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PEBBLES: 
 
 JAMES W A T 8 N. 
 
 EDINBURGH: JOHN MENZIES & Cu 
 1883. 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029258823 
 
BR746.B39T6"l""""'"">"-"'™^ 
 
 '"terpolatlons in Bede's Ecclesiastical 
 
 olln 
 
 3 1924 029 258 823 
 
INTERPOLATIONS IN 
 BEDE'S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 
 
 AND 
 
 OTHER ANCIENT ANNALS 
 
 AFFECTING THE EARLY HISTORY OF 
 
 SCOTLAND AND IRELAND. 
 
 -oc^ic>>a'>- 
 
 PEBBLES: 
 JAMES W A T S O K". 
 
 EDINBURGH: JOHN MENZIES ct C Q. 
 1883, 
 
 a 
 
 s 
 
A^'^BKl 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 BEDE'S HISTORY. 
 Bede's birthplace and the monastery in which he spent most o£ his 
 life situated near the Firth of Forth — First chapter of the His- 
 tory relating to the emigration of Scots from Ireland fabricated 
 — Twelfth chapter, mentioning Scots, genuine — Its Contents — 
 Only one Roman wall, that of Antonine, known to Bede — Ac- 
 count of Ethelfrid's battle with JE Ian, king of the Scots, an in- 
 terpolation — Laurentius' Letters to the Soots also an interpola- 
 tion — Notice of Honorius' dealings with the Scots another — The 
 Scots, among whom Oswald and his brothers spent their youth, 
 the people to the north of the Firth of Forth — Passage about 
 Scots in Ireland an interpolation — Columba, his connection with 
 Ireland an interpolation — Notices of several priests living in 
 Ireland also interpolations — Hermits in Iceland— The Scottish 
 bishops and the Easter controversy — Bede's Scotia the country 
 north of the Firth of Forth — Fursey's life an interpolation^ 
 Not known to the Irish annalists — Probably an Icelandic saint 
 — Account of Beort's expedition an interpolation — An Irish 
 Scotsman of the name of Adamaan unknown to the other 
 annalists — Several pages of the Ecclesiastical History copied by 
 Roger of Wendover only with the exception of a paragra/ph 
 containing the word Hibernia — Adamnau the abbot of Hii — 
 Work on the Holy Places mentioned only in the Ecclesiastical 
 History and by Wendover — No mention made of his Lite of 
 Columba by any early writer — Unreliable character of notices of 
 his visit to Ireland contained in Irish records — Not mentioned 
 by Clyn, an Irish annalist of the fourteenth century — Egbert's 
 life in Ireland and his whole biography, including the conversion 
 of the monks of Hii, interpolations — Notice of a pestilence in Ire- 
 land another interpolation — Letter to Naitau, king of the Plots, 
 also an interpolation pages 1-57 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 OTHEE ANCIENT ANNALS. 
 Tacitus' Life of Agricola — Ireland mentioned several times in it — 
 Untruatworthiness of the allusions to that country — Life of 
 Agricola first produced about Boece's time — Mentions few places 
 in Scotland — No reliable evidence to prove Agricola was ever in 
 Britain— Unknown to all the ancient annalists of England and 
 Scotland — Orkneys said to have been subdued by Agricola in 
 opposition to Eutropins and all the early English and Scottish 
 annalists — Adamnan's Life of St Columba — Its authenticity 
 questioned — The manuscript on which it is founded wants the 
 characteristics of the time to which it is assigned — Not men- 
 tioned by Roger of Wendover, who refers to another work of 
 Adamnan's — Cumminius' Life of Columba the basis of Adam- 
 nan's— Never mentions Hibernia — This word interpolated in 
 the only extract from the earlier life which is acknowledged in 
 the later — Hibernia often mentioned in Adamnan's Life — Never 
 distinctly affirmed that Hibernia and Scotia were names for one 
 country — Instances of the curious way in which the two words 
 are used — Nennius' History of the Britons — Quoted as a work 
 of Gildas — Tampered with to a large extent — Inporporated with 
 Geoffrey's British History — Interpolations about Ireland and 
 the Orkneys — Patrick and Palladius — Similar account of the 
 two saints in Eoger of Wendover's History — Material difference 
 between the two accounts regarding Scotland and the Scots — ■ 
 Interpolations iu the Irish version of Nennius about Ireland — 
 Florence of Worcester's Chronicle — Calls Marianns. a Soot of 
 Ireland — Not corroborated — His Scotia the Scotland of the pre- 
 sent day — Interpolations about Ireland — Notices of Scots, and 
 Scotland — Scots said to be Irishmen really Scotsmen — Inter- 
 polation about Marianus being in Ireland — Henry of Hunting- 
 don's History— No manuscript of the author's extant — First 
 printed in 1596 — Scotland the only Scotia known to him — Inter- 
 polations about Scots in Ireland — His Scots not inhabitants of 
 Ireland — Ireland or the Irish mentioned fifteen times before the 
 year 699, and only twice from then till 1051 — All the first Hf- 
 teen occur in Bede's Ecclesiastical History — Passages about 
 Scots and Scotland apparently all genuine, with the exception 
 pf one about the Easier controversy . . . pages 59-84 
 
INTERPOLATIONS IN 
 
 BEDE'S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 
 
 AND OTHER ANCIENT ANNALS 
 
 AFFECTING THE EARLY HISTORY OF 
 
 SCOTLAND AND IRELAND. 
 
 It is a well-known fact that most writers who have 
 dealt with the early history of Scotland state that Scolia, 
 the ancient name of this country, was a name applied to 
 Ireland only till the eleventh century. This is the 
 opening sentence of a pamphlet recently published, en- 
 titled, " Ireland not the Hibernia of the Ancients," in 
 which au attempt has been already made to controvert 
 such a belief. But as the idea that Ireland was 
 at one time peopled by Scots, and therefore called 
 Scotia, is to a great extent based on Bede's Ecclesiastical 
 History of England, a further attempt will be made in 
 the following pages to prove that Scotland was the only 
 Scotia, by showing that this work is largely interpolated 
 for the purpose of making people believe that Scotia 
 was once a name for Ireland. This will be done by com- 
 paring it with the writings of later historians who have 
 
R INTERPOLATIONS IN 
 
 copied most of it nearly verbatim. Even were the worl 
 as it now exists taken into consideration, it would b( 
 seen that its information regarding the question at issui 
 is contradictory and unreliable. 
 
 The Venerable Bede, author of the history before us 
 was born in the year 673. There being some uncertain 
 ty regarding the place of his birth, it will be necessarj 
 to endeavour to ascertain its true situation, especially ai 
 it has a close relation to the subject on liand, for it ii 
 possible he may be found to have been born near thi 
 Firth of Forth. William of .Malmesbury says : " Bvitaii 
 contains in its remotest parts, bordering on Scotia, thi 
 place of Bede's birth and education. Through the dis 
 trict runs the river Wira, of no mean width, and o 
 tolerable rapidity."^ This is taken by modern writer 
 to refer to tlie borders of present Scotland, and the rive 
 Wear in England. Tlie ancient British name of thi 
 Forth, however, was Werid," and there are reasons fo 
 believing that this is one of the many instances of th 
 transference of the history of places in the south o 
 Scotland to England on account of the similarity of th 
 ancient names of rivers, towns, &c., in the differen 
 countries. In several cases this appears to have bee 
 done designedly, as an opportunity will afterwards b 
 taken to show. Meanwhile it will be sufficient to saj 
 that incidents which Fordun narrates as having talce 
 place on the north bank of the Forth, are transferred i 
 an apparently interpolated passage in one of Simeon c 
 Durham's works, to the banks of the Wear in England. 
 It paay be remembered also that the mistake in Ptolemv' 
 
 1 Bede's Miscellaneous Works, hy Giles, vol, i, nref. p. xlvi 
 £ Skene's Celtic Scotland, vol. iii, p. 45. 
 . 3 Ibid., vol, i. pp. 422,423, 
 
BEDES ECCLESTASTWAL HISTORY. 7 
 
 map of Scotland, affects all the country between the 
 Wear in England and the Tay in Scotland, as noticed in 
 " Ireland not the Hibernia of the Ancients." ^ The allu- 
 sion intheabove quotation from William of Malmesbury's 
 Chronicle to the remotest region of Britain, bordering on 
 Scotia, supports the belief that he is referring to the Forth 
 ■when he speaks of the river Wira. It is well known from 
 authentic records that in this historian's life-tiiue (the 
 twelfth century) the name of Scotia was confined to the 
 country north of the Forth, Bede's birthplace should 
 therefore be looked for in the neighbourhood of the 
 Firth of Forth. Two writers, Langen and Engelnussius, 
 state that Bede was born in Saxony in Germany. ^ They 
 have in all likelihood seen it mentioned somewhere that 
 he was born in Saxonia, which was no doubt quite true, 
 but this was a different place from Saxony in Ger- 
 many. It evidently refers to the district called Saxonia 
 by the Pictish Chronicle, Tighernach's Annals, and the 
 Annals of Ulster, which is pretty nearly comprehended 
 in the Lothians of the present day. This harmonises 
 with William of Malmesbury's reference to the place 
 of Bede's birth, and confirms the belief that it was near 
 the Firth of Forth. 
 
 The monastery in which Bede spent the most of his 
 life was situated in the same neighbourhood. Malmes- 
 bury, writing of the place of his birth and education, 
 adds: "This region, formerly exhaling the grateful odour 
 of monasteries, or glittering with a multitude of cities 
 built by the Eomans, now desolate through the ancient 
 devastations of the Danes, or those more recent of the 
 
 1 Page 52. 
 
 2 Bede's Miscellaneous Works, by Giles, vol, i, pref, pp. ovii. and 
 
 cviii. 
 
8 INTERPOLATIONS IN 
 
 Normans, presents but little to allure the mind. Here 
 is the river Were, of considerable breadth and rapid tide; 
 which, running into the sea, receives the vessels borne 
 by gentle gales on the calm bosom of its haven. Both 
 its banks have been made conspicuous by one Benedict, 
 ■who there built churches and monasteries — one dedicated 
 to Peter, the other to Paul." Bede himself is quoted by 
 Malmesbury^ as saying that he was born within the 
 possessions of the monastery of the Apostles Peter and 
 Paul which is at Wearmouth, and, after spending some 
 time under the care of Abbots Benedict and Ceolfrid, 
 he passed the remainder of his life at the said monas- 
 tery. Dr Skene- points out that Bede, in his "Lives of 
 the Abbots of Wearmouth," quotes a letter of one of the 
 Abbots, in which he says that the monastery of Wear- 
 mouth was in Saxonia; and he adds that this name re- 
 mained till a late period attached to the most northern 
 part of the Saxon territory in Britain. Hector Boethius, 
 or Boece, says that Bede, during the latter part of his 
 life, lived at Mailros, an Abbey in Scotland, where there 
 was a community of monks. Dempster, in his Historia 
 Ecclesiasticus gentis Seotoruin, to a certain extent corro- 
 borates this. There is good reason for believing, as will 
 be afterwards shown, that the Mailros of the ninth and 
 preceding centuries was situated nearer the Firth of 
 Forth than the Melrose of the present day, and if so, 
 Eoece's notice would harmonise with William of 
 Malmesbury's and Bede's own words regarding the 
 monastery in which he spent the later years of his life. 
 All these references, it will be seen, have points of agree- 
 ment, and they lead to the belief that the Venerable 
 
 ' 1 Chronicle, Bohn's Translation, p. 56, 
 3 Celtic Scotland, vol. i. p. 192. 
 
sede's ecclesiastical History. 9 
 
 Bede was born and spent the most of liis days in tlie 
 neighboni'liood of tlie Firtli of Forth. He died in the 
 year 734. 
 
 If the " Ecclesiastical History of the English," as it 
 is now published, were to be considered as all the 
 original production of Bede, it would be a truly wonder- 
 iul work for tlie time and country in which he lived. 
 That it is largely interpolated, however, is borne out by 
 several circumstances. The most cogent of these is the 
 silence of the later Euglish annalists regarding events 
 which are treated of in Bede's work at "reat leno-th. 
 These writers all quote from the Ecclesiastical History 
 frequently, and praise Bede highly, but they omit all no- 
 tice of several important incidents which the later ancient 
 Eugiisli historians would assuredly have referred to if 
 they had had a place in the genuine work of Bede; 
 Eoger of Wendover even quotes the work always under 
 the title of the " History of the English " only ; and a 
 minute comparison of his history and Bede's shows that 
 most of the ecclesiastical notices in the work have been 
 engrafted with the original history after Wendover's 
 time. This does not much concern us at present, how- 
 ever, but if English writers care to take the trouble of 
 comparing the two works, word by word, they would be 
 astonished to find to what an extent the early ecclesias- 
 tical history of their country had been tampered with. 
 
 As none of the original manuscripts of Bede's work 
 seem to be extant, it is now difficult to trace all the 
 interpolations ; but the first version in modern English, 
 which was publislied in 1565, immediately after the lie- 
 formation in England and Scotland, was issued under 
 the auspices of a priestliood wlio cannot be regarded as 
 free from tlie suspicion of having tampered with other 
 
10 INTERPOLATIONS t]^ 
 
 works than that of the Venerable Bede. It was dedicat- 
 ed to Queen Elizabeth, and the following passage occura 
 in the dedication: " In this History Your Highness shall 
 see in how many and weighty points the pretended re- 
 formers of the Church in your Grace's dominions have 
 departed from the pattern of that sound and catholic 
 faith planted first among Englishmen by holy St Augus- 
 tine our apostle, and his virtuous company, described 
 truly and sincerely by Venerable Bede, so called in all 
 Christendom for his passing virtues and rare learning, 
 the Author of this history." 
 
 In analysing the passages in the Ecclesiastical His- 
 tory relating to Scotland and Ireland, an endeavour will 
 be made to separate the genuine from the spurious, 
 though this may not always be successful. jSTotwith- 
 standing this, we hope to be able to show that Bede's 
 Scots were the inhabitants of north-eastern Scotland, 
 and that this district was the country known to him by 
 the name of Scotia. To accomplish this the passao-es 
 referred to will be compared with parallel ones in the 
 Saxon Chronicle, and the works of Gildas, Ethelwerd, 
 Florence of "Worcester, Henry of Huntingdon, William 
 of Malmesbury, and Koger of Wendover. This will 
 throw additional light on the Ireland-Scotia controversy, 
 and probably lead to a settlement of it. Considered 
 along with the proofs already produced, and those to 
 follow, they point clearly to the fact that Ireland never 
 was called Scotia or Scotland. 
 
 '■ It may be as well to say that several of those later 
 annals are interpolated as well as Bede's work. Separ- 
 ate estimates of their value in this respect will be after- 
 wards given, in producing the testimony they afford on 
 the question at issue. Suffice it to say, in the mean- 
 
llEDE'S ECCL&SfASTtCAL tilSTORt. ll 
 
 time, that Florence of Worcester's Annals, and Henry of 
 Huntingdon's History (this latter being first printed in 
 England along with Bede's work), are very largely inter- 
 polated. Henry of Huntingdon affirms that he had re- 
 lied principally on Bede's information in writing his 
 history, but he does not generally copy it literally, ex- 
 cept in the interpolated passages. The others are very 
 sparsely interpolated; Gildas and Ethelwerd being ap- 
 parently almost entirely free from this plague. 
 
 Eoger of Wendover's work is the most valuable for 
 the purpose on hand, as although it has been inter- 
 polated with the view of identifying Hibernia with 
 Ireland, or perhaps written after the former name had 
 been transferred from Iceland, it seems to have escaped 
 being tampered with in order to connect the Scots 
 and Scotia with Ireland. This is perhaps owing to an 
 original manuscript of the work which had escaped the 
 hands of the manipulators of early Scottish history 
 having been discovered at a late date. 
 
 In the comparison, the translations of the works named, 
 published in Bohn's Antiquarian Library, have been 
 principally used, as they are accessible to the majority 
 of readers. Of course Ireland nearly always appears 
 in the original editions as Hibernia, but the translated 
 name has been used, in order to avoid confusion be- 
 tween the ancient and modern Hibernia, and to show 
 which country it is supposed to refer to by the tran- 
 slators. 
 
 A Fabkicated Chaptek. 
 
 The first chapter of the "Ecclesiastical History" is en- 
 titled: "Of the situation of Britain and Ireland, and 
 
12 INTERPOLATIONS IN 
 
 of their ancient inhabitants." At the beginning of it, 
 we are told that Britain was formerly called Albion; 
 and a description of that country is then given. After 
 which the following passages occur: — 
 
 "This island at present, following the number of the books in 
 which the Divine Law was written, contains five nations, the 
 English, Britons, Scots, Picts, and Latins, each in its own 
 peculiar dialect cultivating the sublime study of Divine truth. 
 The Latin tongue is, by the study of the Scriptures, become 
 common to all the rest. At first this island had no other in- 
 habitants but the Britons, from whom it derived its name, and 
 who, coming over into Britain, as is reported, from Armorica, 
 possessed themselves of the southern parts thereof. When 
 they, beginning at the south, had made themselves masters of 
 the greatest part of the island, it happened that the nation of 
 the Picts, from Scythia, as is reported, putting to sea, in a few 
 long ships, were driven by the winds beyond the shores of 
 Britain, and arrived on the northern coasts of Ireland, where, 
 finding the nation of the Scots, tliey begged to be allowed to 
 settle among them, but could not succeed in obtaining their re- 
 quest The Picts, accordingly, sailing over into 
 
 Britain, began to inhabit the northern parts thereof. . . . 
 Now the Picts had no wives, and asked them of tlie Scots; 
 who would not consent to grant them upon any other terms, than 
 that when any difficulty should arise, they should choose a king 
 from the female royal race rather than from the male; which 
 custom, as is well known, has been observed among the Picts 
 to this day. In process of time, Britain, besides the Britons 
 and the Picts, received a third nation, the Scots, who, migrat- 
 ing from Ireland under their leader, Reuda, either by fair 
 means, or by force of arms, secured to themselves those settle- 
 ments among the Picts which they still possess. Prom the 
 name of their commander, they are to this day called Dalreudins' 
 for in their language, Dal signifies a part. Ireland, in breadth 
 and for wholesomeness and serenity of climate far surpasses 
 
 Britaui It is properly the country of the Scots 
 
 who, migrating from thence, as has been said, added a third 
 nation in Britain to the Britons and the Picts. Tlaere is a verv 
 
BEDE'S KCVLESlASflCAL HISTORY. 13 
 
 large gulf of the sea, which formerly divided the nation of the 
 Picts from the Britons; which gulf runs from the west very far 
 into the land, where, to this day, stands the strong city of the 
 Britons, called Alcluith. The Scots, arriving on the north side 
 of this bay, settled themselves there." 
 
