PRINCETON, N. J.
i t ii
DA 777.3 .155 1853
Innes, Thomas, 1662-1744.
The civil and ecclesiastical
history of Scotland
J EDMONO
ABERDEEN
THE
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2014
https://archive.org/details/civilecclesiastiOOinne
THE
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND;
BY
THOMAS iNNES
A.D. LXXX.— DCCCXVIII.
P R 1 N T E L>
ABERDEEN:
FOR THE SPALDING
MDCCCLIII.
i J- U B.
CEO. C O K .N W A L L, P It I > i T E B. ABERDEEN.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
The Editor's Preface ix
Appendix to Preface xxxix
Chronological Index lv
The Author's Preface lxiii
The Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scotland
— Book First 3
— Book Second 107
— Chronological Memoirs 221
The Index 337
THE SPALDING CLUB.
JSatrfltt.
His Royal Highness PRINCE ALBERT.
The EARL OF ABERDEEN, K.T.
The DUKE OF RICHMOND, K.G.
The DUKE OF SUTHERLAND, K.G.
The EARL OF KINTORE.
The EARL OF SEAFIELD.
LORD SALTOUN.
The Lord Provost of Aberdeen.
Sir Robert Abercromby of Birkenbog, Baronet.
John Angus, Advocate, Town Clerk of Aberdeen.
John Hill Burton, Advocate, Edinburgh.
Sir James Caknegie of Southesk, Baronet.
Charles Chalmers of Monkshill.
P. Chalmers of Auldbar.
The Earl of Cawdor.
Sir W. G. G. Cumming of Altyre, Baronet.
Archibald Davidson, Sheriff of Aberdeenshire.
Vll
THE SPALDING CLUB.
The Earl of Ellesmere.
The Lord Forbes.
Colonel Jonathan Forbes.
James Giles, R.S.A., Aberdeen.
John Gordon of Cairnbulg, Advocate.
Robert Grant of Tillyfour.
George Grub, Advocate, Aberdeen.
COSMO INNES, Advocate, Edinburgh.
The Right Rev. James Kyle, D.D., Preshome.
Lord Lindsay.
Colonel Leslie of Balquhain.
Henry Lumsden of Auchindoir.
Hugh Lumsden of Pitcaple, Sheriff of Sutherlandshire.
Lord Medwyn.
Joseph Robertson, Edinburgh.
William Forbes Skene, W.S.
The Right Rev. Wm. Skinner, D.D., Aberdeen.
Alexander Thomson of Banchory.
John Stuart, Advocate, Aberdeen.
John Blaikie and John Ligertwood, Advocates, Aberdeen.
James Brebner, Advocate; Alex. Pirie, Jun. : Alex. Stroxach,
Advocate.
THE
EDITOR'S PREFACE.
Little is known of the life of Thomas Innes, the author of the
Critical Essay on the Ancient Inhabitants of Scotland, and of the
Civil and Ecclesiastical History which is now printed for the first
time. I will incorporate, in these prefatory remarks, the substance
of what has already been given in the only biographical notices (1)
of which I am aware, and will add any further information which
I have been able to obtain.
Thomas Innes was born at Drumgask, in the parish of Aboyne
and county of Aberdeen, in the year 1662. He was the second
son of James Innes, wadsetter of Drumgask, by his wife Jane
Robertson, daughter of — Robertson, merchant in Aberdeen. (2)
The family of Drumgask was descended from the Inneses of
Drainie, in the county of Murray. The father of Thomas Innes
held Drumgask in mortgage from the Earl of Aboyne, but it
afterwards became the irredeemable property of the familv. James
- M These are the following : — First, the Life of Thomas Innes in Chambers's
Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen, first edit. vol. iii. pp. 182-186;
second, a notice in the Preface to the Second Volume of the Miscellany of the
Spalding Club, pp. cxiv-cxxi ; third, a notice in the Preface to the Chartulary of
the Church of Glasgow, pp. vi-viii.
(2) The date of Thomas Innes's birth is mentioned on the fly-leaf of a missal
belonging to the late family of Ballogie. He himself alludes to Aboyne as the
parish of his birth in his History, p. 301, at the conclusion of his remarks on
S. Adamnan, to whom the parish church was dedicated.
PREFACE.
Innes of Drumgask appears in the lists of the Commissioners of
Supply, named for the Sheriffdom of Aberdeen in the first Parlia-
ment of Kino- James VII., and in the Convention of Estates in
1689. ;1 As he was a conscientious member of the Church of
Rome, it is not likely that he acted on the latter of these occasions.
In the Parliament of King James he was, with several others,
exempted by name from taking the Oath of Supremacy and the
Test. 2; A letter from him to his eldest son Lewis, dated 7th
May, 1683, is printed in the second volume of the Miscellany of
the Spalding Club. It conveys a very agreeable impression of the
writer, and shews the religious principle and mutual affection
which bound together the family of Drumgask.
In 1677j Thomas Innes, then fifteen years of age, was sent to
Paris, and pursued his studies at the College of Navarre. He
entered the Scots College on the 12th of January, 16S1, but still
attended the College of Navarre. !; On the 26th of May, 1684,
he received the clerical tonsure, and, on the 10th March, 1691,
was promoted to the priesthood. After this he went to Notre-
Dame des Vertues, a seminary of the Oratorians, near Paris,
where he continued for two or three months. Returning to the
Scots College in 1692, he assisted the Principal, his elder brother
Lewis, in arranging the records of the Church of Glasgow, 1 which
had been deposited partly in that college, partly in the Carthusian
( ,J Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, vol. viii. p. 463, and vol. ix. p. 47:.'.
■-< AVodrow's History, Burns' edit. vol. iv. p. 347.
i 3 > Spalding Club Miscellany, vol. ii. p. cxvi. There is in the Library at
Blairs a copy of Dion Cassius, awarded to him by the College of Navarre, 19th
August, 1681, for a Greek oration.
' 4 > Spalding Club Miscellany, vol. ii. p. 370. Registrum Episcopatus Glas-
guensis, Preface, p. vi.
PKKFACE.
XI
monastery at Paris by Archbishop James Beaton. In 1694 he
took the degree of Master of Arts in the University of Paris, and,
in the following- year, was matriculated in the German nation.
After officiating as a priest for two years in the parish of
Magnay, in the diocese of Paris, he came again to the Scots Col-
lege in 1G97- I" the spring of 1698 he returned to his native
country, and officiated, for three years, at Inveravon as a priest of
the Scottish Mission. C2) The Church at 1 nveravon was the pre-
bend of the Chancellor of the diocese of Murray, and he alludes
to this circumstance, and to his three years' residence in that
parish, in his Dissertation on the reception of the Use of Sarum
by the Church of Scotland. 13 ' He again went to Paris, in October,
1701, and became Prefect of Studies in the Scots College, and
Mission Agent. (4)
I have been unable to trace any external change in the con-
dition of Thomas Innes for more than twenty years after the event
last mentioned. He was no doubt occupied in the quiet discharge
of his duties, and in those literary pursuits by which his name is
now known. One circumstance appears to have caused him con-
siderable uneasiness. He fell, with some, under the suspicion of
Jansenism. There is no evidence of any formal accusation having
becn made against him, but in France, in the beginning of last
centurv, the mere suspicion of Jansenism was enough to cause
(1 > Spalding Club Miscellany, vol. ii. p. c.w i.
« Ibid.
W Ibid. p. 366.
;4) Ibid. p. cxvi.
5) The Statement quoted in the Miscellany of the Spalding Club, vol. ii.
p cxviii, is avowedly destitute of much authority, and, in point of time, is irre-
concilable with the true order of events in Innes's life, unless James II. be a mis
take for James III.
B 2
xn
PREFACE.
serious injury to a clergyman, not only in popular estimation, but
with the authorities in Church and State. His known intimacy
with Rollin, Duguet, and Santeul, may probably have given rise to
the suspicion. He himself was much vexed in consequence ; and,
in the year 1J20, his brother Lewis, in what appears to have been
a formal letter to the Vicar-General of the Bishop of Apt, con-
tradicted a report that he had concurred in the appeal to a
General Council against the condemnation of Quesnel's Moral
Reflections, by Pope Clement XI. ;I) There is no appearance of
Jansenism in his historical works, although they mark clearly his
decided opposition to Ultramontanism.
After a long absence he again visited his native country. The
object of his visit was probably to collect materials for his Essay
and his History. I have not ascertained the date of his leaving
France, or how long he continued in Britain. It is known that
he was in Edinburgh during the winter of 1724-, and that he had
come thither through England. This appears from a notice in
the Analecta of Wodrow/ 25 whose curiosity was naturally excited
by the appearance of a Roman Catholic priest from abroad. This
notice is valuable, also, as alluding to the work now printed, and
may, therefore, be given at length : —
" There is one Father Innes, a priest, brother to Father Innes
" of the Scots College at Paris, who has been in Edinburgh all
" this winter, and mostly in the Advocates' Library, in the hours
" when open, looking books and manuscripts. He is not engaged
W Spalding Club Miscellany, vol. ii. p. cxvii.
< 2 ) Analecta, vol. iii. pp. 516, 517. These passages arc quoted, though not
altogether at full length, in Chambers's Biographical Dictionary, vol. iii. p. 183.
and in the Miscellany of the Spalding Club, vol. ii. pp. cxviii, cxix.
PREFACE.
xiii
in politics, so far as can be guessed ; and is a monkish, bookish,
person, who meddles with nothing but literature. I saw him at
Edinburgh. He is upon a design to write an account of the
first settlement of Christianity in Scotland, as Mr Ruddiman
informs me, and pretends to show that Scotland was Chris-
tianized at first from Rome, and thinks to answer our ordinary
arguments against this from the difference between the keeping
of Easter from the custom of Rome ; and pretends to prove that
there were many variations as to the day of Easter, even at
Rome ; and that the usages in Scotland, pretended to be from
the Greek Church, are very agreeable to the Romish customs,
and, he thinks, were used by the Popes about the time which
he gives account of our difference as to Easter.
" This Father Innes, in a conversation with my informer, my
Lord Grange, made an observation which, I fear, is too true.
In conversation with the company, who were all Protestants, he
said he did not know what to make of those who had separated
from the Catholic Church : as far as he could observe generally,
they were leaving the foundations of Christianity, and scarce
deserved the name of Christians. He heard that there were
departures and great looseness in Holland ; that, as he came
through England, he found most of the bishops there gone off
from their Articles, and gone into Dr. Clarke's Scheme ; that
the Dissenters were, many of them, falling much in with the
same methods and coming near them ; and that he was glad to
find his countrymen in Scotland not tainted in the great doctrine
of the Trinity and sound. Some in the company said, it seems
he had not heard of what was thrown up here as to Mr Simson.
He said he knew it, but the ministers were taking him to task
and mauling him for his departure from the Faith."
\1 V
PREFACE.
As lias been said, the duration of his sojourn in Britain on this
occasion has not been ascertained. Either now or at other times he
must have made a stav uf considerable length. His Essav, his
History, and his manuscript collections, shew that he had carefullv
examined the chief public and private repositories of books and
manuscripts connected with his subject, both in England and in
Scotland. In his letter to " The King," transmitting the newlv
published volumes of his Critical Essay, he speaks of having spent
many years in the search and examination into all he could hear
of within Great Britain of the remains of what related to the His-
tory and Antiquities of Scotland/ 1 It would evidently, however,
be incorrect to suppose that he had spent manv years within
Britain in this search. Most of his authorities were to be found
in the continental Libraries, then untouched by the spoiler ;
indeed, he drew from thence important materials, which no library
in our island could have supplied him with, and he might have
obtained copies of documents in this country, which his visit in
17 l 24 enabled him to verify more accurately. The words used by
him in the extract from Wodrow, in reference to the heretical
opinions entertained by many of the bishops in England, imply
that he had not been long in that kingdom previous to his coming
to Scotland. While in his native country at this time, he appears
to have crone northward as far as Aberdeen. This, at least, is the
most natural meaning to be attached to his own words. In his
sketch of the life of Boece, he speaks of " much search at Aber-
deen," 2 as to how long that writer survived the publication of his
History. In his Dissertation on the Use of Sarum, he mentions
that he had seen the St. Andrews Missal, belonging to Lord Ar-
Spalding Club Miscellany, vol. ii. p. 353.
