no jurisdiction ; his con gregations remained in their various settlements, still subject to his authority, and he took with him no more than the pre scriptive attendance of a missionary leader.
Durrow, his principal Irish monastery, lay close to the terri tory of the prince whose displeasure he is supposed to have in curred, yet it remained undisturbed ; and when, at a later time, he revisited Ireland to adjust the affairs of this house, it seemed a fitting occasion for him to traverse Meath, and visit Clonmacnois, the chief foundation of his alleged persecutor, and the religious centre of his family. Surely, if the Northern Hy Neill had defeated King Diarmait, they could easily have sheltered their kinsman.
In 563, St. Columba, now in his forty- second year, passed over with twelve attendants to the west of Scotland, possibly on the invitation of the provincial king, to whom he was allied by blood. Adamnan relates some particulars of an interview which they had this same year (B. i. c. 7) ; and the Irish Annals record the donation of Hy, as the result of King Conall's approval. At this time the island of Hy seems to have been on the con fines of the Pictish and Scotic jurisdiction, so that while its tenure was in a measure subject to the consent of either people, it formed a most convenient centre for religious intercourse with both. The Scots were already Christians in name ; the Picts were not. Hence the conversion of the latter formed a grand project for the exercise of missionary exertion, and St. Columba at once applied himself to the task. He visited the king at his fortress ; and having surmounted the difficulties which at first lay in his way, he won his esteem, overcame the opposition of his ministers, and eventually succeeded in planting Christianity on a permanent footing in their province. The possession of Hy was formally granted, or substantially confirmed, by this sovereign also ; and the combined consent to the occupation of it by St. Columba seems to have materially contributed to its stability as a monastic institution. St. Columba afterwards paid several visits to the king, whose friendship and co-opera tion continued unchanged till his death.
In 573, St. Brendan, of Birr, the friend and admirer of St. Columba, died, and a festival was instituted at Hy by St. Columba in commemoration of his day.
Of the places where St. Columba founded churches in Scotland, Adamnan has preserved some names, as Etliica insula, Elena, Himla, Scia, but he has given no dates, so that their origin must be collectively referred to the period of thirty-four years, ending in 597, during which the Saint was an insulanus miles.
Conall, the lord of Dalriada, died in 574, whereupon his cousin, Aidan, assumed the sovereignty, and was formally inaugurated by St. Columba in the monastery of Hy. Next year they both attended the convention of Druinceatt, where the claims of the Irish king to the homage of British Dalriada were abandoned, and the independence of that province declared.
St. Brendan, of Clonfert, who had been a frequent visitor of the western isles, and on one occasion had been a guest of St. Columba in Himba, died in 577; and St. Finnian of Moville, also one of our Saint's preceptors, was removed by death in 579. About the same time a question arose between St. Columba and St. Comgall, concerning a church in the neighbourhood of Coleraine, which was taken up by their respective races, and engaged them in sanguinary strife. In 587 another battle was fought, namely, at Cuilfedha, near Clonard, in which engagement also St. Columba is said to have been an interested party.
In judging of the martial propensities of St. Columba, it will always be necessary to bear in mind the complexion of the times in which he was born, and the peculiar condition of society in his day, which required even women to enter battle, and justified ecclesiastics in the occasional exercise of warfare. Moreover, if we may judge from the biographical records which have descended to us, primitive Irish ecclesiastics, and especially the superior class, commonly known as saints, were very impatient of contradiction, and very resentful of injury. Excommunication, fasting against, and cursing, were
1 in frequent employment, and inanimate, as well as animate objects, are represented as the subjects of their maledictions. St. Columba, who seems to have inherited the high bearing of his race, was not disposed to receive injuries, or even affronts, in silence. Adamnan relates how he pursued a plunderer with curses, following the retiring boat into the sea, until the water
! reached to his knees. We have an account also of his cursing a miser who neglected to extend hospitality to him. [ On another occasion, in Himba, he excommunicated some plunderers of the church ; and one of them afterwards perished in combat, being transfixed by a spear which was discharged in St. Columba's name. Possibly some current stories of the Saint's imperious and vindictive temper may have suggested to Venerable Bede the qualified approbation " qualiscumque fuerit ipse, nos hoc de illo certum tenemus, quia reliquit successores magna continentia ac divino amore regularique institutione insignes." 1 With the profound respect in which his memory was held, there seems to have been always associated a considerable degree of awe. Hence, perhaps, the repulsive form in which he was supposed to have presented himself to Alexander n. in 1249. Fordun (Bower) tells a story of some English pirates, who stripped the church of uEmonia or Inchcolum, and on their return, being upset, went down like lead to the bottom ; upon which he observes : " Qua
1 Beda, Hist. Eccl., iii. 4.
de re versum est in Anglia proverbium ; Sanctum viz. Columbam in suos malefactores vindicem fore satis et ultorem. Et ideo, ut non reticeam quid de eo dicatur, apud eos vulgariter Sanct Quhalme nuncupatur." x
St. Columba visited Ireland subsequently to June 585, and from Durrow proceeded westwards to Clonmacnois, where he was received with the warmest tokens of affection and respect.
In 593 he seems to have been visited with sickness, and to have been brought near death. Such, at least, may be supposed to be the moral of his alleged declaration concerning the angels who were sent to conduct his soul to paradise, and whose ser vices were postponed for four years. At length, however, the day came, and just after midnight, between Saturday the 8th, and Sunday the 9th of June, in the year 597, while on his knees at the altar, without ache or struggle, his spirit gently took its flight.
Of his various qualities, both mental and bodily, Adamnan gives a brief but expressive summary. Writing was an employ ment to which he was much devoted. Adamnan makes special mention of books written by his hand; but from the way in which they are introduced, one would be disposed to conclude that the exercise consisted in transcription rather than composi tion. Three Latin hymns of considerable beauty are attributed to him, and in the ancient Liber Hymnorum, where they are preserved, each is accompanied by a preface describing the occasion on which it was written. His alleged Irish composi tions are also poems : some specimens of which will be found in the original edition, pp. 264-277, 285-289. There are also in print his " Farewel to Aran," a poem of twenty-two stanzas;2 and another poem of seventeen stanzas, which he is supposed to have written on the occasion of his flight from King Diarmait.3 Besides these, there is a collection of some fifteen poems, bearing his name, in one of the O'Clery MSS. preserved in the Burgundian
1 Scotichron., xiii. 37.
2 Transactions of the Gaelic Society, pp. 180-189.
3 Misc. Ir. Ar. Soc., pp. 3-15.
Library at Brussels. But much the largest collection is contained in an oblong manuscript of the Bodleian library at Oxford, Laud 615, which embraces everything in the shape of poem or fragment that could be called Columba's, which industry was able to scrape together at the middle of the sixteenth century. Many of the poems are ancient, but in the whole collection there is probably not one of Columcille's composition. Among them are his alleged prophecies, the genuineness of which even Colgan called in question. Copies of some of these compositions have been preserved in Ireland, and from a modernized, interpolated, and often garbled version of them, a collection of " the Prophecies of St. Columbkille" has been lately published in Dublin (in 1856). But it is to be regretted that the editor, not content with medieval forgeries, has lent his name, and, what is worse, has degraded that of St. Columba, to the propagation of a silly imposture, which does not possess even an antiquity of ten years to take off the gloss of its barefaced pretensions.
II.
The belief was current among the Irish at a very early BATTLES period, that the withdrawal of St. Columba to Britain was a SAINT sort of penance, which was, with his own consent, imposed COLUMBA upon him in consequence of his having fomented domestic CONNECTED feuds that resulted in sanguinary engagements. And the opinion derives considerable support, at least as regards the battle of Cul-dreimhne, from the mention of it by Adamnan, who in two instances makes it a kind of Hegira in the Saint's life. The following narrative from Keating's History affords the simplest statement of the prevalent belief : —
" Now this is the cause why Molaise sentenced Columcille to go into Alba, because it came of him to occasion three battles in Erin, viz., the battle of Cul Dreimhne, the battle of Eathan, and the battle of Cuil Feadha. The cause of the battle of Cul Feadha, according to the old book called the Leabar Uidhre of Ciaran, Diarmuid, son of Fergus Cerrbhoil, king of Ireland, made the Feast of Tara, and a noble man was killed at that feast by Curnan, son of
Aodh, son of Eochuidh Tiorm-carna ; wherefore Diarmuid killed him in revenge for that, because he committed murder at the feast of Tara, against law and the sanctuary of the feast ; and before Curnan was put to death he fled to the protection of Columcille, and notwithstanding the protection of Columcille he was killed by Diarmuid. And from that it arose that Columcille mustered the Clanna Neill of the North, because his own protection and the protection of the sons of Earc was violated : whereupon the battle of Cuile Dreimhne was gained over Diarmuid and over the Connaghtmen, so that they were defeated through the prayer of Columcille.
" The Black Book of Molaga assigns another cause why the battle of Cul Dreimhne was fought, viz., in consequence of the false judgment which Diarmuid gave against Columcille when he wrote the gospel out of the book of Finnian without his knowledge. Finnian said that it was to himself belonged the son-book [copy] which was written from his book, and they both selected Diar muid as judge between them. This is the decision that Diarmuid made : that to every book belongs its son-book [copy], as to every cow belongs her calf. So that this is one of the two causes why the battle of Cuile Dreimhne was fought.
" This was the cause which brought Columcille to be induced to fight the battle of Cuil Rathan against the Dal n-Araidhe, and against the Ultonians, viz., in consequence of the controversy that took place between Colum and Comgall, because they took part against Colum in that controversy.
" This was the cause that occasioned the fighting of the battle of Cuil Feadha against Colman Mac Diarmada, viz., in revenge for his having been outraged in the case of Baodan, son of Ninneadh (king of Erin), who was killed by Cuimin, son of Colman, at Leiman-eich, in violation of the sanctuary of Colum." l
The book which St. Columba is supposed to have transcribed from St. Finnian's original is not a manuscript of the Gospels, as stated in the above extract, but the copy of the Psalms, which forms, with its silver case, the ancient reliquary called the Cathach, of which O'Donnell gives us this curious account :
" Now The CatJiach is the name of the book on account of which the battle was fought, and it is the chief relic of Colum-cille in the territory of Cinel Conaill Gulban ; and it is covered with silver under gold ; and it is not lawful to open it ; and if it be sent
1 For the original Irish of this and other passages given in the translation only, see Dr. Reeves's Additional Notes to the original Edition. — W. F. S.
thrice, right-wise, around the army of the Cinell Conaill, when they are going to battle, they will return safe with victory : and it is on the breast of a cowarb or a cleric, who is to the best of his power free from mortal sin, that the Cathach should be, when brought round the army."
The record of the battle in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 555, is as follows : —
" The seventeenth year of Diarmaid. The battle of Cul-Dreimhne was gained against Diarmaid, son of Cearbhall, by Fearghus and Domhnall, the two sons of Muircheartach, son of Earca ; by Ainmire, son of Sedna ; and by Nainnidh, son of Duach ; and by Aedh, son of Eochaidh Tirmcharna, king of Connaught. It was in re venge of the killing of Curnan, son of Aedh, son of Eochaidh Tirm charna, while under the protection of Colum-cille, that the Clanna Neill of the North and the Connaughtmen gave this battle of Cul- Dreimhne to King Diarmaid ; and also on account of the false sentence which Diarmaid passed against Colum-cille about a book of Finnen, which Colum had transcribed without the knowledge of Finnen, when they left it to the award of Diarmaid, who pro nounced the celebrated decision, To every cow belongs its calf" etc.
It is to be observed that the Annals both of Tighernach and Ulster attribute the success of the Northerns to St. Columba's intercession : per orationem Cohdm-cille dicentis, etc., while the Four Masters, with their usual caution, merely state that Colam cille do raidh, " Colum-cille said," adding, from Tigher nach, the verses which were supposed to have produced so marvellous a result.
Diarmait, who was now on the throne, was the head of the Southern branch of the Hy-Neill race ; and the chiefs of the two main sections of the Northern branch, namely, the Cinel Eoghain and Cinel Conaill, had already distinguished them selves by military enterprise, for in 543 the very same indi viduals won the battle of Sligo, and slew Eoghan Beul, king of Connaught; and again, in 549, the Cinel-Eoghain brothers slew Ailill Inbanna, the succeeding king of Connaught, at the battle of Cuil-Conaire in Carra, in the county of Mayo. They now espoused the cause of the Connacian chief, and it may be that some affront offered to their kinsman Columba, seconded by his instigation, produced the battle of Cul-Dreimhne, which, like that of Sligo, was fought on Connacian ground, but near the boundary between it and Ulster. The relation of the parties who engaged in this strife will be most readily under stood from the following genealogical view : —
EOCHAIDH MUIGHMEADHOIN
NIALL NAOIGHIALLACH
BR DUACH EOGHAI* .IMIDH MUIRI
AN lALLACB
SRIABH :DHACH
GUS
RMCHARN 554.
CONALL CRIMTHANN FERGUS CERRBHAL
EOG
ob. *•
MUIRE: mar. tc
HAN MUIRC Mac
assa?
:AN DOMHJ 587. ob. 5(
INK
622.
HAN
165.
5HACH
Erca.
3RTACH SEl
, Erca s. 534.
CONALL GULBAN slain 464.
FERGUS or DUACH
DlARMAIT iLLAl
assass. 565.
COLMAN BEG LIBI slain 587. slain
CUMINE CUM
slain
)NA NlNl
flor
riDH FEDHI 563.
ALL FERGUS AINMIRE BAEDAN COLUMBA FER 56. slain 569. slain 586.
'AEDH EOCHAIDH Ti slain 598. ob.
AEDH slain 577.
CURNA.N slain a boy, 560.
The promoter of this sanguinary contest became now, according to O'Donnell's authorities, the subject of ecclesiastical censure :
" Post hsec in Synodo sanctorum Hiberniae gravis querela contra Sanctum Columbam, tanquam authorem tarn multi sanguinis effusi, instituta est. Unde communi decreto censuerunt ipsum debere tot animas, a gentilitate conversas, Christo lucrari, quot in isto praelio interierunt."1
This sentence was the result, it is stated, of a decision, " ut factum suum temeritatis speciem praferens, solemni pcenitentia ad S. Molassii arbitrium expiaret." This arbitrator was St. Molash of Daimh-inis (now Devenish), whose sentence is thus given in his Life :
" Sanctus vero Columba visitavit S. Lasrianum confessorem suum post bellum de Culdremne, petens ab eo salubre consilium ; quo scilicet modo post necem multorum occisorum, benevolentiam Dei ac remissionem peccatorum obtinere mereretur. Beatus igitur Lasrianus divinarum scripturarum scrutator, imperavit ut tot animas a poenis liberaret, quot ammarum causa perditionis extiterat ; et cum hoc ei praecepit, ut perpetuo moraretur extra Hiberniam in exilio." — c. 28.2
1 Colgan, Acta SS., p. fi45. 2 Colgan, Tr. Th., p. 410 a.
The remorse of St. Columba for the expenditure of human life in the battle is thus expressed in the Life of St. Abban : —
"Alio quoque tempore S. Columba cum pluribus discipulis venit ad sanctum Patrem : qui, cum devotione magna ab eo susciperetur, dixit ei ; Ideo nunc ad te venimus, ut ores pro animabus illorum, qui occisi fuerunt in bello commisso, nuper nobis suadentibus causa Ecclesise. Scimus enim quod per tuam intercessionem Dei misericordiam consequentur. Rogamus etiam, quod ab Angelo, qui tecum quotidie loquitur, quseras super hoc Dei voluntatem. Cumque sanctus senior instantius ab eis pulsaretur, respondit ; propitius sit eis Deus, et ego libenter pro eis orabo. Accessit igitur vir sanctus ad secretum locum, in quo consueverat Deum orare, et Angelum Dei videre, et audire. Ubi cum se toto conamine in oratione dedisset, S. Columba volens sanctum Patrem orantem videre, et audire quid Angelus ei loqueretur, post eum abiit, callide observando. Cum igitur S. Abbanus sic orasset, ecce Angelus Domini dicit ei ; Sufficit Abbane quod fecisti, quia Deus tibi petitionem tuam donavit. Qui respondit ; tantum nunc petivi a Domino requiem animabus illis, quarum curam habet S. Columba. Et Angelus ait ; Requiem habebunt."1
But Columba himself, according to O'Donnell, declared his determination to become a voluntary exile, accusing himself for the disastrous consequences not only of Culdremhne, but also of two other battles which had been caused by his means. He is represented as saying to his kinsmen, —
" Mihi, juxta quod ab Angelo prsemonitus sum, ex Hibernia migrandum est, et dum vixero exulandum, quod mei causa plurimi per vos extincti sint, turn in hoc ultimo prselio ; turn etiam in prseliis de Cuilfedha et Cuilrathain olim initis : in quorum altero Colmanum Magnum filium Diermitii, cujus films Cumineus Boetanum filium Ninnedii, Hibernise Regem, mea protectione innixum in loco qui Leim-aneich dicitur, interemerat ; fudistis : in altero Fiacnium filium Boadani, suosque confcederatos nepotes Roderici." 2
Of the other battles here spoken of, mention has been already made in the extract from Keating ; but the fullest notice is that contained in the argument of the hymn beginning Altus Prosator, which is attributed to St. Columba, and which is said to have been composed as a religious exercise after his trans-
1 Colgan, Acta S3., p. 624. » Colgan, Tr. Th., p. 409 b.
xlvi INTliODUCTIOX.
" * Causa quare voluit Deum laudare/ i.e. to beseech forgiveness for the three battles which he had caused in Erin, viz., the battle of Cul-Eathain, between him and Comgall, contending for a church, viz., Eoss-Torathair ; and the battle of Bealachfheda of the weir of Clonard ; and the battle of Cul-Dremhne in Connacht : and it was against Diarmait mac Cerball he fought them both."
As the battle of Cul-Dremhne arose in part from a religious dispute with St. Finnian, so that of Cul-Eathain or Coleraine is described as the result of a quarrel with St. Comgall of Bangor. The modem name of Eos-Torathair is not known, but the place was somewhere near Coleraine ; and it is very possible that some collision did take place between the saints about jurisdic tion, as St. Comgall's abbey church of Camus was situate close to Coleraine, and St. Columba is recorded to have been occa sionally in that neighbourhood. Besides, the territory west of Coleraine was the debateable ground between the Dal-Araidhe, St. Comgall's kinsmen, and the Hy-Neill of St. Columba's tribe. Fiachna, son of Baedan, with his men of the Clanna- Eudhraighe, are described as the belligerents on the Dalaradian side. Now this Fiachna was lord of Dalaradia, and is spoken of in the Life of Comgall as residing at Eath-mor in Moylinny, and a devoted friend of the Saint. He was an enterprising chief, and in 573 won the battle of Tola in the King's County. In 589 he became king of Uladh ; and in 594 won the battle of Edan-mor from the Ciannachta of Meath. In 597 he won the battle of Sliabh Cua in Waterford ; and in 602 that of Cuil-caol in Down. In 623 he took Eath-Guala in Uladh; and fell at the battle of Leth-Midhin in 626. Now, supposing that he had taken part in the battle of Cul-rathain before St. Columba's de parture, that is, the year 563, a period of 63 [years] would have intervened between that and his last achievement, a suspicious interval in a warrior's life. That the battle of Cul-rathain, though not recorded in the Annals, was fought, — that he was a leader therein, — and that it took place in consequence of the jealousies of the Dalaradians and the Hy Neill, quickened into action by the influence of their respective arch-ecclesiastics, is extremely probable : only it was a military event which fol lowed, not preceded, St. Columba's settlement in Hy.
The third battle, that of Cul-fedha or Bealach-fedha, was fought in 587, and is thus recorded by Tighernach : —
" Battle of Bealach Dathi, in quo cecidit Colman Beg, son of Diarmaid, ut alii dicunt, csesis v. millibus per prophetiam of Colam cille. Aedh, son of Ainmire, was victor. Unde dictum est :
Broken was, as has been told, For Colum's sake in the famous battle, The bestower of jewels by liberal distribution, By the Conallians and Eugenians."
This battle, as well as that of Cul-Dremhne, was between the Northern and Southern branches of the Hy Neill. It was fought by Aedh, son of Ainmire, to avenge the death of Baedan,
; son of Mnnidh, monarch of Ireland, who had been slain by Cumine, son of Colman Beg, and his second cousin Cumine, son of Libran, at Leim-in-eich, under the instigation of Colman Beg. How far St. Columba participated in this transaction is not recorded, but that he was deeply interested in it appears evident
| from the words of Tighernach, a sentiment which the Four Masters studiously suppress. The relation which existed
| between the leaders in this battle, and between them and St.
; Columba, will be seen at a glance in the genealogical table above.
Thus we find St. Columba directly or indirectly concerned in three battles, the earliest of which occurred the year but one before his retirement to Britain, and the others at later periods, one of them after he had been twenty-four years in the abbacy of Hy. The first his biographers and panegyrists acknowledge to have been the grand error of his life, for which he paid the penalty of pilgrimage ; but to save his character after he became the apostle of the Northern Picts, and the religious exemplar of the Albanian Scots, the device is resorted to of antedating the other occurrences in which the failing of his nature betrayed itself ; and whereas his participation in these evils could not be denied, it was thrust back into the irresponsible part of his life, rather than allow it to be numbered among the acts of his maturity. That Columba, closely allied to the principals in these deeds of strife, and within one step himself of the object they were contending for, should look on with indifference, is not to be expected, — especially in an age of revolution, and among a people whose constitution and national construction rendered civil faction almost inseparable from their existence. It was not until 804, that the monastic communities of Ireland were formally exempted from military service; and the en deavours of Fothadh the Canonist, in procuring this enactment from Aedh Oirdnidhe, the monarch of Ireland, form the subject of panegyric and special mention in the Annals. That, even among themselves, the members of powerful communities were not insensible to the spirit of faction, appears from numerous entries in the ancient Annals. Of these, two — of which one relates to a Columbian house — may here be adduced as exam ples : A.D. 673, " A battle was fought at Argamoyn between the fraternities of Clonmacnois and Durrow, where Dermod Duff, son of Donnell, was killed, and Diglac, son of Dubliss, with 200 men of the fraternity of Durrow. Bresal, son of Murchadh, with the fraternity of Clonmacnois, was victor." A.D. 816, "A battle was fought by Cathal, son of Dunlang, and the fraternity of Tigh-Munna [Taghmon] against the fraternity of Ferns, in which 400 were slain. Maelduin, son of Cennfaeladh, abbot of Kaphoe, of the fraternity of Colum-cille, was slain. The fra ternity of Colum-cille went to Tara to curse [king] Aedh." The same principle which caused St. Columba's panegyrists to repre sent his battles as delinquencies of his youth, operated with the Four Masters, when compiling their comprehensive Annals from earlier authorities, in dealing with these oft-recurring monastic encounters, and as there was no opening for a transfer of the blame, they suppressed the mention of them.
In the second Preface St. Columba is styled " monasteriorum SAINT pater et fundator," in reference to the numerous churches which CHURCHES' were founded, either by his disciples or by himself directly. Again, in ii. 47 (p. 191), mention is made of his "monasteriaintra utrorumque populorum [sc. Pictorum et Scotorum Britannise] terminos fundata." In the old Irish Life the number of his churches is stated as very great, Tri ced do roraind cen mannair, "three hundred he marked out, without defect;" an amount which, even after the most liberal allowances for poetry, round numbers, and panegyric, will leave a very considerable residuum. <* The following is a catalogue of Irish churches, either which were founded; by him, or in which his memory was specially venerated ; but it by no means pretends to be a complete enumeration : —
1 . DURROW. — Anciently Eos grencha. It is called in Adamnan by its Irish name Dair-mag, but more frequently by a Latin equivalent, Roboreti Campus, Rdboris Campus, Roboreus Campus. For the history of its foundation, see Orig. Ed., p. 23, Note b. It was among the earliest and most important, but not the most en during, of St. Columba's foundations in Ireland. The old Irish Life calls it redes, " abbey church," and mentions the name of Colman Mor, the second son of King Diarmait, in connexion with it. A sculptured cross, called St. Columkille's Cross, stands in the churchyard ; and near it is St. Columkille's Well. The most interesting relique of the abbey is the beautiful Evangeliarium, known as the Book of Durrow, a manuscript approaching, if not reaching, to the Columbian age, and now preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. See p. xciii. infra. An ancient Irish poem remains, professing to have been composed by St. Columba on the occasion of his departure from Dearmagh for the last time. In reference to the early administra tion of which, we find in it the following verses : —
INTRODUCTION.
" Beloved the excellent seven,
Whom Christ has chosen to his kingdom To whom I leave, for their purity, The constant care of this my church.
Three of whom are here at this side, Cormac son of Dim a, and ^Engus, And Collan of pure heart, Who has joined himself to them.
Libren, Senan, comely Conrach,
The son of Ua Chein, and his brother, Are the four, besides the others, Who shall arrive at this place.
They are the seven pillars,
And they are the seven chiefs, Whom God has surely commanded To dwell in the same abode."
2. DERRY. — Formerly Daire-Calgaich, as in Adamnan, who also gives the Latin interpretation, Roboretum Calgachi. For an account of the foundation, see Orig. Ed., p. 160, Note r. The original church was called the Dubh-regles, " Black-church," to which there is reference in the ancient lines cited by Tighernach : —
" Three years, without light, was Colum in his Black Church : He passed to angels from his body, After seven years [and] seventy."
This church, like the Sabhall at Saul and Armagh, is recorded to have stood north and south ; and the remains of it, which existed in 1520, were referred to by O'Donnell in proof of the fact. In the fourteenth century it was called the Cella Nigra, de Deria. Its Eound Tower was standing in the seventeenth century, but the only local record of its existence now remain ing is the name of the lane which leads to its site, the Long Steeple. It is deserving of notice that Fiachadh, son of Ciaran, son of Ainmire, son of Sedna, whose death is recorded by Tighernach at 620, is described by the annalist as alius fundatorum Daire Calgaidi. He was nephew of Aedh, son of Ainmire, the reputed founder. This entry, and the authorities cited (in the Orig.Ed.) p. 1 60, are sufficient to vindicate O'Donnell's statements concerning the donation of Deny from the objections urged in the Ordnance Memoir of Templemore. This admirable work, however, will always, and deservedly, be cited as the highest authority on the history of Derry, and will couple with the name of that ancient city, and the Ordnance Survey, as the quickening cause, the revival in Ireland of genuine antiquarian research.
3. KELLS. — The Irish name is Cenannus, which signifies "Head-abode," and gives the title of Headfort in the Irish, and Kenlis in the British Peerage, to the family of Taylor, whose seat is beside the town of Kells. Kenlis is the transition form of the name. The site of the monastery was anciently known as Dun-chuile-sibrinne, and the surrounding territory was called Magh-Seirigh. It is situate in the north-west of the county of Meath, and gives name to a parish. The old Irish. Life, followed by O'Donnell, states that in St. Columba's time it was the royal dun or seat of Diarmait Mac Cerbhaill, and adds, " Colum-cille then marked out the city in extent as it now is, and blessed it all, and said that it would become the most illus trious possession he should have in the land, although it would not be there his resurrection should be." O'Donnell observes that Diarmait granted it to the saint in amends for injuries which he had done to him, and that his son Aedh Slane was a consenting party. If a church was founded here by St. Columba it must have been an inconsiderable one, for there is no mention of the place in the Annals as a religious seat until 804, when, on account of the dangers and sufferings to which the com munity of Hy were exposed, measures were taken for the pro vision of an asylum in Ireland ; and, as the Annals of Ulster state, Tabhairt Ceanannsa cen chath do CJwluim cliille ceolacli hoc anno, " Kells was given, without battle, to Columkille the harmonious, in this year." In furtherance of which there was commenced, in 807, the Construct™ nove civitatis Columbe cille
1NTKODUCTION.
hi [in] Ceninnus; and in 814, Ceallach alias lae, finita con\ structione templi Cenindsa, reliquit principatum, et Diarmiciw alumpnus Daigri pro eo ordinatus est. From this time forward it became the chief seat of the Columbian monks. There art; several indications of the ancient importance of the place stil remaining, such as the fine Eound Tower, about ninety feel high, which stands in the churchyard; the curious oratory! called "St. Columkille's House;" the ancient cross in the! churchyard, having on the plinth the inscription, Crux Patricia et Columle ; a second cross, now standing near the market-! place ; and a third, once the finest, now lying in a mutilated; condition in the churchyard. The shafts of all these crosses! were covered with historical representations from Scripture.! Trinity College, Dublin, possesses its great literary monument,; commonly known as the "Book of Kells." It is an Evan-, geliarium somewhat resembling the Book of Burrow, but far| surpassing it in the brilliancy and elaborateness of its execu tion. (See p. xciv.) In the tenth and following centuries the I families of Ua h Uchtain and Ua Clucain furnished, successively, a large proportion of the chief officers of this church, , the occupation of its lands having probably become hereditary in their clans.
4. TOEY.— Formerly Torach, that is, " Towery," from the torrs or pinnacles of rock by which the island is characterized. Sometimes it is called Tor-mis, the name by which, strange to say, the Irish designate St. Martin's Church of Tours. It is situate off the north coast of Donegal, in the barony of Kilmacrenan and diocese of Kaphoe, oppo ite the maritime tract known as the Tuatha, or " territories," of Mac Swyne. There are many traces of antiquity here, but the most remarkable is the Eound Tower, fifty-one feet high, which was the nucleus of an old monastic establishment. In 617, according to Tighernach, " Torach was laid waste [occisio Tvrchae, An. Ult.], when its primitive church was probably destroyed; for in 621 the same annalist records, Hoc tempore constructa est ecclesia Toraidhe, which the Four Masters (An. 616) interpret, "The church of Torach was covered in, having been destroyed some time before." St. Ernan, son of Colman, fifth in descent from Eoghan, son of Niall, was its first abbot. His day is Aug. 17. A St. Damongoch, of the same race, is also mentioned in the Naemhseanchus as a pilgrim of Torach. The herenachs of this church were, in after times, of the family of O'Eobhartaich, or O'Koarty.
5. DRUMCLIFF. — Formerly Druim cliabh, situated a little to the north of Sligo, in the barony of Carbury, and diocese of Elphin. A portion of its Eound Tower remains in proof of its ancient consequence. The old Irish Life, followed by O'Donnell, mentions St. Mothoria as its first abbot under the founder. This name occurs in the Calendar at the 9th of June. The herenachy of the church became limited in the eleventh century to the family of O'Beollain, commonly called O'Boland.
6. SWORDS. — Known by the natives as Sord, or, with the founder's name, Sord-Choluim-chtik. It is situated in the diocese and county of Dublin, about seven miles north of the metro polis, in the territory of which mention has been made by Adamnan as Ard-Ceannachte. St. Finan Lobhar, of the race of Tadhg, son of Cian, who gave name to the territory, is said to have been placed over the church by St. Columba. He is commemorated at Mar. 1 6. The foundation of this church is ascribed by the old Irish Life, and O'Donnell its copyist, to our saint, whose memory is vividly preserved in the parish. The Eound Tower, surmounted by a cross, marks the site of the ancient church. A square tower, which belonged to the old parish church, stands close to the Eound Tower, between it and the modern church, with which it is unconnected.
7. EAPHOE. — In Irish Bath-loth. St. Adamnan or Eunan is the reputed patron, but the foundation of the church is ascribed to St. Columba by an ancient poem, and the old Irish Life, with O'Donnell, and others. It is situate in the county of Donegal, and gives name to the barony and diocese. It had, in the early part of the seventeenth century, a Eound Tower, which Sir James Ware represents as " built on a hill, in which the bishops of Eaphoe formerly kept their studies," but it had been demolished before his time. It is deserving of mention that, in jj 1635, King Charles i. wrote to John Lesley, Bishop of Eaphoe, , in reference to his predecessor, Andrew Knox, stating that : " Andro late bischop of Eapho did without just caus or any ! warrant from our late royall father or ws, carle with him two of the principal bells that wer in Icolmkill and place them in i some of the churches of Eapho ; " and requiring him to deliver I unto the present "bischop of the Yles" these two bells for the i use of said Cathedral Church.
8. KILMORE. — The Cella Magna Deatlirib of Adamnan, and the Cill-mor dithrib of the Irish. See Orig. Ed., p. 9 9, Note g. The Calendars commemorate Fedhliinidh, in connexion with this church, at Aug. 9 ; and at the same day the " Four sons of Dioman of Cill-mor-dithrubh." Fedhlimidh, according to jEngus, was son of Deidiu, daughter of Trena, son of Dubthaigh Ui Lugair, and brother of Dega Mac Cairill of Iniskeen.
9. LAMB AY. — Anciently Rechra, and called Redirect, insula by Adamnan. See Orig. Ed., p. 164, Note b. It has belonged to Christ Church, Dublin, from a very remote period. In the earliest grant, circ. 1038, it is called Reclien; and Portrane, the parish to which it is attached, is called Portrahern, a corruption of Port-Eechrainn. In 1204 the same places appear under the names Lambay and Portrachelyn. There is a poem on Eechra ascribed to St. Columba, in the Laud MS. ; and in another composition of the same collection the Saint is described as visiting his churches from Sliabh Fuaid to Leinster, and from Ath-Feine [in Westmeath] to Eachra.
10. MOONE. — Formerly Maein, and Maein Choluim-chille. It is situate in the county and diocese of Kildare, in the barony of Kilkea and Moone. The foundation of the church is ascribed in the old Irish Life to St. Columba, and his memory has always been held in great veneration in the parish. An ancient sculptured cross stands in the churchyard, called St. ColumJcilles Cross. The name occurs in the Four Masters at 1014 and 1040 only.
11. CLONMORE. — Cluain-mor Fer Arda, " Cluain-mor of Fer-arda" is the old name. The old Irish Life, followed by O'Donnell, states that St. Columba, having founded the church, committed it to Oissein, son of Ceallach, whose day in the Calendar is Jan. 1. Clonmore is a parish in the diocese of Armagh, situate in the county of Louth, and barony of Ferrard. The church is styled "Ecclesia S. Columbse de Clonmore" in the diocesan registries of the fifteenth century. There are the remains of an old church ; and a patron in honour of St. Columkille was held on the 9th of June.
12. KILMACRENAN. — Cill-mac-Nenain of records. See Orig. Ed., p. 191, Note c. In the Laud MS. of Columkille's poems is one in which the Saint is represented as expressing his love for Kilmicnenain and Gartan. In three other poems of the same collection it is called by its original name Doire-Eithne ; and one of them (p. 62) mentions a tribute which was payable by the abbot of Hy to Doire Eithne in Ireland. The O'Firghils, or O'Freels, who were the herenachs of this church, were descended from Firghil, great-grandson of Aedh, who was son of Eoghan, St. Columkill's brother.
13. GARTAN. — The parish in which St. Columba was born. The family of O'lSTahan were the hereditary herenachs and corbes who had also the privilege of carrying " Collumkillies read stoane." This was the Clock Ruadh mentioned by O'Don nell. Gartan is a wild parish in the county of Donegal, and diocese of Kaphoe, having the ruins of a small church, inside which is the old tomb of an O'Donnell, and in the adjoining churchyard the traces of an earlier structure.
14. GLENCOLUMKILL. — Formerly Seangleann, or Gleann Gairge, and called by these names in the poems attributed to St. Co lumba. It is a wild, desolate parish in the barony of Banagh, at the south-west of the county of Donegal. See Orig. Ed., p. 206, Note e. The herenachy was in the family of Mac Eneilis.
15. TEMPLEDOUGLAS. — Formerly Tulachdulh-glaisse, "Hill of j the Dark Stream." See Orig. Ed., p. 1 92, Note c. There are the \ remains of an old church ; and the cemetery is in two portions j in one of which was an ancient enclosure of stones like a roofless chapel, which was commonly called Ced-mitheachd ColumJcille, j that is, " Primum Columbse deambulacrum," from the tradition i that it was the first ground which St. Columba paced after he ! had learned to walk.
16. ASSYLYN. — Eos Ua Floinn, a spot on the river Boyle, i about a mile west of the town. It was anciently called Eas mic nEirc, from Dachonna, or Mochonna, son of Earc, who is said to have been placed over it by St. Columba. His day is March 8. The old Irish Life, as well as the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, ascribes the foundation to St. Columba. Adamnan twice alludes to St. Columba's stay in this neighbourhood. See Orig. Ed., pp. 79, 129.
17. SKREEN. — Serin Cholaim-chille, so called from its being the repository of a shrine with some of St. Columba's relics. The old church stands on a hill, in the county of Meath, which was formerly called, according to the Dinnseanchus, Achaill, and gives name to a rural deanery in the diocese of Meath. It is mentioned by Tighernach at 976, and by the Four Masters at 1027, 1037, 1058, 1127, 1152. The Ordnance Survey marks St. Columkille's Well on the N.w. of the church.
18. BALLYNASCREEN. — Called Serin Colaim cille by the Four Masters at 1203. The old church, situate in a picturesque valley on the Moyola Water, occupies the site of an earlier building. The parish is called Baile na Scrine, " Town of the Shrine," and forms the western portion of the barony of Loughinsholin, in the modern county of Londonderry ; but until the seventeenth century it was considered as situate in Gleann- Concadhan in Tirone. See the Eev. Kobert King's Old Church of Ballynascreen, p. 103; Eeeves' Cotton's Visitation, p. 82.
1 9. SCREEN. — Serin i nArda, Scrinium de Ardo. An ancient chapel in the townland of Craig, parish of Tamlaghtard or
Magilligan, in the diocese and county of Derry. — Eeeves' Colton's Visitation, p. 78. For an account of the ancient shrine preserved here, see O'Donnell.
20. DRUMCOLUMB. — Druim Choluim cille, Dor sum Columbcecille, anciently Druim-namac. O'Donnell preserves the tradi tion that a church was founded here by St. Columba, who left his disciple Finbarr in charge of it, having given him a bell called Glassan, and a cross. It is now a parish church of the diocese of Elphin, in the barony of Tirerrill, county of Sligo.
21. COLUMBKILLE. — This is the name of a parish in the barony of Granard, on the N.E. of the county of Longford. Here, in Lough Gowna, is an island of fourteen and a half acres, called Inchmore, formerly known as Inir-mor Locha Gamlina. On this island is an ecclesiastical ruin called Teampull Choluim-cille, which was formerly the parish church. Eman mac Findbairr was prior of it in 1415.
22. EMLAGHFAD. — Imleach fada, " the long marsh." Here, according to O'Donnell, St. Columba founded a church on the west side of a hill called Tulach-segra [now Tully in Toomour] in the district of Corann, appointing Enna, son of Nuadhan, its first minister. It is now a parish church in the diocese of Achonry, and county of Sligo.
23. GLENCOLUMBKILLE. — Gleann Choluim cille, Vallis Columbce cille. The two townlands of this name, North and South, are situate on the east side of the parish of Carran, in the diocese of Kilfenora, and in the barony of Burren, on the N.E. side of the county of Clare. The Ordnance Map marks the Graveyard, and St. ColumbkiWs Church in ruins.
24. KILCOLUMB. — A parish in the S.E. of the county of Kilkenny, barony of Ida, on the river Barrow. The Ordnance Map marks Kilcolumb Church in ruins, and a well, Tobernagolumb.
25. KNOCK. — Formerly called Knockcollumkill, and marked Collumkill on Speed's map of Ulster. Father Mac Cana, in the early part of the seventeenth century, thus described it : " Inter
d
Commor [Cumber] et sestuarium Loch-Laodh [see p. 291, infra] quod Karrick-fergusium et Belfastium oppida alluit, est ecclesia D. Columbae sacra, quam egre^iis agris ac multis privilegiia auxit Niallus O'Niellus [cir. 1512] Tren-Congallise [Dalaradise] Princeps." — Ulster Journ. of Archceol, vol. ii. p. 56. The parish is now united to Breda, and forms the union of Knock-Breda in the diocese of Down. The ruins of the church, situate near a fine earthen fort, occupy a commanding position on the Castlereagh Hills, about three miles S.E. of Belfast. See Reeves' Eccles. Antiq., p. 12.
26. TERMON-MAGUIRK. — Formerly Tearmonn Cuiminigh, and known in the thirteenth and following centuries as Termonconyn, or Termon-conny. It may derive its name from Cuimne, sister of St. Columba. About half a mile from the old church is a nearly disused burying-ground called Eellig-na-man \Eeileg na mbeann], or " the Women's Cemetery ;" and the local tradi tion is, that St. Columkill directed a woman of bad character to be buried at a spot where the sound of a bell, rung in front of the funeral, would cease to be heard at his church ; and that he left an injunction that the cemetery should never be entered by a living woman or a dead man. Devout women in old times used to request burial here, under the idea that none interred here would be damned ; but this impression has nearly disap peared. Outside the old parish cemetery of Termon there are two others, called Bdig-na-paisde, " Children's Cemetery," and Relig-na-fir-gunta, " Cemetery of the Slain." Colgan's version of O'Donnell incorrectly calls the church Tearmonn Cetmainich. The parish derives its present name from the family of Mac Guirk, who were formerly herenachs, under the Primate, of the ecclesiastical lands in the parish. See Beeves' Colton, p. 3. It is situate in the barony of Omagh East, county of Tyrone, and diocese of Armagh.
27. CLOGHMORE. — A townland in the parish of Killannin, diocese of Tuam, situate in the county of Galway, and barony of Moycullen. In Roderick O'Flaherty's time there was an altar of St. Columbkill near a brook in this townland, and there is still an old churchyard bearing his name.
28. COLUMBKILLE. — Called Capella de Colmekyll in the ancient Taxation of Ossory. The Ordnance Survey marks St. Columbkttle's Church in ruins, and St. Columbkille's Well. It is a parish of the diocese of Ossory, situated in the barony of Gowran, near the centre of the county of Kilkenny.
29. ARDCOLUM. — A parish of the diocese of Ferns, situate in the barony of Shelmalier, on the east side of the county of Wexford. The Ordnance Survey marks St. Columb's Church in ruins, Graveyard, and St. Columb's Well.
30. ARMAGH. — Recks Cholaim cille, " Church of Columcille," in Armagh, is mentioned by the Annals of Ulster, An. 1010, and the Four Mast., An. 1152. Concerning the site of this church, see Stuart's Armagh, p. 96.
31. MORNINGTON. — Formerly Villa Maris, or Mariner -stown, and a distinct parish. It now forms a portion of the union of Colpe, in the county and diocese of Meath. — " Ecclesia S. Columbse."
32. DESERTEGNY. — A parish of Deny, situate in Inishowen, county of Donegal. Colgan states that St. Columba was patron. See Eeeves' Colton, p. 67.
33. CLONMANY. — A parish of the diocese of Derry, in the barony of Inishowen, county of Donegal. St. Columba was patron, according to Colgan. See Eeeves' Colton, p. 67.
34. DESERTOGHILL. — A parish in the diocese of Derry, and barony of Coleraine, in the county of Londonderry. St. Columba was patron. See Eeeves' Colton, p. 80.
35. BALLYMAGROARTY. — This, which is a townland in the parish of Drumhome, of the diocese of Eaphoe, situate in the county of Donegal, barony of Tirhugh, is divided into two por tions, called Irish and Scotch. In the former are the- remains of an old chapel which formerly bore the name of St. Columba. The name of the townland is derived from the family of Mac Eobhartaigh, pronounced Mac Eoarty, and written baile-mecc-
Rabhartaich, by Colgan, who adds, "ubi illud celebre reliquiarium S. Columbae quod Cathach appellatur." This chapel is situate near Bath-Cunga (Orig. Ed., p. 38), the right of which was in con troversy between the Columbian monks and those of Ardstraw, so early as the eighth century, as appears from the following passage of Tirechan concerning St. Assicus : — " Et sunt ossa ejus in campo Sered hi Eaith-Chungi, monachus Patricii, sed contenderunt eum familia Columbae-cille et familia Airddsratha."
36. BALLYMAGRORTY. — A townland in the parish of Templemore, or Derry. Colgan says of it : " Olim monasterium (cujus ruinse vix nunc extant) dicecesis Dorensis in praedicta regione de Inis-Eoguin."
37. ESKAHEEN. — In the parish of Muff, to the N.N.E. of the city of Derry. See Orig. Ed., p. 247, Note p. The ruins of the, old church stand near the Eoman Catholic chapel.
The expression cujus monasteria, intra utrorumque populorum terminos (p. 191), as applied to St. Columba, is not limited to the churches which were founded by him in person, but includes all those which, down to the writer's time, were established by Columbian monks, or professed subjection to the mother church of Hy. Hence it is likely that many monasteries, which in the seventh and eighth centuries might be classed under the above title, ceased in after times to bear any trace of their original relation, and became distinguished only by the names of the immediate founders, under whose patronage they were built. St. Dochonna's church, for instance, was probably at first subject to Hy, though afterwards indepen dent, when known as St. Machar's of Aberdeen. The following catalogue of Columbian foundations in Scotland admits of con siderable enlargement, but it is sufficient to show how widely the veneration of St. Columba was extended in his adopted country : —
AMONG THE SCOTS.
1. SOROBY. — In the island of Tiree. The modern name is of Scandinavian origin, but there can be little doubt that it repre-
ISTKODUCTION. Ixi
sents the Campus Lunge so frequently mentioned by Adamnan. See Notes on B. i. c. 24. It will be seen from the App. I. that the names of several Irish saints are associated with places in the island, although the chief founder has no longer any local commemoration therein.
2. ELACHNAVE. — One of the Garveloch group of islands. A modern writer says : " The Garvelloch, or Holy Islands, are remarkable for having been once the residence of the monks of lona." And a visitor of more recent date observes : " A waterspring at the head of a narrow creek in the adjacent shore is called St. Columba's Well," adding, what seems an imported tradition, that a little pile on the summit of a neighbouring height was said to be " the tomb of ^Ethnea, mother of the illus trious saint." The adjacent island is called Culbrandon, i.e., Secessus Brendani.
3. LOCH COLUMKILLE. — On the N.-w. of the parish of Kilmuir, in Skye. See notes on B. I. c. 27, and B. II. c. 27, for the de scription of its monastic remains. The particulars of its drain ing are to be found in the New Statistical Account, vol. xiv. pt. 1, pp. 246, 267, 279. It may be a question whether the island of Skye belonged to the Picts or to the Scots in Columba's time : the anecdote told in i. 33 seems in favour of the former. Tighernach, at 668 (An. Ult. 667), records the Navigatio filiorum Gartnaith ad Hiberniam cum plebe Scith; and at 670 (An. Ult. 669), Fenit Gens Gartnait de Hibernia ; where Scith probably denotes Skye. In this case the filii Gartnait may have been the family of Gartnait, the youngest son of King ^Edan, who had occupied the island : but this is not likely, as the Cinel Gabhrain, to which they belonged, were the most southern settlers of the Scotic colony. The filii Gartnait were rather the sons of Gartnait mac Uuid, the Pictish king in 636, or of his successor, Gartnait mac Domhnall, who died in 663. In this case the change of settlement, in 668, may have been caused by Scotic occupation. However, when Adamnan wrote, the mountain of the Dorsum Britannia being considered the boundary line, the islands on the west would necessarily fall to the Scots. Hence the legend of St. Comgan in the Aberdeen Breviary states that the adjacent parish on the mainland of Lochelch [now Lochalsh] was in Erchadia loriali, or North Argyle.
4. FLADDA-CHUAIN. — Of this island, which lies N.w. of the extreme north point of Skye, Martin writes : —
" Fladda-Chuan (i.e.) Fladda of the Ocean, lies about two Leagues distant from the West-side of Hunish-point, it is two Miles in Com pass, the Ground is boggy, and but indifferent for Corn or Grass. There is a Chappel in the Isle dedicated to St. Columbus ; it has an Altar in the East-end, and there is a blue Stone of a round Form on it, which is always moist ; It is an ordinary Custom, when any of the Fishermen are detained in the Isle, by contrary Winds, to wash the blue Stone with water all round, expecting thereby to procure a favourable Wind, which the Credulous Tenant living in the Isle says never fails, especially if a Stranger wash the Stone ; The Stone is likewise applied to the sides of People troubled with Stitches, and they say it is effectual for that purpose. And so great is the regard they have for this Stone, that they swear de cisive Oaths on it. The Monk 0 Gorgon is buried near to this Chappell, and there is a Stone five foot high at each end of his Grave."
This story of the Uue stone is not worse than that of the white stone at ii. 34. Modern description represents this small island as having three burial-places, one of which is called Cladk Mhanaich, " Monks' tomb."
5. TRODDA. — Off Aird Point, south-east of the preceding. Martin says : " The Isle Troda lies within half a League of the Northermost point of Skie, called Hunish, it is two Miles in Circumference, fruitful in Corn, and Grass, and had a Chappel dedicated to St. Columbm."
6. SNIZORT.— In SKYE. Formerly Kilcolmkill, or St. Colme's Kirk in Snesford. See Notes on Book I. c. 27, and B. II. c. 27. The New Statistical Account describes the remains of the old church as " the ruins of a large cathedral."
7. EILEAN COLUIMCTLLE.— An island in the southern recess of
IM'KODUCTION. Ixiii
Portree Bay, on the east of Skye. See Notes on B. i. c. 27, and B. II. c. 27. Portree Bay was anciently Loch Coluimcille ; and the old name of the parish was Cill-tarraglan.
8. GAKIEN. — In the parish of Stornoway, formerly Ness, on the north shore of Broad Bay, at the N.E. side of Lewis, there was a chapel called St. Colm's Church.
9. EY. — The peninsula of Ui, on the N.E. side of Lewis, gave name to a parish. The church, called St. Collums in Ui, stood on the isthmus, a little east of Stornoway. The cemetery, con taining the ruins which are described as " strong walls now standing," is still to be seen. It was the original burialplace of the clan Mac Leod.
10. ST. COLM'S ISLE. — Situate in Loch Erisort, in the parish of Lochs, on the east side of Lewis. Here stood St. Columba's Church, the cemetery of which is still the parish burying-grouiid. North of this was the bay called Loch Colmkille.
11. BEENERA. — An island belonging to the parish of Harris, but lying close to the North Uist. It had two ancient chapels, one of which was named after St. Columba.
12. KILCHOLMKILL. — In the old parish of Sand, on the north side of North Uist, at a place called Clachan, stood this ancient church. The New Statistical Account mentions that there are several burial-grounds in the parish,but it does not specify this.
13. KILCHOLAMBKILLE. — In Benbecula, formerly known as the Church of St. Columba in Beandmoyll. It stood on the north coast of the island. At Ballvannich, or Ballinamanniche, near the N.w. coast, is a small island in a lake, containing ecclesi astical remains. The lands here are supposed to have belonged to the abbot of Hy. Indeed the whole island, which abounds with vestiges of old ecclesiastical establishments, appears to have had of old a very intimate connexion with Hy.
14. HOWMORE.— In South Uist. Martin states that there was a church here bearing our Saint's name, and adds : " A Stone set up near a Mile to the S. of Columbus's Church, about eight foot high, and two foot broad, it is called by the Natives the Bowing-Stone ; for when the Inhabitants had the first sight of the Church, they set up this Stone, and there bowed and said the Lord's Prayer." He observes that " the Natives speak the Irish Tongue more perfectly here, than in most of the other Islands ;" also that " Fergus Beaton hath the following ancient Irish Manuscripts in the Irish Character ; to wit, A. Vicenna, A. Verroes, Joannes de Vigo, Bernardus Gordonus, and several Volumes of Hypocrates"
1 5. ST. KILDA. — Formerly, and still among the natives, Hirt. One of its three ancient chapels was St. Golumba's; another St. Brendan's.
16. CANNA. — The church, as Martin states, was "dedicated to St. Columbus." It stood near the middle of the island, in ruins in 1772, having beside it a small cross.
1 7. ISLAND COLUMBKILL. — Situate at the head of Loch Arkeg, in the parish of Kilrnalie, in Inverness. It derived its name from a chapel of St. Columba.
1 8. KILLCHALLUMKILL. — A chapel at Duror in Appin, oppo site Lismore.
19. KILCOLMKILL. — Now Kiel in Ardchattan. " This chappell town called in Inglish St. Colme's Chappell."
20. KILCOLMKILL.— This church, sometimes called St. Columba's in Kinelvadon, or St. Columba' s in Morwarne, gave name to an old parish, which was afterwards united with Killintag to form the modern parish of Morvern in Argyle. This territory, called from the descendants of Baedan, of the house of Loarn Mor, Kinelbathyn, or Kinelbadon, afterwards contracted to Cenalbin, formed the chief portion of the ancient seignory of Garmoran. The cemetery, with a small portion of the ruins of Kilcolmkill, is situate at Kiel, on Loch-aline, on the s.w. of the present parish. It was of old esteemed a sanctuary.
21. KILCOLLUMKILL. — An old parish of Mull, now united to Kilninian. The church stood at the head of a loch in the dis trict of Quinish, on the north coast of Mull.
22. COLUMKILLE. — In the parish of Torosay, on the east coast of Mull. " Near the small village of Salen are the ruins of a cell which belonged to the monastery of lona. The village is called Salen-dubh- Challum-chille"
23. ORANSAY. — Separated from Colonsay at flood- tide only. Here tradition places the first landing of St. Columba on his leaving Ireland. It is the vulgar opinion that the two names denote respectively Oran's and Colum's isle. But this is incor rect : Colonsay is called Coloso by Adamnan, and there are four islands of the name in Argyleshire ; while there is an Oronsay off North Uist, and another off South Uist, none of which possess any traces of early ecclesiastical distinction. Fordun (Bowar) notices the present island as " Hornesay ubi est monasterium nigrorum canonicorum, quod fundavit Sanctus Columba." Martin says : " It is adorn'd with a Church, Chappel, and Monastry ; they were Built by the famous St. Columbus, to whom the Church is dedicated." There may have been an earlier church on the island, but the ruins to which Martin alludes are the remains of a priory which was founded by a Lord of the Isles, and affiliated to Holyrood. After the disso lution of religious houses, the priory of Oransay was annexed to the bishopric of the Isles ; hence we find Andrew Knox, bishop of Eaphoe, in 1630, who still held the Isles with his Irish pre ferment, as prior of Oransay, granting to Colin Campbell, rector of Craigness, the isles of Elachniue and Kilbrandan, with the parsonage and vicarage teinds of the same, both which apper tained to the priory. In 1635 this grant was confirmed by his successor in the bishopric of the Isles. There is a hill in Colonsay called Cam cul-ri-Erin, " Carn-of-the-back-to-Ireland;" and in the north of the island a small chapel called Tempull-na-gluine, where St. Columba is said to have embarked for Hy. The old church of Colonsay (not of Oransay) was called Killoran.
24. KILCHOLMKILL.— A chapel in the parish of Kildalton, on the east coast of Islay.
25. KILCHOLMKILL. — A chapel of St. Columba in Kilarrow, a parish of Islay, situate between Loch Finlagan and the sea. " There is a Cross standing near St. Columbas's or Portescock side, which is ten foot high."
26. COVE. — In the parish of North Knapdale, formerly Killmochormac, on the west side of Loch Killisport, near its head, was a chapel of St. Columba ; and, in a neighbouring cave, an altar, piscina, and cross cut in the rock.
27. KILCOLUMKILL. — This old church, which was situate at the southern extremity of Cantyre, between Carskay and Dunaverty, gave name to a parish which is now united to Kilblane to form the modern parish of Southend. Kilcolmkill forms the south-west portion, and contains the Mull of Cantyre. The grant of St. Collomkill's church in Kyntire, which had been made by Patrick Makschillingis, and Finlach his wife, to the canons of Whithern, was confirmed by King Eobert Bruce in 1326. The ruins of the chapel are in the unusual proportion of 72 to 15 feet.
28 ST. COLOMB'S. — An ancient chapel of the parish of Kothesay, in Bute.
29. KILMACOLM. — Now incorrectly written Kilmalcolm. A large parish in Kenfrew, formerly including Port-Glasgow, and now situate next it on the south and east.
30. LARGS. — In Ayrshire. " The church, surrounded by its ancient village, stood on the level ground on the right bank of the Gogo, where it falls into the Firth. It was dedicated to St. Columba, whose festival was on the 9th day of June, and a yearly fair, vulgarly called Colm's day, once famous in the West Highlands, is still held there on the second Tuesday of June, old style."
31. KIRKCOLM. — A parish in Wigton, on the west side of Loch Eyan, opposite Glenarm, in the county of Antrim.
32. ST. COLUMBO. — In the parish of Caerlaverock in Dumfries, on the east side of the Mouth of the Mth, " a little below Glencaple Key, close by the shore, was a cell or chapel dedicated to St. Columba ; near this is a well, of which no person was perinitted to drink without leaving a portion of victuals, or a piece of money, as an alms to the inhabitant of the cell."
The four parishes last mentioned were originally occupied by Australes Picti, but in Ven. Bede's time the Angli had come in on them, and they were then considered in the provincia Berniciorum.
AMONG THE PICTS.
1. BURNESS. — A parish in the north-west of Sanday, one of the Orkney islands, formerly known as St. Colm's.
2. HOY. — One of the Orkneys, on the s.w. It had a chapel of St. Columkill.
3. ST. COMBS.— In the parish of Olrick in Caithness. " On the boundary of the parish in the east, towards Dunnet, the spot is still called St. Coomb's Kirk, supposed to have been overwhelmed in the sand at night."
4. DIRLET. — In the parish of Halkirk in Caithness. There was a chapel of St. Columba at this place.
5. ISLAND COMB. — In the parish of Tongue, off the north coast of Sutherland. It is sometimes called JZilean-na-naoimh, " Island of Saints." It had formerly a chapel and cemetery, the traces of which are still to be seen.
6. KILLCOLMKILL.— In Strabruraich, or " Srath of Brora," on the east side of Loch Brora, in the parish of Clyne, and county of Sutherland, stood this chapel. " In digging some ground at that place, a cemetery was found that contained large human bones, upon which a stop was put to the digging there. At some little distance from it, a year or two ago (1794), a gentle man making out part of the high road, found a stone cross, which was immediately erected in the place where it was found."
7. AULDEARN. — A parish in Nairn. St. Columba was patron of the church, and his fair, called St. Colm's Market, is held here annually on the first Wednesday after the 19th [query N. s., or 9th ?] of June.
8. PETTIE. — With Bracholy, a parish in Inverness-shire. For merly Petyn. In 'the Register of Moray we find mention of " Walterus vicarius S. Columbse de Petyn."
9. KINGUSSIE. — A parish in Badenoch, on the east of Inver ness-shire. St. Columba was patron, and the chief fair is held in June, probably on his day.
10. ST. COLM'S. — A chapel at Aird, in the parish of Fordyce, Banff.
11. ALVAH. — A parish on the north-east of Banff. St. Columba seems to have been the patron saint, for at the foot of the Hill of Alvah is St. Colm's Well ; and, not far from it on the south, the church.
12. LONMAY. — A parish at the north-east angle of Aberdeenshire, near Cairnbulg. " Previous to 1 608, the parish church was by the sea-side, hard by where the village of St. Combs now stands. " An earlier writer says, " This parish at different times has been named St. Colm, from the name of the saint to whom the old church was dedicated, and Lonmay, from the name of the estate on which the church now stands."
13. DAVIOT. — A parish nearly in the middle of Aberdeenshire. St. Columba was the patron, and his effigy in stone was formerly placed in a niche within the church." St. Colm's Fair was formerly held at Kirktown in this parish, on every 9th of June.
14. BELHELVIE. — This parish, adjoining Aberdeen on the north, " hath for its tutelar Saint Colm." St. Colm's Fair used to be held here, at Drumhead, June 9th.
15. MONYCABO. — Or, New Machar, a parish formerly a chapelry of Old Machar of Aberdeen. It bore the name of St. Colm's.
16. CORTACHY. — A parish in the N.w. of Forfarshire. St. Colm's Fair used to be held here annually, at Muirs-keith, near the kirk.
17. TANNADICE. — In the middle of Forfarshire, S.E. of the last. " A chapel is said to have been here [at Shielhill], in old time ; and a fountain, at a little distance, is known by the name of St. Colm, to whom the chapel may have been inscribed."
18. DUNKELD. — In Perthshire. It has been stated on re spectable authority, that Columba, circ. 640, was first bishop of this church. But, on maturer consideration, the writer has come to the conclusion that the founder of Hy was the only Columba whose name was ever prominently associated with Dunkeld, and that the misapprehension has arisen from erroneous statements in the Irish Life of St. Cuthbert. The version of it printed in the Nova Legenda of Capgrave relates the departure of St. Cuthbert's mother from Ireland to Britain, and tells how " venit Mater cum puero ad Episcopum Columbam qui primus sedem Dunkelde rexit in Scotia." To the same effect the Durham narrative, borrowed from a similar source : " Cum ad fines Scotiae pervenisset, Sanctus Columba primus episcopus in Dunkel puerum suscepit, unaque cum puellula quadam, nomine Brigida ex Hybernia oriunda, retinuit et aliquandiu educavit." And in the following chapter : " Postmodum vero cum matre puer ad insulam quse Hy dicitur, profectus est, ubi aliquandiu cum religiosis viris loci illius conversatus est." Now the word Scotia in these authorities savours very much of circ. 1 100, or later. A writer of that period would find Dunkeld a bishop's see, and the name Columba intimately associated with it. Hence, by a process similar to that which made St. Eunan bishop of Eaphoe in Ireland, he would argue that the founder of St. Columba's diocesan church of Dunkeld was a Columba and a bishop. But the fact was otherwise. The Danish descents on Hy in the early part of the ninth century, and the rise of Kells in Ireland, had caused a diversion in the administration of the Columbian brotherhood ; and when, soon after, the Pictish nation yielded to Scotic rule, and Kenneth Mac Alpin transferred the seat of government to the eastern side of the kingdom, a collateral movement took place in the ecclesiastical economy of his dominions : and accordingly, circ. 849, he ftnmded a church at the seat of government, which was to be an inland Hy, and the representative of the Columbian institution for the united kingdom. In furtherance of this project, St. Columkille was named the patron saint, and a por tion of his relics, real or alleged, were deposited in the site, as a material guarantee of the dedication. Hence the 9th of June became the proper festival of Dunkeld, and St. Columba's memory associated with its future history. As the new founda tion was essentially Columbian, the intercourse which previ ously existed between the mother church and Ireland was extended to the east of Scotland : and for this reason the few names of the early abbots of Dunkeld which are preserved are strictly Irish, and found in Irish Annals only. Hy continued to decline, and Dunkeld to rise in importance ; tradition stamped the former with sanctity, but royalty invested the latter with power : and, as a consequence, when the jurisdiction of bishops began to be defined by diocesan limits, Argyle, including Hy, was comprised within the diocese of Dunkeld, subject, no doubt, to occasional interference from the Irish coarbs of St. Columba, who regarded themselves as the conventual superintendents of the society ; and to a temporary usurpation of authority by the Norwegians : but the relation was presently renewed ; and long after 1200, when Argyle became a distinct see, withLismore as the centre of jurisdiction, the island of Hy, which was farther west, continued to own episcopal subjection to its kindred church of Dunkeld. We find the following notices of Dunkeld in the Annals of Ulster : — A.C. 864, Tuathal mac Artgusso pi*im epscop Fortrenn acas abbas Duin caillenn dormivit, " Tuathal, son of Artgus, chief Bishop of Pictland, and Abbot of Duncaillenn, fell asleep." A.c. 872, FlaitJibertacli mac Murcertaigh princeps Duinchaillden obiit, "Flaithbertach, son of Muircertach, Superior of Duncailldenn, died." A.c. 964, Oath etir firu Allan in Moneitir ubi multi occisi sunt im Donnchadh .i. abbaidh Duinecaillenn, " Battle between the men of Alba at Moneitir [again 1004] where many were slain, together with Donnchadh, i.e. the Abbot of Dun-caillenn." A.c. 1027, Diincaillenn, i nAlbain do uile loscadh, "DuncailJenn in Alba was entirely burned." A.c. 1045, Catli eder Albancu etarru fein i torcair Cronan abb Duine caillend, " Battle among the Albanach between themselves, in which was slain Cronan, Abbot of Duncaillenn."
1 9. INCHCOLM. — An island in the Forth, belonging to Aberdour in the county of Fife. In 1123, King Alexander, being overtaken in a violent storm in the Forth, vowed to erect on an island therein, should he reach it, a religious house to serve as an asylum and comfort to the shipwrecked. He succeeded in landing on this island, which was called ^Emonia, " ubi tune degebat quidam eremita insulanus, qui servitio Sancti Columbse deditus, ad quandam inibi capellulam tenui victu, utpote lacte unius vaccae et conchis ac pisciculis marinis collectis, contentatus, sedule se dedit."
20. KINCARDINE. — In the detached portion of Perthshire, on the Forth. Here was a " croft of land of St. Colme."
21. DRYMEN. — A parish in Lennox, in the west of Stirling shire. The church was under the title of St. Columba, and his yearly market, called St. Oolm's Fair, was formerly held here on the 9th of June.
IV.
The desire which prevailed, in the early ages of Christianity, SAINT
to imitate even the accidental features of the apostolic system, CoLUMBA's
TWELVE
naturally suggested the adoption of the number Twelve in the DISCIPLES. adjustment of religious societies ; and its use was afterwards extended to other relations, both social and moral. We find in Adamnan the mention of King Oswald and his twelve com panions (p. 6) ; of twelve years as a term of monastic service (pp. 19, 99); of a flotilla of twelve curachs (p. 75); and of St. Columba and his twelve disciples. The names of these twelve followers have been thus given in Codex B : —
" Hsec sunt duodecim virorum nomina qui cum sancto Columba cle Scotia, primo ejus transitu ad Brittanniam, transnavigaverunt : Duo filii Brenden, Baithene, qui et Conin, sancti successor Columbae ;
et Cobthach, frater ejus ; Ernaan, sancti avunculus Columbse ; Diormitius, ejus ministrator ; Rus, et Techno, duo filii Rodain ; Scandal, films Bresail filii Endei filii Neil ; Luguid Mocuthemne ; Echoid ; Tochannu Mocufir-cetea ; Cairnaan, filius Branduib filii Meilgi ; Grillaan.
" Sancti Columbse parentes : Aedelmith, pater ejus, filius Ferguso ; Eithne, mater ipsius, filia filii JSTavis.
" logen germanus frater Columbse junior. Item, tres germanse sorores ejus : Cuimne, mater filiorum Meic Decuil, qui nominantur Mernooc, et Cascene, et Meldal, et Bran qui sepultus est in Dairu Calchaich, consobrini sancti Columbse ; Mincholeth, mater filiorum Enain, quorum unus Calmaan dicebatur; Sinech mater virorum Mocucei in Cuile-aque, quorum nomina sunt Aidanus monachus, qui sepultus est hi Cuil-uisci, et Chonrii Moccucein, qui sepultus est in Daurmaig ; avia Tocummi Mocucein, qui valde senio fessus, presbiter sanctus, in lona insula prsesentem finivit vitam."
The following recital will serve as a commentary on that list, in showing the prevalence of the duodecimal economy among the Irish as well as the other inhabitants of the British Isles : —
I. — MISSIONARY.
1. S. Palladius, with twelve companions, sent to the Scots.
2. S. Mochta, a Briton, circ, 500, came to Ireland with
twelve disciples.
3. S. Columla, An. 562, with twelve followers, retired to Hy.
4. S. Mochonna, called also Macarius and Mauritius, was
sent by St. Columba with twelve companions to the Picts.
5. S. Columbanus, circ. 612, with twelve brethren, whose
names are on record, departed from Ireland to the Continent.
6. S. Kilian, circ. 680, was chief of a company of twelve
who went from Ireland to Franconia, and founded the church of Wiirtzburg. . ^txNj*5^
7. S. Moquius, disciple of S. Fursa, circ. 680, with twelve
companions, whose names are preserved, propagated the Gospel in Belgium.
8. S. Rudbert, or Rupert, circ. 700, chose twelve companions,
whose names are on record, to assist him in preach ing the Gospel in Bavaria.
9. $. Willibrord, who had studied for twelve years in
Ireland, was chief of a society of twelve who, in , 692, were sent by Ecgbert to evangelize Friesland. Their names are <?iven in Surius.
10. S. Forannan, an Irishman, bishop and abbot of Vassor,
circ. 970, with twelve companions, propagated the Gospel on the Belgic frontier.
11. S. Paulus, uncle of S. Jovimis, with twelve presbyters,
passed over from Britain to Armorica.
12. S. Joseph, and his twelve companions, appear in the
Glastonbury Legends; and the number recurs in other instances adduced by Ussher.
II. — MONASTIC.
1. S.' Carthach, or Mochuda, formed at Eahen a com
munity of twelve, whose names are recorded.
2. S. David, of Menevia, founded twelve monasteries.
3. S. Petroc, who retired to the wilderness with twelve
companions.
4. S. Benedict founded twelve monasteries, placing in each
twelve monks under a superior.
5. S. Cungar, or Doccuin, placed twelve canons in each
of his monasteries.
6. S. Gall built an oratory, " mansiuneculis per gyrum
dispositis, ad commanendum fratribus, quorum jam xn. ad seternorum desiderium concitavit."
7. S. Corpreus, collected twelve presbyters into his church
at Clonmacnois.
8. S. Disibod, an Irishman, in whose church of Mons
Disibodi, or Dysenberg, twelve canons were placed " ad numerum xn. apostolorum."
9. S. EJiabanus Maurus, at Fulda, had 270 monks, "inter
quos juxta numerum Apostolorum XII. viri erant prse ceteris doctissimi."
JO. Mons S. Victor, a cell of St. Gall, founded for twelve Irish pilgrims.
11. S. Colman Finn, cum suis sociis XII. in Morthreabh
Corcnea. — (Litan.' Aengus, Colgan, Act. SS., p. 539.)
12. SS. Conchennacii xn., qui cum utroque Sinchello
jacent in Kill-achuidh (ibid.)
13. S. Finniani xn. discipuli in Ard-brendomnuigh
(ibid.)
14. Episcopi xn. habitatores Killachiee Dromfhodse apud
Falgheides (ibid.)
15. Meuthi, an Irish hermit in Wales, with twelve
ministers.
16. Monymusk, where was a college, of twelve Culdees and
a prior.
e
III. — DIOCESAN.
1. Pope Gregory wrote to St. Augustine of Canterbury,
directing : " Per loca singula xii. episcopos ordines qui tuse subjaceant ditioni. Ad Eburacam vero civitatem te volumus episcopum mittere ; ita duntaxat, ut si eadem civitas cum finitimis locis verbum Dei ' receperit, ipse quoque xn. episcopos ordinet, et metropolitan! honore perfruatur " (Bede i. 29).
2. S. Cataldus ducatum in xii. episcopatus distribuens,
de suo episcopio archiepiscopatum fecit.
IV.— CAPITULAR.
1. Canterbury. — Dean and twelve canons.
2. Durham. — Dean, twelve canons, and twelve minor
canons (orig. constit.)
3. Winchester. — Dean and twelve canons.
4. Westminster. — Dean and twelve canons.
5. Windsor. — Dean and twelve canons.
6. Gloucester. — Dean, six canons, and six minor canons.
7. Bristol. — Dean, six canons, and six minor canons.
8. Norwich. — Dean, six canons, and six minor canons.
9. Aberdeen. — Bishop, and twelve canons.
V. — EDUCATIONAL.
1. S. Finnian, of Clonard, had twelve principal students,
afterwards styled the Twelve Apostles of Erin.
2. Aidan. — Eata " unus de xn. pueris Aidani, quos
primo episcopatus sui tempore de natione Anglorum erudiendos in Christo accepit" — (Bede iii. 26)/
3. Daire-rabhne. — Duodecim >innocentes pueri in Daire-
rabhne (Litan. Aengus).
VI. — CEREMONIAL.
1. At Wilfrid's consecration, Agilberct, bishop of Paris,
" et alii undecim episcopi ad dedicationem antistitis [Wilfridi] convenientes, multum honorifice ministerium impleverunt " (Bede v. 19).
2. Eanfleda, " baptizata est die sancto Pentecostes, prima
de gente Nordanhymbrorum, cum undecim aliis de familia ejus " (Bede ii. 9).
VII. — PEREGRINAL.
1. S. Ailbhe went to Home, attended by several companies of twelve.
2. S. Barr, of Cork, was attended to Eome by twelve
companions.
3. S. Maidocus. Duodecim qui cum Maidoco Fernensi
ultra mare sunt peregrinati (litan. Aengus).
4. Laisreanus. Duodecim qui sine morbo ad aeterna
tabernacula transierunt cum S. Molassio (ibid)
5. Duodecim peregrini, quorum unum superstitem in
Insula Felis reperit Brendanus (ibid.)
6. S. Eioch. Duodecim socii S. Eiochi ultra mare (ibid)
7. Duodecim peregrini in Lethglas Mor (ibid.)
8. Duodecim qui cum Albeo mori elegerunt (ibid.)
9. S. Munna, attended by twelve of his fraternity, went
to meet the King of Leinster at Kathmor.
VIIL— MORAL.
1. Duodecim gradus humilitatis.
2. Duodecim pericula animse.
3. Duodecim abusiones sseculi.
IX.— MISCELLANEOUS.
1. Twelve citizens placed by St. Patrick in Armagh.
Kepresented by twelve burgesses in modern times.
2. Twelve pillars and twelve lamps in the Anastasis at
Jerusalem.
3. Twelve psalms to be recited.
4. Twelve hostages delivered up.
5. Si xn. ordinati viri sapientes defuerunt, xii. clericorum
inordinatorum consilium : si vero xii. clerici non affuerunt, xii. parvulis pueris, virginibus cum mulieribus haut coinquinatis, judicium atque consilium permittatur (Eees, Cambro-Brit. SS., p. 43.)
6. Twelve masons employed in Wales under an Irish
architect called Liuguri (ibid. p. 47).
X. — MULTIPLES.
1 . S. Patrick came to Ireland attended by twenty-four
companions.
2. S. Brendan visits a community consisting of an abbot
and twenty-four monks.
3. S. Ailbhe, with twenty-four men of Munster, crossed
the sea (Litan. Aengus).
4. S. Cadoc and his twenty-four disciples (Eees, Cam.-
Brit. SS., p. 61).
5. JRatisbon. — An Irish monastery, founded for twenty-
four Scots. & Exeter cathedral, dean, and twenty-four canons.
7. York cathedral, dean, and thirty-six canons.
8. S. Cadoc appointed thirty-six canons at Nantcarban
(Kees, p. 82).
9. S. Brendan, with sixty pilgrim monks (Litan. Aengus).
1 0. 8. Leonorius went from Britain to Gaul with seventy-
two disciples.
11. S. Benedict. — "Instrumenta bonorum operum LXXII."
12. Servi Dei MCC. circa Lasreanum, ac episcopos Leth-
glinenses (ibid.)
V.
In calculating the year of St. Columba's death, it will be granted that he died on the ninth of June : for though Adamnan does not name the day of the month, he states the coincidence of St. Columba's and St. Baithene's festivals, and speaks of the Saint's decease as occurring soon after the month of May (B. ill. c. 24). In the Feilire of ^Engus and the Koman Martyrology, as well as those of Bede and Notker, we have domestic and foreign testimonies agreeing with the date which has been observed for the solemnity within the memory of man. We learn, however, from Adamnan the following particulars, which, taken in conjunction with the date of the festival, determine the year with great precision : —
1. Saturday was the last day of the Saint's life.
2. He had attended the nocturnal vigils.
3. Shortly after midnight he rose for matins.
4. Which was the second service of Sunday.
5. And just as the brethren had assembled.
6. While it was still dark in the oratory, for his attendant was obliged to feel after him, and was unable to discern his condition till lanterns were brought.
7. That this portion of the twenty-four hours was called the night of Sunday.
8. That, therefore, he died on Sunday.
9. That the ninth of June fell on Sunday.
Now the Eegular letter of the ninth of June is f ; therefore F was the Sunday letter of the year. But 597 is the only year at this period to which F belongs, that is, whose first of January fell on Tuesday. Thus, as far as Adamnan's statements go, the inference is very explicit, and we are freed from the uncer tainty which Ussher expresses: "Cum media nocte Eomani civiles suos dies et incipere soleant et terminare : num. nox ilia media, qua Columbam decessisse diximus, diem Junii nonum vel inchoaverit vel finierit, quaestionis quid habet." With regard to Adamnan's language, there cannot be any uncertainty ; for he represents the Saint as saying, while it was yet Saturday, " hac sequenti media venerabili Dominica nocte patrum gradiar viarn," and states of the penultimate service which he attended, " Sanctus ad vespertinalem Dominicse noctis missam ingreditur ecclesiam." Adamnan reckons his day from sunset to sunset, and thus we find him, on more than one occasion, employing a wxQij/jiepov, and making the night of a festival precede the day. See ii. 46, iii. 12, 13, 24. With this date agree the biographer's chronological notes, who states that St. Columba passed over to Britain in the second year after the battle of Culdreibhne, that is, in 563, being then 42 years old, and that he died, having completed 34 years in his pilgrimage, thus giving 597 for his obit, and 76 years for his age. So also Bede, who places his removal to Scotland at 565, the length of his pilgrimage 32 years, and his death, when he was about 77 years of age.
But against this evidence may be alleged the authority of Tighernach, who records Quies Coluimcille in nocte Dominica Pentecostes v. Id. Junii, anno peregrinacionis sue xxxv. etatis vero Ixxvii. With this statement, that he died on Wednesday, agree the ancient Irish Life, cited in the note on B. in. c. 24, and the Naemhsenchas, which, under the Saint's name, has Tri cengcaidhis Colamcilli : a gen, a baihis, a bas, " Three Pentecosts [quinquagesimas] of Colam-cille : his birth, his baptism, and his death." Now, in 597, Whitsunday fell on the 2d of June, but in 596 on the 10th. If, therefore, the Whitsun element enter into the calculation, the year of the death must be assigned to 596, and Adamnan's mode of computation be In verted ; for, in this case, the midnight between Saturday and Sunday must be attracted to the former in order to fit the obit into the 9th, while, at the same time, an opposite process must be adopted in order to identify the occurrence with the ensuing Pentecost. This date, which seems to follow from Tighernach, is adopted by Hermannus Contractus, who places St. Columba's death at 596. But it is opposed to Tighernach's own calcula tion, who assigns the Saint's birth to 520, and allows him an age of 77 years. Dr. Lanigan accounts for this discrepancy by supposing that " Tighernach was, probably, prepossessed with the idea that 596 was the real year of his death, as he might have found it marked in some elder annals, which, however, considering their mode of computation, was, in fact, the same as 5 9 7. Then, finding that Pentecost fell in 5 9 6 about the 9th of June, he supposed it to be the Sunday in which Columba died." Or, it may be urged that, as Columba's removal to Britain is said by some to have been at Whitsuntide, Prima nox ejus in Attain in Pentecosten, an even period was assigned to the term of his pilgrimage, the chronicler being desirous to square the matter, by placing the obit at the same festival. It is further to be observed that, supposing Whitsunday to have been on the 2d, which it most probably was, the Saint's decease was inside the week, and was thus within the octave of Whitsuntide ; for the festival of Trinity Sunday was not yet instituted, and Easter and Pentecost were the two great ecclesiastical seasons of the year. Dr. Lanigan very justly observes, that " Adamnan, who mentions more than once this obituary Sunday, never calls it Pentecost, which, had it been so, he would assuredly have noticed as a very remarkable circumstance, combining the Saint's removal to heaven with the celebration of that great festivity."
With respect to the notation of Tighernach at this year, it must be confessed that it contradicts the entry. For it is K. ini., that is, that the first of January fell on Wednesday, which makes E the Dominical letter, and thus refers the occurrences under that signature to 598, two years later than is deducible from the entries. We might suppose .iiii. by a very common mistake put for .uii., which would mend the matter a little, and the antecedent signatures might be treated in the same manner ; but then the .ii. which would become M. would have .iiii. as its antecedent, whereas a .i. is found in situ. The Annals of Ulster record the occurrence thus, Quies Coluim cille v. Id. Jun* anno etatis sue Ixxvi. But their signature is vii., which gives B as the Sunday-letter, and indicates 595, the very year in their margin, for where they say 594, they mean 595. Now it is evident that their record of the event has been advisedly framed ; and, therefore, it is hard to conceive on what principle they could refer the event to so early a year. In it, Easter fell on the 3d of April, and Whitsunday on the 22d of May, and the 9th of June was Thursday.
The choice, then, lies between 596 and 597. To the former Colgan and Dr. O'Conor incline ; to the latter the graver judg ments of Ussher, OTlaherty, and Lanigan ; but the question would not have arisen if Tighernach had not mentioned Pente cost ; and it has been shown that, even on his high authority, the introduction of this element into the calculation is irrecon cilable with the explicit statements of both himself and Adamnan.
VI.
It appears that during a century, at least, after the death of THE RELIC St. Columba, his remains were permitted to lie undisturbed in °F SAINT
OOLUMBA.
the earth.1 Ven. Bede extends the period a little, and speaks of the monastery of Hy "in quo ipse requiescit corpore" (iii. 4). But ere Notker Balbulus, in the tenth century, borrowed the expression ubi requiescit, a change had taken place in the condition of the Saint's remains. In the course of the eighth century it is probable that his bones were disinterred, and deposited in a shrine or shrines. And once enshrined, they
1 Locum in quo sancta pausant ossa (in. 24, p. 217).
were not likely to be restored to the earth, because every passing year would increase the veneration which led to the first exposure. Yet we find mediaeval tradition confidently setting forth Downpatrick as his resting-place, while an original record of very early date claims for the neighbouring church of Saul the honour of his interment. We might easily reconcile these two accounts by supposing a translation from Saul, as soon as it became a subordinate church, on the erection of Downpatrick into a bishop's see. The fragmentary memoirs of St. Patrick contained in the Book of Armagh were put on record in the eighth century, and the manuscript itself was written about the year 807, by a scribe whose death took place in 846. Speaking of the burial of St. Patrick, they add, " Colomb cille Spiritu Sancto instigante ostendit sepulturam Patricii ubi est confirmat id est in Sabul Patricii id est in aeclesia juxta mare pro undecima ubi est conductio martirum id est ossuum Columbcille de Britannia et conductio omnium Sanctorum Hibernise in die judicii." This enigmatical passage seems to owe its involved construction to the circumstance of its having been copied from an earlier authority, in which a portion of the matter consisted of detached explanations, in the form of in terlinear glosses, which the copyist, on account of the peculiar nature of his page, or for some other reason, incorporated with the text. The following conjectural restoration is proposed, as exhibiting the passage in a more intelligible, and possibly more genuine form : —
Colombcille Spiritu Sancto instigante ostendit sepulturam Patricii
.i. in Sabul Patricii .i. in aeclesia juxta mare .i. ossuum
ubi est confirmat pro undecima ubi est conductio martirum Coluimb-
cillae de Brittannia et conductio omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae in die judicii.
The words pro undecima are difficult of explanation, but they were so at the time the manuscript was written, for the scribe has placed in the margin opposite pro the mark of obscurity. But whatever ambiguity may attend some words, it is plain that conductio is employed to denote " bringing together," or " transfer ; " as elsewhere, in the same manuscript, " meeting," "interview;" and that the passage expresses the belief as existing, at the close of the eighth century, that the bones of Columkille had, before that period, been brought to Ireland from Britain, and deposited in Saul.
The same impression is conveyed in another but more legen dary record, and seemingly of a later date, which also supposes St. Columba's remains to have been conveyed into the inner most part of Strangford Lough, in the county of Down, and merely differs in making Downpatrick the destination instead of the neighbouring church of Saul. O'Donnell's account of the matter is thus translated by Colgan : —
" Pro operis hujus coronide (quod minime debuit silentio pertransiri) hie subjicio quomodo corpus hujus S. Patriarchae in Monasterio Hiensi prius sepultum, fuerit in Hiberniam postea translatum, et in eodem sepulchre cum sacris exuviis Sanctorum Patricii et Brigidae recondition. . . . Sufficiat memorare modum et occasionem factae Translationis, quam hoc modo S. Berchanus contigisse refert. Manderus films Kegis Daniae, et Nortmannorum pyraticse classis Dux, ferro et flamraa septemtrionales Britannise partes devastans, venit ad lonam insulam, ubi sacra prophanis Sathanae Satellites miscentes : direptis omnibus, quae occurrerant, terram hinc inde fodiunt, latentes, ut putabant, thesauros inquirentes ; ac inter alia effodiunt Sarcophagum seu arcam, in qua verus erat, licet non cui illi inhiabant, thesaurus, nempe S. Columbae corpus. Arcam ad navem portant, quam postea versus Hiberniam tendentes aperiunt : et turn nihil inclusum, praeter hominis ossa, ac cineres, reperiunt, clausam in mare projiciunt ; quae Dei nutu, Oceani fluctibus agitata, et per undas injecta, reperitur in sinu maris Dunensi urbi vicino, undis supernatans. Quam sic repertam, et divina revelatione agnitam, aperiens Abbas Monasterii Dunensis, sanctum thesaurum area extractum, in eisdem lipsanis cum Divorum Patricii, et Columbse [recte Brigidae] sacris exuviis recondidit." — (Colgan, Tr. Th. p. 446 a.)
. The earliest recorded descent of the Northmen on Hy is 802, which is only five years anterior to the writing of the Book of Armagh.
Notwithstanding this reputed interment, whether in Saul or Down, we find that on the occasion of St. Blaithmac's martyrdom, in 825, St. Columba's shrine, which was adorned with precious metals, was the chief object of the murderous North men's search ; so Walafridus Strabus states :
" Ad sanctum venere patrem, pretiosa metalla Eeddere cogentes, queis sancti sancta Columbae Ossa jacent, quam quippe suis de sedibus arcam Tollentes tumulo terra posuere cavato, Cespite sub denso gnari jam pestis iniquse : Hanc praedam cupiere Dani.' — (Vita S. Blaithmaic.)
How soon, or by whom, the shrine was brought to light from its place of concealment, is not recorded ; but we know that it was soon after removed to Ireland, for in 878 it was transferred, together with all St. Columba's minna, to Ireland, for security from the Danes, where it probably remained. Now, it is re markable, that whereas we hear of Adamnan's relics at 727, 730, within twenty-four years after his death, we find no men tion of St. Columba's till eighty years afterwards. Possibly, indeed, in the promulgation of the Lex Coluimcille in 753, 757, 778, his shrine may have been borne about as the warrant for the exaction of this religious tribute, and thus an indirect evidence of the enshrining may be afforded. After 878 we hear no more of this shrine till 1127, when we find the Danes of Dublin carrying it off, and restoring it, possibly stripped of its gold and silver, at the end of a month. Tighernach, at 976, records the plundering of Serin Coluimcille, but this violence appears to have been offered to the church of Columba's shrine, namely, Skreen in Meath, where the precious reliquary may have been deposited. In 1152, the mionna or r cliques of St. Columba were employed in conjunction with the great reli quary of Armagh, the Bachall Jesu, in the solemnization of a compact ; but the reference in that case seems to be to the Soscela Martain, or " St. Martin's Gospel," which will be noticed further on as being the great heirloom of the monastery of Deny.
Meanwhile, a fresh competitor for the honour of possessing
St. Columba's remains arose in Pictland, for according to the Pictish Chronicle, Kenneth Mac Alpin, " septimo anno regni reliquias S. Columbae transportavit ad ecclesiam quam construxit " (Pict. Chron.) To which an English record adds : " Sanctus Columcylle requiescit in loco dicto Duncahan juxta fluvium Tau."1 Hence Pinkerton draws the conclusion, " It is evident that Duncahan is Duncaldan, or Dunkeld, upon the river Tay; so that the Irish vainly contend that his bones were carried to Ireland, though, perhaps, his crosier, or some other relics, may have been conveyed thither." Father Innes declares, "It is the constant tradition and belief of the inhabitants of Ycolmkill and of the neighbourhood at this day, that St. Columba's body lies still in this island, being hidden by pious people, at the time of the new Eeformation, in some secure and private place in or about the church, as it used frequently to be in former ages during the ravages of the infidel Danes ; and not only the inhabitants of Ycolmkill, and those of all our Western Islands, and of all the Highlands in general, but all the Scots look upon the pretended translation of St. Columba's body to Ireland as fabulous." But this is declamation : for in the next page the writer adduces evidence for a translation to Dunkeld. The rational statement is this : — The grave of St. Columba is in Hy, where his remains were suffered to lie till a century had passed. Meanwhile his dust had mingled with the earth, and dust with dust continues there to this day : but where that grave is, there is no satisfactory evidence to show ; and tradition, which claims for the island the custody of the body, fails, as might be expected, to point out the spot where it lies. It was the custom in the eighth century, particularly in the Irish Church, to disinter and en shrine the tangible remains of the founders of religious houses. There are explicit records of the very years when such pro cesses took place; and that St. Columba's remains were dealt with in like manner, is a priori to be expected, and in
1 See Hickes, Thes. ii. 117. for the original of this passage.
INTKODUCTION.
fact proved. The shrine in which these bones were deposited subsequently became the title-deed of the Columbian com munity, and was from time to time taken over to Ireland as the warrant for levying religious contributions. But it soon became exposed to fresh danger : for the costliness of the shrine which veneration for the founder's memory had suggested, excited the cupidity of the roving Northmen ; and Ireland became the permanent asylum of these reliques, until it in turn suffered from the same scourge, and even its midland remoteness proved no security against the restless Danes. It is possible that, during these constant removals of the shrine, portions of the reliques may have been taken out, and under the compulsion of power, or the inducements of patronage, have been shared with other churches; thus probably Kenneth Mac Alpin came by his share ; and thus, too, the Irish Screens by their name. But the gold and silver, which affection had lavished on the original shrine, contributed to defeat its own object in the end, and subjected the shrine to the fate from which its fellow, the Great Gospel of Kells, had so nar row an escape — the shell abstracted, and the substance cast away.
It is further to be observed, that the veneration for St. Columba's remains was not confined to Ireland and Scotland : the cathedral of Durham also claimed to be the depository of at least a portion of his relics. This appears from a catalogue of the relics at Durham, written in the fourteenth century, in which we find the entry : " De ossibus et reliquiis Sancti Columkelli abbatis."1 A representation of the Saint was painted also on the screen- work of the altar of St. Jerome and St. Benedict, in the same church, with the inscription, " Sanctus Columba monachus et abbas."2
In connexion with the history of Columkill's remains, the antiquary may desire to have a catalogue of those articles which tradition invested with the repute of having been es-
1 Hist. Dun. Script. Tres., p. ccccxxix., Surt. Soc.
2 Des. An. Mon. Ch. of Durham, p. 115, Surt. Soc.
teemed or used by the Saint. Adamnan makes mention of a Hymnal, which was preserved in Ireland (n. 8, p. 43); and of a White Pebble, which was used as a charm among the Picts (n. 34, p. 59) ; also of Books written by him, and the White Tunic he wore at the time of his death, which were preserved in Hy (n. 45, p. 74). Some of these were afterwards lost, but later writings have furnished us with the names of others which do more than supply their place. Thus, among the alleged com positions of St. Columba contained in the Laud MS., is a poem in the form of a dialogue between him and Baithene Mor, son of Guana, on the subject of his chief reliques, to wit, the Great Cross, the Cathach, and his Cowl. Besides these, there were others of lesser note, which will presently be noticed.
1. THE GREAT CROSS. — The following is the account of it in the Preface to St. Columba's hymn, Altus Prosator: —
" At a time that Columcille was in Hy, without any attendant, but Baithene only, it was revealed to him that guests had arrived, namely, seven of Gregory's people, who had come to him from Eome with gifts, to wit, the Great Gem of Columcille (which is a cross at the present day), and the Hymns of the Week, that is [a book with] Hymns for each night of the week, and other gifts."— (Colgan, Tr. Th., p. 473).
The date of Gregory the Great's accession is Sept. 3, 590, within seven years of which this alleged occurrence may be supposed to have taken place. In O'Donnell the circumstances of the gift are told more in detail, and he ends the account by saying that the reliquary was preserved, at the time when he wrote (1532), in the island of Tory : " Estque illud celebre monumentum quod in Torachia occidua Hiberniae insula in memoriam Columbse asservatum Crux magna vulgo appellatur" (ib. p. 412). This altar cross is not now known to exist, but from the descrip tion it would seem that it was cased in metal, and adorned with crystal bosses, like the cross of Cong preserved in the Museum of the Eoyal Irish Academy.
2. THE CATHACH.— This name, which is interpreted Prceliator, is derived from cath, " battle," for the reason given by O'Don nell in the passage cited at p. xlii, supra. It is questionable whether the writing of the manuscript be as old as St. Columba's age, though its claim to be considered in the handwriting of St. Columba derives some weight from the great veneration in which it was formerly held, notwithstanding the total absence of decoration. It is a curious particular in its contents, that the reading of Psal. xxxiii. 11, differs from that which is cited by Adamnan as the subject of St. Columba's last act of pen manship. Of the silver case, which is now its most attractive feature, it is unnecessary to offer any description here, as a de tailed account, with drawings sufficiently accurate to give a fair idea of its structure, can easily be consulted.1 The inscrip tion, however, which runs along three sides of the margin of the under surface, is worthy of being correctly recorded : —
Oroit do CatJibarr ua Domnaill las i ndernad in cumtach \sa\
7 do Sittriuc mac meic Aeda do rigne 7 do Dom [nail] mac Eola
rtaig do comarla Cenansa las i ndernad.
Which may be interpreted : —
ORATIO PRO CATHBARRO UA DOMNAILL PER QUEM FACTUM EST TO
COOPERIMENTUM HOC, ET PRO SITRICO FILIO FILII AIDI QUI FECIT,
ET PRO DOMNALLO MAC ROBARTAIGH PRO COMARBANO KENLISLE
PER QUEM FACTUM EST.
Cathbarr O'Donnell, son of Gillachrist [ob. 1038], son of Gathbarr, son of Domhnall Mor, the progenitor of the O'Donnells, was chief of the Cinel Luighdech, and died in 1 106. Domhnall Mac Eobhartaigh, successor of Columba at Kells, died, accord ing to the Four Masters, in 1098. His name occurs also in the charters which are entered in the blank pages of the Book of Kells.2 Sitric was son of Mac JEdha, who was surnamed Cerd, that is, " Artificer," in the Charters of Kells, where men tion is made of Fland mac Mic Aedha also. The family of Mac Aedha seem to have been the hereditary mechanics of Kells. It is interesting to observe the relation here recorded as subsisting, through the Columbian system, between remote parts of Ireland: O'Donnell being lord of a territory in the
1 Betham's Ant. Res., i. p. 109. 2 Misc. Ir. Ar. Soc., pp. 130, 140.
extreme north of the island, yet associated with the abbot of a midland monastery; and that abbot the member of a family which also was seated in the remote north, supplying herenachs to two churches in St. Columba's region of Tirconnell, and occasionally appearing in the administration of St. Columba's church of Derry. In 1497 the Cathach was employed for mili tary purposes, but failed of procuring victory for its possessors. Con O'Donnell led an army into Moylurg in Connaught, to attack Mac Dermott, but was defeated at the battle of Bealachbuidhe. Mac Kobhartaigh, the keeper [maor] of the Cathach of Columcille, was slain, and the Cathach taken from the Tirconallians. Two years after, it was restored. — (Four Mas ters.) In the early part of the sixteenth century it was still the great reliquary of Tirconnell ; and in the following century it continued to be in the custody of the family of Mac Eobhartaigh, the official keepers under the Lord of Tirconnell. When it reappears in the next century, it is found in the posses sion of the head of the O'Donnell family, who recorded his guardianship in an inscription on the silver frame which he made for its preservation: IACOBO 3. M. B. REGE EXULANTE,
DANIEL 0 DONEL IN XTIANISSO0 IMP0 PRCEFECTUS REI BELLICCE HUSUSCE HCERADITARII SANCTI COLUMBANI PIGNORIS VULGO CAAH DICTI TEGMEN AEGENTEUM VETUSTATE CONSUMPTUM RESTAURAUIT
ANNO SALUTIS 1723. This most remarkable reliquary, com bining so many exciting associations, is the property of Sir Eichard Annesley O'Donnell, Bart., a descendant of the Cathbarr Ua Domhnaill, whose name is engraved upon the case, between whom and the present possessor four-and-twenty generations of this illustrious house have passed by. The Caah is at present in the Museum of the Eoyal Irish Academy, through the liberal indulgence of its distinguished owner.
3. THE CocEALL.—Cochall is the Irish form of cuculla, a word which occurs in the text at p. 168, where there is evi dence to show that, even so early as Adamnan's time, the garment expressed by it was supposed to have been endowed with supernatural virtue. The old Irish Life, treating of St. Columba's reception at Kells, by Aedh Slaine, proceeds to say :
" He consecrated, therefore, a cowl for him ; and he said that he could not he wounded while he had it on him. Aedh Slane, however, committed fratricide, contrary to Columcille's admonition, on Suibhne, son of Colman. At the end of four years he went on an expedition. He forgot his cowl. He was slain that day."
The legend in the Book of Lecan, cited at p. 39 (Orig. Ed.), represents Aedh, son of Ainmire, as the recipient of the favour. O'Donnell copies both statements, and exhibits the two Aedhs as provided respectively with charmed vestments.
4. THE CUILEBADH. — The Annals of Ulster, at 1034, record that—
" Macnia Ua hllchtain, lecturer of Kells, was lost on his voyage from Scotland ; and Columcille's Culebadh, and three of Patrick's reliques, and thirty men with him."
The old English version, suppressing the first syllable of the word in question, and reading lebar for the rest, translates it " booke ;" while the Eour Masters omit the preceding conjunc tion, and, dismembering the word, read cu lebhadh, cum lecto, thus referring us to the "nuda petra" of p. 213. This liberty they took with the original, not knowing, it would seem, what culebadh meant. They found the word again in the following passage of the Annals of Ulster, which relates an outrage committed by Tighernan O'Euairc in 1128, but they have omitted the whole passage :
" The successor of Patrick was openly outraged in his presence ; for his retinue were plundered, and some of them were killed ; and a clerical student of his own people, who bore a culebadh, was slain there."
Thus it appears that the word was a general term. We are brought a step further towards the meaning of it by a passage in the Preface to the Amhra Coluim-cille :
" And the way that Columcille came was, with a cere-cloth over his eyes, and his culpait over that, and the hood of his cowl over that ; so that he should neither behold the men nor women of Erin."
O'Donnell gives the legend, with the addition that means were taken to prevent Columba from setting foot on Ireland, but he omits the desired word :
" There was a sod of the earth of Alba under his feet : There was a cere- cloth over his eyes : There was his woollen- cap drawn over that : There was his hood, and his cowl, over these outside."
The Annals of Tighernach, at 1090, have the following curious entry :
" The reliquaries of Columcille, viz., the Bell of the Kings, and the Cuillebaigh, came from Tirconnel, with 120 ounces of silver, and Aongus O'Domnallain was the one who brought them from the north [to Kells]."
There remains another notice of this monastic habit, in an extravagant tale called, " The Sea-wanderings of Snedgus and Mac Eigail, two of Columcille's priests :"
" And the bird gave a leaf of the leaves of that tree to the clerics, and it was as large as the hide of a great ox ; and told the clerics to take it with them, and place it on the altar of Columcille. And that is the Cuilefaidh of Columcille at this day. And it is at Kells that it is."
In the foregoing extracts the word is variously written culeladh, cuilebadh, culpait, and culefaidh ; and in a curious diagram which occurs in a tract on Ogham-writing in the Book of Ballymote, we find the word cuilibad in conjunction with the names Colum cilli and Ceallach. Cormac's Glossary, cited by O'Eeilly, explains culpait quasi cail fuit or fuaclit, " a defence from cold." Still there is good reason for supposing that, as cochall is the Irish form of cuculla, so culebadh is of cololium, and that it represents the tunica of p. 188.
5. DELG AIDECHTA. — The legend of St. Columba's visit to Eome, mentioned in the Notes on B. in. c. 9, has the following passage :
" Columcille tarried with Gregory, and brought Gregory's brooch away with him, and it is the Testamentary Brooch of the Coarb of Columcille to this day. And he left his style with Gregory."
This delg probably belonged to that class of ornament of which so many and such beautiful specimens have been found in Ireland.
6. MOR BACHALL. — The pastoral staff, which St. Columba confided to Scanlann, prince of Ossory, on the occasion of his liberation after the convention of Drumceatt.
" Pedum suum ei tradit, tanquam in lubrico verum baculum, et in omni adversitate prsesidium; in Domino fideliter promittens ipsum illius munimine, earn virtutem Christo conferente, per objecta pericula salvum et incolumem evasurum, et monens ut ipsum demum baculum S. Laisreno discipulo suo, Monasterii Darmagensis tune rectori, retradat."— (Vit. iii. 13, Colg. Tr. Th., p. 433 b.)
From the last line we learn that this reliquary was preserved in Durrow.
7. CAMBO KENTIGERNI. — Jocelin gives an account of a visit which St. Columba paid to his celebrated contemporary, St. Kentigern of Glasgow, and, having related a miracle performed by the latter, proceeds to say :
" In illo loco ubi istud miraculum per Sanctum Kentegernum factum, in conspectu Sancti Columbse, et aliorum multorum, innotuit; alter alterius baculum, in pignus quoddam et testimonium mutuse dilectionis, in Christo suscepit. Baculus vero quern Sanctus Columba dederat Sancto pontifici Kentegerno, in ecclesia Sancti Wilfridi episcopi et confessoris apud Bipum, multo tempore conservabatur ; et propter utriusque sanctitatem, dantis videlicet et recipientis, magnae reverentise habebatur." — (Vit. Kent., c. 40.)
We further learn from Fordun (Bowar) that, at the com mencement of the fifteenth century, this reliquary was still to be seen at Eipon :
" Ac nunc cambo, quern beatus Kentigernus a beato Columba receperat, in ecclesia Sancti Wilfridi de Bipoun, aureis crustulis inclusus, ac margaritarum diversitate circumstellatus, cum magna reverentia adhuc servatur." — (Scotichron., iii. 30.)
8. GOSPEL OF MARTIN, — Concerning this reliquary the old Irish Life briefly says :
" He went at another time from Deny to Tours of Martin, and brought away the Gospel that lay on Martin's breast in the ground for a hundred years, and he left it in Derry."
In the twelfth century it was the chief reliquary of the church of Derry, and we find recorded in the Annals of Ulster, at 1166, the violation of a contract which had been solemnized in presence of the Coarb of Patrick with the Bachall Jesu, and of the Coarb of Columcille with the Gospel of Martin. But it was lost soon after; for, in 1182, "Donnell, son of Hugh O'Loughlin, marched with an army to Dunbo, in Dal-Eiada, and there gave battle to the English. The Kinel-Owen were defeated ; and Eandal O'Breslen, Gilchreest O'Kane, and many others, were killed. On this occasion the English carried off with them the Gospel of St. Martin." The legend concerning the invention of this manuscript is borrowed by 0 'Donnell from the Acts of St. Eugenius of Ardstraw and St. Mochonna, or Machar, the patron saint of Aberdeen. It relates that the people of Tours had lost the clue to the exact spot where St. Martin's remains were buried, and that on the occasion of St. Columba's visiting their city they applied to him to point out the place where the body of their patron saint lay, which he con sented to do on condition that he should receive for his portion everything found in the grave, except the bones of Martin.
" Conditione facile admissa, vir Sanctus locum, in quo sacrum corpus jacebat, indigitat, in eoque mox defosso simul cum desideratis exuviis cum Missarum reperiretur liber; factse sponsionis Turonenses prope pcenituit, detrectantes inventum Missale Columbae poscenti consignare, nisi ille priori beneficio alteram adhuc adderet gratiam, et Turonensi Ecclesiae administrandae aliquem e suis sociis virum sanctum et idoneum prseficiendo relinqueret. Quod ipsum posteaquam vir Sanctus annuerat, et Sanctum illis Mochonnam velut jam antea a summo Pontifice pro Turonensi sede destinatum, prsesentarat, assecutus est desideratum B. Martini librum." 1
Now, though it is very unlikely that St. Columba ever travelled beyond the British islands, the above legend is inter esting as an indication of the early connexion which existed between Ireland and the church of Tours. St. Martin is repre sented as St. Patrick's grand-uncle, and as a principal agent in his mission to Ireland. In the next age his body is reported
1 Colgan, Tr. Th., p. 436 a.
to have been discovered by the great monastic patron of Ire land, and his ritual transferred from Tours to Derry. And in later times the holy wells of Derry, called Tobar Martain, Tobar Adhamhnain, and Tobar Coluim, preserved the local association of his name with those of the fathers of the Columbian order.
Another account of the origin of this ancient manuscript (for that such a book, whether Martin's or Patrick's, was preserved in the diocese of Derry, is unquestionable) is, that it had be longed to St. Patrick, who, as the Tripartite Life says, when " morti vicinus, librum Evangeliorum, quo ipse dum viveret, utebatur, illi velut Euangelii observantissimo cultori, testamento legaverit, ex suo etiam in Ardmachia successori mandaverit certain quotannis pensionem pro eodem seponere. Prsefatus vero Euangeliorum codex ad Columbse manus devenit, sive illi fuerat per S. Brigidam Virginem, penes quam depositus scribitur, consignatus ; sive, quod aliqua habent exemplaria, Angelico illi ministerio allatus ex D. Patricii tumulo, in quo jubente Patricio, ne in aliquas iniquas manus incideret, conditus existimatur."1 To the discovery of the manuscript in St. Patrick's grave, the following entry in the Annals of Ulster, copied from a chronicle called the Book of Guana, refers :
"The relics of Patrick were enshrined sixty years after his death by Columcille. Three precious reliquaries were found in the tomb, sc. the Cup, the Angel's Gospel, and the Bell of the Will. The angel directed Columcille to divide the three reliquaries thus: the Cup to Down, the Bell of the Will to Armagh, the Gospel of the Angel to Columcille himself. And it is called the Gospel of the Angel, because Columcille received it at the Angel's hand."
O'Donnell has transferred this anecdote into his narrative, which Colgan has imperfectly translated. That the Gospel of St. Martin and the Gospel of the Angel were supposed to be identical, appears from a poem in the Laud MS. (p. 81) begin ning Taiscfidter mo shoiscela, " My gospel shall be preserved," in which St. Patrick is represented as describing the future great ness and holiness of St. Columba; where the gloss remarks that the Gospel of St. Martin is alluded to.
1 Colgan, Tr. Th. , p. 390 b.
9. BOOK OF DURROW. — Thus noticed by Archbishop Ussher :
" In Regio comitatu ea est, Durrogh vulgo appellata : quae monasterium habuit S. Columbse nomine insigne ; inter cujus KeifjLij\ui evangeliorum codex vetustissimus asservabatur, quern ipsius Columbse fuisse monachi dictitabant : ex quo, et non minoris antiquitatis altero, eidem Columbse assignato, quern in urbe Kelles sive Kenlis dicta Midenses sacrum habent, diligenti cum editione vulgata Latina collatione facta, in nostros usus variantium lectionum binos libellos concinnavimus."1
Henry Jones, Bishop of Meath, subsequently became possessed of it, and presented it to Trinity College, Dublin, of which institution he was Vice-Chancellor. The silver-mounted case in which this book was preserved has been lost ; but its absence is the less to be deplored, as a record of the inscription which it bore is entered, in the handwriting of the famous Koderic OTlaherty, on the fly-leaf of the manuscript :
" Inscriptio Hibernicis literis incisa cruci argentese in operimento hujus Libri in transversa crucis parte, nomen artificis indicat ; et in longitudine tribus lineis a sinistra et totidem dextra, ut sequitur :
>|< OROIT ACUS BENDACHT CHOLUIMB CHILLE DO FHLAND MACC MAILSECHNAILL DO RIGH ERENN LAS A NDERNAD A CUM- DACH SO.
" Hoc est Latine :
^ ORATIO ET BENEDICTIO S. COLUMB^ CILLE SIT FLANNIO FILIO MALACHLE REGI HIBERNLE QUI HANG (OPERIMENTl) STRUC- TURAM FIERI FECIT.
" Flannius hie Rex Hibernise decessit 8 Kal. Maii et die Sabbati ut in MS. Cod. Hib. quod Chronicon Scotorum dicitur anno serse Christianas vulgaris 916. Hanc inscriptionem interpretatus est Ro. Flaherty 19 Jun. 1677."
Thus it appears that the book was venerable in age, and a reliquary in 916.
The remarkable colophon, which is cited at p. 242 (Orig. Ed.), appears on the last page of the capitula of St. John's Gospel, which originally closed the volume, but which has improperly been made the twelfth folio by the hands of a
1 Brit. EC. Ant., c. 15.
XC1V LNTEODUCT10N.
modern binder. Dr. Charles O'Conor has given an excellent facsimile of a page of this remarkable manuscript : but he has fallen into the strange error of confounding the Book of Kells with it, and of mixing up Lhuyd's notices of the two.1
10. BOOK OF KELLS. — This wonderful manuscript was pre served at Kells, in the county of Meath, at the time that Arch bishop Ussher wrote his Antiquities of the British Churches, as appears from his words cited in the preceding article. It had existed there for many centuries, and was traditionally called the Book of Columcille. The costly shrine with which it was enclosed nearly proved its destruction in the beginning of the eleventh century, as we learn from the Annals of Ulster, as also the Four Masters at 1006, where it is related that "the Great Gospel of Columcille was stolen at night from the western sacristy of the great church of Cenannus. This was the prin cipal relic of the western world, on account of its remarkable cover. And it was found after two months and twenty days, its gold having been stolen off, and a sod over it." Fortunately the manuscript itself sustained little injury (it received more from the plough of a modern bookbinder), and in the course of the following century its blank pages were considered a fit depository for copies of certain charters of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, connected with the endowments of Kells. Archbishop Ussher became possessed of this manuscript, and after his death it was in great danger of being lost : but it escaped, and on the Eestoration it came, with what remained of the Archbishop's library, "ex dono Caroli n." into the custody of Trinity College, Dublin, where it remains, the admiration and astonishment of every one who examines it.
11. THE MISACH. — A manuscript, but of what is unknown; for, conversely to the fate of the Books of Kells and Durrow, the case remains, but its contents are gone. The custody of this reliquary was hereditary in the family of O'Morison, who
1 Her. Hib. SS., vol. i., Ep. N. p. 180, and Prol. p. 185.
were the herenachs of Clonmany, a parish in Inishowen, and it continued in their possession till the abolition of the old church tenures reduced them to a state of penury, and they were induced to part with it. The case is of wood, overlaid with wrought silver, and is ornamented with ecclesiastical figures resembling those on the case of the Cathach, as may be seen in the published drawing.1 An inscription in two lines appears on the upper side in these words :
Brian mac Briain i Muirgiussa d o cumdaig me A. D°. M°CCCCC°XXXIIII. " Brian, son of Brian O'Muirguissan, covered me, Anno Domini 1534."
The keeper of the reliquary in 1609 was Donogh O'Morison, who was a juror at an inquisition sped that year at Lifford, where it was found that a quarter named Donally was " free to Donnogh O'Morreesen, the abbots' corbe and the busshop Derrie's herenagh of those three quarters : that the other three quarters of the said six quarters church land were given by the ODogherties and ODonnells to Collumkill, as a dedication towards his vestiments when he went to warre, which said three quarters, beinge free, were given to the auncestors of the said Donogh O'Morreeson, whoe in those daies were servaunts to Collumkills : and in the said parishe are sixe gortes of glebe, whereof three gortes belonge to the viccar, and thother fower gortes to the keeper of the missagh or ornaments left by Columkill." By this it appears that the word misach, being interpreted "ornaments," was supposed to be the plural of maise, "an ornament," and not derived, as the form of the word would indicate, from mis, " a month." This interesting reliquary having often changed hands, and having been carried away to England, finally became the property of the present Earl of Dunraven, who generously presented it to the College of St. Columba near Dublin, where it is now preserved. The following extract from an ancient tale, called The Death of
1 Betham, Ant. Res., i. 213.
Muircertach mac Erca, contains the earliest allusion to this reliquary : —
" Cairnech blessed them, and left them gifts, i.e. to the Clanns Conaill and Eoghain. That when they should not be chiefs, or kings of Erin, their influence should extend over every province around them ; and that the coarbship of Ailech, and Tara, and Ulster, should be with them ; and that they should not accept hire from any one, because the sovereignty of Erin was their own in herent right ; and that their hostages should not be locked up, and that decay should come upon the hostages who should abscond ; and that they should have victory in battle, if fought in a just cause, and that they should have three standards, viz., the Cathach, and the Bell of Patrick, i.e. the Bell of the testament, and Cairnech1 s Miosach ; and that the virtue of all these should be on any one reliquary of them in time of battle, as Cairnech bequeathed them ; ut dixit" etc.
12. DUBH DUAIBSEACH. — A bell, which St. Columba is fabled to have employed in his conflict with the demons of Sengleann.1 It was probably preserved in the parish of Glencolumkille, in Donegal.
13. GLASSAN. — A bell, which formerly belonged to Drumcolumbkille in Sligo, and was reputed to hava been given by the Saint to his disciple Finbarr, the first minister of that church.2
14. DUBH DIGLACH.— A bell of St. Columba's, mentioned in an old poem of the Laud manuscript (p. 28).
1 5. CLOCK KUADH.— The "Bed Stone," about which O'Donnell records the strange legend : " Simul etiam cum partu enixa est mater [Columbse] quasi lapillum quendam rubrum, vulgo Clock Euadh dictum, teretemque mali aurei magnitudine, qui in eodem prsedio religiose asservatur."3 The Donegal Inquisition of 1609 finds that two gorts in Gartan were held by " O'Nahan, who carrieth Collumkillie's read stoane." In the Laud MS. (p. 95) there is a poem ascribed to St. Columba on the virtues of the Eed Stone, wherewith he banished the demons from Sengleann. O'Donnell calls the latter a "blue stone, and speaks of it as pre served in Glencolumkille.4
1 6. MOELBLATHA. — The legend in the Preface to the hymn
1 Colgan, Tr. Th., p. 403 b. 2 Ib. p. 406 b. 3 Ib. p. 393 a. 4 Ib. p. 403 b.
Altus Prosator (Leabhar Breac, fol. 109 a), speaking of the mill at Hy, says : —
" Then Columkille himself lifted up the sack from the stone which is in the refectory at Hy, and the name of that stone is Moelblatha ; and he left prosperity on all food which should be placed upon it."
This may, in after times, have been one of the Black Stones of Hy which Martin makes mention of as objects of religious awe.
17. BRECBANNOCH. — Between the years 1204 and 1211, King William the Lion granted to the monks of Arbroath " custodiam de Brachbennoche," and " cum predicta Brechbennoche terram de Forglint datam Deo et sancto Columbe et le Brachbennache," on the tenure " faciendo inde servicium quod michi in exercitu debetur de terra ilia cum predicta Brachbennache." This grant is recited in the charter of Arbroath, passed by the same king in 1211-1214; and substantially repeated in a confirma tion by King Alexander II. in 1214-1218. In 1314 the con vent grants to Malcolm of Monimusk " totam terram nostram de Forglen que pertinet ad Bracbennach cum omnibus pertinenciis suis una cum jure patronatus ecclesie ejusdem terre. . . . Dictus vero Malcolmus et heredes sui facient in exer citu domini Eegis nomine nostro servicium pro dicta terra quod pertinet ad Bracbennach quociens opus fuerit."1 From the Monimusks the lands of Forglen, with the custody of the Bracbennach, passed by inheritance to the Urrys and the Frasers, in the latter of which families they were found in 1388. In 1411 they were surrendered to the convent, and about 1420 they were conferred on Sir Alexander Irvine of Drum. In ~1$47 they had passed to his grandson, who held them of the abbot and convent by service of ward and relief, and " ferendi vexillum de Brekbennach in exercitu Eegis," and the payment of the annual rent of 40 shillings. In 1481 Alexander Irvine did homage for these lands and purtenances to the abbot, who " dixit et constituit ut tenentes regalitatis dicti monasterii de
1 Reg. Vet. Aberbrothoc, pp. 10, 5, 73, 296 ; Collections of Aberdeen, pp. 511-514, 515-516, 517.
Aberbrothoc ubicumque existentes cum dicto Alexandra ad exercitum domini nostri Eegis sub le Brecbennoch videlicet sub vexillo dictorum abbatis et conventus meabunt et equitabunt cum requisiti fuerint per dictum dominum abbatem et conventum dicti monasterii et suos successores pro defensione Eegis et regni." In 1483 Alexander Irvine had a charter of the lands of Forglen, with the advowson of the church " faciendo in exercitu domini nostri Eegis servicium de le Brekbannach debitum et consuetum." And lastly, in 1494 it was found that Alex ander Irvine was the lawful heir of Alexander Irvine of Drum, his father, in the lands of Forglen, with the advowson of the church, held as above. From these notices we learn that this reliquary was a banner, and held so sacred in the beginning of the thirteenth century that it was named in the dedication clause of the earliest charter. Also, that it was coupled with St. Columba's name, not because the abbey of Arbroath was under his invocation, for it was under that of St. Thomas of Canterbury ; nor because he was patron saint of the parish, for St. Adamnan was reputed to be so ; but, as we may conceive, because this banner was in some way connected with St. Columba's history, either by use or blessing. Possibly it was like the Vexillum Sancti CuMerti, so fatal to the Scots at Neville's Cross.
" Ther did appeare to Johne Fossour, the Prior of the Abbey at Durham, a vision commanding him to take the holie Corporax Cloth, which was within the corporax, wherewith Saint Cuthbert did cover the chalice, when he used to say masse, and to put the same holie relique, like unto a Banner, upon a speare point." l
The name Brecbannach seems to be formed from breac beannaighthe, " maculosum benedictum," and denoted some thing like the bratacha breac-mergeada, pallia maculatorum vexillorum, which were carried in the battle of Magh Eath. The Brecbannach probably served a double purpose, being, like the Banner of Cuthbert, " shewed and carried in the abbey on festivall and principall daies," and also "pre-
1 Des. Anc. Mon. of Durham (Surt. Sue.), p. 20.
INTKODUCT10N. XC1X
sented and carried to any battle, as occasion should serve." Whence King William obtained the reliquary is not stated. Probably it had been kept in the parish of Forglen by the hereditary tenants of the .church lands. Between 1172 and 1180 the king granted to the Canons of Holyrood the rights, tithes, and obventions of four churches in Cantyre, which had previously been enjoyed by the abbey of Hy ; and his grant of this reliquary, with its appurtenances, to Arbroath, may have been a transfer of a like nature.
18. CATH-BHUAIDH. — That is, Battle-victory. This was the name of a crosier, the existence and veneration of which we learn from the following passage, belonging to the year 918, which is extracted from an anonymous collection of Irish Annals preserved in the Burgundian Library at Brussels (7. c. n. 17, p. 66):—
" About the same time the Fortrenns and Lochlanns fought a battle. Bravely indeed the men of Alba fought this battle, for Columkille was aiding them ; for they had prayed to him most fervently, because he was their apostle, and it was through him that they received the faith, One time, when Imhar Coming was a young man, he came to Alba, with three great battalions, to plunder it. The men of Alba, both lay and clerics, fasted, and prayed till morning to God and Columcille ; they made earnest entreaty to the Lord ; they gave great alms of food and raiment to the churches and the poor, received the body of the Lord at the hands of their priests, and promised to do all kinds of good works, as their clergy would order them, and that their standard in going forth to any battle should be the crosier of Columkille. Where fore it is called the Cath-bhuaidh from that day to this. And this is a befitting name for it ; for they have often gained victory in battle by it, as they did at that time, when they placed their hope in Columbkille. They did the same on this occasion. The battle was bravely fought at once. The Albanians gained victory and triumph, killed many of the Lochlanns after their defeat ; and their king was slain on the occasion, namely, Ottir, son of larngna. It was long after until either the Danes or Lochlanns attacked them ; but they were at peace and harmony with them."
VII.
THE St. Columba's history belongs to the period of the Irish Church OF HT when the Secundus Ordo of saints prevailed, and his name, with those of the Brendans, Comgall, and Cainnech, whom Adanman records with honour as his special friends, appears in the cata logues of its worthies. This order may be regarded as the development of a native ministry, whose system possessed more nationality than that of their predecessors, and took a deeper impress from the customs and condition of the country. Its characteristics were : " Pauci episcopi, et multi presbyteri ; diversas missas celebrabant, et diversas regulas ; unum Pascha xiv. Luna; unam tonsuram ab aure ad aurem; abnegabant mulierum administrationem, separantes eas a monasteriis." The diversity of liturgical practice probably arose from the mixed character of the Primus Ordo, which was composed of Eomans, Francs, Britons, and Egyptians ; and their conventual discipline varied in intensity with the tempers or ascetic habits of the framers. They agreed, however, in their preference of the presbyterate ; their observance of the old-fashioned Easter ; the anterior Eastern tonsure ; and seclusion from female society. It is a remarkable fact that many of the monastic churches, which grew in after times to be bishops' sees, were founded by presbyters : Clonard, by Finnian ; Clonmacnois, by Ciaran ; Clonfert, by Brendan ; Aghabo, by Cainnech ; Glendaloch, by Kevin ; Lismore, by Carthach ; and Derry, Kaphoe, and Hy, by Columba. The great promoters of the conventual system sought no higher order than such as would enable them, con sistently with the vows of humility, to administer the sacra ments, and conduct the ordinary devotions of their fraternities. The abbatial office gave them all the jurisdiction of the episco pate, without its responsibilities ; and little more was left to the bishop than the essence of his office, the transmission of holy orders, with the personal reverence which was due to the holder of so important a commission. Another element in the Irish monastic system was its social connexions. Every great monastery was a centre of family relation, and served as a school or asylum for all who were of patron's or founder's kin. This particular was most strikingly exemplified in the case of Hy, as may be seen in the genealogical table of the early abbots annexed to this Introduction, which shows that the abbacy was, with one or two exceptions, strictly limited to a branch of the Tir-Conallian family. It shows, also, that there was no lineal succession in Hy, as there was in many other Irish monasteries, where secular interests so far prevailed as to make the abbacy hereditary, and ultimately to frustrate the founder's intention by the extinction of conventual observance, and the virtual transference of the endowments to lay possession, as in Bangor, or by the repetition of irregularities such as St. Bernard com plains of in the case of Armagh.1
These sixth-century monasteries were as rapid in their growth as they were numerous in their creation. St. Finnian's of Clonard is said to have numbered 3000 members, St. Corngall's of Bangor the same amount, and St. Brendan's parochia 3000 more. The ramifications of these houses spread exactly in the same manner as St. Columba's, and, for a time, were fully equal in extent to his; but they wanted the severalty of position which the Columbian centre enjoyed ; they had no Pictish race to convert ; and, above all, they had no Adamnan to perpetuate the honours of their founders.
Whether St. Columba or any of his contemporaries composed and promulgated a systematic rule like St. Benedict's is very doubtful. Eeyner expressed his opinion in the negative ; and though Fleming and O'Conor have condemned him for the assertion, they have failed in proving the affirmative of the question. Wilfrid, indeed, spoke at the synod of Whitby of regula acprcecepta of Columba,2 and in the Lives of some of the Irish saints the term regula occurs, but generally in the sense of " discipline " or " observance ; " while the mention of written rules is rare and legendary. There certainly existed, in the middle ages, not only a great diversity in monastic practice,
1 Vit. S. Malachiae, caps. 5 and 7. 2 Berle, Hist. EC., iii. 25.
but also an understanding that the fathers of the Irish Church had established and denned a variety of orders. An ancient Life of Ciaran of Clonmacnois limits them to eight, and enume rates them under the names of " S. Patricii, Brandani, Kierani Cluanensis, Columbae Hiensis, cujus ordo dicebatur Pulchrce Societatis, Comgalli, Adamnani, Brigidse, Molassi seu Lisriani;"1 but the recital is evidently arbitrary, for St. Adamnan, instead of being the author of a new rule, was unable to induce the society of which he was ninth abbot to accept the reformed Paschal canon. Possibly, the biographer supposed, as did Ussher in a later age, and others after him, that the Lex of Adamnan, Patrick, Ciaran, Brendan, etc., mentioned in the Irish Annals, denoted formulas of monastic government. Ussher further states that the rules of Columbakilli, Comgall, Mochutta, and Albe were extant in the manuscript from which he pub lished his catalogue of the saints, but " Hibernico sermone antiquissimo exaratse et nostris temporibus pene ignorabili." 2 It was probably from this or a similar collection that the Irish Rules, preserved in the Brussels MS., were transcribed. Through the exertions of the Eev. Dr. Todd, copies of them have been obtained in this country, and by his kind permission the present writer was enabled, in 1850, to print the Eule of St. Columba in the Appendix to Colton's Visitation of Deny (p. 109). It differs from the others in being written in prose. They are all very ancient compositions, but totally insufficient to convey any definite idea of the peculiarities of the orders to which they profess respectively to belong. Colgan, who lived before the dispersion of Irish records, and had the best opportunity of discovering such literary monuments, was not aware of the existence of any other Eule of St. Columba but the one just mentioned, and it is evident that he attached but little import ance to it, as he has omitted to print it among St. Columba's supposed compositions, and contents himself with stating that he had sent a Latin translation of it to a contemporary writer. The Eule of St. Columbanus and the Pcenitentials of him and
1 Colgan, Tr. Th., p. 471 b. a Usslier, Brit. EC. Ant, c. 17.
Cummian, are the only remains of Irish monastic discipline which have descended to us, and these have probably been modified by the peculiar institutions of the countries where they were observed ; and when they are compared with the Bene dictine Rule, in all its beauty of piety, eloquence, and method, it is to be wondered how a lesser light could shine beside it, and even the one meagre Irish Rule have been transmitted to us. When saying that Columbanus's is the only Irish Rule which has descended to us, it may be well to mention that Lucas Holstenius has printed two Rules — one intituled Cujusdam Patris Regula ad Monachos, consisting of thirty-two chapters ; and the other, Cujusdam Patris Eegula ad Virgines, of twenty-four chapters — which Calmet has attributed to St. Comgall, but Holstenius's editor to St. Columba. This, how ever, is mere conjecture, which is not supported even by the style or matter of the compositions. In the same collection there is an Ordo Monasticus, purporting to be an ancient rule of discipline, " ab antiquis monachis Scotis sub exordio susceptse Christianas religionis observatus," and which Holstenius's editor considers the most ancient monument of all the monks of the West, and worthy of ranking next to the institutions of Cassian, and the rule of Pachomius. But a document which opens, as it does, with an account of the Culdees of Culros, and derives the term Keledeus from cella, however venerable it may appear to a German, must savour to a Scot of mediaeval antiquity, especially when it is found, almost totidem vcrbis, in Ricemarch's Life of David, as the discipline of the Menevian saint. > It is not necessary to reprint in this Introduction the only existing ftegula Choluim-chille, because it is a formula intended more for a hermit than a member of a social community, and the book in which it is printed can readily be consulted. The following scheme, which is entirely new in its construction, is derived principally from Adamnan, to whose narrative re ference is made by the number of the page in the present edition. Bede and other authorities afford some particulars of information which are acknowledged in their place.
1. CONSTITUTION OF THE COMMUNITY.
Conventual life was considered a special militia Christi (133, 159), and they who adopted it were looked upon as Christi milites (116, 215 passim), in reference to their Leader, and commilitaries (139, 171, 173, 196) as regarded one another. Each one professed his readiness Deo exhibere hostiam (133), by with drawing from the cares of the world, and a willingness to enter it only as an athleta Christi (Vit. Munnae) in the propagation of the Gospel (Bede, iii. 3). The society, termed ccenobialis coetus (111), or collegium monachorum (Bede, iii. 5), consisted essentially of an Abbot and Family.
The Abbot, called abbas (113), or pater (106, 213), or sanctus pater (1 1 5), or sanctus senior (1 1 5, 137), and, in the founder's case, patronus (1 07, 1 1 5, 1 9 1, 2 1 1, 2 14, 2 1 6), had his seat at the matrix ecclesia (1 1 9), which was situate in Hy, the insula primaria (1 1 1) of his society ; but his jurisdiction equally extended over the affiliated churches, which either he in person (116, 143, 147, 182), or his disciples (132, 135, 173) founded in Ireland (xlix-lx) or in Scotland (Ix-lxxi), which he occasionally visited (116, 147), and regulated (127, 187), and ministered in (205), and whose respective Superiors, prcepositi (131, 132, 140, 163), received their charge from him (131, 143), and were subject to his orders, even when ministering in churches of their own foundation (132, 136). In ecclesiastical rank he was a presbyter, and officiated at the altar (142, 201, 205, 211), and pronounced absolution (131), but was not a bishop ; hence he was emphatically styled abbas et presbyter. But this observ ance, which had its origin in choice, and its continuance in precedent, by no means implied a usurpation or disregard of the episcopal office; for there were at all times bishops con nected with the society, resident at Hy or some dependent church, who were subject to the abbot's jurisdiction — that is, who rendered him conventual obedience, agreeably to their monastic vow ; whose acts were performed on the responsi bility of the abbot, or in the name of the community ; and who were assigned their stations, or called in to ordain, very much as the bishops of the Unitas Fratrum in the present day, being regarded as essential to the propagation of the Church rather than its maintenance; and who, therefore, had as little authority in the internal economy of the society as the bishop had in the Irish monastery of Bobio, or the diocesan in the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, or Dublin. Still the essential function of the episcopal office was scrupulously maintained : when a presbyter^was to be ordained, the bishop was called in ; when a distant province was to be brought within the Christian pale, a bishop was consecrated for the creation of a local ministry, and successors to him ordained and sent forth from time to time ; and when an accredited candidate came even from Ireland to Hy, he in like manner was invested with the highest ecclesiastical orders. Nor was this an observance of mere form, while the office was held in low esteem ; on the other hand, the great founder set the example of veneration for the episcopate (152), and, as the ninth presbyter-abbot relates (142), in the service of his own mother-church and from the altar, disclaimed all pretensions to equality with one of episcopal rank. This was no more than was to be expected from a presbyter who had served as a deacon (152, 169) in a monastery where presbyters, called from their chief function ministri altaris (152), lived under the presidency of a bishop (152, 196) ; one who received the hospitality of another bishop (147); one who instituted a feast in memory of a bishop who was carus amicus (202) ; and whose own institution was frequented by bishops from Ireland (119, 142) for communion and edification. The abbot was wont on extraordinary occasions to summon the brethren to the oratory (120, 187), even in the dead of night (127), and there address them from the altar (120, 127, 187, 202), and solicit their prayers. Occasionally he instituted a festival, published a holi day, and enjoined the celebration of the Eucharist (201, 202) ; as occasion offered, he dispensed with a fast (129, 130), or relaxed penitential discipline (127), or regulated its intensity (180). He
ff gave licence of departure (119), which he signified by his bene diction (116, 125, 126, 133, 143,155). He was saluted by pro stration (115). He forbade, at pleasure, admission to the island (128). When he thought fit, he despatched a chosen brother on a distant mission (125, 132, 154, 156, 179), or for monastic purposes (139, 153). He had the control of the temporalities (140, 153, 180). When at home he was attended (129, 131, 135, 203, 208, 209), except when he signified his wish to be alone (204, 206, 208). When abroad, he was accompanied by a party (131, 134, 164, 170, 173, 174, 177, 191, 203) who were styled mri sociales (164) ; and he preached (173) or baptized (134, 159, 173, 203) as occasion offered. The founder inaugurated the first independent king of Scotch Dalriada in Hy (197), and the ceremony was probably continued as an honorary function of the abbot (213). The founder also named his own successor (1 1 5, 2 1 3), who had been his alumnus (1 1 5, 206), and a prcepositus (126), whose qualifications were that he was sanctus, sapiens, affabilis, peregrinis appetibilis (115), and experienced non solum docendo sed etiam scribendo (213). The third abbot had been &prcepositus (131). In the election, preference was given to founder's kin ; and hence it happened that of the eleven immediate successors of the founder there is but one (Suibhne, sixth abbot) whose pedigree is uncertain, and but one (Connamail, tenth abbot) whose descent was confessedly from another house. The surrender of the old Easter and Tonsure, in 7 1 6, broke down family prescription, and henceforward the abbacy became an open appointment. The Table annexed to this Introduction, which has been constructed from the genealogies in the Book of Lecan and in Colgan, will show to the reader at a glance the connexion which existed between the early abbots, and their relation to the royal family ; and while it proves that abbacy was not transmitted in lineal succession, it will demon strate the existence of clanship even in a religious community. The Family, vernacularly called muintir, and in Latin familia (An. Ult. 640, 690, 716, 748), consisted offratres (112, 155, 208) or commemibrcs (187), whom the founder styled mei familiare-s
-monaehi (211, 212, 216), or mei electi monacki (183), and endearingly addressed as filioli (171, 207, 213, 216). They were at first twelve in number (Ixxi, 196), and natives of Ireland ; but their society soon increased, and included Britons (198) and Saxons (201, 209). The brethren, of tried devotedness, were called senior es (188, 200) ; those who were strong for labour, operarii fratres (210) ; and those who were under instruction, junior es (116), alumni (208), or pueri familiares (117). Besides the congregation, or collectio (200), of professed members, there were generally present peregrini (133, 143, 198), who were sometimes called proselyti (129, 132, 133, 142); or pcenitentes(\W, 131, 180); or hospites (118, 123, 124), whose sojourn was of varied length (133, 180, 198).
2. DISCIPLINE.
The principle of Obedience is embodied in the precept of Columbanus, "Ad primum verbum senioris omnes ad obediendum audientes surgere oportet, quia obedientia Deo exhibetur, dicente Domino nostro Jesu Christo : Qui vos audit me audit ;" and the measure of obedience is defined to be usque ad mortem^ It is reasonable to suppose that this essential of monastic order was strictly observed in the Columbian system. Hence the readiness of the brethren to prepare on the shortest notice for a long and wearisome journey (132), or a distant and hazardous voyage (125, 154, 156, 179), or to do the service of the monastery (153), or to submit to exposure in out-door work, at the local Superior's desire, during the most inclement weather (131), or to undertake an office of responsibility, though by a nephew's order (143). Hence the acquiescence in an injunction to intermit a custom (204), and the severe rebuke which attended a viola tion of his command (204, 205, 210). The obedientia sine mora of the Benedictine Eule was evidenced in Hy by the alacrity with which the abbot's orders were executed (145, 156, 162), and the speed with which a distant brother forsook the church of his sojourn, and hastened, at the abbot's call, to Hy, there to
1 Regula, cap. i.
abide in vera obedientia (132). Obedience, however, had its limit to things lawful ; for Adamnan, when abbot, was unable to effect a change in the observance of Easter.
The members had all things common. Personal property was disclaimed, according to the injunction in Columba's heremitical Eule : Imnochta do gres do sechem ar Christ ocus ar na soscela, " Be always naked in imitation of Christ, and [in obe dience to] the precepts of the Gospel."1 Similar to this was the maxim of Columbanus, " Nuditas et facultatum contemptus prima perfectio est monachorum," after the precept, "si quis vult post me venire, abneget semetipsum."2
Though St. Columba was desirous to promote conjugal happi ness (184, 185), and he was held in veneration by the other sex (156, 181, 184), there can be no doubt that celibacy was strictly enjoined on his community, and the condition, " virgo corpore et virgo mente,"3 held up for imitation. Hence we find a monk discharging an office usually assigned to women (162), and hence the total absence of anything like hereditary succes sion in the abbacy of Hy. A learned and ingenious writer in a modern journal has proved to a demonstration, from the native Annalists, that a lineal succession of abbots existed in many of the Irish monasteries during the ninth and following centuries, but he has failed to include the coarbs of Columba in the class; and a comparison of his premises with the Genealogical Table annexed to this Introduction will show that he has mistaken names for persons. Marriage, no doubt, existed among the secular clergy, but the practice seems to have been disapproved of by the regulars ; and thus we may qualify the story told of St. Comgall's preceptor, " Quadani nocte cum Clericus ille cum muliere dormisset ; " and Adamnan's narrative of the clericus of Magh Breg, "dives et honoratus in plebe," who died "cum meretrice in eodem lectulo Cubans" (138).
In their intercourse with one another, the monks of this order appear to have been virtually regulated by the precept of Colum-
1 Eeeves's Colt. Visit., p. 109. 2 Reg., c. 4. 3 77>. c. 6.
banus, "Cura cautela et ratione loquendum est." Of such reserve the anecdote told of the monks and Baithene (136, 137) affords an example. Between the abbot and the brethren there seems to have been no restraint (186, 200) ; and as regards the society at large, the objects of their system were too practical, and their engagements too much characterized by common sense, to im pose any restraint in conversation but such as conduced to the purity or decorum of the members.
Another monastic principle was Humility, which was exem plified both in demeanour towards superiors and in dejection after sin. A visitor on bended knees bowed down before the founder (198) and his successor (115); and even before a sub ordinate senior the brethren made known their wishes upon their knees (137). The penitent fell on his knees weeping (132). St. Benedict's injunction was " Omnibus venientibus sive discedentibus hospitibus, inclinato capite vel prostrate omni corpore in terra, Christus in eis adoretur qui et suscipitur."1 To the same principle may be attributed the custom which was common to St. Benedict and St. Comgall, and which probably extended to St. Columba, as a received observance of the time, " Si quis frater pro quavis minima causa, ab abbate vel a quocunque priore suo corripiatur, sine rnora tandiu prostratus in terra ante pedes ejus jaceat satisfaciens usque dum benedictione sanetur ilia commotio."2 St. ComgalTs Life says, "Mos erat in monasterio sancti patris Comgalli, ut si quis alium increparet, quamvis Hie esset culpabilis aut inculpabilis, statim qui increpabatur genua humiliter flecteret." 3 The strict observance of this regula tion is exemplified by legends showing the extraordinary lengths to which compliance with the letter of the precept was carried.
Hospitality, so leading a feature in ancient monasticism, was developed in Hy in the fulness of national generosity : hence, a large portion of Adamnan's anecdotes have reference to the entertainment of strangers; and the story of the heron (145) serves as a lively illustration of the kind reception which was
1 Reg., cap. 53. » Reg., cap. 71. 3 Cap. 23 (Flem. Coll., p. 307 6).
always in store for the visitor. "When a stranger arrived, he was sometimes introduced at once to the abbot, by whom he was kissed (129, 133); sometimes the interview was deferred (115, 180). When an expected guest arrived, the abbot and brethren went to meet and welcome him (118,132,143). He was conducted to the oratory (117, 177, 186), and thanks returned for his safety. From this he was led to a lodging, hospitium (133), and water prepared to wash his feet (118). If the visitor happened to arrive on an ordinary fast- day of the week, the fast was re laxed in his favour (130), consolatio cibi (127) was allowed, and he was said jejunationem solver e (130). Almsgiving was held in high esteem (166), and the founder, on several occasions, befriended the poor (164, 178). An instance is recorded where valuable presents, under the name of xenia, were sent to a man in need (140). Itinerant beggars, who went about with wallets (165), were not held in such esteem. The monastery was resorted to for medical relief also (130). Grievous transgressors were excluded (128).
As regarded Divine Worship, the days of the year were either ordinary or solennes (152, 202). On the former it is likely that the customary cursus or synaxis was performed at the canonical hours; for, although Adamnan is silent on the subject, the Life of St. Cainnech mentions a case in which None was observed in Hy, and it is not likely that the Columbian usage would have differed from the general monastic practice of the age. The brethren who were employed on the farm were not required to attend during the day (136), and fatigue after their labour would probably demand unbroken sleep at night. The congregation was summoned to the oratory signno personate (187, 202), that is, by the sound of the bell (120, 214), both on stated and extraordinary occasions. Being assembled, they proceeded to the oratory, sometimes in attendance on the abbot (202), sometimes with less regularity (120, 214). At night they carried lanterns with them (214).
The dies solennes were the dies Dominicce and Sanctorum natales (190, 201), which were solemnized in the same manner, by rest from labour, the celebration of the Eucharist, and the use of better food (155). The festival commenced after the sunset of the preceding day (190, 201, 211), and its stated services were the Vespertinalis missa (15G, 195, 213), Matutini (214), Prime (201), Tierce, Sext (190), and probably None (145, 160, 179). The chief service, missarum solemnia (139, 201, 206), was sometimes at Prime (201), or at Sext (190) : on such an occasion the cantores (202) chanted the wonted office, in the course of which there was a commemoration by name of certain saints (202). In the sacra Eucharistice ministeria (201), also called sacra mysteria (202, 206),s#mg ollationis mysteria (139), or obsequia (201, 202), wine (152), and water, which was drawn by the deacon and set down in an nrceus (152), and bread (142), were provided : the priest (139) standing before the altar (206) proceeded to consecrate, sacra Eucharistice consecrare mysteria (205), sacram oblationem consecrare (206), sacra Eucharistice mysteria conficere (139), Christi corpus conftcere (142). When several priests were present, one was selected for the office (139, 205), who might invite a presbyter ut simul Dominicum panemf ranger ent in token of equality (142). When a bishop officiated at the altar, he brake the bread alone, in token of his superior office (142). The brethren then approached the altar, and partook of the Eucharist (180, 181).
On extraordinary occasions the abbot summoned the brethren by the sound of the bell to the oratory (120, 187, 202), even in the dead of night (127), on which occasions he addressed them as they stood in their places (187), and having asked, their prayers ($.), he kneeled down himself at the altar ($.), and sometimes prayed with tears (ib.) Sometimes the abbot (161, 184, 207), or a brother (207, 208), rose from his bed even in a winter night (205, 207), and proceeded alone to the oratory for private devotion (ib.\ and if the door was closed, prayed outside (208). Occasionally the founder retired in the day time to a thicket to pray (170), and even in Hy,it was his prac tice to retire in winter nights to lonely places for prayer (199, 205). In all these cases the secular abode was avoided ;
but in cases of sickness the abbot was wont to pray beside the patient's bed, in a standing (172, 173, 198) or kneeling (173) posture.
The chief Festival was the Paschalis solemnitas (180, 210), on which occasion the Eucharist was celebrated (181), and the season was specially regarded as Icetitice festimtas (211). The period which elapsed between Easter-day and Whitsunday was called Paschahs dies (158), and it was the term of the greatest indulgence during the year. Eor a considerable time after the rectification of the Paschal rule in the Church of Eome, the Columbian society tenaciously adhered to the observance of their founder, whereby there was sometimes as much as a month's interval between their Easter and that of other churches; and it was not until A.D. 716 that they acquiesced in the general practice. The Natalitium Domini (158) was another sacred festival, for which some made preparation during the forty days immediately preceding.
In the exercise of Fasting, the founder is said (108) to have shown continual diligence. Every Wednesday (129) and Friday throughout the year, except in the interval between Easter and Whitsunday, was a fast-day, and no food was taken till the nona, unless where the prior claims of hospitality demanded an exception to the rule (130). Lent was strictly kept as a preparation for Easter (181), and during this season the fast was prolonged every day except Sunday till evening, when a light meal, consisting of such food as bread, diluted milk, and eggs, was taken.
The sacrament of Baptism was administered to adult con verts, after due instruction in the faith; sometimes by the tibbot on his missionary travels, to a whole family (173, 203), sometimes to an individual, a little before death (134, 203).
Holy Orders were conferred by a bishop only. Young men were admitted to the Diaconate while students (169), and part of their duty was to wait upon the ministers of the altar (152). Priests' Orders were conferred by the bishop (135), but the previous imposition of the abbot's right hand was required as the bishop's warrant for his interference (135). The consecra tion of the bishops Aidan, Finan, Colman, Cellach, and Columbauus at Hy manifestly proves the presence of a bishop in the island. If they were canonically consecrated, there must have been at least three bishops there at one time. When Finan afterwards consecrated Cedd, he called two other bishops to his assistance j1 and when Cedda was consecrated by Vim, two British bishops took part in the ceremony.2 If, however, the services of one were judged sufficient, the usage would not have been without precedent. St. Serf is said to have been consecrated by Palladius singly; St. Kentigern was consecrated by an individual bishop, who was invited from Ireland for the purpose ; and even St. Columba himself is said in legend to have been sent to Bishop Etchen in order to receive from him episcopal orders, instead of which, through mistake, the order of priest only was conferred upon him. Lanfranc complained of single episcopal ordination as a practice existing in Ireland in 1074 ; and Anselm, in 1100, repeated the charge.
Persons retiring from the world, to live as associates or probationers in the monastery, were said sumere clericatus Ifiahitum (135, 180), or, as the natives expressed it, gabhail cleirceachta, and this course was often taken as a voluntary pen ance (135), ad delenda, peccamina (180). Whenever any one desired admission to the order, the application was submitted to the abbot, with whom it was discretionary to receive into communion immediately (133), or extend the probation over as long a period as seven years (183). At the appointed time, the candidate was conducted to the oratory, where on his knees, he repeated, after the abbot, the monachicum votum (133, 183), the solemn asseveration being per nomen excelsi Dei (142).
After the commission of an offence, the penitent was required cwam omnibus peccantiam suam confiteri (132, 139), generally on his knees (132, 147), and thus, promising amendment, pcenitentiam agere (147). In such case the abbot either absolved
1 Bede, Hist. EC., iii. 22. 2 Ib. iii. 28.
him on the spot (132), or enjoined a more lengthened discipline, juxta judicationem (128), which was termed the leges pcenitentice (128, 180), and sometimes extended to an abode of seven years at a prescribed station (180), sometimes even to twelve, occa sionally accompanied by self-mortification, and perpetual exile from father-land (128). The penitent who fulfilled the injunc tion salutem exercuit animce suce (182).
The Tonsure of the Secundus Ordo, in which the founder was reckoned, was db aure ad aurem, that is, the anterior half of the head was made bare, but the occiput was untouched. This usage existed in St. Patrick's time, who may have found it in the country ; it was adopted by St. Columba, and con tinued in his Order until 718, when the coronal tonsure was received by the society of Hy. This occurred two years after the Paschal change ; for, though Bede refers the joint reforma tion to 716, the practical adoption of a new style of tonsure would require a longer preparation than a mere ritual ob servance. The Greek tonsure was total, and was styled St. Paul's, and the Eoman, which was coronal, was styled St. Peter's, but the Irish fashion, in order to its being brought into dis repute, was opprobriously ascribed to Simon Magus ; and when Ceolfrid cast this up to Adamnan, the latter, instead of repu diating the name, is represented as acquiescing in the reproach, for his apology was etsi Simonis tonmram ex consuetudine patria habeam.1 Another scandal circulated against it was of its introduction ^into Ireland by the swine-herd of Laeghaire, the Pagan king, who resisted Patrick. In the St. Gall copy of Adamnan there is a representation of St. Columba, but it gives him the coronal tonsure, a mistake into which a continental manuscript of the ninth century might fall.
The sign of the cross was very generally employed as a siynum salutare (162) ; hence it was customary, before milking, to cross the pail (163) ; before tools were used, to cross them (172). The sign of the cross was considered effectual to banish
1 Bede, Hiat. EC., v. 21.
demons (163), to restrain a river-monster (171), to prostrate a wild beast (170), to unlock a door (176), to endow a pebble with healing virtues (1 74). Hence the readiness to erect the substantial vexillum crucis on the site of any remarkable occur rence (143, 212) ; a tendency which got full credit for its development, when Hy was celebrated for her 360 crosses. Even at sea, the cruciform relation of the masts and yards was regarded as conducive to a favourable voyage (190). In the founder's lifetime there was also an extensive employment of charms, which were produced by his blessing on such objects as panis (154, 157), pinea capsella, numeri (156), sal (157), aqua (154, 157), cuculla (168), pugio (172), sudes (178), albus lapillus (175), and this virtue survived him on earth, as in the laudum carmina (113), tunica (188), libri (155, 158, 188). Such belief, however, was peculiar neither to the founder nor his nation : it was professed in equal variety and firmness by the venerable father of Saxon history.
The Burial of the Dead was a religious office, which involved a regard to the future as well as the present. The lively faith in the Eesurrection (215) rendered it a consideration of impor tance to be buried among the honoured members of the society (183), and as the day of dissolution was regarded as the natalis (190, 201), so the object in the choice of a burial-place was ubi resurgere (Ixxix, 183). The body of the deceased was laid out in the cell (216), wrapped in linen clothes (ib), where it remained during the exequice (ib), which lasted for three days and nights (ib.), in the course of which the praises of God were sung (ib) The body was then borne to the grave in solemn procession, and buried with due reverence (ib.)
The stated employment of the community, besides their religious services, were Eeading, Writing, and Labour, accord ing to the example of the founder, who allowed no time to pass quo non aut orationi, aut lectioni, vel scriptioni, vel etiam alicui operationi incumberet (108).
The primary subject of study was lectio sacrce Scriptures (152), as well with the abbot (184), as the junior members of the society (169, 208); and, in particular, the committing to memory the Book of Psalms. Besides the Holy Scriptures, there was the study scripturarum tarn liberalium quam ecclesiasticarum, the former including the Latin and Greek languages, the latter ecclesiastical writings. Adamnan's two remaining Latin works give proof of his classical attainments, and Cummian's Paschal Epistle is a remarkable specimen of the ecclesiastical learning of the day. To the English students who frequented Ireland in the seventh century, the natives supplied libros ad legendum, and Hy was not likely to fall short in its literary provision. Eor collective reading, they were probably furnished with the lives of saints — Adamnan quotes Sulpicius Severus's Life of St. Martin (3), and Constantino's Life of St. Germanus (149) — which were collected in a mixtum ; and it is very likely that for this kind of reading the Life of the founder, as written by Adamnan, was reduced to the form in which it is found in the shorter recension, where the titles of the chapters and most proper names are omitted as calculated to interrupt or encumber the tenor of the narrative. St. Benedict prescribed the reading, after supper, of collationes vel vitas Patrum, aut certe aliquid quod cedificet audientes (cap. 42).
Writing formed a most important part of the monastic occupations; the founder was much devoted to it (172, 203, 213), and many of his books were preserved (158, 188). His successor also practised it (128, 213). Besides the supply of service books for the numerous churches that sprung into existence, and which, probably, were written without embel lishment, great labour was bestowed upon the ornamentation of some manuscripts, especially the sacred writings ; and the Books of Kells and Durrow are wonderful monuments of the conception, the skill, and the patience of the Columbian scribes in the seventh century. Giraldus Cambrensis's glow ing description of the Gospels of Kildare1 is hardly strong enough to express the excellencies of the Book of Kells. Of
1 Top. Hib., Dist. ii. c. 38.
their ordinary Latin hand in the eighth century, Cod. A. of Adamnan is a fine specimen. This manuscript contains also some examples of the Greek hand, which was then in vogue among the Irish. It was a common practice with them to write Latin matter in Greek letters (144, 191), as is remarkably illustrated in the Book of Armagh. The style of the letter is peculiar to the Irish school, and the family likeness can be traced in manuscripts which are now found in situations very remote from one another. It is very probable that a chronicle of events, especially obits, was kept in the monastery (135), and that from it the Irish Annals derived a few particulars which they have recorded concerning Hy.
The stated Labour was agriculture, in its various branches, as aratio (153, 188), seminatio (188), messio (136), trituratio (130), portatio (137): there were, moreover, the diver sa monasteri opera (201), such as mulsio (162), opus pistorium (201), fabricatio (131, 153, 204), legatio (123), on sea (125, 153, 155) and land (123, 132, 183). Besides, we may presume that there was the preparing of food, and the manufacture of the various articles required for personal or domestic use.
The individual wants of the members were the subject of discipline as well as their conduct, and the three great require ments of the body, Refectio, Habitus, and Requies, were supplied according to conventual measure, prescribed and practised by the founder, and afterwards established by usage.
The ordinary refection (127) was very simple, consisting of bread (154, 155), sometimes made of barley (153); milk (162, 179, 212); fish (164, 215); eggs (Bede iii. 2); and, probably, seal's flesh (139). On Sundays and Festivals (202), and on the arrival of guests (127), there was an improvement of diet, consolatio cibi (127, 131), refectionis indulgentia (127), which con sisted in an addition to the principal meal, prandioli adjectio \ (201) ; on which occasions it is probable that flesh-meat was served up, as mutton (140), or even beef (1 72). The number of meals in the day, and their hours, can only be conjectured. Columbanus's Eule, which is little more than a record of the Bangor observance, seems to recognise but the evening meal; and Ratramm of Corby1 states that it was the general practice of the Scotic monasteries to delay refection till nona, or evening, except on Sundays and Holydays. St. Cainnech's prandium (161) was not taken till post nonam (161) ; but this may have been at a special season, such as Lent, or a fast-day. At this chief meal the xenia (147), or contributions of the faithful (147), were partaken of (160). It is -likely, however, that St. Columba's discipline was milder than that of St. Comgall, and that it resembled St. Benedict's, which allowed dinner at twelve, and supper at evening, every day between Easter and Pentecost ; and after Pentecost, on every day except Wednes days and Fridays, when the first meal was taken at nona; from the middle of September till the beginning of Lent, the first meal continually after nona ; and, during Lent only, the first meal was delayed till the last light of day (cap. 41).
The ordinary Garments were two: the cuculla (168), of coarse texture, made of wool, and of the natural colour of the material ; and the tunica (1 70), an under-garment, which was occasionally white (188). Instead of the former, when the weather required, was worn a warmer garment called amphilahis (117, 157). The cuculla, sometimes called casula and capa, consisted of the body and the hood, the latter of which was sometimes specially termed the casula. When working or travelling, they wore calcei (160, 201), which were ficones* or sandals, and which it was customary to remove before sitting down to meat (1 60). The femoralia and pedules of the Benedic tine Rule (cap. 55) do not appear to have been used by the Irish.
In severe weather, or after hard labour, the Superior allowed the labourers otiari (131). The monks slept on lectuli (1 72, 1 99), which were distributed through the several cells. Each bed was provided with a pallet, sir amen (213), probably of straw, and a pulvillus (1 1 2, 2 1 3). What the coverlets were is not recorded, but few probably were required, as the monks slept in their ordinary clothes.
1 Ussher, Brit. Eccl. Ant,, c. 16. - See Note on B. ir. cap. 12.
3. ECONOMY.
The Monastery proper was the space enclosed by the Vallum, and embraced the Ecclesia^Refectorium, Coquina, and Hospitia, lining the Platea ; the Armarium, and probably the Officina fdbri ; together with the furniture and utensils belonging to the several departments of the institution. Its extent was not great (213), and it seems to have been incapable of receiving many strangers (167, 1 80) ; yet a visitor might be in the monastery for several days without having been seen by the abbot (105, 180).
The most important building was the sacra domus (207), indifferently called ecclesia Qtodoratorium (184,187). It was provided with an altarium (142, 181, 187), remote from the door (214); and on it the customary vessels, namely, the discus and calix. On extraordinary occasions reliquaries were placed upon the altar (189). Attached to the building on one side, and communicating with it by a door, was a oubiculwn (207), or separatum conclave, called exedra or exedriola (207), which probably served as a sacristy (188, 189), and opened externally as well as internally. Here may have been kept the clocca (120, 214), by which the congregation were summoned to the sacred offices.
The Eefectory of Aghabo, with its meiisula (160), is men tioned by Adamnan ; and, no doubt, there was a similar pro vision in Hy. The preface to the Altus expressly names it by the term proinntig (xcvii), an Irish compound, signifying and derived from prandii tectum. Here were probably kept the collus (125), hauritorium (ib.), biberce (174), and such f err amenta, as pugiones (172), and cultelli (Eeg. Ben. 55).
Adjoining the refectory we might expect to find the Kitchen, called in Irish coitchenn, or cuicin. Here were the utensils for cooking, such as the craticula (127), sartago, cacabus, and hydria (129), the ddbJiach, or water-pot, of the Irish. In very cold weather the focus (129) seems to have been resorted to for heat during the hours of study.
Tli ere was most likely a Chamber for the preservation of the books, and other literary apparatus, as the tabula (135), or waxed tablets ; the graphia1 or styles ; the calami (172), or pens : the cornicula atramenti (129), or ink-horns. The books, at least those which were intended for carriage, were suspended in pelliceis sacculis (157) from the walls.2 Among these were the sacra volumina (206, 212) of utraque canon, or Old and New Testaments, possibly in the form of a UUiofheca or Bible; ecclesiastical writings ; and profane authors.
Within the enclosure was a plateola (198), or faitJiche, surrounding or beside which were the Lodgings, hospitia, of the community. They appear to have been detached huts, originally formed of wattles (153), or of wood (189). External authorities call them botha, cello?, cellulce. Adamnan makes frequent mention of the abbot's domus (206, 208), or hospitium (216), or hospitiolum (208, 213), which he styles a tugurium (2 13), or tuguriolum (129, 135, 162, 203), at some distance from the others (208), built with joists (129), and situate on an eminence (209). Here the founder sat and wrote (162, 172, 203), or read (183), having one attendant (129, 142, 172), who occasionally read to him (135); or by two, who stood at the door, awaiting his orders (203, 209). Here was his lectulus (213). The door was provided with a lock and key (206, 208). When a stranger arrived, a hospitium (118, 180) was prepared for him. When a member died, he was laid out, and waked in his lodging (216).
There was a Smithy, probably inside the enclosure ; and in an institution where timber was so generally used, there must have been a carpenter's workshop. We may conclude that there was such an appointment near the beach also, for large beams of timber, in their rough state, were sometimes floated from the shores of the mainland to the island, and fashioned there into boats (189).
All these buildings were embraced by a rampart and fosse, called the vallum (172), which, in other Irish monasteries, was
1 See Note on B. in. c. 9. 2 See Note on B. IT. c. 8.
of a circular figure, and was intended more for the restraint than the security of the inmates. It is doubtful whether the cemetery was within the vallum; probably it was, and, if so, the position of the Eeilig Odhrain would help to determine the site of the monastery, and to assign it to the space now partially occupied by the Cathedral and its several appendages.
Outside the vallum were the various offices and appointments subsidiary to the monastery ; as the Bocetum, with its cows ; the Horreum, with its grain ; the Canaba, with its appurtenances ; the Molendinum, with its pond and mill-stream ; the Proedium, with its horse and cart ; and the Portus, with its craft of various sizes. These appendages occupied different situations, accord ing to local convenience.
The pasture-ground, with its bocetum or byre (212), called by the Irish luailidli or looley, was situate on the eastern side of the island, at some distance from the monastery ; and for this reason the lactaria vascula (162, 212) were usually conveyed on a horse's back (212). The milk-pail had an operculum (162), which was secured by a gergenna (ib.), passing through Una foramina in the sides (ib.) The Barn, called sdbJiall in the Irish Life, was an out-office of considerable importance (211). Here the grain, when sequestratus (211) or winnowed, was stored in heaps (ib.) We may presume that it was situate near the kiln and the mill.
The Kiln was employed both for the trituratio frugum (130), and ad spicas siccandas (88 n.} Orig. Ed.) The latter process was conducted in a large sieve, rota de virgis contexta (ib.) This building stood near the path which led from the monastery to the landing-place (143).
Adainnan does not mention the Mill, but he speaks of the baker, and of bread. A stream, which flows eastwards, a little to the north of the monastery, is still called Sruth-a-mkuilinn, or " Mill-stream." It rises in a bog called the Loclian mor, or " Great Lakelet, which may have served as a linn in rnuilind, or mill-pond." The stream is small now, because the Lochan is nearly drained ; but there are no traces of a weir, and the
h wheel of the mill was possibly a horizontal one. In the founder's time, the bro, or " quern," may have been the mill in use, for such was the grinding apparatus at the school where he was taught.
The land on the east side of the island seems to have been used as pasture, while the tillage was conducted in the more productive plain on the west (1 3 6, 204). To the latter, in harvesttime (136), the messores operarii repaired in the morning, and returned in the evening, carrying, from the messis (136) to the monastery, loads of corn on their backs (137). The caballus or equus ministrator (212), called gerran in the Irish Life, grazed near the monastery (212). ThQplaustrum (171, 210) had rotce or orbitce (188), secured to the axion by dbices (187), or rosetce (172^., Orig. Ed.)
The geographical situation of Hy, fluctivago suspensa solo, de manded a constant supply of nautical appointments, and an acquaintance with navigation. The names of the little bays on the east coast are indicative of frequent resort to the island : Port-na-Mairtear, " Martyr's Bay ;" Port-Bonain, " Konan's Bay;" Port-an-Diseart, "Hermitage Bay;" Port -na-Fr any, " Frenchman's Bay ;" Port-na-muinntir, " People's Bay," tell their own history. The chief landing-places, portus insulce (128, 132, 143, 162, 190), were Port-Eonain and Port-na-Mairtear, on the east (132), and Port-a-Churaich, on the south (note on n. 46). The supply of craft, naves (160, 179, 182, 190), navigia (119, 176), seems to have been large and varied, for it some times afforded a navalis emigratio (189). There were onerarice naves (153), or longce naves (189), or rates (182), some of which were of wood (189), some of wicker-work covered with hides (186), caUed curucce (189, 275 Orig. Ed.), or scaphce (189); and capacious, furnished with masts, antennw, rudentes (182, 190), vela (126, 190),andpztefo?(189); having carmen, latera, puppes, prorce (186), and capable of being served both by wind and oar, and formed to hold a crew (160). There were small portable boats, naviculce, navicellce, for crossing rivers
(134, 171), or for inland lochs (111), or cruising (112), or for the transfretatio, or ferrying, of the Sound of Hy (139, 216), sometimes called caupalli, cobles (1 70), or cymbce, or cymbulce (176). Barcce occasionally arrived from distant countries (131), commanded by naucleri (ib.) All the vessels of the society were provided with navalia instrumenta, among which were utres lactarii (179). They were manned by nautce (118, 160, 176), nautici (182), navigatores (122,125), oiremiges (126), some of whom were monks (182), some apparently not (125).
The Officers and Servants of the community were at first but few : however, as the system became developed, duties became defined, and agents in the various departments multiplied. Those which are recorded were, the Abbot, Prior, Bishop, Scribe, Anchorite, Butler, Baker, Cook, Smith, Attendant, Messengers ; to whom was added, in after times, the President of the Culdees.
The abbot was supreme, and the founder's successor was styled comharla Coluim-cille, or Hceres Columlce-cille (Ult. 853). When Hy lost its supremacy, and the principal Columbian station was in Ireland, the chief of the order was said to be comharba Cholaim cille ittir Erinn acus Albain, " Successor of Columcille both in Ireland and Scotland" (Ult. 979, 1062), and the election lay with " the men of Erin and Alba" (Ult. 988, 1164, 1203). When infirmity of the abbot, or other exigency, demanded, a coadjutor-successor was elected, called the tanaisi abbaidh (F. M. 935), who was said thereupon tenere principatum (Ult. 706, 721), or cathedram Ice (ib. 712), or cathedram Columbce suscipere (ib. 715). When a vacancy occurred, the new abbot in primatiam successit (Tig. 724), and the term of his office was his principatus (Ult. 800). When local Superior of Hy, but not Coarb of Columcille, he is, in one instance, styled aircinnech or Erenach of la, in the early Annals (Ult. 977), for which the later compilations substitute Abbot of la-choluimcille (F. Mast. 976). In one instance we find the expression Coarb of la (Ult. 1025).
As in the associate monasteries there were p>*cepositi (132,
135, 163), who were subject to the abbot-in-chief, or archiman drite, so in Hy there appears to have been an officer who assisted the abbot (136), when he was at home, and took his place in the administration when he was absent. He was sometimes called Custos monasterii, sometimes (Economus, and his Irish name was FertigJiis. The obit of one ceconomus of Hy is recorded in 782, whom the Four Masters style yyrioir (A.C. 777).
A member of the society is occasionally recorded under the title of Bishop (Ult. 711). Sometimes the function was associated with that of Scribe (F. M. 961, 978) ; sometimes with the condi tion of Anchorite (ib. 964); and, in one instance, with the office of Abbot (ib. 978). At a much later period we meet with the office of Sagart mor, " Great Priest" (Ult. 1164), which might, from the generic application of sacerdos, be supposed to express the idea of Bishop ; but it rather seems to denote the priest whose sanctity or other qualifications gave him precedence among the presbyters of the society.
Expertness in writing was considered an accomplishment in the founder (108, 213), and an important qualification in his successor (128, 213). Dorbene, the abbot-elect in 713, was the writer of Cod. A., and probably had been scribe of the monas tery. So honourable was the employment, that the title is frequently added to enhance the celebrity of an abbot or bishop. In 961, the bishop of the Isles of Alba was a scribhnidh, " scribe" (F. Mast.) ; the abbot of Hy, in 797, was a scribhneoir toghaidhe, " choice scribe" (F. Mast.) ; and, in 978, a scribe and bishop (ib.) Generally, however, the office was a distinct one ; and when, in after times, instruction in literature was added to the practice and teaching of penmanship, the more honourable name of ferleighinn (vir lectionis), or prselector, was adopted (Ult. 1164).
Those who desired to follow a more ascetic life than that which the society afforded to its ordinary members, withdrew to a solitary place in the neighbourhood of the monastery, where they enjoyed undisturbed meditation without breaking the fraternal bond. Such, in 634, was Beccan the solitarius;
and such, in Adaninan's time, was Finan the recluse of Burrow (146), and Fergna of Muirbulcmar in Himba (215). At Hy an anchorite held the abbacy in 747 (F. Mast.) ; an anchorite was abbot-elect in 935 (F. M.) ; and another, bishop in 964 (F. M.). The abode of such was called a disert, from the Latin desertum ; and as the heremitical life was held in such honour among the Scotic churches, we frequently find the word Desert an element in religious nomenclature. There was a Disert beside the monastery of Deny (Ult. 1122) ; and that belonging to Hy was situate near the shore in the low ground north of the Cathedral, as may be inferred from Port-an-Diseart, the name of a little bay in this situation. The individual who presided here was styled the Disertach, or cenn an Disirt, " Superior of the Hermit age;" and the name of one such officer at Hy is on record (Ult. 1164). In 1101 the Four Masters record the endowment of a similar institution at Cashel for craibhdech or devotees. We learn from the charters of the Columbian house of Kells, that a Disert existed there, which, about 1084, was endowed with two townlands and their mills at Leyney, in the county of Sligo. It was founded expressly for err aid dewaid, " wandering pilgrims;" and the conditions were : Ro edpairset didu na Tiuli sin Disiurt Gholuim chille hi Cenunnus cona lulgortan do Dia ocus do Deoradaib craibdechaib do gres cen sheilb ndilis do nack erraid ann trea biuthu co ro chinne a bethaid do Dia ocus corop craidbech, " These have all granted for ever Disert-Columcille in Kells, with its vegetable garden, to God and devout pilgrims, no wanderer having any lawful possession in it at any time until he surrender his life to God, and is devout." ^Engus O'Donnellan, who brought the Cuilebadh and other reliquaries of Columkille from the north in 1090, was the Coarb of Disert- Columbkille. It was probably to enter on such a manner of life that Muiredhach Ua Cricain, in 1007, resigned the successorship of Columcille ar Dia, " for God," i.e. uninterrupted devotion.
The Butler, pincerna (125), or cellerarius, had charge of the refectory and its appointments. In primitive times his office sometimes coincided with that of the ceconomus. The cellarius of the Benedictine Eule was a functionary of great importance, on account of the extensive trust reposed in him : " omnia vasa monasterii, cunctamque substantiam, ac si altaris vasa sacrata conspiciat" (cap. 31).
The Baker, pistor (201), was a member whose services were likely to be constantly required in a society whose food was chiefly cereal. The only one who is spoken of by Adamnan, as " opus pistorium exercens," was a Saxon.
The Cook is not mentioned in the Latin memoirs, but the Irish Life tells of St. Columcille's coic, and it is not likely that an officer found in other Irish monasteries, and who, in some instances, has found his way into the Calendar, would be want ing in this. In the Benedictine Eule, the members who pre pared the food did duty for a week at a time, and were styled septimanarii coquince (cap. 35).