 As the information given above will be found to be 
 contradicted by more reliable testimony, it seems pro-, 
 bable tbat the greater part of this chapter is fabricated. 
 Only one of the ancient English annalists, besides 1 Jede, 
 appears to take notice of these events, and that one is the 
 least trustworthy on such a subject, namely, Henry of 
 Huntingdon. Something similar appears in copies of 
 the Saxon Chronicle, but these are known to be of a late 
 date. It is awanting in the earliest manuscript extant. 
 But this is not the greatest objection to these passages; 
 and it is questionable whether a single line of the 
 whole chapter be genuine or not. Albion, for instance, 
 is not mentioned as the ancient name of Britain by any 
 trustworthy writer, and Alban or Albany is confined in 
 authentic records and the Celtic legends to a part of 
 Scotland. The word English (Anglorum), too, used 
 twice in this chapter, is not likely to have been a word 
 used by Bede to designate the Aiiglo-Saxon inhabitants 
 of England in his day. It was an ambiguous word 
 then; and it will be found to occur generally, if not 
 only, in the fabricated passages of the Ecclesiastical 
 History. 
 
 In addition to this, it was not till the eighteenth 
 century that Eiada and his colony of Scots appeared 
 in the pages of historians of Ireland. " Kennedy, 
 whose genealogical dissertation on the family of Stuart 
 was published at Paris in 1705, and, though brief, is 
 the most accurate work known on Irish history, as he 
 
12 tNTERPOLATtONH IN 
 
 of their ancient inhabitants." At the beginning of it, 
 we are told that Britain was formerly called Albion; 
 and a description of that country is then given. After 
 which the following passages occur: — 
 
 "This island at present, following the number of the books in 
 which the Divine Law was written, contains five nations, the 
 English, Britons, Scots, Picts, and Latins, each in its own 
 peculiar dialect cultivating the sublime study of Divine truth. 
 The Latin tongue is, by the study of the Scriptures, become 
 common to all the rest. At first this island had no other in- 
 habitants but the Britons, from whom it derived its name, and 
 who, coming over into Britain, as is reported, from Armorica, 
 possessed themselves of the southern parts thereof. When 
 they, beginning at the south, had made themselves masters of 
 the greatest part of the island, it happened that the nation of 
 the Picts, from Scythia, as is reported, putting to sea, in a few 
 long ships, were driven by the winds beyond the shores of 
 Britain, and arrived on the northern coasts of Ireland, w^here, 
 finding the. nation of the Scots, they begged to be allowed to 
 settle among them, but could not succeed in obtaining their re- 
 quest The Picts, accordingly, sailing over into 
 
 Britain, began to inhabit the northern parts thereof. . . . 
 Now the Picts had no wives, and asked them of the Scots; 
 who would not consent to grant them upon any other terms, than 
 that when any difficulty should arise, they should choose a king 
 from the female royal race rather than from the male; which 
 custom, as is well known, has been observed among the Picts 
 to this day. In process of time, Britain, besides the Britons 
 and the Picts, received a third nation, the Scots, who, migrat- 
 ing from Ireland under their leader, Reuda, either by fair 
 means, or by force of arms, secured to themselves those settle- 
 ments among the Picts which they still possess. From the 
 name of their commander, they are to this day called Dalreudins; 
 for in their language, Dal signifies a part. Ireland, in breadth, 
 and for wholesomeness and serenity of climate far surpasses 
 
 Britaui It is properly the country of the Scots, 
 
 who, migrating from thence, as has been said, added a third 
 nation in Britain to the Britons and the Picts. There is a very 
 
BEDE'S ECCLESIASTICAL tllSTORY. 13 
 
 large gulf of the sea, which formerly divided the nation of the 
 Picts from the Britons; which gulf runs from the west very far 
 into the land, where, to this day, stands the strong city of the 
 Britons, called Alcluith. The Scots, arriving on the north side 
 of this bay, settled themselves there. " 
 
 As the information given above will be found to be 
 contradicted by more reliable testimony, it seems pro-, 
 bable that the greater part of this chapter is fabricated. 
 Only one of the ancient English annalists, besides Hede, 
 appears to take notice of these events, and that one is the 
 least trustworthy on such a subject, namely, Henry of 
 Huntingdon. Something similar appears in copies of 
 the Saxon Chronicle, but these are known to be of a late 
 date. It is awanting in the earliest manuscript extant. 
 But this is not the greatest objection to these passages; 
 and it is questionable whether a single line of the 
 whole chapter be genuine or not. Albion, for instance, 
 is not mentioned as the ancient name of Britain by any 
 trustworthy writer, and Alban or Albany is confined in 
 authentic records and the Celtic legends to a part of 
 Scotland. The word English (Anglorum), too, used 
 twice in this chapter, is not likely to have been a word 
 used by Bede to designate the Anglo-Saxon inhabitants 
 of England in his day. It was an ambiguous word 
 then; and it will be found to occur generally, if not 
 only, in the fabricated passages of the Ecclesiastical 
 History. 
 
 In addition to this, it was not till the eighteenth 
 century that Kiada and his colony of Scots appeared 
 in the pages of historians of Ireland. " Kennedy, 
 whose genealogical dissertation on the family of Stuart 
 was published at Paris in 1705, and, though brief, is 
 the most accurate work known on Irish history, as he 
 
14 LXTEEPOLATIONS IN 
 
 generally quotes manuscript page and column, first 
 laid open the fact that a colony of Scots, under 
 Riada, settled in Pictland."^ After quoting the 
 words of Kennedy regarding Eiada's settlement in 
 Britain, Pinkerton adds: " In both these passages 
 he gives no authorities, though he commonly pro- 
 duces them."- He then treats at some length 
 of O'Connor's allusion to the settlement of Kiada 
 in Britain, and sums up with these words: "All 
 this is given as usual without an authority or reference. 
 The circumstances of Mr O'Connor's tale are also dis- 
 cordant,'' &c.^ Eitson^ says: "No such expedition, 
 nor even such a person as Eiada, or Eeuda, is ever 
 noticed by Tigernach, or llannus a Monasterio (Flan 
 of Bute), as quoted by Usher or OTlaherty, or in the 
 Ulster Annals, or any other ancient or authentic monu- 
 ment." It is not noticed by Clyn, an Irish annalist of 
 the fourteenth century, who was acquainted with Bede's 
 History, and quotes it. If it had been mentioned there 
 in Clyn's life-time, he would scarcely have ignored al- 
 together such an important episode in his country's 
 annals. If the ancient Irish writers knew nothing of 
 this expedition of Scots where did Bede learn about it ? 
 It may be remarked here also that Ireland (Hibernia) 
 is not said in this first chapter to have had any other 
 name. This would have been a strange omission on 
 the part of Bede, who lived at the very time when the 
 country is alleged to have also been called Scotia or 
 Scotland; and, if this had been tlie case, it would have 
 been still more wonderful to find that throughout the 
 
 1 Pinkerton's Enquiry, vol. ii. p. 63. 
 
 - Ibid., p. 64. a Ibid., p. 67. 
 
 ^ AuuaU Caludouiaas, &c., vol, ii, p, 12, 
 
SEDt:^S ECCLESIASTICAL lilSTOkt. 15 
 
 whole of the Ecclesiastical History, even interlopated 
 as it is, it is never distinctly af&rmed that Ireland was 
 ever called Scotia. Speaking of the forged writings 
 which form the ground-work of Boece's History of 
 Scotland, Inues says: " It is a great advantage to truth 
 that the most part of the forgers of pretended old 
 writings were, by the permission of providence, gener- 
 ally so extremely ignorant, and frequently of so little 
 sense or judgment, that even almost in every passage 
 of their inventions, one may discover anachronisms, 
 contradictions, and other marks of their forgery." ^ 
 
 A Genuine Chaptek : Only One Eoman Wall known 
 TO Bede. 
 
 The next chapter which concerns the present subject, 
 is the twelfth chapter of Book I. The substance of 
 this chapter is copied by most of the ancient annahsts; 
 ■ and it appears to be almost, if not altogether, the genu- 
 ine work of Bede. It is entitled: " The Britons being 
 ravaged by the Scots and Picts, sought succour from 
 the Eomans, who, coming a second time, built a wall 
 across the island; but the Britons being again invaded 
 by the aforesaid enemies, were reduced to greater dis- 
 tress than before." The materials for this chapter are 
 taken from a work by Gildas, a preceding British 
 writer; but several important additions are made to 
 them in the Ecclesiastical History. Eor instance, after 
 calling the Picts and Scots transmarine, or foreign, 
 nations, as his predecessor had done, Bede adds: 
 
 " We call these foreign nations, not on account of their being 
 
 1 Essay i., p. 304. 
 
16 INrlSRPOLATtom IN 
 
 seated out of Biitain, but because they were remote from that 
 part of it which was possessed by the Britons; two inlets or 
 the sea lying between them, one of which runs in far and broad 
 into the land of Britain, from the Eastern Ocean, and the other 
 from the Western, though they do not reach so as to touch one 
 another. The eastern has in the midst of it the city Guidi. 
 The western has on it, tliat is, on the right hand thereof, the 
 city Alcluith, which in their language signifies the rock Cluith, 
 for it is close by the river of that name." 
 
 Again, after giving Gildas' account of the arrival of 
 the Romans, tlie defeat of the enemies, and the build- 
 ing of a turf wall, Bede adds: 
 
 "However, they drew it ("the wall) for many miles between 
 the bays or inlets of the seas, which we have spoken of; to the 
 end that where the defence of the water was wanting, they 
 might use the rampart to defend their borders from the irrup- 
 tions of the enemies. Of which work there erected, that is, of 
 a rampart of extraordinary breadth and height, there are evi- 
 dent remains to be seen at this day. It begins at about two 
 miles' distance from the monastery of Abercurnig, on the west, 
 at a place called in the Pictish language, Peanfahel, but in the 
 English tongue Penneltun, and running to the westward, ends 
 near the city Alcluith." 
 
 Then, after paraphrasing his predecessor's nairative of 
 another visit of the Komaii troops, and the driving of 
 the Scots and Picts again beyond the seas, he continues 
 to depend on Gildas in stating that the Eomans re- 
 solved to leave the country for ever, but before doing so 
 they helped the natives to build a stone wall from sea 
 to sea. After this another addition of Bede's is found 
 to this effect: " This famous wall, which is still to be 
 seen, is not far from the trench of Severus, and was 
 built at tlie public and private expense, the Britons also 
 lendiuo' their assistance. It is eiuht feet in brearltli ar^A 
 
BEDE'S ECCLFSlASTrrAL HlfSTORY. 17 
 
 twelve feet in height, in a straight line from east to 
 west, as is still visible to beholders." Still adhering 
 closely to Gildas' narrative, Bede finishes this twelfth 
 cliapter by stating that the Picts and Scots now oc- 
 cupied all the northern and farthest part of the island, 
 as far as the wall. 
 
 The most of this chapter was evidently written by 
 Bede; and no writer of his time would have penned 
 such words as quoted above had there been a people 
 called Scots living in Ireland, and so predominating 
 there as to cause that country to be called Scotia. The 
 part of the chapter which appears not to be genuine, is 
 only that small portion referring to the building of the 
 turf wall. There are several objections which might 
 be urged against its authenticity, but the only one that 
 need be noticed is the occurrence of the word English 
 (jVnglorum) in it; and it may be added that none of the 
 other ancient annalists countenance this passage except 
 Henry of Huntingdon, into whose work all the inter- 
 polations found in the Ecclesiastical History have been 
 copied. 
 
 It has been sometimes stated that Bede takes notice 
 of three walls built by the Eomans in Britain, but a 
 diligent examination of the Ecclesiastical History re- 
 veals the fact that he knew only of one, the wall of An- 
 toninus, between the Firths of Forth and Clyde. Three 
 walls are spoken of in the Ecclesiastical History: the 
 one built by Severus, and the other two which have 
 just been noticed; but the passage referring to one of these 
 has been shown to be, in all likelihood, an interpolation, 
 and the other two walls were evidently built on or near 
 the same site. According to Bede, the stone wall was 
 not far ft'om the trench which accompanied the ram- 
 
18 INTERPOL ATTOK!^ TN 
 
 part, or turf wall, of Severus. In the fifth chapter he 
 alludes to the building of this wall in these words: 
 " After many great and dangerous battles, he (Severus) 
 tliought fit to divide that part of the island, which he 
 had recovered from the unconquered nations, not with 
 a wall, as some imagine, but with a rampart. For a 
 wall is made of stones, but a rampart, with which 
 camps are fortified to repel the assaults of enemies, is 
 made of sods cut out of the earth, and raised above 
 the ground all round like a wall, having in front of it 
 tlie ditch whence the sods were taken." Then in the 
 eleventh chapter he alludes to it again thus: " Tn the 
 year 402 ... . the Romans ceased to rule in 
 
 Britain They resided within the rampart, 
 
 which, as we have mentioned, Severus made across the 
 island," which shows that he is speaking of a wall be- 
 tween the Firths of Fortli and Clyde, for it is now well 
 known that the Eoman occupation of the country ex- 
 tended thus far from the time of Antoninus till the 
 Romans left the island. The phrase, not far from the 
 trench of Severus, may mean that the stone wall spoken 
 of by Bede was erected at some short distance from 
 Severus' rampart, and likely to the south of it; but it 
 is straining the meaning of the words to identify the 
 stone wall with Hadrian's, between the Tyne and Eden, 
 in the north of England, as some writers have done. 
 It is an undoubted fact that Bede's account of the 
 building of the stone wall is not in accordance with the 
 evidence of the stones of the wall itself and Roman 
 history; but it is less in accordance with the evidence 
 supplied by the stones of Hadrian's wall and other cir- 
 cumstances. The reason for this is plain. The refer- 
 ences to these works in Roman ^Yriters are scanty and 
 
BEDE'S eCCLESIAHrWAL HISTOnY. 19 
 
 vague; and the traditions of five or six hundred years at 
 such a period were not to be depended upon. 
 
 That Bede and all the early English annalists, whose 
 works we are comparing, always write about one 
 Eoman wall only is beyond doubt, and that wall is ap- 
 parently no other than the one between the Firths of 
 Forth and Clyde. A sufficient explanation of their ig- 
 norance of the wall in the north of England is furnished 
 by Chalmers: '■ " From the opinions of Dio and Her- 
 odian, it appears probable that only the wall of An- 
 tonine existed at the epoch of Severus' invasion; and 
 that Hadrian's wall, being no longer necessary, had be- 
 come ruinous." Whether this is the right reason or not 
 for Rede's silence regarding the wall in the north of 
 England, and it should be remembered that he spent 
 most, if not all his life, at a great distance away from 
 it, it is at least certain that on and after this Bede 
 speaks only of one wall, that which he describes in this 
 twelfth chapter. 
 
 The city mentioned by Bede as situated in the midst 
 of the. eastern ocean, has been sometimes identified 
 with Leith or Queensferry; and in the translation be- 
 fore us its situation is said not to be known. Dr 
 Skene'-" has identified it with Inchkeith, which exactly 
 suits Bede's description; and it is quite possible there 
 may have been a small town there at the time referred 
 to. Besides the name of the island confirms this, for 
 Inchkeith might easily be regarded as a corruption of 
 Inis-Guidi, or the Island Guidi. Few names of that 
 period have reached us with less change. 
 
 1 Caledonia, vol. i. p. 185, note. 
 
 3 Celtic Scotland, vol, i. p. 208, note. 
 
20 JNTWRPOLATIOKS IK 
 
 Palladius' Mission. 
 
 In the thirteenth chapter of Book T. these words oc- 
 cur: " Palladius was sent by Celestinus, the Eoman 
 Pontiff, to the Scots that believed in Christ, to be their 
 first bishop." This passage, although it rather favours 
 our view of the subject at issue, for the Scots there 
 mentioned ought to be taken for those spoken of in the 
 twelfth chapter, appears to be an interpolation, at least 
 in the form in which it is given in Bede's work. There 
 is no evidence to show that the Eomish Church Was ac- 
 knowledged by the Scots at this time, or that they had 
 any bishops over them till the twelfth century. The 
 notice of this event, as it appears in the Saxon Chroni- 
 cle, is less objectionable. It reads thus: " 430. This 
 year Palladius, the bishop, was sent to the Scots by 
 Pope Celestinus, that lie might confirm their faith." 
 Another manuscript has: " 430. This year Patrick was 
 sent by Pope Celestine to preach baptism to the Scots." 
 Ethelwerd has: " Bishop Palladius is sent by the holy 
 Pope Celestinus to preach the gospel of Christ to the 
 Scots." This passage is varied and extended in such a 
 way that it requires to be separately treated in speak- 
 ing of the authors' works in which it appears. If it is 
 to be accepted as a genuine record of an event that 
 really took place, it is certain that it refers to the in- 
 habitants of North Britain, for Henry of Huntingdon 
 , and Ordericus Vitallis both copy it without note or 
 comment; aud these authors lived when Scots is al- 
 lowed by every writer to have been the name for the 
 irihabitants of Scotland only, 
 
BEDE'S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOBY, 21 
 
 A Wrong Eendeking. 
 