- Critical Essay, p. 216.
PREFACE
XV
buthnot. 1 ' The missal might, no doubt, have been sent to him at
Edinburgh, as the Chartularies of St. Andrews and Brechin, and
other valuable works in the possession of the Earl of Panmure,
appear to have been. <2) That he went farther north than Edin-
burgh is certain, as he refers to an ancient breviary and missal
which he had seen at Drummond Castle.' 3 He had, at all events,
returned to Paris before December, 1727 5 at which time he was
appointed Vice-Principal of the Scots College ; but he must have
been again at London while his Essay was in the course of being
printed, as he refers, in the second paragraph of his letter above
mentioned, to the danger to which he would personally have been
exposed at that time had the object of his work been fully ex-
plained. A] The Essay was published at London in 1729, and, in
the course of that year, he was once more in France.
The letter to the Chevalier is dated Paris, 17th October, 1729.
His Letter on the Ancient Form of holding Synods in Scotland,
addressed to Dr. Wijkins, and prefixed to the first volume of the
Concilia Magna? Britannia? et Hibernise, is dated at Paris, the
23d November, 17-35. Thomas Innes died at the Scots College,
on the 28th of January, 1744, in the eighty-second year of his age.
Such are the scanty memorials which I have been able to col-
lect in regard to the life of this learned man. The service done
by him to the historical literature of his country by the publication
of the Critical Essay is well known, but his labours, and the bene-
fits we owe to them, are by no means to be measured bv that work,
(| ) Spalding Club Miscellany, vol. ii. p. 365.
t - -) Critical Essay, p. 585-
3 Ibid. p. 565.
< 4 > Spalding Club Miscellany, vol. ii. p. 353.
XVI
PREFACE.
and those already referred to by name. Next to his religious and
professional duties, he devoted himself to researches in Scottish
history and antiquities, and the results of his inquiries were
always freely available to every one who requested his assistance.
Many proofs remain of the extent and accuracy of his re-
searches, and of his readiness to make them useful to others.
Five closely written volumes, mostly in his own hand, of his
manuscript collections in Scottish history still exist, and are now
in the possession of Mr. Laing, Keeper of the Signet Library, Edin-
burgh. A thick quarto volume of collections and dissertations is at
Preshome, under the charge of the Right Reverend Bishop Kyle.
The papers printed in the second volume of the Miscellany of our
Club have already been repeatedly referred to. Mention is there
made of Innes having " been in habits of communication with
" more than one of the few cultivators of Scottish antiquities in
" his time." (1) His Letter to Professor John Ker, of King's Col-
lege, Aberdeen, is particularly noticed. Besides the Letter on the
Ancient Form of holding Synods in Scotland, he supplied Dr.
Wilkins with the canons of the later Scottish Councils. The as-
sistance which he gave to Bishop Keith in his History, and in his
Catalogue of Scottish Bishops, is less known. In the former work,
the Bishop, while acknowledging his obligations to the Author of
the Critical Essay, takes the opportunity of mentioning the good
service which he and his elder brother had done in arranging the
papers of the Scots College. (2) In reference to the Catalogue of
Scottish Bishops, which was not published till eleven years after
O Preface, p. cxx.
- History, folio edit. p. 151 ; Spottiswoode Society edit. vol. i. pp. 323, 324.
PREFACE.
xvii
the death of Innes, the editor of the Chartulary of the Church of
Glasgow was the first, so far as I am aware, to point out how much
Keith was indebted to his learned countryman. 111
There is yet another work, not hitherto alluded to, which has
been attributed by some to Thomas Innes — the Life of King
James II., published from the Stuart MSS. by Mr. Stanier
Clarke, in 1816. There is little external evidence to assist an in-
quiry into the correctness of this opinion. But such evidence as
there is, points to Lewis Innes rather than to his brother as the com-
piler of these Memoirs. It is certain that the original Memoirs,
written by King James himself, from which the Life is compiled,
were deposited in the Scots College under the special charge of
Lewis Innes. r2) This would also account for what has been re-
marked in regard to the internal evidence of the work itself — that
the language appears to connect it with a Scotsman. On this
subject more need not be added here. Reference may be made to
the remarks upon it in Lord Holland's Preface to Fox's History
of James II., in Mr. Clarke's Preface to the Memoirs, and in the
Life of Thomas Innes in Chambers's Biographical Dictionary.
What has been said, imperfect as it is, will, perhaps shew the
chief features by which the character of Thomas Innes was dis-
tinguished. Sufficient evidence of his worth is to be found in the
reputation of those with whom he associated, and in the manner
in which he is spoken of by all who knew him. His intimacy
with some of the most pious divines of the Gallican Church has
already been alluded to. But, beyond the bounds of his own com-
munion, he was esteemed by all who were acquainted with him.
(| J Registrum Episcopatus Glasgucnsis, Preface, pp. vii, viii.
l2 > Life of James II., Preface, pp. xx, xxi.
C
Will
PREFACE.
The accomplished Atterbury, and the learned and modest Ruddi-
man, appear to have been equally attracted towards him. Even
Wodrow — although it is not clear whether he had ever conversed
with him — influenced, probably, by the one point of sympathy
between them, seems to have had a sort of liking for the " monkish
bookish person," whom he saw pursuing his antiquarian researches
at Edinburgh. He was on terms of intimacy with Bishop Archi-
bald Campbell, and Bishop Keith speaks of him as " his worthy
and learned friend."
Before proceeding to consider more particularly the literary
character cf Thomas Innes, in connection with his Critical Essay
and the History now printed, a brief account may be given of the
other members of his family, and of its subsequent fortunes: —
James Innes, of Drumgask, had six sons — Lewis, Thomas,
Charles (his successor in Drumgask), "Walter, Francis, and John,
and one daughter, Elizabeth.
The eldest son, Lewis, was born at Walkerdales, in the Enzie,
in 1651. He studied at Paris, and, on the death of Principal
Robert Barclay, in February, 1682, was appointed Principal of
the Scots College there. The institution, which afterwards re-
ceived the name of the Scots College of Paris, originated in an
endowment given by David, Bishop of Murray, in the beginning
of the fourteenth century. Archbishop James Beaton of Glasgow,
was a great benefactor to it, and was looked upon as its second
founder. He appointed the Convent of the Carthusians in Paris
to be the overseers of his foundation/" and, as already mentioned,
had deposited the records of the Church of Glasgow, along with
'" Spalding Club Miscellany, vol. ii. p. 369.
PREFACE.
XIX
his own papers, partly in the College, partly in the Chartreuse.
Along with his brother Thomas, Lewis Innes devoted himself to
the preservation and arrangement of those records. He took a
conspicuous part in the proceedings connected with the vindication
of the authenticity of the famous charter which established the
legitimacy of King Robert the Third. The Principal carried this
charter to St. Germains, where it was shown to King James and
the nobility and gentry of his Court. He afterwards submitted it
to an examination by the most famous antiquaries of France, in-
cluding Renaudot, Baluze, Mabillon, and Ruinart, in the presence
of several of the Scottish nobility and gentry, at a solemn assembly
held in the Abbey of S. Germain -des-Pres, on the 26th of May,
l694. ll)
Lewis Innes is said to have been one of five who acted as a
Cabinet Council to James II., at St. Germains, on his return from
Ireland in 1690. (2) On the 11th November, 1701, he was ad-
mitted Almoner to the Queen-Mother, Mary of Este, an office
which he had previously held while she was Queen Consort. On
23d December, 1713, he was admitted Almoner to her son, the
Chevalier de St. George, and, on 17th March, 1714, a warrant was
issued for appointing him Lord Almoner. t3) In 1713, he resigned
the office of Principal of the Scots College. His resignation was
O See Letter of Thomas Lines to the University of Glasgow, Spalding Club
Miscellany, vol. ii. p. 370 ; Kuddiman's Preface to the Diplomata Scotiae, p. 37 ;
and the attestation of the Charter, pp. 27-30, as printed at Paris in 1G95. The
date of 12th January, given as that of the Assembly in the letter, is a mistake
into which Innes probably fell from that being the date of the Charter itself, and
his thus confusing the two while writing.
' 2 ' Life of James II., vol. ii. p. 411.
!3 > Spalding Club Miscellany, vol. ii. pp. 376, 377. Life of James II., Pre-
face, p. xx.
c 2
>
XX
PREFACE.
caused by his being constantly occupied with the political affairs
of the exiled house. He appears to have acted as a sort of con-
fidential secretary. Repeated allusions to him are to be found
scattered through the printed volume of the Stuart Papers. In
the beginning of I7I8 he was set aside from his office. It is not
easy to ascertain the exact nature of the transactions which led to
this, but the following circumstances may be mentioned : — When
the Convocation of Canterbury was prorogued by George the First,
whose ministers were alarmed by the proceedings of the lower
house — a prorogation which resulted in the Convocations of both
provinces not being allowed to meet again for the despatch of
business — the well-known Charles Leslie wrote to the Chevalier
that the members of the English Church were disgusted with the
tyrannical exercise of the prerogative of the Crown, and that the
adherents of James were afraid that, in the event of a Restora-
tion, similar dangers might be apprehended. He, therefore,
advised the Chevalier to address a letter ostensibly to himself, but
intended really for the English clergy in general, promising ample
security to the Church of England. James acted on this advice,
and Lewis Innes having made a translation of the letter into
French, was accused of putting a false interpretation on certain
parts which might materially injure his master in England. For
this, and some other reasons, not exactly known, he was discharged
from acting in the Chevalier's employment.' 0 The precise time
during which he remained unemployed does not exactly appear,
but within a few years, he was again in confidential communi-
cation with his master. He seems to have been one of those
(; > See Stuart Papers, vol. i. pp. 24, 25, 37.
PREFACE.
xxi
most trusted in the important business of securing Bishop Atter-
bury's papers, which, on that prelate's decease, were taken posses-
sion of and deposited in the Scots College. 0 '
Lewis Innes appears to have materially assisted in defraying
the expenses attending the composition and publication of the
Critical Essay. t2) He died at Paris on the 23d of January, 1738.
In answer to a letter from his brother Thomas, communicating the
intelligence of his decease, the Chevalier expressed his concern that
he had lost a most faithful servant, who possessed a capacity and
zeal for his service not always to be found in the same person.
Thirty-seven years before, similar testimony had been borne by
the Chevalier's father to the zeal, discretion, and affection of Lewis
Innes. f3)
Walter, the fourth son of James Innes, of Drumgask, studied
at the Scots College at Rome. He resided for sometime in France,
and returned to Scotland as a missionary priest in 1688. He was
imprisoned in 1690 for exercising his duties as a missionary, but
being liberated in April, 1 691, went to France in the end of the
same year, and from thence to Rome, to assist William Lesly, the
mission-agent. In May, 1700, he again came to Scotland as a
missionary. In 1703, or 1704, he publicly officiated in the hall of
his brother's house at Drumgask, wherein, it is mentioned, an altar
was placed, (4) and, in 1715, it is known that he continued to be
stationed on Deeside, in the neighbourhood of the family property.
(1 ) See Preface to the Stuart Papers, passim.
(2) See Thomas Innes's Letter to " The King," Spalding Club Miscellany,
vol. ii. p. 356.
(3 > Spalding Club Miscellany, vol. ii. p. 379. Life of James II., Preface,
pp. xx, xxi.