Adamnan tells of a pugio (172), and a machera (181), which were probably of home manufacture. The process of fusing a piece of iron through the ferramenta (172) of the establishment, certainly indicates the existence of workers in metal. With the gobha, or " smith," was probably associated the cerd, or " brazier."
The abbot had a private attendant called the minister (211, 212), and ministrator (120), who waited on him; ministravit (130), was a frequent companion, and an object of tender soli citude (172).
Certain brethren, active and expert seamen, were employed as legati (132, 156) on particular occasions. These seem to have been specially charged with the care of the boats and marine appointments.
Late in the history of the Columbian order comes under notice the society called Culdees. They had no particular con nexion with this order any more than had the DeoradJis or the other developments of conventual observance. The system however, whatever its peculiarities may have been, was admitted in Hy, and the name of one Gen Cele-nDe, " Superior of Culdees," like the Prior Colideorum of Armagh, is recorded in the Annals of the order (Ult. 1164).
The original grant of Hy, whether Scottish or Pictish, or both, was soon extended to the adjacent islands, as insulce Ethica, Elena, Hiriba, and the founder speaks of the marini nostri juris mtuli (139); and his successor forbids a stay in nostris insulis (116). In spirituals the parent institution not only en joyed a principatus among all the monasteries of the order, both among the Scots and Picts, but served as a caput et arx (Bede, iii. 3, 21), exercising an extensive control over the people at large. In successive ages this authority was gradually cir cumscribed. Much of it was lost when Naiton, king of the Picts, expelled the Columbian clergy from his dominions ; and the forfeiture was completed among the Picts when diocesan jurisdiction became defined and established. Even among the Scots, the prestige of Hy declined in proportion as rival in fluences grew; remote endowments were cut off; and the surviving rights in temporals and spirituals were narrowed to the adjacent lands of Mull, or a few of the Western Islands. Finally, when the Bishops of the Isles made Hy their episcopal seat, the monastic character of the institution merged in diocesan authority. The privileges of Armanach and Fragramanach, so called from AT manach (Aratio monachorum), and Freagra manach (Responsio monachorum), which existed at Hy in the fourteenth century, were probably the vestiges of ancient rights of the monastery to duty-work from the tenants of its lands, or the neighbours of its churches, which titularly had passed to the Lords of the Isles, in consideration of a stated endowment as a commutation for an undefined exaction.
VIII.
Adamnan's practice, with regard to the names of islands, is THE TOPO- to put them in the adjective form agreeing with insula ; and thus he deals with Hy on the sixty occasions where he makes mention of it. In all these instances the unmistakeable read ing in Cod. A. is loua insula ; and the same prevails in Codd. C. F. S. The more modern manuscripts, B. and D., which are less precise in orthography, and very loose in the distinction of n and u, always read lona; but the probability is, that their writers either mistook the name in the original, or desired to conform to a prevailing style.
That the word as it stands in Adamnan is an adjective, was suggested by Colgan, although, from a faulty transcript of Cod. A., he was led into the error of supposing lona to be the correct form of it. He observes : —
" A Tigernaco in Annalibus, Quatuor Mag. et aliis passim domesticis nostris Scriptoribus communiter la, et aliquando To, et utrobique per unam syllabam, seu dipthongum, vocatur : et a dictione ilia Io, derivatum reor adjectivum lona ; quod licet apud S. Cumineum, S. Adamnanum et alios priscos non legatur nisi per modum adjectivi, cum apud eos non legatur dictio lona absque adjuncta voce insula ; hinc usu postea evenit, ut pro substantivo proprioque illius nomine usurpetur. Nobis passim prsefixa H, vocatur Hia : et parum refert sive Hya ; sive lona vocetur." x
Tighernach, the second native authority in whom a liberal use of the name is found, employs the form la twice ; on one of the occasions annexing the qualifying Colaim-cille ; lae, the genitive, governed by abbas, five times; and le, in the same construction, four times ; lea (if O'Conor's text can be relied on), after albas, thirteen times ; hie, once ; hi, once ; and Eo, once.
The Annals of Ulster have the genitive lae, governed by insulam, or alias, thirty-six times ; la, five times ; hi Coluimcille, twice ; I Choluim-cille, once ; /, once ; and Eoa, agreeing with civitate, once.
The Annals of Inisfallen have lae, in the genitive, seven times ; lae Coluim-cille, three times ; and hli, once.
The Annals of Boyle also have la.
All these Annals contain mixed texts ; that is, in which Latin and Irish are interwoven, and Irish names are occasionally subjected to Latin inflexion.
1 Colgan, Tr. Th., p. 495, b.
The Four Masters purport to exhibit a purely Irish text, but sometimes borrow the Latinized names from the earlier records. Thus, they have lae after abb seventeen times ; lae Coluim-cille after abb, twelve times ; la after all, three times ; la 'Coluimcille, once ; hi, five times ; hi Coluim-cille, three times ; hlae, once ; and / Coluim-cille, once.
In the Calendars of Marian Gorman, Tamlacht, and Donegal, we find the form la.
In many Irish narratives, however, and some of them pre served in very ancient manuscripts, we meet with hi and hli ; and these are the prevailing forms of the name among Irish writers.
Again, in Latin compositions, we observe considerable variety. Cummian addresses his Paschal Epistle, A.D. 634, " ad Segienum Huensem abbatem," probably regarding Hu or Hua as his sub stantive. Cummine Ailbe, circ. 660, employs in his Life of St. Columba loua insula, the expression adopted by Adamnan. Ven. Bede, on the other hand, uses HU, from which he forms the adjective Hiiensis. In like manner, li and Hii are found in the Saxon Chronicle. Walafridus Strabo, circ. 831, using a form which, as has been observed, occurs once in Tighernach, designates the island as " Fluctivago suspensa salo, cognominis Eo" Hermannus Contractus has Hu. The Chronicle of Man, which is a much later production, has Hy and lona.
In the biographies of various Irish saints, the dates of which are uncertain, but probably range from the tenth to the twelfth centuries, we find occasional mention of the island. In the Lives of SS. Aidus, Ciaran, Fintan, and Forannan, the usual name is Hya ; in that of St. Columb of Tirdaglas, Hi; in St. Brendan's of Birr, /; in that of St. Cadroe, Euea insula ; while the Lives of SS. Euadhan and Geraldus employ the debased form of lona and lonensis dbbatia. Colgan, being impressed with the notion, " mendose loua pro lona" has printed lona in all the shorter Lives of his collection, as also in his abridgment of O'Donnell, although the reading was probably different in the originals.
Of Scottish authorities, the earliest is the Life of St. Kentigern, which has insula Yi. Monastic registers have Hii-coluimchille and Hy. The first record where we find the name lona, or Yona, is in an old catalogue of Scottish kings printed by T. Innes. Fordun supposes it to be an adaptation of St. Columba's Hebrew's, name : " Insula I. vel lona Hebraice, quod Latine columba dicitur, sive I Columkill."1 Elsewhere he calls it Hy, Hii, I, I Columkyl ; but lona is his favourite form.
In the monumental records of the island, we find Fto be the prevailing name. Thus : Crux Lachlanni Mac Fingone et ejus filii lohannis Abbatis de Hy, facia A.D. 1489; Fingonius Prior de Y, A.D. 1492; Hie jacent quatuor prior es de Y, A.D. 1500 ; Prior de Y ; Hie jacet loannes Mac Fingone Abbas de Y, qui obiit A.D. 1500; Soror Anna Abbatissa de Y. There is but one exception, and that of a more recent date : Hie jacet Domina Anna Donaldi Terletifilia, quondam Priorissa de lona, quce obiit, anno 1 543.2 The Breviary of Aberdeen, printed in 1509-10, and adjusted a short time before, adopts the book-name Yona, or lona. Still, however, the old forms Icolmkill, Ycplmkill, and Ecolmkill, were almost universally employed in legal docu ments ; while in vernacular use Ee-choluim-chille has, from time immemorial, been the only recognised name of the island among the Gaelic population.
A parish in Lewis, in the modern union of Stornoway, is called Ey or Y.
The conclusion, therefore, to be come to regarding lona is, that it is a word which was suggested by an error in writing, and was confirmed by a supposed connexion with one of St. Columba's names ; while the genuine form loua is to be regarded as an adjective with a feminine termination, the root of which is lou, like Eo of Tighernach and Walafridus, which was sounded in one syllable something like the English yeo. Thus Conall Macgeoghegan, in his old English version of the Annals of Clonmacnoise, writes the name Hugh (569, 590, etc.)
1 Fordun, B. u. c. 10. 2 Graham's lona, pp. 8, 13, 17, 20, 25.
The island of Hy, vulgarly called lona, lies off the Boss of Mull on the south-west, being separated from it by a channel about an English mile broad, called by Adamnan fretum louce insulce (129, conf. 118, 133, 141), in after times named the Bay of Finfort, and now commonly known as the Sound of lona. The island lies N.E. and s.w., is about three miles long, and varies in breadth from a mile to a mile and a half. The earliest reference to its extent is in Bede, who, according to the vague mode of calculation current in his day, says : " Neque enim magna est, sed quasi familiarum qiiinque, juxta sestimationem Anglorum" (H. E. iii. 4) ; that is, v. hydce, " five hides of land," as his Saxon interpreter, and the Saxon Chronicle (An. 565), express it. Fordun, and others after him, represent the length as two miles. The superficial extent is estimated at 2000 imperial acres, 600 of which are under cultivation, and the remainder hill pasture, morass, and rocks. The surface is very uneven, and for the most part consists of small green patches, alternating with rocky projections, which in the northern half of the island are more high and craggy, being intersected with deep ravines, but in the southern half, where the general level is higher, are more continuous, and present to the eye an undulating expanse of a grey, barren waste. The object which first marks the island in the distance is Dunn, its highest ground, a round hill, in the northern part, which has an eleva tion of 330 feet. There are several other eminences, but none of them attain to 200 feet. The population, between the years 1782 and 1842, increased from 277 to 500 ; but the consequences of the potato blight have of late greatly reduced its amount. The people are chiefly collected into a little village on the eastern side, and any dwellings which are detached are in the arable portions of the northern half, for the southern district is uninhabited. Previously to the Eeformation the island formed a distinct parish, the church of which, called Tempull-Konaig, stood within the precincts of the nunnery. Subsequently it was annexed to the great union of Kilfinichen and Kilviceuen, in the adjacent part of Mull, and so continues, except in its quoad sacra relations.
The local features of the island alluded to by Adamnan are but few, and incidentally mentioned ; they are follows : Munitio Magna (154); Mons gui monasterio eminus super eminet (131); Monticellus monasterio supereminens (213); Monticellus qui occidentali super eminet campulo (204); Colliculus angelorum (188, 205) ; Cuul-Eilne (136); Campulus occidentalis (136, 171, 204); and Portus insulce (143, 162, 190).
I. ANTIQUITIES OF THE ISLAND.
1. Churches.
Archdeacon Monro speaks of " a monastery of mounckes, and ane uther of nuns, with a paroche kirke, and sundrie uther chapells." The Description, 1693, tells of "many chapells;" and another old authority says, " in this island are many other small chapells." Dr. Johnson and Mr. Bos well, in 1773, state that St. Oran's chapel and four others were then standing, while three more were remembered. The compiler of the Orig. Paroch. conjectures that the four here spoken of may refer to the four small chapels within the choir of the cathedral (vol. ii. p. 300) ; but it is unnecessary to have recourse to portions of the principal church.
1. St. Oran's Chapel, situate in the principal cemetery, called the Reilig Odhrain. This is the oldest structure remaining in the island, and is referable to the close of the eleventh century. It is a plain oblong, measuring 29 feet 8 by 15- 10 in the clear. Has no east window, but, instead, two narrow lights in the side walls near the eastern angles, that in the north 2 feet high, that in the south 3 feet. It is roofless, and the walls are fast decay ing. The great object of interest is the Romanesque circularheaded west door decorated with what is called the beak-head ornament. This building was probably the " larger Columcille chapel," and the result of Queen Margaret's liberality.
2. St. Mary's Church, commonly called the Cathedral, and in
Gaelic, Eachis Mor. It is an edifice of the early part of the thirteenth century, consisting of nave, transepts, and choir, with sacristy on north side of choir, and side chapels on the south. The capitals of some of the columns exhibit bas-reliefs similar to many found in Ireland. The inscription on the capital of a column under the tower has been already alluded to. In Graham's lona are good views of the East and West Fronts (plates 30, 31), and drawings of the bas-reliefs (plates 40-42). Adjoining the Cathedral, on the north, are the ruins of the conventual buildings, of which the portion called the chapter house is the most ancient and remarkable. Over it is said to have been the library. See the plate in Graham's lona (No. 38). Near the west entrance, seemingly beside the adjacent angle of the cloister, was a small chamber called St. Columb's Tomb, i
3. The Nunnery, a venerable pile, much dilapidated, but still retaining the evidence of former elegance. See Muir's lucid description (Eccles. Notes, p. 5). There is no record of its foundation, and the first writer who mentions it is Fordun (B. n. c. 10). The Macdonald MS., apparently borrowing from an earlier authority, states that Beatrix, only daughter of Sommerled (giri ob. 1164), was prioress of Icollumkill (Collectan. p. 287). This indicates the existence of a nunnery in the island circ. 1200.
4. Tempul Bonain, the parish church, first mentioned A.D. 1561, in the Eental of the Bishopric, where is an entry of " the teindis of Ecolmkill callit the personaige of Tempill-Eonaige." Its situation is shown by the following references : — " About quarter of a Mile further South [that is, of the Eeilig Grain] is the Church Eonad, in which several Prioresses are buried " (Martin, p. 262). "The Nunnery Church is quite entire; one end of it is arched, and is very beautiful. Here also stands what was called the parish church. It is yet [A,D. 1795] entire, but tottering" (Old Stat. Ac., xiv. p. 202). What is now con sidered the parish church is the building, about the size of Oran's chapel, on the N.E. of the Nunnery, inside its enclosure.
The patron saint was probably the St. Eonan, commemorated at St. Eonan' s of Ness, in Lewis, and from whom the island of Rona, situate 50 miles N. of the Butt of Lewis, derives its name. Port Eonain also, the principal landing-place in Hy, is named after him.
5. Cill-Chainnich, or Church of Cainnech, a small chapel which stood close to the site of the present Parish Church. The foundations were removed some years ago, and a few tomb stones are all that remain to mark the cemetery. The patron saint was Cainnech, the intimate friend of Columba (118, 160, 205), from whom also the neighbouring island of Inch Kenzie, formerly a dependant of Hy, derives its name.
6. Caibeal Muire, or Mary's Chapel, situate a short distance to the south-east of the cathedral. It is in ruins, the gables having fallen, but it seems to have been of about the same size as St. Oran's chapel. The interior was used for burial in Pen nant's time (iii. p. 254), and several tombstones have been found in it, but without any inscription.
7. Nameless Chapel, measuring 33 feet by 16, situate near the Chapter-House of the Cathedral on the north-east, and marked E in Graham's Ground-plan of the Abbey (lona, Plate 32).
8. Grleann-an-Teampull, " Glen of the Church," the name of a remarkable valley commencing in the middle of the island, at the back of Cnocmor, with a level floor, and walled in on either side with a well-defined range of hill, inclining towards the south-west, and opening out on the northern part of the Machar. The name has long been a subject of local speculation as to its origin ; but possibly the occurrence recorded in the Irish Annals, at 1203, may both account for the name, and, with it, for the total absence of all ecclesiastical remains in the place. " A monastery was erected by Cellach, without any legal right, and in despite of the family of Hy, in tlie middle of Cro-Hy, and did much damage to the town. The clergy of the north of Ireland passed over into Hy, and, in accordance with the law of the Church, they pulled down the aforesaid monastery" (p. clxxxiii).
2. Cemeteries.
1. Eeilig Odhrain, that is, Sepulchretum Orani, the ancient burial-place of the monastery. The name is still in common use, but it is very ancient, as it occurs in the gloss on the Feilire of ^Engus the Culdee (note on B. m. c. 6). St. Odhran's name was given to it, probably as he was the first interred therein. His relationship to St. Columba is shown in the Table of Abbots. Fordun, in one of the anachronisms so frequent in Scotch hagiology, states of Gouran, father of king Aidan, " cujus ad sepeliendum corpus ad ecclesiam Sancti Orani delatum est; ubi patris et avi funera quiescunt in Hy insula" (iii. 24), thus dating the religious history of St. Oran and the place from a period long anterior to St. Columba's birth. The oldest tomb stones in the cemetery are the two with the Irish inscriptions, Or ar anmin Eogain, Oratio super anima Eogani. ^ Or do Mailfataric, Oratio pro Maelpatricio. Here, it is said, were buried the Scotch kings down to Malcolm Ceann-more; here Ecgfrid, the Northumbrian king, was buried in 684 (Hist. Dun. EC.) : hither were removed the remains of king Godred in 1188 (Chron. Mann.), and of Haco Ospac in 1228 (ib.) Of these kings no monuments remain, and the chief part of the interesting tomb stones that are found there belong to the Clanns Finnguine, Gilla-Eoin, and Guaire, since known as the M'Kinnons, M'Leans, and M'Quarries, whose pedigrees, still preserved, attest their noble extraction from the House of Loarn.
2. Cathedral enclosure. At the western end, close to St. Martin's Cross on the south, are two tombstones, and other sepulchral remains.
3. Cladh Eonain, " Burial-ground of Bonan," the cemetery attached to the church inside the Nunnery precincts.
4. Kilchainnich. Now disused, but the site is marked by some tombstones.
5. Cill-ma-Grho'bhannain, called also Cill-ma-Neachdain, a small, unenclosed, triangular space, at the northern extremity of the old green bank to the north of the cathedral. To this
Martin refers, where he says : — " There is an empty piece of ground between the Church and the Gardens, in which Mur derers and Children that died before Baptism were buried" (p. 258). Speaking of the same green bank, Pennant says :— " At the end is a square containing a cairn, and surrounded with a stone dyke. This is called a burial-place : it must have been in very early times cotemporary with other cairns, perhaps in the days of Druidism. For Bishop Pocock mentions that he has seen two stones, 7 feet high, with a third laid across on their tops, an evident Cromlech" (iii. 258). There is no struc ture there now, but there are many stones spread over the space.
6. Cladh-an-Diseart, " Burial-ground of the Desert," called sometimes Cladh Iain, " John's burial-ground." It is situated some distance to the north-east of the Cathedral, in the low ground towards the water-edge, and near it on the south is Port-an-Diseart, " Port of the Desert." These names seem to determine the site of the Desert treated of at p. cxxv, supra. Here Langland's map of the island marks " Burial Place," near which, on the south, are some large stones, indicative of some rude erection.
7. Cladh-nan-Druineach, " Burial-ground of the Druids," at Martyr's Bay, near the Free Church. Anything relating to the Druids has always had great charms for the island folk ; hence this place, now an undistinguishable part of a potato plot, is thus carefully described : — " An oblong enclosure, bounded by a stone dike, called Clack nan Druinach, and supposed to have been the burial-place of the Druids, for bones of various size are found there. I have no doubt that Druidism was the original religion of this place ; yet I suppose this to have been rather the common cemetery of the people of the town, which lies almost close to the Bay of Martyrs" (Pennant, iii. p. 245). In 1795 the clergyman of the parish writes: — " A green emi nence, close to the sound of I, is to this day called the Druid's burial-place (Claodh nan Druineach). A cottager, some years ago, planting potatoes in this spot, and digging earth to cover them, brought up some bones, which the people of the island immediately concluded to be the bones of the Druids" (Old Stat. Acct. xiv. p. 199)!
8. Cladh-na-Meirghe. Near Cnoc-na-Meirghe, at the head of Gleann-an-Teampull, where unbaptized children used to be buried.
9. Nameless cemetery. At Culbhuirg, on the north-west side of the island, an old burying-ground was exposed some years ago, in which layers of bones were found mingled with char coal. There was no tradition of its existence, so that it had no name.
3. Crosses.
Their number was great, indeed, if the anonymous writer of 1693 be deserving of credit : — " In this ile was a great many crosses, to the number of 360, which vas all destroyed by one provinciall assembly, holden on the place a little after the Eeformation. Ther fundations is yett etant ; and two notable ons, of a considerable height and excellent work, untouched" (New Stat. Act. vii. pt. 2, p. 314). Sacheverell, as cited by Pennant, states that " the synod ordered 60 crosses to be thrown into the sea" (iii. p. 251). It is also alleged that multitudes of them were carried away to different parts of western Scotland, and among them the two beautiful crosses of Inverary and Campbelton. This is all very irrational : it only wants a 5 instead of the cypher, in the total 360, to complete its absurdity. There probably never were more than two dozen real crosses standing at any one time ; and if every tombstone in the cemeteries which ever had a cross of any form inscribed on it were included, the number 360 would not be arrived at. If some were thrown into the sea, why any left standing ? If the rest were deported, who, at that moment, unlocked the shores of Hy, or created an appetite not hitherto felt abroad ? Or, if there were no fine crosses previously to 1560 elsewhere, how came Hy to have created an art unknown in other places, or, if known, to mono polize its development ? Mr. David Laing justly observes, that there are grounds for " believing that the statements so fre quently and confidently repeated by later writers, from the time of Sacheverel in 1688, of the number of 360 Stone Crosses having existed in the Island, should be considered as very apocryphal, and their alleged destruction by the Eeformers as, at best, a vague tradition" (Letter to Lord Murray, 1854, p. 12).
1. St. Martin's Cross, opposite the west door of the Cathedral, a noble monument, fourteen feet high. It has been described by Martin (p. 259), Pennant (iii. p. 254), and best by Graham, who has given a drawing of the east face in his lona (PI. 39), and has subsequently published a drawing of the west face also.
2. Maclean's Cross. On the wayside, proceeding from the Nunnery towards the Cathedral. The shaft is 10 feet 4 inches high. Its name is plainly a vulgar misnomer. See the drawing in Graham's lona (PL 43).
3. St. John's Cross, of which only a portion remains, stood in the Cathedral ground north of St. Martin's. Graham gives a drawing (PI. 40). " In a field upon the west side of the church, there is a cross which appears to be of very ancient date. It is of one stone, near eight feet high, and twenty inches broad, set on a pedestal of granite" (New Stat. Acct. vii. pt. 2, p. 335).
4. St. Matthews Cross. A fragment in the same enclosure, bearing this name.
5. St. Adamnan's Cross. A spot at the north end of the village, opposite Port a Chrossain, bears this name, although the object which gave occasion to it is gone.
6. St. Brandon's Cross, stood near Tobar Grain, a little way east of the Free Church Manse. There is no trace remaining.
7. Torr Abb. On the top of this eminence, opposite the west entrance of the Cathedral, the socket of a cross is said to have been observed.
8. Na Crossan Mor, " The great Crosses," is the name of a spot on the left of the walk running northwards from the
Cathedral. There are no remains there now, but the place is spoken of as the site of two large crosses, long since removed.
9. Besides the above, some nameless fragments serve as tomb stones in the Eeilig Odhrain. Mr. Huband Smith was " unable to discover at lona the remains of more than fifteen or twenty crosses" (Proceed. E. Ir. Acad. vi. 392).
4. Houses.
1. Cdbhan Cuildich, spelt CotJian Cuildich, and interpreted " Culdee's Cell," or " Couch," in the Old Stat. Acct. (xiv. p. 200). This building, whatever it was, stood in a hollow between Dunii and Dunbhuirg, and but faint vestiges of it now remain. In 1795 it is described as " the foundation of a small circular house, upon a reclining plain. From the door of the house, a walk ascends to a small hillock, with the remains of a wall upon each side of the walk, which grows wider to the hillock. There are evident traces of the walls of the walk taking a circuit round, and enclosing the hillock" (ib.) The foundation is not quite circular, but measures about 1 6 feet by 1 4.
2. Laithrichean. That is, " foundations," or " ruins." A small bay, lying west of Port-a-churraich, derives its name from several circles of stone foundations scattered over it. These are the traces of by far the oldest buildings in the island. The spot is a beautiful recess, enclosed by high rocks all round, and open only to the sea, where the inclination of the ground towards the water is remedied by an artificial terrace made across the mouth of the little bay, bringing the level of the floor to an elevation of seventy or eighty feet over the sea. Over the sward in this sequestered spot are the circular enclo sures spoken of, the remains of some very early habitations. There is no tradition of their use, but they remind one of the remark made in the Old Stat. Acct. concerning the adjacent part of Mull : — " There are in the parish many of the round towers said to be Danish. They are set upon the sea-coast, and in sight of one another" (xiv. p. 203). One of the circles in
Port Laithrichean is thirty yards in circumference, another thirteen.
3. Dun-lhuirg. This is the name of a well-defined, abrupt, rocky eminence in the north-west of the island, on the top of which are the traces of a wall enclosing the summit, like the Celtic duns, and giving its designation to the whole.
4. G-aradJi-Eacliain Oig, " Garden of young Hector," said to take its name from Hector M'Lean, one of the Duairt family. It is situate near the head of Port-a-Churraich, where traces, said to be of his house, are shown. There are the vestiges of numerous little buildings in this valley, especially on the east side, near the stream which runs down from Loch Staonaig. They appear to be very ancient.
5. Teach an Epscoip, " Bishop's house," a small, ruinous build ing, situate north-east of the Cathedral. It is mentioned by Pennant, and in the New Stat. Acct. (vii. pt. 2, p. 333). In Sacheverell's time it was in good preservation.
6. The sites of the Mill and Barn, of which mention is made in Pennant (cxxi), are thus alluded to by a writer in 1843 : — " There is no lake of any consequence ; but on a plain adjoining the gardens of the abbey, and surrounded by small hills, there are vestiges of a large piece of artificial water, which has con sisted of several acres, and been contrived both for pleasure and utility. At the place where it has been dammed up, and where there are the marks of a sluice, the ruins of a mill are still to be seen, which served the inhabitants for grinding their corn." Speaking of a cross (probably St. John's) which stood " in a< field upon the west side of the church," he observes : " There j is a very ancient ruin of the granary about the same distance west from it that the church is distant from it to the east"! (New Stat. Acct. vii. pt. 2, pp. 317, 335).
5. Mounds and Cairns.
1. North of the Cathedral, and close to the Lochan Mor on. the east, is a green embankment, evidently very ancient, and apparently only a portion of the original design. Pennant says : — " North from the granary extends a narrow flat, with a double dike and foss on one side, and a single dike on the other." This bank, which is about thirty-six feet wide inside, may have been intended to confine and deepen the waters of the lake, or it may be a portion of the vallum of the original monastery, for Pennant says, " that the whole of their religious buildings were covered on the north side by dykes" (iii. 258). At the end of this is the spot called Kill ma ghobhanain. Graham calls this embankment the Bishop's Walk (lona, p. 4).
2. Cnoc-na-nAingel, commonly called Sithean Mor, or " Great Fairy-mount." This is Adamnan's Colliculus Angelorum (188, 205). It is a smooth, green knoll, about 167 paces in circum ference at the base. Pennant says of it : " On the right hand, on a small hill, a small circle of stones, and a little cairn in the middle, evidently druidical, but called the hill of the angels, Cnoc-nan-aingeal ; from a tradition that the holy man had there a conference with those celestial beings soon after his arrival. Bishop Pocock informed me that the natives were accustomed to bring their horses to this circle at the feast of St. Michael, and to course round it" (iii. p. 258).
3. Port-an-Churaich derives its name from a long, low mound running across the bay, near high-water mark. It has long been an object of curiosity to travellers. Martin says of it : — " The Dock which was dug out of Port Churich, is on the shoar,
< to preserve Columbus' s Boat called Curich" (p. 263). A writer ^ of 1701 observes : — " This harbour is called Port-a-churrich, from the ship that Calimkill and his associats came upon from Ireland to that place. The length of the curuchan or ship is obvious to any one who goes to the place, it being marked up att the head of the harbour upon the grass, between two little pillars of stons, set up to show forth ye samain, between which pillars there is three score of foots in length, which was the exact length of the curachan or ship" (New Stat. Acct. vol. vii. pt. 2, p. 316). This bay is exposed to the western swell of the Atlantic, and is very dangerous except in fine weather (ib.)
4. Opposite the centre of Martyr's Bay is a mound called by the natives Eala, " the swan" (Graham, p. 3) ; why, they can not tell. But the truth is, that they are misled by the sound, for the word really is ealatrom, " a coffin ;" and so applied be cause funeral parties on landing were formerly in the habit of laying the remains upon this mound, while they thrice per formed a deisiol, or right-wise circuit, round the spot.
5. Torr Abb, a rocky eminence opposite the west entrance of the Cathedral, outside the enclosure. " To the west of the convent is the abbot's mount, overlooking the whole" (Pen nant, iii. p. 258). This must be the site of what Martin de scribes, when, speaking of St. Martin's Cross, he says : — " At a little further distance is Dun Ni Manich, i.e. Monks-Fort, built of Stone and Lime, in form of a Bastion, pretty high. From this Eminence the Monks had a view of all the Families in the Isle, and at the same time enjoy 'd the free Air" (p. 259). The artificial part does not now exist.
6. At Port-a-curach, on its west side, where the shore is covered with small boulders, are several cairns formed of these stones, for some unknown purpose, possibly sepulchral. They were there in Pennant's time, and the tradition was then that they had been raised as penitential tasks.
6. Wells and Lakes.
1. Tobhar Odhrain, " Oran's Well," a little east of the Free Church manse.
2. Tobar Cheathain, near the Cathedral, celebrated in Gaelic verse.
3. Tobar MaigJie Lunge, " Well of Magh-Lunga," near the northern point.
4. Tolar na Ji-Aois, " Well of the age," on the top of Dunii. The LocJian MOT, already mentioned, was a sheet of water,
partly artificial, covering an area about 400 yards by 200, lying between the mound and the base of Dunii. Pennant, speaking of the mill, says : — " The lake or pool that served it lay behind ;
is now drained, and is the turbary, the fuel of the natives : it appears to have been once divided, for along the middle runs a raised way, pointing to the hills" (iii. p. 258). This causeway is called lomaire-an-tachair, "ridge of the way," and sometimes the Bishop's Walk. It is 220 yards long, and about 22 feet wide. The tradition is, that this road was planted on both sides, and that " the edges of the pond were all planted" (Old Stat. Acct. xiv. p. 203). Another little sheet of water is in Staonaig, in the south of the island, and takes its name Loch Staonaig, from the district where it is situate.
II. MODERN DISTRIBUTION.
' The island is divided into six districts, which have Gaelic names descriptive of their situation or character. Under them all the places enumerated in the alphabetical catalogue, which is annexed, are for convenience classed ; the figure attached to each name denoting the particular portion to which it belongs. Many of these names are modern, but some, especially those of simpler form, are old. They are written according to local orthography, and are accompanied by the equivalent Irish forms, and their supposed meanings.1
I. — CEANN T-SEAR, Ceann t-soir, " East Head," extending from the village to the northern extremity of the island, and embracing the low land which lies between the sound and the hills, from Dunii southwards. It contains all the ecclesias tical sites.
II.- — SLIABH MEANACH, Slidbh meadhonach, " Middle moun tain-land," containing Dunii and the hills in the middle of the northern half, terminating at the south-west of Gleann-an- Tempull.
III. — SLIGINACH, Sligineach, " Shelly-ground," a small tract on the east side, south of the village, terminating a little south of Tra-mor. It contains Martyr's Bay and its neighbourhood.
1 This alphabetical catalogue will be found in the Appendix, No. II.— W. F. S.
IV— MACHAR, Machaire, " the Plain," a well-marked tract, lying north-west of the last, and traversed by a cart road. This is the original name, for which Adamnan employs a Latin equivalent.
V. — SLIABH SIAR, Sliabh siar, "West Mountain-land," a narrow, rocky tract, rising above the last two on the south, and running across the island.
VI. — STAONAIG, Staonag, " Inclining ground," written Stenag in Langland's map, and so called from the inclination southwards in the various ravines into which it resolves itself. Staonag, derived from staon, " oblique," signifies " a bending," or " in clination." This tract includes all the southern part of the island, from Loch Staonaig to the sea. A portion of it, forming the south-western corner of the island, called Aonaidh-nansruth, " Cliff of the streams," suddenly dips from the level of the table-land above, and is almost shut out from the rest of the island by a precipitous cliff running southwards from Port- Beul-mor to Port-Aonaidh-nan-sruth.
III. DEPENDENT ISLANDS.
Buchanan, speaking of Hy, says : " Circa earn sex proximo insulse, exiguae nee tamen infcecundse, ab antiquis regibus, et insulanorum regulis ccenobio Columbae donatse fuerunt." These islands were among the following : —
1. JEilean na mBan, " Island of the women," so called from the tradition, as Martin states, "that Columbus suffered no Women to stay in the Isle [Hy] except the Nuns ; and that all the Tradesmen who wrought in it were oblig'd to keep their Wives and Daughters in the opposite little Isle, called on that account Womens-Isle" (p. 264). It is situate in the sound nearly east of the Cathedral, but so near to Mull that its insular character cannot be distinguished when viewed from Hy. A few years ago the traces of a building called the Nunnery were distinguishable here. Pied granite used to be quarried on this islet (Pennant, iii. p. 254). Archdeacon Monro mentions it under the name Naban, adding that it was " callit in Erishe Elian Naban, that is the Woemens ile. It pertains to Colmkil" (No. 90). Nuns' Island of Dr. Johnson's Journey.
2. Soay, due south of Hy, called Soa by Monro, who states that " it is half ane myle in lenthe, verey guid for sheepe," and " it pertains to Colmkill " (No. 89).
3. Moroan. Monro says : " On the north northest end of Columkill, lyes ane little ile, by the Erishe namit Elian Moroan, ane little laich maine sandie ile, full of bent and guid for sheepe. It pertains to Colmkill" (No. 91). This is probably the island on the northern extremity, now called Eilean Annraidh.
4. Reringe. " On the north side of Colmkill layes ther ane litel iyle, by the Erishe namit Elian Eeringe, ane profitable ile, yielding verey grate plentey of wyld fowls eggs, and guid for fishing, perteining to Colmkill " (No. 92). This island remains to be identified.
5. Inch Kenneth, called by Monro Inche Kenzie, who states that "it pertains to the prioress of Colmkill" (No. 93). It once was the head of a little parish including Eorsa, and an adjacent part of Mull called Ardrnanach (Orig. Par., vol. ii. p. 316). The roofless walls of the church, measuring sixty by thirty feet, are standing, and the cemetery continues to be used. " Insula Sancti Kennethi, cujus et ibidem est ecclesia parochialis." — Eordun (Chr. ii. 10). Kilchenzie in Cantyre, Kilchenich in Tiree, and Kilchainnech in Hy, are named from St. Cainnech of Aghaboe.
6. Eorsa. A small island, N.E. of Inch Kenneth in Loch na Keal, formerly Loch Seafort. Monro calls it Eorsay, *' per taining to the prioress of Colmkill" (No. 94).
7. Halmin Island, called Ellenecalmene in law records and Blaeu. Thus described by Monro : " At the southwest shore of the ile of Mull, lyes ane little ile, by the Erische namit Ellanchane, that is the Dow illyand, inhabit, half a myle lange, fraitfull for corne and gressing, with ane havin for Heighland bottis " (No. 86). An islet off Erraid on the west is marked
Dow Island in Thomson's map, but its situation does not suit the Archdeacon's description.
8. Erraid Isle, " namit by the Erische Elian Erray, ane iyle of halffe myle lange and halffe myle braid, guid main land, inhabit and manurit, fruitfull of corne and pastorage, with abundance of fisching" (Monro, No. 87). This seems to be the island referred to in Adamnan (139) as the place where St. Columba's seals used to breed.
IX.
JHRONICLE The materials from which the following chronicle is compiled are furnished principally by the Irish Annals, especially those of Ulster, and they are here disposed in such a manner as to exhibit, under each abbot, the principal Scottish events of his incumbency. Down to the year 800, the succession of abbots is unbroken, and the notices of them, though meagre, are gene rally satisfactory ; but, after that date, the entries become irre gular, and progressively defective. This is partly attributable to the derangement of the Columbian economy caused by the Danish invasions, and the consequent transfer of the seat of administration to Ireland. The office of abbot, indeed, was still maintained in Hy, but as it became subordinate to that of Coarb or Successor of Columcille, whose dignity was, to a certain extent, ambulatory among the Columbian houses of Ireland, the notices are desultory, and the consideration of the local superior gradually declined, till it almost vanished from the attention of the annalist. Another marked difference between the two periods is the constant registration of obituary days in the former, and its almost total discontinuance in the latter. With two exceptions, the festivals of the first eighteen abbots are entered in the calendars of Marian Gormon and of Donegall ; but after the year 800 there are only four commemorations con nected with Hy on record, during the lapse of four hundred years.
Attached to each abbot's name, in the following digest, are the dates of his incumbency, derived from the Annals, and the day of his death, as entered in the Calendar. The events which are recorded by Adamnan, or are referred to in the notes, as also the notices of the Columbian houses, and the particulars of early Scottish history which are entered in the Irish Annals, are arranged in order under the abbot's name in whose term of office they occurred, as nearly as the brevity of the plan would admit, in the words of the Annals of Ulster, with the addition of a year to their current date; or of any other authority which is drawn upon for supplementary information. Where the passages have been already cited in this work, a parenthetic reference to the page will be sufficient i1 —
I. — COLUMCILLE. Sed. 563-597. Ob. June 9.
Born on St. Buite's Day, Dec. 7, in the year 520. Founded the abbey of Derry circ. 546 (1.), and that of Durrow before 560 (xlix). Was implicated, in 561, in the battle of Cuil-Dreimhne (xli, 120) and, next year but one, in the 42d year of his age, commenced his labours in Scotland (108).
II. — BAITHENE. Sed. 597-600. Ob. June 9.
Son of Brendan, and first-cousin of S. Columba, born, according to Tighernach, in 536. Brought up by S. Columba (115, 213); accompanied him to Britain (Ixxi) ; presided over the monastery of Magh-Lunge in Tiree (140, 200) during St. Columba's lifetime ; occa sionally visited Hy (126, 162), and even superintended the agricul tural operations there (136). Visited the island of Eigg (206). Sometimes was engaged in transcribing books (128, 213). He was nominated by S. Columba as his successor (115, 233), and having enjoyed the abbacy three years, died on the same day as his prede cessor (Ixxvi, 190). He was founder, and patron-saint, of Teach- Baeithin [i.e. JEdes Baithenei} in the territory of Tir-Enna in Tirconnell, now known as the parish church of Taughboyne, locally called Tdboyne, in the barony of Kaphoe, county of Donegal.
Ill— LAISREN. Sed. 600-605. Ob. Sept. 16.
His father, Feradhach, was first-cousin of S. Columba. In 572 we find him in company with S. Columba at Ardnamurchan (122). He was abbot of Durrow during the founder's lifetime (131) ; from which office he was raised to the abbacy of Hy. His name is omitted in the Annals of Ulster.
IV.— FERGNA BRIT. Sed. 605-623. Ob. Mar. 2.
Son of Failbhe, of the family of Enna Boghaine, son of Conall
1 For this part of the chronicle the reader is referred to the original edition. The passages relating to lona and other Columban houses will be found in the Appendix, No. III.— W. F. S.
Gnlban, of the same race, but not so nearly related to S. Columba as his predecessors. ^Engus the Culdee designates him Fionn, Candidus (Feilire, Mar. 2). His surname Brit, which signifies ' Briton,' was derived, as Colgan suggests, " a Britannise incolatu " (Act. SS. p. 448 a), but there is, probably, more implied in the epithet than is recorded. He is called Virgnous by Adamnan (207, 208), who describes him as a member of the community in S. Columba's time, and a youth of ardent piety. The title of Bishop, which is applied to him by the gloss in Marian's Calendar, and repeated by the Four Masters (an. 622), and the Calendar of Donegal, is very question able. An exception to the precedent so recently established in Hy by the founder would hardly have been sanctioned in the case of the fourth abbot, especially as Bede, a century afterwards, empha tically says, " Habereautem solet ipsa insula rectorem semper abbatem presbyterum " (H. E. Hi. 4).
V.— SEGHINE. Sed. G23-652. Ob. Aug. 12.
Son of Fiachna, and nephew of Laisren, the third abbot. He was a zealous advocate of the old Paschal observance, and was addressed on the subject in 634 by Cummian, in an epistle which is superscribed " Segieno abbati Columbse sancti et caste rorum sanc torum successori " (Ussher, Syll. xi., Wks. vol. iv. p. 432) ; and by the Clergy of Rome in 640, whose epistle on the same controversy was addressed, among other presbyters, to Segenus (Bede, H. E. ii. 19). Adamnan calls him Seyineus (113, 118, 155), and refers to him as the informant of Failbeus, his own immediate predecessor. Bede mentions him as " Segeni abbas et presbyter" (H. E. iii. 5).
VI.— SUIBHNE. Sed. 652-657. Ob. Jan. 11.
Son of Cuirtri. Nothing more is known of his extraction ; and he is the first abbot of Hy, " cujus genealogia in patriis hystoriis observata non occurrit" (Colgan, Act. SS. p. 408 a). Colgan has a short notice of him at Jan. 11 (ib. p. 57).
VII.— CUIMINE AILBHE. Sed. 657-669. Ob. Febr. 24.
Son of Ernan, and nephew of Seghine the fifth abbot. Adamnan calls him Cummeneus Albus, and cites his tract "De virtutibus sancti Columbse" (197). Cathal Maguir, cited by Colgan, notices him as " Cumineus abba Hiensis, i.e. Cumineus filius Dunertuigh : ipse est qui tulit reliquias sanctorum Petri et Pauli ad Desertum Cumini, in districtu Roscreensi donee aufugerint Roscream" (Act. SS. p. 411 b, n. 26).
VIII.— FAILBHE. Sed. 669-679. Ob. Mar. 22.
Son of Pipan. His brother Finan, locally called Peenan, was foun der of the church called Tempul-ratha or Rath, and now known as Raymunterdoney in the county of Donegal, where he was commemo rated on the 25th of November. Failbhe is mentioned by Adamnan as "Failbeus noster abbas" and "meus decessor" (113, 118). ^Engus, as cited by Colgan, says of him : — " Quibus verbis efferam S. Falbeum magnum de Hia, qui bis remeavit ultra maria." Col gan has collected his acts at Mar. 22 (Act SS. p. 719).
IX.— ADAMNAN. Sed. 679-704. Ob. Sept. 23.
Son of Ronan and Ronnat, born in 624. He was the most accomplished and influential of St. Columba's successors.
Adamnan, which is said to be a diminutive of Adam, is a name of unusual form, and of rare occurrence in Irish records. The Annals and Calendars present but three or four instances of it, to which the venerable father of English history adds another, and then, taking the one best known at home, so treats of it as to make it 7ro\\S)v awrafyos a\\cov. The individual whose celebrity was thus guaranteed was born in Ireland, in or about the year 624, and though there is no express record of the parish or province which gave him birth, there is good reason for supposing that he was a native of that part of the territory occupied by the race of Conall, called Tir-Aedha, and now familiarly known as the barony of Tirhugh, in the south-west of the county of Donegal. Here was settled the clan from which he sprung, and here was also one of his principal commemorations, preserving a vivid recollection of his abode. His father, Ronan, was sixth in descent from Conall Gulban, the head of one of the two great races of the Northern Hy- Neill, and, in virtue of his birth, claimed kin to St. Columba, and many of the sovereigns of Ireland. The father of Ronan was Tinne, from whom came the patronymic Ua Tinne, or " grandson of Tinne," an appellative which is occasionally found coupled with Adamnan's name. Ronnat, the mother of Adamnan, was descended from Enna, a son of Mall, whose race, the Cinel Enna, possessed them selves of the tract lying between the channels of the Foyle and Swilly, which was called the Tir-Enna, or " land of Enna," and answers to the modern barony of Raphoe. Here was situate the ancient church of Rath-both (now Raphoe), said to have been founded by St. Columba, but acknowledging St. Adamnan, or Eunan, as its patron, a preference probably arising out of his maternal connexion with the original occupants of the district. Concerning Adamnan's early history not one particle of information remains, nor even a legend, save the following anecdote in the life of Finnachta the Festive, a chief of the Southern Hy Neill, and subsequently monarch of Ire land : — " Not long after this, Finnachta came, with a numerous cavalcade, to the house of his sister, whither he was invited to be her guest. As they were riding along the way they met Adamnan, then a schoolboy, who was travelling upon the same road, with a jar of milk upon his back. And as he fled from the way before the cavalcade, he knocked his foot against a stone and stumbled, and the jar fell from his back and was broken. Upon which Finnachta said, Thou shalt receive protection, O student, from me, and he prayed him not to be sorrowful. Then said Adamnan, O good man, I have cause for grief, for there are three goodly students in one house, and three more of us are attendants upon them. And how we act is this : One attendant from among us goes out in turn to collect sustenance for the other five; and it was my turn to-day, but what I had gathered for them has been spilled upon the ground, and, what grieves me more, the borrowed jar is broken, and I have not wherewith to pay for it." Such is the story, which probably was the creation of a later age, to intro duce a historical reality — the intimacy of Adamnan with Finnachta, and his subsequent interference with him. It transports St. Adamnan, in his youth, from Donegal to Meath ; but this is no violence, for St. Columba, before him, studied at Clonard in Meath, and read with Gemman in a plain of Leinster ; nor was it inconsistent with the severity of monastic discipline, even in one nobly born, to derive his sustenance from eleemosynary sources. But the lesson in the Breviary of Aberdeen forgets all propriety when it places Adamnan's novitiate under St. Columba, and assigns to the latter the jus patronatus of Lismore. The abbot under whom St. Adamnan was admitted into the brotherhood was probably Seghine, for he lived until Adamnan was twenty-eight years old. During his incumbency, and that of the three succeeding abbots, our author, no doubt, acquired such a character as rendered him eligible, and such a reputation for learning as recommended him, to the presi dency of the Columbian order, now in the meridian of celebrity and influence. With the exception of his skill in Latin, his acquaintance with other languages and branches of education is more a subject of inference than of express declaration ; there is sufficient evidence, however, to justify Ward in the statement : " Edoctus est omnes liberales, sacras et asceticas disciplinas, linguas etiam Hebraicam et Graecam; et quidquid patria lingua (in qua turn plerseque scientise et Druydum quae non fuere damnata dog mata) scriptum esset vel artium, vel legum, vel historiarum." His studies, meanwhile, did not supersede his bodily labours, and to the subordinate period of his profession is probably to be referred the voyage for timber to repair the monastery, of which he speaks in B. II. c. 46. In the year 675, Finnachta Fledach, grandson of Aedh Slaine, succeeded his first-cousin (whom he put to death) as monarch of Ireland. He was of the Southern Hy Neill, and was a chief both valiant and hospitable. An old bardic composition says that Adamnan, after the accidental introduction mentioned above, was invited to his court, and subsequently became his anmchara, or " spiritual director ; " and that this is the reason why Adamnan made so conspicuous a figure during Finnachta's reign.
On the death of Failbhe, in 679, Adamnan was elected to the abbacy of Hy, being now fifty-five years of age. Bruide, son of Bile, the most valiant of the Pictish kings since the reign of his
INTKODUCT10N. cli
namesake, the son of Maelcon, preceded the abbot in his elevation but one year, so that Adamnan's incumbency is set down in the Chronicle of the Scottish Kings as the ecclesiastical parallel of his reign. Aldfrid, the Northumbrian prince, whom the Irish knew as Flann Fina, was now an exile in Ireland. Thither he had pro bably been led through his mother's alleged connexion with the chief family of the north, and here probably it had been that Adamnan commenced that intimacy which caused the Irish to call Aldfrid the alumnus of Adamnan, and which proved so serviceable to the teacher when the pupil ascended the throne. The " war of Ecgfrid" (B. II. c. 47), as Adamnan terms the fatal expedition against the Picts in 685, restored Aldfrid to his country and the enjoyment of his hereditary rights, so that when the abbot of Hy, in the following year, went on a mission to the Northumbrian court, probably to plead for the Irish captives whom Ecgfrid's general had carried away from Meath, he found a ready answer to his petition. It may be that he undertook the errand at the instance of king Finnachta, on whose patrimonial territory the descent had been made by the Saxons, possibly at the instance of the Leinstermen. The circumstances of Adamnan's journey are thus related in his Irish Life, but manifestly with that looseness, and disregard of historical precision, which characterize the later hagiology of Ireland : " The north Saxons went to Erin and plundered Magh Bregh as far as Bealach-dnin ; and they carried off with them a great prey of men and women. The men of Erin besought of Adamnan to go in quest of the captives to Saxonland. Adamnan went to demand the prisoners, and put in at Tracht- Romra. The strand is long, and the flood rapid ; so rapid that if the best steed in Saxonland, ridden by the best horseman, were to start from the edge of the tide when the tide begins to flow, he could only bring his rider ashore by swimming, so extensive is the strand, and so impetuous is the tide. The Saxons now were unwilling to permit Adamnan to land upon the shore. Push your curachs on the shore, said Adamnan to his people, for both their land and sea are obedient to God, and nothing can be done without God's permission. The clerics did as they were told. Adamnan drew a circle with his crozier around the curachs, and God rendered the strand firm under their curachs, and he formed a high wall of the sea about them, so that the place where they were was an island, and the sea went to her limits past it, and did them no injury. When the Saxons had observed this very great miracle, they trembled for fear of Adamnan, and they gave him his full demand. Adamnan's demand was, that a complete restora tion of the captives should be made to him, and that no Saxon should ever again go upon a predatory excursion to Erin ; and
Adamnan brought back all the captives." The secret of his suc cess is told by Adamnan himself, " regem Aldfridum visitantes amicum;" and the result is briefly but satisfactorily stated by the Annals at 687, which is 686 according to Bede : "Adamnan con ducted sixty captives to Ireland." It may have been about this period that the Synod was held in Ireland to which Adamnan alludes in B. II. c. 46 ; his language at the end of the chapter seems to regard it as an occurrence of some standing when he wrote. It is to be regretted that he gives no clue to the year, object, or place of meeting. At the time of his first visit to Aldfrid, a great mortality prevailed in Europe, from which, however, the Scots and Picts of North Britain were providentially exempted (B. ii. c. 47) ; and two years afterwards, when he undertook a second journey to the Northumbrian court, disease was still ravaging the country, although not permitted to touch him or one of his attendants. The object of this visit is not stated by Adamnan, but it probably was some matter of international policy which Adamnan was chosen to negotiate. The fact that he sailed direct to Ireland with the liberated captives in 686, seems to justify the reference of the following statement in Bede to a later date, when he returned to Hy, and subsequently crossed over to Ireland : " Quo tempore plurima pars Scottorum in Hibernia, et nonnulla etiam de Brittonibus in Brittania rationabile et ecclesiasticum paschalis observantise tempus Domino donante suscepit. Siquidem Adamnan presbyter et abbas monachorum qui erant in insula Hii, cum legationis gratia missus a sua gente, venisset ad Aldfridum regem Anglorum, et aliquandiu in ea provincia moratus, videret ritus ecclesise canonicos ; sed et a pluribus qui erant eruditiores esset sollerter admonitus, ne contra universalem ecclesise morem, vel in observantia paschali, vel in aliis quibusque decretis cum suis paucissimis et in extremo mundi angulo positis vivere prsesumeret, mutatus mente est ; ita ut ea quae viderat et audierat in ecclesiis Anglorum, suse suorumque consuetudini libentissime prseferret. Erat enim mr bonus et sapiens, et scientia Scripturarum nobilissime instructus. Qui cum domum rediisset, curavit suos qui erant in Hii, quive eidem erant subditi monasterio, ad eum quern cognoverat, quemque ipse toto ex corde susceperat, veritatis callem perducere, nee valuit" (Bede, v. 1 5). He then goes on to tell of Adamnan's voyage to Ireland ; but of that presently. In reference to this visit he gives the following interesting account of Adamnan's tract on the Holy Places : " Scripsit idem vir de Locis Sanctis librum legentibus multis utillimum ; cujus auctor erat docendo ac dictando Galliarum episcopus Arcuulfus, qui locorum gratia sanctorum venerat Hierosolymam, et lustrata omni terra repromissionis, Damascum quoque, Constantinopolim, Alexandriam, multas maris insulas adierat; patriamque navigio revertens, vi tempestatis in occidentalia Brittanise littora delatus est : ac post multa, ad memoratum Christ! famulum Adamnanum perveniens, ubi doctus in Scripturis, sanctorumque locorum gnarus esse compertus est, libentissime est ab illo susceptus, libentius auditus ; adeo ut quseque ille se in locis sanctis memoratu digna vidisse testabatur, cuncta mox iste litteris mandare curaverit. Fecitque opus, ut dixi, multum utile, et maxime illis qui longius ab eis locis in quibus patriarchs et apostoli erant, secreti, ea tantum de his qua lectione didicerint, norunt. Porrexit autem librum hunc Adamnan Aldfrido regi, ac per ejus est largitionem etiam minoribus ad legendum contraditus. Scriptor quoque ipse multis ab eo muneribus donatus, patriam remissus est." Bede then devotes two chapters to extracts from this work. To the same visit Ceolfrid also alludes in his letter to King Naiton, where, speaking of those who differed from him on the paschal question, he declares : " plurimos ex eis sanctos ac Deo dignos extitisse, ex quibus est Adamnan, abbas et sacerdos Columbiensiurn egregius, qui cum legatus suce gentis ad Alfridum regem missus, nostrum quoque monasterium videre voluisset, miramque in moribus ac verbis prudentiam, humilitatem, religionem ostenderet, dixi illi inter alia conloquens : Obsecro, sancte frater, qui ad coronam te vitse quse terminum nesciat tendere credis, quid contrario tuae fidei habitu terminatam in capite coronse imaginem portas ? et si beati consortium Petri quaeris, cur ejus quern ille anathematizavit, tonsurse imaginem imitaris 1 et non potius ejus cum quo in aeternum beatus vivere cupis, etiam nunc habitum te, quantum potes, diligere monstras 1 Respondit ille : Scias pro certo, frater mi dilecte, quia etsi Simonis tonsuram ex consuetudine patria habeam, Simoniacam tamen perfidiam tota mente detestor ac respuo : beatissimi autem apostolorum principis, quantum mea parvitas sufficit, vestigia sequi desidero. At ego : Credo, inquam, vere quod ita sit ; sed tamen indicio fit, quod ea quae apostoli Petri sunt, in abdito cordis amplectimini, si quse ejus esse nostis, etiam in facie tenetis. Namque prudentiam tuam facillime dijudicare reor, quod aptius multo sit, ejus quern corde toto abhominaris, cujusque horrendam faciem videre refugis, habitum vultus a tuo vultu Deo jam dicato separare ; et e contra, ejus quern apud Deum habere patronum quseris, sicut facta vel monita cupis sequi, sic etiam morem habitus te imitari condeceat. Haec tune Adamnano dixi, qui quidem quantum conspectis ecclesiarum nostrarum statutis profecisset, probavit, cum reversus ad Scottiam, multas postea gentis ejusdem turbas ad catholicam temporis paschalis observantiam sua prsedicatione correxit ; tametsi eos qui in Hii insula morabantur monachos, quibusque speciali rectoris jure prseerat, necdum ad viam statuti melioris reducere valebat. Tonsuram quoque, si tantum sibi auctoritatis subesset, emendare meminisset." It is
k worthy of remark that, while Bede makes special mention of one of Adamnan's works, he says nothing about the other, nay, he proves by his passing observation concerning St. Columba elsewhere (in. 4), de cujus vita et verbis nonnulla a disdpulis ejus feruntur scripta liaberi, that he was not aware of Adamnan' s having written on the subject. This silence suggested a difficulty to the Bollandist editor, which, however, was removed when he remembered that the Life bears internal evidence of having been written some time after the visits to Aldfrid : " Formidinem omnem toilet ipse Adamnanus ; qui, in fine libri secundi, meritis S. Columbse adscribit, quod in utraque legatione Anglica, ad Egfridum nempe et Aldfridum Reges, grassante per regiones istas pestilentia, incolumis evaserit : adeoque mirum non est, Vitam S. Columbse neque ab auctore fuisse oblatam Aldfrido Regi, neque innotuisse Bedse : quandoquidem constet Adamnanum, post finitam legationem Anglicam, de virtutibus et miraculis S. Columbse scripsisse, quae in aliorum scriptis invenerat, et per totam vitam suam a senioribus audierat."
From the above it appears, therefore, that on his return to Hy, Adamnan endeavoured to introduce the new observances, but found the community much less disposed for change than he had been ; and that attachment to old customs prevailed over the influence of argument, or the weight of personal influence.
In 692 Adamnan again visited his native country, and the object of his journey seems to have been one of importance, for the Annalists, every word of whom is full of meaning, in recording the event, state that it occurred fourteen years after the death of his predecessor Failbhe. On this occasion he seems to have had political as well as ecclesiastical matter to engage his attention. His friend the sovereign of Ireland, King Finnachta, had incurred, if the bardic accounts are to be credited, the displeasure of the Hy Neill race, by impairing the honours which he was expected to uphold, in remitting to the Leinster-men the tribute which they had been in the habit of annually paying to the chief of the exist ing dynasty. Finnachta had fought the Lagenians and routed them, so that his indulgence to them does not seem to have been extorted by force. The secret probably lies in the monarch's title of Fledach,' or " the Festive." Poems ascribe the exemption to the pleading of St. Moling, a Leinster ecclesiastic of great celebrity, who took advantage of the ambiguous meaning of the word Luan, which is either Monday, or the day of judgment, to convert the term of a temporary respite into a perpetual surrender of the claims. Adamnan gets the credit of being the great champion for the maintenance of the demand ; and a poem of some length and fire is attributed to him, wherein he calls Finnachta in rigli crin liath cen detu, " the old grey king without teeth," and indulges in such sentiments as these : —
" Were I a king of reddened spears I would humble mine enemies, I would exalt my high places, My combats should be frequent."
The Irish Life of Adamnan says that a proclamation had been made by Finnachta to the effect, that the lands ofColumcille should not enjoy the same privileges as those of Patrick, Finnian, and Ciaran, whereupon Adamnan said : " The life of the king who made this proclamation shall be short ; he shall fall by fratricide ; and there shall be no king of his race for ever." Finnachta fell by the hand of his cousin in 695.
During his sojourn in Ireland, Adamnan in all probability exerted himself strenuously in the propagation of the new Easter observance, and laid the foundation of the great success which afterwards attended his recommendation of the subject in this his native country. His stay, however, was not of long continuance, for we find him returning to Ireland in 697, in order to legislate for the people. It was probably in the interval of these two journeys that he compiled his Life of St. Columba, for the use of his society. In it he makes no reference to the difference of sentiment between himself and his congregation on the paschal question ; but there is an allusion to a sore subject, where he tells of St. Columba's prophecy at Clonmacnoise concerning the discord, " quse post dies multos ob diversitatem Paschalis festi orta est inter Scotise ecclesias" (p. 118). He may have referred to the same subject when he spoke of the " valde stolidi qui ingrati Dei patientia male abutuntur" (p. 191). Baert conjectured that the Life was written during Adamnan's last sojourn in Ireland, and that the brethren, at whose instance he professes to write, were not the refractory monks of Hy, but the more amenable inmates of Durrow, and of the kindred associations in Ireland. This, however, is a conclusion drawn from unsound premisses, for it supposes, as some Irish accounts have done, that Adamnan quarrelled with his people ; also that the Irish Columbians yielded, while the Hyensian ones held out. The one supposes Adamnan to have been expelled from his pastoral charge ; the other is contra dicted by Bede. The Life itself bears the fullest internal evidence that it was written by a member of the society, who speaks of nostrum monasterium (pp. 131, 136, 189), living in the island, nostra insula (111, 190), which was small and remote (217), among other islands (191), and called low insula (189, 190).
Connected with the journey to Ireland in 697, the Annals record a transaction which they despatch with enigmatical brevity :
Dedit legem innocentium populis. In which words they allude to a social reformation which was brought about by Adamnan, and which, having obtained the highest sanction of the people, became, as in the case of many modern Acts of Parliament, associated with the name of the propounder. A synod was convened at Tara, within an enclosure called the Bath-na-Senadh, or " Eath of the Synods/' where the memory of the chief actor was perpetuated in the name Pupall Adhamhnain, or " Pavilion of Adamnan," which was given to a portion of the space ; also in the Suidhe Adhamhnain, or " Adamnan's chair ; " the Dumha Adhamhnain, or " Adamnan's mound;" and the Cros Adhamhnain, or "Adamnan's cross," situated on the east of the Kath. This mordail, or " conventiongeneral," was held, as the semi-legendary records state, at the instance of Adamnan, for the purpose of procuring a national enactment, exempting women from war and expeditions. The legend con cerning the influence and circumstances which brought Adamnan to interfere in the matter may be seen in the Notes, p. 245. The acts of the convention were copied by Michael O'Clery from the Book of Raphoe, and are preserved in one of the Irish manu scripts at Brussels. There were present thirty-nine ecclesiastics, presided over by Flann Febhla, the Abbot of Armagh, and among them were Ichtbrocht, or Ecgbert, probably the individual who brought the Hyensians to paschal conformity in 716; and Murchu Mac U Macteni, the writer of a portion of St. Patrick's memoirs in the Book of Armagh. It is a remarkable fact, however, that, with the exception of the Abbot of Armagh, and Cennfaeladh, Abbot of Bangor, the rest of the clergy were from Leinster and the south. At the head of the laity was Loingsech, son of Aengus, monarch of Ireland, and after him forty-seven chiefs of various territories. Last on the list of temporals is " Bruide mac Derili, king of the region of the Picts." The enactments of the synod were afterwards called Lex Adamnani, or Cain Adhamhnain, which means " tribute of Adamnan," because among its results was the privilege which was conceded to him and his successors of levying pecuniary contributions under certain conditions. In after times, when this assessment became of sufficient importance, there was an officer, or agent, for its receipt, styled the Maor cana Adhamhnain, " Steward of Adamnan's Law."
It was possibly on the same occasion that the question of Easter was publicly discussed, and the usage advocated by Adamnan adopted. At this time also may have been promulgated those eight canons which bear the name of Adamnan. Ecclesiastical considerations, however, if entertained at this meeting, were not of sufficient importance in the eyes of the Irish to merit an entry in a journal ; and the absorbing subject seems to have been the civil enactment which afterwards became a source of profit, and for this reason had special claims upon the memory.
In the mystified style of the Irish, it is sometimes dangerous, and always difficult, to deal with their statements as historical records ; but there seems to be ground for believing that the public mind, which had for some time been kept in expectation and alarm by the diseases which prevailed, and the portents which were observed or imagined, was advantageously impressed, and seriously disposed, by the relation of a vision, concerning the joys of heaven and the pains of hell, which Adamnan is said to have wit nessed previous to the date of the above synod. The Fis Adhamhnain, or " Vision of Adamnan," an Irish composition of considerable age, as is proved by its style, is still in existence ; and though possessing internal evidence that in its present form it is not the production of Adamnan, it lays claim to considerable antiquity, and embodies a narrative which, like the visions of St. Fursa, passed current in conversation as the realities of his experience. The Vision is a religious discourse on the text Psal. cxlvi. 5, 6 (Vulg.), and after some prefatory remarks, goes on to say : " After this, that which is preached here was manifested to Adamnan Ua Tinne, the high sage of the western world, when his soul passed from his body on the festival of John the Baptist, and when it was carried to heaven to behold the angels there, and to hell to behold its wretched hosts." Having related all that he witnessed in either abode, and having specially noticed in the place of torment the " Aircinnechs, who, in the presence of the relics of the saints, administer the gifts and tithes of God, but who turn the profits to their own private ends from the strangers and poor of the Lord," whom he elsewhere brands as " sensual Aircinnechs," the narrative proceeds to say that the soul of Adamnan desired to remain in the happy region, but that " it heard from behind him, through the veil, the voice of his guardian angel commanding it to be replaced in the same body from which it had passed ; and that it should relate in the assem blies and conventions of the laity and clergy the rewards of heaven and the pains of hell, such as the conducting angel had revealed to him. It was therefore the precept which Adamnan preached whilst he was alive. It was this precept, too, which was preached in the great convention of the men of Erin, when Adamnan's Eule was put on the Gaedhil ; and when women were made free by Adamnan and Finachta Fledach, son of Dunchadh, son of Aedh Slaine, the King of Erin, and by the men of Erin also. For it was alike that men and women went into battles and into conflicts, until the Kule of Adamnan was imposed." A second vision, or rather a supplement, recounting the wickedness of the inhabitants of Ireland, and the mortalities with which they were visited, and should be visited, follows, and mentions such chastise ments as the Scamhach, or "Leprosy;" the Bo-ar, or "Cow mor tality;" the Digbail toraid, or "Blight of fruit;" the Gorta, or "Famine;" the Nuna, or " Scarcity;" and Dunibadh, or "Human mortality; " against all of which it declares prayer and fasting to be the only sure preservative.
From 697 till the year of his death, Adamnan seems to have remained in Ireland : for, though the social improvement which he effected is despatched in a few words in the Annals, we can hardly conceive that so vital a measure was brought about without much exertion and preparatory solicitation. The success of his paschal advocacy among a people naturally attached to old pre judices, in communities widely spread, and subject to many antagonistic influences, must have required a longer period for its completion than the following words of Bede would at first sight seem to imply : " Navigavit Hiberniam, et prsedicans eis, ac modesta exhortatione declarans legitimum paschse tempus, plurimos eorum, et pene omnes qui ab Hiiensium dominio erant liberi, ab errore avito correctos ad unitatem reduxit catholicam, et legitimum paschse tempus observare perdocuit" (v. 15). The Life of St. Gerald of Mayo, a compilation full of anachronisms, has yet this curious coincidence with the statement just made, that it allows Adamnan a seven years' residence in Ireland. Now, admitting the supposition above stated to be correct, the interval between 697 and 704, the year of Adamnan's death is exactly commensurate with this period. One thing appears certain from Bede, namely, that Adamnan crossed over from Ireland to Hy in the summer of the year in which he died, and that he had been in Ireland for a considerable time previously. The Irish Annals record an occurrence which almost proves him to have been in Ireland in 701. In that year Irgalach, son of Conang, great-grandson of Aedh Slaine, and lord of Cianachta in Meath, slew his own cousin Niall, son of Cearnach Sotal. This act is said to have excited the indignation of Adamnan, under whose protection Niall had been, and he denounced against Irgalach speedy retribution for the crime. At this time Adamnan is represented to have been in the neighbourhood of the Boyne, and an ancient poem states that the cursing of Irgalach took place in a synod held by Adamnan at Tara. Irgalach, according to Tighernach, was slain by the Britons in 702 ; and the Annals of Ulster add that the deed was done in Inis-mac-Nesan, the small island east of Howth, now known as Ireland's Eye. The wife of Irgalach was Muirenn, daughter of Cellach Cualann, and sister of St. Kentigerna of Loch Lomond. She died in 748.
The Life of St. Geraldus represents Adamnan's connexion with Mayo in these words : " Tune sanctus abbas Adamnanus post visitationem totius Hiberniae ad S. Geraldum perrexit, ut fraternam cum eo contraheret societatem. Cui S. Geraldus fundum cum fonte limpido contulit, atque sibi suam commendavit Ecclesiam, ut a persecutione laicorum post obitum suum earn defenderet : quod toturn S. Adamnanus se completurum promisit, atque opere complevit. Post ejus [S. Geraldi] vero obitum S. Adamnanus Mageonensem Ecclesiam, per septem annos indefesse rexit. Inde ad lonensem Abbatiam perrexit, et ibi feliciter in Domino obiit et sepultns est." Now, though this statement is open, in the first place, to the grave objection that St. Geraldus was later than Adamnan instead of prior to him, and, in the second, that a monastery founded twenty years previously as an asylum for adherents to the old Easter, was not a likely place to entertain the professed advocate of innova tion ; still, the story seems to be wrought upon an ancient tradition that St. Adamnan traversed Ireland on ecclesiastical duty, and spent some years therein, and that, having gone back to Hy at the end of about seven years, he died soon after.
The narrative of Adamnan's proceedings, from his first visit to the court of Aldfrid down to his last stay in Ireland, as given in Mac Firbis's MS. Annals, is so amusingly characteristic of native simplicity, that it is entitled, notwithstanding its looseness, to find a place among more explicit records. "An 896 [recte 796]. In this year the men of Erin consented to receive jurisdiction and one rule from Adamnan respecting the celebration of Easter on Sunday, on the fourteenth of the moon of April ; and the coronal tonsure of Peter was performed upon the clerics of Erin, for there had been great variance in Erin on these questions, until then, inasmuch as some of the clerics of Erin were in the habit of celebrating Easter on Sunday the 14th of the moon of April, and had the coronal tonsure of Peter the Apostle, following in the steps of Patrick ; others, following Columcille, celebrated Easter on the fourteenth of the moon of April, whatever day of the week that fourteenth should happen to fall, and had the coronal tonsure of Simon Magus. A third party followed neither the sect of Patrick nor the sect of Columcille, so that the clergy of Erin held many synods, and they used to come to these synods with weapons, so that pitched battles used to be fought between them, and many used to be slain ; so that many evils ensued to Erin from this, namely, the Bear-mor, and the very great dearth, and many diseases ; and extern tribes injured Erin. They continued thus for a long period, and even to the time of Adamnan. He was the ninth abbot who succeeded to the government of la after Columcille.
"A great spoil was carried off by the Saxons from Erin. Adamnan went to demand a restitution of the spoil, as Bede relates in his history. The greater part of the bishops of all Europe assembled to condemn Adamnan for having celebrated Easter after the fashion of Columcille, and for having upon him the tonsure of Simon Magus, i.e. ab aure ad aurem. Bede says that though many were the wise men in that synod, Adamnan excelled them all in wisdom and eloquence ; and Adamnan said, It was not in imita tion of Simon Magus that he had this tonsure, but in imitation of John of the Breast, the foster-son of the Kedeemer, and that this was the tonsure which he had upon him, and that though Peter loved the Saviour, the Saviour loved John ; and that it was on the fourteenth of the moon of April, on whatever day of the week that should fall, the Apostles celebrated Easter. Then an old senior rising up said, Though Columcille himself were present here, we would not leave him until he should be of the same rule with our selves ; but you we will not quit, until you be of the same rule with ourselves. Adamnan made answer unto him and said, I shall be of the same rule with you. Be tonsured therefore, accordingly, said the bishops. It will be sufficient that I do so, said Adamnan, at my own monastery. No, said they, but immediately. Adamnan was then tonsured, and no greater honour was ever shown to man than was given to Adamnan on this occasion ; and that great spoil was restored to him, and he came straight home to his own monas tery of la. It was a great surprise to his congregation to see him with that tonsure. He then requested of the congregation to re ceive the tonsure, but they refused, and he got nothing from them, sed Deus permissit conventui peccare, i.e. ipsum Adamnanum expellere, qui misertus est Hibernice. Sic Beda dixit ; for Bede was along with Adamnan. Now Adamnan came afterwards to Erin, and his fame spread throughout the land, but that one regulation of Easter and of the tonsure was not received from him until this year, anno Domini 696, and Adamnan died in the year 703, in the 7 8th year of his age."
Bede records the last stage in our saint's life, " Qui cum celebrato in Hibernia canonico pascha, ad suam insulam revertisset, suoque monasterio catholicam temporis paschalis observantiam instantissime prsedicaret, nee tamen perficere quod conabatur posset, contigit eum ante expletum anni circulum migrasse de sseculo. Divina utique gratia disponente, ut vir unitatis ac pacis studiosissimus ante ad vitam raperetur seternam, quam redeunte tempore paschali, graviorem cum eis qui eum ad veritatem sequi nolebant, cogeretur habere discordiam." This was, according to the Irish Annals, in the year 704 : in which the reformed Easter fell on the 30th of March. He died on the 23d of September, which is the day of his commemoration both in the Irish and Scotch calendars.
Of the character of Adamnan for learning and the graces of the Christian ministry, we have the highest testimony in the contemporary statements of Bede and Ceolfrid. Alcuin, later in the same century, ranks him with Columba and Comgall, in the well-known epigram : —
" Patritius, Cheranus, Scotorum gloria gentis,
Atque Columbanus, Congallus, Adomnanus atque,
Prseclari patres, morum vitaeque magistri,
His precibus pietas horum nos adjuvet omnes."
In a later age, Fordun, in addition to the trite commemoration, "virtutibus pollens et miraculis,"1 says of his literary fidelity, " quando historias et res gestas conscripsit, de more semper habuit auctorem suum in testimonium adducere." The Irish, of course, are loud in his praises. In the Vision he is styled the " noble sage of the western world,"2 and his Life ascribes to him the combined virtues of Patriarchs and Apostles, while the Four Masters sum up the evidence thus : " Adamnan was a good man, according to the testimony of St. Beda, for he was tearful, penitent, given to prayer, diligent, ascetic, temperate ; he never used to eat except on Sunday and Thursday ; he made a slave of himself to these virtues ; and, moreover, he was wise and learned in the clear understanding of the Holy Scriptures of God." Yet he was not without his tempta tions, and there is a curious coincidence between his Irish Life and the Lessons in the Breviary of Aberdeen as to the manner in which the enemy made his assaults, namely, in human form, and with knotty, diabolical questions. The philosophy of these legends is that they arose, in an imaginative age, out of the prevailing and well-founded belief in Adamnan's learning and mental ability. Among his many virtues, diligence in his calling seems to have been one. The energy of his character has left its impress on the traditions of the country in the many journeys which he undertook, and the synods which he held ; and he himself bears honest testi mony to the multiplicity of his labours, in the epilogue of his tract on the Holy Places : " Quse et ego quamlibet inter laboriosas et prope insustentabiles tota die undique conglobatas ecclesiasticas sollicitudines constitutus, vili quamvis sermone describens declaravi." Filial piety was another of his virtues, and out of his character for it grew the legend cited in the Notes (p. 245), and the title of his Feilire, or Festology, Incipit Feilire Adamnain dia Mathair [for his mother] hie.
The undoubted writings of Adamnan are, his tract De Locls Saudis, and the Vita S. Columbce. The former, whose authorship is proved beyond all question by Bede, opens with the following pro logue : " In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, texere librum de locis incipio sanctis. Arculfus sanctus episcopus, gente Gallus, diversorum longe remotorum peritus locorum, verax index et satis
1 B. III. c. 43. 2 ardecnaid iarlhair domain.
idoneus, in Hierosolymitana civitate per menses novem hospitatus, et locis cotidianis visitationibus peragratis, mini Adanmano hsec uni versa quae infra craxanda sunt, experimenta diligentius perscrutanti, et primo in tabulas describenti, fideli et indubitabili narratione dictavit, quse nunc in membranis brevi textu scribuntur." This interesting record is an important item in the history of writing, as showing the collateral and respective uses among the Irish of waxed tablets and membranes for literary purposes, to wards the close of the seventh century.
The other genuine work of Adamnan wants the external evidence which the tract De Locis Srmctis possesses, and bears testi mony on certain ecclesiastical questions which it has sometimes been judged desirable to invalidate. Sir James Dalrymple, in 1714, when defending the Presbyterian view of Church govern ment, found it convenient to throw discredit on the anecdote told in i. 35 (p. 142), and, as a means towards this, called the genuineness of the whole work in question. " I cannot agree," said Sir James, " with our Biographer, that the Authority of Adamnanus is equal, far less preferable, to that of Bede, since it was' agreed on all hands to be a fabulous History, lately published in his Name, and that he was remarkable for nothing, but that he was the first Abbot of that Monastery, who quit the Scottish Institution, and became fond of the English Romish Kites." In our own day Doctor Giles, when translating Bede's Ecclesiastical History, added the remark : " Besides the work ' On the Holy Places,' Adamnan is the reputed author of a ' Life of Saint Columba/ but I have strong doubts of Adamnan's having written it. I propose shortly to pub lish the original text of both these works." On what the writer's scruples were founded does not appear, as the proposed oppor tunity of declaring it has never occurred. It is to be hoped that the doubts originated in a different style of research from that which made Bede's Columcelli an island, and Dearmach the same as Deny ! Lastly, in 1851, a Prussian clergyman, hoping to extend to a por tion of British antiquities the enlightenment of German criticism, objected to the Vita Adamnani on these grounds : " Hsec ipsa adeo fabulis est obscurata, ut vix credi possit, vii saeculo, quo literae apud Hyienses floruerunt, ejusmodi nugas esse conscriptas. Prologi autem Vitae suspicionem mihi faciunt, quorum titulum ' Praefatio Apologiaque Adamnani Abbatis sancti scriptoris' a librario esse praepositum nemo non videt, apologiam vero, quae tarn stylo ac sermone quam re aliena sit a Vita ipsa, ficticiam esse, facile apparet." But surely these are not the observations of one qualified to pronounce judgment on such a question. If nugce and fabulce such as Adamnan's indicate spuriousness, what becomes of early biography ? As to the title of the Prologue, had he consulted a good edition, he might have solved that difficulty ; and if he had gone further he might have found the Bollandist's remarks upon the expression. Lastly, as to the Apology, the res is of course different from the narrative of the Vita, while the stylus ac sermo are so similar to the rest, that none save the architect of a paradox could discern the difference in the materials. The Life, where there is a slight variation of style, tells its own story, for it professes to be compilation ; and we might as well deny the genuineness of Bede's Ecclesiastical History, because an early chapter is borrowed from Gildas, and another from Constantius, without acknowledg ment. There is internal evidence in the Life on the following points to satisfy any but a theorist, that, 1. It was written by an ecclesiastic, living in loua insula (pp. 189, 190), styled nostra (pp. Ill, 190), in which was nostrum monasterium (pp. 131, 136, 189); 2. By the superior of the monastery (pp. 113, 118, 207 tit.) ; whose immediate predecessor was Falbeus, and he a successor of Segineus (pp. 1 1 3, 1 1 8) ; 3. By one who conversed with those who had heard S. Columba's voice (p. 137); who conversed with a, person who remembered the night on which S. Columba died (p. 215) ; who conversed with the acquaintances of St. Columba's friends (pp. 129, 142, 215) ; who conversed with a person who had witnessed the battle of Dun-Ceithirn in 629 (p. 146); who knew an early friend of the St. Fintan who died in 635 (p. 116) ; who conversed with the nephew of his predecessor Virgnous who died in 623 (p. 208) ; who was living when the battle of Magh-Eath took place (p. 197); who witnessed the ravages of the Great Pestilence (p. 191); who was a personal friend of King Aldfrid (p. 191) ; who lived when the House of Gabhran was declining (p. 198) ; 4. By one whose name was Adamnan (pp. 113, 146, 208, 215). Here is an accumulation of evidence which should satisfy any mind, and the more so as it is for the most part undesigned and incidental, the internal counterpart of the writer's own declaration : " Hujus ergo praemissae narrationis testes, non bini tantum vel terni, secundum legem, sed centeni et amplius adhuc exstant" (pp. 113, 190). Besides these Latin works, Adamnan is said to have written,
1. A Life of St. Patrick. This is twice stated in the Tripartite Life.
2. Poems. Tighernach cites some verses of his, at the year 695, and the Four Masters, at 742. His alleged Feilire, or " Festology," consisting of seven quatrains and a half, comes also under this head. The poem on the remission of the Boromean tribute, containing fifty-two stanzas, though bearing his name, is hardly compatible with his religious character, and evidences the genius rather than the piety of the writer. 3. Historia Hibernorum ab origine ad sua tempora, mentioned by Ward, but otherwise unknown. 4. Epitome metrica triginta voluminum legum Hibernicarum, also mentioned by Ward ; and, like the preceding article, probably some compilation of modern date and no authority.
clxiv INTllODUCTION.
Of Adamnan's two Latin works, the tract De Locis Sanctis is the better written and more flowing, but it bears a striking resemblance to the other in many particulars of style, and the use of peculiar words and phrases. In the following pages the reader will observe the liberal employment of diminutives, so characteristic of Irish composition ; and he will find them, in many cases, used without any grammatical force, and commutable, in the same chapters, with their primitives. The same tendency is also observable among verbs in the use of frequentatives and intensitives. He delights in the distributive numerals instead of cardinals, and in the adjective termination ax where admissible. He uses the pluperfect for the perfect, and the nominative instead of the ablative absolute. He occasionally employs Greek, or Greco-Latin words ; and in a few instances introduces Irish and Hiberno-Latin expressions. Proper names he sometimes inflects according to the rules of Irish grammar, so that in a Latin narrative they present an anomalous appearance. Above all, the artificial, and often unnatural, interweaving of his words, in long sentences, and the oft-recurring ablative absolute in awkward position, will strike the reader as remarkable features of the style.
One subject more remains to be considered : the veneration of St. Adamnan's memory. In testimony of this, two classes of monuments exist, namely, the churches under his patronage, and the appellations commemorative of his name.
St. Adamnan's Irish Churches.
1 . Bathboth. He is the patron, but not the founder, of this church. It was originally monastic ; and in the bestowal of conventual honours among the ancient Irish, the distinctions of orders were not regarded. Hence, when Kaphoe became an episcopal see, but under its old patronage, after-ages, supposing that a bishop's see must originate with a bishop, took advantage of Adamnan's phonetic name Eunan, and created a bishop Eunan patron of the diocese, moving his festival a fortnight back in the month, and leaving Adamnan to enjoy his old abbatial honours on the 23d. Pope Clement xn. approved of a mass for Bishop Eunan's festival on the 7th of September, which was printed in Paris in 1734. Accordingly, the Bollandists place the commemoration of " S. Eunanus Episcopus, Confessor, Kaphoae in Hibernia," at Sept. vii., in a short notice edited by Joannes Stiltingus. Alban Butler, fol lowing this authority, repeats the error at the same day ; and in the Irish Calendar appended to the Dublin edition of his valuable book, the same fictitious patron intrudes on another saint's day. St. Adamnan's bed used to be shown at Eaphoe.
2. Skreen. — A parish church of the diocese of Killala, in the county of Sligo, barony of Tireragh, bounded on the north by
Sligo Bay. The site of the church is an old grant. The Life of Farannan relates that Tibraide [son of Maelduin, Lord of Hy- Fiachrach] bestowed upon St. Columba and his fraternity three pleasant portions of ground, one of which " locus isto sevo Cnoc-namaoile dicebatur, postea a S. Adamnano Abbate, Serin- Adhamhnain, i.e. Scrinium S. Adamnani dictus." St. Adamnan is locally called Awnaun, and his well is situated a little to the east of the old church, at the other side of the road. From this well the townland Toberawnaun [Tobar Adhamhnain] derives its name, between which and the townland Soodry runs the Dunmoran stream. Over this rivulet, in connexion with a boreen, is the Drehid Awnaun, or " Bridge of Adamnan," formed of a flag nine feet long, and nine inches broad, resting on two stones in the bed of the stream, two feet high. It does not fill the whole breadth of the stream, so that at either end there is a vacant space between it and the bank. The natives say it was formed by the saint, for his convenience in going from his church to the strand ; and some additions which were lately made to it, in order to complete the continuity of the path, were speedily removed, as foreign to the original design. The church derives its name, it is said, from Adamnan' s shrine, which was preserved there. This shrine might be supposed to enclose St. Adamnan's bones, and to be the case containing the reliquiae Adamnani, which were brought over to Ireland in 727 for the renewal of his Law, and which were taken back to Hy in 730. But, according to a record in one of the Brussels MSS., which was copied by Michael O'Clery, in 1629, from " an old black and diffi cult manuscript of parchment," the contents of the shrine were the various relics which Adamnan himself had collected. The record opens by saying, " Illustrious was this Adamnan. It was by him was gathered the great collection of the relics [martra] of the saints into one shrine, and that was the shrine which Cilline Droicthech, son of Dicolla, brought to Erin to make peace and friend ship between the Cinel Conaill and Cinel Eoghain." It then pro ceeds to enumerate the twenty-six articles which were enclosed in it, consisting of manuscripts of the Gospels, hymns, and poems ; articles of apparel belonging to the saints of Ireland ; and a few relics of St. Paul and the Virgin Mary ; the aggregate of which must have filled a large box, and been a rather heavy load to carry about. Colgan couples this shrine with the church of Skreen, and observes : " Est ecclesia multorum reliquiis nobilis et veneranda, Dicecesis Kill-aladen, in regione de Tir Fhiachrach, de qua, vide plura in notis ad vitam S. Adamnani, ubi dabimus catalogum reliquiarum in illo scrinio reconditarum." In 832 the shrine of Adamnan was in the keeping of Tuathal mac Feradhaich, Abbot of Rechra and Durrow, from whom it was carried off from Donaghmoyne by the Danes. It is very likely that there were two shrines called Adamnan's, the older, containing his own remains, which is the one referred to in the Annals, the other, containing the miscellaneous objects mentioned in the catalogue, which was in after-times coupled with his name, and preserved in his church of Skreen.
3. Drumhome. — A parish in the diocese of Raphoe, county of Donegal, barony of Tirhugh. It is the Dorsum Tomme mentioned in such interesting connexion at p. 215, and was probably in the neighbourhood of St. Adamnan's birthplace. The seat of a power ful branch of the Cinel Conaill was in this parish (p. 122) ; and in it was also preserved the reliquary called the Cathach (p. Ix). Fleming, in reference to Adamnan, says : " Animadvertendum, ipsum antequam Hiensis monasterii administrationem suscepisset, plura in Hibernia monasteria, sub editse a se regulse prsescriptis erexisse, quorum praecipua fuere Rapotense, Pontis-Adamnani, Droimtuamense, et Scrinense." To this list Colgan adds : " Colitur S. Adamnanus in Ecclesiis de Dunbo, Aregal, Boithfheabha, et Grelleach, in dioecesi Derensi."
4. Errigal. — A parish in the diocese of Deny, county of London derry, barony of Colerairie, formerly called, from its patron, Airecal Adliamhnain, the " habitation of Adamnan." It is now best known through its village Garvagh. The present parish church stands on a modern site. The old site is in the townland of Ballintemple, where the foundations remain, measuring 52 by 18 feet. South of this is the only local commemoration which now remains in the parish, namely, an eminence called St. Onan's Hock. It is marked on the Ordnance Map (sheet 18, at foot), but at the time it was noted there was not a man in the county that knew who St. Onan was.
5. Dunbo. — A parish in the same diocese, county, and barony. The ruins of the old church, situate near Downhill, measure 6 3 '2 by 27'6 feet. In this parish is the Munitio Cethirni of p. 145,m/ra.
6. Bovevagli. — A parish in the same diocese and county, barony of Keenaght. Archbishop King's list makes S. Eugenius the patron, which name may be regarded as a Latin form of Eunan. Local belief makes St. Ringan, that is, Ninian, the patron ; but Colgan's authority, already cited, is superior, as he lived in an age when these matters were better understood than now. The old church measures 51 feet by 17*6.
7. Grreallach. — Now Templemoyle, in the parish of Cloncha, diocese of Derry, county of Donegal, barony of Inishowen. It is a small burial-ground, with the faintest traces of a quadrilateral building ; situate on a rocky slope, amidst a wretched group of cabins, which form the hamlet of Templemoyle on the road between Culdaff and Carn. It contains but one tombstone, bearing the name of James Maginnis, a schoolmaster, who died Jan. 25, 1819.
8. Ballindrait. — In the parish of Clonleigh, diocese of Derry, county of Donegal, and barony of Eaphoe. It adjoins Raphoe on the east, and is the Pans Adamnani mentioned above by Fleming. The Irish name is Droichd Adhamhnain. There is no church there now.
9. Syonan. — A townland in the parish of Ardnurcher, diocese and county of Meath, barony of Moycashel. It is Suidhe Adhamlmdin in Irish, that is, " Seat of Adamnain." The ruins of a castle exist here, but Macgeoghegan says that it was not church land. The tradition of the neighbourhood is that St. Adamnan, when on a visit to Ireland, preached to his relatives, the 'descendants of Fiacha, son of Niall, on a hill in the townland, which ever since has borne his name.
1 0. Killonan. — A townland in the parish of Derrygalvin, county of Limerick. The name seems to be formed from cill Adhamhnain, but without confirmation from any other ostensible local evidence.
St. Adamnan's Scotch Churches.
1. Furvie. — A chapelry in the parish of Slains, on the east coast of Aberdeen, north of the Ythan Mouth. This seems to have been Adamnan's chief commemoration in Scotland, for it is the one connected with his name in the Breviary of Aberdeen : " S. Adampnani abbatis patroni apud Furui Aberdon. dyoces." In the View of the Diocese of Aberdeen it is stated, under parish of Slaines : " Here stood of old the parish church of Furvie (dedicated to St. Fidamnan, Abbot of Icolmkill), overblown by the sands." The New Stat. Acct. says, " On the estate of Leask, there is another ruin of a religious house, evidently a Roman Catholic chapel, as the place where the altar stood is plainly discernible. It is small, but must be considered a fine old ruin. One gable and Gothic window are still nearly entire, and the walls are overgrown with ivy. It stands in the middle of a small plantation of stunted firs and alder, on a little eminence gently rising from a swampy bottom, with a rivulet half enclosing it on the south side. It is called St. Adamannan's Chapel." The same name is given to it in the Old Statistical Account.
2. Forgkn. — A parish in the north-east angle of Banff, separated from Aberdeenshire by the Doveran. It was also called Teunankirk, from a peculiar form of the patron's name. Adam King, in his Calendar, at Sept. 23, has "S. Thewnan abbot and confessor in Scotland maister to king eugenius ye 6. 684." Dempster also calls him Thewnanus, placing his day at Sept. 23 ; but Camerarius, while he mentions " Sanctus Adamannus Episcopus, Northumbrorum Apostolus" (a man who never existed), at Sept. 25, notices "Sanctus Thevuanus Abbas et Confessor" at Sept. 26, adding, "Monasterio Mailrossensi diu prsefuit hie Sanctus." The writer in the Old Stat. Account says, "The name of this parish was formerly 'T Eunan, or St. Eunan, after the saint of that name to whom the church had been dedicated." In the New Stat. Account, it is added that the ruins of the chapel still remain at the mouth of a rivulet which falls into the Deveron. The valuable writer in the Collections on the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff observes, " Mr. Thomas Innes takes him to be the very same with Saint Adamnan, who in Irish is called Ainan, and their day is the same, September the twenty-third ; Teunan being formed from Saint Ainan, as Trowel and Tantan from Saint Eule and Saint Antony." In this parish was formerly kept St. Columba's sacred banner, called the Breacbannach, mentioned at p. xcvii ; and he was also a patron of the church.
3. Aboyn. — A parish in the south of Aberdeenshire, on the north side of the Dee. " Aboyn hath for its tutelar Saint Theunan." About half-way between Aboyne Castle and the ruins of the ancient parish church is a large old tree, now called the Skeulan Tree, with a well at the foot of it called the Skeulan Well The tree is still held in reverence. Thomas Innes tells us that he was born in this parish, and mentions the objects alluded to as called in his day, " S. Eunan's Well " and " S. Eunan's Tree."
4. Tannadice. — A parish in Forfar, whose patron was St. Columba. A large rock on one of the braes of Angus, in this parish, is called SL Arnold's Seat. That this name, though apparently so far removed, has been formed from Adamnan, appears by the following extract from a record of 1527 : — " Et sic eundo versus austrum usque ad caput mentis vocate Sand Eunendi's Seit." Who could suppose that the names St. Arnold's Seat and Syonan were identical in meaning !
5. Inchkeith. — An island in the Firth of Forth, E.N.E. of Inch Colm. " Inchekethe, in qua prsefuit Sanctus Adamnanus abbas, qui honorifice suscepit Sanctum Servanum, cum sociis suis, in ipsa insula, ad primum suum adventum in Scotiam." So Fordun (Bowar) states, more trustworthy in his nomenclature than his chronology.
6. Sanda. — An island off the Mull of Cantyre, on the S.E. Fordun says of it, " Insula Awyn, ubi cella Sancti Adamnani, ibique pro transgressoribus refugium." Father Mac Cana's MS. account of the island states that in Irish it is called Abhuinn, Latinized Avonia. "In ea est sedicula S. Ninniano sacra, ad cujus ccenobium in Galvidia tota insula spectat. Conjunctum huic sediculse est ossarium siue sepulchretum quatuordecim filiorum SS™1 viri Senchani Hiberni sanctitate illustrium. Saxeo murulo septum, in quo sunt septem grandia et polita saxa, quibus sanctissima corpora teguntur, in quorum medio erat obeliscus, altior hominis statura. Nemo mortalium impune ingreditur ilium murulum."
7. Killeunan. — A denomination of land in the parish of Kilkerran, in Cantyre, variously written Killewnane and Kilyownane, and, no doubt, formed from dll Adhamhnain.
8. Dalmeny. — A parish in Linlithgowshire, near Queensferry, having a fine old Romanesque church. Here was a chantry of St. Adamnan. The writer in the New Stat. Account says, "From the crown-charter conveying the patronage capallanice et altaris Sancti Adamani infra ecclesiam parochialem de Dummany, it would appear to have been dedicated to St. Adaman, as the adjoining parish of Cramond was to St. Columba and the Virgin Mary."
At Campsie, in Perthshire, was a croft of land called St. Adamnan7 s Acre.
In the above list it is observable that the dedications of St. Columba and Adamnan keep very close together. In Ireland, the churches of Raphoe, Skreen, and Drumhome are said to be founded by the former, yet under the patronage of the latter. In Scotland, Forglen is St. Adamnan's, but in it were St. Columba's lands of the Banner ; St. Columba's church of Tannadice has St. Eunan's Seat; St. Columba's church of Belhelvy neighbours to Furvy; Inch Colm's nearest land is Inch Keith; and St. Columba's Cramond has Dalmeny next adjoining on the west.
The memorial appellation formed from the saint's name was Giolla- Adhamhnain, or "Servant of Adamnan." It early became a Christian name, and we find an example of it in the Charters of Kells in the beginning of the twelfth century (p. clxxix, infra). It appears about the same time in the MacDonnell family, for Somerlid, son of Gilla-Adhamnain, fell in 1164. Subsequently it became a favourite name in the family, and passed into that branch of it called the MacNeills of Barra. Among them we find, in 1495, Gilleownan Makneill, grandson of Gilleownan. In Ireland it was borne by an O'Freel in 1328. According to the usual process it became also a surname, and is the origin of Mac Lennan, the name of the old inhabitants of Glenshiel in Ross-shire, which has passed into that familiar form from Mac Gilla- Adhamhnain, as appears from the genealogy of the clan, who derive their name from Gillaagamnan, son of Cormac, son of Oirbertach, of the race of Ferchar Abhradhruadh.
Few names, in passing from their real to their phonetic forms, have undergone such transformations as that of our author. Who would suppose that Adamnan and Eunan were intended for the same person, or that Adampnanus and Thewnan were resolvable into a common original ? Adamnan is an Irish diminutive of Adam, as Cormac interprets the word in his Glossary : ADOMNAN .i. homungculus, disbecadh anma Adhaimh, " ADOMNAN, i.e. homungculus, a diminutive of the word Adam." Under the effect of aspiration, Adhamh loses the force of its consonants, and assumes the various sounds of Au, Eu, 0, and Ou ; hence, when the diminutive termina tion is added, it produces the respective words Aunan, Eunan, Onan, Ounan : these are the forms of pronunciation which the name Adamnan has assumed in Ireland.
In the north-east of Scotland, as in Aberdeen and Banff, there is a tendency to prefix certain consonants to saints' names, either as an equivalent for St., or to facilitate the pronunciation. Thus St. Rule becomes Trowel, and St. Antony Tantan ; and hence Eunan becomes Theunan, as in the parish of Aboyne, where a fresh change takes place, and St. Adamnan's Well and Tree become Skeulan Wall, and Skeulan Tree. Again, at Forvey, in the parish of Slains, Adamnan becomes Fidamnan ; and in Forglen, Adamnan's church is Teunan Kirk. But, at Dull, in Atholl, the form Eonan is pre served, as at Kilcherran in Cantyre, where we find the compound Killewnane or Killownane.
The consequence of this diversity in the written and spoken forms of the name has been that even the best writers have created one or more additional saints, and have put the acts of Adamnan in commission. Thus, in Ireland, Sir James Ware represents Raphoe as founded by Columba, repaired by Adamnan, and changed from an abbey to a cathedral by St. Eunan, " who is looked upon to be the first bishop of the see." And this misapprehension appears, even at a recent date, in the Fasti Ecclesise Hibernicse, where the learned compiler observes of the first bishop of Raphoe, " St. Eunan is commonly reported to have erected the abbey church of Raphoe into a cathedral, and to have been its first bishop ; but nothing certain appears to be known of him, nor of the time at which he lived." What is more remarkable, St. Eunan's day has been observed on the 7th of September, while St. Adamnan's was kept on the 23d. Battersby's Catholic Directory for 1855 repre sents St. Eunan, the patron saint of Raphoe, as a Bishop, but of the famous individual called by Yen. Bede Adamnan presbyter, ouSel? Xo7o?. Such an error should not have been committed in the jj century, one of the ornaments of which had said, "I strongly suspect j that St. Eunan, who is usually called the first bishop of Raphoe, was j no other than Adamnan."
Scottish writers are less in error. The Breviary of Aberdeen correctly places S. Adampnanus, Abbas, at Sept. 23; Adam King and Dempster commemorate St. Thewnan, who is represented as j4 preceptor of King Eugenius VI., at Sept. 23; and Keith, in like manner, only that he represents the saint by the name of Thennan. j The Scotch Prayer Book of 1638, in its Calendar, borrows the • Irish error of making him a bishop, and places his day at Sept.
25. But T. Innes was aware of these inaccuracies, and spoke of Adamnan as " called by the vulgar S. Deunan or Theunan."
Among English writers, Alban Butler repeats Sir James Ware's mistakes ; while Sir Harris Nicholas, gathering up the blunders of Ireland and Scotland, makes a tripartite division of Adamnan's sanctity, and sets out in his Calendar —
Eunan, Bishop of Eaphoe, . . at Sept 7 ; Adamnan, Abbot, ... at Sept. 23; and Thennan, Abbot and Confessor, . at Sept. 23.
The variety of the name in early records consists only in the difference of Adamnan and Adomnan. Cod. A., in the four places where the word occurs, reads Adomnanus ; Cod. B. reads Adamnanus once, and Adomnanus twice; Codd. C. F. S. vary in like manner ; Cod. D. always reads Adamnanus. The title of the tract De Locis Sanctis has Adamnanus. Among ancient writers, Ven. Bede reads Adamnan or Adamnanus six times ; while Alcuin has Adomnanus. The Lives of SS. Fechin and Geraldus, Fordun, and the Breviary of Aberdeen, write the name with a. Among the Annalists, Tighernach has Adamnanus three times, and Adomnan six ; An. Ult. read Adomnan always ; An. Inisf. Adamnan always ; the Four Masters Adamnan twelve times, and Adomnan once ; the Annals of Boyle Adamnan ; and the Annals of Cambria Adom nanus. The Vision of Adamnan has Adamnan four times, and Adomnan once. The prose description of Tara in the Dinnseanchus has Adomnan, the metrical Adamnan. Among the Calendars, the Felire, Marian Gorman, and O'Clery's read am; the Martyrol. Tamhlacht. om. Thus it is seen there is no fixed practice ; how ever, as the etymology of the word favours the use of a-, and as the substitution of o is probably to exhibit the phonetic value of the original vowel, it has been deemed advisable in the present work to adopt the form which has been printed in the text.
X.— CONAMHAIL. Sed. 704-710. Ob. Sept. 11.
Son of Failbhe. The first abbot of Hy, whose descent is referred to a different house from that of Conal Gulban. He was one of the Clann Colla, being of the race of Colla Uais, who was king of Ireland in 323 (Calend. Dungall.), and therefore one of the Airghialla or Oriellians. Tighernach writes the name Conmael, but the other authorities, as above. During his term of office, Dunchadh is stated by the Annals of Tighernach and of Ulster to have held the principatus of Hy, by which we may understand, either that he was appointed, in consequence of the age or infirmity of Conamhail, to administer the affairs of the society, as a tanist abbot, or that some schism in the community, possibly on the Paschal question (for
Dunchadh proved a reformer in 716) led to a rival appointment. See O'Conor's note in Her. Hib. Script, vol. iv. p. 72.
XI— DUNCHADH. Sed. 710-717. Ob. Maij 25.
Son of Cennfaeladh. Called Duunchadus by Bede (H. E. v. 22). He was of the most noble branch of the house of Conall Gulban, for his grandfather Maelcobha, who died in 615, was the third of the family who were successively monarchs of Ireland, and his granduncle Domhnall, who won the battle of Magh Rath (197) in 637, succeeded Maelcobha on the throne. During his presidency there seems to have been a schism in the community, for in 713 and 716, two other members of the order were elected to the cathedra foe or Columbce : or it may be that a different office, such as prior ', or even bishop, is denoted by the expression. On the death of Conamail, he succeeded to the vacant abbacy, and it was not till 713 that Dorbene was appointed to the chair : who died in the same year. The next election to the chair was in 716, and Faelcu, son of Dor bene, who was then chosen, outlived him, and succeeded him in the full enjoyment of the abbacy. It was under this abbot that the Columbian monks conformed to the Roman Easter and Tonsure. The last occasion on which the old Easter was observed was at the festival of 715, after a duration of 150 years (Bede, H. E. iii. 4). The change was effected through the exertions of a Northumbrian priest, called Ecgberct, " qui in Hibernia diutius exulaverat pro Christo, eratque et doctissimus in scripturis et longae vitse perfectione eximius " (ib.) The place of his abode had been " in monasterio quod lingua Scottorum Rathmelsigi appellatur" (iii. 27). Having meditated a missionary journey to north Germany, he is said to have been diverted from his purpose by a vision, in which his former master Boisil appeared to him, and declared that " Dei voluntatis est ut ad Columbse monasteria magis pergat docenda " (v. 9). Accordingly, when upon the conformity of the Picts to the Roman observance, one of the three remaining obstacles to the unity was removed, an opportunity offered for the accomplishment of a work in Hy, which Adamnan, a few years before, had attempted
XII— FAELCU. Sed. 717-724. Ob. April 3.
Son of Dorbene, of the race of Conall Gulban, but in a different line from the preceding abbots, namely, through his son Nathi. He was born in 642, for he was 74 years old when he was elected to the cathedra Columbe in 716, and he was 82 years of age when he died. Under him, according to Tighernach, the society of Hy received the coronal tonsure. There is some uncertainty about his festival : Colgan places it at April 3, but the name does not appear in the Calendars at that day. They have Faolchu, without any place, at May 23, and July 20. It was probably soon after his accession that the Columbian congregation was driven by King Nechtan beyond the Pictish frontier. They were, no doubt, reluc tant to acquiesce in the royal edict, " Hoc observare tempus paschse cum uni versa mea gente perpetuo volo ; hanc accipere debere tonsuram quam plenam esse rationis audimus, omnes qui in meo regno sunt clericos decerno." — (Bede, H. E. v. 21.)
XIII.— CILLENE FADA. Sed. 724-726. Ob. April 14 vel 19.
He was surnamed Fada, or " the Tall," to distinguish him from Cillene Droicteacth, the hermit, who died in 752. Fedhlimid, who was coadjutor abbot in 722, did not succeed to the abbacy on the death of Faelcu, in 724. His pedigree is not recorded, and his festival is uncertain.
XIV.— CILLINE DEOICHTEACH. Sed. 726-752. Ob. Jul. 3.
He was of the house of Conall Cremthann, son of Niall, and therefore one of the southern Hy-Neill. His pedigree is thus given in the Naemhsenchas : — Cilline Droichtech mac Dicolla mec Cilline mec Amalgadha mec Feradhaigh mec Feici mec Cerbaill mec Conaill Cremthain mec Neill Naoigiallaigh (Book of Lecan). His ancestor Fiac was brother of Diarmait, king of Ireland. The epithet Droicteach signifies " Bridge -maker " (Reeves, Eccl. Ant. p. 359). In the Annals of Tighernach and of Ulster he is only termed ancorita, but the gloss on his name, at the 3d of July, in the Calendar of Marian, expressly says : Abb lae Cholaim cille an Cilline Droichteach sin, " Abbot of Hy-Columcille was this Cilline Droictech." In like manner, the Martyrology of Tamlact, at same day, has Cilline abb lae. These are followed by the Four Masters and the Calendar of Donegal, the latter of which adds, Ase tug go hErinn an serin no tarn iomdha do teaglaim Adamnan, do dhenamh siodha agus chairdesa Chenel Conaill acus Eogain, " It was he that brought to Erin the shrine or numerous relics which Adamnan collected, in order to make peace and friendship between the races of Conaill and of Eoghan." Fedhlimidh, who was appointed coadjutor abbot in 722, continued alive during the presidency of Cilline. It is possible that, as Cilline was an anchorite, the active duties of the society were discharged by his deputy.
XV.— SLEBHINE. Sed. 752-767. Ob. Mar. 2.
Son of Congal, a descendant of Loam, son of Fergus, son of Conall Gulban. During his presidency, Cillene, son of Congal, pro bably his brother, died at Hy ; as also, at an advanced age, Fedh limidh, who became coadjutor abbot in 722. At this period the Columbian influence in Ireland seems to have been at its height, as may be concluded from the repeated mention of the Lex Coluimcille (an. 753, 757), and the frequent visits of the abbot into Ireland. Suibhne, who succeeded him, was coadjutor abbot in 766.
rl.— SUIBHNE. Sed. 767-772. Ob. Mar. 2.
His pedigree is not recorded. He was coadjutor abbot in 766, and succeeded to the full title on the death of Slebhine. Nothing more, except his festival, is recorded of him.
XVII.— BREASAL. Sed. 772-801. Ob. Mai. 18.
Son of Seghine, but his descent is not recorded. Colgan refers to him th eentry in the Calendar at May ] 8, Breasal 6 Dertaigh, Breasal de Oratorio. During his presidency Hy acquired celebrity as a place of pilgrimage, from having two Irish kings enrolled among its members.
XVIIL— CONNACHTACH. Sed. 801-802. Ob. Mai. 10.
His name is not found in the Annals of Ulster, but it is entered in the Four Masters, at 797, probably on the authority of Tighernach, now wanting, at that date, or of some other early record. They term him scribhneoir tocchaidhe acus abb lae, " choice scribe, and abbot of la." Colgan calls him Conmanus, and takes May 10 as his festival, at which day the name of a Cormac is entered in the Calendar of Tamlacht.
XIX.— CELLACH. Sed. 802-815.
Son of Conghal, but of uncertain descent. During his presidency it was that Kells, in the county of Meath, was re-organized on a more extended scale, and made the chief station of the Columbian order.
XX.— DIARMAIT. Sed. 815— post 831.
He was surnamed Dalta Daighre, "Alumnus Daigri," and was appointed successor to Cellach at Kells, in 814, when the latter retired, it would seem, to Hy. As Kells had now risen into import ance, and Hy had declined, the chief of the order began to assume an official rather than a local title, and to be styled Coarb of Columcille. The year of this Diarmait's death is not recorded, nor does his name appear in the Calendar. During his presidency, probably while he abode in Ireland, occurred a second massacre of the con gregation of Hy by the Danes. On this occasion Blaithmac, who seems to have been superior of the monastery, was put to death. Walafridus Strabus, twelfth abbot of Augia Dives, who nourished between 823 and 849, has written a poem of 172 hexameters on the martyrdom of this ecclesiastic. He describes Blaithmaic as " regali de stirpe satus," as "regius haeres," and as " rex ille futurus, genuit quern dives Hibernia mundo." He states that, having become a monk, "agmina multorum rexit veneranda virorum ;" and that, subsequently, coveting the crown of martyrdom, he betook himself to the Island of Eo, whither the pagan Danes had already on more than one occasion come. Expecting their return, he counselled the members of the fraternity to save themselves by flight ; whereupon some departed, while others remained with him. The precious shrine containing St. Columba's relics he deposited in the earth, and when, on the arrival of the plunderers, he refused to make known the place of its concealment, they slew both him and his companions. This poem was first printed by Canisius, and has since been fre quently reproduced.
XXL— INNRECHTACH. Sed. 8— -854. Ob. Mar. 12.
His surname, Uo Finachta, or Ua F'machtain, is supplied by the Annals of Innisfallen, at 840, and is copied by the Four Masters at 852. The date of his predecessor's death is not recorded, conse quently the year of his accession is undetermined. According to the Annals of Inisf alien, he was on his way to Rome when he was killed by the Saxons (840).
XXIL— CELLACH. Sed. 854-865.
Son of Ailill. He was abbot of Kildare as well as of Hy, and thus combined the presidency of a monastery which was not Colum bian with that of St. Columba's society. He seems to have been engaged in a visitation of the Columbian churches in Scotland at the time of his death.
XXIIL— FERADHACH. Sed. 865-880.
Son of Cormac. During his presidency Hy became more and more insecure by reason of Danish inroads. Dunkeld now comes into notice as an important ecclesiastical station.
XXIV.— FLANN. Sed. 880-891. Ob. April 24.
Son of Maelduin, of the race of Conall Gulban. His pedigree is given in the Naemhseanchas, but it is evidently deficient in some generations, for it makes him twelfth in descent from Conall Gulban, while Adamnan, who died nearly two centuries before, was eighth. Colgan latinizes his name by Florentius, and states his festival to be April 24 (Tr. Th. p. 481, a, n. 24).
XXV.— MAELBRIGHDE. Coarb 891-927. Ob. Febr. 22.
Son of Tornan, of the race of Conall Gulban, from whom, accord ing to the pedigree preserved in the Naemhseanchas, he was thirteenth in descent. He is commemorated in the Calendars of Marian and of Donegal at Feb. 22, at which day the latter authority states that the mother of Maelbrighde was Saerlath, daughter of Cuilebadh, son of Baethghaile. This is copied from the Tract De Matribus Sanctorum Hibernice, commonly attributed to ^Engus the Culdee. But the date of that writer is circ. 800, whereas this, his alleged composition, refers to a man who died in 927. Maelbrighde was not only abbot of Hy, but of Armagh and Raphoe, and his celebrity must have been considerable to elicit the following eulogium from the Four Masters : "St. Maelbrighde, son of Tornan, coarb of Patrick, Qolumcille, and Adamnan, head of the piety of all Ireland and of the greater part of Europe, died in a good old age, on the 22d of February." He had been elected abbot of Armagh on the death of Maelcobha, in 888. His penultimate predecessor held the abbacy of Hy with that of Kildare : this abbot holds it with that of Armagh and Raphoe ; an additional evidence of the declension of Hy. See Colgan's Acta SS. p. 386.
XXVI.— DUBHTHACH. Coarb 927-938. Ob. Oct. 7.
Son of Duban, of the race of Conall Gulban, from whom, accord ing to the pedigree in the Naemhseanchas, he was fourteenth in descent, and in the same line as his predecessor, Maelbrighde. He was abbot of Raphoe as well as of Hy, and is styled by the Four Masters " Coarb of Columcille both in Erin and Alba."
XXVIL— KOBHARTACH. Goarb 938-954.
He is styled "Coarb of Columcille and Adamnan," so that Raphoe may be considered as having been included in his jurisdic tion. During his presidency, the obit of an abbot of Hy is recorded. We find another Robhartach at No. xxxix.
XXVIII.— DUBHDUIN. Coarb 954-959.
Surnamed Ua Stefain. He was of the Cinel Fergusa, a branch of the Cinel-Eoghain (Book of Lecan, fol. 64). The Four Masters enter his obit at 957, and repeat it at 958.
XXIX.— DUBHSCUILE. Coarb 959-964.
Son of Cinaedh or Kenneth. Nothing more is known of his history. Probably his official seat was at Kells.
XXX.— MUGHRON. Goarb 964-980.
The Annals of Ulster designate him "Successor of Columcille both in Ireland and Alba." The Four Masters style him " Abbot of la, scribe and bishop ; the most learned of the three Divisions" [na tTri Rand], that is, as Dr. O'Donovan explains it, of Ireland, Man, and Alba. During his presidency, Fiachra Ua hArtagain, aircinnech of la, died. This is the only instance where we find the term aircinneach used in connexion with Hy, and the Four Masters, in the present case, render it by " abbot." During this period there was also a bishop at Hy.
XXXI.— MAELCIARAIN. Coarb 980-986.
The family of Ua Maighne (now pronounced O'Afooney), to which he belonged, were of the Cinel Conaill, and hereditary tenants of Inishkeel in Donegal. According to the Four Masters, this coarb was put to death in Hy by the Danes of Dublin.
XXXII.— DUNNCHADH. Coarb 986-989.
Surnamed Ua Robhacain. The Four Masters style him " Coarb of Columcille and Adamnan," so that Raphoe was included in his jurisdiction.
XXXIII. — DUBHDALEITHE. Coarb 989-998. Ob. June 2.
Son of Cellach. In 965 he was elected Abbot of Armagh, and in 989 was chosen by the joint suffrages of the Irish and Scotch to the presidency of the Columbian order ; or, as Colgan expresses it, "supremus moderator Congregationis Divi Columbse in Hibernia et Albione" (Tr. Th. p. 503 6). It is worthy of observation that during the term of Dubhdaleithe's presidency at Armagh, five years before his death, another individual, Muirecan of Bodoney, is represented as coarb of Patrick, and enjoying the privileges of that office. See Nos. xi. xu. supra.
XXXIV.— MUIREDHACH. Coarl 998-1007. 01. Dec. 28.
Son of Crichan. He was not only coarb of Columcille and Adamnan, but a bishop, lector of Armagh, and coarb designate of St. Patrick. In 1007 he retired from the presidency of the Columbian order, and became a recluse. He died on Saturday night, the 28th of December 1011, and was interred with great honour before the altar of the church of Armagh. Under his pre sidency Maelbrighde Ua Rimhedha was abbot of Hy. The clergy of Armagh appear, at this period, to have exercised considerable influence in the Columbian appointments.
XXXV.— FERDOMHNACH. Coarl 1007-1008.
On the retirement of Muiredhach, he was elected to the successorship of Columcille, and the appointment was made by the authorities assembled in the great fair of Teltown. His local title was Abbot of Kells, which seems to have been the highest Colum bian dignity at this period. We have no statement of his descent, but it seems to have been from the Cinel Conaill. Robhartach, son of Ferdomhnach, the coarb of Columcille and Adamnan, who died in 1058, was probably his son.
XXXVL— MAELMUIEE. Coarb 1008-1009.
Surnamed Ua hUchtain. The family of which he was a member was at this time the principal one connected with the church of Kells. See under the years 969, 992, 1034, 1040 (App. III.) There was a Maelmuire Ua hUchtain, coarb of Coluimcille, who died in 1040, and whom, in the absence of the express name of any other successor in the interim, one might feel disposed to identify with this ecclesiastic, but that the death of the latter is recorded at 1009.
XXXVIL— MAELEOIN. Coarb 1009-1025.
Surnamed Ua Torain, possibly a descendant of Tornan, the father of Maelbrighde in No. xxv. The family of O'Tornan (now called Dornan), were the herenachs of Drumhome, in the county of Donegal. It is not expressly stated that this individual was coarb of Columcille, and the introduction of his name in this catalogue is somewhat conjectural. Probabilities are, however, in its favour. See the Ordnance Memoir of Templemore, p. 28.
XXXVIII.— MAELMUIRE. Coarb 1025-1040.
Surnamed Ua hUchtain. The penultimate predecessor was of the same family and name. Macnia Ua hUchtain, the lector of Kells, who was drowned in 1034, was also his kinsman. In that year Hy lost some of its surviving heirlooms. The Four Masters, in recording Maelmuire's obit, state that he was "comharba of
Columcille and Adamnan." During his presidency, certain grants were made to Kells, recorded in the fourth of the Charters con tained in the Book of KeUs (Miscell. Ir. Arch. Soc. pp. 136-140).
XXXIX.— KOBHARTACH. Coarb 1040-1057.
Son of Ferdomnach, probably of No. xxxv., for the successorship of Columcille, like that of St. Patrick, was becoming hereditary. Kells appears to be still the official seat of the coarb of Columcille. The Four Masters, at 1057,' style this Robhartach " comharba of Columcille and Adamnan."
XL. — GlOLLACRlST. Coarb 1057-1062.
Surnamed Ua Maeldoraidh. The family to which he belonged was the senior line of the race of Conall Gulban, and enjoyed the lordship of Cinell-Conaill before the O'Donnells rose into power. See the entry at the year 1026, supra. The individual who figures at 1070 (App. III.), was probably the son of the present coarb.
XLL — DOMHNALL. Coarb 1062-1098.
Surnamed Ua Robhartaigh. The family of which he was a member were a branch of the Cinel Conaill, and, in after times, herenachs of Tory island. The name was probably derived from Robhartach, the coarb of Columcille, who died in 954. It is still common in Donegal in the form O'Roarty, and in Leinster, of O'Rafferty. The family of Mac Robhartaigh were of the same line. They were herenachs of Bally magrorty, in the parishes of Drumhome and Templemore, and their name still exists in the neighbourhood in the form M 'Grotty. They were also keepers of the Cathach of Columcille. The present individual was abbot of Kells when the case of the Cathach was made, and his name appears in the inscription upon it, in the form Domnall mac Robartaig. Mention is also made of him in the charters of Kells. Maelmaire Ua Robhartaigh was cinn an Disirt Oenannsa, " Head of the Hermitage of Kells," circ. 1135 (Miscell. Ir. Arch. Soc. p. 128). During the presidency of Domhnall, Cormac Mac Rechtogain was vice-herenach of Kells (ib. p. 130). In 1190, a member of the family was prior of Durrow.
XLII. — FERDOMHNACH. Coarb 1098-1114.
Surnamed Ua Clucain. He was abbot of Kells, and the third of the Kells Charters records a transaction of his incum bency. The officials under him were Oengus Ua Domhnallain, the anmchara or confessarius, who was also Coarb of the Disert of Columcille at Kells (322, ob. 1109) ; O'Breslan, priest ; Oisin Mac Eachtghail, ostiarius of Kells (Miscell. Ir. Arch. Soc. pp. 132, 136). The family of O'Clucain seems to have been one of influence at Kells, for another member of it was abbot at 1154, and a third, lector, during his incumbency.
XLIII— MAELBKIGHDE. Coarb 1114-1117.
Surnamed Mac Ronain. In the seventh charter of Kells is the name of a coarb of Columcille, which is partly illegible, but the portion which is distinct, namely, Maelbrig . . . nan, seems re ferable to this abbot j(Miscell. Ir. Arch. Soc. p. 148). Whether owing to the decline of Kells, or the growing influence of Derry, or what is more probable, the commencement of diocesan episcopacy in Ireland, the title of Coarb of Columcitle is intermitted in the Annals at this period, and is afterwards resumed, more as an honorary than a real dignity. It is continued, indeed, in the Charters of Kells, to the abbots of that church, but when next it appears in the Annals, it is transferred to Derry, which church seems to have derived an impulse at this period from its connexion with Armagh (see An. 1122, 1137), but more especially from the circumstance that the southern Hy Neill of Meath, under whose patronage, during the long-continued period that they were supreme, the chief monastery of their territory proportionately flourished, had now declined in power, and the Cinel Eoghain, the chief branch of the northern Hy Neill, now represented by the Mac Lochlainns, and afterwards by the O'Neills, were rising into power, whose various clanns, scattered over Tyrone, exercised their influence in Armagh, while their kinsmen of Jnis-Eoghain, having Derry in their territory, in a great measure controlled its appointments also.
XLIV.— CONANG. Coarb 1117-1128.
Surnamed Ua Beigleighinn. This name is not recorded elsewhere in the Annals, and nothing more is known of the individual than the entry of his obit in the Four Masters.
XLV. — GIOLLA-ADHAMNAIN. Coarb 1128-circ. 1138.
Surnamed Ua Coirthen. This name does not occur in the Annals, and it is introduced in this place on the authority of the fifth Charter of Kells, which, though undated, is referable to this period. It makes mention of Giolla-Adomnan Ua Coirthen, coarb of Columcille ; Maelmartin Ua Brestlen, priest of Kells ; Guaire Ua Clucain, lector of Kells ; Oengus Mac Gillabain, herenach of the hospital ; Muiredhach, son of Mac Rechtacan, vice-herenach ; and Oengus Ua Gamhna, chief of the Scologes or farmers (Miscell. Ir. Arch. Soc. p. 140).
XL VI. — MUIEEDHACH. Coarb circ. 1138-1150.
Surnamed Ua Clucain, of the same family as his predecessor, No. XLII. During his presidency the Disert of Kells received the endowment recorded in the first Charter of Kells. The grant was made by Muiredhach Ua Clucain, abbot of Kells ; Conaing Ua Breslen, the priest ; Guaire Ua Clucain, the lector ; and Aedh, son of Mac Rechtogan, the vice-herenach. It was made " to God, and to Columcille, and to Bishop O'Ceallaigh, the senior of all the men of Meath, and to Maelmaire Ua Robarthaigh, head of the Disert " (Miscell. Ir. Arch. Soc. p. 128). During his, and the four pre ceding incumbencies, Kells appears to have been losing ground in its Columbian associations, until 1150, when Flaithbertach Ua Brolchain was elected abbot of Derry, and was acknowledged the coarb of Columcille.
XLVIL— FLAITHBERTACH. Coarb 1150-1175.
Surnamed Ua Brolchain. The family of Ua Brolchain were descended from Suibhne Meann, who was king of Ireland in 615, and belonged to the Cinel Feradhaich, a clan so called from Feradhach, grandfather of that Suibhne Meann, and fourth in de scent from Eoghaii, the founder of the Cinel-Eoghain race. The Cinel Feradhaich are now territorially represented by the barony of Clogher, in the south of the county of Tyrone. The first of the O'Brolchan family who is mentioned in the Annals was Maelbrighde Ua Brolchan, styled prim saer Erenn ["chief mason of Ireland" — Old Vers.], whose obit is entered in the Ann. Ult. at 1029. From him probably the masonic art of the family was derived, which was cultivated by Flaherty, and practised by Donnell, with such success. The next was Maeliosa, the lector whose obit is entered above at 1086. He spent a part of his early life at Both-chonais in Inishowen, in the neighbourhood of which some of his writings were preserved in Colgan's time ; and afterwards he founded a church seemingly at Lismore, called the derteac Maeiliosa, " Oratory of Maeliosa," which was burned in 1116. He died on the 16th of January, justly celebrated for his learning (Colgan, Acta SS. p. 108). His son, Aedh, succeeded him in the calling of professor, and died in 1095. Two years afterwards a son of Maelbrighde, surnamed Mac-an-tsaeir, who was bishop of Kildare, died. Maelcolaim Ua Brolchain, bishop of Armagh, died in 1122 ; and Mael brighde Ua Brolchain, also bishop of Armagh, died, Jan. 29, 1139. The latter was probably father of the coarb Flaithbertach, whom the Annals of Ulster, at 1164, call Flaithbertach mac in espuic hui Brolcain, " Flaithbertach, son of the bishop Ua Brolchan," a lineage by no means in accordance with the delicacy of the Four Masters, and which, when copying the entry, they divest of its objectional character, in simply calling him Flaithbertach Ua Brolchain. Domhnall Ua Brolchain was prior of Derry, and died Apr. 27, 1202. His name is inscribed on one of the capitals in the cathedral of Hy, in the form Donaldus Obrolcan (vid. 1202, App. III.) Finn Ua Brolchan was steward of O'Donnell in 1213 ; and Flann Ua Brolchain was coarb of Columcille in 1219. In 1548 died Sir John Obrolchan, rector of Kildalton, in Islay (Orig. Paroch. vol. ii. p. 269). The name was afterwards written WBrollaghan, and is now corrupted, in Ulster, to Bradley. Through the influence of " Gilla-mac-Liag or Gelasius, the abbot of Armagh, who had himself been previously abbot of Derry (an. 1137), Flaithbertach Ua Brol chain was raised to the dignity of bishop in 1158, as is thus recorded by the Four Masters : "A synod of the clergy of Ireland was convened at Bri-mic-Taidhg, in Meath, where there were present 25 bishops, with the Legate of the coarb of Peter, to ordain rules and good morals. It was on this occasion that the clergy of Ireland, with the coarb of Patrick, ordered a chair, like every other bishop's, for the coarb of Columcille, Flaithbertach Ua Brolchain, and the arch-abbacy of the churches of Ireland in general." He was a zealous advancer of the welfare of Derry, and during his incumbency many important additions were made to its ecclesiastical buildings ; to procure funds for which, the abbot had, during the years 1150, 1151, 1153, 1161, visited, and obtained contributions from various territories in Ulster and Ossory. After a long life spent in the energetic discharge of his duties, he died in 1175, at which year his obit is thus recorded by the Four Masters : " Flaithbertach Ua Brolchain, coarb of Columcille, a tower of wisdom and hospitality, a man on whom, on account of his good ness and wisdom, the clergy of Ireland had bestowed a bishop's chair, and to whom the abbacy of Hy \comhorbus lae] had been offered (an. 1164), died in righteousness, after exemplary sickness, in the Duibhregles of Columcille : and Gilla-mac-Liag Ua Branain was appointed to his place in the abbacy."
XLVIIL— GIOLLA-MAC-LIAG. Coarb 1175-1198.
Surnamed Ua Branain. A member of his family was herenach of Derry in 1150, and became abbot in 1219. The family of Ua Branain, now commonly called Brannan, belonged to the Cinel Tighernaigh, a branch of the powerful Cinel Eoghain race. The present abbot resigned in 1198. The name Gilla-mac-Liag, in the case of a predecessor, is latinized Gelasius.
XLIX. — GIOLLACRIST. Coarb Il$8-circ. 1202.
Surnamed Ua Cernaigh, a name now commonly known under the form 0' Kearney. The Four Masters state, at 1198, that he "was elected coarb of Columcille by the unanimous suffrages of the clergy and laity of the north of Ireland." The Annals of Ulster at 1210, and of the Four Masters at 1209, in recording his obit, style him "Coarb of Condere," implying that previously to that date he had become abbot of Connor.
Fordun (Bowar) relates that I-Columkill was the burial-place of all the kings of Pictland and Scotland until the time of Mal colm, the husband of St. Margaret (i. 6, ii. 10). The Kegistry of St. Andrews goes further, and makes it not only the place of his interment, but the resting-place of Duncan's bones. The church of the Holy Trinity of Dunfermline, however, was the true reci pient of the mortal remains both of Malcolm and his wife, and thenceforward Hy ceased to be a royal cemetery. But Queen Margaret, previously to 1093, had erected in Hy a monument of her piety, and the chapel in the Eeilig Oran, the oldest edifice in the island, probably dates its origin from the exhibi tion of her liberality recorded by Ordericus Vitalis : — " Inter cetera bona quse nobilis hera fecerat, Huense Ccenobium, quod servus Christi Colurnba tempore Brudei Regis Pictorum filii Meilocon, construxerat, sed tempestate praeliorum cum longa vetustate dirutum fuerat, fidelis Kegina resedificavit, datisque sumptibus idoneis ad opus Domini Monachis reparavit." It was only four years after her death when Magnus, King of Norway, " opened the smaller church of Kollum-Killa," pro bably a chapel built over St. Columba's reputed tomb, on the occasion of his visiting the Holy Island. The seizure of the Western Isles by this warrior, in the following year, caused the annexation of the Isles to the bishopric of Man, and the sub jection of the united dioceses to the metropolitan of Trondhjem, which in great measure severed the island of Hy from its old associations, so that, with the exception of an abbot's obit at 1099, it is unnoticed for above half a century in the Irish Annals. In the meantime, Somerlid, the Regulus deHerer-Gaedel, married a daughter of king Olave, the successor of Magnus, who brought him four sons, one of whom, Dubhgall, was thrust into the sovereignty of the Isles in 1154. Consequently, a war ensued, and in 1,156 the strife was terminated by the cession to Somerlid and his sons of the southern isles, including Hy, a measure which naturally terminated the Norwegian ascendancy, and restored the supremacy of the Celtic influence around. As a result, the abbacy of Hy was offered, in 1164, at the instance of the king, and with the unanimous consent of the church officials, to Flaherty O'Brolchan, the energetic abbot of Derry, who, in addition to his dignity of Coarb of Columcille, had received, in 1158, the now important qualification of episcopal orders. Domestic influence prevented the offer from being accepted ; but the Irish element, already indicated by the names of the ecclesiastical functionaries, in 1 164, seems to have rapidly increased, and to the period of its development we may possibly refer the erection of the central portion of the Cathedral. Bishop O'Brolchain was busily employed, towards the close of the twelfth century, in re-edifying the ecclesiastical buildings of Derry ; and to a kinsman of his is probably attributable the commencement of the most important structure now existing in Hy. The unusual record on the capital of the tower column,
DONALDVS OBROLCHAN FECIT HOC opvs, and the coincidence of that record with the obit of Domhnall Ua Brolchain in the Annals of Ulster at 1203, and of the Four Masters at 1202, the same name in its Irish form, are sufficient, if not to satisfy the mind, at least to afford material for reasonable conjecture, as to the builder. In 1203, Michael, bishop of the Isles, died at Fountain Abbey, and was succeeded, according to the Chronicle of Man, by NicJwlus, whom Torfseus calls Kolus, observing that, for the forty years preceding, the Hsebudse were without an actual bishop ; that is, that the office, as regarded the Isles, was nothing more than titular. But forty years, subtracted from 1203, bring us back precisely to the date at which Somerlid and the clergy of Hy solicited the services of St. Columba's coarb in Derry. This Nicholas or Kolus may have made an effort to establish his authority in Hy, and he may have been the CellacTi of whom the Irish Annals make mention in a most interesting record of 1203, the year of Nicholas's accession to the see of the Isles ; which Nicholas, whether identical with Cellach or not, certainly seems to have had some connexion with Ifeland, for when he died he was buried at Bangor in Ulster.
" A monastery was erected by Cellach, without any legal right, and in despite of the family of Hy, in the middle of Cro-Hy, and he did considerable damage to the town. The clergy of the North assembled together to pass over into Hy, namely, Florence O'Carolan, bishop of Tyrone ; Maelisa O'Deery, bishop of Tirconnell, and abbot of the abbey-church of Paul and Peter at Armagh ; Awley O'Ferghail, abbot of the abbey-church of Derry, with Ainmire O'Coffey, many of the family of Derry, and a great number of the northern clergy beside. They passed over into Hy, and, in accord ance with the law of the Church, they subsequently pulled down the monastery : and the aforesaid Awley was elected abbot of Hy by the suffrages of Foreigners and Gaeidhel."
The passage here cited is the parting mention of Hy in the Irish Annals, and as it closes a long list of notices, running through nearly seven centuries, it leaves the island as it found it, in the hands of Irish ecclesiastics, an important outpost of the Irish
Church, a centre of union between provinces whose people were of one blood, and who were enrolled under one name in the list of nations, till the accident of time limited to one the common name of both, and the accident of place created separate, and sometimes rival interests.
SHOWING THEIE AFFINITY TO ONE ANOTHER, AND THEIE CONN
CONSTRUCTED, FROM THE NAEMHSEANCHUS, AND OTHER AN(
CONAL
a quo Ci
FERGUS C orDu
ZNNFADA = ERCA
ach, d. of Loarn Mor.
SEDNA a quo Siol Sedna
NlNNIDH
AlNMIRE
King of Ireland, ob. 569 (p. 120).
AEDH King of Ireland, ob. 598 (pp, 121, 122, 145).
!
COLMAN
or Colum. AEDH
LUGHAIDH
a quo Cinel Luighdeach.
BAEDAN FERADHACH King of Ireland, or Fergus. ob. 586.
DUACH fi]
AMHALGAIDH PJPAN
RONAN ILatgren FIACHNA third abbot, ob. or Fiachra. Sep. 16, 605 (p. 131).
LELCOBHA DOMHNALL TINNE j of Ireland, King of Ireland, a quo ob. 615. ob. 642 (pp. 121, Ua Tinne. 146, 198).
GARBH Segfyne ERNAN fifth abbot, ob. Aug. 12, 652 (p. 113).
CELLACH AEJ ob. 658.
DOMHNALL LOING Lord of C aill, 672, Ireland,
DONNCHADH FLAITHB King of ob.
RUAIDHRI AEDH M
RUARCAN DOMHNA
GALLCHOBHAR LOIN o quo O'Gallagher.
GUS RONAN= RONNAT
of the Cint
Enna.
SECH Stoamttan inel Con- ninth abbot, King of ob. Sept 23, ob. 703. 704.
HERTACH
Ireland, 734.
CENNFAELADH Cuitntne Jftonn Becan seventh abbot, ob. ob. Mar. 17, Feb. 24, 669 (p. 197). 677.
tfatlbhe eighth abbot, ob. Mar. 22, 679 (p. 113).
MAELDUIN FIAMAN
AIRNELACH MAENGALL BRAI
SNJSDGAILE DOCHARTACH BAIG a quo O'Dogherty. a quo 0
MAELDUIN DOMH>
1 aquoO
jHann twenty-fourth abbot, ob. Apr. 24, 891.
MUIRCERTACH
AGAN DALACH Lord of Cinel Con aill, ob. 869.
IELL ElONECHAN
Boyle. Lord of Cinel Con aill, ob. 906.
JINDERG MURCHADH
Lord of Cinel Conaill ob. 767.
LL CEIRIC MAELBRESAIL Lord of Cinel Conail ob. 817.
3SECH AENGUS
ALL MOR Stoftiann Donnell. Coarb of Columcille, ob. 950.
FLAITHBHERTACH
CANANNAN a quo O'Canannan.
MAELDORAIDH a quo O'Muldory.
Note.— The genealogy ofFergna Britt, the fourth too long. The pedigree of Suibhne mac Cuirtre, th mac Failbhe, the tenth abbot, was of the race of ' in this Table. CUline Droichtcch, the fourteen! being eighth in descent from Conall Crimthann, s< tions are wanting in the line of Dalach, to bring proper place.
prl2 Abbots of Is,
WITH THE CHIEF FAMILIES OF TIRCONNELL.
AUTHORITIES, BY WILLIAM BEEVES, D.D.
IBAN
.ill.
FEDHUM = EITHNE
BRKNANN
LOARN
GINTECH
ENNA BOGHAINE a qua Banagh (p. 63).
ANGIN
II I I I
3 EOGHAN ISaitrjcne Cobthach RONAN RODAIQHE
,ob. orlogen second abbot, OneofSt Columba's or Cronan.
|, 597. (p. Ixxii). ob. Jun. 9, 600. disciples (p. Ixxii).
(p. 215).
AEDH
DONNCHADH
DOMHNALL
I.tiL
Caiman L«i'.<re Scc/hine FAELAN MAILRUBHA
(Tr. Th. p. 480, Dec. 26 (Tr. Th. (Tr. Th. 482, 38 Ir. Nen. cvi.) 481, Ir. Nen. cvi.) Ir. Nen. cvi.)
25.
FlROIL
a quo O'Freel the
herenachs of Cillmacnenain.
, . J i -eems to be at least one generation
M£U»*»~««**"-"
f rJ Uais and therefore does not appear
'TPe°nd)0^ of the Southern Hy Neill,
I he also is excluded. Three genera-
Sgsfdhisgrandson^Wa"lintotheir
[MAC LAJSRE]
ALTA
Dorbene Fada
Prior of Hy, ob. Oct.
28, 713 (p. 218).
SLEBHINE FAILBHE
CiiTAN Odhmn Oct. 27 (pp. 288-9).
FORTHENN
DUBHDUIN JFfrgnaBrtt I-JNAN-
fourth abbot, ob.
Mar. 2, 623.
CONGAL
Ablan MadduibTi
or Mo-Ab. Dec. 23.
Slrbhtne Cillene
fifteenth abbot, ob. 752 ob. Mar. 2, 767.
MAELCAICH
TORNAN = SAERFLAITH d. of Cuilebadh.
fHaelbriflifce CoarbofS'mcille,
NATHI
LUGHAIDH [NATHI]
GlNNTECH
AEDAN
FAELAN
LlBIR
FERGUS
TlNSK
FAILBHE DORBBNE
COXGAL jfatlru
twelfth abbot, ob. Ap. 3, 724.
DlCHUBUS
BAETHECTRA
FERGUS
MAELUIDHIR
DUBHAN
CAENCOMHRAC abbot and bishop of
Bubhtharfj
Coarb of Columcille,
ob. Oct. 7, 938.
THE LIFE OF SAINT COLUMBA.
IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST.— THE PREFACE BEGINNETH.
IN beginning, with the help of Christ, in compliance with the urgent requests of my brethren, to write the life of our blessed Patron, I shall take care to warn, in the first place, others who may read it, to believe the facts which it records, and to attend more to the matter than to the words, which, as I think, sound harsh and barbarous. Let them remember that the kingdom of God consisteth not in richness of eloquence, but in the blossoming of faith, and let them not for any names of men, or tribes, or obscure places in the base Scotic tongue, which, as I think, seem rude when compared with the various languages of foreign nations, despise a record of useful deeds wrought not without the help of God. We must also warn our readers that many other things regarding this man of blessed memory, well worthy of being told, have been omitted for the sake of brevity ; in order not to tire their patience, a few only out of many have been recorded here. And this, as I think, every person who reads the following work will perhaps observe, that of the great actions of the same holy man, popular fame has published the less important, when compared even with the few which we shall now briefly relate. From this point, in this our first brief preface, I now proceed, with the help of God, to explain in the commencement of the second, the name of our holy prelate.
THE LIFE OF SAINT COLUMBA.
IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST.— THE SECOND PREFACE.
THERE was a man of venerable life and blessed memory, the father and founder of monasteries, having the same name as Jonah the prophet ; for though its sound is different in the three different languages, yet its signification is the same in all : what in Hebrew is lona, in the Greek language is called Tlepicrrepa, and in the Latin Columba. Such and so great a name was not given, it is believed, to the man of God without a special pro vidence. For according to the faith of the Gospels, the Holy Ghost is shown to have descended on the only begotten Son of the Eternal Father, in the form of that little bird called the dove ; and hence for the most part in the sacred books the dove is known to designate in a mystical sense the Holy Ghost. Hence also our Saviour in His Gospel has ordered His disciples to preserve the simplicity of the dove ingrafted in a pure heart, for the dove is a simple and innocent bird. By that name, therefore, it was meet that the simple and innocent man should be called, who gave to the Holy Ghost a dwelling-place in him self by his dove-like ways ; a name to which may with pro priety be applied what is written in the Proverbs, "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches." Justly, there fore, not only from the days of his infancy was our president, by the gift of God, honoured by this special name, but even many long years before his birth it was given to him as a child of the promise in a wonderful prophecy of a soldier of Christ to whom it was revealed by the Holy Ghost. For Maucta, a pilgrim from Britain, a holy man, a disciple of St. Patrick the Bishop, gave the following prophecy of our Patron, as is known by us on the testimony of learned ancients. " In the last ages of the world," he said, " a son shall be born, whose name Columba shall be announced in every province of the isles of the ocean, and bril liantly shall he enlighten the last ages of the earth. The little farms of his small monastery and of mine shall be divided by the boundary of a narrow fence, and he shall be a man most dear to God, and of great merit in His sight." In describing the life and character of our Columba, I shall in the first place, as briefly as I can, give a general summary, and place before my readers' eyes an image of his holy life. I also briefly shall notice some of his miracles, as a foretaste to those who eagerly read them, the more detailed account of which shall be given in the three last books. The first shall be his prophetical revelations — the second his divine virtues wrought by him — the third the apparitions of angels and some manifestations of
THE SECOND PEEFACE. 3
the brightness of heaven upon the man of God. Let no one think of me as either stating what is not true regarding so great a man, or recording anything doubtful or uncertain. Let him know that I will tell with all candour, and without any ambiguity, what I have learned from the consistent narrative of my predecessors, trustworthy and discerning men, and that my narrative is founded either on written authorities anterior to my own times, or on what I have myself heard from some learned and faithful ancients, unhesitatingly attesting facts, the truth of which they had themselves diligently inquired into.
St. Columba then was born of noble parents; his father was Fedilmith, son of Fergus, and his mother was Aethne, whose father can be called in Latin Filius Navis, but in the Scotic tongue Mac Nave. In the second year after the battle of Culedrebina (fought A.D. 561), and in the forty-second of his age, St. Columba, resolving to seek a foreign country for the love of Christ, sailed from Scotia (Ireland) to Britain. From his boyhood he had been brought up in Christian training in the study of wisdom, and by the grace of God had so preserved the integrity of his body, and the purity of soul, that though dwell ing on earth he appeared to live like the saints in heaven. For he was angelic in appearance, graceful in speech, holy in work, with talents of the highest order, and consummate prudence ; he lived a soldier of Christ during thirty-four years in an island. He never could spend the space of even one hour without study, or prayer, or writing, or some other holy occupation. So incessantly was he engaged night and day in the unwearied exercise of fasting and watching, that the burden of each of these austerities would seem beyond the power of all human endurance. And still in all these he was beloved by all, for a h°ty j°7 ever beaming on his face revealed the joy and gladness with which the Holy Spirit filled his inmost soul.
BOOK I.
OF HIS PEOPHETIC EEVELATIONS.
CHAPTER I.
A brief narrative of his great Miracles.
ACCORDING to the promise given above, I shall commence this book with a brief account of the evidences which the venerable man gave of his power. By virtue of his prayer, and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, he healed several persons suffering under various diseases; and he alone, by the assistance of God, expelled from this our island, which now has the primacy, innumerable hosts of malignant spirits, whom he saw with his bodily eyes assailing himself, and beginning to bring deadly distempers on his monastic brotherhood. Partly by mortification, and partly by a bold resistance, he subdued, with the help of Christ, the furious rage of wild beasts. The surging waves, also, at times rolling mountains high in a great tempest, became quickly at his prayer quiet and smooth, and his ship, in which he then happened to be, reached the desired haven in a perfect calm.
When returning from the country of the Picts, where he had been for some days, he hoisted his sail when the breeze was against him to confound the Druids, and made as rapid a voyage as if the wind had been favourable. On other occa sions, also, contrary winds were at his prayers changed into fair. In that same country, he took a white stone from the river, and blessed it for the working of certain cures ; and that stone, contrary to nature, floated like an apple when placed in water. This divine miracle was wrought in the pre sence of King Brude and his household. In the same country, also, he performed a still greater miracle, by raising to life the dead child of an humble believer, and restoring him in life and vigour to his father and mother. At another time, while the blessed man was yet a young deacon in Hibernia, resid ing with the holy bishop Findbarr, the wine required for the sacred mysteries failed, and he changed by his prayer pure water into true wine. An immense blaze of heavenly light was on many and wholly distinct occasions seen by some of the brethren to surround him in the light of day, as well as in the darkness of the night. He was also favoured with the sweet and most delightful society of bright hosts of the holy angels. He often saw, by the revelation of the Holy Ghost, the souls of some just men carried by angels to the highest heavens. And the reprobates too he very frequently beheld carried to hell by demons. He very often foretold the future deserts, sometimes joyful, and sometimes sad, of many per sons while they were still living in mortal flesh. In the dreadful crash of wars he obtained from God, by the virtue of prayer, that some kings should be conquered, and others come off victorious. And such a grace as this he enjoyed, not only while alive in this world, but even after his departure from the flesh, as God, from whom all the saints derive their honour, has made him still a victorious and most valiant champion in battle. I shall give one example of especial honour conferred by Almighty God on this honourable man, the event having occurred the day before the Saxon prince Oswald went forth to fight with Cation (Ceadualla of Bede), a very valiant king of the Britons. For as this same King Oswald, after pitching his camp, in readiness for the battle, was sleeping one day on a pillow in his tent, he saw St. Columba in a vision, beam ing with angelic brightness, and of figure so majestic that his head seemed to touch the clouds. The blessed man having announced his name to the king, stood in the midst of the camp, and covered it all with his brilliant garment, except at one small distant point; and at the same time he uttered those cheering words which the Lord spake to Jesua Ben Nun before the passage of the Jordan, after Moses' death, saying, " Be strong and of a good courage ; behold, I shall be with thee," etc. Then St. Columba having said these words to the king in the vision, added, " March out this fol lowing night from your camp to battle, for on this occasion the Lord has granted to me that your foes shall be put to flight, that your enemy Cation shall be delivered into your hands, and that after the battle you shall return in triumph, and have a happy reign." The king, awaking at these words, assembled his council and related the vision, at which they were all encouraged ; and so the whole people promised that, after their return from the war, they would believe and be baptized, for up to that time all that Saxon land had been wrapt in the darkness of paganism and ignorance, with the exception of King Oswald and the twelve men who had been baptized with him during his exile among the Scots. What more need I say ? On the very next night, King Oswald, as he had been directed in the vision, went forth from his camp to battle, and had a much smaller army than the numerous hosts opposed to him, yet he obtained from the Lord, according to His promise, an easy and decisive victory — for King Cation was slain, and the conqueror, on his return after the battle, was ever after established by God as the Bretwalda of all Britain. I, Adamnan, had this narrative from the lips of my predecessor, the Abbot Failbe, who solemnly declared that he had himself heard King Oswald relating this same vision to Segine the abbot.
But another fact must not be omitted, that by some poems ' composed in the Scotic language in praise of the same blessed man, and by the commemoration of his name, certain wicked men of lewd conversation, and men of blood, were saved from the hands of their enemies, who in the night had surrounded the house in which they were singing these hymns. They safely escaped through the flames, the swords, and the spears ; and, strange to tell, a few of those only who despised these commemo rations of the holy man, and refused to join in the hymns, perished in that assault of the enemy. It is not two or three witnesses, as the law requires, but even hundreds and more, that could be cited in proof of this miracle. Nor is it in one place or on one occasion only that the same is known to have happened, but even at different times and places, in both Scotia (Ireland) and Britain, it is proved beyond all doubt that the like security was obtained, in the same manner and by the same means. I have learned this for certain, from well-informed men in those very countries where similar miracles have taken place.
But, to return to the point in hand : among the miracles which this same man of the Lord, while dwelling in mortal flesh, performed by the gift of God, was his foretelling the future by the spirit of prophecy, with which he was highly favoured from his early years, and making known to 'those who were present what was happening in other places : for though absent in body he was present in spirit, and could look on things that were widely apart, according to the words of St. Paul, " He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit."
Hence this same man of the Lord, St. Columba, when a few of the brethren would sometimes inquire into the matter, did not deny but that by some divine intuition, and through a wonderful expansion of his inner soul, lie beheld the whole universe drawn together and laid open to his sight, as in one ray of the sun.
This account of the miracles of the holy man I have given here for this purpose, that my reader, in this brief sketch, may have a foretaste of the richer banquet which is before him, in the fuller narrative which is to be given, with the assistance of the Lord, in the three following books. Here it appears to me not improper, though it may be out of the usual order, to record some prophecies which the blessed man gave at different times, regarding certain holy and illustrious men.
Of St. Finten the Abbot, son of Tailchan.
ST. FINTEN, who was afterwards very well known through out all the churches of the Scots, having, by the grace of God, preserved from his boyhood purity of body and soul, and being devoted to the study of divine wisdom, had nourished from his youthful years this one resolve in his heart, that he would leave Hibernia and go abroad to St. Columba. Burning with that desire, he went to an old friend, the most prudent and vener able cleric in his country, who was called in the Scotic tongue Columb Crag, to get some sound advice from him. When he had laid open his mind to him, he received the following answer : " As thy devout wish is, I feel, inspired by God, who can presume to say that thou shouldest not cross the sea to St. Columba ?" At the same moment two monks of St. Columba happened to arrive, and when they were asked about their journey, they replied : "We have lately come across from Britain, and to-day we have come from the Oakwood of Calgach (Daire Calgaich, or Deny). "Is he well," says Columb Crag, " your holy father Columba?" Then they burst into tears, and answered with great sorrow, " Our patron is indeed well, for a few days ago he departed to Christ." Hearing this, Finten and Columb, and all who were there present, fell on their faces on the ground, and wept bitterly. Finten then asked, " Whom did he leave as his successor ?" " Baithene, his disciple," they replied. And as all cried out, " It is meet and right," Columba said to Finten, " What wilt thou now do, Finten ?" He answered, " With God's permission, I will sail over to Baithene, that wise and holy man, and if he receive me I will take him as my abbot." Then kissing the forementioned Columb, and bidding him farewell, he prepared for his voyage, and setting sail without the least delay, arrived at the louan island (Hy, now corruptly lona). As up to that time his name was wholly unknown in those places, he was only received at first with the hospitality given to every un known stranger ; but next day he sent a messenger to Baithene, and asked to have a personal interview. Baithene, ever kind and affable to strangers, ordered him to be introduced. Being at once brought in, he first, as seemed meet, knelt down upon the ground; and then being ordered by the holy abbot to rise and be seated, he was asked by Baithene, who as yet knew nothing of his family, province, name, or life, what was his motive for encountering the labour of the voyage. In reply to the inquiry thus made he told everything in order, and then humbly asked to be ad mitted. The holy abbot, hearing these things from his guest, and recognising him at the same time as the man of whom St. Columba had some time previously made a prophecy, replied : " Truly, my son, I ought to give thanks to my God for thy arrival, but be thou assured of this, that thou wilt not be one of our monks." On hearing this the stranger was very much grieved, and said : " Perhaps I am unworthy to become thy monk." " It is not because thou art unworthy, as thou sayest, that I gave that answer," immediately replied the abbot, " for I would indeed prefer retaining you with me, but I cannot dis obey the command of St. Columba, my predecessor, by whom the Holy Ghost prophesied of thee. For, as I was alone with him one day, among other things which he foretold was the following : ' Hearken very attentively, 0 Baithene,' said he, ' to these my words, for shortly after my welcome and earnestly longed-for departure from this world to Christ, a certain brother from Scotia (Ireland), named Finten, son of Tailchan, of the tribe Mocumoie, who is now carefully guarding his youthful years with a good life, and is very well versed in sacred studies, will, I say, come to thee, and humbly ask thee to receive and enrol him with your other monks. But this has not been appointed for him in the foreknowledge of God, that he should become the monk of any abbot, for he has long since been chosen of God to be an abbot of monks and a leader of souls to the king dom of heaven. Thou shalt not therefore detain that illustrious man with thee on these islands of ours, lest thou shouldst even seem to oppose the will of God, but thou shalt make known to him what I have told thee, and send him back in peace to Scotia (Ireland), that he may found a monastery in the parts of the Leinstermen, near the sea, and that there feeding the flock of Christ, he shall lead a countless host of souls to their heavenly country.'" The holy youth hearing this burst into tears, and returning thanks to Christ, said : " Be it unto me according to the prophecy and wonderful foreknowledge of St. Columba." At the same time, in obedience to the words of the saints, he received the blessing of Baithene, and sailed back in peace to Scotia (Ireland).
I have heard this as an undoubted fact from the lips of an aged and pious priest and soldier of Christ, called Oissene, son of Ernan, of the tribe Mocu Neth Corb, who averred that he had himself heard these very words from the lips of St. Finten, son of Tailchan, whose monk he himself had been.
Prophecy of St. Columba regarding Ernene, son of Crasen.
ON another occasion, while the blessed man was residing for a few months in the midland part of Hibernia, when founding by divine inspiration his monastery, which in the Scotic tongue is called Dair-mag (Durrow), was pleased to pay a visit to the brethren who dwelt in St. Ceran's monastery, Clon (Clonmacnoise). As soon as it was known that he was near, all flocked from their little grange farms near the monastery, and, along with those who were within it, ranged themselves, with enthu siasm, under the abbot Alither; then advancing beyond the enclosure of the monastery, they went out as one man to meet St. Columba, as if he were an angel of the Lord. Humbly bowing down, with their faces to the ground, in his presence, they kissed him most reverently, and singing hymns of praise as they went they conducted him with all honour to the Church. Over the saint, as he walked, a canopy made of wood was supported by four men walking by his side, lest the holy abbot, St. Columba, should be troubled by the crowd of brethren pressing upon him. At that very time, a boy attached to the monastery, who was mean in dress and look, and hitherto had not stood well in the opinions of the seniors, concealing himself as well as he could, came forward stealthily, that he might touch unperceived even the hem of the cloak which the blessed man wore, without his feeling or know ing it. This, however, did not escape the saint, for he knew with the eyes of his soul what he could not see taking place behind him with the eyes of his body. Stopping therefore suddenly, and putting out his hand behind him, he seized the boy by the neck, and bringing him round set him before his face. The crowd of bystanders cried out : " Let him go, let him go : why do you touch that unfortunate and naughty boy ? " But the saint solemnly uttered these prophetic words from his pure heart : " Suffer it to be so now, brethren ; " then turning to the boy, who was in the greatest terror, he said, " My son, open thy mouth, and put out thy tongue." The boy did as he was bid, and in great alarm opened his mouth and put out his tongue : the saint extended to it his holy hand, and after carefully blessing it pronounced his prophecy in the fol lowing words : " Though this boy appears to you now very con temptible and worthless, let no one on that account despise him. For from this hour, not only will he not displease you, but he will give you every satisfaction ; from day to day he shall advance by degrees in good conduct, and in the virtues of the soul ; from this day, wisdom and prudence shall be more and more increased in him, and great shall be his progress in this your community : his tongue also shall receive from God the gift of both wholesome doctrine and eloquence." This was Ernene, son of Crasen, who was afterwards famous and most highly honoured in all the churches of Scotia (Ireland). He him self told all these words which were prophesied regarding him self, as written above, to the abbot Segine, in the attentive hearing of my predecessor Failbe, who was present at the time with Segine, and from whose lips I myself have come to know all that I have stated. But during this short time that the saint was a guest in the monastery of Clon, there were many other things also which he prophesied by the revelation of the Holy Ghost ; as, for instance, about the discord which arose a long time after among the churches of Scotia (Ireland), on account of the difference with regard to the Easter Feast ; and about some visits of angels distinctly made to himself, certain places within the enclosure of the monastery being at that time thus resorted to by the angels.
CHAPTER IV.
Of the arrival of St. Cainnech, the Abbot, who had been previously announced in prophecy ly St. Colutriba.
AT another time, in the louan island (Hy, now lona), on a day when the tempest was fierce and the sea was exceedingly boisterous, the saint, as he sat in the house, gave orders to his brethren, saying, " Prepare the guest-chamber quickly, and draw water to wash the strangers' feet." One of the brethren upon this inquired : " Who can cross the Sound safely, narrow though it be, on so perilous and stormy a day?" The saint, on hearing this, thus made answer, "The Almighty has given a calm even in this tempest to a certain holy and excellent man, who will arrive here among us before evening." And lo ! the same day, the ship for which the brethren had some time been looking out arrived, according to the saint's prediction, and brought St. Cainnech. The saint went forth with the brethren to meet him and received him with all honour and hospitality. But the sailors who had been with St. Cainnech, when they were asked by the brethren what sort of a voyage they had had, told them, even as St. Columba had predicted, about both the tempest and the calm which God had given in the same sea and at the same time, with an amazing distinction between the two. The tem pest they saw at a distance, yet they said they did not feel it.
Of the Danger to the holy Bishop Colman Mocusailni in the Sea, near the island called Bechru.
ON another day, also, while St. Columba was engaged in his mother-church, he suddenly cried out, with a smile, "Columbanus, the son of Beogna, has just now set out on a voyage to us, and is in great danger in the rolling tides of Brecan's whirlpool : he is sitting at the prow and raising both his hands to heaven : he is also blessing that angry and dreadful sea : yet in this the Lord only frightens him, for the ship in which he is shall not be wrecked in the storm ; but this is rather to excite him to pray more fervently, that by God's favour he may escape the danger of his voyage, and reach us in safety.
CHAPTER VI.
Of Cormac.
ON another occasion also St. Columba prophesied in the following manner of Cormac, grandson of Lethan, a truly pious man, who not less than three times went in search of a desert in the ocean, but did not find it. " In his desire to find a desert, Cormac is this day, for the second time, now embarking from that district which lies at the other side of the river Moda (the Moy, in Sligo), and is called Eirros Domno (Erris, in Mayo) ; nor even this time shall he find what he seeks, and that for no other fault than that he has irregularly allowed to accom pany him in the voyage a monk who is going away from his own proper abbot without obtaining his consent."
Prophecy of the blessed man regarding the Tumults of Battles ,^,, fought at a distance.
ABOUT two years, as we have been told, after the battle of Cule-Drebene (in Connaught), at which time the blessed man first set sail and took his departure from Scotia (Ireland), it happened that on the very day and at the same hour when the battle, called in Scotic Ondemone (near Coleraine), was fought in Scotia (Ireland), the same man of God was then living in Britain with King] Connall, the son of Comgell, and told him everything, as well about the battle itself, as also about those kings to whom the Lord granted the victory over their enemies. These kings were known as Ainmore, son of Setna, and the two sons of Mac Erca, Domnall and Forcus. And the saint, in like manner, prophesied of the king of the Cruithne, who was called Echoid Laib, and how, after being defeated, he escaped riding in his chariot.
On the Battle of the Miathi.
AT another time, after the lapse of many years from the above-mentioned battle, and while the holy man was in the y louan island (Hy, now lona), he suddenly said to his minister, Diormit, " King the bell." The brethren, startled at the sound, proceeded quickly to the church, with the holy prelate himself at their head. There he began, on bended knees, to say to them, " Let us pray now earnestly to the Lord for this people and King Aidan, for they are engaging in battle at this moment." Then after a short time he went out of the oratory, and, look- ( ing up to heaven, said, " The barbarians are fleeing now, and to Aidan is given the victory — a sad one though it be." And the blessed man in his prophecy declared the number of the slain in Aidan's army to be three hundred and three men.
CHAPTER VIII.
Prophecy of St. Columba regarding the Sons of King Aidan.
At another time, before the above-mentioned battle, the saint asked King Aidan about his successor to the crown. The -king answered that of his three sons, Artur, Eochoid Eind, and Domingart, he knew not which would have the kingdom after him. Then at once the saint prophesied on this wise, " None of these three shall be king, for they shall fall in battle, slain by their enemies ; but now if thou hast any younger sons, let them come to me, and that one of them whom the Lord has chosen to be king will at once rush into my lap." When they were called in, Eochoid Buide, according to the word of the saint, advanced and rested in his bosom. Immediately the saint kissed him, and, giving him his blessing, said to his father, " This one shall survive and reign as king after thee, and his sons shall reign after him." And so were all these things fully accomplished afterwards in their time. For Artur and Eochoid Find were not long after killed in the above-mentioned battle of the Miathi; Domingart was also defeated and slain in battle in Saxonia; while Eochoid Buide succeeded his father on the throne.
Of Domnall, son of Aid.
DOMNALL, son of Aid, while yet a boy, was brought by those who brought him up to St. Columba on the ridge of Ceatt (Druim Ceatt in Londonderry), who looked at him and inquired, "Whose son is this whom you have brought here?" They answered, "This is Domnall, son of Aid, who is brought to thee for this purpose, that he may return enriched by thy blessing." The saint blessed him immediately, and said, " He shall survive all his brethren, and be a very famous king, nor shall he be ever delivered into the hands of his enemies ; but in his old age, in his own house, and with a crowd of his familiar friends around him, he shall die peacefully in his bed." All this was truly fulfilled in him, as the blessed man had foretold.
Of Scandlan, son of Colman.
AT the same time and place, the saint, wishing to visit Scandlan, son of Colman, went to him where he was kept in prison by King Aid, and when he had blessed him he comforted him, saying, " Son, do not distress yourself, but rather rejoice and take courage, for King Aid, who has you a prisoner, will go out of this world before you, and after some time of exile you shall reign in your own nation for thirty years. And again you shall be driven from your kingdom, and be in exile for some days ; but after that you shall be called home again by your people, and shall reign for three short terms." All this was fully accomplished according to the prediction of the saint. For in thirty years he had to leave his throne, and continued in exile for some time ; and then being recalled by his people, he reigned not three years, as he expected, but three months, and at the end of that time he died.
A Prophecy of the Messed man regarding two other Kings, icho were called the two grandsons of Muiredach — Baitan, son of Maic JErc, and Eochoid, son of Domnall.
AT another time, while travelling through the rough and rocky country which is called Artdamuirchol (Ardnamurchan), he heard his companions — Laisran, son of Feradach, and Diormit, his minister — speaking on the way of the two abovenamed kings, and addressed them in these words, " 0 my dear children, why do you talk thus foolishly of these men ? Both of these kings of whom you are now conversing are newly slain, and have had their heads cut off by their enemies. And this very day some sailors shall come here from Scotia (Ireland), and tell you the same about these kings." That same day some sailors arrived from Hibernia, at a place which is called Muirbolc Paradisi (Portnamurloch in Lismore), and told the two above-named companions, who were now sailing in the same ship with the saint, how these kings had been slain, and thus the prophecy of the venerable man fulfilled.
Prophecy of the holy man regarding Oingus, son of Aid Comman.
WHEN he and his two brothers were driven from his country, he came as an exile to the saint, who was then wandering in Britain, and who, in blessing him, uttered these prophetic words from his holy heart, " This youth shall survive when his other brothers are gone, and he shall reign a long time in his native country; his enemies shall fall before him, while he shall never fall into their hands, but in old age he shall die peacefully in the midst of his friends." All this was fully accomplished according to the saint's words. This was Oingus, surnamed Bronbachal.
Prophecy of the blessed man regarding the son of King Dermit, who in the Scotic language is called Aid Slane.
ON another occasion, when the blessed man was sojourning for some days in Scotia (Ireland), he spoke in the following prophetic strain to the above-mentioned Aid, who had come to visit him : — " Thou must take care, my son, lest, for the sin of murdering thy* kinsman, thou lose the right of governing the whole of
Hibernia, as was first assigned tliee by God ; for if at any time thou dost commit that sin, thou shalt not hold the whole of thy father's kingdom, but only a part of it in thine own tribe, and that but for a short time." These words of the saint were on this wise fulfilled according to the prediction, that after Aid had treacherously killed Suibne, son of Columban, he reigned, it is said, no longer than four years and three months, and that only as colleague in the kingdom.
Prophecy of the blessed man regarding King Roderc, son of Tothal, who reigned on the Rock of Cluaith (Alcluith or Dumbarton).
THIS same king being on friendly terms with the holy man, sent to him on one occasion a secret message by Lugbe Mocumin, as he was anxious to know whether he would be killed by his enemies or not. But when Lugbe was being closely inquired at by the saint regarding the king, his kingdom, and people, he answered in a tone of pity, " Why do you ask about that wretched man, who is quite unable to tell at what hour he may be killed by his enemies ? " Then the saint replied, " He shall never be delivered into the hands of his enemies ; he will die at home on his own pillow." And the prophecy of the saint regarding King Eoderc was fully accomplished ; for, ac cording to his word, he died quietly in his own house.
Prophecy of the Saint regarding two "boys, one of whom, according to the Saint's word, died at the end of a week.
ON another occasion, two men of low rank in life came to the saint, who was then in the louan island (Hy, now lona). One of them, named Meldan, brought his son to the saint and asked him what kind of future he would enjoy. To whom the saint replied, " Is not this the Sabbath day? Thy son will die on the sixth day at the end of next week, and will be buried here on the eighth day, that is the Sabbath." Then the other man, named Glasderc, also took his son along with him, and venturing to make a similar inquiry, received the following answer from the saint, "Thy son Ernan will see his grand children, and be buried in old age in this island." All this was fully accomplished in its own time, regarding the two boys, according to the words of the saint,
CHAPTER X.
Prophecy of the Saint regarding Colca, son of Aid Draignich, sprung from the grandsons of Fechureg, and regarding some secret sin of his mother.
THIS Colca residing one time in the louan island (Hy, now lona) with the saint, was asked by him concerning his mother whether she was a pious woman or not. Colca answered him, " I have always known my mother to be good, and to bear that character." The saint then spoke these prophetic words : " Set out now at once for Scotia (Ireland), with God's help, and question thy mother closely regarding her very grievous secret sin, which she will not confess to any man." To carry out the advice thus given him he departed to Hibernia : and when he interrogated his mother closely, she at first denied, and then she at last confessed her sin. When she had done penance according to the judgment of the saint, she was absolved, won dering very much all the while at what was made known to the saint regarding her.
CHAPTER XL
COLCA, however, returned to the saint, and remained with him for some days, and then asking about the end of his own days, received this answer from the saint: — "In thine own beloved country thou shalt be head of a church for many years, and when at any time thou happenest to see thy butler making merry with a company of his friends at supper, and twirling the ladle round in the strainer, know that then in a short time thou shalt die." What more need I say ? This same prophecy of the blessed man was exactly fulfilled, as it was foretold to Colca.
CHAPTER XII.
Regarding Laisrean, the gardener, a holy man.
ON a certain day, the holy man ordered one of his monks named Trena, of the tribe Mocuruntir, to go a message for him to Scotia (Ireland). While he was preparing the ship in haste to obey the orders of the man of God, he complained before the saint that one of the sailors was wanting. The saint immedi ately answered him, and uttered these words from his sacred breast, " The sailor who is, thou sayest, absent, I cannot just now find. But go in peace ; thou shalt have a favourable and steady breeze till thou reach Hibernia. Thou shalt see a man coming to meet thee from a distance, and he will be the first to seize the prow of thy ship in Scotia (Ireland) ; he shall be with thee during the time of thy sojourn in Hibernia, and accompany thee on thy return to us, as a man chosen by God, who in this very monastery of mine will live piously the remainder of his days." What more can I add ? Trena received the saint's blessing, and crossed over at full sail during the whole voyage, and lo ! as his little ship was nearing the port, Laisran Mocumoie ran forward before the others and caught the prow. The sailors knew that this was the very man of whom the saint had spoken beforehand.
CHAPTER XIII.
How the Saint 'knew and told beforehand about a great Whale.
ONE day when the venerable man was staying in the Ion an island (Hy, now lona), a certain brother named Berach intended to sail to the Ethican island (Tiree), and going to the saint in the morning asked his blessing. The saint looking at him, said, " 0 my son, take very great care this day not to attempt sailingdirect over the open sea to the Ethican land (Tiree) ; but rather take a circuit, and sail round by the smaller islands, for this reason, that thou be not thrown into great terror by a huge monster, and hardly be able to escape." On receiving the saint's blessing he departed, and when he reached his ship, he set sail without giving heed to the saint's words. But as he was crossing over the larger arms of the Ethican sea, he and the sailors who were with him looked out, and lo, a whale, of huge and amazing size, raised itself like a mountain, and as it floated on the surface, it opened its mouth, which, as it gaped, was bristling with teeth. Then the rowers, hauling in their sail, pulled back in the utmost terror, and had a very narrow escape from the agitation of the waves caused by the motion of the monster ; and they were also struck with wonder as they remembered the prophetic words of the saint. On the morning of that same day, as Baithene was going to sail to the forenamed island, the saint told him about this whale, saying, " Last night, at midnight, a great whale rose from the depth of the sea, and it will float this day on the surface of the ocean between the louan and Ethican islands (lona and Tiree)." Baithene answered and said, " That beast and I are under the power of God." " Go in
B peace," said the saint ; " thy faith in Christ shall defend thee from this danger." Baithene accordingly, having received the saint's blessing, sailed from the harbour; and after they had sailed a considerable distance, he and his companions saw the whale ; and while all the others were much terrified, he alone was without fear, and raising up both his hands, blessed the sea and the whale. At the same moment the enormous brute plunged down under the waves, and never afterwards appeared to them.
Prophecy of the holy man regarding a certain Baitan, who with others sailed in search of a desert in the ocean.