 The following sentence occurs in the fomieenth 
 lapter: " The Irish robbers thereupon returned home, 
 . order to come again soon after." As usual, this is 
 ipied into Huntingdon's work thus: " The Scots re- 
 irned with shame to Ireland " (Hibernia). That this 
 a wrong rendering of the word, perhaps purposely 
 me, is evident from the translation of the same pas- 
 .ge as given in Bohn's translation of Gildas' work, 
 lus: " The axidacious invaders therefore return to their 
 inter quarters, determined before long again to return 
 id plunder." Marianus Scotus, a native of present 
 jotland, as has been already stated,^ in relating the 
 itions of the Plots and Scots in the same expedition, 
 ,ys: " Scoti Eevertunum Domum," instead of the word 
 iberni, used by Gildas and Bede. Ordericus Vitallis 
 Hows Marianus, saying: " The Scots returned to their 
 Dmes." Florence of Worcester has: " The Scots re- 
 eated to their own country." And neither Ethelwerd 
 3r Malmesbury say anything to support the transla- 
 on in the Ecclesiastical History and Huntingdon's work. 
 
 Ethelfeith's Battle with ^dan. 
 
 In the last chapter of Book I. of the Ecclesiastical 
 istory, it is said that Ethelfrith, king of the Korthum- 
 ans, defeated " ^dan, king of the Scots that inhabit 
 ritain." It would be unnecessary to notice this pas- 
 ,ge were it not iixed upon by some writers as show- 
 ig that Bede added the words "that inhabit Bri- 
 
 \ IreUn^ not tb'^ Hibernia of the Ancients, p, 29. 
 
22 INTERPOLATIONS m 
 
 tain," to distinguish these Scots from those who i 
 habited Ireland. Let us therefore see how it has be 
 treated by his successors. Henry of Huntingdon, 
 usual, gives the passage in the same words. Floren 
 of Worcester and William of Malmesbury, other t^ 
 writers, not altogether above suspicion, refer to t 
 battle, but leave out the words : " that inhal 
 Britain," after the Scots. The earliest exta 
 manuscript of the Saxon Chronicle has only the 
 words referring to the same battle : " 603. Tl 
 year there was a battle at Egesanstane." A lat 
 manuscript has: " 603. This year ^than, king 
 the Scots, fought against the Dalreods and again 
 Ethelfrith, king of the Northumbrians, at Dse 
 
 sanstane Since then no king of tl 
 
 Scots has dared to lead an anny against this natioi 
 Ethelwerd takes no notice of this battle, although '. 
 closely follows the Saxon Chronicle in other instanc( 
 and copies the two preceding and the two followii 
 entries in it. This, taken along with Eoger of We 
 dover's silence regarding this battle, is significant; t 
 more so, as he speaks of Ethelfrith, the king of tl 
 Northumbrians, fighting a battle with the Britons 
 Caerlegion, in the same year in which the battle wi 
 the Scots is said to have taken place. In addition 
 these circumstances, the chapter in the Ecclesiastic 
 History, in which the battle with ^dan is describe 
 repeats the word English three or four times, and tl 
 is not in favour of its being the work of Bede's hands 
 
 Laukentius and the Scots. 
 The fovutb chapter of the Second Book of ^he Ecc}e 
 
BEDE'S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 23 
 
 astical History is entitled: '• Laurentius and liis bisliops 
 admonisli the Scots to observe tlie unity of tlie Holy 
 Church, particularly in the keeping- of Easter; Melitus 
 goes to Eome." It begins: — 
 
 "Laurentius succeeded Augustine in the bishopric, having 
 been ordained thereto by the latter in his lifetime, lest, upon 
 Ilia death, the state of the Church, as yet unsettled, might be- 
 
 ?in to falter, if it should be destitute of a pastor 
 
 He (Laurentius) not only took care of the new church formed 
 imong the English, but endeavoured also to employ his pastoral 
 solicitude among the ancient inhabitants of Britain, as also the 
 Scots, who inhabit the island of Ireland, which is next to Bri- 
 tain. For when he understood that the course of life and pro- 
 fession of the Scots in their aforesaid country, as well as of the 
 Britons in Britain, was not truly ecclesiastical," 
 
 He and his fellmv-bishops wrote to them — 
 
 "The beginning of which epistle is as follows: — 'To our 
 Host dear brothers, the lords, bishops, and abbats throughout 
 ill Scotland, Laurentius, Melitus, and Justus. .... We 
 leld both the Britons and Scots in great esteem for sanctity, 
 believing that they liad proceeded according to the custom of 
 the universal Church; but coming acquainted with the errors of 
 ;he Britons, we thought the Scots had been better; but we have 
 
 jeen informed that the Scots in no way differ 
 
 Tom the Britons.' " 
 
 It is almost needless to say that this is all given in 
 Eenry of Huntingdon's History, with the remarkable 
 exception of the words: " who inhabit the island of Iro- 
 and, which is next to Britain." Why these words are 
 )mitted in his work, it is impossible to say, for they 
 entirely alter the meaning of the whole passaj,e. Ap- 
 aearing in a work written in the twelfth century, with- 
 )ut the words quoted, or any reference to make tlie 
 chapter apply to inhabitants of Ireland, it could only be 
 
24 INTERPOLA TIONS IN 
 
 taken as referring to the Scots as inhabitants of prese 
 Scotland. That the most of this chapter is an inte 
 polation is shown by the following facts. The Sax( 
 Chronicle, Florence of Worcester, and William 
 Malmesbury, all speak of Laurentius, but they take i 
 notice of his connection with the Scots. Eoger 
 Wendover does likewise, and it is significant to fii 
 him giving the opening sentence of this chapter in a 
 most the very words of Bede; and then going on to d 
 scribe Melitus' visit to Eome, as given at the end of t] 
 chapter. His omission of all reference to the Scots he: 
 clearly manifests that the passages quoted above we; 
 not in Bede's original work. 
 
 Pope Honoeius and the Scots. 
 
 The nineteenth chapter of Book II. is of the san 
 character as the one which has just been analysed. : 
 states that: " Pope Honorius wrote to the Scots, whoi 
 he had found to err in the observance of Easter. . 
 Likewise John, who succeeded Severinus, successor 1 
 the same Honorius, being yet but Pope elect, sent 1 
 them letters .... correcting the same error." 
 
 This chapter is found in Huntingdon also, especial] 
 the words quoted, but they are just copied into liis woi 
 as they stand in the Ecclesiastical History, so that ha 
 Huntingdon written them he would have intende 
 them to apply to men living on the north of the Fort 
 Florence of Worcester, anotlier interpolated writer als 
 copies the words quoted. The Saxon Clironicle 'sav 
 imder the year 627: "Archbishop Justus died, 
 and Honorius was consecrated Archliishop of Cante 
 bury by Paulinus at Lincoln, And to this TTa,.^,-^, 
 
REDE'S ECCLESlASfiCAL tilsfORY. it 
 
 Q Pope, ulso sent a pall: and he sent a letter to the 
 ;ots, desiring that they should turn to the right 
 aster." Neither Ethelwerd nor Malmesbury take any 
 )tice of this. Wendover does, however, but his slight 
 ;reenient with the Saxon Chronicle, and disagreement 
 ith the Ecclesiastical History, enables us to estimate 
 le worth of this chapter. Of the preceding chapter, 
 le eighteenth, Wendover copies the substance of these 
 ords: " Archbishop Justus was taken up to the heaven- 
 ■ kingdom, and Honorius was elected to the see in his 
 ead." This is just what the Saxon Chronicle has, 
 ith the exception of the record of the Pope's writing 
 I the Scots, which finds no place in Wendover's work. 
 1 fact, of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth 
 lapters of the Ecclesiastical History, which all con- 
 dn some reference to Pope Honorius, as well as to the 
 :chbishop of the same name, Wendover only gives the 
 ords last quoted; and he takes no notice of this Pope 
 [onorius or of Pope John, but implies that there were 
 such popes at that time, as may be seen by conipar- 
 ig his notice of the popes imder the years 614 and 621. 
 s this not an instance of transferring the events of a 
 iter period to an earlier, to support claims which had 
 
 real foundation ? The following scrap of thirteenth 
 sntury history leads to this conclusion: " Pope Hon- 
 rius, listening to the request of the king of Scotland, 
 'ho had forwarded copies of king John's letters to the 
 ope, transmitted a full confirmation of all the liberties 
 
 1 the Scottish Cliurch in the year 1219." ^ 
 
 1 EobertsoD's Scotland, under her Early Kings, vol. ii. p. 10. 
 
2(i tNTiSRPOLATIONS IN 
 
 The Real Scots and the Fictitious Scots, 
 
 The first chapter of Book III. contains the followinc 
 words : — 
 
 " All the time that Edwin reigned the sons of the aforesaic 
 Bthelfrith, who had reigned before him, with many of the no- 
 bility, lived in banishment among the Scots or Picts, and were 
 there instructed according to the doctrine of the Scots, and re- 
 ceived the grace of baptism." 
 
 The third chapter, which it will be better to considei 
 along with the first, is entitled: " The same king Oswald, 
 asking a bishop of the Scottish nation, had Aidan sent 
 him," &c. It then goes on to say : — 
 
 ' ' The same Oswald, as soon as he ascended the throne, being 
 desirous that all his nation should receive the Christian faith, . 
 . . sent to the elders of the Scots, among whom himself and 
 his followers, when in banishment, had received the sacrament 
 
 of baptism, desiring they would send him a bishop 
 
 They sent him Bishop Aidan. ... He was wont to keep 
 Easter Sunday according to the custom of his country, . . . 
 the northern province of the Scots and all the nation of the 
 Picts celebrating Easter then after that manner. . . . But 
 the Scots who dwelt in the south of Ireland had long since, by 
 the adraoaition of the bishop of the apostolic see, learned to ob- 
 serve Easter according to the canonical custom. On the arrival 
 of the bishop the king appointed him his episcopal see in the 
 
 isle of Lindisfarne When the bishop, who was not 
 
 skilful in the English tongue, preached the gospel, it was most 
 delightful to see the king himself interpreting the Word of God 
 to his commanders and ministers, for he had perfectly learned 
 the language of the Scots during his long banishment. Prom 
 that time many of the Scots came daily into Britain, and with 
 great devotion preached the Word to those provinces of the 
 English over which king Oswald reigned The 
 
BEDifS ECCL ESI A S TIC A L HIS TOR Y. 27 
 
 truoted in the rules and observance of regular discipline. . . 
 tishop Aidan was himself a monk of the island called Hii, whose 
 lonastery was for a long time the chief of almost all those of the 
 orthern Scots, and all those of the Picts, and had the direction of 
 tieir people. That island belongs to Britain, being divided from 
 ; by a small arm of the sea, but had been long since given by 
 he Picts, who inhabit those parts of Britain, to the Scottish 
 lonks, because they had received the faith of Christ through 
 heir preaching. " 
 
 These passages, including the words about the Scots 
 Iwelling in the south of Ireland, are copied into Hunt- 
 ngdon's work, with these important exceptions. He 
 ays that " Oswald sent into Scotia or Scotland where 
 le had been exiled," and " some monks coining from 
 Scotland zealously taught the people." This is an un- 
 iistakeable indication that Scotia and Ireland were 
 ames of different countries at that time, for, had it been 
 therwise, Huntingdon would have said so, but through- 
 ut the whole of his History he never affirms that Ire- 
 a,nd was called Scotia. 
 
 The passage about Scots in Ireland in the above quota- 
 ion is of course not genuine. It is remarkable to find 
 hat there is not a word of all this, which has just been 
 noted from the Ecclesiastical History, in the' Saxon 
 Jhronicle or in Ethelwerd. With reference to the same 
 vents Florence of Worcester merely says : " King 
 )swald applied to the elders of the Scots to send him 
 ishops. Aidan was sent; by whom, and the most illus- 
 rious and holy king Oswald himself, the Church of 
 Jhrist was first founded and established in the province 
 f Bemicia." Malniesbury endorses the information 
 bout tlie sons of Ethelfrith being baptised in Scotland, 
 nd king Oswald interpreting Aidan's Scotch to his 
 eople only. Wendover does likewise, and also endorses 
 
•^8 INfESPOLAi'IONS ili 
 
 the words of Huntingdon about Oswald sending mt 
 Scotland for a bishop. None of these last three writer 
 however, say anything about Scots in Ireland in connec 
 tion with this subject. 
 
 COLUMBA AN ICELANDIC SaINT. 
 
 The next chapter of the Ecclesiastical History, th 
 fourth, also requires examination. It states that — 
 
 " There came into Britain a famous priest and abbat, a monl 
 by habit and life, whose name was Columba, to preach the Wod 
 of God to the provinces of the northern Picts, . . . for th 
 southern Picts, . . . . iis is reported, had long before foi 
 saken the errors of idolatry, and embraced the truth by th 
 preaching of Ninias, . . . whose episcopal see, named afte 
 iSt Martin the Bishop, and famous for a stately church, . . 
 is still in existence among the English nation. The place be 
 longs to the province of the Bernicians, and is generally caUei 
 the White House (Candida Casa), because he there built 
 church of stone, which was not usual among the Britons 
 Columba came into Britain in the ninth year of the reign o 
 
 Bridius Before he passed over into Britain he ha( 
 
 built a noble monastery in Ireland, which, from the great num 
 ber of oaks, is in the Scottish tongue called Dearmach. . . 
 From both which monasteries many others had their beginning 
 through his disciples, both in Britain and Ireland; but th 
 monastery in the island where his body lies is the principal o 
 them all. That island has for its ruler an abbat, who is a priest 
 to whose direction all the province, and even the bishops, con 
 trary to the usual method, are subject." 
 
 It is necessary to repeat that all this is found ii 
 Huntingdon, with the alteration of Columba's burial 
 place, which is said to be at St Ninian's see, the Whit 
 House. Let us see, however, what support the othe 
 authorities give to this account. 
 
^ED&S mcCLMslASTtCAt tilSfORY. 29 
 
 The Saxon Chronicle has : — 
 
 " Columba, a mass-priest, came to the Picts, and converted 
 them to the faith of Christ. . . . And their king gave him 
 the island which is called li. . . . There Columba built a 
 monastery. . . . The southern Picts had been baptised long 
 before: Bishop Ninia, who had been instructed at Rome, had 
 preached baptism to them, whose church and his monastery is 
 at Whitheme, consecrated in the name of St Martin: there ho 
 resteth with many holy men. Now in li there must ever be an 
 abbat, and not a bishop; and all the Scottish bishops ought to 
 be subject to him, because Columba was not a bishop." An- 
 other manuscript of the Saxon Chronicle has: "Columba the 
 presbyter came from the Scots among the Britons, to instruct 
 the Picts, and he built a monastery in the island of Hii. " 
 
 Ethelwerd has: " Columba came from Scotia to Bri- 
 tain, to preach the Word of God to the Picts." 
 
 Florence of Worcester endorses the account in the 
 Ecclesiastical History, and in Huntingdon, about Col- 
 umba coming from Ireland. 
 
 Wendover says : " St Columbanus came from Scot- 
 land into Britain, and was greatly renowned." 
 
 MalmesbuJy takes no notice of Columba, nor of 
 ITinias. 
 
 It is noticeable here in the first instance that Henry 
 of Huntingdon's History, Florence of Worcester's An- 
 nals, and Bede's Ecclesiastical History, all agree in 
 representing Ireland or Hibernia as the country from 
 which Columba came to Britain. This is what might 
 have been expected, as aU these three works appear to 
 have been interpolated for the purpose of obscuring the 
 early history of Scotland. But the information they 
 contain on this point is nullified by what is said on the 
 same subject by other annalists writing about the same 
 period. Neither the Saxon Chronicle, nor Ethelwerd, 
 
30 INTERPOLAriONli tN 
 
 nor Roger of Wendover, give any countenance to th 
 statement that Columba came from Ireland. The fin 
 says he came from the Scots and settled among th 
 Britons. Ethelwerd and Eoger of Wendover both sa 
 that he came from Scotia to Britain. It might l 
 urged by the supporters of the Ireland-Scotia theor 
 that Scotia was the name of Ireland in the time c 
 Ethelwerd, but this would not stand the test of ex 
 amination. Ethelwerd does not say that such was th 
 case, and throughout the whole of his annals he give 
 evidence that the only Scots and Scotia he knew of wer 
 to the north of the Forth. In addition to this he dis 
 tinctly says that Ireland was formerly called Bretannis 
 No such objection can be urged against Eoger of Wen- 
 dover's plain statement. He wrote at a time wher 
 Scotia is allowed by all historians to have been the well- 
 known name of the country north of the Forth, and oi 
 it only. Besides, he was well acquainted with Bede's 
 History. If such statements as these quoted above, re- 
 garding Columba, had been in it when Wendover wrote 
 his annals, is it possible to believe that he would have 
 said that Columba came from Scotia to Britain, without 
 explaining that Ireland was called Scotia in Columba's 
 time, if such had been the case ? It is somewhat re- 
 markable that Malmesbury takes no notice of Columba, 
 nor even of Ninian. He was also thoroughly versed in 
 Bede's History; and his omission of all notice of these 
 saints would imply that Bede said nothing about them 
 in his genuine work. But this is improbable. The 
 likelihood is that lie would say something about such 
 eminent men, which was copied or abridged by all the 
 other early annalists, including Malmesbury; and that 
 
BEDS' S ECCLESIASTICAL It t STORY. 31 
 
 was to delete it from his works, while Bede's has been 
 altered to suit the views of the manipulating monks. 
 