(4 > Blackhall's Ikieflc Narration, Appendix to Preface, p. xxxv.
XXII
PREFACE.
In June, 1722, he left Scotland and went to France. He died
on the 15th of August in the same year, at his benefice in that
country,
Francis, the fifth son, was married to Jean Maitland, and had
issue, James, Lewis, Charles, Robert (afterwards a Jesuit priest),
and Elizabeth. He was Baillie of Aboyne in l690. (1)
John, the sixth sod, was born on the 31st July, 1668. He
entered the novitiate as a Jesuit, at Watten, in October, 1688, and
two years afterwards completed his vows at Vienna. He studied
philosophy at Gratz, and theology at Vienna. He was occa-
sionally known by the name of Robison, assumed probably from
that of his mother's family. He officiated occasionally at Glen-
garden/-- and was afterwards a missionary in Russia for eleven
years. He returned to Scotland in 1718, and served as a mis-
sionary in Galloway, where he died 6th May, 1757. (3)
Charles, the third son of James Innes, who succeeded to Drum-
gask on his father's decease, was bora in 1663. He was married
to Claudia Irvine, and had three sons, Lewis, James his successor,
and George, and four daughters, Jane, Elizabeth, Henrietta, and
Claudia/ 4 ' In consequence of his brother Lewis's, and his own
services to the house of Stuart, he had an annual pension of two
hundred pounds from the Court of St. Germains. 5) He died on
the 21st November, 17^6, aged eighty-three.
(1 > List of Pollable Persons within the Shire of Aberdeen, vol. i. p. 66.
< 2 > Blackhall's Brieffe Narration, p. xxxi.
W Oliver's Collections on the Scotch, English, and Irish Members of the
Society of Jesus, p. 24.
4 > Blackhall's Brieffe Narration, p. xxxv.
I 5 ) Spalding Club Miscellany, vol. ii. pp. 376, 377.
PREFACE.
Lewis, eldest son of Charles Innes of Drumgask, predeceased
his father, dying on the 26th May, 1729-
George, the third son, studied at Paris, in the College of
Navarre. He came to the Scottish mission in October, 1712,
and, in 1713, was appointed President of Scalan College, in Glen-
livet. In November, 1727, he returned to Paris, and became
Prefect of Studies in the Scots College. On the 10th of October,
1738, he succeeded Principal Whitford as Head of the College,
and died there on the 29th April, 1752. (1)
James, second son of Charles Innes, succeeded his father in
Drumgask. He married Catherine, daughter of George Gordon
of Glastirum, and niece of Bishop Gordon, V.A., and acquired
the estate of Balnacraig. He had four sons, Lewis his successor,
Charles, Alexander, and Henry, and two daughters, Elizabeth and
Jane. He died on the 11th February, I786.
Charles, second son of James Innes, of Balnacraig and Drum-
gask was a merchant in Riga. He purchased the estate of Ballogie,
and, dying unmarried, left it to his elder brother Lewis.
Alexander, the third son, was a priest, and a member of the
Scots College at Paris. His name appears prominently in the
rather obscure accounts which remain relative to the records in
the Scots College at the time of the first French Revolution. (2)
The College had its full share in the calamities of that dread-
ful time. George Innes had been succeeded as Principal by John
W Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis, Preface, p. xiii ; and Spalding Club
Miscellany, vol. ii. p. 379.
(2 > See on this point Lord Holland's Preface to Fox's History of King James
II. ; Mr. Stanier Clarke's Preface to the Life of James II. ; the Preface to the
Chartulary of the Church of Glasgow ; and an article on the Ecclesiastical Anti-
quities of Scotland, Quarterly Review, No. cxliv.
xxiv
PREFACE.
Gordon, and probably on the decease of the latter in 1777> Alex-
ander Gordon became Principal. 1 " In September, 1792, the
Principal escaped from Paris after refusing to take the new re-
publican oath, and came to Scotland. The other members of the
College also fled, and Alexander Innes alone remained. He was
imprisoned, and was only saved in consequence of the death of
Robespierre taking place on the day appointed for his execution. 12 '
Alexander Innes appears to have continued at Paris. He was
there at all events in 1798 and 1802. He had succeeded as
Principal of the College, or at least discharged the duties of that
office, and died on the 14th September, 1803. (3)
Henry, the fourth son of James Innes, was also a member of
the Scots College at Paris, and Procurator and Prefect of Studies.
Two letters from Prince Charles Edward to Henry Innes are
printed in the second volume of the Miscellany of the Club. After
leaving France he was for some time chaplain to an English family
in Devonshire. He came to Scotland about the year 1800, and
officiated as clergyman at Balnacraig till his death on the 11th
November, 1833, in the eighty-seventh year of his age.
Lewis, the eldest son of James Innes, succeeded his father in
Balnacraig, and, as already mentioned, acquired Ballogie from his
brother Charles. He was married to a daughter of Provost Young
of Aberdeen, and had one son, William, and a daughter, Mary.
William was educated at the Scots College of Douay, was a priest,
W Compare Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis, Preface, p. iii, and p. viii,
Analecta Scotica, vol. i. pp. 10-13, and Spalding Club Miscellany, vol. ii. p. 379.
Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis, Preface, p. viii. Preface to Fox's
History of James II., p. xxii.
(3) Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis, Preface, p. viii. Preface to Fox's
James II., pp. xxiii, xxiv.
PREFACE.
XXV
and officiated for some time at Drummond Castle, afterwards at
Carlogie, on the family property. He died in January, 1836.
Mary was a nun at Paris, of the order of the Poor Clares. Lewis
Innes of Balnacraig and Ballogie died on the 27th day of Novem-
ber, 1815, leaving his estates to Lewis Farquharson, a son of the
house of Inverey.
The preceding brief record of this family of priests may not be
altogether uninteresting. For the greater part of the information
on which it is founded, I am indebted to the kindness of the Reve-
rend George A. Griffin, formerly of S. Mary's College, Blairs,
now of New Abbey.
The College with which the Innes family were so intimately
connected was never restored to the condition in which it was
before the French Revolution. A considerable part of the pro-
perty was lost altogether ; the Roman Catholic bishops in Scotland
succeeded in preserving the rest. The institution itself no longer
exists; but the manor near Paris, the original endowment of the
Bishop of Murray, still remains with the Scottish mission — a link
connecting the present day with the age of Bruce.
Thomas Innes has hitherto been chiefly known by his Critical
Essay, and on that work his fame will no doubt mainly continue to
rest. Its merits have long been universally admitted. It has been
well remarked, with particular reference to Pinkerton and Chal-
mers, that " authors who agree in nothing else have united to build
" on the foundations which Innes laid, and to extol his learning and
" accuracy, his candour and sagacity." (l)
ll) See Spalding Club Miscellany, vol. ii. Preface, p. cxv, and passages cited
from the Enquiry and Caledonia.
D
PREFACE.
It is needless to say more on this point ; but it is proper to
make some remarks regarding the History now printed for the
first time. The Preface to the Essay made its readers aware that
that work was only to serve as an introduction to another on the
Ecclesiastical History of Scotland. After mentioning that he had
laid aside for some time the first rude draft of the Essay, Innes
adds, — " But being afterwards prevailed upon to search into, and
" to endeavour to give some account of the beginning and progress
" of the doctrine and discipline of the Christian Church in our
" northern parts of the island, and it appearing impossible to give
" any distinct account of the religious history of any country with-
" out that the civil state of it and that of its inhabitants were first
" well understood ; for these reasons, and being otherwise satisfied
" that nothing solid or lasting could be built upon the schemes of
" our civil history and antiquities such as our own modern writers,
" especiallv Boece and Buchanan, had left, I found myself obliged
" to resume the rude draft I had formerly made of this Essay, as
" the onlv sure foundation on which I could venture any distinct
" or lasting account of the religious part of our history. Where-
" fore, having made a new examination of all contained in it, after
" retrenching what seemed superfluous, and adding new observa-
" tions, I reduced the whole into the method and order in which
" it now appears. And being thus reduced into a continued series
" and distinct order, I could not refuse to show it to some few
" honourable persons versed in the history of our own and of other
" countries, and on whose judgment I might depend and confide
" in. I found them, after they had read and considered it, of
" opinion that the facts asserted in it were supported with such
" proofs, and the whole written with such regard to the true honour
PREFACE.
xxvii
" of our country, that it could not fail to be acceptable to the
" learned among our countrymen who loved truth and the real
" honour of Scotland, and therefore they insisted that it ought to
" be published by itself without waiting for the ecclesiastical part,
" which was scarce begun, and which might be obstructed by the
" advanced age of the author, and twenty other accidents, from ever
" being continued on or perfected." (l)
With these passages may be compared what he himself had
communicated to Ruddiman on the subject of this work, as already
quoted in the extract from Wodrow's Analecta.
For many years it was not known in Scotland what had become
of this Ecclesiastical History, or second part of the Critical Essay.
Pinkerton, while remarking that " it may be easily seen to what
" side he would incline," adds, " there is great room to regret that
" he did not publish this second part." t2j George Chalmers was
more fortunate in this respect than his antiquarian rival. He had
the History in his possession, and freely availed himself of it, as
will be afterwards particularly mentioned. The references to it
in the Caledonia naturally led to the wish that the whole work
might be published. Such wishes have repeatedly been expressed.
A transcript of the History had been purchased at the sale of
George Chalmers's MSS., and deposited in the Advocates' Library ;
and for a considerable time back it had been in contemplation by
the Council of our Club to print a work recommended by the high
merits of its author, and by his relation to the district of Scotland
with which we are more immediately connected.
C Critical Essay, Preface, pp. vii, viii. See also Preface, p. xxi, and Essay,
pp. 1, 728, 760, and passim.
W Enquiry, edit. 1814, Introduction, p. lxiv.
D 2
XXV111
PREFACE.
The first point to be ascertained was in regard to the existing
manuscripts of the History. It was known that a part of the His-
tory was in possession of the Right Reverend Bishop Kyle at
Preshome. The Bishop, with his wonted liberality, to which, on
former occasions, this and other literary clubs have been highly in-
debted, at once gave us the use of this manuscript, and consented
that it should be printed.
The Preshome MS. is a folio of two hundred and thirty-eight
pages, exclusive of a chronological index containing nine pages,
and a preface of two pages. It is very distinctly and accurately
written. The text is corrected, and the whole notes, references,
and dates are filled in by the author with his own hand. It is
evidently a complete transcript of this part of the work prepared
for the press under the superintendence of Innes himself ; and it
contains, besides the chronological table and author's preface, the
first two books of the History exactly as now printed from it, and
ends with the death of S. Columba in 597«
The following particulars are all which I have been able to
learn in regard to the history of this transcript. When Abbe
Paul M'Pherson, afterwards Rector of the Scots College at Rome,
passed through Paris in 1798, he received from Alexander Innes,
the grand nephew of Thomas Innes (who, as already mentioned,
remained at Paris after the other members of the College had re-
tired), several books and papers which were still in his possession.
Among these were the transcript forming the first MS. volume of
the History, five volumes of the author's manuscript collections,
and the volume of the extracts and dissertations already referred
to, and now at Preshome. Abbe M'Pherson carried these to
England, and, while in London, lent them to George Chalmers.
PREFACE.
xxix
He afterwards presented to Chalmers the volumes of the collec-
tions which he considered to be his own property, and which now
belong to Mr. Laing. It would also seem that the Abbe or
Alexander Innes either presented to Chalmers the other MSS.
of Thomas Innes, or at least that Chalmers thought this was the
case, and that he had consequently a right to retain them. But
the bishops of the Scottish mission reclaimed these MSS., and
got back the first volume of the History, and the volume of ex-
tracts and dissertations. While the MSS. were in his posses-
sion, Chalmers got a transcript made of the first volume of the
History, and this was afterwards purchased for the Advocates'
Library. Besides this copy there had also been acquired for the
Advocates' Library a transcript executed under the superintendence
of Chalmers of a continuation of the History. This transcript is a
folio of one hundred and ninety-one pages, and contains the history
of Scotland from the accession of Garnard son of Wid King of the
Picts, in 636, to the accession of Hungus son of Urgust, in 821.