At another time, a certain man named Baitan, by race a descendant of Niath Taloirc, when setting out with others to seek a desert in the sea, asked the saint's blessing. The saint bidding him adieu uttered this prophecy regarding him : " This man who is going in search of a desert in the ocean shall not be buried in the desert, but in that place where a woman shall drive sheep over his grave." The same Baitan, after long wanderings on stormy seas, returned to his native country without finding the desert, and remained for many years the head of a small monastic house, which is called in the Scotic tongue Lathreginden (not identified). When after a while he died and was buried, in the Oakgrove of Galgach (Deny), it happened at the same time that on account of some hostile inroad the poor people with their wives and children fled for sanctuary to the church of that place. Whence it occurred that on a certain day a woman was caught, as she was driving her lambs over the grave of this same man who was newly buried. Then a holy priest who was present and saw this, said, " Now is fulfilled the prophecy which St. Columba uttered many years ago." And this I myself was told regarding Baitan, by that same priest and soldier of Christ, Mailodran by name, of the tribe of Mocurin.
CHAPTER XV.
Prophecy of the holy man regarding a certain Neman, who was not a real penitent.
AT another time, the saint came to the Hinbina island (Eilean-na-naoimh, one of the Garveloch islands), and that same day he gave orders that even the penitents should enjoy some indulgence in respect of their food. Now there was among the penitents in that place a certain Neman, son of Cathair, who, though ordered by the saint, declined to accept the offer of this little indulgence. Him then the saint addressed in these words : " 0 Neman, art thou not accepting some indulgence in food as it is kindly granted by me and Baitan ? The time shall come when thou wilt be stealthily eating mare's flesh, as thou liest concealed in the woods with robbers." And accordingly that same man afterwards returned to the world, and was found in a forest with robbers taking and eating off a wooden griddle such flesh as the saint had foretold.
CHAPTER XVI.
Regarding a certain unhappy man who lay with his Mother.
AT another time, the saint called out the brethren at the dead of night, and when they were assembled in the church said to them : " Now let us pray fervently to the Lord, for at this hour a sin unheard of in the world has been committed, for^ which rigorous vengeance that is justly due is very much to be feared." Next day he spoke of this sin to a few who were asking him about it. "After a few months," he said, " that unhappy wretch will come here to the louan island (Hy, now lona) with Lugaid, who is unaware of the sin." Accord ingly after the few months had passed away, the saint one day spoke to Diormit, and ordered him, " Rise quickly ; lo ! Lugaid is coming. Tell him to send off the wretch whom he has with him in the ship to the Malean island (Mull), that he may not tread the sod of this island." He went to the sea in obedience to the saint's injunction, and told Lugaid as he was approaching all the words of the saint regarding the unhappy man. On hear ing the directions, that unhappy man vowed that he would never eat food with others until he had seen St. Columba and spoken to him. Diormit therefore returned to the saint, and told him the words of the poor wretch. The saint, on hearing them, went down to the haven, and as Baitan was citing the authority of Holy Scriptures, and suggesting that the repentance of the un happy man should be received, the saint immediately replied to him, "O Baitan! this man has committed fratricide like Cain, and become an adulterer with his mother." Then the poor wretch, casting himself upon his knees on the beach, promised that he would comply with all the rules of penance, according to the judgment of the saint. The saint said to him, "If thou do penance in tears and lamentations for twelve years among the Britons, and never to the day of thy death return to Scotia (Ireland), perhaps God may pardon thy sin." Having said these words, the saint turned to his own friends and said, " This man is a son of perdition, who will not perform the penance he has pro mised, but will soon return to Scotia (Ireland), and there in a short time be killed by his enemies." All this happened exactly according to the saint?s prophecy ; for the wretched man, re turning to Hibernia about the same time, fell into the hands of his enemies in the region called Lea (Firli, in Ulster), and was murdered. He was of the descendants of Turtre.
Of the Vowel I.
ONE day Baithene came to the saint and said, " I want some one of the brethren to look over with me and correct the psalter which I have written." Hearing this, the saint said, " Why give us this trouble without any cause ? In that psalter of thine, of which thou speakest, there is not one superfluous letter to be found, nor is any wanting except the one vowel I." And accordingly, when the whole psalter was read over, what the saint had said was found to be true.
Of the Book which fell into the Water-vessel, as the Saint had foretold.
IN the same way, on another day, as he was sitting by the hearth in the monastery, he saw at some distance Lugbe, of the tribe Mocumin, reading a book, and suddenly said to him, " Take care, my son, take care, for I think that the book thou readest is about to fall into a vessel full of water." And so it soon happened, for when the same youth rose soon after to perform some duty in the monastery, he forgot the word of the blessed man, and the book which he held negligently under his arm suddenly fell into the water-pot, which was full of water.
Of the Inkhorn, awkwardly spilled.
ON another day a shout was given on the other side of the Sound of the louan island (Sound of lona) ; the saint hearing the shout, as he was sitting in his little hut, which was made of planks, said, " The man who is shouting beyond the Sound is not of very sharp wit, for when he is here to-day he will upset my inkhorn and spill the ink. Diormit, his minister, hearing this, stood a little in front of the door, and waited for the arrival of this troublesome guest, in order to save the inkhorn. But for some cause or other he had soon to leave his place, and after his departure the unwelcome guest arrived; in his eager haste to kiss the saint, he upset the inkhorn with the hem of his garment and spilled the ink.
Of the arrival of another Guest foretold ~by the Saint.
So again at another time the saint spoke thus to his brethren on the third day of the week, " We intend to fast to-morrow, being Wednesday : and yet by the arrival of a certain trouble some guest the usual fast will be broken." And so it happened as had been shown to the saint beforehand ; for on the morn ing of that same Wednesday, another stranger was heard signal ling across the Sound. This was Aidan, the son of Fergno, who, it is said, was minister for twelve years to Brendan Mocualti. He was a very religious man, and his arrival, as the saint had foretold, broke the fast of that day.
Of another man in distress who was crying across the same Sound.
ON another day the saint heard some person shouting across the Sound, and spoke on this wise, "That man who is shouting is much to be pitied, for he is coming here to us to ask some cure for the disease of his body; but it were better for him this day to do true penance for his sins, for at the close of this week he shall die." These words those who were present told to the unhappy man when he arrived. But he gave no heed to them when he had received what he asked, and quickly departed, yet before the end of the same week he died, according to the prediction of the saint.
The Prophecy of the holy man regarding the Roman city, burnt l>y a sulphurous fire which fell from heaven.
ANOTHER time also, Lugbe, of the tribe Mocumin, of whom I spoke already, came to the saint one day after the grinding of the com, but the saint's countenance shone with such wonderful brilliancy that he could not look upon it, and quickly fled in great terror. The saint gently clapped his hands and called him back ; then on his return the saint asked him why he fled so quickly. " I fled," he replied, " because I was very much alarmed." Then becoming more confident, after a while, he ventured to ask the saint, " Hath any awful vision been shown to thee just now ? " The saint answered, " A very fearful ven geance hath just now been exacted in a distant corner of the world." " What vengeance ?" says the youth, " and where hath it taken place ? " The saint then addressed him thus : " A sul phurous fire hath been poured down from heaven this moment on a city which is subject to Borne, and within the Italian territory, and about three thousand men, besides women and children, have perished. Before the end of this year Gallican sailors shall come here from the provinces of Gaul, and tell thee these same things." His words proved true in a few months ; for the same Lugbe, happening to accompany the saint to the Head of the land (Kintyre), inquired at the captain and crew of a bark that had just arrived, and received from them all the news regarding the city and its inhabitants, exactly as it was fore told by the illustrious man.
CHAPTER XXIII.
The Vision of the Uessed man regarding Laisran, son of Feradach.
ONE very cold day in winter the saint was much afflicted, and wept bitterly. His attendant, Diormit, asked the cause of his sadness, and received this answer from him, " With just reason am I sad to-day, my little child, seeing that my monks, now wearied after their severe labours, are engaged by Laisraii in building a large house ; with this I am very much displeased." Strange to say, at that very moment, Laisran, who was living at the time in the monastery of the Oakwood Plain (Deny), felt somehow impelled, and as it were consumed by a fire within him, so that he commanded the monks to stop from working, and some refreshments to be made ready for them. He also gave direc tions that they were to rest not only that day, but also on other occasions of severe weather. The saint, hearing in spirit these words of consolation addressed by Laisran to his brethren, ceased weeping, and though he himself was living in the louan island (Hy, now lona), he rejoiced with exceeding great joy, and told all the circumstances to his brethren, while at the same time he blessed Laisran for his timely relief to the monks.
How Feachna the Wise came as a Penitent to St. Columba, as he
had foretold.
ANOTHER time the saint was sitting on the top of the moun tain which overhangs this our monastery, at some distance from it, and turning to his attendant Diormit, said to him, " I am sur prised that a certain ship from Scotia (Ireland) does not appear sooner : there is on board a certain wise man who has fallen into a great crime, but who, with tears of repentance, shall soon arrive." Not long after the attendant, looking to the south, saw the sail of a ship that was approaching the harbour. When its arrival was pointed out to the saint he got up quickly and said, " Let us go to meet this stranger, whose sincere penance is accepted by Christ." As soon as Feachna came on shore, he ran to meet the saint, who was coming down to the shore, and falling on his knees before him lamented most bitterly with wailing and tears, and there in the presence of all made open confession of his sins. Then the saint, also shedding tears, said to him, " Arise, my son, and be comforted ; the sins thou hast committed are forgiven thee, because, as it is written, ' a humble and contrite heart God doth not despise.' " He then arose, and the saint received him with great joy. After a few days he was sent to Baithene, who at that time was the superior of the monastery in the plain of Lunge (Maigh Lunge, in Tiree), and he journeyed thither in peace.
CHAPTER XXV.
The Prophecy of the holy man regarding his monk Cailtan.
AT another time he sent two of his monks to another of them named Cailtan, who was then superior in the cell which is called to this day after his brother Diuni, and is situated near the lake of the river Aba (Lochawe). The saint gave them the following instructions, " Run quickly to Cailtan, and tell him to come to me without delay." In obedience to the saint's command they went to the cell of Diuni, and told Cailtan the object of their mission. At once, and without the least delay, he set out along with the messengers of the saint, and soon reached his abode in the louan island (Hy, now lona). On making his appearance he was addressed by the saint, " 0 Cailtan, thou hast done well by coming hither quickly in obedience to my summons ; rest now for a while. I sent for you to come to me for this reason, that, loving thee as a friend, I would wish thee to end thy days with me here in true obedience. For before the close of this week thou shalt depart in peace to the Lord." When he heard these words he gave thanks to God, embraced the saint with tears, and receiving his blessing, retired to the guest-chamber. He fell sick that same night, and passed away to Christ the Lord during that very week, as the saint had said.
CHAPTER XXVI.
The Foresight and Prophecy of the Saint regarding the two brothers who were Strangers.
ONE Lord's day a loud cry was heard beyond the abovementioned Sound of which I speak so often. As soon as the saint heard it, he said to the brethren who were then with him, " Go directly and bring here before us at once the strangers that have now arrived from a distant land." They went accordingly and ferried the strangers across. The saint, after embracing them, asked them at once the object of their journey. In reply they said, "We are come to reside with thee for this year." The saint replied, " With me, as you say, you cannot reside for a year, unless you take first the monastic vow." When those who were present heard these words addressed to strangers who were only newly arrived they wondered very much. But the elder brother, in answer to the saint's remarks, replied, "Although we never up to the present hour entertained the thought before, yet we shall follow thy advice, believing that it cometh from God." What more need I say ? That very moment they entered the chapel with the saint, and on bended knees devoutly took the monastic vow. The saint then turned to his monks and said, " These two strangers who are presenting them selves ' a living sacrifice to God/ and within a short time are fulfilling a long time of Christian warfare, shall pass away in peace this very month to Christ our Lord." The two brothers, on hearing this, gave thanks to God, and were led away to the guest-room. After seven days the elder brother fell sick, and departed to the Lord in the course of that week. After other seven days the other brother also fell sick, and within the same week passed to the Lord with joy, so that, according to the truthful prophecy of the saint, both closed their lives in this world within the space of one month.
The Prophecy of the holy man regarding a certain Artlranan.
WHEN the blessed man was staying for some days in the Scian island (Sky), he struck a spot of ground near the sea with his staff, and said to his companions : " Strange to say, my children, this day, an aged heathen, whose natural goodness has been preserved through all his life, will receive baptism, die, and be buried on this very spot." And lo ! about an hour after, a boat came into the harbour, on whose prow sat a decrepit old man, the chief of the Geona cohort. Two young men took him out of the boat and laid him at the feet of the blessed man. After being instructed in the word of God by the saint through an interpreter, the old man believed, and was baptized at once by him, and when the baptism was duly administered, he in stantly died on the same spot, according to the saint's predic tion, and was buried there by his companions, who raised a heap of stones over his grave. This cairn may be seen still on the sea-coast, and the river in which he was baptized is called to this day by the inhabitants, Dobur Artbranan.
Of the Boat that was removed ly the Saint's order.
ANOTHER time, as the saint was travelling beyond the Dorsal ridge of Britain (Drumalban), he came to a small village, lying amid deserted fields, on the banks of a river, where it flows into a lake. There the saint took up his abode, and that same night, while they were yet but falling asleep, he awoke his companions, and said to them : " Go out this instant with all speed, bring hither quickly the boat you left on the other side of the stream, and put it in a house near us." They did at once as they were ordered, and soon after they were again asleep, the saint roused Diormit, and said to him : " Stand outside the door, and see what has happened to the village in which you had left your boat." Diormit went out accordingly and saw the whole village on fire, and returning to the saint he told him what was taking place. Then the saint told the brethren the name of the ran corous foe who had burnt the houses that night.
0 Gfallan, son of Fachtna, who resided in the jurisdiction of Colga, son of CellacJi.
ONE day again, as the saint was sitting in his little hut, he said, in prophecy to the same Colca, then reading by his side, " Just now demons are dragging with them down to hell one of the chiefs of thy district who is a niggardly person." When Colca heard this, he marked the time accurately in a tablet, and, coming home within a few months, learned on inquiry from the inhabitants of the place, that Gallan, son of Fachtna, died at the very moment that the saint said to him the man was being carried off by demons.
The Prophecy of the blessed man regarding Findchan, a Priest, and the founder of the monastery called in Scotic Artchain, in the Ethican land (Tiree).
AT another time Findchan, the priest and soldier of Christ, named above, brought with him from Scotia (Ireland) to Britain, Aid, surnamed the Black, descended of a royal family, and a Cruthinian by race. Aid wore the clerical habit, and came with the purpose of residing with him in the monastery for some years. Now this Aid the Black had been a very bloodthirsty man, and cruelly murdered many persons, amongst others Diormit, son of Cerbul, by divine appointment king of all. This same Aid, then, after spending some time in his retirement, was irregularly ordained priest by a bishop invited for the purpose, in the pre sence of the above-named Findchan. The bishop, however, would not venture to lay a hand upon his head unless Findchan, who was greatly attached to Aid, in a carnal way, should first place his right hand on his head as a mark of approval. When such an ordination afterwards became known to the saint, he was deeply grieved, and in consequence forthwith pronounced this fearful sentence on the ill-fated Findchan and Aid : " That right hand which, against the laws of God and the Church, Findchan placed on the head of the son of perdition, shall soon be covered with sores, and after great and excruciating pain shall precede himself to the grave, and he shall survive the burial of his hand for many years. And Aid, thus irregularly ordained, shall return as a dog to his vomit, and be again a bloody murderer, until at length, pierced in the neck with a spear, he shall fall from a tree into the water and be drowned."
Such indeed was the end long due to him who murdered the king of all Scotia (Ireland). The blessed man's prophecy was fulfilled regarding both, for the priest Findchan's right hand festered from the effects of a blow, and went before him into the ground, being buried in an island called Ommon (not identified), while he himself survived for many years, according to the saying of St. Coluniba. But Aid the Black, a priest only in name, be taking himself again to his former evil doings, and being treach erously wounded with a spear, fell from the prow of a boat into a lake and was drowned.
Of the Consolation which the Monks, when they were vieary on their journey, received from the Saint visiting them in spirit.
AMONG these wonderful manifestations of prophetical spirit it does not seem alien from the purpose of our short treatise to mention also here the spiritual comfort which the monks of St. Columba at one time received from his spirit's meeting them by the way. For as the brethren, on one occasion after the harvest work, were returning in the evening to the monastery, and came to a place called in Scotic Cuuleilne, which is said to lie on the western side of the louan island (Hy, now lona), midway between the field on the plain and our monastery, each of them thought he felt something strange and unusual, which, however, they did not venture to speak of to one another. And so they had the same feeling for some days successively, at the same place, and at the same hour in the evening.
The holy Baithen at that particular time had charge of the work, and one day he said to them : " Now, my brethren, if any of you ever notices anything wonderful and unusual in this spot which lies between the corn-field and the monastery, it is your duty to declare it openly." An elder brother said, " As you have ordered me, I shall tell you what I observed on this spot. For both in the past few days, and even now, I perceive the fragrance of such a wonderful odour, just as if all the flowers on earth were gathered together into one place ; I feel also a glow of heat within me, not at all painful, but most pleasing, and a certain unusual and inexpressible joy poured into my heart, which on a sudden so refreshes and gladdens me, that I forget grief and weariness of every kind. Even the load, how ever heavy, which I carry on my back, is in some mysterious way so much lightened, from this place all the way to the monastery, that I do not seem to have any weight to bear." What need I add ? All the other reapers in turn declared they had exactly the same feeling as the first had described. All then knelt down together, and requested of the holy Baithen that he would learn and inform them of the as yet unknown cause and origin of this wonderful relief, which both he and they were feeling. " Ye all know," he immediately replied, "our father Columba's tender care regarding us, and how, ever mindful of our toil, he is always grieved when we return later than usual to the monastery. And now because he cannot come in person on this occasion to meet us, his spirit cometh forth to us as we walk along, and conveyeth to us such great comfort." Having heard these words, they raised their hands to heaven with intense joy as they knelt, and venerated Christ in the holy and blessed man.
I must not pass over another well-authenticated story, told, indeed, by those who heard it, regarding the voice of the blessed man in singing the psalms. The venerable man, when singing in the church with the brethren, raised his voice so wonderfully that it was sometimes heard four furlongs off, that is five hundred paces, and sometimes eight furlongs, that is one thousand paces. But what is stranger still : to those who were with him in the church, his voice did not seem louder than that of others ; and yet at the same time persons more than a mile away heard it so distinctly that they could mark each syllable of the verses he was singing, for his voice sounded the same whether far or near. It is however admitted,' that this wonder ful character in the voice of the blessed man was but rarely observable, and even then it could never happen without the aid of the Holy Ghost.
But another story concerning the great and wonderful power of his voice should not be omitted. The fact is said to have taken place near the fortress of King Brude (near Inverness) . When the saint himself was chanting the evening hymns with a few of the brethren, as usual, outside the king's fortifications, some Druids, coming near to them, did all they could to prevent God's praises being sung in the midst of a pagan nation. On seeing this, the saint began to sing the 44th Psalm, and at the same moment so wonderfully loud, like pealing thunder, did his voice become, that king and people were struck with terror and amazement.
Concerning a rich man named Lugud Clodus.
AT another time, when the saint was staying some days in Scotia (Ireland), he saw a cleric mounted on a chariot, and driving pleasantly along the plain of Breg (MaghBregh, in Meath). On asking who the person was, the cleric's friend made this reply regarding him : " This is Lugud Clodus, who is rich, and much respected by the people." The saint immediately answered, " He does not seem so to me, but a poor wretched creature, who on the day of his death shall have within his own walled enclosure three of his neighbour's cattle which have strayed on to his property. The best of the strayed cows he shall order to be killed for his own use, and a part of the meat he shall direct to be cooked and served up to him at the very time that he is lying on the same couch with a prosti tute, but by the first morsel that he eats shall he be choked and die immediately." Now all these things, as we heard from well-informed persons, afterwards happened according to the saint's prophecy.
CHAPTER XXXI.
Prophecy of the Saint regarding Neman, son of Ghruthrich.
FOR when the saint corrected this man for his faults, he re ceived the saint's reproof with derision. The blessed man then said to him, " In God's name I will declare these words of truth concerning thee, Neman, that thine enemies shall find thee in bed with a prostitute and put thee to death, and the evil spirits shall carry off thy soul to the place of torments." A few years after his enemies found this same Neman on a couch along with a prostitute, in the district of Cainle (not identified), and beheaded him, as was foretold by the saint.
CHAPTER XXXII.
Prophecy of the holy man regarding a certain Priest.
AT another time, as the saint was staying in that part of Scotia (Ireland), named a little before, he came by chance on the Lord's day to a neighbouring little monastery, called in the Scotic language Trioit (Trevet, in Meath). The same day a priest celebrated the holy mysteries of the Eucharist, who was selected by the brethren who lived there to perform the solemn offices of the Mass, because they thought him very pious. The saint, on hearing him, suddenly opened his mouth and uttered this fearful sentence : " The clean and unclean are now equally mingled together ; that is, the clean mysteries of the holy sacrifice are offered by an unclean person, who just now conceals within his own conscience a grievous crime." The bystanders, hearing these words, were struck with terror ; but he of whom they were said was forced to confess his sin before them all. And the fellow-soldiers of Christ, who stood round the saint in the church, and had heard him making mani fest the secrets of the heart, greatly wondered, and glorified the heavenly knowledge that was seen in him.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
The Prophecy of the holy man regarding the roller Ere Mocudruidi, who dwelt in the island Coloso (Colonsay).
AT another time, when the saint was in the louan island (Hy, now lona), he called two of the brothers, Lugbe and Silnan, and gave them this charge, " Sail over now to the Malean island (Mull), and on the open ground, near the sea-shore, look for Ere, a robber, who came alone last night in secret from the island Coloso (Colonsay). He strives to hide himself among the sand hills during the daytime under his boat, which he covers with hay, that he may sail across at night to the little island where our young seals are brought forth and nurtured. When this furious robber has stealthily killed as many as he can, he then fills his boat, and goes back to his hiding-place." They pro ceeded at once in compliance with their orders, and found the robber lying hid in the very spot that was indicated, and they brought him to the saint, as they had been told. The saint looked at him, and said, " Why dost thou transgress the com mandment of God so often by stealing the property of others ? If thou art in want at any time, come to us and thy needs shall be supplied." At the same time he ordered some wethers to be killed, and given to the wretched thief in place of the seals, that he might not return empty. A short time after the saint saw in spirit that the death of the robber was at hand, and ordered Baithen, then steward in the plain of Lunge (Maigh Lunge, in Tiree), to send a fat sheep and six pecks of corn as a last gift. Baithen sent them at once as the saint had recom mended, but he found that the wretched robber had died sud denly the same day, and the presents sent over were used at his burial.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Prophecy of the holy man regarding the poet Cronan.
AT another time, as the saint was sitting one day with the brothers beside the lake Ce (Lough Key, in Roscommon), at the inouth of the river called in Latin Bos (the Boyle), a certain Scotic poet came to them, and when he retired, after a short interview, the brothers said to the saint, " Why didst thou not ask the poet Cronan, before he went away, to sing us a song with accompaniment, according to the rules of his profession ? " The saint replied, "Why do even you now utter such idle words? How could I ask that poor man to sing a song of joy, who has now been murdered, and thus hastily has ended his days, at the hands of his enemies ? " The saint had no sooner said these words than immediately a man cried out from beyond the river, " That poet who left you in safety a few minutes ago has just now been met and put to death by his enemies." Then all that were present wondered very much, and looked at one another in amazement.
CHAPTER XXXV.
The holy man's Prophecy regarding the two Noblemen who died of wounds mutually inflicted.
AGAIN, at another time, as the saint was living in the louan island (Hy> now lona), on a sudden, while he was reading, and to the great surprise of all, he moaned very heavily. Lugbe Mocublai, who was beside him, on seeing this, asked the cause of such sudden grief. The saint, in very great affliction, answered him, " Two men of royal blood in Scotia (Ireland) have perished of wounds mutually inflicted near the monastery called Cellrois, in the province of the Maugdorna (Magheross, in Monaghan) ; and on the eighth day from the end of this week, one shall give the shout on the other side of the Sound, who has come from Hibernia, and will tell you all as it happened. But oh ! my dear child, tell this to nobody so long as I live." On the eighth day, accordingly, the voice was heard beyond the firth. Then the saint called quietly to Lugbe, and said to him, "This is the aged traveller to whom I alluded, who now crieth aloud beyond the strait ; go and bring him here to me." The stranger was speedily brought, and told, among other things, how two noblemen in the district of the Maug dorna, near the confines of the territory in which is situate the monastery of Cellrois, died of wounds received in single combat — namely, Colman the Hound, son of Ailen, and Eonan, son of Aid, son of Colga, both descended of the kings of the Anteriores (the Airtheara, or people of Oriel in Ulster). After these things were thus narrated, Lugbe, the soldier of Christ, began to question the saint in private. " Tell me, I entreat of thee, about these and such like prophetic revelations, how they are made to thee, whether by sight or hearing, or other means unknown to man." To this the saint replied, " Thy question regardeth a most difficult subject, on which I can give thee no information whatever, unless thou first strictly promise, on thy bended knees, by the name of the Most High God, never to communicate this most secret mystery to any person all the days of my life." Hearing this, Lugbe fell at once on his knees, and, with face bent down to the ground, promised everything faithfully as the saint demanded. After this pledge had been promptly given he arose, and the saint said to him, " There are some, though very few, who are enabled by divine grace to see most clearly and distinctly the whole compass of the world, and to embrace within their own wondrously enlarged mental capacity the utmost limits of the heavens and the earth at the same moment, as if all were illumined by a single ray of the sun." In speaking of this miracle, the saint, though he seems to be referring to the expe rience of other favoured persons, yet was in reality alluding to his own, though indirectly, that he might avoid the appearance of vain-glory ; and no one can doubt this who reads the apostle Paul, that vessel of election, when he relates the visions revealed to himself. For he did not write, " I know that I," but " I know a man caught up even to the third heavens." Now, although the words seem strictly to refer to another person, yet all admit that he spoke thus of none but himself in his great humility. This was the model followed by our Columba in relating those visions of the Spirit spoken of above, and that, too, in such a way that even Lugbe, for whom the saint showed a special affection, could hardly force him to tell these wonders after much entreaty. And to this fact Lugbe himself, after St. Columba's death, bore witness in the presence of other holy men, from whom I learned the undoubted truths which I have now related of the saint.
Of Cronan the Bishop.
AT another time, a stranger from the province of the Munstermen, who in his humility did all he could to disguise himself, so that nobody might know he was a bishop, came to the saint ; but his rank could not be hidden from the saint. For next Lord's day, being invited by the saint, as the custom was, to consecrate the Body of Christ, he asked the saint to join him, that, as two priests, they might break the bread of the Lord together. The saint went to the altar accordingly, and suddenly looking into the stranger's face, thus addressed him : " Christ bless thee, brother ; do thou break the bread alone, according to the episcopal rite, for I know now that thou art a bishop. Why hast thou disguised thyself so long, and prevented our giving thee the honour we owe to thee ? " On hearing the saint's words, the humble stranger was greatly astonished, and adored Christ in His saint, and the bystanders in amazement gave glory to God.
The Saint's prophecy regarding Ernan the Priest.
AT another time, the venerable man sent Ernan, his uncle, an aged priest, to preside over the monastery he had founded many years before in Hinba island (Eilean-na-Naoimh). On his departure the saint embraced him affectionately, blessed him, and then foretold what would by and by happen to him, saying, " This friend of mine, who is now going away from me, I never expect to see alive again in this world." After a few days this same Ernan became very unwell, and desired to be taken back to the saint, who was much rejoiced at his return, and set out for the harbour to meet him. Ernan also himself, though with feeble step, attempted very boldly, and without assistance, to walk from the harbour to meet him ; but when there was only the short distance of twenty-four paces between them, death came suddenly upon him before the saint could see his face in life, and he breathed his last as he fell to the ground, that the word of the saint might be fulfilled. Hence on that spot, before the door of the kiln, a cross was raised, and another
(cross was in like manner put up where the saint resided at the time of his death, which remaineth unto this day.
The Saint's prophecy regarding the Family of a certain Peasant.
AT another time, when the saint was staying in that district which is called in the Scotic tongue Coire Salchain (Corrie Sallachan, now Corry, in Morvern), the peasants came to him, and one evening when he saw one of them approaching he said to him, " Where dost thou live ? " "I live," said he, " in that dis trict which borders the shore of Lake Crogreth (Loch Creran).' " That district of which thou speakest," replied the saint, " is now being pillaged by savage marauders." On hearing this, the unhappy peasant began to lament his wife and children ; but when the saint saw him so much afflicted he consoled him, saying, " Go, my poor man, go ; thy whole family hath escaped by flight to the mountains, but thy cattle, furniture, and other effects the ruthless invaders have taken off with their unjust spoils." When the poor man heard these words he went home, and found that all had happened exactly as the saint foretold.
The Saint's prophecy regarding a Peasant called Goire, son of Aidan.
AT another time, in the same way, a peasant, who at that time was by far the bravest of all the inhabitants of Korkureti (Corkaree, in Westmeath), asked the saint by what death he would die. " Not in the battle-field shalt thou die," said the saint, " nor at sea ; but the travelling companion of whom thou hast no suspicion shall cause thy death." " Perhaps," said Goire, " one of the friends who accompany me on my journey may be intending to murder me, or my wife, in her love for some younger man, may treacherously kill me." " Not so," replied the saint. " Why," asked Goire, " wilt thou not tell now the cause of my death ? " " Because," said the saint, " I do not wish to tell more clearly just now the companion that is to injure thee, lest the frequent thought of the fact should make thee too unhappy, until the hour come when thou shalt find that my words are verified. Why dwell longer on what I have said ? " After the lapse ot a few years, this same Goire hap pened to be lying one day under his boat scraping off the bark from a spear-handle, when he heard others fighting near him. He rose hastily to stop the fighting, but his knife, through some neglect in the rapid movement, fell to the ground, and made a very deep wound in his knee. By such a companion, then, was his death caused, and he himself at once remembered with surprise the holy man's prophecy. After a few months he died, carried off by that same wound.
The Saint's foreknowledge and prophecy concerning a matter of less moment, but so beautiful that it cannot, I think, be over in silence.
FOB at another time, while the saint was living in the louan island (Hy, now lona), he called one of the brothers, and thus addressed him : " In the morning of the third day from this date thou must sit down and wait on the shore on the western side of this island, for a crane, which is a stranger from the northern re gion of Hibernia, and hath been driven about by various winds, shall come, weary and fatigued, after the ninth hour, and lie down before thee on the beach quite exhausted. Treat that bird tenderly, take it to some neighbouring house, where it may be kindly received and carefully nursed and fed by thee for three days and three nights. When the crane is refreshed with the three days' rest, and is unwilling to abide any longer with us, it shall fly back with renewed strength to the pleasant part of Scotia (Ireland) from which it originally hath come. This bird do I consign to thee with such special care because it cometh from our own native place." The brother obeyed, and on the third day, after the ninth hour, he watched as he was bid for the arrival of the expected guest. As soon as the crane came and alighted on the shore, he took it up gently in its weakness, and carried it to a dwelling that was near, where in its hunger he fed it. On his return to the monastery in the evening, the saint, without any inquiry, but as stating a fact, said to him, " God bless thee, my child, for thy kind attention to this foreign visitor, that shall not remain long on its journey, but return within three days to its old home." As the saint predicted, so exactly did the event prove, for after being nursed carefully for three days, the bird then gently rose on its wings to a great height in the sight of its hospitable entertainer, and marking for a little its path through the air homewards, it directed its course across the sea to Hibernia, straight as it could fly, on a calm day.
The blessed man's foreknowledge regarding the Battle fought many years after in the fortress of Cethirn, and regarding the Well near that place.
ANOTHER time, after the convention of the kings at the Eidge of Ceate (Druim Ceatt) — that is, of Aidan, son of Gabran, and Aid, son of Ainmure — the blessed man returned to the sea-coast, and on a calm day in summer he and the Abbot Comgell sat down not far from the above-named fort. Then water was brought in a bronze vessel to the saints from a well that was close by to wash their hands. When St. Columba had received the water, he thus spoke to Abbot Comgell, who was sitting at his side, "A day shall come, 0 Comgell! when the well whence this water now poured out for us was drawn will be no longer fit for man's use." " How ? " said Comgell ; " shall the water of this spring be defiled ? " " From this," said St. Columba, " that it shall be filled with human blood ; for thy relatives and mine — that is, the people of the Cruithni and the race of Niall — shall be at war in the neighbouring fortress of Cethirn (now called the Giant's Sconce, near Coleraine). Whence, at this same well, an unhappy relative of mine shall be slain, and his blood, mingling with that of many others, shall fill it up." This truthful prophecy was duly accomplished after many years, for in that battle, as is well known to many, Domnall, son of Aid, came off victorious, and at that well, according to the saint's word, a near kinsman of his was slain.
Another soldier of Christ, called Finan, who led the life of an anchorite blamelessly for many years near the monastery of the Oakwood Plain (Derry), and who was present at the battle, in relating these things to me, Adamnan, assured me that he saw a man's dead body lying in the well, and that on his return from the battle-field the same day to the monastery of St. Comgell, which is called in the Scotic tongue Cambas (on the river Bann, in diocese of Derry), and from which he had first set out, he found there two aged monks, of St. Comgell, who, when he told them of the battle he saw, and of the well defiled with human blood, at once said to him : " A true prophet is Columba, for he foretold all the circumstances you now mention to-day regarding the battle and the well, many years indeed before they occurred ; this he did in our hearing to St. Com gell, as he sat by the fort Cethirn."
How the Saint was favoured ly God's grace with the power of distinguishing different Presents.
ABOUT the same time Conall, bishop of Culerathin (Coleraine), collected almost countless presents from the people of the plain of Eilne (Magh Elne, on the Bann), to give a hospitable recep tion to the blessed man, and the vast multitude that accom panied him, on his return from the meeting of the kings men tioned above.
Many of these presents from the people were laid out in the paved court of the monastery, that the holy man might bless them on his arrival; and as he was giving the blessing he specially pointed out one present, the gift of a wealthy man. " The mercy of God," said he, "attendeth the man who gave this, for his charity to the poor and his munificence." Then he pointed out another of the many gifts, and said : " Of this wise and avaricious man's offering, I cannot partake until he repent sincerely of his sin of avarice." Now this saying was quickly circulated among the crowd, and soon reaching the ears of Columb, son of Aid, his conscience reproached him ; and he ran immediately to the saint, and on bended knees repented of his sin, promising to forsake his former greedy habits, and to be liberal ever after, with amendment of life. The saint bade him rise : and from that moment he was cured of the fault of greediness, for he was truly a wise man, as was revealed to the saint through that present.
But the munificent rich man, called Brenden, of whose pre sent mention was made above, hearing the words of the saint regarding himself, knelt down at his feet and besought him to pray for him to the Lord. When at the outset the saint reproved him for certain other sins of which he was guilty, he expressed his heartfelt sorrow, and purpose of amendment. And thus both these men were cured of the peculiar vices in which they were wont to indulge. With like knowledge at another time, on the occasion of his visit to the Great Cell of Deathrib (Kilmore, in Boscommon), the saint knew the offering of a stingy man, called Diormit, from many others collected in that place on his arrival.
To have written thus much in the course of this first Book, selecting a few instances out of many of the prophetic gifts of the blessed man, may suffice. Indeed, I have recorded only a few facts regarding this venerable person, for no doubt there were very many more which could not come to men's know ledge, from being hidden under a kind of sacramental character, while those mentioned were like a few little drops which oozed out, as it were, like newly fermented wine through the chinks of a full vessel. For holy and apostolic men, in general, in order to avoid vain-glory, strive as much as they can to conceal the wonders of God's secret working within them. Yet God sometimes, whether they will or no, maketh some of these known to the world, and bringeth them into view by various means, wishing thus, as He doth, to honour those saints who honour Him, that is, our Lord Himself, to whom be glory for ever, and ever.
Here endeth this first Book, and the next Book treateth of the wonderful miracles, which generally accompanied his pro phetic foreknowledge.
BOOK IT. ON HIS MIRACULOUS POWERS.
CHAPTER I.
Of the Wine which, was formed from water.
AT another time, while the venerable man was yet a youth in Scotia (Ireland) learning the wisdom of the Holy Scripture under St. Findbarr, the bishop, it happened that on a festival day not the least drop of wine could be found for the mystic sacrifice. Hearing the ministers of the altar complaining among them selves of this want, he took the vessel and went to the fountain, that, as a deacon, he might bring pure spring water for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist ; for at that time he was himself serving in the order of deacon. The holy man then blessed in faith that element of water taken from the spring, invoking, as he did so, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in Cana of Galilee had changed water into wine : and the result was that by His operation in this miracle also, an inferior element, namely pure water, was changed into one of a more excellent kind, namely wine, by the hands of this illustrious man. The holy man, then returning from the fountain and entering the church, placed beside the altar the vessel contain ing this liquid, and said to the ministers : " Here is wine, which the Lord Jesus hath sent, for the celebration of His mysteries." The holy bishop and his ministers having ascertained the fact, returned most ardent thanks to God. But the holy youth ascribed this, not to himself, but to the holy bishop Vinnian. This first proof of miraculous power, Christ the Lord manifested in His disciple, just as under like circumstances He had made it the first of His own miracles in Cana of Galilee.
Let this divine miracle, worked by our Columba, shine as a light in the beginning of this book, that it may lead us on to the other divine and miraculous powers which were seen in him.
CHAPTER II.
Of the litter fruit of a tree changed into sweet ~by the blessing of the Saint.
THEEE was a certain very fruitful apple-tree on the south side of the monastery of the Oakwood Plain (Deny), in its immediate vicinity. When the inhabitants of the place were complaining of the exceeding bitterness of the fruit, the saint, one day in autumn, came to it, and seeing the boughs bearing to no purpose a load of fruit that injured rather than pleased those who tasted it, he raised his holy hand and blessed it, saying, " In the name of the Almighty God, 0 bitter tree, let all thy bitterness depart from thee; and let all thy apples, hitherto so very bitter, be now changed into the sweetest." Wonderful to be told, quicker than the word, and at that very instant, all the apples of the tree lost their bitterness, and were changed to an amazing sweetness, according to the saint's word.
CHAPTER III.
Of Corn sown after Midsummer and reaped in the beginning of the month of August, at the Saint's prayer, while he was residing in the louan island (Hy, now lona).
AT another time the saint sent his monks to bring from the little farm of a peasant some bundles of twigs to build a dwell ing. When they returned to the saint, with a freight-ship laden with the foresaid bundles of twigs, they told the saint that the poor man was very sorry on account of the loss. The saint immediately gave them these directions, saying, " Lest we do the man any wrong, take to him from us twice three measures of barley, and let him sow it now in his arable land." According to the saint's orders, the corn was sent and delivered over to the poor man, who was called Findchan, with the above directions. He received them with thanks, but asked, " What good can any corn do, which is sown after midsummer, against the nature of this soil ? " But his wife, on the contrary, said, " Do what thou hast been ordered by the saint, to whom the Lord will give whatever he asketh from Him." And the mes sengers likewise said further, " St. Columba, who sent us to thee with this gift, intrusted us also with this form of instruction regarding thy crop, saying, ' Let that man trust in the omni potence of God ; his corn, though sown now, when twelve days of the month of June are passed, shall be reaped in the beginning of the month of August.' " The peasant accordingly ploughed and sowed, and the crop which, against hope, he sowed at the above-mentioned time he gathered in ripe, to the admira tion of all his neighbours, in the beginning of the month of August, in that place which is called Delcros (not identified).
CHAPTER IV.
Of a Pestilential Cloud, and the curing of many.
AT another time also, while the saint was living in the louan island (Hy, now lona), and was sitting on the little hill which is called, in Latin, Munitio Magna, he saw in the north a dense rainy cloud rising from the sea on a clear day. As the saint saw it rising, he said to one of his monks, named Silnan, son of Neman - don Mocusogin, who was sitting beside him, " This cloud will be very baleful to man and beast, and after rapidly passing to day over a considerable part of Scotia (Ireland) — namely, from the stream called Ailbine (Delvin, in Meath) as far as the Ford Clied (Athcliath, now Dublin) — it will discharge in the evening a pestilential rain, which will raise large and putrid ulcers on the bodies of men and on the udders of cows ; so that men and cattle shall sicken and die, worn out with that poisonous complaint. But we, in pity for their sufferings, ought to relieve them by the merciful aid of God; do thou therefore, Silnan, come down with me from this hill, and prepare for thy to morrow's voyage. If God be willing and life spared to us, thou shalt receive from me some bread which has been blessed by the invocation of the name of God ; this thou shalt dip in water, and on thy sprinkling therewith man and beast, they shall speedily recover their health." Why need we linger over it ? On the next day, when all things necessary had been hastily got ready, Silnan received the blessed bread from the hands of the saint, and set out on his voyage in peace. As he was starting, the saint gave him these words of comfort, saying, " Be of good courage, my dear son, for thou shalt have fair and pleasant breezes day and night till thou come to that district which is called Ard-Ceannachta (in Meath), that thou mayest bring the more speedily relief with the healing bread to those who are there sick." What more ? Silnan, obeying the saint's words, had a quick and prosperous voyage, by the aid of God, and coming to the above-mentioned part of the district, found the people of whom the saint had been speaking destroyed by the pestilential rain falling down from the aforesaid cloud, which had passed rapidly on before him. In the first place, twice three men were found in the same house near the sea reduced to the agonies of approaching death, and when they were sprinkled by Silnan with the blessed water, were very happily healed that very day. The report of this sudden cure was soon carried through the whole country which was attacked by this most fatal disease, and drew all the sick people to St. Columba's messenger, who, according to the saint's orders, sprinkled man and beast with the water in which the blessed bread had been dipped, and immediately they were restored to perfect health ; then the people finding themselves and their cattle healed, praised with the utmost expression of thankfulness Christ in St. Columba. Now, in the incidents here related these two things, I think, are clearly associated — namely, the gift of pro phecy regarding the cloud and the miraculous power in healing the sick. And to the truth of all these things, in every par ticular, the above-named Silnan, the soldier of Christ and messenger of St. Columba, bore testimony in the presence of the Abbot Segine and the other fathers.
Of Ma/ugina the holy virgin, daughter of Daimen, who had lived in Glochur, of the sons of Daimen (Clogher).
AT another time, while the saint was staying in the louan island (Hy, now lona), he one day at prime called to him a certain brother, named Lugaid, who in the Scotic tongue was surnamed Lathir, and thus addressed him, saying, " Prepare quickly for a rapid voyage to Scotia (Ireland), for it is of the very utmost importance to me that thou be sent with a message from me to Clocher, of the sons of Daimen (Clogher). For this last night, by some accident, the holy virgin Maugina, daughter of Daimen, when she was returning home from the oratory after mass, stumbled and broke her thigh quite through. She is now crying out, and very often calling on my name, in hope that through me she may receive some comfort from the Lord." What more need I say? As Lugaid was setting out in accordance with the directions given him, the saint gave him a little box made of pine, saying, "Let the blessed gift which is contained in this little box be dipped in a vessel of water when thou comest to visit Maugina, and let the water thus blessed be poured on her thigh ; then at once, by the invocation of God's name, her thigh-bone shall be joined together and made strong, and the holy virgin shall recover perfect health." This, too, the saint added, " Lo ! here in thy presence I write on the lid of this little box the number of twenty-three years, which the holy virgin shall enjoy of this present life after receiving her health." All this was exactly fulfilled as the saint had foretold ; for as soon as Lugaid came to the holy virgin her thigh was washed, as the saint recom mended, with the blessed water, and was in an instant com pletely healed by the closing up of the bone. At the arrival of the messenger of St. Columba, she expressed her joy in the most earnest thanksgiving, and, after recovering her health, she lived, according to the prophecy of the saint, twenty-three years in the constant practice of good works.
CHAPTER VI.
Of the Cures of various Diseases which took place in the Ridge of Ceate (Druimceatf).
WE have been told by well-informed persons that this man of admirable life, by invoking the name of Christ, healed the disorders of various sick persons in the course of that short time which he spent at the Eidge of Ceate (Druimceatt), when attend ing there the meeting of the kings. For either by his merely stretching out his holy hand, or by the sprinkling of the sick with the water blessed by him, or by their touching even the hem of his cloak, or by their receiving his blessing on any thing, as, for instance, on bread or salt, and dipping it in water, they who believed recovered perfect health.
Of a lump of Salt blessed by the Saint, which could not be consumed by thejire.
ON another occasion also, Colga, son of Cellach, asked and obtained from the saint a lump of salt which he had blessed, for the cure of his sister, who had nursed him, and was now suffering from a very severe attack of ophthalmia. This same sister and nurse having received such a blessed gift from the hand of her brother, hung it up on the wall over her bed ; and after some days it happened by accident that a destructive fire entirely consumed the village where this took place, and with others the house of the aforesaid woman. Yet, strange to say, in order that the gift of the blessed man might not be destroyed, the portion of the wall from which it was suspended still stood uninjured after the rest of the house had been burned down ; nor did the fire venture to touch even the two uprights from which the lump of salt was suspended.
Of a volume of a book in the Saint's handwriting ivhich could not be destroyed by water.
I CANNOT think of leaving unnoticed another miracle which once took place by means of the opposite element. For many years after the holy man had departed to the Lord, a certain youth fell from his horse into the river which in Scotic is called Boend (the Boyne), and, being drowned, was for twenty days under the water. When he fell he had a number of books
rked up in a leathern satchel under his arm ; and so, when . was found after the above-mentioned number of days, he still had the satchel of books pressed between his arm and side. When the body was brought out to the dry ground, and the satchel opened, it was found to contain, among the volumes of other books, which were not only injured, but even rotten, a volume written by the sacred fingers of St. Columba ; and it was as dry and wholly uninjured as if it had been enclosed in a desk.
Of another Miracle in similar circumstances.
AT another time a book of hymns for the office of every day in the week, and in the handwriting of St. Columba, having slipt, with the leathern satchel which contained it, from the shoulder of a boy who fell from a bridge, was immersed in a certain river in the province of the Lagenians (Leinster). This very book lay in the water from the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord till the end of the Paschal season, and was afterwards found on the bank of the river by some women who were walking there : it was brought by them in the same satchel, which was not only soaked, but even rotten, to a certain priest named logenan, a Pict by race, to whom it formerly belonged. On opening the satchel himself, logenan found his book uninjured, and as clean and dry as if it had been as long a time in his desk, and had never fallen into the water. And we have ascertained, as un doubted truth, from those who were well informed in the matter, that the like things happened in several places with regard to books written by the hands of St. Columba — namely, that the books could suffer no injury from being immersed in water. But the account we have given of the above-mentioned book of logenan we have received from certain truthful, excellent, and honourable men, who saw the book itself, perfectly white and beautiful, after a submersion of so many days, as we have stated.
These two miracles, though wrought in matters of small moment, and shown in opposite elements — namely, fire and water, — redound to the honour of the blessed man, and prove his great and singular merits before the Lord.
Of Water drawn from the hard rock ly the Saint's prayers.
AND since mention has been made a little before of the element of water, we must not pass over in silence some other miracles which the Lord wrought by the saint at different times and places, in which the same element was concerned. On another occasion, then, when the saint was engaged in one of his journeys, a child was presented to him in the course of his travels for baptism by its parents ; and because there was no water to be found in the neighbourhood, the saint turned aside to a rock that was near, and kneeling down, prayed for a short time ; then rising up after his prayer, he blessed the face of the rock, from which there immediately gushed out an abundant stream of water ; and there he forthwith baptized the child. Concerning the child that was baptized he uttered the follow ing prophecy, saying, " This child shall live to a very great age ; in his youth he will indulge freely the desires of the flesh ; afterwards he will devote himself to the warfare of a Christian until the very end of his life, and thus depart to the Lord in a good old age." All this happened to the man according to the prophecy of the saint. This was Lugucencalad, whose parents were from Artdaib Muirchol (Ardnamurchan), where there is seen even to this day a well called by the name of St. Columba.
CHAPTER X.
Of a poisonous Fountain of Water to which the blessed man gave his blessing in the country of the Picts.
AGAIN, while the blessed man was stopping for some days in the province of the Picts, he heard that there was a fountain famous amongst this heathen people, which foolish men, having their senses blinded by the devil, worshipped as a god. For those who drank of this fountain, or purposely washed their hands or feet in it, were allowed by God to be struck by demoniacal art, and went home either leprous or purblind, or at least suffering from weakness or other kinds of infirmity. By all these things the Pagans were seduced, and paid divine honour to the fountain. Having ascertained this, the saint one day went up to the fountain fearlessly ; and, on seeing this, the Druids, whom he had often sent away from him vanquished and confounded, were greatly rejoiced, thinking that he would suffer like others from the touch of that baneful water. But he, having first raised his holy hand and invoked the name of Christ, washed his hands and feet; and then with his com panions, drank of the water which he had blessed. And from that day the demons departed from the fountain ; and not only was it not allowed to injure any one, but even many diseases amongst the people were cured by this same fountain, after it had been blessed and washed in by the saint.
CHAPTER XL
Of the Danger to the blessed man at Sea, and the sudden calm produced by his prayers.
AT another time the holy man began to be in great danger at sea, for the whole vessel was violently tossed and shaken with the huge dashing waves, and a great storm of wind was raging on all hands. The sailors then chanced to say to the saint, as he was trying to help them to bale the vessel, " What thou art now doing is of little use to us in our present danger, thou shouldst rather pray for us as we are perishing." On hearing this he ceased to throw out the bitter waters of the green sea wave, and began to pour out a sweet and fervent prayer to the Lord. Wonderful to relate ! The very moment the saint stood up at the prow, with his hands stretched out to heaven, and prayed to the Almighty, the whole storm of wind and the fury of the sea ceased more quickly than can be told, and a perfect calm instantly ensued. But those who were in the vessel were amazed, and giving thanks with great admira tion, glorified the Lord in the holy and illustrious man.
Of another similar Peril to Mm at Sea.
AT another time, also, when a wild and dangerous storm was raging, and his companions were crying out to the saint to pray to the Lord for them, he gave them this answer, saying, " On this day it is not for me, but for that holy man, the Abbot Cainnech, to pray for you in your present peril." What I am to relate is wonderful. The very same hour St. Cainnech was in his monastery, which in Latin is called Campulus Bovis, but in Scotic Ached-bou (Aghaboe, in Queen's County), and heard with the inner ear of his heart, by a revelation of the Holy Ghost, the aforesaid words of St. Columba ; and when he had just begun to break the blessed bread in the refectory after the ninth hour, he hastily left the table, and with one shoe on his foot, while the other in his extreme haste was left behind, he went quickly to the church, saying, " It is not for us now to take time to dine, when the vessel of St. Columba is in danger at sea, for at this moment he is lamenting and calling on the name of Cainnech to pray to Christ for him and his companions in peril." When he had said this he entered the oratory and prayed for a short time on his bended knees ; and the Lord heard his prayer, the storm immediately ceased, and the sea became very calm. Whereupon St. Columba, seeing in spirit, though there was a far distance between them, the haste of Cainnech in going to the church, uttered, to the wonder of all, from his pure heart, these words, saying, "Now I know, 0 Cainnech, that God has heard thy prayer; now hath thy swift running to the church with a single shoe greatly profited us." In such a miracle as this, then, we believe that the prayers of both saints had their share in the work.
Of the Staff of St. Cainnech which was forgotten in the Harbour.
ON another occasion, the same Cainnech above mentioned embarked for Scotia (Ireland) from the harbour of the louan island (Hy, now lona), and forgot to take his staff with him. After his departure the staff was found on the shore, and given into the hands of St. Columba, who, on his return home, brought it into the oratory, and remained there for a very long time alone in prayer. Cainnech, meanwhile, on approaching the Oidechan island (Oidech, near Isla, probably Texa) suddenly felt pricked at heart at the thought of his forgetfulness, and was deeply afflicted at it. But after some time, leaving the vessel, and falling upon his knees in prayer on the ground, he found before him on the turf of the little land of Aithche (genitive of Aitech) the staff which, in his forgetfulness, he had left behind him at the landing-place in the louan island (Hy, now lona). He was greatly surprised at its being thus brought to him by the divine power, and gave thanks to God.
How BaitTiene and Columban, the son of Beogna, holy priests, asked of the Lord, through the prayers of the blessed man, that he would grant them on the same day a favourable wind, though sailing in different directions.
AT another time, also, the above-named holy men came in company to the saint, and asked him, with one consent, to seek and obtain for them from the Lord a favourable wind on the next day, though they were to set out in different directions. The saint in answer gave them this reply, "To-morrow morning, Baithene, setting sail from the harbour of the louan island (Hy, now lona), shall have a favourable wind until he reaches the landing-place of the plain of Lunge (Magh Lunge, in Tiree)." And the Lord granted this favour according to the word of the saint ; for Baithene on that same day crossed, with full sails, the whole of the open sea, as far as the Ethican land (Tiree). But at the third hour of the same day, the venerable man called to him the priest Columban, saying, " Baithene has now happily arrived at the wished-for haven, prepare thou then to sail to-day; the Lord will soon change the wind to the north." And the same hour the wind from the south obey ing the word thus spoken by the holy man, wheeled round and became a northern breeze ; and thus on the same day these two holy men departed the one from the other in peace and both set sail, Baithene in the morning for the Ethican land (Tiree), and Columban in the afternoon for Hibernia, and made the voyages with full sails and fair winds. The Lord wrought this miracle in answer to the prayer of the illustrious man, according as it is written, "All things are possible to him that believeth." After the departure of St. Columban on that day, St. Columba uttered this prophecy concerning him : " The holy man, Columban, whom we have blessed on his departure, shall never see my face again in this world." And this was afterwards fulfilled, for the same year St. Columban passed away to the Lord.
CHAPTER XV.
Of the driving out of a Demon that lurked in a Milk-pail.
AT another time, a certain youth, named Columban, grandson of Brian, came forward hurriedly, and stopped at the door of the little cell in which the blessed man was writing. This same person, being on his way home from the milking of the cows, and carrying on his back a vessel full of new milk, asked the saint to bless his burden, as he usually did. Then the saint, being at the time at some distance away in front of him, raised his hand, and formed the saving sign in the air, which at once was greatly agitated ; the bar, which fastened the lid of the pail, being pushed back through the two openings that received it, was shot away to a great distance, while the lid fell to the earth, and the greater part of the milk was spilled upon the ground. The young lad then laid down the vessel, with the little milk that remained, on its bottom on the ground, and kneeled down in prayer. The saint said to him, " Eise up, Columban, for thou hast acted negligently in thy work to-day, inasmuch as thou didst not banish the demon that lurked in the bottom of the empty vessel by forming on it the sign of the cross of our Lord before the milk was poured into it ; and now, as thou seest, being unable to bear the power of that sign, he has quickly lied in terror, troubled the whole vessel in every corner, and spilled the milk. Bring the vessel, then, nearer to me here that I may bless it." This being done, the half-empty pail, which the saint had blessed, was found the same instant, filled by divine agency ; and the little that had previously remained in the bottom was at once increased under the blessing of his holy hand, so as to fill it to the brim.
CHAPTER XVI.
Concerning a Vessel which 'a sorcerer named Silnan had filled with milk taken from a bull.
THE following is told as having occurred in the house of a rich peasant named Foirtgirn, who lived in Mount Cainle
(not identified). When the saint was staying there, he decided justly a dispute between two rustics, whose coming to him he knew beforehand : and one of them, who was a sorcerer, took milk, by his diabolical art, at the command of the saint, from a bull that was near. This the saint directed to be done, not to confirm these sorceries — God forbid ! but to put an end to them in the presence of all the people. The blessed man, therefore, demanded that the vessel, full, as it seemed to be, of this milk, should be immediately given to him ; and he blessed it with this sentence, saying : " Now it shall in this way be proved that this is not true milk, as it is supposed to, be^ but blood, which is coloured by the artifice of demons to impose on men." This was no sooner said than the milky colour gave place to the true natural colour of blood. The bull also, which in the space of one hour wasted and pined away with a hideous lean ness, and was all but dead, was sprinkled with water that had been blessed by the saint, and recovered with astonishing rapidity.
Of Lugne Mocumin.
ONE day a young man of good disposition and parts, named Lugne, who afterwards, in his old age, was prior of the monastery of the Elena island (Eilean Naomh, now Nave island, near Isla), came to the saint, and complained of a bleeding which for many months had often poured profusely from the nostrils. Having asked him to come nearer, the saint pressed both his nostrils with two fingers of his right hand and blessed him. And from that hour when he received the bless ing, till the last day of his life, a drop of blood never came from his nose.
Of the Fishes which were specially provided ly God for the blessed man.
ON another occasion, when some hardy fishermen, com panions of this renowned man, had taken five fish in their net in the river Sale (the Shiel, or Seil), which abounds in fish, the saint said to them, " Try again," said he ; " cast thy net into the stream, and you shall at once find a large fish which the Lord has provided for me." In obedience to the saint's command they hauled in their nets a salmon of astonishing size, which God had provided for him.
50 THE LIFE OF SAINT COLUMBA. BOOK IT.
AT another time also, when the saint was stopping some days beside the lake of Ce (Loughkey, in Eoscommon), he delayed his companions when they were anxious to go a-fishing, saying : "No fish will be found in the river to-day or to-morrow; but on the third day I will send you, and you shall find two large river-salmon taken in the net." And so, after two short days, they cast their nets, and landed two, of the most extra ordinary size, which they found in the river which is named Bo (the Boyle). In the capture of fish on these two occasions, the power of miracles appears accompanied at the same time by a prophetic foreknowledge, and for both graces the saint and his companions gave fervent thanks to God.
Regarding Nesan the Crooked, who lived in the country bordering on the Lake of Apors (Loehaber).
THIS Nesan, though very poor, joyfully received on one occa sion the saint as his guest. And after he had entertained him as hospitably as his means would afford for one night, the saint asked him the number of his heifers. He answered, " Five." The saint then said, " Bring them to me that I may bless them." And when they were brought the saint raised his holy hand and blessed them, and said : " From this day thy five little heifers shall increase to the number of one hundred and five cows." ' And as this same Nesan was a man of humble condi tion, having a wife and children, the saint added this further blessing, saying : " Thy seed shall be blessed in thy children and grandchildren." And all this was completely fulfilled without any failure, according to the word of the saint.
ON the other hand, he pronounced the following prophetic sentence on a certain rich and very stingy man named Uigene, who despised St. Columba, and showed him no hospitality, saying : " But the riches of that niggardly man who hath de spised Christ in the strangers that came to be his guests, will gradually become less from this day, and be reduced to nothing; and he himself shall be a beggar ; and his son shall go about from house to house with a half-empty wallet : and he shall be slain by a rival beggar with an axe, in the pit of a threshingfloor." All this was exactly fulfilled in both cases, according to the prophecy of the holy man.
How the Iwly man blessed the few Cattle belonging to Columban, a man of equally humble condition; and how, after his blessing, they increased to the number of a hundred.
AT another time also, the blessed man was one night kindly treated as his guest by the aforesaid Columban, who was then very poor, and, as he had done before in the above account of Nesan, he asked his host, early next morning, as to the amount and kind of his goods. When asked, he said : " I have only five small cows, but if thou bless them they will increase to more." And immediately he was directed by the saint to bring them before him, and in the same manner as was related concern ing the five cows of Nesan, he gave as rich a blessing to those of Columban, and said, " Thou shalt have, by God's gift, a hundred and five cows, and an abundant blessing shall be also upon thy children and grandchildren." All this was granted to the full in his lands, and cattle, and offspring, according to the prophecy of the blessed man ; and, what is very strange, the number of cattle determined by the saint for both these men, whenever it reached one hundred and five, could not in any way be in creased ; for those that were beyond this stated number, being carried off by various accidents, never appeared to be of any value, except in so far as anything might be employed for the use of the family, or spent in almsgiving. In this history, then, as in the others, the gifts both of miracles and prophecy are clearly shown together, for in the large increase of the cattle we see the virtue of his blessing and of his prayer, and, in the determination of the number, his prophetic knowledge.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Of the Death of some wicked men who had spurned the Saint.
THE venerable man had a great love for the above-named Columban, on account of the many acts of kindness he had done to him, and caused him by blessing him, from being poor to become very rich. Now, there was at that time a certain wicked man, a persecutor of the good, named Joan, son of Conall, son of Domnall, sprung from the royal tribe of Gabran. This man troubled the foresaid Columban, the friend of St. Columba ; and not once, but twice, attacked and plundered his house and carried off all he could find in it. Hence it not un fitly happened to this wicked man, that as he and his associates, after having plundered the house of the same person a third time, were returning to their vessel, laden with plunder, he met advancing towards him, the holy man whom he had despised, when he thought he was afar off. When the saint reproached him for his evil deeds, and advised and besought him to give up the plunder, he remained hardened and obstinate, and scorned the holy man ; and thus mocking and laughing at the blessed man, he embarked with the booty. Yet the saint followed him to the water's edge, and wading up to the knees in the clear green sea- water, with both his hands raised to heaven, earnestly invoked Christ, who glorifies His elect, who are giving glory to Him.
Now the haven where he thus for some time stood and be sought the Lord after the departure of the oppressor, is at a place called in Scotic Ait-Chambas Art-Muirchol (Camus-an- Gaall, Ardnamurchan) . Then the saint, as soon as he had finished his prayer, returned to the dry ground, and sat down on the higher ground with his companions, and spoke to them in that hour these very terrible words, saying : " This miserable wretch who'' hath despised Christ in His servants will never return to the port from which you have now seen him set sail : neither shall he, nor his wicked associates, reach the land for which they are bound, for a sudden death shall prevent it. This day a furious storm shall proceed from a cloud, which you will soon see rising in the north, shall overwhelm him and his companions, so that not one of them will survive to tell the tale." After the lapse of a few moments, even while the day was perfectly calm, behold ! a cloud arose from the sea, as the saint had said, and caused a great hurricane, which overtook the plunderer with his spoil, between the Malean and Colosus islands (Mull and Colonsay), and overwhelmed him in the midst of the sea, which was suddenly lashed into fury : and not even one of those in the vessel escaped, as the saint had said : and in this wonderful manner, by such a singular storm, while the whole sea around remained quiet, were the robbers miserably, but justly, overwhelmed and sunk into the deep.
Of a certain Feradacli, who was cut off by sudden death.
AT another time also, the holy man specially recommended a certain exile, of noble race among the Picts, named Tarain, to the care of one Feradach, a rich man, who lived in the Ilean island (Isla), that he might be received in his retinue for some months as one of his friends. After he had accepted the person thus highly recommended at the hand of the holy man, he in a few days acted treacherously, and cruelly ordered him to be put to death. When the news of this horrid crime was carried by travellers to the saint, he replied by the following prediction : " That unhappy wretch hath not lied unto me, but unto God, and his name shall be blotted out of the book of life. We are speaking these words now in the middle of summer, but in autumn, before he shall eat of swine's flesh that hath been fattened on the fruits of the trees, he shall be seized by a sudden death, and carried off to the infernal regions." When the miserable man was told this prophecy of the saint, he scorned and laughed at him ; and when some days of the autumn months had passed, he ordered a sow that had been fattened on the kernels of nuts to be killed, none of his other swine having yet been slaughtered : he ordered also, that its entrails should be immediately taken out and a piece quickly roasted for him on the spit, so that by hurrying and eating of it thus early, he might falsify the prediction of the blessed man. As soon as it was roasted he asked for a very small morsel to taste it, but before the hand which he stretched out to take it had reached his mouth he expired, and fell down on his back a corpse. And all who saw or heard it were greatly astonished and terrified ; and they honoured and glorified Christ in his holy prophet.
Concerning a certain other impious man, a persecutor of the Churches, who ivas called in Latin Manus Dextera.
ON one occasion when the blessed man was living in the Hinba island (Eilean-na-Naoimh), and set about excommunicating some destroyers of the churches, and amongst them the sons of Conall, son of Domnall, one of whom was the Joan before mentioned, one of their wicked associates was instigated by the devil to rush on the saint with a spear, on purpose to kill him. To prevent this, one of the brethren, named Findlugan, put on the saint's cowl and interposed, being ready to die for the holy man. But in a wonderful way the saint's gar ment served as a kind of strong and impenetrable fence which could not be pierced by the thrust of a very sharp
54 THE LfFE OF SAINT COLUMBA. BOOK II.
spear though made by a powerful man, but remained un touched, and he who had it on was safe and uninjured under the protection of such a guard. But the ruffian who did this, whose name was Manus Dextera, retraced his steps thinking he had transfixed the saint with his spear. Exactly a year after wards, when the saint was staying in the louan island (Hy, now lona), he said, " A year is just now elapsed since the day Lam-dess did what he could to put Findlugan to death in my place ; but he himself is slain, I believe, this very hour." And so it happened, at that very moment, according to the revela tion of the saint, in the island which in Latin may be called Longa (Luing), where, in a battle fought • between a number of men on both sides, this Lam-dess alone was slain by Cronan, son of Baithene, with a dart, shot, it is said, in the name of St. Coluniba ; and when he fell the battle ceased.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Of yd another Oppressor of the innocent.
WHEN the holy man, while yet a youth in deacon's orders, was living in the region of the Lagenians (Leinster), learning the divine wisdom, it happened one day^that an unfeeling and pitiless oppressor of the innocent was pursuing a young girl who fled before him on a level plain. As she chanced to observe the aged Gemman, master of the foresaid young deacon, reading on the plain, she ran straight to him as fast as she could. Being alarmed at such an unexpected occurrence, he called on Columba, who was reading at some distance, that both to gether, to the best of their ability, might defend the girl from her pursuer ; but he immediately came up, and without any regard to their presence, stabbed the girl with his lance under their very cloaks, and leaving her lying dead at their feet turned to go away back. Then the old man, in great affliction, turning to Columba, said : " How long, holy youth Columba, shall God, the just Judge, allow this horrid crime and this insult to us to go unpunished ?" Then the saint at once pronounced this sentence on the perpetrator of the deed: " At the very instant the soul of this girl whom he hath mur dered ascendeth into heaven, shall the soul of the murderer go down into hell." And scarcely had he spoken the words when the murderer of the innocent, like Ananias before Peter, fell down dead on the spot before the eyes of the holy youth. The news of this sudden and terrible vengeance was soon spread abroad throughout many districts of Scotia (Ireland), and with it the wonderful fame of the holy deacon.
What we have said may suffice concerning the terrible pun ishments inflicted on those who were opposed to him ; we will now relate a few things regarding wild beasts.
How a Wild Boar was destroyed through his prayers.
ON one occasion when the blessed man was staying some days in the Scian island (Sky), he left the brethren and went alone a little farther than usual to pray ; and having entered a dense forest he met a huge wild boar that happened to be pursued by hounds. As soon as the saint saw him at some distance, he stood looking intently at him. Then raising his holy hand and invoking the name of God in fervent prayer, he said to it, " Thou shalt proceed no further in this direction : perish in the spot which thou hast now reached." At the sound of these words of the saint in the woods, the terrible brute was not only unable to proceed farther, but by the efficacy of his word im mediately fell dead before his face.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
How an Aquatic Monster was driven off ly virtue of the blessed man's prayer.
ON another occasion also, when the blessed man was living for some days in the province of the Picts, he was obliged to cross the river Nesa (the Ness) ; and when he reached the bank of the river, he saw some of the inhabitants burying an unfortunate man, who, according to the account of those who were burying him, was a short time before seized, as he was swimming, and bitten most severely by a monster that lived in the water ; his wretched body was, though too late, taken out with a hook, by those who came to his assistance in a boat. The blessed man, on hearing this, was so far from being dismayed, that he directed one of his companions to swim over and row across the coble that was moored at the farther bank. And Lugne Mocumin hearing the command of the excellent man, obeyed without the least delay, taking off all his clothes, except his tunic, and leap ing into the water. But the monster, which, so far from being satiated, was only roused for more prey, was lying at the bottom of the stream, and when it felt the water disturbed above by the man swimming, suddenly rushed out, and, giving an awful roar, darted after him, with its mouth wide open, as the man swam in the middle of the stream. Then the blessed man observing this, raised his holy hand, while all the rest, brethren as well as strangers, were stupefied with terror, and, invoking the name of God, formed the saving sign of the cross in the air, and com manded the ferocious monster, saying, " Thou shalt go no further, nor touch the man ; go back with all speed." Then at the voice of the saint, the monster was terrified, and fled more quickly than if it had been pulled back with ropes, though it had just got so near to Lugne, as he swam, that there was not more than the length of a spear-staff between the man and the beast. Then the brethren seeing that the monster had gone back, and that their comrade Lugne returned to them in the boat safe and sound, were struck with admiration, and gave glory to God in the blessed man. And even the barbarous heathens, who were present, were forced by the greatness of this miracle, which they themselves had seen, to magnify the God of the Christians.
How the Saint Messed the Soil of this Island that no poison of Serpents should henceforth hurt any one in it.
ON a certain day in that same summer in which he passed to the Lord, the saint went in a chariot to visit some of the brethren, who were engaged in some heavy work in the western part of the louan island (Hy, now lona). After speaking to them some words of comfort and encouragement, the saint stood upon the higher ground, %and uttered the following prophecy : — " My dear children, I know that from this day you shall never see my face again anywhere in this field." Seeing the brethren filled with sorrow upon hearing these words, the saint tried to comfort them as best he could ; and, raising both his holy hands, he blessed the whole of this our island, saying : — " From this very moment poisonous reptiles shall in no way be able to hurt men or cattle in this island, so long as the inhabitants shall continue to observe the commandments of Christ." .
Of the Knife which the Saint blessed ly signing it with the Lord's Cross.
AT another time, a certain brother named Molua, grandson of Brian, came to the saint whilst he was writing, and said to him, " This knife which I hold in my hand I beseech thee to bless." The saint, without turning his face from the book out of which he was writing, extended his holy hand a little, with the pen in it, and blessed the knife by signing it. But when the foresaid brother had departed with the knife thus blessed, the saint asked, " What sort of a knife have I blessed for that brother?" Diormit, the saint's faithful attendant, replied, " Thou hast blessed a knife for killing bulls or oxen." The saint then, on the contrary, said, " I trust in my Lord that the knife I have blessed will never wound men or cattle." This word of the holy man received the strongest confirmation the same hour ; for the same brother went beyond the enclosure of the monastery and attempted to kill an ox, but, although he made three strong efforts with all his strength, yet he could not even cut the skin. When this came to the knowledge of the monks, they skilfully melted down the iron of the knife and applied a thin coating of it to all the iron tools used in the monastery. And such was the abiding virtue of the saint's blessing, that these tools could never afterwards inflict a wound on flesh.
Of the cure of Diormit when sick.
AT another time, Diormit, the saint's faithful attendant, was sick even unto death, and the saint went to see him in his extremity. Having invoked the name of Christ, he stood at the bed of the sick man and prayed for him, saying, " 0 my Lord, be propitious to me, I beseech thee, and take not away the soul of my faithful attendant from its dwelling in the flesh whilst I live." Having said this, he remained silent for a short time, and then again he spoke these words, with his sacred mouth, " My son shall not only not die at present, but will even live for many years after my death." This prayer of the saint was heard, for, on the instant that the saint's prayer was made, Diormit was restored to perfect health, and lived also for many years after St. Columba had passed to the Lord.
Of the cure of Finten, the son of Aid, when at the point of death.
AT another time also, as the saint was making a journey beyond the Dorsal Eidge of Britain (Drumalban), a certain youth named Finten, one of his companions, was seized with a sudden illness and reduced to the last extremity. His comrades were much afflicted on his account, and besought the saint to pray for him. Yielding at once to their entreaties, Columba raised his holy hands to heaven in earnest prayer, and blessing the sick person, said, " This youth for whom you plead shall enjoy a long life ; he will survive all who are here present, and die in a good old age." This prophecy of the blessed man was fulfilled in every particular; for this same youth, after founding the monastery of Kailli-au-inde (not identified), closed this present life at a good old age.
Of the boy whom the holy man raised from the dead, in the name of the Lord Christ.
AT the time when St. Columba was tarrying for some days in the province of the Picts, a certain peasant who, with his whole family, had listened to and learned through an inter preter the word of life preached by the holy man, believed and was baptized — the husband, together with his wife, children, and domestics.
A very few days after his conversion, one of the sons of this householder was attacked with a dangerous illness and brought to the very borders of life and death. When the Druids saw him in a dying state they began with great bitterness to up braid his parents, and to extol their own gods as more power ful than the God of the Christians, and thus to despise God as though He were weaker than their gods. When all this was told to the blessed man, he burned with zeal for God, and pro ceeded with some of his companions to the house of the friendly peasant, where he found the afflicted parents celebrating the obsequies of their child, who was newly dead. The saint, on seeing their bitter grief, strove to console them with words of comfort, and exhorted them not to doubt in any way the omni potence of God. He then inquired, saying, " In what chamber is the dead body of your son lying ? " And being conducted by the bereaved father under the sad roof, he left the whole crowd of persons who accompanied him outside, and immediately entered by himself into the house of mourning, where, falling on his knees, he prayed to Christ our Lord, having his face bedewed with copious tears. Then rising from his kneeling posture, he turned his eyes towards the deceased and said, " In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, arise, and stand upon thy feet." At the sound of this glorious word from the saint, the soul returned to the body, and the person that was dead opened his eyes and revived. The apostolic man then taking him by the hand raised him up, and placing him in a standing position, led him forth with him from the house, and restored him to his parents. Upon this the cries of the applauding multitude broke forth, sorrow was turned into joy, and the God of the Christians glorified.
We must thus believe that our saint had the gift of miracles like the prophets Elias and Eliseus, and like the apostles Peter, Paul, and John, he had the honour bestowed on him of raising the dead to life, and now in heaven, placed amid the prophets and apostles, this prophetic and apostolic man enjoys a glorious and eternal throne in the heavenly fatherland with Christ, who reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost for ever and ever.
Concerning the illness with which the Druid Broichan was visited for his detention of a female slave, and his cure on her release.
ABOUT the same time the venerable man, from motives of humanity, besought Broichan the Druid to liberate a certain Scotic female slave, and when he very cruelly and obstinately refused to part with her, the saint then spoke to him to the following effect : — " Know, 0 Broichan, and be assured that if thou refuse to set this captive free, as I desire thee, that .thou shalt die suddenly before I take my departure again from this province." Having said this in presence of Brude, the king, he departed from the royal palace and proceeded to the river Nesa (the Ness) ; from this stream he took a white pebble, and showing it to his companions said to them: — "Behold this white pebble by which God will effect the cure of many diseases among this heathen nation."
Having thus spoken, he instantly added, " Broichan is chastised grievously at this moment, for an angel being sent from heaven, and striking him severely, hath broken into many pieces the glass cup in his hand from which he was drinking, and hath left him gasping deeply for breath, and half dead. Let us await here a short time, for two of the king's messengers, who have been sent after us in haste, to request us to return quickly and help the dying Broichan, who, now that he is thus terribly pun ished, consenteth to set the girl free."
Whilst the saint was yet speaking, behold, there arrived, as he had predicted, two horsemen who were sent by the king, and who related all that had occurred to Broichan in the royal fortress, according to the prediction of the saint — both the breaking of the drinking goblet, the punishment of the Druid, and his willingness to set his captive at liberty ; they then added : " The king and his friends have sent us to thee to request that thou wouldst cure his foster-father Broichan, who lieth in a dying state.
Having heard these words of the messengers, St. Columba sent two of his companions to the king with the pebble which he had blessed, and said to them : — " If Broichan shall first pro mise to set the maiden free, then at once immerse this little stone in water, and let him drink from it and he shall be instantly cured ; but if he break his vow and refuse to liberate her, he shall die that instant."
The two persons, in obedience to the saint's instructions, pro ceeded to the palace, and announced to the king the words of the venerable man. When they were made known to the king and his tutor Broichan, they were so dismayed that they imme diately liberated the captive and delivered her to the saint's messengers. The pebble was then immersed in water, and in a wonderful manner, contrary to the laws of nature, the stone floated on the water like a nut or an apple, nor, as it had been blessed by the holy man, could it be submerged. Broichan drank from the stone as it floated on the water, and instantly returning from the verge of death recovered his perfect health and soundness of body.
This remarkable pebble, which was afterwards preserved among the treasures of the king, through the mercy of God effected the cure of sundry diseases among the people, while it in the same manner floated when dipped in water. And what is very wonderful, when this same stone was sought for by those sick persons whose term of life had arrived, it could not be found. Thus, on the very day on which King Brude died, though it was sought for, yet it could not be found in the place where it had been previously laid.
THE LIFE OF SAINT COLtJMBA. BOOK II. 61
CHAPTER XXXV.
Of the manner in which St. Columba overcame Broichan the Druid and sailed against the wind.
ON a certain day after the events recorded in the foregoing chapters, Broichan, whilst conversing with the saint, said to him : " Tell me, Columba, when dost thou propose to set sail ?, " The saint replied, " I intend to begin my voyage after three days, if God permits me, and preserves my life." Broichan said, " On the contrary, thou shalt not be able, for I can make the winds unfavourable to thy voyage, and cause a great darkness to envelop you in its shade." Upon this the saint observed : " The almighty power of God ruleth all things, and in His name and under His guiding providence all our movements are directed." What more need I say ? That same day, the saint, accompanied by a large number of followers, went to the long lake of the river Nesa (Loch Ness), as he had determined. Then the Druids began to exult, seeing that it had become very dark, and that the wind was very violent and contrary. Nor should we wonder, that God sometimes allows them, with the aid of evil spirits, to raise tempests and agitate the sea. For thus legions of demons once met in the midst of the sea the holy bishop Germanus, whilst on his voyage through the Gallican channel to Britain, whither he was going from zeal for the salvation of souls, and exposed him to great dangers, by raising a violent storm and causing great darkness whilst it was yet day. But all these things were dissipated by the prayers of St. Ger manus more rapidly than his words were uttered, and the dark ness passed away.
Our Columba, therefore, seeing that the sea was violently agitated, and that the wind was most unfavourable for his voy age, called on Christ the Lord and embarked in his small boat ; and whilst the sailors hesitated, he the more confidently ordered them to raise the sails against the wind. No sooner was this order executed, while the whole crowd was looking on, than the vessel ran against the wind with extraordinary speed. And after a short time, the wind, which hitherto had been against them, veered round to help them on their voyage, to the intense astonishment of all. And thus throughout the remainder of that day the light breeze continued most favourable, and the skiff of blessed man was carried safely to the wished-for haven.
Let the reader therefore consider how great and eminent this venerable man must have been, upon whom God Almighty, for the purpose of manifesting His illustrious name before a heathen people, bestowed the gift of working such miracles as those we have recorded.
Of the sudden opening of the door of the Royal Fortress of its own accord.
AT another time, when the saint made his first journey to King Brude, it happened that the king, elated by the pride of royalty, acted haughtily, and would not open his gates on the first arrival of the blessed man. When the man of God observed this, he approached the folding doors with his companions, and having first formed upon them the sign of the cross of our Lord, he then knocked at and laid his hand upon the gate, which instantly flew open of its own accord, the bolts having been driven back with great force. The saint and his companions then passed through the gate thus speedily opened. And when the king learned what had occurred, he and his councillors were filled] with alarm, and immediately setting out from the palace, he advanced to meet with due respect the blessed man, whom he addressed in the most conciliating and respectful language. And ever after from that day, so long as he lived, the king held this holy and reverend man in very great honour, as was due.
Of a similar unclosing of the Church of the Field of the Two Streams (Tirdaglas, in the county of Tipper ary).
UPON another occasion, when the saint was staying a few days in Scotia (Ireland), he went, on invitation, to visit the brethren in the monastery of the Field of the Two Streams (Tirdaglas). But it happened, by some accident, that when he arrived at the church the keys of the oratory could not be found. When the saint observed the brethren lamenting to one another about the keys being astray, and the door locked, he went him self to the door and said, " The Lord is able, without a key, to open his own house for his servants." At these words, the bolts of the lock were driven back with great force, and the door opened of itself. The saint entered the church before all with universal admiration ; and he was afterwards most hospitably entertained by the brethren, and treated by all with the greatest respect and veneration.
Concerning a certain Peasant who was a beggar, for whom the Saint made and blessed a stake for killing wild beasts.
AT another time there came to St. Columba a very poor peasant, who lived in the district which borders the shores of the Aporic lake (Lochaber). The blessed man, taking pity on the wretched man, who had not wherewithal to support his wife and family, gave him all the alms he could afford, and then said to him, " Poor man, take a branch from the neigh bouring wood, and bring it to me quickly." The wretched man brought the branch as he was directed, and the saint, taking it in his own hand, sharpened it to a point like a stake, and, blessing it, gave it back to the destitute man, saying, " Preserve this stake with great care, and it, I believe, will never hurt men or cattle, but only wild beasts and fishes; and as long as thou preservest this stake thou shalt never be without abund ance of venison in thy house."
The wretched beggar upon hearing this was greatly delighted, and returning home, fixed the stake in a remote place which was frequented by the wild beasts of the forest ; and when that next night was past, he went at early morning dawn to see the stake, and found a stag of great size that had fallen upon it and been transfixed by it. Why should I mention more instances ? Not a day could pass, so the tradition goes, in which he did not find a stag or hind or some other wild beast fixed upon the stake ; and his whole house being thus filled with the flesh of the wild beasts, he sold to his neighbours all that remained after his own family was supplied. But, as in the case of Adam, the envy of the devil also found out this miserable man also through his wife, who, not as a prudent matron, but rather like one infatuated, thus spoke to her husband : " Eemove the stake out of the earth, for if men, or cattle, perish on it, then thou and I and our children shall be put to death, or led into captivity." To these words her husband replied, " It will not be so, for when the holy man blessed the stake he said it would never injure men or cattle." Still the miserable man, after saying this, yielded to his wife, and taking the stake out of the earth, like a man deprived of his reason, brought it into the house and placed it against the wall. Soon after his house-dog fell upon it and was killed, and on its death his wife said to him, " One of thy children will fall upon it and be killed." At these words of his wife he removed the stake out of the house, and having carried it to a forest, placed it in the thickest brush wood, where, as he thought, no animal could be hurt by it ; but upon his return the following day he found a roe had fallen upon it and perished. He then took it away and concealed it by thrusting it under the water in the edge of the river, which may be called in Latin Mgra Dea (not identified). On returning the next day he found transfixed, and still held by it, a salmon of extraordinary size, which he was scarcely able by himself to take from the river and carry home. At the same time, he took the stake again back with him from the water, and placed it outside on the top of his house, where a crow having soon after lighted, was instantly killed by the force of the fall. Upon this the miserable man, yielding again to the advice of his foolish wife, took down the stake from the house-top, and taking an axe cut it in many pieces, and threw them into the fire. Having thus deprived himself of this effectual means of alle viating his distress, he was again, as he deserved to be, reduced to beggary. This freedom from want was owing to the stake, so frequently mentioned above, which the blessed man had blest and given him, and which, so long as it was kept, could suffice for snares and nets, and every kind of fishing and hunting ; but when the stake was lost, the wretched peasant, though he had been enriched for the time, could only, when too late, lament over it with his whole family all the rest of his life.
Concerning a Leathern Vessel for holding milk which was carried from its place "by the ebb, and brought back again by the return of the tide.
ON another occasion, when the blessed man's messenger, who was named Lugaid, and surnamed Laitir, was at his command making preparations for a voyage to Scotia (Ireland), he searched for and found amongst the sea-going^ articles that belonged to the saint's ship a leathern vessel for holding milk. This vessel he immersed in the sea in order to moisten it, and put upon it stones of considerable size. He then went to the saint, and told him what he had done with the leathern bottle. The saint smiled and said, " I do not think that this vessel, which thou sayest thou hast sunk under the waves, will accompany thee to Hibernia on the present occasion." " Why," rejoined Lugaid, " can I not take it with me in the ship ? " The saint replied, " Thou shalt learn the reason to-morrow, as the event will prove."
On the following morning, therefore, Lugaid went to take the vessel out of the sea, but the ebb of the tide had carried it away during the night. When he could not find it, he returned in grief to the saint, and on his bended knees on the ground con fessed his negligence. St. Columba consoled him, saying, " My brother, grieve not for perishable things. The vessel which the ebbing tide has carried away the returning tide will, after your departure, bring back to the spot where thou didst place it." At the ninth hour of the same day, soon after the de parture of Lugaid from the louan island (Hy, now lona), the saint addressed those who stood near him, and said, " Let one of you now go to the sea, for the leathern vessel for which Lugaid was lamenting, when it was carried away by the ebbing tide, hath been brought back by the returning tide, and is to be found at the place from which it was taken." Upon hearing these words spoken by the saint, a certain active youth ran to the sea- shore, where he found the vessel, as the saint had pre dicted. He immediately took it out of the water, and with great joy hastened back at full speed to the holy man, into whose hands he delivered it, amid the great admiration of all the beholders.
In the two miracles which we have just recorded, and which regard such common and trifling things as a wooden stake and a leathern vessel, there may, nevertheless, be observed, as we noticed before, the gift of prophecy united with the power of working miracles.
Let us now proceed with our narrative regarding other things.
CHAPTER XL.
The Saint's prophecy regarding Libran, of the Hush-ground.
AT another time, while the saint was living in the louan island (Hy, now lona), a certain man of humble birth, who had lately assumed the clerical habit, sailed over from Scotia (Ireland), and came to the blessed man's monastery on the island. The saint found him one day sitting alone in the lodging provided for strangers, and inquired first about his country, family, and the object of his journey. He replied that he was born in the region of the Connacht men (Connaught), and that he had undertaken that long and weary journey to
E atone for his sins by the pilgrimage. In order to test the depth of his repentance, the saint then laid down minutely before his eyes the hardship and labour attending the monastic exercises. " I am prepared," he replied at once to the saint, " to do every thing whatever thou dost bid me, however hard and however humiliating." Why add more ? That same hour he confessed all his sins, and promised, kneeling on the ground, to fulfil the laws of penance. The saint said to him, " Arise and take a seat." Then he thus addressed him as he sat, " Thou must do penance for seven years in the Ethican land (Tiree) ; thou and I, with God's blessing, shall survive that period of seven years/' Being comforted by the saint's words, he first gave thanks to God, and turning afterwards to the saint, asked, " What am I to do with regard to an oath which I have violated ? for while living in my own country I murdered a certain man, and afterwards, as guilty of murdering him, I was confined in prison. But a certain very wealthy blood-relation came to my aid, and promptly loosing me from my prison-chains, rescued me from the death to which I was condemned. When I was released, I bound myself by oath to serve that friend all the days of my life ; but I had remained only a short time in his service, when I felt ashamed of. serving man, and very much preferred to devote myself to God. I therefore left that earthly master, broke the oath, and departing, reached thee safely, God prospering my journey thus far." The saint, on seeing him very much grieved over such things, and first prophesying with respect to him, thus made answer, saying, " At the end of seven years, as I said to thee, thou shalt come to me here during the forty days of Lent, and thou shalt approach the altar and partake of the Eucharist at the great Paschal festival." Why hang longer over words ? The penitent stranger in every respect obeyed the saint's com mands ; and being sent at that time to the monastery of the Plain of Lunge (Magh Lunge, in Tiree), and having fully com pleted his seven years' penance there, returned to him during Lent, according to the previous command and prophecy. After celebrating the Paschal solemnity, and coming at that time to the altar as directed, he came again to the saint to consult him on the above-mentioned oath. Then the saint gave this prophetic answer to his inquiry, " That earthly master of thine of whom thou hast formerly spoken is still living ; so are thy father, thy mother, and thy brethren. Thou must now, therefore, prepare thyself for the voyage." And while speaking, he drew forth a sword ornamented with carved ivory, and said, " Take this gift to carry with thee, and offer it to thy master as the price of thy ransom ; but when thou dost, he will on no account accept it, for he has a virtuous, kindly-disposed wife, and by the influence of her wholesome counsel he shall that very day, without recompense or ransom, set thee free, unbinding the girdle round thy captive loins. But though thus relieved from this anxiety, thou shalt not escape a source of disquietude arising on another hand, for thy brethren will come round and press thee to make good the support due to thy father for so long a time which thou hast neglected. Comply thou at once with their wish, and take in hand dutifully to cherish thine aged father. Though the duty may, indeed, seem weighty, thou must not be grieved thereat, because thou shalt soon be relieved of it ; for from the day on which thou shalt take charge of thy father, the end of that same week shall see his death and burial. But after thy father's burial thy brethren will a second time come and sharply demand of thee that thou pay the expenses due for thy mother. However, thy younger brother will assuredly set thee free from this necessity by engaging to perform in thy stead every duty or obligation which thou owest to thy mother."
Having heard these words, the above-mentioned brother, whose name was Libran, received the gift, and set out enriched with the saint's blessing. When he reached his native country, he found everything exactly as prophesied by the saint. For when he showed and made offer of the price of his freedom to his master, his wife opposed his wish to accept it, saying, "What need have we to accept this ransom sent by St. Columba ? We are not even worthy of such a favour. Eelease this dutiful servant without payment. The prayers of the holy man will profit us more than this price which is offered us." The husband, therefore, listening to his wife's wholesome counsel, set the slave free at once without ransom. He was afterwards, according to the saint's prophecy, compelled by his brethren to undertake the providing for his father, and he buried him at his death on the seventh day. After his burial they required him to discharge the same duty to his mother ; but a younger brother, as the saint foretold, engaged to supply his place, and thus released him from the obligation. "We ought not on any account," said he to his brethren, " detain this our brother at home, who, for the salvation of his soul, has spent seven years in penitential exercises with St. Columba in Britain."
After being thus released from the matters which gave him annoyance, he bade farewell to his mother and brothers, and returned a free man to a place called in the Scotic tongue Daire Calgaich (Derry). There he found a ship iinder sail just leaving the harbour, and he called to the sailors to take him on board and convey him to Britain. But they, not being the monks of St. Columba, refused to receive him. He then prayed to the venerable man, who, though far distant, indeed, in body, yet was present in spirit, as the event soon proved, saying, " Is it thy will, holy Columba, that these sailors, who do not receive me, thy companion, proceed upon their voyage with full sails and favourable winds ? "
At this saying the wind, which till then was favourable for them, veered round on the instant to the opposite point. While this was taking place, the sailors saw again the same man running in a line with them along the bank of the river, and, hastily taking counsel together, they cried out to him from the ship, saying, " Perhaps the wind hath suddenly turned against us, for this reason, that we refused to give thee a passage ; but if even now we were to invite thee to be with us on board, couldst thou change these contrary winds to be in our favour ? " When the pilgrim heard this, he said to them, " St. Columba, to whom I am going, and whom I have served for the last seven years, is able by prayer, if you take me on board, to obtain a favourable wind for you from his Lord." They then, on hearing this, approached the land with their ship, and asked him to join them in it. As soon as he came on board, he said, " In the name of the Almighty God, whom St. Columba blamelessly serveth, spread your sails on the extended yards/' And when they had done so, the gale of contrary winds immediately became favourable, and the vessel made a prosperous voyage under full sail to Britain. After reaching the shores of Britain, Libran left the ship, blessed the sailors, and went directly to St. Columba, who was staying in the louan island (Hy, now lona). The blessed man welcomed him with joy, and, without receiving the information from any one, told him fully of everything that happened on his way — of his master and the wife's kindly suggestion, and of his being set free by her advice ; of his brethren also, and the death and burial of his father within the week ; of his mother, and the timely assistance of the younger brother ; of what occurred as he was returning, the adverse and favourable winds ; of the words of the sailors when first they refused to take him in; of the promise of fair wind, and of the favourable change when they took him on board their vessel. Why need I add more ? Every particular the saint foretold he now described after it was exactly fulfilled.
After these words, the traveller gave back to the saint the price of his ransom which he had received from him ; and at the same time the saint addressed him in these words : " Inasmuch as thou art free, thou shalt be called Libran." Libran took at the same period the monastic vows with much fervour. And when he was being sent back again by the holy man to the monastery where he had formerly served the Lord during the seven years of penance, he received in farewell the following prophetic announcement regarding himself : — " Thou shalt live yet a long time, and end this present life in a good old age ; yet thou shalt not arise from the dead in Britain, but in Scotia (Ireland)." Hearing these words, he knelt down and wept bitterly. When the saint saw his great grief he tried to comfort him, saying, " Arise, and be not sad. Thou shalt die in one of my monasteries, and thy lot shall be among my chosen monks in the kingdom ; and with them thou shalt awake from the sleep of death unto the resurrection of life." When he heard this unusual consolation from the saint he rejoiced exceedingly, and, being enriched by the saint's blessing, went away in peace. This truthful prophecy of the saint regarding the same man was afterwards fulfilled ; for when he had faithfully served the Lord for many revolving years of holy obedience in the monastery of the Plain of Lunge (Magh Lunge, in Tiree), after the departure of St. Columba from the world, he was sent, in extreme old age, on a mission to Scotia regarding the interests of the monastery, and proceeded as soon as he landed through the Plain of Breg (Maghbreg, in Meath), till he reached the monastery of the Oakwood Plain (Derry). Being there received as a stranger in the guest-chamber, and suffering from a certain disease, he passed to the Lord in peace on the seventh day of his illness, and was buried with the chosen monks of St. Columba, according to his prophecy, to await the resurrection unto eternal life.
Let it suffice that we have written these truthful prophecies of St. Columba regarding Libran of the Eush-ground. He was called " of the Rush-ground " from his having been engaged many years in the labour of collecting rushes.
CHAPTER XLL
Concerning a certain little Woman who, as a daughter of Eve, was enduring tJie great and extremely dangerous pains of Childbirth.
ON a certain day during the saint's stay in the louan island (Hy, now lona), the saint arose from reading, and said with a smile, " I must now hasten to the oratory to pray to the Lord on behalf of a poor woman in Hibernia, who at this moment is suffering the pangs of a most difficult childbirth, and is calling upon the name of Columba. She trusteth that God will grant her relief from her sufferings through my prayers, because she is a relation of mine, being lineally descended from the house of my mother's parentage."
Having said this, the saint, being touched with pity for the poor woman, hastened to the church, and, on his bended knees, earnestly prayed for her to Christ, who was Himself by birth a partaker of humanity. Eeturning from the church after his prayer, he said to the brethren who met him, " The Lord Jesus, born of a woman, hath given seasonable help to this poor woman, and hath mercifully relieved her from her distress. She hath been safely delivered of a child, nor shall she die upon this occasion/' That same hour, as the saint had pre dicted, the poor woman, by invoking his name, was safely delivered, and restored to perfect health, as we afterwards learned from travellers who came to us from that part of Scotia (Ireland) where the woman resided.
Of one Imgne, surnamed Tuclida, a Pilot, who lived on the Rechrean island (either Rathlin or Lamlay), and whom, as being deformed, his wife hated.
ANOTHER time, when the saint was living on the Eechrean island, a certain man of humble birth came to him and com plained of his wife, who, as he said, so hated him, that she would on no account allow him to come near her for marriage rights. The saint on hearing this, sent for the wife, and, so far as he could, began to reprove her on that account, saying : " Why, 0 woman, dost thou endeavour to withdraw thy flesh from thyself, while the Lord says, ' They shall be two in one flesh ' ? Wherefore the flesh of thy husband is thy flesh." She answered and said, " Whatever thou shalt require of me I am ready to do, however hard it may be, with this single exception, that thou dost not urge me in any way to sleep in one bed with Lugne. I do not refuse to perform every duty at home, or, if thou dost command me, even to pass over the seas, or to live in some monastery for women." The saint then said, " What thou dost propose cannot be lawfully done, for thou art bound by the law of the husband as long as thy husband liveth, for it would be impious to separate those whom God has lawfully joined to gether." Immediately after these words he added : " This day let us three, namely, the husband and his wife and myself, join in prayer to the Lord and in fasting." But the woman replied : " I know it is not impossible for thee to obtain from God, when thou askest them, those things that seem to us either difficult, or even impossible." It is unnecessary to say more. The husband and wife agreed to fast with the saint that day, and the follow ing night the saint spent sleepless in prayer for them. Next day he thus addressed the wife in presence of her husband, and said to her : " 0 woman, art thou still ready to-day, as thou saidst yesterday, to go away to a convent of women ? " "I know now," she answered, " that thy prayer to God for me hath been heard ; for that man whom I hated yesterday, I love to-day ; for my heart hath been changed last night in some unknown way — from hatred to love." Why need we linger over it ? From that day to the hour of death, the soul of the wife was firmly cemented in affection to her husband, so that she no longer refused those mutual matrimonial rights which she was formerly unwilling to allow.
The Prophecy of the blessed man regarding the Voyage of Cormac the grandson of Lethan.
AT another time a soldier of Christ, named Cormac, about whom we have related a few brief particulars in the first part of this book, made even a second attempt to discover a desert in the ocean. After he had gone far from the land over the boundless ocean at full sail, St. Columba, who was then staying beyond the Dorsal Eidge of Britain (Drumalban), recommended him in the following terms to King Brude, in the presence of the ruler of the Orcades (Orkneys) : " Some of our brethren have lately set sail, and are anxious to discover a desert in the path less sea ; should they happen, after many wanderings, to come to the Orcadian islands, do thou carefully instruct this chief, whose hostages are in thy hand, that no evil befall them within his dominions." The saint took care to give this direction, be cause he knew that after a few months Cormac would arrive at the Orcades. So it afterwards came to pass, and to this advice of the holy man Cormac owed his escape from impending death.
After the lapse of a few months, whilst the saint was remain ing in the louan island (Hy, now lona), Cormac's name was mentioned one day unexpectedly in his presence by some per sons in conversation, who were observing that it was not yet known whether the voyage of Cormac had been successful or otherwise. Upon hearing this, the saint joined the conversa tion and said : " You shall see Cormac, about whom you are now speaking, arrive here to-day."
And after about an hour, wonderful to relate, lo ! Cormac unexpectedly arrived, and proceeded to the oratory whilst all expressed their admiration and gave thanks to God.
Having mentioned thus briefly the prediction of the blessed man regarding Cormac's second voyage, we have now to relate another equally remarkable instance of the holy man's prophetic knowledge regarding his third voyage.
When Cormac was laboriously engaged in his third voyage over the ocean, he was exposed to the most imminent danger of death. For, when for fourteen days in summer, and as many nights, his vessel sailed with full sails before a south wind, in a straight course from land, into the northern regions, his voyage seemed to be extended beyond the limits of human wanderings, and return to be impossible.
Accordingly, after the tenth hour of the fourteenth day, cer tain dangers of a most formidable and almost insurmountable kind presented themselves. A multitude of loathsome and annoying insects, such as had never been seen before, covered the sea in swarms, and struck the keel and sides, the prow, and stern of the vessel, so very violently, that it seemed as if they would wholly penetrate the leathern covering of the ship. Ac cording to the accounts afterwards given by those who were there, they were about the size of frogs ; they could swim, but were not able to fly ; their sting was extremely painful, and they crowded upon the handles of the oars.
When Cormac and his fellow-voyagers had seen these and other monsters, which it is not now our province to describe, they were filled with fear and alarm, and, shedding copious tears, they prayed to God, who is a kind and ready helper of those who are in trouble. At that same hour our holy Columba, although far away in body, was present in spirit with Cormac in the ship. Accordingly he gave the signal, and calling the brethren to the oratory, he entered the church, and addressing those who were present, he uttered the following prophecy in his usual manner : " Brethren, pray with all your usual fervour for Cormac, who by sailing too far hath passed the bounds of human enterprise, and is exposed at this moment to dreadful alarm and fright, in the presence of monsters which were never before seen, and are almost indescribable. We ought, therefore, to sympathize with our brethren and associates who are in such imminent danger, and to pray to the Lord with them ; behold at this moment Cormac and his sailors are shedding copious tears, and praying with intense fervency to Christ ; let us assist them by our prayers, that God may take compassion upon us, and cause the wind, which for the past fourteen days has blown from the south, to blow from the north, and this north wind will, of course, deliver Cormac's vessel out of all danger."
Having said this he knelt before the altar, and in a plaintive voice poured forth his prayers to the almighty power of God, who governeth the winds and all things. After having prayed he arose quickly, and wiping away his tears, joyfully gave thanks to God, saying, " Now, brethren, let us congratulate our dear friends for whom we have been praying, for God will now change the south into a north wind, which will free our associates from their perils, and bring them to us here again." As he spoke the south wind ceased, and a north wind blew for many days after, so that Cormac's ship was enabled to gain the land. And Cormac hastened to visit Columba, and in God's bounty they looked on each other again face to face, to the extreme joy and wonder of all. Let the reader, then, carefully consider how great and of what a character the blessed man must have been, who possessed such prophetic knowledge, and who, by invoking the name of Christ, could rule the winds and the waves.
How the venerable man made a Journey in a Chariot which was not secured with the proper linch-pins.
AT another time, while the saint was spending a few days in Scotia (Ireland), some ecclesiastical object required his presence, and accordingly he ascended a yoked car which he had pre viously blessed ; but from some unaccountable neglect the requisite linch-pins were not inserted in the holes at the ex tremities of the axles. The person who on this occasion per formed the duty of driver in the carriage with St. Columba was Columban, a holy man, the son of Echud, and founder of that monastery which is called in the Scotic language Snam luthir (now Slanore, in Granard, county of Longford). The dis tance they rode that day was very long, and the jolting severe, yet the wheels did not come off the axles nor even stir from their proper places, although, as was mentioned before, there were no linch-pins to secure them. But divine grace alone so favoured the venerable man that the car in which he was safely seated proceeded without being upset, or meeting any obstacle to retard its progress.
Thus far we may have written enough regarding the miracles which the divine omnipotence wrought through this remarkable man while he lived ; we shall now mention also a few out of many well- authenticated miracles which the Lord was pleased to grant to him after his death.
Of the Eain which, after some months of drought, the Lord boun tifully poured out upon the earth in honour of the blessed man.
ABOUT fourteen years before the date at which we write, there occurred during the spring a very great and long-continued drought in these marshy regions, insomuch that the threat denounced against sinners in the Book of Leviticus seemed to impend over the people : " I will give to you the heaven above as iron, and the earth as brass. Your labour shall be spent in vain, the ground shall not bring forth her increase, nor the trees their fruit," etc.
We therefore, reading these words, and fearing the impend ing calamity, took counsel together, and resolved that some of the senior members of the community should walk round a newly ploughed and sowed field, taking with them the white tunic of St. Columba, and some books written in his own hand, that they should raise in the air, and shake three times the tunic which the saint wore at the hour of his death ; and that they then should open the books and read them on the little hill of the angels (now called Sithean Mor), where the citizens of the heavenly country were occasionally seen to descend at the bidding of the blessed man. When these directions had been executed in the manner prescribed, then, strange to relate, the sky, which during the preceding months of March and April had been cloudless, was suddenly covered with dense vapours that arose from the sea with extraordinary rapidity; copious rain fell day and night, and the parched earth being sufficiently moistened, produced its fruits in good season, and yielded the same year a most abundant harvest. And thus the invocation of the very name of the blessed man, by the exhibition of his tunic and books, obtained seasonable relief at the same time for many places and much people.
CHAPTER XLVL
Of the unfavourable Winds which, through the intercession of our Saint, were changed into propitious breezes.
OUK belief in the miracles which we have recorded, but which we did not ourselves see, is confirmed beyond doubt by the miracles of which we were eye-witnesses ; for on three different occasions we saw unfavourable gales of wind changed unto pro pitious breezes.
On the first occasion we had to draw over land long boats of hewn pine and oak, and to bring home in the same way a large quantity of materials for building ships. In order to obtain from the Lord a favourable wind for our voyage, we took counsel and put the books and garments of the blessed man upon the altar, and at the same time fasted, chanted psalms, and invoked his name. And this was granted to the holy man by God's favour, for on the day that our sailors had made all their preparations, and were ready to convey the wood for the purposes above mentioned in curachs and skiffs, the wind, which for several days before had been contrary, suddenly changed into favourable breezes. They blew steadily the entire day, by God's blessing, and enabled the whole fleet of boats to make their long and dangerous passage to the louan island (Hy, now lona), with safety and expedition.
On the second occasion, which was a few years after the one just mentioned, our monastery was requiring repairs, and some oak-trees were to be taken from near the mouth of the river Sale (the Seil, in Lorn), in twelve vessels which we brought for the purpose. Our sailors then rowed out to sea with their oars, the day being calm and the sea tranquil, when suddenly a westerly wind, which is also called Zephyr, sprang up, and we betook ourselves to the nearest island, which is called in Scotic Airthrago (probably Kerrera), to seek for shelter in a harbour in it.
But in the meantime we began to complain of this unfavour able change in the wind, and in some measure even to blame our Columba, saying, " Doth our unfortunate detention in this place please thee, 0 saint ? Hitherto we had hoped that we might receive from thee some aid and comfort in our labours through the divine favour, seeing we thought that thou wert honoured and powerful in the sight of God."
No sooner had we thus spoken, than, wonderful to relate, the unfavourable west wind ceased, and immediately, in the course as it were of one minute, behold a most favourable south-eastern breeze sprang up. The sailors were then directed to raise the sail yards in the form of a cross, and spread the sails upon them ; thus putting to sea with a steady and favour able breeze, we were enabled, without the slightest fatigue, to reach our island that same day, rejoicing in our cargo of wood, and in the company of all who were engaged in assisting us in the ships. Thus the chiding with the holy man, slight though it was, in that complaint assisted us not a little ; and in what and how great esteem the saint is held by the Lord is evident from His hearing him so quickly and changing the winds.
Then the third instance was in the summer, after the cele bration of a synod in Hibernia, when we were detained by contrary winds for a few days among the people of the tribe of Loern (Lorn), and had reached the Sainean island (Shuna). There the vigil and the feast of St. Columba found us extremely sad and disconsolate, because we wished to celebrate that joyous day in the louan island (Hy, now lona). Accordingly, as on a former occasion, we began to complain and to say, " Is it agree able to thee, O saint, that we should spend to-morrow, thy festival-day, among strangers, and not celebrate it in thine own church ? It is easy for thee in the morning of such a day to obtain from the Lord that the contrary winds may become favourable, and that we may be able to celebrate the solemn mass of thy birth in thine own church. On the following morning we arose at daybreak, and seeing that the adverse winds had ceased, we went on board our vessels and put to sea in a profound calm, when, lo ! there suddenly sprung up a south wind, which was most favourable for the voyage. The sailors then joyously raised the sails, and on this occasion also without any exertion on our part, so quick and so favourable was our passage, owing to the mercy of God to the blessed man, that we reached the landing-place of the louan island (Hy, now lona), after the third hour, according to our previous anxious desire. After washing our hands and feet we entered the church at the sixth hour in company with our brethren, and celebrated at once the holy services of the mass of St. Columba and St. Baithene, whose festivals occurred on that day, at the daybreak of which, as we said above, we started from the distant Sainean island (Shuna).
And as to the truth of this story I have now related, there are yet living, not merely one or two witnesses as the law requires, but hundreds and more who can bear testimony.
Concerning the Plague.
WHAT we are about to relate concerning the plague, which in our own time twice visited the greater part of the world, deserves, I think, to be reckoned among not the least of the miracles of St. Columba. For, not to mention the other and greater countries of Europe, including Italy, the Eoman States, and the Cisalpine provinces of Gaul, with the States of Spain also, which lie beyond the Pyrenees, these islands of the sea, Scotia (Ireland) and Britain, have twice been ravaged by a dreadful pestilence throughout their whole extent, except among the two tribes, the Picts and Scots of Britain, who are separated from each other by the Dorsal mountains of Britain. And although neither of these nations was free from those grievous crimes which generally provoke the anger of the eternal Judge, yet both have been hitherto patiently borne with and mercifully spared. Now, to what other person can this favour granted them by God be attributed unless to St. Columba, whose monasteries lie within the territories of both these people, and have been regarded by both with the greatest respect up to the present time ? But what I am now to say cannot, I think, be heard without a sigh, that there are many very stupid people in both countries who, in their ignorance that they owe their exemption from the plague to the prayers of the saint, ungrate fully and wickedly abuse the patience and the goodness of God. But I often return my most grateful thanks to God for having, through the intercession of our holy patron, pre served me and those in our islands from the ravages of the pestilence ; and that in Saxonia also, when I went to visit my friend King Aldfrid, where the plague was raging and laying waste many of his villages, yet both in its first attack, imme diately after the war of Ecfridus, and in its second, two years subsequently, the Lord mercifully saved me from danger, though I was living and moving about in the very midst of the plague. The Divine mercy was also extended to my com panions, not one of whom died of the plague, or was attacked with any other disease.
Here must end the second Book recording the miracles, and it is right for me to draw attention to the fact, that many wellauthenticated miracles have been omitted in order not to fatigue the reader.
Here endeth the Second Book.
BOOK III.
HERE BEGINNETH THE THIRD BOOK.
OF THE VISIONS OF ANGELS.
IN the first of these three little Books we have, under the guidance of God, shortly and concisely related, as was observed before, some of the prophetic revelations. In the second we have recorded the powerful miracles the blessed man wrought, which, as we have often observed, were generally accompanied with the gift of prophecy. But in this third Book, which treateth of the Apparitions of Angels, we shall relate those which either our saint received regarding others, or others saw regarding him ; we shall also describe some which were manifested to both parties, though in different measure, that is, to the saint himself, specially and clearly, but to the others improperly and partially, or, in other words, externally and tentatively, yet in the same visions either of angels, or of heavenly light. What ever discrepancies however in any case may at first sight seem to occur in those visions, will be completely removed as we proceed to relate them in their proper places. But now we must begin at the very birth of the blessed man, and relate these angelic manifestations.
CHAPTER II.
ON a certain night between the conception and birth of the venerable man, an angel of the Lord appeared to his mother in dreams, bringing to her, as he stood by her, a certain robe of extraordinary beauty, in which the most beautiful colours, as it were, of all the flowers seemed to be portrayed. After a short time he asked it back, and took it out of her hands, and having raised it and spread it out, he let it fly through the air. But she being sad at the loss of it, said to that man of venerable aspect, " Why dost thou take this lovely cloak away from me so soon ?" He immediately replied, " Because thisjjiantleisjp exceedingly honourable that thou canst not retain it longer with thee." When this was said, the woman saw that the fore-men tioned robe was gradually receding from her in its flight ; and that then it expanded until its width exceeded the plains, and in all its measurements was larger than the mountains and forests. Then she heard the following words : " Woman, do not grieve, for to the man to whom thou hast been joined by the marriage bond, thou shalt bring forth a son, of so beautiful a character, that he shall be reckoned among his own people as one of the pro phets of God, and hath been predestined by God to be the leader of innumerable souls to the heavenly country." At these words the woman awoke from her sleep.
CHAPTER III.
Of the Ray of Light which was seen upon the loy'sface as he lay asleep.
ON another night, Cruithnecan, a priest of blameless life, to whose care the blessed youth was confided, upon returning home from the clmrch after mass, found his house illuminated with a brighJLiight^ancL saw in fact a ball of fire standing over the face of_theJlittle boy as he lay asleep. At the sight he at once shook with fear, and fell down with his face to the ground in great amazement, well knowing that it indicated the grace of the Holy Spirit poured out from heaven upon his young charge.
CHAPTER IV.
Of the Apparition of Holy Angels whom St. Brenden saw accompanying the blessed man through the plain.
FOR indeed after the lapse of many years, when St.
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Columba was excommunicated by a certain synod for some pardonable and very trifling reasons, and indeed unjustly, afterwards appeared at the end, he came to the same meeting convened against himself. When St. Brenden, the founder of the monastery which in the Scotic language is called Birra (Birr, in King's County), saw him approaching in the distance, he quickly arose, and with head bowed down reverently kissed him. When some of the seniors in that assembly, going apart from the rest, were finding fault with him, and saying : " Why didst thou not decline to rise in presence of an excommunicated person, and to kiss him ?" he replied to them in this wise : " If," said he, " you had seen what the Lord has this day thought fit to show to me regarding this his chosen one, whom you dishonour, you would never have excommunicated a person whom God not only doth not excommunicate, according to your unjust sentence, but even more and more highly esteemeth." " How, we would wish to know," said they in reply, " doth God exalt, as thou sayest, on-} whom we have excommunicated, not without reason ? " "I have seen," said Brenden, " a most brilliant pillar wreathed with fiery tresses preceding this same man of God whom you treat with contempt ; I have also seen holy angels accompanying him on his journey through the plain. Therefore I do not dare to slight him whom I see foreordained by God to be the leader of his people to life." When he said this, they desisted, and so far from daring to hold the saint any longer excommunicated, they even treated him with the greatest respect and reverence. This took place in Teilte (Taillte, now Teltown, in Meath).
CHAPTER V.
Of the Angel of the Lord which St. Finnio saw accompanying the blessed man in his journey.
ON another occasion the holy man went to the venerable Bishop Finnio, who had formerly been his preceptor, — the youth to visit the man far advanced in years. When St. Finnio saw him coming to him, he observed also an angel of the Lord accompanying him, as he proceeded, and as it is handed down to us by well-informed persons, he made it known to certain brethren who were standing by, saying to them : " Behold, look now to Columba as he draweth near; he hath been deemed worthy of having an angelic inhabitant of heaven to be his companion in his wanderings." About that same time the holy man, with his twelve disciples and fellow-soldiers, sailed across to Britain.
THE LIFE OF SAINT COLUMUA. BOOK III. 83
CHAPTER VIII.
Concerning the Vision of Any els vouchsafed the same holy man when they were "bearing to heaven the soul of one named Diormit.
AT another time a stranger from Hibernia came to the saint and remained with him for some months in the louan island (Hy, now lona). The blessed man one day said to him : " One of the clerics of thy province, whose name I do not yet know, is being carried to heaven by the angels at this moment." Then the brother, upon hearing this, began to search within himself regarding the province of the Anterii (Airthir), which is called in Scotic Indairthir (East Oriel, in Ulster), and also about the name of that blessed man, and in due course thus expressed himself, saying : " I know a soldier of Jesus Christ, named Diormit, who built a small monastery in the same district where I dwelt." The saint said to him, " He of whom thou speakest is the very person who hath been carried into Paradise by the angels of God."
But this fact must be very carefully noted, that our venerable man was most careful to conceal from the knowledge of men many mysterious secrets which were concealed from others, but revealed to him by God, and this he did for two reasons, as he one day hinted to a few of the brethren ; first, that he might avoid vain-glory, and secondly that he might not, by the fame of his revelations being spread abroad, attract, to make inquiries at him, innumerable crowds who were anxious to ask some questions regarding themselves.
CHAPTER IX.
Of the brave fight of the Angels against the Demons, and how they opportunely assisted the Saint in the same conflict.
ON another day while the holy man was living in the louan island (Hy, now lona), he went to seek in the woods for a place more remote from men and fitting for prayer. And there when he began to pray, he suddenly beheld, as he afterwards told a few of the brethren, a very black host of demons fighting against him with iron darts. These wicked demons wished, as the Holy Spirit revealed to the saint, to attack his monastery and kill with the same spears many of the brethren. But he,
Hibernia, the scourge which I suffered on thy account from the angel shall bring great disgrace upon them by the hand of God, and the hearts of men shall be turned away from them, and their foes shall be greatly strengthened against them." Now this prophecy hath been fulfilled in our own times in the battle of Roth (Magh Rath, fought 637), in which Domnall Brecc, the grandson of Aidan, ravaged without the slightest provocation the territory of Domnall, the grandson of Ainmuireg. And from that day to this they have been trodden down by strangers — a fate which pierces the heart with sighs and grief.
CHAPTER VII.
Of the Apparition of Angels carrying to heaven the soul of the blessed Brito.
AT another time while the holy man was tarrying in the louan island (Hy, now lona), one of his monks called Brito, a person given to all good works, being seized with bodily ill ness, was reduced to the last extremity. When the venerable man went to visit him at the hour of his departure, he stood for a few moments at his bedside, and after giving him his blessing, retired quickly from the house, not wishing to see him die, and the very moment after the holy man left the house the monk closed this present life.
Then the eminent man walking in the little court of his monastery, with his eyes upraised to heaven, was for a long time lost in wonder and admiration. But a certain brother named Aidan, the son of Libir, a truly virtuous and religious man, who was the only one of the brethren present at the time, fell upon his knees and asked the saint to tell him the reason of so great astonishment. The saint said to him in reply : " I have this moment seen the holy angels contending in the air against the hostile powers ; and I return thanks to Christ, the Judge, because the victorious angels have carried off to the joys of our heavenly country the soul of this stranger, who is the first person that hath died among us in this island. But I beseech thee not to reveal this secret to any one during my life."
CHAPTER VIII.
Concerning the Vision of Angels vouchsafed the same holy man when they were bearing to heaven the soul of one named Diormit.
AT another time a stranger from Hibernia came to the saint and remained with him for some months in the louan island (Hy, now lona). The blessed man one day said to him : " One of the clerics of thy province, whose name I do not yet know, is being carried to heaven by the angels at this moment." Then the brother, upon hearing this, began to search within himself regarding the province of the Anterii (Airthir), which is called in Scotic Indairthir (East Oriel, in Ulster), and also about the name of that blessed man, and in due course thus expressed himself, saying : " I know a soldier of Jesus Christ, named Diormit, who built a small monastery in the same district where I dwelt." The saint said to him, " He of whom thou speakest is the very person who hath been carried into Paradise by the angels of God."
But this fact must be very carefully noted, that our venerable man was most careful to conceal from the knowledge of men many mysterious secrets which were concealed from others, but revealed to him by God, and this he did for two reasons, as he one day hinted to a few of the brethren ; first, that he might avoid vain-glory, and secondly that he might not, by the fame of his revelations being spread abroad, attract, to make inquiries at him, innumerable crowds who were anxious to ask some questions regarding themselves.
CHAPTER IX.
Of the brave fight of the Angels against the Demons, and how they opportunely assisted the Saint in the same conflict.
ON another day while the holy man was living in the louan island (Hy, now lona), he went to seek in the woods for a place more remote from men and fitting for prayer. And there when he began to pray, he suddenly beheld, as he afterwards told a few of the brethren, a very black host of demons fighting against him with iron darts. These wicked demons wished, as the Holy Spirit revealed to the saint, to attack his monastery and kill with the same spears many of the brethren. But he,
84 THE LIFE OF SAIXT COLUMBA. BOOK III.
single-handed, against innumerable foes of such a nature, fought with the utmost bravery, having received the armour of the apostle Paul. And thus the contest was maintained on both sides during the greater part of the day, nor could the demons, countless though they were, vanquish him, nor was he able, by himself, to drive them from his island, until the angels of God, as the saint afterwards told certain persons, and they few in number, came to his aid, when the demons in terror gave way. On the same day, when the saint was returning to his mon astery, after he had driven the devils from his island, he spoke these words concerning the same hostile legions, saying, " Those deadly foes, who this day, through the mercy of God and the assistance of his angels, have been put to flight from this small track of land, have fled to the Ethican land (Tiree), and there as savage invaders they will attack the monasteries of the brethren, and cause pestilential diseases, of which many will be grievously ill and die." All this came to pass in those days, as the blessed man had foreseen. And two days after he thus spake from the revelation of the Holy Ghost, " Baithen hath managed wisely, with God's help, that the congregation of the church over which he hath been appointed by God to pre side, in the plain of Lunge (Magh Lunge, in Tiree), should be defended by fasts and prayers against the attacks of the demons, and but one person shall die on this occasion." The whole took place as was foretold ; for whilst many in the other monasteries of the same island fell victims to that disease, none except the one of whom the saint spoke died in the congregation which was under the charge of Baithen. *
Of the Apparition of Angels whom the man of God saw carrying to heaven the soul of a blacksmith, named Columb, and surnamed Coilrigin.
A CERTAIN blacksmith, greatly devoted to works of charity, and full of other good works, dwelt in the midland districts of Scotia (Ireland). When the forementioned Columb, surnamed Coilrigin, was dying in a good old age, even at that very mo ment when he departed from the body, St. Columba, who was then in the louan island (Hy, now lona), thus addressed a few of the senior brethren who were standing around him, " Columb Coilrigin, the blacksmith, hath not laboured in vain, seeing that he hath had the happiness, as he desired, to purchase the eternal rewards by the labour of his hands. For, behold, at this moment, his soul is carried by the holy angels to the joys of the heavenly country, because he laid out all that he could earn by his trade in alms to the poor."
CHAPTER XL
Of a similar Vision of Angels whom the blessed man beheld carry ing to heaven the soul of a certain virtuous woman.
IN like manner, on another occasion, whilst the holy man was living in the louan island (Hy, now lona),7 he one day suddenly raised his eyes to heaven and uttered the words, " 0 happy woman — happy because of thy virtues ; the angels of God are now carrying thy soul to paradise." Now these words from the mouth of the saint wrere heard by a certain religious brother, a Saxon, by name Genere, who was at the moment working at his trade, which was that of a baker. And on the same day of the month, at the end of the same year, the saint addressed the same Genere the Saxon, and said, " I see a won derful thing ; behold, the woman of whom I spake in thy pre sence last year, now meeteth in the air the soul of her husband, a poor and holy man, and together with the holy angels engageth in a contest for it against the adverse powers ; by their united assistance, and by the aid of the virtuous character of the man himself, his soul is rescued from the assaults of the demons, and brought to the place of eternal refreshment.
CHAPTER XII.
Of the Apparition of Holy Angels whom St. Columba beheld meeting in its passage the soul of St. Brenden, the founder of the monastery which in Scotic is called Birra (Birr, in King's County).
ON another day also, while the venerable man was residing in the louan island (Hy, now lona), he called very early in the morning for his attendant, Diormit, so frequently mentioned before, and commanded him, saying, " Make ready in haste for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, for to-day is the birthday of blessed Brenden." " Wherefore," said his attendant, " dost thou order such solemnities of the Mass to be prepared to-day ? For no messenger hath come to us from Scotia (Ireland) to tell us of the death of that holy man." " Go," said the saint, " it is thy duty to obey my commands. For this last night I saw the heavens suddenly open, and choirs of angels descend to meet the soul of the holy Brenden ; and so great and incomparable was the brightness, that in that same hour it illuminated the whole world."
CHAPTER XIII.
Of ike Vision of Holy Angels who carried off to heaven the soul of the Bishop, St. Columban Mocu Loigse.
ON another day also, while the brethren were putting on their sandals in the morning, and were making ready to go to their different duties in the monastery, the saint, on the contrary, bade them rest that day and prepare for the holy sacrifice, ordering also some addition to be made to their dinner, as on the Lord's day. " I must," said he, " though unworthy, cele brate to-day the holy mysteries of the Eucharist, out of venera tion to that soul which this last night went up to paradise, beyond the region of the stars in the heavens, borne thither amid the holy choirs of the angels."
At these words the brethren obeyed, and, according to his directions, rested that day; then, after preparing for the due celebration of the sacred rite, they accompanied the saint to the church in their white robes as on a festival. Bat it came to pass that when in the course of chanting the offices, the prayer was being sung as usual in which St. Martin's name is com memorated, the saint, suddenly turning to the chanters, when they had come to make mention of that name, said, " You must pray to-day for St. Columban, bishop." Then all the brethren present understood that Columban, a bishop in Leinster, the dear friend of Columba, had passed to the Lord. A short time after, some persons, who came from the province of Leinster, told how the bishop died in the very night in which it was thus made known to the saint.-
CHAPTER XIV.
Of the Apparition of Angels who had come down to meet the souls of the monks of St. Comgell.
AT another time, when the venerable man was living in the louan island (Hy, now lona), he became suddenly excited, and summoned the brethren together by the sound of the bell. " Now" said he, " let us help by our prayers the monks of the Abbot Comgell, who are just now in danger of being drowned in the Lake of the Calf (Loch Laodh, now Belfast Lough) ; for, lo ! at this moment they are fighting against the hostile powers in the air, and are striving to rescue the soul of some stranger who is also drowning along with them." Then after having wept and prayed fervently, he hastily stood erect before the altar with a joyful countenance, whilst the brethren continued to lie prostrate in prayer. " Give thanks," he said, " to Christ, for now the holy angels, coming to the aid of holy souls, have rescued this stranger from the attacks of the demons, and borne him off in triumph like victorious warriors."
Of the Manifestation of the Angels who came to meet the soul of one Emchafh.
AT another time, when the saint was travelling beyond the Dorsal Eidge of Britain (Drumalban), near the lake of the river Nesa (Loch Ness), he was suddenly inspired by the Holy Ghost, and said to the brethren that accompanied him, " Let us go quickly to meet the holy angels, who have been sent from the realms of the highest heaven to carry away with them the soul of a heathen, and now wait our arrival there, that we may baptize in due time before his death this man, who hath preserved his natural goodness through all his life, even to extreme old age." And having said this much, the holy old man hurried his companions as much as he could, and walked before them until he came to a district called Airchart-dan (Arochdan, now Glen Urquhart) ; and there he found an aged man whose name was Emchat, who, on hearing the word of God preached by the saint, believed and was baptized, and imme diately after, full of joy, and safe from evil, and accompanied by the angels, who came to meet him, passed to the Lord. His son Virolec also believed, and was baptized with all his house.
Of the Angel of the Lord that came so quickly and opportunely to the relief of the brother who fell from the top of the round monastery in the OaTcwood Plain (Berry).
AT another time, while the holy man sat in his little cell engaged in writing, on a sudden his countenance changed, and he poured forth this cry from his pure breast, saying, " Help ! help ! " Two of the brothers who stood at the door, namely, Colga, son of Cellach, and Lugne Mocublai, asked the cause of such a sudden cry. The venerable man answered, saying, " I ordered the angel of the Lord who was just now standing among you to go quickly to the relief of one of the brothers who is falling from the highest point of a large house which is now being built in the Oakwood Plain (Deny)." And the saint added afterwards these words, saying, " How wonderful and almost unspeakable is the swiftness of angelic motion, like, as I imagine, to the rapidity of lightning. For the heavenly spirit who just now flew away from us when that man began to fall, arrived there to support him, as it were, in the twink ling of an eye, before his body reached the ground ; nor was the man who fell able to feel any fracture or bruise. How wonderful, I say, is that most swift and timely help which could be given so very quickly, even though such an extent of land and sea lay between 3"
CHAPTER XVII.
Of the multitude of Holy Angels that were seen to come down from heaven at the bidding of the blessed man.
ANOTHER time also, while the blessed man was living in the louan island (Hy, now lona), he made this known to the as sembled brethren with very great earnestness, saying, " To-day I wish to go alone to the western plain of this island ; let none of you therefore follow me." They obeyed, and he went alone, as he desired. But a brother, who was cunning, and of a prying disposition, proceeded by another road, and secretly placed him self on the summit of a certain little hill which overlooked the plain, because lie was very anxious to learn the blessed man's motive for going out alone. While the spy on the top of the hill was looking upon him as he stood on a mound in the plain, with arms extended upwards, and eyes raised to heaven in prayer, then, strange to tell, behold a wonderful scene presented itself, which that brother, as I think not without the leave of God, witnessed with his own eyes from his place on the neigh bouring hill, that the saint's name and the reverence due to him might afterwards, even against his wishes, be more widely diffused among the people, through the vision thus vouchsafed. For holy angels, the citizens of the heavenly country, clad in white robes and flying with wonderful speed, began to stand around the saint whilst he prayed ; and after a short converse with the blessed man, that heavenly host, as if feeling itself detected, flew speedily back again to the highest heavens. The blessed man himself also, after his meeting with the angels, returned to the monastery, and calling the brethren together a second time, asked, with no little chiding and reproof, which of them was guilty of violating his command. When all were declaring they did not know at all of the matter, the brother, conscious of his inexcusable transgression, and no longer able to conceal his guilt, fell on his knees before the saint in the midst of the assembled brethren, and humbly craved forgiveness. The saint, taking him aside, commanded him under heavy threats, as he knelt, never, during the life of the blessed man, to disclose to any person even the least part of the secret regard ing the angels' visit. It was, therefore, after the saint's departure from the body that the brother related that manifestation of the heavenly host, and solemnly attested its truth. Whence, even to this day, the place where the angels assembled is called by a name that beareth witness to the event that took place in it ; this may be said to be in Latin " Colliculus Angelorum " and is in Scotic Cnoc Angel (now called Sithean Mor). Hence, therefore, we must notice, and even carefully inquire, into the fact how great and of what kind these sweet visits of angels to this blessed man were, which took place mostly during the winter nights, when he was in watching and prayer in lonely places while others slept. These were no doubt very numerous, and could in no way come to the knowledge of other men. Though some of these which happened by night or by day might perhaps be discovered by one means or another, these must have been very few compared with the angelic visions, which, of course, could be known by nobody. The same obser vation applies in the same way to other bright apparitions hitherto investigated by few, which shall be afterwards described.
Of the bright Pillar seen to glow upon the Saint's head.
ANOTHER time four holy founders of monasteries came from Scotia (Ireland), to visit St. Columba, and found him in the Hinba island (Eilean-na-Naoimh). The names of these dis tinguished men were Comgell Mocu Aridi, Cainnech Mocu Dalon, Brenden Mocu Alti, and Cormac, grandson of Leathain. They all with one consent agreed that St. Columba should consecrate, in their presence in the church, the holy mysteries of the Eucharist. The saint complied with their express desire, and entered the church with them on Sunday as usual, after the reading of the Gospel; and there, during the cele bration of the solemn offices of the Mass, St. Brenden Mocu Alti saw, as he told Comgell and Cainnech afterwards, a ball of fire like a comet burning very brightly on the head of Columba, while he was standing before the altar, and consecrating the holy oblation, and thus it continued burning and rising upwards like a column, so long as he continued to be engaged in the same most sacred mysteries.
Of the Descent or Visit of the Holy Ghost, which in the same island continued for three whole days and nights with the venerable man.
AT another time, when the saint was living in the Hinba island (Eilean-na-Naoimh), the grace of the Holy Ghost was communicated to him abundantly and unspeakably, and dwelt with him in a wonderful manner, so that for three whole days, and as many nights, without either eating or drinking, he allowed no one to approach him, and remained confined in a house which was filled with heavenly brightness. Yet out of that house, through the chinks of the doors and keyholes, rays of surpassing brilliancy were seen to issue during the night. Certain spiritual songs also, which had never been heard before, he was heard to sing. He came to see, as he allowed in the presence of a very few afterwards, many secrets hidden from men since the beginning of the world fully revealed ; certain very obscure and difficult parts of sacred Scripture also were made quite plain, and clearer than the light to the eye of his pure heart. He grieved that his beloved disciple, Baithen, was not with him, because if he had chanced to be beside him during those three days, he would have been able to explain from the lips of the blessed man mysteries regarding past or future ages, unknown to the rest of mankind, and to interpret also some passages of the Sacred Volumes. However, Baithen was then detained by contrary winds in the Egean island (Egg), and he was not, therefore, able to be present until those three days and as many nights of that glorious and unspeakable visi tation came to a close.
Of the angelic splendour of the light which Virgnous — a youth of good disposition, and afterwards made by God superior of this Church in which /, though unworthy ', now serve — saw coming down upon St. Columba in the Church, on a winter's night, when the brethren were at rest in their chambers.
ONE winter's night the forementioned Virgnous, burning with the love of God, entered the church alone to pray, while the others were asleep ; and he prayed fervently in a little sidechamber attached to the walls of the oratory. After a consider able interval, as it were of an hour, the venerable Columba entered the same sacred house, and along with him, at the same time, a golden light, that came down from the highest heavens and filled that part of the church. Even the separate recess of the side-chamber, where Virgnous was striving to hide himself as much as he could, was also filled, to his great alarm, with some of the brilliance of that heavenly light which burst through the inner-door of the chamber, that was a little open. And as no one can look directly at, or gaze with steady eye on, the summer sun in his mid-day splendour, so Virgnous could not at all bear this heavenly brightness which he saw, because of the brilliant and unspeakable radiance which overpowered his sight. The brother spoken of was so much terrified by the splendour, almost as dreadful as lightning, that no strength remained in him. But, after a short prayer, St. Columba left the church. And the next day he sent for Virgnous, who was very much alarmed, and spoke to him these few consoling words : " Thou art crying to good purpose, my child, for last night thou wert very pleasing in the sight of God by keeping thine eyes fixed on the ground when thou wert overwhelmed with fear at the brightness, for hadst thou not done so, that priceless light would have blinded thine eyes. This, however, thou must care fully observe — never to disclose this great manifestation of light while I live."
This circumstance, therefore, which is so wonderful and so worthy of record, became known to many after the saint's death through this same Virgnous's relating it. Comman, sister's son to Virgnous, a respected priest, solemnly assured me, Adanman, of the truth of the vision I have just described, and he added, moreover, that he heard the story from the lips of the abbot Virgnous, his own uncle, who, as far as he could, had seen that vision.
Of another very similar Vision of great brilliancy.
ANOTHER night also, one of the brothers, whose name was Colga, the son of Aid Draigniche, of the grandsons of Fechrech mentioned in the first Book, came by chance, while the other brothers were asleep, to the gate of the church, and stood .there for some time praying. Then suddenly he saw the whole church filled with a heavenly light, which more quickly than he could tell, flashed like lightning from his gaze. He did not know that St. Columba was praying at that time in the church, and after this sudden appearance of light, he returned home in great alarm. On the following day the saint called him aside and rebuked him severely, saying : " Take care of one thing, my child, that you do not attempt to spy out and pry too closely into the nature of that heavenly light which was not granted thee, but rather fled from thee, and that thou do not tell any one during my lifetime what thou hast seen."
CHAPTER XXII.
Of another like Apparition of Divine light.
AT another time also, the blessed man gave strict orders one day to Berchan, surnamed Mesloen, a pupil learning wisdom with them, saying : " Take care, my son, that thou come not near my little hut this evening, as thou art always accustomed to do." Berchan however, though hearing this, went, contrary to this command, to the blessed man's house in the dead of night while others were at rest, and cunningly put down his eyes on a line with the keyholes, in the hope that, just as the thing happened, some heavenly vision would be shown to the saint within. And at that very time the little hut was filled with a light of heavenly brightness, which the disobedient young man was not able to look upon, and therefore he fled at once from the spot. On the morrow the saint took him apart, and chiding him severely, addressed him in these words : " Last night, my son, thou hast sinned before God, and thou didst vainly imagine that the prying of thy secret inquisitiveness could be hidden or concealed from the Holy Ghost. Did I not see thee at that hour as thou didst draw near to the door of my hut, and as thou didst go away from it ? Had I not prayed for thee at that moment, thou wouldst have fallen dead there before the door, or thine eyes would have been torn out of their sockets ; but on my account, the Lord hath spared thee at this time. And be thou assured of this also, that, whilst thou art living in luxury in thine own country of Hibernia, thy face shall burn with shame all the days of thy life. Yet by my prayers, I have obtained this favour of God, that, as thou art my disciple, thou shalt do heartfelt penance before death, and thus obtain the mercy of God." All these things, according to the saying of the blessed man, occurred afterwards to him as had been foretold regarding him.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Of another Vision of Angels whom the Saint saw coming to meet his soul, as if to show that it was about to leave the lody.
AT another time, while the blessed man was living in the louan island (Hy, now lona), his holy countenance one day was lighted up suddenly with strange transports of joy ; and raising his eyes to heaven he was filled with delight, and re joiced beyond measure. After an interval of a few seconds, that sweet and enchanting delight was changed into a mournful sadness.
Now, the two men, who at the same hour were standing at the door of his hut, which was built on the higher ground, and were themselves also much afflicted with him — of whom the one was Lugne Mocublai, and the other a Saxon named Pilu,— asked the cause of this sudden joy, and of the sorrow which followed. The saint said to them, " Go in peace, and do not ask me now to explain the cause of either that joy or that sadness." On hearing this they humbly asked him, kneeling before him in tears, and with faces sunk to the ground, to grant their desire of knowing something concerning that matter which at that same hour had been revealed to the saint. Seeing them so much afflicted, he said, "On account of my love to you, I do not wish you to be in sadness ; but you must first promise me never to disclose to any one during my life the secret you seek to know." They made of course the pro mise at once according to his request, and then, when the pro mise was made, the venerable man spake to them thus : " On this very day, thirty years of my sojourn in Britain have been completed, and meanwhile for many days past I have been devoutly asking of my Lord to release me from my dwelling here at the end of this thirtieth year, and to call me thither to my heavenly fatherland. And this was the cause of that joy of mine, of which in sorrowful mood you ask me. For I saw the holy angels sent down from the lofty throne to meet my soul when it is taken from the flesh. But, behold now how they are stopped suddenly, and stand on a rock at the other side of the Sound of our island, evidently being anxious to come near me and deliver me from the body. But they are not allowed to come nearer, because, that thing which God granted me after praying with my whole strength — namely, that I might pass from the world to Him on this day, — He hath changed in a moment in His listening to the prayers of so many churches for me. These churches have no doubt prayed as the Lord hath granted, so that, though it is against my ardent wish, four years from this day are added for me to abide in the flesh. Such a sad delay as this was fitly the cause of the grief to-day. At the end of these four years, then, which by God's favour my life is yet to see, I shall pass away suddenly, without any previous bodily sickness, and depart with joy to the Lord, accompanied by His holy angels, who shall come to meet me at that hour."
According to these words, which the venerable man uttered, it is said, with much sorrow and grief, and even many tears, he afterwards abode in the flesh for four years.
How our Patron, St. Columba, passed to the Lord.
TOWARDS the end of the above-mentioned four years, and as a true prophet, he knew long before that his death would follow the close of that period, the old man, worn out with age, went in a cart one day in the month of May, as we mentioned in the preceding second Book, to visit some of the brethren who were at work. And having found them at work on the western side of the louan island (Hy, now lona), he began to speak to them that day, saying, " During the paschal solemnities in the month of April now past, with desire have I desired to depart to Christ the Lord, as He had allowed me, if I preferred it. But lest a joyous festival should be turned for you into mourning, I thought it better to put off for a little longer the time of my departure from the world." The beloved monks all the while they were hearing this sad news were greatly afflicted, and he endeavoured as well as he could to cheer them with words of consolation. Then, having done this, he turned his face to the east, still seated as he was in his chariot, and blessed the island with its inhabitants; and from that day to the present, as we have stated in the Book above mentioned, the venomous reptiles with the three forked tongues could do no manner of harm to man or beast. After uttering these words of blessing, the saint was carried back to his monastery.
Then, again, a few days afterwards, while he was celebrating the solemn offices of the Mass as usual on the Lord's day, the face of the venerable man, as his eyes were raised to heaven, suddenly appeared as if suffused with a ruddy glow, for, as it is written, "A glad heart maketh a cheerful countenance." For at that same hour he alone saw an angel of the Lord hovering above within the walls of his oratory ; and as the lovely and tranquil aspect of the holy angels infuses joy and exultation into the hearts of the elect, this was the cause of that sudden joy infused into the blessed man. When those who were present on the occasion inquired as to the cause of that joy with which he was evidently inspired, the saint looking upwards gave them this reply, " Wonderful and unspeakable is the subtiHty of the angelic nature ! For lo, an angel of the Lord, who was sent to demand a certain deposit dear to God, hath, after looking down upon us within the church, and bless ing us, returned again through the roof of the church, without leaving any trace of his passage out." Thus spoke the saint. But none of the bystanders could understand what kind of a deposit the angel was sent to demand. Our patron, however, gave the name of a holy deposit to his own soul that had been intrusted to him by God; and after an interval of six days from that time, as shall be related further on, he departed to the Lord on the night of the Lord's day. In the end, then, of this same week, that is on the day of the Sabbath, the venerable man, and his pious attendant Diormit, went to bless the barn which was near at hand. When the saint had entered in and blessed it, and two heaps of winnowed corn that were in it, he gave expression to his thanks in these words, saying, " I heartily congratulate my beloved monks, that this year also, if I am obliged to depart from you, you will have a sufficient supply for the year." On hearing this, Diormit his attendant began to feel sad, and said, " This year, at this time, father, thou very often vexest us, by so frequently making mention of thy leaving us." But the saint replied to him, " I have a little secret address to make to thee, and if thou wilt promise me faithfully not to reveal it to any one before iny death, I shall be able to speak to thee with more freedom about my departure." When his attendant had on bended knees made the promise as the saint desired, the venerable man thus resumed his address: " This day in the Holy Scriptures is called the Sabbath, which means rest. And this day is indeed a Sabbath to me, for it is the last day of my present laborious life, and on it I rest after the fatigues of my labours ; and this night at midnight, which commenceth the solemn Lord's Day, I shall, according to the sayings of Scripture, go the way of our fathers. For already my Lord Jesus Christ deigneth to invite me; and to Him, I say, in the middle of this night shall I depart, at His invitation. For so it hath been revealed to me by the Lord himself." The attendant hearing these sad words began to weep bitterly, and the saint endeavoured to console him as well as he could.
After this the saint left the barn, and in going back to the monastery, rested half way at a place where a cross, which was afterwards erected, and is standing to this day, fixed into a mill stone, may be observed on the roadside. While the saint, as I have said, bowed down with old age, sat there to rest a little, behold, there came up to him a white pack-horse, the same that used, as a willing servant, to carry the milk-vessels from the cow shed to the monastery. It came up to the saint and, strange to say, laid its head on his bosom — inspired, I believe, by God to do so, as each animal is gifted with the knowledge of things according to the will of the Creator; and knowing that its master was soon about to leave it, and that it would see him no more — began to utter plaintive cries, and like a human being, to shed copious tears on the saint's bosom, foaming and greatly wailing. The attendant seeing this, began to drive the weeping mourner away, but the saint forbade him, saying: " Let it alone, as it is so fond of me, — let it pour out its bitter grief into my bosom. Lo ! thou, as thou art a man, and hast a rational soul, canst know nothing of my departure hence, except what I myself have just told you ; but to this brute beast, devoid of reason, the Creator Himself hath evidently in some way made it known that its master is going to leave it." And saying this, the saint blessed the work-horse, which turned away from him in sadness.
Then leaving this spot, he ascended the hill that overlooketh the monastery, and stood for some little time on its summit ; and as he stood there with both hands uplifted, he blessed his monastery, saying :
" Small and mean though this place is, yet it shall be held in great and unusual honour, not only by Scotic kings and people, but also by the rulers of foreign and barbarous nations, and by their subjects ; the saints also even of other churches shall regard it with no common reverence."
After these words he descended the hill, and having returned to the monastery sat in his hut transcribing the Psalter, and coming to that verse of the 33d Psalm (Eng. Vers. Ps. 34), where it is written, " They that seek the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good," — " Here," said he, " at the end of the page, I must stop ; and what follows let Baithene write." The last verse he had written was very applicable to the saint, who was about to depart, and to whom eternal goods shall never be wanting ; while the one that followeth is equally applicable to the father who succeeded him, the instructor of his spiritual children : " Come, ye children, and hearken unto me : I will teach you the fear of the Lord;" — and indeed he succeeded him, as recommended by him, not only in teaching, but also in writing.
Having written the aforementioned verse at the end of the page, the saint went to the church to the nocturnal vigils of the Lord's Day ; and so soon as this was over, he returned to his chamber, and spent the remainder of the night on his bed, where he had a bare flag for his couch, and for his pillow a stone, which stands to this day as a kind of monument beside his grave. While then he was reclining there, he gave his last instructions to the brethren, in the hearing of his attendant alone, saying: "These, 0 my children, are the last words I address to you — that ye be at peace, and have unfeigned charity among yourselves ; and if you thus follow the example of the holy fathers, God, the Comforter of the good, will be your Helper, and I, abiding with Him, will intercede for you ; and He will not only give you sufficient to supply the wants of this present life, but will also bestow on you the good and eternal rewards which are laid up for those that keep His command ments." Thus far have the last words of our venerable patron,
G
98 THE LIFE OF SAINT COLUMBA. BOOK TIL
as he was about to leave this weary pilgrimage for his heavenly country, been preserved for recital in our brief narrative. After these words, as the happy hour of his departure gradually approached, the saint became silent. Then as soon as the bell tolled at midnight, he rose hastily, and went to the church ; and running more quickly than the rest, he entered it alone, and knelt down in prayer beside the altar. At the same moment his attendant Diormit, who more slowly followed him, saw from a distance that the whole interior of the church was filled with a heavenly light in the direction of the saint. And as he drew near to the door, the same light he had seen, and which was also seen by a few more of the brethren standing at a distance, quickly disappeared. Diormit therefore entering the church, cried out in a mournful voice, " Where art thou, father ? " And feeling his way in the darkness, as the brethren had not yet brought in the lights, he found the saint lying be fore the altar ; and raising him up a little, he sat down beside him, and laid his holy head on his bosom. Meanwhile the rest of the monks ran in hastily in a body with their lights, and beholding their dying father, burst into lamentations. And the saint, as we have been told by some who were present, even before his soul departed, opened wide his eyes and looked round him from side to side, with a countenance full of wonder ful joy and gladness, no doubt seeing the holy angels coming to meet him. Diormit then raised the holy right hand of the saint, that he might bless his assembled monks. And the venerable father himself moved his hand at the same time, as well as he was able — that as he could not in words, while his soul was departing, he might at least, by the motion of his hand, be seen to bless his brethren. And having given them his holy benediction in this way, he immediately breathed his last. After his soul had left the tabernacle of the body, his face still continued ruddy, and brightened in a wonderful way by his vision of the angels, and that to such a degree that he had the appearance, not so much of one dead, as of one alive and sleeping. Meanwhile the whole church resounded with loud lamentations of grief.
I must not omit to mention the revelation made to a certain saint of Ireland, at the very time the blessed soul departed. For in that monastery which in the Scotic language is called Clonifinchoil (now'Eosnarea, in parish of Knockcommon, Meath), there was a holy man named Lugud, son of Tailchan, one who had grown old in the service of Christ, and was noted for his sanctity and wisdom. Now this man had a vision which at early dawn he told in great affliction to one called Fergnous, who was like himself a servant of Christ. " In the middle of this last night," said he, " Columba, the pillar of many churches, passed to the Lord ; and at the moment of his blessed departure, I saw in the spirit the whole louan island, where I never was in the body, resplendent with the brightness of angels ; and the whole heavens above it, up to the very zenith, were illumined with the brilliant light of the same heavenly messengers, who descended in countless numbers to bear away his holy soul. At the same moment, also, I heard the loud hymns and entrancingly. sweet canticles of the angelic host, as his holy soul was borne aloft amidst the ascending choirs of angels." Virgnous, who about this time came over from Scotia (Ireland), and spent the rest of his life in the Hinba island (Eilean-na-Naoimh), very often related to the monks of St. Columba this vision of angels, which, as has been said, he undoubtedly heard from the lips of the old man himself, to whom it had been granted. This same Virgnous, having for many years lived without reproach in obedience amongst the brethren, led the life of an anchorite, as a victorious soldier of Christ, for twelve years more, in the her mitage of Muirbulcmar. This vision above mentioned we have not only found in writing, but have heard related with the utmost freedom by several well-informed old men to whom Virgnous himself had told it.
Another vision also given at the same hour under a different form was related to me — Adamnan — who was a young man at the time, by one of those who had seen it ; and who solemnly assured me of its truth. He was a very old man, a servant of Christ, whose name may be called Ferreol, but in the Scotic tongue Ernene, of the race of Mocufirroide, who, as being him self a holy monk, is buried in the Eidge of Tomma (now Drumhome, county Donegal), amidst the remains of other monks of St. Columba, and awaits the resurrection with the saints ; he said : " On that night when St. Columba, by a happy and blessed death, passed from earth to heaven, while I and others with me were engaged in fishing in the valley of the river Fend (the Finn, in Donegal) — which abounds in fish — we saw the whole vault of heaven become suddenly illuminated: Struck by the suddenness of the miracle, we raised our eyes and looked towards the east, when, lo ! there appeared something like an immense pillar of fire, which seemed to us, as it ascended upwards at that midnight, to illuminate the whole earth like the summer sun at noon ; and after that column penetrated the heavens darkness followed, as if the sun had just set. And not only did we, who were together in the same place, observe with intense surprise the brightness of this remarkable luminous pillar, but many other fishermen also, who were engaged in fish ing here and there in different deep pools along the same river, were greatly terrified, as they afterwards related to us, by an appearance of the same kind." These three miraculous visions, then, which were seen at the very hour of our venerable patron's departure, show clearly that the Lord hath conferred on him eternal honours. But let us now return to our narrative.
After his holy soul had departed, and the matin hymns were finished, his sacred body was carried by the brethren, chanting psalms, from the church back to his chamber, from which a little before he had come alive; and his obsequies were celebrated with all due honour and reverence for three days and as many nights. And when these sweet praises of God were ended, the venerable body of our holy and blessed patron was wrapped in a clean shroud of fine linen, and, being placed in the coffin prepared for it, was buried with all due veneration, to rise again with lustrous and eternal bright ness.
And now, near the close of this book, we shall relate what hath been told us by persons cognisant of the facts, regarding the above-mentioned three days during which his obsequies were celebrated in due ecclesiastical form. It happened on one occasion that a certain brother speaking with great sim plicity in the presence of the holy and venerable man, said to him, " After thy death all the people of these provinces will row across to the louan island (Hy, now lona), to celebrate thine obsequies, and will entirely fill it." Hearing this said the saint immediately replied : " JSTo, my child, the event will not turn out as thou sayest ; for a promiscuous throng of people shall not by any means be able to come to my obsequies : none but the monks of my monastery will perform my funeral rites, and grace the last offices bestowed upon me." And the fulfil ment of this prophecy was brought about immediately after his death by God's almighty power; for there arose a storm of wind without rain, which blew so violently during those three days and nights of his obsequies, that it entirely prevented every one from crossing the Sound in his little boat. And im mediately after the interment of the blessed man, the storm was quelled at once, the wind ceased, and the whole sea became calm.
Let the reader therefore think in what and how great honour our illustrious patron was held by God, seeing that, while he was yet in this mortal flesh, God was pleased at his prayer to quell the storms and to calm the seas; and again, when he found it necessary, as on the occasion just mentioned, the gales of wind arose as he wished, and the sea was lashed into fury ; and this storm, as hath been said, was immediately, so soon as his funeral rites were performed, changed into a great calm. Such, then, was the end of our illustrious patron's life, and such is an earnest of all his merits.
And now, according to the sentence of the Holy Scrip tures, sharing in eternal triumphs, added to the patriarchs, associated with the prophets and apostles, numbered amongst the thousands of white-robed saints, who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, he followeth the Lamb whither soever He goeth ; a virgin immaculate, free from all stain, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ : to whom, with the Father, be honour, and power, and praise, and glory, and eternal dominion, in the unity of the Holy Ghost for ever and ever.
After reading these three books, let the diligent reader ob serve of what and how great merit, of what and how high honour in the sight of God our holy and venerable abbot must have been deemed worthy, how great and many were the bright visits of the angels made to him, how full of the prophetic spirit, how great his power of miracles wrought in God, how often and to what great extent, while yet he was abiding in this mortal flesh, he was surrounded by a halo of heavenly light ; and how, even after the departure of his most kindly soul from the tabernacle of the body, until the present day the place where his sacred bones repose, as has been clearly shown to certain chosen persons, doth not cease to be frequently visited by the holy angels, and illumined by the same heavenly brightness. And this unusual favour hath been conferred by God on this same man of blessed memory; that though he lived in this small and remote island of the British sea, his name hath not only become illustrious throughout the whole of our own Scotia (Ireland), and Britain, the largest island of the whole world, but hath reached even unto triangular Spain, and into Gaul, and to Italy, which lieth beyond the Penine Alps ; and also to the city of Eome itself, the head of all cities. This great and honourable celebrity, amongst other marks of divine favour, is known to have been conferred on this same saint by God, Who loveth those that love Him, and raiseth them to immense honour by glorifying more and more those that magnify and truly praise Him, Who is blessed for evermore. Amen.
I beseech those who wish to transcribe these books, yea, rather I adjure them by Christ, the Judge of the world, after
102 THE LIFE OF ST. COLUMBA. BOOK III.
they have diligently transcribed, carefully to compare and correct their copies with that from which they have copied them, and also to subjoin here this adjuration : —
Whoever readeth these books on the virtues of St. Columba, let him pray to the Lord for me Dorbbene, that after death I may possess eternal life.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^l
AUCTOBE ADAMNANO.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^.
lln jjamiiie Jtestt Christi
nostri Patroni, Christo 2suffragante, vitam 3descripturus, fratrum flagitationibus obsecundare volens, in primia eandem lectures quosque 4admonere procurabo ut fidem dictis adhibeant 5compertis, et res inagis quam verba perpendant, quae, ut aestimo, inculta et villa esse videntur ; meininerintque regnum Dei non in eloquentiae exuberantia, sed in fidei florulentia constare ; et nee ob aliqua Scoticse, vilis videlicet 6linguse, aut 7humana onomata, aut gentium, 8obscura locorumve vocabula, quse, ut puto, inter alias 9exterarum gentium 10diversas 11vilescunt linguas, utilium, et non sine divina opitulatione gestarum, 12despiciant rerum pronuntiationem. Sed et hoc lectorem 13admonendum putavimus, quod de beatas memoriaa viro plura, studio brevitatis, etiam 14memoria digna, a nobis 15sint 16pr83- termissa, et quasi pauca de plurimis 17ob evitandum fastidium 18lecturorum sint 19caraxata. Et hoc, ut arbitror, quisque haec lecturus forte annotabit, quod minima de maximis per populos
I Incipit prim a praefatio apologiaque Adomnani abbatis sancti scriptoris in vitam S. Columbre confessoris et abbatis C. — vite sancti Coltimbae S. Inci])it prologus Adamnani abbatis in vita sancti Columbas abbatis et con fessoris D. om. F. Codex B acephalus eat, hodleque ad -ro pectore verbo in cap. 3 incipit. 2 Sufragante A. 3 discripturus A. F. S.
4 ammonere A. F. S. 5 conpertis A. 6 lingse A. lingue D.
7 iiomina anomala inepte Boll. 8 ad exterarum om. C.
9 A. D. F. S. externarum. Colg. Boll. 10 om. D.
II vilescant C. in marg. sive vilefaciant Mess. 12 dispiciant A.
13 ammonendum A. F. ammonendi D. 14 memorise D. F.
^ sunt C. 16 prastermisa. ^ ad D. 18 lectorum C. D. F. S.
C. D. F. S. craxata A. octies in hac vita, quinquies prceterea in tractatu De Locis Sanctis, hcec forma, verislmiliter Adamnani propria, adh'ibetur. Stephanus Vitus, cujas apographo Codicis A. usl sunt Colyanus et Bollandlstce, exarare hie et alibi substitute; volens, ut ait Baertius, plus quam oportebat sapere.
106 VITA SANCTI COLUMBA.
fama, de eodem beato viro 20divulgata, disperserit, ad horum 21etiam paucorum 22comparationem, quse mine breviter 23caraxare disponimus. 24Hinc, post hanc primam prsefatiunculam, de nostri vocamine praesulis in exordio secundse, Deo auxiliante, intimare exordiar.
1In U-omitue Jfasu (Ehiisti <§*nntba;
"^ii IE erat vitse venerabilis et beatse memoriEe, monasteriorum pater et fundator, cum lona 2propheta 3homonymum 4sortitus nomen; nam licet diverso trium diversarum 6sono linguarum, 6unam tamen eandemque rem significat hoc, quod 7Hebraice dicitur ION A, 8Grcecitas vero 9I1EPI2TEPA 10vocitat, et Latina lingua COLUMBA nuncupatur. Tale tantumque vocabulum homini Dei non nsine divina 12inditum providentia creditur. Nam et juxta Evangeliorum fidem Spiritus Sanctus super Unigenitum seterni Patris 13descendisse monstratur in forma illius aviculse quae columba dicitur : unde plerumque in sacrosanctis libris u columba mystice Spiritum Sanctum significare 15dignoscitur. Proinde et Salvator in evangelio suo prsecepit discipulis ut columbarum in cordepuro insertam 16simplicitatem 17continerent ; columba etenim 18 simplex et innocens est avis. Hoc itaque vocamine et homo simplex innocensque nuncupari debuit qui in se columbinis moribus Spiritui Sancto hospitium prsbbuit : cui nomini non inconvenienter congruit illud quod in Proverbiis scriptum est, Melius est nomen bonum quam divitise multse. Hie igitur noster prsesul non 19immerito, non solum 20a diebus infantise hoc vocabulo, Deo donante, adornatus, proprio ditatus est, sed etiam 21prsemissis multorum 22cyclis annorum ante 23su8e nativitatis diem cuidam Christi iniliti, Spiritu revelante Sancto, quasi films repromissionis mirabili prophetatione
-° devulgata A. D. 21 om. C. 22 conparationera A.
-3 C. D. F. S. craxare A. exarare Colg. Boll. 24 ad exordiar om. D.
1 Incipit praefatio seounda C. F. S. Incipit secundus prologus D.
2 profeta A. 3 ornonimon A. D. F. S. homonymum C. 4 sortitus est C. 5 om. D. G nomine add. D.
1 Ebraice A. 8 Grecitas A.
9 IIHPICTHPA A. F. S. NHIIIOTHTA peristera C.
10 vocitatur D. n esse add. F.
12 providentia inditum esse credimus C. D. S. 13 filium add. C. D.
14 om. C. 15 dinoscitur A. S. 1G semplicitatem A.
17 contenerent A.
18 semplex A. S., et simplex innocensque nuncupari debuit C.
19 inmerito A. F. S.
20 adiebus A. duo vcrba atepe In cod. A. more Hibernico cohcercnt.
21 prasmisis A. 22 circulis D. 23 om. D.
SECUNDA PlUiFATIO. 107
nominate est. Nam quidam proselytus 24Brito, homo sanctus, sancti Patricii 25episcopi discipulus, 26Maucteus nomine, ita de nostro 27prophetizavit Patrono, sicuti nobis ab antiquis traditum expertis compertum habetur. In novissimis, 28ait, 2yseculi 29temporibus n'lius nasciturus est, cujus nomen Columba per omnes insularum 30oceani 31provincias 32divulgabitur notum ; novissimaque orbis tempora 33clare 34illustrabit. Mei et ipsius duorum 35monasteriolorum agelluli unius sepisculaa intervallo disterminabuntur : homo valde Deo carus, et grandis coram ipso meriti. Hujus igitur nostri Columbse vitam et mores describens, in primis 36brevi sermonis textu, in quantum valuero, strictim comprehendam, et ante lectoris oculos sanctam ejus conversationem pariter exponam. Sed et de miraculis ejus succincte quasdam, quasi legentibus avide preegustanda, ponam ; quse tarn en inferius, per 37tres divisa libros, plenius explicabuntur. Quorum Primus 3Spropheticas revelationes ; Secundusverodivinas per ipsum virtutes effectas ; Tertius angelicas apparitiones, 39continebit, et quasdam super hominem Dei cselestis claritudinis 40manifestationes. Nemo itaque me de hoc tarn preedicabili viro aut mentitum sestimet, aut quasi, qu&dam dubia vel incerta scripturum : sed ea qua3 majorum fideliumque virorum tradita expertorum 41congrua relatione 42narraturum, et sine ulla ambiguitate 43caraxaturum sciat, et vel ex his quas ante nos inserta paginis 44reperire potuimus, 45vel ex his quae 46auditu ab expertis quibusdam fidelibus antiquis, sine ulla dubitatione narrantibus, diligentius sciscitantes, didicimus.
1 SANCTUS igitur Columba 2nobilibus 3fuerat oriundus genitalibus, patrem 4habens 5Fedilmithum filium 6Eerguso ; matrem 7Aethneam nomine, 8 cujus pater Latine Filius Navis dici potest,
24 Britto T>. 25 archiepiscopi D.
26 Maucteus A. F. S. Moctheus D. Maueteus C. in cujus errorem, MAVETEUS tradena, ineptius discedit Pink. Mauctaneus Colg. Boll.
27 profetizavit A. 28 inquit C. D. 29 transp. C. D.
30 ociani A. 31 provintias F. 32 devulgabitur A.
J3 om. D. 3i inlustrabit A. S. 35 monasteriorum C.
30 brevis C. 37 tris A. 38 profeticas A.
30 contenebit A. 3°-40 manifestationes continebit C.
40 manifestationis A. 4l legi neqult in A. cognovi C. F. S. congruo D.
12 narrantiumC. narratur D. 4;J craxaturum A. exaratunim Colg. Boll.
44 repperire A. 45 ut C. 46 audivi C.
1 Incipit liber primus de propheticis revelationibus C. S. Explicit secnndus prologus in vita sancti Columbe abbatis et confessoris Incipit primus liber in vita sanctissimi Columbe abbatis et confessoris D.
2 ex add. D. 3 faft D 4 owl> p.
5 Fedelmitum C. Fedilmithum A. F. S. Feidlimyd D. Fedhlimidium Mess. ° A. F. Ferguis D. Fergusii C.
7 A. S. Aetheam F. Ethneam D.
8 usque ad Nave vio/.enter deletus in S. om. D.
108 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E.
Scotica vero lingua 9Mac Nave. Hie anno secundo post 10Culedrebinae bellum, setatis vero suse xlii. de n Scotia ad Britanniam pro Christo 12peregrinari volens, enavigavit. Qui 13et a puero 14Christiano deditus tirocinio, et sapientise studiis integritatem corporis et animee puritatem, Deo donante, custodiens, quamvis in terra positus, coelestibus se aptum moribus ostendebat. Erat enim aspectu angelicus, sermone nitidus, opere sanctus, ingenio optimus, consilio magnus, per annos xxxiv. insulamis miles 15conversatus. Nullum etiam unius horse intervallum transire poterat, quo non aut oration i aut lectioni, vel scrip tioni, vel etiam alicui operationi, incumberet. Jejunationum quoque et vigiliarum 16indefessis 17laboribus sine ulla 18intermissione 19die noctuque 20ita occupatus, 21ut supra humanam possibilitatem uniuscujusque pondus specialis 22 videretur operis. Et inter hsec omnibus carus, hilarem 23 semper faciem ostendens 24sanctam, Spiritus Sancti gaudio 25intimis laetificabatur prsecordiis.
9 A. F. Macanaua C.
10 A. Culedreibhne C. D. Culae drebinae S. Cule-drehtinae male Colg.
Boll. n Scothea S. Hybernia D. 12 perigrinare A.
!3 etiam C. D. 14 deditus Christiano C.
15 est versatus C. conversatus est F. D. conservatus S.
16 indefesis A. indefessus C. 17 laborationibus C. D. F. S. 18 intermisione A. 19 diu C. 20 occupatus ita C.
21 erat add. F. 22 operis videretur C. 23 om.. F. semper hilarem D. 24 sanctorum specie Sancti Spiritus C. sancto Boll. 25 in add. D.
lflmt fl ritra ICibri 2Capitulaticme£ arbhmtttr.
]H)E virtutum miraculis brevis narratio.
De sancto Finteno abbate, Tailchani filio, quomodo de ipso sanctus Columba 3prophetavit.
De Erneneo, filio Craseni, 3prophetia ejus. De adventu Cainnichi quomodo praenuntiavit.
De periculo sancti Colmani gente Mocusailni sancto Columbaa revelato.
De Cormaco nepote I^etha 3prophetationes ejus. De bellis. De regibus.
De duobus pueris secundum verbum ejus in fine septimanse mortuis.
De Colcio filio Aido Draigniche, et de quodain occulto matris ipsius peccato.
De signo mortis ejusdem viri 3prophetia sancti Columbae.
De Laisrano hortulano.
De Ceto magno quomodo 3prophetavit.
De quodam Baitano, qui cum cseteris ad maritimum remigavit deserturn.
De quodam Nemano ficto 4pcenitente, qui postea secundum verbum sancti carnem equae furtiva? comedit.
De illo infelici viro qui cum sua genitrice peccavit. De I vocali littera quaB una in 5Psalterio defuit. De libro in 6hydriarn cadente. De corniculo atramenti inclinato.
1 Omnia usque ad cap. 2 desunt in C. I). F. S. Elenchus in Colg. Boll. ad numerum capitulorum expletus est. 2 Kapitulationes A.
3 profet. A. 4 penetente A. 5 salterio A. 6 ytlriam A.
1 10 VITA SANCTI COLUMB.E.
De adventu alicujus Aidani qui jejunium solvit.
De aliquo misero viro, qui ad fretum clamitabat, mox morituro.
De civitate Eomance partis, super quam ignis de ccelo 7cecidit.
De Laisrano filio Feradaig, quomodo 8monachos probavit in labore.
De Fechno 9Binc.
De Cailtano mouacho.
De duobus peregrinis.
De Artbranano sene, quern in Scia insula 10baptizavit.
De naviculae transmotatione juxta stagnum Loch-dire.
De Gallano filio Faehtni quern dsemones rapuere.
De Lugidio Claudo.
De Enaiio filio uGruth.
De 12presbitero qui erat in Triota.
De Erco furunculo.
De Cronano poeta.
De Eonano filio Aido filii Colcen, et Colmano Cane filio Aileni, 13proplietia Sancti.
7 cicidit A. 8 manacos A. y obscure A.
10 babtizavit A. ll sic A. 12 prespitero A.
13 profetia A.
INCIPIT PEIMI LTBEI TEXTUS, DE ^EOPHETICIS EEVELATIONIBUS.
birttttum JEiramli0 butoi* narrati*.
venerandus qualia virtutum documenta dederit, CAP. I. in hujus libelli primordiis, secundum nostram 2pr8emissam superius 3promissiunculam, breviter sunt demonstranda. Diversorum namque infestationes 4morborum homines, in nomine Domini Jesu Christi, virtute orationum, perpessos sanavit : dsemonumque infestas ipse unus homo, et innumeras contra se belligerantes catervas, 5oculis corporalibus visas, et incipientes mortiferos super ejus 6coenobialem coetum inferre morbos, hac nostra de insula retrotrusas primaria, Deo auxiliante, repulit. Bestiarum furiosam rabiem, partim mortificatione, partini forti repulsione, Christo adjuvante 7compescuit. Tumores quoque fluctuum, instar montium aliquando in magna tempestate consurgentium, ipso ocius orante, sedati humiliatique sunt ; navisque ipsius, in qua et ipse casu navigabat, tune temporis, facta 8tranquillitate, porturn appulsa est optatum. In regione Pictorum aliquantis diebus manens, inde reversus ut magos confunderet, contra flatus contraries 9venti erexit velum, et ita veloci cursu ejus navicula enatans festinabat, ac si secundum habuisset ventum. Aliis quoque temporibus, venti navigantibus contrarii in secundos, ipso orante, conversi sunt. In eadem supra memorata regione lapidem de fluinine candidum detulit, quern ad aliquas profuturum benedixit sanitates : qui lapis, contra naturam, in aqua intinctus, quasi pomum supernatavit. Hoc divinum miraculum coram Brudeo rege, et familiaribus ejus, factum est. In eadem itidem provincia, 10cujusdam plebei
1 profetia A. 2 prsemisam A. 3 promisiunculam A.
4 membrorum Colg, Boll. r> occulis A. c cenubialeni A.
7 eonpiscuit A. 8 tranquilitate A. y ponti Colg. Boll.
10 om. Colg. Boll.