 In Eeeves' edition of Adamnan's Life of St Colum- 
 ba, a sentence relating to the departure of Columba for 
 Hii reads: " de Scotia ad Britanniam." A note to it 
 says: " Venit de Hibernia .... Columba Brit- 
 taniam — Bede H. E. III., 4. This one statement 
 ought to have been sufticient at any time to prove 
 where Scotia lay." Mr IJeeves was a strong supporter 
 of the Ireland-Scotia' theory, and this is meant as a re- 
 proof for those persons who had doubted its truth. It 
 is evident that he had no suspicion of the words 
 quoted from Bede's work being an interpolation, or of 
 any other country but Ireland being called Hibernia. 
 In " Ireland not the Hibernia of the Ancients," an at- 
 tempt has "been made to show that Iceland was also 
 called Hibernia; and, from what has been said above re- 
 garding the passage in the Ecclesiastical History, there 
 is good grounds for believing that it never was penned 
 by Bede. Besides, it is stated that Columba was a 
 native of Iceland on good authority; so that even if the 
 passage in the Ecclesiastical History could be proved to 
 be genuine, it might have been the ancient Hibernia, or 
 Iceland, that he referred to when he spoke of Columba 
 coming from there to Britain. In Olafsen and Povel- 
 sen's " Travels in Iceland," the church which was built 
 by Orlyg at Euisberg, is said to have been dedicated to 
 St Collomcyle, who is supposed to be the same as " Col- 
 umban, an Icelander who converted the Picts to the 
 Christian rehgion in 562." ^ Such an out of the way 
 statement is more to be depended on than one found in 
 the common historical highway, as it is more Ukely to 
 1 English TranslatioQ, p. 38. 
 
'si /iV TkRPoL A TIO NS IN 
 
 have escaped the notice of the monks. There were at 
 least seven churches in the Orkney Islands dedicated to 
 St Columba; a fact which supports the statement made 
 in Olafsen and Povelsen's travels regarding the native 
 country of the saint. Of course this was well known 
 by the monks, and they took means to account for it 
 otherwise, as all who have read Adamnan's Life know; 
 but we hope to be able to show that this is not a genuine 
 work either, and thus leave Columba to be claimed by the 
 Icelanders as a countryman of theirs. It is not improb- 
 able that Columba, when he left Iceland, might land 
 first in the country then called Scotia, that is, the north- 
 east of present Scotland, and after staying some time 
 there, say at Dunkeld, he might leave Scotia and settle 
 on Inchcolm, which we hope to he able to identify with 
 Hii, and which then very likely belonged to the country 
 called Britain. This would account for both Ethelwerd 
 and Koger of Wendover saying that Columba came 
 from Scotia to Britain. 
 
 Hermits. 
 
 Near the end of the fourth chapter of Book III. we 
 come across the first of a series of peculiar references to 
 Ireland. It is as follows: " Egbert, of the English 
 nation, who had long lived in banishment in Ireland for 
 the sake of Christ, and was most learned in the 
 Scriptures." In the seventh chapter of the same 
 book the next of the series occurs. It is to this effect: 
 " Agilbert, by nation a Frenchman, had lived a lono- 
 time in Ireland, for the purpose of reading the Scrip- 
 tures." Another is found in the thirteenth chapter, 
 thus: " And that in Ireland, ^vhen being yet only a 
 
SEDE'S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 33 
 
 priest, he (Wilbrord) led a pilgrim's life for love of the 
 eternal country." 
 
 Henry of Huntingdon speaks of Agilbert being in 
 Ireland and Florence of Worcester of ■ Egbert being 
 there. The Saxon Chronicle, though it speaks of these 
 three worthies, takes no notice of their life in Ireland. 
 Ethelwerd never mentions them. Florence speaks of 
 Agilbert and Wilbrord, but never alludes to their hav- 
 ing been in Ireland. Malmesbviry takes notice only of 
 Agilbert, but says nothing abovit his life in Ireland. 
 Hvmtingdou mentions Egbert, as will be seen later on, 
 but takes no notice of his life in Ireland. Wendover 
 never mentions Egbert, but he notices Agilbert and 
 Wilbrord, without saying anything about Ireland in 
 connection with either. 
 
 From the way in which these passages in the Ecclesi- 
 astical History are treated by later writers, it does not 
 seem possible that those referring to Ireland or Hiber- 
 nia can be genuine. But if there were any possibihty 
 of such being the case, there is evidence to show that 
 they refer rather to the ancient than the modern 
 Hibernia. It is accepted as beyond doubt that Iceland, 
 and the islands near it, were the settlements of Chris- 
 tian hermits at this early period. In Laing's preface to 
 his translation of the " Heimskringla " of Snorro, it is 
 said: — 
 
 " The Irish (Scottish) monk, Dicuil, who wrote in 825 his 
 work, De Mensura OrUs Terrae, published by Walckmar, in 
 Paris in 1828, says that for a hundred years, that is from 725, 
 the desire for a hemiit h'fe had led many Irish Clerks (eremitne 
 ex nostra ScotUa, are the words given in Todd's Irish Version of 
 Nennius' Historia Britonum, p. 148, note), to the islands to 
 the north of the British sea, which, with a fair wind, may be 
 
34 TN TER POL A TJO NS I .V 
 
 reached in two clays' sail from the most northerly Britia 
 islands."! 
 
 Another writer says: — 
 
 " There was an old tradition that Papes, i.e., Christian ecclea 
 astics, had formerly resided there (in Iceland). It seems to t 
 beyond doubt that, at several places on the south-eastern sid( 
 tlie first Norwegian settlers found traces of these ecclesiastici 
 such as croziers, books, &c. , and that after them, two of thes 
 places got their names, the island of Papey, and the small dii 
 trict of Papyli. It is greatly confirmed by the indisputabl 
 authority of Dicuil; who says that some Irish (Scottish) clergj 
 men told him that about a.d. 7%, they had passed the tim 
 from February to August on an island which they believed t 
 be Thule, where the sun at the summer solstice was but a ahoi 
 time below the horizon, and that it was only a day's sail froi 
 the frozen sea. This description can hardly mean any countr 
 but Iceland, and coincides exactly with the unpretending an 
 simple narrative of the Icelandic recorders. . . . Accorc 
 ing to the oldest Icelandic writer, Ari Frodi, the Papes even cor 
 tinued to reside in Iceland till the arrival of the Norwegians 
 and left it only because they would not reside with Pagans. "- 
 
 Tlie monks who tampered with Bede's work had pre 
 bably read of this somewhere, and may have inserte 
 the passages in the Ecclesiastical History which cor 
 nected Egbert, Agilbert. and Wilbrord with the onl 
 Hibernia known to most people at the time of theiiEe 
 formation, that is Ireland, in order to bolster up clain: 
 which had little else but false history to support them. 
 
 The Scottish Bishops and the Easter Controversy 
 We now come to evidence that the Scotia of tV 
 
 1 Preliminary Dissertation to HeimskringU hy Laing, vol j n 4 
 ■J Munch's Chronicle of M*n and the Sudreya, Preface 
 
 an'l ifi ' ^^' ■ 
 
BEDE'S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOUY. 35 
 
 Ecclesiastical History, even as the work now exists, was 
 part of the Scotia of the present day. In the seven- 
 teenth chapter of Book III, after mentioning Aidan's 
 death, these words occur: " Finan, who had likewise 
 come from the same monastery of Hii in the Scottish 
 island, succeeded him." Four chapters further on we 
 are informed of the death of Diuma, called " a Scot by 
 nation," bishop of the Midland Angles and Mercians, 
 after which these words are found: " Ceollaeh, of the 
 Scottish nation, succeeded him in the bishopric. This 
 prelate, not long after, left his bishopric, and returned 
 to the island of Hii, which among the Scots, was the 
 chief and head of many monasteries." The twenty- 
 fourth chapter of the same book informs vis that Diuma 
 was "the first bishop of the Mercians. . . . The 
 second was Ceollaeh, who, quitting the episcopal office 
 whilst still alive, returned into Scotland, to which na- 
 tion he belonged, as well as bishop Diuma." The 
 twenty-fifth chapter is headed: " How the contro- 
 versy arose about the time of keeping Easter, with those 
 that came out of Scotland (Scotia)." These words oc- 
 cur in the chapter: " Bishop Aidan being dead, Finan, 
 who was ordained and sent by the Scots, succeeded him 
 in the bishopric, and built a church in the isle of Lindis- 
 farne, the episcopal see; nevertheless, after the manner 
 of the Scots, he made it, not of stone, but of hewn oak, 
 
 and covered it with reeds But after the 
 
 death of Finan, who succeeded him (Aidan), when Col- 
 man, who was also sent out of Scotland (ScOtia), came 
 to be bishop, .... Oswy (the king) having been 
 instructed and baptised by the Scots, and being per- 
 fectly skilled in their language." "We no w turn to the 
 twenty-sixth chapter, where it is stated that " Colman 
 
36 INTERPOLATIONS TN 
 
 went back into Scotland (Scotia). . . . 
 
 When Colman was gone back into his own country, 
 God's servant, Tuda, was made bishop of the North- 
 umbrians He came out of Scotland (Scotia) 
 
 wliilst Colman was yet bishop." 
 
 We ma)' just as well consider along with these pas- 
 sages what is said about Colman in the fourth chapter 
 of Book IV., although we shall see that it is only found 
 in the Ecclesiastical History. It is entitled : " Colman, 
 the Scottish bishop, having left Britain, built two 
 monasteiies in Scotland; the one for the Scots, the 
 other for the English he had taken along with him." 
 It then goes on to relate how 
 
 " Colman, the Scottish bishop, departing from Britain, took 
 along with him all the Scots he had assembled in the isle of 
 Lindisfarne, and also about thirty of the English nation, who 
 had been all instructed in the monastic life; and, leavin" some 
 brothers in his church, he repaired first to the isle of Hii, 
 whence he had been sent to preach the word of God to the Bn»- 
 lish nation. Afterwards he retired to a small island which is to 
 the west of Ireland, and at some distance from its coast, called 
 in the language of the Scots, Innisbofinde, the Island of the 
 White Heifer." 
 
 He built a monastery there and placed the monks of 
 both nations in it, but as they disagreed, Colman found 
 a place " in the island of Ireland, fit to buiLl a monas- 
 tery on which, in the language of the Scots, is called 
 Mageo," where he built a monastery and placed the 
 '■ English " in it. Then it is said that this monastery 
 is " to this day possessed by English," and also that 
 it contains monks " gathered there from the province of 
 the English." 
 
 If this latter chapter were to be considered the geuu. 
 
BEDE'S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 37 
 
 ine work of Bede, the quotations given from the third 
 book would be confusing. It is quoted here at some 
 length as a sample of the clumsy way in which the 
 monks commissioned to tamper with ancient history, so 
 as to identify Scotia with Ireland, went to work. If 
 they had made Bede say that Ireland was also called 
 Scotia in his day, one might have given up the attempt 
 to show that Scotland was the only Scotia in despair. 
 Let us now see what foundations there are for all these 
 quotations just produced from the Ecclesiastical His- 
 tory, in later writers, many of whom profess to copy 
 Bede's information; and one of whom at least (Wen- 
 dover) often has whole chapters of Bede's work copied 
 almost verbatim. 
 
 In the first place, it is remarkable that neither the 
 Saxon Chronicle nor Ethelwerd have anything about 
 Aidan, Finan, Diuma, or Ceollach. The Saxon Chroni- 
 cle only mentions Colman under the year 664, but 
 merely says : " Colman, with his companions, went to 
 his country." 
 
 Florence of Worcester says, under the year 651: 
 " After the murder of King Oswin, bishop Aidan de- 
 parted to the realms of bliss Finan was 
 
 raised to the bishopric in his place, being consecrated 
 and sent by the Scots." Under the year 655, he has: 
 " Diuma . . . was the first who was made bishop 
 
 of the province of Mercia The second was 
 
 Ceollan, a Scotchman by birth." Under the year 661, 
 we have: " Finan, bishop of the Northumbrians, died, 
 and was succeeded by Colman, who was also sent from 
 Scotland." Under 664: " In the thirtieth year after the 
 Scotch bishops were established in Northumbria . . 
 questions having been raised in that province respecting 
 
38 INTERPOLATIONS IN 
 
 Easter," &c., a synod was held, at which, after much de- 
 bate, it was " agreed to relinquish the invalid usages of 
 the Scotch. . . . Colman, silenced by the unani- 
 mous resolution of the Catholics, re-joined his adherents 
 in Scotland, and, on his withdrawing to his own country, 
 Tuda was appointed bishop of the Northumbrians in 
 his stead." This is all he says about Colman and these 
 Scottish bishops. 
 
 Henry of Huntingdon says: 
 
 " Diuma became the first bishop of the Midland Angles, and 
 the Mercians. He died and was buried in Mercia, and was suc- 
 ceeded by Ceollach, who, however, retired to the Scots, from 
 whom he came. ... In the meantime Finan, the bishop, 
 erected a church of hewn timber in the isle of Lindisfarnc. 
 
 . . When Finan died, he was succeeded by Colman, who 
 kept Easter irregularly, as Aidan and Pinan had done. Where- 
 upon a conference was held in the presence of King Oswy. 
 .... Colman being unwilling to change the usage of 
 Father Aidan, returned to his own country. . . . Tuda 
 
 succeeded him in the see of Northumbria The 
 
 three Scottish bishops — Aidan, Finan, and Colman — were extra- 
 ordinary patterns of sanctity and frugality. " 
 
 Eoger of Wendover has under the year 651: "He 
 (Aidan) was succeeded in the bishopric of Lindisfarne 
 by Finan, a Scot by nation." Under 656 : " Diuma was 
 the first bishop in the province of the Mercians. . . 
 The second bishop of the same province was Ceollac, 
 who, quitting the episcopal office, returned to Scotland." 
 "663. At the same time there was a great disputation 
 in England beween the English and the Scots, respect- 
 ing the observance of Easter; for there assembled at 
 Streneshal, King Oswy and his son Alfrid, Colman, a 
 Scot, bishop of Lindisfarne, with his clergy from Scot- 
 lapd," " 664, Colman, bighop of Liridisfame, returned 
 
BEDElS ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. -39 
 
 to Scotland with his clergy, and Tuda was ordained 
 bishop in his room." 
 
 William of Malmesbury mentions Aidan only, and 
 all that he says about the Scots and the Easter contro- 
 versy is this: " This faith (the Christian), brought to ma- 
 turity shortly after by the Scots, but wavering in many 
 ecclesiastical observances, was now settled on canonical 
 foundations." 
 
 In Beeves' edition of Adamnan's Life of St Columba, 
 published by the Irish Archieological Society, a note at 
 page 341, after quoting the passages given above from 
 Bede's third Book, chapters seventeenth, twenty-first, 
 twenty-fourth, and twenty-fifth, says: " From the above, 
 Bede considered Hii to be in Scotia." There can be 
 little doubt of this. And if we take the twenty-sixth 
 chapter along with these, and look at the same events 
 recorded by later annalists with Bede's work before 
 them, especially Huntingdon and Wendover, it is cer- 
 tain, if they are all genuine records of the writers in 
 whose works they appear, that Bede's Scotia was a 
 part of the Scotland of the present day. As we shall 
 soon have occasion to show, Huntingdon knew of no 
 Scots in Ireland in the seventh century; and this is 
 also true of Wendover, who endorses Bede's words re- 
 garding the country to which Colman returned by call- 
 ing it Scotia or Scotland also. 
 
 There is nothing in any of the chapters of Book III. 
 from which quotations have been made to imply that 
 there were Scots in any other place but Scotland and the 
 north of England. Hibernia or Ireland is not even 
 mentioned in any one of them. But we can easily see 
 from the way in which a fabricated account (chapter 
 nineteen) of an Irish saint is placed after the seven- 
 
40 INTERPOLATIONS IN 
 
 teenth chapter, and another fabricated account of Eg 
 bert's life in Ireland, after the twenty-sixth, as well a 
 the account of Colman's visit to Ireland already quotec 
 how the interpolators managed their task. Eegardin 
 the chapter about Colman's visit to Ireland, it is note 
 worthy to observe that a small island on the west o 
 Ireland should retain at the present day the name b; 
 which it was known in Bede's time; and the reader wil 
 have observed that the word English is frequently usei 
 in it. This must have been an ambiguous word i 
 Bede's days; and it is apparently only used in the fat 
 ricated passages. In genuine chapters, such as th 
 twenty-first and twenty-second of Book III. he speak 
 of the Northumbrians, Mercians, Midland Angles, ani 
 East Saxons. In the latter chapter he also speaks c 
 the language of the Saxons. 
 
 It is needful also to remark here that the words abou 
 Finaii having built a church after the manner of th 
 Scots, not of stone, but of hewn oak, which appear i 
 the twenty-fifth chapter of Book III. of the Ecclesi 
 astical History, are only found in Huntingdon. Non 
 of the other later works than Bede's have anything cor 
 firming this passage, and surely such a circumstanc 
 would have been noticed by some of the more trusi 
 worthy annalists if it had had a place in Bede's origir 
 al manuscript. When the archEeological evidence : 
 under consideration, this wooden church will be furthe 
 commented upon. 
 
 St Fuesey. 
 
 The nineteenth chapter of Book III. is entitle 
 "How Eursey MH a monastery among the Eas 
 
BEDms ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 41 
 
 Angles," &c. In the chapter itself we are informed 
 that " "Whilst Sigebert still governed the kingdom (of 
 the East Angles) there came out of Ireland a holy man 
 called Fursey On coming into the pro- 
 vince of the East Saxons .... he applied him- 
 self to build a monastery. . . . This man was of 
 noble Scottish blood. . . . After preaching the 
 Word of God many years in Scotland (Scotia), . . . 
 he departed from his native island and came through 
 the Britons into the province of the English (An- 
 glorum)." 
 
 This of course might easily be held to imply that 
 Scotland and Ireland were synonymous names for the 
 latter country. But the word Anglorum, which appears 
 in the chapter, is not the only evidence which con- 
 demns it. If this chapter were really to be held as 
 Bede's own composition, it would have been surprising 
 to find that he was able to give so much information 
 about an Irish saint who is not even mentioned in the 
 early aimals of his own country. John Clyn, a Fran- 
 ciscan friar of the convent of Kilkenny in Ireland, who 
 lived about the middle of the fourteenth century, and 
 compiled a history of Ireland from tlie creation to his 
 own time, takes no notice of this saint, although he 
 mentions several other saints. As Clyn quotes Bede's 
 work, it is evident that there was nothing in the 
 genuine records of Bede connecting Eursey with Ire- 
 land, or the learned friar of Kilkenny would have ap- 
 propriated some part of this wonderful biography to 
 embellish his annals. Let us see how Eursey is dealt 
 with by the later English annals than Bede's History. 
 