There is thus a blank of forty years between the end of the first
volume and the commencement of the continuation. This tran-
script is frequently very erroneous; the proper names and Latin
words are particularly inaccurate. It has no chronological table
prefixed to it, it is not divided into books or chapters, and the
authorities are not quoted in the same careful manner as in the first
volume. There is a pencil note to the following effect on a blank
leaf of the MS., which is thought to be in Chalmers's own hand-
writing : — " History of North Britain or Scotland, Ecclesiastical
" and Civil. By Thomas Innes, M.A. of the Scots College at
" Paris. Transcribed from the original MS. in Thomas Innes's
" own writing. This appears to have been the first draught of the
XXX
PREFACE.
" second volume of his Ecclesiastical and Civil History of Scotland
" which he did not live to perfect for the press." The continua-
tion of the History contained in the second volume is quoted by
Chalmers in his Caledonia. The quotations made from it are
referred to only by the year in which the event took place, while
those from the former volume are distinguished by the sections into
which that part of the work is divided. (l)
I made enquiries for the purpose of ascertaining what had be-
come of the MS. from which Chalmers had made this transcript of
the second volume, and for some time without success. But on
examining the volumes of the collections now belonging to Mr.
Laing, with the use of which the Club had been favoured, I found
what is no doubt the original draft of the continuation, and that
from which Chalmers's copy was taken. The second of these
volumes contains a narrative marked H., commencing abruptly
as in the History now printed, and as in Chalmers's transcript,
with the words : — " All this considered." This narrative forms
the basis both of the transcript and of the present text, but omis-
sions are supplied and mistakes corrected from another narrative
or rather series of memoranda in the same volume marked G. The
narratives G. and H, contain mutual references, and generally
mention where the one is to be read in connection with the other.
The two narratives are both in Innes's own handwriting. That
marked G. contains seventy-three quarto pages, and H. one
hundred and six pages of the same size. They are not arranged
under chapters or divisions of any kind ; it is frequently difficult
to discover what authorities are referred to ; and where quotations
W Compare references in Caledonia, vol. i. pp. 315, 320, 322, 323, with those
at pp. 325, 327.
PREFACE.
xxxi
are incorporated into the text, it is repeatedly done, not by giving
them at length, as in the first volume, but by a simple direction
with reference to the original.
These chronological memoirs begin, as already mentioned, forty
years after the death of Columba, with which the first volume con-
cludes, and end with the commencement of the ninth century.
There must, no doubt, have been a similar narrative of the events
of these forty years, but I have been unable to discover it. It was
evidently not in Chalmers's possession, otherwise it would have ap-
peared in his transcript. From a note at the beginning of H. the
lost portion appears to have been marked C. It is not likely that
the continuation of the History was ever brought by Innes into a
more perfect form than that in which we now have it.
A few words may be added regarding the plan which has been
adopted in editing the History.
The text of the first two books, with the author's chronological
index, and preface, is printed as in the original transcript. Obvious
clerical errors have been corrected, but the words of the author
otherwise have been retained. The spelling has occasionally been
slightly altered. The author's notes and references are given as in
the original, except in a few cases where the mere form of quoting-
is simplified for the sake of convenience. I regret that in many
cases it was out of my power to verify the references. But it is
to be hoped that there are, notwithstanding, few errors in this
respect, so far as the first two books are concerned. These refe-
rences are filled in with Innes's own hand, and all who have any
knowledge of his writings are aware how accurate he generally is.
In regard to the remaining portion of the History my task was
not so simple. The incomplete state of the MS., and the manner
XXX11
PREFACE.
in which the two parts of it are put together made it frequently
a matter of some difficulty to ascertain the reading, and to fill in
the references, and Chalmers's transcript afforded little assistance
in this respect. But it was thought desirable to preserve what Innes
had written, although in an imperfect form, even at the risk of
occasional mistakes being made; and Mr. Laing having most
readily given his permission, a transcript of the chronological
memoirs, derived from the two sources formerly mentioned, was
carefullv prepared for the Club by Mr. Francis Shaw. From this
transcript the continuation has now been printed. The passages
therein which are quoted at length from Bede, are taken from Dr.
Giles's translation.
The very few notes which I have made in any part of the
History are distinguished from those of the author by numbers in-
stead of letters, and by being enclosed within brackets.
Referring to his Critical Essav in the Preface to that work. : '
Innes remarks : — " From these and such other reasons, I was at
" last persuaded to let it appear rather from my own hand than
" from that of anv other, being unwilling to have the manv faults
" or mistakes of my own, that I doubt not will be found in it,
" augmented by those which an editor not so well accustomed to
" the style or matter, besides errors or mistakes in the copy, might
" add to it." What the author thus avoided in regard to the
Essay, it is to be .feared may now have taken place in printing the
History. But whatever errors may have been committed, the
work itself will be no unimportant addition to the ecclesiastical
literature of our country. It is written in the same simple and
fl ) Critical Essay, Preface, pp. \iii, ix.
PREFACE.
xxxiii
perspicuous style which distinguishes the Critical Essay, its greatest
defect being the occurrence of frequent Gallicisms, a circumstance
which the personal history of the author sufficiently explains.
The narrative is founded on a careful examination of the best
existing authorities. No such examination had been made by pre-
vious writers on the ecclesiastical history of Scotland. These
writers were generally ignorant of the real sources of authentic
history, and made no proper use of what they did know. Innes,
at once admitting that his materials were scanty, and that he was
frequently obliged to use doubtful authorities to some extent, made
the most careful enquiries as to the best sources of information,
and when he found them, made the best use of them. Where he
was obliged to rely on doubtful guides or probable conjecture, he
warns his readers that such is the case. The earlier part of his
work is derived from the authentic accounts of the Latin and
Greek historians of the Empire. As he advances, and before he
enters on the full current of the History of Venerable Bede, the
narrative is derived from a great variety of sources, — chiefly from
the ancient Lives of the Saints. In using these last he avails
himself of the critical aids in the way of a just appreciation of
their authority, which he found in the works of the great school of
ecclesiastical history in France, with some of whose brightest orna-
ments he was personally familiar. From the time of S. Columba
till nearly the close of his narrative, he possesses the invaluable
guidance of Bede.
Something may now be said as to the spirit in which Innes's
work is written. So far as the proper narrative is concerned, it
will be difficult to find a fault. In his reasonings and disquisi-
tions — of which, perhaps, there is more than enough — the Roman
E
xxxiv
PREFACE.
ecclesiastic is easily discerned ; but he does not seek to keep this
character in the background. While he writes as an avowed ad-
herent of the Roman see, his usual moderation never forsakes him.
He has no favour for the temporal authority of the Pope over
Christ iankingdoms, or even for his unlimited power in spiritual
matters. He is much more zealous for the doctrines and discipline
of the Church, than for the prerogatives of the see of Rome.
The following opinion is given as to the design of the History,
by a writer qualified beyond most others to speak with authority
on the subject : — " As in his Essay he had laboured to establish
" the high monarchical principle, it was his object in the Eccle-
" siastical History to support chiefly two doctrines — the consecu-
" tive ordination of bishops, from the apostolic times to his own
" day, in the Church of Scotland, and the necessity of the epis-
" copal order in all Churches; and, secondly, that Christianity
" came to Scotland through Rome."'" There can be little doubt
that one main inducement to write the work was to vindicate the
Church to which he belonged from the attacks of those who sup-
ported what he calls the new Reformation. No one has any right
to quarrel with him for so doing. He simply discharged what to
him was a plain duty. If it can be made out that he sacrificed
historical truth for this or any other purpose, he will deserve the
severest censure.
This appears to be the proper place for noticing the most serious
imputation to which the moral and literary character of Innes is
liable.
In his Letter (2) to the Chevalier, Innes makes some re-
'>'> Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis, Preface, p. vii.
fJ ) Spalding Club Miscellany, vol. ii. pp. 353—356.
PREFACE.
XXXV
marks on the nature and design of the Critical Essay. Re-
ferring to the book itself for his general motives in writing it,
so far as he had thought it proper to render them public, he
explains that he had also another motive which he could not
divulge with safety. This was to expose the seditious princi-
ples founded on the fabulous history of the forty kings, to
which the writings of Buchanan had given such influence, and
which had such effect during the civil wars of Queen Mary's
reign, and those in the time of Charles the First, and had been
used to justify the proceedings of the Scottish Convention in de-
posing their Sovereign in 1689. He states that to carry out his
object in exposing those opinions he had been obliged " to bring
" it in as a necessary part of his subject, under the pretence of
" enquiring into the true era of the Scottish monarchy."
It may well be doubted how far any one is entitled to keep
his real motives in the background to the extent here implied.
But though it may appear absurd to question the author's evi-
dence against himself, yet I cannot help thinking that in this
letter Innes attributes much more weight to the political reasons
for writing his Essay than they really had. An impartial exami.
nation of the Essay itself and of his other writings will show that
the ostensible object of the work must have been to a great extent
the real one, and that his letter to James must admit of some of
the qualifications which are frequently allowed in similar cases.
At all events the letter shows that no conscious mis-statement
was made to support his opinions. He not only believed all that
he wrote, but farther, mentioned little except what could be veri-
fied by the best evidence. I cannot conclude these remarks better
than in the language of the writer already quoted : 1; — " It is now
O Preface to the Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis, p. vii.
e 2
xxxvi
PREFACE.
" well known that Father Innes's chief object in that work was,
" as he describes it himself, to counteract the inventions of former
" historians, and ' to go to the bottom of the dark contrivances of
'* factious men against the sovereignty of our kings.' But in
" spite of the strong party feeling which was paramount in his
" mind, he was of so temperate a nature and so honest withal,
" that no quotations or statements of fact, scarcely an argument
*' or conclusion in his work has ever been challenged."
Could we suppose that Innes had been actuated by dishonest
motives in writing his Essay, the temptation to sacrifice truth to
his own political or ecclesiastical opinions would certainly have
been yet stronger in the History.
In estimating what lnnes has accomplished, we must keep in
mind that he was not permitted to advance far beyond the very
threshold of his plan. What he has left is only a fragment of the
work which he projected. It may be allowable to express a feel-
ing of regret that he did not live to complete it. He stops
towards the commencement of the ninth century. Other three
centuries and a half of darkness and barbarism, and he would
have reached the great Reformation of the Scottish Church by
Kincr David. He would then have had the guidance of the char-
tularies which he had studied so carefully, and which he was
among the first to understand and appreciate, and he would have
given us a true and authentic account of the ecclesiastical system
that prevailed during five centuries, whose history still remains al-
most entirely unknown to the great majority of his countrymen.
The Letter on the ancient manner of holding Synods in Scot-
land has been reprinted from the first volume of Wilkins' Con-
cilia, and is appended to this Preface. This Letter, along with
PREFACE.
xxxvii
the Critical Essay, the History, and the papers in the Miscel-
lany of the Club form a collection of the most valuable of Innes's
writings.
GEORGE GRUB.
Aberdeen, 18th October, 1853.
APPENDIX TO THE PREFACE.
CLARISSIMI AC REVERE NDI VIRI,
THOMiE INNESII,
SCOTO-BRITANNI,
EPISTOLA AD EDITOREM CONCILIORUM M. BRITANNLflE ET HIBERNIiE DE VETERI
APUD SCOTOS HABENDI SYNODOS MODO.