112 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^. LIBER I.
credentis mortuum puerum suscitavit, quod est rnajoris miraculi, vivumque et incolumem patri et matri assignavit. Alio in tempore idem vir beatus juvenis diaconus, in nHiberma apud Eindbarrum sanctum episcopum commanens, cum ad sacrosancta mysteria necessarium defuisset vinum, virtute orationis, aquam puram in verum vertit vinum. Sed et ccelestis ingens claritudinis lumen, et in noctis tenebris, et in luce diei, super eum, aliquando quibusdam ex fratribus, diversis et separatis vicibus, apparuit effusum. Sanctorum quoque angelorum dulces et suavissimas frequentationes luminosas habere meruit. Quorumdam justorum animas crebro ab angelis ad summa coelorum vehi, Sancto revelante Spiritu, videbat. Sed et reproborum alias ad inferna a daemonibus 12ferri saepenumero aspiciebat. Plurimorum in carne mortali adhuc conversantium futura plerumque prsenuntiabat merita, aliorum laeta, aliorum tristia. In bellorumque terrificis fragoribus hoc a Deo virtute orationum 13impetravit, ut alii reges victi, et alii regnatores efficerentur victores. Hoc tale 14privilegium non tantum in hac prsesenti vita conversanti, sed etiam post ejus de carne transitum, quasi cuidam victoriali 15et fortissimo propugnatori, a Deo omnium sanctorum condonatum est honorificatore. Hujus talis honorificentiae viro honorabili ab Omnipotente ccelitus collatse etiam unum proferemus exemplum, quod 160ssualdo regnatori Saxonico, pridie quam contra 17Catlonem Britonum regem fortissimum praeliaretur, ostensum erat. Nam cum idem Ossualdus rex esset in procinctu belli castra metatus, quadarn die in 18suo papilione supra pulvillum dormiens, sanctum Columbam in visu videt forma coruscantem angelica ; cujus alta proceritas vertice nubes tangere videbatur. Qui scilicet 19vir beatus, suum regi proprium revelans nomen, in medio castrorum stans, eadem castra, excepta quadam parva extremitate, 20sui protegebat fulgida veste ; et haec confirmatoria contulit verba, eadem scilicet quae Dominus ad Jesue 21Ben Nun ante transitum Jordanis, mortuo Moyse, 22prolocutus est, dicens : Confortare et age viriliter; ecce ero tecuin etc. Sanctus itaque Columba, haec ad regem in visu loquens, addit : Hac sequenti nocte de castris ad bellum precede; hac enim vice mihi Dominus donavit ut hostes in fugam vertantur tui, et tuus ^Cation inimicus in manus tradatur tuas, et post bellum victor
11 Ebernia A. 12 om. Colg. rapi Boll. 13 inpetravit A.
14 i>raevilegium A. 15 om. Colg. Boll. 1C Oswaldo Colg. Boll.
17 Cathlonem Fordun, iii. 42. Cathotiem Boll. 18 sua A.
19 om. Colg. Boll. 20 suos Colg. sua Boll, sui Fordun.
21 A. Fordun. annum Colg. om. Boll. 22 proloqutus A.
23 Cathlon Fordun. Catlion Boll.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER T. 113
revertaris, et feliciter regnes. Post haec verba 24experrectus rex senatui congregate hanc 25enarrat visionem ; qua confortati omnes, totus populus promittit se post reversionem de bello crediturum et 26baptismum suscepturum: nam usque in id temporis tota ilia Saxonia gentilitatis et ignorantise tenebris obscurata erat, excepto ipso rege Ossualdo, cum duodecim viris, qui cum eo Scotos inter 27exulante 28baptizati sunt. Quid plura ? eadem subsecuta nocte Ossualdus rex, sicuti in visu edoctus fuerat, de castris ad bellum, cum admodum pauciore exercitu, contra 29millia numerosa progreditur ; cui a Domino, sicut ei promissum est, felix et facilis est concessa victoria, et rege trucidato 30Catlone, victor post 31bellum re versus, postea totius Britannise imperator a Deo ordinatus est. Hanc mini 32Adamnano narrationem meus decessor, noster abbas Failbeus, indubitanter enarravit, qui se ab ore ipsius Ossualdi regis, Segineo abbati eamdem enuntiantis visionem, audisse protestatus est.
Sed et hoc etiam non prsetereundum videtur, quod ejusdem beati viri per quaedam Scoticse 33 linguae 34laudum ipsius carmina, et nominis 35commemorationem, quidam, quamlibet scelerati laicae conversationis homines et sanguinarii, ea nocte qua eadem decantaverant cantica, de manibus 36inimicorum qui eamdem eorumdem cantorum domum circumsteterant sint liberati ; qui flammas inter et gladios et lanceas incolumes evasere, mirumque in modum pauci ex ipsis, qui easdem sancti viri 37commemorationes, quasi parvi pendentes, canere 38noluerant decantationes, in illo aemulorum impetu soli disperierant. Hujus miraculi testes non duo aut tres, juxta legem, sed etiam centeni, et eo amplius, adhiberi potuere. Non tantum in uno, aut loco, aut tempore, hoc idem 39contigisse comprobatur, sed etiam diversis locis et temporibus in Scotia et in Britannia, simili tamen et modo et causa liberationis, factum fuisse, sine ulla ambiguitate exploratum est. Hsec ab expertis uniuscujusque regionis, ubicumque res eadem simili 40contigit miraculo indubitanter didicimus.
Sed, ut ad 41propositum redeamus, inter ea miracula quae idem vir Domini, in carne mortali conversans, Deo donante,
24 prius expergitus in A. 25 enarravit Colg. Boll.
26 babtismum A. baptisma Ford. 27 exsolante A._ exulantes Ford. 28 babtizati A. *9 milia A. 30 Cathone Boll. Cadwallone Ford.
11 bella Ford. 32 Ford. Adomnano A. 33 ling® A.
34 laudem Colg. carmina laudera ipsius Boll.
35 commendationem Colg. Boll. 3ti om. Colg. eorum Boll. 37 commemorationis A. 38 noluerunt Colg. Bolg.
39 contegisse conprobatur A. 40 contegit. 41 propossitum A.
H
114 VITA SANCTI COLUMILE. LIBER I.
42perfecerat, ab annis juvenilibus coepit etiam prophetise spiritu pollere, ventura prsedicere, prsesentibus absentia nuntiare ; quia quamvis absens corpore, prsesens tamen spiritu, longe acta 43pervidere poterat. Nam, juxta Pauli vocem, Qui adhaeret Domino unus spiritus est. Unde et idem vir Domini sanctus Columba, sicut et ipse quibusdam paucis fratribus, de re eadem aliquando percunctantibus, non negavit, in aliquantis dialis gratise speculationibus totum etiam mundum, veluti uno solis radio collectum, sinu mentis mirabiliter laxato, manifestatum perspiciens speculabatur.
Haec de sancti viri hie ideo enarrata sunt virtutibus, ut avidior lector breviter perscripta, quasi dulciores quasdam praegustet dapes: quae tamen plenius in tribus inferius libris, Domino auxiliante, enarrabuntur. Nunc mihi non indecenter videtur, beati viri, licet prsepostero ordine, prophetationes effari, quas de sanctis quibusdam et illustribus viris, diversis prolocutus est temporibus.
J5^ gander Jfintemr, abbate, filio
CAP. ii. J^fANCTUS 2Fintenus, qui postea per universas Scotorum ecclesias valde 3 noscibilis habitus est, a puerili aetate integritatem carnis et animae, Deo adjuvante, custodiens, studiis 4 dialis 5sophias deditus, hoc propositum,in annis 6juventutisconversatus, in corde habuit, ut nostrum sanctum Columbam, 7 Hiberniam deserens, peregrinaturus adiret. Eodem aestuans desiderio, ad quemdam vadit seniorem sibi amicum, in sua gente prudentissimum venerandumque clericum, qui Scotice 8vocitabatur 9Columb Crag, ut ab eo, quasi prudente, aliquod audiret consilium. Cui cum 10suos tales denudaret ncogitatus, hoc ab eo responsum 12accepit : Tuum, ut sestimo, 13a Deo inspiratum devotumque desiderium quis prohibere potest, ne ad sanctum Columbam 14transnavigare I14 debeas? 15 Eadem hora casu duo adveniunt monachi sancti Columbse, qui de sua interrogati ambulatione, Nuper, aiunt, de Britannia remigantes, hodie a
4'2 perficerat A. 43 praevidere Colg. Boll.
1 titulus desideratur in C. D. S. F. Boll. 2 finntanus D.
3 nocibHis D. 4 A. D. F. S. dialecticalis C.
6 sotias A. F. S. sophie D. c juventatis A.
7 C. D. F. S. heverniam A. 8 dicitur D.
9 colum crag A. Columba Cragius ODonnellus in Vit. S. Columbce, iii. 65, vcrtente Colg. columbus (crag. om). C. D. F. S.
10 suas D. ll cogitationes D. 12 accipit A.
13 adeo C. 14 adeas D.
15 omnia desunt usque ad idem sanctus, cap. 3 D.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^). LIBER I. 115
Roboreto 16Calgachi venimus. Sospes 17anne est, ait 18Columb 19 Crag, vester Columba sanctus] pater ? Qui valde illacrymati, cum magno dixerunt mserore, Vere salvus est noster ille patronus, qui his diebus nuper ad Christum 20commigravit. Quibus auditis, 21Fintenus et 22Columb et omnes qui ibidem inerant, prostratis in terrain vultibus, amare 23flevere. Fintenus consequ enter percunctatur dicens : Quern post se successoremreliquit? 24Baitheneum, aiunt, suum alumnum. Omnibusque clamitantibus, Dignum et debitum ; 25Columb ad Fintenum 26inquit : Quid ad hsec, Fintene, facies ? Qui respondens ait : Si Dominus permiserit, ad Baitheneum virum sanctum et sapientem enavigabo et si me susceperit, ipsum abbatem habebo. Turn deinde supra memoratum 27Columb osculatus, et ^ei valedicens, navigationem prseparat, et sine morula ulla transnavigans, ^louam devenit insulam. Et necdum, in id temporis usque, nomen ejus in his locis erat notum. Unde et imprimis quasi quidam ignotus hospes hospitaliter 30susceptus, alia die 31nuncium ad ^Baithe neum mittit, ejus allocutionem facie ad faciem habere volens. Qui, ut erat affabilis, et peregrinis appetibilis, jubet ad se adduci. Qui statim adductus, primo, ut 33conveniebat, flexis genibus in 34 terra se prostravit ; ^jussusque a sancto seniore, surgit, et residens interrogatur a 36Baitheneo, adhuc inscio, de gente et provincia, nomineque et conversatione, et pro qua causa inierit navigationis labor em. Qui, ita interrogatus, omnia per ordinem enarrans, ut susciperetur humiliter expostulat. Cui sanctus senior, his ab hospite auditis, simulque hunc esse virum cognoscens de quo pridem aliquando sanctus Columba prophetice vaticinatus est, Gratias, ait, Deo meo agere debeo quidem in tuo adventu, fili; sed 37hoc indubitanter scito quod noster monachus non eris. Hoc audiens ^hospes, valde contristatus, infit : Forsitan ego indignus tuus non mereor fieri monachus. Senior consequenter inquit : Non quod, ut dicis, indignus esses hoc dixi ; sed quamvis maluissem te apud me retinere, mandatum tamen sancti Columbse mei 39decessoris profanare non possum ; per quern Spiritus Sanctus de te prophetavit. 40 Ah'a 41 namque die mihi soli seorsim, sic prophetico profatus ore, inter
16 om. C. F. S. 17 ne C. is Columbus C. F. S.
19 om. C. F. S. 20 migravit ad Christum C.
21 Finten A. 22 Columbus C. F. S. 23 fleverunt F. S.
24 Battheneum C. F. 25 Columbus C. F. S. 2C ait C.
a7 columbum A. C. S. 2s om< c. 20 ^ C. F. S.
30 susceptus est Colg. Boll. 31 intermmcium C. F. S.
32 battheneum C. F. baithenum S. 33 veniebat C.
34 terram C. F. S. ** visus C. 36 battheneo C.
37 et hoc C. 38 om. C. 39 defensoris C.
40 aliqua F. aliaque C. 41 om. C.
116 VITA SANCTI COLUMBJS. LIBER I.
csetera, dixit: Haec mea, 0 42Baithenee, intentius debes audire verba ; statim namque post meum de hoc ad Christum sseculo expectatum et valde desideratum transitum, quidam de Scotia frater, qui nunc, bene juvenilem bonis moribus 43regens aetatem, sacrse lectionis studiis satis 44imbuitur, nomine Fintenus, 45gente Mocumoie, cujus pater Tailchanus vocitatur, ad te, inquam, perveniens, humiliter expostulabit ut ipsum suscipiens inter cseteros adnumeres monachos. Sed hoc ei in Dei prsescientia prsedestinatum non est ut ipse 46alicujus 47abbatis monachus 48fieret ; sed ut monachorum abbas, et animarum dux ad coeleste regnum, olim electus a Deo est. 49Noles itaque hunc memoratum virum in his nostris apud te retinere insulis, ne et Dei voluntati contraire videaris : sed, hsec ei intimans verba, ad Scotiam in pace remittas, ut in Laginensium vicinis mari finibus monasterium construat, et ibidem Christi 50ovinum pascens gregem, innumeras ad patriam animas coelestem perducat. Hsec audiens sanctus junior, Christo, lacrymas fun dens, 51agit gratias, inquiens : Secundum sancti Columbse propheticam fiat mihi et mirabilem praescientiam. 52Iisdemque 53diebus verbis sanc torum obtemperans, et a 54Baitheneo accipiens benedictionem, in pace ad Scotiam 55transnavigat.
56 Hsec mihi quodam narrante religioso sene presbytero, Christi milite, Oisseneo nomine, Ernani filio, gente Mocu Neth Corb, indubitanter didici : qui se eadem supra memorata verba ejusdem ab ore sancti Finteni, filii Tailchani, audisse 57testatus est, ipsius monachus.
CAP. in. JPtLIO in tempore vir beatus, in mediterranea 2Hibernia3 parte 3monasterium, quod Scotice dicitur 4Dair-mag, divino fundans nutu, per aliquot 5demoratus menses, libuit animo visitare fratres qui in 6Clonoensi sancti 7Cerani coenobio commanebant. 8Auditoque ejus accessu, universi undique ab agellulis monasterio vicinis cum his qui ibidem inventi sunt congregati, cum omni alacritate suum consequentes abbatem
42 batthenee C. 43 agens C. 44 imbutus C.
45 ad vocitatur om. C. F. S. * sit. add. S. 47 om. C. F. S.
48 om. S. 49 nolis F. nobis C. 50 ovium C. Colg. Boll.
51 ait F. S. 52 hisdemqne A. F. S. his denique C. Colg. Boll.
63 om. C. 54 battheneo C. M A. transnavigavit Colg. Boll.
56 cetera desiderantur in C. F. S. 57 testatur, Colg.
1 titulum om. C. F. S. Boll. 2 eberniae A.
3 monasteriorum A. 4 dairmagh C. F. S. 5 demoratur C.
6 cloensi C. F. S. 7 cherani S. 8 audito itaque C.
Alitherum, sancto 9Columb8e, quasi angelo Domini, obviam, egressi vallum monasterii, 10unanimes pergunt ; humiliatisque in terram vultibus eo viso, cum omni reverentia exosculatus ab eis est ; hymnisque et laudibus resonantes, honorifice ad ecclesiam 11perducunt ; quamdamque de lignis pyramidem erga sanctum deambulantem constringentes, a quatuor viris seque ambulantibus supportari fecerunt : ne videlicet sanctus senior Columba ejusdem fratrum multitudinis constipatione molestaretur. Eadem hora quidam valde despectus vultu et habitu, puer familiaris, et necdum senioribus placens, retro, in quantum valuit se occultans, accessit, ut videlicet vel illius 12amphibali fimbriam, quo vir beatus induebatur, occulte, et si fieri possit ipso nesciente et non sentiente, tangeret. Sed hoc tamen Sanc tum non latuit, nam quod corporalibus oculis retro se actum intueri non potuit, 13spiritalibus 14perspexit. Unde subito restitit, et post se extendens manum, cervicem pueri tenet, ipsumque trahens ante faciem suam statuit. Omnibusque qui ibidem 15circumstabant dicentibus, 16Dimitte, dimitte, quare hunc infelicem et 17injuriosum retines puerum ? 18 Sanctus e contra hsec lspuro pectore verba depromit prophetica, Sinite, fratres, sinite modo. Ad puerum vero valde tremefactum dicit, 0 fili aperi os, et porrige linguam. Jussus turn puer, cum ingenti tremore aperiens os, 20 linguam porrexit ; 21quam Sanctus, sanctam ex tendens manum, 22diligenter benedicens, ita prophetice profatur, dicens, Hie puer quamvis vobis nunc 23despicabilis et valde vilis videatur, nemo tamen ipsum ob id despiciat. Ab hac enim hora non solum vobis non displicebit, sed valde placebit ; bonisque moribus, et animae virtutibus paulatim de die in diem crescet : sapientia quoque et prudentia magis ac magis in eo ab hac die adaugebitur, et in hac 2*vestracongregatione grandis est futurus 25profectus; lingua quoque ejus salubri 26et doctrina et 27eloquentia 28a Deo ^donabitur. Hie erat 30Erneneus, 31 filius 32Craseni, postea per omnes 33Scotise ecclesias famosus.et valde
9 om. C. F. S. 10 unanimiter Colg. Boll. ll perducebant C.
12 anfibali A. F. more Hibernico : sic anfibalo Lib. Armacanfol. 209 a b.
13 A. F. S. spiritualibus C. u A. C. F. S. respexit Colg. Boll. 15 circum astabant F. S. circiter astabant C. 16 dimittite bis C. 17 A. C. F. S. Colg. juniorem Boll.
18.19 ^em sanctus ad fratres suos conversus duro D. priorem partem cap. ii. ad verbum adeas excipiens. 19 ad sylldbam ro infit B.
20 suum add. C. D. S. a ad add. D. 22 et add. C. D. S.
23 despectibilis D. 24 nostra C. 25 provectus C.
26-2T doctrinal! eloquentia B. 28-29 fulgebit D.
30 A. B. F. S. ereneus C. hylerianus D. 31 om. C. D. F. S.
32 A. B. cresceni Colg. Boll. om. C. D. F. S. 33 hybernie D.
118 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^]. LIBEK I.
uotissimus ; qui haec omnia suprascripta verba 34Segineo abbati de se prophetata enarraverat, meo 35decessore Failbeo intentius audiente, qui et ipse cum 34Segineo prsesens 36inerat ; cujus 37revelatione et ego ipse cognovi hsec 38eadem quse 39enarravi. Sed et multa alia 40iisdem diebus quibus in 41Clonoensi coenobio 42Sanctus hospitabatur, revelante prophetavit Sancto Spiritu ; hoc est, de ilia, 43qu8e post dies multos ob diversitatem Paschalis festi orta est inter ^Scotise ecclesias, 45discordia: et de quibusdam ^angelicis frequentationibus sibi manifestatis, quibus quaedam intra ejusdem ccenobii septa ab angelis tune temporis frequentabantur loca.
<San.cti Cainntcht, abbati*, to qua <Sanrttt# Cxrltimba prrrph.etaUt.er 2pt^nttntiabit.
CAP. iv. 3jp|J_uo 3^ tempore 4cum in 5Ioua insula, die fragosse tempestatis et intolerabilis undarum magnitudinis, sedens in domo 6Sanctus 6et fratribus prsecipiens Miceret, Praeparate ocius hospitium, aquamque ad lavandos hospitum pedes 8 exhaurite ; quidam ex ipsis 9frater consequenter, Quis, ait, hac die valde ventosa et nimis periculosa, licet breve, fretum prospere transnavigare potest ? Quo audito Sanctus sic profatur : 10 Cuidam sancto et electo homini, qui nad nos ante vesperam 12perveniet, Omnipotens tranquillitatem, 13quamlibet 14in tempestate, 15donavit. Et ecce, eadem die aliquamdiu a fratribus expectata navis in qua 16sanctus inerat 17Cainnechus juxta 18Sancti prophetationem pervenit. Cui Sanctus cum fratribus obviam venit, et ab eo honorifice 19et hospitaliter 20susceptus est. Illi vero nautse qui cum 21Cainnecho 22inerant, interrogati a fratribus de qualitate navigationis, sic retulerunt sicuti
34 B. segeneo A. C. F. S. segeno D. 35 successore D.
36 erat D. 37 A. relatione B. C. D. F. S. ™ om. D.
39 narravi D. 40 hisdem A. B. isdem F.
41 A. B. cloensi C. om. D. 42 sancti kierani add. D.
43 discordia D. 44 scothicse C. « om. D. 46 anglicis B.
1 titulum om. C. F. S. hie sequitur in D. iii. 10 hujus edit.
2 pronunciavit B.
3 quodam D. in quo hcec narratio post iii. 16 hujus edit, sequitur.
4 om. D. 5 A. C. iona B. 6 om. D.
7 dixit D. 8 haurite D. 9 A. B. C. fratribus D. Colg. Bolg,
lo.ii qui(jam sanctus et electus homo ad D. 12 veniat D.
13 om. D. 14 ei add. D. 15 donabit C. D. 16 erat add. D.
17 cannechus B. chainnechus C. S. kainnichus D. cainnechus F.
18 om. D. 19 om. D. 20 que add. D. 21 canneclio B. chainnecho C. S. kainnicho D. 22 erant D.
sanctus Columba prius de tempestate et tranquillitate pariter, Deo donante, in eodem mari, et 23iisdem horis, mirabili 24divisione prsedixerat; et tempestatem eminus visam non sensisse profess! sunt.
ymtnlo §anrti 2Coimani tywcoyi, Jftoxujsailni, in mart juxta insulam qu« bxyritattxr
itidem die sanctus Columba, in sua commanens CAP- vmatrice ecclesia, repente 3in 3hanc subridens 4erupit 4vocem, dicens: Columbanus, 5filius 5Beognai, ad nos transnavigare incipiens, nunc in undosis 6Charybdis 7Brecani sestibus valde periclitatur ; 8ambasque 9ad coelum, in prora sedens, palmas elevat; turbatum quoque et 10tam formidabile 11pelagus benedicit : quern tamen Dominus sic tercet, non ut navis naufragio, in qua ipse 12residet, undis obruatur; sed potius ad 13orandum intentius suscitetur, ut ad nos, Deo 14propitio, post transvadatum perveniat periculum.
l^z Cxrrmarxr.
JSL.LIO quoque 2 in tempore 3de Cormaco, 4nepote 4Lethani, CAP- viro utique sancto, 5qui tribus non minus vicibus eremum in oceano laboriose quaesivit, nee tamen invenit, 6sanctus Columba ita 7prophetizans ait: Hodie iterum 8Cormacus, desertum reperire cupiens, enavigare incipit ab ilia regione quse, ultra 9Modam fluvium 10sita, 1:lEirros Domno dicitur; nee tamen etiam hac vice quod quserit inveniet; et non ob aliam ejus culpam nisi quod alicujus religiosi abbatis monachum, ipso non permittente, 12discessorem secum non recte comitari, navigio 13 susceperit.
23 hisdem A. B. ^ A. B. C. F. S. visione syllaha prlma erasa D.
1 tttul om. C. D. P. S. Boll. 2 colurnbani B. 3 om. B. 4 in hac voce erupit D. 5 om. C. D. F. S.
6 earubdis A. caribdis B. D. F. 7 om. C. D. F. S.
8 abbasque C. 9 in F. S. 10 om. D.
11 pilagus A. pelagum D. la resedit C. sedit D. 13 adorandiim D. 14 propitiante D.
1 tltul om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 om. D.
3-° s. columba prophetizans de viro utique sancto cormaco qui D.
4 om. C. D. F. S. 6-7 om. D. 8 cormac A. coriuaccus B.
9 modan B. modum D. 10 sita est C. D. ll et cirros C. sirros S.
12 discessurum S. 13 suscepit D.
120 VITA SANCTI COLUMILE. LIBER I.
fragoribus ion^t £0mmi000rum toiri.
CAP. vil. OST bellum Cule Drebene, sicut nobis traditum est,
duobus transactis annis, quo tempore vir beatus de 2 Scotia peregrinaturus primitus enavigavit, quadam die, hoc est, eadem hora qua in 2Scotia commissum est bellum quod Scotice dicitur 30ndemone, idem homo Dei coram Conallo rege, filio Comgill, in 4 Brittannia conversatus, per omnia enarravit, tarn de bello commisso, quam etiam de illis regibus quibus Dominus de inimicis victoriam condonavit : quorum propria vocabula 5Ainmorius filius 6Setni, et duo filii Maic Erce, Domnallus et Torcus. Sed et de rege Cruithniorum, qui 8Echodius Laib vocitabatur, quemadmodum victus, currui insidens evaserit, similiter Sanctus prophetizavit.
2Jttiathxn:um.
J/9LLIO in tempore, 4hoc 4est 5post multos 6a supra memorata 7 bello annorum transcursus, cum esset vir sanctus 8in 9Ioua insula, subito ad suum dicit ministratorem 10 Diormitium, 11Cloccam pulsa. Cujus sonitu fratres incitati ad ecclesiam, ipso sancto prsesule prseeunte, ocius 12currunt. Ad quos ibidem flexis genibus infit: Nunc intente pro 13hoc populo uet 15Aidano rege 16Dominum oremus; hac enim hora ineunt bellum. Et post modicum intervallum egressus oratorium, respiciens in coelum inquit, Nunc barbari in fugam vertuntur ; 17Aidanoque, quamlibet 18infelix, 19tamen concessa victoria est. Sed et de numero de exercitu 20Aidani interfectorum, trecentorum et trium virorum, vir beatus prophetice 21 enarravit.
1 capitulum totum desideratur in C. D. F. S. 2 scocia B.
3 A. B. Ussher (Opp. vi. 236). ondemon Fordun (ill 26). monamoire
Colg. Boll. 4 bryttannia B. 5 amnorius B.
6 scetni B. 7 A. B. fergus Colg. Boll. 8 echuiuslaid B.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. 2 maychorum. Fordun iii. 38.
3 hanc narrat. capiti v. subnectunt C. D. F. S. 4 om. D.
5 idem add. D. 6-7 om. C. D. F. S. 8 columba add. D.
9 iona B. D. 10 dermitium A. uermicium B. om. C. D. F. S.
11 clocam A. cloccum D. 12 cucurrerunt D. 13-14 om. B. D.
15 aedano D. aldano C. 16 populoque suo add. D.
17 aedano D. aldano C. 18 infelici C. D. regi add. D. 19 om. D.
20 aedani D. aldani C. ai narravit B. C. D. F. S.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB.E. LIBEK I. 121
iis Jltb&nt 8^3** §&\\di C0ltimb& proplutia.
2in tempore ante supra dictum bellum Sanctus 3Aid- CAP. vm. anum regem 4interrogat de regni successore. Illo se respondente nescire quis esset de tribus filiis suis regnaturus, 5Arturius, an 6Echodius Find, an 'Domingartus, Sanctus consequenter hoc profatur modo : Nullus ex his tribus erit 8regnator; nam in bellis cadent ab inimicis trucidandi : sed nunc si alios juniores habes ad me veniant, et quern ex eis elegerit Dominus regem, subito super meum irruet gremium. Quibus 9accitis, secundum verbum Sancti 10Echodius 11Buide adveniens in sinu ejus recubuit. Statimque Sanctus eum 12osculatus benedixit, et ad patrem ait : Hie est superstes, et rex post te regnaturus, et filii ejus post eum regnabunt. 13Sic omnia 14post, suis temporibus, plene adimpleta sunt. Nam 15Arturius et Echodius 16Find, non longo post temporis intervallo, 17Miatorum superius memorato in bello, trucidati sunt. Domingartus vero in Saxonia bellica in strage interfectus est : 18Echodius 19auteni 19Buide post patrem in regnurn successit.
filter Jttbxr.
2J1^0MNALLUS filius 3Aido, adhuc puer, ad sanctum Columbam 4in Dorso 6Cete per nutritores adductus est: quem intuens percunctatur inquiens, Cujus est filius hie quem adduxistis ? Illis respondentibus, Hie est 2Domnallus 6 filius 7Aido, qui ad te ideo perductus est, ut tua 8redeat benedictione 9ditatus. Quem cum Sanctus benedixisset, continue ait, Hie 10post super omnes suos fratres superstes erit, net rex valde famosus; nee unquam in manus inimicorum tradetur, sed morte placida, in senectute, et intra domum suam, corarn amicorum familiarium
1 lituL om. C. D. F. S. Boll, in quibus tenor cap. v. continuatur.
2 quoque C. D. om. F. 3 aedanum D. aldanum C.
4 interrogavit D. & arctirius B. ad 7 om. C. D. F. S.
6 A. B. eochodius Colg. Boll. » A. B. domangarthus Colg. Boll. 8 rex D. regnaturus C. F. S. 9 accersitis D.
10 A. B. euchodius C. D. F. S. eochodius Colg. Boll.
11 A. B. buidhe Colg. Boll. om. C. D. F. S. 12 osculans B. 13 hec D. i* postea D. 15 ad sunt om. C. D. F. S. 16 fint A. 17 micitorum B.
18 et euchodius C. F. S. euchodius D. 19 om. C. D. F. S.
1 titul. om. ; capit. numerator vi. in C. D. F. S. Boll.
2 donaldus D. 3 aeda D< 4.5 om> c> D< p, g. 6-7 om. C. in marg. D. 7 aeda D. 8 om. D.
8 ditatis A. ditatur D. 10 om. C. D. F. S. u om. D.
122 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER I.
turba, super 12suum morietur 13lectum. QUSQ omnia secundum beati vaticinium viri de eo vere adimpleta sunt.
JH..ODEM tempore Sanctus, et in eodem loco, ad 2Scandlanum, filium Colmani, apud 3Aidum regem in vinculis retentum, visitare eum cupiens, pergit ; ipsumque cum benedixisset, confortans ait : Fili, 4nolis contristari, sed potius Isetare et confortare : 5Aidus enim rex, apud quern vinculatus es, de hoc mundo te prsecedet ; et, post aKqua exilii tempora, triginta annis in gente tua rex regnaturus 6es. Iterumque de regno effugaberis, et per 7 aliquot 8exulabis dies; post quos, a populo reinvitatus, per tria regnabis brevia tempora. Quse cuncta juxta vaticinationem Sancti plene expleta sunt. Nam post triginta arinos de regno expulsus, per aliquod 9exulavit spatium temporis : sed post a populo reinvitatus, non, ut putabat, tribus annis, sed ternis regnavit mensibus ; post quos continue obiit.
tupxrto
@ra ti Jxrmnail, tott 5pt0phetatt^ biri.
,J9LLIO in tempore, per asperam et saxosam regionem iter faciens, quse dicitur 6Artdamuirchol, et suos audiens comites Laisranum utique, filium Feradachi, et, 7Diormitium ministratorem, de duobus supra memoratis regibus in via sermocinari, hsec ad eos verba depromit : 0 filioli quare inaniter de his sic confabulamini ? nam illi ambo reges, de quibus nunc sermocinamini, nuper ab inimicis decapitati disperierunt. In hac quoque die aliqui de Scotia adventantes nautae hsec eadem vobis de illis indicabunt regibus. Quod venerabilis viri vati cinium eadem die de 8Hibernia navigatores, ad locum qui dicitur Muirbolc Paradisi pervenientes, supra scriptis ejus binis comitibus, et in eadem navi cum Sancto navigantibus, de 9iisdem interfectis regibus expletum retulerunt.
12 stratum add. D. 1S ad Jin. cap. om. D.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll, in quibus tenor cap. vi. continuatur.
2 scandalanum C. 3 aedum D. 4 noles A. noli C. D. F. S. 5 aedus D. 6 eris C. D. 7 aliquos C. D. F. S.
8 exsolabis A. eiulabis C. 9 exsolavit A.
1 omnia ad cap. 16 om. C. D. F. S. 2 muirethachi B.
3 maicerce B. 4 euchudius B. 5 proj)hetia B.
0 ardamuircol B. 7 dermitium A. 8 evernia A. 9 hisdem A^
10 Jl.e <S)irajtt0tu ftlio Jlibtf &xmtm&ni <Sanrti prxrphetia biri.
namque de patria cum aliis duobus fratribus effugatus, ad Sanctum in Britannia peregrinantem exul venit; cuique benedicens, haec de eo prophetizans sancto promit de pectore verba : Hie juvenis, defunctis ejus ceteris fratribus superstes remanens, multo est regnaturus in patria tempore ; et inimici ejus coram ipso cadent ; nee tainen ipse unquam in manus tradetur inimicorum ; sed morte placida, senex, inter amicos morietur. Quse omnia juxta Sancti verbum plene sunt adimpleta. Hie est u Oingusius cujus cognomentum Bronbachal.
bzzii 2biri fa ftlio l^rmiti lU^i* xjm Jltbu* <Slan£ lingua nxrminato zst 3<Sr0tira.
.JH-LIO in tempore, cum vir beatus in 4 Scotia per aliquot demoraretur dies, ad supradictum Aidum, ad se venientem, sic prophetice locutus ait, Prsecavere debes, 5fili, ne tibi a Deo totius 6 Hibernise regni prserogativam monarchic prsedestinatam, parricidali faciente peccato, amittas : nam si quandoque illud commiseris, non toto patris regno, sed ejus aliqua parte in gente tua, brevi "* frueris tempore. Quse verba Sancti sic sunt expleta secundum ejus vaticinationem. Nam post Suibneum filium Columbani dolo ab eo interfectum, non plus, ut fertur, quam quatuor annis et tribus mensibus regni concessa 8potitus est 9 parte.
ttlio 2c10thaU, xjut 3in fttra Cioithe rejjnabit, beatt totri
idem in tempore 4hic, ut erat sancti viri amicus, aliquam ad eum occultam per Lugbeum Mocumin legationem misit, scire volens si ab inimicis esset trucidandus, an non. At vero Lugbeus, a Sancto 5 interrogate de eodem rege, et regno, et populo, 6et respondens, quasi misertus, dicit, Quid de illo inquiris misero, qui qua hora ab inimicis occidatur, nullo modo 7 scire potest ? Sanctus turn deinde profatur, Nunquam in
10 capitul. totum om. C. D. F. S. titulum om. Boll. 1! oingussius A. 1 capit. totum om. C. D. F. S. tltul. om. Boll. !-2 voci scotica inferius subsequuntur B. 3 scottica B.
4 scocia B. 5 filii A. 6 B. everniae A.
7 finieris B. 8-9 pocius est parce B.
1 capit. totum om. C. D. F. S. tltul. om. Boll. 2 totail B.
3 om. B. .4 om. B. 5 intergatus B.
6 ejus B. 7 sciri B.
maims tradetur inimicorum, sed in sua, super plumatiunculam, morietur domo. Quod Sancti de rege Koderco vaticinium plene adimpletum est : nam juxta verbum ejus 8in domo sua morte placida obiit.
pttm0, q&ontm nnn#, jtweta berbttm <Sancti, in hebbfltnabis obiit, prxrplutia sancti.
CAP. IX. 2^H_LIO in tempore duo 8quidam 4plebei ad Sanctum 5in 6Ioua commorantem insula 7deveniunt; quorum unus, 8Meldanus 9nomine, de filio suo qui preesens erat Sanctum interrogat, quid ei esset futurum. Cui Sanctus sic profatur : Nonne sabbati dies hodierna est ? filius tuus sexta feria, in fine morietur septimanse, octavaque die, hoc est, sabbato, hie sepelietur. Alter proinde plebeus, 10 nomine 11Glasdercus, et ipse de filio quern ibidem secum habuit nihilominus interrogans, talem Sancti audit responsionem : Filius tuus 12Ernanus suos videbit nepotes et in hac insula senex sepelietur. Quse omnia, secundum verbum Sancti, de pueris ambobus, suis plene temporibus sunt expleta.
1 Je 2CoLd0, Jlibtf JBraijjntrhx fflirr, a nspxrttbius 3Jftchur.eg (Drier; ti be jqnobam occnito JEatri^ tjw peaatxr, prxryhetia ^anrti.
CAP. x. jflL.LIO in tempore, supramemoratum Colgium, apud se in 4 loua commorantem insula, Sanctus de sua interrogat genitrice, si esset religiosa, an non. Cui ipse inquiens ait, Bene moratam, et bonse famse, meam novi matrem. Sanctus turn sic prophetice profatur, Mox, Deo volente, ad 5Scotiam profectus, matrem diligentius de quodam suo pergrandi peccato interroga occulto, quod nulli hominum confiteri vult. Qui, hsec audiens, obsecutus, ad 6 Hiberniam emigravit. Proinde mater, ab eo studiose interrogata, quamlibet primule infitiens, tamen suum confessa est peccatum, et juxta Sancti 7 judicationem, pcenitudinem agens, sanata, de se quod Sancto manifestation est valde mirata est.
8 om. B. l titul om. C. D. F. S. Boll.
2 cap. vL continuatur C. D. F. S. 3 om. C. 4 plebeii F. S. 6 columbam add. D. 6 iona B. C. D. 7 veniunt D.
8 ineUanus D. 9 om. D. 10-n om. C. D. F. S.
11 A. glasdercis B. 12 om. C. D. F. S.
1 omnia ad cap. 19 om. C. B. F. S. 2 colgio B.
3 A. B. 4 ioua B. 5 scociam B.
6 B. everniam A. 7 A. B. indicatiouem Boll.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBERT. 125
vero, ad Sanctum reversus, per aliquot dies apud CAP- XI- eum commoratus, de fine sui interrogans temporis, hoc a Sancto audit responsum : In tua, quam amas, patria primarius alicujus ecclesise per multos eris annos ; et si forte aliquando tuum videris pincernam in crena 8amicorum ludentem, 9hauritoriumque in gyro per collum torquentem, scito te mox in brevi moriturum. Quid plura ? Hsec eadem beati viri prophetatio sic per omnia est adimpleta, quemadmodum de Colgio eodem est prophetata.
2hxrrittlaricr,
"^ii IR beatus quemdam de suis monachum nomine Trenanum, CAP. XII. gente Mocuruntir, legatum ad Scotiam exire quadam prsecipit die. Qui, hominis Dei obsecutus jussioni, navigationem parat festinus ; unumque sibi deesse navigatorem coram Sancto queritur. Sanctus haec consequenter, eidem respondens, sacro promit de pec tore verba, dicens, 3Nautam, quern tibi non adhuc suppetisse dicis, nunc invenire non possum. Yade in pace : usquequo ad 4Hiberniam pervenias prosperos et secundos habebis flatus. Quemdamque obvium videbis hominem eminus occursurum, qui primus prse ceteris navis proram tuse tenebit in Scotia, hie erit comes tui 5itineris per aliquot in 6Hibernia dies ; teque inde revertentem ad nos usque comitabitur, vir a Deo electus, qui in hoc meo monasterio per omne reliquum tempus bene conversabitur. Quid plura ? Trenanus, accipiens a Sancto benedictionem, plenis velis per omnia transmeavit maria : et, ecce, appropinquanti ad portum naviculae Laisranus Mocumoie, citior ceteris, occurrit, tenetque proram. Nautae recognoscunt ipsum esse de quo Sanctus prsedixerat.
iixerat.
die, cum vir 3venerabilis in 4Ioua demoraretur CAP. XIII. 5insula, quidam frater, Berachus nomine, ad Ethicam proponens insulam navigare, ad Sanctum mane accedens, ab eo benedici 6postulat. Quern Sanctus 7intuitus, inquit, 0 fili hodie intentius prsecaveto ne Ethicam cursu ad terram directo per latius coneris
8 amico cum vitiose Pinkert. 9 auritoriumque A. B.
1 capitul. totum om. C. D. F. S. titul. om. Boll. 2 ortholano B.
3 nauta A. B. 4 eberniam A. 5 iteris A. 6 ebernia A.
1 capitul. totum om. C. D. F. S. titul. om. Boll.
2 quo B. 3 columba add. D. * iona B. D.
4 sua add. D. 6 postulavit D. 7 intuens D.
120 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER I.
transmeare pelagus; sed potius, circumiens, minores secus naviges insulas ; ne videlicet, 8aliquo monstruoso perterritus prodigio, vix inde possis evadere. Qui, a Sancto accepta benedictione, secessit, et navem 9coriscendens, Sancti verbum quasi parvipendens, 10transgreditur ; majora nproinde 12Ethici transmeans spatia pelagi, ipse et qui ibi 13inerant nautae vident, et ecce cetus mirae et immensae magnitudinis, 14se instar mentis erigens, ora aperuit patula nimis dentosa, supernatans. 15Tum proinde remiges, deposito velo, valde perterriti, 16retro 17reversi, illam obortam ex belluino motu fluctuationem vix evadere potuerunt, Sanctique verbum recognoscentes propheticum, admirabantur. Eadem quoque die 18Sanctus 19Baitheneo, ad supra memoratam insulam navigaturo, mane de eodem intimavit ceto, inquiens, Hac praeterita nocte media, cetus magnus de profundo maris se 20sublevavit, et inter 21Iouam et Ethicam insulam se hodie in superficiem 22eriget aequoris. Cui ^Baitheneus respondens infit, Ego et ilia bellua sub Dei potestate sumus. Sanctus, Vade, ait, in pace, fides tua in Christo te ab hoc defendet periculo. 23Baitheneus 24tum deinde, a Sancto benedictione accepta, a portu 25enavigat : transcursisque non parvis ponti spatiis, ipse et socii cetum aspiciunt ; perterritisque omnibus, ipse solus sequor et cetum, 26ambabus manibus elevatis, benedicit intrepidus. Eodemque momento bellua magna, ^se sub 28fluctus immergens, nusquam deinceps eis apparuit.
1 ib qtuxbam ^aitan0, rjtti rum tdmz IbtsMinm marinum «y^ten0 enabigato^rat, sandi ptxryh^tia toiri,
CAP. xiv. JStLIO in tempore quidam Baitanus, gente Nepos 2Math Taloirc, benedici a Sancto petivit, cum ceteris in mari eremum quiesiturus. Cui valedicens Sanctus hoc de ipso propheticum protulit verbum, Hie homo, qui ad quaerendum in oceano desertum pergit, non in deserto conditus jacebit; sed illo in loco sepelietur ubi oves femina trans sepulcrum ejus minabit. Idem itaque Baitanus, post longos per ventosa circuitus sequora, eremo non reperta, ad patriam re versus, multis ibidem annis
8 alio C.
9 ascendens C. D.
10 ingreditnr D.
11 deinde D.
12 aethici A.
13 erant D.
14 am. D.
15 cum D.
16-17 retroversi C.
18 sancto F.
19 baitheno S.
20 sullivavit B.
21 ionam B. D.
22 erigit B.
23 baithenus F.
24 tune beatus D.
25 enavigavit C.
26 ambis A. F. S.
27 om. D.
28 fluctibus C. D. F.
1 capitulum totmn om. C. D. F. S. titulum om. Boll. 2 mathaloire B.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^:. LIBER I. 127
cujusdam cellulse dominus 3permansit, quse Scotice Lathreginden dicitur. 4Iisdemque diebus accidit, 6quibus, post aliqua mortuus tempora, sepultus est in Eoboreto 6 Calgachi, ut propter hostilitatis incursum vicina ad ejusdem loci ecclesiam plebecula cum mulieribus et parvulis confugeret. Unde contigit ut quadarn die mulier deprehenderetur aliqua, quae suas per ejusdem viri sepulcrum nuper sepulti oviculas minabat. Et umis ex his qui viderant sanctus sacerdos dixit, Nunc prophetia sancti Columbae expleta est, multis prius divulgata annis. Qui utique supra memoratus presbyter mihi haec de Baitano enarrans retulit, Mailodranus nomine, Christi miles, gente 7Mocurin.
8 Jle Jfrmatwr xptofoam # do pxmitete 0andi ptoyh^tattxr btri
in tempore Sanctus ad Hinbinam insulam pervenit, CAP- xveademque die ut etiam poenitentibus aliqua praecipit cibi consolatio indulgeretur. Erat autem ibi inter poenitentes quidam Nemanus, filius Cathir, qui, a Sancto jussus, renuit oblatam accipere consolatiunculam. Quern Sanctus his compellat verbis, 0 Nemane, a me et Baitheneo indultam non recipis aliquam refectionis indulgentiam ? Erit tempus quo cum 9 furacibus furtive carnem in sylva manducabis equae. Hie idem itaque, postea ad saeculum reversus, in saltu cum furibus talem comedens carnem, juxta verbum Sancti, de 10craticula sumptam lignea, inventus est.
ini did qtuxbam xjui cum 0tia b0rmibit
2in tempore fratres 3intempesta nocte 4suscitat Sanctus, CAr- XVL ad quos in ecclesia congregates dicit, Nunc Dominum intentius precemur ; nam hac in hora aliquod inauditum in mundo peccatum perpetratum est, pro quo valde 5 timenda judicialis est vindicta. De quo peccato crastino die, aliquibus paucis percunctantibus, intimavit 6inquiens, Post paucos menses cum 7 Lugaido nesciente infelix ille homuncio ad 8 louam perveniet insulam. 9Alia itaque die Sanctus ad 10Diormitium, interjectis
3 remansit B. 4 hisdemque A. 6 qui B.
<! B. calcagi A. 7 mocucurin B.
8 capitulum totum om. C. D. F. S. titulum om. Boll 9 furantibus B.
10 graticula A. 1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 qnoque D.
3 in tempesta B. 4 suscitavit D. 5 tremenda C.
6 dicens C. D. * lugido D. 8 A. C. F. S. ionam B.
alio C. 10 A. B. F. S. diarmatum D. iormitium C.
128 VITA SAXCTI COLUMB.E. LIBER I.
quibusdam mensibus, praecipiens nprofatur, Surge citius, ecce 12 Lugaidus appropinquat, 13 dicque ei ut miserum quern secum in navi habet in Maleam propellat insulam, ne hujus insulae cespitem calcet. Qui, praecepto Sancti obsecutus, ad mare pergit. 14Lugaidoque adventanti omnia Sancti prosequitur de infelici viro verba. Quibus auditis ille infelix juravit nunquam se cibum cum aliis accepturum nisi prius sanctum videret Columbam, 15.eumque alloqueretur. Quae infelicis verba 16Diormitius, ad Sanctum reversus, retulit. Quibus compertis Sanctus ad portum perrexit, Baitheneoque, prolatis sacrae Scripturae testimoniis, 17suggerenti ut miseri pcenitudo susciperetur, Sanctus consequenter inquit, 0 18Baithenee, hie homo 19fratricidium in modum perpetravit 20Cain, et cum sua matre moechatus est. Turn 21deiride miser in litore flexis genibus leges poenitentiae expleturum se promisit, juxta Sancti 22judicationem. Cui Sanctus ait, Si duodecim annis inter Brittones cum fletu et lacrymis poenitentiam egeris, nee ad 23Scotiam usque ad mortem reversus fueris, 24forsan Deus peccato ignoscat tuo. Haec dicens Sanctus, ad suos 25conversus, 26dicit, Hie homo films est perditionis, qui quam promisit pcenitentiam non explebit; sed mox ad 27Scotiam revertetur, ibique in brevi ab inimicis interficiendus peribit. Quae omnia secundum Sancti prophetiam ita contigerunt: nam miser 28iisdem diebus ad 29Hiberniam reversus, in 30regione quae 31vocitatur 32Lea, in manus incidens inimicorum trucidatus est. 33Hic de Nepotibus Turtrei 34erat.
»5c I toxrrali litera.
CAP. xvil. (§^UADAM die Baitheneus, ad Sanctum accedens, ait, Necesse habeo ut aliquis de fratribus mecum Psalterium quod scripsi percurrens emendet. Quo audito, Sanctus sic profatur, Cur hanc super nos infers sine causa molestiam ? nam in tuo hoc, de quo dicis, Psalterio nee una superflua reperietur litera, nee alia deesse, excepta I vocali, quae sola deest. Et sic, toto 2per-
11 prsefatur C. 12 lugidus D. 13 dicitque C.
14 lugido D. 15 eique D. 16 diermitius A. dormitius B. diarmatius D.
17 suggerente D. 18 baithine D. 19 patricidium D.
20 chain B. 21 A. B. F. S. deimim C.
22 A. B. D. F. S. indicationem C. 23 hiberniam D.
24 forsitan D. F. 25 om. D. 26 ait D.
27 hiberniam D. 28 hisdem A. B. 29 everniam A.
30 regionem D. 31 vocatur D. Boll. 32 14a B. leo D.
1 capitulum totum om. C. D. F. S. titulum om. Boll. 2 perfecto B.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER I. 129
lecto Psalterio, sicuti Sanctus praedixerat repertum exploratum
est.
l*§t iibnr in Jtxjuaiittm Ito &mctw siciiti cwbmtz.
CSitTADAM itidem die, ad focum in monasterio sedens, videt rcrAP- Lugbeum, gente Mocumin, eminus librum legentem, cui repente ait, Praecave, fili, praecave, sestimo enim quod quern lectitas liber in aquae plenum sit casurus vasculum. Quod mox ita contigit : nam ille supra memoratus juvenis, post aliquod breve intervallum, ad aliquam consurgeus in monasterio ministrationem, verbi oblitus beati viri, libellus, quern sub 2ascella negligentius inclusit, subito in 3hydriam aqua repletam cecidit.
ijle dteraatlxr atrautentt inaniter fceftt&cr.
inter haec die ultra fretum 2Iouae insulaa clamatum CAP. xix. est : quern Sanctus sedens in 3tuguriolo tabulis suffulto audiens clamoreni dicit, Homo qui ultra clamitat fretum non est subtilis sensus, nam hodie mei corniculum atramenti inclinans effundet. Quod verbum ejus minis trat or Diormitius audiens, paulisper ante januam stans, 4gravem expectabat 5superventurum hospitem, ut corniculum defenderet. Sed alia mox faciente causa, inde recessit; etpost ejus recessum hospes molestus supervenit, Sanctumque osculandum appetens, ora vestimenti inclinatum effudit atramenti corniculum.
J3LLIO itidem tempore Sanctus 2die tertiae feriae fratribus sic CAP. xx. profatus est, Crastina quarta feria jejunare proponimus, sed tamen, superveniente quodam molesto hospite, consuetudinarium solvetur jejunium. Quod ita ut Sancto praeostensum est 3accidit : nam mane eadem quarta feria, alius ultra fretum clamitabat proselytus, Aidanus nomine, filius Fergnoi, qui, ut
1 capitulum Mum om. C. D. F. S. titulum om. Boll.
2 axilla Boll. 3 ydriam A. et capitulationibus p. 10 supra ; fossam B.
1 capitulum totum om. C. D. F. S. titulus deest in Boll.
2 A. ione B. 3 tegoriolo A. tugurriolo B. 4 gravamen B. 5 super venturum B.
1 capitulum totum om. C. D. F. S. titulum om. Boll.
2 om. Colg. Boll. ;J accedit A.
130 VITA SANCTI COLUMN. LIBER I.
fertur, duodecim annis Brendeno ministravit Mocualti; vir valde religiosus, qui, ut advenit, ejusdem diei, juxta verbum Sancti, jejunationem solvit.
^e aliquxr mt0erabiU toinr .qm ttltra sttpraMrttim damitabat
Jfr^tum.
CAP. xxi. dfilJADAM quoque die, quemdam ultra fretum audiens clamitantem, Sanctus hoc profatur modo: Valde miserandus est ille clamitans homo, qui, aliqua ad carnalia medicamenta petiturus pertinentia, ad nos venit : cui opportunius erat veram de peccatis hodie poenitudinem gerere ; nam in hujus fine hebdomadis morietur. Quod verbum qui inerant prsesentes advenienti misero intimavere. Sed ille parvipendens, acceptis quse poposcerat, citius recessit ; et, secundum Sancti propheticum verbum, ante fin em ejusdem septimanse mortuus est.
dbitate ignt #ntteta oelito prcrla;p0.a irmnbttsta 0andi toiri :prxrpltetia.
CAP. xxn. J^L~LIO itidem in tempore, 2Lugbeus 3gente 4Mocumin, cujus supra mentionem fecimus, quadam ad Sanctum die post frugum veniens triturationem, nullo modo ejus faciem intueri potuit, miro superfusam rubore ; valdeque pertimescens cito aufugit. Quern Sanctus complosis 5paulum manibus 6revocat. Qui reversus, a Sancto statim interrogatus cur ocius aufugisset, hoc dedit responsum, Ideo fugi quia nimis pertimui. Et post aliquod modicum intervallum, fiducialius agens, audet Sanctum interrogare, inquiens, Numquid hac in hora tibi aliqua formidabilis ostensa visio 7est? Cui Sanctus 8talem dedit 9responsionem : Tarn terrifica ultio nunc in remota orbis parte peracta est. Qualis, ait juvenis, vindicta, et in qua regione facta ? Sanctus turn sic profatur: Sulfurea de ccelo flamma super Eomani juris civitatem, intra Italise terminos sitam, hac hora effusa est; triaque ferme millia virorum, excepto 10matrum puerorumque numero disperierunt. Et antequam praesens 11 finiatur annus, 12 Gallici nautae, de Galliarum provinciis adventantes, hsec eadem tibi 13enarrabunt. Quse verba post
1 capit. totum om. C. D. F. S. tit-til om. Boll.
1 titul. om. C. p. F. S. Boll. 2 lugidus D. 3-4 om> Ci jy F g
4 B. moccumin A. 6 paululum B. C. D. F. S. 6 revocavit D
7 erat C. 8 A. B. F. S. tale C. D.
0 A. B. F. S. responsum C. D. 10 mulierum D.
11 A. B. F. 12 gallice B. 13 narrabunt D.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER I. 131
aliquot menses veridica fttisse sunt comprobata. Nam idem 14Lugbeus, sinrul cum sancto 15viro ad Caput Eegionis pergens, nauclerum et nautas 16 adventantis 17barc8e interrogans, sic omnia 18illa de civitate cum civibus ab eis 19audit enarrata, quemadmodum a prsedicabili viro sunt prsedicta.
1 Jl* JJaitfrantf ftiio Jf,erafca,chi toati toi*icr bin.
{SETTADAM brumali et valde frigida die Sanctus, 3magno CAP. molestatus mserore, flevit. Quern suns minis trator 4Diormitius, xxin. de causa interrogans msestitise, hoc ab eo responsum 5accepit, Non immerito, 0 filiole, ego hac in hora contristor, meos videns monachos, quos 6Laisranus nunc gravi fatigatos labore in alicujus majoris domus fabrica molestat ; 7quse mihi valde 8displicet. Mirum dictu ! eodem momento horse 9Laisranus, habitans in monasterio 10Eoboreti Campi, quodammodo coactus, et quasi quadam pyra intrinsecus succensus, jubet monachos a labore cessare, aliquamque cibationum consolationem nprseparari ; et non solum in eadem die otiari, sed 12et in ceteris asperse tempestatis diebus requiescere. Quse verba ad fratres consolatoria, a 13Laisrano dicta, Sanctus in spiritu audiens flere cessavit, et mirabiliter gavisus ipse in 14Ioua insula commanens, fratribus, qui ad prsesens 15inerant, per omnia enarravit, et 16Laisranum 17monachorum benedixit consolatorem.
bam, ab tobzm pr^nundat«0, bentt.
3in tempore Sanctus, in cacumine sedens montis qui CAP nostro 4huic monasterio eminus supereminet, ad suum ministratorem 5Diormitium<i conversus, 6profatus est, dicens, Miror quare tardius appropinquat qusedam de Scotia navis, quse quemdam advehit sapientem virum, qui in quodam facinore
14 Ingidus D. 15 om< D 10 adventantes D.
17 A. barce B. parce.C. al parce F. in mary. 1S om. B. 19 audivit D. om. F.
1 tilul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 cap. ix. continuant C. D. F. S.
3 columba add. D. 4 diarmatus D. 5 accipit A. 6 lasreanus D. 7 A. B. quod C. D. F. S.
8 A. C. D. S. displicent E. F. Colg. Boll. <J lasreanus D.
10 campi roborete D. n prwstare D. l2 om. D.
13 lasreano D. " A. S. iona B. D. 15 erant D.
10 lasreanum D. 1? A. B. monachum C. F. S. om. D.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 viro add. B. 3 om. D.
4 om. C. 5 diarmatuin D. 6 profatur B.
132 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^. LIBERT.
lapsus, lacrymosam gerens pcenitudinem, mox adveniet. Post 7proinde haud 7grande intervallum ad austrum prospiciens minister, velum navis videt ad portum 8propinquantis. 9Quam cum Sancto adventantem demonstraret, cito 10surgit, inquiens, Eamus proselyto obviam, cujus veram Christus nsuscipit poenitentiam. At vero 12Feachnaus, de navi descendens, Sancto ad portum pervenienti obvius occurrit ; cum fletu et lamento, ante pedes ejus ingeniculans flexis genibus, amarissime ingemuit, et coram omnibus qui ibidem 13inerant 14peccantias 15confitetur 16suas. Sanctus 17tum, cum eo pariter illacrymatus, ad eum ait, Surge fili, et consolare ; dimissa sunt tua quse commisisti peccamina; quia, 18sicut scriptum est,19Cor contritum et humiliatum Deus non 20spemit. Qui surgens, gaudenter a Sancto susceptus, ad 21Baitheneum tune temporis in Campo 22 Lunge prsepositum commorantem, post aliquot est emissus dies, in pace commigrans.
l^z Cailtarar .ejtt0 m0narh0 0anrti ptxrplutattxr bin.
CAP. xxv. JpUjJO 2in tempore binos mittens monachos ad suum alium monachum, nomine 3 Cailtanum, qui eodem tempore prsepositus erat in cella 4quse hodieque ejus fratris Diuni vocabulo vocitatur, stagno adhserens Abse 5fluminis, hsec per eosdem nuncios Sanctus commendat verba : Cito euntes ad 3 Cailtanum properate, 6dicitoteque ei ut ad me sine ulla veniat morula. Qui verbo Sancti obsecuti exeuutes, et ad cellam 7 Diuni pervenientes, suae legatiunculse qualitatem 8Cailtano intimaverunt. Qui eadem hora, nullo demoratus modo, Sancti prosecutus legatos, ad eum in 9Ioua insula commorantem, 10eorum itineris comes, celeriter pervenit. Quo viso, Sanctus ad eum taliter locutus, his compellat verbis, 0 11Cailtane, benefecisti ad me obedienter festinando: requiesce paulisper. Idcirco ad te invitandum misi, amans amicum, ut hie mecum in vera finias obedientia vitse cursum tuse. Nam 12ante hujus 13hebdomadis 14finem ad 15Dominum in pace transibis. Quibus auditis, gratias agens
7-7 om. D. 8 appropinquantis C. 9 quern D.
10 A. C. F. S. surge B. surrexit D. n A. D. suscepit B. C. F. S.
12 fechnaus B. C. F. S. fiachna D. i3 erant D.
14 culpas B. peccata D. 15-16 sua confessns est D. 17 om. C. D. F. S. 18 om. D. 19-20 deus contritum non spernit et humiliatum cor .B.
al baythenum D. '22 longe D.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll, tenor cap. x. continuatur. 2 om. D.
3 calteanum D. 4~5 om. C. D. F. S. 6 dicite C. D. F. S.
7 om. C. D. F. S. 8 calteano D. ° A. C. iona B.
10 om. F. n calteane D. 12 om. D.
12 ebdomadis A. B. D. F. S. 14 fine D. 15 A. B. deum C. D. F. S.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER I. 133
Deo, Sanctumque lacrymans 16exosculatus, 17ad hospitium, accepta ab eo benedictione, 18pergit: eademque subsecuta infirmatus nocte, juxta verbum Sancti in eadem septimana ad Christum 19Dominum migravit.
fratribu* sandi jnrafctba bin.
CliiUADAM Dominica die ultra ssepe memoratum clamatum CAP. est fretum. Quern audiens Sanctus clamorem, ad fratres qui XXVI< ibidem 2inerant, Ite, ait, celeriter, peregrinosque de longinqua venientes regione ad nos ocius adducite. Qui continuo obsecuti, 3transfretantes adduxerunt hospites : quos Sanctus 4exosculatus, consequenter de causa percontatur itineris. Qui respondentes aiunt, Ut 5hoc etiam anno apud te peregrinemur, venimus. Quibus Sanctus hanc dedit responsionem : Apud me, ut dicitis, anni unius spatio peregrinari non poteritis, nisi prius 6monachicum promiseritis votum. Quod qui 7inerant prsesentes valde mirati sunt 8ad hospites eadem hora 9adventantes dici. Ad quse Sancti verba senior respondens frater ait, Hoc in mente propositum licet in hanc horam usque nullatenus 10habuerimus, tamen tuum sequemur consilium, divinitus, ut credimus, inspiratum. Quid plura? Eodem horae momento oratorium cum Sancto ingressi, devote, flexis genibus, votum 11monachiale voverunt. Sanctus turn 12deinde, ad fratres conversus, ait, Hi duo proselyti vivam Deo seipsos exhibentes hostiam, longaque 13 in 13brevi Christianas tempera militise complentes, hoc mox eodem mense ad Christum Dominum in pace transibunt. Quibus auditis ambo fratres, gratias Deo agentes, ad hospitium udeducti sunt: interjectisque diebus septem, senior frater ccepit infirmari, et, eadem peracta septimana, ad Dominum emigravit. Similiter et alter post septem alios dies infirmatus, ejusdem in fine hebdomadis, ad Dominum feliciter 15 transit. Et sic secundum Sancti veridicam prophetiam, intra ejusdem mensis terminum, ambo prcesentem finiunt vitam.
16 osculatus est D. 17 et Q. S. 18 pcrrexit D. 10 om B.
1 titul om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 erant D. 3 mandatum add. D.
4 exosculatos D. E. *> et add. D. ° monasticum D.
7 crant D. s em. D. 9 advenientes D.
10 habuimus D. " monachilc B. 0. 12 om. D.
13 om. D; " ducti D. 15 emigravit D.
a§^ -Qtuxbam Jtrtbrananxr 0artdi :pr0;ph.etia bin.
CAP. @TlJM per aliquot dies in insula demoraretur 2Scia vir beatus, XXVIL 3aiicujus }ocj terrulam mari vicinam baculo percutiens, ad comites 4sic ait, Mirum dictu, 0 filioli ! hodie in hac hujus loci terrula quidam gentilis senex, 5naturale per totam bonum custodiens 6vitam, 7et baptizabitur, et morietur, 8et sepelietur. Et ecce, quasi 9post unius intervallum horse, navicula ad eundem supervenit portum ; cujus in prora 10 quidam advectus est decrepitus senex, nGeon8e 12primarius cohortis, quern bini juvenes, de navi sublevantes, ante beati conspectum viri 13deponunt. Qui statim, verbo Dei a Sancto per interpretem recepto, credens, ab eodem baptizatus est, et post expleta baptizationis 14ministeria, sicuti Sanctus prophetizavit, eodem in loco consequenter obiit, ibidemque socii, congesto lapidum acervo, 15sepeliunt. Qui 16thodieque in 17ora cernitur maritima; fluviusque ejusdem 18loci in quo idem baptisma acceperat, ex nomine ejus, 19Dobur 19Artbranani usque in hodiernum 20nominatus diem, ab accolis vocitatur.
tran#nrotata
xxvni J-LIO in tempore trans Britannise Dorsum iter agens, aliquo in desertis 2viculo agellis reperto, ibidemque juxta alicujus marginem 3rivuli stagnum intrantis, Sanctus mansionem faciens, eadem nocte dormientes, seniisopore degustato, suscitat comites, dicens, Nunc, nunc, celerius foras exeuntes, nostram quam ultra rivum naviculam posuistis in 4domum, hue citius advehite, et in viciniore 5domuncula ponite. Qui continue obedientes, sicut 6eis prseceptum est, fecerunt ; ipsisque iterum quiescentibus, Sanctus post quoddam intervallum silenter Diormitium pulsat inquiens, Nunc stans extra domum aspice quid in illo agitur viculo ubi prius 7vestram posuistis naviculam. Qui Sancti prsecepto obsecutus domum egreditur, et respiciens
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 scotia C. skia F. om. D. S.
3 columba add. D. 4 om. C. D. F. S.
5-6 per totam vitam naturale bonum custadiens D. 7 om. D.
8 ac D. 9 om. F. 10 om. D. u genere D.
12 insulse inserunt Colg. Boll. 13 deposuerunt D.
14 A. misteria B. C. F. S. 15 eum add. T>. 16 hodie quoque D.
17 hora B. S. hac hora C. 18 om. G. D. F. S.
19 A. B. om. C. D. F. S. 20 B. Colg. Boll, nominatus est A.
1 capitulum totum om. C. D. F. S. titul. om. Boll.
2 B. et A. inferius vehiculo A. Colg. Boll. 3 rivoli A. 4 domo B. 5 domucula A. 6 om. B. 7 uostram B.
VJTA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBEli I. 135
8videt vicum flamma instante totum concremari. Reversusque ad Sanctum quod ibidem agebatur retulit. Sanctus proinde fratribus de quodam narravit semulo persecutore qui easdem domus eadem incenderat nocte.
(i&Uana ftlio Jfaxhtni qui .erat in 2M.fcce*i CM^ixm flit
itidem die Sanctus, in suo sedens Huguriolo, CAP. 5Colcio eidem, lectitanti juxta se, prophetizans ait, Nunc ununi xxix. tenacem primarium de tuse prsepositis 6diceceseos dsemones ad inferna rapiunt. At vero hoc audiens 7Colcius tempus et horam in tabula describens, post aliquot menses ad patriam reversus, Gallanum filium Fachtni eodem horse momento obiisse, ab accolis ejusdem regionis percunctatus, invenit, quo vir beatus eidem a dsemonibus raptum enarravit.
z Jfinbrharar
a0terii fmtbatar* qurrb gjcotice 3^rtrhain nttnrupatur, in ©thtra
in tempore supra memoratus presbyter Findchanus, Christ! miles, Aidum cognomento Nigrum, regio genere ortum, 4Cruthinicum gente, de Scotia ad Britanniam sub clericatus habitu secum adduxit, ut in suo apud se monasterio per aliquot peregrinaretur annos. Qui scilicet Aidus Niger valde sanguinarius homo et multorum fuerat trucidator ; qui et Diormitiuni filium Cerbulis, totius Scotise regnatorem, Deo auctore ordinatum, interfecerat. Hie itaque idem Aidus, post aliquantum in peregrinatione transactum tempus, accito episcopo, quamvis u/ non recte, apud supradictum Findchanum presbyter ordiriatus est. Episcopus tamen non est ausus super caput ejus manum imponere, nisi prius idem Findchanus, Aidum carnaliter amans, suam capiti ejus pro confirmatione imponeret dexteram. Quse talis ordinatio cum postea sancto intimaretur viro, segre tulit : turn proinde hanc de illo Findchano et de Aido ordinato formidabilem profatur sententiam, inquiens, Ilia manus dextra
8 vidit B.
1 capitul. totum om. C. D. F. S. titul. om. BolL 2 diocisi A. diocesi B.
3 A. cellachi B. 4 tegoriolo A. 6 A. colgio B.
6 diociseos A. 7 A. colgius B.
1 capitul. totum om. C. B. F. S. titul. om. Boll. 1-2 om. B. 3 ardcaiin B. 4 A. B.
136 VITA SAXCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER I.
quam Findcharms, contra fas, et jus ecclesiasticum, super caput filii perditionis imposuit, mox computrescet, et post magnos dolorum cruciatus ipsum in 5terram 6sepelienda prsecedet; et ipse post suam humatam manum per multos superstes victurus est annos. Ordinatus vero indebite Aldus, sicuti canis, ad vomitum revertetur suum, et ipse rursum sanguilentus trucidator exist et, et ad ultimum lancea 7jugulatus, de ligno in aquam cadens, submersus morietur. Talem multo prius terminum promeruit vitse, qui totius regem trucidavit Scotise. Quse beati viri prophetia de utroque adimpleta est ; nam presbyteri Findchani 8dexter 9per 9pugnum 10putrefactus in terram eum prsecessit, in ilia 11sepultus insula quse 120mmon nuncupatur: ipse vero, juxta verbum Sancti Columbae per multos post vixit annos. Aidus vero Niger, solummodo nomine pres byter, ad sua priora reversus scelera, dolo lancea transfixus, de prora ratis in aquam lapsus stagneam, disperiit.
sxrlamine 0pirittt0 <Jtt0na.cKt0 in bia Iab.ori00i0 mwso.
has prsedicabiles prophetici spiritus prophetationes non ab re videtur etiam de quadam spiritali consolatione nostris commemorare literulis, quam aliquando sancti Columbse monachi, spiritu ejus ipsis in via obviante, sentiebant. Alio namque in tempore, fratres, post messionis opera, vespere ad nionasterium redeuntes, et ad ilium pervenientes locum qui Scotice nuncupatur 2Cuuleilne, qui utique locus inter occidentalem 3Iou9e insulae campulum et nostrum monasterium medius esse dicitur, mirum quid et inconsuetum singuli sibi sentire videbantur : quod tamen alius 4alii intimare nullo modo audebat. Et sic per aliquot dies eodem in loco, eademque vespertina sentiebant hora. Fuit autem 5iisdem 6in diebus sanctus Baitlieneus inter eos operum dispensator, qui sic ad ipsos alia die est prolocutus, inquiens, Nunc, fratres, confiteri debetis singuli si aliquod in hoc medio loco inter messem et monasterium incon suetum et inopinatum sentitis miraculum. Unus turn ex eis senior, Juxta tuam, ait, 7jussionem, quod mihi hoc in loco
5 A. terra B. ° sepeliendam A.
7 B. jugnlentus A. jugulandus Colg. Boll. 8 A. B.
!) per pugnus A. prepugnus B. per pugnum Colg. Boll. 10 A. B. n A. B. 12 omon B.
1 capital, totum om. C. D. F. S. titul. om. Boll. 2 B. cuul eilne A. 3 A. ione B. 4 alio A. r> hisdem A. B.
** om. B. 7 jusionem A. uieionem err ore voccdium B.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB/E. LIBER I. 137
ostensum est dicam ; nam et in his praetereuntibus dieculis, et nunc etiam, quandam miri odoris 8fragrantiam ac si universoruni florum in unum sentio collectorum ; quendam quoque quasi ignis ardorem, non pcenalem, sed quodammodo suavem : sed et quandam in corde insuetam et incomparabilem infusam laetificationem, quae me subito mirabiliter consolatur, et in tantum laetificat ut nullius maeroris, nullius laboris, meminisse possim. Sed et onus quod meo, quamvis grave, porto in dorso, ab hoc loco usque quo ad monasterium perveniatur, quomodo nescio, in tantum relevatur, ut me oneratum non sentiam. Quid plura ? Sic omnes illi messores operarii de se singillatim profitentur per omnia sensisse, sicuti unus ex eis coram 9enarraverat, singulique simul flexis genibus a sancto postularunt Baitheneo ut ejusdem miri solaminis causam et originem, quod et ipse, sicut et ceteri 10sentiebant, illis ignorantibus, intimare procuraret. Quibus consequenter hoc dedit responsum, Scitis, inquiens, quod noster senior Columba de nobis anxie cogitet, et nos ad se tardius pervenientes gegre ferat nostri memor laboris, et idcirco quia corporaliter obviam nobis non venit, spiritus ejus nostris obviat gressibus, qui taliter nos consolans laetificat. Quibus auditis verbis, ingeniculantes, cum ingenti gratulatione, expansis ad coelum manibus, Christum in sancto venerantur et beato viro.
11Sed et hoc silere non debemus quod ab expertis quibusdam de voce beati psalmodiae viri indubitanter traditum est. Quae scilicet vox venerabilis viri in ecclesia cum fratribus decantantis, aliquando per quatuor stadia, hoc est, quingentos passus, aliquando vero per octo, hoc est, mille passus, incomparabili elevata modo audiebatur. Mirum dictu! Nee in auribus eorum qui secum in ecclesia stabant vox ejus modum humanae vocis in clamoris granditate excedebat. Sed tamen eadem hora qui ultra mille passuum longinquitatem stabant, sic clare eandem audiebant vocem, ut illos quos canebat versiculos etiam per singulas possent distinguere syllabas : similiter 12enim ejus vox in auribus prope et longe audientium personabat. Sed hoc de voce miraculum beati viri non semper, sed raro, accidisse comprobatur; quod tamen sine Divini Spiritus gratia nullo modo fieri potuisset.
13 Sed et illud non est tacendum quod aliquando de tali et
8 flagrantiam A. B. « A. enarravit B. 10 sentiebat B.
11 litera S. majuscula, minio scripta, paragraphum novum designat in B. Pinkertonus capit. xxxviii. inchoat, et tituliim proprio jure suppeditat, refraf/antibus codd. 12 B. Con. A., ut passim pro voce enim in Libro Armacano.
13 litera S. majuscula, ccerulca, B.
138 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER I.
incomparabili vocis ejus sublevatione juxta Brudei regis munitionem accidisse traditur. Nam ipse Sanctus cum paucis fratribus extra regis munitionem dum vespertinales Dei laudes ex more celebraret, quidam Magi, ad eos propius accedentes, in . quantum poterant, prohibere conabantur, ne de ore ipsorum divinse laudis sonus inter Gentiles audiretur populos. Quo comperto Sanctus quadragesimum et quartum psalmum decantare ccepit, mirumque in modum ita vox ejus in aere eodem momento instar alicujus formidabilis tonitrui elevata est, ut et rex et populus intolerabili essent pavore perterriti.
1 Jle xjujxbam Ipibite xjm ^ttgttbitt* dobtt* toxrdt abate.
CAP. jj^tLIO in tempore, cum in Scotia per aliquot Sanctus demoxxx. raretur dies, alium currui insidentem videns clericum, qui gaudenter peragrabat Campum Breg ; primo interrogans de eo quis esset, hoc ab amicis ejusdem viri de eo accipit responsum, Hie est Lugudius Clodus, homo dives et honoratus in plebe. Sanctus consequenter respondens inquit, Non ita 2 video ; sed homuncio miser et pauper, in die qua morietur, tria apud se vicinorum prsetersoria in una retentabit 3maceria, unamque electam de vaccis 4pr8etersoriorum occidi jubebit 5sibi, de 6cujus cocta carne postulabit aliquam sibi parteni dari, cum meretrice in eodern lectulo cubanti. De qua utique particula morsum accipiens, statim ibidem strangulabitur et morietur. Quse omnia, sicuti ab expertis traditur, juxta Sancti 7propheticum adimpleta sunt 8verbum.
l*j$t JJemanrr fU0 2dntthrtch;e smidi 3prxrph.etia.
CAP. 4 jSlUNC 5enim cum Sanctus de malis suis corriperet, parvixxxi. pen(jens Sanctum subsannabat. Cui respondens vir beatus ait, In nomine Domini, Nemane, aliqua de te veridica loquar verba. Inimici tui 6reperient te in eodem cum meretrice cubantem cubiculo, ibidemque trucidaberis. Dsemones quoque ad loca pcenarum tuam rapient animam. Hie idem Nemanus, post aliquot annos, in uno cum meretrice lectulo repertus in regione Cainle, juxta 7verbum Sancti, 8ab inimicis decapitatus, disperiit.
1 capitul. totum om. C. D. F. S. titul. om. BoU. 2 A. vides B. 3 A. B. maneria suo jure Boll. 4 prsetersoriuin B. 6 om. B.
6 unius B. 7 prophetiam B. 8 om. B.
1 capitul. totum om. C. D. F. S. titul. om. Boll. 2 gluteriche B.
3 prophetise verbum B. 4-5 nemanuin filium grutricae Boll.
6 periment B. 7 om. B. 8 vaticiniuin add. B.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB/E. LIBER I. 139
20andi bin
4in tempore Sanctus, cum in 5Scotiensium paulo 'CAP. superius moraretur memorata regione, casu Dominica die ad xxxn. quoddam devenit vicinum monasteriolum quod Scotice 6Trioit vocitatur. Eadem 7proinde die quendam audiens presbyterum sacra eucharistise mysteria conficientem, quem ideo fratres, qui ibidem commanebant, ad missarum elegerant peragenda sollemnia, quia valde religiosum 8 sestimabant, repente hanc formidabilem de ore profert vocem, Munda et immunda pariter nunc 9permisceri cernuntur, hoc est, munda sacrce oblationis
10 mysteria per immundum hominem ministrata, qui in sua
11 interim conscientia 12aliquod grande occultat facinus. Heec qui 13inerant audientes tremefacti nimis obstupuere. Ille vero de quo hsec dicebantur verba coram omnibus 14peccantiam compulsus est 15suam confiteri. Christique commilitones, qui in ecclesia Sanctum circumstantes occulta cordis audierant manifestantem, divinam in eo scientiam cum magna admiratione glorificarunt.
(Srrxr toe ^JEtfmbruibi qui in (£01000 in0ula r^mmanebat 0anrtt txrh^ti^ati^ toiri.
3in tempore Sanctus 4in 5Ioua commanens insula, CAP. 6accitis ad se binis 7de fratribus 7viris, quorum vocabula 8Lug- xxxm. beus et 9Silnanus, eisdem praecipiens dixit, Nunc ad Maleam transfretate insulam, et in campulis mari vicinis 10Ercum quserite furacem ; qui nocte praeterita solus occulte de insula 11Coloso perveniens, sub 12sua feno tecta navicula inter arenarum cumulos per diem se occultare conatur, ut noctu ad parvam transnaviget insulam ubi marini nostri juris vituli generantur et generant; ut de illis 13furenter occisis edax valde furax suam replens naviculam, ad suum repedet habitaculum.
1 titul om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 qui erat in triota add. B.
3 prophetia B. 4 owl jy b hyberniencium D.
6 A. F. triota B. trioint C. treoit D. 7 om. D.
8 existimabant D. 9 misceri B. 10 B. C. D. F. S. ministeria A. 11 om. D. 12 adhuc add. D. 13 erant D. ,
14 peccatum suum B. 15 om. B.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 A. mocudriudi B. 3 om. B. D.
4 columba add. D. 5 A. iona B. D. 6 accersitis D.
7 om. D. 8 A. C. lubbeus B. lugidus D.
9 A. C. F. S. selnanus B. sillanus D. 10 ertum B.
11 colosa D. 12 suo B. C. 13 furanter A. furantur F. f urtim C.
Qui hasc audientes, obsecuti, emigrant, furemque in locis a Sancto prsesignatis absconsum reperiunt, et ad Sanctum, sicut illis praeceperat, perduxerunt. Quo viso Sanctus ad eum 14dicit, Quare tu res alienas, divinum transgressus mandatum, saepe furaris ? Quando necesse habueris, ad nos veniens necessaria accipies postulata. Et hsec dicens prsecipit 15verveces occidi, et pro 16phocis dari misero furaci, ne vacuus ad sua remearet. Et post aliquantum tempus Sanctus, in spiritu vicinam furis prsevidens mortem, ad 17Baitheneum eo 18in tempore prsepositum commorantem in Campo 19 Lunge mittit, ut eidem furi quoddam pingue pecus et 20sex modios novissima 21mittat munera. Quibus a 22Baitheneo, sicut Sanctus commendaverat, transmissis, ea die inventus 23est morte subita praeventus furax misellus, et in exequiis ejus transmissa expensa sunt 24xenia.
1 Jb Cnrnanxr yotiz zmdi prxrplutia bin.
CAP. ,J1I_LIO 2in tempore, Sanctus cum juxta Stagnum 3Cei, prope xxxiv. fluminis quod latine Bos dicitur, die aliqua cum fratribus
sederet, quidam ad eos 4 Scoticus poeta devenit ; qui cum post aliquant recessisset sermocinationem, fratres ad Sanctum, Cur, aiunt, 5a 6nobis regrediente 7Cronano poeta aliquod ex more suae artis canticum non postulasti modulabiliter decantari ? Quibus Sanctus, 8 Quare 9et 10vos nunc inutilia profertis verba? quomodo ab illo misero homuncione carmen postularem IsetitiaB qui nunc, ab inimicis ntrucidatus, finem ad iisque ocius pervenit vitaa. His a Sancto dictis, et ecce 12 ultra flumen aliquis 13clamitat homo dicens, Ille poeta, qui ua vobis nuper sospes rediit, hora 15in hac ab inimicis in via interfectus est. 160mnes tune qui prsesentes inerant valde 17mirati, se invicem intuentes obstupuere.
11 ait I). 15 berbices A. F. S. vervecem Boll.
16 focis A. F. S. furtis C. 17 baltenum C. baitemim D.
18 om. B. C. D. S. 19 longe D. 20 vii. D.
21 om. B. 22 baltheneo C. baitheno I>.
23 om. D. 24 A. C. F. S. exenia B. exennia D.
1 iltulum om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 A. B. F. S. om. C. D.
3 ce D. 4 scotticus B. 5-° om. D.
7 coronano C. 8 ait D. 9 ad I). 10 nos D.
11 A. C. F. S. trucklandus B. Boll. 12 ad I>. 13 clamabat DJ
11 om. C. 15 om. D. 1G om. D. 17 admirati D.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^:. LIBER I. 141
fcturJw* ^i^rnis 0andi imtidnatia toiri, qui amb0
btspmerant.
itidem 2 in tempore, Sanctus in 3 loua 4conversans CAP. insula, 5repente inter 6legendum summo, cum ingenti admira- xxxvtione, gemitu ingemuit msesto. Quod videns, qui prsesens inerat, 7Lugbeus 8Mocublai coepit ab eo percunctari subiti causam 9mseroris. Cui Sanctus valde meestificatus hanc dedit responsionem, Duo quidam 10 nunc regii generis viri in n Scotia mutuis inter se vulneribus 12transfixi disperierunt 13haud procul a monasterio quod dicitur 14Cellrois, in provincia 15Maugdornorum, 16octavaque die, hac peracta 17hebdomade, ultra f return 18alius clamitabit, qui 19hsec, de 20Hibernia veniens, ita 21taliter facta enarrabit. Sed hoc, 0 filiole, quamdiu vixero nemini 22indices. Octava 23proinde ultra fretum clamatum est die. Sanctus 24tum supra memoratum ad se 25Lugbeum vocans, silenter ad eum ait, Qui nunc clamitat ultra fretum ipse est, de quo tibi prius dixeram, 26long8evus viator. 27Vade, et 28adduc eum ad nos. Qui celeriter adductus, inter cetera, hoc etiam retulit, Duo, inquiens, 29in parte 30Maugdornorum nobiles viri, se mutuo vulnerantes, mortui sunt ; hoc est, Colman 31Canis, 32filius 33Aileni, et 34Konanus 35filius 36Aido filii Colgen, de 37Anteriorum genere, prope fines illorum locorum, ubi illud monasterium cernitur quod dicitur ** Cellrois. Post haec illius verba 39narrationis, idem 40Lugbeus, Christi miles, Sanc tum seorsum coepit interrogare, dicens, Quseso mihi de his talibus narres propheticis revelationibus quomodo, 41si per visum 42tibi, an auditu, analio, hominibus incognito, 43manifestantur modo. Ad hsec Sanctus, De qua nunc, ait, inquiris
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 om. C. D. 3 A. C. F. S. ionaB. D.
4 om. D. 5 conversatus D. 6 legendo D.
7 lugidus D. 8 om. C. D. F. S. 9 mesti D.
10 om. D. 1X hybernia D. 12 totum D.
13 et est add. F. 14 cellros B. cellarois C. ceall rois D. cellorois F.
15 A. F. S. maugdorneorum B. magdenorum C. muganorum D.
16 octava C. D. 17 ebdomada B. C. F. S. 18 aliquis C. D.
19 Con. A. hec B. C F. S. hue Colg. Boll. om. D.
20 B. C. D. evernia A. S. 21 et add. D. 22 dices D.
23 deinde D. 24 tune D. 25 lugidum D.
2(5 C. D. F. S. longeus A. vide var. led. 22, lib. ii. c. 10 infra, longus B.
27 valde B. 2* educ C. 29-30 om. C. D. F. S.
30 maugdorneorum B. 31 cognomento canis B. canus C. D. F. S.
32-33 om. C. D. F. S. 34 romanus C. 35-38 om. C. D. F. S.
30 aidi Boll. 37 A. B. Colg. Boll. 38 cellroiss A.
39 A. narratoris B. C. D. F. S. 40 lugidus D.
41 om. D. 42 om. D. 43 tibi add. D.
142 VITA SANCTI COLUMB/E. LTBER I.
valde subtili re nullatenus tibi quamlibet aliquam intimare particulam potero, nisi prius, flexis genibus, per nomen excelsi Dei mihi firmiter promittas hoc te obscurissimum sacramentum nulli unquam hominum cunctis diebus vitse mese enarraturum. Qui, hsec audiens, flexit continue genua, et, prostrate in terram vultu, juxta Sancti prseceptionem plene omnia promisit. Qua statim perfecta promissione, Sanctus ad surgentem sic locutus inquit, Sunt nonnulli, quamlibet pauci admodum, quibus divina hoc contulit gratia, ut etiam totum 44totius terrse orbem, cum ambitu oceani et coeli, uno eodemque momento, quasi sub uno solis radio, mirabiliter laxato mentis sinu, clare et manifestissime speculentur. Hoc miraculum Sanctus, quamvis de aliis electis dicere videatur, vanam utique fugiens gloriam, de seipso tamen dixisse, per obliquum licet, nullus dubitare debet qui Paulum legit Apostolum, vas electionis, de talibus narrantem sibi revelatis 45visionibus. Non enim ita scripsit, Scio me, sed, Scio hominem, raptum usque ad tertium ccelum. Quod quam libet de alio dicere 46videatur, nemo tamen dubitat sic de propria, humilitatem custodiens, enarrare persona. Quern 47etiam et noster Columba in spiritalium visionum narratione secutus est superius memorata, quam ab eo supradictus vir, quern plurimum Sanctus amabat, magnis precibus prasmissis, vix potuit extorquere, sicut 48ipse coram aliorum personis sanctorum, post sancti ColumbaB transiturn, testatus est: a quibus hsec quse de Sancto supra narravimus indubitanter didicimus.
l^z toitanxr
.JQuLIO 3in tempore, quidam de 4Muminensium provincia proselytus ad Sanctum venit ; qui se in quantum potuit 5occultabat humiliter, 6ut nullus sciret quod esset episcopus : sed tamen Sanctum hoc non potuit latere. Nam alia die Dominica a Sancto jussus Christi corpus ex more conficere, Sanctum 7advocat, ut simul, quasi duo presbyteri, Dominicum panem frangerent. Sanctus proinde ad altarium accedens, repente intuitus faciem ejus, sic eum compellat, Benedicat te Christus, frater ; hunc solus, 8episcopali ritu, frange panem : nunc scimus quod sis episcopus. Quare 9hucusque te occultare conatus es,
44 licet non semper add. B. 45 om. D. *G videretur C. D.
47 jam D. 48 om. B.
1 titul om. C. D. F. S. Boll.
2 hie sequuntur in C. D. F. S. ii. 29, 30, hujus recensionis, et partem i. 15 ejfitiunt. 3 om. D. 4 meminensium C. 5 om. C.
c quod C. 7 convocat D. 8 episcopus add. C. 9 usquequo D.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^. LIBER I. 143
ut tibi a nobis debita non redderetur veneratio ? Quo audito Sancti verbo, humilis peregrinus, valde stupefactus, Christum in Sancto veneratus est ; et qui inerant praesentes nimis admirati, glorificarunt 10Dominum.
ia biri
LIO itidem in tempore, vir venerandus 2Ernanum presbyterum, senem, suum avunculum, ad praeposituram illius monasterii transmisit quod in 3Hinba insula ante plures fundaverat annos. Itaque cum ipsum 4Sanctus emigrantem exosculatus benediceret, 6hoc de eo intulit vaticinium, dicens, Hunc meum nunc 6egredientem amicum non me spero iterum in hoc seculo viventem visurum. Itaque idem 7Ernanus post non multos dies, quadam molestatus aegrimonia, ad Sanctum volens reportatus est : cujus in perventione valde gavisus, ire obvius ad portum coepit. Ipse vero 7Ernanus, quamlibet infirmis, propriis tamen, vestigiis a portu obviare Sancto conabatur valde alacer. Sed cum esset inter ambos quasi 8viginti quatuor | 9passuum intervallum, subita morte praeventus, priusquam Sanctus faciem ejus videret viventis, expirans in terram cecidit, ne verbum Sancti ullo frustraretur modo. Unde in eodem loco ante januam canabse crux infixa est, et altera ubi Sanctus restitit, illo expirante, similiter 10crux nhodieque infixa stat.
1 Jb alicujtt0 ;jplebeii i amiiixria 0andi pnrphetta totri
J^LLIO quoque 2in tempore, quidam inter ceteros ad Sanctum plebeius venit 3in loco hospitantem qui 4Scotice vocitatur Coire 5 Salchain ; quern cum Sanctus ad se vespere venientem vidisset, Ubi, 6ait, habitas ? Ille inquit, In regione quae littoribus stagni 7Crogreth est 8contermina ego inhabito. Illam quam dicis provinciolam, ait Sanctus, nunc barbari populantur vastatores. Quo audito, miser plebeius 9maritam et filios deplangere coepit. Quern Sanctus valde maerentem videns, consolans inquit, Vade, homuncule, vade, tua familiola tota in montem 10fugiens evasit; tua vero omnia pecuscula secum
10 deura B. C. D. F. S.
1 titul. om., et tenorem cap. 16 continuant, C. D. F. S. Boll.
2 hernanum D. 3 himba C. D. F. S. 4 sanctum C.
5 et add. F. 6 ingredientem C. 7 hernanus D. 8-9 vise viginti iv. M. passum C. 10 que B. n hodie B.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 om. D. 3-5 om. C. D. F. S.
4 scottice B. 5 A. salcani B. salcair male, Colg. Boll.
6 inquit D. 7 crog reth A. crochreth B. om. C. D. F. S. 8 conterminata D. 9 maritum C. 10 efFugiens 1).
144 VITA SAXCTI COLUMB/K. LIBER I.
invasores "abegerunt, omnemque domus suppellectilem similiter ssevi raptores cum praeda rapuere. Haec audiens plebeius, ad patriam regressus, cuncta, sicuti a Sancto prsedicta, 12sic invenit 13expleta.
nomine, ft'U0 Jttbani, 0andi prxrpltetia toiri
J/H-LIO 2itidem in tempore 3quidam 4plebeius, omnium illius setatis in populo 5Korkureti fortissimus virorum, 6a 7sancto 8percunctatur 9viro qua morte esset praeveniendus. Cui Sanctus, Nee in bello, ait, nee in mari morieris : comes tui itineris, a quo non suspicaris, causa erit tuae mortis. Fortassis, inquit Goreus, aliquis de meis comitantibus amicis me trucidare cogitet, aut marita ob alicujus junioris viri amorem me maleficio mortificare. Sanctus, Non ita, ait, continget. Quare, Goreus inquit, de meo interfectore mini nunc intimare non vis ? Sanc tus, Idcirco, ait, nolo tibi de illo tuo comite nocuo nunc manifestius aliquid edicere, ne te ejus crebra 10 recogniti recordatio nimis maestificet, donee nilla veniat dies qua ejusdem rei veritatem probabis. Quid 12immorarnur verbis ? Post aliquot 13annorum excursus, idem supra memoratus Goreus, casu 14alia die sub navi residens, cultello proprio 15cristiliam de 16hastili eradebat ; 17tum 18deinde alios prope inter se belligerantes audiens, citius 19surgit ut eos a belligeratione separaret, eodemque cul tello ilia subitatione negligentius in terra dimisso, ejus 20genicula offenso graviter vulnerata est. Et tali faciente comite, causa ei mortificationis oborta est ; quam ipse continuo, secundum sancti vaticinationem viri, mente perculsus, recognovit; postque all-. quantos menses, eodem aggravatus dolore, moritur.
etiam u, qwamlib^t mtnxrre, ynio non t$8t sancti jumnba yr^smntia, d 2 jrarpketi^atixr toiri.
namque in 4tempore, 5cum Sanctus 6in7Ioua 8inhabitaret insula, unum de fratribus advocans, sic 9compellat, Tertia
11 ambigerunt B. 12 sunt C. 13 exempla C. D.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 om. D. 3-4 om. C. 4 homo D.
5 KOPKYPETI literis majusculis A. corforepti B. om. C. D. F. S.
G goreus nomine D. om. C. 7 sanctum columbam C. D.
8 percunctatus est C. D. 9 viruin C. om. D. 10 om. C.
11 om. C. 12 moramur D. 13 om. D. 14 aliqua C.
15 cristilia F. 16 astili A. F. castili C. astali D. 17 tune D.
18 om. D. 19 surrexit D. 20 B. C. genucla A. genucula D.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. , 2 prophetica B. 3-4 om. D.
5 (him D. ° colnmba add D. 7 A. C. iona B. 8 habitaret D. 9 ait D.
ab hac 10illucescente die expectare debebis in occidental hujus insulse parte, super maris oram sedens : nam de aquilonali 11Hiberni0eregione quaedam hospita grus, ventis per longos aeris agitata circuitus, post nonam diei horam valde fessa et fatigata superveniet, et pene consumptis viribus, coram te in litore cadens recumbet ; quam misericorditer 12sublevare curabis, et ad propinquam deportabis domum, 13ibidemque hospitaliter receptam, per tres dies et noctes ei ministrans, sollicite cibabis ; et post expleto recreata triduo, nolens ultra apud nos peregrinari, ad priorem 14Scotiee dulcem, unde orta, 15remeabit regionem, plene resumptis viribus ; quam ideo tibi 16sic diligenter com mendo quia de nostrae paternitatis regione est oriunda. Obsecundat frater, tertiaque die post horam nonam, 17ut 18jussus, prsescitae adventum prsestolatur hospitae, adventantemofue de littore levat lapsam, ad hospitium portat infirmam, esurientem cibat. Cui ad monasterium vespere reverso Sanctus, non interrogans sed 19narrans, ait, Benedicat te Deus, mi fili, 20quia peregrinae bene ministrasti hospitae, quae in peregrinatione non demorabitur, sed post ternos soles ad patriam 21repedabit. Quod ita ut Sanctus praedixit 22et res etiam probavit. Nam trinalibus hospitata diebus, coram hospite ministro de terra se primum volando elevans in 23 sublime, paulisperque in aere viam speculata, oceani transvadato aequore, ad 24Hiberniam recto volatus cursu die repedavit tranquillo.
1 Jle $dlo xjttxrb in mnnitione Csthtrni $0&i mnito t&i Umyom, jet be qw^bam tonticnio tjw&tm b^ati :pr#0d£ntm toiri.
3in tempore vir beatus 4cum 5post regum in Dorso 6Cette condictum, Aidi videlicet filii 7Ainmurech, et Aidani filii 8Gabrani, ad campos reverteretur sequoreos, ipse et 9Comgellus abbas quad am 10serena 110estivi temporis die, haud procul a supra memorata munitione resident. Turn 12proinde aqua de
10 lucetenente D. 13 ibidem C. ibique D.
19 enarrans D. 22 om. C.
11 everniae A. 1-4 hybernie D. "-is om. B. 20 qui B. 23 sullirae B.
12 sullevare B. 15 est add. C. D. is jussus fuerat C. D. 21 repedavit A. 24 B. C. D. everniam A.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll, in qaibus cap. xviii. continuatur.
2 sancti B. 3 om. D. 4 columba add. D. 5-8 om. C. D. F. S. 6 cete B. 7 ammurech B.
9 congellus C. comgallus D. lo secreta C. n aestei A.
12 om. D.
K
146 VITA SANCTI COLUMBUS. LIBER I.
quodam proximo ad manus lavandas fonticulo 13ad 14Sanctos in seneo defertur vasculo. Quam cum sanctus Columba aceepisset, ad abbatem 15Comgellum a latere sedentem sic profatur, Ille fonticulus, 0 16Comgelle, de quo haec effusa nobis allata est aqua, veniet dies quando nullis usibus humanis aptus erit. Qua causa, ait 17Comgellus, ejus fontana corrumpetur unda ? Sanctus turn Columba, Quia humano, inquit, cruore replebitur : nam mei 18cognationales amici et tui secundum carnem cognati, 19 hoc est, Nellis Nepotes et Cruthini 20populi, in hac vicina munitione 21Cethirni belligerantes committent bellum. Unde in supra memorata fonte aliquis de mea 22cognatione trucidabitur homuncio, 23cujus cum cseteris 24interfecti sanguine ejusdem fonticuli locus replebitur. 25Quse ejus 26veridica suo ternpore post multos vaticinatio expleta est annos. In quo bello, ut multi 27norunt populi, 28Domnallus ^Aidi filius victor sublimatus est, et in eodem, secundum sancti vaticinium viri, fonticulo, quidam de parentela ejus interfectus 30est homo. Alius mihi 31Adamnano Christi miles, Finanus nomine, qui vitam multis anachoreticam annis juxta Eoboreti monasterium Campi irreprehensibiliter ducebat, de eodem bello se praesente eommisso aliqua enarrans, protestatus est in supradicto fonte truncum 32cadaverinum vidisse, eademque die ad monasterium sancti 33Comgelli quod 34Scotice dicitur 35Cambas eommisso reversum bello quia inde prius venerat, 36ibidemque duos sancti 37 Comgelli senes monachos reperisse : quibus cum de bello coram se acto, et ^de fonticulo humano cruore corrupto, aliquanta enarraret, illi consequenter, Verus 39propheta Columba, aiunt, qui hsec omnia quse hodie de bello et 40de fonticulo expleta 41 enarras, ante multos annos futura, nobis audientibus, coram sancto 42Comgello, juxta 43Cethirni sedens munitionem, prsenunciaverat.
13.14 om j) 15 congellum C. com jallum D. 1G congelle C. coingalle D. •'
17 congellus C. comgallus D. 18 cognitionales A. B.
19-20 om. C. D. F. S. 21 A. cechirni B. om. C. D. F. S.
22 cognitione A. B. 23 de add. D. 24 interfectis D.
25 corrupt! add. D. 26 viri dicta D. 27 non ignorant D.
28 domnalius C. donaldus D. domnaldus F. S. 2a aedlia D.
30 om. C. 31 B. adomnano A. C. 32 cadaver D.
33 congelli C. comgalli D. 34 scottice B. 3~} cammus D.
36 ibi denique C. 37 comgilli A. congelli C. comgalli D.
38 om. D. 39 est add. C. 40 om. C.
41 enarrans D. *2 congello C. comgallo D. 43 A. F. S. cethirin B.
VITA SANCTI COLUMILE. LIBER I. 147
15^ fcitoeraoram bi0rr.etimt.e xmiaxnm znntto retolata fomlt gratia.
~E§.ODEM 2in tempore Conallus, episcopus 3Culerathin, collectis a populo Campi 4Eilni pene innumerabilibus 5xeniis, beato viro hospitium prseparavit, post condictum supra memoratorum regum, turba prosequente multa, revertenti: proinde sancto advenienti viro 6xenia populi multa, in platea monasterii strata, benedicenda 7assignantur. Quse cum benedicens aspiceret, 8xenium alicujus opulenti viri specialiter demonstrans, Virum, ait, cujus est hoc 8xenium, pro misericordiis pauperum, et ejus largitione, 9Dei comitatur misericordia. 10Itemque aliud discernit inter alia multa 8xenium, inquiens, De hoc ego nxenio viri sapientis et avari nullo modo gustare possum, nisi prius veram de peccato avaritiae poenitudinem egerit. Quod verbum cito in turba divulgatum audiens, accurrit Columbus filius 12Aidi conscius, et 13coram Sancto flexis genibus 14pcenitentiam 15agit, et de cetero avaritiae abrenunciaturum se promittit, et largitatem cum morum emendatione consecuturum. Et jussus a Sancto surgere, ex ilia hora est sanatus de vitio tenacitatis. Erat enim vir sapiens, sicuti Sancto in ejus revelatum 16erat 17xenio. Ille vero dives largus, Brendenus nomine, de cujus 17xenio paulo superius dictum est, audiens et ipse Sancti verba de se dicta, ingeniculans ad pedes Sancti, precatur ut pro eo ad Dominum Sanctus fundat precem : qui, ab eo primum pro quibusdam suis objurgatus peccatis, pcenitudinem gerens, de cetero se emendaturum promisit ; et sic uterque de propriis emendatus et sanatus est vitiis.
18Simili scientia Sanctus et alio tempore xenium alicujus tenacis viri, inter multa cognovit xenia, Diormiti nomine, ad Cellam Magnam 19Deathrib in ejus adventu collecta.
Haec de beati viri prophetica gratia, quasi de plurimis pauca, in hujus libelli textu primi 20caraxasse sufficiat. Pauca dixi, nam hoc de venerabili viro non est dubitandum quod valde numerosiora fuerint quae in notitiam hominum, sacramenta interius celata, venire nullo modo poterant, quam ea quae, quasi
1 tUul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 om. D. *-* om. C. D. F. S.
4 elni B 5 exeniis B. D. 6 exenia B. D.
7 signantur D. 8 exenium D. 9 diu B.
10 item D. n exenio D. 15J aedha D.
13 veram C. u veram add. D. 15 sancto add. D.
10 est D. " exenio D 18.21 mrlm C> D- F> S
19 dethrib B. 20 B craxasse A. exarasse Colg. Boll.
148 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^:. LIBER I.
qusedam parva aliquando stillicidia, veluti per quasdam rimulas alicujus pleni vasis ferventissimo novo distillabant vino. Nam sancti et apostolici viri, vanam evitantes gloriam, plerumque in quantum possunt interna quaedam arcana, sibi intrinsecus a Deo manifestata, celare festinant. Sed Deus nonnulla ex eis, velint nolint ipsi, divulgat, et in medium quoquo profert modo, videlicet glorificare volens glorificantes se Sanctos, hoc est, ipsum Dominum, cui gloria in secula 21seculorum.22
23Huic primo libro 24hic imponitur terminus ; 25nunc sequens 26orditur 27liber de virtutum 28miraculis, 29quse plerumque etiam prophetalis prsescientia 30comitatur.
18-21 om. C. D. F. S. 22 amen add. B. 23-28 rubrica B.
23 de B. 24 om. B. 25-27 capitula secundi libri incipiunt B.
20 oritur D. 29-30 A. C. D. F. S. om. B.
Seombi |Cibri indpiunt,
miraruli*.
PEDE vino quod de aqua factum est.
De amarissimis alicujus arboris pomis, in dulcedinem per Sancti benedictionem versis.
De terra, post medium aestatis tempus arata et seminata, mensis Augusti incipientis exordio maturam messem proferente.
De morbifera nube, et languentium sanitate.
De Mauguina sancta virgine, et fraetura coxae ejus sanata.
De multorum morbis fimbriae vestimenti ejus tactu, in Dorso Cete, sanatis.
De petra salis a Sancto benedicta, quam ignis absumere non potuit
De librariis foliis manu Sancti scriptis, quse aqua nullo modo corrumpi potuere.
De aqua, quae, Sancto orante, ex dura producta est petra.
De aqua fontana, quam Sanctus ultra Britannicum benedixit Dorsum, et sanavit.
De Sancti periculo in mari, et de magna tempestate in tranquillitatem continue, orante ipso, conversa.
De altero ejus periculo, et de sancto Cainnecho pro ipso et sociis ejus orante.
De baculo in portu sancti Cainnechi neglecto.
De Baitheneo et Columbano filio Beognoi, qui a Sancto secun-
dum, eadem die, sed diversa via, ventum sibi dari postu-
larunt.
De daemonis repulsione qui in lactis vasculo latitabat.
De vasculo quod quidam maleficus, lacte de masculo bove expresso, diabolica replevit arte ; sed, Sancto orante, ipsuin quod videbatur lac, in sanguinem, hoc est, in naturam propriam, versum est.
150 VITA SANCTI
De Lugneo Mocumin, quern Sanctus de profluvio sanguinis, qui crebro ex naribus ejus profluebat, oratione et digitorum tactu sanavit.
De esoce magDO in fluvio, juxta verbum Sancti, invento.
De duobus piscibus, illo prophetante, in flumine quod vocatur Boo repertis.
De quodam plebeio qui Nesanus Curvus dicebatur. De quodam divite tenacissimo, nomine Uigeno.
De Columbano seque plebeio viro, cujus pecora admodum pauca vir sanctus benedixit ; sed post illius benedictionem usque ad centenarium creverunt numerum.
De interitu Johannis filii Conallis, eadem die qua Sanctum spernens dehonoravit.
De alicujus Feradachi morte, fraudulent viri, a Sancto prsenunciata.
De alio persecutore, cujus nomen latine Manus Dextera dicitur.
De alio innocentium persecutore, qui in Laginensium provincia, sicut Annanias coram Petro, eodem momento, a Sancto terribiliter objurgatus, cecidit mortuus.
De apri mortificatione, qui a Sancto eminus cecidit, signo prostratus Dominicae crucis.
De alia aquatili bestia, quse, eo orante, et manum e contra levante, retro repulsa est ne Lugneo natanti vicino noceret.
De insulse longe viperinis serpentibus, qui, ex qua die Sanctus earn benedixit, nulli hominum nee etiam pecoribus nocere potuere.
De hasta ab eo signata, quae deinceps nullo modo, quamlibet fortiter impulsa, alicui potuit nocere animanti.
De Diormiti segrotantis sanitate.
De Fenteni filii Aido, in extremis positi, sanitate.
De puero quern mortuum, in nomine Domini Jesu Christi, in regione Pictorum, suscitavit.
De conflictu ejus contra magum Broichanum, ob ancillae retentionem ; et de lapide quern Sanctus benedixit, qui in aqua quasi pomum supernatavit.
De beat! viri contra Broichanum magum refragatione, et venti contrarietate.
De spontanea regiae muuitionis portse subita apertione. De ecclesias Duorum Agri Eivorum simili reclusione.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. 151
De alio paupere, plebeio mendico, cui Sanctus, sudem faciens benedixit, ad ferarum jugulationem silvestrium.
De utre lactario, quern unda maris abduxit, et reduxit ad
terrain.
De Librano Harundineti sancti prophetatio viri. De quadam muliercula, magnas et valde difficiliores parturi-
tionis tortiones passa, et sanata.
De conjuge Lugnei odiosi gtibernatoris.
De Cormaco Nepote Lethani, et ejus navigationibus, sancti Columbae prophetatio.
De venerabilis viri in curru evectione, absque currilium obicum communitione.
De pluvia post aliquot siccitatis menses, beati ob honorem viri, super sitientem, Domino donante, terram effusa.
Miraculum quod mine, Deo propitio, describere incipimus, nostris temporibus factum, propriis inspeximus oculis :
De ventorum flatibus contrariis, venerabilis viri virtute orationum, in secundos conversis ventos.
De mortalitate.
LIBEK SECUNDUS.— DE VIETUTUM MIEACULIS.
2 g)e fcin0 qwrb be aqua fartttm tst.
CAP. I. j^LLIO 3in tempore, cum vir venerandus 4in 5Scotia apud sanctum 6Findbarrum episcopum, adhuc juvenis, sapientiam sacrse Scripturse addiscens, commaneret, quadam 7solenni die vinum ad 8sacrificale mysterium casu aliquo minime inveniebatur : de cujus defectu cum ministros altaris inter se conquerentes audiret, ad fontem sumpto 9pergit urceo, ut ad 10sacrge Eucharistise "ministeria aquam, quasi 12diaconus, fontanam "hauriret : ipse quippe illis in diebus erat in diaconatus gradu administrans. Vir itaque beatus aquaticurn, quod de latice hausit, elementum, invocato nomine 13Domini 14Jesu Christi, fideliter benedixit, qui in 15Cana Galilese aquam 16in 17vinum convertit : quo etiam 18in 19hoc operante miraculo, inferior, hoc est aquatica natura, in gratiorem, videlicet vinalem, per manus prsedicabilis viri conversa est speciem. Vir itaque sanctus, a fonte reversus, et ecclesiam intrans, talem juxta altare urceum intra se habentem deponit liquorem ; et ad ministros, Habetis, ait, vinum, quod Dominus 20Jesus ad sua misit peragenda mysteria. Quo cognito, sanctus cum 21ministris 22episcopus eximias Deo referunt 23grates. Sanctus vero juvenis 24hoc non sibimet, sed sancto 25Vinniano adscribebat episcopo. Hoc
1 titulus deest A. incipit secundus liber de virtutum miraculis quae plenissime plerumque etiam prrescientia prophetalis comitatur B. incipit liber secundus de virtutum miraculis C. F. S. sancti columbe add. D.
2 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 3 om. D. 4 columba add. D. 5 scothia C. hybernia D. c fenbarrum B. finbarrum D.
7 solemni A. sollenni D. 8 sacriticii D. 9 om. B.
10 sacra D. F. n mysteria Boll. 12 diacon A.
13 om. B. C. H nostri add. D. 15 chana B.
16-17 om. A. 18-19 om. C. 19 om. D.
20 christus C. 21 om. D. 22 episcopo D.
23 gratia* C. '-'* columba add. D. 25 A. B. F. S. fmbarro D.
VITA SANCTI COLUMByE. LIBER II. 153
itaque 26protum virtutis documentum Christus Dominus per suum declaravit discipulum, quod in eadem re, initium ponens signorum in 27Cana Galilese, operatus est per semetipsum.
28Hujus, inquam, libelli, quasi qusedam lucerna, illustret exor dium, quod per nostrum Columbam diale manifestatum est miraculum ; ut deinceps transeamus ad cetera, quae per ipsum ostensa sunt, virtutum 29miracula.
aliotjtt* arbxrri^ fnirtu amar0 jp&c sanrti bmebiciumim itt
arbor erat valde pomosa prope monasterium CAP. n. 2Eoboris Campi, in australi ejus parte; de qua cum incolae loci 3quoddam haberent pro nimia fructus amaritudine querimonium, quadam die Sanctus 4ad 6eam accessit autumnali tempore, vidensque lignum incassum abundos habere fructus qui ex eis gustantes plus laederent quam delectarent ; 6sancta elevata manu, benedicens ait, In nomine omnipotentis Dei omnis tua amaritudo, 0 arbor amara, a te recedat ; tuaque hue usque amarissima nunc in dulcissima vertantur poma. Mirum dictu, dicto citius, eodemque momento, ejusdem arboris omnia poma, amissa amaritudine, in miram, secundum verbum Sancti, versa sunt dulcedinem.
tt in rrcante, m^00a, in
5in tempore Sanctus 6suos misit monachos ut de ali- CAP. in. cujus plebeii agellulo virgarum fascicules ad hospitium afferrent construendum. Qui cum ad Sanctum, 7oneraria repleta navi de supradictis 8virgularum materiis, reversi venirent, dicerentque plebeium ejusdem causa dispendii valde contristatum ; Sanctus consequenter prsecipiens 9dicit, Ne ergo 10illum scandalizemus virum, ad ipsum a nobis bis terni deferantur hordei modii, eosdemque his nin diebus arata ipse seminet in terra. Quibus
26 F. pro turn A. Colg. Boll, primum C. promptum D.
27 coena male Boll. 28 litera H. majuscula ccerulea B. 28-29 om. C. D. F. S.
1 titul. om., cap. i. continuatur, C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 diarmagh D.
3 quondam C. 4-5 om. D. 6 sanctus D.
1 titul. om. C. D. F, S. Boll. 2 agusti A. 3 mense A.
4 A. iona B. 5 om> j) o columba add. D. 7 onera D. 8 virgarum D. 9 dixit D.
16 om. C. n om. D.
154 VITA SANCTI COLUMB/E. LIBER II.
ad plebeium, 12Findchanum nomine, juxta Sancti jussionem, missis, et coram eo cum tali commendatione adsignatis, gratanter accipiens, ait, Quomodo post medium 138esteum tempus seges seminata, contra hujus naturam terrse, proficiet ? Marita e contra, Fac, ait, secundum Sancti mandatum, cui Dominus donabit quodcunque ab eo postulaverit. Sed et qui missi sunt simul hoc addiderunt dicendo, Sanctus Columba, qui nos ad te cum hoc misit munere, hoc mandatum per nos de tua commendavit segete, dicens, Homo ille in omnipotentia Dei confid at : u seges 15ejus, quamvis de mense Junio 16duodecim prsemissis diebus seminata17, in 18principiis 19Augusti mensis metetur. Obsequitur plebeius 20arando et seminando ; et messem, quam supradicto 21in tempore 22 contra 23spem seminavit, cum omnium admiratione vicinorum in exordio 19Augusti mensis maturam, juxta verbum Sancti, 24messuit, 25in loco terras qui dicitur 26Delcros.
X5^ m0rbi£era nub*, ,et piurimtfrtim sanitate.
CAP. iv. JPtLIO 2itidem 3in tempore, cum Sanctus in 4Ioua 5commoraretur insula, sedens in monticulo qui Latine Munitio Magna dicitur, videt ab aquilone nubem densam et 6pluvialem, de 7mari 8die serena obortam : qua ascendente visa, Sanctus ad quendam de suis juxta se monachum sedentem, nomine 9Silnanum, 10filium uNemani-don 13Mocusogin, Hsec nubes, ait, valde nocua hominibus et pecoribus erit ; hacque die velocius trans volans super aliquantam Scotiae partem, uhoc est, ab illo rivulo qui dicitur Ailbine usque ad Vadum 15Clied, pluviam vespere distillabit morbiferam, 16quse gravia 17et purulenta humanis in corporibus, et in pecorum uberibus, 18nasci faciet ulcera ; quibus homines morbidi et pecudes, ilia venenosa gravitudine usque ad mortem molestati, laborabunt. Sed nos eorum miserati subvenire languoribus, Domino miseraate, debemus. Tu ergo, 19Silnane, nunc mecum descendens de monte, navigationem praepara crastina die, vita comite et Deo volente, a me
12 findcanum B. frindehanum C. finchanum D. 13 sestivum C. 14-16 om. C. 16 A. C. quindecim B. D. F. 17 fuerit add. D.
18 principio D. 19 tamen add. D. agusti A. 2° or an do B..
21 om. D. 22-23 om. D. ^ viri add. D.
^-^ om. C. D. F. S. 26 A. B. deleros Colg. Boll.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 om. B. 3 om. D.
4 A. C. F. S. iona B. D. 5 commaneret D. 6 pluialem A.
7-8 meridie C. 9 A. F. S. siluanum B. C. sillanum D.
10.13 (ynit Q D. j\ s. n nemai don A. n-13 nemaidonmocusogin B.
14-15 om. C. D. F. S. 15 cleeth B. 16 et D. 17 om. D.
18 qu« add. D. 19 A. F. S. siluane B. C. sillane D.
pane accepto, Dei invocato nomine 20benedicto, quo in 21aqua intincto, homines ea conspersi, et pecora, celerem recuperabunt salutem. Quid moramur ? Die crastina, his quae necessaria erant citius prseparatis, 22 Silnanus, accepto de manu Sancti pane benedicto, in pace enavigavit. Cui Sanctus, a se eadem emigranti hora, 23addit hoc 24consolatorium verbum, dicens, Confide, fili, ventos habebis secundos et prosperos die noctuque, usque 25dum ad illam pervenias regionem 26quse dicitur Ard 27Ceannachte, ut languentibus ibidem celerius cum salubri subvenias pane. Quid plura ? 28 Silnanus, verbo obsecutus Sancti, prospera et 29celeri 30navigatione, auxiliante Domino, ad supra memoratam perveniens partem illius regionis, plebem de qua Sanctus prsedixerat devastatam nubis prsedictse morbifera reperiit pluvia 31superpluente, citius 32prsecurrentis. Inprimisque bis terni viri in eadem mari vicina domo reperti in extremis morte positi appropinquante, ab eodem 33Silnano aqua benedictionis aspersi, in eodem 34die opportunius sanati sunt. Cujus subitse sanationis rumor, per totam illam, morbo 35pestilentiore vastatam, regionem cito divulgatus, onmem morbidum ad sancti Columbse legatum invitavit populum ; qui, juxta Sancti mandatum, homines et pecora pane 36intincta benedicto aqua conspersit, et continuo plenam recuperantes salutem, homines, cum pecudibus salvati, Christum in sancto Columba cum eximia gratiarum actione laudarunt. In hac 37itaque suprascripta narration e, ut sestimo, duo hsec manifeste pariter 38comitantur ; hoc est, gratia prophetationis de nube, et virtutis miraculum in eegrotantium 39sanitate. Hsec per omnia esse verissima, supradictus 40 Silnanus, Christi miles, sancti legatus Columbse, coram 41Segineo abbate et ceteris testatus est senioribus.
Jlaimmi #lia qme inhabitateat in ffimrmn
in 5tempore Sanctus,6 cum in 7Ioua demoraretur CAP. v. insula, prima diei hora, quendam 8advocans fratrem,9Lugaidum
20 ad scotiam transfretato add. S. 21 aquam C.
22 A. B. F. S. siluanus C. sillanus D. 23 addidit D.
24 etiam add. C. 2* om. A. 26-27 om. C. D. F. S.
27 cenacte B. 2§ A. B. F. S. siluanus C. sillanus D.
29 sceleri B. so enavigatione D. 3l superfluente C.
32 prsecurrens F. 33 A. B. F. S. siluano C. sillano D.
34 om. B. 35 pestilencie B. 36 A. B. F. intincto C. D.
37 equidem D. 3« comittuntur B. 39 sanctitate C.
40 A. B. F. S. siluanus C. sillanus D. 41 segeneo C. D.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 mauguina B.
3 loco qui scottice dicitur add. B. clocher B. 4-5 om. D.
6 columba add. D. 7 A. C. F. S. iona B. D. 8 advocat F.
9 lugaidium B. lugidum D.
156 VITA SANCTI COLUMI3/E. LIBEK II.
nomine, 10cujus cognomentmn Scotice Lathir ndicitur; et taliter eum compellat, dicens, Praepara cito ad 12Scotiam celerem navigationem, nam mihi valde est necesse te usque ad 13 Clocherum 14filiorum 15Daimeni destinare legatum. In hac enim praeterita nocte, casu aliquo, 16Maugina, sancta virgo, 17filia 18Daimeni, ab oratorio post missam domum reversa, titu-. bavit, coxaque ejus in duas confracta est partes. Haec saepius meum, inclamitans, nomen commemorat, a Domino sperans se accepturam per me consolationem. 19Quidplura? 20Lugaido obsecundanti, et consequenter emigranti, Sanctus pineam tradit cum benedictione 21capsellam, dicens, Benedictio, quae in hac 22capsellula continetur, quando ad 23Mauginam pervenies visitandam, in 24 aquae vasculum intingatur, eademque benedictionis aqua super ejus infundatur coxam ; et statim, invocato Dei nomine, coxale conjungetur os, et densabitur; et sancta virgo plenam recuperabit salutem. Et hoc Sanctus 25addit, En ego 26coram in 27hujus 28capsae operculo numerum viginti trium annorum 29describo, quibus sacra virgo in hac prsesenti, 30post eandem 31 salutem, victura est vita. 32Quse omnia sic plene expleta sunt, sicuti a Sancto praedicta : nam statim ut 33Lugaidus ad sanctam pervenit virginem, aqua benedicta, sicut Sanctus commendavit, perfusa coxa, sine ulla morula condensato osse, plene sanata est ; et in adventu ^legati sancti Columbae cum ingenti gratiarum actione gavisa, viginti tribus annis, secundum Sancti prophetiam, post sanitatem, in bonis actibus permanens, vixit.
l.e his qnx in glxrrsxr 2dtate 8jttraxt« znnt btb.er0.anim
CAP. vi. ^SIIE vitas praedicabilis, 4 sicuti nobis ab expertis traditumi est, diversorum languores infirmorum, invocato Christi nomine, illis in diebus sanavit, quibus, ad regum pergens condictum in 5Dorso 6Cette, brevi commoratus est tempore. Nam aut sanctse
10-n om. C. D. F. S. 12 hyberniam D, 13 chiliocherum C. clochor D. !
14'15 om. C. D. F. S. 16 inauguina B. magnia D.
17-18 om. C. D. F. S. 19 et add. D. 20 luigido D.
21 capsulani D. 22 capsula D. 23 mauguinam B. maguiani D.
21 aqua C. a> addidit D. 26 A. B. ponam C. Colg. Boll, dico D. :
27 ejus B. 28 capsulse C. 29 B. om. A. C. D. F. S.
30 vita add. S. 31 om. S. 32 ponam add. S.
33 lugidus D. 34 om. C.
1 titul om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 cete B. 3 peracta B.
4 columba add. D. 5'6 colle qui vocatur druim chead D.
6 cete B. caetae C. cettae F.
VITA SANCTI COLUMILE. LIBER IT. 157
manus protensione, ant aqua ab eo benedicta, aegroti plures aspersi, aut etiam fimbriae ejus tactu 7amphibali, aut alicujus rei, sails videlicet vel panis, benedictione accepta, et lymphis intincta, plenam credentes recuperarunt salutem.
pttra #ali0 a s&ndo btntoidz, xjuam igni0 &b#nmer£ non potttit
itidem in tempore, 3Colgu filius Cellachi 4postulatam CAP. VIT. 5 a Sancto 6petram 7salis 8benedictam accipit, sorori et suae nutrici 9profuturam, 10quse ophthalmias laborabat valde gravi 11languore. Talem eulogiam eadem soror et nutricia de mami fratris accipiens, in pariete super lectum suspendit; casuque post aliquantos contigit dies, ut idem viculus, cum supradictae domuncula feminae, flamma vastante, totus concremaretur. Mirum dictu, illius parietis particula, ne beati viri in ea deperiret suspensa benedictio, post totam ambustam domum, stans illsesa permansit; nee ignis ausus est attingere binales, in quibus 12talis pendebat 13salis 14petra, sudes.
$ibrarixr folio 0an£ti mantt Ibtzvciyto, rorrumpi non pxrttut.
2miraculum asstimo non tacendum, quod aliquando CAP. vm. factum est per contrarium elementum. Multorum namque transcursis annorum circulis post beati 3ad Dominum transitum viri, quidam juvenis de equo lapsus in flumine, 4quod Scotice 5Boend 6vocitatur, mersus et mortuus, viginti sub aqua diebus permansit ; qui, sicuti sub 7ascella, cadens, libros in pelliceo reconditos sacculo habebat, ita etiam post supra memoratum dierum numerum est repertus, sacculum cum libris inter 8 brachium et latus continens ; cujus etiam ad aridam reportato cadavere, et aperto sacculo, folium sancti Columbae sanctis scriptum 9digitulis, inter aliorum folia librorum non tantum
7 C. D. anfibali A. B. (vid. var. led. 12, p. 117, supra] amfibali F. ansibali Colg. ainphilabi Boll.
1 titul. om. 0. D. F. S. Boll, in gmbus cap. v. continuatur. >2A om. D. '•> colgiu B. 5 quidam homo add. D.
c columba D. 7 sai 33 8 benedictum D.
9 profuturum D. 10 oculorum dolori add. D.
11 id est oculorum dolore add. C. l'2 tale D. ir> sal D. 14 om. I).
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 ut add, p. 3 columbe add. D.
4-° om. C. D. F. S. 5 bofind B. 7 asena C. assella D. axilla Boll.
8 mamnn D. 9 digitis D.
158 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^. LIBEE II.
corrupta sed et putrefacta, inventum est 10siccum net nullo modo corruptum, ac si in 12scriniolo esset reconditum.
l^z alixr Jfttraotb in xz 0imili
in tempore, hymnorum liber septimaniorum sancti Columbse manu descriptus, de cujusdam pueri de ponte elapsi humeris, cum pelliceo in quo inerat sacculo, in quodam partis Laginorum fluvio submersus cecidit. Qui videlicet libellus, a Natalitio Domini usque ad Paschalium consummationem dierum in aquis permanens, postea in ripa fluminis a feminis quibusdam ibidem deambulantibus repertus, ad quendam logenanum presbyterum, gente Pictum, cujus prius juris erat, in eodem, non solum madefacto, sed etiam putrefacto, portatur sacculo. Quern scilicet sacculum idem logenanus aperiens, suum incorruptum libellum invenit, et ita nitidum et siccum, ac si in scrinio tanto permansisset tempore, et nunquam in aquas cecidisset. Sed et alia de libris manu sancti Columbas 2caraxatisj3imilia ab expertis indubitanter didicimus in diversis acta locis : qui scilicet Kbri, in aquis mersi, nullo modo corrumpi potuere. De 3 supra memorato vero 4Iogenani libro a viris quibusdam veracibus et perfectis bonique testimonii, sine ulla ambiguitate, relationem accepimus ; qui eundem libellum, post tot supradictos submersionis dies, candidissimum et lucidissimum considerarunt.
Hsec duo, quamlibet in rebus parvis peracta, et per contraria ostensa elementa, ignem scilicet et aquam, beati testantur honorern viri, et quanti et qualis meriti apud habeatur 5Dominum.
X5e aqtta xjw^ zzncio xn&ntt tx imra ynrbuda t&t
CAP. ix. .Ji^T quia paulo superius aquatici facta est mentio elementi, silere non debemus 3 etiam alia miracula, quse per Sanctum Dominus ejusdem in re, licet diversis temporibus et locis, creaturse 4peregit. 6Alio namque 6in tempore, cum Sanctus in sua 7conversaretur 8peregrinatione, 9infans 10ei per parentes nad
10-u om. C. D. 12 scrinio C. D.
1 capitid. totum om. C. D. F. S. titul. om. Boll. 2 craxatis A. 3 supramemorati B. 4 eugenani A. 5 deutu B.
IA titul. rubrica script. B. om. C. F. S. 1-8 om. D.
2 petro A. 3 et B. 6 incipit cap. vi. 0. F. S. 6 om. C. 7 versaretur C. 9 quodam die add. D.
10 sancto columbe iter agenti D. n est D.
VITA SANCTI COLUMILE. LIBER IT. 159
baptizandum 12offertur 13iter 13agenti ; et quia in vicinis aqua non inveniebatur locis, Sanctus, ad proximam declinans rupem, flexis genibus paulisper oravit, et post orationem surgens, ejusdem rupis ufrontem benedixit; 15de qua consequenter aqua 16abundanter ebulliens fluxit ; in 17qua continue 18infantem baptizavit. De quo 19etiam baptizato haec, vaticinans, intulit verba, inquiens, Hie puerulus usque 20in extremam 21longaevus vivet setatem ; in annis juvenilibus carnalibus desideriis satis serviturus, et deinceps Christianas usque 22in exitum militias mancipandus, in bona senectute ad Dominum emigrabit. Quae omnia eidem viro juxta Sancti contigerunt vaticinium. 23Hic erat 24Lugucencalad, cujus parentes fuerant in 25Artdaib Muirchol, ubi 26hodieque 27fonticulus, ^sancti nomine Columbee ^pollens, cernitur.
alia tnaltjjna fcrntana aqua xjwam toir b*at«0 in Jlidxmttn regioue bentbtxit.
in 3tempore, vir beatus, 4cum in Pictorum provincia .CAP. x. per aliquot demoraretur dies, audiens in plebe gentili de alio fonte divulgari famam, quern quasi 5deum stolidi homines, diabolo eorum obcsecante sensus, venerabantur ; 6nam de eodem 7fonticulo bibentes, aut in eo manus vel pedes de industria lavantes, daemoniaca, Deo permittente, percussi arte, aut 8leprosi, aut lusci, aut etiam debiles, aut quibuscunque aliis infestati infirmitatibus 9revertebantur. Ob quas omnia seducti gentiles divinum fonti deferebant honorem. Quibus compertis, Sanctus alia die intrepidus accessit ad fontem. Quod videntes magi, quos 10S8epe ipse confuses et victos a se repellebat, valde gavisi sunt, scilicet putantes eum similia illius nocuaa tactu aquae passurum. Hie vero imprimis elevata manu sancta, cum invocatione Christi nominis, manus lavat et pedes ; ntum deinde cum sociis de eadem, a se benedicta, 12bibit. Ex illaque die dsemones ab eodem recesserunt fonte, et non solum nulli
12 oblatus D. 13 om. D. 14 fontem C.
15 ex qua quidem rupe aqua profluit add. D. 16-17 om. D.
18 infantuluin D. ly et C. 20 ad C.
21 B. longeus A. vide var. lect. 26, p. 141. 22 ad B.
23-26 om. C. D. F. S. 24 ligu cencalad A. lugucen calath B.
25 ardaib muircol B. 27 et qui add C. qui add. D.
28 adhuc add. C. D. F. S. 29 ibidem add. C, D. F. S.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll., cap. vi. continual ur. 2'3 om. D.
4 columba add. D. 5 divinum C. D. c-9 om. Colg. Bo]l.
7 fonte D. 8 lepri A. 10 om. D.
11 tune D. 12 aqua add. C. aqua manu corratoris suprascriptum F.
1 60 VITA SANCTI COLUMB/E. LIBER II.
nocere permissus est, sed etiam, post Sancti benedictionem et in eo lavationein, multae in populo infirmitates per eundem sanatse sunt fontem.
l]Bt btzti toiri in mart ymtnlo, ti tempwrtati* 2to xrrante 0ttbita 0*fo attune.
CAP. xi. 3JSLLIO in tempore, 4vir sanctus 5in mari periclitari ccepit ; totum 6namque vas navis, valde concussum, magnis undarum cumulis fortiter feriebatur, grandi undique insistente ventorum tempestate. Nautse 7tum forte Sancto, 8sentinam cum illis exhaurire conanti, 9aiunt, Quod nunc agis non magnopere nobis 10proficit periclitantibus ; exorare potius debes pro pereuntibus. Quo audito, aquam cessat amaram exinanire, 11hininglas ; dulcem vero et intentam precem coepit ad Dominum fundere. Mirum dictu, eodem horse momento, quo Sanctus, in prora stans, extensis ad coelum palmis, Omnipotentem exoravit, tota aeris tempestas et maris saevitia, dicto citius sedata, cessavit, et statim serenissima tranquillitas 12subsecuta est. Qui vero 13navi 14inerant, obstupefacti, cum magna admiratione, referentes gratias, glorificaverunt 15 Dominum in sancto et prsedicabili viro.
L$t alixr tm in mari 0imili
CAP. xii. ^i-LIO 4quoque 4in tempore, saeva nimis insistente et periculosa tempestate, sociis, ut pro eis Sanctus Dominum exoraret, 5inclamitantibus ; hoc eis dedit responsum, dicens, Hac in die non est meum pro vobis in hoc periculo constitutis orare, sed est abbatis 6Cainnichi, sancti viri. Mira dicturus sum. Eadem hora sanctus 7Cainnichus, in suo 8conversans monasterio, quod 9Latine Campulus Bovis dicitur, 10Scotice vero nAched-bou, Spiritu revelante Sancto, supradictam sancti Columbae interiore cordis aure vocem audierat ; et cum 12 forte post nonam coapisset horam in 13refectorio 14eulogiam frangere, ocius deserit mensulam, 15unoque 16in pede inhserente calceo, et altero 17pro nimia
1 tltul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 am. B. 3-4 om. D.
5 columba aliquando add. D. 6 que D.
7-9 ad sanctum exhaurientem secum aquam adeunt D. 8 om. C.
10 proficitis D. n hinin glas A. hinninglas B. om, C. D. F. S.
12 supersecuta C. 13'u in navi eraut C. D. F. S. 15 deum B. D.
1 tltul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 in vortice brecain add. B.
•5 cap. vii. contin. C. D. F. S. 4 om. D. 5 clamitantibus D.
6 cahinnichi C. cainnici D. 7 cahinnichus C. 8 commanens D. 9-T1 scotice dicitur achadh bo .i. ager vacarum D. 10-11 om. C. F. S.
11 A. acbetbbou B. 12 om. D. 13 oratorio C. D.
14 eylogiam sic cap. vii. (p. 157) supra (litera Y ex <jra>ca Y efficta) A.
15 in uno C. D. 16 om. B. 17 ne C.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER II. 161
festinatione relicto, festinanter 18pergit hac cum voce ad ecclesiam, Non est nobis nunc 19temporis prandere quando in mari periclitatur navis sancti Columbae. Hoc enim momento, ipse 20hujus nomen Cainnichi ingeminans commemorat, ut pro eo et sociis periclitantibus 21 Christum 22exoret. Post hsec illius verba oratorium ingressus, flexis genibus paulisper oravit; ejusque orationem exaudiente Domino, illico tempestas cessavit, et mare valde tranquillum factum est. Turn deinde sanctus Columba, Cainnichi ad ecclesiam 23properationem in spiritu videns, quamlibet longe conversantis, mirabiliter hoc de puro pectore profert verbum, dicens, Nunc cognovi, 0 24Cainniche, quod Deus tuam exaudierit precem ; nunc valde nobis proficit tuus ad ecclesiam velox cum uno calceamento cursus. In hoc itaque tali miraculo amborum, ut credimus, oratio cooperata est Sanctorum.
r, n
in tempore, idem supra memoratus Cainnichus suum, CAP. xm. a portu 3Iouae insulse ad 4Scotiam navigare incipiens, baculum secum portare oblitus 5est ; qui scilicet ejus baculus, post ipsius egressum in litore repertus, sancti in manum traditus est Columbse ; quemque, domum reversus, in oratorium portat, et ibidem solus in oratione diutius demoratur. Cainnichus proinde ad 60idecham appropinquans insulam, subito de sua oblivione compunctus, interius perculsus est. Sed post modicum intervallum, de navi descendens, et in terra cum oratione genua flectens, baculum, quern in portu 7 louse insulse oblitus post se reliquit, super cespitem terrulse 8Aithche ante se 9invenit. De cujus etiam effecta divinitus evectione valde est miratus cum gratiarum in Deo actione.
e jtaitkentcr zt Cxrlumban0 filixr
eab^m sibi bu benttim $K0&ipmm a Domino per teti biri xrca-
tixrnem bxrnari
quoque in tempore, superius 4memorati sancti viri ad CAP. xiv. 5 Sanctum venientes, ab eo simul unanimes 6postulant ut ipse a
18 pen-exit D. J» tempus C. 20 ejus B. ora. C. D.
21 om. C. D. 22 oraret D. 23 prasparationem C.
24 cainneche B. cahinniclie C.
1 capitul totum om. C. D. F. S. titul om. Boll. 2 cainechi B.
3 ione B. 4 scociam B. 5 om. B.
6 A. ouidecham B. 7 ione B. 8 ouidechae B. 9 positum add. B.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 beognoi B. 3-4 aliquando D.
5 beatam columbam D. 6 postulabant D.
162 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER II.
Domino 7postulans 7impetraret prosperum crastina die venturn sibi dari diversa emigraturis via. Quibus Sanctus respondens, hoc dedit responsum, 8Mane crastina die, 9Baitheneus, a portu 10Iouae enavigans insulse, flatum uhabebit secundum usquequo ad portum perveniat Campi 12Lunge. Quod ita, juxta Sancti verbum, Dominus donavit : nam 9Baitheneus plenis eadem die velis magnum totumque pelagus usque ad 13Ethicam transmeavit terram. 14Hora vero ejusdem diei tertia, vir venerandus Columbanum 15advocat presbyterum dicens, Nunc Baitheneus prospere optatum pervenit ad portum : ad navigandum te 16hodie 17pr8epara; mox 18 Dominus ventum convertet in aquilonem. Cui sic prolato beati viri verbo eadem hora auster obsecundans 19 ventus se in aquiloneum convertit flatum ; et ita in eadem die uterque vir sanctus, alter ab altero in pace aversus, Baitheneus mane ad 20Ethicam terram, Columbanus post meridiem 21Hiberniam incipiens appetere, plenis enavigavit velis et flatibus secundis. Hoc illustris viri virtute orationum, Domino donante, effectum est miraculum ; quia, sicut scriptum est, Omnia possibilia sunt credenti. Post ilia in die sancti Columbani egressum, sanctus hoc de illo propheticum Columba protulit verbum, Vir sanctus Columbanus, cui emigranti benediximus, 22nusquam in hoc saeculo faciem videbit meam. Quod ita post expletum est, nam eodem anno sanctus Columba ad Dominum transiit.
rjtti in Ikctari0 ktitabat
CAP. xv. 2 j5Cuo 3^n 4tempore, quidam juvenis, Columbanus nomine, 5Nepos 6 Briuni, 7ad januam 8 tugurioli subito perveniens restitit, in quo vir beatus 9scribebat. Hie idem, post vaccarum reversus mulsionem, in dorso portans vasculum novo plenum lacte, dicit ad Sanctum, ut juxta 10morem tale benediceret onus. Sanctus turn ex adverse eminus in aere signum salutare manu elevata depinxit, quod illico valde concussum est, 11gergennaque operculi, per sua bina foramina retrusa, longius projecta est, 12operculum terra tenus cecidit, lac ex 13majore rnensura in solum defusum est. Juvenculus vas, cum parvo quod remans-
7 ora. D. 8 om. B. 9 battheneus C. baithenus D.
10 ione B. D. n habebat B. 12 lugne D.
13 aethicam A. 14 hie D. 15 om. D.
16 om. D. 17 propera D. 18 enim add. D. 19 ventis A.
20 etheticam A. 21 everniam A. 22 nunquam E.
i titul om.C. D. F. S. Boll. 2-* om. D. 3 qu0que add. C.
fi-6 om. C. D. F. S. 7 qui add. C. D. 8 B. C. D. F. S. tegorioli A. ;
9 colnmba erat D. 10 om. D. n gergenaqite D.
12 vasque D. 13 more D.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB/E. LIBEll II. 1G3
erat lactis, super fundum in terra deponit, genua suppliciter 14flectit. Ad quem Sanctus, Surge, ait, 15Columbane, hodie in tua operatione negligenter egisti, dsemonem enim in fundo vacui latitantem vasculi, impresso Dominicee crucis signo, ante 16infusionem lactis, non effugasti : cujus videlicet signi nunc virtutern non sustinens, tremefactus, toto pariter turbato vase, velociter cum lactis effusione aufugit. 17Huc ergo ad me proprius vasculum, ut illud benedicam, approxima. Quo facto, Sanctus semivacuum 18quod 19benedixerat vas, 20eodem momento divinitus repletum repertum est ; parvumque quod prius in fundo vasis remanserat, sub sanctse manus benedictione, usque ad summam citius excreverat.
^zscnlo qnob -quifoam maleffni* nrrmira <Silnmm£ Izdt fo mnscnla bobt exyxussa «ylcberat.
2in domo alicujus plebeii divitis, 3qui in monte Cainle CAP. xvi. commorabatur, Foirtgirni nomine, factum 4traditur. Ubi 5cum Sanctus hospitaretur, inter rusticanos contendentes duos, quo rum prius adventum prsescivit, recta judicatione judicavit : unusque ex eis, qui maleficus erat, 6a Sancto jussus, de bove masculo, qui prope erat, lac arte diabolica expressit: quod Sanctus, non ut ilia confirmaret maleficia, fieri jussit, quod absit ; sed ut ea coram multitudine destrueret. Vir itaque beatus vas, ut videbatur tali plenum lacte, sibi ocius dari poposcit ; et hac cum sententia benedixit dicens, Modo probabitur non esse hoc verum, quod 7putatur, lac, sed dsemonum fraude, ad decipiendos homines, decoloratus sanguis : et continue lacteus ille color in naturam versus 8est propriam, hoc est, in sanguinem. Bos quoque, qui per unius horse momentum, turpi macie tabidus et maceratus, erat morti proximus, benedicta a Sancto aqua superfusus, mira 9sub celeritate sanatus est.
1^e Jin%nto JExrmmin.
Cl^UADAM die quidambonse indolis juvenis,Lugneus nomine, CAP. xvu. qui postea senex in monasterio 2Elenae insulse prsepositus erat,
14 flexit C. D. « columba C. D. 1G effusionem D.
17 hoc C. 18 om. C. D. i9 benedixit D. 20 eodemque C. D.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 factnm subsequetis C. D.
3-4 om. C. D. F. S. 5 om> lx o et a^ p.
7 putabatur B. C. D. F. 8 om. B. C. 9 om. D.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 A. B. helene C. D. F. S.
164 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER II.
ad Sanctum veniens, 3queritur de 4profluvio sanguinis, qui crebro per multos menses de naribus ejus immoderate profluebat. Quo propius accito, Sanctus ambas 5ipsius nares binis manus dexterse digitulis constringens benedixit. Ex qua hora benedictionis, nunquam sanguis de naso ejus usque ad extremum distillavit diem.
bt&to toirxr gptti&liter a JBta
xvni JP^tJLIO 5in tempore, cum praedicabilis viri 6sociales, strenui piscatores, quinos in rete pisces cepissent in fluvio Sale 7piscoso, Sanctus ad eos, 8iterato, ait, Kete in flumen mittite, et statim invenietis grandem, quern mihi Dominus prseparavit, piscem. Qui, verbo Sancti obtemperantes, mirae magnitudinis traxerunt in 9retiaculo 10esocem a Deo sibi prseparatum.
CAP. xix. J^LLIO quoque in tempore, cum Sanctus juxta Cei Stagnum aliquantis demoraretur diebus, comites ire ad piscandum cupientes retardavit, dicens, Hodie et eras nullus in flumine reperietur piscis : tertia mittam vos die, et invenietis binos grandes, in rete retentos, fluminales 12esoces. Quos ita post duas dieculas, rete mittentes, duos rarissimse magnitudinis, in fluvio qui dicitur 13Bo reperientes, ad terrain traxerunt. In his duabus memoratis piscationibus, miraculi apparet virtus et prophetica simul praescientia comitata, pro quibus Sanctus et socii Deo grates eximias 14reddiderunt.
^z Jtoattcr 2nttbtf xjtit in m xtQiont 3rxrnber0abatur
i rxmtermina.
CAP. xx. llJC Nesanus, cum esset valde inops, sanctum alio tempore gaudenter hospitio recepit virum. Cui cum hospitaliter secundum vires, unius noctis spatio ministrasset, Sanctus ab eo
3 columbam add. D. 4 fluvio D. 5 illius F.
1 titul. om. C. D. E. S. Boll.
2-3 esoce magno in fluvio sale juxta verbum sancti inveiito B.
4 in C. D. F. S. hoc capUul. post ii. 27 subsequitur, et ambo in lib. iii. amandantur. 4-5 quodam D. 6 scotiales C. D. F. S.
7 piscosos D. 8 om. D. 9 rethe "D.
10 essocem A. F. chocem C.
11 capit. novum orditur, cui prcefigitur titulus de duobus piscibus illo prophetante in flumine quod vocitatur boo repertis B.
n-14 om. 0. D. F. S. 12 essoces A. sic supra. 13 boo B.
. J titul. et cap. totum om. C. D. F. S. 2 cervo B. 3 conversabat B.
4inquirit, cujus boculas numeri haberet: ille ait, Quinque. Sanctus consequenter, Ad me, ait, adduc, ut eas benedicam. Quibus adductis, et elevata maim sancta benedictis, Ab hac die tuse paueulse quinque vacculse crescent, ait Sanctus, usque ad centum et quinque vaccarum numerum. Et quia idem Nesanus homo plebeius erat, cum uxore et filiis, hoc etiam ei vir beatus benedictionis augmentum intulit, dicens, Erit semen tuum in filiis et nepotibus benedictum. Quse omnia plene, juxta ver- Tbum Sancti, sine ulla expleta sunt imminutione.
|_5<H^E quodam viro divite tenacissimo, nomine 6Uigenio, qui CAP- XXL sanctum Columbam despexerat nee eum hospitio recepit, hanc e contrario protulit prophetalem sententiam, inquiens, Illius autem avari divitise, qui Christum in peregrinis hospitibus sprevit, ab hac die paulatim imminuentur, et ad nihilum redigentur; et ipse mendicabit; et filius ejus cum semivacua de domo in domum perula discurret; et, ab aliquo ejus emulo securi in fossula excussorii percussus, morietur. Quse omnia de utroque, juxta sancti prophetiam viri, plene sunt 7expleta.]
xqnt ptebdxr toirxr, otju0 psccrra abmxrtmm pamra toir 0artjcttt# bmebtxii ; &eb pxrst illms> ben.ebirii.cmem tittle ab centenarmm nrefcertmt tmmerum.
.J9LLIO 2quoque 8tempore, vir beatus 4quadam nocte, cum CAP. xxn. apud 5 supra 6memoratum Columbanum 7tunc temporis inopem, bene 7hospitaretur, mane primo Sanctus, 8sicuti superius de Nesano commemoratum 9(est, de quantitate et 10qualitate substantiae plebeium hospitem >11interrogat. Qui interrogatus, Quinque, ait, tantummodo habeo 12vacculas; quse, si eas benedixeris, in majus crescent. Quas illico, a Sancto jussus, adduxit, 13similique modo, ut supra de Nesani quinis dictum est 14vacculis, et hujus Columbani 15boculas quinales sequaliter benedicens, inquit, Centenas et quinque, Deo donante, habebis vaccas, et erit in filiis et nepotibus tuis florida benedictio. Quse omnia, juxta 16beati viri prophetationem, in agris et pecoribus ejus et prole, plenissime adimpleta sunt ; mirumque
4 requirit Boll.
5-7 om. A. sine rubrica, paragrapho, titulo, aut quavls distinctione, tenon prcecedentium adhceret B. 6 ingenio B. nigeno in capitulat. p. 150 supra.
1 titul om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 om. D. 3 in add. B.
4 colmnba add. D. 6-6 Om. C. D. F. S. 7 hospitaret C.
8-9 om. C. D. F. S. 10 de add. D. " interrogavit D.
la vaccas D. w.14 ow. C. D. F. S. « buculas C. D. 1° sancti D.
166 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^). LIBER II.
in modum numerus a Sancto prsefinitus supra 17memoratis ambobus 18viris, in centenario vaccarum et quinario expletus numero, nullo modo superaddi potuit: nam ilia, quse supra prasfinitum excedebant numerum, diversis prserepta casibus, nusquam comparuerant, excepto eo quod aut in usus proprios familise, aut 19etiam in opus eleemosynee, expendi poterat. In hac itaque narratione, ut in ceteris, 20virtutis miraculum et prophetia simul aperte ostenditur : nam in magna vaccarum ampliatione benedictionis pariter et orationis virtus apparet, et in prsefinitione numeri prophetalis praescientia.
intmtu rj
CAP. ~^OL IE venerandus 4 supra memoratum Columbanum, queni de xxin. paupere virtus benedictionis 5ejus 6ditem fecit, valde dfligebat; quia ei multa pietatis officia praebebat. Erat autem illo 7in tempore quidam malefactor homo, bonorum persecutor, 8nomine 9Joan, films Conallis filii 10Domnallis, de regio nGabrani ortus genere. Hie supradictum 12 Columbanum, sancti amicum Columbse, persequebatur ; domumque ejus, omnibus in ea inventis, devastaverat, ereptis, non semel, sed bis inimiciter agens. Unde forte non immerito eidem maligno accidit viro, ut tertia vice post ejusdem domus tertiam deprsedationem, beatum virum, quern quasi longius 13positum dispexerat, proprius appropinquantem, ad navem revertens prseda onustus cum sociis, obvium haberet. Quern cum Sanctus de suis corriperet malis, praedamque deponere rogans suaderet, ille, immitis 14et 15 insuadibilis permanens, Sanctum dispexit, navimque cum prasda ascendens, beatum virum subsannabat et deridebat. Quern Sanctus ad mare 16 usque 17prosecutus est, vitreasque intrans aquas usque ad genua aequoreas, levatis ad ccelum 18ambis manibus, Christum intente precatur, qui suos glorificantes se glorificat electos. 19Est vero ille portus, in quo post egressum persecutoris stans paulisper Dominum exorabat, in loco qui Scotice 20vocitatur 21 Ait-Chambas 22 Art-
17.18 memorato viro C. D. F. S. 19 om, C. <2° virtutibus C.
1 tiiul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll.
2-3 interitu iohannis filii couallis ea<leui die qua sanctum speruens dchonoravit B. 4 columba add. D. 5 om. B.
6 divitem C. D. 7 om. D. s-10 om. C. D. F. S.
9 iohannes B. 10 domnalli B. " om. G. D. F. S.
12 coin A. 13 om. C. D. F. S. H om. G.
15 insuadibiliter C. 1G om. D. 17 secutus D.
18 A. B. ambabus C. D. S. manu correctors F. 1J-22 om. C. D. F. S.
20 vocatur B. 2L~-'2 A. ad cambasi arcl muircoll B.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^. LIBER II. 167
muirchol. 23 Turn 24proinde Sanctus, expleta oratione, ad aridam reversus, in eminentiore cum comitibus 25 sedet loco : ad quos ilia in hora formidabilia valde profert verba, dicens, Hie 26 miserabilis 27 humuncio, qui Christum in suis dispexit servis, ad portum, a quo nuper coram vobis emigravit, nunquam revertetur ; sed nee ad alias, quas appetit, terras, subita prseventus morte, cum suis 28perveniet malis cooperatoribus. Hodie. quam mox videbitis, de nube 29a borea 30 orta immitis immissa procella 31eum cum sociis 32submerget; nee de eis etiam unus 33remanebit 34 fabulator. Post aliquantum paucularum ^ interventum morarum, die serenissima, et ecce de mari 36oborta, sicut Sanctus 37 dixerat, nubes, cum 38 magno fragore venti emissa, raptorem cum prseda inter Maleam et 39 Colosum 40 insulas 41 inveniens, subito turbato 42 submersit 43 medio mari : nee ex eis, juxta verbum Sancti, qui navi 44inerant 45 etiam unus ^evasit; mirumque in modum, toto circumquaque manente tranquillo sequore, talis una rapaces ad inferna submersos prostravit procella, misere quidem, sed digne.
Jferabarhxr 0ubita m.arte
quoque 4in tempore, vir sanctus,5 quendam de nobili CAP; Pictorum genere exulem, 6Tarainum 7 nomine, in manum ali- XXIV cujus 8Feradachi ditis viri, 9qui in 10Ilea insula nhabitabat, diligenter assignans commendavit, ut in ejus comitatu, quasi unus de amicis, per aliquot menses conversaretur. Quern cum tali commendatione de sancti manu viri suscepisset commendatum, post paucos dies, dolose agens, crudeli eum jussione trucidavit. Quod immane scelus cum Sancto a commeantibus esset nunciatum, sic respondens profatus est, Non mini sed Deo ille infelix homunculus mentitus est, 12 cujus nomen de libro vitse delebitur. Haec verba 13 sesteo nunc mediante prolo-
23 tune D. 24 deinde C. D. 25 suis add. D. sedit B.
a6 miserabHiter C. 27 homo D. 28 superveniat D.
29 om. C. so ortam B 31 quge add, D.
32 emerget D. 33 remeabit C. 34 famulator D.
35 intervallum D. 3» aborta A. D. ' 37 prsedixerat B.
38 magna B. so ^. colosam B. D. colossum C.
40 insulam C. 41 veniens C. D. 42 mersit D.
43 in add. D. 44 eraut D. 45 vel C. 4C jam add. D.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll.
2-3 alicujus feradachi morte, fraudulent? viri a sancto prsenunciata B.
4 om. D. 5 coiumba add. D. ^ om. C. D. F. S.
8 om. C. D. F. S. 9-u om. C. D. F. S. 10 ilia B.
12 ejus C. is aestivo B. C. D.
quimur tempore, sed autumnal!, antequam de suilla 14 degustet carne, 15arboreo saginata fructu, subita prseventus morte, ad 16infernalia rapietur loca. Haec sancti prophetia viri, cum misello 17 nuntiaret homuncioni, despiciens irrisit Sanctum : et post dies aliquot autumnalium mensium, eo jubente, 18 scrofa nucum impinguata nucleis jugulatur, necdum aliis ejusdem viri jugulatis suibus; de qua celeriter exinterata partem sibi in veru celerius 19assari 20pr8ecipit, ut de ea impatiens 21homo prsegustans, beati viri prophetationem destrueret. Qua vide licet assata, dari sibi poposcit aliquam 22prsegustandam morsus particulam; ad quam percipiendam extensam manum priusquam ad os converteret, expirans, mortuus retro in dorsum cecidit. Et qui viderant, et qui audierant, valde tremefacti, admirantes, Christum in sancto propheta honorificantes glorificarunt.
X5^ alixr 2qtMrt)am tufatto
atjns nomm Ratine JEarat* JJextera
CAP. xxv. ,#H-LIO in tempore, vir beatus, cum alios ecclesiarum persecutores, in 4Hinba commoratus insula, excommunicare coepisset, filios videlicet Conallis filii Domnaill, quorum unus erat 5 loan, de quo supra retulimus ; quidam ex eorundem malefactoribus sociis, diaboli instinctu, cum hasta irruit, ut Sanctum interficeret. Quod prsecavens unus ex fratribus, 6Findluganus nomine, mori paratus pro sancto viro, cuculla ejus indutus intercessit. Sed mirum in modum beati viri tale vestimentum, quasi qusedam munitissima et impenetrabilis lorica, quamlibet fortis viri forti impulsione acutioris hastes, transfigi non potuit, sed illsesum permansit; et qui eo indutus erat, intactus et incolumis tali protectus est munimento. Ille vero sceleratus, qui Manus Dextera, 7 retro repedavit, aestimans quod sanctum hasta transfixisset virum. Post ex ea die completum annum, cum Sanctus in loua commoraretur insula, Usque in hanc diem, ait, integratus est annus, ex qua die Lam-dess, in quantum potuit, Findluganum mea jugulavit vice ; sed et ipse, ut sestimo, hac 8in hora jugulatur. Quod juxta Sancti revelationem eodem momento in ilia insula factum est, quse Latine
14 gustet C. 15 arborum B. 16 inferna D.
17 nunciaretur C. D. 18 A. B. C. 19 praeparari Boll.
20 prsecepit C. 21 om. C. 22 prsegustandum A.
1 capit. totum om. C. D. F. S. titul om. Boll. 2-3 om. B.
4 himba B. » A. iohannes B. 6 A. tinducanus B.
7 dicebatur add. B. latine nominator wo jure Boll. 8 om. B.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER II. 169
Longa vocitari potest: ubi ipse solus Lam-dess, in aliqua virorum utrinque acta belligeratione, Cronani filii 9Baithani jaculo transfixus, in nomine, ut fertur, sancti Columbee emisso, interierat ; et post ejus interitum, belligerare viri cessarunt.
J5b alixr 2ittb*m hmoceniutm
vir beatus, adhuc juvenis diaconus, in parte Lagen- CAP. ensium, divinam addiscens sapientiam, conversaretur, quadam xxvi. accidit die ut 5homo quidam innocuorum immitis persecutor crudelis, quandam in campi planitie filiolam fugientem persequeretur. Quse cum forte 6Gemmanum senem, supra memorati 7juvenis diaconi magistrum, in campo legentem vidisset, ad eum recto cursu, quanta valuit velocitate, confugit. Qui, tali perturbatus subitatione, Columbam eminus legentem advocat, ut ambo, in quantum valuissent, filiam a persequente defenderent. Qui statim superveniens, nulla eis ab eo data reverentia, filiam sub vestimentis eorum lancea jugulavit; et relinquens jacentem mortuam super pedes eorum, aversus abire coepit. Senex 8tum, valde 9tristificatus, conversus ad 10Columbam, Quanto, ait, sancte puer Columba, hoc scelus cum nostra dehonoratione temporis spatio inultum fieri Judex Justus patietur Deus ? Sanctus consequenter hanc in ipsum sceleratorem protulit sententiam, dicens, Eadem hora qua interfectse ab eo filise anima 11ascendit ad ccelos, anima ipsius interfectoris 12descendat ad inferos. Et dicto citius, cum verbo, sicut Ananias coram Petro, sic et ille innocentium jugulator, coram oculis sancti juvenis, in eadem 13mortuus 14cecidit 15terrula. Cujus rumor subitae et formidabilis vindictse continuo per multas Scotise provincias, cum mira sancti diaconi fama, divulgatus est.
16 Hue usque de adversariorum terrificis ultionibus dixisse sufficiat : nunc de bestiis aliqua narrabimus 17pauca.
9 baetani.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. ubi hoc capitulum iii. 4 subnectitur. 2 om. B. 3 qui in laginensium provincia sicut ananias coram petro eodem momento a sancto terribiliter objurgatus cecidit mortuus add. B.
* dum F. 5 bono Q^ c A. B. D. F. germanum C.
7 juvenilis B. 8 time "D. 9 tristiticatnr C.
10 sanctum add. B. n ascendet manu recentiore D.
12 descendet C. descendit in descendet mutat. D. descendit F.
13 om. B. 14-15 est hora D. 1(U7 om. C. D. F. IS.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^l. LIBER II.
xrrati0n.em
CAP. 4,JPi_LIO 5in tempore, vir beatus, cum in 6Scia insula ali-
quantis demoraretur diebus, paulo longius solus, orationis intuitu, separatus a fratribus, silvam ingressus densam, mirse magnitudinis aprum, 7 quern forte venatici canes 8persequebantur, 9obviam habuit. 10Quo viso eminus, Sanctus aspiciens 11eum 12restitit. Turn deinde, invocato Dei nomine, 13sancta elevata manu, cum intent a dicit ad eum oratione, Ulterius hue procedere unoles: 15in 16loco 17 ad quern nunc devenisti 18morere. Quo Sancti in silvis personante verbo, non solum ultra accedere non valuit, sed ante faciem ipsius terribilis ferus, verbi ejus virtute mortificatus, cito corruit.
aquatili* btziix birtute oratixrnt0
CAP. XXVIII.
bin
O quoque in5tempore, cum vir beatus 6in Pictorum provnca per aliquot moraretur dies, necesse habuit fluvium transire 7Nesam : ad cujus cum accessisset ripam, alios ex accolis aspicit misellum humantes 8homunculum; quern, ut 9ipsi sepultores ferebant, qusedam paulo ante nantem aquatilis prseripiens bestia 10morsu momordit ssevissimo : cujus miserum cadaver, sero licet, quidam in alno subvenientes porrectis prseripuere uncinis. Vir e contra 11beatus, hasc audiens, praecipit ut aliquis 12 ex comitibus enatans, 13caupallum, in altera stantem ripa, ad se navigando reducat. Quo sancti audito prsedicabilis viri prsecepto, Lugneus 14Mocumin, nihil moratus, obsecundans, depositis excepta vestimentis tunica, immittit se in aquas. Sed bellua, quae prius non tarn satiata, quam in 15pr3edam accensa, in profundo fluminis latitabat, sentiens eo 16nante turbatam supra
i titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll.
2-3 apri mortification e qui a saucto emitms cecidit signo prostratus dominicse crucis B.
4 capitul. totuin ad lib. iii. c. 4 Iransfertur In C. D. F. S.
5 om. D. 6 A. D. sua B. sicia C. 7-8 om. B, 9 tune add. B. 10-12 om. D. n turn B.
13 om. D. 14 nolis C. 15-16 nisi D. 17 hoc add. B. quantotius add. B.
1 titul. om. G. D. F. S. Boll.
a-3 alia aquatili bestia qua eo orante et manum e contra levante retro
repulsa est ne lugiieo natanti vicino noceret B. 4-6 om. D.
6 columba add. D. 7 nessam B. 8 hominem D. 9 ipsius C. 10 raptu B. n sanctus S.
12 e C. 13 A. B. F. S. caupulum C. caballum D.
14 om. C. D. F. S. 15 preeda C. 10 uatante B.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER II. l7l
aquam, subito emergens, natatilis ad hominem in medio natantem alveo, cum ingenti fremitu, aperto 17cucurrit ore. 18Vir 19tum beatus videns, omnibus qui inerant, tarn barbaris quam etiam fratribus, nimio terrore 20perculsis, cum salutare, 21sancta 22elevata manu, in vacuo 23aere crucis pinxisset signum, invocato Dei nomine, feroci imperavit bestise dicens, 24Noles ultra progredi, nee hominem tangas ; retro citius revertere. Turn 25vero bestia, hac Sancti audita voce, retrorsum, ac si funibus retraheretur, velociori 26recursu fugit 27tremefacta : 28quse prius Lugneo nanti eo usque ^appropinquavit, ut hominem inter et bestiam non amplius esset quam unius contuli longitudo. Fratres turn, 30recessisse videntes bestiam, Lugneumque commilitonem ad eos intactum et incolumem in 3lnavicula reversum, cum ingenti admiratione glorificaverunt Deum in beato viro. Sed et gentiles barbari, qui ad prsesens 32 inerant, ejusdem miraculi magnitudine, 83quod et ipsi viderant, compulsi, Deum magnificaverunt Christianorum.
Itujtx* in0ul# terrttla ne iteittcepa in t& alktxt itoxemit3
die ejusdem 4aastei temporis quo ad 5Dominum CAP. transiit, ad visitandos fratres Sanctus plaustro vectus pergit, xxix. qui in campulo occidentali 6 louse insulas opus materiale exercebant. Post quorum consolatoria a Sancto prolata alloquia, in eminentiore stans loco, sic vaticinatur dicens, Ex hac, filioli, die, scio quod in hujus campuli locis nunquam poteritis in futurum videre faciem meam. Quos, hoc audito verbo, valde tristificatos videns, consolari eos in quantum fieri possit conatus, ambas manus elevat sanctas, et totam hanc nostram benedicens insulam, ait, Ex hoc hujus horulse momento 7 omnium viperarum venenanullo modo, in hujus insulae 8terrulis, aut hominibus aut pecoribus nocere poterunt, quamdiu Christi mandata ejusdem commorationis incolse observaverint.
17 occurrit C. 18-19 tune vir D. 20 percussis D.
21 devota C. 22 om. C. 23 et in add. C.
24 noli C. 25 om. G. 2G cursu C. D. ~7—8 retractione factaque B.
29 modo propinquavit D. 30 recessisset B.
31 naviculam B. 32 erant D. ^ qui B.
1 capitul. totum om. C. D. F. S. tituL om. Boll.
2-3 insule ione viperinis serpentibus qui ex qua die sanctus earn benedixit nulli hominum iiec etiam pecoribus nocere potuere B.
4 aestivi B. 5 om. B. ° ione B.
7 omnia B. 8 terrula B.
172 VITA SANCTI COLUM1LE. LIBER II.
mm 'jSominuft anew 0ignaoii0 bmtbida.
CAP. xxx. JHLLIO 3in tempore, quidam frater 4 nomine Molua, Nepos 5Briuni, ad Sanctum eadem scribentem hora veniens, dicit ad eum, Hoc quod in manu habeo ferrum, quaeso benedicas. Qui paululum extensa manu 6sancta cum calamo signans benedixit, ad librum de quo scribebat facie conversa. Quo videlicet supradicto fratre cum ferro benedicto recedente, Sanctus percunctatur dicens, Quod fratri ferrum benedixi? 7Diormitius, pius ejus ministrator, Pugionem, ait, ad jugulandos tauros vel boves benedixisti. Qui e contra respondens 8infit, Ferrum quod benedixi, confido in Domino meo, 9quia nee homini nee pecori nocebit. Quod Sancti firmissimum eadem hora comprobatum est verbum. Nam idem frater, 10 vallum egressus monasterii, bovem jugulare volens, tribus firmis vicibus, et forti impulsione conatus, nee tamen 11potuit etiam ejus transfigere pellem. Quod monachi scientes experti, ejusdem pugionis 12 ferrum, ignis resolutum calore, per omnia monasterii ferramenta liquefactum diviserunt illinitum ; nee postea ullam potuere carnem vulnerare, illius Sancti 13manente benedictionis fortitudine.
1 |p£ ilixrrmitii
CAP. ^LLIO 2in tempore, 3Diormitius, Sancti pius 4minister, usque ad xxxi. mortem segrotavit : ad quern, in extremis 5constitutum, Sanctus 6visitans accessit; Christique invocato nomine, infirmi ad 7lectulum stans, et pro eo 8exorans, dixit, Exorabilis mihi fias precor, Domine 9mi, et animam mei ministratoris pii de hujus carnis habitaculo, me non auferas superstite. Et hoc dicto aliquantisper conticuit. 10Tum proinde hanc de sacro ore profert vocem dicens, Hie meus non solum hac vice nunc non morietur puer, sed etiam post meum annis vivet multis obitum. Cujus haec exoratio est exaudita : nam 11Diormitius, statim post Sancti exaudibilem precem, plenam recuperavit salutem ; per multos quoque annos post Sancti 12ad Dominum emigrationem super^ vixit.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. 2 capital, totum in i.
8 inquit D. 11 poterat D. S.
1 titul. om., cap. xv. 2 om. D. 5 om. D. 8 orans D. 11 diarmatus D.
S. Boll. 15 relegatur. C. D. F. S. 6 sua add. D. 9 quod C. 10 i* GOT. C.
continuatur C. D. F. S. Boll. 3 diarmatus D. 6 visitandum D. 9 am. D. 12 columbe arfc/. D.
3 om. D. 7 diarmatus D. murum D. nullani S. 13 remanente D.
4 •ministrator C. D. 7 lectum S. 10 cum D.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER II. 173
Jgb 2Jfinteni ftlii JUbxr in sxtrtmi* pxrsiti sanitate.
JEClJO quoque in tempore, Sanctus quum trans Britannicum CAP. iter ageret Dorsum, quidam juvenis, unus comitum, subita XXXTT. molestatus segrimonia, ad extrema usque perductus 3est, nomine 4Fintenus : pro quo commilitones Sanctum msesti rogitant ut oraret. Qui statim, eis compatiens, sanctas cum intenta oratione expandit ad coelum manus, 58egrotumque benedicens, ait, Hie, pro quo interpellatis, juvenculus vita vivet longa ; et post omnium 6 nostrum qui hie adsumus exitum superstes remanebit, in bona moriturus senecta. Quod beati viri vaticinium plene per omnia expletum est : nam idem juvenis, illius postea monasterii fundator, quod dicitur 7Kailli-au-inde, in bona senectute prsesentern terminavit vitam.
1 5* ptt*r0 qtiem mortmtm bit teraranbti* in Chrati Domini nrrmine 0tt#dtatoit
3ELLO in tempore, quo sanctus Columba in Pictorum provin- CAP< cia per aliquot demorabatur dies, quidam cum tota plebeius xxxm. familia verbum vitse per interpretatorem sancto prsedicante viro, audiens credidit, credensque baptizatus est, maritus cum marita liberisque et familiaribus. Et post aliquantulum diecularum intervallum paucarum unus filiorum patrisfamilias, gravi correptus aegritudine, usque ad confinia mortis et vitse perductus est. Quern cum magi morientem vidissent, parentibus cum magna exprobratione coeperunt illudere, suosque, quasi fortiores, magnificare deos, Christianorum vero, tanquam infirmiori, 2Deo derogare. Quae omnia cum beato intimarentur viro, zelo suscitatus Dei, ad domum cum suis comitibus amici pergit plebeii, ubi parentes nuper defunctse prolis msestas 3celebrabant exequias. Quos Sanctus valde tristificatos videns, confirmans dictis 4compellat consolatoriis, ut nullo modo de divina 5omnipotentia dubitarent. Consequenterque percunctatur, dicens, In quo hospitiolo corpus defuncti jacet pueri ? Pater turn orbatus Sanctum sub msestum 6deducit culmen, qui statim, omnem foris exclusam relinquens catervam, solus msestificatum intrat habitaculum, ubi illico, flexis genibus, faciem ubertim lacrymis irri-
1 capitul. totum om. C. D. F. S. titul om. Boll. 3 om. B. 4 fentenus B. 6 nostrorura A. Colg. Boll, nrm B. 7 A. kailli anfind B. kailli, abinde Boll. 1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 om. C. 4 compellavit D. f> potentia D.
2 fenteni B. 4 segroque B.
3 celebrant B. C. 0 deduxit D.
gans, Christum precatur Dominum ; et post ingeniculationem surgens, oculos convertit ad mortuum, dicens, In nomine Domini Jesu Christi resuscitare, et sta super pedes tuos. Cum hac Sancti honorabili voce anima ad corpus rediit, defunctusque apertis revixit oculis, cujus manum tenens apostolicus homo erexit, et in 7statione stabiliens, secum domum egressus 8deducit, et parentibus redivivum assignavit. Clamor turn populi attollitur, 9plangor in 10 Isetationem convertitur, Deus Christianorum nglorificatur. Hoc noster Columba cum 12Elia et 13Eliseo prophetis 14habeat sibi commune virtutis miraculum ; et cum Petro et Paulo et 15 Joanne apostolis partem honoris similem in defunctorum resuscitatione ; et inter utrosque, hoc est, prophetarum et apostolorum ccetus, honorificam coelestis patrise sedem homo propheticus et apostolicus aeternalem cum Christo, qui regnat cum Patre in unitate Spiritus Sancti per omnia saecula 16s8eculorum17.
xrb anriU* 2xthniiontm inttxmzio, ti $w libzx&twnt satmtxr.