 It is necessary to remark in the first place that 
 neither the Saxon Chronicle nor Ethelwerd say any- 
 
42 WTERPOhATlONS W 
 
 thing about Fursey, or Sigebert, king of the East 
 Angles, although they mention that the faith of Christ 
 was preached to the East Angles at this time by Felix. 
 Malmesbury takes notice of Sigebert, as well as Felix, 
 but never mentions Fursey. The other English an- 
 nalists notice Fursey as given below. 
 
 Florence of Worcester says, under the year 6.36: " At 
 that time a most holy man named Fursey came from 
 Ireland to East Anglia, and being received with honour 
 by the aforesaid king (Sigebert), . . . built a noble 
 monastery." 
 
 Huntingdon has: " At this time the kingdom of the 
 East Angles was governed by Sigebert. ... He 
 established a school, ... in which he was assisted 
 by bishop Felix. A holy man from Ireland, named 
 Fursey, was nobly entertained by him." 
 
 These are two untrustworthy works, as has already 
 been shown. Let us see what Wendover says. The 
 agreement between him and Bede, Florence, and Hun- 
 tingdon, will be seen to be slight, while the disagree- 
 ment between him and them is great. He says : — 
 
 " In the year 647, St Fursey flourished in Ireland (Hibernia). 
 Giving himself to travel for Christ's sake he arrived in France, 
 where he was entertained by king Clovis, and founded the 
 monastery of Lagny. Not long afterwards he was followed by 
 his brothers Foillan and Ultan, who became eminent in France. 
 . . . . In the year 649, king Oswi was in the habit of ex- 
 horting Sigebert, king of the Bast Saxons, to receive the 
 faith of Christ, for he frequently came into the province of 
 the Northumbrians. At length, with the consent of his friends, 
 he was baptised by bishop Finan. . . . He begged king 
 Oswi to give him some teachers w)io might convert his nation to 
 the faith. . . . Oswi sent into the province of the Middle 
 Angles, and brought thence Cedda, and giving him a presbyter 
 as a companion, he sent them to the East Saxons to preach to 
 
BEDIS'S EGGLEStAsrtCAL HISTORY. 43. 
 
 them the word of faith Cedda returned home to 
 
 confer with bishop Finan, who made him bishop over the afore- 
 said nation. Accepting the episcopal office, he returned to the 
 province of the East Saxons." 
 
 At the year 636, he meutioas Sigeberfc, king of the 
 East Angles, and at 650 Felix, bishop of the East 
 Angles. 
 
 Were there two Sigeberts at that time ? Or was 
 there even one ? The Ecclesiastical History and all 
 the later English annalists mention both, but it is re- 
 markable to find the earliest annals, the Saxon Chroni- 
 cle, and Ethelwerd omitting all notice of either. That 
 does not concern us at present, however. 
 
 It will be seen that the Ecclesiastical History, Flor- 
 ence, and Huntingdon agree in stating that Fursey came 
 out of Ireland and went into East Anglia; but as these 
 three works generally have all the interpolated passages 
 which have come under our notice, no faith can be 
 placed on them when they differ from the more trust- 
 worthy historians. Wendover, who is the only other 
 writer who mentions Fursey, merely states that he left 
 Hibernia and went to France. Although in Wen- 
 dover's time (the tliirteenth century) the name Hibernia 
 had become thoroughly detached from the northern isle, 
 yet it is quite probable that a St Fursey flourished there 
 in the seventh century, and that he went to France, and 
 was followed there by his brothers. One of the works 
 used by Bede in writing his Ecclesiastical History is 
 given as " the Legend of St Fui-sey." We may beheve 
 that ' after Wendover's time, the life of an Icelandic 
 saint had been tampered with to connect him with the 
 later Hibernia, and that a good deal of this tictitioiis 
 biography was copied into Bede's work when it was 
 
44 INTERPOLATIONS IN 
 
 first published. It is noteworthy that a Dicull is con- 
 nected with this saint in the Ecclesiastical History 
 (Book III., chapter nineteen); and who, perhaps, may 
 be identified with a " monk of the Scottish nation, 
 whose name was Dicul " (Book IV., chapter thirteen). 
 These passages are not countenanced by Wendover; 
 but the editor of Bohn's translation pertinently asks: 
 " Was he also Dicuil, author of a geographical work still 
 extant ? " ^ If this refers to Dicuil, already mentioned 
 above, 2 who is said to have written his work, De Men- 
 sura Orhis Terrae, in 825, then he has been transferred 
 from the ninth to the seventh century by the interpola- 
 tors. This was of little consequence to them. But if 
 it were possible that Dicuil and Fursey were ac- 
 quainted, Fursey is probably the clergyman who told 
 Dicuil about Iceland. 
 
 Beoet's Expedition. 
 
 The twenty-sixth chapter of Book IV. of the Ecclesi- 
 astical History, which is the next that claims notice, is 
 a somewhat puzzling one; not in regard to the question 
 at issue, however. On this point its testimony is clear, 
 coupled with the notices of later writers. The puzzle 
 is to find out what country was devastated, Scotland or 
 Ireland. The chapter begins thus: 
 
 "Egfrid, king of the Northumbrians, sending Beort, his 
 general, with an army (nothing is said about a fleet) into Ire- 
 land, miserably wasted that harmless nation, which had always 
 
 been most friendly to the English Next year, that 
 
 same king, rashly leading his army to ravage the province of 
 the Picts, much against the advice of his friends, and par- 
 ticularly of Cuthbert of blessed memory, was 
 
 1 Kote, p. 194. --^ Page 33. 
 
iEDE^S ECCLESIASTICAL HIS TOST. 4o 
 
 drawn into the straits of inaccessible mountains and slain, . . 
 he having the year before refused to listen to Egbert, advising 
 
 him not to attack the Scots, who did him no harm 
 
 The Picts recovered their own lands, which had been held by 
 the English and the Scots that were in Britain, and some of the 
 Britons their liberty." 
 
 All tliis is, as usual, copied into Huntingdon's work, 
 including the advice of Egbert, but with this significant 
 exception, the word Scots or Scotorum given in the 
 Ecclesiastical History, appears in Huntingdon as Irish 
 or Hibernians, without any explanation whatever. 
 Wendover also copies the account as given in the Ec- 
 clesiastical History, but he takes no notice of Father 
 Egbert or the Scots in connection with it. Florence 
 does the same, in an abbreviated form. Mahuesbury 
 does likewise, though there is some inconsistency in re- 
 gard to his notice of the event, which will be treated of 
 when we come to deal with his work separately. In 
 Koger of Hoveden's annals the same passage is dealt 
 with in much the same manner as the last three writers 
 deal with it; but the notice of the event occurs in the 
 introduction to Hoveden, where an interpolation could 
 easily have been placed. He never mentions Hibernia 
 or Ireland again till the year 927. 
 
 The puzzling thing about this event is that the Sax- 
 on Chronicle connects the Scots with it as in Bede, but 
 says nothing about the Irish or Ireland. There is no 
 indication in the earliest manuscript of the Saxon 
 Chronicle that Ireland was ever called Scotia, or that 
 it was peopled by Scots; and most of the later 
 writers had a copy of this manuscript before them when 
 writing their histories. Surely if the passage about 
 Beort's expedition had been written by themselves, 
 
46 INTERPOLATIONS IN 
 
 some explanation would have been given with it re- 
 garding tliis change of the name of the people against 
 whom he was sent. 
 
 Bede, in his Life of St Cuthbert, omits all reference 
 to this engagement with the Scots, but the one with the 
 Picts is treated of at some length. Ireland or Hibernia 
 is never mentioned in this work, though the " insulis 
 Scotorum," and the " regionibus Scotorum " are men- 
 tioned in the chapter which describes Egfrid's defeat 
 and death. But how it came to pass that Father Eg- 
 bert advised Egfrid not to invade Ireland, let the reader 
 determine, when, according to chapter twenty-seven of 
 Book III., of the Ecclesiastical History, he being in 
 Ireland, in the year 664, made a vow that he would 
 never return into the island of Britain, a vow which 
 he carried out, according to the third chapter of Book 
 IV., where we are told that he contmued in a strange 
 country till the end of his life. One might 
 have thought that Egbert was a mistake for Cuthbert in 
 the Ecclesiastical History, were it not repeated in 
 Huntingdon's work. 
 
 An Unknown Irish Scotsman. 
 
 In the twenty-fifth chapter of Book IV. it is recorded 
 that there lived in the monastery of Coludi (Coldingham) 
 " a man of Scottish race called Adamnan. . . . the 
 priest went away, and upon some sudden occasion passed 
 over into Ireland, whence he derived his origin, and re- 
 turned no more to him, . . . when he had heard 
 that his priest had gone to Ireland and had died there," 
 &c. If this Scotsman is not the Adamnan with whom 
 we shall have to deal shortly, and the editor of Bohn's 
 
BEDE'tS ECCLESIASTICAL titSTORY. 47 
 
 translation says he is not,^then it is sufficient to state 
 that this Adamnan is apparently unknown to every 
 other ancient writer. 
 
 A Remarkable Event. 
 
 A long account, extending to several pages, is given 
 in Book V., chapter twelve, of the visions beheld by a 
 man among the Northumbrians, who rose from the dead. 
 It is found, almost literally the same, in Eoger of 
 Wendover's work, with the exception of the second last 
 paragxaph which mentions Ireland. In Wendover's 
 account, these words are also awanting, " which is almost 
 enclosed by the winding of the river Tweed." In the 
 Ecclesiastical History they appear after the monastery 
 of Mailros is mentioned, and are intended to indicate its 
 situation. It has already been hinted, in speaking of 
 Bede's birth-place, that the monastery of Mailros of 
 ancient times was apparently situated near the Firth of 
 Forth. This will be referred to again, when the omis- 
 sion of these words by Wendover will be commented on. 
 Is it not possible that this chapter of the Ecclesiastical 
 History has been copied from "Wendover, and the pas- 
 sages referred to added to his narrative ? 
 
 O 
 
 Adamnan the Abbot of Hii. 
 
 Chapter fifteen, Book V., of the Ecclesiastical History 
 contains these words: 
 
 "A great part of the Scots in Ireland . . . conformed to 
 the proper time of keeping Easter. Adamnan, priest and abbat 
 of the monks that were in the isle of Hii, was sent ambassador 
 by his nation to Alfrid, king of the English. . . . Returning 
 home he endeavoured to bring his own people that were in the 
 
48 INTERPOLATIONS IN 
 
 isle of Hii, or that were subject to that monastery, into the way 
 of truth ... but in this he could not prevail. He then 
 sailed over into Ireland, to preach to those people ... he 
 reduced many of them, and almost all that were not under the 
 dominion of those of Hii, to the Catholic unity, and taught them 
 to keep the legal time of Easter. Returning to his island, after 
 having celebrated the canonical Easter in Ireland ... he 
 departed this life. . . . This same person wrote a book 
 about the holy places. " 
 
 Neither the Saxon Chronicle, nor Ethelwerd, nor 
 Florence of Worcester, nor even Henry of Huntingdon, 
 nor William of Malmesbury make any mention what- 
 ever of Adamnan. Roger of Wendover, a writer of the 
 thirteenth century, is the only one of our annalists who 
 takes notice of him, and it is interesting to compare his 
 notice with that given in the Ecclesiastical History. It 
 is as follows: — 
 
 " In the year 701, flourished the good and learned Adamnan, 
 presbyter and abbat of the monks in the isle of Hii. Being sent 
 on an embassy to king Aldfrid, he was speedily led to approve of 
 the mode of the ecclesiastical institutions, and of the observance 
 of Easter, which he then witnessed; and on his return home, he 
 sought, though without success, to bring his people in the isle 
 of Hii into the true way; after which he sailed into Ireland, and 
 persuaded them almost universally to observe the proper time of 
 keeping Easter. The same man of God also wrote an account of 
 the places of our Lord's nativity, passion, and ascension, and 
 gave a wonderful description of the holy land." 
 
 The chapter in the Ecclesiastical History has an ap- 
 pearance of being an elaborated edition of this passage. 
 It will be observed that nothing is said about Scots in 
 Ireland in Wendover's notice, nor is the district over 
 which Aldfrid was king mentioned. This was a difficulty 
 got over by the monkish scribe who copied it into the 
 Ecclesiastical History by calling him king of the Eng- 
 
BWDE'S ECCLESIASTICAL HISIORY. 49 
 
 lish; but if he had consulted Bede's genuine work he 
 ■would have found that he was only king of the North- 
 umbrians (see chapter eighteen, Book V.) In both works 
 Adamnan's book on the holy places is noticed. In 
 neither is his life of St Columba referred to, for a very 
 good reason, as occasion wiU afterwards be taken to 
 show. Had Adamnan ever written such a work, a 
 writer so well acquainted with the history of Scotland 
 as Eoger of Wendover, would have heard of it. Bede 
 is made to say in the seventeenth chapter that he had 
 epitomised Adamnan's work on the holyplaces. Certain- 
 ly a tract on this subject is found along with Bede's works 
 in several manuscripts; but it is significant to see that in 
 Bede's index to his own writings this one is omitted. 
 Besides, in the edition of the epitome there is no refer- 
 ence. to Adamnan's ever having written such a work; 
 and in the preface to Bohn's edition of the translation 
 of the Ecclesiastical History a treatise of Arculf called 
 Be Locis Sanctis is said to have been used by Bede in 
 the composition of his history. It is not in favour of 
 the genuineness of Wendover's notice of Adamnan even, 
 to find that the supreme ruler of a monastery was 
 unable to make the monks subject to him conform to 
 rites which he had himself embraced, while he was able 
 to indiice those who were not under his rule to do so. 
 
 There are several notices of Adamnan in Irish An- 
 nals, and although they are not much worth, they serve 
 still further to show on how unsubstantial a foundation 
 this interpolation has been built. In Beeves' edition of 
 Adamnan's Life of St Columba^ they are thus referred 
 to: " Connected with the journey to Ireland in 697 
 (this does not agree with Wendover's date) the annals 
 1 Appendix to pref., pp. 50 and 56. 
 
50 INTERPOLATIONS IN 
 
 record a transaction which they despatch with enig- 
 matical brevity: Dedit legem, tnnocentium jMpuUs, in 
 which words they allude to a social reformation which 
 was brought about by Adamnan, and which, having ob- 
 tained the highest sanction of the people, became as- 
 sociated with the name of the propounder." The acts, 
 it is said, are preserved at Brussels, and the' name of 
 Bruide mac Derili, king of the region of the Picts, ap- 
 pears in them. But a note informs us that " the in- 
 troduction of his name into the acts is suspicious." 
 Eeeves adds: " It was possibly on the same occasion 
 that the question of Easter was publicly discussed and 
 
 the usage advocated by Adamnan adopted 
 
 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." 
 Another authority, referred to by Eeeves in support of 
 Adamnan's Irish visit, is a tract, called the vision of 
 Adamnan. A note says of it: "It speaks of tithes, 
 which were unknown in Ireland until long after Adam- 
 nan's time." This shows that it is a fabricated or in- 
 terpolated work. The Life of St Gerald of Mayo is 
 another authority noticed by Eeeves. He says it is 
 " full of anachronisms," and after quoting a few 
 sentences from it he adds : " Now, though this state- 
 ment is open, in the first place, to the grave objection 
 that St Gerald was later than Adamnan, instead of 
 prior to him, and, in the second, that a monastery 
 founded twenty years previously as an asylum for ad- 
 herents to tlie old Easter was not a likely place to en- 
 tertain the professed advocate of innovation; still the 
 story seems to be wrought upon an ancient tradition 
 that Adamnan traversed Ireland on ecclesiastical duty, 
 
BEDPS ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 51 
 
 and spent some years therein." The last authority re- 
 ferred to is thus spoken of : " The narrative of Adam- 
 nan's proceedings, from his first visit to the court of 
 King Aldfrid down to his last stay in Ireland, as given 
 in MacFirbis's manuscript Annals, is so amusingly 
 characteristic of native simplicity, that it is entitled, 
 notwithstanding its looseness, to find a place among 
 more explicit records." In giving it publicity, a pre- 
 tended quotation from Bede, which occurs in it, is char- 
 acterised in a note as a " palpable forgery." 
 
 These authorities can scarcely be held as affording 
 any grounds for believing that Adamnan ever set foot 
 in Ireland; and when we turn to Clyn's Annals,^ a' work 
 of the fourteenth century, and find no notice whatever 
 taken of Adamnan, not to speak of the great reforma- 
 tion he is said to have effected in Ireland, it is impos- 
 sible to resist the conclusion that the accounts of 
 Adamnan's visits to Ireland are fables. 
 
 It is but just to say that the Annals of Tigernach 
 record visits of Adamnan to Hibernia at the years 687, 
 689, 692, and 697; and the Annals of Ulster at 686, 
 691, and 696. If these are genuine entries, however, 
 they are more likely to relate to a portion of Scotland 
 or Iceland, and not to Ireland. Regarding the authen- 
 ticity of Tigernach's Annals, a note at page 312 of Eeeves' 
 edition of Adamnan's Life of St Columba says: " In 
 the whole range of Irish literary desiderata no work is 
 more imperatively demanded than a faithful exhibition 
 of Tigernach's text. In O'Connor 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." Later on it will be shown that both 
 J Irish Archaeological Society's Edition, 
 
52 INTERPOLATIONS J N 
 
 these Annals were evidently interpolated to bolster up 
 the Easter observance reformation in the isle of Hii by 
 Father Egbert. 
 
 Egbeet. 
 