Ur de veteri apud Scotos tenendi synodos modo ex pauculis illis, quae ex
Knoxiana strage evaserunt, monumentorum ecclesiasticorum reliquiis dis-
tinctius aliquid disseri possit ; notandum imprimis, non unum eundemque
in synodis tenendis in Scotia modum fuisse servatum, sed varium pro vario
ecclesiae Scoticanae per secula diversa statu. Visum est ergo, ad majorem
hujus materiae perspicuitatem, res ecclesiasticas Scotiae in quasdam
periodos, et quasi aetates distribuere.
AETAS PRIMA.
Ad primam aetatem reduci potest omne illud tempus, quod effluxit ab
ortu evangelicae lucis in iis Britanniae partibus, quae Scotiae regno con-
tinentur ; hoc est, ab initio circiter seculi post Christum natum tertii, sive
ab anno Domini CCIII. juxta vulgares Scotiae scriptores, usque ad con-
junctionem regnorum, Pictorum scilicet et Scotorum. in imam Scotiae
monarchiam, quae anno Domini DCCCXLIIL, a Kennetho II. rege
effecta est.
xl
APPENDIX TO PREFACE.
In hac prima aetate etsi modo nihil superesse videatur ex actis con-
ciliorum Scotiae, praeter quosdam Adamnani canones contra esum sanguinis
et suftbcatornm ; dubitari tamen vix potest, habita tunc fuisse inter Scotos
concilia, praesertim ad componendas acres illas de Paschate, tonsura, et
aliis disciplinae capitibus contentiones, quas Beda memorat. Notandum
etiam canones Hibernicos, sicut et alia disciplinae illorum temporum
capita communia olim plerumque fuisse Scotis in Britannia cum Hibernis.
Horum canonum ampla habetur in Spicilegio B-. P. Dacherii collectio. Sed
par um aut nihil inde lucis ad nostrum de forma conciliorum institutum de-
rivari posse videtur.
AETAS SECUNDA.
Secunda quasi aetas ecclesiae Scoticanae continebat annos 281, a con-
junctione regnorum Scotici et Pictici facta sub Kennetho II. rege, .anno
Domini DCCCXLIII. juxta certiorem computationem, ad initium usque
regni Davidis I., anno Domini MCXXIV.
Conventus, sive concilia hac aetate apud Scotos habita, speciem potius
habent comitiorum illorum, seu conciliorum Gallicanorum, quae tempore
Caroli Magni et successorum ejus habita sunt, in quibus edita sunt capitu-
laria, quam conciliorum sive synodorum episcopalium. In iis utique in-
tererant non episcopi modo, sed et proceres, una cum ipso rege ; et capitula
seu statuta edita, non ad ecclesiasticam tantum, sed etiam aliquando ad
politiam civilem spectant. Sic etiam in Anglia Lisce temporibus, id est
seculis nono, decimo, et undecimo, habebantur quandoque concilia, quibus
non tantum episcopi, sed et reges, et duces intererant, ut ex eorum sub-
scriptionibus patet. Conventus autem, sive concilia habita his temporibus
in Scotia, ejusdem videntur fuisse generis; quippe leges, sive canones ab
iis editi, non ad res sacras tantum pertinebant, sed et ad civiles ; et in
eorum convocatione et sanctionibus regia magis, quam episcopalis eminere
videtur auctoritas. Hujus generis septem in Scotia hac aetate habita tra-
duntur concilia, sive conventus, in quibus leges tarn ecclesiasticae quam
civiles editae sunt.
Primum habitum fuit post conjunctionem regnorum circa A.D. DCCCL.
In eo editae sunt celebres illae olim in Scotia leges ecclesiasticae et civiles,
dictae Macalpinae, a rege Kennetho II., Alpini filio, primo totius Scotiae
monarcha. Earum praecipua capita referuntur ab Hectore Boethio in his-
APPENDIX TO PREFACE.
xli
toria Scotorum, fol. 200, sed ex traditione vulgari, ut videtur, potius, quam
ex auctentico aliquo monumento.
Secundum convocatum est apud Forteviot, regiam olim Scotorum sedem,
circa A.D. DCCCLX., regnante Donaldo ejus nominis secundo, Kennethi
regis fratre. In hoc consessu sive concilio idem rex leges a rege Ethfino,
sive Aetho Albo, filio Ecdachi, superiori seculo conditas, innovavit. Sic
enim habet fragmentum veteris cbronici Scotorum in appendice ad " Cona-
tum Criticum," N. iii. editum.< a ) " In hujus [Donevaldi fratris Kennethi]
tempore jura ac leges regni Edi, filii Ecdach, fecerunt Goedeli [Scoti]
cum rege suo in Fothertavaicht." Verum hae leges videntur ad statum
potius civilem regni spectasse, quam ad ecclesiasticum.
Tertium concilium apud Forfar habitum est, regnante Gregorio, circa
A.D. DCCCLXXVIII. In hoc concilio sive consessu editae sunt leges
tarn ecclesiasticae quam civiles, quas idem Boethius refert. < b )
Quartum concilium apud Sconam habitum est circa A.D. DCCCCVI.,
regnante Constantino, filio Aethi. In hoc concilio juxta fragmentum supra
laudatum veteris chronici Scotorum, "Idem (e) rex, et Kellachius episcopus
[S. Andreae] leges, disciplinasque fidei, atque jura ecclesiarum, evangelio-
rumque pariter cum Scotis in Colle Credulitatis prope regali civitate Scoan
devoverunt custodiri."
Quintum concilium apud Bertham, sive Perth celebratum est, regnante
Malcolmo II., circa A.D. MXX. Leges in eo editae, tam ecclesiasticae
quam civiles habentur apud eundem Boethium. < d)
Sextum, regnante Macbetho, habitum est, circa A.D. ML. Leges
tam sacrae quam civiles in eo concilio editae, habentur insertae in ejusdem
Boethii historia. < e )
Sub rege denique Malcolmo III., circa A.D. MLXXIV., hortatu
potissimum S. Margaretae, conjugis ipsius, ad disciplinae et morum re-
formationem habita sunt aliquot concilia, quorum praecipua capita inserta
sunt in auctentica ejusdem reginae vita ab auctore coaevo scripta. ( f )
W Crit. Essay, p. 783.
<»> Boeth. Hist. fol. 208, 209.
lc) Crit. Essay, p. 78.5.
< d > Boeth. Hist. fol. 245.
< c > Ibid. fol. 250.
r Acta Sanctor. Boltand. Vita S. Margaretae, reginae Scot, ad diem, lO.Junii, num
14. 15, 16.
F
xlii
APPENDIX TO PREFACE.
AETAS TERTIA.
Tertia aetas constat annis circiter centum, ab initio nimirum regni
Davidis I., A J). MCXXIV., ad A.D. MCCXXV. Honorii papae III.,
annum decimum, et Alexandri II., regis Scotorum, annum undecimum.
Hactenus, quae indicavimus, concilia speciem plerumque habent comi-
tiorum regni magis, quam synodorum ecclesiasticarum. At quae Lac tertia
aetate et sequentibus duabus habita sunt, erant revera concilia ecclesiastica
proprie dicta ; in quibus utique tam in indictione quam in sanciendis decretis
ecclesiastica auctoritas maxime eminebat. Habebant autem concilia Scotica
unius-cuj usque sequentium trium aetatum aliquid unicuique aetati peculiare
et speciales inter se differentias turn in auctoritate, qua convocata sive in-
dicta sunt, turn in modo procedendi, et in decretis sanciendis. Haec autem
omnis variatio in disciplina ecclesiastica, praesertim in Synodis, major apud
Scotos, quam in aliis plerisque Christianis regionibus ex tribus potissimum
causis oriebatur. Et quidem, 1, Ex paucitate episcoporum olim nostrorum ;
2, Quod episcopi nulli certae sedi essent plerumque addicti ; 3, Quod
metropolitano proprio carerent.
Quod attinet ad paucitatem episcoporum ; etsi in nulla regione sub-
sistere diu possit Christiana religio absque verbi Dei et sacramentorum
ministris legitimis, qui a Christo per apostolos, eorumque successores
episcopos potestatem suam omnem spiritualem derivent; fateudum tamen
est, ante S. Ninianum episcopum, cujus Beda meminit, qui primus fidem
Christi Pictis australibus circa seculi quarti finem, aut initium quinti pre-
dicavit, nullius episcopi in Scotia nomen ad nos pervenisse. Post Ninianum
vero Paliadius, Patricius, Servanus, Ternanus, Kentegernus, Winninus,
Baldredus, et alii deinceps per singulas aetates episcopale ministerium j uxta
scriptores nostros in Scotia exercuisse memorantur. Sed et aliorum pluri-
morum episcoporum inter Pictos et Scotos (s) nomina, et dies festi in calen-
dariis nostris antiquis et libris ritualibus passim occurrunt ; etsi quo
quisque tempore et loco sederit, aut episcopale munus gesserit, post tot
s Non levibus momentis et auctoritatibus probari posset, habuisse olim tam Pictos
quam Scotos ante regnorum conjunctionem unum saltern pro unoquoque regno episcopum
proprium ; atque etiam sedem episcopalem Pictorum fuisse apud Abernethy in Stratherne,
sedem vero episcopi Scotorum in Iona insula sitam. Quemadmodum et apud Anglo-
Saxones usque ad Theodori Cantuariensis tempora plerique episcopi erant regionarii (unus
nimirum in unoquoque Saxonum regno), potius quam dioecesani.
APPENDIX TO PREFACE.
xliii
ac tantas monumentorum in Scotia, praesertim ecclesiasticorum clades nihil
fere certum statui potest.
Fatendum est etiam serius apud Scotos, nec nisi post regnorum Scotici
et Pictici in unam monarchiam conjunctionem, canonicam in distinctas
dioeceses coepisse fieri regni Scotiae divisionem, et quidem pedetentim
tantum et sub diversis regibus.
Prima et institutionis ordine et loci celebritate extitit sedes S. Andreae.
Haec erigi coepit ab Hungo, Fergussii sive Urgusti filio, septuagesimo
secundo, juxta vetustiores indices, Pictorum rege, occasione translationis
quarundam reliquiarum S. Andreae ex oiiente ad terram Pictorum in
locum, qui Kilrigmund sive Kilreuil olim vocabatur. Eum locum Deo
dicavit Pictorum rex Hungus sub invocatione S. Andreae apostoli, et in
civitatem erexit, extructa ibidem ecclesia S. Andreae, cum ea praerogativa,
utesset deinceps, "caput et mater omnium ecclesiarum in terra Scotorum."( h )
Aucta est non parum loci celebritas, cum post aliquot annos, ut referunt
scriptores nostri, sedes episcopalis Pictorum sita olim apud Abernethy,
primariam Pictorum civitatem, a Kennetho Magno, Alpini filio, devictis
Pictis, ad S. Andream translata esset. Hinc factum est, ut quemadmodum
Pictorum et Scotoruin regna in unam monarchiam sub rege Kennetho
conjuncta sunt, et uterque populus paulatim in unum coaluit ; ita eandem
primariam totius Scotiae episcopatus sedem uterqae populus in unum coad-
unatus agnosceret, et veneraretur.
Secunda sedes episcopalis post regnorum conjunctionem a Malcolmo
secundo rege circa annum Domini MX., erecta Murthlaci, unde postea a
Davide I. ree:e Aberdoniam translata, dicta est Aberdonensis. Tertio loco
instaurata fuit per eundem regem circa A.D. MCXVII. (dum adhuc erat
Cumbriae princeps) regnante fratre Alexandro I., sedes Glasguensis, olim a
Sancto Kentegerno fundata. Quarto demum loco sub idem tempus restituta
fuit sedes Candidae Casae, a S. Niniano cpiscopo primitus fundata.
Ad has quatuor sedes episcopales idem piissimus rex, David I., verus
ecclesiae Scoticanae nutritius, adjecit quinque alias ; nimirum Dunkelden-
sem, Moraviensem, Cathanensem, Brechinensem, et Rossensem. Circa
idem tempus Dumblanensis a comite Palatino de Stratherne fundata est.