CAP. [H^ODEM 3in tempore, vir venerandus quandam a Broichano xxxiv. magO 4gco^cam postulavit servam humanitatis miseratione liberandam : quam cum ille 5duro valde et 6stolido 7retentaret 8animo, 9Sanctus ad eum locutus, hoc 10profatur modo, Scito, Broichane, scito quia si mihi hanc peregrinam nliberare 12cap- | tivam nolueris, priusquam de hac 13revertar provincia, ucitius ; morieris. Et hoc coram 15Brudeo rege dicens, domum egressus regiam, ad Nesam venit fluvium, de quo videlicet fluvio lapidem attollens candidum, ad comites, Signate, ait, hunc 16 candidum lapidem, per quern Dominus in 17hoc gentili populo 18multas segrotorum perficiet sanitates. Et hoc 19effatus verbum consequenter intulit, inquiens, Nunc Broichanus 20fortiter concussus est, nam angelus de ccelo missus, graviter ilium percutiens, vitream in manu ejus, de qua bibebat, confregit in multa 21biberam fragmenta; ipsum vero anhelantem segra reliquit
7 stationem C. 8 deduxit D. 9 planctus B. D. 10 leetitiam B. C. 11 gloriticatus est D. 12 helia B. D. 13 heliseo B. helizeo D. 14 habet D. 15 iohanne B. 10 om. C. D. F. S. 17 amen add. B.
1 titul om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 retcntionis B. 3 om. D.
4 scotticam B. 6 latro B. ° fortiter B. 7 retardaret D.
8 om. B. 9 libertati dare interim, et manu reccntiori D. 10 profatus est D. ll libere A. D. 12 om. B.
13 revertaris F. H dimittere add. D. 15 bruideo A.
16 om. D. 17 om. D. 18 om. D.
1!) affatus D. 20 om,. D. '* om. C.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB,^. LIBER IT. 175
suspiria, morti vicinum. Hoc in loco paululum expectemus binos regis nuncios, ad nos celeriter missos, ut Broichano morienti citius subveniamus : nunc Broichanus, formidabiliter correptus, 22ancillulam liberare est paratus. Adhuc Sancto haec loquente verba, ecce, sicut 23praedixit, duo a rege missi equites adveniunt, 24omniaque quse in regis 25munitione de Broichano, juxta Sancti vaticinium, sunt acta, enarrantes ; et de poculi confractione, 26et de magi correptione, et de 27servulse parata absolutione ; hocque intulerunt, dicentes, Eex et ejus familiares nos ad te niiserunt, ut nutricio ejus 28 Broichano subvenias, mox morituro. Quibus auditis legatorum verbis, Sanctus binos de coinitum numero ad regem, cum lapide a se benedicto, mittit, dicens, Si in primis promiserit se 29Broichanus famulam liberaturum, turn deinde hie lapillus intingatur in aqua, et sic de eo bibat, et continue salutem recuperabit : si vero renuerit 30refragans absolvi servam, statim morietur. Duo missi, verbo Sancti obsequentes, ad aulam 31deveniunt regiam, verba viri 32venerabilis regi enarrantes. Quibus 33intimatis regi et nutricio ejus ^Broichano, valde expaverunt : 35eademque horaliberata famula sancti legatis viri assignatur, lapis in aqua intingitur, mirumque in modum, contra naturam, 36lithus in aquis supernatat, quasi pomum, vel nux, nee potuit sancti benedictio viri submergi. De quo Broichanus natante bibens lapide, statim a vicina rediit morte, integramque carnis recuperavit salutem. Talis vero lapis, postea, in thesauris regis reconditus, multas in populo segritudinum sanitates, similiter in aqua natans intinctus, Domino miserante, effecit. Mirum 37dictu, ab his segrotis, quorum vitae terminus supervenerat, requisitus idem lapis nullo modo reperiri poterat. Sic et in die obitus Brudei regis qu^erebatur, nee tamen in eodem loco, ubi fuerat prius recondi tus, inveniebatur.
toati bin ttnttra Iprxruhairom magttm xttx&Q&timiz, tt btnti canhznttzit.
supra memorata peracta, quadam die 2 Broichanus 3ad 4sanctum proloquens 5virum 6infit, Dicito mihi, Columba, quo
22 ancillam C. D. 23 prsedixerat C. 24 omnia C. D.
25 motione C. D. notione inepte Messingliam.
26 de broichano juxta add. C. 27 servse D. 28 baichano B. brochano D. 29 brochanus D. 30 om. D.
31 devenerunt D. 32 venerabiliter C. 33 auditis B.
34 brochano D. 35 eadem C. 30 lapis C. litatus D. 37 que add. D. 1 tltul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 brochanus D. 3-4 om. D. 6-6 vir inquit D.
176 VITA SANCTI COLUMBJ3. LIBER II.
tempore proponis enavigare ? Sanctus, Tertia, ait, die, Deo volente et vita comite, navigationem proponimus incipere. 6Broichanus e contra, Non poteris, ait ; nam ego ventum tibi contrarium facere, caliginemque umbrosam superinducere pos sum, Sanctus, Omnipotentia Dei, ait, omnium 7dominatur, in cujus nomine nostri omnes motus, ipso gubernante, diriguntur. Quid plura ? 8 Sanctus die eadem, sicut 9corde proposuit, ad lacum 10Nesa3 fluminis longum, multa prosequente caterva, venit. Magi vero gaudere turn coepere, magnam videntes superinductam caliginem, et contrarium cum tempestate flatum. Nee mirum hsec interdum arte dsemonum posse fieri, Deo permittente, ut etiam venti et sequora in asperius concitentur. Sic enim aliquando deemoniorum legiones sancto Germano episcopo, de Sinu Gallico, causa humanae salutis, ad Britanniam naviganti, medio in sequore occurrerant, et opponentes pericula procellas concitabant, ccelum ndiemque tenebrarum caligine obducebant. Quse tamen omnia, sancto orante Germano, dicto citius, sedata detersa cessarunt caligine. Noster itaque Columba, videns contra se elementa concitari furentia, Christum 12invocat Dominum, 13cymbulamque ascendens, nautis hsesitantibus, ipse constantior factus velum contra ventum jubet subrigi. Quo facto, omni inspectante turba, navigium flatus contra 14 ad versos mira 15vectum occurrit velocitate. Et post haud grand e intervallum venti contrarii ad itineris ministeria cum omnium admiratione revertuntur. Et sic per totam illam diem flabris lenibus 16secundis 17flantibus, beati cymba viri optatum 18pervecta ad portum 19pulsa est. Perpendat itaque lector quantus et qualis idem vir venerandus, 20in quo Deus omnipotens, talibus prsescriptis miraculorum virtutibus, coram plebe 21gentilica illustre suum manifestavit nomen.
sttbita:
CAP. JfB-LIO 4in tempore, hoc est, in prima Sancti fatigatione itin-
xxxvi. eris ad regem Brudeum, casu contigit ut idem rex, fas'tu elatus
regio, suse munitionis, superbe agens, in primo beati adventii
viri, non aperiret portas. Quod ut cognovit homo Dei, cum
6 Broclianus D. 7 dominator D. 8 om. D.
9 om. C. 10 B. nisae A. C. F. in se D. n que add. C.
12 invocaverat D. 13 cimbalumqae D. 14 om. C.
15 factum B. 16 secundi C. ir ventis D.
18 perfecta B. provecta C. 19 appulsa B.
20 fuerit C. D. F. S. 21 gentili D.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. 2-3 om,. B. 4 om,. D.
VITA SANCTI COLUMBvE. LIBER II. 177
comitibus ad valvas portaram accedens, in primis Dominic crucis imprimens signum, turn deinde manum pulsans contra ostia ponit ; quee continue sponte, retro retrusis fortiter seris, cum omni celeritate 5aperta 6sunt. Quibus statim apertis, Sanctus consequenter cum 7sociis 8intrat. Quo cognito, rex cum senatu valde pertimescens, domum egressus, obviam cum veneratione beato pergit viro, pacificisque verbis blande sadmodum compellat : et ex ea in posterum die sanctum et venerabilem virum idem regnator, suse omnibus vitse reliquis diebus, valde magna honoravit, ut decuit, 10 honorificentia.
Jjri 3ribxrntm
itidem 4in tempore, vir beatus 5aliquantis in Scotia CAP; diebus 6conversatus, ad visitandos fratres qui in monasterio 7Duum Ruris commanebant Bivulorum, ab eis invitatus, perrexit. Sed casu aliquo accidit ut eo 8ad ecclesiam accedente, claves non reperirentur oratorii. Cum vero Sanctus 9de non repertis adhuc clavibus et de obseratis foribus inter se conquirentes alios audisset, ipse ad ostium appropinquans, Potens est 10Dominus, ait, 11 domum suam servis etiam sine clavibus aperire suis. Cum hac turn voce subito retro retrusis forti motu pessulis, sponte aperta janua, Sanctus cum omnium admiratione ecclesiam ante omnes ingreditur, et hospitaliter a fratribus susceptus, honorabiliter ab omnibus 11veneratur.
menbkrr ad z&ntiws 0ti!bem bentbixit
in tempore quidam ad Sanctum 4plebeius venit CAP. pauperrimus, qui in ea habitabat regione quse Stagni litoribus xxxvm. 5Aporici 6est contermina. Huic ergo miserabili viro, qui unde maritam et parvulos cibaret non habebat, vir beatus petenti, miseratus, ut potuit, quandam largitus eleemosynam, ait, Miselle humuncio, tolle de silva contulum vicina, et ad me 7oeyus defer.
5-6 deposuit D. 7 suis add. C. 8 intravit C.
8 ad don) urn D. 10 reverentia D.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 om. B. 3 rivulorum B.
4 om. D. 5 columba add. D. 6 versatus C.
7 divini C. 8 om. S. 9 columba add. D.
10 deus D. n veneratus est D.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2-3 quodam D. 4 columbam add. D.
5 aporicie D. 6 om. D. 7 citius C. D.
M
VITA SANCTI COLUMB/E. LIBER II.
Obsecundans miser, juxta Sancti jussionem, detulit materiam ; quam Sanctus excipiens in veru exacuit; quodque propria exacuminans manu, 8benedicens, 9et illi assignans 10inopi dixit, Hoc veru diligenter custodi, quod, ut credo, nee homini, nee alicui pecori, nocere poterit, exceptis feris bestiis quoque et piscibus ; et quamdiu talem habueris sudem, nunquam in domo tua cervinoa carnis cibatio abundans deerit. Quod audiens miser nmendiculus, valde gavisus, domum revertitur, veruque in remotis iniixit 12terrulae locis, quae silvestres frequentabant ferse ; et vicina transacta nocte, mane primo 13pergit re visit are volens veru, in quo mirse magnitudinis cervum cecidisse reperit utransfixum. Quid plura ? Nulla, ut nobis traditum est, transire poterat dies, qua non aut cervum, aut cervam, aut aliquam reperiret in veru infixo cecidisse bestiam. Eepleta quoque tota de ferinis carnibus domo, vicinis superflua vendebat, quse hospitium suae domus capere non poterat. Sed tamen diaboli invidia per sociam, ut Adam, et hunc etiam miserum invenit ; quse, non quasi prudens, sed fatua, taliter ad maritum locuta est, Tolle de terra veru ; nam si in eo homines, aut etiam pecora, perierint, tu 15ipse et ego cum nostris liberis aut occidemur aut captivi ducemur. Ad haec maritus inquit, Non ita 16fiet ; nam sanctus vir mini, benedicens sudem, dixit, quod nunquam hominibus aut etiam pecoribus nocebit. Post hsec verba mendicus, uxori consentiens, pergit, et 17tollens de terra veru, intra domum, quasi 18amens, illud secus parietem posuit ; in quo mox domesticus ejus incidens canis disperiit. Quo pereunte, rursum marita, Unus, ait, filiorum tuorum incidet in sudem et peribit. Quo audito ejus verbo, maritus veru de pariete removens ad silvam reportat, et in densioribus infixit dumis, ut putabat ubi a nullo posset animante offendi. 18Sed postera re versus die capream in eo cecidisse et periisse 19 reperit. Inde quoque illud removens, in 20fluvio qui Latine dici potest Nigra 21Dea, juxta ripam sub aquis abscondens infixit : quod alia revisitans die, esocem in eo mirse magnitudinis transfixum et retentum invenit ; quern de flumine elevans vix solus ad domum portare poterat, veruque secum de aqua simul reportans, extrinsecus in superiore tecti affixit loco; in quo et corvus 22devolatus, impetu lapsus dis periit jugulatus. Quo facto, miser, fatuee conjugis consilio depravatus, veru tollens de tecto, assumpta securi, in plures
8 atque add. ~D. 11 mendicus B. 14 transmission C. 17 tollit C. 20 fluvium B.
9 om. D. 12 terra C. 15 et add. 0. 18 amans B. C. D. 21 cleca D.
10 que add. P. 13 perrexit D. 16 fiat D. ™-w om. Boll.
22 de volatus C. devolutus F. Boll.
concidens particulas, 23in ignem projecit. 24Et post, quasi suse paupertatis amisso non mediocri solatio, remendicare, ut meritus, coepit. Quod videlicet penurise rerum solamen ssepe superius in veru memorato dependebat, quod pro pedicis, et retibus, et omni venationis et piscationis genere servatum posset sufficere, beati viri donatum benedictione, quodque amissum miser plebeius, eo ditatus pro tempore, ipse cum tota familiola, sero licet, omni bus de cetero deplanxit reliquis diebus 25vitse.
l*§z lariaticr tttre xjmm salaria atatwlit ttttba zi fo-enilia ileram repr#0*nta:bit in ynaxe loco.
in tempore, beati legatus viri, Lugaidus nomine, 2cogno- CAP. mento 3Laitirus, ad Scotiam jussus navigare proponens, inter xxxix. navalia navis Sancti instrumenta utrem lactarium qusesitum inveniens, sub mari, congestis super eum non parvis lapidibus, madefaciendum posuit ; veniensque ad Sanctum quod de utre fecit intimavit. Qui subridens inquit, Uter, quern ut dicis sub undis posuisti, hac vice ut sestimo non te ad 4Hiberniam comitabitur. Cur, ait, non mecum in navi comitem eum habere potero? Sanctus, Altera, inquit, die quod res probabit scies. Itaque Lugaidus mane postera die ad retrahendum de mari utrem pergit ; quern tamen salacia noctu subtraxit unda. Quo non reperto, ad Sanctum reversus tristis, flexis 5in 6terram genibus, suam confessus est negligentiam. Cui Sanctus, ilium consolatus, ait, Noli frater pro fragilibus contristari rebus : uter quern salacia sustulit 7unda, ad suum locum, post tuum egressum, reportabit 8venilia. Eadem die post Lugaidi de 9Ioua insula emigrationem, hora transacta nona, Sanctus circumstantibus sic profatus, ait, Nunc ex vobis unus ad sequor pergat; utrem, de quo Lugaidus querebatur, et quern salacia 10sustulerat unda, mine venilia retrahens, in loco unde subtractus est nrepr8esentavit. Quo Sancti audito verbo, quidam alacer juvenis ad oram cucurrit maris, repertumque utrem, sicut prsedixerat Sanctus, cursu reversus concito reportans, valde gavisus, coram Sancto, cum omnium qui ibidem 12inerant admiratione, assignavit. In his, ut ssepe dictum est, binis narrationibus superius descriptis, quamlibet in parvis rebus,
23 comminuit et add. D.
24'25 et ipse post modum iterum factus est pauper sicut prius et usque acl diem mortis sue cum tota familia sudem lugebant I).
1 titul. om. C. F. S. Boll, omnia usque ad quos enim deus in cap. 42 inferius desunt in D. 2-3 om. C. F. 8. 4 everniam A.
5-6 om. B. 7 om. C. 8 venalia C.
!) A. C. F. S. iona B. 10 sustulerit F. » reprwsentabit F. 12 erant C.
180 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^:. LIBER II.
sude videlicet et litre, 13prophetia sinml et virtutis miraculum comitari cernuntur. 14Nunc ad alia 15tendamus.
l^z ffijibran* 23tmttbineti prqphetatitf mndi torn.
CAP XL JpstLIO ID tempore, cum vir sanctus in 3Ioua conversaretur insula, homo quidam plebeius nuper sumpto clericatus habitu, de Scotia transnavigans, ad insulanum beati monasterium viri devenit. Quern cum alia die Sanctus in hospitio 4residem hospitantem invenisset solum, primum de patria, de gente, et causa itineris, a Sancto interrogatus ; de 5Connachtarum regione oriundum se professus est ; et ad delenda in peregrinatione peccamina longo fatigatum itinere. Cui cum Sanctus, ut de suse pcenitudinis exploraret qualitate, dura et laboriosa ante oculos monasterialia proposuisset imperia ; ipse consequenter ad Sanc tum respondens, inquit, Paratus sum ad omnia quaecunque mihi jubere volueris, quamlibet durissima, quamlibet indigna. Quid plura ? Eadem hora omnia sua confessus peccata, leges pcenitentiae, flexis in terrain genibus, se impleturum promisit. Cui Sanctus, Surge, ait, 6et reside. Turn deinde residentem sic compellat, Septennem debebis in Ethica pcenitentiam explere terra. Ego et tu usquequo numerum expleas septennalium annorum, Deo Donante, victuri sumus. Quibus Sancti confortatus dictis, grates Deo agens, ad Sanctum, Quid me, ait, agere oportet de quodam meo falso juramento ? nam ego quendam in patria commanens trucidavi homuncionem; post cujus trucidationem, quasi reus in vinculis retentus sum. Sed mihi quidam 7cognationalis homo ejusdem parentelae, valde opibus opulentus, subveniens, me opportune et de vinculis vinculatum absolvit, et de morte reum eripuit. Cui post absolutionem cum firma juratione promiseram me eidem omnibus mese diebus vitse serviturum. Sed post aliquot dies in servitute peractos, servire homini dedignatus, et Deo potius obsecundare malens, desertor illius carnalis domini, juramentum infringens, 8discessi, et ad te, Domino meum prosperante iter, perveni. Ad haec Sanctus, virum pro talibus valde angi videns, sicuti prius prophetans, profatur, inquiens, Post septenorum, sicut tibi dic tum est, expletionem annorum, diebus ad me hue, 9quadragesimalibus venies, ut in Paschali solemnitate ad altarium accedas,
13 prophetic* C. 14-15 om. B.
1 capitul. totum om. C. D. F. S. titul. om. Boll. 2 harundineti A. B.
3 iona B. 4 residenti B. 5 conactarum B.
6 interim. B. 7 cognition alis A. 8 decessi A.
9 qnadragensimalibus A.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER II. 181
et Eucharistiam sumas. Quid verbis immoramur ? Sancti viri imperils per omnia pcenitens obsequitur peregrinus. 10Iisdemque diebus ad monasterium Campi missus u Lunge, ibidem plene expletis in pcenitentia septem annis, ad Sanctum, diebus quadragesimse, juxta ejus priorem propheticam jussionem, revertitur. Et post peractam Paschse solemnitatem, in qua jussus ad altare accessit, ad Sanctum de supra interrogans memorato venit juramento. Cui Sanctus interroganti talia vaticinans responsa profatur, Tuus de quo mini aliquando dixeras, carnalis superest dominus ; paterque et mater et fratres adhuc vivunt. Nunc ergo prseparare te debes ad navigationem. Et inter hsec verba macheram belluinis ornatam dolatis protulit dentibus, dicens, Hoc accipe tecum portandum munus, quod domino pro tua redemptione offeres; sed tamen nullo modo accipiet. Habet enim bene moratam 12conjugem, cujus salubri obtemperans consilio, te eadem die gratis, sine pretio, libertate donabit, cingulum ex more captivi de tuis resolvens lumbis. Sed hac anxietate solutus, aliam a latere surgentem non effugies sollicitudinem : nam tui fratres undique 13coarctabunt te, ut tanto tempore patri debitam, sed neglectani, redintegres pietatem. Tu tamen, sine ulla hsesitatione voluntati eorum obsecundans, patrem 14senem pie excipias confovendum. Quod onus, quamlibet tibi videatur grave, contristari non debes, quia mox depones : nam ex qua die incipies patri ministrare, alia in fine ejusdem septimanse mortuum sepelies. Sed post patris sepultionem, iterum fratres te acriter compellent, ut matri etiam debita pietatis impendas obsequia. De qua profecto compulsione tuus junior te absolvet frater ; qui tua vice paratus omne pietatis opus, quod debes, pro te matri serviens reddet. Post hsec verba supra memoratus frater, Libranus nomine, accepto munere, Sancti ditatus benedictione perrexit ; et ad patriam perveniens, omnia, secundum Sancti vaticinium, invenit vere probata. Nam statim, ut pretium suse offerens libertatis ostendit domino, accipere volenti refragans uxor, Ut quid nobis, ait, hoc accipere quod sanctus pretium misit Columba ? Hoc non sumus digni. Liberetur ei pius hie gratis ministrator. Magis nobis sancti viri benedictio proficiet, quam hoc quod 15offertur pretium. Audiens itaque maritus hoc maritse salubre consilium, continuo gratis liberavit servum. Qui post, juxta prophetiam Sancti, compulsus a fratribus, patrem, cui ministrare ccepit, septima die mortuum sepelivit. Quo sepulto, ut et matri debite deserviret compellitur. Sed subveniente juniore fratre, sicut Sanctus
10 hisdemque A. B. n longe B. 12 cojugem A.
13 coartabant B. 14 tuum add. B. 15 offert Colg. Boll.
1 82 VITA SANCTI COLUMB.E. LIBElt II.
praedixerat, vicem ejus adimplente, 16absolvitur. Qui ad fratres sic dicebat, Nullo modo nos 17oportet fratrem in patria retentare, 18 qui per septem annos apud sanctum Columbam in 19 Britannia salutem exercuit animae. Post quae, ab omnibus quibus moles- .tabatur, absolutus, matri et fratribus valedicens, liber reversus, ad locum qui Scotice vocitatur 20Daire 21Calgaich pervenit. Ibidemque navim sub velo a portu emigrantem inveniens, clamitans de litore rogitat, ut ipsum nautae cum eis susciperent navigaturum 22ad 23Britanniam. Sed ipsi non suscipientes refutaverunt eum, quia non 24erant de monachis sancti Columbae. Turn deinde ad eundem venerabilem loquens virum, quamlibet longe absentem, tamen spiritu prsesentem, ut mox res probavit, Placetne tibi, ait, sancte Columba, ut hi nautae, qui me tuum non suscipiunt socium, plenis velis et secundis enavigent ventis ? In hac voce ventus, qui ante illis erat secundus, dicto citius versus est contrarius. Inter haec videntes virum eundem e regione secus flumen cursitantem, subito inter se inito consilio, ad ipsum de navi inclamitantes dicunt nautici, Fortassis idcirco citius in contrarium nobis conversus est ventus 25quia te suscipere renuerimus. Quod si etiam nunc te ad nos in navim invitaverimus, contraries nunc nobis flatus in secundos convertere poteris ? His auditis, viator ad eos dixit, Sanctus Columba, ad quern vado, et cui hue usque per septem annos obsecundavi, si me susceperitis, prosperum, vobis ventum a Domino suo, virtute orationum, impetrare potent. Quibus auditis, navim terrae approximant, ipsumque ad eos in earn invitant. Qui statim, rate ascensa, In nomine Omnipotentis, ait, cui sanctus Columba inculpabiliter servit, tensis rudentibus levate velum. Quo facto, continue contraria venti flamina in secunda vertuntur, prosperaque usque ad 26Britanniam plenis successit navigatio velis. Libranusque, postquam ad loca perventum est 27Britannica, illam deserens navim, et nautis benedicens, ad sanctum devenit Columbam in 28Ioua commorantem insula. Qui videlicet vir beatus, gaudenter suscipiens eum, omnia quae de eo in itinere acta sunt, nullo alio intimante, plene narravit, et de domino, et uxoris ejus salubri consilio, quomodo ejusdem suasu liberatus est; de fratribus quoque; de morte patris, et ejus, finita septimana, sepultione ; de matre, et de fratris opportuna junioris subventione ; de his quae in 29regressu acta
16 sed junior add. B. 17 om. B. 18 oportet add. B.
19 brittannia A. B.
20 claire Colg. Boll, liter a d, quce in cod. A.formam el prce sefert, minus observata. 21 B. calcig A. calig male Colg. Boll.
22 in B. 23 brittanniam A. B. 24 A. B. erat Boll. 25 quod B.
20 brittanniam A. B. 27 brittannica A. B. 2S ioua B. 29 ingrcssu B,
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBEll II. 183
sunt ; de vento contrario, et secundo ; de verbis nautarum qui primo eum suscipere recusarunt, de promissione prosper! flatus ; et de prospera, eo suscepto in navi, venti conversione. Quid plura ? Omnia, quae Sanctus adimplenda prophetavit, expleta enarravit. Post haec verba viator pretium suse quod a Sancto 30accepit redemptionis assignavit. Cui Sanctus eadem hora vocabulum indidit, inquiens, Tu Libranus vocaberis eo quod sis liber. Qui videlicet 31Libran 32iisdem in diebus votum monachicum devotus vovit. Et cum a sancto viro ad monasterium, in quo prius septem annis poanitens Domino servivit, remitteretur, hsdc ab eo ^prophetica de se prolata 34accepit verba 35valedicente, Vita vives longa, et in bona senectute vitam terminabis prsesentem. Attamen non in 36 Britannia, sed in Scotia, resurges. Quod verbum audiens, flexis genibus, amare fievit. Quem Sanctus valde msestum videns, consolari crepit dicens, Surge, et noles tristificari. In uno meorum morieris monasteriorum, et cum electis erit pars tua meis in regno monachis ; cum quibus in resurrectionem vitse de somno mortis evigilabis. 37 Qui, a Sancto accepta non mediocri consolatione, valde leetatus 38est, et Sancti benedictione ditatus, in pace perrexit. Quse Sancti de eodem viro verax postea est adimpleta prophetatio. Nam cum per multos annales cyclos in inonasterio Campi 89 Lunge post sancti Columbse de mundo transitum, obedienter Domino deserviret, 40monachus, pro quadam monasteriali utilitate ad Scotiam missus, valde senex, statim ut de navi descendit, pergens per Campum Breg, ad monasterium devenit Eoborei Campi; ibidemque, hospes receptus hospitio, quadam molestatus infirmitate, septima segrotationis die in pace ad Dominum perrexit, et inter sancti Columbse electos humatus est monachos, secundum ejus vaticinium, in vitam resurrecturus seternam. Has de Librano 41Arundineti sancti veridicas Columbse vaticinationes scripsisse sufficiat. Qui videlicet Libranus ideo 41Arundineti est 42vocitatus, quia in 43arundineto multis annis 44arundines colligendo laboraverat.
30 B. accipit A. 33 valedicens add. Boll. 3(5 brittannia A. B. 39 lugne male Colg. Boll. 42 vocatus B.
31 A. libranus B. 34 B. accipit A. 37 qua B. 40 monachis B. 43 harundineto A. B.
32 liisdein A. B. 35 om. Boll. 38 om. B. 41 harundineti A. B. 44 harundiiies A. B.
184 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^. LIBER II.
15^ xjuabam trndierotht mannas zt 2fcalbe Mfffctlior.e£ parturiiianiz, nt (£:b$ #Ua, tortioue*
CAP. XLI. TTADAM die, Sanctus in 3Ioua 4commanens insula, a lectione 5surgit, et subridens dicit, Nunc ad 6oratorium mihi properandum, ut pro quadam misellula 7Dominum deprecer femina, quaa nunc in 8Hibernia nomen hujus inclamitans commemorat Columbse, in magnis parturitionis difncillimse 9torta punitionibus, et ideo per me a Domino de angustia absolutionem dari sibi sperat, quia et mihi est 10cognationalis; de mese matris parentela genitorem habens progenitum. Hsec dicens Sanctus, illius mulierculas motus miseratione, ad ecclesiam currit, flexisque genibus pro ea Christum de nomine natum exorat. Et post precationem oratorium egressus, ad fratres profatur occurrentes, inquiens, Nunc propitius Dominus lesus, de muliere progenitus, opportune miserae subveniens, earn de angustiis liberavit, et prospere prolem peperit ; nee hac morietur vice. Eadem hora, sicuti Sanctus prophetizavit, misella femina, nomen ejus invocans, absoluta salutem recuperavit. Ita ab aliquibus postea de Scotia, et de eadem regione ubi mulier inhabitabat, transmeantibus, intimatum est.
conjnx olbia habuerat b^fxrrmem ; xjui in ^rhr^a rxrmmxrrabatur
CAP. XLII. ^LIO in tempore, cum vir sanctus in Eechrea hospitaretur insula, quidam plebeius ad eum veniens, de sua querebatur uxore, quas, ut ipse dicebat, 4odio habens, eum ad 5maritalem nullo rnodo admittebat concubitum accedere. Quibus auditis, Sanctus, maritam advocans, in quantum potuit, earn hac de causa corripere coepit, inquiens, Quare, mulier, tuam a te carnem abdicare conaris, Domino dicente, Erunt duo in carne una ? itaque caro tui conjugis tua caro est. Quaa respondens, Omnia, inquit, qusecunque mihi prseceperis, sum parata, quamlibet sint valde laboriosa, adimplere, excepto uno, ut me nullo compellas modo in uno lecto dormire cum Lugneo. Omnem domus
1 titul om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 om. B. 3 A. C. F. S. iona B.
4 commorans C. 5 surgens C. c orationem C.
7 deum C. 8 B. C. F. S. evernia A. 9 om. F. 10 C. F. S. cognitionalis A. B.
1 capitul. totum om. C. F. S. titul. om. Boll. 2 A. gubernatore B.
3 tutida B. tudicla (Ultra d dissecta) Colg. Boll. 4-5 om. B.
curam exercere non recuso, aut, si jubeas, 6etiam maria transire, et in aliquo puellamm monasterio permanere. Sanctus turn ait, Non potest recte fieri quod dicis, nam adhuc viro vivente alligata es 7a lege viri. 8Quos enim 9Deus licite conjunxit nefas est separari. Et his dictis, consequenter intulit, Hac in die tres, hoc est, ego et maritus, cum conjuge, jejunantes Dominum precemur. Ilia dehinc, Scio, ait, quia tibi impossibile non erit ut ea quae -vel difficilia, vel etiam impossibilia videntur, a Deo impetrata donentur. Quid plura ? Marita eadem die cum Sancto jejunare consentit, et maritus similiter : nocteque subsequente Sanctus 10insomnis pro eis deprecatus est ; posteraque die Sanctus 11maritam praesente sic compellat marito, 0 femina, si, ut hesterna dicebas die, parata hodie es ad ferninarum emigrare monasteriolum ? Ilia, Nunc, inquit, cognovi quia tua Deo de me est 12audita oratio; nam quern heri oderam, hodie amo ; cor enim meum hac nocte praeterita, 13quo modo ignoro, 14in 15me 16immutatum est de odio in amorem. Quid morarnur ? ab 17 eadem die usque 18ad diem obitus, 18anima ejusdem maritae indissociabiliter in amore conglutinata est mariti, ut ilia maritalis concubitus debita, quae prius reddere renuebat, nullo modo deinceps recusaret.
l~§t itabigatimi-e Contract nzyoiw IJCethani prtfplutatixr bzzti torn.
2.JHLIO 3in tempore Cormacus, Christi miles, de quo in CAP.XLIII. primo hujus opusculi libello breviter aliqua commemoravimus pauca, etiam secunda vice conatus 4est eremum in oceano quaerere. Qui postquam a terris 5per infinitum oceanum plenis enavigavit velis, 6iisdem diebus sanctus Columba, cum ultra Dorsum moraretur Britanniae, Brudeo 7regi, praesente 8 Orcadum regulo, commendavit dicens, Aliqui ex 9nostris nuper emigraverunt, desertum in pelago intransmeabili invenire optantes ; qui si forte post longos circuitus Orcadas devenerint insulas, huic regulo, cujus obsides in manu tua sunt, diligenter commenda, ne aliquid adversi intra terminos ejus contra eos fiat. Hoc vero Sanctus ita dicebat, quia in spiritu praecognovit quod post aliquot menses idem Cormacus esset ad Orcadas venturus.
6 vel C. 7 om. C. 8-9 quia quos dominus cap. 37 excipiens D.
10 in somnis C. u marita D. 12 exaudita C. D.
13 quonam C. 14-15 om. B. 1C mutatum D.
17 hac D. 18 om. D.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2-3 quodam D. 4 om. D.
5 om. C. D. o hisclem A. B. 7 rege C. D.
8 ordacuin S. 9 nobis D.
186 VITA SANCTI COLUMBUS. LIBER II.
Quod ita postea evenit; et propter supradictam sancti viri commendationem, de morte in Orcadibus liberatus est vicina. Post 10aliquantum "paucorum intervallum mensium 12cum Sanctus in 13Ioua 14commoraretur insula, quadam die coram eo ejusdem Cormaci mentio ab aliquibus subito 15oboritur sermocinantibus, et taliter dicentibus, Quomodo Cormaci navigatio, 16prosperane 17an non, provenit, adhuc nescitur. Quo audito verbo, Sanctus 18hac profatur 19voce dicens, Cormacum de quo nunc 20loquimini hodie mox pervenientem videbitis. Et post quasi unius horse interventum, mirum dictu, 21et ecce inopinato Cormacus superveniens, oratorium cum omnium admiratione et gratiarum ingreditur actione. Et quia de hujus Cormaci secunda navigatione beati prophetationem breviter 22intulerimus viri, nunc et de tertia seque propheticee ejus scientise aliqua describenda sunt verba.
23 Cum idem Cormacus tertia in oceano mari fatigaretur vice, 24prope usque ad mortem periclitari ccepit. Nam cum ejus navis a terris per quatuordecim 25sestei temporis dies, todidemque noctes, plenis, velis, 26austro flante vento, ad 27septemtrionalis plagam cceli directo excurreret cursu,* 28ejusmodi navigatio ultra humani excursus modum, et irremeabilis videbatur. Unde contigit, ut post decimam ejusdem quarti et decimi horam diei, quidam pene insustentabiles undique et valde formidabiles consurgerent terrores; qusedam quippe 29usque in id temporis invisse, mare obtegentes 30occurrerant tetrse et infestse nimis 31bestiol8e, quae horribili impetu carinam et latera, puppimque et proram ita 32forti feriebant percussura, ut pelliceum tectum navis 33penetrales putarentur penetrare posse. Quse, ut hi qui inerant ibidem postea narrarunt, prope 34magnitudinem ranarum, aculeis permolestse, non tamen volatiles sed natatiles, erant ; sed et remorum infestabant palmulas. Quibus visis, inter cetera monstra quaa non hujus est temporis narrare, Cormacus cum nautis comitibus, valde 35 turbati et 36pertimescentes, Deum, qui est in angustiis pius et 37opportunus auxiliator, 38illacrymati 39precantur. Eadem hora et sanctus noster Columba, quamlibet longe absens corpore, spiritu tamen
10 aliquantulum D. 13 A. C. F. S. iona B. D.
11 parvum D. 14 moraretur D.
12 cap. 27 incipit D. 15 aboritur A.
10 prospere C. D. 19 om. B. 22 intulimus C.
17 om. C. D. 20 loquimur C. 23 dum C.
18 hec B. 21 om. B. 24 om. C.
25 estivi B. C. D. 28 hujusmodi D. 31 bestie D.
26 astro B. 29 om. C. 32 fortiter C.
27 septemtrionalem C. 30 occurrerent D. 33 A. B. om. C. Boll.
31 rnagnitucline A. C. 37 optimus D.
33 turbatis B. 38 illacrimatus B.
30 pertimescentibus B.( 30 precatur t»»
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^. L1BEK II. 187
praesens in navi cum Cormaco erat. Unde, eodem momento, personante signo, fratres ad oratorium convocans, et ecclesiam intrans, astantibus, 40sic, more sibi consueto, prophetizans profatur, dicens, Fratres tota intentione pro Cormaco orate, qui nunc humanae discursionis limitem, immoderate navigando, excessit, nunc quasdam monstruosas, ante non visas, 41et pene indicibiles, patitur horrificas perturbationes. Itaque nostris commembribus in periculo intolerabili constitutis mente compati debemus fratribus, et Dominum exorare cum eis. Ecce enim nunc Cormacus cum suis nautis, faciem lacrymis ubertim irrigans, Christum 42intentius precatur; 43et nos ipsum orando adjuvemus, ut austram flantem ventum usque hodie per quatuordecim dies, nostri miseratus, in aquilonem convertat ; qui videlicet aquiloneus ventus navem Cormaci de periculis 44retrahat. Et hsec dicens, flebili cum voce, flexis genibus ante altarium, omnipotentiam 45Dei ventorum et cunctarum gubernatricem 46precatur rerum. Et post orationem cito 47surgit, et 48abstergens 49lacryrnas, gaudenter 50grates Deo 51agit, dicens, Nunc, fratres, nostris congratulemur, pro quibus 52oramus, caris : quia Dominus austrum nunc in 53aquilonarem 54 convertet flatum 55nostros de periculis 66 commembres retralientem, quos hue 57 ad nos 58iterum reducet. Et continue cum ejus voce auster cessavit ventus, et 59inspiravit aquiloneus per multos post dies : et navis Cormaci ad terras redacta est. Et pervenit 60 Cormacus ad sanctum Columbam, et se, donante Deo, facie 61in faciem, cum ingenti omnium admiratione 62viderant et non mediocri 63 laetatione. Perpendat itaque lector quantus et qualis idem vir beatis, w qui talem propheticam habens scientiam, ventis et oceano, Christi invocato nomine, potuit imperare.
l^t toturabilb Jbiri in rurru tbectiont ab0ue mrrilmm
2in tempore, cum in Scotia per aliquot dies Sanctus CAP.XLIV. conversaretur, aliquibus ecclesiasticis 3 utilitatibus coactus,
40 tune D. 4! omt c 4-2 intentus B.
43 om. C. 44 retrahebat B. retraxerat D.
45 doinini C. ^ precatus est D. 47 surrexit D.
48-49 abstinens lachrimis C. ^ gratias D. 51 egit D.
62 oraviums D. 53 aquiionem B. 54 convertit C. 55 nostra D. w comraeinbra D. 57 iter add. D. 58 om. D. 59 Spiravit C.
60 corinac A. C1 ad C. B. 62 repnesentavit C. viderimt D.
63 exultatione D. °4 fuorit add. C. fuerat D.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 om. D. 3 visitantibus male Coli;. Boll.
188 VITA SANCTI COLUMBvE. LIBER II.
currum ab eo prius benedictum ascendit junction; sed non insertis primo, qua 4negligentia accedente 5nescitur, necessariis obicibus per 6 axionum extrema foramina. Erat autem eadem diecula Columbanus filius 7 Echudi, vir sanctus, illius monasterii fundator quod Scotica vocitatur 8 lingua 9 Snamluthir, qui operam aurigse in eodem curriculo cum sancto exercebat Columba. Fuit itaque talis ejusdem agitatio diei per longa 10 viarum spatia sine ulla rotarum humerulorumque separatione u sive labefactatione, 12 nulla, ut supra dictum est, obicum retentione vel 13 communitione retinente. Sed sola diali sic venerando prastante gratia viro, ut currus cui insederat salubriter, absque ulla impeditione, recta incederet orbita.
Hue usque de virtutum miraculis quse per praedicabilem virum, 14 in prsesenti 15 conversantem vita, divina operata est omnipotentia, scripsisse] sufficiat. 16Nunc etiam qusedam de his quae post ejus de carne transitum ei Domino donata comprobantur, pauca sunt commemoranda.
past zHqpot aimtatia menae* bzzii ob hmwum torn 23ttp£r zitunttm, Jxrminxr Ji0nant^, terram
CAP. XLV. NTE annos namque ferme quatuordecim, in his torpentibus terris valde grandis verno tempore facta est siccitas jugis et dura, in tantum ut ilia Domini in Levitico libro transgressoribus coaptata populis comminatio videretur imminere, qua dicit, Dabo ccelum vobis desuper sicut ferrum, et terram seneam. Consumetur incassum labor vester; nee proferet terra germen, nee arbores poma preebebunt ; et csetera. Nos itaque hsec legentes, et imminentem plagam pertimescentes, hoc inito consilio fieri consiliati sumus, ut aliqui ex nostris senioribus nuper aratum et seminatum campum cum sancti Columbae Candida circumirent tunica, et libris stylo ipsius descriptis ; levarentque in aere, et excuterent eandem per ter tunicam, qua etiam hora exitus ejus de carne indutus erat ; et ejus aperirent libros, et legerent in Colliculo Angelorum, ubi aliquando coelestis patrise cives ad beati viri condictum visi sunt descendere. Quse postquam omnia juxta initum sunt peracta consilium, mirum
4 nescio add. C. 5 om. C. 6 axium B. occeanum D.
7 eochayd D. 8 longua D. 9 suam D.
10 dierum D. n sine D. 12 ulla D.
13 communione B. comminucione D. u columbam add. D.
15 conversante C. 16 cetera Imjus libri desideranlur in C. D. F. S.
1 capitul. totum om. C. D. F. S. titul. om. Boll. 2 om. B.
3 miraculum quod nunc domino propitio describere iiicipimus nostris temporibus factum propriis inspeximus oculis add. B.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER II. 189
dictu, eadem die ccelum, in praeteritis mensibus, Martio vide licet et Aprili, nudatum nubibus, mira sub celeritate ipsis de ponto ascendentibus illico opertum est, et pluvia facta est magna, die noctuque descendens ; 4et sitiens prius terra, satis satiata, opportune germina produxit sua, et valde laetas eodem anno segetes. Unius itaque beati commemoratio nominis viri in tunica et libris commemorata multis regionibus eadem vice et populis salubri subvenit opportunitate.
tentxmtm flatibti* rxmtrartis tomerabiUs bin; biritite xrratimttwt in giantta* ccrntesia
, nobis, quse non vidimus, talium mira- CAP.XLVI, culorum praesentia, quae ipsi perspeximus, fidem indubitanter confirmant. Ventorum namque flamina contrariorum tribus nos ipsi vicibus in secunda vidimus conversa. Prima vice cum dolatae 2 per terram 3 pineae et roboreae 4traherentur longae naves, et magnae navium pariter materise eveherentur domus ; beati viri vestimenta et libros, inito consilio, super altare, cum psalmis et jejunatione, et ejus nominis invocatione, posuimus, ut a Domino ventorum prosperitatem nobis profuturam impetraret. Quod ita eidem sancto viro, Deo donante, factum est : nam ea die qua nostri nautae, omnibus praeparatis, supra memoratarum ligna materiarum proposuere scaphis per mare et curucis trahere, venti, prseteritis contrarii diebus, subito in secundos conversi sunt. Turn deinde per longas et obliquas vias tota die prosperis flatibus, Deo propitio, famulantibus, et plenis sine uUa retardatione velis, ad louam insulam omnis ilia navalis emigratio prospere pervenit.
5 Secunda vero vice, cum post aliquantos intervenientes annos alise nobiscum roborese ab ostio fluminis 6Sale, duodecim curucis congregatis, materise ad nostrum renovandum traherentur monasterium, alio die tranquillo nautis mare palmulis verrentibus, subito nobis contrarius insurgit Favonius, qui et Zephyrus ventus, in proximam turn declinamus insulam, quae Scotice vocitatur 7Airthrago, in ea portum ad manendum quserentes. Sed inter haec de ilia importuna venti contrarietate querimur, et quodammodo quasi accusare nostrum Columbam ccepimus, dicentes, Placetne tibi, Sancte, haec nobis adversa retardatio ?
4 om. B.
1 capitul. totum om. C. D. F. S. titvl. om. Boll. 2-3 om. B.
* trabes longaa et magnse navium pariter et domus materiae, eveherentur Boll. 6 paragraphm novus, et litera S majuscula rubra B.
6 sale prius salx. B. 7 airtrago B.
190 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^. LIBER IT,
hue usque a te, Deo propitio, aliquod nostrorum laborum prsestari speravimus consolatorium adjumentum, te videlicet aestimantes alicujus esse grandis apud Deum honoris. Hie dictis, post modicum, quasi unius momenti, intervallum, mirum dictu, ecce 8Favonius ventus cessat contrarius, Vulturnusque flat, dicto citius, secundus. Jussi turn nautse antennas, crucis instar, et vela protensis sublevant rudentibus, prosperisque et lenibus flabris eadem die nostram appetentes insulam, sine ulla laboratione, cum illis omnibus qui navibus inerant nostris cooperatoribus, in lignorum evectione gaudentes, devehimur. Non mediocriter, quamlibet levis, ilia querula nobis sancti accusatio viri profuit. Quantique et qualis est apud Dominum meriti Sanctus apparet, quern in ventorum ipse tarn celeri conversione audierat.
9Tertia proinde vice, cum in 108esteo tempore, post 11Hiberniensis synodi condictum, in plebe Generis 12Loerni per aliquot, venti contrarietate, retardaremur dies, ad Saineam devenimus insulam ; ibidemque demoratos festiva sancti Columbse nox et solemnis dies nos invenit valde tristificatos, videlicet desiderantes eandem diem in loua facere laetificam insula. Unde sicut prius alia querebamur vice, dicentes, Placetne tibi, Sancte, crastinam tuse festivitatis inter plebeios et non in tua ecclesia transigere diem ? facile tibi est talis in exordio diei a Domino impetrare ut contrarii in secundos vertatantur venti, et in tua celebremus ecclesia tui natalis missarum solemnia. Post ean dem transactam noctem diluculo mane consurgimus, et videntes cessasse contraries flatus, conscensis navibus, nullo flante vento, in mare progredimur, et ecce statim post nos auster cardinalis, qui et 13notus, inflat. Turn proinde ovantes nautaevela 14subrigunt : sicque ea die talis, sine labore, nostra tarn festina navigatio, et tarn prospera, beato viro donante Deo, fuit, ut sicuti prius exoptavimus, post horam diei tertiam ad louse portum pervenientes insulae, postea manuum et pedum peracta lavatione, hora sexta ecclesiam cum fratribus intrantes, sacra mis sarum solemnia pariter celebraremus, in festo die in quam natalis sanctorum Columbae et 15Baithenei : cujus diluculo, ut supradictum est, de Sainea insula, longius sita, emigravimus. Hujus ergo prsemissse narrationis testes, non bini tantum vel terni, secundum legem, sed centeni et amplius adhuc exstant.
8 fabonius A. 9 paragraplius inciplt, T majuscula in minio B.
10 aestivo B. n iberniensis A. 12 lorrni B.
13 nothus A. B. 14 submergunt Boll. 15 baitheni B.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^R. LIBER II. 191
xfe JExrrtalitat*.
3§.T hoc etiam, ut sestimo, non inter minora virtutum miracula connumerandum videtur de mortalitate, quae nostris temporibus terrarum orbem bis ex parte vastaverat majore. Nam ut de ceteris taceam latioribus 2Europse regionibus, hoc est, Italia et ipsa Eomana civitate, et 3Cisalpinis Galliarum 4provinciis, 6Hispanis quoque 6Pyrinsei mentis interjectu 7disterminatis, oceani insulse per totum, videlicet Scotia et Britannia, binis vicibis vastatse sunt dira pestilentia, exceptis duobus populis, hoc est, Pictorum plebe et 8Scotorum Britannise, 9inter quos utrosque Dorsi montes Britannici disterminant. Et quamvis utrorumque populorum non desint grandia peccata, quibus plerumque ad iracundiam seternus provocatur judex ; utrisque tamen hue usque, patienter ferens, ipse pepercit. Cui alii itaque hsec tribuitur gratia a Deo collata, nisi sancto Columbse, cujus monasteria intra utrorumque populorum terminos fundata ab utrisque ad prsesens tempus valde sunt honorificata. Sed hoc quod nunc dicturi sumus, ut arbitramur non sine gemitu audiendum est, quia sunt plerique in utrisque populis valde stolidi, qui se Sanctorum orationibus a 10morbis defenses nescientes, ingrati Dei patientia male abutuntur. Nos vero Deo agimus crebras grates, qui nos et in his nostris insulis, orante pro nobis venerabili patrono, a mortalitatum invasionibus defendit ; et in Saxonia, regem n Aldfridum visitantes amicum, adhuc non cessante pestilentia, et multos hinc inde vicos devastante, ita tamen nos Dominus, et in prima post bellum 13Ecfridi visitatione, et in secunda, interjectis duobus annis, in tali mortalitatis medio deambulantes periculo liberavit, ut ne unus etiam de nostris comitibus moreretur, nee aliquis ex eis aliquo molestaretur inorbo.
14 Hie secundus de virtutum miraculis finiendus est liber : in quo animadvertere lector debet, quod, 15 etiam de cornpertis, in eo multa propter legentium evitandum prsetermissa sint 16fastidium.
1 capitul. totum om. C. D. F. S. titul. om. Boll. 2 eoropae A.
3 cisalpinas B. 4 provincias B. 5 hispanias B.
(! pirenei B. ~ disterminatas B. 8 scottorum B.
9 om. B. 10 moribus B. iiobis male Colg. Boll.
11 alfridum B. 13 egfridi B.
14-10 post verbum sufficiat in cap. 43 supra, adjicitur monitio ut supra in
17.18 ^INITVP CHKVNDVC MBEP llteris yraxi* untialibus A. explicit liber secundus B. C. F. S.
Indpiuni Capitals ^ertii pbri
«E)E Angelicis Apparitionibus quae vel aliis de beato viro, vel eidem de aliis, revelatae sunt.
De angelo Domini qui ejus genitrici in somnis post ipsius in utero conceptionem apparuit.
De radio luminoso super dorniientis ipsius pueri faciem viso.
De angelorum apparitione sanctorum, quos sanctus Brendenus, beati comites viri, per campum viderat commeantes.
De angelo Domini quern sanctus Fennio beati viri socium itineris vidit.
De angelo Domini, qui ad sanctum Columbam in Himba commorantem insula per visum apparuit, missus ut Aidanum in regem 1ordinaret.
De angelorum apparitione alicujus Brittonis animam ad ccelum vehentium.
De angelorum revelata eidem sancto viro visione, qui animam alicujus Diormitii ad ccelum ducebant.
De angelorum contra daemones forti belligeratione, Sancto in eodem bello opportune subvenientium.
De angelorum apparitione quos vir Dei viderat alicujus animam nomine Columbi, fabri ferrarii, Coilrigini cognomento, ad ccelos evehere.
De angelorum simili visione, quos vir beatus aspexerat alicujus bene moratae feminae animam ad ccelum ferre.
De angelorum apparitione sanctorum, quos sanctus Columba obvios in transitu viderat beati Brendeni animae, illius monasterii fundatoris quod Scottice Birra nuncupatur.
1 ordinarent B.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^:. 193
De angelorum visione sanctorum, qui sancti Columbani episcopi, Moculoigse, animam ad ccelum evexerant.
De angelorum apparitione qui obviam animabus sancti monachorum Comgelli descenderant.
De angelorum manifestatione alicujus 2Emchathi anima3 obviantium.
De angelo Domini, qui alicui fratri lapso de monasterii culmine rotundi in Eoboreti Campo opportune tarn cito subvenerat.
De angelorum multitudine sanctorum visa ad beati condictum viri de ccelo descendentium.
De columna luminosa sancti viri de vertice ardere visa.
De Spiritus Sancti descensione sive visitatione quae in eadem insula, tribus continuis diebus, totidemque noctibus, super venerabilem mansit virum.
De angelicse lucis claritudine, quam Virgnous, bonae indolis juvenis, qui post, Deo auctore, huic praefuit ecclesiae, cui ego, indignus licet, deservio, super sanctum Columbani in ecclesia, fratribus hiemali nocte in cubiculis quiescentibus, descendere viderat.
De alia prope simili celsse claritudinis visione. De alia parili divinae lucis apparitione.
De alia angelorum sancto manifestata viro apparitione ; quos sanctae ejus animae obviare incipientes quasi mox de corpore viderat migraturae.
De transitu ad Dominum sancti nostri patroni Columbae.
ii $ibri.
2 emdathi B. 3 de B.
'HIC TEETIUS LIBEE ORDITUK, DE ANGELICIS 2VISIOOTBUS.
CAP. i. 2x Primo ex his tribus libellis 3libro, ut superius commemoratum est, de Propheticis Revelationibus qusedain breviter succincteque, Domino navante, descripta sunk In Secundo superiore, de Virtutum Miraculis, quse per beatum declarata sunt virum, et quae, ut saepe dictum 4est, plerumque prophetationis comitatur gratia. In hoc vero Tertio, de Angelicis Apparitionibus, quae vel aliis de beato viro, vel 5ipsi de aliis, revelatae sunt ; et de his, quae utroque, quamlibet disparili modo, hoc est, 5ipsi proprie et plenius, aliis 6vero improprie, et ex quadam parte, sunt manifestatae, hoc est extrinsecus et explorative, in 7iisdem tamen, vel angelorum vel 8ccelestis 9visionibus lucis : quaa utique 10talium ndiscrepantiae visionum 12suis 13caraxatae locis inferius clarebunt. Sed nunc, ut a primordiis beati nativitatis viri easdeni describere angelicas apparitiones incipiamus :
CAP. IT. ^|l_NGrELUS Domini in somnis genitrici venerabilis viri qua dam nocte inter conceptum ejus et partum apparuit, eique quasi quoddam mirae pulchritudinis peplum adsistens 14detulit ; in quo veluti universorum 15decorosi colores florum 16depicti videbantur ; quodque post aliquod breve intervallum 17ejus de 18manibus reposcens abstulit ; 19elevansque et expandens in 20aere dimisit vacuo. Ilia vero de illo tristificata sublato, sic 21 ad ilium venerandi habitus virum, Cur a me, ait, hoc laetificum tarn cito abstrahis pallium? Ille 22consequenter, Idcirco,
K2 incipit textus tertii libri de angelicis visionibus B. incipit liber tertitis de angelicis apparitionibus et de transitu sancti columbse C. D. F. S.
3 libello D. 4 om. B. 5 ipse D. 6 om. B.
7 hisdem A. B. 8 celestibus D. 9 visionis C.
10 cultum D. 11 descriptarura C. discrepant D. discreparite F.
12 diversitate add. F. 13 craxate A. ataxate D. 14 retulit D. 15 decolorosi C. D. discolorosi F. 1G et frondium D.
17-18 temporis subito 1). 19 elevans D. 2° loco D.
21 in quit add. D. 22 consequens F.
inquit, quia hoc sagum alicujus est tarn magnifici honoris, apud te diutius retinere non poteris. His dictis, supra memoratum peplum mulier paulatim a se elongari volando videbat, camporumque latitudinem in majus crescendo excedere, rnontesque et saltus majore sui mensura superare; vocemque hujuscemodi subsecutam audierat, Mulier noles tristificari, viro enim cui matrimoniali 23es 24juncta 25fcedere talem filium editura es floridum, qui quasi unus prophetarum Dei inter ipsos 26connumerabitur, innumerabiliumque animarum dux ad ccelestem a Deo patriam est prsedestinatus. In hac audita voce mulier expergiscitur.
l^e rafcixr Inminaso sroptr fcormuntis ip#itt0 yntn fadem toiso.
JH-LIA in nocte, ejusdem beati 2pueri nutritor, spectabilis CAP. ITI. vitse vir, presbyter 3Cruithnechanus, post 4missam ab ecclesia ad hospitiolum revertens, totam invenit domum 5suam clara irradiatam luce ; globum quippe igneum super pueruli dormientis faciem stantem vidit. 6Quo viso statim intremuit, et prostrato in terram vultu valde miratus, Spiritus Sancti gratiam super suum intellexit alumnum ccelitus 7effusam.
angelxrnmt apparition* sanctorum qno& 0anrtn0 toati tomitw torn p,er rampum toiberat rxrntmeanto.
namque multorum intervalla temporum, cum a quo- CAP. iv. dam synodo pro quibusdam veniabilibus et 3tam excusabilibus causis, non recte, ut post in fine claruit, sanctus excommunicaretur Columba, ad eandem contra ipsum collectam venit congregationem. Quem cum eminus appropinquantem 4 sanctus vidisset Brendenus, illius monasterii fundator quod Scotice 5Birra nuncupatur, citius 6surgit, et inclinata facie, eum veneratus 7exosculatur. Quem cum 8aliqui illius seniores 9ccetus seorsim 10ceteris redarguerent 11semotis, dicentes, 12Quare coram excom-
23 copula add. B. jure add. D. 24 vincta D.
25 manu recentiori suprascript. A. om. B.
20 coronam merebitur D. commemorabitur Colg. Boll.
1 titul om. 0. D. F. S. Boll. 2 viri D. 3 om. C. D. F. S.
4 missarum sollemnia D. 5 om. C. c qui 0. 7 effusnm C.
1 titul. om. 0. D. F. S. Boll. 2 om. C. 3 om, C.
4 om. D. 5 byrra D. 6 surrexit 1).
7 osculatur D. 8 alicni 'B. !) fetus B.
10 om. B. a fnitl. F. n semotini C. D. l- niiramur te D.
196 VITA SANCTI COLUMBJ5. LIBER III.
municato surgere 13et eum exosculari 14non renueris ? taliter ad eos inquiens, Si vos, ait, videritis ea quse mihi Dominus hac in die de hoc suo, quern dehonoratis, electo manifestare 15non 16dedignatus est, nunquam exconimunicassetis 17 quern 18Deus non solum, secundum vestram non rectam sententiam, nullo excommunicat modo, sed 19etiam magis 20ac magis 21 magnificat. Illi e contra, Quomodo, aiunt, ut dicis, ipsum glorificat Deus, quem nos non sine 22 causa excommunicavimus, scire cupimus ? Ignicoinam et valde luminosam, ait Brendenus, columnam vidi eundem quem vos despicitis antecedentem Dei hominem. Angelos quoque sanctos per campum ejus itineris comites. Hunc itaque spernere non audeo quem populorum ducem ad vitam a Deo praeordinatum video. His ab eo dictis, 23non tantum, ultra Sanctum excommunicare non ausi, cessarunt, sed etiam valde venerati honorarunt. 24Hoc tamen factum est ^hi 26Teilte.
omini -qnem <Sanctn0 2 Jfinnixr beati toiri soxinm itineri* 3totbit.
CAP. v. J^LXIO in tempore, vir sanctus venerandum episcopum 4Finnionem, suum videlicet magistrum, juvenis senem, adiit ; quem cum sanctus 5 Finnic ad se appropinquantem vidisset, angelum Domini pariter ejus comitem itineris vidit : et, ut nobis ab expertis traditur, quibusdam astantibus intimavit fratribus, 6inquiens, 7Ecce nunc 8videatis sanctum advenientem Columbam, qui sui commeatus meruit habere socium angelum ccelicolam. lisdem diebus Sanctus cum duodecim commilitonibus discipulis 9ad 10 Britanniam transnavigavit.
l"§z anijelxr 50mintxitti ai (Sanctum Columbam in 2l)inba torntnotant^m in^nla p,er bwnm apparuit, mi00u0 nt Jtibannm in regent 3xrrbinaret.
CAP. vi. J^LLIO 5iii tempore, cum vir praedicabilis in 6Hinba commoraretur insula, quadam nocte in extasi mentis angelum
13.14 njsj eum excommunicare D. 16-16 dignatus D.
17 eum add. D. 18 dominus C. 19 om. D. '
20 et C. 21 glorificat D. 22 culpa D.
23 om. D. 24-26 om. C. D. F. S. 25 in add. Boll.
25-26 hiseilte Colg. BoU.
!-3 tilul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 fennio B.
4 fennionem B. finbarrum D. 5 fennio B. fynbarrus Dv
6 dicens C. 7 en B. 8 videtis C. D.
9 om. C. 10 brittanniam B.
!-3 titul om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 himba B. 4 5 quodam D,
6 himba B. F. hymba D. Cummian.
Domini ad se missum vidit, qui in manu vitreum ordinationis regum 7habebat librum : quern cum vir venerandus de manu angeli accepisset, ab eo jussus, legere ccepit. Qui cum secundum quod ei in libro erat commendatum 8Aidanum in regem 9ordinare recusaret, quia magis logenanum fratrem ejus diligeret, subito angelus, extendens manum, Sanctum percussit flagello, cujus livorosum in ejus latere vestigium omnibus suse diebus permansit vitse. 10Hocque 11intulit 12verbum, Pro certo scias, inquiens, quia 13ad 14te a Deo missus sum cum 15vitreo libro, ut juxta verba quse in eo legisti, 16Aidanum in 17regnum ordines. Quod si obsecundare huic nolueris jussioni, percutiam te iterate. Hie itaque angelus Domini, cum per tres continuas noctes, eundem in 18manu vitreum habens codicem, apparuisset, eademque Domini jussa de regis ejusdem ordinatione commendasset, Sanctus, verbo obsecutus Domini, ad louam transnavigavit insulam, ibidemque 19Aidanum, iisdem adventantem diebus, in regem, sicut erat jussus, ordinavit. Et inter ordinationis verba, de filiis et nepotibus pronepotibusque ejus 20futura prophetizavit : imponensque manum super caput ejus, ordinans benedixit.
21Cummeneus Albus, in libro quern de virtutibus sancti Columbse 22scripsit, sic dixit quod sanctus Columba de 23Aidano et de posteris ejus, et de regno suo, prophetare ccepit, dicens, Indubitanter 2*crede, 0 25Aidane, 26quoniamnullus adversariorum tuorum tibi poterit resistere, donee prius fraudulentiam agas in me et in posteros meos. Propterea ergo tu filiis commenda ut et ipsi filiis et nepotibus et posteris suis commendent, ne per consilia mala eorum sceptrum regni hujus de manibus suis perdant. In quocunque enim tempore 27adversum me aut ad versus cognates meos qui sunt in Hibernia fecerint, flagellum, quod causa tui ab angelo sustinui per manum Dei super eos in mag num flagitium vertetur, et cor virorum auferetur ab eis et inimici eorum vehementer super eos confortabuntur.
Hoc autem vaticinium temporibus nostris completum est, in bello ^Eoth, 29Domnail Brecco, nepote 30Aidani, sine causa vastante provinciam 31Domnill nepotis 32Ainmuireg. Et a die
7 haberet D. 8 aedh. 9 om. D.
10 hoc D. n-12.esse angelieum D. 13-14 om. D.
15 hoc D. 1(5 aedhaiiura D. 17 regem D.
18 navi B. 19 aedhanum D. 20 futuris D.
', 21 usque ad fin. cap. om. B. 22 scribens D. ^ aedhano D.
24 credo C. 25 aedhane D. 2G quod C.
27 malum add. C. 28 maidhe rath D. 29 donaldo C. D.
30 aedhani D. 31 domnaill C. donaldi D.
32 ainureii C. aiiimireacli D. ainmuire«r F. aiuiiiirech Cols.
198 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER III.
ilia usque hodie adhuc in proclivcf sunt ab extraneis: quod suspiria doloris pectori incutit.
l^t an^eiomm apparitixme alimjti* b*ati Jkttxrnt* animam ab
tehenttum.
CAP, vii. J3JLIO 2in tempore, cum vir sanctus in loua 3commoraretur insula, quidam de suis 4monachis, Brito, bonis actibus intentus, molestia correptus corporis, ad extrema perductus est. Quern cum 5vir venerandus in hora sui visitaret exitus, paulisper ad 6lectulum 7ejus 8assistens, et ei benedicens, ocyus domum egreditur, nolens 9videre 10morientem. Qui eodem momento post sancti de domu 11secessum 12viri prsesentem finiit vitam. Turn vir prsedicabilis, in 13plateola sui deambulans monasterii, porrectis ad coelum oculis, diutius valde obstupescens, admirabatur. Quidam vero frater, 14Aidanus nomine, ^filius 16Libir, bonse indolis et religiosus homo, qui solus de fratribus eadem adfuit hora, flexis genibus, rogare coepit ut Sanctus eidem tantaa admirationis causam 17intimaret. Cui Sanctus, Nunc sanctos angelos in aere contra adversarias potestates belligerare vidi ; Christoque 18agonothetse gratias ago quia victores angeli animam hujus peregrini, qui primus apud nos in hac insula mortuus est, ad coelestis patriae gaudia evexerunt. Sed hoc quseso sacramentuin nemini in vita mea reveles.
1 JJe angdxrrttm retolata tibtm 0anct0 birxr toisixme, (jnt animam Jlixrcmiti ab rxBlnm buabant.
CAP. viu. ^LIO in tempore, quidam 2Hiberniensis peregrinus ad Sanc tum perveniens, per aliquot apud eum menses in 3Ioua 4commanebat insula. Cui vir beatus alia die, Nunc, ait, quidam de 6provincialibus 7tuis clericis ad ccelum ab angelis portatur, cujus adhuc ignoro nomen. Frater vero hoc audiens ccepit secum de 8provincia perserutari Anteriorum, 9qui Scotice 10Indairthir xlnuncupantur, et de illius beati hominis vocabulo ;
1 tituL oin, G, D. F. 8. Boll. 2 om. D. a conversaretur C.
4 inonachus C. D. 5 om. D. 6 lectum C.
7 om. ]). s assiJens C. accessit D. °-10 se ab aliis videri D.
11 recessum C. D. l'2 oni. D. 13 platea D.
» aedatius D. 15-10 om. C. D. 10 liber B.
17 diceret D. 18 agonithetse A. B. agonizante D.
1 tltul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 everniensis A. C. 3 ioua B.
4 comiuanens 1). 6 comprovinoialibus Ii. provincia D.
r tua D. s vita B. <J-n om. C: D. F. S. lu ondairtir B.
VITA SANCTI COLUMIkK L1BEK III. 199
12hocque consequenter intulit verbum, 13 inquiens, Alium Christi scio 14militonem qui sibi in eodem territorio, in quo et ego commanebam, 15monasteriolum construxit, nomine 16Diormitium. Cui Sanctus ait, Ipse est de quo dicis, qui nunc ab angelis Dei in paradisum deductus est. Sed hoc 17etiam non negligenter adnotandum est, quod idem vir venerabilis multa sibi a Deo arcana, ab aliis celata, sacramenta, nullo mo do in hominum notitiam prodi passus sit, duabus, ut ipse aliquando paucis 18intimaverat fratribus, causis existentibus ; hoc est, ut jactantiam devitaret, et ad sernetipsura interrogandum, insustentabiles turbas de se aliqua interrogare volentes, divulgata revelationum fama, non invitaret.
angtlormtt ttrntra jb&mrrn&s fortt b^Utgtr attune 0mdo in bdla tfxrrtune 20ttbtonient:mm.
vir sanctus, in 3Ioua conversans insula, remotiorem CAP. ix. ab 4hominibus locum, aptumque ad orationem, in saltibus quaesivit : ibidemque cum orare ccepisset, subito, ut ipse postea paucis intimaverat fratribus, videt contra se nigerrimam dsemonum cum ferreis verubus aciem prceliari : qui, sicuti sancto viro per Spiritum revelatum erat, monasterium ejus invader e, et multos ex fratribus iisdem volebant jugulare sudibus. Ipse vero contra tales eemulos unus homo innumeros, accepta Pauli armatura apostoli, forti conflictu dimicabat. Et ita ex majore diei parte utrinque dimicatum est, nee innumerabiles unum 5 vincere poterant, nee eos unus de sua valebat insula repellere ; donee angeli Dei, ut Sanctus post quibusdam non multis retulerat, in adminiculum affuere ; 6 quorum timore 7proturbati dsemones loco cessere. Eademque die, Sanctus ad monasterium post dsemoniorum reversus de sua insula effugationem, hoc de 8eisdem Hurmis hostilibus verbum profatur, inquiens, Illi 10exitiabiles ngemuli qui hac die de hujus 12termlse, Deo propitio, regione, angelis 13nobis subvenientibus, ad 14Ethicam 15effugati sunt 16terram 17 ibidemque 18sa3vi 19invasores, fratrum monasteria invadent, et pestilentes 20inferent morbos, quorum
12 hoc eis D. 13 dicens D. 1J commilitonem C.
15 monasterium D. 1G diarmatum D. 17 jam 1). 18 om. D.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 subvenientis B. 3 ion a B. 4 omnibus B. D. 5 om. D. 6 quo B.
7 pertiirbati C. D. 8 demoniacis D. 9 om. D.
10 exitiati D. « demones D. 12 terrse D.
13 om. D. 14 aethicam C. 15 f ugati C. D. F. S. 10 om. D. ir ibidem C. 18-19 intrantes P. '20 ferent 1).
200 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^:. LIBER III.
molestia infestati, multi morientur. Quod iisdem diebus, juxta beati 21praescientiam viri, ita 22et factum est. Et post, interveniente biduo, ei revelante Spiritu, Bene, ait, Baitheneus, auxiliante Deo, dispensavit ut ejusdem ecclesise cui, Deo auctore, praeest, in Campo 23Lunge, jejuniis et orationibus collectio a dsemonum 24defendatur invasione : ubinemo, excepto uno qui mortuus est, hac vice morietur. Quod ita, juxta vaticinium ejus, expletum est. Nam cum multi in ceteris ejusdem insulse monasteriis eodem morbo morerentur, nemo, nisi unus de quo Sanctus dixit apud 25Baitheneum in sua est mortuus congregatione.
rn.e qn08 tor
nomirtt OMttmbi, fabri ierrarii, Coiirigini jcxrgnxrmmtxr, ab cxloz tbthtxz.
CAP. x. <§iuiDAM faber ferrarius in 2mediterranea 3Scotise habitabat 4parte, eleemosynarum operibus satis intentus, et ceteris justitise actibus plenus. Hie, cum ad extrema in bona senectute perduceretur, supra memoratus Columbus 5cognominatus 6Coilriginus, eadem hora qua de corpore eductus est, sanctus Columba in loua commanens insula, paucis quibusdam 7se circumstantibus, sic profatus, senioribus, 8 Columbus 9Coilriginus, ait, 10 faber ferrarius, non incassum laboravit, qui de propria manuum laboratione suarum praemia, emax, felix, ncomparuit seterna. Ecce enim, nunc anima ejus a sanctis vehitur angelis ad ccelestis patriaa gaudia. Nam quodcunque de suse artis negotiatione acquirere potuit, in egenorum eleemosynas expendit.
0imilt bi0i0ne xjurrsf bir bznt morat^ £emin# animam ab rxelum ferre.
CAP. XL j^LLIO itidem 2in 3tempore, vir sanctus in loua conversans insula, 4quadam 5die, subito oculos ad ccelum dirigens, hsec pro fatus est verba, Felix mulier, felix bene morata, cujus animam nunc angeli Dei ad paradisum evehunt. Erat autem quidam
21 sententiam D. 22 om. D. 22 lugne D.
24 defendantur B. 25 baithenum D.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll.
2-4 media parte hybernie que vocatur midi habitabat D.
3 scothicse C. 6-6 om. C. D. F. S. 7 de D.
8 columb A. 9 om. C. D. F. S. 10 et add. D. n comparavit C.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 om. C. D. 3 die D. 4-5 om. D.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^:. LIBER III. 201
religiosus frater, Genereus nomine, Saxo, 6pistor, opus 7pistorium exercens, qui hoc audierat verbum ex ore Sancti prolatum. Eademque die mensis, eodem terminate anno, Sanctus eidem Genereo, Saxoni, Miram rem video, ait ; ecce, mulier de qua, te praesente, praeterito dixeram anno 8nunc mariti sui religiosi cujusdam plebeii in aere obviat animae, et cum sanctis angelis contra 9aeinulas pro ea 10belligerat potestates : quorum adminiculo, ejusdem homuncionis justitia suffragante, a daemonum belligerationibus erepta, ad aeternae refrigerationis locum anima ipsius est perducta.
(Mttmba
0btiicr0 in tran0itu totb.erat bsati 2|prmb.etu anim&, iUm0 m0na0terit frmbat0ri0 xjuob <Srxrtia JJirra ratnotpate.
J^i-LIA itidem die, dum vir venerandus in 3Ioua 4conversa- CAP. xn. retur insula, mane primo suum advocat saspe memoratum minis tratorem 6Diormitium nomine, eique prsecipit, inquiens, Sacra celeriter Eucharistiaa ministeria prasparentur. Hodie enim natalis beati 6Brendeni 7dies. Quare, ait minister, talia missarum solemnia hodierna 8prseparari 9pra3cipis ? nullus enim ad nos de Scotia sancti illius viri obitus pervenit nuncius. Vade 10tum, ait Sanctus, meas obsecundare jussioni debes. Hac enim nnocte prasterita vidi subito apertum ccelum, angelorumque choros 12sancti 13Brendeni animas obvios descendere: quorum luminosa et incomparabili claritudine totus eadem hora illustratus est mundi orbis.
angei0rum biziont 0anctrrrtim rjui gantti Columbani animam ab rxelunt
3itidem die, 4dum fratres, se calceantes, mane ad CAP. xiu. diversa monasterii opera ire praepararent, Sanctus e contra ea die otiari prsecipit, sacraeque oblationis obsequia praeparari, et aliquam, quasi in Dominico, prandioli adjectionem fieri. Meque,
6 A. B. C. D. F. S. pictor Colg. Boll.
7 A. pistorum B. C. D. F. S. pictorium Colg. Boll.
8 om. D. 9 emulos D. 10 belligerautes D. 1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 B. brendini A. 3 iona B.
4 conversatur D. 5 diarmatum D. c B. brendini A. brendani D.
7 est add. C. 8 die add. T). 9 die add. C. 10 tu C.
11 die D. 12 innumerorum add. B. 13 B. brendini A. brandani D.
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 A. B. 3 om. D. 4 cum C.
202 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBEK III.
ait, hodie, quamlibet indignus 5sim, ob venerationem illius animse quse hac in nocte inter sanctos angelorum choros vecta, ultra 6siderea coelorum 7spatia ad paradisum, ascendit, sacra 8oportet Eucharistise celebrare 9mysteria. Et his dictis fratres obsequuntur, et, juxta Sancti jussionem, eadem ociantur die : prseparatisque sacris, 10ad ecclesiam, nministeriis, quasi 12die solenni 13albati cum Sancto pergunt. Sed forte, 14dum inter talia cum modulatione officia 15illa consueta 16decantaretur 37deprecatio, in qua sancti Martini 18commemoratur nomen, subito 19Sanctus ad cantores, ejusdem onomatis ad locum pervenientes, Hodie, ait, pro sancto Columbano episcopo decantare debetis. Tune omnes 20qui inerant 21 fratres intellexere quod Columbanus, episcopus 22Lagenensis, carus Columbse amicus, ad Doimnum 23emigraverit. Et post alicujus temporis intervallum, aliqui de 24Lagenica commeantes 25provincia ea nocte eundem obiisse nunciant episcopum qua Sancto ita revelatum est.
Kngiiontm apjraritimte qwi xrbbiam antmahu* 0aacti
CAP. xiv. jpH_LIO 2in tempore, vir 3venerandus, cum in 4Ioua conversaretur insula, quadam subitatione incitatus, signo personante, 5collectis fratribus, Nunc, ait, oratione monachis abbatis 6Comgelli auxiliemur, hac in hora in Stagno demersis 7Vituli; ecce enim hoc momento in aere contra adversarias belligerant potestates, animam alicujus hospitis simul cum eis demersi eripere conantes. Turn post lacrymosam et intentam orationem, cito ante altarium surgens, inter fratres pariter in 8 oratione prostrates, Isetificato vultu, Chris fco, ait, gratias agite, nunc enim sancti angeli, sanctis obviantes animabus, et ipsum hospitem, ereptum a dsemonum belligerationibus, quasi 9victoriales liberarunt belligeratores.
6 sum D. ° sydera D. 7 om. D.
8 om. D. ° decet add. D. 10 misteriis add. D.
11 am. D. v- om, D. 13 A. abbati B. C. sabbati Colg. Boll. 14 cum C. 15-17 illam consuetam deprecaretur prefacionem D.
1(i decantarent C. 18 commemoraretur C. '9 pater D.
20-21 fratres qui cum eo erant D. 22 laginensis C. D.
23 emigravit C. D. 24 lagenea C. 25 om. D.
1 titul om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 am. D. 3 sanctns C.
4 iona B. 6 et add. D. 6 comgilli A. congelli C. comgalli D.
7 intulit D. 8 B. C. D. F. S. om. A. ° victores D.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBEK III. 203
manifestations alirujti* (Smrhathi anim& 0bbiantmm.
jP§L.LIO 2in tempore, vir sanctus, ultra 3Britannise Dorsum CAP. xv. iter agens, secus Kisse fluminis lacum, subito inspiratus Spiritu Sancto, ad fratres pariter commeantes, Properemus, 4ait, sanctis obviam angelis, qui de summis cceli regionibus ad 5prseferendam alicujus gentilici animam emissi, nos illuc usque pervenientes expectant, ut ipsum, naturale bonum per totam vitam usque ad extremam senectutem conservantem, priusquam moriatur, oppor tune baptizemus. Et, hsec dicens, sanctus senex in quantum potuit comites festinus prsecedebat, donee in ilium devenit agrum 6qui 7Airchart-dan 8nuncupatur: ibidemque quidam repertus senex, 9Emchatus nomine, audiens a Sancto verbum Dei prsedicatum, et credens, baptizatus est, 10et continue, laetus et securus, cum angelis obviantibus ei, ad Dominum commigravit. Sed et filius ejus 11Virolecus credens cum tota domo est 12 baptizatus.
angler Jtomini Qtt* alicui fratri lap#xr be mmtastmi Cuimine rxrtwnM in vobonti rampo a$yoictmu tarn dto 0ubtenerat.
in 3 tempore, vir sanctus, *dum in tuguriolo suo CAP. xvi. scribens sederet, subito ejus 5 immutata facies, et hanc puro de pectore promit vocem, dicens, Auxiliare, auxiliare. Duo vero fratres ad januam stantes, videlicet 6Colgu, 7 filius 8Cellachi, et Lugneus 9 Mocublai, causam talis subitse 10 interrogant vocis. Quibus vir venerabilis hoc dedit responsum, inquiens, Angelo Domini, qui nunc inter n vos stabat, jussi ut alicui ex fratribus de summo culmine magnae domus 12 lapso tarn cito subveniret, quse his in diebus in 13 Eoboreti u Campo 15 fabricatur. Hocque consequenter Sanctus intulit 16 famen, inquiens, Valde admira-
1 tltul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 om. D. 3 brittannite B. D.
4 o??i. D. 5 perferendum C. 6'8 om. C. D. F. S.
7 aircardan B. » enichatus C. 10-12 om. C.
11 virolicus B. viro sancto letus D.
1 tltul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2-3 quadam die D. 4 cum C.
s immutatur B. immutata est (est corrector adjtc.it) F.
6 colgus C. 7-5 om. C. D. F. S. ° om. C. D. F. S.
10 interrogaverunt D. n nos 1). 12 lapsae A. D.
i3.li dirmuic D. 15 fabricabatur D.
1(3 A. B. C. D. F. S. tamen suo jure Colg. Boll.
204 VITA SANCT1 COLUMB.E. LIBER III.
bills et pene 17 indicibilis est 18 angelici volatus pernicitas, fulgurese, ut sestimo, celeritati parilis. Nam ille ccelicola, qui nine a nobis nunc, illo viro labi incipiente, avolavit, quasi in ictu oculi, priusquam terram tangeret, subveniens, eum subleva vit ; nee ullam fracturam aut Isesuram ille qui cecidit sentire potuit. Quam stupenda, inquam, haec velocissima et opportuna subventio, quse, dicto citius, tantis maris et terrae interjacentibus spatiis, tarn celerrime effici potuit.
tmxititttMiu sanctorum totsa afo foati toribidnm fciri fo rxelrr
CAP. xvn. jpBLLIO itidem 2in tempore, quadam die, vir beatus in 3Ioua 4conversans insula, fratribus congregatis, cum ingenti 5animadversione, demmciavit, ad eos dicens, Hodie in occidentalem nostrse campulum insulae solus exire cupio ; nemo itaque ex vobis me sequatur. Quibus obsecundantibus, solus quidem, ut voluit, egreditur. Sed frater quidam, callidus explorator, alia means via, in cujusdam monticelli cacumine, qui eidem supereminet campulo, se occulte collocat ; videlicet 6illius causam solitariae beati egressionis viri explorare cupiens. Quern cum idem explorator de monticelli vertice, in quodam illius campuli colliculo stantem, et expansis ad ccelum manibus orantem, oculosque ad 7coelum elevantem conspiceret, mirum dictu, et ecce subito res miranda apparuit, quarn idem supra memoratus homo, ut aestimo, non sine permissione Dei, de 8propioris monti celli loco, oculis etiana corporalibus aspexerat, ut nomen Sancti et ejus honorificentia, quamvis ipso nolente, ob hanc manifestatam visionem postea magis in populis devulgaretur. Nam sancti angeli, coelestis patriae cives, mira advolantes subitatione, sanctum virum orantem circumstare coeperunt, 9albatis induti vestibus ; et post aliquam cum beato sermocinationem viro, ilia ccelestis caterva, quasi se exploratam sentiens, ad summa citius repedavit coelorum. Beatus et ipse vir, post angelicum condictum, reversus ad monasterium, iterum collectis fratribus, cum quadam non mediocri objurgatione inquirit quis de illis esset 10transgressionis obnoxius. Quibus consequenter se nescisse protestantibus, ille, conscius sui inexcusabilis ntransgressus, ultra non sustinens delictum celare suum, flexis genibus, in
17 indiciabilis C. 18 angelica 0.
1 tilul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 om. D. 3 iona B.
4 conversatus D. 5 animi adversionc C. 6 ejus C.
7 cailos B. D. F. 8 prioris C. 9 albis C.
10 transgressionibus B. n transgressor C.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^. LIBER III. 205
medio fratrum chore, coram Sancto, veniam supplex precatur. Quern Sanctus seorsum ducens, 12ingeniculanti cum grand! commendat comminatione, ut nulli hominum de ilia angelica visions in diebus ejusdem beati viri aliquid etiam parvum occultum 13aperiret. Post egressum vero 14de corpore sancti viri 15illam ccelestis ccetus apparitionem fratribus cum 16grandi intimavit protestatione. Unde 17hodieque et locus illius angelici 18condicti rem in eo gestam suo proprio protestatur vocabulo, qui Latine potest dici Colliculus Angelorum, Scotice vero 19Cnoc 20Angel. Hinc itaque animadvertendum est, 21et non negligenter perscrutandum, quantse et quales ad beatum virum, 22in hyemalibus 23plerumque noctibus, insomnem, et in locis remotioribus, aliis 24quiescentibus, orantem, angelicse fuerint 25et suaves frequentationes, quse nullo modo venire in hominum notitiam potuere : quse procul dubio valde 26numerosse 27fuerunt ; si etiam qusedam ex ipsis quoquo modo ab hominibus, vel in die vel ^noctu explorari potuerint; quse absque dubitatione paucse ^admodum ad earum comparationem angelicarum frequentationum, quse videlicet a nemine sciri poterant. Hoc idem similiter 30et de quibusdam luminosis manifestationibus annotandum, quse a paucis exploratse, inferius 31caraxabuntur.
l^z rxrirnnna luminosz s>&ndi bin fo tottce arfcm
.J3-LIO 3in tempore, 4quatuor, ad sanctum visitandum Colum- CAP- bam, monasteriorum sancti fundatores de 5Scotia transmeantes, xvmin 6Hinba eum invenerunt insula ; quorum 7illustrium vocabula 8Comgellus 9Mocu 10Aridi, nCainnechus 12Mocu 13Dalon, 14Brendenus 15Mocu 16Alti, 17Cormacus 18Nepos 19Leathain. Hi uno eodemque consensu elegerunt ut sanctus Columba coram ipsis in ecclesia sacra Eucharistise consecraret mysteria. Qui, eorum obsecundans jussioni, simul cum eis, die Dominica ex more,
12 ingeniculati B. 13 que add. T>. u illius add. D.
15 anime add. D. 16 ingenti admiratione D. 17 hodie D.
18 conduct! D. 19-20 cnocangel B. cnocan na naingheal D.
21 vel C. 22 om. C. D. 23-24 incuria scribce om. Colg. Boll.
25 om. D. 2G plures valde numero D. 27 fuerant B. D. F.
28 nocte C. in nocte D. 29 om. C. 30 om. C.
31 taxabimtur D. tractabuntur male Colg. Boll.
1 titul om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2-3 quodam D. 4 multorum D.
5 hybernia D. 6 himba B. F. Cummian. hymba C. D.
7 illustria C. 8 congellus C. coragallus D.
9-10 om. C. D. F. S. n cahinnechus C. cainnichus D.
12'13 om. C. D. F. S. 14 brendanus D. 15-16 om. C. D. F. S.
17 cormac A. 18'19 om. C. D. F. S. 19 lethani B.
200 VITA SANCTI COLUMB/E. LIBER III.
post Evangelii lectionem, ecclesiam ingreditur, ibidemque, dum missarum sollemnia celebrarentur, sanctus 20Brendenus 21Mocu 22Alti, sicut post 23Comgello et 24Cainnecho intimavit, quendam criniosum igneum globum, et valde luminosum, de vertice sancti Columbae, ante altare stantis, et sacram oblationem consecrantis, tamdiu ardentem, 25et instar alicujus 26column8e sursum ascendentem, vidit, donee eadem perficerentur sacrosancta 27ministeria.
toisitatixms qnx in insula trite coniinms foiebu* 2d noctibn* m$tv 3fcmerabiiem man#it 4fcintm.
CAP. xix. jSLLIO 5in tempore, cum sanctus vir in 6Hinba commaneret insula, gratia sancti spiraminis super eum abunde et incomparabiliter effusa, per triduum mirabiliter mansit, ita ut per tres dies totidemque noctes, intra obseratam et repletam ccelesti claritudine domum manens, nullum ad se accedere permitteret, neque manducans neque bibens. De qua videlicet domo, immensse claritatis radii, per rimulas valvarum, et clavium fora mina, erumpentes, noctu 7visebantur. Carmina quoque quaedam spiritalia et 8ante inaudita decantari ab eo audiebantur. Sed et multa qusedam, ut ipse post coram paucis 9admodum professus est, occulta ab exordio mundi arcana aperte manifestata videbat : Scripturarum quoque sacrarum obscura quaeque et difficillima, 10plana, et luce clarius 11aperta, mundissimi cordis oculis patebant. 12Baitheneumque alumnum non adesse querebatur ; qui 13si forte adesset illo in triduo, vel de prseteritis vel de futuris deinceps sasculis ab ore viri beati quaedam plurima, ab aliis ignorata hominibus, mysteria describeret; aliquantas quoque sacrorum explanationes voluminum. Qui tamen Baitheneus, in Egea insula venti contrarietate detentus, usquequo illi trinales illius incomparabilis et honorificae visitationis dies, et totidem noctes, terminarentur, adesse non potuit.
20 brendanus D. 2l—2 am. C. D. F. S. '2S congello C.
24 cainnicho D. ~'' ad B. 2l* colurnbae V.
~7 mysteria B. C. D. F. S.
1 tltul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll 2 totidemque B.
3 venerabile B. 4 viturn B. r> om. D.
6 liimba B. F. hymba 0. D. 7 videbantur B. D.
8 om. B. 9 ad domum C. 10 plena C.
51 aperto C. 12 baitlieinunque D. l3 hiterlin. man-it corrector!.** B.
VITA SANCTI COLUMBA. LIBER III. 207
angdua Jteci* 2darifariime qtwm ISirgmr, Jjxrn# inbxrli0
0,ni 3;ptf0t£a jl-exr att,cttfr.e hnir yr^fmt <Saratmn Colnmbam in erdma, fratribtt0 nod* in nib trait* 50,tm0antibtt0, fc.e0jcmb.ere toifcsrat, 6rni eg0, tnfci0nn0 licet, 7fc/e0:etbi0.
Cl^UADAM hyemali nocte, supra memoratus 8Virgnous, in CAP. xx. Dei amore fervens, ecclesiam, orationis studio, aliis quiescentibus, solus intrat : ibidemque in quadam exedra, quse oratorii adliaerebat parieti, devotus orabat. Et post aliquantum quasi horse intervallum unius, vir venerandus Columba eandem sacram ingreditur domum, simulque cum eo aurea lux, de summa coeli altitudine descendens, totum illud ecclesise spatium 9replens. Sed et illius exedriolae separatum conclave, ubi se 10Virgnous, in quantum potuit, latitare conabatur, nejusdem ccelestis claritas luminis, per interiorem illius cubiculi januam, quse ex minori patebat parte, erumpens, non sine aliquo formidabili repleverat terrore. Et sicut nullus 12sesteum et 13meridianum solem rectis et irreverberatis potest intueri oculis, sic et illam coelestem claritudinem ille 14Virgnous, qui viderat, sustinere nullo poterat modo ; quia valde oculorum 15reverberabat aciem ilia luminosa et incomparabilis effusio. Quo 16fulminali et 17formidabili splendore viso, in tantum idem supra memoratus frater exterritus erat, ut nulla in eo virtus remaneret. Sanctus vero Columba, post non prolixam orationem, egreditur ecclesiam. 18Virgnoumque valde timoratum ad se crastina advocat die, hisque brevibus compellat consolatoriis 19verbis, Bene, 0 filiole, ingeminans, hac prseterita nocte in conspectu Dei placuisti, oculos ad terrain deprirnendo, claritatis timore perterritus ejus ; nam, si non ita fecisses, ilia inaestimabili obcsecarentur tui luce 20visa oculi. Sed hoc non negligenter observare 21debebis, ut talem hanc lucis manifestationem nemini unquam in mea denudes vita. Hsec itaque prsedicabilis et admirabilis res, post beati viri transitum, multis, eodem 22Virgnouo narrante, innotuit. Cujus scilicet 23Virgnoui sororis filius Commanus, honorabilis presbyter, mini
1 titul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 claritate B. 3 post B.
4 hyemalis B. 5 questibus B. 6-7 hcec verba ecclesia supra subsequuntur B.
8 fergna virgnous F. 9 replevit C. D.
10 fergna D. vir gnous F. n et add. D. 12 sestivum B. C. D.
13 meridionalem C. 14 fergna D. lr> reverberat C. D.
10 fulminari D. 17 incomparabili C. 18 fergnaque D.
19 om. C. 20 om. D. 2l debes C. D.
22 virgnono B. fergna D. viro gnouo F. ~3 fergna D. viri gnoui F.
208 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER III.
24Adamnano de hac supra visione 25caraxata aliquando, sub testificatione, enarraverat. Qui etiam enarratam ab 26ore ipsius 27Virgnoui, abbatis, et avunculi sui, ab eo in quantum potuit visam, audierat.
l^t alia yxoyz zimili cd&& daritttbini* bwiont.
CAP. xxi. jjl^uo itidem nocte, quidam de fratribus, 2Colgius nomine, 3filius Aido Draigniche, de Nepotibus 4Fechreg, cujus in primo 5fecimus mentionem, casu ad januam ecclesiae, aliis dormientibus, devenit, ibidemque aliquamdiu stans orabat. Turn proinde subito totam videt ecclesiam coelesti luce repleri : quae scilicet 6fulguralis lux dicto citius ab ejus recessit oculis. Sanctum vero Columbam hora eadem intra ecclesiam orantem ignorabat. Postque talem subitam luminis apparitionem, valde pertimescens, domum revertitur. Postera die Sanctus, ilium advocans, asperius objurgavit, inquiens, De cetero prsecavere debes, fili, ne, quasi explorator, coeleste lumen, quod tibi non est donatum, inspicere coneris, quia te effugiet ; et ne alicui in meis diebus quod vidisti enarres.
jrarili !bibin« Ittd0 apparitimt*.
CAP. xxn. ^^LLIO itidem 2in tempore, vir beatus cuidam suo sapientiam discenti alumno, nomine Berchano, 3 cujus 4cognomentum 5Mesloen, non mediocriter quadam denunciavit die, inquiens, Caveto, fili, 6ne hac sequenti nocte, juxta tuam semper consuetudinem, ad meum appropinques hospitiolum. Qui 7haec audiens, contra interdictum, ad domum beati viri, in noctis silentio, aliis 8quiescentibus, accessit, callideque explorans, oculos e regione ad clavium foramina posuit, sestimans scilicet, ut res probavit, aliquam intus coelestem visionem Sancto manifestari. Nam eadem hora beati viri illud 9 hospitiolum coelestis splendore claritudinis erat repletum : quam non sustinens intueri, transgressor juvenis illico aufugit. Quern die crastina, Sanctus seorsum ducens, cum magna severitate objurgans, haec
24 D. adomnano A. B. C. F. S. 25 craxata A. tractata Colg. Boll.
26 in marg. B. 27 fergna D. viri gnoui F.
1 tltul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 colgus C. colgu D.
3-4 om. C. D. F. S. 4 fechrech B. 5 libro add. B. 6 fulgoris D.
1 tltul. om. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 om. D. 3'5 om. C. D. F. S.
4 cognomento B. 5 molloen B. mesloer Colg. Boll. ° de B.
7 hoc C. 8 acquiescentibus C. 9 hospitium D.
ad eum profatur verba, dicens, Hac in nocte, fill, coram Deo peccasti, nam tuse infitialis explorationem calliditatis a Spiritu Sancto celari vel abscond! posse inaniter putasti. Nonne ad mei ostium hospitioli te ilia 10in hora appropinquantem et inde redeuntem vidi ? et nisi ego eodem momento pro te orarem, ibidem ante januam, aut cadens morereris, aut tui de suis foraminibus oculi eruerentur. Sed ntibi hac vice propter me Dominus pepercit. Et hoc scito, quod in tua 12Hibernili patria luxuriose vivens, exprobrationem facies tua omnibus patietur diebus vitae tuse. Hoc tamen a Domino orans impetravi, ut quia noster sis alumnus, lacrymosam ante exitum 13agas pcenitudinem, et a Deo 14misericordiam consequaris. Quse omnia, secundum verbum beati viri, ita ei postea contigerunt, sicuti de eo prophetata sunt.
arujdxrntm smtdo mani&0tata toira apparitixrtte,
inripiento, .qtra^t m0x fo ccrqxore
in tempore, dum vir beatus in loua commaneret insula 4quadam 5die sancta facies ejussubita 6mirifica et 7l8etifica hilaritate effloruit, oculosque ad ecelum elevans, incomparabili repletus gaudio, valde laetificabatur. Turn post modicum alicujus 8momentioli intervallum, ilia sapida et suavis laetificatio in msestam convertitur tristificationem. Duo vero viri, qui eadem hora ejus tugurioli ad januam stabant, quod in eminentiore loco erat fabricatum, et ipsi cum eo valde tristificati, quorum unus Lugneus erat 9Mocublai, alter vero Pilu nuncupabatur, Saxo, causam ipsius subitse laetationis 10inquirunt, et illius 11subsequentis msestitise. Ad quos Sanctus sic profatur, Ite in pace, nee illius 12lsetaminis causam, nee 13etiam tristificationis, a me nunc inquiratis manifestari. Quo audito, illacrymati, 14ingeniculantes, pxostratis in terra vultibus, suppliciter rogant, scire volentes aliquid de ilia re quse hora eadem Sancto erat revelata. Quos valde tristificatos videns, Quia vos, ait, amo, 16tristificari nolo. Promittere 16prius debetis ne ulli hominum sacramentum quod inquiritis in vita mea prodatis. Qui continuo, 17 secundum ejus commendationem, 18prompte pro-
10 om. C. I).
11 tui B. i2
B. evernili A. hibernal! C. D. F.
13 tuum add. D.
14 veniam D.
4'5 om. D. 8 moment! D.
6 et add. D.
7 Isetificaque D. 10 leticie B. Isetificationis C. D.
11 subsequentes B. 14 et add. C.
12 laetitiae B. 15 tristificare B.
13 et C. 16 milii add. D.
17 sanctam C.
18 prompta B.
miserant. Et post talem promissionem vir venerandus sic ad eos 19proloquitur, Usque in hunc, inquiens, praesentem diem, meae in 20 Britannia peregrinationis terdeni completi sunt anni. Interea multis ante diebus a Domino meo devote postulavi, ut in fine tricesimi hujus prsesentis anni me de meo absolveret incolatu, et ad coelestem patriam illico advocaret. Et haec fuit mei causa 21laetaininis, de qua vos 22me maesti interrogatis. Angelos enim sanctos de excelso vidi missos throno ad meam de carne animam obvios educendam. Sed ecce nunc, subito retardati, ultra nostrae fretum insulae 23stant in rupe, scilicet volentes ad me de corpore advocandum appropiare. Sed propius accedere non permittuntur, mox ad ccelorum summa repedaturi; quia Dominus quod mihi totis viribus roganti donavit, ut hac in die ad ipsum de mundo transirem, multarum magis ecclesiarum pro me orationes exaudiens, dicto citius immutavit. Quibus scilicet ecclesiis exorantibus 24sic a Domino donatum est, ut, quamlibet contra meam voluntatem, quatuor ab hac die mini in carne manenti superaddantur anni. Haec talis mihi msesta 25retardatio hodiernae tristificationis non immerito causa fuit. Quibus videlicet quatuor futuris, Deo propitio, terminatis in hac vita annis, subita emigratione, nulla praecedente corporis molestia, cum sanctis mihi obviaturis illo in tempore angelis, ad Dominum laetus emigrabo. Secundum haec verba, vir venerabilis, quae non sine magno gemitu et maerore, ut traditur, necnon et ingenti lacrimabilitate, prolocutus est, quatuor postea annis in carne mansit.
0anrti
^AP. jfUNNORUM supra quatuor memoratorum termino jam ap- -XXiv. pr0pinquante, post quorum completionem, finem praesentis vitae veridicus praesagator sibi futurum fore multo ante praesciebat tempore, 3quadam die, mense Maio, sicut in priore secundo scripsimus libro, ad visitandos operarios fratres senex senio fessus, plaustro vectu's, 4pergit. Ad quos, in occidua 6insulae 6 louse laborantes parte, sic ea die exorsus est loqui, dicens, In Paschali solemnitate nuper 7Aprili peracta mense, desiderio desideravi ad Christum Dominum, sicut et mihi ab eo concessum erat, si maluissem, emigrare. Sed ne vobis
19 alloquitur. 20 brittanniam D. 21 Izetitise B.
22 om. D. 23 stantes B. 24 sicut C. 25 om. D.
1 titul. am. C. D. F. S. Boll. 2 ac venerabilis deo dilecti add. B. 3 capit. novum incipit D. 4 perrexit D. 5 insula C.
* ionse B. D. 7 aprilis F.
laetitise 8festivitas in tristitiam verteretur, diem mese de mundo emigrationis paulo diutius protelari malui. His ab eo 9m8estis inonachi familiares auditis interim dictis valde tristificati sunt : quos in quantum poterat verbis ccepit consolatoriis laetificare. Quibus finitis, ut erat in vehiculo sedens, ad orientem suam convertens faciem, insulam cum insulanis benedixit habitatoribus ; ex qua die, ut 10in supra memorato 1:lcaraxatum est libello, viperarum venena trisulcarum linguarum usque in hodiernum diem, nullo modo aut homini aut pecori nocere potuere. Post ejusdem benedictionis verba Sanctus ad suum 12revehitur monasterium.
Turn proinde, paucis diebus transactis, 13dum missarum solemnia, ex more, Dominica celebrarentur die, subito, sursuin elevatis oculis, facies venerabilis viri 14florido respersa 15rubore videtur : quia, sicut scriptum est, Corde laetante vultus floret. Eadem namque hora angelum Domini supra volitantem solus vidit intra ipsius oratorii parietes : et quia sanctorum angelorum amabilis et tranquillus aspectus gaudium et exultationeni electorum pectoribus infundit, haec fuit illius subitse causa laetitise beato infusa viro. De qua scilicet causa 16inspiratse 17lsetationis, cum qui inerant ibidem praesentes inquirerent, hoc eis Sanctus responsum, sursum respiciens, dedit, Mira et incomparabilis 18 angelicas subtilitas naturae. Ecce enim angelus Domini, ad repetendum aliquod Deo carum missus depositum, 19nos desuper intra ecclesiam aspiciens et benedicens, rursum per 20parasticiam ecclesiae reversus, nulla talis vestigia exitus reliquit. Haec Sanctus. 21Sed 22tamen de qualitate illius depositi ad quod missus est angelus requirendum nemo de circumstantibus recognoscere potuit. Noster vero patronus sanctum, propriam a Deo sibi commendatam animam, depositum mmcupavit. Quae, sicuti inferius narrabitur, alia, senis intervenientibus continuis diebus, Dominica nocte ad Dominum emigravit.
VIR itaque venerabilis in fine ejusdem hebdomadis, hoc est die sabbati, ipse et ejus pius minister Diormitius ad proximum pergunt benedicendum horreum. Quod intrans Sanctus cum benedixisset, et duos in eo frugum sequestratos 1acervos, hoc
8 festivitatis C. 9 majsti C. ™ om. D.
11 craxatum A. tractatum Colg. Boll. 12 revertitur Colg. Boll.
13 cum D. 14 floride D. 15 om. D.
16 insperatse C. Boll. 17 Iseticie B. 18 est add C.
19 et Boll. 20 parusticiam Colg. Boll.
21 dicens D. 22 tune C. D.
1 vidisset C.
212 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBER III.
intulit verbum cum gratiarum actione, inquiens, Valde congratulor meis familiaribus monachis, quia hoc etiam anno, si 2quoquam a vobis emigrare me oportuerit, anmmm sufficientem habebitis. 3Quo audito verbo 4Diormitius minister tristificari ccepit, et sic 5dicere, Hujus anni tempore, 6pater, saepius nos contristas, quia de tuo transitu crebro conimemoras. Cui Sanctus hoc dedit responsum, Aliquem arcanum habeo 7serinusculum, quern, si mihi firmiter promiseris, nemini ante meum denudare obitum, de meo tibi egressu aliquid manifestius intimare potero. Quam cum talem minister promissionem, juxta voluntatem Sancti, flexis genibus, terminasset, vir 8venerandus 9consequenter sic profatur, Hsec in sacris voluminibus dies Sabbatum nuncupatur, quod interpretatur requies. Et rnihi vere est sabbatum hsec hodierna, quia hujus prsesentis laboriosse vitas mihi ultima est, in qua post meas laborationum molestias sabbatizo ; et hac sequenti media venerabili Dominica nocte, secundum eloquia Scripturarum, patrum 10gradiar viam. nJam enim Dominus meus Jesus Christus me invitare dignatur ; ad quern, inquam, hac mediante nocte, ipso me irivitante, emigrabo. Sic enim mihi ab ipso Domino revelatum est. Hsec 12ma3sta minister audiens verba, ccepit amare flere. Quern Sanctus 13in u quantum potuit consolari conabatur.
Post haec 15 Sanctus horreum egreditur, et ad monasterium revertens, media residet via, in quo loco postea crux, molari infixa lapidi hodieque 16stans, in margine cernitur vise. Duinque 17ibidem Sanctus, ut prsefatus sum, senio fessus, paululum sedens, requiesceret, ecce albus occurrit caballus, obediens servitor, qui scilicet lactaria bocetum inter et monasterium vascula gestare consueverat. Hie ad Sanctum accedens, mirum dictu, caput in sinu ejus ponens, ut credo inspirante Deo, cui omne animal 18rerum sapit sensu quo jusserit ipse Creator, dominum a se suum mox emigraturum, et ipsum ultra non visurum sciens, ccepit plangere, ubertimque, quasi homo, lacrymas in gremium Sancti fundere, et valde spumans flere. Quod videns minister, coepit ilium flebilem repellere lamentatorem : sed Sanctus prohibuit eum, dicens, Sine hunc, 19sine 20nostri amatorem, ut in hunc 21meum sinum fletus 22effundat amaris-
2 quodam C. 3 panem add. B. victura manu correctors add. F.
4 diarmatus D. 5 dixit C. ° om. C.
7 sermonusculum D. 8 venerabilis D. 9 om. D.
10 irgrediar C. ll ita B. 13 mestus D.
13-14 ut D. 15 verba add. D. 1G stat D.
17 idem D. 18 brutum B. in marg. F. 19'20 si nostri ne C.
21 om. C. 22 fundat B.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBEK III. 213
simi plangoris. Ecce tu, homo cum sis, et 23rationalem animam habeas, nullo modo scire de meo exitu potuisti, nisi quod tibi ego ipse nuper manifestavi : huic vero bruto et irrationali animanti, quoque modo 24ipse Conditor voluit, egressurum a se dominum manifeste revelavit. Et haec dicens maestum a se revertentem equum benedixit ministratorem.
Et inde egrediens, et monticellum monasterio supereminentem ascendens, in vertice 25ejus paululum stetit, et stans, ambas elevans palmas, suum benedixit ccenobium, inquiens, Huic loco, quamlibet angusto et vili, non tantum Scotorum reges, cum populis, sed 26etiam 27barbararum et exterarum gentium regnatores, cum plebibus sibi subjectis, grandem et non mediocrem conferent honorem: a Sanctis quoque etiam aliarum ecclesiarum non mediocris veneratio conferetur.
Post hsec verba, de illo descendens monticellulo, et 28ad monasterium revertens, sedebat in tugurio Psalterium scribens ; et ad ilium tricesimi 29tertii 30psalmi 31versiculum perveniens ubi scribitur, Inquirentes autem Dominum non deficient omni bono, Hie, ait, in fine cessandum est paginse ; quse vero sequuntur 32Baitheneus scribat. Sancto 33convenienter 34congruit 35decessori novissimus versiculus quern scripserat, cui nunquam bona deficient seterna : successori vero sequens patri, spiritalium doctori filiorum, Venite. 36filii, audite me, timorem Domini docebo vos, congruenter convenit ; qui, sicut decessor commendavit, non solum ei docendo, sed etiam scribendo, successit.
Post talem superius memoratum terminate versum perscriptum paginse, Sanctus ad vespertinalem Dominicae noctis 37missam ingreditur ecclesiam : 38qua continue 39consummata, ad hospitiolum revertens, in lectulo residet pernox ; ubi pro stramine nudam 40habebat petram, et pro pulvillo lapidem, qui hodieque quasi quidam juxta sepulcrum ejus titulus stat monumenti. Ibidem itaque residens, ultima ad fratres mandata, solo audiente ministro, commendat, inquiens, Hsec vobis, 0 filioli, novissima commendo verba, ut inter vos mutuam et non fictam habeatis charitatem, cum pace: et si ita, juxta sanctorum exempla 41patrum, observaveritis, Deus, confortator bonorum, vobis auxiliabitur, et ego, cum 42ipso manens, pro vobis inter-
23 rationabilem C.
24 ut add. B.
25 om. C.
26 om. C.
27 om. B.
28 om, T>.
29 om. D.
30 psalraum D.
31 om. D.
32 baithemis D.
33 congruenter C.
34 convenit C.
35 decessuro C. D.
3<5 fill C.
37 officium B.
38 quo B.
39 consummato B.
40 habeat 0.
41 om. C.
42 ipse B.
214 VITA SANCTI COLUMByE. LIBER III.
pellabo; et non tantum prsesentis vitse necessaria 43ab eo 44sufficienter administrabuntur, sed etiam seternalium bonorum prsemia, divinorum observatoribus 45prseparata, 46tribuentur. Hucusque extrema venerabilis patroni verba, quasi de hac tediali peregrinatione ad coelestem patriam transmeantis, brevi textu narrata deducta sunk
POST 1quse, 2felici appropinquante novissima 3paulisper hora, Sanctus conticuit. Turn proinde media nocte pulsata personante clocca, festinus surgens, ad ecclesiam 4pergit, citiorque ceteris currens, solus introgressus juxta altare flexis in oratione genibus recumbit; 5Diormitius minister, tardius prosecutus, eodem momento eminus totam intrinsecus ecclesiam angelica luce erga Sanctum repleri videt: quo ad januam appropin quante, eadem lux visa ocius recessit : quam 6etiam alii de fratribus pauci, et ipsi eminus astantes, viderant. 5Diormitius ergo, ecclesiam ingrediens, flebili ingeminat voce, Ubi es, Pater ? Et necdum allatis fratrum lucernis, per tenebras palpans, Sanctum ante 7altarium recubantem invenit : quern paululum erigens, et juxta sedens, sanctum in suo gremio posuit caput. Et inter hsec ccetus monachorum cum luminaribus accurrens, patre viso moriente, ccepit plangere. Et, ut ab aliqutbus qui prsesentes 8inerant didicimus, Sanctus, 9necdum egrediente anima, apertis sursum oculis, ad utrumque latus cum 10mira vultus hilaritate et Isetitia circumspiciebat ; sanctos scilicet obvios intuens angelos. 5Diormitius turn sanctam 11sublevat ad benedicendum 12Sancti monachorum 13chorum dexteram manum. Sed et ipse venerabilis pater, in quantum poterat, simul suam movebat manum, ut videlicet quod voce 14in egressu non valebat animse, 15etiam motu 16manus fratres videretur benedicere. Et post sanctam benedictionem taliter significatam, continuo spiritum exhalavit. Quo tabernaculum corporis egresso, facies rubens, 17et mirum in modum angelica visione exhilarata, in tantum remansit, ut non quasi mortui, sed dormientis videretur viventis. Tota interim personabat msestis plangoribus ecclesia.
SED non prsetereundum videtur quod eadem hora beatae transitus animse, cuidam 1Hiberniensi Sancto revelatum est. In
43 vobis add. C. 41 oni. 0. 4>> mandatorum add. B. in marg. F.
40 preeceptorum add. C. D.
1 om. C. 2 felicia C. 3 om. D.
4 perrexit D. 5 diarmatus D. 6 et C. D.
7 altare C. D. 8 aderatit C. 9 non dum D.
10 viva C. n sublevabat D. 12-13 monachos sancti C. D.
14 et add. D. 15 vel C. 16 manu D. 17 per D.
1 everniensi A.
VITA SANCTI COLUMBA;. LIBER in. 215
2illo namque monasterio 3quod 4Scotica nominatur lingua 5Clonifinchoil, quidam homo erat sanctus, 6senex Christ! miles, qui 7Lugudius Svocitabatur, 9filius 10Tailchani, Justus et sapiens. Hie itaque primo mane cuidam seque Christiano nmiliti, 12Fergnouo 13nomine, 14suam enarravit visionem, cum ingenti gemitu, dicens, Hac prseterita nocte media sanctus Columba, multarum columna ecclesiarum, ad Dominum transiit, et in hora beati exitus ejus louam insulam, ad quam corpore nunquam perveni, totam angelorum claritudine in spiritu vidi irradiatam, totaque spatia aeris usque ad sethera ccelorum, eorundem angelorum claritate illustrata ; 15qui ad sanctam ipsius animam perferendam, de coelis missi, descenderunt innumeri. Altisona quoque carminalia, et valde suavia audivi angelicorum 16coetuum cantica eodem momento egressionis inter angelicos sanctae ipsius animse 17ascendentes chores. Hanc angelicam manifestationem 18Virgnous, ut prsedictum est, qui ab ore sancti illius senis cui revelata erat, indubitanter didicerat, iisdem diebus de 19Scotia remigans, 20Hinba in insula reliquis diebus vitae suse permanens, sancti Columbse monachis ssepius enarrabat. Qui videlicet 21Virgnous, post 22multos in subjectione inter fratres irreprehensibiliter expletos annos, alios duodecim in loco anachoretarum in Muirbulcmar, vitam 23ducens anachoreticam, Christi victor miles, explevit. Hanc praedictam visionem, non solum paginis inscriptam reperimus, sed et 24ab aliquibus expertis senioribus, quibus ipse Virgnous retulerat, sine ullo didicimus cunctamine.
Eadem quoque hora aliam visionem, aliter revelatam, unus ex eis qui viderant, ^Christi miles, valde senex, 26cujus nomen 27etiam potest dici Ferreolus, ^Scotice vero ^Ernene, gente 30Mocufirroide, qui inter aliorum sancti Columbse monachomm 31reliquas, et ipse sanctus monachus, in 32Dorso 33Tomme sepultus, cum sanctis resurrectionem expectat, mihi Adamnano, illo juveni 34in tempore, cum grandi retulerat testificatione, dicens, Ilia in nocte qua sanctus Columba de terra ad ccelos felici et beato fine transiit, ego et alii mecum viri laborantes in captura
2 quodam C. D. 3 scotorum C. D. F. S. 4'5 om. C. D. F. S.
6 et add. C. D. F. S. 7 lughdus D. 8 vocabatur D.
°-10 om. C. D. F. S. 10 talcani B. u om. JD.
12-13 om. C. D. F. S. 14 et multis add. D. 15 quia C.
16 om. C. 17 ascendentis B. 18 fergna D.
19 scothica C. scochia D. 2° liimba B. C. hinna D.
21 fergna D. 22 multorum Colg. Boll. 23 seducens C.
24 om. A. C. D. F. S. ™ om. D. ™ cui C. 27 latine add. B.
28.29 orrit Q j) Y. S. ferreolus .i. iarannan in inarg. D. 29 arrene B. 30 mocufirroiue B. 31 om. B.
32.33 (Jorso tomas B. dorso thomse C. druim thuaina D. 34 om. D.
216 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LTBEK III.
piscium in valle piscosi fluminis 35Fenda3, subito totum aerei illustratum coeli spatium vidimus. Cujus miraculi subitatione permoti, oculos ad orientem elevates convertimus, et ecce, quasi qusedam pergrandis ignea apparuit 36columna, quse in ilia nocte media sursum ascendens ita nobis videbatur mundum illustrare totum, sicuti 37sesteus et meridianus sol, et postquam ilia ^penetravit columna cesium, quasi post occasum solis, tenebrae succedunt. Hujus itaque claritudinem luminosse et prsedicabilis columnae, non tantum nos, qui simul in eodem loco ineramus, cum ingenti admiratione vidimus, sed et alii multi piscatores, qui sparsim per diversas 39fluminales piscinas ejusdem fluminis piscabantur, sicut nobis ^post retulerant, simili apparitione visa, magno pavore sunt perculsi. Harum igitur trium miracula visionum eadem transitus hora venerandi apparentium patroni, seternos ei a 41Domino collates protestantur honores. 42Ad propositum 43revertamur.
INTEREA post sanctse egressum animse, hymnis matutinalibus terminatis, sacrum corpus de ecclesia ad hospitium, unde paulo ante vivens venerat, cum canora fratrum reportatur psalmodia, honesteque ternis diebus et totidem noctibus honorabiles rite explentur exequise. Quibus in Dei asapidis laudibus termina tis, sancti et beati patroni venerabile corpus, mundis involutum sindonibus, et praeparata positum in 2ratabusta, 3debita humatur cum veneratione, in luminosa et seternali resurrecturum claritudine.
De supra memoratis ergo tribus illis exequiarum diebus more peractis ecclesiastico, quod nobis ab expertis traditum est, hujus prope finem enarrabitur libri. Quidam namque aliquando unus de fratribus coram venerabili viro simpliciter loquens, Ad celebrandas, ait ad Sanctum, tuas, post tuum obitum exequias, totus harum provinciarum populus hanc 4Iouam remigans 5replebit insulam. Quod verbum audiens Sanctus consequenter ait, 0 mi 6filiole, non ut loqueris sic res 7probabit, nam promiscuum populi vulgus nullo modo ad meas poterit exequias venire ; mei soli familiares monachi mea sepulcralia complebunt, et 8exequialia honestabunt officia. Quod verbum 9ejus propheticum, statim post transitum ipsius, omnipotentia Dei
35 fynne D. 36-38 A. B. C. D. F. S. om. Colg. Boll, tramcrrptoris incuria. 37 dies add. C. 3Q fluviales D. 40 postea C.
41 deo B. C. D. F. S. 42-43 rubrica B. post interea D.
1 sapiendis C. sapientis D.
2 A. B. rata busta F. intra busta C. in rata tabeta D. catabtista suo ure Boll. 3 om. D. 4 ionam B.
5 replevit D. 6 filioli B. ? probabitur C.
8 exequiarum D. 9 om. B.
VITA SANCTI COLUMB^. LIBEll III. 217
adimpleri fecit : nam per tres illas exequiales dies et 10noctes, grandis sine pluvia facta est ventosa tempestas, qua fortiter prohibente, nullus hinc inde navicella vectus transfretare poterat. Et post consummatam beati sepultionem viri continue tempestate sedata, et cessante vento, totum tranquillatum est aequor.
Perpendat itaque lector quanti et qualis apud Deum prsedicabilis patronus 11honoris habeatur, cui aliquando in carne mortali conversanti Deo 12dignante, 13oranti, tempestates sedatae sunt, et maria tranquillata ; et rursus, quando necesse habuit, supra memorata occasione, 14orta 15flamina ventorum, et ventosa, cum voluit, 16concita sunt aequora, quae subsequenter, ut superius dictum est, expletis ejus sepulturae ministeriis, in magnam conversa sunt tranquillitatem.
Hie itaque nostro prsedicabili patrono vitae terminus fuit, Hsta meritorum exordia ; qui, secundum sententias Scripturarum, 2aeternis comes triumphis, Patribus additus, Apostolis et Prophetis consertus, numero aggregatus albatorum millium Agnino in sanguine suas Sanctorum qui laverunt stolas, Agnum ductorem comitatur, virgo immaculatus, ab omni integer labe, ipso Domino nostro Jesu Christo dignante : cui est cum Patre honor, virtus, laus, 3gloria, et imperium sempiternum in unitate Spiritus Sancti, per omnia ssecula 4saeculorum.
POST horum trinalium lectionem libellorum, quisque diligens annotet lector quanti et qualis meriti sanctus saepe supra memoratus praesul venerandus, 1quantse et qualis apud Deum honorificentiae fuerit 2sestimatus, quantae et quales angelicas ad ipsum, et luminosae frequentationes, fuerint; quanta in eo prophetalis gratia, quanta dialium efficientia virtuturn ; quanta et quam frequens eum divini luminis claritudo in carne mortali adhuc commorantem circumfulserit ; quae, etiam post egressum animae de tabernaculo corporis 3almissimae, sicuti quibusdam electis ostensum habetur compertum, locum in quo ipsius sancta pausant ossa usque hodie eadem ccelestis claritas frequentare non cessat, et sanctorum frequens visitatio angelorum. 'Et haec etiam eidem beatae memoriae viro a Deo non mediocris est collata gratia, qua nomen ejus non tantum per totam nostram Scotiam, et omnium totius orbis insularum maximam Britanniam, clare divulgari promeruit, in hac parva et extrema oceani
10 om. T>. ll om. D. 12 donante F.
13 orarite D. 14-15 orto flamine C. D. 1G concitata C. D.
1 ita C. 2 ajtermis D. 3 et add. B.
4 ameu add. C. D. F. S. hucusque vita C. D. F. S. explicit vita sancti columbe abbatis D.
1-2 om. incurla transcriplor'vs Colg. Boll. 3 sanctissima? B.
218 VITA SANCTI COLUMB^E. LIBEK III.
Britannici commoratus insula; sed etiam ad trigonam usque Hispaniam, et Gallias, et ultra 4Alpes 5Peninas Italiam sitam pervenire, ipsam quoque Romanam civitatem, quee caput est omnium civitatum. Tantus et talis honor 6noscibilis eidem Sancto inter 7ceterse divinse donationis munera condonatus scitur a Deo, qui se diligentes amat, et eos qui eum 8sapidis magnificant laudibus magis ac magis glorificans, immensis sublimat honoribus, qui est benedictus in saecula. Amen.
Obsecro eos quicunque voluerint hos describere libellos, immo potius adjuro per Christum, judicem sseculorum, ut postquam diligenter descripserint, conferant, et emendent cum omni diligentia, ad exemplar unde 9caraxerunt, et hanc quoque adjurationem hoc in loco subscribant.
1C ] Quicunque hos mrtutum libellos Columbce legerit,pro me Dorbbeneo Dominum deprecetur, utvitam post mortem ceternam llpossideam.
4 alpas B. 5 pininas A. 6 uocibilis B.
7 cetera B. 8 om. B.
9 craxerunt A. traxerunt Colg. Boll. 1(U1 om. B.
VAKIJE LECTIONES CODICIS COTTONIANI.
[Prior numerus paginam, secundus lineam hujus libri denotat.]
105. 2, Incipit prefacio in vitam sancti patris columbe episcopi. 9, scocie.
106. 1, plurimos fama. 6, secunda orditur prefacio. 8,^omonimon. 9, no
mine. 1 1, HEPYCTHPA. 13, indutum. 17, sanctis. 19, simplicitate.
107. 1, britto. 2, pacricii. macteus. 9, et ille homo, ipso erit. 22,
cognovi. 28, fergosi. 29, athneam.
108. 1, scocia. 10, aut scr. 12, laborationibus.
109. 1, 2, omit. 3, om. abbate. talcani. 5, crasseni. 6, cainnechi. 7,
columbani. 9, lethani. om. prophet. — ejus. 10, Prophetationes ejus de bellis de regibns. 12, pueris quorum unus. mortuus est. 16, om. proph. s. Coluinbse. 17, Prophetia sancti columbe de laisrano hortulano. 22, furtive. 25, ydriam.
110. 5, laistrano. feradachi. monachus. 7, bivi. 9, peregrinis sancti
viri prophetia. 11, transmutatione. locdee. 12, fachni. 14, gruthriche. 15, trioita. 18, colgen. columbano. om. cane.
111. 1, Incipit liber de vita et miraculis beati patris columbe. 3, om. De-
narratio. 18, religione. 26, instinctus.
112. 1, 2, om. quod — miraculi. 4, fendbarrum. 13, ferre. 15, et aliorum.
17, imprecavit. 23, oswaldo. 26, oswaldus. 27, sua. 33, josue. num.
113. 14, adamiiano. 19, scottie. 25, paucis. 28, aut eo. 29, non enim.
31, om. in.
114. 11, hinc ideo. 18, fenteno. talchani. 19, fentenus. 26, vocabatur.
27, columcrach.
VAKLE LECTIONIS CODICIS COTTONIAXI. 219
115. 1, sospesne. columcrach. 5, fentenus. columba (sic passim in capi-
tulo). 11, baithenium. 17, internuncium. 21, terrain. 28, deo nostro.
116. 5, fentenus. 6, mocumoye. talcanus. 17, ait grates. 19, hisdem.
Tria folia codicis, sc. a lin. 19, diebus ad p. 128, lin. 14, genibus, desunt.
129. 7, filii. 12, fossam aqua repletam. 13, diffuse. 30, clamabat.
130. 1, anni. mucuanti. 30, in terra italic.
131. 3, adventantes. 4, om. ilia, audivit. 12, displicent. 22, monachum.
23, fectno.
132. 6, fechnaus. 9, culpas confitetur. 12, deus contritum non aspernit
et humiliatum cor. 16, om. sancti. 19, dium. 20, ab ae fluminis. 23, ionunini.
133. 5, om. provida. 26, om. in pace.
134. 9, primarius geone cohortis. 13, misteria. 19, naviculi. 21, viculo.
25, domo. 27, om. eis.
135. 5, fachni. diocesi. 6, cellachi. 8, colgio. 12, factni. 15, om.
beati — viri. 16, ardchaun. 20, crutinium. 24, cerbubulis. 27, findcanum. 30, suas. Folia tria, sc. a. p. 135, 31, viro, ad p. 146, 28, quse, desunt. 30, cethirin. prsenunciaverant.
147. 10, exenium. 11, diu comitatur.
148. 8, seculorum. amen. 9, om. hie. om. nunc — comitatur.
149. 3, factum est de aqua. 9, mauguina.
150. 1, sanguinis latitabat. 5, vocitatu. 8, ulgeno. 24, ioue. (ioua
passim in hoc cod.)
151. 6, parturitiones. 9, chormacho. letani. 20, om. expliciunt — libri.
152. 1, Incipit liber secundus. 3, om. alio in tempore. vir sanctus co
lumba. 4, fendbarrum. 8, om. pergit. sacra. 13, galee. 21, refert.
153. 1, promptum. 3, galee. 12, haberentur. 13, om. sanctus. ad
eandem. 32, om. in.
154. 1, findcanum. 3, estivum. 10, quindecim. 1 7, mortif era. 19, muni-
tio nuni magna. 23, nemaido mocusogin. 26, cleeth.
155. 8, quo ad illam. ardcenacte. 29, add. transeamus ad alia. 30,
mauguina. 31, loco qui scottie dicitur clocher.
156. 4, filium. 5, om. casu. mauguina. 12, mauguinam. 15, coxalis
conjunctura solidabitur et sancta. 25, om. secundum. 27, cete. 32, cete.
157. 2, anfibali. 8, accepit. 15, combustam. 24, bofend.
158. 11, ioienanum. 18, aquas. 20, om. veracibus. 26, apud deum. 28,
ad 32, peregit, titulus rubrica scriptus, ut in B.
159. 5, infantulum. 9, usque ad. 12, lugucen calath. ardaib muircol.
22, levantes. demonica.
160. 12, hininglas. 13, parcem. 19, deum. 21, periculo in vortice bercaynni.
28, scottie. acbeth bou.
161. 4, ipseejus. 11, cainneche. 16, cainnechi. 19, om. est. 27, ouidchae.
30, beognoi. 31, deo.
162. 3, om. mane. 11, propera. om. in. 14, om. vir. 31, depinxit et
invocato dei nomine vas benedixit quod (sic B quoque).
164. 7, esoce magno in fluvio sale juxta verbum sancti invento. 14, capit.
et titulus ut in B. 20, boo. 26, sic nesanus.
165. 10-18, ut in B. 29, nasani.
166. 4, excedebat. 11, titulus ut in B. 16, iohannes. domnalli. 27, sub-
sannavit. 30, ambabus. 33, aidcambas ardmiurcoll.
167. 9, immensa (sic B). 12, predixerat. 16, manente toto (sic B). 19,
titulus ut in B. 22, ilia. 27, qui in mane (qui itnmane B). 28, nobis sed (sic B). 30, estivo.
220 VAKLE LECTIONES CODICIS COTTONIA.NI.
168. 2, arboruna. 4, nunciaretur (sic B). 6, om. jugulatur — viri. 16, om.
quodam — ecclesiarum. 30, dextera dicebatur. 31, om. ex. 33, laudes.
169. 2, cromani filii baetani. 5, titulus ut in B. 18, sanctum columbam.
170. 1, titulus ut in B. 2, in sua insula. 9, loco hoc. quantotius morere.
17, nessamius. 19, om. praeripiens. 20, raptu.
171. 9, fugit retractatione factaque. 10, 11, et inter bestiam. om. contuli.
14, christum. 18, 19, titulus ut in B. 29, omnia.
172. 11, quod. 14, 15, necnon. 30, oratio (sic B).
173. 1, fenteni. 5, fentenus. 12, kailli anfinde. 14, om. domini. 20,
aliquantum. 21, films. 28, deflere prolis.
174. 4, et corpus. 6, et stabiliens. 17, bricano. 25, brudeno.
175. 7, facta. enarres. 21, lapis (sic B}. 23, briochanus. 30, om. ubi.
176. 23, factum. 27, appulsa est. 177. 11, rivulorum. 17, 18, conquerenter. 178. 10, om. primo. 25, amans. 179. 22, om. in terram. 28, ex sequor. 180. 7, residens. 182. 2, retentare oportet.
183. 8, libranus. hisdem. 34, vocatus. 184. 21, gubernatore. tudica. 185. 28, rege. 187. 2, om. signo. 13, nos (sic B).
188. 18, 19, titulus ut in B.
189. 8, add. ad alia veniamus. 15, om. per — pinese. 23, ventis. 34, airtago.
190. 1, om. nostrorum. 39, add. veniamus ad alia.
191. 6, cis alpinas (sic B). 6, 7, provinciam. hispanias. disterminatas.
15, alio (sic B). 26, om. nos. 35, explicit liber secundus.
193. 2, moculigse. 3, 4, om. De — descenderant. 18, cubilibus.
194. 1, 2, om. Hie — visionibus. add. titulum De angelo domini qui ejus
genitrici in somnis post ipsius in utero conceptionem apparuit. 5, juvante (sic B).
195. 7, copula es. om. fcadere. 23, venerabilis. om. tarn (sic B). 30, om.
ceteris.
196. 15, om. Hoc — teilte (sic B). 16, fennio. 18, fennionem. 20, fennio.
27, hymba. 30, himba.
197. 5, om. quia — diligeret. 7, livosum (sic B). 21, om. Cummeneus usque
ad finem cap. p. 198, 2. 24, diormicii. 26, om. menses. 28, comprovincialibus. 30, de vita, ondairtir.
199. 16, apertumque. 27, quo timore. 34, monasteriola.
200. 6, defendantur. 202. 7, albati.
203. 1, emchati. 4, nesae (sic B). 12, aircardan. 24, colgius. 25, mo-
cumlea. 204. 24, permissu (sic B).
205. 25, himba. 26, cainichus. 27, letani. 206. 12, imba.
207. 6, virgnous. 7, ecclesie, cui ego indignus licet deservio. 26, om. O.
208. 1, a domnano. 7, fecreh. 22, inesloen.
209. 8, hibernali. 25, om. erat (sic B}. 210. 7, lucentie. 27, titulus ut in B. 211. 16, voluntatem. 21, leticie. 27, requirit. 30, sanctam (sic B).
31, 32, invenientibus. 212. 3, habebitis panem.
213. 3, om. nuper. 11, om. barbararum. 28, noctis officium.
214. 3, observatoribus mandatorum.
215. 1, scotia nuncupatur (sic B). 3, talcani. 15, asceiidentis (sic B). 18,
himba. 22, muirbulc maar. 29, aernene. 31, dorso come. 32, a domnano.
216. 4, quern. 15, deo. 21, om. sapidis. 30, exequias ut putatur.
217. 17, inilitum. 31, sanctissime. 33, pausent.
218. 2, penninas. 4, uocibilis. 9, titulus [obsecra]tio sancti adamnani ad
s[criptore]m rubrica. 14, 15, om. quicunque — possideam. Ixxi. 32, catalogus sequitur immediate post subscribant, p. 218, 15. Ixxii. 3, mocutheimne. 4, thocannu. 6, sancti^ — parentes rubrica. Fedil-
mith. 7, ^Eithne. 11, consobrini — columbse rubrica. sancte.
12, colmaan. sineth. 14, conrii mocucein. 16, ioua.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
NOTES AND ILLUSTEATIONS.
NOTES TO PKEFACE.
Page xix. line 6— Marvels. — The ancient records of the Irish Church con sist of most dissimilar materials : there are, on the one hand, the Genealogies, which set forth the descent of the saint ; the Annals, which, with scrupu lous fidelity, record the year of his death ; and the Calendars, which, with equal exactness, tell the day of the month on which it occurred, and name his church j and, on the other, the Life, which too often bids defiance to truth, reason, and decency, and, instead of history, presents a specimen of the meanest fiction. The early Bollandists printed many of these com positions, but subject to strong protest ; the later editors have, in many cases, exercised their own discretion more summarily, and substituted Acts for Lives.
Line 17 — Boyhood. — He was born in 624, and St. Columba died in 597. He states that, when a youth, he received from Ernene's own lips an account of certain appearances which that monk observed on the night of St. Columba's death, at which time his informant was an adult. — iii. 24.
Line 23 — Cites by name. — In his account of king ^Edan's inauguration, B. in. c. 6.
Line 26 — Another memoir. — " Hanc prsedictam visionem, non solum paginis inscriptam reperimus," etc. — B. in. c. 24.
Page xx. line 5 — Baithene Mor. — He is to be distinguished from Baithene, son of Brendan, St. Columba's successor. This Baithene was of the Cinel Enda, and was commemorated on the 19th of Feb. Colgan, Act. Sanct. p. 369 ; O'Donnell, iii. 20 (Tr. Th. p. 434 b}.
Line 9 — St. Mura. — He was a little junior to St. Columba, and died circ. 645. His church was Fathan, now Fahan, on the south-west side of Inishowen. He was not of St. Columba?s race, but his church lay on the side of Loch S willy opposite to the territory where that saint was born. See an article on St. Mura in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology, vol. i. p. 270.
Line 13 — Kinsman. — See the Genealogical JTable annexed to the Introduc tion.
Page xxi. line 1 — Admirable. — In the MS. called The Book of Fenagh our writer is called Adhamhnan Adhamhra, "the Admirable Adamnan."
Line 5 — Continent. — Besides the MSS. of the Life which will presently be enumerated, copies of the tract De Lucis Sanctis are reported to be preserved at the Vatican, and at Corbey, both of which Mabillon used ; at the monas tery of S. Germanus a Pratis, ssec. viii. (O'Conor, Rer. Hib. SS. vol. i. Ep.
Nuncup. p. 142) ; at Bern, one ssec. ix., and another ssec. x. (Appendix A, Report, Record Comm. pp. 31, 46) ; at Rheinau, ssec. xi. (ib. p. 201) ; at Saltzburg, ssec. ix. vel x. (ib. p. 203).
Page xxiii. line 14 — Fordun. — In Chron. iii. 31 he cites i. 9 from the fuller copy ; so in cap. 34, from i. 10 ; in Scotichron. iii. 42, Bower borrows from i. 1 the whole passage about Oswald, which is wanting in the shorter copies, and introduces it thus : " Quern Beda Csedwallam, quern et Adanmanus Cathlonem in sua chronica appelat." In cap. 49 he refers to it again. Both probably used the text of the Cotton MS. Tiberius D. iii. Brit. Mus.
Line 14 — O'Donnell. — He cites the account of Oswald, and the statement about the poems on St. Columba from i, 1, as Adamnan's, in Vit. iii. 66, 67 (Tr. Th. pp. 443, 444) ; ii. 45, in like manner, in cap. 68 (ib. p. 444 a) ; ii. 46, in capp. 69, 70, 71 (ib. 444 6), all of which are wanting in the shorter text.
I. CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY.
Page xxxiii. line l—Gartan. The earliest authority for St. Columba's birthplace is probably the statement in the old Irish Life ; Oortdn din, ainm in luicc in ro genir, " Gortan, now, is the name of the place in which he was born." O'Donnell and the Calendar of Donegal cite the alleged lines of St. Mura :—
Rugadh i nGartan da dheoin ; 'Sdo hoiledh i Cill mhic Neoin ; 'Sdo baisdedh mac na maisi, A tTulaigh De Dubhghlaisi.
* He was born at Gartan by his consent ; And he was nursed at Cill-mic-Neoin ; And the son of goodness was baptized, At Tulach Dubhglaise of God."
None of the Latin Lives make any reference to the place of his birth. Local tradition, however, is very decided in confirmation of the Irish account. In the townland of Churchtown (Ord. Survey, sheet 44), on the face of a hill which overhangs a small lake, called Lough-na-Calliagh, and commands a view of Lough Beagh on the right, and Lough Akibbon on the left, is a group of ecclesiastical remains which are held in great veneration on account of their connexion with the history of the saint. In the centre of the buryingground are the vestiges of an ancient building, about a foot over the level of the ground, and measuring about 34 by 12 feet. Outside the burial-ground, on the N.W. and S.E., are two rudely-carved crosses, which time has greatly disfigured. Lower down on the s.E. is the Holy Well. About 42 yards s.s.w. of the old foundations are the walls of a small church, un roofed, but otherwise in good preservation, marked on the Ord. Survey as " St. Columbkille's Chapel." The stone altar at the east end is in good pre servation. Lower down the hill, at some distance to the s.w., and in the townland of Lacknacor, is a flag upon which it is reported St. Columba was born ; it is marked on the Ord. Survey " St. Columbkille's Stone." The country people believe that whoever sleeps a night on this stone will be free from home sickness when he goes abroad, and for this reason it has been much resorted to by emigrants on the eve of their departure. The Gartan clay is also believed to be a preservative against shipwreck and fire : but it must be raised by an O'Freel to make it effective.
Page xxxiii. line 2 — St. Suite. — His name is Latinized Boetius. He was son of Bronach, a descendant of Tadhg, son of Cian, son of Ailill Olum, and, as such, one of the Cianachta, whose territory embraced the southern part of Louth, where his church of Monasterboice is situate. He is styled " bishop of Mainister." A copy of his Life is preserved in one of the Ware MSS. in the British Museum (Cod. Clar. 39, Add. No. 4788), and it contains the following passage : " Sed et ipso sanctissimo die obitus sui de sancto Columba spiritualiter vaticinans ait, Hodie, inquit, natus est infans cui nomen Columba, qui coram Deo et hominibus gloriosus existet, quique post xxx*51 annos abhinc hue veniet, et meum sepulcrum revelabit, et cemiterium designabit " (fol. 73). The -old Irish Life of St. Columba contains exactly the same statement. The Round Tower and majestic crosses of Monasterboice are objects well known to the antiquary.
Line 3 — Seventh of December. — The Irish Life adds : Dardain din, ar ai lathi sechtmaine, " on Thursday, of the week days." This will give the choice of 517 and 523 for his birth : for, Dec. 7 is e, therefore, it being Thursday, A is the Sunday letter, which belongs to the above years.
Line 7 — Year. — The Annals of Ulster waver between 518 and 522. At the former date they say : " Nativitas Coluimcille eodem die quo Bute mac Bronaigh dormivit ; " at the latter, " Vel hie nativitas Coluimcille." Tighernach places it in the same year with the battle of Detna, and the year after the death of Conlaedh, which was synchronous with the accession of Justin the elder, in 518. The Four Masters fix St. Buite's death at 521. The Annals of Inisfallen have 511, and those of Boyle 499; but their re spective systems of computation are peculiar to themselves. O'Donnell calculates 520 (iii. 57, Tr. Th. p. 441 6). Ussher adopts 522 (Brit. Eccl. Ant. Index Chronol.) ; Colgan, 519 (Tr. Th. p. 486 a) ; while Dr. Lanigan fixes on 521 (Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. pp. 106, 114). The statement in the Irish Life gives 523). Nennius has the following chronological note: " A nativitate Columbse usque mortem sanctse Brigidse quatuor anni sunt" (Hist. Brit. § 16, ed. Stevenson). Unfortunately, the exact date of St. Brigid's death is alike matter of controversy.
Line 8 — Adamnan's data. — St. Columba was in his forty-second year when he removed to Hy (Pref. 2), that is, in 563. In that year Whitsun day fell on the 13th of May, so that he was then 41 years, 5 months, and 6 days, old. Add to this, 34 years for his sojourn in Britain (ib.), and we get the date 597, so that the 9th of June in that year found him 75 years, 6 months, and 2 days, old. Thus, with the Four Masters and Dr. Lanigan, we get 621 (521) as the year of his birth. Bede's statement is that St. Columba died cum esset annorum septuaginta septem (H. E. iii. 4), which is followed by Tighernach. The old Irish Life, and O'Donnell, refer his birth to 520 ; but the Annals of Ulster give 76 years as his age.
Line 21 — Of the church. — Not churches, for then the name would be Colum na g-ceall. Bede rightly derives Columcelli " a cella et Columba " (H. E. v. 9). So O'Donnell, as translated by Colgan, "additamento kille, quod cellam seu ecclesiam significat" (i. 30, Tr. Th. p. 393 b); " partim ab Ecclesia, foelici omine, sortiturus" (i. 8, ib. 390 b) ; "pueri solebaiit prse gaudio, elevatis in ccelum manibus, dicere, Ecce advenit Columba de cella " (O'Donnell ap. Colgan, Act. SS. p. 645 b). In the Leabhar Breac,
P we find the following rationale of the compound : Colum, pro simplicitate ejus dictus est : Cille .i. ara mince ticed on chill in ro leg a salmu h-i comdail na lenab-comf hocus, ocus ba h-ed adberdissen aturru fessin : In tanicar Colum becni indiu on chill .i. o thelaig dubglaise i Tir Lugdach h-i cineol Conaill " Cille, because of the frequency of his coming from the cell in which he read his psalms, to meet the neighbouring children. And what they used to say among themselves was, Has our little Colum come to-day from the cell, i.e. from Tulach-Dubhglaise in Tir-Lughdech in CineU ConaiU " (fol. 108 b). O'Donnell names Kilmacrenan : " Aucti nominis occasio fuit, quod puer sub id tempus in ecclesia de Kilmacnenain educabatur." — i. 30 (Tr. Th. p. 393 b). Thus also the Calendar of Donegal (June 9) : As aire ainmnighther e o chill .i. ar a oilemhain i cCill mic Nenain i cCenel Conuill, which Colgan renders : " Et cognomentum Kille adjectum est, quia in Ecclesia Kill-mac -Enain (id est filiorum Enani) in Tirconallia patria regione enutritus et educatus fuit" (Tr. Th. p. 483 b). The Life of St. Farannan (c. 3) explains Cille by cellis (Colg. Act.(SS. p. 336 a) ; so also Notker, cited at p. 248, infra; but the other authorities far outweigh them. "Columba, quern Angli vocant Collumkillum." — Jocelin, Vit. S. Kentig. c. 39. It is worthy of observation that the epithet was not peculiar to St. Columba, for we find a Colmancille, of the race of Colla Dachrioch, commemorated at Oct. 1 (Cal. Donegal. ; Colg. Act. SS. p. 713).
Page xxxv. line 10 — Priest. — The legend says that St. Columba went to receive episcopal orders from Etchen, but that, through a mistake of the bishop, priest's orders only were conferred. The whole story seems a fiction of a later age. It supposes, among other anomalies, ordination per saltum, and the degree of order to depend on the volition of the officiating minister. The legend is preserved in a note on the Feilire of ^ngus. A Latin trans lation is given by Colgan (Acta SS. p. 306 b, n. 17) ; and the original Irish, with an English translation, by Dr. Todd (Obits of Christ Church, p. liv.)
Line 12 — Mobhi Olarainech. — Also called Berchan. The epithet Claraineach, which Lanigan incorrectly interprets " lame," properly signifies " flatfaced," being compounded of clar, tabula, and eineach, facies, and is rendered tabulari facie in the Lives of SS. Brigid, Cainnech, and Maidoc. St. Mobhi's day is Oct. 12. He is stated to have been one of the twelve Apostles of Erin, and a fellow-student with St. Columba at Clonard. — Vit. S. Finniani, c. 19 (Colg. A. SS. p. 395 a.)
Line 14 — Group of cells. — The Irish Life of St. Columba says, A m-botha fri usci aniar, " Their huts were by the water, on the west."
Line 17 — Distemper. — The Irish Life says, Atbert Mobii fria a daltaibh dergi ind inaid i mbatar ar do n-icfadh teidhm anaicnidh ann .i. in Buidhe chonnaill, " Mobhi told to his pupils to leave the place in which they were, for that a strange distemper was about to come, namely, the Buidhe chon naill." See Mr. W. R. Wilde's valuable observations in Census of Ireland for 1851, Part v. vol. i. pp. 46, 416.
Page xxxvi. line 25 — St. Finbar. — The founder and patron of Cork. He is also the patron saint of Dornoch, the episcopal seat of Caithness ; and of the island of Barra, which derives its name from him.
Line 25 — St. Comgall. — See iii. 18, p. 205, and Note. He founded a church in Heth, or Tiree. Holywood in Galloway was anciently called, after him, Dercongall. See authority cited in Keith, Scottish Bishops, p. 399 (Edinb. 1824).
Line 25 — St. Brendan. — See iii. 18, p. 205. He founded a church in Ailech, probably Alyth in Perthshire ; and another in Heth, or Tiree (Vit. c. 43, Cod. Marsh., fol. 63 b a). He is the patron saint of Kilbrandon in the island of Seil (not far from which is Culbrandon), and of Boyndie in Banff.
Page xxxvi. Hue 25 — The two Fillans. — One of Strathfillan, whose day is Jan. 9 ; the other who appears in the Irish Calendar at Jun. 20, as "Faolan the Leper, of Rath-Erann in Alba, and Cill-Faolain in Laighis." Rath-Erann is now Dundurn, in the parish of Comrie in Perthshire. It is situate at the east end of Loch Earn, where also is the village of St. Fillari's. St. Faelan's memory is vividly preserved in the neighbourhood. See Old Stat. Acct. vol. xi. p. 181 ; New Stat. Acct. vol. x. pp. 582, 584. His Irish church is situate in the Queen's County, in that part of the parish of Kilcolmanbane which is in the barony of Cullenagh (Ord. Surv. sheet 18). In 1623 it was called Killlielan [i.e. Gill Fhaelain] (Leinster Inquis., Com. Reginse, Nos. 24, 25, Jac. I.), which name is now disguised in Ballyheyland. Thus also Killallan in Renfrew, whose patron was the former St. Fillan, is sometimes called Kylheylan (Origines Parochiales, vol. i. p. 81).
Line 26 — St. Flannan. — The patron saint of Killaloe. In Scotland he gives name to the Flannan Isles.
Page xxxviii. line 22 — Inaugurated in Hy. — See iii. 6, p. 197. From the friendship between the parties, Irish writers style St. Columba the anmcara, i.e. " soul's friend," or confessarius, of king Aedhan. MS. H. 2, 16, Trin. Coll. Dub. p. 858.
Page xl. line 15— Gently took its flight.— See iii. 24, p. 214. The long chapter which describes the last scenes of St. Columba's life is as touchingly beautiful a narrative as is to be met with in the whole range of ancient biography.
II. ST. COLUMBA'S BATTLES.
Page xliii. line 3 — Cleric. — Colgan seems ashamed both of the deisiol, and the clerical interference in battle, and accordingly translates this curious passage with studied inaccuracy: " Cathach, id est, praeliator, vulgo appellatur, fertque traditio quod si circa illius patriee exercitum, antequam hostem adoriantur, tertio cum debita reverentia circumducatur, eveniat, ut victoriam reportet."— O'Don. ii. 3 (Tr. Th. 409 6).
Page xliv. line 4 — Genealogical View. — The line at the extreme right is introduced merely for chronological comparison. Brian, the head of this Cormacian race, is believed to have been the elder son of Eochaidh, by Mongfinu, while Niall was the issue of a later alliance with Carinna Casdub. See O'Flaherty, Ogng., p. 374.
III. ST. COLUMBA'S CHURCHES.
Page xlix. line 29 — Remains. — Brussels MS. and Cod. Laud 615 (Bodl. Libr.), p. 105.
Page 1. HDC 6 — Cormac, son of Dima. — That is Cormac Ua Liathain. See p. 185.
Line 7— Collan.— Probably Calmaan of p. Ixxii.
Line 9 — Libren. — The Calendars at Mar. 11 commemorate " Libren Abbot of la Coluimcille and Tamhlacht Librein." — Colg. Acta SS. p. 584.
Line 9 — Conrach. — This is the " Conrius Mocucein qui sepultus est in Dairmaig" of p. Ixxii.
Line 16 — Abode. — Among the poems ascribed to St. Columba there is one which refers to certain mounds and boundary fences erected in the termon of Durrow by three Pictish Abbots, Tiugulph, Erolbh, and Torulbh. It commences thus : Tiugulbh in tige Abad — Tiiigulbh of the Abbot's house
(Bodl. Lib. Laud 615, p. 106). These names have, however, more of a Danish appearance.
Page Ix. line 15. — To these Irish Churches may be added —
Ardpatraic. — A townland on the east side of the parish of Louth, in the barony and county of the same name. Archbishop Ussher has left the follow ing notice of its ruined church : — " Ad occidentalem vero partein Louthianse ecclesise S. Motti capella (ut vulgus appellat) adhuc superest ; et non multo amplius quam milliari inde distans Ard-Patrick, ubi et sacrse sediculse conspiciuntur rudera, septemdecim latitudinis, viginti septem vero pedum longitudines." — (Brit. Eccl. Ant. c. 17). The relation of this church to St. Mochtas answers admirably to the statement in Adamnan at p. 107 supra ; and the apparent difficulty arising from the local commemoration of St. Patrick's instead of St. Columba's name is removed by two of the ancient poems in the MS. collection, Bodl. Lib. Laud 615, in one of which St. Columba is repre sented as calling upon his kinsmen to protect his churches of Doire-Eithne, Ard-Patraic and Sengleann ; and in the other, which records several tributes and offerings due to his churches of Doire-Eithne, Ard-Patraic, Glenn-Gairge, Cenannus, Druimcliabh, and Dearmach.
Inishkea north, Inis Geidhe. — An island off the Mullet, in the parish of Kilmore, barony of Erris, county of Mayo. It is in the diocese of Killala, and contains 664 acres. On the south is Tempull Choluim-dlle, which is marked St. Columbkille's Church in the Ordnance Survey.
Inishturk, Inis Tuirc. — An island off the parish of Kilgeever, barony of Murrisk, county of Mayo. It is in the diocese of Tuam, and contains 1450 acres. On the south-east side is Tempull Choluim-dlle.
Illan Columbkille. — Oilen Choluimdlle, an island in the parish of Ballyovey, barony of Carra, county of Mayo, containing rather less than two acres. It is situated in the diocese of Tuam.
Inistioge, Inis Teoc. — A parish of the diocese of Ossory, situate on the Nore, in the county of Kilkenny, barony of Gowran. It would seem that St. Columba was the patron saint of the ancient church of the place, for when the Augustinian Priory was founded here, circ. 1210, it was styled Coanobium S. Columbse de Inistioch. See Dugdale, Mon. vi. pt. ii. p. 1142.
Page Ixxi. line 20. — To these Scotch churches may be added —
Glenmoriston. — A parish on the north side of Loch Ness, and west of Urquhart, to which it is now united. About two hundred yards from Loch Ness is a bury ing-ground called St. Columba's; and, farther up, a little more than half a mile from the shore, near the house of James Murray Grant, Esq., is St. Columba's Well.
Birse. — A parish south of the Dee, in the southern part of Aberdeenshire. The writer of the memoir in the Old Statistical Account, says, " On Mount Ganiach there is a well, called St. Corn's Well, in honour, probably, of the celebrated saint of Icolumkill ; but concerning this well there is no tradi tion."
Cramond. — A parish in the north-west angle of Edinburghshire. The writer in the New Statistical Account states that " before the Reformation there was a mensal church here, under the bishoprick of Dunkeld, with two altars ; the one dedicated to St. Columba, the patron saint of the see, and the other to the Virgin Mary."
IV. ST. COLUMBA'S TWELVE DISCIPLES.
Page Ixxi. line 30 — Codex B. — Although annexed by a later hand, it is evidently of great antiquity, and drawn from authentic sources, probably from records preserved at Hy, the school whence Cod. B. originated. There is no counterpart to be found among our Irish manuscripts, but some of the particulars appear in a tract ascribed to .^Cngus the Culdee, who flourished about a century after Adamnan ; while others can be verified by independent authorities.
Page Ixxi. line 31 — Nomina. — They appear, with sundry inaccuracies, in Fordun (Scotichr. iii. 26) ; and still more disguised in Hector Boethius (Scot. Hist. lib. ix. fol. 166.) Dempster perverts almost every name, and, as Ussher says, solita fretus licentia, makes every individual an author and a saint (Hist. Eccl. Scot.) Abp. Ussher, who consulted Cod. B., exhibits the list more faithfuUy (Brit. EC. Ant. c. 15, Wks. vi. p. 237). Colgan borrows from him, and comments upon the names in detail (Tr. Th. pp. 4686, 4866) ; as also the Ordnance Memoir of Templemore (pp. 26, 27). Pinkerton has printed them correctly (Vit. Antiq. p. 186) ; from whom they are transferred, with a few alterations, into the Origines Paroch. Scotise (vol. ii. pt. 1. p. 285).
Line 33 — Brenden. — He was brother of Fedhlimidh, St. Columba's father. See Genealogical Table annexed to the Introduction, p. clxxxv.
Page Ixxii. line 1 — Ernaan. — Superior of Hinba. See p. 143.
Line 2 — Scandal. — Scandal cille Cobrainne .i. Scandal mac Breasall mic Enna mic Neill dalta Coluim cille, " Scandal of Cill-Cobran ; i.e. Scandal, son of Breasal, son of Enna, son of Niall ; pupil of Columcille." Cal. Doneg. May 3. Enna Fionn, from whom Tir-Enna, a district in the present barony of Raphoe, derived its name, was the third son of Niall of the Nine Hostages by his second wife. The relationship between his grandson and St. Columba may thus be shown :
NIALL NAOIGIHALLACH=INNEA
EOGHAN
A quo Cinel Eoghain in Tir-Eoghain.
MUIREDHACH MUIRCERTACH
CONALL GULBAN
A quo Cinel Conaill in Tir- Conaill.
!
FERGUS ! FEDHLIMIDH
ENNA FIONN A quo Cinel Enna in Tir-Enna.
BREASAL
SCANDAL
COLUMBA
The compiler of the Orig. Paroch. inverts the order of Enneus and Breasal. Ronnat, Adamnan's mother, was a descendant of Enna, son of Niall.
Line 4 — Tochannu. — A form of Dochonna. Colgan incorrectly reads Torannan (Tr. Th. p. 492 b, n. 109). Two Dochonnas are commemorated at Mar. 8 : but this is Mochonna, otherwise Mauritius or Macharius of the Scotch Calendar, Nov. 12.
Line 4 — Cairnaan. — Written Caornan in the Calendars at Jan. 31, April 28. Brandubh and Melge are names which occur in the Four Masters.
Line 5 — Grillaan. — Greallan of the Calendars.
Line 6— Aedelmith.— Recte Fedelmith. Praef. 2 (p. 107).
Line 7 — Mtlme. — Her pedigree stands thus in the Book of Lecan : Eithne, ingen Dimae meic Nae meic Feichin meic Cairpre Jilead meic Aililla mair meic Bracain meic Feic meic Dairi barraig meic Cathair moir, ic Ros tibrad. Deirbbind belad ainm aile di. " Eithne, daughter of Dima, son of Nae, son of Fechin, son of Cairpre the Poet, son of Ailill Mor, son of Bracan, son of Fiac, son of Daire Barrach, son of Cathair Mor, [is commemorated] at
Eostibraid. Deirbbind Belada [or Bel-fhada, oris longi] was another name for her." See Prsef. 2 (p. 107) ; Obits of Christ Church, Introd. p. Ixiii.
Page Ixxii. line 8 — logen. — " Unicum tantum juxta Codicem de Killmhicnenain, aliasque passim historias patrise, habuit S. Columba Fethlemidii filius fratrem, quern mendose Codex Cottonianus logen, recte Codex de Killmhicnenain et alii passim nostri historici vocant Eogan .i. Eugenium." — Colgan, Act. SS. p. 8 b, n. 3. The Book of Kill-micnenain is cited also in the Book of Fenagh. See Battle of Magh Eath, note b, p. 164 ; Irish Nennius, p. cvi.
Line 9 — Cuimne. — ^ngus notices her thus : Cuman siur Coluim cille mathair da mac Degill .i. Moernoc ocus Caisene. " Cuman, sister of Columcille, was mother of the two sons of Degill, i.e. Mernoc and Caisene."— Tract, de Matr. SS. Hib., Colgan, Tr. Th. pp. 469 a, n. 85, 478 a, n. 3.
Line 10 — Mernooc. — That is, Mo-Ernan-og, " my little Ernan." See i. 3 (p. 117). Mernocc mac Decill derbhratkair do Chaisin mac Decill, et Cumdn siur Colaim cille a matair araon. " Mernocc, son of Decill, brother of Chaisin, son of Decill ; and Cuman, sister of Columcille, was mother of them both."— Cal. Doneg. Dec. 23.
Line 11 — MinclioletJi. — Minchloth mathair mec Nenain [mater filiorum Nenani] quorum unus Colman dicitur. — ^Engus, de Matr. SS. Hib. See Colgan, Tr, Th. pp. 469 b, n. 86, 479 b, n. 17-
V. THE YEAR OF ST. COLUMBA'S DEATH.
Page Ixxvi. line 13 — Festivals. — See ii. 46 (p. 190). To which may be added the following verses from the Brussels MS. alreadj' cited : —
Colaim cille, caemh a II
Is a fear cumtlia Baoithin ; A fel do ghres, tin curdke, For aenlaithe sechtmuine.
Batur cena,fegha a lin,
Ceithre bliadhna, ni hanfir, Deldhencliu Baithin if us : Columfor tus i partus.
Columcille, — beautiful his aspect, And his comrade Baithene ; Their festivals perpetually, without change, Upon the same day of the week [month].
They were as one, behold this interval ; Four years — it not untrue — Baithene was later on earth : Colum was the first in Paradise.
It is a remarkable coincidence that St. Derlugdacha, the immediate suc cessor of St. Brigid at Kildare, whose name is also associated with Abernethy, died on the same day as her patron, having survived one year. See Irish Nennius, p. 163.
Page Ixxvii. line 32 — Birth. — According to the Calendar of Marian Gorman, he was born on the 7th of December.
Page Ixxviii. line 25 — Instituted. — Its observance commenced about the middle of the ninth century, but was not admitted into the Eoman use until about the middle of the twelfth. The Sundays between Trinity and Advent used to be reckoned from Pentecost.
Page Ixxviii. line 33 — Tighernach. — It has been very much the habit to extol this chronicler as a most accurate chronologist, but it is to be remem bered that the years printed in the margin by 0' Conor are 0' 'Conor's own, not Tighernach's. He generally adjusts them by adding one to the years set down for the parallel entries in the Annals of Ulster. This is very often done in opposition to the author's own notation. In the whole range of Irish literary desiderata no work is more imperatively demanded than a faithful exhibition of Tighernach's text. In O'Conor, it is so corrupt, so interpolated, so blundered, that it is extremely unsafe to trust the text, while it is certain mischief to follow the translation.
VI. THE EELICS OF ST. COLUMBA.
Page Ixxix. line 34 — Shrines. — The Annals of Tighernach and of Ulster record a series of enshrinings, which took place in Ireland in the course of the eighth century, and the expression by which they denote the process is Commutacio martirum (Tig. 734, 743 ; Ult. 733, 742, 775), or Commotado reliquiarum (Ult. 784, 789, 792, 793), or Positio reliquiarum in area (Ult. 799, 800). With the exception of the last, there are no equivalent entries to these in the Four Masters, possibly from ignorance of their import.
Page Ixxxi. line 4 — Bones of Columdlle. — That the word ossuum has been correctly assigned as a gloss to martirum in the restoration proposed in the text, will be seen from the following entries in the early Annals : — 734, Commutacio martirum Petair et Poll et Padraic ad legem perftdendam (Tigh., An. Ult.) 743, Commutatio martirum Treno Cille Delgin (Ibid.) 775, Commutatio martirum sancti Erce Slane ; et comotatio martirum Finniani Cluana- Iraird (An. Ult.) After A.D. 775, the Annals of Ulster employ the term reliquiarum instead (784, 789, 792, 793, 799, 800). Cathal Maguir, who compiled these Annals, borrowed from a succession of original chronicles, and the change in the terms probably indicates a change of author. Martra is the analogous Irish term, which is glossed by taisi in an old MS. (H. 3, 18, p. 525, Trin. Col. Dubl.), or by minna (H. 4, 22, p. 7). The parish Kilnamartry, signifying " Church of the relics," derives its name from the same word.
Line 19 — Berclianus. — This was Berchan, son of Muiredhach, of the race of Loarn Mor, the founder of Cluain-sosta, now Clonsast, in the King's County (Ord. Survey, s. 27, where St. Bragharfs Well is marked) ; and patron saint of Kilbarchan in Renfrewshire. He was surnamed Ferdaleithe : Ferdaleithe ainm oile do .i. leth a xhaogail i nAlbain acus an leth oile in Erinn, " Ferdaleithe (man of two portions) is another name for him, because one portion of his life was in Alba, and the other in Erin." — Calend. Doneg. Dec. 4. St. Berchan is cited by O'Donnell as the authority for the burial of St. Columba at Downpatrick, and he adduces from him, as does Keating also, the following 'lines in proof :
A ordan in Ti-I gan choire, Is a annsafor Doire ; A chorpanfo an lig Fo d-ta Patraic is Brlgit.
His dignity in crimeless Hy ; And his love upon Derry ; His body beneath the stone, Under which are Patrick and Bridget.
See the citation from Keating in Reeves's Ecclesiastical Antiquities, p. 227-
Page Ixxxii. line 13 — Minna. — In 829, Diarmait, abbot of Hy, went to Alba with the minna of St. Columba, and, in 831, returned with them to Ireland. The word minna signifies articles of veneration, such as the crozier, books, or vestments, of a saint, upon which oaths used in after times to be administered. See Colgan, Acta SS. p. 127 b, n. 5. The old word denoting the bones of a saint is martra, which is explained by the modern taisi.
Line 27 — Meath. — Serin Colaimcille do argain doDomhnallmac Murcadha. " Serin of Columcille was plundered by Domhnall, son of Murchadh." — Tig. 976. This is omitted in the other Annals.
Page Ixxxiii. line 20 — Fabulous. — Civil and Eccl. Hist. p. 214. The author cites the chronicles of Ordericus Vitalis, Henry of Huntingdon, and Matthew Paris, to show that in the eleventh and following centuries it was believed that St. Columba's remains still lay in Hy. He also refers to some verses which were appended by the scribe to Cod. B., but which are not now to be found in that MS.
Line 29 — It lies. — Martin says : " Near to the West end of the Church in a little Cell lies Columbus his Tomb, but without Inscription ; this gave me occasion to cite the Distich, asserting that Columbus was buried in Ire land ; at which the Natives of lona seem'd very much displeas'd, and affirm' d that the Irish who said so were impudent Liars ; that Columbus was once buried in this Place, and that none ever came from Ireland to carry away his Corps, which, had they attempted, would have prov'd equally vain and pre sumptuous." — Western Islands, p. 258. The place Martin refers to is the cavity near Martin's Cross, opposite the west door of the cathedral. But this ground does not appear to have been a cemetery, or, at all events, not to have been an original one. St. Columba's grave should be sought for in the Reilig Odhrain.
Page Ixxxiv. line 4 — Contributions. — This idea seems to be implied in the entry in the An. Ult. 733 : Commutatio martirum Petair et Foil et Padraic ad legem perficiendam. Armagh was partly indebted for her ecclesiastical precedence to the possession of these relics.
Page Ixxxv. line 10 — Baithene Mor. — Son of Cuana, son of ^Engus, son of Enna, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. He is said to have been present at the convention of Drumceatt. In the Feilire of ^ngus he is styled mor mainech, "great monk," and is the patron of Tech BoetJiin in Airteach, now Tibohine, in the barony of Frenchpark, county of Roscommon ; of Tech JBoethin, an ancient parish, now a townland called Taghboyne, in Churchtown, a parish of Westmeath ; and of Rath Boethin, now Balrathboyne, a small parish in the union of Kells, in Meath.
Page Ixxxvi. line 24 — Cinel Luighdech. — A tribe of the Cinell Coiiaill, who occupied the present barony of Kilmacrenan. See Orig. Ed., p. 192. At 1129, the Four Masters record that " the house of Columcille at Cill-mic-Nenain was taken by Ua Tairchert, from Aedh, son of Cathbarr Ua Domhnaill, and it was burned over him." The O'Donnells were at first only chiefs of Cinel Luighdech, but they afterwards rose to be lords of Tirconnel.
Line 25 — Eobartaigh. — The name is defective in the inscription, but enough remains to identify it with that in the charters of the Book of Kells.
Page Ixxxviii. line 37 — Erin. — MS. H. 2, 16, Trin. Coll. Dubl. The same story is told in the Irish Life contained in the Highland Society MS. (now in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh), fol. 12 aa.
Page Ixxxix. line 12 — ODomnallain. — Coarb of the Disert at Kells (Miscell. Ir. Ar. Soc. p. 136), chief confessarius and senior of Columcille 's congregation, died at KeUs in 1109 (An. Ult. ; Four Mast.)
Page xc. line 12— fietradat.—Vit. iii.US, Trias Th. p. 433 b. There is a poem on the subject in the Laud MS., beginning Beir mo bachuitt let at laimh, " Take my staff with thee in thy hand." — P. 50.
Line 30 — Cambo. — Cambuta is the more usual form of the word, de noting a staff. Jonas calls St. Columbanus' staff cambata (Vit. c. 30, Flem ing, Collectan. p. 243 b), a word conveying the idea of curvature, as in the Greek Ka/*7rro>, and the Irish cam. See Mabillon de Liturg. Gallic, p. 435 ; Fleming, Collectan. p. 362 b ; and the figures in Goar's Eucholog. pp. 98, 133 (Venet. 1730).
Line 38 — Hundred years. — St. Martin died circ. 397, so that this legend would place the discovery of his Gospel at 497, thirty years before S. Columba's birth ! Columba of Tirdaglass also is said to have brought away reliquaries from Tours. See Orig. Ed./p. 332.
VII. THE MONASTERY OF HY.
Page c. line 13 — Monasteriis. — The catalogue of the three orders of Irish saints forms the groundwork of the latter part of Ussher's Brit. Eccl. Antiqq. It was first printed by him, and the various readings in his notes show that he had more than one copy ; but he does not tell whence he derived them (Wks. vol. vi. p. 477). A similar record, differing in no material point except the omission of some names, was printed in Fleming's Collectanea, where it is stated that the recital was " verba pervetusti et fidelis authoris vitse S. Patricii ; " and further, " quse totidem fere verbis, regum tamen et Sanctorum prsetermissis vocabulis, leguntur in antiqua et fideli S. Finniani vita, quse cum aliis plurium Sanctorum Hibernise Legendis, quas R. P. Franciscus Matthaeus, nunc Collegii nostri Guardianus, et nuper Provincialis Minister nostrse Provincise, circa annum 1626, summo studio ac diligentia, ex duobus MSS. voluminibus pergamineis (quorum unum ad Ecclesiam Ardmachanam vel Dubliniensem spectat, et in Bibliotheca Jacobi Usserii, ex ordinatione Regis Anglise, Primatis Ardmachani, asservatur ; alterum ad Insulam quse Omnium Sanctorum dicitur pertinet) transumi curavit." — P. 431 a. Both catalogues are printed, with observations, in the second volume of O'Conor's Rer. Hib. Script, pp. 162-165. A catalogue, agreeing in the main with Ussher's, comes after the Life of S. Keranus in the Codex Salmanticensis of Brussels, fol. 78 b a.
Line 18 — Framers. — The personal austerities which are attributed to some of the Irish saints are almost incredible. The Life of Comgall relates that that saint, having retired to Custodiaria Insula (called in the Calendar Inis Coimhetta, now Ely Island) in Lough Erne, " monachi sui post eum in illam insulam intraverunt ; et non valentes rigidissime vivere, sicut suus Abbas, septem ex eis fame et frigore mortui sunt." — Cap. 12 (Flem. Collect, p. 305 a.) The Life of St. Cainnech represents him as travelling "trans Dorsum Britannice" and states that " Sancti Hybernienses miserunt nuncios post Sanctum Cainnicum audientes eum heremitum esse in Britannia, et tune ductus est sanctus Cainnicus de heremo contra suam voluntatein" (Vita, pp. 13, 39, ed. Ormonde). See under Austeritas in the Index Moralis of Colgan's Acta Sanctor. Adamnan records one instance of St. Columba's mortification (p. 213).