 Among the most conspicuous of the numerous re- 
 ferences to Ireland given in the Ecclesiastical History, 
 all of which have been examined, are those connected 
 with the life of Father Egbert, who is said to have con- 
 verted the monks of Hii to the proper observance of 
 Easter. Several chapters in different parts of the work 
 contain notices of incidents in the life of this priest, 
 but it will be seen that they were unknown to many 
 of the later historians. The one which treats of his 
 earlier life is entitled: "Egbert, a holy man of the 
 English nation, led a monastic life in Ireland." It be- 
 gins as follows (Book III., chapter twenty-seven): — 
 
 ' ' In the year 664 there happened an eclipse of the sun. . . 
 In the same year a sudden pestilence also depopulated the 
 southern coasts of Britain, and afterwards extending into the pro- 
 vince of the Northumbrians. ... To which plague Tuda 
 
 fell a victim This pestilence did no less harm in 
 
 the island of Ireland. Many of the nobility, and of the lowei 
 ranks of the English nation, were there at that time, who ir 
 the days of the bishops Finan and Colman, forsaking their na- 
 tive island retired thither. The Scots willingly received them 
 
 all Among these were Ethelhun and Egbert . , 
 
 of the English nobility, the former of whom was brother tf 
 Ethelwin . . . who also afterwards went over into Ireland 
 to study. . . . These two being in the monastery, which 
 in the language of the Soots, is called Rathmelsigi, . . fel 
 both desperately sick of the same distemper. ... Of thes( 
 Egbert .... prayed fervently to God that he might no 
 die yet. ... He also made a vow that he would, for thi 
 sake of God, live in a strange place, so as never to return inti 
 
BEDE'S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 53 
 
 the island of Britain, where he was born. . . . Egbert, 
 shaking oif his distemper, recovered. . . . He at length, 
 in the year 729, being ninety years of age, departed to the 
 heavenly kingdom. . . . Thus he was a great benefactor, 
 both to his own nation and to those of the Plots and Scots, 
 among whom he lived a stranger. " 
 
 Book TV., chapter three : " Father Egbert, above 
 spoken of, who long led a monastic life with the same 
 
 Chad, when both were youths, in Ireland 
 
 But when he afterwards returned into his own country, 
 the other continued in a strange country for our Lord's 
 sake, till the end of his life." 
 
 Book v., chapter nine: " Egbert . . , lived a 
 stranger in Ireland to obtain hereafter a residence in 
 heaven, proposed to himself" to go to Germany and 
 preach the Word of God. Though warned by a vision 
 not to go there, but "rather to go and instruct the 
 monasteries of Columba," he persisted in the attempt, 
 and was shipwrecked. " However, all that belonged to 
 Egbert and his companions was saved. Then he, say- 
 ing, like the prophet, ' This tempest has happened on 
 my account,' laid aside the undertaking and stayed at 
 home. However, Wictbert, one of his companions, 
 . . . for he had lived many years a stranger in Ire- 
 land," &c. 
 
 In the following chapter it is stated that: " Two other 
 priests of the English nation, who had long lived stran- 
 gers in Ireland, . . . went into the province of 
 
 the Ancient Saxons The one was called 
 
 Black Hewald, and the other White Hewald." 
 
 Chapter twenty-two: 
 
 " Those monks, also of the Scottish nation, who lived in the 
 iale of Hii, with the other monasteries that were subject to 
 
 D 
 
54 INTERPOLATrONS IN 
 
 them, were bro\ight to the canonical observance of Easter. . . 
 For in the year 716, when Osred was slain, . . . the holy 
 father and priest Egbert, . . . coming among them. . . 
 The monks of Hii, by the instruction of Egbert, adopted the 
 Catholic rites, under Abbat Dunohad, about eighty years after 
 they had sent Aidan to preach to the English nation. . , . 
 Egbert remaiijed thirteen years in the aforesaid island. . . . 
 In the year 729, in which the Easter of our Lord was cele- 
 brated on the 24th of April, he performed the solemnity of the 
 mass, in memory of the same resurrection of our Lord, and 
 dying that same day, thus finished, or rathei;' never ceases to 
 celebrate, with our Lord, and apostles, and other citizens oi 
 heaven, that greatest festival, which he had begun with the 
 brethren, whom he had converted to the unity of grace. Bui 
 it was a wonderful dispensation of Divine providence that the 
 venerable man not only passed out of this world to the Father, 
 in Easter, but also when Easter was celebrated on that day, or 
 which it had never been wont to be kept in those parts. . . . 
 He also congratulated his being so long continued in the flesl 
 till he saw his followers admit, and celebrate with him, that ai 
 Easter day which they had ever before avoided. Thus, thf 
 most reverend father being assured of their standing corrected, 
 rejoiced to see the day of the Lord, and he saw it and was glad.' 
 
 If these latter sentences have any meaning, thej 
 mean that the monks of Hii were not converted to th( 
 Catholic rites regarding the observance of Easter till th« 
 year of Egbert's death, that is 729. Let us now set 
 what the other English annals say about this Egben 
 
 and his companions. The Saxon Chronicle, under th( 
 year 716, has : " And that pious man, Egbert, convertec 
 the monks in the isle of Hii to the rir,ht faith, so tha 
 they observed Easter duly, and the ecclesiastical ton 
 sure." Under 729: " This year the star, called a comet 
 appeared, and Saint Egbert died in li." This is all 
 No mention is made of Ireland in connectioa with him 
 nor of Wictbert, nor of the Hew^ds, 
 
BEDE'S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 55 
 
 Ethelwerd says under the year 729 : " A comet ap- 
 peared, and the holy bishop, Egbert, died." This is all 
 he records about Egbert. 
 
 Florence of Worcester's Chronicle, under the year 
 692, has: "Egbert . . . was an Englishman by 
 birth, but having led a pilgrim's life in Ireland," &c. 
 Under 716: "Egbert . . . induced the monks of 
 Hii to adopt the Catholic usages with respect to Easter 
 and the ecclesiastical tonsure." Under 729: " Egbert 
 . . . . departed to the Lord on Easter day of this 
 year." This is all that is found about Egbert in this 
 work. Wictbert is not mentioned. The Hewalds are, 
 but nothing is said of their sojourn in Ireland. 
 
 William of Malmesbury never mentions either Eg- 
 bert or Wictbert, or the Hewalds. 
 
 Henry of Huntingdon, under the year 715, has: 
 " Egbert, a venerable man, brought over the monks of 
 Hii to the Catholic observance of Easter and the 
 Catholic tonsure. Having lived with them fourteen 
 years, and being fully satisfied with the reformation of 
 the brotherhood, during the paschal solemnities on the 
 feast of Easter, he rejoiced that he had seen the day of 
 the Lord, ' He saw it and was glad.' " This is all. 
 Nothing is said about Ireland, or of his death, or of 
 Wictbert, or the Hewalds. 
 
 Eoger of Wendover, like Malmesbury, takes no notice 
 whatever of this Egbert, or of Wictbert. The He- 
 walds are mentioned by him, but nothing is said of 
 their having been in Ireland. 
 
 Eegarding the pestilence in Ireland, Huntingdon is 
 the only writer who coincides with the Ecclesiastical 
 History on this point. All the o^ier annals mention 
 it, but confine it to Britain. It may be remarked that 
 
56 INTERPOL A TIONS 1 N 
 
 the word English often occurs in these chapters of the 
 Ecclesiastical History. And it is worth noticing that 
 an Egbert, who became archbishop of York after Bede's 
 death, is mentioned by all the later annalists. The re- 
 sult of this analysis of the chapters of the Ecclesiastical 
 History relating to Egbert, shows that they are only 
 slightly endorsed by works which have been interpo- 
 lated, for even the oldest manuscript of the Saxon 
 Chronicle is not free from this fault. It is said there 
 are many interpolations in this manuscript, and the 
 entries regarding Egbert in it have an appearance of 
 being of that character. The omission by Malmesbury 
 and Wendover, who both profess to have used Bede's 
 work, of all reference to Egbert and the conversion of 
 the monks of Hii, is of itself sufficient to prove that 
 the passages just quoted from the Ecclesiastical His- 
 tory are fabrications. 
 
 It is neceseary to say that the annals of Tigernach, 
 and the annals of Ulster, both refer to the conversion of 
 the monks of Hii under the year 716; but " it is re- 
 markable that Tigernach and the annals of Ulster agree 
 in employing at this place a form (of the name of the 
 island) not used by them elsewhere," as Dr Eeeves 
 states, in a note at page 259 of his edition of Adam- 
 nan's Life of St Columba. Here they call the island 
 Eo, but in every other place where they mention it, 
 which is done frequently, they call it either lae or la. 
 This single instance ofvEo occurring in the two annals 
 under the same year, suggests the likelihood of its being 
 an interpolated entry. 
 
 We have thus, in the foregoing pages, endeavoured to 
 show that all th^ notices of Ireland which appear in 
 Bede's work, are ffibricated; and the reader can judg^ 
 
BEDES EGCtEtSfASTIGAL itlSTOEr. 5t 
 
 with what success. If it has been demonstrated that 
 none of them were originally written by him, then it is 
 evident that they have been introduced into this history 
 for the purpose of supportmg tlie Irish origin of the 
 Scots. With these passages erased from the Ecclesi- 
 astical History, it would be foolish to believe that there 
 were any Scots in Ireland, or that it was called Scotia, 
 in Bede's time. 
 
 Before closing this examination of Bede's Ecclesi- 
 astical History, it may be as well to say here that the 
 letter to the king of the Picts, wliich appears in Book 
 v., chapter twenty-one, is not mentioned by the Saxon 
 Chronicle, nor Ethelwerd, nor Florence, nor Malmes- 
 bmy, nor Wendover. 
 
^TERPOLATIONS IN ANCIENT ANNALS 
 
 AFFECTING THE EARLY HISTORY OF 
 
 SCOTLAND AND IRELAND. 
 
 
 
 It may not be out of place to append to this treatise 
 an examination of those other works, which were largely 
 interpolated for the purpose of making people believe 
 that Hibernia and Scotia were ancient names of Ireland. 
 When they were produced or tampered with may never 
 be certainly known. At the time the Irish strove to 
 obtain possession of the affluent Scots monastery at 
 Eatisbon or Eegensburg, they were charged with making 
 a fraudulent entry in the records of the establishment, 
 in which they described Ireland as Great Scotland. 
 This took place in the year 1515, and possibly some of 
 these works may have been tampered with then to sup- 
 port the fictitious claim. For, notwithstanding the 
 allegations of the Irish ecclesiastics, the local authorities 
 were clear that the monastery belonged to Scotland; and 
 it was accordingly restored to the Scots. ' 
 
 Tacitus' Life of Ageicola. 
 
 It will surprise many readers to learn that Tacitus' 
 
 1 Burton's History of Scotland, New Edition, vol, i., pp. 202 and 
 203 and note. 
 
60 iNtERPOLAflONS IN 
 
 Life of Agricola is to be considered one of the fabricated 
 works, though it may not have been produced for the 
 purpose of identifying Hibernia with Ireland only. 
 Ireland or Hibernia is mentioned several times in this 
 work. In one place it is implied that its ports were more 
 frequented, in Agricola's time, than those of Britain; ^ 
 but this is contradicted by the evidence which will be 
 produced when speaking of the absence of civilization 
 and trade among the early inhabitants of Ireland. In 
 another place," it is said that Agricola had often re- 
 marked that with a legion and a few auxiliaries, 
 Ireland might easily be annexed to the Eoman empire. 
 For this information he is said to have depended 
 upon a certain petty king of Ireland, who had been 
 driven from that country, but whose name is prudently 
 withheld. If this had been true, it would have been 
 strange to find that Agricola, according to this work, 
 wasted so much time and the lives of so many men, in 
 trying to conquer so barbarous a country as Scotland, 
 while a fine commercial country lay an easy prey at no 
 great distance. 
 
 These are not the only statements in Tacitus' Life of 
 Agricola which are open to objection. The authenticity 
 of the whole work has been questioned even; and several 
 cogent proofs have been adduced to support this opinion. 
 Among the first editions of Tacitus' works it was not 
 included. It was first produced at the time that Hector 
 Boece, the most fabulous of the early Scottish historians, 
 was studying at Paris. It mentions few places in Scot- 
 land, but speaks of the Horesti as one of the tribes in- 
 habiting that country. Ptolemy, who gives the names 
 of many, if not all of the tribes inhabiting Scotland not 
 
 1 Section xxiv. 2 Ibid. 
 
A}fCIENr ANIMALS. 6l 
 
 long after Agricola's time, never mentions the Horesti. 
 In addition to this there is no reliable evidence to show 
 that Agricola ever was in Britain. It is said that he is 
 not even mentioned, during the fourteen centuries after 
 he lived, by any other author but Dion Cassius, whose 
 history has been imperfectly preserved. This is the 
 only work which can be produced in support of the 
 authenticity of Tacitus' Life of Agricola, and it cannot 
 be said to afford ijiuch. The early annalists of both 
 Scotland and England totally ignore both Tacitus and 
 Agricola. Gildas, Nennius, the Saxon Chronicle, Ethel- 
 werd, Henry of Huntingdon, William of Malmesbury, 
 Florence of Worcester, Koger of Wendover, &c., give an 
 account of the British wars of Julius Ctesar, Claudius, 
 Nero, Vespasian, Severus, &c., but nothing is said of 
 Agricola's grand campaign.^ Hector Boece is the first 
 writer who says anything about it. 
 
 Another objection to the authenticity of Tacitus' Life 
 of Agricola may be noticed, as it bears on the early 
 history of Scotland. It is there stated, in direct opposi- 
 tion to other writers, that Agricola first subdued and 
 explored the Orkney Islands.^ Eutropius, Bede, Nen- 
 nius, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Henry of Huntingdon, and 
 Ordericus Vitallis, all affirm that it was the emperor 
 Claudius who added the Orcades to the Eoman empire. 
 Dr Skene says it is difficult to reconcile the state- 
 ment that Claudius added the Orcades to the Eoman 
 empire, with that of Tacitus, that Agricola first made 
 the Orcades known.'' Whether are we to believe the 
 Life of Agricola on this point, or the statements of the 
 other writers just mentioned ? If the latter, then this 
 
 1 Burton's History of Scotland, vol. i,, page 10, note. 
 i Section ix. 3 Celtic Scotland, vol. i., p. 36, note. 
 
ii iNTMRPO'LATlONS I2f 
 
 ilso tends to show that the work under review is a 
 kbrication. It will be afterwards shown that the 
 3rcades spoken of by Bede and these other writers are 
 aot the Orkney Islands. These latter, we learn from 
 luthentic records, were not so called till the ninth 
 century, if not later, but it is not unlikely that Tacitus' 
 Life of Agricola may have been compiled partly to sup- 
 port this transference of the name. 
 
 In addition to the foregoing objections, it may be urged 
 that the statements in the Life of Agricola regarding the 
 previous conquests of the Roman troops in Britain do 
 not accord very well with the references of Lucan, 
 Martial, V. Flaccus, Statius, and Pliny, to the Cale- 
 donians. The latter writers imply that the Eomans had 
 reached the Caledonian territory before Agricola's time; 
 Tacitus does not admit this. Then again we are told 
 that the brilliant campaigns of Agricola went for nothing 
 after all. If it were possible to prove that this Life of 
 Agricola is a travestied account of the actions of Lollius 
 Urbicus in Britain, there would be better circumstantial 
 evidence to support it. It is certain that Urbicus was 
 the commander of the Eoman troops in Britain when 
 the wall and chain of forts were built between the firths 
 of Forth and Clyde; and it would not require any severe 
 strain on our faith to believe that he fought several 
 severe engagements with the tribes to the north of this 
 barrier. His conquests were not fruitless either. The 
 wall which he built remained the boundary of the 
 Eoman province to the north till the time when the 
 Eomans left the island. '^ 
 
 The character of Vettius Bolanus, as described by 
 Tacitus in the Life of Agricola, ^ is also entirely at vari- 
 
 1 Skene's Celtic Scotland, vol. i., p, 77. ' Section xvi. 
 
ANCIMT annals. 53 
 
 ance with the adulation of Statius when speaking of the 
 same general's actions in Caledonia. If we are to be- 
 heve that the description was reaUy penned by Tacitus, 
 and that it is true, then we must confess that in this 
 instance Statius has strung together a series of fables 
 about Bolamis. There are numerous other discrepancies 
 in this work, but it is needless to point them all out as 
 they have been frequently commented on by different 
 editors. Considered along with the fact that Agricola's 
 campaigns had never been heard of by any of the early 
 annahsts of either England or Scotland, and that he is 
 not Commemorated by a single coin or inscription 
 found in Britain, they lead .to the conclusion that the 
 Life of Agricola is a fabrication of the fifteenth or 
 sixteenth century. It is remarkable that two celebrated 
 men of the name of Agricola flourished about that 
 period. 
 
 Adamnan's Life of St Columba, 
 
 Adanman's Life of St Columba is considered to be so 
 genuine a work that the very idea of doubting its 
 authenticity will be received with wonder by the num- 
 erous writers who have dealt with Columba's life 
 and works. Those of them, however, who conde- 
 scend to peruse the following pages may perhaps recon- 
 sider the grounds of their decision. The present writer 
 is not the only person who has questioned the authen- 
 ticity of this work. Dr Giles, in his edition of Bede's 
 Ecclesiastical History,^ says: "I have strong doubts of 
 Adamnan's having written it." Sir James Dalrymple, 
 and a Prussian clergyman, likewise called the genuine- 
 
 1 Bobn's TraDslatiou, p. 264, note. 
 
(34 iNTERPOLATiONS I^ 
 
 ness of the work in question ;i and viewed in the light 
 thrown upon the subject in bringing forward the proofs 
 which support the opinion that Scotland was the only 
 Scotia, the doubts expressed by these writers receive 
 strong confirmation. 
 