His decern episcopalibus sedibus additae sunt postea diversis temporibus
aliae tres ; Lismorensis, Orcadensis, ac demum, occupata ab Anglis insula
h Usser. de Ant. Britan. eccles. p. 343.
xliv
APPENDIX TO PREFACE.
Mona, in qua episcopus Insularum seu Sodorensis sedem habebat, ejus loco
erecta est in Iona insula sedes Hyensis, quae et Insularum dicta est.
Ex nis tredecim episcopis una cum abbatibus et majoribus prioribus,
inter quos praecipuus erat Prior S. Andreae, qui omnes etiam abbates in
conciliis praecedebat ; adjunctis etiam capitulorum, collegiorum, et con-
ventuum procuratoribus, necnon decanis et archidiaconis, ex his, inquam,
omnibus constabant concilia Scoticana.
Inter omnes autem Scotiae episcopos primatum, ut diximus, sibi vendi-
cabat, etiam a Pictorum temporibus, et ab ipsa sedis institutione, episcopus
S. Andreae, eoque nomine alios Scotiae episcopos de consuetudine observata
usque ad Innocentii Papae III., tempora CO consecrare solitus erat, aliaque
metropolitani munia obire. Verum quia honorem pallii nondum fuerat con-
secutus a summo pontifice, sicut nec Armachanus, nec alii in Hibernia
metropolitani usque ad ( k) A.D. MCLI., coeperunt Eboracenses archiepiscopi
sub finem seculi undecimi et initio sequentis litem movere episcopo S.
Andreae de episcoporum Scotiae ordinationibus, synodis congregandis, et
aliis juribus metropoliticis.
Ut finis imponeretur huic controversiae, quae disciplinae ecclesiasticae
in Scotia, et praesertim habendis synodis non parum oberat, magno zelo
laboravit idem rex noster David, ejus nominis primus, non minus in de-
fendendis ecclesiae juribus strenuus, quam pietate et sanctitate inter omnes
suae aetatis principes iilustris. Is igitur statim atque fratri suo Alexandre
I., in regnum successit A.D. MCXXV., primo regni sui anno legatum ad
Honorium II., 0) summum pontificem, misit Johannem, episcopum Glas-
guensem, qui jam antea multa passus erat pro libertate et juribus ecclesiae
Scoticanae ; cui rex hoc praecipue in mandatis dedit, ut suo nomine pallium
a summo pontifice peteret pro episcopo S. Andreae. Verum obstante totis
viribus Thurstino, Eboracensi antistite, viro dilatandis metropoleos suae
terminis unice intento, litis decisio in aliud tempus ddata est.
Concessione itaque pallii pro episcopo S. Andreae in tempus indefini-
tum remissa, factum est, ut defectu proprii archiepiscopi concilia provin-
cialia in Scotia, hac tertia aetate et rariora essent, et, ea quae sunt habita,
nequaquam aliarum ecclesiarum more juxta canonicas regulas mandato
(i) Innocent. Papae III. epistola 121, lib. 3. edit. Baluzianae.
(k) Chron. Mailros ad A.D. MCLI. — Gul. Neubrigen. praefat. ad Historiam Angliae.
(1) V. Dissertationem de libertate eccles. Scot, et ab Ebor. Metrop. immunitate nondum
editam.
APPENDIX TO PREFACE.
xlv
proprii archiepiscopi convocarentur, nec illius auctoritate, aut ipso praeside,
tractareutur negotia et ederentur decreta ; sed omnia, aut fere omnia, per
legatos pontificios, et ipsorum auctoritate gererentur.
Septem omnino hac tertia aetate habita sunt in Scotia concilia pro-
vincialia, quorum index, sive notitia inserta habetur < m > " Conatui Critico
de antiquis Scotiae incolis," Anglice edito Londini, A.D. MDCCXXIX.
His septem conciliis octavum addi potest, habitum (n > A.D. MCLXXX., ab
Alexio, legato pontificio, de lite inter Hugonem et Johannem de episcopatu
S. Andreae contendentes.
AETAS QUARTA.
Quarta aetas continet annos 246, ab anno scilicet Domini MCCXXV.
Honorii papae III. decimo, et Alexandri II. Scotorum regis undecimo, ad
A.D., circiter MCCCCLXX. Jacobi III , Scotorum regis undecimum.
Novus et omnino singularis hac quarta aetate tenendi concilia pro-
vincialia modus in Scotiam introductus est. Cum enim ex una parte
Eboracenses archiepiscopi regis Angliae praesidio fulti, mordicus perseve-
rarent in sua apud Romanam curiam intercessione, ne pallium, cum ordina-
tionibus episcoporum Scotiae, et aliis metropoliticis juribus, praesertim
synodos tenendi episcopo S. Andreae concederetur ; nec minori animi con-
stantia tarn reges, quam episcopi Scotiae praedecessorum vestigiis in-
haerentes, omnino abnuerent archiepiscopo subesse Eboracensi, aut con-
ciliis mandato ipsius convocatis adesse : cumque ex alia parte frequentiores
legatorum ad tenenda concilia in Scotiam introitus sicut superiori aetate
contigerat, subditis, et praesertim clero oneri essent, et ob hanc causam
regi nostro Alexandro II., non admodum grati (ut patet ex responso regis
paulo acriori (0) facto Othoni legato volenti in Scotiam intrare A. D.
MCCXXXVIL), hinc factum est, ut jam fere omnis spes concilia pro-
vincialia tenendi in Scotia sublata videretur; proindeque disciplina ecclesi-
astica et canonicae regulae, quarum cura et observantia in singulis re-
gionibus ad concilia potissimum spectabant, retro indies viderentur lapsurae.
Ut huic tanto malo obviam iret, Honorius papa III., in haec verba ad epis
copos Scotiae rescriptum misit A.D. MCCXXV.
(m) Crit. Essay, pp. 589, 590.
<»> Chron. Mailros, ad A.D. MCLXXX.
Math. Paris, ad A.D. MCCXXXVIL, p. 101.
xlvi
APPENDIX TO PREFACE.
" Honorius episcopus, servus servorum Dei, venerabilibus fratribus, uni-
versis episcopis regni Scotiae, salutem et apostolicam benedictionem. ( p>
Quidaru vestrum nuper auribus nostris intimavit, quod, cum non haberetis
archiepiscopum, cujus auctoritate possitis concilium provinciale celebrare,
contigit in regno Scotiae, quod est a sede apostolica remotum, statuta
negligi concilii generalis, et enormia plurima committi, quae remanent im-
punita. Cum autem provincialia concilia omitti non debeant, in quibus de
corrigendis excessibus, et moribus reformandis diligens est adhibendus cum
Dei timore tractatus ; ac canonicae sunt relegendae regulae ac conservandae
maxime, quae in eodem concilio generali sunt statutae ; per apostolica vobis
scripta mandamus, quatenus, cum metropolitanum noscamini non habere,
auctoritate nostra concilium provinciale celebretis. Datum Tyberii, cal.
Junii, pontificatus nostri anno nono."
Hujus auctoritate mandati convenientes episcopi regni Scotiae, de con-
cilio provinciali singulis annis celebrando sic statuerunt, ut ex genera-
libus ecclesiae Scoticanae statutis, et < r > aliis documentis antiquis colligitur-
I. Quod annis singulis unus episcopus communi reliquorum consilio
conservator eligeretur, qui de concilio ad concilium suo fungeretur officio,
praesertim in concilio provinciali quotannis indicendo auctoritate conserva-
toria per literas ad singulos episcopos ; quibus eos requireret, quatenus die
et loco praescriptis adessent in habitu decenti, una cum praelatis, id est,
abbatibus et majoribus prioribus suae dioecesis ; necnon cum capitulorum,
collegiorum, et conventuum procuratoribus idoneis, decanis, et archidiaconis,
ut per triduum, si necesse fuerit, in eodem concilio valeant pro necessita-
tibus divinis et ecclesiasticis commorari, et, invocata Sancti Spiritus gratia,
statum ecclesiasticum ibidem ad modum debitum et placentem Deo re-
formare. Si quis vero canonica praepeditione fuerit impeditus, procura-
torem vice sua sufficientem substituat; non autem veniens personaliter, cum
venire potuerit, auctoritate concilii et arbitrio puniatur.
II. Quod idem conservator pro tempore concilio praesideret, materias
tractandas proponeret, sufFragia colligeret, cum majori et saniori parte pa-
trum concluderet, et decretum interponeret. Omnibus denique expeditis 5
et concilii proxime futuri die et loco indictis, solebant omnes episcopi
praesentes decretis sive definitionibus concilii sigilla seu chirographa sua
apponere.
Chartular. Vet. Aberdon. fol. 25, b.— Item Chartular. Vet. Moravien. fol. 11, b.
w Chartular. Vet. Aberdon. fol. 39. — Item Chartular. Moravien.
Chartular. Brechinen.
APPENDIX TO PREFACE.
xlvii
III. Quod idem, conservator pro tempore manifestos ac notorios ejusdem
concilii seu alicujus statuti in eodem violatores puniret, et ad debitam satis-
factionem per censuram ecclesiasticam secundum juris exigentiam efficaciter
compelleret.
Denique, quod ad ritum externum ab episcopis nostris observatum in
tenendis conciliis auctoritate conservatoria, habetur ille praefixus statutis
generalibus ecclesiae Scoticanae, sed recentiori scriptura tenoris sequentis.
< s) Modus Procedendi in concilio cleri Scoticani.
Primo induantur episcopi albis, amictis, cappis solennibus, mitris, cliiro-
thecis, habentes in manibus baculos pastorales ; abbates insuper pelliciis et
cappis ; mitrati cum mitris ; decani et archidiaconi in superpelliciis, almutiis,
et cappis : alii vero clerici sint in honesto habitu et decenti. Deinde pro-
cedant duo ceroferarii albis et amictis induti cum cereis ardentibus ante
diaconum, qui legit evangelium, " Ego sum pastor bonus" etc., quern,
comitetur subdiaconus, et petat diaconus benedicticnem a conservatore,
si praesens fuerit, vel ab antiquiori episcopo, si sit absens conservator.
Perlecto Evangelio, osculetur liber a conservatore et singulis episcopis.
Deinde incipiat conservator bymnum, " Veni, Creator Spiritus," etc., et ad
quemlibet versum incensetur altare ab episcopis. Quo facto, qui habet
dicere sermonem, (t) accepta benedictione a conservatore, incipiat sermonem
ad cornu altaris. Finito sermone, vocentur citati ad concilium, et absentes
puniantur secundum statuta. Quibus statutis ibidem perlectis in publico,
excommunicent episcopi secundum statuta, habentes singuli in manibus
candelas.
Caeterum ex omnibus hisce conciliis hac quarta aetate auctoritate con-
servatoria convocatis (quorum numerum, cum w singulis annis convocari
deberent, oportebat fuisse maximum per annos 246) ad meam notitiam pau-
ca tantum hactenus pervenerunt, quorum index habetur in Conatu Critico. (w)
Pleraque reliqua Knoxianis temporibus perierunt, atit hactenus latent.
Ex his autem, quae hac quarta aetate de institutione, officio, et potestate
"\ Chartular. Vet. Aberdon. fol. 24, b.
(t) Statut. general, eccles. Scot. can. 2.
gives us a farther account of the progress of the Gospel in
Britain, during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, or beginning of that of Com-
modus. Lucius, a king of the Britons, says Bede, having sent a letter to
Pope Eleutherius, in treating that by his means he might be made a Chris-
tian, soon after received the effect of his request, which no doubt contri-
buted not a little to the increase of the number of Christians, not onlv in
the territories of this king but in other parts of the island.