Page ci. line 10 — Hereditary. — The Book of Armagh gives us a most valu able insight into the ancient economy of the Irish monasteries in its account of the endowment of Trim. In that church there was an Ecclesiastica pro genies and a Plebilis progenies, a religious and secular succession : the former, of office, in spirituals ; the latter, of blood, in temporals ; and both descended from the original granter. In the religious succession eight names are men tioned, and it is added, " Hi omnes episcopi fuerunt et principes " [abbots] ;
234 NOTES TO INTKODUCTION.
in the lineal succession there are nine names in a descending pedigree, and it was from this line that the ecdesiastica progenies was from time to time supplied (fol. 16 bb). The lineal transmission of the abbatial office, which appears in the Irish Annals towards the close of the eighth century, probably had its origin in the usurpation by the plebilis progenies connected with the various monasteries of the functions of the ecdesiastica progenies, which would be the necessary result of the former omitting to keep up the succession of the latter. In such case the tenant in possession might maintain a semblance of the clerical character by taking the tonsure and a low degree of orders. This is very much what Giraldus Cambrensis states concerning the Abbates laid of Ireland and Wales (Itinerar. Cambr. ii. 4). The so-called Canons of St. Patrick recognise the relation of the " clericus et uxor ejus " (can. 6) ; and Pope Gregory, in 601, prescribed for St. Augustine, " Si qui vero sunt clerici extra sacfos ordines constituti, qui se continere non possunt, sortiri uxores debent, et stipendia sua exterius accipere" (Bede, H. E. i. 27).
Page ci. line 18 — Parochia. — In monastic language a parochia was the jurisdiction of a Superior over the detached monasteries of the order. Cogitosus says of St. Brigid: " cujus parrochia per totam Hiberniensem terram diffusa" (Prol., Tr. Th. p. 518). St. Brendan " cum venit de navigio suo quaerendo terram repromissionis sanctorum, tune parrochia ejus per diversas regiones Hybernie dilatata est '' (Cod. Marsh, fol. 57 b a). St. Ciaran was styled " Leath nEirinn, i. e. 'dimidium Hibernise/ parochia enim ejus per medium Hybernise dilatabitur" (ib. fol. 146 aa) ; and his influence was so great that "valde enim parochiam Hibernise apprehenderet " (ib. fol. 147 bb).
Page ciii. line 22 — Pachomius. — Cod. Regular, torn. ii. pp. 64 a, 66 b. It was copied from the archives of the church of Dunblane by Servanus Thomson, a Scotch Benedictine of Dunfermlin, and was taken to Ratisbon in 1526, when he went thither to be prior on the invitation of his uncle, John Thomson, who was abbot of the Scotch monastery of St. James at Ratisbon.
Page civ. line 26 — Bishop. — "Qui non episcopus, sed presbyter extitit et monachus." — Bede, Hist. EC. iii. 4.
Line 27 — Presbyter. — "Baitheneus sanctus presbyter (161) Segeni abbas et presbyter." — Bede, H. E. iii. 5. " Adamnan presbyter et abbas." — Ib. v. 1 5. St. Brendan's case was precisely similar : he founded Clonf ert, and was presbyter-abbot of it from 564 till his death in 577. St. Moenu, or Maeinenn, was bishop of the same church during the founder's lifetime, and died in 572. In Armagh the chief dignity, namely, that of Coarb of Patrick, was conventual, and the abbot was occasionally distinguished from the bishop who was his subordinate. See King's Memoir of the Primacy, p. 78.
Line 28 — Choice. — The motives to it have been already adverted to. Besides the numerous domestic examples furnished by the Secundus Ordo, we might mention the case of St. Martin, whose consecration was effected by a mixture of stratagem and force (Vit. c. 7, p. 497, ed. Hornii) ; of St. Columbanus, who never rose from the presbyterate ; of St. Gall, who twice refused the most earnest solicitations to become a bishop (Vit. S. Galli, Messingham, Florileg. pp. 266, 269). Bishop Cronan, who visited St. Columba, dissembled his rank (p. 142) ; and in like manner the famous Fergil, or Virgilius, "the Geometer," who, from being abbot of Aghabo in Ireland, was appointed by Pepin, king of the Franks, to the monastic see of Saltzburg in Bavaria, entered on the abbatial duties, but "dissimulata ordinatione ferine duorum annorum spatiis, habuit secum laboris et coronse participem episcopum comitantem de patria, nomine Dobda [Hib. Dubhda, e.g. Ua dubhda] ad persolvendum Episcopale officium" (Vit., Mabillon, Act. SS. Ben. Ord. ssec. iii. p. 280, Ven. 1734; Messingham, p. 331 a). He died, according to the Annals of Ulster, in 788.
Page civ. line 31 — Hy. — Five bishops of Hy are mentioned in the Irish Annals at various dates, Ann. 622, 712, 966, 968, 978, 987.
Line 32 — Jurisdiction. — " Cujus juri et omnis provincia, et ipsi etiam episcopi, ordine inusitato, debeant esse subjecti." — Bede, H. E. iii. 4. As regarded the Scotic Church, it was not unusual. Notker Balbulus, un acquainted alike with the geography and history of Ireland, says : " In Scotia insula Hibernise depositio S. Columbse. . . . Adeo ut Abbas monasterii cui novissime prsefuit, et ubi requiescit, contra morem ecclesiasticum, Primas omnium Hiberniensium habeatur episcoporum." — Martyrol.
Line 34 — Vow. — " Monachus ipse episcopus ^dan, utpote de insula quse vocatur Hii destinatus." — Bede, H. E. iii. 3. "Aidan quippe qui primus loci [Lindisfarn] episcopus fuit monachus erat et monachicam cum suis omnibus vitam semper agere solebat. Unde ab illo omnes loci ipsius antistites usque hodie sic episcopale exercent officium, ut regente monasterium abbate, quern ipsi cum consilio fratrum elegerint, omnes presbyteri, diaconi, cantores, lectores, ceterique gradus ecclesiastici, monachicam per omnia cum ipso Episcopo regulam servent." — Vit. S. Cudberti, cap. 16 (p. 241, ed. Smith).
Line 35 — Abbot. — In the case of Aidus Niger, St. Columba's displeasure fell, not on the officiating bishop, but on the presiding abbot. See p. 126.
Line 35 — Community. — " Sicque ilium [/Edanum] ordinantes, ad prsedicandum miserunt." — Bede, H. E. iii. 5. "A majoribus meis accepi, qui me hue episcopum miserunt." — Ib. iii. 25.
Page cv. line 6 — Bobio. — " Episcopus, quern pater monasterii, vel tota congregatio invitaverit ad Missarum solemnia celebranda, aut consecrationes Presbyterorum seu Diaconorum . . . ipse habeat facultatem in idem mon asterium ingrediendi, tantum ad pii opus Monasterii peragendum. Nullam potestatem habere permittant Episcopos in eodem monasterio, neque in rebus, neque in ordinandis personis, nisi eum, quern cuncta Congregatio regulariter elegerit." — Miracula S. Columbani, cap. 23 (Fleming, Collect, p. 257 a ; Messingham, Florileg. p. 248 b). See also the third capitulum of the Council of Hertford, Bede, H. E. iv. 5.
Line 9 — Called in. — " Accito episcopo." See p. 135.
Line 11 — Consecrated. — " Ab hac ergo insula, ab horum collegio monachorum, ad provinciam Anglorum instituendam in Christo, missus est ^Edan, accepto gradu episcopatus. Quo tempore eidem monasterio Segeni abbas et presbyter prsefuit." — Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica, iii. 5.
Line 13 — Time. — " Successit ei [^Edano] in episcopatum Finan, et ipse illo ab Hii Scottorum insula ac monasterio destinatus, ac tempore non pauco in episcopatu pennansit." — Bede, H. E. iii. 17, 25. "Defuncto autem Finano qui post ilium fuit, cum Colmanus in episcopatum succederet, et ipse missus a Scottia." — Ib. iii. 25. " Helictis in ecclesia sua fratribus aliquot, primo venit ad insulam Hii, unde erat ad prsedicandum verbum Anglorum genti destinatus." — Ib. iv. 4. Ceollach, or Cellach, bishop of the Mercians, " ipse de natione Scottorum, qui non multo post, relicto episcopatu, reversus ad insulam Hii [or, as in cap. 24, 'ad Scottiam rediit'], ubi plurimorum caput et arcem Scotti habuere ccanobiorum : succedente illi in episcopatum Trumheri, natione quidem Anglo, sed a Scottis ordinato episcopo." — Ib. iii. 21. From the above it appears that Bede considered Hy to be in Scotia.
Line 15 — Orders. — " Columbanus, qui ad insulam Hyth ad S. Columbam pergens, illic gradum episcopalem accepit : et iterum ad suam patriain reversus est/'— Vit. S. Itse, cap. 21 (Colg. Act. SS. p. 69 a).
Page cvi. line 25 — Another house. — According to the Calendar of Donegal, Conamhail was son of Failbhe, of the race of Colla Uais.
Line 33 — Clanship. — This principle was largely developed in the religious institutions of Ireland, and led to the limitation of herenachies and the custody of reliques in certain families.
Page cviii. line 21 — Modern Journal. — Catholic Layman (Dublin), vol. ii. p. 87, vol. iii. p. 33. These articles are anonymous, but the reader of the Rev. R. King's Memoir of the Primacy of Armagh, pp. 20-24, will not fail to recognise the same master hand.
Line 28 — Clergy. — Marriage was not confined to the inferior Orders. When St. Patrick required a damhna n-epscuip [materies episcopi], " a man fitted for the episcopal office," to be placed over the Lagenians, he asked for a person who, among other qualifications, was fer oensetche, " a man of one wife." — Lib. Armac. fol. 18 a b.
Page ex. line 19 — Ordinary. — St. Benedict styles such Dies privates. — Reg. cap. 13.
Line 20 — Synaxis. — The chapter De Cursu, in the Rule of Columbanus, commences thus : " De synaxi ergo, id est, de cursu Psalmorum et orationum modo canonico." — Cap. 7 (Flem. Collect, p. 5 b). Bede has the expression matutince Synaxeos, H. E. iv. 19. The chapter of the Rule of Columbanus, De Cursu, prescribes : " Per diurnas terni Psalmi horas pro operum interpositione statuti sunt a Senioribus nostris cum versiculorum augmento intervenientium pro peccatis primum nostris, deinde pro omni populo Christiano, deinde pro Sacerdotibus, et reliquis Deo consecratis sacrse plebis gradibus, postremo pro eleemosynas facientibus, postea pro pace regum, novissime pro inimicis." — Cap. 7 (Flem. Coll. p. 6 a.) The corresponding order of special intercessions in the Antiphonarium Benchorense is as follows : 1. Oratio communis Fratrum, beginning " Ne memineris iniquitatum nostrarum." 2. Pro Baptizatis. 3. Pro Abbate. 4. Pro Fraternitate. 5. Pro Pace populorum et regum. 5. Pro Blasphemantibus. 6. Pro Impiis. 7. Pro Iter facientibus. 8. Pro Eleemosinariis. 9. Pro Infirmis. This serves as an in teresting commentary on the Rule ; and, coupled with the consideration that Columbanus was a pupil of St. Comgall at Bangor, we can understand the reference in Senioribus nostris. Possibly Officialis Liber would be a more suitable name than Antiphonarium : it is the title found in a St. Gall manu script (Maskell, Mon. Rit. Eccl. Angl. vol. i. p. xxxiv.) ; and the two classes of Irish service books were Libri Officiales et Missales (Vit. S. Munnae, c. 12, Cod. Marsh. 128 aa).
Line 23 — Hy. — "In insula le, cum hora nona appropinquasset quidam sacerdos tit mos est ad interrogandum Columbam perrexit, sed Columbam in suo loco non invenit, diligenter per insulam queerebat, nee inventus est. Et Bithinus jussit ut tintinnabulum percuteret. Cumque fratres celebrare incepissent, subito Columbanus cum igneo vultu et f ulgentibus oculis in ecclesiam venit ad eos." — Vit. S. Cainnechi, cap. 25 (p. 15, ed. Ormonde).
Page cxii. line 10 — Indulgence. — It was to save his brethren from the inter ruption of this enjoyment that St. Columba wished his life to be spared till Pentecost (211). Bede terms this season the remissio quinquagesimce paschalis (H. E. iii. 5).
Line 14 — Interval. — Cummian, in his Paschal Epistle to Segienus, abbot of Hy, speaking of his abode in Rome, says : "In uno hospitio cum Graeco et Hebrseo, Scytha et ^Egyptiaco, in ecclesia sancti Petri simul in Pascha (in quo mense integro disjuncti sumus) fuerunt." — Ussher, Sylloge Ep. xi. (Wks., vol. iv. p. 443). For a very satisfactory exposition of the Paschal question, and reference to authorities, see the acute and learned Robert King's Church History of Ireland, vol. i. pp. 190-197.
Line 23 — Nona. — Bede says of Bishop vEdan, who had lately come from Hy, " Cujus exemplis informati tempore illo religiosi quique viri ac feminae, consuetudinem fecerunt per totum annum, excepta remissione qumquagesimae paschalis, quarta et sexto, sabbati jejunium ad nonam usque horam protelare." — H. E. iii. 5. Adamnan of Coldingham, " de genere Scottorum," lived so abstemiously, " ut nihil unquam cibi vel potus, excepta die Dominica et quinta sabbati perciperet." — Ib. iv. 25.
Page cxii. line 27 — Taken. — Bishop Cedd, a Columbian disciple, observed Lent in this manner : " diebus cunctis, excepta Dominica, jejunium ad vesperam usque juxta morem protelans, ne tune quidem nisi panis permodicum, et unum ovum gallinaceum cum parvo lacte aqua inixto percipiebat. Dicebat enim hanc esse consuetudinem eorum, a quibus normam disciplines regularis didkerat."-—Bede, H. E. iii. 23. The Rule of St. Benedict prescribed, " In Quadragesima vero usque ad Pascha ad Vesperam reficiant. Ipsa autem vespera sic agatur, ut lumine lucernse non indigeant reficientes."-— Cap. 41. Ecgberct's diet in Lent was panis ac lac tenuissimum (ib. iii. 27), which is expressed in Irish by anglais acus aran, " milk-and-water and bread" (Vit. S. Mailreice, p. 89 a).
Page cxiii. line 15 — Etchen. — See the legend from Maguir's note to the Felire, in Obits of Christ Church, Introd. p. liv.
Line 17 — Lanfranc. — "Episcopi ab uno episcopo consecrantur." — Ussh. Syll. Ep. 27.
Line 19 — Anselm. — In one letter he writes, "Episcopi quoque solis episcopis consecrantur," Ussher, Syll. Ep. 35 (Wks. vol. iv. p. 521); in another, " atque ab uno episcopo episcopum, sicut quemlibet presbiterum, ordinari." — Ep. 36 (p. 524). In primitive times the practice was not uniform in Ireland ; see Reeves's Eccles. Antiqq. p. 127. There is an early instance of single consecration in the case of JElurus Timotheus at Alexandria, who, on the death of Proterius, "aut voluit aut passus est se ab uno episcopo, in locum occisi episcopi, fieri episcopum." — Gennadius, ap. Ussher, Wks. vol. v. pp. 366.
Page cxiv. line 6 — Father-land. — Like patria, the old Irish word is atharda, from athair, father. St. Columba is extolled in his Irish Life for abandoning his atharda.
Line 14 — Hy. — Tighernach, at 718, says, "Tonsura corona super familiam lae datur."
Line 26 — Swineherd. — Ussher cites an ancient Cotton MS., containing a col lection of Irish Canons, for the following : " Romani dicunt tonsuram a Simone Mago sumpsisse initium, cujus tonsura de aure ad aurem tantum contingebat ; pro excellentia ipsa magorum tonsura, qua sola frons anterior regi solebat. Auctorem autem hujus tonsurse in Hibernia subulcum regis Loigeri filii Nil extitisse, Patricii sermo testatur : ex quo Hibernenses pene omnes hanc tonsuram sumpserunt." — EC. Br. Ant. c. 17 (Wks. vol. vi. p. 490). The Irish word for tonsus is mael, and one of Laeghaire's Magi was Lucet-mael, hence we may infer that the magorum tonsura referred to above, had some influence on the Irish style. In the Irish verses concerning the introduction of Christianity, ascribed to the native Druids, and which were ancient in the year 700, the term by which the missionary is characterized is Tailcend, which Muirchu, in the Book of Armagh, renders Asciciput (fol. 2 bb), a word whose meaning has not hitherto been explained. It is undoubtedly a com pound of Ascia, " an adze," and caput. Similarly, the Irish equivalent is compounded of tal, ascia, and cenn, caput. The Irish had a St. Mactail (Jun. 11), whose name is interpreted filius ascice, not, however, as is generally sup posed, because his father was a carpenter (that would be mac an tsaor), but on the same principle that Maccaile was filius veli. Probus, who closely fol lows Muirchu, not understanding the force of asciciput, and taking tail in the abstract sense of ars, renders taikend artis caput, as if it denoted totius artis magister (cap. 26, Tr. Th. p. 49 a). The Third Life in Colgan, caught by an apparent similarity, substitutes a ludicrous word, archicapus, "prime-capon" (cap. 30, Tr. Th. 23 b). The Second and Fourth have vir cum corona decorata (Tr. Th. pp. 14 a, 40 a). Jocelin renders it in circulo tonsus in capite (cap. 31, Tr. Th. p. 71 b), and so in Tripart. Life (i. 43, Tr. Th. p. 123 6). Colgan's tonsus in vertice (ib. p. 2 bb) is better. A passage in S. Brendan's Life states that a monk was struck capiti securi, and that the place where he was buried was called " Lebaydh in tollchynd, i.e. Lectus perforati capitis " (Cod. Marsh, fol. 63 bb). If tailcenn denote the coronal tonsure, it will be open to the suspicion of having been coined in the seventh century, but if Icevigatum caput, it will suit any date.
Page cxvi. line 2 — Psalms. — JEdan's followers, both adtonsi and laid, employed themselves aut legendis Scripturis, aut Psalmis discendis. — Bede, Hist. EC. iii. 5.
Page cxvii. line 9 — Obits. — The custom of keeping such entries is illus trated in Bede's statement of a Saxon priest, " egressus requisivit in annali suo, et invenit eadem ipsa die Osualdum regem fuisse peremptum." — H. E. iv. 14. Annals like Tighernach's were probably kept in all the Irish monasteries.
Line 33 — Beef. — The Irish Life relates that on one occasion an athlaech [quondam-laicus], called Maelumha, son of Baedan, sojourning in Hy, came to Columbcille when for fhacaibh Boithin he ic fum mairt don methil, " he was left by Baithin, cooking a beef for the workmen."
Page cxviii. line 1 — Evening meal. — " Cibus sit vilis et vespertinus." — Reg. Col. c. 3.
Line 18 — Natural colour. — Jocelin, describing St. Patrick's cowl, ob serves: " Unde et monachi in Hibernia S. Patricii sequendo vestigia, per multa temporum volumina habitu simplici contenti erant, quern ovium ministrabat lana, qualibet extrinseca tinctura remota." — Vit. S. Patr. c. 185 (Trias Th. p. 106 a.) The old Irish Life exaggerates the self-denial of Columcille when it asserts, nis gebhedh lln na oland fria chness, " he never put flax or wool to his skin." On Sundays and festivals the brethren went albati (202) in surplices (?) to church.
Line 23 — Capa. — St. Comgall's Life relates that " Quodam die cum esset S. Comgallus solus in agro foris operans, posuit chrismale suum super vestem suam. Cum ergo venissent gentiles ad S. Comgallum foris operantem, et chrismale suum super cappam suam vidissent, putaverunt chrismale illud deum S. Comgalli esse."— Cap. 22 (Flem. Coll. p. 307 b). The chrismale, it may be observed, was a box for carrying the consecrated bread of the Eucharist, probably the menstir of the Book of Armagh (fol. 18 a b). In St. Dega's Life an anecdote is told similar to that in p. 170, but instead of tunica the garment is called capa (Act. Sanct. Aug. torn. iii. p. 659 6).
Line 25 — Calcei. — The Irish Life, in illustration of Columcille's humility, says : Mor tra an inisle do Colum cille conidh h-efen no benadh a n-iallachranda dia manchaibh acas no imladh doibh, " It was, now, great lowli ness in Columcille that he was wont himself to take the sandals off his monks, and wash them." So the Vit. Sec. of Colgan, " Suis discipulis tanquam vilis servus ministrans calceamenta de illorum pedibus solvebat, eorumque pedes post labores, aquis lavabat calidis." — Cap. 17 (Tr. Th. p. 327 a).
Line 33 — Straw. — Adamnan says that Columba's bed was a bare stone : the Vit. Secund. of Colgan adds, "interposito tantum corio." — Cap. 18 (Tr. Th., p. 327 a.) It would seem that hides were occasionally used for sleeping on. St. Macnisse of Connor is said to have derived his name from mac cnir [Patraic], " son of Patrick's skin," because he slept in his bed. (Obits of Christ Ch. Introd., p. Ixxiii.) See the passage cited from the Vit. Trip, p. 116, n. b, Orig. Ed. ; and the legend of St. Ciaran's cow, p. 352, Orig. Ed.
Page cxix. line 12 — Altarium. — Probably of stone. " Alio autem die S. Kannichus intravitininsulam le, cumque osculatus fuisset altare [dedisset pacem altari — Cod. Marsh.'], caput suum contra cornu altaris incaute percussit, et de capite ejus gutta sanguinis venit, et ilia gutta capitis Kannichi data est super filiam Bruidei regis Pictorum." — Vit. S. Kannechi, c. 23 (p. 14, ed. Ormonde).
Line 15 — Discus. — Hence dish, in Irish mias. " Cum disco sive patena." — Vit. Trip. iii. 54 (Trias Th. p. 137 a). So Vit. Brendani, c. 42 (Cod. Marsh, fol. 63 a b). Disci were among the altar furniture made by St. Dega. The Book of Armagh has patinus (ff. 8 bb, 11 bb). The bread was called in Irish bairgen, or " cake."
Line 15 — Calix. — From which comes the Irish cailech, called coilech n-aijfrind, " calix offertorii," in the Irish Life. Calix. — Lib. Armac. fol. 8 bb.
Line 18 — Exedra. — The Irish version of Bede's abstract of Adamnan, De Locis Sanctis, translates exedra by irdum. — Leabhar Breac, fol. 69 b. This term is explained by Cormac so as to answer exactly to Adamnan's description of the exedra at Hy : Aurdom .i. urdom A. aurteghdhais, no fria tegdais anechtair, "Aurdom, i.e. urdom, i.e. a side-house, or against a house externally." — Gloss, cit. Petrie, Round Towers, p. 438.
Line 29 — Kitchen. — Colgan's Vit. Sec. says : " Frequenter etiam molendini serviens officiis, farinse saccum ad coquinam reportabat humeris." — Cap. 17 (Trias Th. p. 327 a.) St. Patrick's culina at Armagh was 17 feet long. — Vit. Trip. iii. 78 (Tr. Th. p. 164 a.) The cucin or coquina of Armagh was burned by lightning in 915 (An. Ult.)
Line 31 — Cacabus. — The Tripart. Life tells that king Daire sent to St. Patrick an ceneus cacabus (iii. 70, Tr. Th. 162 b), which the Book of Armagh simply calls ceneus (fol. 7 aa). " Pro sartagine cacabum trium metretarum." — Vit. Ciarani, c. 20 (Cod. Marsh. 146 a b). Vit. Brendani, c. 30 (ib. fol. 61 a b).
Page cxx. line 2 — Waxed tablets. — Ceraculum is the term found in some saints' lives, as St. Maidoc's, cap. 6 (Colg. Act. SS. p. 208 b) ; St. Mochta's, cap. 2 (ib. p. 729 a) ; in both which instances it is employed to denote a student's tablet. " Et sanctis pater statim accepta tabula et grajio, per revelacionem Dei scribebat in cera, indicans fratri velle suum." — Vit. Bren dani, c. 17 (Cod. Marsh, fol. 58 & a). The Irish Life represents St. Columkille's abgiter, or alphabet, as written on a cake. For drawings of a ceraculum see Dr. Todd's paper on an Irish waxed Table-book (Transact. R. Irish Acad. vol. xxi. pt. 2).
Line 2 — Styks. — From graphium, which is of Greek origin, comes the Irish graib (205 n). The Life of Cainnech represents that saint saying to Baithene, "porta illi tecum in signum graffium hoc quod in aere ex pallio ejus cadens reliquit, quum ille et ego et Comgallus cito perreximus ad Eugenium episcopum Ardsrathae nos vocantem in auxilium circa animam Aidui monachi sui." — Cap. 25 (p. 15, ed. Ormonde.) The very same anecdote is told in the Life of St. Ruadhan, with this exception, that the style is called pugillaris, and St. Ruadhan described as the keeper of it (Act. Sanctor. April, torn. ii. p. 386 a ; Colg. Tr. Th. p. 461 b). These styles seemed to answer a double purpose.
Line 4 — Books. — At Armagh there was a teach screaptra, domus scripturarurn, in 1020, and an officer called leabhor coimhedach, custos librorum, in 1136 ; but these are the only references in our Annals to the existence of a monastic library.
Page cxx. line 7 — Canon. — " Cum S. Kannechus apud istum magistrum utrumque canonem legisset." — Vit. c. 4 (p. 4, ed. Orm.) The term is used in the same sense in the expression Canoin Phadraic, Canon Patricii, the name which the Irish gave to the Book of Armagh.
Line 10 — Plateola. — The Irish term faithche denotes "a green," "a court," or the entrenched space attached to an earthen fort. Faheeran in the King's County is faithche Chiarain, platea Kiarani (Four Masters, 1547) ; Cormac's Glossary translates faithchi by platea, voc. pla (Ir. Nennius, p. 93).
Line 14 — Botha. — The Irish Life applies this term to the cells in St. Mobi's monastery of Glasnevin.
Line 14 — Cettce. — St. Cainnech was on one occasion in Hy, and when the bell rang for nona the abbot was missing, and " per omnes cellas ab omnibus fratribus diligenter quaerebatur." — Vit. c. 22 (p. 40, ed. Orm.) Colgan's Tert. Vit. speaks of the abbot's cella, c. 34 (Tr. Th. p. 329 6).
Line 14 — Cellulce. — The Sec. Vit. in Colgan has "tune omnes fratres de suis advenientes cellulis" cap. 19 (Tr. Th. p. 327 a). Bede's description of St. Cuthbert's monastery where there were only oratorium and habitaculum commune (H. E. iv. 28), was of a different character : but his account of the caste and domunculce of Coldingham (H. E. iv. 25) applies to the monastery of Hy. In fact the Irish monasteries seem to have been modelled very much after the eastern pattern, such as Adamnan describes of the monastery of Mount Thabor : " Cujus in medio campo monachorum inest grande monasterium, et plurimse eorumdem cellulse." And again, " Supra memorati monasterii et trium ecclesiarum aedificia cum cellulis monachorum, lapideo omnia circumveniuntur muro " — ii. 27 (Mabill. Act. SS. Ord. Ben. saec. iii. pt. ii. p. 467). Cassula is used for cellula in the Book of Armagh (fol. 5 ba, 10 aa).
Line 24 — Hospitium. — In some Irish monasteries there was a separate department called Us, or tech aeidhedh, " enclosure " or " house of guests," as in Armagh (F. Mast. 1003, 1015, 1116, 1155) ; and Clonmacnois (ib. 1031 1093, 1106, 1128, 1166).
Line 35 — Vallum. — Such was the enclosure of Armagh called rathArdmacha (F. Mast. 1091, 1112, 1196). The monastery of Derry was erected in the dun of Aedh (160). See pp. 117, 172. In 1266, when the Franciscan monastery of Armagh, now known as the Abbey in the Primate's Demesne, was founded, they "cut a broad and deep trench around their church" (Four Masters).
Page cxxi. line 20 — Barn. — The old word sabhall, from which two churches in Ireland took their names (Reeves's Eccl. Ant. pp. 220), and from which Irish hagiologists coined the word zabulum to denote " a barn," is preserved in the spoken language of Ulster, but in the other provinces of Ireland it is corrupted to sgibol. The Brehon Laws mention the idhlann frumenti repositorium.
Line 29 — Mill. — In describing the composition of the Altus, its preface states, In tan do rat Columcille in cet fhoda i m-bel in muilind is and do chuaid h-i cend ind Altusa, ocus is imalle roscaig in t-imon do denum ocus in tarbur do bleith, ' When Columcille had put the first feed into the mouth of the mill, it was then that he commenced the A Itus ; and it was simultaneously that the hymn and the grinding of the corn were concluded.' Leabhar Breac, fol. 109 a. See p. xcvii. St. Fechin, who flourished in the interval between Columcille and Adamnan, erected a water-mill near his abbey of Fore, which is mentioned in his Life, cap. 14 (Colg. Act. SS. p. 131 b\ and spoken of by Giraldus Cambrensis (Topogr. Hib. dist. ii. cap. 52). See O'Donovan in the Dubl. Pen. Journ. vol. i. p. 282 ; Petrie's Tara, p. 139 ; Ord. Mem. of Templemore, p. 215 ; St. Constantine, on his conversion, in 588, "relicto regno in hyberniam transfretavit veniensque ad quamdam domum religionis humiliter laborem sustinuit quod molenda quseque de granario ad molendinum ferret per septennium." Brev. Aberd. Pr. SS. Pt. Hyem. f. 67 a b, lect. 2 (Reprint). The reference is, probably, to Rahen, in King's County.
Page cxxi. line 34 — Mill-pond. — Speaking of Rath-both (Raphoe) the Irish Life says, Innsin ro todhuscastar in saer a bos, iar na batliudh illind in mulind, " It was then he restored to life the wright after he had been drowned in the mill-pond." Pennant, writing in 1772, says, "Beyond the [abbot's] mount are the ruins of a kiln, and a granary ; and near it was the mill. The lake or pool that served it lay behind; it is now drained." — Tour, i. p. 258 (Chester, 1774).
Page cxxii. line 3 — School. — St. Columcille is said to have been one of the twelve fathers of the Irish who were educated by St. Finnian of Clonard. Speaking of our saint's engagements there, the Irish Life says, Feis aidche no meledh a broin cechfer ar n-uair dona h-apstalaibh. Aingel De nimhe tra no meledh do raith Coluimcille, " A night's meal was ground in a quern, in turn, by each of the apostles. The angel of the God of heaven it was who ground for the benefit of Columcille." St. Ciaran also is said to have been employed to work a mola, but an angel did his work for him while he read. — Vit. c. 8 (Cod. Marsh, fol. 145 a b).
Line 26 — Varied. — The Brehon Laws distinguish the lung, navis longa, bare, scapha, and curach, caruca, in the provision made for builders, Cethri ba ar longaib, ocus cethri barcaib, ocus cethri ba ar curcha, " Four cows for ships, four for barques, and four cows for curachs." — (H. 2. 16, col. 930, Trin. Coll. Dubl.)
Page cxxiii. line 7 — Nautce. — The Irish Life cites this verse :
Amra ocbadh boi in Mi Tri caecat immancunii Imma curchaibh iarsin ler Oc imramh trifichitfer.
' Illustrious the soldiers who were in Hy, Thrice fifty in monastic rule With their curachs across the sea ; And for rowing, three-score men.'
Line 24 — Successor. — That is, abbot designate. The primary qualification was that he should be adhbhar abbaidh materies abbatis, like a damhna n-epscuip (236), or rig damhna regis materies. The expression is illustrated in the following passage from the Life of St. Ciaran of Clonmacnois : " Alio die cum esset Sanctus Kiaranus in ilia insula Angin, audiens vocem hominis insulam volentis intrare in portu, dixit fratribus suis, Ite fratres mei, et materiam abbatis vestri post me hue adducite. Fratres autem cito navigantes, invenerunt adolescentulum laicum in portu, quern despicientes reliquerunt ibi"— Cap. 26 (Cod. Marsh, fol. 146 b b).
Line 31 — Erenach. — Cormac explains the term by uasal cheand, " noble head." The earliest instance on record of the word is in Tighernach, at 605. The Wurtzburg MS. of St. Paul's Epistles glosses 1 Tim. ii. 12 by nip si bes airchinnech, non ea sit princeps (Zeuss, Gram. Celt. i. p. 334). The old compound preposition archiunn signifies ante (ib. ii. pp. 565, 577). See Colgan, Tr. Th., p. 631; O'Donovan, Four Mast. 601, 1179; Reeves's Colton, p. 4 ; King's Primacy of Armagh, p. 18. The Four Masters frequently translate the Lathi term princeps (superior) of the earlier Annals by aircinnecJi. We find also ban-aircinnech for dominatrix (An. Ult. 772, 779, 1134).
Page cxxiv. line 5 — Custos monasterii. — Thus, in the Life of St. Cainnech
Q
" Quadam die cum custos ejusdem monasterii horam nonam pulsare voluisset." — Cap. 22 (p. 40, ed. Orm.) Speaking of Columcille's departure from Durrow, the Irisli Life says, foracaib cometaidh dia muintir ann .i. Cormac ua Liathan, " and he left a guardian of his congregation in it, namely, Cormac Ua Liathain."
Page cxxiv. line 13, — Great Priest. — Sacart mor. There was such an official also at Clonmacnois in 1109. Vasal sacart and^m'w sacart, " noble priest," " senior priest," are frequently found in the Annals, but they present some anomalies in their use of the term sacart : thus, at 923, Mochta, priest of Armagh, was bishop of the Ui Neill (Ult.) ; and, in 1041, Maelbrighde Ua Maelfinn, priest, anchorite, and bishop, died.
Line 24 — Isles of Alba. — Fothadh mac Brain, scribhnidh, acus espucc insi Alban decc, " Fothadh, son of Bran, scribe, and bishop, of Insi-Alban, died." — Four Mast., Scotch authorities, about this date, assign a Fothad to St. Andrews. — Fordun (Bowar), vi. 24.
Line 35 — Solitarius. — The superscription of Cummian's Paschal Epistle runs thus : " Dominis Sanctis et in Christo venerandis, Segieno abbati Columbee sancti et casterorum sanctorum successorum, Beccanoque solitario, charo carne et spiritu fratri, cum suis sapientibus." — Ussher, Syll. Ep. xi.
Page cxxv. line 6 — Heremitical life.— " Ecgberct, quern in Hibernia insula peregrinam ducere vitam pro adipiscenda in ccelis patria retulimus." — Bede, H. E. v. 9. Victberct, " multos annos in Hibernia peregrinus anachoreticam in magna perfectione vitam egerat." — Ib. Hsemgils, "in Hibernia insula solitarius ultimam vitse setatem pane cibario et frigida aqua sustentat." — Id. v. 12.
Line 20 — Pilgrims. — The word deoraklh signifies an "exile," "outlaw," " pilgrim." In the form deoruighe it is used in the Irish version of Gen. iv. 12, 14, to express vagabond. The Welsh dieithr-dhyn seems cognate to it. The kings of Ireland occasionally employed mercenaries called Deoraid (Bat. of Magh Rath, p. 163). In Scotland, as well as Ireland, the word assumed a religious limitation, and from an official became a family name, now known as Dewar. In 1428, we find the " lator ipsius reliquie de Coygerach, qui Jore vulgariter dicitur." This reliquary, called Coigcrioch, i.e. Stranger, or Quegrith, was a crozier-head, sacred to St. Fillan of Strathfillan, in Perth shire, who is commemorated in Ireland as St. Faolan of Cluain-Maoscna, in Fartullagh, county of Westmeath, on the same day (Jan. 9) as in the Scotch Calendar. In 1468, we find the name in the form Deore, and, in 1487, Doire (Black Book of Taymouth, Pref. pp. xxxv.-xxxvii.) Again, certain lands in St. Munna's parish of Kilmun in Argyleshire (250) were held " per quendam procuratorem cum baculo sancte Munde Scotice vocata Deowray " (Reg. Mag. Sig., lib. xiii. No. 314). In 1572, Donald Dewar received a grant of the lands of Garrindewar [garaidh an deoraidh, hortus TOV peregrini] in Menteith, in Perthshire, " quse olim pro pulsatione unius campanse coram mortuis personis infra parochiam de Kilmaluig tempore Papismatis fundate et dedicate erant" (Reg. Mag. Sig., lib. xxxiv. No. 24). These Deorays or Dewars were probably descended from some Irish families, whose proper names merged in their official title (as with the Mac Moyres in Armagh), and who derived this peculiar name of office either from the circumstance of being themselves originally aliens, or of being representatives of three saints, Faolan, Munna, and Molua, each of whom, probably, to use the technical expression, do gabhdil bachlae, agus a ecc ina oilithre, " took the [pilgrim's] staff, and died on his pilgrimage." It is worthy of mention, in reference to the Irish deoraid'a, that the church of Mayo, called Tempull Gerailt, or Gill na nAilither, "Church of the Pilgrims," was rebuilt and endowed, circ. 1100, do deoradaibh De, "for pilgrims of God." (H. 2. 17, p. 399, Trin. CoU. Dubl., cit. Petrie, Round Towers, p. 144). Deoradh was a Christian name among the O'Flynns of Hy Tuirtre (F. M. 1154).
Page cxxvi. line 13 — Irish monasteries. — St. Patrick's cook is said to have been Aithgen of Badoney (Reeves's Colton, p. 73). The Irish Life of Columba mentions Macrith (Mac Cridlie of Aug. 11) as cook of St. Mochta.
Page cxxvii. line 12 — People at large. — "Cujus monasterium in cunctis pene septentrionalium Scottorum, et omnium Pictorum monasteriis non parvo tempore arcem tenebat, regendisque eorum populis praeerat." — Bede, Hist. Eccl. iii. 3.
Line 25 — Hy. — There is a charter of Donald, Lord of the Isles, to Lachlan Makgilleone [M'Lean], dated July 12, 1390, granting to him, inter alia, " officium Fragramanach et Armanach in insula de Hy, cum omnibus libertatibus, commoditatibus, fructibus, et pertinentiis, ad dicta officia spectantibus."— (Reg. Mag. Sig., lib. xiii. No. 300.)
VIII. THE TOPOGRAPHY OF HY.
Page cxxvii. line 33— Insula.— Thus Egea, iii. 19 (p. 206) ; Elena, ii. 17 (163) ; Ethica, i. 13 (p. 125); Hinbina, i. 15 (p. 127) ; Ilea, ii. 24 (167) ; Malea, i. 16 (p. 128), 35 (139); Reclirea, ii. 42 (184) ; Sainea, ii. 46 (190); Scia, i. 27 (p. 134); ii. 27 (p. 170), are all adjectives formed from the Irish names Eag, Eilenn, Eth, hlombath, II, Mael, Rechra, Saina, and Sci.
Page cxxix. line 9 — Narratives. — As the old Irish Life of St. Columba, pre served in four manuscripts ; the original Irish of O'Donnell's Life ; and Keating's History.
Line 10 — Manuscripts. — Such as the Liber Hymnorum, pp. 21, 26. This MS., which is preserved in Trin. Coll. Dubl., is a thousand years old. Leabhar Breac, fol. 108 b, 109 a; Leabhar Lecain, fol. 183 a; Cod. H. 2. 16, Trin. Coll. Dubl., pp. 391, 680 ; Gloss to Feilire, Oct. 27.
Line 36 — Originals. — The conjecture that Colgan had on his own authority printed lona instead of loua in the shorter lives is confirmed by a recent ex amination of the Codex Salmanticensis, which the present writer was enabled to make. It contains the original of Vita secunda in Colgan's collection, and invariably exhibits the name loua.
Page cxxx. line 31 — lou. — The u coincides in sound with the o, and both are to be pronounced short. Thus Adamnan latinizes the name Fergna by Fergnouus (iii. 20, p. 207), and elsewhere writes it Fergno (titul. p. 207), showing the equivalence of a, o, and ou in such terminations.
Page cxxxi. line 4 — Finford. — So called on Blaeu's map. Finfort is the name of the landing-place opposite Port Ronain, on the Mull side. Here is an ancient burying-ground, but without any old tombstones. It was pro bably, in the first instance, a corpach, or resting-place, in foul weather, for bodies on their way to Hy. Archdn. Monro mentions " a guid raid foment Colmkill, callit Pollaisse," but the name is now unknown.
Line 34 — Kilmceuen. — The name Kilfinichan is Gill Fionnchain, Ecclesia Findcani (135), and Kilviceun is Cill mhic Eogain, Ecclesia filii Eugenii. There is no Mac Eoghain in the Irish Calendar, but Ernan mac Eoghain, St. Columba's nephew, is entered at Jan. 1.
Page cxxxiii. line 12 — Tomb. — This must be a vulgar error. The saint's grave would hardly be apart from the chief cemetery (p. Ixxxiii).
Line 34 — Ronan. — The Scotch Calendar has two of this name, one at Feb. 7, of whom Adam King says : " S. Ronane bischop in Scotland and confess vnder king malduine " (Catecli.}, and who, though not noticed in the Calen dar of the Brev. Aberd., is mentioned in the Propr. SS. of Febr. as " Episcopus apud Kilmaronen in Liveiiax " (Part. Hyem. fol. 54 b a}. He, and not Marnock, or Conan (as in Orig. Par. vol. i. pp. 34, 503) is the patron saint of Kilmaronock, on the east of Loch Lomond, in Dumbartonshire. The saint may or may not be the "Ronan, natione quidem Scottus" of Bede (H. E. iii. 25), whom the editor of the Orig. Paroch. makes " a Scotchman " (ii. p. 296), although he had previously laid down that Scotia was Ireland (ib. p. 285). Camerarius shows what his own authority is worth in such questions, for he identifies the patron of Insula Ronan with Bede's Ronan, who was Finnan's polemical opponent, circ. 652, and straightway places his death at 778 ! (Feb. 6, De Scotor. Fortitud. p. 96.) The Irish Cal. has no Ronan at this day. But the JRonanus episcopus of the Calendars in the Aberdeen Brev., and Register, at May 22, is the Ronan Fionn of the same day in the Irish, who is commemorated at Lann Ronan Finn in Iveagh, in the county of Down (Reeves' Eccl. Ant. pp. 313, 378). He was grandson of King Loarn. T. Innes confounds this saint with his namesake of Feb. 6 (Civ. EC. Hist. p. 161).
Page cxli. line 12 — Fairy-mount. — From sidh, or sith, "a fairy." See Reeves' Eccl. Ant. p. 68.
Page cxlii. line 4 — Coffin. — The Irish word ealatrom, " a bier," is possibly from the Latin feretrum. At Port-na-marbh, the mortal remains of those who are conveyed for interment to Hy are brought ashore and are deposited on the mound.
IX. CHRONICLE OF HY.
Page cxlix. line 4 — Adamnan. — Adamnan's Life is given in the Acta Sanctorum at Sep. 23 (torn. vi. pp. 642-649), from the pen of Constantinus Suyskenus, but it contains no new matter. The Irish Life, which is pre served in one of the O'Clery MSS. at Brussels, furnished the legends on St. Adamnan which appear in the Breviary of Aberdeen. It is a sort of his torical discourse on Job xxxviii. 3, intended for the saint's festival ; but it is a miserable production, full of absurdities and anachronisms. Anything in it worthy of notice will be found in this memoir.
Line 6 — Instances. — The Calendars have none except our author. The Annals have, besides, St. Adamnan, bishop and abbot of Rath-maigheaenaigh (An. Ult. 730), and Adomnan mac Alddailedh (An. Ult. 835).
Line 5 — Another. — Adamnanus of Coludi Urbs, or Coldingham, Bede, Hist. EC. iv. 25. See Colgan, Act. SS. p. 224, where Jan. 31 is given as his day, and 680 as the probable date of his death.
Line 10— Fear 624. — The An. Ult. at 623 have Nativitas Adomnani abbatis lae. Tighernach, at 624, has Bos Adomnain ab hie, but instead of bos, mors, the Chron. Scotor. reads gem, nativitas. Lanigan (Eccl. Hist. iii. p. 153) prefers the date 627, because he finds the age of 77 assigned to Adamnan, and 624 + 77 only equal to 701, whereas 704 is the date of his death. Mac Firbis's MS. Annals state his age at 78 ; the date, however, as given in the Annals, is not to be hastily set aside. Ward assigns his birth to 626 (Rumold, p. 218).
Line 14— Tir Aedha.—Thzt is, "the land of Aedh," so called from Aedh, son of Ainmire, who, in common with Adamnan, was of the Siol Sedna, or descendants of Sedna, grandson of Conall Gulban (Gen. Table annexed to Introduction).
Line 17 — Commemorations. — The church of Drumhome, of which Adamnan was patron. See p. 215.
Line 33 — Legend. — His birth is made the subject of one of St. Columba's prophecies, but even this does not pretend to any early particulars. " Columcille foretelling of Adamnan. He shall receive his name from my name. He shall make a law for the women, from the noble, widespread Ictian sea hither. He shall be learned without defect. He shall attract half the language of envy, for he will ordain a great Law. A sapling who will wrest the sovereignty of
NOTES TO INTKODUCTION. 245
Tara from Finnachta. Over Tara he shall not assume power. Thirty years in abbotship shall Adamnan, of high and illustrious renown, be " (Brussels MS. No. 5101-4 ; MS. Bodl. Libr. Laud 615, p. 132). See p. 215. To this the lesson in the Breviary of Aberdeen refers : " de cuius ortu moribus et vita sanctus columba longo tempore antequam nasceretur divinitus prophetavit " — (ut supra.)
Page cli. line 3 — Reign. — The Irish Life of St. Adamnan tells the follow ing curious story of this king's interment : " The body of Bruide, son of Bile, king of the Cruthnigh, was brought to la, and his death was sorrowful and grievous to Adamnan, and he desired that the body of Bruide should be brought to him into the house that night. Adamnan watched by the body till morning. Next day, when the body began to move and open its eyes, a certain pious man came to the door of the house, and said, If Adamnan's ob ject be to raise the dead, I say he should not do so, for it will be a degrada tion to every cleric who shall succeed to his place, if he too cannot raise the dead. There is somewhat of right in that, replied Adamnan. Therefore, as it is more proper, let us give our blessing to the body and to the soul of Bruide. Then Bruide resigned his spirit to heaven again, with the blessing of Adamnan and the congregation of la. Then Adamnan said —
Many wonders doth he perform, —
The king who was born of Mary.
He takes away life.
Death of Bruide mac Bile.
Seldom after ruling a kingdom
That a hollow stick of withered oak
Is about the son of the king of Al-Cluaite."
Bruide died in 693.
Lines 26-27 — Tracht-Romra. — The name is now unknown, but the graphic description is very applicable to the Solway Firth.
Page clii. line 22 — Brittania. — Probably the Alcluid Britons.
Page clvi. line 5 — Tara. — The Irish Life of Adamnan places this conven tion at the place now known as Ballyshannon : " On another occasion when Adamnan was at the royal meeting [rig-dail] of Conall and Coirpre, at Eas Ruaidh, making his Law, the roydamna of the son of Ainmire, i.e. Flannabhra, son of Cummascach, came, having with him a female captive who had killed a woman, to submit the case to Adamnan," etc. Colgan conjec tured that the convention was held at Derry or Raphoe. See p. 190. The acts of the convention do not state where it was held, but it might be in ferred to have been at Leitir, near Birr, on the confines of ancient Meath and Munster.
Line 15 — Legend.— It is to be regretted that we have not a more historical account of the institution of this law than the following, which is taken from the Leabhar Breac and Book of Lecan : " Adamnan happened to be travelling one day through the Plain of Bregia with his mother on his back> when they saw two armies engaged in mutual conflict. It happened then that Ronait, the mother of Adamnan, observed a woman, with an iron reaping-hook in her hand, dragging another woman out of the opposite battalion with the hook fastened in one of her breasts. For men and women went equally to battle at that tune. After this Ronait sat down, and said, ' Thou shalt not take me from this spot until thou exemptest women for ever from being in this con dition, and from excursions and hostings.' Adamnan then promised that thing. There happened afterwards a convention (mordail) in Ireland, and Adamnan, with the principal part of the clergy of Ireland, went to that assembly, and he exempted the women at it " (Petrie's Tara, p. 147). See also Note h in Orig. Ed., p. 178.
246 NOTES ON INTRODUCTION.
Page clvi. line BO—Bruide mac Derili. — Called Bruide mac Derili ri Cruithen tuaithe. He died in 706, in the eleventh year of his reign. The introduction of his name into the Acts is suspicious, unless we suppose him to have attended at this synod as Aidan, son of Gabhran, did at Drumceatt.
Line 38 — Law. — See Chronicon Hyense (Appendix III.), An. 727 and An. 929.
Line 42 — Canons. — These canons do not seem to have any connexion with the Cain Adliamhnain. Martene printed the Canones Adamnani, with other Irish Canons, from a MS. of the Bigot Library at Rotterdam, which formerly belonged to the Monastery of Fescamp, in Normandy (Thes. Nov. Anecd. torn. iv. col. 18, Lut. Par. 1717). They exist also in the Cotton MS. of Canons (fol. 155 6), but with considerable variations, under the title Incipiunt Canones Adomnani. Besides these, there is in Martene a detached canon, under the title Item Adompnanus (Ib. col. 11). It is of the same purport as the others, namely, unclean food, and it exists in the Cotton MS., but without Adamnan's name (Otho E. xiii. fol. 126 b).
Page clvii. line 17 — Vision. — The Fis Adhamhnain is preserved in the Leabhar Breac, fol. 127 a. It consists of two parts, the Vision and the Application.
Page clviii. line 37 — Boyne. — The Irish Life of Adamnan represents the saint as " fasting against Irgalach," immersed in the river Boinn, and over coming him by deceit. This system of fasting against an obnoxious indi vidual was a favourite mode with the Irish ecclesiastics of bringing down visitations on their enemies. The Brehon Laws contain directions on the course which is to be pursued in such a case. Irgalach resisted the influence of St. Adamnan's fasting by doing the same himself, until Adamnan, by inducing one of his people to personate him, put Irgalach off his guard, and thus got the mastery of him. The story is curious, not only as illustrative of this extraordinary system of fasting, but as indicating the low tone of moral feeling in the writer, who represents the saint as saying, " It is better that one of his people should tell a falsehood for him than that he should tell it himself."
Line 37 — Poem. — Printed in Petrie's Tara, p. 122. It contains the lines, of which the following is a translation : —
" The synod of Patrick was held in the great Kath ; The synod of Brendan, and of Huadhan ; The synod of Adamnan, afterwards, In cursing of Irgalach."
Page clxi. line 24 — Questions. — The Breviary of Aberdeen relates that a child was found, who " ante Dei virum ductus multa ei probleumata prseposuit. Tune sanctus facto signaculo crucis inimicum effugavit, qui in specie infantis beatum virum temptare voluit." — Lecfc. iii. (Propr. SS., Part Estiv. fol. 114 bb.) The Irish Life states that " the demon came in human form to converse with Adamnan, for the men of Munster compelled him by force to come to Adamnan. And he came with many hard questions. One of the questions was, Was it in shape or without shape that the Devil worshipped, and was it through knowledge or in ignorance that the Devil worshipped ? " They also relate how the Devil was brought to Hy in the shape of a corpse, to be buried, and how it rose up and spoke, putting, as the Life says, many wonderful questions to the congregation, all of which Adamnan resolved.
Page clxviii. line 24— St. Arnold's Seat. — In the parish of Kinneff, in Kincardineshire, there was formerly a ruin called St. Arnty's Kill, which in the
Macfarlane MSS. is mentioned as St. Arnold's Cell. Can this be a perversion of Adamnan ?
Page clxviii. line 42 — Senchani. — The chapel is now locally called Kilmashenaghan (Orig. Par. ii. p. 9), that is, Cill-mo-Seanchain. Father Mac Cana adds : " In ilia insula fuit repertum brachium Sancti Ultani, quod thecas argenjese inclusum, ante hoc bellum religiose servabatur a viro generoso ex inclyta Mac Donellorum familia." Could this be the reliquary now com monly called St. Patrick's Arm ? Nothing is known of its history, and as to the saint's name, it has probably originated in a vulgar guess. See Ulster Jo urn. of Archseol., vol. ii. p. 207.
Page clxx. line 6 — Ireland. — Thus the name is pronounced Aunan at Skreen in Sligo, where we have Tobar Awnan and Drehid-aunan. Eunan is the E-aphoe pronunciation. Onan, in the county of Londonderry, in the parish of Errigal, where we have St. Onan's Rock, and in the spoken language through all that district of Glenuller. In West Meath, also, we find Syonan, which is formed from Suidhe Adhamhnain, sessio Adamnani. See Reeves's Colton, p. 81.
Page clxxxii. line 13 — Herer-Gaedll. — Chron. Mann., 1102. The name is a form of Airer-Gaeidhil, now Argyle. Airer signifies "district;" thus, in the An. Ult. 865, we find airer in Fochla, " fines Septentrionis ;" and at 912, airiur Saxan, " fines Saxonum." " Arregathel dicitur quasi Margo Scottorum seu Hibernensium." — De Situ Albanise. In 1251 we find the name in the same extended form of Erregeithal. — Orig. Par. ii. pp. 91, 109.
Line 35 — Capital. — On the capital of the S.E. column, under the tower, near the angle of the south transept and choir of the cathedral in Hy, are the remains of the inscription, >J< DONALDVS OBROLCHAN FECIT HOC OPVS, in Lombardic letters. It was perfect, July 29, 1844, when the writer's accom plished friend, J. Huband Smith, visited the island, from whom an accurate copy has been obtained. And Mr. Graham, in 1850, says : *' Two years ago the inscription was .quite perfect, but since that time the corner of the capital has been knocked off, and some of the letters obliterated" (lona,
p. 23). The writer examined it in 1853, and found only DONALD vso
ECIT HOC OPVS. The inscription runs along the face of two sides of the principal abacus, so that the fracture of an angle removes the middle part of the legend. As the column is clustered, there is an appendage to the abacus, on the face of which the two last words are continued at a right angle. This is the most ornamented with grotesque reliefs of any in the building. Those figured in Graham's lona, plates xli. 2, xlii. 1, belong to it. It has, besides, a monstrous animal with two bodies meeting in one head, a pair of griffins with entwined tails, a group of strange animals, also with tails en twined, and at the junction, a grotesque head. Could these designs, so characteristic of the Irish school, be the HOC OPVS of Obrolchan ?
Page clxxxiii. line 22 — Cro Hy. — The meaning of Cro is uncertain. There was a Cro-Ciarain, and a Cro-Coemghin in Glendalough (F. Mast. 1163), in which compounds the word is interpreted house.
Line 24 — Assembled. — The original gives a military air to the procedure : Slogadh dona cleircib Erenn, " A hosting by the clergy of Erin."
Line 27 — O'Ferghail. — Or O'Firghil, now O'Freel. The family were herenachs of St. Columb's church of Kilmacrenan. See their descent in the Genealogical Table annexed to the Introduction, and the observations at p. Iv. The winding up of the Irish history of Hy is very remarkable : Columba founded the primitive abbey, Donnall O'Brolchan, an Irishman, designs its stately successor ; Columba was the first abbot ; Awley O'Freel, lineally descended from Eoghan, the saint's only brother, was the last.
248 NOTES ON LIFE OF SAINT COLUMBA.
NOTES ON LIFE OF ST. COLUMBA.
PREFACES.
SECOND PREFACE — lona. — The word HJV occurs in the Old Testament, not only as a proper name, but as a common noun, signifying " a dove." Columbanus, in the superscription of his epistle to Pope Boniface IV., styles himself " rara avis Palumbus," and, as he proceeds, observes : "Sed talia suadenti, utpote torpenti actu, ac dicenti potius quam facienti mihi, Jonce Hebiaice, Peristerce Greece, Columbce Latine, potius tantum vestrse idiomate linguae nancto, licet prisco nitar Hebrseo nomine, cujus et pene subivi naufragiim." — Fleming, Collectan. p. 144 a.
Peristera. — The word is written with long vowels IIHPICTHPA in the Reichenau and St. Gall MSS. Thus in the Book of Armagh, we find Hgo, HCTQTE, BHATVC, HPAT. In Canisius' MS. the writer, mistaking the Greek capitals, gives the word NHIIIOTHTA, in which, as an inflexion of VTjTriorrjs, he may have supposed some propriety of sentiment. Pinkerton, who supplies the deficiency at the beginning of his exemplar, the Cod. Brit., from the meagre text of Canisius, instead of the fuller copy employed by Colgan and the Bollandists, gives the word in its corrupt form, and observes in the note : " Quod NHHIOTHTA hie vult non video."— P. 54.
Columba. — The Irish call him Colum, adding, as a distinction, cille, "of the churches," and this title was becoming general about the year 700, for Ven. Bede observes : " Qui videlicet Columba nunc a nonnullis composito a Cella et Columba nomine Columcelli vocatur." — H. E. v. 9. So it was understood in Germany also : " Cognomento apud suos Columkille, eo quod multarum cellarum, id est monasteriorum vel ecclesiarum institutor, fundator, et rector extitit." — Notker Balb. (Martyrol. 9 Jun.) The name Columba was a com mon one in his day, and there are twenty saints in the Irish calendar so called. It is observable that in continental hagiology Columba is a female appella tion ; whereas, among the Irish, with one or two trifling exceptions, it belongs to the opposite sex. We have in Adamnan various Latin forms of the name, as Columba, Columbanus, Columbus, and Columb.
Maucteus. — St. Mochta of Lughmagh, or Louth, is commemorated in the Calendars at Aug. 19. In his life he is described as " ortus ex Britannia," and as landing at Omeath, in the county of Louth, with twelve followers. Hence his title " proselytus," Gr. Trpoo-^Auroy, advena, peregrinus, quialiunde venit. Tighernach and the Annals of Ulster record his death at 534 : " Dormitatio Moctai discipuli Patricii, xvi. Kal. Sept. Sic ipse scripsit in epistola sua Mocteus peccator prespiter, Sancti Patricii discipulus, in Domino salutem."
St. Columba. — A member of the reigning family in Ireland, and closely allied to that of Dalriada in Scotland, he was eligible to the sovereignty of his own country. His half-uncle Muircertach was on the throne when he was born, and he lived during the successive reigns of his cousins Domhnall and Fergus, and Eochaidh ; of his first cousins Auimire and Baedan ; and of Aedh, son of Ainmire. To this circumstance, as much as to his piety or abilities, was owing the immense influence which he possessed, and the consequent celebrity of his conventual establishments : in fact, he enjoyed a kind of spiritual monarchy collaterally with the secular dominion of his relatives, being sufficiently distant in lona to avoid collision, yet near enough to exerelse an authority made up of the~patriarchal and monastic. His immediate lineage stands thus : —
NIALL of the ix. Hostages, Monarch of Ireland from A.D. 379 to 405.
CONALL GULBAN,
Ancestor of the Cenel Conaill, slain in 464.
EARC.
LOARN,
1st King of Scotch Dalriada.
FERGUS CENNFADA = ERCA
ECHIN,
7th in descent from Cathaeir Mor, King of Ire land, A.D. 120.
NAVE, or NOE.
DlMMA
FEDHLIMIDH
COLUMBA.
series-2
BOOK I.
CHAPTER i. — Alto, proceritas. — Though the " nota major imago" was of old an acknowledged property of the shades (Virgil, JEn. ii. 773 ; Ovid, Fast. ii. 503 ; Juvenal, xiii. 221 ; Tacitus, Ann. xi. 21 ; Hist. i. 86), it might be that Oswald, fresh from Scotland, and probably from lona, was impressed by the description he had heard of S. Columba's personal appearance, which, being matter of only thirty-six years' tradition, was likely to be fresh and true. He had heard that the saint had mingled a good deal in military matters before his departure from Ireland, and that he had the credit of more than once turning the scale of victory by his prayers. The tradition of S. Columba's great stature may subsequently have given a character to the vision which Alexander n. saw in the island of Kerara, when on his way against Haco, in 1263 : "King Alexander, then lying in Kiararey Sound, dreamed a dream, and thought three men came to him. He thought one of them was in royal robes, but very stern, ruddy in countenance, something thick, and of middling size. Another seemed of a slender make, but active, and of all men the most engaging, and majestic. The third again, was of very great stature, but his features were distorted, and of all the rest he was the most unsightly. The Hebridians say that the men whom the King saw in his sleep were St. Olave King of Norway, St. Magnus Earl of Orkney, and St. Columba." — Norw. Account of Haco's Expedition, by Johnstone, pp. 10-13.
Fintenus. — St. Fintan, more commonly known by the name Munna, is commemorated in the Irish calendar at Oct. 21. He is noticed in the calendar prefixed to the Breviary of Aberdeen, at the same day, under the name Mundus abbas. Sir Harris Nicholas places him as "Fintan or Munnu" at Oct. 21, and as " Munde, abbot in Argyle," following Camerarius and Keith, at April 15. Chronol. of Hist. pp. 149, 164. His Life relates that when a boy, S. Columba blessed him, and said, "Vocaberis inter majores sanctos Hibernia." — Cap. 2 (Cod. Marsh, fol. 127 a b : Colgan, Tr. Th. p. 460 6.) At the synod of Campus Albus, where he upheld the old Irish observance of Easter, S. Laisre of Leighlin, his oppo nent, declared to him, " Non ibimus ad judicium tuum, quum scimus quod per magnitudinem laboris tui et sanctitatis, si diceres ut Mons Marge [Slievemargy] commutaretur in locum Campi Albi, et Campus Alb us in locum Montis Mairge, hoc propter te Deus statim faceret." — Chap. 25 (Cod. Marsh, fol. 129 a b) ; Ussher, Brit. EC. Ant. cap. 17 (Works, vi. p. 505) ; Religion of Anc. Irish, chap. 9 (Works, iv. pp. 342-344). The story is told as follows in the Life of S. Fintan : " Post bsec S. Munna perrexit ad insulam Hy, ut ibi apud S. Columbam monachus fieret. Sed S. Columba ante adventum ejus migravit ad ccelum ; et ante obitum suum prophetavit de S. Munna, talia verba dicens ad beatum Baitheneum : Post obitum meum veniet ad vos de Hibernia quidam juvenis, moribus sanctus, ingenio clarus, corpore quidem capite crispus, et genis rubicundus, cujus nomen est Munna, quern ssepe in terra vidi, sed ssepius spiritualiter in coelo inter angelos Dei. Ad hoc autem ipsi hue veniet, ut hie mona chus fiat; sed ne recipiatis eum, quamvis multum sibi displiceat. Et tu dices illi : Kevertere fili ad Hiberniam, quia caput magni populi ibi eris. Et ipse vadat ad australem plagam Laginensium, quse dicitur Cennselach ; quia ibi erit honor ipsius, et resurrectio. Et quamvis mea parrochia major est in terra quam sua, tamen, meus amor, et mea potestas, apud Deum non est major quam ipsius. Et ita omnia ilia contigerunt." — Chap. 7 (Cod. Marsh, fol. 127 bb ; Colgan, Tr. Th.; p. 461 a). The third lesson of the Office of tS. Mundus, in the Breviary of Aberdeen, contradicts the earlier authorities by stating that " ad yonam insulam in scocia pervenit in qua a beato columba habitum suscepit religionis." — Propr. SS. Part. Est. f. 131 bb (Reprint 1852). The monastery he constructed was Teach Munnu, or " House of Munnu," in the Ceinnselach, now Taghmon, about seven miles west of Wexford. The parish of Taghmon in West Meath likewise derives its name from him. His principal church in Scotland was Kilmond, now Kilmun in Co wall, to which the Breviary of Aberdeen assigns his burial ; where local tradition even marks the supposed place of his sepulture by the name of Sith-Mun, and where a half -mark land was held in virtue of the custody of his crosier (Orig. Par. vol. ii. part ii. p. 72). The old parish of Elanmunde, on the confines of Argyll and Inverness, derived its name from an island in Loch Leven, on which there was a church called after S. Munde (ib. p. 170). He died in 635, at which year Tighernach records the Quies F'intain .i. Mundufilii Tulchaln in xii. kal. Nov.
CHAPTER in. — Dairmag, written in Irish records Dar magh, or Dear magh. Adamnan employs the Latin equivalent Roboreti Campus and Roboris Campus. The modern name is Durrow. See Orig. Ed. p. 23.
Clon. — Clonmacnoise was founded in 548 by Ciaran mac an t-saoir " filius artificis." He died on 5th Sept. 549 in the thirty-fourth year of his age. Alither, fourth abbot, died in 599. See Orig. Ed. p. 24. Ernene. — His day in the Irish calendar is Aug. 18 : Ernin .i. Mernocc 6 RaitJi Naoi i nUibh Garrchon .i. i Fothartaibh Laig/ien : ocus o Chill draighnech i nUibh drona, "Ernin, i.e. Mernocc, of Rath-Naoi inlli Garrchon, i.e. in the Fotharta of Leinster : and of Cill-draighnech in Ui Drona.' — Marian. Gorm. ; Cal. Dungall. His parentage is given in the Calendars of Cashel and Tamlacht at the same day, as cited by Colgan : " Erneneus, id est Mernocus filius Gresseni, de Raith-naoi in Hi-Garchon in Lagenia, et de Kill-Droigneach, in Hi-Drona." — Trias Th. p. 373 b. Thus also in the Feilire of ^Engus, Mac Cresine Mernocc, affording a fresh authority for the identifica tion of the individual in question. His obit, which is unaccountably omitted by the Four Masters, is given by Tighernach, at the year 635 : " Quies Ernaine mic Cresene." So Annal. Ult. 634. His churches which are mentioned in the calendars are Rathnaoi, now called Rathnew, the parochial name of Wicklow ; and Kill-droiglmeach, now Kildreenayh, a townland in
Dunleckny parish, in the barony of Idrone East, county of Carlo w. — Ord. Surv. s. 16. The name is preserved in Scotland in the two Kilmarnocks, and Inchmarnoc. The festival "Sancti Mernoci epyscopi et confessoris patroni de Kilmernoch " is appointed in the Breviary of Aberdeen for the 25th of October.— Part. Estiv. fol. 132. It may be well to observe that the word Mernoc is a contraction of Mo-Ernin-occ, the prefix denoting my, and the suffix little, so that the name thus altered conveyed the additional expressions of affection and familiarity.
CHAPTER v. — Colman Mocusailni. — He is stated to have been a presbyter at the time of St. Columba's death (see B. n. c. 14). The clan name by which he was distinguished was Colman Ela mac Ui Seilli (Tigh. 611).
Columbanus. — He is more commonly called Colmanus, as in the titulus, but the exchange is very frequent. This Columbanus is the Colman-Eala or Colmanellus of the Irish Calendar, Sept. 26, and the patron saint of Kil- | colmonell on the east of Knapdale, Argyllshire, and of Colmonell in Ayrshire. Charybdis Brecani. — See the titulus of ii. 12, where Cod. B. adds, "in vortice Brecain." Called by the Irish Coire Brecain, " Brecan's Cauldron," 1 from the peculiar motion of the water, and the tradition that Brecan, son of I Maine [ob. A.D. 440], son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, was engulfed by it. j. Although the name has long since shifted to the strait between Scarba and t Jura, just as Scotia has forsaken its original home, there can be no doubt ^ that in Adamnan's day this Corry-Brackan was situate near the Irish coast : its connexion with the island of Rathlin in the title, and the expression ; " transnavigare incipiens " in the chapter, are sufficient proof of this. Part of the channel between Ballycastle and the island of Rathlin is at certain I times so disturbed by the action of the tides, that even in the absence of wind no small craft could live in it. It is locally known by the character istic name Slugnamorra, that is, Slog na mara, " Gulp of the sea," and is probably the Jo'lduhlaup, " Breaking of waves," of the Icelandic sagas. To this terror of sailors (of which there was until lately practical evidence in the I extra pay received by the coast-guard of the station), Giraldus Cambrensis refers in the grand, and but moderately exaggerated, description : " Non procul ab insulis a parte boreali, est maris qusedam admiranda vorago : ad quam a retnotis partibus omnes undique marini fluctus tanquam ex condicto confluunt, et concurrunt, qui in secreta naturae penetralia se ibi transfundentes, quasi in abyssum vorantur." — Topogr. Hib. ii. 41. The earliest notice of the transfer of the name is in Fordun, who, circ. 1390, writing of Scarbay, says, " juxta quam gurges oceani decurrit fortissima, Corebrekane nomine." — Scotichr. ii. 10. It is a curious fact that the only place in Ire land where the name now exists is in the inland county of Monaghan, where a townland, in the parish of Magheracloone, having a fine earthen fort, is called Corrybrackan. — Ord. Surv. s. 30, 31. Very vivid descriptions of the gulf are preserved in Irish in the Dinnseanchus, and Cormac's Glossary, the latter of which, with other illustrative matter, is printed in Reeves' Eccles. Antiqq. of Down and Connor, pp. 289, 386. See also the extract from the Life of St. Kieran in Colgan (Tr. Th. p. 458 a) ; and O'DonnelVs Life of S. Columba, iii. 21. — Ibid. p. 434 6. For an account of the natural pheno menon, see Hamilton's Letters on the N. Coast of Antrim, p. 14 (Dubl. 1790).
To the vivid description of the Coire-Brecain, which is given in Cormac's Glossary, may be added the following translation from the comment on the name in the ancient topographical work, the Dinnseanchus :
" Coire Brecain, why so called. — A great boiling caldron which is situate between Erin and Alba, on the north : it is the confluence of many seas, from the west, from the east, from the south, and from the north ; each pouring itself into the place of the other, until they are swallowed down to the bottom, and until it is like an open caldron, sucking in and disgorging its draughts ; so that its roaring is like to distant thunder. And it was into this that Brecan, the son of Partholan, was drawn, and was drowned, with his fifty boats, when he fled out of Erin from his father."
" It was there, too, that Brecan, son of Maine, son of Niall [of the Nine Hostages], with fifty curachs, was engulfed, while on a trading expedition : where they were all drowned, and nothing of them survived but the tale of their destruction."
. " A long time after, Columcille was passing through it, when the sea rose up in front, and discovered to him the bones of Brecan, son of Maine, son of Niall. Upon which Columcille said, ' That is friendly of thee, 0 aged Brecan/ etc."
The legend of St. Columba's adventure in this gulf is thus given in O'Donnell's narrative of the saint's return from Druim-ceatt : —
" Rebus itaque omnibus, propter quas advenerat, in Hibernia fceliciter peractis, Sanctissimus Pater navigationem versus Britanniam resumit. Et cum secundis spirantibus ventis ostia Euripi, Loih-feabhuil vulgo dicti, esset prsetergressus ; navis incidit in vorticosam quandam charybdem, nautis et navigantibus formidabilem, quae vulgo Core Brecain, id est, charybdis Brecani, appellatur j quia ibi ante annos multos Brecanus ex Manio filio Nielli Magni, Hiberniae Regis, nepos, submersus interiit : cujus ossa super tumentes fluctus vir Sanctus conspicit elevari. Eaque Deo revelante agnoscens, ad socios ait : Ilia sunt ossa Brecani cognati nostri, quae voluit Christus ita nobis ostendi, ut pro defuncti refrigerio, ac pro nostra a prsesenti periculo liberatione simul apud Dominum intercedamus. Ac mox post brevem et ferventem precum instantiam obtinuit vir Beatus non solum se ac suos ab imminenti vitse discrimine, sed et Brecani animam a purgatoriis pcenis liberari, quam et ad ccelestia gaudia vidit avolantem."
The Life of St. Kieran, probably referring to the visit to Clonmacnois recorded at p. 116, states that at its conclusion, "Accipiens S. Columba humum de sepulchre Sancti Kierani perrexit ad suam insulam Hyam. Cumque S. Columba in mari navigasset, orta est tempestas in mari, et navis trusa est ad Charibdem, qui locus Corebreacayn dicitur ; in quo est vorago periculosissima marina, in qua, si qua navis intrat, non evadit. Et incipiens vorago navem ad se trahere ; S. Columba partem de humo S. Kierani projecit in mare. Mirum valde dictu ! illico tempestas aeris, motio fluctuum, vorago circuire, simul omnes cessaverunt, donee navis inde longe exivit."
CHAPTER vi. — Cormac. — He is commemorated in the Calendar at June 21 as Abbot of Dearmagh, but there is no record to show of what monastery he was the founder (see B. in. c. 18). Marian Gorman styles him Cormac leirua, Liathan, "Cormac Ua Liathan of the sea," and the Gloss adds Abb. Durmaighi ocus epscop ocus ba hauchore beos an Corbmaic sin, " abbot of Durrow, and bishop and anchorite was this Cormac." Two ancient Irish poems — the one purporting to be a dialogue between him and St. Columba, after his escaping the perils of the sea, and the other an address to him, on coming from Durrew — are preserved in one of the O'Clery MSS., at Brussels. See Orig. Ed., Additional Notes, pp. 264, 265.
Moda. — The river Moy, called in Irish Muaidhc, rises in the county of
Sligo, and becomes, a little south of Ballina, the boundary between the counties of Sligo and Mayo, till it falls into Killala Bay.
Eirros Domno. — Now the barony of Erris, in the county of Mayo. It is principally occupied by the enormous parish of Kilcommon, extending over 203,396 acres. The Irish always styled the territory lorrus Domhnann, " Erris of the Damnonii," and supposed that it derived that name from the Fir Domhnan, viri Damnonii, a section of the Firbolgs. The word lorrus, or Irrus, signifies " a promontory," and is applied, simply or in composition, to many places on the coasts of Galway, Kerry, and Donegal.
CHAPTER vn. — Cule Drebene. — The Calendar of Donegal, at June 10, states this place to have been between Drumcliff and Sligo.
Ondemone. — So the name appears in the MSS., and so it was in the copy which Ussher used ; but that which was employed by Colgan and the Bollandists seems to have changed it to Monamoire, in order to render it more conformable to the Annals. We find a similar compound, Inde-mor, at Four Mast. 497 ; Tigh. 503. The following record of the battle is found in Tighernach, immediately after the mention of St. Columba's departure to Hy : A. C. 563, " The battle of Moin-Daire-Lothaire against the Cruithne by the Hy -Neill of the North ; in which seven kings of the Cruithne were slain, with Aedh Breac. Baedan son of Conn, with two of the Cruithne, fought against the Cruithne; and the Cinel Eoghain, and [Cinel] Conaill [were those] they fought ; conducti mercede [of] the Lee and Ard-Eolairg." Some verses of Cennfaeladh upon the battle are then cited, from which we gather that the cause of the battle was an unjust partition, and that Elne, the territory between the Bann and the Bush, was, on the occasion, wasted with fire. The belligerents were the Cruithne or Dalaradians,| and the northern Hy Neill ; the latter of whom engaged in the strife at the instance of a Cruithnean chief, who seems to have been wronged by his own people, and who covenanted to surrender to his auxiliaries the territory of Lee and Ard Eolairg, on the west side of the Bann, which had been ceded to the Cruithne by the Hy Neill, after the battle of Ocha in 483. From the mention of Lee and Elne, it is likely that the scene of the battle was not far from the town of Coleraine.
Conall. — He succeeded his uncle Gabhran in 560, and was followed on the throne by his first cousin Aidan. This passage gives some support to the statement of Tighernach that the grant of Hy was made by him rather than the Picts : A. C. 574, " Bass Conaill mic Comgaill righ Dalriada xvi. anno regni sui : qui obtulit insulam lae Colaim-cille."
Cruithne. — These were the Irish Picts, called by the natives Cruithne, who occupied Dalaradia in the modern counties of Antrim and Down, and had extended their dominions westward towards Derry. The Dal Araidhe, inhabiting the southern half of the county of Antrim, and the greater part of the county of Down, were known among the Irish by the name of Cruithne, or Picts, and their territory by that of Crick na Cruithne, " region of the Picts." Mons Mis, or Sliabh Mis, now Slemish, a remarkable hill in the centre of the county of Antrim, is placed by the book of Armagh, and the Second and Fourth Series of St. Patrick (Colg. Tr. Th. pp. 14, 39) " in regionibus Cruidnenorum." Fiacha Araidhe, who gave name to the Dalaraidhe, was, according to Tighernach, lord of the Cruithne in 236. Adamnan makes mention of the Cruithni at pp. 135 and 146, and draws the distinction which is generally observed in the Annals of Ulster, calling the Irish Picts Cruithnii, and the Scottish, Picti or Pictores.
CHAPTER vin. — Aidan. — Hib. Aedhan, a diminutive of Aedh. Besides the four sons mentioned in the text, Tighernach has preserved the names of Bran, slain in 596, and Conang, drowned in 622. The Irish tract on the
" men of Alba " enumerates seven : Aodhan tra seaclit mec les .i. da Eachdaigh A. Eachaidh buidhe agus Eochaidh fionn, Tuathal, Bran, Baoithine, Conaing acus Gartnail, " Aedan, now, had seven sons, viz., the two Eochaidhs, namely, Eochaidh Buidhe and Eochaidh Finn, Tuathal, Bran. Baoithine, Conang and Gartnail."
Domnall. — Ainmire, his grandfather, was St. Columba's first cousin. Aedo, properly Aedho, is the old genitive of Aedh, like Ferguso of Fergus, and Fedelmedo of Fedelmedh.
Drumceatt. — Aedus, father of Domnall, was sovereign of Ireland when the famous convention was held here. Colgan and O'Flaherty, followed by Chalmers and others, have assigned 590 as its date. The Annals of Clonmacnoise notice it at 587, but the Annals of Ulster place it at 574 : Magna Mordail .i. conventio Dromacheta, in qua erant Coluim-cille ocus mac Ainmireach [et films Ainmoire]. This date is confirmed by a poem cited in the preface to the Amhra.
Scandlan. — In most Irish authorities he is called Scannlan Mor, son of Cennfaeladh, as in the preface to Amhra. The present reading, however, is found in all the MSS.
Muredach. — Ainmire, father of Aedus, was slain in 569, upon which Baedan and Eochaidh, his nephew, became joint sovereigns of Ireland. Their death, referred to in this chapter, is thus related by Tighernach : A. C. 572, Da hui Muiredaigh [duo nepotes Muiredaci], i.e. Baetan mac Muircheartaigh et Eochaidh Find mac Domhnaill [anno] tertio regni sui occisi.
Artdamuircol. — Now Ardnamurchan, a peninsular district on the northern boundary of Argyllshire. The name in the text seems to signify " Height of the two sea-hazels," but the modern one, "Height of the sea-calf." In 1292 it was called Ardenmurich, and in 1309 Ardnamurchin. The character of the district in Adamnan is fully borne out by modern description.
Muirbolc Paradisi — Muirbolg nemedh. — This is a very singular compound. We have Muirbulcmar at iii. 24. The name has not been locally preserved, but it probably signified a sheltered bay in or near Ardnamurchan. The word Murbholg signifies a " sea inlet," and in Ireland is modernized Murlough.
Bronbachal. — The Annals of Ulster have, A. C. 648, Mors Oengusa Bronbachlae regis Ceniuil Coirpri. The Cenel Cairbre, who gave name to the territory,fnow the barony, of Carbury, in the north of Sligo, were descended from Cairbre, son of Niall, and were a tribe of the northern Hy Neill. In their territory the battle of Cooldrevny was fought.
' Aid Slane. — Eldest son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill, by Mughaina (Colg. SS., p. 420), and surnamed from the river Slaine, near which he was born. As heir to the lordship of the Southern Hy Neill, he was a consenting party to the grant of Ceanarmus, or Kells, to St. Columba. On his father's death he succeeded to that dignity, and, about the year 580, at the instance of St. Columba, possibly on the very occasion mentioned in the text, he granted to St. Colman-Elo the land of Fiodh-Elo in Ferceall, where the church of Lanii- Elo, or Lynally, was subsequently built.
Suibne. — A. C. 600, Jugulatio Suibhne mic Colmain moir la hAedh Slaine a mbridamfor Suanna. "The assassination of Suibhne, son of Colman Mor, by Aedh Slaine, at Bridamh on the Suainu " (Tigh.) The retribution followed in 604, as Tighernach relates : Jugulatio Aeda Slaine o Conall mac Suibhne for bru Locha Semdighe. Aed Gusdan comalta Conaill Guthbind ocus Baethgal Bile ron gumestar eum : unde dictum est :
Conall robii Aedh Slaine Aedh Slaine robi Suibne.
" The assassination of Aedh Slaine by Conall son of Suibhne on the brink of Lough Sewdy [in West Meath]. Aedh Gusdan, foster-brother of Conall Guithbinn, and Baethgal Bile, wounded him : unde dictum est :
" Conall slew Aedh Slaine, Aedh Slaine slew Suibhne."
King Roderc.—Tlae Rhydderch Had of the British, son of Tudwal [here called Tothal, from the Irish Tuathat], surnamed Tutglud [Tuaith Clud, " of the Clyde district."] He was of Irish extraction by his mother's side, for his sister Melangell, or Monacella, was daughter of Ethni, surnamed Wyddeles, " the Irish woman." — E,ees' Welsh Saints, p. 269. His surname Hael [Hib. Fial], denotes Liberal. But his greatest honour was his patronage of religion. See Jocelin, Vit. S. Kentig.
Cluaith. — Called in the thirteenth century from its occupants Dunbreatan, now Dumbarton, " civitas Brittonum munitissima usque hodie quse vocatur Alcluith (Bede, H. E. i.)
CHAPTER x. — Colca. — "Colcu, of Cluain-Colgan at Athcluana-Meadhraidhe, and Fael, and Sorar, three children of Aedh son of Aedh son of Lughaidh son of Uaitti, son of Fiachrach, son of Eochaidh Muighmedoin." — B. of Lecan. The surname Draigniche is Hib. Draighnighe, gen. of Draighneach, " black thorn."
Fechurig. — Hib. Ui Fiachrach, a tribe inhabiting an extensive tract in the modern counties of Galway and Mayo. See O'Don. Tribes and Cust. of Hy- Fiachrach.
CHAPTER xu. — Mocuruntir. — Mac- Ui-Euntir. According to the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, the Dal-Ruinntir occupied Cluain-chaoin in Fer Ross, now Clonkeen in the west of the county of Meath.
CHAPTER xin. — Ethica. — This word is not a substantive, as has been generally supposed : for further on we find Ethici pelagi ; but an adjective agreeing with insula (twice in this chap., andiii. 9), or terra (once in this^chap., and i. 29, ii. 14 twice, 40, in. 9). It is an appellative formed from eth or ith, " corn," and signifies tritici ferax, the island being, as Fordun describes it, " insula ubi hordei magna copia ; " or, as it is termed in a Gaelic poem, Tir isiol na h-orna, " the low-lying land of barley." It is mentioned in the Lives of several Irish saints as terra, insula, or regio, Hyth, or Hith ; and from Tir itha, the Irish compound answering to Terra Heth, was formed the proper name, which has passed through the various stages of Tirieth (Reginald of Durham, 12th cent.), Tyre-e (Fordun, ii. 10), Tyriad (1343), Tereyd (1354), Tyriage (1390), Tiereig (1496), until it has been reduced to its present form of Tiree. The island Tiree is about eleven miles long, and varies in breadth from one to three. It is a low sandy tract, lying about twenty miles N.W. of Hy. Artchain (i. 29), and Campus Lunge (i. 24, 33, ii. 14, 40, iii. 9), were situated in the Ethica terra. See the paper on " the Island of Tiree " in the Ulster Jour, of Archseol. ii. 233-244 (App. I. infra) ; Innes's Orig. Paroch., under Soroby and Kirkapoll (vol. ii. pt. 1, pp. 327-331). The direct course to Tiree lies in the open sea : the circuitous route would lead northwards to Staffa, thence to the Treshnish isles, and from them westwards to the northern extremity of the island. It is nearly twenty miles across from Hy to Port-na-lung beside Soroby in Tiree. Observe the form Ethici pelagi.
Baithene. — He was superior of the dependent monastery of Magh-Lunge in Tiree before his accession to the abbotship of Hy.
CHAPTER xiv. — Baitan. — The Irish form of this name is Baotan ; that of Baithene, Baoithin.
Niath Taloirc. — That is, Ua Niadh Taloirc. Niath occurs in Tirechan. It signifies a " champion," and is often found as a component in ancient names. We find Talorg frequently in the catalogue of Pictish kings.
Lathreginden. — Not identified. It may be inferred from the narrative that the place was in the neighbourhood of Deny.
CHAPTER xvi. — Luguid. — He was the messenger of the monastery.
Malea. — Like most of the names of islands in Adamnan, an adjective agreeing with insula. It is the Mull of the present day.
Lea. — In Irish Li, or Magh Li, or, from the inhabitants, Fir Li. The territory lay on the west side of the river Bann.
Turtre. — In Irish, Ui Tuirtre. il Colla Uais had two goodly sons ; Earc, on the north of the mountain [Slieve Gallon], from whom descended the Mac Cartains of Loch Feabhail [Foyle] ; and Fiachra Tort, on the south of the mountain, from whom descended the Hy Tuirtre and the Fir Li, and the Fir Luirg, and the Hy-mac-Uais. It was by Fiachra that Conaille Muirtheimhne [now the county of Louth] was first seized, tort being a name for seizure." —Mac Firbis, Gen. MS.
CHAPTER xvn. — Vowel I. — This was the letter by which St. Brendan of Birr is said to have indicated to St. Columba the place of his future sojourn. See Colgan, Tr. Th., p. 462 a.
CHAPTER xx. — Brendan Mocualti. — This was St. Brendan, the famous voyager, and founder of Clonfert, who is commemorated in the Calendar at May 16. He is sometimes called the son of Finnloga, to distinguish him from St. Brendan of Birr, who was son of Neman ; and sometimes Mac-Ua- Alti, which was his clan name, derived from Alta, his great-grandfather, son of Ogaman, of the race of Ciar, son of Fergus.
CHAPTER xxu. — Roman City. — We are indebted to Notker Balbulus for the modern name of this city. " Subversionem quoque civitatis quse nunc Nova dicitur in Italia, in subitaneo stupore, terrse hiatu, imo ccelestis irse respectu subversam conspexit, et aliis extasin ejus mirantibus id ipsum nuntiavit, sed et hoc praedixit, quod Gallici nautae, sicut et factum est eandem rem ipso anno in Scotiar elaturi essent." — Martyrol. v. Id. Jun. (Canisii Antiq. Lect. vi. p. 854). Some have supposed that the ancient name of this city was JSmonia, but J. L. Schonleben, Archdeacon of Lower Carniola, published an essay to show that that name belonged to Labacum, or Laubac, in Lower Carniola; but that Alvum of Ptolemy was the one in question (^Emonia Vindicata, Salisburgi, 1674). It is now called Citta Nuova, on the north of the river Quieto, in Istria. It became an episcopal see in the tenth century, and John, its first bishop, was styled " Episcopus ^Emonesis. See Act. SS. Junii, torn. ii. p. 208 b ; Maii, torn. vii. p. 14 j Geogr. Blaviana, vol. viii. pp. 57, 58.
Gaput Regionis. — Neither Colgan nor Pinkerton observed that this was a proper name. The foreign editor, however, with more penetration, observed in Buchanan's Descript. Scot., " Ultra Cnapdaliam ad occidentem hibernum excurrit Cantiera, hoc est, Regionis caput." The vernacular name, Cenn-tire, or Cind-tire, ^appears occasionally in the Irish Annals.
CHAPTER xxm. — Laisran. — Called in the title filius Feradachi. At chap, viii. (p. 122) we find him in Scotland. His father was son of Ninnidh son of Fergus son of Conall Gulban, and was therefore first cousin of St. Columba. Laisran was promoted, in 598, from his subordinate charge at Durrow, to be abbot of Hy, being the third who filled that office, which he held till 606.
CHAPTER xxiu. — Oakwood Plain (Derry). — For Derry read Durrow. — W. F. S.
CHAPTER xxiv. — The highest spot on the island is Dun-i, situated N.N.W. of the monastery. Its elevation is 330 feet, and it is a conspicuous object from the sea. However, the hill called Cnoc-mor, which overhangs Reilig- Orain on the west, is more probably the place intended. Port-Ronain, near the village, the usual landing-place, is nearly due south of Dun-i. If Cnocmor was the place of observation, Port-na-Mairtear, or Martyr's Bay, where the Free Church now stands, answers best to the description.
Feachna. — He is styled " Sapiens vir " twice. In the Irish Annals we find frequently the epithet saoi, sapiens, applied to ecclesiastics.
CHAPTER xxv. — Magh Lunge. — Situate in EtUca terra, now Tiree (ii. 14, 46) ; a penitential station (ii. 40) ; Baithenus superior of it (i. 33, iii. 9). " In monasterio quod Campus navis, id est Maglunga vocatur, quodque per S. Columbam in terra Hefch fundatum est." — Vit. S. Baitheni, c. 7. (Act. SS. Jun. ii. p. 237 b.) Combustio Muighe Luinge. — Tighernach, 673. (Ann. Ult. 672 ; Ann. Clomnacn. 669.) The Four Masters render it Losccadh Maiglie lunge, and, by its insertion, apply the notice to Ireland, A. C. 672 : where see O'Donovan's note. Among the obits in the Annals of Ulster, at 774, is Conall Maighi luingi, " Conall of Magh-luinge." The "portus Campi Lunge" which is mentioned by Adamnan, at ii. 15, as lying opposite to Hy, is probably the little creek called Port-na-lung, which is close to the old burying-ground of Soroby, on the south-east side of the island, where there stands a very ancient cross, and in which are remembered the remains of the original parish church, near the spot now occupied by some curious sepulchral slabs. Among the thirteen Brigids mentioned by ^Engus the ^uldee is " S. Brigida de Mag Luinge," whom Colgan places in Dalriedia,
which, if he means the original territory of that name in the north of the county of Antrim, he is in error. — Tr. Th. p. 611 &. In the farm of Cornagmore, on the north side of Tiree, is a place called Kilbride, where a small chapel formerly stood, and this is the true site of the " Ecclesia S. Brigidae de Mag-luinge." See the paper on the Island of Tiree in the Ulster Journal >f Archaeology, ii. 239-241 (App. I., infra), and the accompanying Map.
CHAPTER xxv. — Aba. — Dr. Smith understands this of Loch Awe (Life of S. Columba, p. 151) ; and, after him, Dr. Lanigan (Eccl. Hist. ii. p. 172). Or, Lochavich, formerly Loch-Affy, a smaller lake lying to the north-west, may be here intended. A charter of King Robert Bruce, tire. 1322, grants to Roderic son of Alan the lands of the latter as Louchaby ;in Argyle. —
Innes, Orig. Paroch. ii. pt. i. p. 104. The markland of Kilmun, lying near Lochavich, is the only place in that quarter which bears a name at all resembling the Cill-Diuni of St. Columba's age. The neighbouring church >f Kilchrenan, formerly Kildachmanan and Ecclesia 8. Petri Diacona de Loch Aw, which has been a subject of discussion among Scottish antiquaries |0rigines Paroch. ii. pt. i. p. 120) may have its origin in the Cella Diuni of the text. There is a lake in Mull called Loch Ba, at the north-west end of which is an old burial-ground on the lands of Knock, called Kill-Martin ; and the style of the narrative seems to indicate a nearer position to Hy than Loch Awe. The Annals of Ulster, at 675, have the entry : Multi Pictores dimersi sunt i Llaind Abae, which may have reference to the lake mentioned in the text, but whose identification, like much of the ancient topography of Scotland, is, owing to the total absence of ancient Gaelic records, subject, as yet ,to painful uncertainty.
CHAPTER xxvu. — Artbranano. — This is a Gaelic as well as a Pictish name, oeing compounded of art, which Cormac explains by uasal, "noble," or clock " a stone" (Glossary, sub voc.), and branan, the diminutive of bran, " a raven : " hence the whole name may be interpreted Noble-raven, Hardyraven, or Hock-raven. We find the form Aribran in Tighern. 716, 758; Ann. Ult. 715, 757. See Zeuss, Gram. Celt. i. pp. 78, 281.
Scia. — The island Skye. Concerning the churches of S. Columba there, see the note on ii. 27, infra. The word Scia appears, from the form of the name, in the following instances to be an adjective agreeing with insula. Navigatio filiorum Gartnaith ad Hiberniam cum plebe Scith (Tigh. 668 ; Sceih, Ann. Ult. 667). Sci (Lib. Lecan. fol. 139 a a). Sgathaig (Trans. Gael. Soc. p. 118). Skid (Haco's Exped. pp. 16, 46) ; ubi Vestra-fyrdi (Johnstone's Olave, p. 10). Skydu (Death-Song of Lodbroc, p. 107). Scaethi (Ib. p. 23). C. Innes explains the name by " the winged isle " (Orig. Paroch. ii. pt. i. p. 350).
Geona. — If Geona be the name of an island, it may be the same as the modern Gunna. Gunna, however, between Tiree and Coll, is too small to be deserving of notice. The Geona cohors was probably a Pictish corps, deriving its name from the district to which it belonged.
Dobur Artbranani. — Dobhart ainm coitchend iter Gaidelic ocus Combrec d'uisce, unde dicitur dobhar-chu ocus dobhar-ci is in {Combrec — " DOBHAR, a common name both in the Gaelic and Cymric for water: unde dicitur Dobhar-chu ['a water-dog,' i.e. "an otter "in the Gaelic], and Dobhar-chi in the Cymric." — Cormac's Glossary (voc. Dobhar and Coin Fodoirne). See the word Dobhar, and its compounds, in O'Brien's and O'Reilly's Dictionaries, also Aidhbheis in the latter. The Welsh dictionaries, too, have the word, but spelled Dywr : also Dywr-gi, "an otter." See Lhuyd's Archseologia, pp. 43 b, 201 d, 288 c, 290 a, 351 a; Giraldus Cambrensis, Itinerar. Cambr. i. 8; Zeuss, Gram. Celt. i. pp. 156, 160, 163. A stream in the west of Donegal, called Dobhar, probaby the modern Gweedore (i.e. Gaeth Dobhair, "estuary of the Dobhar") was the northern boundary of Tir Boghaine, or Banagh (see Battle of Magh Rath, pp. 156, 158); but Dour is much commoner in British topography than its cognate word in Irish. There is a spring near one of the old churches in Skye, called Tobar Bhrennan, but the name seems to have a different origin. Indented as Skye is on all sides with lochs, and presenting, from its lobster shape, so extensive a line of coast, with the Out Isles on the west, Ross-shire on the east, and Inverness-shire on the south, it is very difficult, in the absence of local evidence, to con jecture from what side the old Chief came, or what was the part of the coast at which the interview took place. It is a curious feature in this, the largest island of Scotland, that there is not a spot in it four miles from the sea, and few parts more than two. Mugstot, a farm beside Loch Choluimcille, in the north of Skye, was the usual landing-place from the Long Island. On the east is Portree, in the inner bay of which is a small island called Eilean Choluimcille. On the north-west, at Skabost Bridge, on an island of the river Snizort, near its entrance into Loch Snizort, is an old church, anciently known as Sanct Colmis Kirk in Snesfurd.
CHAPTER xxvm. — Britannice Dorsum. — Druim-Bretain. See ii. 32, 43, 47, iii. 15 ; Tighernach, 717 ; Ann. Ult. 716. The vernacular name Drum- Bretain at an early date passed into the form Drum-Alban, which was in use until the thirteenth century, and was applied to the great mountain chain dividing Perthshire and Argyle, and terminating in the Grampian Hills. This range forms the backbone of Scotland, and from its sides the eastern and western waters respectively flow.
Stagnum. — The name, which is omitted in this place, is supplied in the Capitulationes (p. 110, supra), as " stagnum Loch Diae." It is found in the Annals of Ulster, A.c. 728 : Bellvm Monitcarno juxta stagnum Loogdae inter hostem Nechtain et exercitum Aengusa, et exactatores Nechtain ceciderunt, hoc est Biceot mac Moneit, et filius ejus Finguine mac Drostain, Feroth mac Finngmne et quldam mutti ; et familia Aengusa triumphavit. — (Cod. Dubl.) Chalmers, who never stops at a topographical difficulty, deals with the name as a familiar one, and describes the encounter as the " battle of Moncur in the Carse of Gowrie." — (Caledon. i. p. 211.) But there is no lake at Moncur, and the similarity of the name is more apparent than real. " Bellum Montis Carno." — (Annal. Cambr. 728.) Pan vu vrwydyr ym mynyd Cam, " when there was a battle on Cam mountain." — Brut y Ty wysogion, 728. This is supposed to be the pass of the Grampians, in the west of Kincardineshire, called Cairn-omont, the Mons Mound of Giraldus Cambrensis, and the Monoth of Ann. Ult. 781, beside which is Glendye, through which flows the river Dye ; but, unfortunately for the present identification, there is no lake there.
CHAPTER xxix. — Cokio. — Here, and in iii. 16, we have the Latin form of the name Colga, while in the title we have the Irish in the genitive case. So Cellaig in the title, the genitive of Cellach, which is Latinized Cellachi in iii. 16. The subject of the present anecdote is mentioned again at iii. 16, under similar circumstances. Tighernach, at 622, records the death of Colga mac Ceallaig.
Diocese. — The word used in the oldest Irish records to denote ' a diocese ' is parochia. (S. Patricii Synod. 30, 34, Villanueva, pp. 5, 6. Paruchia, Lib. Armac. fol. 11 a b, 16 a a, 20 b b, 21 b b, 22 a a.) Sulpicius Severus uses dicecesisin the sense of ' parish,' and parochia of ' an episcopal seat.' (Vit. S. Martini, Lib. Armac. fol. 209 b b, 220 a a, 202 b b; pp. 578, 526, 550, Ed. Hornii.) In the present instance the term di&cesis seems, like the Greek Sioifo/o-iy, to be taken in the sense of 'administration,' or secondarily, of * district,' conveying the idea expressed by " quidam de provincialibus tuis clericis," iii. 8. In this sense it is employed in the solitary instance in which it occurs in the ancient memoirs of St. Patrick in the Book of Armagh (fol. 20 b b). In the case of widely extended monastic systems, like that of St. Columba, while the supreme government was vested in the superior of the mother church, there were local administrators, under whose direction the churches of a particular district or province were unitedly placed, and the present expression seems to have reference to such jurisdiction. Occa sionally we read, in the Annals, of the Maor mumtire Patraicc, * Steward of the congregation of S. Patrick,' in a certain province. See Eccles. Antiqq. of Down and Connor, pp. 136, 137 ; King's Primacy of Armagh, references in Index, under Diocesan Episcopacy.
Artchain. — Hib. A rd chaoin, ' altitude amcena.' The name exists in Ireland, as belonging to a parish in the county of Down, in the form Ardkeen, but has been lost in the Ethica terra or Tiree. A spot on the north side of the island, a little south-east of the farm-house of Balphetrish, is called Ardkirknish, where a chapel and cemetery are known to have formerly existed. In the farm of Kenoway, south-west of Balphetrish, is a rocky space called Kilfinnian, having faint vestiges of a small building lying east and west. See the paper on the Island of Tiree in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology, vol. ii. p. 241 (App. I., infra), and map. T. Innes, who erro neously supposed the Terra Ethica to be Shetland (Civ. Eccl. Hist. pp. 204, 205), seems to have been satisfied of his correctness, for he four times makes mention of " Artchain in Shetland."
Findchan. — On llth March Marian Gorman commemorates Findchan gel oc graidnech, Findchanus virgo, purus et amarosus, and the Martyrology of Tamhlacht F'mnchan airc i firemh. Finnchanus qui fuit in angustiis (sive cruciatibus) diuturnis. The expressions of suffering having reference, as Colgan supposes, to the visitation recorded at the close of this chapter. His name is preserved in Kilfinichen, a parish in the island of Mull, situate be tween the Lochs Na Keal and Scridan ; which is noticed in the records, under the forms Keilfeinchen, Killinchan, and Killinchen.
Aid. — Aedh dubh of the Irish. He was son of Suibhne, and was chief of the Dal Araidhe in 565. In 581 he became king of Uladh, and in 588 he lost his life.— (Tigh).
Diormit. — Diarmait mac Cerbhaill. — This Diarmait succeeded his kinsman Tuathal Maelgarbh as sovereign of Ireland in 544, and reigned 21 years. He was head of the Southern Hy Neill. His reign is remarkable in the civil history of the country as the one in which Tara ceased to be a regal abode ; and, in the ecclesiastical, for his patronage of St. Ciaran, and his alleged disputes with St. Columba and St. Ruadhan. His death is thus recorded by Tighernach, A. C. 505 : " Dairmait, son of Cerbhall, was slain at Rathbeg in Magh Line by Aedh Dubh, son of Suibhne Araidhe, king of Uladh ; and his head was conveyed to Cluain [mac nois], and his body was buried at Connor. To whom succeeded the two sons of Mac Erca, namely Fergus and Domhnall." Rathbeg is situate beside Rathmor, the seat of the Dalaradian lords, about two miles east of Antrim, and seven south of Connor. A. C. 588, Gum (the mortal wounds of) Aedha Duibh mic Suibhne Araidhe qui domarbh (slew) Diarmaid mac Cerbuill (Tigh). A. C. 587, Ingulatio Aedha righi mic Suibne i luing (in nave) An. Ult.
Ommon. — Not identified. JEmonia, the old name of Inchcolm, will not answer, for that island is at the east side of Scotland.
Guideline. — The word cull, which Colgan always interprets secessus, signifies commonly " a corner," and there are three or four places in lona to which it is still applied, but none in the position mentioned here. However, just half way between the Machar and the Monastery, a little east of Cnoc-Orain, is a spot called Bol-lethne, which may be a corruption of the original name. From the narrative it would seem that here the most laborious part of the way commenced ; and at Bol-kithne there is a considerable ascent, and the path becomes rugged.
Audiebatur. — The following anecdote illustrative of the power of S. Columba's voice, even in his boyhood, is told in the ancient Irish Life preserved in the Book of Lismore, Leabhar Breac, and Highland Society MS. : "At another time he went to watch by a sick person. As they were passing through a thicket, the foot of the cleric [who attended him] slipped on the patli ; upon which he suddenly died. Columcille put his hood under the cleric's head, thinking that he was asleep. And he began to rehearse his lesson, so that he was heard by certain nuns in their convent. The learned estimate that there was a mile and a half between them ; and the sound of his voice was often heard at that distance, ut dixit :
Son a ghotha Coluim cille Mor a bhinde uas cech cleir : Co cend cuic ced dec cemend Aidble reimend eadh ba reill.
" The sound of the voice of Colum-cille, Great its sweetness above all clerics : To the end of fifteen-hundred paces, Though great the distance, it was distinctly heard."
Brudei regis munitionem. — From ii. 34 we learn that this was situate near the north-east end of Loch Ness. In ii. 36 an account is given of the Saint's first journey to Brudeus, to which it is probable that the present anecdote is to be referred. See the notes on that chapter.
Magi. — This is the Latin word always used in the Acts of the Irish saints as equivalent to the vernacular term Draoithe, Druids, or Druidh, aa in earlier compositions. Thus, in the Irish MS. of St. Paul's Epistles, at Wurtzburg, the gloss on Jannes and Jambres (2 Tim. iii. 8) is da druith cegeptacdi, "duo druidse ^Egyptiaci." (Zeuss, Gram. Celt. i. p. 278.) See Fiech's Hymn, vs. 11 ; Petrie's Tara, p. 40. In Matt. ii. 1, we have Draoithe for " Wise men." The memoirs of St. Patrick in the Book of Armagh state that at the time of his arrival, the monarch of Ireland had scivos, et magos, et aurispices, et incantatores, et omnis malce artis inventores, in his service (fol. 2 b a). The contests between St. Patrick and the Magi are related at fol. 4 a a, etc. In an ancient hymn ascribed to St. Columba we find the following senti ment : —
Is e mo drai Crist mac De. " Christ the Son of God is my druid."
(Miscell. Irish Archseol. Soc. vol. i. p. 6.)
This word drai is the origin of the term Druides, and not 8pvs, as Pliny sug gests (N.H. xvi. 44), or CHI, as Vossius. Concerning the Magi and their vestiges among the Irish after the establishment of Christianity, see Colgan, Acta ss. p. 149 b, n. 15. On the word Druid see the Irish Dictionaries, voce Draoi; Zeuss, Gramm. Celt. i. pp. 8, 17, 265, 271, 273, 274, 276; Csesar, Bell. Gall. vi. 13.
CHAPTER xxx. — Breg. — Magh bregh, sometimes latinized Bregia, is reputed to have received its name from Bregha, son of Breoghan, a Milesian chief. (Keating, Hist. i. p. 286, Ed. Haliday.) The territory originally comprised live triocha-cheds, or cantreds, in the east portion of ancient Meath. In after times the name was applied to the extensive tract of country reaching from Dublin northwards to near Dundalk, and north-westwards to the Fews Mountains. It is still preserved in the territory, in the form Slieve Bregh, which belongs to a hill on the north-east of the county of Meath. (Ord. Surv. s. 13.)
CHAPTER xxxi. — Cainle. — Called Mons Cainle at ii. 16, but without any clue to the identification. If the words at the commencement of next chap ter refer to the mention of this district, it must be fixed in Ireland, and in the neighbourhood of Trevet. But they rather seem to point to Campus Breg of chap. 30, in which Trevet is situate, leaving the Regio Cainle unappro priated. Mons Cainle certainly would not suit the plain of Bregia, or the vicinity of Trevet. It was more probably in Scotland. In this view the word vicinus in next chapter will have reference to the Saint's previous place of sojourn, and not to the relation of the monastery and region, for Trevet was in Bregia.
CHAPTER xxxn. — Trioit. — Treait in Tighernach and Ann. Ult. ; sometimes with the epithet mor, " great." In the Four Masters the form Trefoit is occa sionally found, which is agreeable to the etymon trifoit, "three sods," given in some ancient authorities cited by O'Donovan (Four Mast. 734), and Petrie (Round Towers, pp. 97, 99). St. Lonan, who is commemorated at Nov. 1, was probably the founder : Lonan o Trefoit i mBregkaibh ag Boinn, " Lonan of Trefoit in Bregia, on the Boyne." — Cal. Dungall. It is styled monasteriolum in the text, and appears to have been, though an ancient, for some time an inconsiderable, establishment, as neither the name nor date of its founder occurs in the Annals, and the first time it is noticed is 739. However, it sub sequently rose to importance, and was administered by episcopal abbots in 769, 898, and 1004. From the supposed similarity of the name to Tredagh, the English form of Drogheda, O'Conor and others have been led to identify it with that town ; but erroneously, for its true representative in modern topography is Trevet, a parish in the barony of Skreen, and county of Meath, a little south-east of the conspicuous church of Skreen. (Ord. Surv. s. 38.) This church of Skreen was formerly called Serin Coluim-cille, and is mentioned by the Four Mast, at 875, 1027, 1037, 1058, 1127, 1152. On the N.W. is " St. ColumbkiUe's Well." (Ord. Surv. s. 32.)
CHAPTER xxxm. — Mocudruidi. — Mac-Ua-Druidl, the tribe-name of an obscure family.
Lugbe. — There were two brethren of this name, one styled Mocumin (i. 8, 18, 22), and the other Mocublai (i. 35).
Coloso. — There are two islands called Colonsay within a moderate distance of Hy, namely, the large island lying south-east, between it and Islay, and another, called for distinction Little Colonsay, south of Ulva, opposite the entrance of Loch na Keal, on the west side of Mull. Of these the latter lies nearer to Hy, but does not answer the description here as well. 1st, it is likely Coloso was an inhabited island, which Little Colonsay is not ; 2d, there would be no advantage gained by crossing from Little Colonsay, because the islands on that side are nearer to it than to the shore, and his object in landing was to be near his work ; 3d, there are no " campuli mari vicini " or " arenarum cumuli " on the west coast of Mull near Hy. The name occurs again at ii. 23, where the larger island seems to be again intended.
Parva insula. — Most probably Erraid Isle; the largest of a little group of islands at the south entrance of the Sound, south-east of Hy, and close to the shore of Mull. Immediately opposite to this island the sand is abundant on the shore of Mull, but the coast is iron-bound higher up, and so continues for a long distance. The course from Colonsay was north-west for about thirteen miles. The stranger landing on the near end of Mull could then conveniently cross over to the seal island. Selsey in Sussex was anciently called "SelEeseu, quod dicitur Latine Insula Vituli marini." (Bede, H. E. iv. 13.)
CHAPTER xxxiv. — Ce. — Lock Ce in Moylurg, commonly called Lough Key. Lough Key is situate north-east of the town of Boyle, on the northern part of the county of Roscommon.
Bos dicitur. — At ii. 19, it is called by the Irish equivalent Bo. The river, which gives its name to the town and barony of Boyle, is always written in Irish Buill, and latinized Buellia. A monastery, anciently called Atkda-laarg, from a ford on the river, became affiliated to Mellifont in 1161, and was subsequently known by the name of Mainister na Buille, " Monastery of the Boyle." See O'Donovan on Four Mast. 1174. The river runs out of Lough Key and enters the Shannon a little north-west of Kilmore, anciently called Cill-mor-Dithraibh, the Cella Magna Deathrib of i. 50, infra. The neighbour hood of this Columbian cell will account for the familiar mention of the lake and river here, and at ii. 19.
CHAPTER xxxv. — Noblemen, Tigernis. — A Latin transformation of the Irish noun Tigherna, "a lord," proving that the g in the word is a radical letter, and pointing to tig, " a house," as the derivation, like Dominus from domus, rather than to rvppavos. In the narrative these princes are called regii generis viri and nobiles viri. In the lives of the Irish saints Dux is the usual repre sentative of the word.
Cellrois. — Now Magheross, a parish in the county of Monaghan, better known by the name of its town Carrickmacross, which derives its name from the same source, — the former being Machaire Hois, Campus Rossiorum ; the latter Carraic machaire Rois, Rupes Campi Rossiorum. The monastery spoken of in the text is mentioned in the Annals of Ulster (A.C. 826, 846), under the tribe-name of Fer Hois, where the obits of two Priors are recorded.
Maughdorni. — Mughdorn dubh, son of Colla Meaun, gave his name to a territory in the county of Monaghan, which was called from his descendants Crick Mughdhorna, now pronounced Cremorne.
Colman Canis. — The annalists make no mention of him, but the obit of his brother is recorded at 611, Mors Maieleduin mic Aleni regis Mogdornae (Tigh). The term Ou, canis, is of very frequent occurrence in Irish names, both as an epithet, and in composition.
Aedo. — The genitive of Aedh. His death is thus recorded : A. C. 609 Mors Aedho mic Colggen regis na n-Airther. Anteriores is a radical equivalent for the Irish Airtheara, a name which was applied to the eastern section of the Airghialla, or inhabitants of the territory afterwards called Oriel or Uriel.
Cronan episcopo. — Possibly the Bishop Cronan, whom Colgan notices at Feb. 9, and of whose identity with the subject of the present anecdote he has no doubt. (Colg. A.S.S. p. 302.)
We gather from these memoirs that the practice of the Irish Church in the celebration of the Lord's Supper, at this period, varied in regard to its ministration ; that sometimes the attendant priests selected one of their number, either as eminent for piety (as in i. 32), or for station (as in iii. 18), or because a visitor, as in the present instance. Sometimes two, or probably more, acted as concelebrants, " simul verbis et manu conficientes," in which case they were wont "simul dominicum panem frangere :" this as performed conjointly was, if we may so say, " presbyterali ritu." But when a bishop was present, there being none of equal rank at hand, he " solus panem fregit," and thus the celebration was "episcopal! ritu." In i. 32, supra, we find the expression " audiens presbyterum sacra eucharistiae mysteria conficientem," from which we may infer that the consecration was held to be effected by the sentence of consecration ; and hence it might be supposed that the invitation " panem frangere " had reference to the distri bution of the bread to the communicants, and not to the act of consecration. See Morinus, Sacr. Ordinat. Exerc. viii. ; Valesius's note on Evagrius's Eccl. Hist. i. 13.
It appears from a comparison of cap. 29, and ii. 1, with the present chapter, that under the Columbian discipline the several orders of bishop, priest, and deacon, were duly recognised, and that the conferring of Holy Orders was considered the peculiar function of the first. The present narrative contains not only a plain acknowledgment of the distinctness of bishop and priest, but also the founder's express declaration of the superior privilege, rank, and honour of the bishop. Instead of the episcopal office being ignored, or its proper function being usurped by presbyters in Hy, " a greater respect," as Innes truly remarks, " was in some manner paid to bishops in that monastery, and a greater distinction made betwixt them and priests in the celebration of the sacred mysteries, than in other Churches of the Occident, either in those ages or ours. For by this relation it appears that in Ycolmkill a priest, even the abbot S. Columba himself, looked upon a bishop so far superior to him, that he would not presume, even though invited, to concelebrate or celebrate the holy mysteries jointly with him." (Civil and Eccl. Hist. p. 175).
Ernan — Avunculum — " Ernaan sancti avunculus Columbse " is mentioned in the Epilogus of Cod. B. as one of the twelve followers of the saint. Being brother of Ethnea, St. Columba's mother, he was son of Dima, son of Noe, and a descendant of Cathaeir Mor. On account of his grandfather's name, Colgan identifies him, among twenty-six Ernans in the calendar, with St. Ernin or Mernoc of Rath-Noe in Hy Garrchon, whose day is Aug. 18 ; but in this he errs. See note i, p. 25, Orig. Ed. On the other hand, this cannot be the Mernoc of the Scotch calendar at the 25th of October, nor St. Marnan of the 2d of March, for both of these are styled bishops, while the individual in the text is stated to be a presbyter. It is to be observed that Ernan, Ernin, Mernoc, and Ferreolus are different forms of the same name, and interchangeable. See the note on Ferreolus or Ernene, iii. 23, § 4, Orig. Ed. St. Columba had a nephew, also called Mernoc or Era an, who was son of his sister Cuman. ^Engiis, de Matr. SS. Hib. § 13 (Book of Lecan) ; Epilogus Adamnani (Cod. B. fol. 70 a).
Hinba insula. — See ii. 25, iii. 6, 18, 19, 24, § 4. Hinbina insula, i. 15, supra. It has not yet been identified, and unfortunately the clues afforded by the writer are very slight. However, from iii. 6 and 19, it may reason ably be conjectured to have been north of, and not far distant from, Hy. The island Canna, which bears some resemblance in name, lies about four miles north-west of Rum. Its church, of which the ruins and a small cross existed in 1772, was named from St. Columba. The parsonage of the island belonged to the abbot of Hy, and the vicarage to the bishop. (Martin, West. Isles, p. 275 ; C. Innes, Orig. Paroch. ii. pt. 1, p. 339 ; Collectan. de Reb. Alban. pp. 2, 3 ; Old Statist. Survey, vol. xvii. pp. 272, 283). Father Innes says : — " It is like Himba was what is since called Ouyst or the Long Island." (Civil. Eccl. Hist. p. 189.) If Himba, the reading in the Lives by Cummian, John of Timmuth, and O'Donnell, and in some MSS. of Adamnan, be correct, the name may have its origin in the old Irish word Imbach (Imbah), which Cormac explains, .i. Ocian bach .i. muir [mare] ut est muir etis Erind ocus Albain vel aliud quodcunque mare (Gloss, in voc.) ; that is, " a surrounding sea." (O'Donovan, Ir. Gram. p. 274).
Coire Salchain. — The use of the word Coire, and the expression barbari vastatores, referring probably to the Picts or Saxons, seems to indicate Scotland as the scene of this narrative. The term Coire, so common in the Scotch Highlands to designate a hollow, or cul de sac, in the mountains, is scarcely known in Ireland. Sallachan in Morvern is probably the place mentioned in the text, for in 1509 we tind it called Sallackan Corry, a com pound containing the same elements, only transposed. (Orig. Par. vol. ii. p. 191.)
Crogreth. — Not identified, probably near borderland in the neighbourhood of the Picts or Saxons.
Goreus. — Probably a Latin form of the Irish Guaire, a name which was called Gowry in the county of Londonderry in the seventeenth century.
Cete. — Mordail Dromaceatt, " convention of Druimceatt," held A.D. 575.
Aed. — Son Ainmirech. He was sovereign of Ireland, and died in 598.
Aidan son of Gabhran. — He succeeded to the lordship of the Scotch Dalriada in 574, and possessed sufficient power and address not only to secure the independence of his race, but to lay the foundation of that supremacy which it afterwards acquired in Scotland. The account of his inauguration by St. Columba, and the solemn charge he received not to molest the subjects of the Irish King, are given in iii. 6. Immediately on his elevation he seems to have aspired to the forming an independent kingdom, and to have renounced all subjection to the Irish monarch ; nay, as some assert, he went so far as to claim jurisdiction over the parent Dalriada. The Irish monarch, on the other hand, laid claim to the tributes and service of the Scotch Dalriada as a colony which was bound to the mother country. To make an amicable adjustment of these differences was a principal object for which the convention of Druimceatt was held, and 575, the year after Aidan's accession, was that in which it took place. The matter in controversy and the award are stated in the prefaces to the Amhra, as follows : — "The Dal Riada were those about whom there was a contention between the men of Alba and the men of Erin ; because they were both of the race of Cairbre Righfada, that is, of the men of Munster. For, upon the occasion of a great famine which came upon Munster, the descendants of Cairbre Righfada left it, and one party of them went to
Alba, and the other party stayed in Erin, from whom are the Dalriada at this day. They took root afterwards in those territories, till the time of Aedhan mac Gabhrain, King of Alba, and of Aedh mac Ainmire, King of Erin. And a contest arose between those two kings about them. And that was one of three causes for which Columcille came to Erin, to make peace be tween the men of Erin and of Alba, namely, about Dal Riada. When he came to the meeting, Colman son of Comgellan, [whom St. Columba, when departing from Ireland for Hy, had met as a boy near Coleraine, and who subsequently died in 625 — Tigh.'] accompanied him, and Columkille was requested to give judgment between the men of Erin and Alba. It is not I that shall give it, said he, but yonder youth, pointing to Colman mac Comgellain. Colman then gave judgment ; and the decision that he gave was : Their expeditions and hostings to be with the men of Erin always, for hostings always belong to the parent stock. Their tributes, and gains, and shipping to be with the men of Alba. And when one of the men of Erin or Alba should come from the east, the Dal Riada to entertain them, whether few or many : and the Dal Riada to convey them on, if they require it." (Leabhar na hUidhre, fol. 8 ; H. 2, 16, Trin. Coll. Dub. ; Highland Soc. MS. fol. 13 a b.) To the same purport also O'Donnell, iii. 10 (Tr. Th. p. 432 b) ; Keating, Hist. (Reg. Aedh). The result was, as O'Flaherty succinctly states : " In quo conventu Aidanus immunitatem a pendendo Hibernise regibus tribute, adeoque liberi, absolutique principatus eminentiam adeptus est." (Ogyg. p. 475.) Accordingly, when the Tripar tite Life relates St. Patrick's prophecy concerning the family of Fergus mac Ere, it adds, " Quse prophetia postea completa est in ^Edano filio Gabhrani ex ejus semine procedente, qui manu violenta regnum Albanise occupavit. — ii. 135 (Tr. Th. p. 147 6). To the same effect Jocelin also, cap. 137 (Tr. Th. p. 95 b}.
Comgell. — Founder and first abbot of Bangor in the Ards of Ulster, born in 517, died in 602.
Nellis Nepotes.— That is, Ui Neill, commonly called Hy-Neill, or the descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages. The sons of this monarch by his first wife were Laeghaire, St. Patrick's contemporary, and Conall Crimthann, grandfather of Derm ait Mac Cerbhail, mentioned above in cap. 36, whose descendants occupied Meath, and were, from their position, styled the Southern Hy Neill. By his second wife he had Eoghan, ancestor of the Cenel Eoghain, who gave name to Tyrone and Inishowen, and were in after times represented by the O'Neill family ; Conall Gulban, ancestor of the Cinel Conaill, who gave name to Tir-Connell, now Donegal ; Cairbre, Enna, and others of inferior note, collectively forming the Northern Hy Neill. St. Columba was great-grandson of Conall Gulban, and first cousin of Ainmire, the grandfather of Domnallus mentioned in the text. Hence the clans led by Domhnall in the battle are styled in the text " mei cognaMonales amici."
Munitio Cetherni. — The Latin equivalent for Dun Ceithirn, Dunkehern. This fort derived its name from Cethern, son of Fintan, one of the famous heroes of the Red Branch, who flourished about the Christian era. Cethern, the founder of Dun Ceithern, occupies a prominent place in the ancient historical romance called the Tain-bo-Cuailgne, in which he is represented as coming from Dun-da-bheann. This fortress was on the north-western edge of the true Ultonian territory, while Dun Ceithern was within the debateable ground which now constitutes the north of the county of Londonderry. Cethern was of the stock of Ir, from which the Irish Picts are said to have derived their origin ; but the possession passed from his family to the sons of Niall, and remained so until the battle of Ocha (483), when it was tempo rarily restored to the Dalaradians or Picts. It was recovered by the Hy
Neill after the battle of Moin-doire-lothair in 563, and thenceforward was a scene of contention between the rival races. In 573, the joint sovereigns of Ireland, who were of the race of Eoghan, were slain by Cronan, king of Cianachta, the territory on the border of which Dun Ceithern was situate ; and the battle referred to in the text arose out of the slaughter of Suibhne Meann, who was also a sovereign of the race of Eoghan, by Congal Claen, king of Uladh, himself a Dalaradian or Pict, who is supposed to have under taken the deed upon condition of receiving from Domhnall, the successor to the throne, a restoration of the territory which had been seized by the Cinel Eoghan.— (Bat. of Magh Rath, p. 39.) See Orig. Ed., Note i. p. 95, for its identification with the Giant's Sconce.
OaJcwood Plain (Derry). — For Derry read Durrow.— W. F. S.
Cambas. — This monastery was founded by St. Comgall, probably under the patronage of the Pictish residents in Dun-da-bheann or Mountsandal, and Dun-Ceithern, whose occupation of this territory is still attested by the townland of Drumcroon, or " Picts Ridge," in the same parish, and Duncroon, or "Picts Fort," in the adjacent parish of Magilligan. The name Camas is supposed to be compounded of Cam-as, " crooked stream," and in Ireland there are twelve townlands of the name. In Scotland it is some times Camus, as in Argyleshire, and sometimes Cambus, as in Lanark and Perthshire.
Cuilerathin. — Now Coleraine, a well-known town on the east side of the river Bann.
Mni. — The territory of Magh Elne was bounded on the east by the Bush, and on the west by the Bann. It is now nearly represented by the North- East Liberties of Coleraine.
Columbus filiusAedi. — He was a vir sapiens, Hib. saoi, and Colgan identifies him with the individual commemorated in Marian Gorman's Calendar at Nov. 8 and Dec. 11, Mac Aeda Clam Colum .i. Cuile Damhain .i. Guile briuin, "Colum, son of Aedh Clain, of Cuil Damhan, i.e. Cuil Briuin." (Tr. Th. p. 381 a.) Columbus, Columba, Columbanus, and Colman, are various forms of the same name.
Deathrib. — Hib. Cell-mor Ditkribh. Dr. O'Donovan correctly identifies it with Kilmore, in the bounty of Roscommon, barony of Ballintober North. This was one of the churches founded by St. Columba previously to his removal to Scotland, and it was probably in connexion with his sojourn in this neighbourhood that the incidents occurred which are related of the Boyle river in these memoirs.
BOOK II.
CHAPTER i. — Findbarr. — So i. 1 (p. 112) supra. Further on, Vinnianus; and Finnio in iii. 5. The Irish Finnen, Finden, and Finnia, are dimi nutives of Jinn, " alb us," equivalent to Albinus, and appear in the Latin forms Finnianus, Findianus, Finnio, Vinnio, and Vinnianus ; to which the Italians add Fridianus and Frigidianus. Findbarr is a compound name, formed from Jinn barr, " pulcher vertex," " propter candorem capillorum." (Colg. Act. SS. p. 638 a.) There were two famous abbots called Finnian, who were successively teachers of St. Columba: one of them founder of Magh-bile, now Movilla in Down ; the other, of Cluain-Eraird, now Clonard in Meath. With the former of these, the ancient Irish Life, followed by O'Donnell (i. 39, Tr. Th. p. 395 a), Keating (reg. Aodh), and Lanigan (Ec. H. ii. p. 117), identifies the Findbarr of the text. Luidh iarumh do fhoghluimm ecnai cus in uasal epscop .i. co Finden Muighi bile. Fechtus and testa fin ocus bairgen ol Finden on aiffriund. Benachais Colum cille in usci cor soad\ h-i fhin, co tartad isin coilech n-aiffrind. " He went, then, to learn wisdom, to the illustrious bishop, namely, Finden of Magh-bile. On a certain occasion wine and bread were wanting to Finden for the offertory : Columcille blessed the water, and it was turned into wine, and put into the offertory chalice." With this agree the Lives of SS. Ere and Callin (Colg. Act. SS. p. 644 a). Colgan is undecided in his choice, for at Feb. 23 he inclines to Clonard (Act. SS. pp. 403 b, 644 a), and at March 18 to Movilla (Ib. p. 644 a; Tr. Th. p. 381 a). St. Finnian of Movilla was son of Cairbre, one of the Dal Fiatach, the royal family of Ulster, and became the patron saint of the Ultonians (Eeeves, Eccl. Ant. p. 151). Besides Movilla, he was the founder of Druimfionn, now Dromin in Louth ("Eccl. S. Fintani de Dromyng" — Regist. Fleming, fol. 44 a) ; and here the dispute between him and St. Columba respecting the manuscript of the Gospels is said to have occurred. He died Sept. 10, which is his festival ; and his obit is thus recorded by Tighernach at 579 : Quies Finniani episcopi Nepotis Fiatach. Where O'Conor corruptly for Finniani reads Mani. Also in the Annal. Ult. at 578 : Quies Vinniani episcopi mic [filii] Nepotls Fiatach, as in the Dublin MS. ; though O'Conor's text unmeaningly gives Umaniain as the Saint's name. The Irish Life states that St. Columba, on leaving St. Finnian of Maghbile, placed himself under a senior called Gemman (mentioned at ii. 25, infra), from whom he removed to St. Finnian of Clonard. The Life by Cummian subjoins the present anecdote to that recorded at iii. 5.
Juvenis. — St. Columba founded the church of Derry in 546, when he was twenty-four years of age, and his fourth preceptor, St. Finnian of Clonard, died in 550 ; so that the occurrence recorded in this chapter is likely to have taken place when he was about twenty. See Lanigan, Eccl. Hist. ii. p. 118.
CHAPTER in. — Delcros. — Not identified. Possibly the name is formed from dealg ros, " promontory of thorns." The ancient Irish Life refers this anecdote to the neighbourhood of Derry : " On a certain occasion he sent his monks into a wood to cut wattling for a church for him in Daire." The title, however, of the present chapter is opposed to such a supposition.
CHAPTER iv. — Munitio Magna. — The Irish of O'Donnell gives Daingean mor, for which Colgan substitutes Rath-mor (Tr. Th. p. 419 a), but erro neously, because that name signifies Atrium Magnum, as it is rendered in the Lives of St. Comgall (cap. 45, Flem., Collect, p. 312 a), and St. Fintan (cap. 18, Colg. Act. SS. p. 352 a), while Dun is the word which elsewhere is rendered Munitio by Adamnan. Dun-mor is the true representative of the Latin name ; but there is no place in lona now so called. There are, how ever, two eminences in the north of the island called Dun-i and Dun-bhuirg. The former, which is the highest ground in the island, has no traces of fortifi cation ; but the latter, which is more compressed and abrupt, is situate a little to the south-west, commanding a wide prospect on the north, and has round the summit the traces of a parapet, such as are often seen enclosing ancient forts in Ireland and Scotland. " The Names of fortified Places in the western Isles are in several places called Borg, and the Villages in which the Forts stand are always with Borg" — Martin, Western Islands, p. 389.
Mocusogin. — A clan name, formed probably from mocu Soghain, filiorum Soghani, or mac u Soghain, filius nepotum Soghani. Soghan, or Sodhan, was son of Fiacha Araidhe, founder of the Dal-Araidhe. See O'Flaherty, Ogyg. p. 327 ; O'Donovan, Hy Many, p. 72.
Ailbine. — This is now corrupted to Delvin, but has no connexion with the true Delvin, which is Dealbhna, a territorial name. The Delvin river rises in the county of Meath, and falls into the sea at Gormanstown. It is an inconsiderable stream, and is only remarkable on account of its old associa tions, and as being the boundary between the counties of Dublin and Meath.
Vadum Clied. — Ath cliath, "Hurdle Ford," the ancient name of Dublin, and that by which it is still known among the Irish-speaking natives.
Ard Ceannachte.—Ci&n, son of Ollioll Olum, was slain in battle circ. 240 ; his son Tadhg, having defeated the Ultonians in the battle of Crinna, received a grant of that part of Bregia. His descendants were called from his father the Cianachta, and this territory, being occupied by them, was called the triocha ced Cianachta, or " cantred of Cianacht." Another branch of the family proceeded northward, and obtained a settlement in the present county of Londonderry, to which also the clan name of Cianacht was given, and which for distinction's sake was called Cianachta glinne geimin, now known as the barony of Keenaght. Another name was that in the text, Ard Cianachta, of which we find examples in Tighernac at 248, 662, 688, 736, 742, 748, 749.
CHAPTER v. — Clochur. — Clochar mac nDaimhene is a form in which the name of Clogher is frequently found. See Ann. Ult. 769, 841, 868, 930, 960, 1137. The distinction was not unnecessary, for Clochar, which signi fies " a stony place," is of such frequent occurrence, that among the townland names in Ireland there are no less than forty-five instances of Clogher, and forty-two of the same word in composition. The nucleus of the settle ment mentioned in the text was the earthen fort in the episcopal demesne, which was anciently called Rath-mor Maighe Leamhna, and was said to have been constructed in the beginning of the second century by Baine, wife of King Tuathal Teachtmar (Four Mast. Ill ; O'Flaherty, Ogygia, p. 303). It afterwards became the seat of the kings of Airghialla, and when St. Macearthen founded the see of Clogher in this place, it was in compliance with the instructions of St. Patrick : ' ' Vade in pace, fili, et monasterium tibi construe in platea ante regalem sedem Urgallensium." (Colg. Act. SS. p. 738 b, c. 7). Hence it was that this church, being grafted on the lordship, acquired precedence in the dominions of Airghialla, so that in after ages episcopus Ergallice became a common designation of the bishops of Clogher. Thejilii Daimeni, from whom the place took its distinctive name, were sons of Damhin, son of Cairbre Damhairgid, King of Airghialla, and were called the Clan Damhin (Ogyg. p. 365) ; whose descendants retained the name, and were represented in 1353 by the family of Duibthire, now Dwyer (Cambrens. Evers. vol. i. p. 246 reprint). Mugania was ingen Daimhin, " daughter of Damhin."
Maugina. — Hib. Moghain. Three virgins of this name are commemorated in the Calendar, at Nov. 15, Dec. 9, Dec. 15; but the only one with whom the present individual can be identified is the Moghain ogh o Cluain boirenn, "Moghain, virgin, of Cluainboirenn," of Dec. 15. Clonburren is in the parish of Moore, county of Roscommon. Its distance, however, from Clogher is in itself no hindrance to the identification, for it was situate in the territory of the Hy-Many, a branch of the Airghialla, who had removed to Connaught at an early period ; and ecclesiastical connexion at this date in Ireland was influenced more by family relation than by local circum stances.
CHAPTER vui. — Boend. — Hib. Boinne. " Vadum Carnoi i mBoend." Tirechan (Lib. Armac. fol. 11 a a] ; " Amnis Boindeo." Id. (Ib. fol. 16 b a). Bovovivda, Ptolemy. Latinized Buvinda. On the present form of the name, see Zeuss, Gram. Celt. pp. 67, 74. The river Boyne, famous in the- military history of Ireland, rises in the north-west of the county of Kildare, and entering the county of Meath, pursues a north-easterly course, and, widening as it approaches Drogheda, falls into the sea at Colpe, the ancient inbher Colptha. It was the southern limit of Ulster in its largest proportions, and was also a boundary of Bregia. (O'Donovau, Ir. Gram. p. 318). An interesting account of the river and its neighbourhood, along its entire course, may be seen in Wilde's Beauties of the Boyne and Blackwater (Dubl. 1850). Satchel-Pelliceo. — For convenience and safety's sake, the service-books, which the itinerant habits of the early Irish ecclesiastics required them to carry about from place to place, were provided with leather cases, which varied in size and execution. They were called polaire and tiagha, which are thus distinguished in the ancient Irish life of St. Columba : " For it was his custom to make crosses and cases [polaire], and satchels [tiaga], for books and all church furniture." See Orig. Ed., Note c p. 115, and Note b p. 116.
Book of Hymns. — A volume containing hymns for the various services of each day in the week. We have no collection remaining to answer the present description ; but there are abundant materials for an Irish Hymnal preserved in the Antiphonary of Bangor, the Leabhar Breac, Mone's Hymni Medii ^Evi (Freyburg, 1853-4), and above all, the celebrated Liber Hymnorum, now preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, which Dr. Todd has undertaken to edit for the Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society, and of which the first fasciculus has already appeared.
logenan, a Pict. — Here we find a Pictish priest living in Leinster. Dalaradia was the proper region of the Picts in Ireland ; we are told, however, of an early settlement of Picts in Breghmagh in Meath. (Keating, Hist, vol. i. p. 318, ed. Haliday.) Eochaigh larlaithe ri Cruithne MidJd [rex Pictorum Midensium] mortuus est. Tigh. 666.
CHAPTER ix. — Lugucen calad. — Probably Lugucen, a diminutive of Lugu, and Caladh, " of the ferry."
CHAPTER xi. — Hininglas, "green sea wave." — This curious word, being un noticed by Colgan, was not likely to receive a satisfactory explanation from editors unacquainted with the Irish language. The Bollandist observes : " Nomen (ut credo) antiquum tractus illius marini." Pinkerton, with un usual caution : " Sic MS. Keg., sed quod hininglas vult nescio." The explana tion of the word, however, is simply this : the biographer, playing upon the word fundere, institutes a comparison between the aquam amaram and dulcem precem, and as he uses, for the sake of antithesis, an ambiguous word amara, as applied to sea-water, he adds the common vernacular expression hininglas, which, according to modern orthography, would be written in n-glas, that is, the green element ; or glais na mara, as it is now usually called, i.e. vitrea aqua maris. The word may either have been a gloss on the text, which, from a form like this,
.i. hin inglas aquam amaram
crept, in the process of transcription, into the text ; or, what is more likely, it may have been a parenthetical explanation, added, in the tenor of the nar rative, by the original writer. The word hin or in is the old form of the article an, and inglas, of the modern n-glais, " green water." The author's words, vitreas aquas, in chap. xxii. infra, are equivalent to the Irish expres sion here. It may be observed that glaiseach, also derived from glas, " green," signifies "the foam of the sea." The word glas signifies also "a rivulet." See cap. 37, and Note p. 278.
CHAPTER xn. — Cainnkhi. — This famous saint, of whom frequent mention is made by Adamnan, was born in 517, and died in 600. He was a native of Keenaght, in the county of Londonderry, in which barony his principal northern church, called Drumachose, was situated, where for many centuries his memory was specially venerated, and the superior of which was styled " the Coarb of Cainnech in Cianacht." See Reeves' Colton's Visit., pp. 25, 39, 132 ; Eccles. Ant. p. 374. For his descent see the note on Cainnechus
Mocu Dalon, iii. 17, p. 292. His principal churches in the south were Aghaboe, on which see next note, and the two Kilkennys, on which see note on i. 4, p. 251. In Scotland he is generally called Kenneth ; and Kilkenneth, or Kilchenzie, is a common name of churches in Argyleshire and the Western Islands. His festival, both in Ireland and Scotland, is October 11. There are six lessons at his festival in the Breviary of Aberdeen, intituled, " Sancti caynici abbatis qui in Kennoquhy in diocesi sancti andree pro patrono habetur." The church here mentioned is Kennoway in Fife.
Ached-bou. — Now Aghaboe, a parish in the Queen's County, and diocese of Ossory. The site and lands of the monastery were granted to St. Cainnech by his patron, Colman, son of Feradach, King of Ossory.
Eulogia. — " Id est, salutationem vel donum" — Gloss, interim. Cod. D. " Edulia sacerdotis benedictione consecrata." — Ind. Onomast. Act. SS. Jul. torn. i. In ecclesiastical language, EvXoym primarily signified the Eucharist, but afterwards it came to denote " consecrated bread," distinct from the Eucharist. See Is. Casaubon, Exercit. xvi. p. 374 (ed. Franco! 1615). The eMlogice, which were offerings or oblations, were supposed to be hallowed by prayer, and from them the bread was taken for consecration in the Eucharist. Of them, also, many who were not disposed or allowed to communicate were in the habit of partaking. Thus the Council of Nantes, circ. 558, prescribed : "Partes incisas habeat in vase nitido, ut post missarum solemnia, qui communicare non fuerunt rati, eulogias omni die Dominico et in diebus festis exinde accipiant, et ilia, unde eulogias presbyter daturus est, ante in hsec verba benedicat. Oratio. Domine Sancte Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus, benedicere digneris hunc panem tua sancta et spirituali benedictione, ut sit omnibus salus mentis et corporis, atque contra omnes morbos et universas inimicorum insidias tutamentum, per dominum nostrum Jesum Christum tilium tuum, panem vitse qui de ccelo descendit, et dat vitam et salutem mundo et tecum vivit et regnat," etc. (Hardouin, Concil. torn. vi. part i. col. 459). See also Le Brun, Explicatio Missae, torn. i. p. 141 ; Ducange in voc. n. 2. The Rule of St. Columbanus directs : " Eulogias immundus accipiens, duodecim percussionibus." — c. 4 (Fleming, Collectan. pp. 20 6, 29 a). In like manner the Rule of St. Benedict : " Nullatenus liceat monacho nee a parentibus suis, nee a quoquam hominum, nee sibi invicem literas, aut Eulogia, vel quaelibet munuscula accipere aut dare, sine prsecepto Abbatis sui." — cap. 54 (Nov. Bibl. Vet. Patr. torn. i. p. 701, Par. 1639.) The present passage shows that in the Irish Church, in St. Columba's time, it was the practice to participate reverentially of the Eulogise at the commencement of the afternoon meal, and in the refectory. The later manuscripts, to accom modate the practice to more modern usage/ substitute oratorio for refectorio, but in violence to the context, which adds, " festinanter pergit hac cum voce ad ecclesiam, Non est nobis nunc temporis prandere. Post haec illius verba oratorium ingressus." See the word eulogia used in another sense in cap. 7 (p. 157) supra.
Cursus. — The anecdote is thus told in the Life of St. Cainnech : ' ' Quodam autem tempore cum S. Columba Kylle in mari navigaret, et navis in tempestate magna periclitaret, dixerunt ei fratres sui, Roga Deum pro nobis. Quibus Columba dixit, Non est meum hodie liberare, vos quod non mihi sed sancto Kannecho Dominus donavit. Tune Kannechus inter fratres suos juxta mensam stans in Achuth-bo audivit vocem Columbse nunc periclitati. Tenens unum ficonem circa pedem cucurrit ad ecclesiam, et orante illo facta est tranquillitas magna in mari. Tune Columba, 0 Canneche, opportunus est nobis tuus cursus cum uno ficone ad ecclesiam." — c. 50, p. 31 (ed. Orm).
CHAPTER xin. — Oidecha. — Called terrula Aithche further on. Ouidecha is the reading of Cod. B. in both places. The place in question lay somewhere in the course from Hy to Ireland, and is probably that first mentioned in the following extract from the tract on the Men of Alba, preserved in the Books of Ballymote and Mac Firbis : — Aongus beag mac Ere aonmhac les .i. Muireadhach, ced treab in lie .i. Oiclech .xx. teach. Freag c. xx. teach. Caladrois .lx. no teach, treabh. Rois Deorand .xxx. teach. Loic rois .xxx. teach. Aitha Caisil .xxx. teach insin. " Aonghus the Little, son of Ere, had one son, viz. Muiredhach, who first inhabited He, viz. Oidech, 20 houses. Freag [Proag, on the east], 120 houses. Caladros [An. Ult. 677, 735], 60 houses or families. Kos-deorand [Jura ? formerly Dura and Dowry], 30 houses there. Ardeacht [Ardeachy], 30 houses. Loch-rois, 50 houses, Aitha Caisil, 30 houses there." (Lib. Ballymot. fol. 84 b b ; Mac Firbis MS. p. 402.) The name Oidech seems to be preserved in the Mull of Oe, at the southern extremity of Islay, for merly Owo, near which is Dun Aidh, a high and nearly inaccessible rock.
The story is thus related in St. Cainnech's Life : " Alio quoque tempore, Cainnicus die dominico hospitatus est in alia insula quse dicitur Insula Avium [Eninis, Cod. Salmant., possibly the Elian Inch-ian, near Islay, of Dean Munro]. Cum autem S. Cainnicus inde navigaret cum festinatione ad Hyberniam, baculum suum in littore maris oblitus est. Cumque in mari navigasset, cor suum de baculo oblito semper secum comitante compunctum est ; sed cum de navi in terrain descendisset, baculum in portum vidit ; et genua flectens Deo gratias egit." — c. 25 (Cod. Marsh.) This authority shifts the places.
CHAPTER xiv. — Beogna. — " Fuit vir vite venerabilis Colmannus nomine de nobili gente Hibernie, .i. de Nepotibus Neill et pater ejus Beogne vocatur. Qui, cum esset regio Midi [Meath] a Laginensibus devastata, fugit cum suis in Vallem Hoichle [Glenelly, com. Tyrone], et ibi natus estsanctus Colmanus." Vita S. Colmani Ela, c. i. Throughout this chapter he is called Columbanus, but elsewhere Colmanus, the two names being convertible. See note on cap. 5 (p. 251) supra. Colman Ela, sometimes called Colmanellus, derived his sur name from Ela, a stream which also gave name to his church of Lann-Ela, now Lynally, near Tullamore, in the King's County. — (Gloss on Felire, 26 Sept.) He was founder of Muckamore, in the county of Antrim, and joint patron with St. Mac Nissi, of Connor (Jocelin, c. 96 ; Ussher, Wks. vi. p. 530). He was born in Glenelly, in the county of Tyrone, in 555, and died in his monastery of Lynally, in 611, aged 56. (Tigh.) His festival is Sept. 26. In the present chapter he is styled a presbyter, and so he is represented in his Life ; but in the title of i. 5 (p. 29) supra, he is called episcopus, which seems to be an error. Colgan, to make good his episcopal rank, identifies him with the individual mentioned in the Life of Ita, "cui nomen erat Columbanus, qui ad insulam Hyth ad. S. Columbam pergens, illic gradum episcopalem accepit." — (Act. SS. p. 69 a.) But this supposition is exposed to the objection that his ordination took place in St. Ita's lifetime, that is, be fore 570, which would allow only 15 years for Colman's age at his consecra tion, he having been born in 555.
CHAPTER xvn. — Elena. — The proper name seems to be formed from eileann, " an island," and the addition of insula is like the use of the word motmtain in connexion with a name having Slieve in its composition. It is hard to say among the many islands of Argyle, what one is here intended ; but if the number and age of monastic ruins demand a preference, none bids fairer to be the spot in question (unless indeed this be the Hinba of Adamnan) than Elachnave or Eleann naomh, " holy island," the Helant Leneou of Fordun, and one of the Garveloch Isles, lying north-west of Scarba.
CHAPTER xvm. — Sale. — The latter portion of this chapter refers to Ire land, and if the former also, the Blackwater in the county of Meath, anciently called the Sale (as in Fourth Life of St. Patrick, c. 51, Tr. Th. p. 42 a), or
Sele, may be intended, although St. Patrick denounced it, saying, " Non erunt pisces magni in fluinine Sele semper." — (Lib. Armac. fol. 10 a b ; Vit. Trip, ii. 4, Tr. Th. p. 129 b.) From the recurrence of the name Sale, however, at cap. 46, p. 189, where it undoubtedly belongs to Scotland, we may conclude that the scene of the present anecdote is to be laid there also. The river is possibly the Shiel, which flows from Loch Shiel into the sea, forming the northern boundary of Sunart.
CHAPTER xx. — Aporum. — "Regione quse Stagni littoribus Aporici est contermina." — Cap. 38, p. 177. Colgan correctly observes : " Est regio Scotise, qua3, Buccanano, lib. i. p. 20, Abria vocatur ; a qua adjacens canalis, seu lacus longus, qui stagnum Aporum, et Scotice Lochabor vocatur; videtur nomen desumpsisse" (Tr. Th. p, 383 a, n. 21). Lochaber was anciently an extensive lordship reaching on the south to Loch-Leven, and is still a large district in the county of Inverness on the borders of Argyleshire, but the name has departed from its primary application, and does not now belong to any sheet of water so as to answer the description in the text. It may be inferred, however, that the inlet of the sea, forming the north-eastern con tinuation of the Linnhe Loch, and known as that part of Loch Eil lying between Fort William and Corran Ferry, was Loch Abor proper of early times.
CHAPTER xxi. — The following section is wanting in Cod. A, and is sup plied in the present instance from Cod. B, where it forms a sequel to the preceding narrative, but has neither title nor rubric to constitute it a distinct chapter, as Pinkerton has made it. Though its style resembles Adamnan's, yet, being of doubtful authority, it is here enclosed in brackets.
CHAPTER xxm. — Joan. — Mentioned again in cap. 25. There is a difficulty attending his descent as given in these places. He is called the son of Conall, son of Domhnall, who was son of Gabhran, that is, he was greatgrandson of Gabhran ; but Aidan, Gabhran's son, was St. Columba's contem porary, and lived till 606, while his grand-nephew is represented as at man's estate many years before. The sons of Gabhran are thus enumerated in the Irish tract on the Men of Alba : Gabhran, umorra. cuig mec les .i. Aodhan (.i. Aodh Fiona) Eoghanan, Cuildach (no Cattach) Domhnall, agus Domhangort " Gabhran, now, had five sons, viz., Aodhan (i.e. Aodh Finn), Eoghanan [mentioned by Adamnan, iii. 5, ob. 595], Cuildach (orCallach) Domhnall, and Domhangort." — (Book of Ballymote, fol. 84 b a ; Mac Firbis, Geneal. MS. p. 401.)
Gabran. — Gabhran, son of Domhangart (by Fedhelm, daughter of Brian, son of Eochaidh Muighmedhain), son of Fergus Mor, succeeded his brother Comgall as king of the Scotic Dalriada in 558. He died in 560, according to Tighernach : bass Gabrain mic Domangairt ri Alban, " Death of Gabran, son of Domangart, king of Alba." He was succeeded by his nephew Conall. Of the cethre primhchineoil Dailriada, " the four chief families of Dalriada," the cineul nGabhrain, Gabrani genus, was one (Mac Firbis, p. 404). Cineul n- Gabrain annso. Tri .xx. tegh ar coig ceudaibh. Ceann Tire agus Crioch Comghaill cona insib. Da secht ses gach .xx. teg a feacht mara. " The Race of Gabhran here. Five hundred and three-score houses. Ceann-tire [Cantyre, see note e, i. 28 (p. 57) supra], and Comgall's land [now Cowal], with its islands. Twice seven-benches to every twenty houses was their sea muster." (Book of BaUymote, fol. 84 b b ; Mac Firbis, p. 403.) Genus Gabhrani, Tigh. 719.
Aitchambus. — There is no place in Ardnamurchan called Ait-chambas, but there is Camusnangel, and Camusinish ; Comisteras, on the south coast, and Cammaseen to the east in Sunart.
CHAPTER xxm. — Colosus. — Probably the larger Colonsay, south of Mull. A boat sailing southwards would hardly go so much out of its way as to hug the shore on the Ulva side of Little Colonsay.
CHAPTER xxiv. — Tarain. — We find the name Tarain at a later date in the catalogue of Pictish kings : Taran films Enfidaid, iii. (annis regnavit) Irish Nen. p. 164.
llea. — Now Islay, the large island west of Cantyre. Ilea is an adjective form of the name lie. lie, Four Mast. 565, 1444 ; Keating, Hist. (vol. i. p. 192, Ed. Haliday.) II, in Haco's Exped. pp. 54, 56 ; Lodbrochi Epiced. pp. 23, 107, 108. It was occupied by the Picts as a temporary resting-place in their [migration from Ireland to subdue the north of Scotland. See the ancient poem in the Irish Nennius, p. 146. Subsequently it came into the possession of the Dalriadic colony, and early in the sixth century Muiredhach, son of Aengus Beg, son of Ere, settled in it, being, as the tract on the Men of Alba states, the one "who first," that is, of the Scoti, "inhabited He." See the passage cited in note on cap. 13 (p. 270) supra. " Muredachus jEnese films primus Ileae Hebridum insulse [Scoticus] colonus." — O'Flaherty, Ogyg. p. 470. Fearghus beag mac Ere (geagna no geaga na brathair) eun mac les .i. Seudna a quo Cineul Concride in lie, no Cineul Concraige .i. Concriath no Concrige mac boUg mic Seudna mic Fearghusa big mic Ere mic Eachdach Muinreamhair. "Fergus the Little, son of Ere (who was slain by his brother), had one son, viz. Seudna, a quo Cinel Concridhe in He, or Cinel Concraige, i.e. Concriath or Concrighe, son of Bolg, son of Seudna, son of Fergus the Little, son of Ere, son of Eochaidh Muinreamhar." — (Book of Lecan, fol. 118 b a • Mac Firbis, p. 401.) The parallel place in the Book of Ballymote calls this family of Islay the Cenel Setna (84 b a). From Aengus, son of Fergus Mor, and father of Muiredhach, the family called Cinel nAengusa derived its name. In 568 Colman Beg, son of Diarmait Mac Cerbhail, in company with Conal, son of Comgall, Lord of Dalriada, invaded this island, and carried away much booty (Four Mast. 565). The island consists of the three parishes, Kilarrow [rect6 Gill Maolrubha], Kildalton, and Kilchoman. See C. Innes, Orig. Paroch. ii. pt. i. pp. 260-275. It appears from the Scotch Retours that the lands of Nerrabolfada [now Nerabols] in the Rinns of Islay, together with the Woull [now Vaull] in Tiree, belonged to the monastery of Derry. (Inquis. Spec. Vic. Argyll. No. 67, 83, 93.) This supplies the information required in the Orig. Paroch. Scot. ii. pt. i. p. 266.
CHAPTER xxv. — Hinba. — Can this be Elachnave ? That island would be more within the range of the Genus Gabhrani than one farther north, as Canna. •
Findlugan. — The name Fionnlugh occurs in the Irish Calendar at Jan. 3, May 11, June 5, Nov. 13. The gloss on ^ngus's martyrology at the first of these dates is thus translated by Colgan : " Finnluga fuit discipulus et frater S. Fintani de Dunblesque j et ideo cum eo nominotur : et in peregrinationem exiit in Albion em : estque Sanctus qui colitur in Tamlact — Finnlogain in regione Kiennachtse de Glenngemin. Finnloga et Fintanus duo filii Demani, filii Fingenii, filii Demani, filii Carelli, filii Muredacii Muinderg." (Tr. Th. p. 383 b, n. 23.) St. Fintan's church was Dunblesque in Hy Cuanach, now Doon, in the barony of Coonagh, county of Limerick. Here, according to his Life, Finnloga, his brother, abode until he and his companion " ad mare pervenerunt, et inventa ibi navi usque in Albaniam transfretaverunt, ubi Finloga, sicut prsedictum est, mausit et obiit." — Cap. 12 (Colg. Act. SS. p. 12 a). The same authority represents him as contemporary with St. Columba, St. Finnian, and St. Comgall. The church which commemorates Finnloga is Tamlaght-Finlagan, adjoining Drumachose or Newtownlimavady, in the iouiity of Londonderry. Loch Finlagan, in the parish of Kilarrow in Islay,
S has an island, formerly called the Island of St. Finlagan, on which are the ruins of a small chapel commemorative of St. Finlagan. It was anciently in the patronage of the Lords of the Isles, who had their chief castle also on the same island. The chaplaincy of St. Colme and St. Finlagan embraced this church and that on the east at Kilcholmkill. See Martin, West. Islands, pp. 240, 243; C. Innes, Orig. Par. ii. pt. i. pp. 261, 267 ; Collectan. de Reb. Alban. p. 297.
Manus Dextera. — Lamh dess, as his name is given in Irish further on. The custom of representing Irish names by their Latin equivalents prevails all through this life, and frequently displays itself in the memoirs of St. Patrick in the Book of Armagh, some of which are referable to about the same date : it even continues as late as a charter of the year 1004, preserved in the same manuscript ; where the proper name Maol-suthain is rendered Calvus Perennis, and Cashel Maceria (fol. 16 66).
Longa. — This in Irish would be Inis fada, a name which is given by the Highlanders to the Long Island, namely, the close range of islands from the Butt of Lewis to Barra Head. But this is much too far north for the appli cation in the text. There are two islands near Scarba, called Lunga and Luing, the latter of which is a long narrow island. Its name signifies " of a ship," but it may be a corruption of Longa. Cormac derives long thus : long bhis for muir, ab eo quod est longa, .i. lang, .i. fota, " Ship, that is on the sea, ab eo quod est longa, i.e. long." — Gloss, in voc. (Petrie's Tara, p. 161).
CHAPTER xxvi. — Gemman. — Canisius reads Germanum, which Lanigan adopts (Ec. Hist. ii. pp. 117, 119). Colgan, though he retains Gemmanum in the text, conjectures that it is an error, because the name does not appear in the Calendar, and proposes Gormannm as an emendation (Tr. Th. p. 383 6, n. 25). The old Irish Life in 'the Leabhar Breac reads Gemman, in the Highland Soc. MS. Geman, but in the book of Lismore German. O'Donnell, as abridged by Colgan, reads Germanus. — i. 40 (Tr. Th. p. 395 a). There can be no doubt, however, that Gemman is the true reading. An Enan mac Gemmain is found in the Calendar of Donegal at Jan. 30, which proves the existence of the name. But the following passage from the Life of St. Finnian of Clonard, which refers to the very individual mentioned in the text, puts the matter beyond dispute : " Item quodam alio tempore venit carminator nomine Gemanus ad S. Finnianum, habens secum quoddam car men magnificum, in quo multa virtutum ejus continebantur, pro quo carmine non aurum vel argentum, vel aliam mundi substantiam, sed tantum in agris suis, pro duritia terra?, fructus quserebat ubertatem. Cui respondens cultor Trinitatis, ait ; Hymnum quern fecisti canta super aquam, et de ilia agros tuos asperge. Cumque jussa compleret, ex illo die ager suus fructuosus est factus usque in hodiernum diem." — c. 23 (Act. SS. p. 395 6.) This Gemman was probably a Christian bard, of the same class as Dalian Forgaill, St. Columba' s panegyrist ; and, being an^ inhabitant of the plain of Meath, was brought into communication with St. Finnian, whose church was the prin cipal one in the territory.
CHAPTER xxvu. — Scia insula. — Now Skye. See i. 27 (p. 134) supra. The chief patron saints of this island were St. Columba and St. Maelrubha : the former having the north-eastern, and the latter the south-eastern portion. Killashig, or Askimilruby, with Kilmaree in Strath, and Kilmolruy in Brackadale, were commemorative of St. Maelrubha, whose principal church of Apercrossan, now Applecross, is within view on the main land to the north-east. The portion of the island peculiar to St. Columba is that part of Trotternish bounded by a line drawn from Portree to the head of Loch Snizort. At the north-western extremity of this district, in the parish of Kilmuir, about two and a half miles north of Uig Bay, is the alluvial bed of a lake formerly known as Loch Columkille, which was drained some thirty years ago by Lord Macdonald, the proprietor. Towards its northern extremity is an elevated spot, about three acres in extent, which was formerly insulated, and was known as St. Columkille's Island. On the north side of this island is an irregular circular enclosure of rude and extremely ancient masonry, measuring about 16 yards in diameter E. and w., and UN. and s. ; and having, within, the traces of three distinct chambers or compartments. It was surrounded by a cyclopean cashel, the north face of which is the most perfect, and is, in parts, nearly 8 feet thick. This was probably " the Tower " which a writer of the seventeenth century describes as existing here (C. Innes, Orig. Paroch. vol. ii. pt. 1, p. 349). Near to this, on the s.w., is a quadrilateral building, standing N. and s., measuring about 30 by 10 feet. About 120 yards s. of the cashel is the Temple, facing E.N.E., measuring 21 feet 10 inches by 12.2, now commonly employed as an enclosure for cows. The roof has long fallen in, and the walls, which are built with cement, are reduced to the height of about five feet. The adjacent ground is covered with masses of large grey stones, the debris of the walls, so that it is impossible to examine the area where one would expect to find traces of the cemetery. It may be that some curious sepulchral remains are locked up there. At short dis tances are patches of ground covered with grey stones, which appear to have been the sites of conventual buildings, probably of " the Town " men tioned by an old writer, and of " the ruins of some buildings composed of stone without mortar," which were to be seen in 1772 (Orig. Par. ut supra). Mugsted, recte Monkstead, is the name of the adjoining farm.
ii. South of this, a little to the west of the main road to Portree, where Skabost bridge crosses the Snizort river, near its entrance into Loch Snizort Bay, in a long narrow strip of ground, insulated by the river, and formerly enclosed by an earthen rampart. On this are the remains of two ancient buildings, standing within a large cemetery ; that next the bridge much the longer of the two, and probably the old parish church ; that more remote, of smaller dimensions, chiefly worthy of notice on account of a curious slab embedded in the floor, exhibiting the figure of an armed warrior. The parish church, now known as Snizort, was formerly styled Sanct Calm's Kirk in Snesfurd in Trouternes (Orig. Par. ii. 1, p. 354).
in. Proceeding southwards we reach Portree, the inner Bay of which, N.w. of the town, was formerly called, as some old people remember, Loch Columkille. Here, near the shore, under the Sheriff's house, is a small island still called Eilean Columkille, about an eighth of a mile in circumfer ence at high water. It is nearly covered with stones, which were spread upon it for the drying of sea- wrack, and kilns for burning kelp, so that the soil is nearly hidden. However, the traces of graves, and of a small build ing standing E. and W., may be discerned ; and some old people remember one or two interments on this islet.
iv. On the small island, Eilean Trody, called Troda by Martin (West. Isl. p. 166), lying off the north of Kilmuir, was a chapel of St. Columba.
v. On Fladda Huna, called by Martin Fladdachuan, which lies N. W. of last, there stood, in 1700, a chapel named from St. Columba, having on the altar a blue stone which was supposed to be possessed of miraculous powers. (Ibid.)
CHAPTER xxvm. — Nesa. — The river Ness is the outlet of Loch Ness into
the sea. It leaves the lake at Bona ferry, and, running north-eastwards
for six miles, passes the town of Inverness, which derives its name from
3 situation at the mouth of the river, and falls into the Moray Firth.
CHAPTER xxx. — Molua. — Lua is the simple form of the name, which, with the particle of affection prefixed, assumes the form in the text. Lughaidh, latinized by Lugidus and Lugidius, is another form of the same name (Flem. Collect, p. 368 a). Nepos Briuni is in Irish Ua Britdn, of which an example has already occurred in ii. 15, p. 162. Colgan supposes this to be the Molua commemorated in the Calendar at June 4 : Molua mac Sinill do shliocht briain mic Eachdhach Muighmedoin, ' Molua, son of Sinill, of the race of Brian, son of Eachach Muighmedhoin.'
CHAPTER xxxn. — Finten. — Colgan endeavours to find a place for him among the twenty-one Fintanns in the Irish Calendar, but in vain. The probability is, that, having joined the fraternity of Hy in early life, his history belongs to the North-British Church.
Kailli-au-inde. — Not identified. Colgan places it in Ireland, and strains the name to correspond to Kill-aibhne in the diocese of Clonfert. Archdall, on Colgan's authority, fixes Cailleavinde in the county of Sligo. But its situation must be sought in Scotland.
CHAPTER xxxin. — Interpreter. — In this case, and that of the Pictish chief, recorded in i. 27 (p. 134) supra, St. Columba was unable to make himself directly understood by the object of his address. On the other hand, in the cases of Broichan the Druid, and king Brudeus (chaps. 34, 35, 36), and of Emchathus (iii. 15), the communications of the Saint seem to have been made without the intervention of an interpreter ; at least there is no men tion of any such medium having been employed. Mac Firbis (Geneal. MS. p. 407) cites the following stanza from the Amhra of Columkille relative to the labours of the Saint among the various nations of Britain, intimating the diversity of their languages :
Falrenn Alban co muir n-Icht,
Gaoidil, Cruithnig, Saix, Saxo-brit, As fearr fear uibh fear do choid Triocha bliadhain priotchaid doib.
* The people of Alba to the Ictian Sea [British Channel], The Gaedhil, Cruithneans, Saxons, Saxo-Brits : Best of men was the man who went [to them] : Thirty years did he preach to them.'
CHAPTER xxxiv. — Benedictio. — In chapter 7, supra, it is convertible with eulogia. It occurs also in chap. 5. In these instances, as well as in the present, it signifies "the vehicle of a blessing." The English word blessing is used in this sense in 1 Sam. xxv. 27 , 2 Kings v. 15.
Obitus Brudei. — It occurred in 583, as Tighernach records, " Mors Bruidhe mic Maelcon, righ Cruithneach (regis Pictorum)."
CHAPTER xxxv.— Germanus. — St. Germanus, bishop of Antissiodorum, now Auxerre, visited Britain in 429, and again in 448. On the former occa sion he was accompanied by Lupus, bishop of Tricassii, now Troyes ; on the latter by Severus, bishop of Treviri ; and each time his object was to com bat the spreading heresy of Pelagianism. See Baronius, Annal. an. 429, n. 10; Ussher, Brit. Eccl. Ant. c. 11 (Wks. v, pp. 371, 434). The present allusion is to the earlier visit. Nennius, more given to fiction than to his tory, details the miracles that St. Germanus wrought in Britain. — Sect. 32 (p. 24, ed. Stevenson) ; Irish Nennius, pp. 78, xxi.
CHAPTER xxxvi. — King Brude. — Ven. Bede makes the conversion of Brudeus and his subjects to precede the donation of Hy. His words are : A.D. 565, " Venit autem Brittaniam Columba, regnante Pictis Bridio filio Meilochon, rege potentissimo, nono anno regni ejus, gentemque illam verbo et exemplo ad fidem Christi convertit : unde et praefatam insulam ab eis in possessionem monasterii faciendi accepit." (H. E. iii. 4.) The Chronicon Pictorum places this first visit a year earlier: "Bruide mac Maelcon xxx. annis regnavit. In octavo anno regni ejus baptizatus est a sancto Columba." (Irish Nennius, p. 163.) Ussher, following Hermannus Contractus, who borrowed from Bede, places the accession of Brudeus at 557 (Wks. vol. vi. Ind. ChronoL, and p. 234) ; Innes, a year earlier (Civ. Eccl. Hist. p. 193) ; but both dates are too late, for Brudeus died in 584 (Tigh. An. Ult. 583 ; Ussher (Ind. Chr. 584), and subtracting 30, the length of his reign, we are brought back to 554 for its commencement ; and thus 563, the true year of St. Columba's removal to Britain, is found to be the ninth of Brudeus's reign. According to this computation, the regnal year in the Chron. Pict. is incor rect, unless we suppose the present visit to have taken place in 562, the year before the occupation of Hy. It is very possible that this visit to Brudeus may have been preliminary to the final settlement in that island. The Scots having been already converted, the missionary spirit, and a desire to conciliate the favour of powerful neighbours, would naturally lead St. Columba in their direction, and thus we could easily reconcile the rival statements of Bede and Tighernach as to the donation of Hy ; concerning which Professor Hussey reasonably observes : "Si unquam de jure et possessione hujus insulse certatum erat inter illos reges, satis causes haberemus cur adeo diverse a diversis auctoribus traditum sit." (Bedae Hist. Eccl. p. 122.) We may fix on 563 as the most probable date of the occurrence recorded in the text.
Suce munitionis. — Mentioned already at page 138. From chap. 34, p. 174, where we find domus regia, aula regia, and regis munitio, we learn that it was at some distance, though not far, from the banks of the river Ness. Now, as this river has a very limited course, the circuit of inquiry for the situation of the dun is greatly narrowed ; and there being but one spot within it which is answerable to the name, the identification may be regarded as nearly certain. Craig Phadrick, situate about two miles s.w. of Inverness, across the river, is a natural eminence of considerable height, and well defined. On the summit is a level space of oval form, about 240 yards in circumference, enclosed by a parapet, which, though very much reduced in height and regularity, and overgrown with vegetable matter, still affords satisfactory evidence of its original outline, and of the solidification of its parts by the action of fire. It is one of those rude structures called Vitrified Forts, and which are regarded by some as peculiar to the old Pictish inhabi tants. The summit is 435 feet above the level of the sea, and commands, where the ill-judged and injurious plantation with which it is crowned per mits, a most beautiful and extensive prospect, having a large tract of Rossshire on the north, Inverness on the east, Beauly on the west, and Loch Ness on the south. The ascent of the hill is rendered difficult by the dense plantation with which its sides are clothed, a species of ornament better suited to the neighbouring eminence of Tom-na-hourich than to the hill-fort of the Pictish kings. There is an interesting description of Craig Phadrick, accompanied by a sketch and section, in "An Account of some remarkable Ancient Ruins in the Highlands, by John Williams" (Edinb. 1777), p. 31. The memoir of Inverness parish in the Old Statistical Survey gives but a meagre account of this curious fort (vol. ix. pp. 610, 634).
Companions. — The Life of St. Comgall represents them as SS. Comgall and Cainnech.
The occurrence is thus related in the Irish Life in the Highland Society's MS. : " Columcille went, upon a time, to the king of the Cruithneans, Bruidi mac Milchon. And the door of the court was closed against him. And immediately the iron locks of the house were opened by the prayers of Columcille. Then came the king's son, namely, Maelchu, and his druid,
278 'NOTES ON LIFE OF SAINT COLUMBA. BOOK II.
and they proceeded to contend with Columcille by the aid of magic ; but they died suddenly, through the words of Columcille, both the king's son and the druid with him."— (fol. 1366.) The Life of St. Comgall represents St. Columba as only one of the agents on this occasion : " Venerunt aliquando beatissimi tres Abbates, scilicet 8. Comgallus, S. Columba, et S. Cannicus, ad regem gentilem, nomine Bridceum, et ille jussit januas castri contra eos claudi. Sed S. Comgallus valvas signo sanctae crucis signavit, et ceciderunt fractae in terrain. Sanctus autem Columba valvas domus regalis eodem signo fregit ; sanctus quoque Cannicus signavit manum regis vibrantera gladium ad eos occidendos, et statim arefacta est manus regis, et ita erat donee ipse in Deum credidit, et effectus est in Deo fidelis, manus ejus soluta est." — c. 44 (Flem. Collect, p. 311 6). A similar story is told in the Life of St. Fintan, c. 18 (Colg. Act. SS. p. 352 a). St. Comgall visited Britain in 566, or, as his Life expresses it, "Septimo anno postquam monasterium Bennchor fundatum est," which was 559 (Vit. c. 22, Flem. Coll. p. 307 6). But this seems to have been on a later occasion.
Domus. — This was inside the munitio, and provided with its own doors.
CHAPTER xxxvii. — Two streams. — Glas is an original Irish term for "a stream," appearing in the familiar compounds Fionnglas, Finglas, Dubhglas, Douglas, Cillglas, Kilglas, and many such names. The Irish sequel to the memoirs of St. Patrick in the Book of Armagh, contains a short charter, in which the word glais in the sense of rivulus occurs five times. With this understanding there can be no hesitation in pronouncing the famous monas tery of Tir-da-glas, now Terryglas, in the barony of Lower Ormonde, county of Tipperary, to be the place in question. It was founded in the first half of the sixth century by Colum mac Crimthan, a contemporary and fellowstudent of St. Columba at St. Finnian's monastery of Clonard. He died of the plague in 548 (An. Ult.), on the 13th of December, which is his festival in the Calendar.