 It has to be remarked, in the first place, that although 
 Beeves' edition of Adamnan's Life is said to be founded 
 upon a manuscript of the eighth century, it is allowed 
 that there is a total absence from it of the interlacing and 
 artistic work which characterises most of the Scotic 
 writings of the same period; and it appears first to have 
 been heard of fifty years after the Reformation in Scot- 
 land.'-^ Besides this, reference is made to a work of 
 Adamnan's, entitled The Holy Places, in Bede's Ecclesi- 
 astical History and Wendover's Flowers of History; but 
 no notice is taken in either work of his Life of 
 Columba.3 With reference to this omission in the 
 Ecclesiastical History, it is explained that Adamnan 
 probably wrote his- Life of Columba after -visiting king 
 Aldfrid; but if this were the case, it is strange that no 
 notice is taken in the Life of his having adopted the 
 Roman usage with regard to Easter observance, which 
 was at variance with the custom advocated by his 
 illustrious predecessor. This explanation will not suit 
 Wendover's case. He was a writer of the thirteenth 
 century, and as five hundred years had elapsed since 
 Adamnan lived, it would have been strange to find that 
 he had never heard or read of such a remarkable work 
 as this Life of Columba, had it then existed. It would 
 have been a book as well worth noticing as that about 
 the holy places. Wendover mentions Columba as well 
 
 1 Reeves' Adamuan, appendix to pref., p. Kx. 
 
 ■■i Ibid, pref., pp. viii,, &o. 3 See above, pp. 48 and 49. 
 
ANCIENT ANNALS. 65 
 
 as Adamnan, but even when speaking of the earlier saint, 
 not a word is said about this Life. These facts are not 
 in favour of the authenticity of the work before us; and 
 its testimony regarding the question at issue might he 
 discarded on these grounds alone; but let us examine it 
 and see how valueless it is to support the belief that 
 Ireland was once called Scotia. 
 
 Cumminius, a successor of St Columba in the abbacy 
 of Hii, wrote a life of his eminent predecessor, which is 
 said to form the ground-work of Adamnan's third book. 
 A few chapters of Cumminius' work are also incorporated 
 in other portions of Adamnan's Life. Is it not possible 
 that some scribe in the sixteenth century fabricated the 
 latter on the basis of the former ? A note to Eeeves' 
 edition of Adamnan's Life^ enables the reader to trace 
 the whole of tlie earlier life, and it will be found to 
 differ in this material respect from the later one, that it 
 seldom if ever uses the word Hibernia, whereas in 
 Adamnan's work that word occurs frequently. To show 
 the curious way iu which this word is used in the later 
 life, it will be sufficient to notice its occurrence in the 
 only extract from Cumminius' work which is acknow- 
 ledged by Adamnan, and then to quote the instances in 
 which it occurs in the later life. 
 
 The acknowledged extract is found in Lib. III., 
 chapter five, and Hibernia appears there; but a note in- 
 forms us, by giving the exact words of Cumminius, that 
 no such word is used in the text of the earlier life. 
 
 Turning now to the first and second books of Adam- 
 nan's work, which were mainly written by himself, or 
 rather alleged to have been, we find Hibernia often 
 mentioned, but it is generally accompanied by the word 
 1 Pref,, p. vi. 
 
66 INTERPOLATIONS IN ' 
 
 Scotia, in the sentence immediately preceding or follow- 
 ing. This is also a characteristic feature of some of the 
 interpolated chapters of Bede's Ecclesiastical History 
 Of course the design is to make people believe that they 
 were names for one country; but it is never distinctly 
 affirmed anywhere in this work that Ireland or Hi- 
 bernia was called Scotia. This duty is left for writers 
 of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to fulfil. 
 
 Eeeves discharges the task in the following manner. ^ 
 In Lib. I. chapter twelve, for instance, a note to the 
 word Scotia says: " Or Hibernia, as in the next sen- 
 tence, showing that Ardnamurchan was not then in 
 Scotia." Two chapters further on Scotia and Hibernia 
 are found in the same sentence. In the seventeenth 
 chapter again the word Scotiam appears, and a note to it 
 says: " That is, Hiberniam, as in the next sentence." In 
 the following chapter we find Scotiam and Hiberniam, 
 and Scotia and Hibernia. A note to the first says: 
 " Hiberniam lower down. Again in Scotia and its 
 equivalent in Hibernia." In the twenty-second chapter, 
 Scotiam and Hiberniam appear in sentences following 
 each other; and in the forty-eighth chapter Hiberniae 
 is followed by Scotiae, and it again by Hiberniam. In 
 the second Book, the thirty-eighth chapter contains the 
 word Scotiam, which, a note informs the reader, is con- 
 vertible with Hiberniam in the next sentence. The 
 following chapter has the word Scotia twice, but omits 
 Hibernia. A note says: " This is another instance of 
 the use of the word for Ireland, as contradistinguished 
 from Scotland, then a part of Britain." In the following 
 chapter, the fortieth, Scotia occurs, and a note to it in- 
 
 l Irish Arch^ologioal Sooiety'a Edition, 
 
ANCIENT ANNALS. 67 
 
 forms ns that it is " Called Hibernia in an earlier part 
 of the chapter." 
 
 In all these instances, it will be seen, Hibernia and 
 Scotia are made to appear as if they were synonymous 
 names for Ireland; and yet here, as in all the ancient 
 writers' works with which we are dealing, this is never 
 distinctly affirmed to have been the case. 
 
 Nennius' Histoky of the Britons. 
 
 Of Nennius, the reputed author of a history of the 
 Britons, little is known; and it is even uncertain when 
 the work was originally written. Some writers assign 
 its compilation to the year 796, and others, to the year 
 994. Henry of Huntingdon quotes it as a work writ- 
 ten by Gildas, and there is no impossibility in this, for 
 it ends with the times before Gildas' days; and in most 
 of the manuscript copies of Nennius' Britigh History it 
 is attributed to Gildas.' Some additions about the 
 kings of the provinces of England have been added by 
 later writers; but there is reason to believe that the 
 genuine work was written by Gildas, as stated by Hunt- 
 ingdon, who lived in the twelfth century. 
 
 Speaking of Nennius' History of the Britons, as it 
 now exists, the editor of one of the best editions pub- 
 lished thus refers to its interpolations: " It will strike 
 every reader that this work was peculiarly dealt with. 
 It was treated as a sort of common land, upon which 
 any goose might gi-aze. Mere transcribers seem to have 
 played the editor, if not the author." ^ The earliest 
 
 1 Innes' Critical Essay, vol. 1., p. 192. 
 
 3 Todd's Irish Version of the Hialona Britonum of Nennius, p, 19, 
 
68 INTERPOLATIONS IN 
 
 manuscript so far as is known to this editor, is of the 
 twelfth century.^ 
 
 A work of such a dubious character might well be 
 summarily rejected as an untrustworthy evidence of a 
 Scots settlement in Ireland before the eleventh century; 
 but it is worth while to examine the evidence it does 
 furnish somewhat minutely, in order to form a proper 
 estimate of its fictitious nature. The Historia Bri- 
 tonuni, in its original state, has apparently been wholly 
 incorporated in Geoffrey of Monmouth's British His- 
 tory; and this work, though overloaded with fabulous 
 matter, enables us to trace the interpolations in N"en- 
 nius' History. The passages in the latter which do not 
 appear in Geoffrey's work are suggestive, when looked 
 at in connection with the subject at issue. Both works 
 are contained in the Six Old Snglish Chronicles in 
 Bohn's Antiquarian Library, and in comparing the two 
 reference will be made to the translations in this volume. 
 
 To begin with, a few minor interpolations, which 
 only indirectly concern the present question, may be 
 noticed. Nothing equivalent to paragraph eight in 
 Nennius' History, for instance, is found in Geoffrey's 
 work. It is as follows: " Three considerable islands be- 
 long to it (Britain), one on the south, opposite the Ar- 
 marican shore called Wight, another beween Ireland 
 and Britain called Eubonia or Man, and another be- 
 yond the Picts named Orkney." The same can be said 
 of paragraph twelve, which is to the effect that the 
 Picts first occupied the Orkney Islands, from which 
 they laid wastd many regions, and seized those on the 
 left hand side of Britain, of which they are said to be in 
 possession at the time the history was written. 
 1 Todd'a Irish Version ot the Hiatoria Bntonum ol Nennius, p,'21, 
 
ANCIENT ANNALS. 69 
 
 Paragraph thirteen of Nennius, which is one that 
 has a direct bearing on the Ireland-Scotia question, has 
 a little, a very little, in common with the more pro- 
 bable account given of the settlement of the Spanish 
 colonists called Barclenses in Ireland by Geoffrey, in 
 Book III., chapter twelve, which was likely taken from a 
 genuine edition of the Historia Britonum. In the 
 edition under review, however, the Scots take the place 
 of the Barclenses, and are represented as settling in Ire- 
 land in connection with improbable events, as is usual 
 with these interpolations. In noticing the settlement 
 of the Spanish colonists in Ireland, Geoffrey totally ig- 
 nores the Scots, and the marvellous circumstances con- 
 nected with the colonisation as recorded by Nennius. 
 The fabulous account of St Patrick's life and labours, 
 which occurs in paragraphs fifty to fifty-five, is also un- 
 noticed by Geoffrey, m ho would never have passed over 
 such a marvellous record without some allusion to it 
 had it appeared in the original manuscript. 
 
 The paragraphs referring to St Patrick's life occur in 
 a manuscript copy of the Historia Britonum, lying in 
 the library of the Vatican at Kome. They do not ap- 
 pear in all the manuscripts of the work found else- 
 where. Like other notices of presumed Irish saints, 
 this one contains many wonderful, if not incredible, 
 statements. It also speaks of Palladius, but unlike an 
 Enfrlish historian of the thirteenth century, in whose 
 works a similar notice appears, it represents him as go- 
 ino- to Ireland to find the Scots. To let the reader 
 understand its untrustworthiness it will be better to 
 transcribe the whole passage; and then to compare it 
 with the one in the works of Eoger of Wendover, referred 
 to above: — : 
 
70 INTERPOLATIONS IN 
 
 In those daj's St Patrick was a captive among the Scots. 
 His master's name was Milcho, to whom he was a swineherd for 
 seven years. When he had attained the age of seventeen, he 
 gave him his liberty. By the Divine impulse, he applied him- 
 self to reading of the Scriptures, and afterwards went to Rome, 
 where, replenished with the Holy Spirit, he continued a great 
 while studying the sacred mysteries of these writings. During 
 his continuance there, Palladius, the first bishop, was sent by 
 Pope Celestine to convert the Scots (the Irish). But tempests 
 and signs from God prevented his landing, for no one can ar- 
 rive in any country except he be allowed from above. Alter- 
 ing, therefore, his course from Ireland, he came to Britain, and 
 died in the land of the Picts. The death of Palladius being 
 known, the Roman patricians, Theodosius and Valentinian, then 
 reigning. Pope Celestine sent Patrick to convert the Scots to 
 the faith of the Holy Trinity; Victor, the angel of God, accom- 
 panying, admonishing, and assisting him, and also the bishop 
 Germanus. Germanus then sent the ancient Segerus with him 
 as a venerable and praiseworthy bishop to king Amatheus, who 
 lived near, and who had prescience of what was to happen; he 
 was consecrated bishop in the reign of that king by the holy 
 pontiflf, assuming the name of Patrick, having hitherto been 
 known by that of Maun; Auxilius, Isserninus, and other 
 brothers were ordained with him to inferior degrees. Having 
 distributed benedictions, and perfected all in the name of the 
 Holy Trinity, he embarked on the sea which is between the 
 Gauls and the Britons, and, after a quick passage, arrived in 
 Britain, where he preached for some time. Every necessary 
 preparation being made, and the angel giving him warning, he 
 came to the Irish Sea, and having filled the ship with foreign 
 gifts and spiritual treasures, by the permission of God he ar- 
 rived in Ireland, where he baptised and preached. From the 
 beginning of the world to the fifth year of king Logiore, when 
 the Irish were baptised, and faith in the unity of the individual 
 Trinity was published to them, are 5330 years. St Patrick 
 taught the Gospel in foreign nations for tlie space of forty 
 years. Endued with apostolical powers, he gave sight to tl\e 
 blind, cleansed the lepers, gave hearing to the deaf, cast out 
 devils, raised men from th? dead, redeemed many captives of 
 
ANCIENT ANNALS. 71 
 
 both sexes at his own chaxge, and set them free in the name of 
 the Holy Trinity. He taught the servants of God, and he 
 wrote 365 canonical and other books relating to the Catholic 
 faith. He founded as many churches, and consecrated the same 
 number of bishops, strengthening them with the Holy Ghost. 
 He ordained 3000 presbyters, and converted and baptised 12,000 
 persons in the province of Connaught, and in one day baptised 
 seven kings, who were the seven sons of Amalgaid. He con- 
 tinued fasting forty days and nights on the summit of the 
 mountain Eli, that is, Cruachan-Aichle, and preferred three 
 petitions to God for the Irish that had embraced the faith. The 
 Scots say the first was, that He would receive every repentant 
 sinner, even at the latest extremity of lite; the second, that they 
 should never be exterminated by barbarians; and the third, 
 that as Ireland will be overflowed with water seven years before 
 the coming of our Lord to judge the quick and the dead, the 
 crimes of the people might be washed away through his inter- 
 cession, and their souls purified at the last day. He gave the 
 people his benediction from the upper part of the mountain, 
 and going up higher that he might pray for them, and that, if it 
 pleased God, he might see the effects of his labours, there ap- 
 peared to him an innumerable flock of birds of many colours 
 signifying the number of holy persons of both sexes of the 
 Irish nation who should come to him as their apostle at the day 
 of judgment to be presented before the tribunal of Christ. 
 After a life spent in the active exertion of good to mankind, St 
 Patrick, in a healthy old age, passed from this world to the 
 Lord, and changing this life for a better with the saints and 
 elect of God, he rejoices for evermore. St Patrick resembled 
 Moses in four particulars. The angel spoke to him in the burn- 
 ing bush. He fasted forty days and forty nights upon the 
 mountain. He attained the period of 120 years. No one 
 knows his sepulchre nor where he was buried. Sixteen years 
 he was in captivity. In his twenty-fifth year he was conse- 
 crated bishop by St Mattheus, and he was eighty-five years 
 the apostle of the Irish. It might be profitable to treat more 
 at large of the life of this saint, but it is now time to complete 
 the epitome of his labours. 
 
 As already stated, the above is in many respects 
 
72 INTERPOLATIONS IN 
 
 identical with an account of St Patrick's life given in 
 Eoger of Wendover's Flowers of History; and yet there 
 is a material difference between the two. The one 
 just quoted makes it appear as if Ireland was the 
 country inhabited by the Scots, whereas Wendover 
 confines the Scots to Scotland, and distinguishes be- 
 tween it and Ireland. Had it been the case in St 
 Patrick's time, that Ireland was called Scotia, and was 
 peopled by Scots, he would have said so. He says 
 Patrick was " Born in Ireland, and in his childhood was 
 sold by his father, with his two sisters, into Scotland." 
 Like Nennius, he says Palladius was sent to convert 
 the Scots, but instead of sending him to Ireland to 
 find them, he says: " Preaching the Word of God in 
 Scotland, he (Palladius) afterwards went into P>ritain, 
 and died in the land of the Picts." Scotia and Britain 
 were different countries then, as already stated ;i and 
 as Wendover, in speaking of St Patrick, distinguishes 
 Ireland from Scotland, he cannot mean the former when 
 he uses the latter designation. The Scots are men- 
 tioned twice after this in the account in Nennius, but 
 the name does not again occur in Wendover's notice. 
 That the latter's is also fabricated there is every reason 
 to believe, as will be afterwards shown in dealing with 
 St Patrick's supposed Irish mission ; but it serves the 
 purpose in the meantime of proving that the interpola- 
 tions in Nennius' about the Scots in Ireland were made 
 after Wendover's lifetime. 
 
 The following interpolations in an account of the 
 
 Cruithnians, or Picts of Ireland, which occurs in tlie 
 
 Irish version of Nennius, cannot be passed over. In 
 
 the thirty-first section of Todd's edition of the Historict, 
 
 I Jrelftnd npt tjie Hib^rnia of tli? ABQient;?, p, 43, 
 
AjfCIENT ANNALS. ?3 
 
 Britonum, after the name of king G-eascuirtibout, these 
 words are found: " XXX. of them henceforward, and 
 Bruide was the name of every man of them, et regnaver- 
 unt, Hibcrniain d Albaniam, per d. annos ut in- 
 venittir, in the books of the Cruithuians, Bruide Pante 
 was the name of the first Bruide." Then follows thirty 
 Idngs of the name of Bruide. In a note among the ad- 
 ditional notes, page xlv., we are told: " The Pictish 
 Chronicle says, iipon the name of Bruide tlie first, a quo 
 traginta Briide rejnaverunt Hiberniam et Albaniam per 
 150 annoriim spatium ; and adds their private or per- 
 sonal names. ... If these thirty kings reigned 
 over Albania, there will then be a double list of the 
 kings of Fortren, which absurdity has induced me to 
 analyse these statements." The analysis is followed by 
 these remarks : " Thus when it was merely a man's 
 name, we find it recurring occasionally, but when it was 
 titular to all alike, we find it entirely absent. Which 
 evinces that the words, Hiberniam . . . spatium 
 are superfluous and false, as well as the thirty private 
 names; and that these thirty Bruides are simply the 
 kings of Pictland from Brudi Bout to Talorc III." 
 
 Passing on, in the text of the work, to king " Drust, 
 the son of Erp, c. annis regnavit, and gained a 100 
 battles." Here we find added: " Nonodecino anno regni 
 eius Fatricius sanctus cpiscopas ad Hiberniam pervenit." 
 The same passage appears in Fordoun's list of Icings, 
 thus : " -Durst, qui alias vocabatur Nectane filius Irbii 
 annis xlv. Hie, ut asseritur, ' Centum annis vixit et 
 centum bella peregit.' Quo regnante sanctus Palladius 
 (instead of Patricius as in the Irish account), episcopus 
 a beato Papa Gcelestine missus est ad Scotos doeendos, 
 long& tainen, ante in Gkristo credentes." It will be 
 
4 INTERPOLATIONS IN 
 
 oticed that there is no Eiherniam in the passage as 
 iven by Fordoun; and his notice of Palladius' mission 
 3 the Scots is in accordance with the Saxon Chronicle, 
 ^hich also leaves out all notice of Ireland and Hiber- 
 ia in connection with Palladius' mission. 
 