VTL I must not omit to mention here the opinion of our first Protestant
writers after the new Reformation, who pretend that we had our first
Christianity from the disciples of the Apostle S. John, that notion having
been lately revived by Sir James Dalrymple' b) in his Collections. It was,
in all appearance, the above mentioned passage of Bede, where he attri-
butes the first Christianity of the Britons to Pope Eleutherius ; and the
passage of Fordun, considerably augmented by Boece, with a new detail
of circumstances by which the first light of the Gospel among the Scots is
attributed to Pope Victor ; it was, I say, apparently these passages, of
which afterwards, that gave occasion to our first Protestant writers to in-
vent this story, not to have it thought that any good, especially such a
blessing as that of the Gospel, could come to us from a Pope. For the
principal means to carry on the work of the times of our Reformation, being
to decry the Popes and the Church of Rome, and to render them odious to
the people, to avoid the inconvenience of having it thought that we had
the light of the Gospel, and the destruction of idolatry, in our country, from
Rome, our first Protestant writers invented this fabulous story of the dis-
ciples of S. John — their coming from Lesser Asia to preach the Gospel in
Scotland.
The first of our writers I meet with, that advanced this paradox, was
our famed historian, Mr. George Buchanan, (c) in King Aidan's life ;
where, in order to decry the mission of S. Augustine, sent from Pope
Gregory to preach to the Saxons, he tells us very confidently that " the
ancient Britons received Christianity from S. John's disciples by learned
and pious monks of that age." I need not take notice to the learned
< l) Hist. Eecles. lib. i. c. 4
(b) Epist Dedicat. p. 2. Preface, p. xlv.
< c) Buchanan. Hist, in Rege Aidano.
Book 1.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
11
reader that this was two or three centuries before the institution of monks A. D. 138.
or monasteries. But what Mr. George says only of the Britons in general,
his namesake, Mr. David Buchanan/"' applies particularly to the Scot3,
and tells us that "those who came into our northern parts," to wit, into
Scotland, "and first made known unto our fathers the mysteries of heaven,
were of the disciples of S. John the Apostle." He repeats againO) that
the Scots had received " their tenets and rites," that is, the doctrine and
discipline of Christianity, "from their first apostles, disciples to S. John, :;
according to "the Church of the East,'' and adds, for the proof of it (not-
withstanding that Bede, a contemporary author and upon the place, assures
us over and over of the contrary, as we shall see in its proper place) ; Mr.
David, I say, adds that till then, the seventh age, the Scots had kept the
day of Pasche upon the fourteenth day of the moon, whatever day of the
week it fell upon.
About the same time, Bishop Spottiswoode, (c) the Protestant Primate,
in his Church History, after rejecting the opinions of our former writers,
Fordun, Boece, &c, tells his own was, that "when the Apostle S. John
was relegated to Patmos, some of his disciples have taken their refuge
hither, and been the first preachers of the Gospel in this kingdom" (of
Scotland). Sir James Dalrymple supposed, it seems, this story so certain
that he hath not been at the pains to bring any proofs of it. At least none
can be found in the place" 1 1 to which he remits us for them. It may
have been, perhaps, a bare fault of the printer, who hath unluckily passed
over the grounds and authorities contained in Sir James's copy. However
that be, all the grounds that I can perceive that our first Protestant writers
had for this story, are taken from the relation Bede hath given us of the
warm dispute" J betwixt our Bishop Colman and Wilfrid, at the conference
of Streneschal, about Easter, where the good Bishop, being hardly put to it
by the arguments of "Wilfrid, and willing to take hold of any precedent or
probable reason to support his cause, alleged the example of S. John and
his disciples in Asia, who differed from the rest of the Church in the obser-
vation of Easter. But Wilfrid having observed to him the difference there
David Buchanan's Preface to Knox's History, edit. Lond. folio, p. I.
" " Ibid. p. 31.
" Hist. p. 2. [edit. 1677.]
"" Vindication of Collections, p .'52.
l " [Hist. Eccles. lib. ii't. c. 25,]
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I.
A 1). 138. was betwixt the practice of S. John and his followers in Asia, who kept
Easter always on the fourteenth of the moon, whatever day of the week it
happened, and the custom of the Scots, who kept Easter always upon a
Sunday (which Colman could not deny), and Wilfrid having proved to him
by that observation, that the example of S. John and of the Asiatics could
be of no service to him in that debate ; accordingly Colman dropt this proof,
and had recourse to other topics, as we shall see in its proper place.
Now the argument drawn from the custom of S. John and the Asiatics
being thus abandoned long ago, the story of S. John's disciples coming to
preach the Gospel to the Scots in Britain, which is wholly built upon it,
would of course be overturned at the same time, even though it could be
shown against what hath been proved at length, in the first part of this
Essay, that the Scots had been, in the first age of Christianity, settled in
Britain.
But this groundless story of our first Conversion by S. John's disciples
is now abandoned by the more learned of our Protestant writers of the
Episcopal Communion, and hath been refuted, as well as other paradoxes
of Sir James Dalrymple's Collections upon our history, and of his Vindica-
tion of it, by the anonymous learned author 0) of two tracts entitled, the
one, The Life of Mr. Sage, the other, Remarks upon Sir James Dalrvmple's
Historical Collections, both printed A.D. 1714, which, if they had come in
time enough to my hands might have been of use to me in the discussion
of the passages of Bede, relating to Episcopacy in our country. But to
return to the history.
VIII. We have no account of the motions of the Caledonians during
the rest of Antonine's reign, nor during that of Marcus Aurelius, his suc-
cessor. But by what Dio( a ) relates, in the reign of Conimodus, it appears
that the Caledonians had not lain quiet, nor suffered all that tract of the
debateable ground betwixt the two walls to remain in the peaceable pos-
session of the empire. For, by the third year of Commodus, A.D. 183,
the Romans were engaged by the northern nations in a formidable war ;
they not only having broken through the wall and ravaged the British
province, but had defeated the Roman forces, killed their general and all
his soldiers. Upon this the emperor Commodus, terrified with the account
[The Life of Bishop Sage, and the Remarks on Sir James Dalrymple, were both
written by Bishop Gillan.]
" Dion, lib. lxxii. c. 8.
Kook L
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
13
of this disaster, sent against the Caledonians Ulpius Marcellus, one of the A. D. 183.
greatest generals of the empire, as Dio describes him. He gave the Cale-
donians several overthrows, and probably forced them back to Caledonia ;
but Commodus, out of his innate jealousy against all great men, having
soon recalled this general, and there being frequent seditions in the Roman
province in Britain about these times, the Caledonians, after Marcellus
retired, soon regained all that he had taken from them.
IX. For Pertinax, who succeeded in the government of Britain in the
year 186, was, during the three years of his administration, almost wholly
taken up w Avith appeasing those seditions, which put his own life in
danger ; so that the Caledonians were at liberty to keep possession of
their acquisitions in the midlands, and invade the Roman provinces in con-
junction with their constant allies the Mseatae.
The union^ of these two people, the Meeates and Caledonians, was so
great, that about the year 196, during the reign of Severus, the Romans,
intending to make up peace with the Caledonians, they proposed it upon
condition that the Caledonians should not give succour to the Mseates, but
the Caledonians would by no means abandon them. So that Virius Lupus,
the Roman Governor in Britain, whilst Severus was engaged in war upon
the frontiers of the empire elsewhere, and not in condition to assist him,
not daring to continue the war against the Mseates, supported by the
Caledonians, was obliged to buy peace from the Mseates, under pretext of
ransoming the captives they had carried off from the Roman province, as
they and the Caledonians were accustomed to do in their frequent incur-
sions. Among these captives there were often Christians, and by their
means the knowledge of Christ was more and more propagated among these
northern nations ; as there are many examples in Church history of the
light of the Gospel being carried into countries bordering the empire by
Christians led in captivity. And thus, by degrees, the Christian faith was
introduced into the northern parts of Britain, now called Scotland.
X. There must, no doubt, have remained among the inhabitants of the
north of Britain, a tradition of the first planting of Christianity among their
ancestors in or about these times, and it is not unlike that this ancient
tradition hath given rise to the two distichs upon the early Conversion of
the Scots, composed only in, or after, the twelfth or thirteenth age, when
the opinions of the early settlement of the Scots in Britain had already
al Capitolin. in Pertinaue. [c. iii.] (b) Dion, lib. Ixxv. c. 5.
11.
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTIC A L
Book I.
A. I). taken root, or rather when that story was generally received among them.
The verses, as they are set down by our historian, John Fordun,< a) are
as follows : —
Christi transacts tribus annis atque ducentis,
Scotia catholicam csepit habere fidem ;
Roma Victore primo Papa residente ;
Principe Severo, martyr et occubuit.
The expression "Victore primo" demonstrates these verses are poste-
rior to the eleventh age, when Pope Victor the Second lived, and their
barbarous style shows they are yet later. However, upon the authority of
these verses, John Fordun, who supposed the Scots were settled in Britain
some ages before the Incarnation, places their first Conversion to Christianity,
A .D. 203, in the time of Pope Victor the First, though, according to the
truth of history, Victor suffered martyrdom and was succeeded by Zepherin,
A.D. 202. However, Fordun was copied in this, as in most other things,
by Boece, who enhances upon Fordun's narration, and tells us this Conver-
sion happened during the reign of one Donald, whom they call therefore
the first Christian king of the Scots. But Fordun and Bishop Elphinstone.
or whoever was the author of the Legends of the Scottish Breviary, ( b ) knew
nothing of this king Donald, else to be sure they had not failed to mention
him upon so remarkable an occasion. We liave observed elsewhere( c ) that
our Scottish deputies, in the famous debate about our independency before
Pope Boniface VIII., advanced that Christianity was received in Scotland
in the first ages.
XI. But as to the progress that Christianity had made in the north of
Britain towards the beginning of the third age, independently of these
uncertain narrations of our modern writers, it appears, by what we have
already taken notice of, from the disposition of the affairs in Britain, that
the knowledge of Christ had very early access, at least to the Mseates or
Midland Britons, inhabitants of those parts of the north of Britain that
lie to the south of the friths of Clyde and Forth ; and the famous passage
of Tertullian where he affirms as a known truth that " those( d) parts of
(a) Fordun, lib. ii. c. 35. [edit. Goodall, lib. ii. c. 40 ]
,b) Breviar. Aberdonen. in festo S. Palladii, 6to Julii.
< c) Crit. Essay, p. 620.
id) Britannorum inaccessa Romanis loca Christo vero subdita. Tertullian. contra
Judaeos, c. vii.
Book L
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
15
Britain where the Romans had no access were subjected to Christ," that is, a. D. 209.
were become Christians. This passage, I say, seems to put it out of all
doubt that, A.D. 209, when he wrote this treatise against the Jews, the
knowledge of Christianity, or the light of the Gospel, had already pene-
trated among the Caledonians beyond the friths, for at this time there was
no part of Britain, except Caledonia, beyond these friths where the Romans
had not penetrated, and which they had not subjected ; and even the
country of the Mseates betwixt the walls, called afterwards Valentia, had
been subdued by the Romans and united to the body of the empire from
the year 138, when Antonine, as we have seen, conquered by Lollius
Urbicus that part of north Britain, and built the wall betwixt the friths to
inclose it in the empire.