CHAPTER xxxvui. — Nigra Dea. — In Irish, Dubh bandea. The name has not been identified. It is curious that the word Bandea occurs in the Book of Armagh as the name of a river in Ireland.
CHAPTER XL. — Libran. — We learn from the sequel that he was neither in holy orders nor admitted as yet to the monastic condition, so that the expres sion " sumpto clericatus habitu " must be understood of his retirement from secular life, and the adoption of the garb which characterized the associates or probationers of a religious community. Do ghabhail cleirceachta, clericatum suscepit, is the Irish expression. The Irish Calendar has a " Libran abbot of la," at Mar. 11, although not noticed in the Annals ; and a " Libren of Cluainfoda," at the same day. The name occurs in the Four Masters also, at 617. There are four saints called Liber in the Calendar. See Colgan, Act. SS. p. 584.
Daire Calgaich. — The name is latinized Roboretum Calgachi in i. 2 (p. 15), 14 (p. 127), supra. Calgach, the Galgacus of Tacitus (Agric. c. 29), is a name occasionally found in the Irish Annals (Four Mast. 593 ; and in composition, ibid. 622). It is derived from calg, "a sword," or "thorn;" and, as an adjective, denotes " sharp," or " angry." Hence Calgach, gen. Calgaich, became a proper name in the sense of " fierce warrior." The foundation of the church of Derry by St. Columba is thus recorded in the Annals of Ulster, at 545 : Daire Coluim cille fundata est. There is, however, a prolepsis in this name, for in every other instance where the place is mentioned in the Annals, until the middle of the tenth century, it is called by its original designation, Daire Calgaich. The first time that the form Daire Coluimcille occurs in the Four Masters is at the year 950, about which time it would seem that the memory of the founder prevailed over the ancient name.
According to the early Irish Life, the church of Derry was founded in con sequence of a grant from King Aedh, son of Ainmire, and within the royal precincts. " Columcille went then to Daire, that is, to the royal fort of Aedh, son of Ainmire, who was king of Erin at that time. The king offered the fort to Columcille, but he refused it, because of Mobi's command. On his coming out of the fort, however, he met two of the people of Mobi, bringing to him Mobi's girdle, with his consent that Columcille should accept a grant of territory, Mobi having died. Columcille then settled in the fort of Aedh, and founded a church there, and wrought many miracles in it." Now, it is to be observed that Mobi Clarainech, of Glas-naoidhen, now Glasnevin, near Dublin, died, according to the Annals of Ulster, in 544, the year preceding that to which they assign the founding of Derry. But Aedh, son of Ainmire, was slain, as Tighernach states, in 598, in the sixty -third year of his age, so that he was born in 535, and therefore could have been only ten years old at the date of the alleged grant. O'Donnell, who copies this account, qualifies the statement concerning Aedh by observing : " Ejus turn loci Princeps Aidus, films Ainmrechi Regis Hibernise ; et ipse posted Rex, Dei suique cognati," etc.— i. 48 (Tr. Th. p. 397 a). A slight addition to the age of Aedh, as given by Tighernach, would represent him sufficiently advanced in years to become the patron of St. Columba ; but even this is unnecessary, if we regard him at the age of ten as the representative of the race, and the donation made, as the Four Masters state (though 535, the year they assign, be untenable), " by his own tribe, i.e. the race of Conall Gulban, son of Niall." The strongest evidence in support of the date given in the Annals of Ulster is the statement in the Preface to the hymn Noli Pater indulgere, in the Liber Hymnorum : " Colum cille fecit hunc hymnum eodem modo ut In te Christe. Locus Dorm disirt Dairi Chakaig [porta deserti Daire-Calgachi]. Tempus, idem .i. Aeda meic [filii] Ainmerech." After which it proceeds in a narrative, partly Latin and partly Irish, to relate the death of Mobi, as in the Irish Life already cited. See Liber Hyninor. pp. 26, 27 ; Colgan, Tr. Th. p. 476. These authorities are a sufficient answer to Dr. Lanigan's objections (Eccl. Hist. ii. p. 122). For a detailed account of Derry, in all its relations, see the Ordnance Memoir of Templemore (Dubl. 1837).
Oakwood Plain. — Derry has been added in the translation by inadvertence for Durrow. Ven. Bede seems to recognise Durrow and Hy as the only monasteries founded directly by St. Columba, and to regard them as the nuclei of all the Columbian foundations in either country. "Ex quo utroque monasterio plurima exinde monasteria per discipulos ejus et Britannia et in Hibernia propagata sunt" (H. E. iii. 4). Derry, Kells, Kilmore-dithreabh, Swords, Rechra, and Drumcliff, were founded by him in Ireland. Durrow, however, is the one alluded to in the text. The congregations of all were included in one general denomination, the muintir Choluim-chille, or familia Columbce-cille, as in the Book of Armagh (fol. 11 b b), and the abbot of Hy was their common head.
CHAPTER XLII. — Redirect. — The island of Rathlin, or Raghery, off the north coast of the county of Antrim, is called Recliru in the title of i. 5 (p. 119), supra; Rachra (Ir. Nennius, p. 48). It is doubtful, however, whether that island, or another situate off the coast of the county of Dublin, is intended in the present chapter. The connexion of St. Columba with the latter is thus stated in the old Irish Life — Fothaighis eclais ir Racraind oirthir Bregh, acasfacbais Colman deochain innte: " He founded a church in Rachra in the east of Bregia, and left Colman the deacon in it." This is the "Colman mac Roi, of Reachra," who is commemorated in the Calendar at June 16. Rachra is shown by Dr. O'Donovan to be the modern Lambay (Irish Gram. pp. 155, 281 ; see Irish Nennius, p. 138). Of St. Comgall it is related, " Cum cellam voluisset sedificare in insula nomine Reachrain, venerunt triginta milites et tenentes manum ejus, eum inde expulerunt." — Vit. c. 43 (Flem. Coll. p. 311 b). In 634, according to Tigliernach, Seigene ab le ecclesiam Rechrain fundavit. Again, in the Annals, several abbots and one bishop of Rechra are mentioned ; and in one instance (Four Mast. 848) Rechra was jointly held with Durrow under the abbot Tuathal, son of Feradhach, which proves that it was a Columbian foundation. It is there fore likely that the church of Rechra, in the Annals, is Lambay, and not Raghery. The church, however, which was founded by Seighene may have been in Raghery. This island is called Ricnea by Pliny, 'PiKiva by Ptolemy, and in civil records is variously written Rachrunn, Racry, Reachrainn, Rauchryne, Rachreyne, RaugJilin, Rawlines. There are several islands in Ireland called Rathlin, which is the refined pronunciation of Raghery. For conjectures about the derivation of the name, see Ussher, Brit. Eccl. Ant. c. 17 (Wks. vi. p. 528), and Zeuss, Gram. Celt. (i. p. 75, note). For an account of Raghery, see Reeves's Eccl. Ant. pp. 248, 288.
CHAPTER XLIV. — Columbanus Jilius Echudi. — The connexion of this Columbanus (or Colmanus, as the name is more generally written), with the mona stery mentioned in the text is noticed also in the Life of St. Fechin of Fore : " Perrexit quodam die S. Fechinus ad locum, qui Snamh-luthir dicitur, in regione de Carbre gabhra. Et cum ibi offendisset Colmanum nlium Eochadii a longo tempore oculis captum, aqua, qua suas manus lavit, ad oculos ejus admota, et aspersa, eum perfectissime visus beneficio redonavit." — cap. 30 (Act. SS. p. 136 b). St. Fechin died in 665, so that this occurrence was of a much later date than that in the text, at which time Colman was probably a youth : at least his employment with St. Columba, and his condition when visited by St. Fechin, indicate the opposite extremes of life. It may be observed here that St. Fechin is stated in his Life to have had an inter view with Adamnan, and that the ancient author declares he was informed of it by Adamnan himself. — cap. 47 (Act. SS. p. 139 a).
Snamluthir. — Stated in the passage cited from St. Fechin's Life to have been in Carbre Gabhra. Dr. 0' Donovan shows that Cairbre Gabhra is repre sented by the modern barony of Granard, in the N.E. of the county of Long ford (F. M. 731). There can be no hesitation in pronouncing a townland in the parish of Kilmore, called Slanore, to be the required place. A metathesis of the letters I and n has taken place in the name within the last two centuries, for in Petty's Down Survey the place is written Snalore. Thus we have the name in the successive forms of Snam-luthir, Snamh-luthair, Snawlougher, Snalore, and Slanore, descending from the biography of St. Columba to the Ordnance Survey of the present day. See Orig. Ed. note f, p. 173.
CHAPTER XLV. — The substance of this chapter is briefly narrated in Cummian's Life, where it is prefaced, " Post mortem viri Dei." Now if this be a genuine work, and if the writer be Cuimine Ailbe, it will follow that the present chapter of Adamnan was written between 679 and 683 ; for Cummian, who relates the occurrence, died in 669, therefore that is the latest date to which we can add the fourteen years in the text, which brings us to 683, four years after Adamnan's elevation to the abbacy of Hy.
Hill of Angels. — This is the round green knoll in the Machar, commonly known by the name Sithean Mor. See B. iii. c. 17, where the occurrence from which it derived the name in the text is related.
CHAPTER XLVI. — Curachs. — Three kinds of vessels are mentioned in this chapter, naves longce, scaphce, and curucoe. Elsewhere we meet barca (i. 22, p. 131), navicula (i. 28, p. 134) ; navis oneraria (cap. 3, p. 153) ; alnus (cap. 28, p. 170) ; caupattus (ib.) ; cymba, cymbula (cap. 35, p. 176). The
Ann. Ult., at 640, record the Naufragium scaphae families lae. Tighernach, 622, relates the drowning of Conan, son of Gabhran, with his curach. Curuca is evidently a latinized form of the Irish curach. Gildas speaks of the descents of the Scots and Picts de curicis, which Jocelin reads curucio. But the compiler of the Monumenta Brit, is by all means to be corrected when he explains Curicce in his Index Rerum by " naves Saxonum ita vocatse " (p. 903 a). The word is essentially Celtic. Ciulce, or ceolce, would be the Saxon term. We find in the sequel that the curucce were furnished with antennce, vela, and rudentes, as well as with oars, which were used as the occasion required.
Sale. — See chap. 18 (p. 164) supra. The river Shiel, which connects the fresh-water lake of Loch Shiel with the sea, and forms part of the boundary between the counties of Inverness and Argyle, is excluded from identifica tion with the name in the text, because it was a S.E. wind which conveyed the party from it to Hy, whereas a N.E. wind would be required to do this from beyond Ardnamurchan. We must therefore leave this name un identified.
Airthrago. — Lying to the south-east of Hy. Unidentified unless it be Arran.
Loern. — Colgan, despite of the text, conjectures Lotharna, now Larne, on the coast of Antrim (Tr. Th. p. 384 b, n. 37) ; and, for want of better infor mation, is followed by the Bollandists (Junii, ii. p. 226 b). Pinkerton, who should have known to the contrary, fixes it "In boreali parte Hiberniae " (p. 152). O'Flaherty, however, puts the matter in its true light : " Quatuor in hac colonia primariae Dalriedinorum illis fratribus oriundae sunt familise, viz. Cinel nGabhrain, Gaurani familia, Cinel Loairn, Loarni familia, unde Lorna supradicta regio in Dalrieda videtur denominata, Cinel nAngusa, Mnese familia, et Cinel Coimhgaitt, Comgalli familia." (Ogyg. p. 470.) This is borrowed from the Irish tract on the Men of Alba preserved in the Books of Ballymote and Mac Firbis. To the Cinel Loairn we find the following references in the Annals of Ulster : A.C. 677, Interfectio Generis Loairnn I Tirinn. A.C. 718, Bellum maritimum Ardenesbi inter Dunchadh mBecc [regem Cinntire, 720] cum Genere Gabhrain, et Selbacum cum Genere Loairn, et versum est super Selbachum pridie Nonas Septembris vel Octimbris, die vi. ferie in quo quidam comites corruerunt. A.C. 732, Muredac mac Ainfcellach regnum Generis Loairnd assumit. Selbach, tenth in descent from Loarn Mor, who has been already mentioned as chief of the Genus Loairn, occupied Dun Ollaig, now Dunolly, near Oban (An. Ult. 685, 700, 713, 733), and it became the chief stronghold of the Cinel-Loairn, as it continued to be of the district of Lorn, when Mac Dougall was its lord, and as it still is, of the representative of that ancient branch of the Mac Donnells. This race of Loarn was closely allied to the founder of Hy; St. Columba was grandson of Erca, daughter of Loarn Mor ; and, of the first twelve abbots of Hy, nine, including Adamnan, were descended from her. This connexion naturally gave the community a great hold upon the regard of their nearest neighbours, and rendered Adamnan's short sojourn among them less irksome than it would otherwise have been. In after times when the race had permanently established themselves, the word cinel or Genus, was dropped, and their settlement took the name simply of their founder, and appeared in the form Lorn, which, from being a secular name, was borrowed for ecclesiastical convenience also ; and hence in the thirteenth century we read, not only of the sheriffdom, but of the rural deanry of Lome (C. Innes, Orig. vol. ii. pt. i. pp. 91, 109). One of the sub-territories of Lorn was Kinnelbathyn [cinel boetain], so named from Boetan, great-grandson of Loarn Mor. The rural deanry, which is the best evidence of the original extent of the lordship on which it was modelled, included the parishes of Kilmartin, Craignish, Kilchattan, Kilbrandon, Kilmelford, Kilninver, Kilbride, Kilmore, Kilchrenan, Inishail, Muckairn, Glenorchy, Ardchattan, Lismore, and Appin, that is the portion of the present county of Argyll lying north and west of Loch Awe, extending to Loch Leven on the north, and the Crinan Canal on the south west. See Innes, Grig. Par. ii. 1, pp. 91-159. The Genus Gabrani has been mentioned by Adamnan, cap. 23 (p. 166) supra.
Sainea. — Now Shuna, an island in the parish of Kilchattan, lying close to Luing on the east, and separated from it by the Sound of Shuna. It is situate in Nether Lome, near its southern extremity. The contrary wind which delayed them there was probably a north-west one, but they were in safety on the sheltered side of Luing. Fordun writes the name Sunay (Chron. ii. 10). There is another Shuna off Appin, on the north of Lis more, but it is too far up to suit the present description ; still more so is Shona, off Moydart.
Natalis Columbce et Baithenei. — That is the ninth of June. St. Baithene, the immediate successor of St. Columba, was his first cousin, being son of Brendan, brother of Fedhlimidh. He was younger than St. Columba, being only sixty-six years of age at his death, which occurred in 599, after a presidency of three years. His acts are preserved in the Codex Salmanticensis at Brussels (fol, 201), from which they were printed by the Bollandists immediately after those of St. Columba. (Junii, torn. ii. pp. 236-238.) In them we find the following allusion to the coincidence of his and St. Columba's festival : " Tertia feria, dum S. Baithinus in ecclesia juxta altare Dominum oraret, sopor pene mortis super eum illic cecidit : cum autem Fratres circa eum lamentarentur, Diermitius, minister Columbse, ait : Ecce, Fratres, videtis, quod inter duas solennitates seniorum vestrorum magnum intervallum non erit. Hsec eo dicente Baithinus, quasi de gravi somno excitatus ait ; Si inveni gratiam in oculis Dei, et si cursum perf ectum in conspectu ejus consummaverim usque hodie ; ego confido in eo, quod usque ad natale Senioris mei non obiturus ero : quod sic fere post sex dies factum est." — c. 10 (Jim. ii. p. 238 a). The joint festival is thus noticed in the Feilire of ^Engus, June 9 :
Ron snadut d'on bith laith, I m-bith-bi less laindrech, Baethine ard ainglech, Colam cille caindlech.
' They went into the eternal kingdom, Into eternal life of brightest splendour, Baethine the noble, the angelical ; Columb-cille the resplendent.'
(Book of Obits of C. C., Introd. p. Ixiii.)
CHAPTER XLVII. — Plague — bis vastaverat. — The disease here referred to be longed to the class called by the Irish Galar buidhe, " yellow disorder," and was known by the specific name Cron Chonaill, or Buidhe Chonaill. In Britain it bore the name of Vdd Valen, and was commonly called the "Yellow Plague." (Lhuyd, Archaeol. voc. Conail.) " Flava pestis, quam et Physici ictericiam dicunt passionem." (Girald. Cambr. Itinerar. Cambr. ii. 1.) The first appearance of this disease in Ireland is stated by Tighernach to have been in the year 550 ; and in Britain, by the Annales Cambrise, at 547. However, if the Life of St. Declan be entitled to credit, it was previously experienced in the former kingdom ; for it is related that in the lifetime of that saint, " dira pestis venit in Momoniam ; sed venenosior erat in civitate Cassel, quam in ceteris locis ; quse flavos primitus faciebat homines, et postea occidebat." (Act. SS. Jul. torn. v. p. 602 &.) The second recorded visita tion of the island by the disease was the most severe, when, during the abbotship of Cuimine Ailbe, in the year 664, Adamnan being then forty years of age, as Bede relates, " subita pestilentise lues, depopulatis prius australibus Brittanise plagis, Nordanhymbrorum quoque provinciam corripiens, atque acerba clade diutius longe lateque desseviens, magnam hominum multitudinem stravit. Heec autem plaga Hiberniam quoque insulam pari clade premebat." (H. E. iii. 27). Tighernach records its appearance in 664 in these words : Tenebrce [i.e. Eclipsis solis] in Calendis Mali in hora nona, et in eadem estate celum ardere visum est. Mortalitas magna in Hibermam pervenit in Calendis Augusti i.e. in Magh Itha in Lagenia. Et terras, motus in Britannia. In campo Ith in Fochairt exarsit mortalitas primo in Hibernia, a morte Patricii cciii. Prima mortalitas cxii. These computations, it is to be observed, go back to the death of Sen-Patrick. Under the fol lowing year, the Annalist adds : Abbatesque Regesque innumerabiles mortui fuerant. With him agree the notices in the An. Ult. at 663, 664, 666, in which the continued prevalence of the mortality is recorded. At 667, it was still raging, for they have the entry, Mortalitas magna Buidhe ConailL After this the disease appears to have abated for a time ; but it soon after broke out with renewed violence. The Annals of Inisf alien, at 671, which is 683 of the common era, notice the Initium tertice mortalitatis ; and the Ann. Cambr. (683) record "Mortalitas in Hibernia," with which agrees the Brut y Tywysogion at the same date ; while at 682 they tell us, " Mor talitas magna fuit in Britannia in qua Catgualart films Catguolaum obiit." (Monum. Hist. Brit. pp. 833, 841.) The Ann. Ult., at 682, have, Initium mortalitatis puerorum in mense Octobris ; and again, in the following year, Mortalitas parvulorum. The Four Mast, at 684 record " A mortality upon all animals in general, throughout the whole world, for the space of three years, so that there escaped not one out of the thousand of any kind of animals." Which Florence of Worcester, at 685, describes as " Magna pestilentise procella, Britanniam corripiens, lata nece vastavit." (Monum. p. 537.) The existence of the scourge in England at 680 may be gathered from Bede (H. E. iv. 7, 14) ; and at 686, from his Historia Abb. Wiremuth (c. 8). From the date of its appearance in 664, to the commencement of the following century, the Irish Annals record a continued train of portents and calamities ; thus affording evidence of the sufferings and terrors ex perienced during this period.
Aldfridum. — Oswy, King of Northumbria, died in 670, and was succeeded by his son Egfrid. Aldfrid, though an elder brother, was superseded on the ground of illegitimacy. Whereupon, it is related, " in Hiberniam, seu vi seu indignatione, secesserat. Ibi, et ab odio germani tutus, et magno otio literis imbutus, omni philosophia composuerat animum. Quocirca, imperii habenis, habiliorem sestimantes, qui quondam expulerant ultro expectverunt." — Wilhelmi Malmesbir., Gest. Reg. 52 (ed. Thomas D. Hardy, 1840). Bede states that when Elfleda applied to St. Cuthbert for information about her 'brother Egfrid's successor on the throne, his answer was : " Gemis hoc mare magnum et spatiosum, quot abundet insulis ? Facile est Deo de aliqua harum sibi providere quern regno praeficiat Anglorum. Intellexit ergo quia de Aldfrido, qui ferebatur films fuisse patris illius, et tune in insulis Scotorum ob studium litterarum exulabat." And adds, "Egfridus post annum Pictorum gladio trucidatur, et Alfridus in regnum f rater ejus nothus substituitur, qui non paucis ante temporibus in regionibus Scotorum lectioni operam dabat, ibi ob amorem sapientise, spontaneum passus exilium." — Vit. S. Cuthberti, c. 24 (Colg. Act. SS. p. 668.) So in the Legenda Aurea (76. p. 683 a). Thus three reasons are assigned for his retirement to Ireland. Irish writers add two more : they state that his mother was a native of that country, and observe : " Non siri tantum literis excolendi causa in Hiberniam venit, verum etiam ut sanctis Hibernise deprecantibus limace qui in aurem ejus irrepsit, et capitis humoribus attractis intumuit educto, molestia, et morbo ex ea re contracta immunis efficeretur" (Lynch, Cambr. Evers. p. 128 ; or vol. ii. p. 236, re print). His descent by his mother's side is stated by ^Engus, a writer of the eighth century, to have been from the princely house of Niall : Fina inghen Chindfaelad mathair Floind Fina mic Ossa. Aliter, Fina inghen Colmain Rime mic baedain mic Mulrcerthaigh mic Muredaigh, mathair Floind Fina rig Saxan : " Fina, daughter of Cennfaeladh, was mother of Flann Fina, son of Ossa. Aliter, Fina, daughter of Colman Rimidh, son of Baedan, son of Muircertach, son of 'Muiredhach, was mother of Flann Fina, king of the Saxons."— (Tract, de Matr. SS. Hib., Liber Lecan, fol. 43 ; H. ii. 16, Trin. Coll. Dubl. p. 365.) In the Clann Neill genealogy (Lib. Lecan, fol. 63), Fina is represented as great-granddaughter of Muircertach, either through his son Baedan, or Ailill, father of Cennfaeladh. Under the name Flann Fina Aldfrid was familiarly known by the Irish. Thus at A.C. 704, Tighernach re cording his death says : Aljrith mac Ossu .i. Fland Fina la Gaedelu hinaidh [he was called Fland Fina by the Irish] Rex Saxon, fuit. So the Ann. Inisfall. in the parallel place, Flann Fine macgOssa Rex Saxonorum quievit (An. 694). An Irish poem, of twenty -four ranns, said to have been composed by him in reference to his sojourn in Ireland, is still preserved. — (H. ii. 16, Trin. Coll. Dubl.) It begins :
" It is natural in fair Inis-fail, In Erin, without contention, Many women, no silly boast, Many laics, many clerics.
"Flann Fina, son of Osa,
Arch-doctor in Erin's learning,
On the banks of the river Ren composed [this] ;
Received his due, as was natural." — Rann 23.
Bellum Ecfridi. — In 685, according to Tighernach, Saxones Campum Breg vastaverunt et ecclesias plurimas in mense Junii." In 686 he records : " Cath Duin Nechtain xx. die mensis Maii sabbati die factum est, in quo Ecfrit mac Ossu rex Saxonum xv. anno regni sui, consumata magna cum caterva militum suoruin interfectus est la Bruidi mac Bili rege Fortrein."
BOOK III.
CHAPTER ii. — Ancjelus. — This narrative is copied from Cummian. The whole of the Life by Cummian, with the exception of two chapters, has been transferred by Adamnan into his third book ; and, though it has been con siderably enlarged, still the order of events is observed, and often the very forms of expression retained. See the acknowledged extract in cap. 6. . Peplum. — The old Irish Life describes it as brat mor co rocht o Indsibh Modh co Goer na mBrocc, " a large cloak which reached from the Islands of Modh to Caer-na-mBroc," that is, from Inishymoe, on the group of islands in Clew Bay, on the coast of Mayo, to the north-east coast of Scotland, probably to Burg Head. Caer-Abroc, or York, can hardly be intended.
CHAPTER in. — Cruithnecan. — Called, in the old Irish Life, Cruithnechan mac Cellachain in t-uasal sacart (the illustrious priest). The name does not occur in the Irish Calendars, but there is a parish in the diocese and county of Derry, now called Kilcronaghan, that is, Cill Cruithneclian (Reeves's Colt. Visit. p. 82.) Cruithnecan is a diminutive of Cruithnech, Pict, and occurs in the Irish Nennius, p. 126.
Ecclesia. — Cillmicnenain, Ecclesia filii Enani, anciently Doire-Ethne, and now Kilmacrenan, a parish in the county of Donegal, which gives name to a barony that was originally known as the territory of Cinel Luighdheach mic Setna, "Tribe of Lughaidh, son of Setna," or Siol Setna, " Race of Setna," being so called from Setna, brother of Fedlimidh, St. Columba's father. The churches connected with the history of St. Columba's early life are all situ ated in this neighbourhood, namely, Gartan, where he was born ; Tulach- Dubhglaisse, now Temple-Douglas, in the parish of Conwall, about half-way between Letterkenny and Gartan, in the parish of Conwall, where he was baptized by the individual mentioned in the text ; Killmicnenain, where he was fostered ; and Rath-enaigh, or Rath-maighe-enaigh, in Tirenna, now Raymochy, in the barony of Raphoe, whither he resorted with his teacher, to hear the instruction of Bishop Brugach, son of Deagadh (O'Donnell, i. 22-32, Tr. Th. p. 393.)
CHAPTER iv. — Synod. — We have no means of ascertaining with certainty the date of this synod, or the acts of St. Columba which it condemned. Adamnan's mention of it is only casual, and as an introduction to the main event of the chapter, the angelic manifestation. Had there been no vision to relate, no fact would have been recorded ; and thus we have a painful in stance of the secondary importance attached by the biographer to historical narrative. A word from him would have freed the inquiry of its difficulty, but to relate an ecclesiastical occurrence for its own sake was foreign to the scope of his work.
Brendan. — This Brendan, founder of Birr, is to be distinguished from Brendan, son of Finnlogh, the founder of Clonfert. They were contemporary, and intimate friends of St. Columba. He was son of Neman and Mansenna, and was of the race of Corb Aulam, great-grandson of Rudhraighe, the founder of the Clanna Rudhraighe. He was sometimes called Senior Brendanus to distinguish him from Brendan of Clonfert, and is spoken of as " Brendanus Biorra, qui Propheta in scholis illis, et etiam Sanctorum Hibernensium habebatur" — Vit. Finniani, v. 19. (Colg. A.SS. p. 395 a.) The date of his founding the church of Birr is not recorded, but Tighernach at 559 has this curious entry, "Ascensio Brenaind in curru suo in aerem." His death is entered in Tighernach at 565 and 573. The later date seems prefer able. He died on the night before the 29th of November, which is his day in the Calendar, in the eightieth year of his age.
Birra. — Bior or Bir, genitive Birra, signifies " a stream," and sometimes becomes a proper name, as in this case, and that of Moyola water in the county of Londonderry, which was anciently called the Bior. The monas tery of Birr, so called from the stream on which it stood, grew in after times into a town bearing the same name, for which Parsonstown is a modern sub stitute.
Teilte. — Teilte is most probably the name which is written Taillte in Irish records. It was a place in Meath, situate between Kells and Navan, famous in old times for the great annual assembly and fair, called aonach Tailtenn, which was held there about Lughnas, or the first of August, of which we find eleven notices in the Four Masters between the years 539 and 1168. Taillte was also a seat of royalty, so that the monarch of Ireland was some times styled righ Tailtenn, " King of Taillte" (Book of Rights, p. 143) ; and as the ancient Irish synods generally embraced representatives of the secular as well as ecclesiastical authorities, and were, for this reason, held in places of civil note, as Tara, Uishnech, and Cashel, we can easily perceive the prin ciple upon which the present synod was held at a royal station in Meath, especially if the object was, as White, Ussher, and Colgan suppose, to cen sure St. Columba in precipitating the battle of Cul-Dreimhne, Dermot Mac Cerbhaill being monarch of Ireland at the time, and Meath his hereditary dominion. Taillte is now called Teltoum, which is formed from Tailteann, the genitive case of the word, agreeably to a common process in angliciz ing Irish names. See Orig. Ed., Note d, p. 194.
CHAPTER v. — Finnio. — Cummian, from whom this anecdote appears to be borrowed, calls him Finnianus, and identifies him with the individual whom Adamnan calls Findbarrus in ii. 1 (p. 152, supra). St. Columba, as has been observed in the note on that place, had two teachers called Finnian, and the authorities there cited refer the event related in that passage to the Finnian of Magh-bile, to whom also the present narrative would seem referable. In support of this choice, it may be observed that Adamnan in both places calls Finnian bishop ; and that while Finnian of Magh-bile is generally acknow ledged to have been of this order, Finnian of Clonard is nowhere, either in his Life or the Calendars, so designated, and the only place where he is called a bishop is in the Life of St. Columba of Tirdaglas (Colg. Act. SS. p. 404 a). On the other hand, there is no reference to St. Columba in the published Lives of the former Finnian, with whom tradition describes him as being engaged in a serious dispute, while the Life of St. Finnian of Clonard not only numbers St. Columba among his disciples, but refers to the present interview in the following words : " Quodam tempore S. Finnianus intuens suum discipulum Columbam Kille venientem ad se, ait uni de suis Monachis : Vide comitem itineris Columbse. Et respondit ille : video Angelos Dei in comitatu ejus. Et ait Finnianus, Vere qui adhseret Deo, unus spiritus est cum eo." — c. 30 (Colgan, Act. SS. p. 397 a).
Juvenis. — St. Columba is called juvenis (ii. 1), and even puer (ii. 26, p. 169, supra), when in the diaconate. If the close of the present chapter properly refers to this interview, he was now forty-two years of age. The anonymous Life of St. Columba, cited by Ussher (which the Bollandists call the Pseudo- Adamnan, but which most probably was a compilation made by Stephen White), represents the occurrence related in the present chapter, as a sequel to the battle of Cul-Dreimhne, and furnishes the following commentary on it : "Post hsec S. Columba ad S. Finianum episcopum accessit, ut ab eo poenitentiam condignam causa prsefati belli acciperet. Angelus vero Domini comitator ejus apparuit : qui prse nimio splendore obtutibus humanis non videbatur, nisi tantum a sancto viro Finniano, qui Finnbarrus nominatur. Cumque a viro Dei pcenitentiam condignam S. Columba qusereret, respondit : Oportet, ut quot instigatione belli ad infernum dejecti sunt, tot per exemplum tuum ad coslum vehantur." — (Brit. EC. Ant. c. 17, Wks. vi. p. 467.)
Traditur. — This is added by Adamnan to the narrative as given by Cummian.
lisdem diebus. — This clause is borrowed from Cummian, but differently applied. He concludes the third chapter with the words, " qui sui commeatus habere meruit angelum Domini ; " and then commences the fourth in this manner: "Hiisdem diebus Sanctus, cum duodecim commilitonibus discipulis ad Britanniam transnavigavit. Quo proveniens, quadam solenni die, sancto magistro suo, et episcopo, Finniano, missam celebranti, vinum ad sacrificale mysterium casu non inveniebatur," and the narrative proceeds as in ii. 1. Colgan endeavours to overcome the difficulty by reading, "quo antequam pervenisset." — (Tr. Th. p. 324 &, n. 3.) But even so, as the Bollandist Editor observes, "vix omnem anachronismi suspicionem tolles." (Jun. torn. ii. p. 187 &.) The truth is, there is a serious anachronism in
Cummian, which Adamnan has endeavoured to correct, subjecting himself to the difficulty only of making a man ajuvenis at forty-two.
CHAPTER vi. — Vitreum librum. — Called vitreus codex further on. T. Innes says of it : " This ceremonial book is called by Adamnan, Liber Vitreus, be cause, perhaps, the cover of it was incrusted with glass or crystal." — Civ. Eccl. Hist. p. 202. He supposes the contents to have been " the prayers and ceremonies of the Ordination or Inauguration of kings."— (76. p. 200.) From the context, however, it may be inferred that the present expression is not intended as a proper name, but rather as descriptive, and that the idea conveyed is " a book of glass," containing heaven's decrees concerning the succession of earthly monarchs, among whose names that of ^Edan was expressly entered, as the individual destined to govern Dalriada. This was the prcerogativa monarchies prcedestinata, mentioned in i. 8 (p. 123, supra), and the Deo auctore ordinatio of i. 1 (p. 113), 29 (p. 135), supra. This book of glass, " clear as crystal," was only presented to the saint while in an extasis mentis, and on each occasion of its perusal was delivered by the angel. It contained the fiat of ^dan's inauguration ; and the saint's hesitation was, not an unwillingness to employ any formulas supposed to have been con tained therein, but a reluctance to receive the object of heaven's choice in stead of his own. See the story told by Bede of the soldier's vision, in which " candidum codicem protulerunt angeli deinde atrum dsemones." — (H. E. v. 13.)
Aidan. — His successor in the kingdom was Eochaidh Buidhe, whose sons were, according to the Irish tract on the Men of Alba, Domhnall Breac (mentioned in the text) ; Domhnall Donn ; Conall Crandamhana (rex. 642- 660) ; Conall Beag ; Connadh Cearr (success., et occis. 630) ; Failbhe (fell in battle of Feda Euin, Tig. 629) ; Domhangart ; and Cuganmathair. Eochhaidh Finn, ^Edan's second son, had eight sons, namely, Baodan ; Pordan ; Pleatan ; Cormac ; Cronan ; Fearadach ; Fedhlimidh ; and Caiplene. Conang, ^Edan's sixth son (who was drowned in 622), had nine sons, namely, Rioghallan ; Fearchar ; Artan ; Artur ; Donnchadh ; Domhangort ; Nechtan ; Nemh ; Cruimine. Gartnat, JMan's eighth son, had four sons, whose names are not recorded.( — Lib. Ballymot. fol. 84 6 a; Mac Firbis, Gen. MS. p. 401.) Fearcadh, or Fearcar, son of Connadh Cearr, succeeded his father in 630. Cathusach (who died in 650), and Domangard, were sons of Domhnall Breac. Domhnall Donn (rex. 660-673), and Maolduin (rex. 673-690), were sons of Conall Cranndamhna (Duan Alban. ; Ogyg. p. 378) ; and it was on their death that the house of Loarn came into power. Conventual, not episcopal, rank was what conferred importance on ecclesiastics in the eyes of the Scots at that day ; and St. Columba, whose influence was now confirmed by a ten years' successful administration of Hy in addition to his royal descent, oc cupied the same relation to the Dalriadic kings that the abbot of Armagh did to the sovereigns of Ireland. There was this difference, however, in the systems, that the Dalriadic dynasty commenced under Christian auspices, whereas the sovereignty of Ireland had descended from Pagan times, and had probably conveyed into Christian ages a Pagan mode of inauguration.
Cummeneus Albus. — Son of Ernan, son of Fiachna, of the race of Conall Gulban. He was seventh abbot of Hy, and presided from 657 to 669. His name is variously written in Irish Cumine (Tigh. 661), Cumaine (id. 669), Cummine (Four Mast. 668), Cummein (Mar. Gorm. ; Cal. DungaU. 24 Feb.), Cumine (Mart. Taml.) To which is added the surname Ailbe (Tigh. 661, 669), or Fionn (Mart. Taml. ; Cal. Dungall. (Four Mast.), rendered Albus in the pre sent instance, and An. Ult. 668. The writer of the Paschal Epistle printed by Ussher (Syll. xi.) calls himself Cumeanus, and is generally supposed to have been the same as Cummineus Albus, though the identity is very questionable. The abbot of Hy died in 669, Feb. 24, which is the day of his com memoration in the Calendars. Colgan has collected all the facts and con jectures that are recorded of him, at Feb. 24.— (Act. SS. pp. 408-41 1.) Colgan printed an anonymous Life of St. Columba, which had been taken from a manuscript of Mirseus, at Antwerp, and was included in Belfortius's supple ment to Surius. He pronounced it ancient, and placed it first in order in his collection, but expressed no opinion of its authorship. — (Tr. Th. pp. 321-324.) Subsequently there appeared inMabillon's Acta Sanct. Bened. Ord. (vol. i. pp. 342-349, Venet. 1733) a Life of St. Columba, differing only, as the Bollandist editor observes, " in aliquibus loquendi formulis," from that in Colgan. It was printed from a manuscript of Compeigne (Compendiensis monasterii), and was intituled Auctore Cummeneo Albo. Thus a work which was supposed by some to have been lost was brought to light from two independent sources. It forms the groundwork of Adamnan's third book, into which he has trans ferred the whole tract, with the exception of two chapters which he has worked into an earlier part, observing the order of the narrative, and in many instances employing the very expressions of his predecessor.
Bellum Roth. — It was fought in 637, and the following is the record of it in Tighernach, under that year : Cath Muighe Math ria nDomnall mac Aeda occus ria macaibh Aedha Slaine. (The Battle of Magh Rath by Domhnall, son of Aedh, and by the sons of Aedha Slaine), sed Domnall regnavit Teinoriam in illo tempore ; in quo cecidit Congal Caech ri Uladh occus (king of Uladh, and) Faelan cum multis nobilibus. The An. Ult. relate the occur rence more succinctly, but in the exact form of the text. A. C. 630 Bellum Roth. An ancient historical romance, called The Battle of Magh Rath, was published in the original Irish, with a translation and notes, for the Irish Archaeological Society, in 1842, by Dr. O'Donovan, which see. Magh Rath is supposed to be the modern Moira, a well-known village and parish in the county of Down.
Extraneis. — The text of Cummian in Mabillon thus expresses the fulfilment of St. Columba's prediction : " Quod ita factum est : mandatum namque viri Dei transgredientes, regnum perdiderunt." Colgan's text is less explicit : " Quod ita evenit mandatum viri Dei transgredientibus." The expression regnum perdiderunt seems to refer to the departure of the sceptre from the house of Gabhran to that of Loam, which took place when Ferchar Fada succeeded Maelduin. Chalmers fixes this event at 681, while the Irish Annals record the death of Maelduin at 689. In either case the words appear to be interpolated, for Cummian died in. 669. Adamnan, however, with propriety uses the words in the text, for he was thirteen years old when the battle of Magh Rath was fought, and he lived to see Ferchar Fada, of the house of Loarn, several years on the throne.
CHAPTER vii. — Qui primus mortuus est. — If this be understood absolutely, it may help to qualify the curious and not very creditable story of the first Christian performance in Hy. " Columkille said, then, to his people, It would be well for us that our roots should pass into the earth here. And he said to them, It is permitted to you that some one of you go under the earth of this island to consecrate it. Odhran arose quickly, and thus spake: If you accept me, said he, I am ready for that. O Odhran, said Columcille, you shall receive the reward of this : no request shall be granted to any one at my tomb, unless he first ask of thee. Odhran then went to heaven. He (Colum) founded the church of Hy then." Such is the story in the old Irish Life, which O'Donnell transfers into his narrative (ii. 12, Tr. Th. p. 411 a), adding, " Sacrum corpus eo loco creditum est, qui deinceps Odrani sepulchretum est appellatus." It is a remarkable fact that the principal, and now only, cemetery in Hy is called the Reilig Orain, after him instead of the patron saint, and has been so for many centuries ; for in the gloss to the Feilire of JEngus, at St. Odhran's commemoration, Oct. 27, it is observed, ' of Hy Colaim-cille, .i. of Relic Odhrain." Probably Odhran was the first of St. Columba's fraternity who was interred in the island, and the whole island being called after the patron, the cemetery took its name from the first kinsman of his community who was buried in it.
CHAPTER vm. — Indairthir. — This word is compounded of ind, an old form of the article in the nom. plural, which is usually joined to its noun (see Zeuss, Gram. Celt. i. pp. 230, 237 ; O'Donovan, Ir. Gr. p. 67), and Airthir, * Easterns.' Sometimes it appears in the early Annals in the form na nAirther, and sometimes, as An. Ult. 640, in its equivalent Latin Orientales. Ri na nAirthir, of Tigh. 722, is rex Orientalium in An. Ult. 721. Thus in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, Oirthir, id est Orientalis, iii. 71 (Tr. Th. p. 162 6). The people were so called, as inhabiting airthear Airghiall, East Oriel (Four Mast. 1099). See the note, p. 83, Orig. Ed.
CHAPTER ix. — Demons. — St. Columbais represented as engaged on various occasions in personal encounters with demons ; as, when he went to the aid of Cainnech of Aghabo, and Eugenius of Ardstraw (O'Donnell, ii. 22, Tr. Th. p. 412 6) ; and of Ruadhan of Lothra (Tr. Th. p. 461 a, c. 39). But his most brilliant achievement is related in the Irish legend of King Brandubh's death, of which the following is a literal translation : " Brandubh was killed on the morrow, and demons carried off his soul into the air. And Maedhog [abbot of Ferns] heard the wail of his soul as it was undergoing pain, while he was with the reapers. And he went into the air, and began to battle with the demons. And they passed over Hy ; and Columkille heard them while he was writing ; and he stuck the style [graib, graphium] into his cloak, and went to the battle to the aid of Maedhog, in defence of Bran dubh's soul. And the battle passed over Rome, and the style fell out of Columkille's cloak, and dropped in front of Gregory, who took it up in his hand. Columkille followed the soul of Brandubh to heaven. When he reached it, the congregation of heaven were at Celebration, namely, Te decet hymnus, and Benedic anima mea, and Laudate pueri Dominum ; and this is the beginning of the Celebration of heaven. Columbkille did the same as the people of heaven. And they brought Brandubh's soul back to his body again. Columbkille tarried with Gregory; and brought away Gregory's brooch [dealc] with him, and it is the hereditary brooch [defy aidechta, literally testamentary brooch, being an heirloom in Hy, as the clog an eadhachta, or testamentary boll, was in Armagh] of the coarb of Columkille to this day. And he left his style with Gregory." — Lib. Lecan, fol. 183 a. The legend is transferred from the Irish original into O'Donnell's Life. See Colgan's abridgment, iii. 45 (Tr. Th. p. 439 a).
Monasteries. — Besides that of Campus Lunge, mention is made by Adamnan of that at Artchain in Ethica Terra (i. 29, p. 135 supra). Compared with its extent, the ecclesiastical remains of Tiree are very numerous : Kilbride, Kilchenich, Kilfinnan, Kilmoluag, Claodh-Odhrain, and Temple patrick, commemorative of SS. Brigid, Cainnech, Finnian, Molua, Odhran, and Patrick, in the common calendar of Ireland and Scotland, are the names of farms on which there are, or were, religious houses. Soroby and Kirkapoll, the ancient parish cemeteries, are rich in curious monuments ; besides which, the vestiges of Christian sepulture have been found in Ardkirknish, Knock-a-chlaodh, Claodhbeg, and Templefield. See the ecclesiastical notice of Tiree in the Ulst. Journal of Archseol., vol. ii. pp. 238-244 (App. I., infra).
CHAPTER x, — Coilrigin. — A surname possibly denoting that he was of the Calraighe, a tribe of whom, called Calraighe Teabhta, gave name to Sliabh gCalraidhe, now Slieve Golry, near Ardagh, in the middle of Longford.
T
From the mention of his occupation Colgan supposes him to be the Colum Gobha, ' Colum the smith,' commemorated in the Calendars at June 7.
CHAPTER xm. — Moculoigse. — That is, mac ULoighse, filius Nepotum Loigisi. Loigsech, or Laeighseach Cenn-mor, was the son of Conall Cernach, a famous hero of the first century ; his son, Lughaidh Laeighseach, obtained from the then king of Leinster a tract in that province, in which he settled, and which received from his descendants the name of Laighis, afterwards called Leix. That territory is now represented by the four central baronies of the Queen's County, and the ancient name is preserved in the compound Abbeyleix, a parish situate therein. Oennu, second abbot of Clonmacnois, who was of the same race, is designated Mac hua Laigse in Tighernach, An. 570, and the Calendars at Jan. 20. See the note on Columbanus, next page. Concerning the territorial Laeighis, see O'Flaherty, Ogyg. p. 293 ; Book of Rights, p. 215.
Lord's Day. — From this passage we learn that Sundays and other holidays were marked at Hy by rest from labour, celebration of the Eucharist, and improved diet.
Consueta deprecatio. — This was a prayer, " pro animabus defunctorum," among which St. Columba now introduced a fresh name, directing the choristers pro sancto Columbano episcopo decantare. In the ancient Gallican Liturgy, which seems to have been closely followed by the Irish, it was usual for the priest, after he had placed the oblation on the altar, to say the prayer, " Veni Sanctificator Omnipotens Sterne Deus, et benedic hoc sacrificium tuo nomini prseparatum, per Christum Dominum nostrum." This was followed by the recital from the diptychs of the saints' names, both deceased and living, in whose memory, or for whom, the offering was made. The nature of this commemoration we learn from the form prescribed by St. Aurelianus for the church of Aries, as given by Mabillon : " Simulque precantes oramus etiarn, Domine, pro animabus famulorum tuorum Patrum atque institutorum quondam nostrorum, Aureliani, Petri, Florentini, Redempti, Constantini, Himiteri, Hilarini, Januarini, Reparati, Childeberti, Wltrogotae, vel omnium fratrum nostrorum, quos de hoc loco ad te vocare dignatus es. Cunctorumque etiam hujus loci memores Fidelium, pariterque parentum nostrorum atque servientium hujus loci : et pro animabus omnium Fidelium famulorum tuorum, vel famularum, ac peregrinorum in pace Ecclesiee defunctorum : ut eis tu, Domine Deus noster, peccatorum tribuas veniam, et requiem largiaris seternam ; meritis et intercessionibus Sanctorum tuorum, Marias genitricis Domini nostri Jesu-Christi, Johannis Baptistae et Prsecursoris Domini nostri Jesu-Christi, Stephani, Petri, Pauli, Johannis, Jacobi, Andreas, Philippi, Thomas, Bartholomaei, Matthaei, Jacobi, Simonis, Judae, Mathiae, Genesii, Symphoriani, Baudilii, Victoris, Hilarii Episcopi et Confessoris, Martini Episcopi et Confessoris, Caesarii Episcopi, hsec propitius praastare et exaudire digneris, qui vivis et regnas in unitate Spiritus sancti Deus in ssecula sseculorum, amen." (De Liturg. Gallican, lib. i. cap. 5, num. 12, p. 43). In these recitals, the first group consists of the fathers and founders of the church of Aries, and the second of the chief saints of the Calendar, ending with the bishop of Aries, who died in 542. As this bishop was named on account of local relation, he was probably omitted in Hy, and thus St. Martin, who was held in special veneration by the Irish, being the last mentioned, St. Colum cille directed the name of Columbanus to be subjoined. After the name of Martin would have followed, had the festival been an established one, the proper cottectio post nomina ; but as it was not previously known to be such, St. Columba seems to have composed on the spot a proper preface for the occasion, and thus, in virtue of his abbatial authority, to have instituted a festival for the church of Hy in commemoration of this bishop's death. The collectiopost nomina of St. Martin's Missa may be seen in Mabillon, Liturg. Gallican. p. 291 ; Muratori, Liturg. Roman, torn. ii. col. 645. Concerning the diptychs of the Gallican Church, and the difference of the Gallican and Roman use as to the commemoration, see Mabillon ut supra, pp. 181-183.
Columbanus. — Otherwise Colmanus, surnamed Moc-u-Loigse in the tibulus. His festival is May 15, at which day he is thus commemorated in the Calendar of Donegal: " Colman, son of Ua Laoigse, of Tulach-mic-Comghaill, in Druimne Togha, i.e. Nua-Congbail in Laoighis of Leinster. He was of the race of Laoigsigh, son of Conall Cearnach." He was a bishop in Leinster, not of Leinster. Diocesan episcopacy was at this time unknown in Ireland. Nua chongbail, or Oughaval, is situate in the south of ancient Leix, which was a territory of Leinster.
CHAPTER xiv. — Stagno Vitull — A translation of the Irish Loch Laodh, which O'Donnell correctly uses in the parallel place of his life (ii. 90, Tr. Th. p. 426 a). Colgan thought that it was an inlet of the sea near Downpatrick (Tr. Th. p. 386 a, n. 16) ; and the Bollandist editor borrows the idea. But the glosses on the Feilire of ^Engus determine its position, so that there can be no doubt of its identity with the present Belfast Lough. See Ulst. Jour, of Archseol. vol. ii. pp. 56, 57. The village of Bangor, where formerly stood St. ComgalPs great monastery of Bennchar, is situate on the south, or county of Down side of the Lough. The text, though it does not mention Bangor, naturally describes its inmates as in jeopardy in the adjacent arm of the sea.
CHAPTER xv. — Airchart-dan. — Now Glen Urquhart, on the west side of Loch Ness. Glen-arochdan is the local pronunciation of the name. It is said that at Templehouse, in the entrance of the glen, there was formerly a church, at a spot marked by a large ash-tree, and that the cemetery occupied the space now crossed by the road. There are the remains of other ancient cemeteries in the glen, called Killmeechal, Killyeenan, and Croch-an-boora. This Urquhart is not to be confounded with the Urquhard mentioned in St. Malrubius's lections in the Breviary of Aberdeen (Part. Estiv. fol. 90 a b) ; the latter is the same as Ferintosh in the Black Isle in Ross-shire, where St. Maree's memory is still preserved.
CHAPTER xvi. — Magnce .domus. — Probably the majoris domus fabrica, which was erected in Durrow while Laisre, son of Feradhach, presided there (i. 23, p. 131, supra). In the titulus of the present chapter it is called monasterium rotundum. The present chapter of Adamnan supplies a most valuable link in the history of the Round Towers ; it points to their primary use as monastic abodes, known by the name Monasterium Rotundum, and regarded as belonging to a class of building called magna or major domus, as contra-distinguished from the humble cells of the same form ; antecedently to the time when bells, like other reliques, acquired from age such an amount of veneration as to confer upon the buildings in which they were preserved the name of Cloc-teach, or Bell-house. One might wish that Adamnan in the present instance had used the word turris, or the technical term campanile ; but it is to be remembered that castles were, at this date, utterly unknown to the Irish, who would hardly borrow a strange word to denote a familiar object ; and that bell-houses derived their name more from an accidental than an essential use. The expression turres arctce, et altce necnon el rotundce comes very well from an Anglo-Norman A.D. 1200, but could hardly be expected from a Hiberno-Celt A.D. 600.
Oakwood Plain (Dem/).— For Deny read Durrow.— W. F. S.
CHAPTER xvn. — Monticelli. — Most probably the eminence now called Cnoc Grain, which is situate in the way from the monastery to the Machar, and commands a view of the Colliculus Angelorum. The south-eastern shoulder of Cnoc-mor, the hill which overhangs the school-house, also commands a view of the Machar, and is nearer to the monastery ; but the words propioris monticelli seem to indicate the former situation.
Cnoc Angel. — Cod. D., as may be seen in the Var. Lect., puts the name in a more modern form. This spot is one of the best marked in the island ; it is a smooth, round, green knoll, formed of sand, but covered over with a thick clothing of sward, and measuring about 167 paces at the base. It is situate close on the left-hand side to the little road which leads to the west shore. The name Cnoc-an-Aingel is locally preserved, and is marked on Graham's Map of the island ; but that by which it is more familiarly known is Sithean Mor, or " Great Fairy-hill/' as distinguished from Sithean Beg, " Little Fairy-hill," which lies a short way north-west from it. A place in Wales called Mons Angelorum, and supposed to be Cam Ingli, a corruption of Cam Engylion, in Pembrokeshire, is stated in the Life of St. Brynach to have derived its name from a visitation of angels. (Rees, Lives Cambr. Brit. SS. pp. 10, 295.)
CHAPTER xvrn. — Hiriba. — A similar story to the present is told in the old Irish Life, but Comghall and Cainnech are described as the persons present, and Eechra (note, p. 279, supra) as the island where the occurrence took place.
ComgelL — In the Antiphonary of Bangor (circ. 690) his name is written Comgillus ; in his Life, Comgallus. In the early Calendars and Annals it is always written Comgall. The meaning assigned by some is pulchrum pignus (Flem. CoUect. pp. 302 b, 304 b, marg. ; Act. SS. Mai. torn. ii. p. 580), but there is the highest authority for a different interpretation. St. Columbanus, his disciple, in his Instructio ii., thus writes : " Non primum nostrae parvitatis fundamenta jacere prassumimus, alicujus majoris doctoris authoritatem quaerentes, sancti scilicet Fausti luculentissimam, elegantissimamque doctrinam, de cujus dictis pauca ad initiandum opus nostrum satis convenienter elegimus." (Flem. Collect, p. 47 a.) So also Notker Balbulus : " Cum plurimos discipulos, vel socios sanctitatis suse pares habuisset, unum tamen Congellum, latine Fausti nomine illustrem, preeceptorem B. Columbani, magistri domini et patris nostri Galli." — Martyrol. Jun. 9. Comgall was born in Mourne, now Magheramorne, a district on the coast of the county of Antrim, a little south of Larne. (Eeeves, Eccl. Ant. p. 269.) His father's name was Setna, and his mother's Brig, and they belonged to the kingdom of Dal-Araidhe, or Dalnary as the Life calls it, which comprehended the southern half of the county of Antrim. (Flem. Collect, p. 303 a.) The tribe name given to Comgall in the text is mac u Araidhe, films nepotum Araidi, he being four teenth in descent from Fiacha Araidhe, whose territory was commonly called Dalaradia. See Eeeves, Eccl. Antiqq. pp. 334-342. Comgall, according to Tighernach, was born in 517 (An. Ult. 516) ; founded his church of Bangor in 558 (An. Ult. 557) ; visited Scotland, and founded a church in Terra Heth or Tiree, 565 (note, p. 278, supra}; died in 602 (601, An. Ult.) Comgall ab. Bendchair xci. anno etatis site, principatus vero sui L. anno, el tertio mense, et decima die, vi. Id. Mail quievit. — Tigh. His festival is May 10, at which day two Lives are printed in the Bollandists. They are also given by Fleming (Collect, pp. 303-313). The Antiphonary of Bangor, pub lished by Muratori from an ancient Bobio manuscript (Anecdota Ambros. vol. iv. p. pp. 127-159 ; reprinted in his Opere, torn. xi. pt. iii. pp. 217-251), preserves a very curious alphabetical hymn on St. Comgall. See i. 35 (p. 145), cap. 14 (p. 202), supra.
Cainnech.— See i. 4 (p. 118), ii. 12 (p. 160), 13 (p. 161), supra. He was akin to St. Comghall, being a descendant of Eudhraighe Mor, of the race of Ir, king of Ireland, but of a totally different stock from St. Columba. The family he belonged to was the Gorca-Dallann, a branch of the Clanna Rudhraighe (Ogyg. p. 275 ; Ir. Nennius, p. 264), and from Dalan, his great-grand father, he derived the surname mac-ua-Dalann, filius nepotis Dallani, men tioned in the text, and other authorities. (An. Inisfall. 595 ; Bat. of Magh Rath, p. 26.) In the Feilire of ^Engus, at his day, Oct. 11, he is commemo rated as CAINDECH MAG h-UI D ALAND, to which the gloss adds, Achad bo a prim chell, ocm ata redes do h-i Gill Rigmonaig i nAlbain, " Achadh-bo is his principal church ; and he has a monastery at Kil-Eighmonaigh [St. Andrew's] in Alba." (See note, p. 269, supra.)
Brendan. — See i. 20 (p. 130) supra. Founder of the church of Clonfert, called by the Irish Gluainferta brenainn, to distinguish it from Gluainferla Molua, now Clonfertmulloe. He was of the race of Ciar, son of Fergus, son of Ros, son of Rudhraighe, whose descendants, the Giarraighe, gave name to several districts in Ireland, the principal of which was that now known as the county of Kerry (Ogyg. p. 276). The surname'; mac ua Alta, filius nepotis Alice, by which he is designated both in the text and other native records (Tighernach, 559 ; Chron. Scot. 554 ; Vit. Trip. S. Patr. ii. 47, Tr. Th. p. 158 a), was derived from his great-grandfather Alta, whose son Olchu was father of Finnlogh, the father of St. Brendan.
Gormac.— See B. i. c. 6, and note p. 252.
CHAPTER xix. — Egea. — Now the island of Egg. Aeg, gen. Aego, or Aega, is the Irish form of the name. Egea in the text seems to be an adjective agreeing with insula, according to Adamnanic usage. A monastery was founded in this island by St. Donnan, an Irishman, and disciple of St. Columba, who was put to death, together with his community of fifty-one persons, by a band of pirates in 617. From him the church of the island was called Killdonain, which gave name in after times to a parish, including Egg, Muck, and Rum. See Orig. Paroch. vol. ii. pt. i. p. 334.
There are three Donnans known to the Irish, namely, Donnan, son of Liath, nephew and disciple of St. Senan, who is mentioned in the Life of that saint ; Donnan the Deacon, son of Beoaedh, brother of St. Ciaran, whose day is Aug. 11 ; and Donnan of Eigg. The pedigree of the last is not on record, and all that we know concerning him is what may be gathered from short notices in the Irish Calendars and Annals. His name, indeed, occurs at its proper day in the Calendar and Offices of the Breviary of Aberdeen, but there is no allusion to his history, and therefore the writer of his memoir in the Acta Sanctorum is obliged to draw entirely upon Irish authorities. We are told this much of him — that, like St. Columba, St. Maelrubha, and St. Moluoc, this saint was a native of Ireland, and was led to settle, with a com pany of followers, in the west of Scotland, and that he suffered a violent death at the instance of a malicious woman, and by the hands of a marauding party, possibly of Picts from the neighbouring coast. We learn that he was somewhat junior to St. Columba, whose friend he was, and in whose com munity he desired to be enrolled. He suffered martyrdom on Sunday, the 17th of April, 617.
His commemoration in the Feilire of ^Engus, and the accompanying com mentary, are as follows : —
" With the festival of Peter the Deacon. To glorious martyrdom ascended, With his clerics, of pure lives, Donnan of cold Eig."
" Donnan of Eig, i.e. Eig is the name of an island which is in Alba, and in it Donnan is [commemorated] ; or, in Catt ; et ibi Donnan sanctus cum sua familia obiit, id est, LII.
" This Donnan went to Columcille to make him his soul's-friend ; upon which Columcille said to him, I shall not be soul's-friend to a company [heirs of red martyrdom ; for thou shalt come to red martyrdom, and thy people with thee. And it was so fulfilled.
"Donnan then went with his people to the Hebrides; and they took up their abode there, in a place where the sheep of the queen of the country were kept. This was told to the queen. Let them all be killed, said she. That would not be a religious act, said her people. But they were murderously assailed. At this time the cleric was at mass. Let us have respite till mass is ended, said Donnan. Thou shalt have it, said they. And when it was over, they were slain, every one of them."
In the Martyrology which bears the name of St. Jerom we find the follow ing notice : ' ' xv. Kal. Maii. In Antiochia natalis sancti Petri Diaconi, et Hermogenis ministri." — Opp. torn. xi. pt. 2, col. 564 (Vallarsii, Venet. 1771). The same appears in the Martyrology ascribed to Ven. Bede. It is also en tered at the same day in the Martyrology of Christ Church, Dublin, p. 106. But it is not found in the Roman Martyrology edited by Baronius, nor in the Greek Menologium. Marian Gorman's Calendar, at April 17, has LA PETAR I PRIM NEM, " with Peter in chief holiness." The old parish church of Kilchrenan in Argyleshire was formerly called Ecdesia, S. Petri Diaconi de Lochaw. See Orig. Paroch. vol. ii. p. 120. It is remarkable to find the name of an obscure martyr of the East thus prominently commem orated in the Far West. See Acta Sanctorum, April, torn. ii. p. 479.
The copy of the Feilire preserved at Brussels reads Eigke. In both it and the copy in the Leabhar Breac, from which the extract in the text has been made, there is over the name of Eig the interlinear gloss, i.e.,fons. The island may have derived its name from a spring, possibly St. Donnan's Well, mentioned further on.
The eric Chat, " region of Catt," included Sutherland and Caithness, the latter of which preserves the original word, compounded with ness, "a pro montory." Catenes is the form in old charters. See Irish Nennius, p. 148. Shaw takes the inflection of the word cat, and, supposing Catav to be the root of Caithness, proceeds to derive it from cad, " high," and taobh, " side." — Moray, p. 50. The same process should apply to the Catti of Hesse ; but etymology, without reference to original authorities, is an indulgence as dangerous as it is seductive. The parish of Kildonan, which is referred to in the gloss on the Feilire, is situate on the east side of Sutherland, adjoining Caithness. Sutherland, formerly Sudrland, was the name given to the south land of Catenes. See Orig. Paroch. pp. 652, 734.
The Calendar of Marian Gorman, at the same day, has the following com memoration, with its explanatory gloss : —
" Donnan the great, with his monks.
" Fifty-two were his congregation. There came pirates of the sea to the island in which they were, and slew them all. Eig is the name of that island."
The Martyrology of Tamlacht is still more brief : Donnani Egha cum suis LII. Quorum nomina in majore libra scribimus.
Unfortunately, this larger book is not known to exist at present ; but the particular entry in it which is here referred to is preserved in the Acta Sanc torum, having been introduced there by Godefridus Henschenius, from an extract which was communicated by Thomas Sirinus, or O'Sheerin, Jubilate Lector of Theology in the Irish Franciscan College of Louvain. It is as follows : —
" Ega nomen fontis in Aldafain Cattaibh, in boreali Albania : et ibi Donnanus cum sua familia martyrium subiit. Quod sic contigit. Queedam mulier dives illic habitabat ante Donnanum, et ibi pascebantur pecora ejus. Haec ergo propter invidiam, quam circa illos habebat, quibusdam latronibus persuasit, ut interficerent Donnanum. Sed cum illi latrones illuc venissent, invenerunt eos in Oratorio psalmodiam cantantes, et ibi non potuerunt eosdem interficere. Dixit autem Donnanus discipulis suis, Eamus in refectorium, ut hi possint interficere nos, ubi vivere carnaliter solebamus : quia quamdiu sumus ubi Deo sategimus placere, mori non possumus : ubi vero carni beneficimus, carnis dispendium solvemus. Sic ergo in refectorio in nocte Paschse occisi sunt. Quinquaginta duo autem passi sunt simul cum ipso Donnano." Then follow the names : " .ZEdanus, larloga, Maricus, Congallius, Lonanus, Maclasrius, Joannes, Arnanes, Erninus, Baithinus, Rothanus, Andrelanus, Carellus, Rotanus, Fergussanus, Rectarius, Connidius, Endeus, Macloga, Guretius, Junetus, Coranus, Baithanus, Colmanus, lernludus, Lugadius, Luda, Gruundus, Cucalinus, Cobranus, Conmundus, Cumminus, Balthianus, Senachus, Demanus, Cummenus, Fernlugus, Finanus, Finnchanus, Finnichus, Conanus, Modomma, Cronanus, Kieranus, Colmanus, Naviunus, Remanus, Erninus, Ailchuo, Donnanus."
Aldafain seems to be an error arising out of a misreading of the original. Otherwise, this authority ignores Eigg entirely, and places the massacre at Kildonan, in Sutherland.
Upon this recital Henschenius observes : " Noluimus hsec nomina in titulo exprimere, non tarn quia veremur ne plura perperam scripta sint, quam quia suspicamur a posteris excogitata, ne pii isti monachi propter justitiam occubuisse crediti, remanerent anonymi." He then adds a Latin translation of the entry in the Calendar of Cash el : " S. Donnanus martyr cum multis sociis, ad Britanno-Hibernos profectus, missis a Rege satellitibus, qui eum interficerent, tantisper ad ejus preces expectarunt, donee Missam finiret. Qua finita ipse S. Donnanus cum suis martyrio est coronatus in eodem loco." To this is subjoined a Latin translation of Maguire's gloss on the Feilire, which has been given above, with an English version.
Now, as to the date of the tragedy, writers are very much at fault : Sirinus conjectures that it was before 596, whereas Keith, following Demp ster, refers Donnan's/ore&c^ to so late a year as 840. But the true date is placed beyond any question by the hitherto unnoticed entries in the Irish Annals. Tighernach, at 617, says, Combustio Donnain-Ega hi [in] xv. Kal. Mail cum CL. martiribus. The notation of 617, as printed by O'Connor, is K. iiii., that is, that Jan. 1 fell on Wednesday. In such case the Sunday letter would be E, which belongs to 615, 620. And the Annals of Ulster, at 616, in the same words. According to the peculiar computation of the Annals of Innisf alien, the event took place in 611, at which year they record the Orgain Donnain Ega hi xu. cal. Mail, " the destruction of Donnain-Ega on the 15th of the Calends of May." According to the Annals of Ulster, which are more correct in their notation than the printed text of Tighernach, the first of January, in 617, the year of Donnan's martyrdom, fell on Saturday, so that the Sunday -letter of the year is B, which is also the Regular-letter of April 17, and thus the saint's death is calculated to have occurred on Sunday, a fact which we would have been led to expect from the mention, in the Calendars, of his having been at mass at the time he was attacked. It is, however, a mistake in the Martyrology of Tamlacht to say that it was on Easter Sunday; for that festival, in 617, fell on April 3, and in 618, on April 16, neither of which, even supposing the latter to be the true date, could coincide with St. Donnan's day. It is a remarkable test of the accu racy of the Annals of Ulster to find a year and a chronological note assigned for an occurrence which is limited by a casual expression in a gloss upon the Calendar ; and it is* to the credit of that gloss, that what might be supposed to wear the appearance of a random statement is borne out by the solid testimony of veracious chronicles.
In process of time the island again became a religious abode, and the Annals of Ulster have preserved the obit of one successor of St. Donnan : 724, Oan princeps [superior] Ego mortuus eat. The Irish Calendars add some other names, but as their object is only to give the day, the year is unre corded : Conan Aego, "Conanof Eig," Jan. 12; Bercan Aego, "Berchanof Eig," Apr. 10; Enan insi Aego, uEnan of the island Eig," Apr. 29; Conghalach o Ard Aego, " Conghalach of Ard-Eig," Dec. 22.
Of the subsequent history of the island little more is known than the names and dates of occasional possessors, from 1292 onwards, till we come to 1703, when we are refreshed by the interesting report of the honest and judicious explorer of the Western Islands. Speaking of the religious remains at Egg, this writer says, "There is a heap of Stones here, called Martin Dessil, i.e. a Place Consecrated to the Saint of that Name, about which the Natives oblige themselves to make a Tour round Sunways." Again, "There is a Church here on the East side of the Isle, Dedicated to St. Donnan, whose Anniversary they observe. About thirty yards from the Church there is a Sepulchral Urn under ground ; it is a big Stone hewn to the bottom, about four feet deep, and the Diameter of it is about the same breadth ; I caus'd 'em to dig the ground above it, and we found a flat thin Stone covering the Urn ; it was almost full of Humane Bones, but no Head among them, and they were fair and dry. I enquir'd of the Natives what was become of the Heads, and they could not tell ; but one of them said, perhaps their Heads had been cut off with a two-handed Sword, and taken away by the Enemy. Some few paces to the North of the Urn there is a narrow stone passage under ground, but how far it reaches, they could give me no account. The Natives dare not call this Isle by its ordinary Name of Egg, when they are at Sea, but Island Nim-Ban-More, i.e. the Isle of the big Women. St. Donnan's Well, which is in the South West end, is in great esteem by the Natives, for St. Donnan is the Celebrated Tutelar of this Isle. The Natives do not allow Protestants to come to their Burial." (Martin, W. I., p. 277.)
The other church of St. Donnan, alluded to in the Irish Calendars, is situate in Sutherland, adjoining Caithness, and gives name to the parish of KUdonan. It stood on the bank of the Helmsdale river, anciently the High, in the valley, called from it Strath High. In this parish "there was a large hollow stone, situated about three miles from the church, and about midway between it and Helmsdale, which was called Suigh Donan by some, and Cathair Donan by others, i.e. St. Donnan's Seat, or Resting Place. The tradition is, that the saint sat down in it to rest himself, when passing through the Strath of Kildonan." (0. S. A. iii. p. 405.)
Another church where St. Donnan's memory was held in great veneration, was Auchterless, an inland parish of Aberdeenshire. Here his pastoral staff was preserved, and was believed to be efficacious in curing fever and jaundice, until it was broken by the Reformers. His festival was observed on the 17th of April, and that of his relics on the 18th. Here "a market, called Donan Fair, is held in the Kirktown in the month of April, for the sale of sheep, cattle, etc." (CoU. Ab. p. 505.)
Besides these principal churches, there were the following chapels in Scot land where the saint's memory was observed : —
4. St. Donnan's Chapel, in Little Bernera, on the west of Lewis.
5. Kildonan, in the parish of Kilpeter, in South Uist.
6. Kildonen, on Little Loch Broom, in the parish of Loch Broom, Ross-
shire.
7. Kildonnen, at Lynedale, in Snizort, a parish of Sk}re.
8. Kildonnen, in Kilchousland, a parish of Cantyre.
9. Kildonan, in the parish of Kilmorie, Isle of Arran.
10. Kildonan, in Kirkmaiden, a parish of Wigtonshire.
11. Kildonan, in Colmonel, a parish of Ayrshire.
CHAPTER xx. — Virgnous. — The same name appears in the form Fergnous, i. 20 (p. 129) supra, and Fergnouus, as well as Virgnous, in cap. 24 p. 215. Cmmnian, in the parallel passage (Mabillon's text), reads Fernaus ; but in Colgan's, which is corrupt, Servanus (Tr. Th. p. 322 b, c. 15). This was Fergna Brit, afterwards fourth abbot of Hy, 605-623. His day in the Calendar is March 2. Fergna britt mac Failbe epscop agus abb la Cholaim cille e fos do chenel cConuill Gulban mic Neill do. A°. D*. 622. " Fergna Britt, son of Falbhe, was bishop and abbot of la Colaim Cille, and he was of the race of ConaU Gulban, son of Niall. A.D. 622."— Calend. Dungall. Tighernach has his obit at 623, the true year, the An. Ult. at 622, and AD. Inisfall. at 616 ; but none of them makes mention of his being a bishop. The Four Masters, at 622, state : " St. Feargna Britt, abbot of la, and a bishop, died on the second day of March." The earliest authority for calling him bishop is the gloss on Marian Gorman's Festology, which has Ferccna brit abb lae Choluim chilk, ocus epscop beos, " Fergna Brit, abbot of la-Columkille, and bishop also." — Mar. 2. He was descended from Enna Boghaine, son of Conall Gulban, who gave name to boghainigh, now Banagh, a barony in the west of Donegal.
Comman. — Colgan identifies him with the following : Common epscop mac Ernain. Do cenel cConuil Gulban mic Neill do, "Comman, bishop, son of Ernan : he was of the race of Conal Gulban, son of Niall" (Cal. Doneg.,Mar. 18) ; and asserts that Adamnan's epithet konorabilis presbyter is not incom patible with the term epscop in the Calendar, and Four Mast. 676. This Comman was brother of St. Cuimine Fionn, the seventh abbot of Hy. See Ussher, Brit. EC. Ant. c. 17 (Wks. vi. p. 540).
CHAPTER xxiu. — This was in 593, thirty years after St. Columba's settle ment in Hy, and four years before his death. The substance of this chapter is taken from Cummian.
CHAPTER xxiv. — Occidua parte. — The campus occidentalis, or Machar. The ancient Irish Life says : Teit do fhis seel na n-airemhun i tuaiscert na hindsi, " he went to see how the ploughmen were in the north of the island."
April. — Easter-day fell on the 14th of April in 597, the computed year of St. Columba's death.
East. — Ho shai tra iarsin a aghadh siar co ro bennach na h-indsi cona h-aitrebthaidh, "He then turned his face westwards, and he blessed the island, with its inhabitants." Ancient Irish Life.
Sabbati. — Our Saturday. The practice of calling the Lord's Day the Sab bath commenced about a thousand years after this date.
Dominica nocte. — That is, the night preceding Sunday.
Monticellum. — See note on i. 24 (p. 257) supra. Immediately opposite the west entrance of the cathedral is a small rocky eminence called Torr Abb, " Abbot's tower," on which there formerly stood a cross. But this spot is too far north, and does not command the probable site of the monastery as well as the hill called Cnoc nan-Carnan, which is situate to the west of the Reilig Grain. This hill, Blar Buidhe, and Cnoc Mor, form a range extending southwards, from any part of the east side of which the religious settlement could have been fully seen.
Dominicce noctis missam.— ^idnight was just past, and the existing portion of the night belonged to Sunday. The office which he attended was that commonly known as the Vigilice nocturnes. Maugina is described in ii. 5 (p. 156) supra, as similarly engaged. On the use of the word missa see Ussher,
Wks. vol. iv. p. 276. The present reading in Cod. B. indicates a modern limi tation of the term.
CHAPTER xxiv. — Nuda petra. — In the upper apartment of St. Columba's house at Kells " there is a flat stone, six feet long, and one foot thick, now called St. Columba's penitential bed." — Petrie Round Towers, p. 426.
Sepulcrum ejus. — It would appear from these words, which are borrowed from Cummian, that at least a century was allowed to elapse before the remains of St. Columba were disinterred. They were enshrined, however, before the year 824, as we learn from Walafridus Strabo's verses .on the martyrdom of St. Blaithmac.
Media node. — The saint had previously attended at the vespertinalis Dominicce noctis missa, an office equivalent to the nocturnal vigil, and now, on the turn of midnight, the bell rings for matins, which were celebrated according to ancient custom, a little before day-break. Further on, the office is named in the expression, hymnis matutinalibus Jlnitis. The occurrence is thus related in the old Irish Life : 0 thanic tra cus na dedhenchu do Colum cille, acus o ro benadh docc iarmergi aidhche domhnaigh chengcedais, luid slum ria each do chumm na h-eclaisi, acas do righne slechtain acas ernaighthi n-dichra icon allow. " When now Columcille approached his last moments, and when the bell for matins was rung on the night of Pentecost Sunday, he went before the rest to the church, and knelt and prayed fervently at the altar." The introduction of the word Pentecost is probably an error.
Cloni fichoil. — Cluain finnchoill, "Meadow of the white hazel." In an ancient Irish tale called Cathreim Dathi mic Fiachrach, mention is made of Ros-na-Rio(jh, now known as Rosrnarea, a townland on the Boyne, in the parish of Knockcommon, and it is added " Boss Finnchuill was its first name." —See Orig. Ed. note a, p. 235.
Christi miles. — This expression is frequently usedbyAdamnan in reference to the monastic profession. We find atlaech, from laech, miles, as an eccle siastical term in An. Ult. 1110. The same word occurs in the argument of the Feilire, which Colgan paraphrases " qui ex sseculi milite miles Christi factus."— (Act. SS. p. 579 b.) The expression ridire Crist, of Tigh. 729, is Christi miles in An. Ult. 728. See Tigh. 738.
Muirbulcmar. — Virgnous is said to have spent the remainder of his life in Hinba; the first part of this term he passed in conventual subjection, the last twelve in seclusion at Muirbulcmar : therefore Muirbulcmar was in Hinba. But Murbolc Paradisi, which was probably the same name, seems to have belonged to a bay. Putting these hints together, the mind is at once led to the beehive cells in Eilean-na-naomh.
Dorso Tomme. — That is, Druim thuama, as in Cod. D., now Drumhome, a parish in the barony of Tirhugh, county of Donegal, between the towns of Donegal and Ballyshannon.
Fenda. — The river Finn rises at Lough Finn in the parish of Inish keel, on the west side of Donegal, and flowing eastward past Stranorlar and Castle Finn, becomes the boundary between the counties of Donegal and Tyrone, till at LifFord it receives the Mourne, and turning northwards empties itself into the Foyle.
Hymnis Matutinalibus. — This shows that the service, though conducted soon after midnight, was regarded as matins.
Ratdbusta. — This strange compound, of which we have no other example, seems to denote a coffin.
Quicunque. — It was the custom of Irish scribes to append their name, with a short solicitation, at the end of their books. Thus in the Book of Mac Regol there is the colophon : Quicunque legerit et intellegeret istam narrationem orat pro Mac Reguil scriptori. (O'Conor, Her. Hib. SS. Lit. Nuncupat. vol. i. p. 230). Thus also in the Book of Armagh, the scribe, who died in 845, at the end of various portions of the manuscript appends Pro Ferdomnacho ores. (Fol. 67 66, 89 ab, 214 aa, 220 ab.) But the most remarkable subscription in any Irish M.S. is that of the Book of Durrow : Bogo beatitudinem tuam sancte prcesbiter Patrici ut quicumque Tiunc libettum manu tenuerit meminerit Columbae scriptoris qui hoc scripsi . . . met euangelium per xii dierum spatium. Below which, in a more angular, but not later, hand, follows, Ora pro me fetter mi Dominus tecum sit. (A. 4, 5, Trin. Coll, Dubl., fol. 12 66, recte 237 66, the leaf having been misplaced in binding.) For an account of this MS. see p. xciii. Adamnan's tract, De Locis Sanctis, ends thus : " Obsecro itaque eos quicumque breves legerint libellos, ut pro eodem sancto sacerdote Arculfo divinam precentur clementiam, qui hsec de sanctis experimenta locis eorum frequentator libentissime nobis dictavit. Quse et ego quamlibet inter laboriosas et prope insustentabiles tota die undique conglobatas ecclesiasticas sollicitudines constitutus, vili quamvis sermone describens declaravi. Horum ergo lectorem admone experimentorum, ut pro me misello peccatore eorundem craxatore Christum judicem seculorum exorare non neglegat." — Mabillon, Act. SS. Ord. Bened. saec. iii. pt. ii. p. 472 (Venet. 1734).
Dorbbeneo. — His obit is recorded by Tighernach at 713. See Ckronicon Hyense in Appendix III. The present colophon renders it very likely that Cod. A. is a manuscript of the early part of the eighth century.
APPENDIX.
i.
IDENTIFICATION OF LOCALITIES.
WHERE the localities mentioned in Adamnan's Life have been clearly identified, the modern name has been added in the transla tion within brackets. The proofs will be found in Dr. Reeves's Notes in the original edition, and in this edition. Some additional evidence as to the Scotch localities is here given.
1. ETHICA TERRA, TIREE.
In his note on Ethica, Dr. Reeves refers to his paper on Tiree, which originally appeared in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology. It is as follows : —
The Island of Tiree, by William Reeves, D.D.
In Adamnan's Life of Saint Columba, which was written in the seventh century, frequent mention is made of a place one while called Ethica insula,1 and at another Ethica terra.2 It is represented as situated at a considerable distance from lona ;3 as accessible either by a direct voyage across the open sea, or by a circuitous course along the lesser islands j4 as some four or five hours' sail from lona, and most favourably reached by a south wind ; 5 further, as having a monastery at a harbour called Campus Lunge, over which Baithene, St. Columba's chief ecclesiastic, and subsequently successor, presided,6 and to which penitential cases
1 Lib. i. c. 19 ter ; Lib. iii. c. 8 (Orig. Ed.)
2 Lib. i. c. 19, 36 ; Lib. ii. 15 bis, 39 ; Lib. iii. c. 8 (Ib.)
3 Lib. i. d. 19 ; Lib. ii. c. 15 (Ib.) * Lib. i. c, 19 (fb.)
6 Lib. ii. c. 15 (Fb.) 6 Lib. i. c. 30, 41 ; Lib. ii. c. 15 ; Lib. iii. c. 8 (Ib.)
were sent from the mother church j1 and besides this, several other religious communities under various presidents, and one in par ticular called Artchain, which was founded by a follower of Saint Columba named Findchan, and resembled the Columban model, in having a presbyter as superior, who, in this capacity, exercised jurisdiction over a bishop, though incapable of performing his functions.2
Towards the identification of a name holding so prominent a place in this early period of Scoto-Irish church history, and second only to lona among the Columban foundations, many fruitless attempts have been made, which owed their failure principally to a neglect of descriptive data, and thus the Insula Ethica continues to the present a floating island on the face of Scottish topography. Colgan, who first published the text of Adamnan in a complete form, was caught by the name Hethland in Buchanan, and, guided only by the similarity of sound, he gave to Ethica a place among the Shetland Isles,3 though lying far beyond the range of St. Columba's jurisdiction, and the limits of his biographer's state ments. The sagacious Thomas Innes, likewise, without even the proviso of a conjecture, in more than one place treats this group as the subject of the biographer's notices.4 Pinkerton, again, in conjecturing the Lewis, came nearer home, but his surmise was a pure guess, and unworthy of a writer of his pretensions, who edited the text of Adamnan.5 Lastly, Black's County Atlas of Scotland, in one of the historical maps, exhibits the name " Ethica ?" at Lewis, as probably belonging to it.6 It is due to William F. Skene, Esq., of Edinburgh, to state that he long since perceived the inadmissibility of these conjectures, and expressed to the writer his conviction that Tiree, and not one of these remote islands, was the place which was sought for.7 So happy a sugges tion acquired but little argument to recommend it, especially as the Gaelic equivalent for the Latin form Terra Ethica was redu cible to Tiree, in the natural course of pronunciation.
A further examination of Adamnan, and the lives of those Irish saints who were in the habit of visiting the western isles of Scot land, and whose names are everywhere in that region impressed upon the records of its history, supplied all the links that were
1 Lib. i. c. 30 ; Lib. ii. c. 39(0rig. Ed.) 2 Lib. i. c. 36 (/&.)
3 Trias Thaumaturga, p. 377 a note 61.
4 Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scotland, pp. 180, 189, 204. (Spalding Club Publications, Aberdeen, 1853).
5 Vitae Antiquae, p. 117 ; and map of Caledonia. 6 No. 4. Edinb. 1848. 7 He subsequently, in the summer of 1852, accompanied the writer to
Tiree, where, through the kindness of the noble proprietor, the Duke of Argyll, every facility was given for the examination of the island.
necessary for the proof, and the present paper contains the result of a careful search for all the early notices of this island, so his torically, if not geographically, connected with Ireland, as a chosen station of her most honoured saint, and a favourite resort of her most noted pilgrims and ecclesiastics.
As regards the name, it is to be observed that Ethica is a form peculiar to Adamnan, and is proved to be an adjective by its always being coupled with insula or terra, and because in one pas sage it assumes the masculine form in the construction " Ethici spatia pelagi."1 It may, therefore, be regarded as the adjective form of Eth, a noun or proper name. But there is proof of this in the Lives of the Irish Saints just alluded to, where Heth, instead of Ethica, occurs in conjunction with the common terms Term, Insula, and Regio. The first passage is from the Life of Saint Baithene, Saint Columba's immediate successor, and is very im portant, because both the individual and his monastery are mentioned in the same relation by Adamnan : — " Also, in the monastery which is called Campus Navis, that is [in Irish] Magnga, and which was founded by St. Columba in Terra Heth, he restored to health another brother who was vexed with a devil."2 This Campus Navis, or Magh-lunga, is called by Adamnan in a mixed form Campus Lunge ; and here, as in the case of Artchain, in the same island, although the superior was only a presbyter, yet he had at command the ministrations of a bishop, who was pro bably attached to the community. Thus, we read in the Life of St. Ita, the founder of Kileedy, in the County of Limerick : — " There was a certain virgin in the Plain of Liffe, Kethnea by name, and she had a pious disciple called Columbanus, who pro ceeded to the Island of Hyth, to St. Columba, and having received there the episcopal order, returned again to his own country."3
The connexion of Baithene with the island, which is so fre quently alluded to by Adamnan, is noticed also in the Life of St. Cainnech, the founder of Kilkenny : — " A certain laic called Tulchan who felt an earnest desire to devote himself to God, journeyed from Ireland to St. Columba in the Island of Hithe, where he became a monk. . . . One day the blessed Baithene said to Saint
1 Adamnan, Lib. i. c. 19 (Orig. Ed.)
2 " Alium quoque fratrem daemonic) vexatum, in monasterio quod Campus Navis, id est, Maghmga, vocatur, quodque per S. Columban in Terra Heth fundatum est, sanitati restituit." — Vita S. Baitheni, from the Codex Salmanticensis, in Acta Sanctor. Junii, torn, ii., p. 237 b.
3 " Fuit quaedam virgo in Campo Lyffe, Rethnea nomine, quse sanctum habuit alumnum cui nomen erat Columbanus, qui ad insulam Hyth, ad S. Columban pergens, illic grandum episcopalem accepit, et iterum ad suam patriam reversus est."— Vit. S. Itse, cap. 21. (Colgan, Act. SS., p. 69 a.)
U
Columba," etc.1 And in another chapter : — " One day, when the steward of the same monastery of Hithe was going to ring the None bell, he went first to look for St. Columba, but failed in finding him. Whereupon there was a diligent search made for him by all the brotherhood in every one of the cells, but he could not be discovered. Then the blessed Baithene gave orders for the None bell to be rung." A memorial of St. Cainnech still remains at the west side of the island in the ruined chapel of Kilchennich, giving name to the two farms of Kilchennichmor and Kilchennichbeg.
Another contemporary ecclesiastic of great repute, the famous St. Comgall, founder of the monastery of Bangor in the Ards of Ulster, was attracted to this island to enjoy the hallowed society which it afforded. His life gives the following account of this visit : — " Also, in the seventh year after Benchor had been founded, the pious father Comgall sailed to Britain, in the wish to visit some holy men there, and to sojourn in that country a while. And he erected a monastery there at a certain village in the Region of Heth, where he abode for some time. One day when St. Comgall was working in the field, he put his white hood over his garment ; and about the same time a number of heathen plun derers from the Picts came to that village to carry away every thing that was there, whether man or beast. Accordingly when the heathen robbers came to St. Comgall, who was labouring in the field, and saw his white hood over his cap, thinking that this white hood was Saint Comgall's deity, they were deterred from laying hands on him for fear of his God. However, they carried off to their ship the brethren of Saint Comgall and all their sub stance. But when the holy father Comgall beheld this, he was moved with indignation, and said, ' The Lord is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer,' and he cried unto the Lord, and made the sign [of the cross] over the heaven and earth and sea. Then straightway the heathens were smitten with blindness : moreover the sea began to rage terribly, insomuch that the ships were driven upon the shore, and the bodies of the heathens were sorely
1 " Laicus quidam, nomine Tulchanus, Deo placere desiderans, de Hibernia ad insulam Hithe ad sanctum Columban perrexit, ibique monachus effectus
est Quodam die bgatus Baithenus ad sanctum Columban dixit," etc.
Vit. S. Cainnech, cap. 22. (Lib. Kilken. in Marsh's Library).
2 " Quandam die cum custos ejusdem monasterii Hithe horam nonam pulsare voluisset, prius perrexit ad sanctum Columban, sed ipsum non invenit. Jam per totas cellas ab omnibus fratribus diligenter quserebatur, et nee est inventus. Tune beatus Baithenus jussit ut pulsaretur nona," etc. — Ibid., cap. 21. The Life published by the Marquis of Ormonde from the Codex Salmanticensis reads in regione Heth in the former, and " Insula le" in this place. Caps. 24, 25, pp. 14, 15.
wounded. After this they gave back all the things which they had taken, and with many entreaties sought forgiveness from St. Comgall. So he was moved with compassion and prayed for them, and they received their sight, the sea also became calm, and they returned home empty and enfeebled. In process of time Saint Comgall was conducted back to Ireland by a company of holy men."1 This curious passage, making all due allowance for the legendary portion of it, is evidently based on fact, and appears to be an after-embellishment of an ancient veracious tradition. It designates the place as Eegio Heth, like the Terra Ethica of Adamnan, which the Irish word Tir allows, and recognises the insular, or, at least, the maritime position of the place. The predatory visit of Picts also supposes, as was the case, that at this time, namely the year 565,2 their nation was not in posses sion of the western isles.
It would also appear that St. Columba's departure from Ireland to lona in 563 was not in consequence of banishment, as some of his biographers allege, but rather a compliance with the im pulse which, at that period, the rising colony of the Dalriadic Scots had created towards a region abounding with islands (which were always attractive to ecclesiastical settlers), and those too of every size and character. Thus we find another famous saint from Ireland, St. Brendan the Voyager, the founder of Clonfert, first planting a church on the mainland, and then visiting the island with the same intent ; as is briefly stated in his Life : —
1 " Septimo quoque anno postquam monasterium Benchor fundatum est, sanctus pater Comgallus in Brittaniam navigavit, volens quosdam sanctos ibi visitare et ibi manere ad tempus. Et constituit ibi monasterium in quadam villa in Regione Heth. Ibique inansit ad tempus. Quodam die cum esset S. Comgallus solus in agro foris operans posuit chrismale suum super vestem suam. In ilia die gentiles latrunculi multi de Pictonibus irruerunt in villam illam ut raperent omnia quse ibi erant sive homines sive pecora. Cum ergo venisseiit gentiles ad S. Comgallum foris operantem, et chrismale suum super cappam suam vidissent, putaverunt chrismale illud deum S. Comgalli esse, et non ausi sunt eum tangere latrunculi, causa timoris dei sui. Fratres autem S. Comgalli cum omni substantia ad suas naves illi prsedatores duxerunt. At vero sanctus pater Comgallus hoc videns commotus, dixit : Dominus firmamentum meum et refugium, et liberator meus, et adorans Domiimm signavit c^elum et terram et mare, et statim gentiles csecitate percussi sunt ; ac insuper mare terribiliter intumescebat, ita lit naves in littus rejiceret, et corpora gentilium acriter vulnerata sunt. Tune illi emittentes omnia quse rapuerant, postulaverunt veniam magnis precibus a S, Comgallo. Sauctus jam motus misericordia. oravit pro eis : at illi lumen suum receperunt, et facta tranquillitate vacui reversi sunt et infirmi. Postea 8. Comgallus a multis viris sanctis reductus est in Hiberniam." — Vit. S. Com galli, cap. 22. Fleming, Collectan. p. 307, b. ; Act. Sanctor. Maii, torn, ii., p. 585 a.
2 The abbey of Bangor was founded in 558.
" In another quarter, in Britain, Brendan also founded a monastery called Ailech. And in another place in Britain, in the Eegion of Heth, he laid out a church and village beside it, where he per formed some wonderful miracles ; and after that he took ship and returned to Ireland."1 This visit is referred by Ussher to the year 514, at which date he relates the event with some slight variation : — " Brendan, son of Finnloga, in his return to Britain from Ireland, whither he had gone to salute S. Brigid, founded a church called Bledach, in the Region Heth"2
Of the ecclesiastics who were thus attracted to this favourite spot, Brendan was the oldest, and it is probable that his church was the earliest foundation there. Between them and St. Columba, who was some years the youngest, there existed the closest intimacy, and Adamnan3 relates an interview that took place between them at the Island of Hinba, whither they had gone in company to visit their friend. The life of St. Comgall also describes a scene which took place on one occasion when St. Columba, with St. Comgall and St. Cainnech, proceeded together to the fortress of Brudeus, the Pictish king.4
It is observable also in the passages which have been cited, that the place is styled, as in Adamnan, by the various terms terra, insula, and regio. Now, the application of these names is very natural, for the name Heth, or Hith, from which Adamnan forms his adjective Ethicus, is really the Irish for " corn," appearing in the dictionary in the various forms Ith, loth, Etha, Eatha, a kindred word with the Welsh Yd, the Cornish Hyt, the Armorican Heidh, the Danish Huede, and the Greek Sitos: and of the appropriateness of the name — " The Island or Land of Corn," no better testimony could be adduced than the brief description of John of Fordun : — " Insula Tyre-e qua turris est fortissima, etiam hordei magna copia."5
1 "Et in alia regione in Britannia monasterium nomine Ailech sanctus Brendenus fundavit, atque in loco alio in Britannia, in Regione Heth ecclesiam et villam juxta earn assignavit, et ibi magnas virtutes pater Brendanus fecit : et postea navigavit ad Hiberniam." — Vita S. Brendani, in Cod. Kilken. fol. 63, b, a. See also Ussher, Brit. EC. Antiqq., cap. xvii. Works, vol. vi. p. 523.
2 " Brendanus Findlogte films, ex Hibernia, quo ad S. Brigidam salutandum concesserat, in Britanniam rediens, ecclesiam Bledach dictam in Regione Heth fundavit." — ludex Chronol. DXIV. — Works, vol. vi. p. 584. Bledach in this passage is probably a misrepresentation of Ailech.
3 Vita S. Columbje, Lib. iii. c. 7 (Orig. Ed.)
4 Cap. 44. (Fleming, Collectan. p. 311, b; Acta SS. Maii, Tom. ii. p. 587 b.)
5 Scotichronicon, Lib. ii. c. 10. (Vol. i.p. 46. Ed. Goodall.) The Scottish tract in the Books of Ballymote and Mac Firbis seems to derive the name of the island from Tir-Aodha (pronounced Tir-Ee), " the Land of Hugh," which
Tiree, indeed, differs from most of the other Western Isles in being flat and arable, in many places having scarcely vegetation enough to confine the drifting sand, and presenting an insular plain barely raised above the level of the sea,1 and discernible at a distance only by its marginal heights of Kenavara, Hynish, and Hough. It is perhaps illustrative of its ancient fertility, that St. Columba directed Baithene, who was then resident on the island, at Moy-lung, to send to a poor man who lived in the neighbour hood of lona "a fat sheep and two bushels of corn,"2 — this being, as it were, the farm-land of the mother island.
Previously to the blight of 1846, Tiree not only supported an overgrown population, but exported a plentiful supply of potatoes to the Glasgow market ; and at all times Tiree has been in repute for its superior breed of ponies, in itself no mean proof of its being
" planis Porrectus spatiis, quoque multae prodigus herbse."
It is probable that if the records of lona had been preserved they would furnish us with further particulars of the early history of this interesting island ; but, in their absence, it continues un noticed for a number of centuries, and the silence is only broken by an accidental mention of the name Tirieth as one of the Scottish Isles in a manuscript of the ] 2th century.3 The mention, how ever, is interesting, as it exhibits the name according to the ancient orthography. John of Fordun, writing in the middle of the four teenth century, adopts a transition form of the name Tyre-6. In charters, retours, and other civil records between 1344 and 1626, it appears in the various shades of Tyriad, Tyriag, Tierieg, Tyreig, Tiry, Tere, Teree, Tiriage, Teyre, Terrie, Tierig, Teirrie, and Tieray.
During the period of Scandinavian rule in the Isles, Tiree seems to have shared in the general subjugation ; at least we may infer, from the names locally preserved, that a large infusion of strangers took place among the old inhabitants, introducing such names as
is the origin of the baronial name Tirhugh in the county of Donegal. Under the pedigree of the Clann-an-Mail, or Mac-an-Mail, occurs the following: — ** Cormac, son of Airbheartach, occupied twelve houses in Fionnlochlann, namely, Greagraighe of the Heroes, which is named Muile (Mull) and Tir (or Tire) Aodha and Cruibh-inis or Craobh-inis" (probably Coll), MSS. Royal Irish Academy.
1 From this circumstance the island has been styled among the Gaelicspeaking population Riogliachd barrfo thuinn, " the kingdom whose summits are lower than the waves."
2 " Quoddani pingue pecus et sex modios." — Vit. S. Columbae, Lib. i. cap. 41 (Orig. Ed.)
3 It occurs in a marginal note to Reginaldus Dunelmensis, " De admirandis beati Cuthberti virtutibus," cap. 62, in a hand contemporary with the text, i.e. of the twelfth century. — Surtees Society's Publications, 1835, p. 251.
Barrapoll, Crossapoll, Helipoll, Vassipoll, Kirkapoll, Soroby, Scarnish, Heynish, Hough, etc., chiefly as agricultural denominations, while the ecclesiastical or historical features of the island retained the older names of Kilchainnech, Kilmoluag, Kilbride, Kilwillin, Kilfinnan, Ballimartin, Ballimeanach, Ballinoe, Balliphuil, Balliphetrish, Kennavara. In this way the Teutonic Poll or Boll, signi fying "a dwelling," came, as a suffix, to be associated with the cognate prefix, the Celtic Baile, bringing into juxtaposition names of such remote extraction as Helipoll and Ballinoe.1
Under this foreign government probably it came to pass that the old names of Mag-Lung and Artchain fell into disuse, and the two principal churches of the island obtained the names of Kirka poll and Soroby. To them respectively became assigned the eastern and western halves of the island constituting two distinct rectories, which took their names, and were differently appro priated, though still retaining their connexion with the mother church in lona ; the parsonage of Kirkapool falling to the lot of the Bishop of the Isles,2 while that of Soroby, with the land of Ballephuille and the Wyle, " pertained to the Abbot of Eecolmkill."3 Long afterwards, an Act of Parliament nominating a Chapter for the Bishoprick of the Isles, ordained that " the Persone of Sorbie in Terie quha is also Vicar of Icolmekill shall be Deane."4 Thus we see that, to the very last, the churches of Tiree retained their subordinate relation to the church of lona, in its capacity either of abbey or cathedral.
We will now proceed to treat severally of the ecclesiastical remains in the island.
(1.) SOROBY, which is situated over a little bay in the farm of Ballimartin, in the south-east side of the island, is now known as a large and much-used churchyard, from which all traces of its ancient church have of late disappeared. It retains, however, a very curious cross, remarkable both for its massiveness and early designs. It is not half as tall as the lona crosses, but is probably more ancient than either. It is about five feet high, having a large central boss, and set in a coarse stone socket. In another part of the ground are numerous monumental slabs, similar to those in lona. One is deserving of especial notice, which appears to have originally belonged to that great family of crosses for which lona was once famed. It bears, in fine relief, the figure of Death holding by the hand a female ecclesiastic, and on a panel underneath the inscrip-
1 See the judicious observations of Chalmers on this subject. — Caledonia, vol. i. p. 206.
2 Collectanea de Rebus Albanicis, p, 4.
3 Ibid, p. 3. 4 Ibid. p. 181.
: — HEC EST CRVX MICHAELIS ARCHANGVELI DEI SOROR ANNA ABBATISSA DE Y.1 The top is broken off, but it appears to have been a memorial or votive cross, erected during the incumbency of Anna, but afterwards carried away to Tiree to serve as a tomb stone for some obscure individual.
This spot is in all probability the " Campus Lunge" of Adamnan, lying over against lona, retaining its old relation to the abbacy there, and, though it has assumed a new name, yet partially re taining the old one by proxy in the little adjoining creek which is still known as Port-na-lung.2
The following are the incidental notices of the monastery, which are found in Adamnan : —
A penitent called Feachna came from Ireland to lona, and con fessed before the brotherhood certain offences of which he had been guilty. He was received with kindness by St. Columba, and after a few days was sent by him to Baithene, who was at that time superior at Campus Lunge.3
Again St. Columba, having detected a robber called Ere, who lived in the little island of Colossa, in an attempt to commit a de predation, took pity on him, and to supply his necessities, des patched a message to Baithene, who was at that time living as superior at Campus Lunge,4 directing him to send off a sheep and six measures of wheat to the unhappy man.
On another occasion, it is stated that Baithene, having set sail from lona early in the morning, arrived at the harbour of Campus Lunge soon after nine o'clock, through favour of the south wind which speedily bore him across the broad sea to the land of Eth.5
One Libran, who had been a bondsman in Ireland, fled from his master, and coming to lona, threw himself down at St. Columba's feet, professing his readiness to undergo any penance which he
1 This was probably the Soror Anna whose tombstone remains in the nunnery of lona, and still bears the inscription — Hie IACET DOMINA ANNA DONALDI TEKLETI FILIA QVONDAM PRIORISSA DE IONA QVE OBIIT ANNO MO DO XLIII. See Graham's lona, p. 25.
2 The indefatigable Timothy Pont, who furnished the chief materials for Blaeu's maps of Scotland, calls it Port-Luinge, but it is laid down entirely too far north. In Blaeu's map the island is called Tyrryf. The best modern maps of Argyll omit Port na Lung, and though more correct in their outline of Tiree, have far less names laid down than the old geographer.
3 "Ad Baitheneum tune temporis in Campo Lunge preepositum." — Lib. i. cap. 30 (Orig. Ed.)
4 " Ad Baitheneum eo in tempore prsepositum commorantem in Campo Lunge." — Lib. i. cap. 41 (Ib.)
6 " Baitheneus plenis eadem die velis magnum totumque pelagus usque ad Ethicam transmeavit terrain. Hora vera ejusdem diei tertia vir venerandus Columbanum advocat presbyterum dicens : Nunc Baitheneus prospere optatum pervenit ad portum." — Lib. ii. c. 15 (Ib.)
might impose. Upon which the Saint pronounced that he should spend seven years in the Land of Eth, in devotional exercises,1 and forthwith sent him to the monastery of Campus Lunge.2 At the expiration of that time, he again presented himself at lona, seeking for further directions, and was instructed to return to Ireland, where he soon fulfilled the object of his mission, and having received the Saint's blessing, resumed his place in the monastery of Campus Lunge, and there continued to live many years after St. Columba' s decease.3
Another time, St. Columba, perceiving in spirit that a party of evil spirits were making an invisible assault upon his brotherhood, encountered them, and during the entire day maintained the con flict with doubtful success. At last he was reinforced by the angels of God, and drove the enemy from his island, who reached the Land of Eth in their flight,4 and there assailed the communities of the brethren, smiting them with a pestilential disease, of which many died. But Baithene, through the divine assistance, brought it to pass that the congregation over which, according to God's pleasure, he presided in Campus Lunge, were, through prayer and fasting, sheltered from the assault of the evil ones, so that only one of his whole fraternity died, whereas in the other monasteries of the island many sunk under the prevailing disease.5
This Baithene, who held so honoured a place under St. Columba, was his first cousin, and was born in 536. On the death of St. Columba, 895, he was appointed to fill his place, and became second abbot of Hy, which office he held for three years, and died on the 9th of June, the same day as his master, so that both names occur in the Calendar together.
There are two notices of this monastery in the Irish Annals ; the first for the year 673, where Tighernach, and after him the Annals of Ulster (A.C. 672) record its destruction by fire in this brief form : —
" Combustio Muighe Luinge." 6
1 ' Septennem debes in Ethica psenitentiam explere terra."
2 ' Hisdemque diebus ad monasterium Campi missus Lunge."
3 ' Per multos annales cycles in monasterio Campi Lunge, post Sancti Columbae de mundo transitum." — Lib. ii. cap. 39 (Orig. Ed.)
4 ' Ad Ethicam effugati sunt terrain."
5 ' Bene, ait Baitheneus, auxiliante Deo, dispensavit ut ejusdem ecclesise, cui Deo auctore prseest in Campo Lunge, jejuniis et orationibus collectio a dsemonum defendatur invasione ; ubi nemo excepto wno qui mortuus est hac vice morietur. Quod ita juxta vaticinium ejus expletum est. Nam cum multi in cseteris ejusdem insulse monasteriis eodem morbo morerentur, nemo nisi unus apud Baitheneum in sua est mortuus congregatione." — Lib. iii. c, 8 (Ib.)
6 O'Conor, Rer. Hib. Script., voL ii. p. 208.
The other passage is at the year 774 of the Annals of Ulster, where is entered the obit of
" Conall Maighi Luingi," which the Four Masters, in the parallel place, at 770, render " Conall Abb Maighe Luinge" that is, " Conall abbot of Magh Luing."1
The Four Masters almost universally omit the Scotch and British notices of saints and monasteries which occur in the earlier annals, and their recording these two occurrences leads one to sus pect that they supposed Magh-Luing to be in Ireland. There is a place indeed, of this name, near the village of Ballaghaderreen, in the county of Mayo, which derives its name from the River Lung, and is marked by the Ordnance Survey as the townland Lung, in the parish of Castlemore.2 Keating also makes mention of a Magh Luinge in Ciannachta of Meath, now the baronies of Duleek in that county,3 but neither place is known to have had any ecclesiastical foundation.
Colgan, when enumerating the various saints of the name of Brigid, cites a tract of Aengus the Culdee, as his authority for a Sancta Brigida de Mag-luinge ; 4 but he errs in his observation, " Magluinge est in regione Dal-riediae," unless by this he means the Scot tish settlement.5 (2.) It is a curious fact that there is a spot on the island still called Kilbride, that is, " Brigid's Church." It is on the north side, in the farm of Cornagmore, and human remains which are found here indicate a cemetery where a small chapel is known to have existed, the walls of which were removed to help in building some adjacent cabins.6 If this be the place referred to by Aengus, then Magh Lung must be understood to comprehend the western half of the island, about equivalent to the parish of Soroby.
The name of another church in the island is preserved by Adamnan in the title of a chapter, which runs thus : — " Concerning the presbyter Findchan, who was founder of the monastery in the Land of Eth, which is called in the Scotic tongue Artchain" 7 (3.) This name is obsolete now, unless it be supposed to have passed into ArdkirJcnish, which belongs to a spot on the north side in the farm of
1 O'Conor, Rer. Hib. Script., vol. iv. p. 105.
2 Mayo, sheet 74. See the map prefixed,., to O'Donovan's Hy-Fiachrach (past edge) ; also his note on Four Masters, A.D. 672.
3 History of Ireland, vol. i. p. 318, Ed. Haliday.
4 Aengus Keledeus, de Sanctis Homonimis, in Trias Thaum. p. 611, a.
5 Trias Thaumaturga, p. 611, b.
6 " At Cornaigbeg, in digging pits in sandy ground, there were found at different times human skeletons, and nigh them skeletons of horses.' — Old Statistical Survey, vol. x. p. 402.
7 Vit. S. Columbae, Lib. i. cap. 36 (Orig. Ed.)
Balphetrish, a little to the south-east of the farm-house, where there was formerly a chapel with its cemetery. (4.) Or it may be in the farm of Kenoway, to the S.w. of Balphetrish, where is a rocky space still known as Kilfinnian, having the faint vestiges of a quadrila teral building, measuring about 21 feet by 10, and lying east and west. Here still-born children have been occasionally buried.
(5.) But the most conspicuous remains in the island are those at Kirkapoll, in the neighbourhood of the modern parish church, and on the north side of Kirkapoll Bay. Here are two distinct burying-grounds. One of them contains the ruins of an old church, and several of the narrow decorated tombstones of the lona pattern, some of which are probably to be reckoned among the numerous spoliations of the Sacred Isle : one of them, in particular, which bears the following inscription on the bevel of its margin : — FIN- GONIVS : PRIOR : DE Y : ME : DEDID : PHILIPPO : IOANNIS : ET : SVIS : FILIIS : ANNO DOMINI M° CCCC° XCI1°. This prior was of the Clan Mac Finnguine, now called Mackinnon, and is thus noticed by Mac Firbis : — " Finnguine, abbot of Hy, brother to Domhnall, son of Gillebride." ! (6.) About 30 yards on the south-east is another, but seemingly more modern, cemetery, called Claodh-Odhrain, that is, " Oran's grave-yard," from St. Columba's disciple, the first who was said to have been interred in lona, and from whom the Eelig Oran, or great cemetery there, takes its name.
A little distance north of these grave-yards, is a rocky eminence, the summit of which is occupied by the ruin of another church of smaller dimensions, but more ancient than that in the principal grave yard. It measures 2 3 feet by 1 1 feet 6 inches. It possesses the peculiarity observable in the old churches at lona, and Kilkennich, and Templepatrick in Tiree, that it has no east window, but instead two narrow deeply-splayed windows on the north and south, near the east angles. The door-way, round-headed, is in the south, near the west angle. The rock on which this little fabric stands is nearly circular, and, what is very curious, the natural unevenness of the floor has never been rectified.
(7.) The farm of Kilchennich, on the west side of the island, takes its name from an old church built by, or in commemoration of, St. Canice. It is 28 feet 6 inches long, and 13 feet wide, with out any east window. The east and west gables are entire, and part of the side walls are standing. The doorway, with a circular head, is in the west. Close to it is a curious mound, about which human bones are continually exposed by the drifting of the sand, while the space within the walls is quite choked up. The writer in the Sta-
1 Fionnguine ab h-I dearbhralhair Domluia'dl me Gillelriyhde. — Gencal. MS. Royal Irish Acad. p. 407.
tistical Survey observes : — " There is at the chapel of Kilkeneth, in Tiry, a burying-ground so sandy, that, by blowing, heaps of human bones are seen, and coffins often exposed before half consumed. It is now surrounded by sand-banks higher than the side walls : they no longer bury here." 1
(8.) At the north-west angle of the island is the farm known by the very ecclesiastical name of Kilmoluag, that is, the " Church of Moluoc." This saint, who was the founder and patron of Lismore in Scotland, was a native of Ireland, and his festival is marked in the Calendar at the 25th of June. The Duke of Argyll is now his lay representative, and his pastoral staff is preserved as an heir loom in his Grace's family. The Annalist Tighernach thus records his obit at 592: — "The death of Lughaidh of Lismor, that is, Moluoc." 2 The stones of the old chapel were employed to build the walls of cabins, and the space where the cemetery is shown to have been is now in tillage.
(9.) The south-west point is the highest ground in Tiree, and is appropriately called Kmnav&ra, that is, Ceann an mhara, " the emi nence of the sea." At the foot of the declivity, in a little recess on the shore, looking south-west towards Skerryvore light-house, in a small green space, stands the east wall of a church built of stone and mortar. On the south there stands a pillar-stone with two crosses incised on it, of which the lower is the more ancient. The little area which is now over-grown with flags and rushes, seems to have been a cemetery. There are also the traces of a rude enclo sure of stones surrounding the consecrated space. It is called Templepatrick, A former minister of the parish gives the following description of the spot : — " At the hill of Ceanmharra, on a very rugged declivity, is situated St. Patrick's Temple. The vestige of a wall encloses it in one-third of an acre of land. It is 26 by 1 1 feet within the walls, the side walls 5 J feet high ; one gable six inches thicker than another ; without roof and ill-built, of stone and lime. A square altar at the east end is still eighteen inches high. The cross without the pedestal four feet. Within 61 yards of it, at the shore, on the top of a rock, is made a hollow two feet dia meter and four deep, called by the country-people St. Patrick's Vat." 3
(10.) A little to the north, in the farm of Barrapoll, is a small eminence called Knock-a-chlaodh? close to some cabins which, it is stated, were built out of the walls of a chapel that formerly stood
1 Old Statistical Survey of Scotland, vol. x. p. 401.
2 " Obilus Lughaidh Lwmoir, .i. Moluoc" A.C. 592. See Dr. Todd's Intro duction to the Obits of Christ Church, p. Ixv.
3 Old Statistical Survey, vol. x. p. 402.
4 The word claodh is a common one in the west of Scotland, signifying a here. The drifting of the sand has exposed the burying-ground, and, when visited by the writer in July 1852, the first object which caught his eye was a bleached skull and other bones lying bare on the surface of the ground.
(11.) At Heynish, the southerly part of the island, was a small burying-ground called Claodhbeg. It is now effaced.
(12.) In the farm of Helipoll, near Oossapoll, and a little south of the Island House, is a plot called Tempkfield, which derived its name from a chapel, the site of which is now occupied by a schoolhouse.
(13.) Lastly, at Kelis, on the N.E. side, near the ferry between Tiree and Coll, in ground occupied by Neil Clarke, was a chapel, with its burying-ground, called Croish-a-Chaolish.
All these burying-places are of great antiquity, some of them which are still used having monuments that indicate their early appropriation, while even those which have become obsolete may with reason be referred to a very remote period, and, by their num ber, evidence both a large population and great subdivision of eccle siastical interests in the island during the ages which preceded the centralizing movement of church patronage. And, though it is not pretended that all these thirteen religious stations can date their origin from such an early period as the sixth or seventh century, still there can be little doubt, when we compare their number with the moderate extent of the island, and the fact that Tiree and Coll, with the intervening islet of Gunna, now form but one parish, that this island was well known and much frequented at a very early stage of Christianity in Scotland. Adamnan's casual observation, " in cceteris ejusdem insulse monasteriis," accounts for the multipli city of religious vestiges in the island, while they reflect upon his narrative the attestation of a genuine statement.
The island of Coll, which at a distance appears to be a continu ation of Tiree, is separated by a sound about three miles wide, and is very different in its geological character. It holds no place in ancient church history like Tiree, but still it possesses a large share of ecclesiastical traces, and it may not be amiss to embrace the pre sent opportunity of putting them on record.1
1. The Island of GUNNA, which lies in the sound between Tiree and Coll, but nearer to the latter, has the remains of a chapel and cemetery. It was exclusively the burial-place of the Mac Neills of Coll.
" burying-ground." Thus S. Maelrubha's grave at Applecross is called " Clud Maree." Cladh and cliidh are given in O'Reilly's Irish Dictionary in the same sense.
1 For this list I am indebted to my intelligent friend, Mr. Lachlann M'Quarrie, the Duke of Argyll's ground-officer in Tiree.
2. At CAOLES, opposite to Gunna, the foundation of a chapel and the traces of a cemetery are still visible.
3. At CROSSPOLL, adjoining Caoles, is a burial-place which is still used, and the foundations of a chapel are also to be seen.
4. At BREACHACHADH, which also adjoins Caoles, was a chapel, with its cemetery, called Ardneish ; but about eight years ago the tenant removed the ruins for building purposes, and put the dis used cemetery under tillage.
5. At BREACHACHADH also, on the east side of the farm called Fasach, is the ruin of a chapel with a burial-ground, which was used within the memory of some old people now living.
6. At CLAPPACH, in the middle of the island, there was a chapel and burying-ground.
7. At GALLANACH, also near the middle of the island, was a chapel and burying-ground.
8. At KILFINNAIG is a cemetery which is still used, and where there was formerly a chapel.
9. At ARINTLUICH, on the S.E. of the island, was a chapel and cemetery.
10. At KILBRIDE, S.E. of Gallanach, was a chapel and cemetery.
11. At GREAMSARY was a chapel and cemetery, called Bearrigrein.
" There are fifteen remains of old chapels or churches, at some of which are burying-grounds and crosses still to be seen," said the Eev. Archibald M'Coll, in 1794, when writing the account of his united parish of Tiree and Coll for the Statistical Survey, and that this was no exaggeration the preceding recitals prove, giving 13 for Tiree, 1 for Gunna, and 10 for Coll.
A Table of Religious Places in Tiree.
NAME.
FARM.
POINT.
CONDITION.
KIRKAPOLL, .
Kirkapoll,
N.E. i
Parish church-yard. Ruins of church.
CLAODH ODHRAIN,
KirTcapoll,
N.E.
Burying-ground. Ancient chapel near.
CROISH A CHAOLISH,
Kelis,
E.
Cemetery, now tilled.
ARDKIRKNISH,
Balphetrish,
N.
Chapel and cemetery, now tilled.
KILFINNAN, .
Kenovey,
N.
Slight traces of chapel.
KILBRIDE,
Cornaigmore,
N.
Site of chapel and cemetery, tilled.
KILMOLUAG, .
Kilmoluag,
N.W.
Site of chapel and cemetery, tilled.
KILCHENICH, .
Kilchenich,
W.
Chapel in ruins. Traces of cemetery.
KNOCK-A CHLAODH,
Barrapoll,
S .W.
Chapel removed. Traces of cemetery.
TEMPLE-PATRICK, .
Barrapoll,
s.w.
Wall of chapel. Cross. Enclosure.
CLAODH BEG, .
Heynish,
S.
Site of cemetery, tilled.
SOROBY, .
Ballimartin,
S.E.
Church-yard. Cross. Ancient tombs.
TEMPLEFIELD,
Hdipoll,
S.E.
Site of chapel and cemetery, tilled.
2. HlNBA, ElLEANN NA NAOIMH.
In his notes upon Hinba, Dr. Reeves hesitates whether to place it north or south of lona. If the former, he thinks it may have been Canna, its church being dedicated to St. Columba, and the parsonage of the island belonging to the abbot of Hy (see note, p. 264). If the latter, he inclines to Elachnave, one of the Garvelochs, if it is not the Elena insula mentioned in B. II. c. 17. The grounds which appear to indicate a situation north of lona are the state ments in chapters vi. and xix. of the third book. In chapter VI. Columba was in Hinba, when he saw the vision directing him to inaugurate Aidan king, and goes to lona to meet him, from which it is inferred that lona was nearer the mainland of Aidan's king dom than Hinba ; and in chapter xix. Baithene is prevented from joining St. Columba in Hinba, being detained by contrary winds in the island of Egg, and, as Baithene was at this time superior of the monastery of Magh Lunge in Tyree, the inference here is that he had gone to Egg on his way to Hinba, but both inferences appear to me inconclusive : for, as to the first, it is expressly said that St. Columba went to lona " verbo obsecutus Domini," and he appears to have met Aidan there rather from its being the appointed place for his inauguration than from its proximity in situation to Aidan's kingdom ; and, as to the second, it is as sumed that Baithene had gone to Egg on his way to Hinba, but, if Hinba is Canna, Egg lies very far to the eastward of it. What was a fair wind from Tyree to Egg would also be a fair wind to Canna, and, if a straight course from Tyree to Canna were taken, Baithene could have reached it nearly as soon as he would the island of Egg, and would have gone unnecessarily out of his way to the latter. On the other hand, if Hinba lay south of lona, what would be a fair wind from Tyree to Egg would be an adverse wind returning, and it is more probable that Baithene had gone to Egg in connexion with the foundation of the church there by St. Donnan, which took place during St. Columba' s life, and had been detained there, waiting till the wind changed to the north to enable him to join St. Columba in Hinba.
It appears to me that Dr. Reeves's instincts led him right when his opinion leant more towards Elachnave, and I think there are reasons for concluding that Elena must be identified with another island.
The island now called Elachnave is one of a group of six islands usually termed the Garvelochs. Two are near the north-end of the island of Luing.1 The remaining four are in the middle of
1 These two small islands were termed by Dean Munro, in the sixteenth century, Garvelloch Skeau and Garvelloch Nanronow.
the broad channel which separates Mull from the coast of Lome. They are now called, as they lie from north to south, Dunchonell, Garvelloch, Coulbrandon, and Elachnave. In the older countymaps they are termed the Mare Isles, and, in the Ordnance Survey, the Isles of the ocean, probably a translation of Eileann an Mhara. The earliest notice of them is by Fordun in the fourteenth century : " Insula Helant Leneow, scilicet, insula sanctorum et ibi refugium. Insula Garveleane, juxta magnum Castrum de Donquhonle, distans ab aliis insulis sex milliaribus in oceano " (n. 10.) The rendering of Helant Leneow by insula sanctorum shows that the name in his day was not Eileann Naomh or Holy Island, as it is usually called, but Eileann na Naoimh, or the Island of Saints, and it is so called still by the Gaelic-speaking people of the neighbourhood, while Garvelloch appears under the older form of Garbh-Eileann ; but those names had passed into their present corrupted form as early as the beginning of the seventeenth century, for in 1629 Archibald Campbell of Kilmelphort resigns to Archibald Lord Lome the isles of Garvelach and Dunchonill, and iii 1630 Andrew, Bishop of Eaphoe and Prior of Oransay, grants to John Campbell, rector of Craigness, the isles of Ilachinive and Kilbrandon. (Orig. Par. vol. ii, pt. i. p. 279.)
The most important islands connected with the monastery of Hy during the abbacy of St. Columba were those termed by Adamnan Ethica insula and Hinbina or Hinba insula. That the Ethica insula is Tiree has been clearly shown by Dr. Eeeves, and Eileann na Naoimh is the only other island which contains ecclesiastical remains at all commensurate with its relation towards the com munity at lona, while those on Canna consist only of the usual remains of a single small church found on most islands.
The remains on Eileann na Naoimh too correspond in a remark able degree with what Adamnan tells us of Hinba ; and there are other indications which point so clearly to the identity that the name of Eileann na Naoimh has been inserted in the translation in the modern name of Hinba.
Dr. MacCulloch gives in 1824 the following description of the islands : — " This chain of islands appears to exceed three miles in length. There are five islands, together with one rock, in the chain, so exactly resembling each other in structure and form as to convey the idea of their having once been more intimately con nected. Ilachanu (Eileann na Naoimh) appeared to be about a mile in length, and is not inhabited. Garveloch contains a single i farm, and seemed to be about a mile and a half long. Dunechou | (Dunchonell) the northernmost, is not more than a quarter of a mile ; and two small islands, even more insignificant, lie between arveloch and Ilachanu. The surface of all these islands slopes upward, although very irregularly, from the south-west ; but the opposite side is bounded by perpendicular cliffs which, through the whole, form one line, however interrupted by the intervals which separate the different islands.
" On traversing Ilachanu I was surprised at the irregularity and beauty of a spot which seemed at a distance to be a bare hill, and of which, even from the creek where our boat was drawn up, no con jecture could have been formed. Surmounting one ridge after another, a succession of secluded valleys appeared, which, although without other wood than a few scattered bushes, were beautifully dispersed, and were rendered interesting no less by their silence and seclusion than by the intermixture of rock and green pasture, among which were wandering the cattle of the adjoining farm of Garveloch. It was impossible to imagine that we were here on a narrow spot surrounded by a wild sea, and far remote from the land : no sound of winds or waves, nor sight of water interfering with the tranquillity and retirement of scenes which made us forget that the boisterous ocean was breaking all around.
" While I was amusing myself with imagining a hermit here retired from the world and its cares, I came most unexpectedly on a heap of ruins, accompanied by characters which left no doubt of their original design.
" The ruins of that which must have formed the monastery are sufficiently extensive to show that the establishment must have been considerable ; but they are not rendered interesting by any thing in their architecture, nor was it easy to conjecture their original state or appropriation. At a small distance from these ruins was the burying-ground, containing many ornamented stones with remains of crosses apparently native, as most of those in lona probably were.
" From the number and nature of these monuments it is plain that this must have been a place of great sanctity, and, if we may judge from that testimony, next perhaps in importance, among the inner islands, to lona and Oransa, a circumstance otherwise rendered probable by the extent of the monastic buildings." — (Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 124.)
Mr. Muir of Leith thus describes these remains in 1861 : — " The architectural remains in Eilean Naomh [Eileann na Naoimh] are congregated nearly about the middle of the island, on its south eastern side. These, though in good part not greatly dilapidated, are generally of such vague character that it would be hardly possible to do more than guess at the uses to which they were applied.
" One of the largest and most entire is obviously a church, inter nally 2 1 ft. 7 in. in length, constructed, like all the other buildings, of rude masonry in which no lime or cement of any kind has been used. Excepting the gables, both which are wanting, the walls are perfect, but present nothing in the way of detail more impor tant than a square-headed doorway of slightly tapering form in the west end, and a small square-headed window, splayed on both sides, but mostly on the exterior, in the east end, flanked on its south by a projecting shelf, which seems to have been an altar. Southward of the church are two enclosed spaces, one of which is a long since disused burial-ground, the other probably a garden ; and on the east of these are several ruinated buildings of domestic character, irregularly placed, but communicating with each other.
" A little off the church in another direction there is a pretty entire building of rather singular kind, internally 16 feet in length by 10 feet in width, the east end semi-circular, the west end square and gabled. It has a square-topped door-way on each side near the west end, but there are no traces of windows. Internally the whole semicircular part of the area is elevated about four feet into a solid plat or dais, in the middle of which is a round pit with a narrow passage to its bottom carried horizontally through the basement of the elevation.
El LEAN NAOMH
El LEAN NAOMH
" The second cut is a ground plan of another building — an underground cell of irregular oval shape measuring 5 ft. 4 in. by 4 ft. 5 in., with a depth of rather more than 4 feet. The roof is formed simply by a few heavy slabs laid across the walls on a level with the ground outside, and the entrance is by a slanting
aperture just where the roof and the walls unite.
" Two other buildings, forming a part of this curious group, remain to be described. These are dome-shaped, and joined together, the larger one inter nally 14 feet in diameter, the other about a foot less. The two buildings communicate with each other by means of a square-shaped doorway through the points of contact, and the larger one with the outside by another doorway of like kind facing the south-west, but with the exception of a square aperture at the ground, more like a gutter-hole than a door, there is no external opening in the smaller building. On one side the smaller dome is nearly entire, but the larger one is so considerably ruinated that very little of its originally curved form is perceptible. The fisher men who frequent the island El LEAN NAOMH call these two buildings 'the
ovens,' and as they seem to resemble re presentations of the 'Arthur's oven' which stood at Penicuik, near Edinburgh, and some of the primitive cells described by Dr. Petrie as still existing El LEAN N AOM H
on Ardoilen, there is
reason to believe that, in respect both of age and object of erection, the whole are identical.
" Like many other localities in western Scotland, Eilean Naomh is intimately associated by common tradition with St. Columba, who, it is said, oftentimes visited and resided on the island whilst abroad Jui the prosecution of his missionary labours. At the head of the narrow creek, where the landing is usually made, is a little well, which he fashioned and fructified in the living rock ; l and on the summit of a neighbouring hillock, overlooking the shore, a pile of loose stones, laid together like an altar, and flanked by a short pillar bearing an incised cross, is locally regarded as the tomb of Eithne, mother of the illustrious saint." — (Characteristics of Old Church Architecture in the Mainland and Western Islands of Scotland, p. 141.)
Dr. Reeves gives us the following description of these remains : — " The number of remains grouped together on the south-eastern side of the island are evidence of its early importance as an eccle siastical establishment, and the simplicity of their structure supports their claims to antiquity. On a slope close to the shore are the remains of two beehive cells, constructed of slate, and bearing a striking resemblance to the primitive cells sketched in Petrie's ' Round Towers' (pp. 127, 128). One of them is half demolished, but the other is more perfect, covered on the outside with mould and sods. The entrance was so low as to require one to creep on his hands and face to gain admission, and there was a passage communicating between them of like contracted dimensions. In a sheltered grassy hollow at the foot of the eastern slope is the cemetery, with traces of graves of great age, and a few rude head stones, but none with any inscription, save a small square slab having a Greek cross incised. Attached to this space, on the north, are the remains of some conventual buildings. North of them, at a little distance, is the oratory, a small roofless building, formed of slates without mortar, having the door in the west, and a small doubly-splayed window in the east. A little north-east of this is a very curious building, with rounded corners, and one entrance in the middle ;of the north side, without any traces of windows. Further off from the oratory, on higher ground to the east, is a small building, divided into two compartments, the southern one of which is nearly semicircular, having a platform of masonry, in the centre of which is a circular funnel, giving one the idea of a kiln. On the face of the slope south of the cemetery is a little cairn, like a rude altar, and beside it a small square slab with a cross incised. The writer visited the island on the 22d of July 1852, in company with his friends Cosmo Innes and William F. Skene, the former of whom has since most truly stated concerning these remains : ' The crowd of low buildings has all the appearance of a monastic establishment ; and if it was so, these are perhaps the oldest vestiges of the sort now standing in Scotland' (Orig. Par.,
1 It is still called by the people Tdbar Challum-na-chille, or St. Columba's Well.— W. F. S.
vol. ii. pt. i. p. 277); of course always excepting the monastic group on Loch Columkille in Skye'" (Orig. Ed. p. 127). Dr. Eeeves con cludes this account with the pertinent " Query, Is this Hinba ? "
Here, then, we find the monastery (monasterium) founded by St. Columba, and over which he placed his uncle Ernan (B. I. c. xxxv. p. 33). Here we have the church (ecdesia) in which St. Columba consecrated, in the presence of the four founders of monasteries, the holy mysteries of the Eucharist (B. ill. c. xviii. p. 90), the house (domus) in which he dwelt, and which was filled with heavenly brightness (B. in. c. xix. p. 90) ; and here we have the hermitage (locus anachoretarum) in which Virgnous led the life of an anchorite for twelve years (B. in. c. xxiv. p. 99), and as to which Dr. Reeves remarks : " The mind is at once led to the beehive cells in Eilean-na-Naomh" (Orig. Ed. p. 366). But there is another circumstance related by Adamnan (in B. n. cap. xxv.), which seems to point very plainly to Eileann-na-Naoimh as Hinba. St. Columba is dwelling in Hinba when he resolves to excommuni cate the sons of Conall, son of Domnall, who were oppressors of the Church, one of whom was Joan, who is mentioned in a previous chapter (ii. 23) as of the "genus Gabran," and as leading a piratical life. To prevent this, one of the same family, named Manus dextem or Lamdess, rushes at St. Columba with a spear and tries to kill him. It is not said that he came to the island from else where, and the inference from the whole narrative is that this family of oppressors of the Church had their chief seat in or near Hinba. Dean Munro, however, in his description of the Western Isles in 1594, mentions "Dunchonill, ane iyle so namit from Conal Kernache, ane strength, wich is als meikle as to say in Englishe, ane round Castle." Kernache is probably Ceatharnach, " a soldier, or leader of a company," or what were called, from this word, " caterans ; " and it seems not unreasonable to suppose that Dunchonall was so called from Conall, the father of Joan, and was the seat of this piratical family, for which, both from its isolated character and its proximity to the mainland territory of the genus Gabran, it was peculiarly appropriate ; and this confirms the identity of Eileann-na-Naoimh with Hinba. The island, " quse Latine Longa vocitari potest," where Lamdess perished, was no doubt Luing, which lies between Eileann-na-Naoimh and the mainland.
3. ELENA INSULA, EILEAN NAOMH, NEAR ISLA.
This island is only once mentioned by Adamnan (B. II. c. xviii.), who states incidentally that Lugneus Mocumin was afterwards, in his old age, prcepositus of the monastery there, which implies that it was a dependent monastery, or church, on lona. Dr. Eeeves is of opinion that Elena is a name formed from " Eileann," an island, and that it may have been Elachnave, or Eileann-na-Naoimh. The word Eileann is only attached in Scotland to the names of the smaller islands, and if it be so, it is among them we must look for it. Dr. Reeves adds in his note on this name (Orig. Ed. p. 128) : " Eilean Naomh, both in the case of this island and of that on the north west of Isla, is evidently a secondary name," and there is a circum stance which renders it more probable that the latter island is to be identified with the Elena of Lugne Mocumin. In the Origines Parochiales (vol. ii. pt. i. p. 274) we find the following account of it : — " There was another chapel on Island Nave (the Ylen Naomh of Blaeu), off the headland called Ardnave, which Archdeacon Monro styles, ' ane iyle called by the Erisch Ellan-nese (Ellanneve), with ane kirk in it.' Its ruins and a large cemetery remain." Now this island is in the parish of Kilchoman in Isla, and, in 1546, the name appears in the form of " Killemccomman," or the church of Maccomman, when Queen Mary presents Sir Alexander M'Alestir to the rectory (Reg. Sec. Sig., vol. xix. fol. 80) a form of the name which appears to connect the dedication of the parish with Lugne Mocumin. The lands of Ardnave too belonged to the Abbot of lona. The only other island on the coasts of Isla which has any ecclesiastical remains on it is Eilean Texa on the east side of the island. Fordun mentions it as " Insula Helant texa, ibique cella monachorum," but it seems to be the " Oidecha or Aitche of B. n. c. 13, p. 161. It is in the direct course between lona and Ireland, and the name Oidech occurs among the posses sions of the Cinel Angus, which were on this side of the island.
4. MUIRBOLG PARADISI, PORT-NA-MURLOCH.
Dr. Reeves, in his note on Murbulcmar (Orig. Ed., p. 366), seems to indicate an opinion that Murbulc Paradisi was pro bably the same name, but it is more probable that the dif ference in the termination or qualifying adjunct was intended to mark two different places both bearing the name of Murbulg. Murbulcmar was certainly in Hinba, but Murbulc Para disi seems from the mention of it at p. 122 to have been a harbour frequented by traders from Ireland, which is quite in applicable to Eileann na Naoimh. Murbulg, as Dr. Reeves has pointed out, becomes Murlough by corruption, and there is apparently only one harbour in the Western Isles which bears this name. The writer of the account of Lismore in the New Statistical Account tells us that "A] little to the west of Port Ramsa (in Lismore) is the harbour of Lochoscar, called by the mariners' chart Oscar's bay. Tradition says that the bay re ceived its name from the circumstance of a party of Fingalians coming on one occasion to enjoy the pleasure of the chase in Lismore (which, in the days of Fingal, is said to have been the habitation of red-deer and other wild beasts) and anchoring their vessel in the bay ; and, as presumptive proof of the fact, it may be mentioned that the landing-place is called Port-na-murlach, i.e. Portna-mor-laoch, or landing-place of the great heroes, and that there is in the immediate neighbourhood a ridge or rising ground, where the Fingalian ladies are said to have stood to enjoy the view of the chase, and which is still called Druim nam ban Fionn, i.e. Eidge of the Fingalian ladies. Port-na-murlach is, like Port Ramsa, pro tected at the mouth by a few islands, the principal of which is called Elein loch Oscair, or island of Oscar's bay. The entrance from the south side of the islands is clear, but by the north side it is dangerous, and the bay is fit to receive and shelter vessels of any burthen" (N. S. A., vol. vii. p. 229). Subtracting from this account Fingall and his heroes and the bad etymology, we have here a sheltered harbour in Lismore bearing the name of Port-namurloch, which must have been a corruption from Port-iLa-murbidg. The same writer tells us that " Lismore signifies a great garden, being a compound of the two Gaelic terms, Lios, a garden, and Mor, great, probably from the exceeding richness of its soil, and its being situated like a garden in the desert, in the centre of a country much less fertile than itself" (Ib. p. 224). Paradisus may have been a fanciful rendering of Lismore into Latin by Adamnan in allusion to the paradisiacal garden of Eden. In returning from Ardnamurchan by Sunart and the isthmus between it and the Linnhe Loch, Port-na-murloch would be quite in their way. It lies also nearly opposite the bay of Loch Corry in Morvern, where the Coire Sailchen of B. I. c. 35, p. 143, is to be placed.
5. AIRTHRAGO, KERRERA.
There can be little doubt that Sainea insula of B. n. c. 46, p. 190, is, as Dr. Reeves supposes, Shuna, as a south wind proved a favourable wind from it to lona. From Airthrago (p. 189) a south-east wind was the favourable wind ; it therefore lay to the east of Shuna. The monks had gone to the river Sale to gather wood, and took shelter from a westerly gale behind Airthrago. There is in Lorn, opposite the island of Seil, a small lake called Loch Seil, from which a stream flows into the sound which divides Seil from the mainland. This sound is so narrow, that it is in one part spanned by a bridge, and resembles more a river than a sound. Leaving this sound to return to lona, the brethren would, as soon as they passed the point of Easdale, become exposed to the whole sweep of the Atlantic, where a west wind raises a heavy sea, and vessels usually take shelter from a westerly gale in the sound of Kerrera, which divides that island from the mainland, and leads into Oban bay. It may be presumed therefore that Seil is the Sale of the narrative, and Kerrera the island in question.
6. COLOSO, COLONSAY.
That this island is the larger Colonsay is plain enough, for we are told in B. n. c. 23, p. 167, that Joan, son of Conall, being caught in a gale between Malea and Coloso, was overwhelmed by the sea and perished. The open channel between the Ross of Mull and the larger Colonsay is the most dangerous on the west coast, there being no shelter there from a westerly gale, which raises a tremendous sea, and its action on the sunken rocks called the Torrens rocks makes it much dreaded under such circumstances. Colosus is therefore the old form of Colonsay, and Oransay, adjacent to it, appears in a similar form on an ancient cross recording the death of Colin prior Orisoi (Orig. Par., vol. ii. pt. i. p. 282). These names have therefore no connexion with St. Columba and St. Oran, as is generally supposed.
7. STAGNUM AB^ FLUMINIS, LOCH AWE.
The name of this lake is given by Adamnan in an unusual form. It is not Stagnum Abse like Stagnum Aporicum or Stagnum Crogreth, but Stagnum Alassfluminis (B. I. c. 25, p. 132). There is only one other instance of a similar form, in Nisse fluminis Lacus. This was certainly Loch Ness. This form is therefore used for a large inland lake having a river of the same name connecting it with the sea, and we are thus led to Loch Awe as a precisely similar case of a large inland lake with the river Awe flowing out of it into the sea. The word Aba would, when aspirated, pass by corrup tion into Awe.
8. FLUVIUS NIGRA DEA, DELCROS, INSULA OMMON, STAGNUM CROGRETH, KAILLE-AU-INDE, STAGNUM LOCH-DLE.
Where the names in Adamnan resemble the modern names so closely as to leave no doubt of their identity, as in Scia, Skye ; Egea, Egg ; Ardamuirchol, Ardnamurchan ; Nesa, Ness ; Malea, Mull ; Stagnum Aporum, Lochaber ; and Aircartdan, Urquhart, — it is unnecessary to add any further proof; and assuming that the identification of the other names above noticed has been established, there only remain a few localities in Scotland unidentified. The fiuvius qui Latine dici potest Nigra Dea (178) was in or near Loch Aber, but I have been unable to identify it, neither can I fix the situation of Delcros (154) or of insula Ommon (136), unless it be Sanda near the Mull of Kintyre, the old name of which was Avoyn. It is no unreasonable supposition that the name Crogreth (143) may have passed into Creran. It could not have been far from Corry Sailchen in Morvern, and Lismore lies between it and Loch Creran. Kaille-au-inde (173) I am inclined to find in the place in Morvern on the Sound of Mull, now called Killundine. It is in a parish formerly called Killyndykt, Kilfynnyc, Killyntag or Killintag (Orig. Par., vol. ii. pt. i. p. 189) a name obviously formed from Cillfhintaig, and Fintaig may be a form of Finten, as Colmoc is of Colman. It is curious enough that Finten, we are told, became dangerously ill, and was miraculously cured, as the saint was journeying across the Dorsum Britannia or Drumalban. In crossing this great natural boundary he seems to have usually taken either of two routes, one by the great glen of Scotland, which brought him to Loch Ness, when he crossed Drumalban by the pass between Loch Lochy and Loch Oich, termed Laggan Achadrom ; the other by the old track leading from Loch Aber into Badenoch through Glenroy, where he crossed the ridge at the hills which divide it from the Strath of the Spey, and are called the Drummond hills. Now, in this latter route there is a small valley at the mouth of Glenroy termed Glenfintaig, which seems to take its name from the same person as Cillfhintaig or Killintaig in Morvern.
The Stagnum Loch-dise (110, 258) seems also from the narra tive to be situated on the east side of Drumalban, not far from the boundary. The only other mention of it is the battle recorded by Tighernach in 728, at " Monotcarno juxta stagnum Loogdise," between the armies of Nechtain and Angus, king of the Picts, in which the former was defeated with great slaughter. In pro ceeding by the second route down the Spey, the first lake St. Columba would reach is the lake now called Loch Inch, not far from the village of Kingussie. This name of Loch Inch, or "the lake of the island," is obviously a secondary name, but on the north bank of it is the ancient seat of the M'Intoshes, termed Dunnachtan, or the fortress of Neachtan, which seems to connect it with the name of the defeated king, and the hills behind it enclose the valley of Glencharny, and may have been the Monot carno of Tighernach. The ancient name of the lake may be pre served in the name Lochandu, now applied to a small lake formed by the Spey adjacent to it (N. S. A. vol. xiv. p. 189.) This church of Kingussie, near which it is situated, was dedicated to St. Columba. W. F. S.
II.
EXPLANATION OF NAMES ON THE MAP OF IONA.
Aird
Ard,
Height, . . I
VI.
Alt a choirinn,
Alt a? chaorthainn, .
. Cliff1 of the rowan,
V.
Aonaidh an taoghain,
Aonach an taghain, .
. Cliff of the marten,
VI.
Aonaidh mor,
An t-aonach mor,
. The great cliff,
V.
Aonaidh nan sruth, .
Aonach na sruth,
Cliff of the streams,
VI.
Ard an dorain,
Aird an dobharchon,
. Otter's 2 point, .
IV.
Ard annraidh, .
Ard annraidh,
. Height of the storm,
I.
Bealach mor, an,
An bealach mor,
. The great pass,
V.
Bealach nam ban,
Bealach na m-ban, .
. Pass of the women,
V.
Bealach nan luirgean,
Bealach na luirgen, .
. Pass of the legs, or shins,
V.
Beul builg,
Beul builg,
. Mouth of the bag,
IV.
Beul mor,
Beul mor,
. Big mouth, .
VI.
Blar buidhe,
Blar buidhe,
. Yellow field,
I.
Blar nam manach, .
Blar na manach,
Field of the monks,
V.
Buaile nan cailleach,
Buailidh na cailleach,
. Fold of the women,
V.
Caibeal Muire, .
Caipeal Muire,
. Mary's chapel,
I.
Cam leoib, an, .
An cam leadhbh,
. The crooked shed,
I.
Caolis annraidh,
Caolas annraidh,
. Stormy channel,
I.
Carnan buidhe,
Carnan buidhe,
. Yellow hiU,
V.
Cam cul-ri Eirin,3 .
Cam cul ri Eirinn, .
. Carn-back-to-Ireland,
VI.
Carraig a chaolis,
Carraig an chaolais, .
. Rock of the channel,
VI.
Carraig mhoiltein,
Carraig a mhoiltm, .
. Rock of the wether,
VI.
Carraig an daimh, .
Carraig an daimh, .
. Rock of the ox,
II.
Carraig ard annraidh,
Carraig ard annraidh.
. Rock of stormy height, .
I.
Carraig fada, a,
An charraig fhadha,
. The long rock,
I.
Carraig na fionaig, .
Carraig na fionnoige,
. Rock of the scald-crow, .
I.
Ceann an uird,
Ceann an uird,
. Head of the mallet,
VI.
Ceann na creige,
Ceann na creige,
. Head of the rock,
V.
Ceann t-sear, .
Ceann t-soir,
. East head,
I.
Cheapach a,4
An ceapach,
. Plot of tillage,
III.
Chorrag, a,
An charrag,
.. The finger, . .
I.
Clacha Dubh, .
Clocha dubha, .
. Black stones,
II.
Clachanach,
Clochanach,
. Rocky ground,
I.
Clach staoin, a,
An clock staoin,
. Inclining stone,
VI.
Cladh an Diseart,5 .
Cladh an Disirt,
. Cemetery of the Desert,
I.
1 Cliff. — Alt, ab Altitudine. — Cormac.
2 Otter's. — Dobhar-cu, ' water-hound.' See p. 258. 8 Carn-cul-ri-Eirin. — See p. Ixv, supra.
4 Cheapach. — See Colton's Visitation, p. 4.
5 Cladh-an-Diseart.— Cladh primarily signifies a " bank," " mound," " dike." Thus Severus's wall was called Cladh na muice (Irish Nennius, p. 64) ; and among the earthworks of Tara were Nai cluid, no cluideadh gairutenn, " Nine cluids, or rough, strong dykes" (Keneth O'Hartigan, in Petrie's Tara, p. 165). It is translated cacumen in the Book of Armagh ; thus where the Irish authority states, ocus ro suidighedh Laegairifo a sciath gaisciudfris in clod n-imechtrach n-airther descertach na rig ratha Loegairi i Temraigh, " Laeghaire was interred with his
Cladh Chaoinich,
Cladh Chainnigh,
CainneclTs cemetery,
I.
Cladh Iain,
Cladh Iain,
. Cemetery of John, .
I.
Cladh nan Druineach,
Cladh na nDruidhnec,
. Cemetery of the Druids,
III.
Cladh Remain, .
Cladh Ronain,
. Cemetery of Ronan,
I.
Cnoc a chnu,
Cnoc a chno,
. Hill of the nut,
II.
Cnocan an aiteil,
Cnoc an aiteil,
. Little knoll of the prospect,
III.
Cnoc an f hiona,
Cnoc an f hiona,
Hill of the wine, .
V.
Cnoc an tobair,
Cnoc an tobair,
. Hill of the well, . '.
III.
Cnoc an t-suidhe,
Cnoc an t-suidhe,
. Hill of the seat,
I.
Cnoc aobhrain,1
Cnoc oifrinn, .
. Hill of the Mass, .
III.
Cnoc beul moir,
Cnoc beil moir,
Hill of the big mouth, .
VI.
Cnoc druidean,
Cnoc druidean,
. Hill of the starlings,
V.
Cnoc fada,
Cnoc fada,
Long hill,
II.
Cnoc liathan, .
Cnoc leathan, .
. Broad hill, .
III.
Cnoc mor,2
Cnoc mor,
. Great hill,
I.
Cnoc na carcuil,
Cnoc na carcrach, .
. Hill of the prison, .
I.
Cnoc na cridhe,
Cnoc na cridhe or craoi,
Hill of the heart, or fold,
I.
Cnoc na faire,
Cnoc na faire, .
Hill of the watching,
VI.
Cnoc na hanalach,
Cnoc na hanalach, .
Hill of the panting,
IV.
Cnoc na h-uineig,
Cnoc nafuinneoige, .
. Hill of the window,
III.
Cnoc naingel, .
Cnoc na nAingeal, .
. Hill of the angels, .
IV.
Cnoc nan brathan,
Cnoc na m-bron,
Hill of the querns,
II.
Cnoc na meirghe,
Cnoc na meirge,
Hill of the standard,
II.
Cnoc nan carnan,
Cnoc na carnan,
. Hill of the heaps, .
I.
Cnoc Odhrain, .
Cnoc Odhrain,
. Oran'shill, . .11.,
IV.
Cnoc urrais,
Cnoc urradhais,
. Hill of surety,
II.
Corr eilean,
Corr oilean,
. Heron island,
II.
Creag ghrugaig,
Creag grugach,
. Frowning rock,
V.
Crois Aodhannan,
Crois Adhamnain, .
. Adamnan's cross, .
I.
Crois Brendain,
Crois Brendain,
. Brendan's cross,
I.
Crois Eoin,
Crois Eoin,
John's cross, . . »
I.
Crois Mhairtin,
Crois Mhairtein,
. Martin's cross,
I.
Crois Mic-Gilleoin, .
Crois Mic-gilla-Eoin,
. Maclean's cross,
I.
Crossan mor, na,
Crossana mora,
. The great crosses, .
I.
Cul bhuirg,
Cul bhuirg,
. Back of the burgh,
II.
Currachan, an,
An currachan, .
. The little curach, .
VI.
Dathach,3
Dabhach,3
. The vat,
I.
shield of valour, in the external rampart, in the south-east of the royal rath oj Laeghaire at Tara " (Petrie's Tara, p. 113) ; the Latin reads : "Neel pater meus non sinivit mihi credere sed ut sepelier in cacuminibus Temro" (fol. 10 a b). In another place, referring to the earthen vallum of a primitive church, it says, ' ' El sepelierunt earn in cacuminibus ecclesioe desuper " (ib. fol. 14 bb). So "Cacumi nibus Aisse " (ib. fol. 10 aa). In the secondary meaning of " a grave," or " burying-ground," it is very generally employed by the native Highlanders, but in this sense it is rarely used in Ireland.
1 Cnoc aobhrain. — Aiffrind is from the Latin qffertorium. Inchaffray, in the parish of Madderty, in Perthshire, which derives its name from this word, is latinized Insula Missarum. See oifrend, p. 305 (Orig Ed.), and coilech n-ai/rind, p. 239, supra.
2 Cnoc-mor. — By a common exchange of liquids, perhaps to give more expres sion to the initial letter, the word cnoc is locally pronounced crock.
3 Datliach. — See dabhach, p. cxix.
l)raoinean, l)ruim an aonaidh, .
Draoighnean, . Druim an aonaigh, .
. Black -thorn ground, . Ridge of the cliff, .
VI.
l)ruim Dhugail,
Druim Dubhghaill, .
. Dugald's ridge,
V.
[)un Bhuirg,
Dun Bhuirgh, .
. Dun of the Burgh,
II.
)un Chalbha,
Dun Chalbhaigh,
. DunofCalbha, .
II.
)un laithrichian,
Dun laithrechan,
. Fort of the ruins, .
VI.
3un Mhannanain, .
Dun Manannain,
. Fort of Manannan,
II.
Dusgeir,
Dubh sgeir,
. Black rock, .
VI.
Saglus mor,
Eclais mor,
. Great church,
I.
Sala,
Ealatrom,
. Bier, . . . .
III.
Silean a' chlarsair,1 .
Oilcan a chlarsair, .
. Harper's island,
II.
Silean annraidh,
Oileann annraidh,
. Island of storm, . . .
I.
Silean breac, .
Oilean breac, .
. Speckled island, . .
V.
Silean carrach,
Oilean carrach,
. Rough-faced island,
V.
iilean chairbid,
Oilean charbhaid,
. Chariot island,
I.
Silean chalbha,
Oilean Chhalbaigh, .
. Calbha's island, . *
II.
Silean didil, .
Oilean didil,
. Island of affection,
II.
Silean dubh,
Oilean dubh,
. Black island, .
VI.
ililean dunagan,
Oilean dunagan,
. Island of knolls,
III.
Silean Lucais, .
Oilean Lucais, .
. Luke's island,
VI.
Silean mbic an Ebb,2
Oilean mic an aba, .
. Island of the Abbot's son,
II.
Silean mor,3
Oilean mor,
. Great island, .
III.
Silean nan con, , '.
Oilean na conn,
. Island of the hounds,
II.
Silean nan slat,
Oilean nan slat,
. Island of the rods,
IV.
Silean phort a churraich
,0ileanpuirt d curraigh,
. Island of Port-a-Curach,
VI.
?ang Mhaolain,
Fang Mhaolain,
. Moylan's enclosure,
V.
?arr bheann,
Far bheann,
. Front peak, .
V.
Jaradh Eachainn,
Garadh Eachain,
. Hector's garden, .
VI.
Jara geal,
Garda geal,
. White garden,
III.
>art na liana,
Gort na leana,
. Meadow field,
III.
>lac a phubuil,
Glac an phobail, . ,
. Dell of the people, or tent, I.
jlas eilean,
Glas oilean,
. Green island,
III.
jleann an Teampull,
Gleann an teampull,
. Glen of the church,
II.
jroirtean dubh, an, .
An goirtean dubh,
. The black little field, .
VI.
jroirtean lomhair,
Goirtean lomhair,
. Ivar's little field, .
VI.
lomaire an achd,
lomaire an acta,
. Ridge of the act, .
I.
[omaire nan righ,4
lomaire na righ, ' .
. Ridge of the kings,
I.
lomaire tachair,
lomaire tachair,
. Ridge of the causeway, .
I.
Lag an dorain,
Lag an dobharchon, .
. Otter's hollow,
I.
Lag odhar,
Lag odhar,
. Pale hollow, .
VI.
Laithrichean, .
Laithreachan, .
. Ruins, Sites, .
VI.
Lamh odhar,
Lamh odhar, .
. Pale hand, . . «
I.
Liana mhor,
Leana mhor, .
. Great meadow,
I.
1 Chlarsair. — A round knoll in Culbhuirg.
2 Ebb. — A round hillock in Culbhuirg.
3 Eilean mor.— In Ireland there are some old compounds of oilean, as Ardoilenn, but it is of rare use when compared with Ms. The reverse is the case in Scotland, where there is a tendency to turn Eilean into Elach, as Elach-nave. Inis seems more akin to insula, and oileann to island.
4 lomaire nan righ.— This name is now an alias for lomaire an tochair, th causeway across the Lochan, but Graham applies it to the supposed ridge c royal graves in the Reilig Grain.
Liochd laithrichean, . Lochan a mhanaich, . Lochan mor, Loch Staonaig, Machar, . Maol,
Maol an aonaidh, Maol buidhe, a, Maol na ciche, Maol nam manach, . Maol nan uain, Murlugh, . Poll dunain, Polleirinn, Port a chrossain, Port a churraich, Port a mhuilinn, Port an aonaidh, Port an Diseart, Port an duine marbh, Port an fhir bhreig, . Port ban,
Portbeagna Sliginnech, Port beul mor, . Port charraig an daimh, Port cheann Aindrea, Port chinn an uird, . Port chlacha geal, Port dunagan, . Port geiltein, . Port goirtein lomhair, Port Laithrichean, . Port Loth, Port na cloiche, Port na Frang, Port na marbh, Port nam Mairtear, . Port na muintir, Port Ronain, Reilig Odhrain, Ru a bheoil mhoir, . Ru an eisg mhoir, Ru na clachanach, . Ru na h-aird,2 Ru na sliginnich, Ru phort na Frang, .
Leacht laithreachan, . .
Lochan a mhanaigh,
Lochan mor, .
Loch staonaig, .
Machaire,
Maol, ....
Maol an aonaigh,
An mhaol buidhe,
Maol na ciche,
Maol na manach,
Maol na n-uan,
Murbolc, . ...
Poll dunain, . . .
Poll Elreann, .
Port an chrosain,
Port an churraigh, .
Port a mhuilinn,
Port an aonaigh,
Port an disirt, ' :; '
Port an duine mharbh,
Port anjir bhreige,
Port ban,
Port beag na Sligineach, .
Port beil moir, .
Port charraig an daimh, .
Port chinn Andriu, .
Port chinn an uird, .
Port na cloch geal, .
Port dunagain, .. . .
Port gheilteain,
Port ghoirteain lomhair, .
Port Laithreachain, .
Port Lobhtha, . - .
Port na cloich,
Port na bh-Francach,
Port na marbh,
Port na mairtir,
Port na m.uinnter,
Port Ronain, .
Reilig Odhrain,
Rubha an bheil moir,
Rubha an eisc moir, .
Rubha na clachanaighe,
Rubha an aird,
Rubha na sligineach,
Rubha poirt na bh-Francach,
Flag of the ruins, . . VI.
Monks lakelet, . . III.
Great lakelet, . . I.
Lake of Staonag, . . VI.
Plain, . . . .IV.
Brow of hill, . . . IV.
Brow of the cliff, . . VI.
The yellow hill-brow, . V.
Brow of the pass, . . VI.
Brow of the monks, . V.
Brow of the lambs, . VI.
Inlet of the sea, . . V.
Pool of the knoll, . . I.
Pool of Ere, . . .II.
Port of the little cross, . I.
Port of the curach, . VI.
Port of the mill, . . I.
Port of the cliff, . . VI.
Port of the Desert, . I.
Port of the dead man, . II.
Port of the false man,1 . VI.
White port, . . .II.
Little port of Sligineach, III.
Port of little mouth, . VI.
Port of the ox's rock, . II.
Port of Andrew's head, . IV.
Port of the mallet head, VI.
Port of the white stones, IV.
Rocky port, . . . III.
Coward's port, . . IV.
Port of Ivor's gort, . VI.
Port of the ruins, . . VI.
Rotten port, . . . III.
Port of the stones, . IV.
Port of the French, . I.
Port of the dead, . . II.
Martyr's port, . . III.
Port of the people, . I.
Ronan's port, . . I.
Oran's burial-ground, . I. j
Point of the big-moiith, I.
Point of the big fish, . VI. Point of the stony ground, IV.
Point of the height, . I.
Point of Sligineach, . III. Point of Frenchmen's port, I.
1 False man. — So called from a tall rock supposed to resemble a man's figure.
2 Ru na h-aird. — The word rubha, signifying " a point of land," is much more frequent in Scottish than Irish topography. Rubha mena was the ancient name of a point on Loch Neagh, in the county of Antrim, where the Main Water flows into that lake, now included in Shane's Castle park. There was also a Rubha in the Ards of the county of Down. See Reeves's Eccl. Ant. pp. 21, 379.
In phorfc nam Mairtear,
Sgeir bheag,
Sgeir bhun an uisg, .
Sgeir fir Thireidb,
Sgeir mhor,
Sgeir nam mairt,
Sgeir ruadh,
Sithean beag, .
•Jithean mor,
Sithean mor na h Aird,
Sliabh meanach,
Sliabh siar,
•Jliginach, .
Sloe dubh,
Sloe na bo duibh,
•iron iolaire,
Sruth a mhuilinn,
Stac a chorr,
iitac an aonaidh,
Stac liadh,
•Stac mhic Laomain, .
Staonaig, .
Straid na marbh,
feampull Ronaig,
Feanga mheanaich, an,
Cigh an Easbuig,
fobar a cheathain, .
Debar mhagh Lunga,
Cobar na h-aois,
Cobar Odhrain,
Conn a mhanaich,
Dorr Abb,
Dra ban nam nianach,
Dra mor,
Cra na criche, . Tra na siolaig, . Tra an t-suidhe,
Tamh a bhodaich,
[Jamh an t-seididh, .
Damh chrossain,
Damn na Caisg,
Damn nan calmam, .
Damh nan sgarbh,
Diridh riomhach, an,
Eubha poirt na mairtlr,
Sgeir beag,
Sgeir bona an uisge,
Sgeir fir Tire-etha, .
Sgeir mor,
Sgeir na mairt,
Sgeir ruadh,
Sithean beag, .
Sithean mor, .
Sithean mor na haird,
Sliabh meadhonacJi, .
Sliabh siar,
Sligineach, ' .
Sloe dubh,
Sloe bo duibhe,
Sron iolair,
Sruth a mhuilinn,
Stac a chorr, .
Stac an aonaigh,
Stac liath,
Stac mic laomain,
Staonaig,
Straid na marbh,
Teampull Ronaig,
An teanga meadhonach,
Tigh an easbuig,
Tobar a cheathain, .
Tobar maighe lunga,
Tobar na h-aoise,
Tobar Odhrain,
Tonn an manaigh, .
Tor aba,
Traigh ban na manach,
Traigh mor,
Traigh na criche,
Traigh na siolaig,
Traigh an tsuidhe, .
Uamh an bhodaigh, .
Uamh an t-seididh, .
Uamh an chrosain, .
Uamh na Caisg,
Uamh na colman,
Uamh na sgarbh,
An uiridh riomhach,
Point of Martyr's port, . III. Little rock, . . . V. Rock of water-foot, . IV. Rock of Tiree-man, . IV. Great rock, . . . V. Rock of the cows, . . I. Red rock, . . .V. Little fairy-mound, . IV. Great fairy-mound, . IV. Great fairy-m. of the height, VI. Middle mountain, . . II. The west mountain, . II. Shelly ground, . .III. Black gully, ... V. Gully of the black cow, . II. Eagle's nose, . . .V. Stream of the mill, . I. Stack of the raven, . II. Stack of the cliff, . . VI. Gray stack, . . . IV. Mac Laomon's stack, . 1. Inclining ground, . .VI. Street of the dead, . I.
Ronan's church, . I.
The middle tongue, . V. Bishop's house, . . I. Well of the showers, . L Well of Moy-lunga, . I. Well of the age, . . II. Oran's well, . .1.
Wave of the monk, . V. Abbot's pinnacle, . . I. White strand of the monks, I. Great strand, . . III.
Strand of the boundary, I. Strand of the sand-eel, . III. Shore of the seat, . . I. Oldman's, or clown's, cave, V. Cave of the puffing,1 . V. Cave of the little cross, . V. Cave of Easter, . . VI. Cave of the pigeons, . V. Cave of the cormorants, V. The fine dell, . .VI.
1 Puffing.— See the description of the Spouting Cave in Graham's lona, p. 26, and plate 51. Mac Swyne's Gun on the coast of Donegal presents a similar, but much more powerful, action.
III.
CHKONICON HYENSE.
I.— COLUMCILLE, 563-597.
563. Navigatio S. Columbse de Hibernia ad insulam lae anno etatis sue xlii. (Tigh.) cum duodecim commilitonibus discipulis (196). Prima nox ejus in Albain in Pentecosten (Inisf. 555).
574. Mors Conaill filii Comgaill, regis Dalriadse, anno regni sui xvi, qui
obtulit insulam lae Columbse-cille (Tigh.)
575. Magna conventio Droma-ceata in qua erant Columcille et Aedli mac
Ainmirech rex Hibernise (121, 145). 578. Quies episcopi Eitchen de Cluainfota-Boetain, qui S. Columban ordi-
navit.
584. Mors Bruidi filii Maelcon regis Pictorum.
592. Obitus Lugide (sive Moluoc, Abbatis de) Lismoer, die Junii xxv. 597. Quies Coluimcille v. Id. Jun. anno etatis sue Ixxvii.
II.— BAITHENE, 597-600.
597. S. Fintenus sine Munna louam devenit insulam (116). 600. Quies Baetani, abbatis lae, anno Ixvi. etatis sue (Tigh.).
III. — LAJSREN, 600-605. 605. Obitus Laisreni abbatis lae (Tigh. 605, Inisf. 600, F. M. 601).
IV.— FERGNA BRIT, 605-623.
617. Combustio Donnain Ega xv. Kal. Maii, una cum lii. martiribus (295).
623. Obitus Fergna abbatis lae (Tigh. 623, Inisf. 616, F.M. 622).
V.— SEGHENE, 623-652.
624. Nati vitas Adomnani Abbatis lae (Tigh. 624, Inisf. 617). 626. Australes Scotti pascha canonico ritu observant.
634. Seigine Abbas lae, ecclesiam de Rechra fundavit.
Ab insula flii ad provinciam Anglorom instituendam in Christo missus
est JEdan, accepto gradu episcopatus. Insula Medgoet fundata est
ab episcopo ^Edan1 (Tigh. 632). 641. Naufragium scaphse familiae lae.
1 Medgoet. — Tighernach places the foundation of Inis-Metgoit at 632, and the An. Ult. at 631 ; but the former in this, as in many entries of Saxon events, is three years in arrear. S. Aidan's day in Bede (H. E. iii. 14, 17), and the Irish and Scotch Cal endars, is Aug. 31. He was son of Lugair, son of Ernin of the race of Eachaidh Finnfuath-nairt, and was of the same lineage as St. Brigid and other distinguished saints. Inis Medcot is placed by the gloss on the Feilire of JEngus in the " north-west of little Saxon-land," and is mentioned by Nennius, who calls it Insula Metcaud (cap. 63), and adds " Sanctus Cudbertus episcopus obiit in insula Medcaut " (cap. 65). But, according to Bede, " obiit pater reverentissimus in insula Fame" (H. E. iv. 29). Lindisfarne, however, was the island which Oswald assigned to Bishop Aidan : yet Fame was his hermitage (ib. iii. 16). Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, lies to the N.W. of Fame, and the evidence for the identification is balanced between them : Aidan's history heing in favour of the former, Cuthbert's of the latter. If we admit sepultus est instead of obiit in Nennius, the question will be settled for Lindisfarne. For an account of Lindisfarne, see Raine's History of North Durham.
651. Quies Aedani episcopi Saxomim, Aug. 31.
652. Obitus Segeni filii Fiachnse, abbatis lae (Tigh. 652, Inisf. 642).
VI.— SUIBHNE, 652-657.
652. Successit Aidano Finan, ab Hii Scottorum insula destinatus.
654. Cellach, relicto episcopatu, reversus est ad insulam Hii (Bede, H. E.
iii. 21, 24). Obitus Suibnei mic Cuirtri, abbatis lae (Tigh. 657, F. M. 654).
VII.— CUIMINE AILBHE, 657-669.
660. Daniel episcopus Cinngaradh1 quievit.
661. Cumine abbas lae ad Hiberniam venit (Tigh.).
662. Defuncto Finano, Colman in episcopatum succedit, ipse missus a
Scottia. 664. Colman episcopus in Scottiam, ad insulam Hii, regressus est (Bede, iii.
26 ; iv. 4). Mortalitas in Hiberniam pervenit.
668. Navigatio Colmani episcopi ad insulam Vaccse Albse, sive Inis-bo-find.
669. Obitus Cummeni Albi abbatis lae (Tigh. 669, F. M. 668).
VIII.— FAILBE, 669-679.
671. Maelrubha Benchorensis in Britanniam navigavit. 673. Combustio Maighe Luinge.
Navigatio Failbei abbatis lae in Hiberniam.
Maelrubha fundavit ecclesiam Aporcrossan. 676. Colman episcopus insulae Vaccse Albse sive Inis-bo-find, pausat.
Failbhe de Hibernia revertitur. 679. Quies Failbei abbatis lae (Tigh. 679 ; F. M. 677).
IX.— ADAMNAN, 679-704.
683. Initium tertiae mortalitatis (191).
687. Adamnanus captivos duxit ad Hiberniam Ix.
689. lolan episcopus Cinngarath obiit.
691. Ventus magnus xvi. Kal. Octobris quosdam vi. ex familia lae mersit.
692. Adamnanus xiv. anno post pausam Failbei ad Hiberniam pergit.
697. Adamnanus ad Hiberniam pergit et dedit legem innocentium populis.
703. Adajnnanus canonicum pascha in Hibernia celebrat.
704. Adamnanus, Ixxvii anno etatis suse, abbas lae, pausat.
X.— CONAMHAIL, 704-710.
707. Dunchadh principatum lae tenuit.
710. Conamail mac Failbhi, abbas lae, pausat.
XL— DUNCHADH, 710-717.
712. Coeddi episcopus lae pausat Octob. 24 (Tigh. 712, F. M. 710).
713. Dorbeni kathedram lae obtinuit, et quinque mensibus peractis in pn-
niatu, v. Kal. Novembris, die Sabbati obiit.2
1 Now Kingarth, in Bute. The festival of this Daniel in the Calendars of Marian Gorman and of Donegal, is Feb. 18. i0*4.ni. «f 71 <*
2 October 28 is g, therefore, being Saturday, Sunday is A, the Dom. letter of 71»
716. Pasca commutatur in Eoa civitate.1
Faelcu mac Dorbeni kathedram Columbe Ixxiv. etatis sue anno, iv. Kal. Septembris die Sabbati,2 suscepit.
717. Dunchadh mac Cinnfaeladh, abbas lae, obiit.
XII.— FAELCU, 717-724.
717. Expulsio familiae lae trans Dorsum Britannic a Nectano rege.
718. Tonsura coronae super familiam lae (Tigh.).
722. Maelrubai in Apurcroson, anno Ixxx. etatis sue, quievit. Feidhlimid principatum lae tenuit.
724. Faelcu mac Dorbeni abbas lae dormivit. Cillenius Longus ei in principatum lae successit.
XIIL— CILLENE FADA, 724-726.
725. Oan princeps Ego quievit.
726. Cillenius Longus abbas lae pausat (Tigh. F. M. 725).
XIV.— CILLINE DROICTEACH, 726-752.
727. Adomnani reliquiae transferuntur in Hiberniam et Lex renovatur. 730. Eeversio reliquiarum Adomnani de Hibernia mense Octobris. 734. Caintigern3 filia Ceallaigh Cualann moritur.
737. Mors Ronam abbatis Cinngaradh.
Failbe films Guaire, heres Maelrubai, i.e., Apor-Crosain, in prof undo
pelagi dimersus est cum suis nautis numero xxii.
739. Flann mac Cellaigh, films Crundmhail, episcopus de Rechra, moritur. 743. Mors Curnene nepotis Ciarain, abbatis de Rechra.
747. Mors Tuatalain abbatis Cinrighmonai.4
748. Cobthach, abbas de Rechra, obiit (Tigh).
749. Dimersio familie lae.
752. Mors Cilleine Droctigh, anchorite lae.
XV.— SLEBHINE, 752-767.
752. Mors Cilleni filii Congaile in Hi.
Cumine nepos Becce, religiosus Ego, quievit.
753. Lex Columb-cille per Domhnall Midhe.
754. Sleibene, abbas lae, in Hiberniam venit.
757. Lex Columb-cille per Sleibene.
758. Reversio Slebine in Hiberniam (Tigh.)
1 Osrit. — Osred, king of the Northumbrians, was slain, according to the Saxon Chron., in 716, on "the southern border." Bede fixes the re formation of the Colum bian monks at the year " quo Osredo occiso " (H. E. v. 22, 24).
2 August 29 is c, therefore, being Saturday, Sunday is D, indicating 716.
3 Cantigem. — This is the St. Kentigerna of Inchcaileoch in Loch Lomond, who is commemorated in the Scotch Calendar at Jan. 7. Her legend in the Breviary of Aberdeen describes her as " Laynensium reguli filia," sister of St. Comgan of Turreff, and mother of St. Foelan of Strathfillane. Laynensium is a corruption of Laginensium, and denotes the people of Leinster. Cellach Cualann, her father, was king of Leinster, and died in 715. Muirenn, another daughter, died in 748.