 Passing Talorc, the next king after Drust, we come 
 D Nectan Morbreac or Morbet, after whose name the 
 )llowing occurs : " Tertio anno regni ejus Darlugdach, 
 bbatissa CiUe-Dara de Hibernia exulat pro Christo ad 
 'ritmiam; anno adventus aui immolavit Necionius 
 nno uno Aiournighe Deo et sanctce Brigidm, prwsente 
 yarlugdach, qum cantavit allehoia super istam." A note 
 3 this passage, which appears on pages 161-3, says: 
 These statements are false and out of chronology, 
 ictland and Abernethy were not then Christian, nor 
 'as St Bridget then born, nor was Darluchdach yet ab- 
 ess of Kildare.'' Further on the same note informs 
 s that Fordoun " ascribes the foundation of Abernethy 
 3 St Bridget and her seven virgins, but places it in the 
 sign of Garnard Makdompnach, the successor of the 
 iruide in whose times St Columba preached to the 
 'lets, which is of course more probable." 
 
 It will be seen from the above that whenever the 
 rish account of the Cruithnian kings and the early 
 art of the Pictish Chronicle introduce Ireland, or 
 Either Hibernia, the information given along with it is 
 ontradicted by other authorities who evidently used 
 lie same original, manuscript from which these two 
 i^ere compiled, and at the same time interpolated. 
 
 Floeence of Wokcester's Chronicle. 
 Florence of Worcester's Chronicle is the next work 
 
ANCtmV AJfl^ALS. 75 
 
 we propose to analyse. It is mainly a copy of the 
 Chronicle compiled by Mariaiius Scotus, who was bora 
 in 1028 and died in 1052. Under the year 1028, Flor- 
 ence calls Marianus a Scot of Hibernia.i Marianus 
 himself says he was born in Scotia; and he never ex- 
 pressly affirms that this was the name of Ireland or 
 liibernia ; but he gives a clear indication of the country 
 of Ills birth by connecting kings Duncan and Macbeth 
 with Scotia. ^ Ireland lays no claim to a monarch of the 
 name of Macbeth in the eleventh century. 
 
 At the year 446, Florence speaks of the Scots and 
 Picts coming from the north to invade the territories of 
 the Eomanised Britons in unison with other writers. 
 At 651, Finan is said to have been sent by the Scots; 
 and at 661 he is said to have been succeeded by Col- 
 man, who was also sent out of Scotland. At 664, Col- 
 man, we are told, rejoined his adherents in Scotland, 
 which is also called his own. country. From these in- 
 stances, selected from others of the same nature, and 
 compared with what has been said about these Scot- 
 tish priests in reviewing Bede's Ecclesiastical History 
 (above, page 39), it will be seen that Florence's Scotia was 
 the Scotland of the present day, or at least a part of it. 
 
 Some of the interpolations which occur in Florence's 
 Chronicle may now be given to show their character. 
 " A.D. 491. St Patrick, archbishop of Ireland, made a 
 blessed end, aged 122 years." " 521. St Bridget, the 
 Scottish nun, died in Ireland." " 672. As he (Bishop 
 Ceadda) was departing out of this world, the most 
 
 1 Ti anslation in Bohn's Antiquarian Library, which is the edition 
 
 referred to throughout this notice, 
 a Burton's History of Sootland, vul, i,, [i. 207, ivuj Uha,liiierd' UdU- 
 
 donia, vol, i., y. iOH, note. 
 
S INTERPOLATIONS IN 
 
 iverend father Egbert, who had been his fellow-scholar 
 1 Ireland, saw the spirit of St Chad, the bishop, Cead- 
 a's brother, with an host of augels, descend from 
 eaven, and bear it upwards with them on their return 
 3 the realms of bhss." "674. . . . Ireland, the 
 land of the saints, was gloriously filled with holy men 
 ad wonderful works." " 687. St KUlian, a Scot, 
 3rn in Ireland, and bishop of Wartzburg, became 
 ninent." These interpolations in two instances con- 
 ect the Scots with Ireland ; but that country is never 
 illed Scotia here or elsewhere in Florence's Chronicle., 
 iter these interpolations, however, it may be as well 
 ) give a few more quotations from the genuine text, 
 1 which Scots are connected with Scotland. At the 
 ear 901, in speaking of the life of King Edward, it is 
 lid that " he also reduced to subjection the king of 
 le Scots, the Cumbrians, and the Strathclyde and 
 l''estern Britons." At 1050, " Macbeth, king of Scot- 
 md," is spoken of "A.D. 1054. Siward, the stout earl 
 f Northumbria, by order of the king, entered Scotland, 
 ith a large body of cavalry, and a powerful fleet, and 
 lught a battle with Macbeth, king of the Scots, in 
 hich the king was defeated with the loss of many 
 lousands, both of the Scots and of the ISTormans." 
 The reader may now be able to judge whether the 
 illowing celebrated Scots belonged to Ireland or Scot- 
 ,nd. They are claimed by the Irish, but as Florence 
 3es not say they were born in Ireland, or had ever 
 3en in that country, their claim cannot be allowed. 
 974. . . . Eberger, archbishop of Cologne, gave 
 le abbey of St Martin at Cologne to the Scots for ever, 
 [inborin, a Scot, was the first abbot." " 986. , . . 
 [iuborin, the Scotch abbot, died in the abbey of St 
 
ANCIENT ANNALS. 11 
 
 Martin at Cologne. . . . Killin succeeded him." 
 1003. " Killian, a Scot, and abbot of the Scottish 
 monastery of St Martin, died. . . . Helias, a Scot, 
 succeeded him." 1042. " Abbot Elias, a Scot, died . 
 . . of St Martin. He was succeeded by Maiolus, a 
 Scot, a holy man. 1061. "Maiolus, abbot of the 
 Scots, died at Cologne; Foilan succeeded him." As no 
 distinction is made between the Scots over whom Mac- 
 beth was king and these Scots just mentioned, they 
 were evidently all born in Scotland. 
 
 Between these notices the following relating to Ire- 
 land appear, which are so characteristic as to be worth 
 reproducing: — 
 
 "A.D. 1043. . . . Animchadus, a Scottish monk, who 
 led a life of seclusion in tlie monastery at Fulda, died. . . . 
 Over his tomb lights were seen, and there was the voice of i^sal- 
 mody. Mariauus, the author of this chronicle, took up his 
 station as a recluse for ten years at hia feet, and sang masses 
 over his tomb. He has related what follows respecting this 
 Animchadus: ' When I was in Ireland, ' says Marianu.^, 'in au 
 island called Keltra, he entertained, with the permission of his 
 superior, named Cortram, certain brethren who came there. 
 Some of them departed after their meal, but those who re- 
 mained sat warming themselves at the fire, and asked him for 
 something to drink, and on his refusing to give it without leave, 
 they urged him to comply. At last he consented, but first sent 
 some of the beverage to his superior, for bis blessing. On the 
 morrow, being asked for what reason he sent it, he related all 
 the circumstances. But his superior, for this slight fault, im- 
 mediately ordered him to quit Ireland, and he humbly obeyed. 
 He then came to Fulda, and lived a life of holy seclusion, as I 
 have ab-eady said, until his death. This was told us by the 
 superior, Tigernah, on my committing some slight fault in his 
 nresence. Moreover, I myself heard, while I was in seclusion 
 ■it Fulda, a very devout monk of that monastery, whose name 
 was William, implore the aforesaid Animchadus, who was 
 
16 IJ^ fUnPOLA TtO NS M 
 
 then in his tomb, to give him his benediction; and, as he after- 
 wards told me, he saw him in a vision standing in his tomb, 
 shining with great brightness, and giving him his benediction 
 with outstretched arms; and I, too, passed the whole of that 
 night in the midst of a mellifluous odour.' These are the words 
 of Marianus. " 
 
 Marianus says he was obliged to leave his 
 country, which in his own work he calls Scotia, on 
 account of religious disputes. This notice in Florence 
 has evidently been fabricated, not only to connect 
 Marianus with Ireland, but also to show why he left 
 his native country. It is very unlikely that the slight 
 fault noticed here is the religious disputes referred to 
 by Marianus; and the marvellous circumstances with 
 which it is connected, are alone sufficient to discredit it. 
 
 The other notice of Ireland appearing between the 
 notices of the Scots of Cologne is as follows: " 1053. . 
 . . Aed, a long-bearded clerk in Ireland, a man of 
 great eminence and earnest piety, had a large school of 
 clerks, maidens, and laymen; but he subjected the 
 maidens to the tonsure in the same manner as clerks, 
 on which account he was compelled to leave Ireland." 
 
 Henry of Huntingdon's History. 
 
 Henry of Huntingdon is considered to be one of the 
 earliest of the English historians as distinguished from 
 chroniclers. He lived in the first half of the twelfth cen- 
 tury. The first two books of his history are mainly a com- 
 pilation from Bede's Ecclesiastical History and the Saxon 
 Chronicle. The third book is an epitome of Bede's 
 information relating to the conversion of the English to 
 Christianity. There appears to be no manuscript ex- 
 taut which can be considerd to have been written by 
 
ASC/EXT Ai^NALS. t9 
 
 Huntingdon. All the manuscripts, the earliest of 
 which date from the tliirteenth or fourteenth century, 
 are therefore only copies ; and this should be borne in 
 mmd in dealing with the statements contained in the 
 ^vork, as it renders the task of tracing any interpola- 
 tions more difficult. It was first printed in the year 1596, 
 that is, after the period of the Reformation in Scotland. ' 
 It is difficult to say how much of this work is Hun- 
 tingdon's own composition, as already stated. He fre- 
 quently speaks of Hibernia or Ireland; but it has to be 
 remembered that the former name had probably become 
 attached to Ireland before his day. Many of the in- 
 terpolations in Bede's Ecclesiastical History are copied 
 in this work; but it is possible they may have been in- 
 serted in Huntingdon's History by other hands than 
 his. It is significant to find that Ireland or Hibernia 
 is seldom mentioned in the work before us from the 
 period-of Bede's death till the eleventh century. Deal- 
 ing with the work as we find it, however, there is 
 abundant evidence to show that Huntingdon under- 
 stood Scotia to have always been the name for the 
 north-east of present Scotland; and that, like all the 
 other writers whose works have been examined, he was 
 ignorant of its having ever been applied to Ireland. It 
 is necessary to reiterate this statement in order to 
 bring out the fact as clearly as possible that all the 
 ancient English historians who lived near the time 
 when Ireland is said to have been called Scotia, or 
 when the transference of the name to present Scotland 
 is said to have taken place, omit all notice of such an 
 important historical event, as it strengthens the other 
 proofs in favour of Scotland being the only Scotia. 
 1 Bohn's Translation, preface, p. xiii. 
 
so INTERPOLATIOKS IN 
 
 Having dealt at some length with the most of the 
 interpolations in Huntingdon in speaking of those in 
 the Ecclesiastical History of Bede, it is needless to go 
 over the same ground again. A few passages will be 
 referred to in support of what has just been alleged, and 
 this is all that is necessary to add to what has already 
 been said on the subject. With regard to Hunting- 
 don's ignorance of Ireland being called Scotia, we have 
 a plain intimation near the beginning of the history, 
 that is, supposing the passage to have been written by 
 him. That it is an interpolation made for the purpose 
 of showing there were large numbers of Scots in Ire- 
 land, has already been sufficiently demonstrated, but 
 that does not affect the present question. Near the be- 
 ginning of the first book^ it is said that Albion was 
 afterwards called Britain, and then England. Shortly 
 afterwards the Scots' migration from Ireland is spoken 
 of, which country is described and mentioned several 
 times. ^ It is even stated that it was the original 
 country of the Scots. This was the place to say that 
 Ireland was at the time called Scotia, but there is not 
 even a hint given here, or elsewhere in this work, that 
 such was the case. Although the Scots are connected 
 with Ireland, it is always called by that name, or rather 
 Hibernia. This is just what has been done in copying 
 the same information into Bede's History ; and in both 
 instances the interpolators have so far missed their 
 mark. In speaking of Henry of Huntingdon's statement 
 about the Pictish language being entirely lost, and the 
 people being all destroyed, which also occurs at the be- 
 ginning of the first book, Professor Skene says it is not 
 true of the language, if it resembled one of the other 
 1 Bohu's Trauslatioii, JJ. 2. 2 Ibid., pp. 9-12. 
 
ANCIENT ANNALS. SI 
 
 languages mentioned hy Bede and Huntingdon so close- 
 ly that one of the spoken languages might equally re- 
 present it. He adds that it is not true of the people 
 either, as almost in the very year Huntingdon says they 
 were all killed, he mentions the Picts as forming an en- 
 tire division in David the First's army at the hattle of 
 the Standard. 1 This shows how inefficiently the man- 
 ipulators of ancient Scottish history discharged their 
 task, and emphasises the remarks made by Innes on 
 their want of sense and judgment, as quoted above 
 (page 15). 
 
 Passing on to the period when the Pi,omans left the 
 island destitute of armed men, we find Huntingdon re- 
 peating the substance of the passages in Bede, and all 
 the other ancient annalists, relating to the incursions of 
 the Scots and Picts." These have been taken from a 
 preceding writer, Gildas, who never speaks of Ireland 
 or Hibernia. After describing the several successful 
 inroads of the Scots and Picts, Huntingdon then notices 
 their defeat by the Britons, and has the same sentence 
 as we find in the Ecclesiastical History: "The Scots 
 with shame returned to Ireland," or Hibernia.-^ Here 
 a»ain no mention is made of Scotia as the name of Ire- 
 land. 
 
 Huntingdon refers to Palladius being sent to the Scots, 
 as most of the other ancient writers do.^ Shortly after- 
 wards he tells us that the Scots and Picts again attacked 
 the Britons; and here he calls them northern nations,^ 
 like Gildas. With the interpolated passages about Scots 
 comino' from Ireland to Britain, and returning there 
 
 1 Celtic Scotland, vol. i. p. 194. note. 
 
 3 Bohn's Translation, pp, 33-36, 3 Ibid., p. 35. 
 
 4 Jbid,, p. 35, 9 Ibid., p. 36, 
 
82 INTERPOLATIONS IN 
 
 again, readers might have some difficulty in saying which 
 Scots it was to whom Palladius was sent; but tliey have 
 just to remember that Huntingdon lived when Scotia 
 was the well-known name of present Scotland, and if 
 these Scots had been the inhabitants of any other country 
 he would have said so. In Book II. we are told that 
 Oswy subjugated most of the tribes of Scots and Picts 
 who occupied the northern districts of P>ritain; and 
 shortly afterwards it is said that Edgar's dominion ex- 
 tended over all the Scottish people.^ It requires to be 
 noticed that the northern districts of Britain here men- 
 tioned were not Scotia proper, but those districts of 
 Britain adjacent to its southern frontier. There must 
 have been no Scots in Ireland in Edgar's time, for there 
 is no evidence that his dominion extended over that 
 country. 
 
 Passing on to the letter addressed by Laurentius to 
 the Scots, ^ which has already been spoken of in dealing 
 with the same in the Ecclesiastical History, we have the 
 iirst mention of Scotia or Scotland by Huntingdon. If 
 this had been the name of Ireland at the time referred 
 to, a writer, who lived when it was a name for Scotland 
 only, would have said so. i\,nd so with the Scots, to 
 whom Pope Honorius wrote,'' if they had been inhabi- 
 tants of any other country but Scotland Huntingdon 
 would have said so. At page 96* we are told that 
 Osric and Eanfrid had been baptised while they were in 
 exile among the Scots and Picts; and on page 97^ 
 that " Oswald . . . sent into Scotland where he 
 had been exiled." Then these words occur in the next 
 sentence: " The Scots who dwelt in the south of Ireland." 
 
 1 Bohn's Translation, p. 52. 2 Ibid., p. 83. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 94, 1 Ibid, 5 Ibid, 
 
ANCIENT ANNALS. 83 
 
 Here then we have not only a distinction made between 
 Scotland and Ireland, but also between the Scots of 
 Scotland and the Scots of Ireland. Of course this is 
 taking the work as it stands. Several of these passages 
 are evidently interpolations, especially those in which 
 Ireland is mentioned, but their character in this respect 
 has been treated of already. It may not be out of place 
 to enumerate them all here, so that the reader may com- 
 pare them with each other, and with the references to 
 the Scots and Scotia. 
 
 In addition to the instances already noticed, Ireland 
 or the Irish are mentioned on pages 2, 3, 52, 60, 98, 99, 
 102, 106, 114, 117, which takes us up to the year 699, 
 or about 35 years before Bede's death. The words 
 Ireland or Irish do not occur again till the year 945, 
 pages 169 and 170; and then not again till the year 
 1051, page 203. With the exception of the two last, 
 the others have all been dealt with in speaking of the 
 interpolations in Bede's Ecclesiastical History. It is 
 remarkable to find that all the notices of Ireland which 
 occur in Huntingdon up to the year 699 appear also in 
 Bede's work, and that the name is not found again in 
 Huntingdon till the year 945, which is after the time 
 Ethelwerd says Ireland was first so called. 
 
 Besides the notices of the Scots and Scotland already 
 referred to, the following appear: — Pages 4, 8, 38, 54, 
 55, 80. 98, 104, 105, 147, 169, 170, 172, 173, 176, 184, 
 198 204, which takes us to the year 1054. The most 
 of these seem to be a part of the genuine text, and they 
 all refer to the country now called Scotland or its 
 inhabitants. It should be stated that, in the passage on 
 pao'e 80, it is said that there was a controversy with the 
 Soots and Picts about Easter, The Scots are twice 
 
84 INTERPOLATIONS IN ANCIENT ANNALS. 
 
 mentioned here by Huntingdon. Wendover reproduces 
 this passage almost word for word; but neither Scots nor 
 Picts' nor anything about the Easter controversy appears 
 in connection with the same event as narrated by that 
 writer. 
 
 Tliis completes the review of the early annals which 
 have been largely interpolated for the purpose of making 
 people believe that the Scots originally came from Ire- 
 land to Scotland. An examination of these which have 
 only been slightly tampered with for that purpose will 
 be made at the beginning of another treatise, which 
 will deal with the early history of Ireland and Iceland, 
 in so far as it concerns the origin of the Scots.