4 Cinrighmonai. — Bigh-monaidh or Reymonth (Fordun, i. 6, ii. 60) was the old name of the parish of St. Andrews in Fife, and it is still preserved in East and West Balrymonth, two high grounds in its southern part. In the records of this church Rymont is interpreted Regius Mons, Mons Regis (Pinkerton, Enq. vol. i. pp. 462, 499.) The Irish Calendars call it Gill Righmonaidh, and assign St. Cainnech to it ; but Tighernach at 747, and the Four Mast. 742, call it, as above, Cinn-rigmonaidh. The present entry supplies the earliest authentic record of this monastery.
759. Feidhlimidh sive Failbhe, abbas lae obiit, ami is Ixxxvii setatis suae expletis (F. M. 754).
766. Suibne, abbas lae, in Hiberniam venit.
767. Quies Sleibni, lae (Inisf. 754 ; F. M. 7G2).
XVI.— SUIBHNE, 767-772.
769. Quies Murgaile filii Ninnedha, abbatis de Rechra.
772. Mors Suibhue, abbatis lae.
XVIL— BREASAL, 772-801.
773. Aedh mac Cairpre, princeps de Rechra, moritur.
775. Conall de Magh Luingi obiit.
776. Mors Maelemcanah, abbatis Cinngaradh, 778. Lex Coluimcille per Donnchadh et Bresal.
Niall Frassach mac Fergaile, quondam rex Hybernite, in Hy-Coluim-
cille obiit. 782. Muredacli mac Huairgaile, equonomus lae, quievit.
Baculus1 Airtgaile mic Cathail, regis Connacise, et peregrinatio ejus in
sequenti anno ad insulam lae.
790. Mors Noe, abbatis Cinngaradh.
791. Artgal mac Cathal, rex Connacht, in Hi defunctus est.
794. Vastatio omnium insolarnm Britannise a Gentilibus.
795. Vastatio lae Coluim-cille (Inisf. 781).
Combustio Rechrainiie a Gentibus ; et scrinia ejus confracta et spoliata sunt.
798. Spoliatio insularum maris, i.e. Innse Gall, inter Erin et Alban.
799. Feradhach mac Segeni, abbas de Rechra, obiit.
801. Bresal mac Segeni, abbas lae, anno priiicipatus sui xxxi. dormivit.
XVIIL— CONNACHTACH, 801-802.
802. Mac Oigi, de Apurcrossan, abbas Benchuir, quievit. Hi Columbse-cille a Gentilibus combusta est. Connachtach, scriba selectissimus, et abbas lae, quievit.
XIX.— CELLACH, 802-815.
804. Donatio de Cenannus sine prselio hoc anno.
806. Familia lae, i.e. Ixviii, occisa est a Gentilibus.
807. Constructio novae civitatis Columcille in Ceninnus.
814. Ceallach, abbas lae, finita constructione templi de Cenannus, reliquit
principatum, et Diarmicius alumpnus Daighri pro eo ordinatus est.
815. Ceallach mac Conghaile, abbas lae, dormivit.
XX.— DIARMIT, 815-post 831.
817. Maileduin mac Cinnfaelaidh, princeps de Rath-both, de familia Colum cille, jugulatus est. Congregatio Coluimcille ivere Temoriam, ad Aidum excommuni-
candum.
825. Martyrium Blaithmaci filii Flainn a Gentilibus in Hi Coluimcille. 829. Diarmait, abbas lae, ivit ad Alba, cum reliquiariis Coluimcille. 831. Diarmait venit in Hiberniam cum reliquiariis Coluimcille.
1 The taking of the Pilgrim's staff. Y
832. Tuathal mac Feradhaich 1 raptus est a Gentilibus, et scrinium Adainnani 2 de Domlmach-moghan.
XXI. — INNRECHTACH, post 831-854.
849. Innrechtach, abbas lae, venit Hiberniam cum reliquiariis Coluim-
cille.
Kinadius films Alpin, vii anno regni, reliquias S. Columbas transportavit ad ecclesiam quam construxit (Chron. Pict.)
850. Tuathal mac Feradhaich, abbas de Rechra, et de Diarmagh, obiit. 854. Heres Columbie-cille, sapiens optimus, iv. Id. Mar. apud Saxones
martirizatur.
XXII.— CELLACH, 854-865.
865. Cellach mac Aillela, abbas de Kildare, et abbas lae, dormivit in regione Pictorum.
XXI1L— FERADHACH, 865-880.
8G5. Tuathal mac Artgusso, summus episcopus Fortrenn, et abbas de Dun-
Caillen, dormivit.
873. Flaithbhertach mac Muircertaigh, princeps Duincaillden, obiit. 878. Scrinium Coluimcille, et reliquiaria ejus generaliter, advecta sunt ad
Hiberniam in refugium ab Alienigenis. 880. Feradhach mac Cormaic, abbas lae, pausavit.
XXIV.— FLANN, 880-891. 891. Flann mac Maileduin, abbas lae, in pace quievit.
XXV.— MAELBRTGHDE, 891-927. 904. Violatio Cenannse a Flann mac Maelsechnaill contra Donnchadh filium
suum, et alii decollati sunt circa oratorium. 913. Maelbrighde mac Tornan ivit in Momoniam ad liberandum peregrinum
Britonem. 920. Ecclesia lapidea de Cenannus confracta est a Gentilibus, et plurimi
martyres ibi facti sunt. 927- Maelbrighde mac Tornain, comharba Patricii et Columbse-cille, felici
senectute quievit.
XXVI.— DUBHTACH, 927-938.
929. Caencomhrac3 mac Maeluidhir, abbas et episcopus de Daire-Calgaigh, et procurator Legis Adamnani, obiit (Feb. 927).
1 Tuathal mac Feradhaich. — Abbot of Rechra and Durrow (an. 850, infra). Hence the association of his name with Adamnan's shrine.
2 Scjrinium Adamnani. — St. Clera, not Adamnan, was the patron of Donaghmoyne (Shirley's Farney, p. 162). It is hard to account for the presence of the abbot of Lambay and Durrow with St. Adamnan's in this church, unless we suppose that, as this was a fast country, he had sought refuge here from the Danes. Concerning the church of Serin- Adhamnain, and the contents of Adamnan's shrine, see under his name in the Introduction.
3 Caencomhrac. — Commemorated in the Calendar at Sept. 6th. He was monastic bishop of Deny, but not diocesan, for the place did not become a bishop's see till the twelfth or thirteenth century. The expression, maor cana Adamhnain, signifies ' steward of the tribute of Adamnan,' that is, receiver of certain dues payable to a portion of the Columbian order. It is incorrectly rendered by Colgan, " conservator Canonum S. Adamnani " (Tr. Th. p. 503 b) ; and "keeper of the canons" (Ord. Mem. Tempi em. p. 27). Another ecclesiastic of the name was abbot of Hy in 947. Colgan confounds the two by referring them both to a single commemoration in the Calendar at Sept. 6 (Tr. Th. pp. 500 b, 503 b).
937. Aengus mac Muircertaigh, sapiens, anchoreta, et abbas electus lae,
obiit.
938. Dubhthach, comharba Coluimcille et Adamnain, in pace quievit.
XXVII.— ROBHARTACH. 938-954.
947. Caencomhrac, abbas lae, obiit (F. M. 945).
954. Robhartach, comharba Coluimcille et Adomnain, in Christo pausavit.
XXVIII.— DUBHDUIN, 954-959. 959. Dubhduin, comharba Coluimcille, obiit.
XXIX.— DUBHSCIULE, 959-964.
963. Fothadh mac Brain, scriba et episcopus Insularum Alban, obiit.
964. Dubhsciule mac Cinaedha, comharba Coluimcille, quievit.
XXX.— MTJGHRON, 964-980.
966. Finghin, anachoreta, et episcopus lae, obiit (F. M. 964.) 969. Maelfinnen mac Uchtain, episcopus de Cenannus, obiit. 975*. Ferdalach, aircinnech de Rechra, a Gentilibus occisus est. 976. Scrinium Coluimcille spoliatum est a Donaldo mac Murcadha. 978. Fiachra Ua hArtagain, aircinnech lae, quievit.
980. Mughron, comharba Coluimcille inter Eire et Alba, vitam felicem tinivit.
XXXI. -MAELCIARAIN, 980-986. 980. Amlabh mac Sitriuca, supremus rex Alienigenarum Atha-cliath, ivit
ad Hy in po3nitentiam. (Tigh. ; F. M. 979.) 986 Hy Coluimcille vastata est a Danis nocte Nativitatis Dommieae.
Occiderunt abbatem l et xv. religiosarum ecclesise. MaeleiarainUaMaighne, comharba Coluimcille, occisus est ab Alie genis Atha-cliath.;
XXXII.— DUNNCHADCH, 986-989. 987. Strages magna Danorum qui vastaverunt Hy, quorum occisi fuerunt
ccclx •
989. Dunnchadb. Ua Robhacain, comharba Coluimcille et Adamnain, mor-
tuus est.
XXXIII.— DUBHDALEITHE, 989-998. 989. Dubhdaleithe lueres Patricii, accepit h^reditatem Colnimcille consilio
virorum Hiberniaj et Alban. 992. Dunchadh Ua hUchtain, lector de Cenannus, ot
dii. anno etatis
. sue, vitam in quinto non. Junii rlnivit.
XXXIV — MUIREDHACH, 998-1007.
Deum.
The An. IniSf. have, instead, eplscop Ue do
murdered by them," an. 968.
340 APPENDIX. NO. TIL
XXXV.— FERDOMHNACH, 1007-1008.
1007. Ferdomhnach suffectus in hsereditatem Coluimcille, consilio virorum
Hibernise, in nundinis de Taillte.
Evangelium magnum Coluimcille surreptum noctu ab exedra occidentali ecclesise magnae de Cenannus.
1008. Ferdomhnach, comharba de Cenannus, in Christo quievit.
XXXVL— MAELMUIRE, 1008-1009.
1009. Maelmuire Ua hUchtain, comharba de Cenannus, mortuus est.
XXXVII.— MAELEOIN, 1009-1025.
1011. Muiredhach Ua Crichain, comharba Coluimcille et Adamnain, lector Ardmacha, et comharba Patricii futurus, anno etatis Ixxiv. quinto Kal. Jan. nocte Sabbati, quievit in Domino.
1016. Cenannus igne consumpta est.
1019. Cenannus expilata a Sitriucc mac Amlaibh, cum Gallis de Athcliath.
1025. Flannobhra, comharba lae Coluimcille, obiit.
Maeleoin Ua Torain, comharba de Daire Coluimcille, obiit.
XXXVIII.— MAELMUIRE, 1025-1040.
1026. Maelruanaidh Ua Maeldoraidh ivit in peregrinationem ad Hy Coluim
cille.
1027. Duncaillenn in Alba tota combusta est.
1034. Macnia Ua hUchtain, lector de Cenannus, demersus dum veniret ex
Alba.
1038. Reachru expilata ab Alienigenis. 1040. Maelmuire Ua hUchtain, comharba Coluimcille, obiit.
XXXIX.— ROBHARTACH, 1040-1057. 1040. Cenannus combusta. 1047. Cethernach, episcopus de Teach- Collain, obiit in peregrinatione in
Hy. 1055. Maelduin mac Gillaodhran, episcopus Alban, gloria cleri Gaedhil,
quievit (Tigh.). 1057. Robhartach mac Ferdomhnaigh, comharba Coluimcille, in Domino
dormivit.
XL. — GIOLLACRIST, 1057-1062.
1060. Cenannus, cum ecclesia sua lapidea, igne consumpta. 1062. Giollacrist Ua Maeldoraidh, comharba Coluimcille inter Ere et Alba, obiit.
XLL— DOMHNALL, 1062-1098.
1065. Dubthach Albanach, praecipuus confessarius Hibernise et Alban, in Ardmacha quievit.
1070. Mac mic Baethen, abbas lae, occisus a Mac-ind-abbaid Ua Maeldor aidh.
1073. Cenannus, cum ecclesiis suis, combusta.
1090. Reliquiaria qusedam Colaimcille advecta a Tirconaill ad Cenannus.
1093. Fothudh, archiepiscopus Alban, in Christo quievit.
' classem suam aPPulit ad Insulam Sanctam.i Domhnall Tja Robhartaigh, comharba Coluimcille, in pace dormivit.
XLII. — FERDOMHNACH, 1098-1114. 1099. Donnchadh mac mic Mainaigh, abbas lae, obiit.
Cenannus igiie dissipata est. 1111. Cenannus igne consumpta est. 1114. Ferdomhnach Ua Clucain, comharba de Cenannus, in pace quievit.
XLIIL— MAELBRIGHDE, 1114-1117.
1117. Maelbrighde mac Ronain, comharba de Cenannus, cum familia de Cenannus, occisus ab Aedh Ua Ruairc et Ui Briuin.
XLIV.— CONANG, 1117-1128.
1123. Alexander, rex Alban, fundavit monasterium in insula ^Emonia. 1128. Conang Ua Beiccleighinn, abbas de Cenannus, obiit.
XLV. — GlOLLA-ADHAMNAIN, 1128-C/rC. 1138.
1135. Cenannus combusta est.
XLVI.— MUIREDHACH, circ. 1138-1150. 1143. Cenannus combusta est.
1148. Maelciarain mac Mengain, excelsus sacerdos ecclesiae Cathedrae Col uimcille in Cenannus, obiit.
XL VII.— FLAITHBERTACH, 1 150-1 175.
1154. Muiredhach Ua Clucain, abbas de Cenannus, obiit.
1156. Cenannus combusta et domus et templa, a cruce Doras Urdoimh ad Sifoc.
1155. Synodus de Bri-mic-Taidhg decrevit cathedram episcopalem Flaith-
bertacho Ua Brolchan, comharba Coluimcille, conferendam esse. 1161. Ecclesiae Coluimcille in Media et Lagenia, in synodo apud Ath-na-
Dairbrighe, a Flaithbertach Ua Brolchain habita, immunes effects
sunt. 1164. Abbatia de Hy oblata Flaithbertacho Ua Brolcain a Magnatibus In-
sularum.2
1 Insulam Sanctam. — Snorro calls Hy Eyna Helyo, and his narrative of king Mag nus Barelegs' visit to it is thus rendered by Johnstone : " Magnus Kexclassem suani appulit ad Insulam Sanctam/ ubi omnibus hominibus, necnon omnium incolarum bom's pacem concessit et securitatem. Perhibent eum templum Kolumbas minus apiruisse, ingressumque non esse Kegem, sed obserata mox janua, edixisse ne quis adeo esset audax, ut in sedem istam sacram introiret ; cui mandate postea obtemperatum fuit." (Antiqq. Celto-Scandicse, p. 232.)
8 Insularum.—TbQ Four Masters, at 1175, when recounting the honours of Flaherty O'Brolchan, allude to this offer, but they omit the mention of it in the proper year. The Annals of Ulster, however, have preserved an interesting record of the event, which is here given in full : 1164, Maithi muinteri la A. in sacart mor Augustin, acus infer-leiginn .i. Dubside, acus in disertach .i. Mac Gilladuibh, acus cenn na CeilenDe .i. Mac Forcellaigh, acus maithi muinnterila arcena, do thiachtain ar cenn comarba Coluim-cille .i. Laithbertaich hui Brolcain do gabail abdaine la a comairli Somairlidh acus fer Aerer Gaidhel acus Innsi Gall, coro astaei comarba Patrcuc acus ri Erenn .i. Ua Lochlainn acus maithi cenel Eogain e. " The chiefs of tlie family of la, viz., Augustin, the great priest, and Dubhsidhe the lector, and Mac Gilladuff, president of the Desert, and Mac Forcellaigh, head of the Culdees, and the chiefs of the family of la in general, came to meet the coarb of Columcille, namely, Flaithbertach Ua Brolchain [to invite him] to accept of the abbacy of
1 1 74. Maelpatraic1 Ua Banain, episcopus de Condere, obiit in Hy Coluimcille.
1175. Flaithbertach, comharba Coluimcille, obiit in Dubkreglea Coluiuicille.
XLVIII.— GlOLLA-MAC-LlAG, 1175-1198.
1177. Donnchadh Ua Cairellain dona, ecclesise et familiae Coluimcille obtulit.
1187. Godredus, rex Mannise, sepultus in insula Hy (Chron. Man.)
1188. Amlaoibh Ua Daighre ivit in peregriiiationein ad Hy, et ibi quievit.
1198. Giolla-mac-Liag Ua Branain abbatiam de Daire resignavit.
XLIX. — GIOLLACRIST, 1198-circ. 1202.
1199. Sanctus Mauritius Ua Baetain in Hy Coluimcille, in pace quievit.
1202. Domhnall Ua Brolchain, prior et excelsus senior, obiit die Aprilis xxvi. Maeltinin mac Colmain, electus in prioratum de Daire, obiit eodem
anno.
1203. Monasterium constructum a Cellach in medio insulse Hy, a clero
septentrionalis Hibernise prosternitur ; et Amhalgaidh Ua Ferghail in Abbatem eligitur.
IV.
NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF THE RUINS AT IONA.2 BY W. F. SKENE, Esq., LL.D., F.S.A. SCOT.
THE ruins which at present exist on the island of lona may be considered as the remains of four distinct ecclesiastical foundations. There is, first, the chapel of St. Oran, with the cemetery, called in Gaelic, Reilig Oran; secondly, the church of St. Mary, with the cloisters and monastic buildings connected with it; thirdly, the Nunnery ; and fourthly, the remains of the building called Teampull Ronaig, and believed to have been the parish church.
Any one examining these ruins, and desiring to learn something of their history, will be surprised to find how very little is really known concerning them. He will learn generally that an eccle siastical establishment was founded in the island in the sixth century by St. Columba, and that for several centuries it was the chief seat of the early Scottish Church, till the ravages of the
la, by the advice of Somhairle and the men of Argyle, and of Innse Gall ; but the Coarb of Patrick, the king of Ireland, namely, Ua Lochlain, and the chiefs of the Cinel-Eoghain, prevented it." The Abbot of Armagh was Gilla mac Liag, otherwise Gellasius ; and the titular king was Muirceartach, who was slain in 1166.
1 Maelpatraicc. — The little rude slab, in the Reilig Grain at Hy, bearing an incised cross, with the inscription, OR. DO MAILFATARIC, " A prayer for Maelpatrick," may be commemorative of him. In the interval between July 1852 and July 1853, when the writer visited Hy, part of the slab (which is of red sand-stone), bearing the last part of the inscription, had exfoliated and disappeared. This inscription, as well as the other Irish one in the Reilig Grain, has been a fruitful source of speculation to native antiquaries. See Ulster Journ. of Archseol. vol. i. p. 84. Concerning this bishop, see Reeves's Eccles. Antiqq. p. 243.
2 This paper was read at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries on 14th April 1873.
Norwegians and Danes destroyed it in the ninth century; but none of these ruins belong to that period. If he refer to his guide-book, he will not get much satisfaction there. Murray's Handbook for Scotland will tell him, for instance, that St. Oran's chapel is a work of considerable antiquity, though probably not earlier than the twelfth century; that though much later than the time of St. Columba, it was the permanent chapel of the cemetery, and tJierefore older than the cathedral — reasoning not very easily followed ; that the Nunnery was founded in the thirteenth century, and the cathedral of St. Mary built in the fourteenth century, but not a syllable as to who founded them, or to what order of clergy or monks they belonged.
If he turn to Dr. Beeves' able and exhaustive edition of Adamnan's Life of St. Columba, probably the ablest and most exhaustive work which has appeared in our time, he will find a full and detailed account of every event connected with this island and its ecclesiastical history down to the end of the twelfth century. The last event recorded by Dr. Reeves is in the year 1203, and he then adds : — " The passage here cited is the parting mention of Hy in the Irish Annals, and as it closes a long list of notices running through nearly seven centuries, it leaves the island, as it found it, in the hands of Irish ecclesiastics, an im portant outpost of the Irish Church," etc.
The chapel of St. Oran, and perhaps part of the monastic build ings, may reach back to the twelfth century, but in the main these ruins are not older than the end of the twelfth or beginning of the thirteenth centuries. Dr. Reeves, therefore, who has so admirably conducted us* through the history of St. Columba and his successors down to that period, leaves us without his guidance just as the history of these buildings probably commenced, and of the subse quent history of the island all is dark and uncertain.
The object of this paper is to endeavour to restore some part of this forgotten history.
Dr. Reeves, before he parts with us, gives us one important fact in connexion with the church of St. Mary. I do not call it, with the guide-books, the Cathedral Church, because it was not a cathedral till shortly before the Reformation. In a note, he says, " On the capital of the south-east column, under the tower, near the angle of the south transept and choir, are the remains of the inscription — 'Donaldus O'Brolchan fecit hoc opus/ in Lombardic letters" (p. 247) ; and in another part (p. clxxxii), he says, talking of Flaherty O'Brolchan, Bishop and Abbot of Derry, "Bishop O'Brolchan was busily employed towards the close of the twelfth century in reedifying the ecclesiastical buildings of Derry ; and to a kinsman of his is probably attributable the commencement of the most important structure now existing in Hy. The unusual record on the capital of the tower column, ' Donaldus O'Brolchan fecit hoc opus/ and the coincidence of that record with the obit of Domhnall Ua Brolchan, in the Annals of Ulster at 1203, and of the Four Masters at 1202, are sufficient, if not to satisfy the mind, at least to afford material for reasonable conjecture as to the builder." In a note, he says "that this capital is the most ornamented with grotesque reliefs of any in the building," and adds, " Could these designs, so characteristic of the Irish school, be the hoc opus of O'Brolchan 1"
Without going so far as to limit his work to the capital, it is probable that he only built a part of the church, for these earlychurches, when of considerable size, were usually gradually built in parts, first the chancel and choir, then the transepts and centre tower, and finally the nave. Dr. Reeves thinks that this Donald O'Brolchan was Prior of Derry, but he is not so called in the Annals. The entry, as he gives it, is simply " Domhnall Ua Brolchain, prior et excelsus senior, obiit die Aprilis xxvii." He may have held the priory of lona as well. Fordun, who wrote in 1385, in noticing Hy Columbkille, or lona, merely says, " ubi duo monasteria sunt, unum monachorum, aliud monialium, ibidem itaque refugium ; " but Bowar, who wrote sixty years later, says that two monasteries had been founded there, one " nigrorum monachorum," or of black monks, and the other of holy nuns of the order of Saint Augustine bearing the rochet. Bowar was himself Abbot of Inchcolm, and knew probably what he was talking about when he thus describes them ; but he confounds the monastery with the chapel of St. Oran when he adds that it had been the place of sepulture and royal seat of almost all the kings of the Scots and Picts to the time of Malcolm Canmore. Maurice Buchanan, who wrote some twelve years later, repeats the statement of Fordun.
Now, the first piece of additional information I have to give is from the Book of Clanranald, which contains a record kept from time to time by the Macvurichs, of the history of the Lords of the Isles and the great clan of Macdonald. Macvurich says of Reginald, Lord of the Isles, that " he was the most distinguished of the Galls and the Gael for prosperity, sway of generosity, and feats of arms. Three monasteries were founded by him, viz., a monastery of black monks in I (or lona), in honour of God and Columchille ; a monas tery of black nuns in the same place ; and a monastery of grey friars at Sagadal (or Saddle) in Kintyre." This Reginald was the son of Somarled, the regulus of Argyll, who was slain at Renfrew in 1166, and succeeded him in the Lordship of the Isles, which he ruled till the year 1207, when he died. He was thus Lord of the Isles during the greater part of the reign of William the Lion.
We know from the Paisley chartulary that he was the founder of the religious house at Saddle, and there seems no reason to doubt the statement that he founded the monastery and nunnery at lona.
By black monks, the Benedictines are meant, who were so calledj and among the documents found by Professor Munch in the Vatican,' and printed in his edition of the Chronicle of Man (see p. 353, infra), is the confirmation by the Pope of the foundation of this Benedictine monastery. It is dated the 9th December 1203, and is addressed to " Celestinus Abbas Sancti Columbge de Hy insula," and to the brethren present and future professing a religious — that is, a monastic life ; and he takes under his protection and that of Saint Peter the aforesaid monastery of Saint Cplumba, in order that the monastic order which has been instituted in that place, according to God and the rule of Saint Benedict, may be preserved inviolate in all time to come, and he confirms to them the place itself in which the said monastery is situated, with its pertinents, consisting of churches, island, and lands in the Western Isles. This document throws light upon a charter in the chartulary of Holyrood (p. 41), where King William the Lion grants to the Abbey of Holyrood, " ecclesias sive capellas in Galweia quse ad jus abbatise de Hy Columcille pertinent, videlicet Kirchecormack, Sancti Andrese, Balincros, and Cheletun." These churches are not contained in the Pope's confirmation of the possessions of the new monastery, and must have belonged to the prior abbacy, which had fallen into decay, and been granted by William the Lion to Holyrood when the new monastery was founded.
Now observe how all the dates here accord. The monastery is founded by Reginald, Lord of the Isles, in the reign of William the Lion, sometime between 1166 and 1207. It is confirmed by the Pope on 9th December 1203, and the church bears an inscrip tion on one of the pillars, which shows that part of it at least had been built by a prior who died in 1203, and these dates corre spond with the architectural character of the buildings.
The next point to be determined is, to what particular order of Benedictines did this monastery belong 1
Spottiswoode, in his account of the religious houses, states that "the old cloisters, being ruined by the several incursions of the Danes, the monastery became in the following years the dwelling of the Cluniacenses, who, in the reign of King William, took all their benefices ' cum cura animarum ' in Galloway, which were bestowed upon the canons of Holyrood House at Edinburgh, the Benedictines not being allowed by their constitutions to perform the duties and functions of a curate."
The previous detail will have shown that this view of the loss of the Galloway churches is not strictly correct; and there is a serious difficulty in supposing that the monastery founded by Keginald, Lord of the Isles, was one of Cluniac monks. The Cluniacenses were a reformed order of Benedictines, so called from the Abbey of Cluny, in Burgundy, where Berno revised the rules of Saint Benedict with some new constitutions, and when dyingplaced Odo as abbot or superior of this new monastery ; but it was a peculiarity of this order that the parent house at Cluny was alone governed by an abbot, and the affiliated houses were priories governed by a prior only. The principal monastery of Cluniacs in England was Wenloch, but it was a priory only, governed by a prior. Walter Fitzallan, the high steward of Scotland, brought Cluniac monks from Wenloch to Paisley, where he founded a monastery in 1164; but Paisley, too, was at first only a priory. Great efforts were made to obtain for Paisley the privilege of electing an abbot, which were strenuously resisted by the abbot of Cluny, and it was not till the year 1245 that the monks of Paisley obtained this privilege, and the priory became an abbacy ; but, as we have seen from the Pope's confirmation of the monastery of lona in 1203, it was from the first governed by an abbot. This objection appears to me fatal to the claims of the Cluniacs — other objections will be noted afterwards — and I think there is strong reason for concluding that the monastery belonged to another order of reformed Benedictines, viz., those called Tyronenses. They were so called from their first abbey, Tyron, in the diocese of Chartres, and were founded by St. Bernard, abbot of St. Cyprian in Poitou, in the year 1109. The Benedictines of Tyron were introduced into Scotland by David the First, who placed them at Selkirk, when earl, and after he became king removed them to Kelso, and this was their only monastery in Scotland prior to the reign of William the Lion, but most of the monasteries founded in his reign belonged to this order. The great foundation in his reign was the monastery of Arbroath, founded by himself in 1173, and the monks were Benedictines of Tyron, brought from Kelso. In the same year his brother David, Earl of Huntingdon, founded the Abbey of Lindores for Benedictines of Tyron. In the following year the Earl of Buchan founded Fyvie, which was affiliated to Arbroath, and belonged to the same order ; and in the same reign Bichard de Moreville founded Kilwinning for Benedictines of Tyron.
Now I find the closest resemblance between these monasteries and that of lona.
1st, The Benedictines of Tyron, as appears from a list of founda tions in Scotland of the thirteenth century, which comes down to 1272, annexed to Henry of Silgrave's Chronicle, were called black monks.
2d, The confirmations of two of them by the Pope have been preserved— that of Arbr oath in 1182, in the Arbroath chartulary (p. 151), and that of Lindores in 1198, in that chartulary (p. 39). The monastery of Kilwinning was confirmed in 1218, but the deed has not been preserved. Now, on comparing the confirmations of Arbroath in 1182 and Lindores in 1198 with that of lona in 1203, I find that they are verbatim the same, and the monasteries are described in exactly the same terms, viz., " ordo monasticus, qui in eodem loco secundum Deum et beati Benedict! regulam institutus est," while in the Pope's confirmation of the Monastery of Paisley in 1226, printed by Theiner (p. 23), the qualifying expression " atque institutionem Cluniacensium fratrum" is added, which is not in the others.
3d, The monasteries of the Benedictines of Tyron, or the churches attached to them, were dedicated to St. Mary, either alone or along with a local saint. Kelso was dedicated to her. Arbroath to St. Thomas the martyr, but an altar in the choir to St. Mary, and the monastery is occasionally called of St. Mary and St. Thomas. Fy vie was dedicated to St. Mary. Lindores to St. Mary and St. Andrew. Kilwinning to St. Mary and St. Winnin, and lona to St. Columba, and the church to St. Mary. If I am right in conjecturing that it also belonged to this order of Benedictines, it throws light upon another deed of King William the Lion, for at the time that he gave the Galloway churches, which had belonged to the older abbacy, to Holyrood, he gave the church of Forglen, with the " Bracbennach " or standard of Saint Columba, to the abbey of Arbroath, the chief monastery of this order, founded by himself.
The next point 1 have to bring before the Society, is the connec tion of this abbey of lona with the diocese of Nidaros or Trontheim in Norway. This connexion, of course, arose from the Isles being under the dominion of the Norwegians. The Bishops of Man and the Isles had at first been consecrated by the Archbishop of York, whose suffragans they were considered to be, but when the metro politan see of Nidaros or Trontheim was erected in 1154 by the bull of Pope Anastasius IV., the Su dreys or Western Isles were expressly annexed to this province as a suffragan diocese. Accord ingly, we find that the Bishop of Man and the Isles atthis time was a Norwegian called Eagnald, who appears to have been nominated and consecrated by the metropolitan Bishop of Nidaros. In the Icelandic Annals he is termed the first Bishop of the Sudreys, the previous bishops, who had been consecrated by the Archbishop of York, leing ignored in those annals. After his death, in 1170, the rights of the Bishop of Nidaros seemed to have fallen into abeyance till the year 1210, when the titular Bishop of the Isles was consecrated by him, and during this period of 40 years, the Icelandic Annals declared that the diocese of the Isles was vacant, thus ignoring all bishops not consecrated by the Bishop of Trontheim. In the year 1225 he received the pallium from the Pope, and thus became vested with the full rights of a metropolitan ; and in the follow ing year (1226) Simon, Bishop of the Isles, was consecrated, along with three Norwegian Bishops, by Peter, Archbishop of Nidaros. In the MS. " Liber Censuum Romanse Ecclesise," compiled by Cencius Camerarius in 1192, we find under the head of "Norwegia" the dioceses comprehended within the province of Nidaros, and among these is the " Episcopatus Sudreiensis alias Manensis," to which is added " Ecclesia Sancti Columbi de insula Hy ; " and the Saga of King Hacon relates that in the autumn of 1226, Simon, Bishop of the Isles, John, Earl of Orkney, and the Abbot of lona, met King Hacon at Bergen, so that the Abbot of lona was with Bishop Simon in Norway when he was consecrated, and, no doubt, did homage to the Archbishop of Nidaros at the same time.
The next notice of the Abbot of lona is in the year 1234, when, in an agreement made in that year between Andrew, Bishop of Moray, and Walter Comyn, in regard to the lands of Kynkardyn in Strathspey, recorded in the Moray Chartulary (p. 99), we find it was made in presence " Domini Abbatis de Hy, and fratris Alani monachi," that is, of the abbot and one of the brethren who accom panied him. The probable object of this journey, we learn from the next document I have to bring before you. It is a letter of Pope Innocent IV., in 1247, preserved in the British Museum, in which, " on a representation by the abbot of the monastery of the order of Saint Benedict, in the diocese of the Isles of the kingdom of Norway, that, although a general Chapter was celebrated within his province (that is, of Nidaros), according to the constitution of the Apostolic See, the abbots of that order within the kingdom of Scotland compelled him to attend their general council on the ground of his holding certain possessions in Scotland, the Pope ordered the abbots in future not to molest him " (Orig. Par. il p. 834). There were at this time seven Benedictine Abbots in Scot land, — one of original Benedictines at Dunfermline, one of Cluniacs recently established at Paisley, and five of Benedictines of Tyron, who must be the abbots alluded to.
In the same year, Pope Innocent addresses a letter " to the abbot of the monastery of Saint Columba, of the order of Saint Benedict," who had gone to Lyons to meet the Pope, and personally represented the great distance of his monastery from the Norwegian province to which it belonged, and grants him the use of the mitre and the ring, and other Episcopal privileges, within certain limita tions (see p. 35 5, infra).
It will be seen from these notices that the abbacy of lona was not at this time under subjection to the Bishop of the Isles, but appears as a separate foundation under the immediate jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Trontheim, and the abbot seems now to have established his independence, both of Episcopal and of monastic control, and to have become a mitred abbot.
When the Western Isles were finally ceded to Scotland, and the Bishopric of the Isles became a Scottish diocese, and all connexion with Norway was severed, the Abbot of lona did not even then con sider himself as within the diocese of the Isles, but placed himself under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Dunkeld, as inheriting the rights of St. Columba, and representing the old primacy of lona in Scotland, as Kells, and afterwards Derry, did in Ireland. Abbot Myln tells us that in the Episcopate of William St. Clair, who was Bishop of Dunkeld in the reign of Robert Bruce, Dominus Finlaius, a monk of the monastery of Icolmkill, who had been elected Abbot, came to him to receive confirmation ; and that, at the request of the king, he confirmed him as abbot, and conceded to him some of the Episcopal privileges his predecessor had received from the Pope ; and Bo war tells us that in 1431 the abbot of the island of Icolm kill or lona, did manual obeisance to Robert de Cardeney, Bishop of Dunkeld, as his ordinary diocesan. Between the years 1492 and 1498, John, Abbot of lona, was elected Bishop of the Isles, and in 1506, the Abbey of lona was permanently annexed to the Bishopric of the Isles, the bishop being ex offido perpetual commendator of Icolmkill. It was only at this period that the abbey church of St. Mary's became the cathedral of the Isles.
Reginald, Lord of the Isles, was also the founder of the nunnery. According to Macvurich, he founded it for black nuns. Macvurich states that his sister, Beathog or Beatrice, the daughter of Somarled, was a religious woman and a black nun ; and the Knock MS. tells us that Somarled had only one daughter, Beatrix, who was prioress of Icolmkill. By the black nuns Benedictine nuns are meant, and it seems probable that they belonged to that order; for we find, from subsequent notices, that it was a priory depen dent upon the Benedictine abbey, and was likewise dedicated to St. Mary. Thus, in 1509, King James iv. grants a letter of pro tection to the prioress of the monastery of nuns of the most beloved Virgin Mary, in the Isle of St. Columba; and in 1567, Queen Mary grants to Marioun Makclaine, the prioressie and nunrie of the abbey of Ycolmkill. On the other hand, Bowar says distinctly that the nuns were Augustinian nuns, wearing the rochet, whose dress was white ; and as he was Abbot of Inchcolm, which was occupied by Augustinian canons, he must have known if nuns of the same order were in lona. The only explanation ot this difference which occurs to me is, that the nuns may originally have been black or Benedictine nuns, having Beatrice, the sister ot their founder, Eeginald, Lord of the Isles, for their first prioress, but that Augustinian nuns may have been substituted for them before the time of Bowar. This may have taken place when the abbey of lona became connected with the Bishop of Dunkeld, under whose jurisdiction the abbacy of Inchcolm likewise was.
We have thus a very distinct account of the foundation of two of the ecclesiastical establishments the ruins of which remain, viz., the abbey and the nunnery. For the others we must look a little further back in the history.
The ecclesiastical foundations in lona seem to have fallen into utter decay after the ravages of the Norwegians and Danes ; and the rule of the Norwegians over the Isles, even after they became Christian, seems not to have been favourable to any revival of them. The monastery of Kells, and afterwards that of Deny, became the head of the Columban order in Ireland, and frequently held nominally the abbacy of lona, while Dunkeld claimed to be the head of the order in Scotland ; and it is only occasionally and at rare intervals that a separate abbot of lona appears in the Annals. Queen Margaret is recorded by Ordericus Vitalis to have rebuilt the " Huense Ccenobium," and repaired it, giving the monks sufficient provisions for the work of the Lord. Dr. Reeves seems to imply that what she built was the chapel of St. Oran, but the word " ccenobium" can, I think, only refer to the monastery. The Irish Annals record in 1099 (six years after her death), the death of Donnchadh or Duncan, son of MacMaenaigh, Abbot of lona, the last mentioned in the Annals ; and she seems, therefore, to have for the time restored the abbacy ; but when the Isles were ceded to Magnus, King of Norway, it soon fell into decay, till the year 1154, when the division of the kingdom of the Isles took place, and those south of Ardnamurchan were ceded to Somarled, the regulus of Argyll. Whatever his descent may have been, the relations between his family and Ireland were very close, and he appears to have at once attempted to restore the abbacy, under the auspices of the Abbot of Derry. The passage which shows this also exhibits to us the exact position at the time of the Christian establishment there. The Annals of Ulster contain the following passage at the year 1164: — "The chiefs of the family of la (or lona), viz., Augustin the * Sagart Mor' or great priest, and Dubhsidhe the ' Ferleighin' or lector, and MacGilladuibh the ' Disertach' or superior of the Hermitage, and MacForcelaigh the head of the Culdees, and the chiefs of the family of lona in general, came to meet the Abbot of Derry, Flaherty O'Brolchan, to get him to take the abbacy of lona, by the advice of Somarled and the men of Argyll and the Isles, but the Abbot of Armagh, the King of Ireland, and the chiefs of Tyrone prevented it."
The " Sagart Mor," or great priest, belonged obviously to the secular clergy, who entered Scotland on the failure of the Columban clergy, and appears in many places, holding an independent posi tion, under the name of " Sacerdos." We should now call him the parish clergyman. The " Ferleighin," or lector, is what we should now call the parish schoolmaster. The "Disertach" I may put aside, as I have nothing to add to the account given by Dr. Reeves (pp. cxxiv-v, supra}. The head of the Culdees, Dr. Reeves has shown in his work on the Culdees, is usually called the prior, so that there was at this time no abbacy, but merely a priory of Culdees. In John of Silgrave's list of religious houses in the thirteenth century, lona appears also as occupied by Culdees. It is clear, therefore, that they were the immediate predecessors of the Benedictine monastery founded by Somarled's son, Reginald.
There is a mysterious entry in the Irish Annals, the last indeed regarding lona, in 1203. It is as follows: — "A monastery was erected by Cellach without any legal right, and in despite of the family of lona, in the middle of the Cro of lona, and he did con siderable damage to the town. The clergy of the North (of Ireland) assembled to pass over to lona — viz., the Bishop of Tyrone, the Bishop of Tirconnell, and the Abbot of the abbey church of Paul and Peter at Armagh, and Aulay O'Ferghail, Abbot of Derry, with many of the family of Derry, and a great number of the northern clergy beside. They passed over into lona, and in obedience to the law of the Church, they subsequently pulled down the monas tery, and the aforesaid Aulay was elected Abbot of lona by the suffrages of Galls (or Norwegians) and Gael."
Dr. Reeves thinks that the Ceallach here mentioned may have been a Nicolas, also called Colas, Bishop of the Isles, who was improperly interfering with the island ; but, as we have seen, at that time there was no connexion whatever between lona and the Bishop of the Isles, and it is difficult to see why he should have made such an attempt. Dr. Reeves was not aware of the existence of Celestinus, the first abbot of the new Benedictine monastery, who appears in the same year, and it appears to me more probable that Ceallach was the Irish equivalent of his name, and that on the death of Donald O'Brolchan, the prior at that time, he had attempted to eject the Culdees, and place them in a separate monastery, which was defeated by the opposition of the Irish. The parties opposed to him were the family of lona, obviously the same ecclesiastics mentioned in 1164, who preceded the Benedic tines, and the same Irish clergy who supported them, and tried to revive the older abbacy.
That there did exist a parochial church in lona, and a secular priest who filled the position of parson or sacerdos, we find from one of the documents discovered by Professor Munch in the Vatican, viz., a presentation by the Pope on 10th September 1372, of Mactyr, son of John the Judge, a " clericus " or clergyman of the diocese of the Isles, to the parish church — -parochialis ecclesia — of St. Columba of Hy or lona, in room of Dominic, son of Kenneth, late rector of that church (p. 356, infra). This parsonage or rectory appears, however, to have been soon after acquired by the abbot, who appointed a vicar to do the duty, for Macvurich calls the clergyman of lona in 1 380 a vicar ; and in the rental of the posses sions of the Abbot of lona in 1561 are enumerated the " teindis of Ycolmkill, called the personiage of Tempill Ronaige." It was probably about the time the abbot acquired the parsonage that the building was erected of which the ruins remain, and are known by the name of Tempull Ronaige.
It only remains to refer to the chapel of St. Oran ; but this paper has already extended too far to admit of any inquiry into its history, and I shall conclude what I have to say with some passages from the Book of Clanranald, which throw light upon some of the monuments. These monuments may be divided into two classes : the Celtic slabs, which belong to the period anterior to the foundation of the Benedictine monastery, and those more elaborate monuments connected with the subsequent period. It is to these latter alone that the passages refer. The Book of Clan ranald contains an account of the burial of some of the Lords of the Isles and chiefs of the Macdonalds, which will enable us to identify some of these monuments ; and first, of Eeginald, Lord of the Isles, the founder of the Benedictine monastery, Macvurich says — " that having obtained a cross from Jerusalem, and having received the body of Christ and extreme unction, he died, and was buried at Reilic Oran, lona, in A.D. 1207." There is a stone of this period, having upon it the sword, which marks the grave of a warrior ; in a corner at the upper end a small cross, and below a treasure box, which marks a founder of some church, which is probably his monument.
The death of his successor, Donald, is not recorded. His son and successor, Angus Mor, is said to have died in Isla ; but of his son and successor, Angus Og, the Lord of the Isles of King Robert Bruce's time, it is said, " This Angus Og died in Isla. His body was interred in lona, A.D. 1306.'
Of the burial of his son, John, Lord of the Isles, a more particular description is given. " He died in his own castle at Ardtornish, while monks and priests were over his body, and having received the body of Christ and extreme unction, his fair body was brought to Icolmkill, and the abbot and the monks and vicars came along with him, as it was customary to accompany the bodies of the
Kings of Fingall, and his service and waking were honourably per formed during eight days and eight nights, and he was laid in the same grave with his father at Teampull Odhran, or the church of St. Oran, in the year 1380." He was twice married. By his first wife he had Ranald, ancestor of the Clan Ranald, and Mary, married to MacLean of Duart. By his second wife he had Donald, his successor as Lord of the Isles. Of him it is said, " he was an entertainer of clerics, priests, and monks in his companionship, and he gave lands in Mull and Isla to the monastery of lona, and every immunity which the monastery had from his ancestors before him ; and he made a covering of gold and silver for the relic of the hand of St. Columcille, and he himself took the brotherhood of the order. He afterwards died in Isla, and his full noble body was interred on the south side of Teampull Odhran, or the church of St. Oran."
Eanald, the son by the first marriage, had four sons, Allan, Donald, Angus Reabhach, and Dugall, of all of whom it is said that they were interred in the same grave with their father, in Releig Oran ; but to one of them, Angus Reabhach, it is also said that he had taken upon him the brotherhood of the order of Mary in the church of lona.
Of Mary, the daughter of John, Lord of the Isles, it is said that she was interred in the church of the nuns.
Donald, Lord of the Isles, had a younger son Angus, who was Bishop of the Isles, and died in 1437. Of him it is said, "His illustrious body was interred, with his crosier and episcopal habit, in the cross on the south side of the great choir, which he selected for himself while alive." W. F. S.
V.
RECORDS RELATING TO IONA FROM THE VATICAN.
(1.)
DECEMBER 9, 1203.
INNOCENTIUS episcopus s. s. dei dilectis filiis Celestino abbati Sancti Columbe de Hy Insula eiusque fratribus tarn presentibus quam futuris religiosam uitam professis in perpetuum salutem et apostolicam benedictionem. Religiosam uitam eligentibus apostolicum conuenit adesse presidium, ne forte cuiushbet temerit; incursus aut eos a proposito reuocet aut robur, quod absit, sac religionis eneruet. Eapropter dilecti in domino filij, uestns msti postulationibus clementer annuimus, et prefatum monasteriu Sancti Columbe, in quo diuino mancipati estis obsequio, sub
Petri et nostra protectione suscipimus et presentis script! priuilegio communimus, in primis siquidem statuentes, ut ordo monasticus, qui in eodem loco secundum deum et beati Benedicti regulam institutus esse dinoscitur, perpetuis ibidem temporibus inuiolabiliter conseruetur. preterea quascunque possessiones, quecunque bona in presentiarum iuste et canonice possidetis aut in futurum concessione pontificum, liberalitate regum, largitione principum, oblatione fidelium, seu aliis modis, prestante domino, poteritis adipisci, firma uobis uestrisque successoribus et illibata permaneant. In quibus sub propriis duximus exprimenda uocabulis. locum ipsum in quo prefatum monasterium situm est cum omnibus partinentijs suis. ecclesias de Insegal. de Mule, de Coluansei. de Cheldubsenaig. de Chelcenneg. et de Jle. Jnsulas Hy. Mule. Coluansei. Oruansei. Canei. et Calue. Terra de Magenburg. de Mangecheles. de Herilnean1. de Sotesdal. Terras Abberade in Yle. de Markarna. et de Camusnanesre2. Sane noualium uestrorum que propriis sumptibus colitis, de quibus aliquis hactenus non percepit, siue de uestrorum animalium nutrimentis nullus a uobis decimas exigere vel extorquere presumat. Sepulturam quoque illius loci liberam esse decernimus, ut eorum deuotioni et extreme uoluntati, qui se illic sepeliri deliberauerint, nisi forte excommunicati et interdict! fuerint, aut etiam publici usuarij, nullus obsistat, salua tamen iustitia illarum ecclesiarum, a quibus mortuorum corpora assumuntur. Obeunte vero te nunc eiusdem loci abbate uel tuorum quolibet successorum, nullus ibi qualibet subreptionis astutia seu uiolentia preponatur, nisi quern fratres communi consensu vel fratrum pars consilij sanioris secundum dei timorem et beati Benedicti regulam prouiderint eligendum. Ad indicium autem huius a sede apostolica protectionis percepte duos bizantios gratis oblatos solueris nobis nostrisque successoribus annuatim. Decernimus ergo ut nulli omnino hominj liceat prefatum locum temere perturbare aut eius possessiones auferre vel ablatas retinere, minuere, seu quibuslibet uexationibus fatigare, sed omnia integra conseruentur, eorum, pro quorum gubernatione et sustentatione concessa sunt, usibus omnimodis profutura, salua sedis apostolice auctoritate et diocesanorum episcoporum canonica iustitia. Si qua igitur in futurum ecclesiastica secularisue persona huius nostre constitutionis paginam sciens contra earn temere uenire temptauerit, secundo tertioue commonita, si non reatum suum congrua satisfactione correxit, potestatis honorisque sui dignitate careat reamque se diuino iudicio existere de perpetrata iniquitate cognoscat et a sacratissimo corpore et sanguine dei et domini redemptoris nostri Jhesu Christi aliena fiat atque in extremo
1 Aut " Herilneam." 2 Aut " Camusnamesre."
examine districte ultioni subiaceat. Cunctis autem eidem loco sua iura seruantibus sit pax domini nostri Ihesu Christi, quatinus et hie fructum bone actionis percipiant et apud districtum iudicem premia eternepacis inueniant. Amen. Amen. Amen. Datum Agnanie per mammi Johannis Sancte Romane ecclesie subdiaconi et notarij .v. Jdus Decembris Jndictione .vij. Incarnationis dominice anno m°cc°iij°. pontificatus uero domini Innocentij pape .iij. . anno sexto
(Regest. Innocentii III. T. II. ann. 6. ep. 180. Arch. seer. Vatican.)
(2.) APRIL 22, 1247.
INNOCENTIUS episcopus seruus seruorum dei dilecto filio Abbati venerabilis monastery' sancti Columbe Ordinis sancti Benedicti Sodreyensis diocesis salutem et apostolicam benedictionem. A longinqua nobis Norwegie regione in qua tuum sicut asseris est monasterium constitutum personaliter ad presentiam nostram accedens, tibi ac monasterio ipsi ad eiusdem decorem super quibusdam insignibus ecclesie dignitatibus a nobis gratiam exhiberi suppliciter postulasti. Cum igitur Romana ecclesia sibi subiectis humiliter uenientibus ad eandem consueuit esse pie matris affectu fauorabilis ac benigna, et dignum existat, ut tanti labor itineris munere compensetur gratie specialis, tue deuotionis supplicationibus inclinati tibi et successoribus tuis anuli et in diuinis officiis, diebus, horis ac locis competentibus, mitre usum, quodque in predicto et alijs monasterijs ordinis beati Benedicti ac etiam ecclesiis secularibus monasterio memorato subiectis Clero et populo, legato sedis apostolice aut archiepiscopo vel episcopo non presente, benedic tionem possis dare sollempnem, auctoritate presentium duximus concedendum. Nulli ergo etc. nostre concessions etc. Datum Lugduni. kal. Maii pontificatus nostri anno quarto.
(Eegest. Innoc. IV. in arch. seer. Vatican, an. IV. ep.*551.)
(3.)
FEBRUARY 3, 1353.
INNOCENTIUS episcopus seruus seruorum dei uenerabili fratn .^ . Episcopo Ergadiensi, ac dilectis filijs . . Abbati de Sagadal in Kentire, ac . . Priori de Orwansay, Ergadiensis et Sodorensis diocesium, salutem et apostolicam benedictionem. Cupientibus vitam ducere regularem apostolicum debet adesse presidium, u eorum pium propositum possint ad laudem dmmi nommis adimplere. Cum itaque dilectus filius Gillegehanan, natus quondam
Johannis Scriptoris de Mule, Acolitus Sodorensis diocesis, cupiat, sicut accepimus, in Monasterio Sancte (sic) Columbe de Hy ordinis Sancti Benedict! dicte diocesis vna cum dilectis filijs . . Abbate et conuentu dicti monasterii sub regulari habitu virtutum domino famulari, Nos volentes eundem Gillegehanan, cum quo dudum, ut non obstante macula seu defectu, quam seu quern partitur in oculo dextro, posset ad subdiaconatus et diaconatus ordines promoueri et beneficium ecclesiasticum sine cura obtinere, fuit auctoritate apostolica dispensatum, in huiusmodi suo laudabili pr-oposito confouere, discretioni vestre per apostolica scripta mandamus, quatinus vos uel duo aut vnus vestrum per vos uel alium seu alios eundem Gillegehanan, si sit ydoneus et aliud canonicum non obsistat, in dicto monasterio, si in eo certus monachorum numerus non habetur, uel etiam si huiusmodi numerus ibidem forsan existat, et de ipso numero aliquis deest ad tempus exnunc, alioquin quam primum aliquem deesse continget, recipi faciatis auctoritate nostra in monachum et in fratrem, sibique iuxta ipsius monasterii consuetudinem regularem habitum exhiberi, ac de communibus ipsius monasterii prouentibus sicut vni ex aliis prefati monasterij monachis integre prouideri, ipsumque ibidem sincera in domino caritate tractari, non obstantibus quibuscunque statutis et consuetudinibus monasterii et ordinis predictorum contrarijs, iuramento, confirmatione apostolica uel quacunque firmitate alia roboratis, aut si pro aliis scripta forsan apostolica ibidem sint directa, seu si eisdem Abbati et Conuentui uel quibusuis aliis communiter uel diuisim a prefata sit sede indultum, quod ad receptionem uel prouisionem alicuius minime teneantur et ad id compelli, aut quod interdici, suspendi uel excommunicari non possint per literas apostolicas non facientes plenam et expressam ac de uerbo ad uerbo de indulto huiusmodi mentionem, et qualibet alia dicte sedis indulgentia, generali uel speciali, cuiuscunque tenoris existat, per quam presentibus non expressam uel totaliter non insertam effectus earum impediri valeat quomodolibet uel differri, et de qua cuiusque toto tenore habenda sit in nostris literis mentio specialis ; contradictores per censuram ecclesiasticam appellatione postposita compescendo. Datum Auinione .iij. Non. Februar. pontificatus nostri anno primo.
(Innocent. VI. cod. chart, in arch. Vat. T. V. fol. 556.)
(4.) SEPTEMBER 10, 1372.
GREGORIUS episcopus s. s. deiVenerabili fratri Episcopo Ergadiensi ac dilectis filiis decano sancti Petri Auinionensis ac Archidiacono
Ergadiensis ecclesiarum salutem et apostolicam benedictionem. Vite ac moram honestas aliaque probitatis merita super quibus apud nos dilectus filius Mactyr Johannis Judicis clerici Sodorensis diocesis fidedignorum coirnnendatur testimonio nos inducunt ut sibi reddamur ad gratiam liberales. Cum itaque sicut accepimus parrochialis ecclesia Sancti Columbe de Hey dicte diocesis quam quondam Dominicus Kenniti vltimus ipsius ecclesie Rector dum viueret obtinebat per ipsius Dominici obitum qui extra Romanam curiam diem clausit extremum vacet ad presens et tanto tempore vacauerit quod eius collatio est iuxta statuta Lateranensis concilij ad sedem apostolicam legitime deuoluta, nos volentes dicto Mactyr premissorum etc. intuitu gratiam f. specialem, discr. v. per ap. scr. m. q. vos etc. si premissa repereritis ueritate fulciri, dictam parrochialem ecclesiam, cuius fructus redditus et prouentus decem marcharum sterlingorum secundum communem extimacionem valorem annuum, ut idem Mactyr asserit, non excedunt, dummodo tempore dat. presencium non sit in ea alicui specialiter ius quesitum eciam si ecclesia ipsa sit disp. sedis apost. specialiter reseruata, eidem Mactyr cum omnibus iuribus etc. auctoritate nostra conferre et assignare curetis etc. contradictores auct. nostra appellacione postposita compescendo, non obstante etc. - seu si uen. fr. nostro Episcopo Sodorensi uel quibusuis aliis communiter uel diuisim a dicta sit sede indultum quod ad recepcionem etc. minime teneantnr etc. Datum apud Yillamnouam Auiniensis diocesis quarto Id. Sept. pontificatus nostri anno secundo.
(Gregor. XI. cod. chart. T. XII. fol. 87. arch. seer. Vat.)
[The references to the names which occur in the text of Adamnan are given to book and chapter as well as page.]
ABA, flumen, 132 (i. 25), 327.
Abban, St., Life of, cited, xlv.
Abbeyleix, in Laeghis, 290.
Abbeys, Irish, constitution of, c, ci.
Abbot, Columbian, jurisdiction of, civ, cxxiii ; sometimes married, cviii.
Aberbrothoc, abbey of, grant to, xcviii ; Register of, cit. xcvii.
Aberdeen, Breviary of, cited, xxvii, Ixii, cxxx, cl, clxi, clxx, 241, 243, 244, 245, 249, 251, 270, 291 ; errors in, cl, 250.
Histor. Collect, on (Spald.
Club), clxviii.
St. Machar of, xci, 229.
Abernethy, St. Bridget of, 230.
Abhuinn, or Sanda, clxviii.
Aboyne, parish of, clxviii, clxx.
Achaill, or Hill of Skreen, Ivi.
Ached-bou, 160 (ii. 12).
Acta Sanctorum, xxxiii, 244, 257, 270, 294.
Adam, 178 (ii. 38).
Adamnan, a rare name, cxlix; dimin. of Adam, cxlii, clxix ; corruptions of, clxiv, clxix-clxxi.
St., place of birth, cxlix ; date
of birth, cxlix ; parents, cxlix ; descent, cxlix ; contemp. sove reigns, cl, cli ; early incident, cxlix; elected abbot, cl; visits Ireland, cliv, civ ; visits Northnmbria, cli-cliv, cxci ; visits Ire land, clviii ; censures Finnachta, cliv, civ ; holds synod, clvi ; frees women from military service, clvi,
clvii; establishes paschal uni formity in Ireland, clviii ; said to have been expelled, clx ; protracted stay in Ireland, clviii ; alleged abode at Mayo, clviii ; in Meath, clviii ; curses Irgalach, clviii ; his death, clx ; his festival, clxiii, clxxj age, 244 ; his learning, cl, clii ; his style, clxiv ; his diligence, clxi ; his piety, clxi ; his tempta tions, clxi ; his celebrity, clxi ; Bede's character and account of, clii, cliii, clxi ; diffusion of his writings, xxi, clxi ; places called after, clvi, clxiv-clxvii.
Adamnan, bridges of, clxv, clxvi. — cain of, clvi.
canons of, clvi.
churches of, clxiv-clxix, 244 ;
collateral with St. Columba's, clxix.
coarbs of, clxxvi.
crosses of, cxxxviii, clvi.
festival of, mistake concerning,
clxiv, clxx.
Irish Life of, cli, civ; a sermon,
244.
memoirs of, cxlix.
shrine of, clxv, clxxiii, 338.
veneration of, in churches,
clxiv-clxix ; in names, clxix.
vision of, clvii.
well of, clxv.
writings of, De Loc. Savcf..
clii, clxiv; MSS. of, xxi, clxi; Vita S. Columbce, origin of, xix ; qualified for, xix ; date of, cliv,
3 GO civ ; MSS. of, xxv, xxvi, cliv ; two
recensions of, xxiii, xxiv ; printed
editions, xxi, xxii ; great value of,
xxxi ; estimate of the learned, xx ;
genuineness of, cliv; questioned,
clxii ; but ignorantly, clxiii ;
Spuria, clxiii. Adamnan of Coludi Urbs, 237, 244.
of Rath-maighe-aonaigh, 244.
mac Alddailedh, 244.
Adamnanus, 113 (i. 1), 146 (35),
208 (iii. 20), 215 (24). Admont, MS. of Adamnan at, xxvi. Adomnan, clxxi. See Adamnan. Aedelmith, rect£ Fedelmith, Ixxii,
229. Aedh, son of Ainmire, xliv, xlvii, 1,
254, 264, 279.
son of Colga, 263.
Dubh, 260.
Slaine, Ixxxviii, 254.
inflection of, in o, 254, 263.
See Aidus. Aedhan, or Aidan, bishop of Lindis-
farne, Ixxiv.
king, 254, 264, 287-
disciple of St. Donnan, 295.
a monk, Ixxii. See Aidanus.
Aemonia, or Inch Colum, Ixxi, 260.
Aengus, Bronbachla, 254.
Celede, Feilire of, cxxxv, cxlviii,
289, 291 ; Litany of, Ixxiii-lxxvi. De Matribus, SS. Hib., 230,
284 ; authorship of, questionable,
clxxv.
of Durrow, 1.
Aethnea, 107 (Pr. 2).
Aghaboe, 121. See Ached-bou.
Aidan. See Aedhan.
Aidanus, films Gabrani, rex, 120 (i.
7), 121 (8), 145 (35), 197 (iii. 6).
- films Fergnoi, 129 (i. 20).
filius Libir, 198 (iii. 7).
pater Gorei, 144 (i. 35).
Aidecht, a testament, Ixxxix, 289. Aidus, rex, 122 (i. 8) ; filius Ainmu-
rech, 145 (i. 35) ; pater Domnalli,
121 (i. 8), 146 (49).
filius Colgen, 141 (i. 35).
pater Columbi, 147 (i. 35).
pater Finteni, 173 (ii. 32).
pater Ronani, 141 (i. 35).
Commanus, 123 (i. 8).
Draignech, 124 (i. 10), 208 (iii.
21).
Aidus, Niger, 135, 136 (i. 29).
Slane, 123 (i. 8).
Ai/rind, offertorium, 239, 330. Ailbhe, St., Ixxiv. Ailbine, rivulus, 154 (ii. 4). Ailenus, pater Colmain, 141 (i. 35). Ainan, or Adamnan, clxviii. Ainmorius, filius setni, 120 (i. 7). Ainmureg, Domnall nepos, 197 - (iii. 6).
Ainmurech, Aidus filius, 145 (i. 35). Airchart-dan, 203 (iii. 15). Aircinnech, origin of term, cxxiii ;
censure of Aircinnechs, clvii. Airecal-Adhamnain, church of, clxvi. Airer-Gaeidhil, clxxxii. Airghialla, 289. Airtheara, in Oriel, 289. Airthir, derivation of, 289. Airthrago, insula, 189 (ii. 46), 326. Ait-chambas, 166 (ii. 23). Aithche, terrula, 161 (ii. 13). Alba, nations of, 276. Alcluaid, kings of, 255. Alcuin, cited, clxi, clxxi. Aldfrid, Irish extraction of, 283;
called Flann Fina, 284 ; pupil of
Adamnan, cli ; an exile in Ireland,
283 ; Adamnan's visits to, cli. See
Aldfridus.
Aldfridus, rex, 191 (ii. 47). Alexander I., king, founds Inchcolm,
Ixxi.
II., vision of, 249.
Alitherus, 117 (i. 3). Alpes Peninse, 218 (iii. 24). Alta, ancestor of St. Brendan, 293. Altar, stone, at Hy, cxix, 239. Altus, the hymn, xlv, Ixxxv, xcvii. Alumpnus Daigri, clxxiv. Alvah, church of, Ixviii. Alyth, ol Ailech, 226. Amhra Coluimcille, the
Ixxxviii, 254, 276. Amlabh mac Sitriuca, 339. Ananias, 169 (ii. 26). Anchorites of Hy, cxxiii. Anglair, meaning of, 237. Anmchara, or confessarius, cl, clxxviii. Annals of Boyle, cxxviii.
— Cambria, 259, 282.
— Four Masters, errors of, Ixxxviii, clxxiv; omissions, 231, 250 ; sup pressions, xliii, xlvi, xlviii.
— Mac Firbis, clix, 244.
poem,
Annals of Tighernach, passim; errors of, Ixxviii ; chronology of, uncer tain. Ixxviii ; badly edited, 231.
Ulster, passim ; chronology of,
Ixxix ; errors in, Ixxix ; Dublin copy more correct, 267.
kept in monasteries, cxvii.
Anteriores, 141 (i. 35), 198 (iii. 8). Aonach Tailten, 285. Aongus. See Aeugus. Aporcrossan, St. Maelrubha of, 274, 335, 336 ; Faelbhe of, 336 j Mac Oigi of, 337.
Aporicum Stagnum, 177 (ii. 38). Aporum Stagnum, 164 (ii. 20). Arbroath. See Aberbrothoc. Arculfus, a bishop, clii. Ardcaoin, 259. Ardceannachta, 155 (ii. 4). Ard-Cianachta, 110, 268. Ardcolum, church of, lix. Ardeacht, in Islay, 271. Ard-kirknish, in Tiree, 259, 313. Ardnamurchan, 254. Ardpatrick, near Louth, 228. Ardsratha, familia of, Ix. Argyle, diocese of, Ixx ; northern, Ixii ; derivation of, 247. See Airer-Gaedhil. Aries, ancient usages of the church
of, 290.
Armagh, bishops of, clxxix. Book of, its beauty, cxvii ; his tory, Ixxx ; date of its contents, clvi ; cited, lix, clvi, 233, 236, 237, 240, 259, 268, 274, 278, 279, 299.
church of Col. c. in, lix.
Franciscan abbey of, 240.
library of, 240.
Rath of, 240.
registries of, Iv.
SS. Paul's and Peter's of,
clxxxiii.
Armanach, meaning of, cxxvii. Arnold's (St.) Seat, 246. Arregathel. See Argyle. Art, meaning of, 257. Art-brananus, 134 (i. 27). Artchain, monasterium de, 135 (i.
29), 259, 304, 310, 313. Artdaib-muirchol, 159 (ii. 9). Artdamuirchol, regio, 122 (i. 8). Artgal mac Cathail, 337. Art-muirchol, 166, 167 (ii. 23).
Arturius, filius Aidani, 121 (i. 8). Assylin, church of, Ivi. Atharda, meaning of, 237. Ath-cliath, Dublin, 268. See Vadum
died.
Ath-cluana Meadhraighe, 255. Ath-feine, in Westmeath, liv. Athlaech, 238. Ath-na-dairbrighe, 341. Atrium Magnum, or Rathmore, xlvi,
267.
Auchterless, church of, 296. Augustin, St., of Canterbury, Ixxiv.
— priest of Hy, 341, 350. Auldearn, St. Colum's ch. of, Ixvii. Awe, Loch, 327. Awnaun, or Adamnan, clxv. Awyn, island, or Sanda, clxviii.
BACHALL MOR, a crosier, xc. Baedan, son of Ninnidh, xliv, xlv. Baertius, the Bollandist, cit., xxii, civ. Baitanus, filius Maic Erce, 122 (i. 8). Baitanus, nepos Niath Taloirc, 126
(i. 14). Baithanus, pater Cronani, 169 (ii.
25). Baithene, son of Brendan, cxlvii,
229, 282, 305, 311 seq.; festival
of, coincident with St. Columba's,
Ixxvi, 190. See Baitheneus.
Mor, xx, Ixxxv, 223.
disciple of St. Donnan, 295.
Baitheneus, 115, 116 (i. 2), 126 (13),
127 (15), 128 (16, 17), 132 (24),
136 (29), 140 (33), 161, 162 (ii.
14), 190 (46), 200 (iii. 9), 206 (19),
213 (23).
Balhelvy, S. Colman's of, Ixviii. Ballindrait, near Raphoe, clxvi. Ballyheyland, 227. Ballymagroarty, lix, clxxviii. Ballymote, Book of, Ixxxix, 271, 272,
287.
Ballynascreen, church of, Ivi. Balrathboyne, in Meath, 232. Balrymonth, 336. Banagh, barony of, 258, 297. Bandea, 278. Bangor, abbey of, 307 ; Antiphonary
of, 269, 291, 292. Bishops of Isles buried at,
clxxxiii. Baodan, descendants of Loarn, Ixiv,
281.
3G2
Baptism of adults, 25. Bard, Christian, or Carminator, 274. Baronius, Anuales, 276. Barr, St., xxxvi, Ixxv, 226. Barra, island of, 226. 'Basnage, Thesaurus, xxii. Bass for gein, 244. Battersby, Catholic Directory, clxx. Battle of Magh Ragh, 266, 288. Battles promoted by S. Columba, xli. Bealach Buidhe, battle of, Ixxxvii. Bealach Dathi, battle of, xlvii. Bealach Duin, now Castlekeeran, cli. Bealach Fedha, battle of, xlvi. Beandmoyll, or Benbecula, Ixiii. Beaton, Fergus, Ixiv. Beatrix, daughter of Somerlid,
cxxxiii.
Beccan, solitarius, cxxiv. Bed of stone, S. Columba's, 298.
of skin, 238.
Bede, Hist. EC., xxxvi, civ, cxxvii,
cxxxi, clii, clviii, clx, clxxii, 235,
248, 262, 279, 283, 287.
Vit. S. Cuthberti, 235, 283.
Belfast Lough, ol Loch Laodh, 291. Belhelvie, S. Columba's of, Ixviii. BeU at Hy, liv, ex. of St. Patrick, xcii, xcvi. See
Dubh Diglach, Dubh Duibhsech,
Glassan.
Benbecula, old names of, Ixiii. Benedict, St. his foundations, Ixxiii. Rule of, xxiii, ciii, cix, cxvi,
cxviii, 270. Ben Nun, 112 (i. 1). Beogni, Columbanus films, 119 (i. 5),
161 (ii. 14). Berachus, 125 (i. 13). Berchan, St., of Clonsast, Ixxxi ;
cited, 231.
- of Egg, 296.
Berchanus/Mesloen, 208 (iii. 22). Bernera, S. Columba's of, Ixiii. Bible, or Bibliotheca, cxx. Bibliotheca Vet. Patr. Nov., 270. Bior, river, xxxv. Birr, St. Brendan of, xxxvi, 285. Birra, monasterium de, 195 (iii. 4),
201 (12).
Birse, parish of, 228. Bishops, ancient Irish, civ, cv ; con secrated by a single bishop, cxiii ;
few, in second order of saints,
xcix,c ; attached to monasteries, civ.
Bishops in Hy, rank of, civ, cv ; re spect shown to, 263.
Blackwater, the, old name of, 271.
Blaeu, Geography of, 243, 325.
Blaithmac, St., Ixxxi, Ixxxii, clxxiv.
Blood, flux of, cured, 49.
Bo, fluvius (old. Bos), 164 (ii. 19).
Bo-ar, cow mortality, clviii, clix.
Boats, various kinds of, 280, 281.
Bobio, Irish monastery of, cv.
Bodleian Library, Irish MSS. in, xxx.
Boece, Hector, fabrications of, 229.
Boend, flurnen, 157 (ii. 8).
Bollandists, 281. See Acta Sanc torum.
Bol-leithne, in Hy, 260.
Books, Irish, 239, 269. See Armagh, Durrow, Kells, Lecan, Mac Firbis.
of glass, 286, 287.
Bos, flurnen, 140 (i. 34). See Bo.
Both-medhbha, Bovevagh, clxvi.
Bovevagh, church of, clxvi.
Bowar. See Fordun.
Boyle, river, 262. See Bo, Bos.
Boyndie, church of, 226.
Boyne, river, clviii, 268. See Boend.
Bradley, or O'Brolchan, clxxx.
Branann, meaning of, 257.
Brandub films Meilgi, Ixxii.
King of Leinster, 289.
Brecan, son of Maine. 251, 252.
Brecani Charybdis, Il9 (i. 5), 160 (ii. 12), 251, 252.
Brecbannach, a banner, xcvii-xcix.
Breccus, Domnail, 197 (iii. 6).
Breg, Campus, 138 (i. 30), 183 (ii. 40).
Brendan, St., of Clonfert, 307 ; com memoration in Scotland, xxxvi. See Brendenus.
Brendenus, S. Birra, 195, 196 (iii. 4), 201 (12).
S. Mocualti, 130 (i. 20), 205,
206 (iii. 18).
dives largus, 147 (i. 35).
Bresal, son of Seghene, 337.
Breviary of Aberdeen. See Aberdeen.
Bridamh, rivulet of, 254.
Brigid, St., Ixix, 313.
Bri-mic-Taidhg, clxxx.
Britannia, 108 (Pr. 2), 113 (i. 1), 114 (2), 120 (7), 123 (8), 135 (29), 176 (ii. 35), 182 (40), 191 (47), 210 (iii. 23), 217 (24).
Britannise Dorsum. 134 (i. 28), 173 (ii. 32), 191 (47), 203 (iii. 15).
3G3
Britannicus, 182 (ii. 40), 184 (47),
218 (iii. 24). Brito, 107 (Pr. 2), 128 (i. 16), 198
(iii. 7).
Britons in Ireland, clviii. Britonum rex, 112 (i. 1). Briuni nepos, 162 (ii. 15), 172 (30). Broichanus magus, 174 (ii. 34), 175
(35).
Bronbachal, Oingusius, 123 (i. 8). Brudeus, rex, 111 (i. 1), 138 (29),
174 (ii. 34), 176 (36), 185 (43). Brugach, Bishop, 285. Bruide mac Bile, cl, 245, 284.
mac Derili, clvi, 246.
mac Maelcon, 260, 276 ; chron ology of, 277 ; fort of, 277 ; son
of, 277. Brussels, Irish MSS. at, clxv, 230,
233, 244-246, 282, 291. Buide, Echodius, 121 (i. 8). Buidhe Conaill, 282. Buite, St., his day, xxxiii ; his Life,
225.
Burness, St. Columba's of, Ixvii. Butler, Alban, Lives of SS., clxxi ;
error in, clxiv. Buvinda, or Boyne, 268.
CABHAN Cuildich, in Hy, cxxxix.
Cadoc, St., Life of, Ixxv.
Caencomhrac Ua Maeluidhir, 338.
Caerlaverock, S. Columba's of, Ixvi.
Caer-na-mBroc, 284.
Ceesar, De Bello Gallico, 261.
Caibeal Muire, in Hy, cxxxiv.
Cailech, 239.
Cailtanus, 132 (i. 25).
Cain, 128 (i. 16).
Cain Adhamhnain, what, clvi.
Cainle, mons, 163 (ii. 16).
regio, 138 (i. 31).
Cainnech, St., birth and date of, 269 ;
his churches, 278 ; a friend of S.
Columba, cxxxiv, 270 ; Life of, c,
ex, 270, 271, 292, 305. See Cain-
nechus. Cainnechus, sanctus, 118 (i. 4), 160,
161 (ii. 12, 13), 205, 206 (iii. 18). Caintigerna, 336. Cairbre Filead, 229.
Gabhra, territory of, 280.
Cairnaan, Ixxii, 229.
Cairnech, St., reliquaries of, xcvi.
Caladros in Islay, 271.
Calendar of Aengus, or Feilire, cxlviii, 250, 291.
— Cashel, 250.
— Donegal, cxxix, clxxi, 229, 26 1 274, 276, 291, 297.
— Marian Gorman, cxxix, 294, 297.
Tamlaght, cxxix, 294.
Calgach, meaning of, 278.
Calgach. See Daire Calgaich.
Calgachus. See Roboretum Calgachi.
Calmaan, son of Enan, Ixxii.
Calraighe Teabhtha, 289.
Camas Comghaill, 266.
Cambas, monasterium, 146 (i. 35).
See Ait-chambas. Cambo Kentigerni, xc, 233. Cambrensis Eversus. See Lynch. Camerarius, errors of, clxvii, 244. Gammas. See Cambas. Campbelton, date of cross of, cxxxvii. Campulus bo vis, 160 (ii. 12). Campus Albus, synod of, 250.
Breg, 138 (i. 30), 183 (ii. 40).
Eilni, 147 (i. 35).
Lunge, Ixi, 132 (i. 24), 140
(33), 162 (ii. 14), 181, 183 (40), 200 (iii. 9), 255, 305 seq.
Roboreus, 183 (ii. 40).
Roboris, 153 (ii. 2).
— Sered, in Donegal, Ix. Camus, church of, xlvi, 266. Cana Galilean, 152, 153 (ii. 1). Canis. See Colmanus Canis. Canisius, Antiq. Lect., xxi-xxiv. Canna island, Ixiv, 264. | Canon, or Testament, cxx, 240. Canons of Adamnan, clvi, 246.
ancient Irish, cxiv.
Cantigerna. See Caintigerna. Cantyre, xcix. See Caput Regionis. Caornan, 229.
Capgrave, Legenda Aurea, 284. Caput Regionis, 131 (i. 22), 256. Carminator. See Bard. Carn-cul-ri-Erin, Ixv, 325. Carn-o-mount, 259. Carran, parish of, Ivii. Carrickraacross, derivation of, 202. Carthach, St., Ixxiii; expulsion of,
from Rahan, xxxvii. Casaubon, Exercit. of, 270. Cascene, 230.
Cassal, cassula, cxviii, 240. Castlekeeran. See Bealach-dum.
3G4
Cataldus, St., Ixxiv.
Catenes, or Caithness, 294.
Cathach, meaning of, xlii, 227 ; vari ous such, Ixxxv, xcv. ; St. Columba's, xlii, Ixxxvii ; where kept, Ix ; inscription on, Ixxxvi.
Cathair Donnain, 296.
Cathasach, son of Domhnall, 287.
Cath-buaidh, a crosier, xcix.
Cathedra lae, clxxii.
Cathir, films, 127 (i. 15).
Cation, Britonum rex, 112, 113 (i. 1).
Catt, Caithness, 294, 295.
Cave, spouting, 329.
Ceannachte. See Ard Ciannachte.
Ceann-tire, 256, 272.
Ceann-tsear, in Hy, cxliii.
Cedd, bishop, 237.
Ced-mitheachd Coluimcille, Ivi.
CeiStagnum, 140 (i. 34), 164 (ii. 19).
Ceilebrad, celebratio, 289.
Ceilede, or Culdee, cxxvi, cxxvii.
Cell, St. Columba's, in Hy, 240, 291.
Cella Diuni, 132 (i. 25).
Cella Magna Deathrib, 147 (i. 35).
Cella Nigra, Deria?, 1.
Cella vii. filiorum Degilli, Ixxii.
Cellach, abbot of la, lii, clxxxiii.
bishop, 235, 331.
Cualann, clviii, 332, 336.
son of Ailill, clxxv.
Cellachus, pater Colgen, 157 (ii. 7), 203 (iii. 16).
Cellaig, Colgu filius, 135 (i. 29).
Cellrois, 141 (i. 35).
Cells, detached, cxx, 226, 240.
Cemetery, initiation of, 288, 289.
Cenalbin. See Cenelbathyn.
Cenannus, now Kells, church of, Ii ; references to abbots, lectors, etc., clxxii-clxxxi, 334-342.
Cendcedais, Pentecost, Ixxvii, Ixxviii, 298.
Cenelbathyn, Ixiv, 281.
Cennfaeladh of Ossory, 254.
Ceranus, Sanctus, 116 (i. 3).
Cerbulis, Diarmitius filius, 135 (i. 29).
Cethern, son of Fintan, 265.
Cethirni Munitio, clxvi, 145, 146 (i. 35).
Chambas, Aith, 166 (ii. 23).
Cbana Galilee, 152, 153 (ii. 1).
Chandos Collection of MSS., xxx.
Chanting, by S. Columba, 260 ; in church of Hy, 290.
Charybdis Brecani, vid. Brecani.
Chonrius Mocucein, Ixxii.
Choristers in Hy, 290. See Hy.
Chronicle of Man, clxxxii, 129, 348.
Cian, son of Ailill, 268.
Cianachta, origin of name, 268 ; a territory in Glengiven, 266 ; a territory in Meath, clviii; saints of, liii.
Ciaran, St., Life of, xl, 252.
Ciarraighe, the, 293.
Cill Adhamhnain, Killonan, clxvii, clxix.
Cill Brendain, xxxvi, 226.
Cill Chainnigh, cxxxiv.
Cill Cobrainne, 229.
Cill Cruithnechain, 284.
Cill Draighnech, 250.
Cill Faelain, in Ireland, 227.
Cill mac Nenain, Iv, 226, 232, 285.
Cill Magobhanain, cxxxv.
Cill Manechdain, cxxxv.
Cill mic Eoghain, 243.
CiU Mor Dithraimh, liv, 262, 266.
Cill Righmonaigh, 293, 332.
Cille, the epithet, xxxiii, 226.
Cillene Droictech, clxv, clxxiii.
Fada, clxxiii.
mac Congaile, clxxiii.
Cinel Aengusa, 281.
Cinel Baedain in Islay, 273 ; in Morvern, Ixiv, 281.
Cinel Cairbre, 254.
Cinel Comghaill, 281.
Cinel Conaill, xcvi, clxv.
Cinel Concridhe, in Islay, 273.
Cinel Enda, 223.
Cinel Enna, cxlix.
Cinel Eoghain, clxv.
Cinel Feradhaich, clxxx.
Cinel Fergusa, 176.
Cinel Gabhrain, 272, 281.
Cinel Loairn, 281.
Cinel Luighdech, Ixxxvi, 232.
Cinel Sedna, in Islay, 273.
Cinel Tighernaigh, Ixxxi.
Cinn Garadh, abbots of, 332; bi shops of, 331.
Cinnrighmonaidh, 332r
Cisalpinse Gallic, 191 {ii. 47).
Cladh, meaning of, 326.
Cladh an Disert, cxxxvi, 326.
Cladh Maelrubha, or Maree, at Applecross, 274, 335, 336.
Cladh Mhanaich, Ixii.
3G5
Cladh nan Druinech, cxxxvi.
Cladh na Meirge, cxxxvii.
Cladh na Muice, 326.
Cladh Odhrain, 289, 314.
Cladh Remain, cxxxv.
Clann Colla, clxxi.
Clann Damhin, 268.
Clanship, in Hy, cvi, cvii. See Hy.
Clarainech, xxxv ; meaning of, 226.
Cleirceacht, cxiii, 278.
Clement xir., Pope, his sanction of
St. Eunan, clxiv. Clergy engaging in war, xxxix. Cliath, meaning of, 268. Clochar mac nDaimene, 268. Cloch Ruadh, Iv, xcvi. Clochur filiorum Daimeni, 155 (ii. 5). Clodus. Vide Lugudius. Clogher, frequency of name, 268 ;
see of, in Tyrone, 268. Cloghmore, in Gal way, Iviii. Cloithe, Petra, 123 (i. 8). Clonard, S. Finnian of, 286 ; school
of, xxxv.
Clonfad, St. Etchen of, xxxv. Clonf eacle, recte Cluain - Fiachna,
298.
Clonfert, S. Brendan of, 293. Cloni-finchoil, 215 (iii. 24). Clonmacnois, monastery of, 250 ;
Annals of, cxxx.
Clonmany, in Inishowen, lix, xcv. Clonmore, Iv.
Clonoensemonasterium, 116,118(i.3). Cluain Boirenn, 268. Cluain Chaoin, Clonkeen. 255. Cluain Finchoill, 298. Cluain Mor, Arda, Iv. Cluain Sosta, 231. Cnoc, same as Crock, 330. Cnoc Angel, 205 (iii. 17), 292. Cnoc Morr in Hy, 257, 292, 326. Cnoc na Maoile, clxv. Cnoc nan Carnan, in Hy, 326. Cnoc na Naingeal, 292, 326. Cnoc Odhrain, in Hy, 260, 291. Coarb, of Columcille, clxxiv, clxxviii ;
in Ere and Alba, 340 ; of Cole.
and Adamnan, clxxvi, clxxvii,
clxxviii.
Coarb of Cainnech, 269. Cobban Cuildich, cxxxix. Cobthach, son of Brendan, Ixxii. Cochall, cuculla, Ixxxvii, cxviii. Coeddi, bishop of Hy, 335.
Coffins, early use of, 244. Cohors Geona. See Geona. Coilriginus, 200 (iii. 10). Coire, meaning of, 264. Coire Brecain, 251, 252. Coire Salcain, 143 (i. 35). Colcius, filius Cellaig, 135 (i. 29). Coleraine. See Cuil-Rathen, Cule-
rathin.
Colga mac Cellaigh, 259. Colgan, Acta Sanctorum of, in notes,
passim. Trias Thaumaturga of, in notes,
passim.
errors of, 253, 287, 288 ; sup pression, 227.
Colgen, Aid films, 141 (i. 35). Colgion, dicecesis, 135 (i. 29). Colgius, films Aido, 124 (i. 10), 208
(iii. 21). Colgu filius Cellachi, 157 (ii. 7), 203
(iii. 16). Coll, island of, ecclesiastical traces
in, 316, 317. Colla Uais, 171. Collan, of Burrow, 227. Colliculus Angeloruna, cxli, 188 (ii.
45), 205 (iii. 17). Collumkill, parish of, Ivii. Colman, a form of Colum, 251, 280.
Beg, son of Diarmait, xliv.
Canis, 141 (i. 35).
Deacon, 279.
Ela, Life of, 251, 254, 271.
Finn, Ixxiii.
mac Comgellain, 265.
mac Diarmada, xliu
mac Ua Loigse, 291.
Mor, xlii, xlv, xlix.
Colmanus, episcopus, 119 (i. 5) ;
Mocusailni, 119 (i. 5)-
pater Scandlani, 122 (i. 8).
Colmonel, parish of, 251. Colm's-kirk, in Skye, 275. Colonsay, islands called, Ixv, 262,
273, 327. Colosus, insula, 139 (i. 32), 167 (ii.
23).
Coludi Urbs, Coldingham, 244. Colum, or Columban, 280. ColumbCrag, 114, 115 (i. 2). Columba, sanctus. Passim. Columba, St., his birth predicted,
xxxiii, 2 ; where born, xxxiii ;
when, xxxiii ; his parents, xxxiii,
3GG clxxxv, 3 ; Geneal. Tab., clxxxv ; mother, xxxiii, 3, 229 ; her vision concerning St. Col., 78 ; brother, 230; sisters, 230; his high de scent, xxxiii, 3 ; pedigree, cvi, 8, 229, 249 ; name Colum, 2, 248 ; other names, 248 ; especially Columcille, xxxiii ; where baptized, xxxiii ; where fostered, xxxiv ; his subsequent teachers, xxxiv ; ordained deacon, xxxiv ; studies under Gemman, xxxiv, 274 ; or dained priest, xxxv ; founds Derry, xxxv, 278 ; Durrow, xxxv, 9 ; and other churches in Ireland, xxxv, xlix-lx; causes battle of Cul- Dreimhne, 3, 12 ; excommunicated, xxxvi, 79 ; honoured by St. Bren dan, xxxvi, 285 ; and St. Finnian, 80, 286; leaves Ireland, 12 ; aged forty -two, 3, 225 ; with twelve disciples, Ixxi, 80 ; departure from Ireland said to be penal, xxxvi, 43, 44 ; and enjoined by St. Molaisi, xxxvi, 44 ; but, more pro bably, voluntary, xxxvi, 3 ; visits King Conall, 12, 255 ; occupies Hy, xxxvii ; by joint consent, xxxviii ; visits king Brudeus, xxxviii, 276, 277 ; converts Picts, 45, 55, 71 ; founds Himba, 33, 264 ; inaugurates king Aidan, 81, 287 ; goes to Drumceatt, in. Ire land, 13, 35, 42 ; visits Coleraine, 36 ; revisits Ireland, 9 ; peril in returning from Ireland, 252 ; threatened with illness, 94 ; sur vives four years, 94 ; blesses Hy, 56, 95 ; last scenes of life, 95-98 ; death, xl, 98 ; wake, 100 ; burial, 100, 101 ; day of death, Ixxvi, 225, 282 ; year of death computed, Ixxvi-lxxix ; his age, 225 ; alleged removal of his remains, Ixxxi, 231 ; enshrinement of, Ixxxi- Ixxxiv.
Appearance : aspect, 3, 22 ;
stature, 5.
Battles : Cul-Dreimhne, xli-xlv,
12, 14; Cul-Rathain, xlvi ; Cul- Fedha, xlvii.
Books : veneration for, 43, 74 ;
Gospels, xlii, xc, xciii, xciv ; } Hymnals, Ixxxv, 43 ; Psalters, Ixxxv, 97.
Columba, St., Churches : in Ireland, xlix-lx, 169 ; in Scotland, Ix-lxxi, 167.
Contemporary Kings : Aidan,
12, 35 ; Aldfrid, 77 ; Brudeus, 60, 62, 71; Diarmait, xli-xliii, 26; Rodercus, 15.
Contemporary Saints : Abban,
xlv; Baithene Mor, xx, Ixxxv ; Brendan, of Birr, 80, 85 ; Brendan, of Clonfert, 21, 90 ; Cainnech, 10, 46, 90 ; Ciaran, 9 ; Colmanela, 1 1 ; Colum mac Crimthann, 265, 278 ; Columbanus, 86 ; Comgall, 35, 87, 90 ; Conall, 36 ; Cormac Ua Liathain, 71, 90 ; Donnan, 294 ; Fin nian, of Clonard, 38, 80, 266 ; Finnian, of Moville, 266 ; Kentigern, 90; Mobhi, xxxv, 279; Molaisi, of Devenish, xli, xliv ; Molaisi, of Inishmurry, xliv.
his Diligence : general, in prayer,
12, 47, 54, 69, 72, 83, 86, 89, 91 ; in writing, 57, 88, 97.
Disciples : names of, Ixxi, Ixxii.
Disposition : 'affectionate, 57 ;
compassionate, 22, 27, 30, 34, 41 ; grateful, 50 ; kind, 53, 65, 73 ; resentful, xxxix, 50-53 ; stern, 26, 29, 37, 53, 66, 73, 88.
Institution, or Rule : at Hy,
xcix-cxxvii ; eremitical, ci.
— Kindred : names of, 229, 230 ; Geneal. Table, clxxxv.
Law : nature of, Ixxxii, cii.
Manifestations, Angelic : B. iii.
78-102; superior enjoyment of, 78 ; sometimes suppressed, 83.
Miracles, B. ii., 38-77.
Prophecies : B. i., 1-37 ; re puted, cxlix.
— Relics : frequented by angels, 101 ; history and traditions of, Ixxix-lxxxiv.
Reliquaries : in Ireland, Ixxxv-
xcvi ; in Scotland, Ixxxviii, xc,
xcvi-xcix. Voice : loud, but modulated,
28. Writings : Irish, xl, xli ; Latin,
224 ; alleged virtues of, 6. St., celebrity of : abroad, 2,
101 ; at home, 1-3. Life of : Irish writers of, xxvii-
xxxi ; Latin, xix-xxi, xxvii.
3G7
Columbanus, filius Beogni, 119 (i. 5),
161 (ii. 14). Columbanus, filius Echudi, 188 (ii.
44. Columbanus, inops, 165 (ii. 22), 166
(23). Columbanus, Moculoigse, 201 (iii.
12), 202 (13). Columbanus, nepos Briuni, 162 (ii.
15).
Columbanus, pater Suibnei, 123 (i. 8). Columbkille, parishes called, Ivii,
lix.
Columbus, Aidi filius, 147 (i. 35). Columbus, faber, 200 (iii. 10). Columcille, meaning of, 225, 248. Columkille's house, in Kells, 298.
Island, in Skye, 274.
Comgall, meaning of, 292.
King, 253 ; race of, clxxii.
See Cinel Comghaill. St., birth and date of, 35, 87,
90, 306 ; Life of, cix ; his Scotch
churches, 226. Comgellus, sanctus, 145, 146 (i. 35),
202 (iii. 14), 205 (18). Comgill, filius, 120 (i. 7). Comman mac Enain, 297. Commanus, Aidus, 123 (i. 8). Commanus, presbyter, 207 (iii. 20). Conaldus, or Conall, cxlix. Conall, of Magh Luing, 257, 313.
Cranndamhna, 287.
Crimthann, clxxxiii, 265.
Gulban, cxlix, 171, 249.
Conallus, episcopus, 147 (i. 35). Conallus, filius Comgill, 120 (i. 7). Conallus, filius Domhnaill, 166 (i.
23), 168 (25).
Conamail mac Failbhe, clxxi, 335. Conan, St., of Egg, 296. Conang mac Aedain, 287.
Ua Beighleghinn, clxxix.
Condere, Connor, 342. Confessarius, or anmchara, cl. Congal Caech, or Claen, 266, 288. Conghalach, St., of Egg, 296. Congregation of St. Columba, 337. Connachtach, abbot of Hy, clxxiv. Connachtarum regio, 180 (ii. 40). Connaught. See Connachtarum. Connor, antiquity of church of, 260. Conrach, or Conrius, 1, 227. Cooldrevny, xxxv, 3. See Cul-
Dreimhne.
Cormac Ua Liathain, 242, 252. Sue
Cormacus. Cormacus, nepos Lethani, 119 (i. 6),
185-187 (ii. 43), 205 (iii. 18). Corpreus, St., Ixxiii. Corrybrackan, in Monaghan, 251.
See Charybdis Brecani. Cortachy, St. Columba's of, Ixviii. Cotton Library, MSS. of, xxvi. Craig Phadric, a fort, 277. Cramond, parish of, 228. Craseni, Erneneus filius, 117 (i. 3). Cremorne, derivation of, 262. Cresine, father of, 250. Crogreth, Stagnum, 143 (i. 35), 327. Cro-Hi, in Hy, cxxxiv, 247. Cronan, abbot of Dunkeld, Ixxi. Cronanus, filius Baithani, 142 (i. 35). Cronanus, poeta, 140 (i. 34). Crosier, of St. Cainnech, 271. of St. Columba, xc, xcix.
— of St. Donnan, 296. Cross, of Adamnan, cxxxviii, clvi ;
Campbeltown, cxxxvii ; in Hy,
cxxxvii-cxxxix ; Inverary, cxxxvii;
Tory, Ixxxv.
sign of the, cxiv, 48, 56, 57.
Crossan Mor, at Hy, cxxxviii. Cruithne, Picts of Ireland, 253. Cruithnechanus, sanctus, 195 (iii. 2). Cruithnii, 120 (i. 7). Cruthini populi, 146 (i. 35). Cruithinicus, 135 (i. 29). Cu, in composition, 263. Cuculla, or cowl, Ixxxvii. Cuile-aque, Ixxii.
(?m£e&ac?A,meaningof,lxxxviii, Ixxxix. Cuilfedha, battle of, xxxviii, xli, xlii,
xlvi.
Cuil Rathen, battle of, xli, xlii, xlvi. Cuil Sibrille, Ii. Cuil-uisci, Ixxii. Cuimne, St., Ixxii. Culbrandon, island of, Ixi. Culdees, earliest mention of, cxxvi ;
no peculiar order, cxxvii. Cul-Drebene, 120 (i. 7). Culedrebina, 108 (Pr. 2). Cul-Dreimhne, where, 253 ; battle of,
xli, xlii, xlvi, 12 ; pedigree of
leaders at, xliii, xliv. Culerathin, 147 (i. 35). Culpait, meaning of, Ixxxix. Culross, Culdees of, ciii. Cuinan, sister of St. Columba, Lsxii.
Cumeanus, Epistle of, 287.
Cumene Ua Becce, 336.
Cumine Ailbe, abbot of Hy, cxlviii, 287.
Cummeneus Albus, 197 (iii. 6).
Cummian, Life of St. Columba, 267 ; date of, 280, 286, 288 ; anachro nism in, 286 ; another error, 297 MSS. of, 288 ; incorporated in Adamnan's third book, xix, 284.
Paschal Epistle of, cxxix, 236,
242.
Curach, a, 280.
Cures effected by charms, 40-44.
Cursing, by St. Columba, xxxix, 50, 52.
Custodiaria Insula, or Inis-Coimedha, where, 233.
Cuthbert, St., Life of, Ixix.
Cuul-eilne, 136 (i. 35).
Dabhach, meaning of, cxix.
Daemons, 26 ; in milk, 48 ; at sea, 6 1 ; combat with, 83 ; their darts, 84.
Daimeni filia, filii, 155, 156 (ii. 5).
Daimhinis, St. Molaisi of, xliv.
Daimin, son of Cairbre, 268.
Daingen Mor, in Hy, 267.
Daire Calgaich, 182 (ii. 40).
Daire Calgaigh, or Derry, 1, Ii, 7, 67, 278, 338.
Daire-rabhne, Ixxiv.
Dairmag (vide Roboreti Campus), 116 (i. 3).
Dairmagh, orDurrow, xlix, 250, 267, 279 ; monastic battle of, xlviii.
Dalaraidhe, war of, with Hy Neill, xlvi ; war of, with Ulidians, xlii, xlvi ; chief seat of, 253.
Dalian Forgaill, a poet, 274.
Dalmeny, church of, clxix.
Dalriada, Irish and Scotch, 264 ; three chief tribes of, 272 ; Conall, king of, 253 ; war with the Bri tons, clxxii; invaded by Danes, clxxvi ; chieftains of, 281.
Dairy mple, Sir J., Vindication, clxii.
Damhna, meaning of, 236, 241.
Damongoch, St., of Tory, liii.
Danes, waste Hy, clxxiv ; take up St. Columba's body, Ixxxi ; carryaway St. Columba's shrine, Ixxxii.
David, St., his twelve followers, Ixxiii.
Daviot, St. Columba's church of, Ixviii.
Dealg, meaning of, 289.
Deathrib, Cella magna de, 147 (i. 35),
266.
Declan, St., Life of, 282. Dega, St., liv ; Life of, 238. Degill, Mac, Ixxii. Delcros terra, 154 (ii. 3), 267. Delg Aideckta, what, Ixxxix. Delvin, river, oL Ailbine, 267. Deoraidh, meaning of, cxxv, 242. Derbbind Belada, or Eithne, 230. Dercongail, or Holywood, 226. Dermitius rex, 123 (i. 8). Derteach, Bresal of, clxxiv. Maeliosa of, clxxx.
Desert, of Cenannus, cxxv, clxxviii.
of Derry, cxxv.
of Hy, cxxv, cxxxvi.
Desertegny, church of, lix. Desertoghill, church of, lix. Desertum, ecclesiastical, cxxv. Dewar, origin of name, 242. Diarmaid, abbot of Hy, clxxiv.
Dalta-Daighre, clxxiv.
mac Cerbhaill, 273 ; slain, xli,
xliii, 260. minister S. Columbse. See Dior-
mitius.
Digbail toraidh, what, clviii. Dima mac Noe, 263. Dinnsenchus, Ivi, 251-2. Diocese, original meaning of, 259 ;
founded by presbyters, c. Diormitius, ministrator, 120 (i. 7),
122 (8), 127, 128 (16), 129 (19),
131 (23, 24), 134 (28), 172 (ii. 30,
31), 201 (iii. 12), 211, 214 (24). Diormitius (monachus), 198, 199 (iii.
9). Diormitius rex, 123 (i. 8) ; films
Cerbulis, 135 (i. 29). Diormitius, tenax vir, 147 (i. 35). Diptychs, 290. Disert (see Desert), cxxv. Disibod, St., an Irishman, Ixxiii. Dispensing power of abbot, 19. Distemper, fatal, 226. Diuni Cella, 132 (i. 25). Diunus, 132 (i. 25). Dobhar, DobJiar-cu, meaning of, 258. Dobur Artbranani, 134 (i. 27). Dochonna, St. (Tochannu), Ix, Ixxii. Dochumma (Tocuinmi ?), Ixxii. Doire-Eithne, hod. Kilmacrenan, xxxiv, Iv, 285.
3C9
Domangart, son of Domhnall Breac,
132, 287. Domhnall Breac, clxxxv ; defeated,
288.
Donn, 287.
mac Aedha, king of Ireland,
his exploits, 13 ; notice of, 288.
mac Robhartaigh, clxxviii.
Midhe, 336.
Domingartns, nlius Aidani, 121 (i. 8). Domnail Breccus, 197 (iii. 6). Domnail, Echodius filius, 122 (i. 8). Domnaill, Conallus filius, 168 (ii. 25). Domnallis, Conall filius, 166 (ii. 23). Domnallus, filius Aido, 121 (i. 8),
146 (35).
Domnallus, filius Maic^Erce, 120 (i. 7). Domnill, nepotis Ainmuireg, pro-
vincia, 197 (iii. 6). Donnan, St., three of name, 293 seq. ;
of Eigg, 293 ; date of, 293-295 ;
churches of, in Scotland, 296-7. Donnchadh, abbot of Hy, Ixx, 341,
350. Dorbbene, the writer of Cod. A, 299 ;
in Cathedra Ise, 335. Dorbbeneus (Colophon), 218. Dornoch, church of, 226. Dorsum Britannia, 134 (i. 28), 185
(ii. 43), 191 (47), 203 (iii. 15). Dorsum Britannicum, 173 (ii. 32),
191 (47). Dorsum Cette, 121 (i. 8), 145 (35),
156 (ii. 6).
Dorsum Tomme, clxvi, 215 (iii. 24). Dow Island, near Hy, cxlvi. Downpatrick, St. Columba buried at,
Ixxx, 231. Draigniche, Aido, filius, 124 (i. 10),
208 (iii. 21).
Draoithe, meaning of, 260. Drehid Awnaun, clxv. Droichet Adhamnain, clxvii. See
Drehid Awnaun. Droicteach, an epithet, clxxiii. Dromyng, or Drum-fionn, 266. Drought, great, 74. Druids, 260. Druim Dhugail, 331. Drumachose, St. Cainnech of, 269. Drum-Albin, 258, 328. Drum-Bretain, 258. Drum-Ceatt, where, 254 ; convention
of, 264 ; date of, 254, 334. Drum-cliabh, church of, 53.
Drum-Columb, in Elphin, Ivii.
Drumcroon, 266.
Drumhome, parish of, clxvi, clxix,
244, 298.
Drum-na-mac, Ivii. Drum-fchuama, Drumhome, 298. Drymen, St. Columba's church of,
Ixxi.
Dubh-bandea, a river, 278. Dubhdaleithe, St. Cellach, clxxvi, 339. Dubh-diglach, a bell, xcvi. Dubh-duaibsech, a bell, 94. Dubhduin Ua Stefain, clxxvi. Dubh-regles, in Derry, 1. Dubhscuile, mac Cinaedha, clxxvi. Dubhthach Albanach, 340.
mac Dubain, clxxvi, 339.
Dun. See Munitio.
Dumbo, battle of, xci ; church of,
clxvi.
Dun-bhuirg, in Hy, cxl, 267. Dun-Caillenn, Ixx ; abbot of, 338. Dun-Ceithirn, account of, 265, 266. Dunchadh, abbot of Hy, clxxii, 335.
mac Cennfaeladh, 336.
Ua Robhacain, clxxvi.
Duncroon, 266.
Dun-da-bheann, 265.
Dunibadh, mortality, clviii.
Dunii, in Hy, 257, 267.
Dunkeld, founded, Ixix, Ixxxiii ; St.
Columba of, Ixix ; Irish Notices of,
Ixx; diocese of, Ixix. Dun Neachtain, battle of, 284. Duni-ni-manich, cxlii. Dun Ollaig, or Onlaig, 281. Duo-agri-rivuli, 177 (ii. 37). Durham, veneration of St. Columba
at, Ixxxiv.
Durrow. See Dairmagh. Dywr, water, 258.
EALA, a place in Hy, cxlii, 331.
Eanfleda baptized, 74.
Eas-mic-nEirc, Ivi.
Easter, Irish observance of, clix ; Adamnan's labours concerning, clviii ; changed in Hy, clxxi.
Eas-Ua-Floinn, Assylin, Ivi.
Ecfridus (rex), 191 (ii. 47).
Ecfrit mac Ossa. See Ecgfrid.
Ecgberct, account of, clvi, clxxii.
Ecgfrid, king, slain, cli, 283-4.
Echoid, St. Columba's disciple, 72.
Echodius Buide, 121 (i. 8).
2 A
Echodius Find, 121 (i. 8). Echodius Laib, 120 (i. 7). Echodius, filius Domnail, 122 (i. 8). Echudi, Columbanus filius, 188 (ii.
44).
Egea insula, 206 (iii. 19). Egg island, 293 ; St. Donnan of, 293 ;
ecclesiastics of, 294-296. Eig. See Egg. Eilean Annraidh, cxlv.
Coluimcille, Ixii, 258, 275.
na mBaii, cxliv.
na Naoimh, Ixvii, 271, 318-
324.
Eilne, or Eille, Magh, 266. Eilni Campus, 147 (i. 35). Eirros-Domno, 119 (i. 6). Eithne, St. Columba's mother, xxxiii, 3, 70 ; her descent, 229 ; her vision, 78.
Elachnave, Ixi, Ixv, 271, 318, 325. Elanmunde, church of, 250. Elena insula, 163 (ii. 17), 318, 325. Elias et Eliseus prophetee, 174 (ii. 33). Ellan-Moroan, cxlv. Ellan-Reringe, cxlv.
Ellenecalmene, cxlv.
Elne, territory of, 253, 266.
Eloquius, St., Ixxii.
Eman mac Findbarr, Ivii.
Emchathus, 203 (iii. 15).
Emlaghfad, church of, Ivii.
Enan, St., of Egg, 296.
mac Gemmain, 274.
Eninis, in Western Islands, 271.
Enna Boghaine, cxlvii, 297.
son of Niall, Ixxii.
son of Nuadhan, Ivii.
Enshrinings, early, Ixxxi, Ixxxiii.
Eo, or Hy, cxxviii, cxxix.
Eochaidh Buidhe, 13, 287 ; sons of, 287.
Finn, 287.
Tirmcharna, xliv.
Eoghan Beul, king, xliii.
Eorsa, island of, cxlv.
Episcopacy, estimate of, in Ireland, 287 ; of Unitas Fratrum, cv ; dio cesan, of late adoption, 291.
Erca, daughter of Loarn, 281.
Erce, Mac, 120 (i. 7), 122 (8).
Erchadia Borealis, Ixii.
Ercus, Mocudruidi, 139 (i. 33).
Erenach, or aircinnech, cxxiii.
Ergalliae episcopus, 268.
Hy,
Ernan, same as Mernoc, Ixxii, 250,
263. disciple of St. Col., Ixxii, 229.
— of Torach, liii.
— mac Eoghain, 243. Ernanus, avunculus Sti. Colnmbse,
143 (i. 35).
Ernanus, filius Glasderci, 124 (i. 9). Ernanus (pater) Oissenei, 116 (i. 2). Erneue, Ferreolus, 215 (iii. 24). Erneneus filius Craseni, 116, 117
(i. 3).
Ernin. See Ernan. Erraid Isle, cxlvi, 262. Erregathel, Argyle, 247. Errigal-Ownan, clxvi. Erris, barony of, 253. Eskaheen, near Derry, Ix. Etchen, St., of Clonfad, 226, 334 ;
ordains St. Col., xxxv, cxiii. Eth, meaning of, 255. Ethica insula, 126 (i. 13) ; terra,
125 (i. 13), 135 (29), 162 (ii. 14),
180 (40) ; Ethicum pelagus,
(i. 13). See pp. 303 seq. Ethica Terra. See Tiree. Eucharist, how celebrated at
263, 290.
Eulogia, what, 270. Eunan, phonetic form of Adhamhnan,
clxiv, clxx.
Eunendi, St., his Seit, clxviii. Europse regiones, 191 (ii. 47). Evee filia, 184 (ii. 41). Evangelium of St. Col. stolen, xci ;
denoting Missal, xci. See Gospel. Excommunication of St. Columba,
285 ; by St. Columba, xxxix. Ey, parish of, cxxx ; peninsula,
Ixiii. Eyna Helgo, or Hy, 341.
FACHTNI, Gallanus filius, 135 (i. 29). Faelan, St., of Ratherann, 227.
of Strathfillane, 227, 336.
Faelcu mac Dorbene, clxxii. Failbeus, 113 (i. 1), 118 (3). Failbhe, abbot of Hy, cxlviii, 287, 337.
son of Guaire, 336.
son of Pipan, 335.
Fair of Teltown, election at, 285. Family of Hy, cxxxi, 279. Faoilenn, St., 255. Farannan, St., Life of, clxv.
Fasting, among the Irish, cxvii ; fasting against, 246.
Faustus, or Cornghall, 292.
Favonius, 189 (ii. 46).
Feachnaus, 132 (i. 24).
Fearcar, king of Dalriada, 287.
Fechin, St., Life of, 280.
Fechno, Sapiens, 131 (i. 24).
Fechreg, Nepotes, 208 (iii. 2J).
Fechureg, Nepotes, 124 (i. 10).
Fedhlimidh, xxxiii, liv, Ixxii ; abbot of Hy, clxxiii.
Fedilmithus, 107 (Pr. 2).
Fenagh, Book of, 223.
Fenda, flumen, 216 (iii. 24).
Feradachus, 167 (ii. 24).
Feradachus, pater Laiseani, 122 (i. 8), 131 (23).
Feradhach mac Cormaic, clxxv.
Ferdaleithe, 231.
Ferdomhnach, writer of Book of Ar magh, 299.
coarb of Columcille, clxxvii, 340.
Ua Clucain, clxxviii.
Fergna Brit, or Virgnous, cxlvii, 297.
Fergnoi, Aidanus films, 129 (i. 20).
Fergnous, or Virgnous, 215 (iii. 24).
Fergus Mac Ere, 265.
or Duach, xliv.
Ferguso, films, 107 (Pr. 2).
Fer-Leamhna, 268.
Ferly (Fir Li), territory of, 256.
Ferreolus, orErnene, 215 (iii. 24).
Fer Rois, in Monaghan, 262.
Fertighis, cxxiv.
Festival, double, 282.
Fiachna mac Baedain, xlv, xlvi.
Fiachra Follsnathach, 255.
Tort, 256.
Ua hArtagain, clxxvi.
Fidamnan, or Adamnan, clxvii.
Filii Daimeni, 155 (ii. 5).
Filius Navis, 107 (Pr. 2).
Fina, mother of Aldfrid, 284.
Finan, bishop, 235.
Lobhar, St., liii.
Finanus, 146 (i. 35).
Find, Echodius, 121 (i. 8).
Findbarr, the name, 266, 286.
Findbarrus, 112 (i. 1), 152 (ii. 1).
Findchan, St., 259.
Findchanus, plebeius, 154 (ii. 3).
Findchanus, presbyter, 135 (i. 29).
Findluganus, 168 (ii. 25).
Finfort, Bay of, 243.
Finghin, bishop of Hy, 339. Finglas, a stream, xxxv. Finlagan, St., 273. Finn, river, 298. See Fenda. Finnachta Fledach, cxlix, cl, cliv. Finnbarr, St., xxxvi, Ivii. Finnen, or Finden, 266. Finnian, two, of name, 266, 286.
of Clonard, xxxv, 286.
of Moville, xxxiv, xxxvi.
Finnio, 196 (iii. 5). Finnlogh, 256, 293. Finnluga, St., 273. Finnsneachta. See Finnachta. Fintan, various individuals of the
name, 276. or Munna, 249 ; account of,
249, 250, 334.
Fintenus, filius Aido, 173 (ii. 32). Fintenus, filius Talcani, 114 (i. 2). Fiodh-Elo, in Ferceall, 254. Fionnglas, 278. See Finglas. Firghil, or Freel, Iv. Fire, globe of, 79, 90. Fis Adhamhnain, clvii, 246. Fladda Huna, Ixii, 275. Flaithbertach mac Muircertach, Ixx.
Ua Brolchain, clxxx, 343, 350.
Flann Febhla, clvi.
Fina, cli, 284.
Finn, 284.
Flann, king of Ireland, xciii.
mac Cellaigh, 336.
— — mac Maelduin, 175.
Flannabhra, 245, 340.
Flannan, St., xxxvi.
Flava Pestis, 282.
Fledach, i.e. Festive, cl, cliv.
Fleming, Collectanea of, clxvii, 233,
236, 248, 270, 276, 278, 292, 307. Foirtgirnus, 163 (ii. 16). Forannan, St., Ixxiii. Forcus, filius Maic-Erce, 120 (i. 7). Fordun, Scotichr., xxxix, Ixv, cxxx,
90, 251, 271, 308, 309, 344 seq. ;
anachronisms of, clxi, clxviii. Forglen, parish of, clxvii, clxx ;
Brecbannach of, xcvii. Fortren, or Pictland, xcix ; bishop
of, Ixx, 338. Fothadh, bishop of Alba, 340.
mac Brain, 242.
na Canoin, xlviii.
Four Masters. See Annals. Fragramanach, cxxvii.
Freag in Islay, 271. Freeh See Firghil, O'Firghil. Freisingen, MS. of, xxv. Fursa, date and vision of, clvii. Furvy, church of, clxvii, clxix.
GABHRAN, king, 272 ; sons of, 272. Gabrani, Aidanus films, 145 (i. 35) ;
genus, 166 (ii. 23), 324. Gaelic Society, Transactions of, xl. Galar Buidhe, 282. Galgacus, 278. Gall, St., abbey of, Ixxiii. Gallanus films Fachtni, 135 (i. 29). Gall-Gaedhil, 341. Gallise, 218 (iii. 24); Cisalpinee, 191
(ii. 47) ; Galliarum provincise, 130
(i. 22).
Gallici nautffi, 130 (i. 22). Garadh Eachain oig, cxl. Garmoran, or Morvern, Ixiv. Garrindewar, 242. Gartan, St. Columba's birthplace,
xxxiii, Iv, 224, 285. Gartnait, 258 ; filii, 258.
mac Aedhain, 287.
mac Uid, Ixi.
Garveloch islands, 271, 318. Gaul, intercourse of, with Ireland, 256. Gelasius. See Gilla-mac-Liag. Gemman, xxxiv, 274. Gemmanus, senex, 169 (ii. 26). Genealogy of St. Columba, clxxxv,
249.
Colga, and Faelenn, 255.
Eochaidh, 254.
Hy Neill, xliv.
Scandal, 229.
Genereus, 201 (iii. 11). Genitive, Irish, ending in o, 259. Genus Gabrani, 166 (ii. 23), 282, 324. Genus Loerni, 190 (ii. 46), 281. Geona cohors, 134 (i. 27). Gerald, St., date of, clix ; Life of,
clviii.
Germanus sanctus, 176 (ii. 35). Ghosts, of great stature, 5. Gildas, 281.
Giles, Dr., his Bede, clxii. Gilla-Adhamhnain, clxix, clxxix. Gilla-Crist, Ua Cernaigh, clxxviii. Gilla-mac-Liag, mac Ruaidhri, clxxx.
'Ua Branain, clxxxi, 341, 342.
Giraldus Cambrens., Itiner. Cambr., 258, 282 ; Topogr. Hib., cxvi, 251.
Girdle, loosing of, 67. Glas, meaning of, 269, 278. Glasdercus, 124 (i. 9). Glas-Naoidhen, hod. Glasnevin, xxxv,
279.
Glassan, a bell, xcvi. Gleann-an-Tempull, 134. Glencolumkille, in Clare, Ivii.
in Donegal, Iv.
Glenconcadhan, 56.
Glenelly, in Tyrone, 271.
Glen-Gairge, Iv.
Glenmoristen, in Inverness, 228.
Glen-Urquhart, 291.
Godred, king of Man, 342.
Gonon, Bened., Vit., SS., 27.
Goodall, his Fordun, 308.
Goreus, films Aidani, 144 (i. 35), 264.
Gorta, famine, clviii.
Gospel of St. Martin, Ixxxii, xci.
Grsecitas, 106 (Pr. 2).
Graham, lona, cxxx.
Graib, graphium, 289.
Greallach, church of, clxvi.
Greallan, 229.
Greek characters, cxvii.
Gregory, St., and St. Columba, Ixxxv,
Ixxxix.
Grillaan, Ixxii, 229. Gruthriche filius, 138 (i. 31). Gunna, island of, 316. Gweedore, Gaeth Dobhair, 258.
HAEL, meaning of, 255.
Haeres Coluimcille, 338.
Halmin, Island, cxlv.
Hand, left, used in cursing, 98 ; right,
used in blessing, 98. Hardouin, Concilia, 270. Hebraice, 106 (Pr. 2). Heiligenkreutz, monastery of, xxvi. Helant Leneou, 271. Henschenius, in Acta SS., 294. Heremitical Life, cxxv. Herer Gaedal, 247. Heth, insula, 255 ; terra, 257, 305. Hi, or Hii, cxxix. Hibernia, 112 (i. 1), 114 (2), 116 (3),
122, 123 (8), 124 (10), 125 (12),
128 (16), 145 (35), 162 (ii. 14),
179 (39), 197 (iii. 6). Hiberniensis, 190 (ii. 46), 198 (iii. 8),
214 (24).
Hibernilis, 209 (iii. 22). Hickes, Thesaurus, Ixxxiii.
Highland Society, MS. of, xxviii, 232.
Himba, xxxviii, 264; most likely Elachnave, 271, 273, 318 sea. See Hinba.
Hinba, 143 (i. 35), 168 (ii. 25), 196 (iii. 6), 205 (18), 206 (19), 215 (24). | £
Hinbina insula, 127 (i. 15).
Hirt, or St. Kilda, Ixiv.
Hispani, 191 (ii. 47).
Hispania trigona, 218 (iii. 24).
Holstenius, Cod. Regular, ciii.
Hornesay, or Oransay, Ixv.
Hortulanus, Laisranus, 125 (i. 12).
Hound, a title, 31, 263.
Hours, Canonical, 76.
Houses, primitive, 43.
Howmore, St. Columba's church of, Ixiii.
Hoy, St. Columba's church, of, Ixvii.
Hu, or Hy, cxxix.
Huensis, or Hyensis, cxxix.
Hugh, a name of Hy, cxxx.
Hussey, on Bede, 277.
Hy, vulgarly lona, island of, cxxx.
— — its History : early occupation of, granted to St. Columba, xxxvii, xxxviii, 276-7 ; first interment in, 288 ; a royal cemetery, clxxxi, 97 ; pilgrimages to, cxxv ; reptiles ban ished, 56 ; monastery of, renewed, 75 ; plundered by Danes, clxxiv ; Cellach builds monastery in, clxxxiii ; various events of, cxlvi seq.; parting notice of, in Irish Annals, clxxxiii, 343 ; population of, cxxxv; character of, ib. See loua insula.
— — Name : old forms of, cxxviicxxx ; modern corruptions of, cxxviii, cxxx ; always loua insula in Adamnan, cxxviii, and other authorities, 243 ; other appella tions, cxxxi.
Topography : situation, cxxx ;
extent, cxxxi ; early notices of, cxxxi ; surface, cxxxi ; ancient names of places in, cxxxii ; modern distribution (see Map), cxliii, cxliv, 325-329 ; bays, cxxii, 332 ; glen, cxxxiv ; hills, cxxxi ; islands near, cxxvii, 331 ; lakes, cxxi, cxlii, cxliii, 241 ; plain, cxliv ; wells, cxlii.
Hy, Monastic Institution of: —
Buildings, religious : cells, cxx ;
desert, cxxv, cxxxvi ; library, cxx ; oratory, cxix ; refectory, cxix ; wall, cxx.
Buildings, secular : barn, cxxi,
cxl, 240 ; booley, cxxi ; kiln, cxxi ; mill, cxxi, cxl.
Discipline : admission, cxii ;
ceremonies, cxiv, cxv ; chastity, cix ; fasting, cxii ; festivals, cxi, cxii ; Easter, cxii, clxxii ; habits, cxviii ; hospitality, cix ; humility, cix ; labour, cxvii ; obedience, cvii ; ordination, cxiii ; penance, cxiii ; poverty, cvii ; reading, cxv ; silence, cix ; tonsure, cxiv, clxxii, 237 ; worship, cx-cxii.
Jurisdiction and Endowments,
cxxvii, 30 ; tributary to Doire- Eithne, Iv ; possessions curtailed, cxxvii.
Remains, ecclesiastical : bells,
liv ; cathedral, cxxxii ; cemeteries, cxxxiii-cxxxvii, 329-30 ; chapels, cxxxii-cxxxiv ; crosses, cxxxviicxxxix ; inscriptions, cxxx, cxxxv, clxxxiii ; monuments, cxxxv ; nunnery, cxxxiii, cxliv.
Remains, secular : barn, cxl ;
earns, cxxxvi, cxlii ; houses, cxxxix, cxl ; mill, cxl ; mounds, cxl.
See of, cxxvii, clxxxi ; annexed
to Drontheim, clxxxii ; to Man, clxxxii.
Society : civ-cvii, cxxiii-cxxvii ;
abbot, civ-cvii, cxxiii; office of, not lineal, cviii ; catalogue of abbots, cxlvii-clxxxi ; entry in calendar, 278 ; anchorites, cxxv ; baker, cxxvi ; butler, cxxv ; bishops, cv, cxii, cxxiv ; coarb, clxxvii ; congre gation, cvii ; cook, cxxvi ; Culdees, cxxvi ; herenach, clxxvi ; ministrator, cxxvi ; ceconomus, cxxir ; operatives, cxxvi ; priest, cxxiv ; prior, cxxiv ; scribe, cxxiv.
Subsidiaries : agricultural, cxxi,
cxxii ; animal, cxxi, cxxii ; naval, cxxii, cxxiii. See Eo, Hii, Hu, Hugh, I, la, Icolmkill, loua, Y.
Hy-Cennsealach, 250.
Hy-Neill, North and South, xlvii ; rise of Northern, clxxix ; opposed to Dalaradiaus, xlvi.
Hymnal, Irish, 269. Hyth, island of, 271, 305 seq. ; land of, 255.
I, name of Hy (see Y), 256. la, or Hy, cxxiii, cxxviii, cxxix. Icohnkill, cxxviii-cxxx. See Hy. Ictian Sea, 244, 276. Identification of localities, 303 seq. Ilea insula, 167 (ii. 24). Imleach-fada, Ivii. Inbher Ailbene, 267. Inbher Domnon Malahide, 253. Inchcolum in the Forth, xxxix,
Ixxi.
Inchian, 271.
Inchkeith in the Forth, clxviii. Inch-Kenneth, cxxxiv, cxlv. Inchniarnoc, 251. Indairthir, 198 (iii. 8). Inglas, i.e. aqua amara, 269. Inisbofinde, 335.
Iniscoimhetta, hod. Ely Island, 233. Inis Eoghain, Inishowen, Ix. Inisfallen. See Annals. Iiiis-Geidhe, Inishkea, 228. Inishkeel, in Donegal, clxxvi. Inishturk, 228. Inishymoe, 284. Inis-mac-Nessain, clviii. Inis Metgoit, 334. Inis Teoc, Inistioge, 228. Ink, use- of, cxx. Innes, Cosmo, 323. See Origines
Parochiales. Thomas, works of, cited, clxviii,
clxxi ; his estimate of Adamnan,
xx ; error of, 83, 244, 259, 286. Innocentium Lex, what, clvi. Innrechtach, abbot of Hy, clxxv. Innse Alban, bishop of, 242. Innse Gall, 337. Innse Modh, Inishymoe, 284. Insula Avium, 271. Insula Felis, Ixxv. Insula Vaccse Albse, 335. Inverary, cross of, cxxxvii. logen, brother of Columba, 230. logenan, 269. logenanus, f rater Aidani, 197 (iii. 5) ;
presbyter, 158 (ii. 8). lomaire-an-tachair, cxliii, 331.
nan High, 331.
lona, 106 (Pr. 2).
lona, a corruption of loua, cxxviii ;
earliest forms of, cxxix, cxxx ; sound of, cxxx. See Hy, loua. lona, Notes on the history of the Ruins at, 342-353.
Records relating to, from the
Vatican, 353-357. lorrus, meaning of, 253. lorrus-Domnann, 253. loua Insula, 115 (i. 2), 118 (4), 120, 124 (9, 10), 125, 126 (13), 127 (16), 129 (19), 131 (23), 132 (25), 136 (29), 139 (33), 141, 144 (35), 153 (ii. 3), 154 (4), 155 (5), 161 (13), 162 (14), 168 (25), 171 (29), 179 (39), 180, 182 (40), 184 (41), 186 (43), 189, 190 (46), 197 (iii. 5), 198 (7, 8), 199 (9), 200 (10, 11), 201 (12), 202 (14), 204 (17), 209 (23), 210,215, 216 (24) ; the invari able form of name in all ancient MSS. of Adamnan, cxxviii, cxxx, 243. Ireland, succession of kings in, 254, 260 ; episcopal consecration in, cxiii.
Irghalach Ua Conaing, clviii. Irish architect in Wales, Ixxv.
Church like Gallican, 290.
monastery of St. Victor, Ixxiii.
Life of St. Columba, MSS. of,
xxvii ; cited, 225, 238, 267, 284, 297, 298.
Literature, Ixiv.
Missionaries, Ixxii.
words in Adamnan, 269.
Irvine of Drum, xcvii. Island Comb in Tongue, Ixvii. Islay, history of, 273 ; St. Columba's
church in, Ixvi. Isles, The, bishop of, clxxxiii. Ita, St., Life of, 271. Italia, 130 (i. 22), 191 (ii. 47), 218
(iii. 24). Ith, meaning of, 225. See Hyth.
JOAN films Conallis, 166(ii. 23), 168
(25). Jocelin, Vita Sti. Kentigerni, 226,
255.
Vita Sti. Patricii, 265.
John, St., the Baptist, Decollation
of, clvii.
St., the Evangelist, clx.
of Tinmuth, xxvii.
Johnston, Antiqq. Celt.-Scand., 341 ;
Haco, 249, 273 ; Olave, 258.
Jordanes, 112 (i. 1). Jore, or Dewar, 242. Jura, island of, 271.
KAILLI-AU-INDE, 173 (ii. ,32), 327.
Kells, in Meath, account of, xciv ; Columcill's church of, Ixxxviii ; rebuilt, clxxiv ; book of, lii, xciv ; Cuilebadh of, Ixxxix ; desert of, cxxv; charters of, Ixxxvi. See Cenannus.
Kenlis, or Kells, xciv.
Kennavara, in Tiree, 310, 315.
Kenneth mac Alpin, Ixix ; builds Dunkeld, Ixxxiii.
Kennoquhy, St. Cainnech's of, 270.
Kennoway, in Fife, 270.
Kentigern, St., contemporary of St. Columba, xc ; ordained by one bishop, cxiii.
Kentigerna, St., her descent, 336 ; relatives, clviii.
Kentire. See Cantyre.
Kerrara, island, 249, 326.
Kiaran, St., Life of, 252.
Kilbride, in Tiree, 257, 289, 313.
Kilchenich, in Tiree, 289, 314.
Kilchrenan, 257, 294.
Kilcolmonel, 251.
Kilcolmkill, churches : in Appin, Ixiv ; Ardchattan, Ixiv ; Benbecula, Ixiii ; Cantyre, Ixvi ; Kilarrow in Islay, Ixv ; Kildalton in Islay, Ixv ; Morvern, Ixiv ; Mull, Ixiv; Skye, Ixii ; Strabrurich, Ixvii ; Uist, North, Ixiii.
Kilcoltimb, Ivii.
Kilcommon, in Erris, 253.
Kilcronaghan, church of, 284.
Kildare, abbacy of, clxxv.
Kildonan, in Egg, 293 ; in Suther land, 294, 296 ; in other parts, 296, 297.
Kildrenagh, in Idrone, 251.
Kilfinian, in Tiree, 259, 314.
Kilfinichen, in Mull, 243, 259.
Kilkenny, city of, 251 ; church of, 270.
Killallan, parish of, 227.
Killashig, in Skye, 274.
Killeunan, clxix.
Killhelan, 227.
Kill-ma-Gobhanan, cxli.
Killmochormac, Ixvi.
Killonan, clxvii.
Killoran, Ixv.
Killownane, clxx.
Kilmacnenain, deriv. of name, 226 ; barony of, 285 ; church of, Iv ; Book of, 230.
Kilmacolm, or Port Glasgow, Ixvi.
Kilmacrenan, vid. Doire-Eithne.
Kilmaree, in Skye, 274.
Kilmarnock, 251.
Kilmaronen, in Lennox, 243.
Kilmaronock, or St. Ronan's church, 244.
Kilmartin, 257.
Kilmashenaghan, 247.
Kilmoluag, in Tiree, 289, 315.
Kilmore, in Cavan, 280.
on Shannon, liv, 266.
Kilmun, of St. Munna's, 250.
Kiln, or canaba, 121.
Kilnamartry, 231.
Kilviceuen, in Mull, 243.
Kincardine, St. Columba's of, Ixxi.
Kinelbadon, or Kinelbathyn, Ixiv, 281.
King, Adam, Catechisme of, clxvii, 243.
Abp., Visitation Book of, clxvi.
Kingarth, in Bute, 335. See Cinn-
garadh. Kings, Book of ordination of, 287 ;
of Ireland, 260, or Tailte, 285. Kingussie, St. Columba's of, IxviiL. Kirkapoll in Tiree, 255, 289, 314. Kirkcolm, Ixvi.
Knock-a-Claodh, in Tiree, 315. Knock-Coluimcille, Ivii. Knox, Bp. Andrew, liv, Ixv. Korkureti, 144 (i. 35). Kyarraighi, Kerry, 293. Kylrose, or Killross. See Cellrois.
LACUS NES.E FLUMINIS, 176 (ii. 35). Laeghaire, the Pagan king, cxiv,
265.
Laeighis, territory of, 290. Lagenensis episcopus, 202 (iii. 13) ;
Lagenensium pars, 169 (ii. 26). Lagenica provincia, 202 (iii. 13). Laginorum pars, 158 (ii. 8). Laib, Echodius, 120 (i. 7). Laing, David, cxxxviii. Laisranus, films Feradachi, 122 (i.
8), 131 (23). Laisranus, hortulanus, 125 (i. 12) ;
Mocutnoie, 125 (i. 12).
Laisre, son of Feradhach, 256 ; abbot of Durrow, 256 ; and third abbot of Hy, cxlvii.
Laithrichean, in Hy, cxxxix. Laitirus, Lugaidus (vid. Lathir), 179
(ii. 39).
Lambay, ol. Rechra, liv, 279. Lam-dess, i.e. Manus Dextra, 168 (ii.
25), 274. Land-Aba, 257. Lanigan, Eccles. Hist., Ixxviii, 257,
266, 274 ; errors in, xxiii, 279. Lann-Ela, church of, 271. Largs, St. Columba's of, Ixvi. Lathir, Lugaidus (vid. Laitirus), 155,
156 (ii. 5).
Lathreginden, 127 (i. 14). Latina lingua, 106 (Pr. 2). Laud MSS., in Bodleian Library, xli,
liv, Iv, xcii, xcvi. Lay abbots, 101. Lea, regio, 128 (i. 16). Leabhar Breac, xxvii, 269.
na hUidhre, xli, 265.
Leathain Nepos (vid. Lethani), 205
(iii. 18).
Leathern bottle, 64. Le Brun, Explicatio Missse, 270. Lecan, Book of, notes, passim. Lee, territory of, 253. Leim-an-eich, xlii. Leix, or Laeighis, 290. Lent, observance of, at Hy, cxii. Lethani Nepos (vid. Leathain), 119
(i. 6), 185 (ii. 43). Leviticus Liber, 188 (ii. 45). Lewis, St. Columba's churches in,
Ixiii. Lex Adamnani, 336, 338.
Coluimcille, Ixxxii, 337.
Lhuyd, Archaeologia, xciv, 282.
Li, territory of, 256.
Liber Hymnorum, xxix, xl, 269,
279.
Libir, Aidanus filius, 198 (iii. 7). Libran, abbot of Hy, 1, 278, 311. Libranus, 180, 181, 182, 183 (ii. 40). Libraries, ancient, cxx ; books hung
from wall, cxx.
Lindisfarne, ancient name of, 334. Lisinore, in Ireland, xxxvii ; Book of, xxvii.
in Scotland, not Columban, cl ;
abbots of, 334. Loarn Mor, race of, 281.
Lochaber, 272. See Aporicum, Aporum.
Loch Affy, 257.
Loch Awe, 257, 327.
Loch Ba, in Mull, 257.
Loch Coluimcille, in Lewis, Ixiii.
Loch Coluimcille, in Skye, Ixi, 258, 274, 275.
Loch-dise, stagnum, 110, 258, 327, 328.
Loch Erisort, in Lewis, Ixiii.
Loch Laedh, Belfast Lough, Iviii, 291.
Loch Rois, 271.
Loch Seafort, cxlv.
Loch Staonaig, cxliii.
Lochan Mor, in Hy, cxlii.
Lochlanns, or Norwegians,xcix.
Lotis Sanctis tractat. de. See Adamnan.
Loerni Genus, 190 (ii. 46).
Loingsech, son of Aengus, clvi.
Long, a ship, 274.
Longa Insula, 169 (ii. 25), 274.
Lomnay, St. Columba's of, Ixviii.
Lord's Supper. See Eucharist.
Lome, in Argyll, origin of name, 281 ; rural deanry of, 281.
Lough Key, 262.
Lua, or Molua, 275.
Lugaidus, 127 (i. 16) ; Laitirus, 179 (ii. 39) ; Lathir, 156 (ii. 5).
Lugbeus Mocublai, 141 (i. 35).
Lugbeus Mocumin, 123 (i. 8), 129 (18), 130, 131 (22), 139 (33).
Lughaidh, or Molua, 275.
Laeighsech, 290.
mac Setna, 285.
Moccutheimne, Ixxii.
Lugneus, guberneta, 184 (ii. 40).
Lugneus Mocublai, 203 (iii. 16), 209 (23).
Lugneus Mocumin, 163 (ii. 17), 170
(28), 324.
Lugu Cencalad, 159 (ii. 9), 269. Lugudius Clodus, 138 (i. 30). Lugudius filius Talcani, 215 (iii 24). Luguid Mocutheimne, Ixxii. Luing, island, 274, 282, 318. Lunga, island, 274. Lynch, Cambrensis Eversus, 284.
MABILLON, A eta SS. Ord. Ben., Iviii, 288, 297, 299 ; Liturg. Gallicana, 291.
Mac Aedha, family of, Ixxxvi.
Mac Cana, Itinerary of, Ivii, clxviii.
Mac Clucain, family of, lii, clxxix.
Mac Decuil, Ixxii, 230.
Mac Eneilis, Iv.
Mac Erce, 120 (i. 7), 122 (8).
Mac Fingone, family of, cxxx.
Mac Firbis, clix, 244, 256, 271, 272,
276 ; Geneal. MS., 281, 287 ; Tract
on Men of Alba, 271, 273, 281,
287. Mac Forcellaigh, head of Culdees of
Hy, 341.
Mac Gilladuff, of Hy, 341. Mac Gillaeoin, Maclean, 243. Mac Guirk, family of, Iviii. Maclean's Cross, cxxxviii. Mac Lennan, family of, clxix. Mac Leod, burial-place of, Ixiii. Mac Lochlan, family of, clxxix. Mac Mic-Baethan, 340. Mac Naue, 108 (Pr. 2). Mac Neill, family of, clxix. Mac Nenain, church of, 230. Mac Oige, of Apercrossan, 337. Mac Regol, Book of, 298. Mac Roarty, lix, clxxviii. Mac Robhartaich, lix, clxxviii. Mac Ua Alta, 293. Mac Ua Dalann, 293. Mac U Araidhe, 292. Mac U Maichtene, clvi. Mac Ua Soghain, 267. Machar, in Hy, 260, 297.
St., Ix, Ixxii, xci, 229.
Maein Choluimcille, abbot of, liv. Mael, meaning of, 237. Maelbrighde mac Ronain, clxxviii.
mac Torna, 338.
Ua Tornain, clxxv.
Maelcobha, clxxv.
Maelcon, father of Bruide, 276,
334. Maelmanach, abbot of Cinngaradh,
337.
Maelmuire, Ua hUchtain, clxxvii. Maelrubha, St., of Applecross, 316,
335, 336; church of, in Skye,
274 ; hares of, 336. Maghbile, St. Finnian of, 266, 286. Magh Bregh, cviii, 261. Magh Elne, 266. Magheross, 262. Magh Li, territory of, 256. Magh Luinge, in Tiree, 255, 257, 305 ;
burned, 259 ; Conall of, 257, 313.
Magh Rath, battle of, 258 ; account
of, 288 ; situation of, 288. Magh Seirigh, li. Magi, or Druids, 260; tonsure of,
cxiv.
Magnus Barelegs, clxxxii, 341. Mailfataric, cxxxv, 342. Mailodranus, 127 (i. 14). Malcolm Ceannmor, clxxxi. Maldwin mac Gillandris, 340. Malea insula, 128 (i. 16), 139 (33),
167 (ii. 23).
Malmesbury, William of, 283. Man, Godred, king of, 342. Mandar, or Manderus, Ixxxi. Manus dextera, 168 (ii. 25). Vide
Lam-dess. Manuscripts, Irish : H. 2. 16, Trin.
Coll. Dubl., 265, 284. Maolduin mac Conaill, 287. Maor cana Adhamhnain, 338. Maor muintire, 259. Map of lona, explanation of names
on, 329.
Maree, or Maelrubha, 291. Margaret, Queen, clxxxi. Marian Gorman. See Calendar. Marsh, Codex, xxv, 250, 251. See
Codex Marshianus. Martin, St., influence of, on the
church of Ireland, xci ; gospel of,
Ixxxii, xc, xcii ; mass of, 290 ;
tomb of, xc ; cross, cxxxviii. Western Isles, Ixii-lxv, 232,
264, 267, 274-5, 296. Martinus, sanctus, 202 (iii. 13). Martires, or Saints' relics, Ixxx. Martra, relics, Ixxxi, clxv. Martyrdom, Red, nature of, 294. Martyrs' Bay, in Hy, cxxxvi. Matins, celebration of, 298. Maucteus, 107 (Pr. 2). Maugdornorum pars, provincia, 141
(i. 35).
Maugina, Daimeninlia, 155, 156 (ii. 5) . Mauritius, St., or Machar, or Moch-
onna, Ivi, Ixxii, xci.
St. Ua Baedain, 342.
Mayo, St. Geraldus of, clviii, clix ;
Adamnan at, clix. Medgoet, or Fame, island of, 334. Mediterranea Hiberniae pars, 116
(i. 3).
Meilgi films, Ixxii. Melangell, or mMonacella, St., 255.
Meldal, Ixxii.
Meldanus, 124 (i. 9).
Mernoc, orErnin, Ixxii, 251, 263.
son of Degill, Ixxii.
Mernooc, son of Mac Decill, 230.
Mesloen, 208 (iii. 22).
Messingham, Florileg., 234 ; his
Adamnan, xxi.
Miathi, 120 (i. 7) ; Miati, 121 (i. 8). Michael, bishop of the Isles, clxxxiii. Mincholeth, sister of St. Columba,
Ixxii, 230.
Minna, or reliquaries, Ixxxii. Miracles by St. Columba's garments,
53, 74.
Misach, the, xciv ; history of, xcv. Missa, or service, 297. Mobhi Clarainech, xxxv, 279. Moccucein, Ixxii. Mochonna, or Machar, St., Ivi, Ixxii,
xci.
Mochta, St., account of, 248. Mocualti, Brendenus, 130 (i. 20),
205, 206 (iii. 18).
Mocuaridi, Comgellus, 205 (iii. 18). Mocublai, Lugbeus, 141 (i. 35) ; Lug-
neus, 203 (iii. 16), 209 (23). Mocucei, Mocucein, viri, Ixxii. Mocudalon, Cainnechus, 205 (iii. 18). Mocudruidi, Ercus, 139 (i. 33). Mocufircetea, Tochannu, Ixxii. Mocufirroide, Ernene, 215 (iii. 24). Moculoigse, Columbaims, 201 (iii. 13). Mocumin, Lugbeus, 123 (i. 8), 129
(18), 130 (22) ; Lugneus, 163 (ii.
17), 170 (28). Mocumoie, Fintenus, 115 (i. 2) ;
Laisranus, 125 (i. 12). Mocunethcorb, Oisseneus, 116 (i. 2). Mocurin, Mailodranus, 127 (i. 14). Mocuruntir, Trenanus, 125 (i. 12). Mocusailni, Colmanus, 119 (i. 5). Mocusogin, Nemaido, 154 (ii. 4). Mocuthemne, Luguid, Ixxii. Moda, fluvius, 119 (i. 6), 252. Moelblatha, a stone at Hy, xcvi. Moenu, St., of Clonfert, 234. Moghain (vide Maugina), 268. Moin-daire-lothair, 266. Moira, or Magh Eath, 288. Molaga, Leabhar Dubh of, xlii. Molaisi, St., of Devenish, imposed
exile on St. Col., xxxvi, xli, xliv. Moling, St., a Lagenian, cliv. Molua Nepos Briuni, 172 (ii. 30).
Molua, St., 275.
Moluoc, St., of Lismore, 334.
Monacella, or Melangell, St., 255.
Monamoir, battle of, 253.
Monasterboice, founder of, xxxiii.
Monasteries, early, extensive, ci ; constitution of, cxx ; kings re tired to, 26 ; probation dispensed with, 24 ; messengers of, cxxiii.
Mone, Hymni Medii Mvi, 269.
Monitcarno, 258.
Monoth, 259.
Monro, Archdn., Western Isles, cxxxii, cxliv, 243.
Mons Cainle, 163 (ii. 16).
Mons St. Victor, Irish Mon. of, Ixxiii.
Monycabo, St. Columba's of, Ixviii.
Monymusk, Ixxiii.
Moone, St. Columba's church of, liv.
Moraviense, Registrum, Ixviii.
Mordail, conventio magna, 254.
Mor-gemm, a reliquary, Ixxxv.
Morinus, Sacr. Ordin. Exerc., 263.
Mornington, church of, lix.
Moroan, island, cxlv.
Morvern, early forms of name, Ixiv.
Mothoria, St., of Drumcliff, liii.
Mountsandal, ol. Dun-da-bheann, 266.
Mourne, territory of, in Antrim, 292.
Movilla, St. Finnian of, xxxiv, 266.
Moy, the river, 252.
Moyola Water, ol. Bior, xxxv, xxxvi.
Moyses, 112(i. 1).
Muaidh, Moy, 253.
Mughania, or Maugina, 268.
Mughdhorna, or Mourne, 262.
Mugron, coarb of Columba, clxxvi.
Mugstot, in Skye, 258, 275.
Muinter Coluimcille, cvi, 279.
Muirbolc Paradisi, 122 (i. 8), 325.
Muirbulcmar, in Himba, 215 (iii. 24).
Muircertach, mac Ere, xcvi.
Muirchu Mac-u-Machteni, clvi.
Muiredachi Nepotos, 122 (i. 8).
Muiredhach, mac Aengusa, 269.
mac Crichain, clxxvii.
Ua Clucain, clxxx.
Muirenn, wife of Irgalach, clviii.
Muir-n Icht. See let.
Mull, island. See Malea.
Mullach, the, ol. Drumceatt, 254.
Muminenses, 142 (i. 35).
Mundus, St., or Fin tan, 249.
:;79
Mura, St., alleged lines on St. Co-
lumba, xx, 223, 224. Muratori, Anecd. Ambros., 292 ;
Liturg. Eom., 291 ; Opere, 292. Murbholg, bay of, 254. Murgail mac Ninnedha, 337.
NABAN, or na mBan, island, cxliv.
Naiton. See Nechtan.
Natales dies, Ixxvi.
Naue, Mac, 108 (Pr. 2).
Navis filius, 107 (Pr. 2).
Nechtan, or Naiton, king, cxxvii, cliii,
clxxii.
Neil, filius, Ixxii. Nellis nepotes, 146 (i. 35), 265. Neman, father of St. Brendan of Birr,
285.
Nemanidon Mocusogin, 154 (ii. 4). Nemamis filius Cathir, 127 (i. 15). Nemanus filius Gruthriche, 138 (i. 31). Nennius, Irish, 273, 276, 279. Nepos Aimnirech, 197 (iii. 6). Nepos Briuni, 162 (ii. 15), 172 (30). Nepos Lethani, 119 (i. 6), 185 (ii.
43), 205 (iii. 18).
Nepos Niath Talaiarc, 126 (i. 14). Nepotes Fechureg, 124 (i. 10) ; Fech-
reg, 208 (iii. 21). Nepotes Muredachi, 122 (i. 8). Nepotes Nellis, 146 (i. 35). Nepotes Turtrei, 128 (i. 16). Nesa fluvius, 170 (ii. 28), 174 (34),
176 (35). Vide Nisa. Nesanus Curvus, 164 (ii. 20). Ness, Loch, 260, 327 ; river of, 275. Neville's Cross, battle of, xcviii. New Machar, St. Columba's of, Ixviii. Niall, royal house of, 260. Niall Frasach, 337. Niath Talaiarc, 126 (i. 14). Night, precedence of, in computation,
Ixxvi, 290.
Nigra Dea, fluvius, 178 (ii. 38), 327. Nim Ban Mor, 296. Nisse fluminis lacus, 203 (iii. 15).
Vide Nesa.
Noe, great-grandfather of St. Columba, 249 ; abbot of Cinngaradh, 337. Notker Balbulus, Ixxix, 235, 248,
256, 292. Nuachongbail, 291.
0, termination of Irish genitive, 254.
Oan, abbot of Egg. 296, 336. O'Beollan, herenach of Drumcliff, liii.
•'Breislen, family of, clxxviii. O'Brolchan, family of, clxxx ; Donaldus, clxxx, clxxxiii, 247, 343 seq.; Flaithbertach, clxxxii, 343. Ocha, battle of, 253. O'Conor, Dr. Charles, Rer. Hib. Script., 298, 312 ; errors in, xciv, 261, 267; his text of Tighernach corrupt, Ixxvii, Ixxix. Odhran, St., 288. O'Donnell, family of, Ixxxvi.
Cathbarr, Ixxxvi.
Manus, his Life of St. Columba,
account of, xxviii, xxix ; cited, passim.
Sir Richard, Ixxxvii,
O'Donovan, Dr., typographical skill of, 279, 280 ; battle of Magh Rath, 266, 288 ; Book of Rights, 285 ; Four Masters, 261, 262, 266, 285 ; Hy Fiachrach, 255; Hy Many, 267.
Oenna, St., of Clonmacnoise, 290. O'Firghil, or O'Freel, Iv, 247. O'Flaherty, Ogygia, 265, 267, 281. O'Freel, of Kilmacrenan, xxxiv, Iv,
269 ; Gilla-Adharnhnain, clxix. O'Gorgon, the monk, Ixii. Oidecha insula, 161 (ii. 13). Oilean Coluimcille, 228. Oingussius filius Aido, 123 (i. 8). Oisin mac Echtgail, clxxviii. Oissein mac Cellaigh, Iv. Oisseneus filius Ernani, 116 (i. 2). O'Kearney, Prophecies of St. Co lumba, xli.
Ommon insula, 136 (i. 29), 327. O'Morison, family of, xliv, xcv. O'Nahan, of Gartan, Iv, xcvi. Onan, St., clxvi, clxx ; Rock of, 247. Ondemone, 120 (i. 7). O'Rafferty, family of, Ixxxvii,
clxxx viii.
Oran, St., chapel of, cxxxii, 342 seq. Oransay, church of, Ixv. Orcadum regulus, 185 (ii. 43). Ordericus Vitalis, cited, clxxxL Orders of Irish Saints, c. Ordination, episcopal, by a single
bishop, cxiii.
Orientales, or Airtheara, 289. Origines Parochiales Scotia?, cited in notes, passim.
Ormond, Marquis of, Life of St. Cain-
nech by, 251. O'Robhartaich, of Tory, liii, Ixxxvii,
340.
Osred, son of Aelfrith, 336. Ossory, 270. Ossualdus reguator Saxonum, 112,
113 (i. 1). Ottir, son of largna, 99.
PARADISI, MUIRBOLC, 122 (i. 8).
Patricius, sanctus episcopus, 107 (Pr. 2).
Patrick, St., early mention of, 247.
Patronymics. See Mocu, Nepos.
Paulus, St., apostolus, 142 (i. 35), 199 (iii. 9).
Pebble, endowed with healing vir tues, 60.
Peninse Alpes, 218 (iii. 24).
Pennant, Tour of, cited, cxxxvi-cxli, cxliv.
Pestilence in British Isles, 282.
Peter the Deacon, 257.
Petra Cloithe, 123 (i. 8).
Petrie, Round Towers, 261, 298 ; Tara, 245, 246, 329.
Petrus, 169 (ii. 26) ; et Paulus, 174 (ii. 33).
Pettie, St. Columba's church of, Ixviii.
Petyii, St. Columba's church of, Ixviii.
Pictorum gens, 158 (ii. 8), 167 (24) ; plebs, 191 (ii. 47) ; provincia, 159, (ii. 10), 170 (28), 173 (33) ; regio, 111 (i. 1), 159 (ii. 10); Pictus gente, 158 (ii. 8).
Picts, British and Irish, 253 ; British occupy Islay, 273 ; St. Columba's churches among, Ixvii ; invaded by Ecgfrid, 284; language of, 257, 258, 276; one of, baptized, 25. See Picti.
Pilu Saxo, 209 (ii. 23).
Pinkerton, Enquiry, 83 ; Vitae Anti-
quse, character and rarity of, xxii ;
cited, 229; errors of, 248, 269,
281.
Pococke, Bishop, a visitor at Hy,
cxxxvi, cxli.
Polaire, meaning of, 269. Pollaise, a bay, 243. Pons Adamnani, clxvi. Port-a-churaich, at Hy, cxxxix, cxli.
Port-an-disirt, in Hy, cxxv, cxxxvi.
Port-na-long, 255, 257.
Port-na-mairtear, in Hy, 257.
Port-na-Murloch, 325.
Port-na-tri-namad, or Lifford, xxx.
Portrachelyn, liv.
Portrahern, liv.
Portree Bay, old name of, Ixiii.
Port Ronain, 243, 257.
Presbyters, abbots of Irish monaste ries, civ, cv ; founders of sees, c ; bishops called, cxxiv.
Princeps, or abbot, 296.
Prophecies of St. Columba, xli.
Psalter, written by St. Columba, 97 ; the Cathach, xlii.
Pyrimei montes, 191 (ii. 47).
RACHRA, or Lambay, liv, 280. Raghery, ol Rechru, 279. Rain, storm without, 100. Raphoe, account of, liii ; Book of,
clvi. See Rathboth. Rath, battle of, 288. See Roth. Rathbeg in Magh Line, 260. Rathboth, abbot of, 337 ; bells of,
liv ; church of, liii, cxlix, clxiv. Rathcunga, where, Ix. Rathenaigh, 285. Rath-Erann, in Perthshire, 227. Rathlin, islands called, 251, 279. Rath-maighe-aenaigh, 244, 285. Rathmelsige, clxxii. Rathmor Maighe Leamhna, 268 ; the
Dalaradian seat, xlvi, 267. Rath-Naoi, Rathnew, 250. Rathnew, ol. Rath-Naoi, 250. Rath-Noe, 263. Ratramm of Corby, cxviii. Rawlinson, his Irish MSS., xxx. Raymochy, church of, 285. Rechra, 292 ; Rechrea, adjective
form of, 279 ; now Lambay, 279,
280 ; church of, founded, 280, 334 ;
burned, 337.
Rechrea insula, 184 (ii. 42). Rechru, insula, 119 (i. 5). Rees, Cambro -British SS., Ixxv. Reeves, cited, passim. Refectory, Eulogia eaten in, 270. Reginaldus Dunelmensis, 255. Registrum Moraviense, Ixviii. Reichenau, ol. Augia Dives, xxi,
clxxiv ; Cod. A. preserved at, xxv. Reilig, meaning of, Iviii.
Reilig-Odhrain, cxxxii, cxxxv, 288.
Reliquaries of St. Columba, Ixxxvxcvi, clxxiv.
Reliques, Ixxxv ; soon enshrined, clxv ; in Adamnaii's shrine, clxv.
Ren, the river, 284.
Reptiles banished, 56.
Reringe island, cxlv.
Resurrection expected, 99.
Retours, Scotch, Ixviii, clxix.
Reymonth, or St. Andrews, 336.
Rhabanus Maurus, Ixxiii.
Rhydderch Hael, 255.
Ricemarch, Vit. Sti. David, 103.
Ricnea, or Rechra, 279.
Righ-dail, meaning of, 245.
Righmonaidh, St. Andrews, 293, 336.
Ringan, St., clxvi.
Rioch, St., Ixxv.
Ripon, St. Columba's crosier at, xc.
Robhartach mac Cathusaigh, clxxvi.
Robhartach, son of Ferdomnach, clxxviii.
Roboreti Campus, 131 (i. 23), 146, (35), 203 (iii. 16); Roboreus Campus, 183 (ii. 40) ; Roboris Campus, 153 (ii. 2). Vide Dairmag.
Roboretum Calgachi, 115 (i. 2).
Rodain filii, Ixxii.
Rodarchus Largus, Rhydderch Hael, 255.
Rodercus films Tothail, 123 (i. 8).
Romana ci vitas, 191 (ii. 47), 218 (iii. 24) ; Romani juris ci vitas, 130 (i. 22).
Rome, St. Columba's alleged visit to, 289.
Ronad, church of, in Hy, cxxxiii.
Ronan, St., two of the name in Scot land, 243 ; Finn, 244.
Ronanus filius Aido, 141 (i. 35).
Ronnat, mother of Adamnan, cxlix ; her pedigree, cxlix.
Ros, territory of, 262.
Ros-fionchuil, 298.
Ros-na-righ, on the Boyne, 298.
Ros-torathair, xlvi.
Roth, bellum, 197 (iii. 6), 288.
Round Towers, original use of, 291 ; of Derry, 1 ; of Drumcliff, liii ; of Kells, Iii; of Raphoe, liv ; of Swords, liii ; of Tory, Iii.
Rubha, meaning of, 332.
Rubha-Mena, hod. Shane's Castle,
332. Rules, Irish monastic, ci ; various,
ci, cii ; of St. Columba, cvii ; of
St. Columbanus, cii. Rus filius Rodain, Ixxii.
Sabhall, meaning of, cxxi.
Sabbath, or Saturday, 290, 297.
Sagart mor, what, 124.
Sainea insula, 190 (ii. 46), 326.
St. Adamnan's Acre, 169.
St. Andrews, or Cillrighmonaidh, 293 ; abbot of, 336.
St. Collum's in Ui, Ixiii.
St. Colm's in Fordyce, Ixvii.
St. Colm's Isle, Ixiii.
St. Columb's church, Ixvi.
St. Comb's in Olrich, Ixvii.
St. Fillan's, 227.
St. Gall, MS. of, xxv.
St. Kilda, island of, Ixiv.
Sale, fluvius, 164 (ii. 18), 189 (46), 281.
Salen Choluimcille, chapel of, Ixv.
Sallachan, places called, 264.
Salmansweiler, MS. at, xxvi.
Salmanticensis codex, account of, xxvi.
Sanda, the island, clxviii.
Satchels, leathern, 269.
Saul, reputed burial-place of Co lumba, Ixxx.
Saxo, 201 (iii. 11), 209 (23).
Saxonia, 113 (i. 1), 121 (8), 191 (ii. 47).
Saxonicus regnator, 112 (i. 1).
Scamhach, or Leprosy, clviii.
Scandal filius Bresail, Ixxii, 229.
St., of Cill-Cobhrainn, Ixxii ;
pedigree of, 229.
Scandlanus, filius Colmani, 122 (i. 8).
Scanlann, of Ossory, xc, 254.
Sci, or Skye, 258.
Scia insula, 134 (i. 27), 170 (ii. 27).
Scith, plebs, Ixi.
Scollofthes, or Scologes, clxxix.
Sconce, the Giant's, 266.
Scoti (Britannia}), 113 (i. 1), 191 (ii. 47); (Hibernise), 114 (i. 2), 213 (iii. 34).
Scotia, 108 (Pr. 2), 113 (i. 1), 116 (2), 117,118(3), 120 (7), 122, 123, (8), 124 (10), 125 (12), 128 (16), 131 (24), 135, 136 (29), 138 (30), 141,
145 (35), 152 (ii. 1), 154 (4), 156 (5), 161 (13), 169 (26), 177 (37), 179 (39), 180, 183 (40), 184 (41), 187 (44), 191 (47), 200 (iii. 10), 201 (12), 205 (18), 217 (24).
Scotice, 114 (i. 2), 116 (3), 120 (7), 127 (14), 135 (29), 136 (29), 139 (32), 143, 146 (35), 156 (ii. 5), 157 (8), 160 (12), 166 (23), 182 (40), 189 (46), 198 (iii. 7), 201 (12), 205 (17), 215 (24).
Scoticus poeta, 140 (i. 34) ; Scotica lingua, 105 (Pr. 1), 108 (Pr. 2), 113 (i. 1), 123 (8), 188 (ii. 44), 215 (iii. 24) ; serva, 174 (ii. 34).
Scotienses, 139 (i. 32).
Scotiswath, or Solway, cli.
Scotland, frequented by Irish saints, xxxvi. See Statistical Account.
Scots, Ireland the country of, xxvii.
Scribe, office of, cxxiv.
Serin Adhamnain, clxv, 338.
Coluimcille, in Ards, clxxiii ;
in Meath, Ivi.
Scripture, Holy, cited, Lev. xxvi, 19, 20 (188); Josh. i. 9 (112) ; Psal. xxxiii. 11 (213), 1. 18 (132) ; Prov. xv. 13 (211), xxii. 1 (106) ; S. Mat. ix. 20 (117) ; 1 Cor. vi. 17 (114) ; Eph. vi. 15-17 (199).
Seals, preserve of, 30.
Seed-time in Hy, 40.
Segene, abbot of Hy, cxxix, cxlviii.
Segineus abbas, 113 (i. 1), 118 (3), 155 (ii. 4).
Selbach, king of Dalriada, 281.
Selsey, or Selseseu, 262.
Senan, St., of Durrow, 1.
Senchan, St., clxviii.
Sengleann, or Glencolumkille, Iv.
Sered, or Campus Seredh, Ix.
Serf, St., his ordination, cxiii.
Setni pater Ainmerii, 120 (i. 7).
Shaw's Moray, cit. Ixviii.
Ships, various kinds of, 280, 281.
Shrines, used in Ireland, Ixxix ; of Adamnan, clxv ; of Columcille, Ixxxi.
Shuna, ol Sainea, 282, 326.
Silnanus, 139 (i. 33), 154, 155 (ii. 4), 163 (ii. 16).
Simon Magus, tonsure of, clix.
Sinech, sister of St. Columba, Ixxii.
Sinus Gallicus, 176 (ii. 35).
Siol Setna, in Donegal, 285.
Sirinus, or O'Sheerin, 294. Sithean, Beg and Mor, 280, 292. Sitruic mac Mic Aedha, Ixxxvi. Skeulan, a corruption of Adamnan,
clxviii.
Skins used as beds, 238. Skreen, in Derry, Ivi ; Meath, 261 ;
in Sligo, clxiv ; in Tirone, Ivi. Skye, the island, 258 ; ecclesiastical
remains in, 274, Slains, parish of, clxvii. Slanore, ol. Snamh-luthair, 280. Sleibhene, abbot of Hy, clxxiii. Sliabh, meaning of, cxliii. Slieve Bregh, 261. Slieve Golry, 289. Slieve Margy, 250. Slieve Meanacb, cxliii. Slieve Mis, Slemish, 253. Slieve Siar, cxliv. Sliginach, in Hy, cxliii. Slognamara, what, 251. Smith, a, in Hy, 84. Smith, J. Huband, cxxxix, 247. Snamh-luthair, 280. Snam-luthir, 188 (ii. 44). Snedgus, Sea-wanderings of, Ixxxix. Snizort, church of, Ixii, 258, 278. Soay, island, cxlv. Solitarius, at Hy, cxxiv. Solway Firth, old name of, 245. Sord, hod. Swords, liii. Soroby, in Tiree, Ix, 255, 257, 310. Soscela Martain, Ixxxii. Speed, Theatre of, Ivii. Spoons, signed with the cross, cxv. Stagnum Abse, 132 (i. 25), 327. Aporici, 177 (ii. 38) ; Aporum,
164 (ii. 20), 327.
Cei, 140 (i. 34), 164 (ii. 19).
Crogreth, 143 (i. 35), 327.
fluvii Ab£e, 132 (i. 25), 327.
Lochdiaj, 110, 327.
Loogdee, 258.
Vituli, 202 (iii. 14).
Stake, blessed, 63. Standards, battle, Ixxx-lxxxviii, fcxcvi, xcix.
Staonaig, in Hy, cxliii, cxliv. Statistical Account of Scotland, New,
Ixi-lxvii, clxvii ; Old, Ixi-lxvii,
clxvii, 264, 313 seq. Stone, story of the Blue, Ixii. Storms, St. Columba in, 45, 46. Style, the, cxx, 289.
Suibne, sixteenth abbot of Hy,
clxxiii.
mac Colmain Moir, 254.
mac Cuirtri, cxlviii.
Meann, slain, 266.
Suibneus, films Columbani, 123 (i. 8). Suidhe Adhamnain, at Tara, clvi ; in
Westmeath, clxvii. Suidhe Donnain, 296. Sulwath, or Solway, cli. Surtees Society, publications of,
Ixxxiv.
Sutherland, part of Crich Catt, 294. Suysken, Const., in Acta SS., 244. Swords, church of, liii. See Sord. Synaxis, ex. Synod, St. Columba excommunicated
in a, 79, 80 ; of St. Adamnan,
civ. Syonan, clxvii.
TABLETS, waxed, cxix, clxii. Tacitus, Annals, 249. Taghboyne, in Westmeath, 232. Taghmon, in Wexford, 250. Tailcend, tonsured, cxiv. Tailchani, Fintenus films, 114, 116
(i. 2).
Tailte, hod. Teltown, 285. Taisi, relics, 232. Taloirc, Niath, 126 (i. 14). Tamlaght-ard, church of, Ivi. Tamlaght-Finlagan, church of, 273. Tamlaght-Librein, 1. Tannadice, St. Columba's church of,
Ixviii, clxviii.
Tantan, or St. Antony, clxx. Tara, the regal seat of Ireland, xli ;
synods held at, clviii, 245. Tarain, king of Picts, 273. Tarainus, Pictus, 167 (ii. 24). Tau, or Tay, Ixxxiii. Taughboyne, church of, cxlvii, 232,
318.
Taymouth, Black Book of, 242. Teach aeidhedh, in monasteries, 240. Teach-an-Epscoip, cxl. Baoithin, hod. Taughboyne,
cxlvii, 232.
Collain, 340.
Teach Munna, hod. Taghmon, 250.
Screaptra, or Library, 239.
Tailltenn, Teltown, 285-6.
Tegernsee, in Bavaria, MS. of, xxvi. Teillte, 196 (iii. 4).
Teltown, church of, xxxvi, 285-6. Templedouglas, in Donegal, xxxiii,
Ivi. Templemore, or Derry, Ordnance
Memoir of, clxxvii, 229. Templemoyle, or Greallach, clxvi. Templepatrick, in Tiree, 289, 315. Tempull-Choluimcille, in Inchmore,
Ivii.
Tempull-na-Gluine, 65. Tempull-Ratha, cxlviii. Tempul-Ronaig, in Hy, cxxxi, 342 seq. Termon-Conyn, Iviii. Termon-Cuiminigh, Iviii. Termon-Maguirk, Iviii. Terra Heth, or Tiree, 255. Terryglass, ol Tir-da-glas, 278. Teunan, for Adamnan, clxviii. Thewnan, for Adamnan, clxx. Thomson, Servanus, 234. Tiagha, or covers of books, 269. Tibohines in Airteach, 232. Tibraide, son of Maelduin, clxv. Tigherna, origin of word, 262. Tighernach, 262. See Annals. Timnuth, John of, xxvii. Tinne, grandfather of Adamnan,
cxlix.
Tir-da-glas, Terryglas, 278. Tirechan, Life of St. Patrick, cited,
Ix, 268. Tiree, derivation of name, 255 ; an
ecclesiastical resort, 259 ; Dr.
Reeves's paper on, 303-317. See
Ethica insula, terra. Tir-Enna, in Donegal, cxlvii, 285. Tir-Eoghain, Tyrone, clxxxiii. Tir-Fhiachrach, Tireragh, clxv. Tir-Luighdech, 226. See Cinel-
Luighdech. Tituli in Adamnan, integral parts of
chapters, xxiv. Tobar Adhamnain, xcii, clxv.
Awnaun, clxv, clxx.
Cheathain, in Hy, cxlii.
Martain, xcii.
na hAois, in Hy, cxlii.
Odhrain, in Hy, cxlii.
Tochannu Mocufircetea, Ixxii. Tocummi, Avia, Ixxii. Todd, Dr., copy of Brussels MS., cii. Tonsure, divers kinds of, cxiv, cliii ;
changed at Hy, 336. Torach, island, Hi, Ixxxv. See Tory. Tor-inis, Tory, or Tours, Iii.
Torr-Abb, at Hy, cxxxviii, cxlii, 297.
Tort, meaning of, 256.
Tory island, lii, Ixxxv.
Tothail, Rodercus filius, 123 (i. 8).
Tours, Hib. Torinis, lii ; visited by
Irish, xc.
Tracht-Romra, cli ; where, 245. Tree blessed by St. Columba, xxxix. Trenanus, Mocuruntir, 125 (i. 12). Tren-Congallia, or Clanaboy, Iviii. Treeoit, or Trefoit, hod. Trevet, xxiv,
261. Trevet, church of, xxiv, 261. See
Trioit.
Triocha-ched, or Cantred, 268. Trioit, monasterium, 139 (i. 32), 261. Troda island, near Skye, Ixii, 275. Trowel, or St. Rule, clxviii. Tuatha, of Donegal, lii. Tuathal mac Artgusa, Ixx. — — mac Feradhaich, clxv, 338. Tuathalan, of Cinnrighmonaidh, 336. Tudida, 184 (ii. 42). Tudwal Tutglud, 255. Tulach Dubhglaise, xxxiii, Ivi. Tulach-mic-Comghaill, 291. Tulach-Seagra, now Tully, Ivii. Turtrei, Nepotes, 128 (i. 16). Turtrye, deanry of, 256. Twelve, a monastic number, Ixxi. Tyrone, ol. Tir-Eoghain, clxxxiii.
UA ALTI, a patronymic, 293.
Ua Baetain, St. Mauricius, 342.
Ua Banain, Maelpatraic, 342.
Ua Brannain, Gillamacliag, clxxxi, 342.
Ua Briuin, 276.
Ua Brolchain, history of family, clxxx ; Domhnall, clxxxiii, 247, 342 ; Flaithbertach, clxxix, clxxx, 341 ; Maelbrighde, clxxx ; Maelcolaim, clxxx ; Maeliosa, clxxx.
Ua Cainen, Maelmuire, clxxvii.
Ua Cairiollain, Florence, clxxxiii.
Ua Chein, son of, 1.
Ua Clucain, Ferdomhnach, clxxviii.
Muiredhach, clxxix.
Ua Cobthaich, Aiumire, clxxxiii.
Ua Coirthen, Gillaadhamnain, clxxix.
Ua Cricain, Muiredhach, cxxv, 340.
Ua Daighre, clxxxiii, 342.
Ua Domhnaill, O'Donnell, Ixxxvii.
Ua Domhnallain, clxxviii.
Ua Ferghail, clxxxiii, 342.
Ua Loighse, or Leix, 290.
Ua Maeldoraidh, clxxviii.
Ua Maighne, clxxvi.
Ua Muirgiussain, xcv.
Ua Niadh Taloirc, 256.
Ua Robhacain, Dunnchadh, clxxvi.
Ua Robhartaigh, family of, Ixxxvi,
Ixxxvii, clxxviii, 340. Ua Stefain, Dubhduin, clxxvi. Ua Tinne, Adamnan's clan, cxlix,
clvii. Ua hUchtain, family of, lii.
Dunnchadh, clxxri.
mac Nia, Ixxxviii, clxxvii, 340.
Maelmuire, clxxvii.
Ui Dalann, 293.
Ui Fiachrach Aidhne, 255.
Ui Garrchon, 250.
Ui Neill, North and South, 265. See
Hy-Neill.
Ui Tuirtre, 256. See Turtrei. Uidhre Ciarain, Leabhar, xli. Uigenius, 165 (ii. 21). Uisce Chaoin, Eskaheen, Ix. Ulster, Journal of Archseol., 255,
257, 289, 303.
Unitas Fratrum, episcopacy of, cv. Urquhart, in Inverness, 291 ; in
Rosshire, 291. Ussher, Abp., cited in notes, passim.
VAD VELEN, or Ictericia, 282. Vadum died, 154 (ii. 4), 268. Valesius, on Evagrius, 263. Vallis fluminis Fendse, 216 (iii. 24). Vatican, Records relating to lona,
353-357. Vespers, St. Columba's observance
of, 28.
Vestments, ecclesiastical. See Hy. Vexilla, Irish, xcviii. See Cathach,
Standards.
Villa Maris, Mornington, lix. Villanueva, Acta S. Patricii, 259. Vinnianus (vide Findbarrus, Finnio,
Finnianus), 152 (ii. 1), 266. Virgno (vide Fergnous, Virgnous),207,
(iii. 20). Virgnous (vide Fergnous, Virgno), 207
(iii. 20), 215 (24). Viri Mocucei, Ixxii. Vision of Adamnan, clvii, clxxi, 246 ;
of Eithne, 78, 79 ; of Oswald, 5. Virolecus, 203 (iii. 15). Vitrified Forts, 277.
GENERAL