And it is to be observed that this passage is not an expression dropt
by chance from Tertullian, but makes a part of the force of his argument,
by which he proves against the Jews that Christ was the Messias, of whom
it was foretold that the uttermost ends of the earth were given Him for his
possession. He shows the accomplishment of this prophecy by enumerating
the chief nations already converted to Christianity and become subjects to
Christ, and among these nations he reckons the Britons, and even " those
parts of Britain where the Romans had no access." Now, it had been to
expose himself to the contempt of the Jews, to bring this as an argument of
Christ's being the Messias foretold by the prophets, if the fact had been
anywise liable to doubt. So we may conclude that, by the beginning of
the third age. the Go>pel was received in the extra-provincial parts of the
island, and at least some Christians even among the Caledonians ; and, by
consequence, date from that the first Conversion of the inhabitants of what
was afterwards called Scotland. As to the first messengers of the Gospel
among these inhabitants of the north of Britain, at this distance of time,
and for want of ancient monuments, we can expect no more certain account
of them than of the first apostles of so many other nations converted in
these first ages, such as Africa, Spain, and Britain itself, in general. But
whatever ignorance we are in of the manner how the light of the Gospel
was at first conveyed to these northern nations of Britain, and of the
instruments Almighty God was pleased to make use of ; that ought not to
seem strange after the destruction of all ancient domestic monuments and
records of the Caledonians or Picts, nor make us anywise doubt of the
truth of a fact attested by a contemporary writer of such authority as
16
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I.
A. D. 209. Tertullian, and which, besides, agrees so well with the situation of affairs
" in Britain in those times.
Almighty God has infinite means to bring about the designs of mercy
which He intends for any nation, and all instruments are sufficient in his
hands. One' a) poor captive woman was the occasion of the Conversion of
the nation of the Iberians ; and Frumentius, a young boy, led captive into
the Indies, introduced among these people the Christian religion ; and on
many other occasions, Christians led in captivity have brought in the know-
ledge of truth into infidel nations. We have already seen, and it cannot
be doubted of, but the Caledonians and Mseates carried off many captives
from the provincial Britons in their frequent incursions, and no doubt in
these times, since the year 183, among these captives there were many
Christians of all degrees.
But whatever progress Christianity had made in these early times in
the north of Britain, the uncertain state, and almost perpetual agitation
the inhabitants were in, by the frequent inroads made by the Caledonians
into the Roman provinces, and the Roman expeditions against them,
hindered, in all appearance, churches in those parts to be formed and
modelled into that regular order and discipline, which was settled almost
everywhere within the provinces entirely subjected to the Roman empire,
and governed by its polity and laws, which was in no manner the case of
that martial people, the Caledonians.
XII. About this very time they were up in arms against the Romans, of
which Severus, the emperor, being informed, and that< b > the Mseates and
Caledonians had overrun and pillaged the Roman provinces in Britain, he
resolved to go himself upon an expedition against them. He marched,
therefore, into Britain with great diligence, and arrived before the enemies
were aware of his march.
Dio, who, with Herodian, gives us the relation of this expedition of
Severus, begins it with an account of these northern inhabitants of Britain.
He tells us they were known by the names of Mseatse and Caledonii ; that
the Majates dwelt next the walls, no doubt that of Adrian rebuilt by Severus ;
for he says that at that time the Romans possessed some more than the
half of the island, so he must have looked upon Adrian's wall as the bounds
of the empire in Britain. Dio adds that the Caledonii. dwelt next the
" Ruffin. Hist. lib. xii. cc. 9, 10.
Herodian. lib. iii. Dion, lib. lxxvi.
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
Mseates, by which appears, what often hath been remarked, that the posses- A. D. 209.
sions of the Mseats lay betwixt the two walls of Adrian and Antonine. * "
Besides these two names, Dio says these two people had other names of
distinction among themselves (such, perhaps, as Ptolemy the geographer
had given us account of), but that they were best known by these two of
Mseates and Caledonians ; he adds, that their countries were full of high
hills, marshes, and large plains uncultivated ; that their food was venison,
wild fruit, and what they got by spoil. He remarks in particular of their
customs, that they lived in tents and were extremely hardened to suffer
cold, hunger, and toil ; that their arms consisted of short spears, dagger,
and target ; that their horses were of a little size but very swift, and that
they were themselves very nimble ; that they sometimes used to fight in
chariots, and Herodian adds that they used to engrave (a) on their bodies
the figures of several beasts, that they wore no clothes on the parts marked
with these figures, that the figures might appear,. This description, com-
pared with that which Claudian made of the Picts (ferro notatos*')) about
one hundred and fifty years afterwards, shows that the Caledonians were
the same people with the Picts, but of this elsewhere.
Severus being arrived in Britain with a most powerful army, the Cale-
donians, surprised with this sudden march, and with so great forces, sent
deputies to ask peace and offer reparation of damages. But the Emperor,
being resolved not to return without a triumph and the sirname of Bri-
tannic, was deaf to their petitions, and sent back their deputies without
answer. And in the meantime he made haste with all the preparations of
war, and being resolved to conquer the whole island to the outmost extre-
mities, he passed with his army over the fences and bulwarks which separ-
ated the provincials from the northern nations, and entered into Caledonia.
He met there with great difficulty to make passage to his army, being
obliged to cut down great woods, to level steep places, to make causewavs
or highways through the marshes, and bridges over the rivers. He had no
opportunity of a set battle, the enemies having retired themselves into the
woods, marshes, and stony ground, with all that belonged to them. Thev
did not assemble into a body of army, but baiting the Roman troops with
oxen and sheep which they exposed on purpose, the Komans, separating in
vTi'^o,Ta.t Herodian. lib. iii.
(1) " Ferroque notatas
Perlegit examines Picte moriente h'guras."
C
18
CIVIL
AND ECCLESIASTIC \L
Book I.
A I). 209. parties from the army to carry off the prey, were waylaid and cut off by the
enemies coming suddenly on them from their retreats. By these excur-
sions and tumultuary fights the Caledonians destroyed greater numbers of
the Romans than if they had beat them in a set battle : so that, Dio ^ays,
that there perished fifty thousand men of the Roman army in that expe-
dition.
But that did not discourage Severus from marching forward with his
army to the extremities of the island. There he observed the course of the
sun and the great inequality of nights and days in winter and summer in
those northern climates, by which it would appear that he spent at least
six months in this expedition ; so that his return to the Roman province
could be no sooner than the following year, 210. After be had gone
through all Caledonia to the extremities of Britain, he ohliged th3 enemies
to make a disadvantageous peace with him, with a loss of a part of the
territories they had possessed themselves of, but this treaty lasted not long.
The Caledonians, joined with the Mseates, were soon in condition to take
back all they had lost, as we shall shortly see.
XIII. Meantime Severus being returned, after his northern expedition
to York, in order to secure the Roman provinces in Britain for the future
against the attempts of the northern nations, caused build a stately wall
from sea to sea through the island. This wall Spartian calls the greatest
ornament of his reign, " maximum' 3 ' imperii ejus decus;" it was fortified
from place to place with castles, and was situate in the place where Adrian
built his wall betwixt Tyne and Carlisle upon Eden, as we have endea-
voured to show at length elsewhere. {b)
Whilst the wall was a- building and the emperor at York at a distance,
the Caledonians first, and then the Maeats, broke the peace and invaded the
territories they had been forced to abandon, upon which Severus resolved
upon another expedition against them, and commanded < c ' the greatest
severity and cruelty to be used towards them. But whilst he was making:
his preparations for this new war, he fell sick and died at York, A. D. 211.
His eldest son, Antonine Caracalla, minding much more to settle him-
self in the empire than to follow out his fathers designs and revenge his
quarrels, made peace anew with the Caledonians, and soon after made haste
(1) Spartian. in Severo. [c. xviii.l
,b; Crit. Essay, p. 13, &c.
< c) Dion, lib. ixxvi. c. Hi.
Hook I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
19
to get to Rome. By his retreat, if not by the treaty he made with them, A. D. -ill.
the Caledonians and Mseats remained masters of the debateable territories
betwixt the walls, having repossessed what Severus had taken from them.
XIV. We have no further account, during the most of this century, of
these northern unconquered nations of Britain ; but it appears by the account
Dio( a) gives, about the year 230, of the disposition of the Roman legions, that
these northern nations appeared to the Romans as formidable to the empire
as any of the most powerful nations that bordered upon it ; and that notwith-
standing the strong wall built in Northumberland, the Romans were obliged
to keep on that frontier, as great military forces as they did upon their
frontiers, against the most warlike and powerful nations that lay around it.
For Dio remarks that at this time under the emperor Alexander, when he
was writing his history, there were two leg'ons kept upon the borders to
defend the provincial Britons against the northern nations, whereas one
legion alone was thought sufficient to keep in awe all the rest of the
Britons ; and the most that the Romans kept against the Parthians, the
Germans, and the other warlike nations, was two legions on each frontier,
and in many places but one. as in the Gauls, in Spain, &c.
Dioclesian, created emperor A. D. 284, became, the year following, by
the defeat and death of Carinus, peaceable possessor of all the empire, and
applied himself to repress all its foreign enemies, among others, by the title
of Britannic given him, it would seem that he had obtained, no doubt by his
lieutenants, some advantage over the northern inhabitants of the island.
Soon after, Dioclesian associated Maximian Herculius to the empire. It
was by Maximian, that Carausius, by birth a Fleming, and skilled in navi-
gation, was placed commander of the coasts, against the invasions of the
Saxons and Franks who used to infest the seas and plunder the coasts of
the Roman provinces. But Carausius becoming suspected to Maximian,
to secure himself, revolted against him, and usurped the empire in Britain,
and became so powerful that Maximian, after useless efforts to repress him,
was forced at last to abandon Britain to him, A. D. 289, where he reigned
seven years. The interpolator of Nennius' < b > history writes, that Carausius
fortified anew the Roman wall in Britain with seven towers against the
northern nations ; but whether this was the wall of Severus in Northum-
berland, as by the dimensions that Nennius, and even the interpolator
,a> Dion, lib. lv. e. 23. « Nennius, c xix.
\
20
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I.
A 1) 289. himself gives of if, would appear; or the northern wall betwixt the friths,
as this interpolator by his description of it gives us to understand ; nothing
ran be determined from a writer who so visibly contradicts himself, besides
that the fact in itself is very dubious, having no other voucher for it but
such an uncertain and unskilled author as this interpolator seems all over
to have been.
However, about this time, the empire being attacked on all sides, the
emperors Dioclesian and Maximian, to fortify themselves against so many
foreign enemies, against whom they were not able themselves to march in
person, thought fit to raise Galerius, and Constantius Chlorus, to the dignity
of Caesars, A. D. 292. Thus the administration of the empire being
divided among these four princes, Constantius had for his share the Gauls
and Britain assigned him, with commission to march against Carausius,
who continued still in his usurpation. But whilst Constantius was prepar-
ing a fleet and forces to attack him, Carausius was killed by Allectus, who
succeeded him in his usurpation of the empire in Britain, and enjoyed it
about three years, till A. D. 296, that being pursued by Constantius, he
was killed in battle by the prefect Asclepiodotus. And thus the Roman
provinces in Britain were all reunited to the empire.
XV. Eumenius the orator relating the year following, 297, the reduc-
tion of Britain by Constantius, in a panegyric he pronounced in his honour
at Autun in the Gauls, compares this expedition of Constantius into Britain
with the exploits of Julius Caesar against the Britons, and extols those of
Constantius beyond those of Julius Caesar, for this reason among others,
because, says he, the Britons< a) being in Caesar's time as yet unexperienced
in warlike discipline, accustomed only to fight with the Picts and Hibernians,
people half-naked, did easily yield to the Roman valour ; whereas in Con-
stantius' time, the Britons having been long trained up in military discipline
under the Romans, the victory over them was more difficult, and, by conse-
quence, more glorious.
To pass by and leave to the grammarians and others the discussion of
the words "soli Britanni," which our Buchanan among others hath can-
vassed thoroughly ; this passage shows, at least, that in Eumenius' opinion,
an author of the third age, the Picts, who are mentioned here, for the first
' Ad hoc natio tunc rudis, et soli Britanni Pictis modo et (liberals assuela hostibus
ad hue seminudis, facile Romania armis signisque eessere. Eumen. paneg'. ix. c. 9.
IioOK I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
21
time we hear of them by that name, were believed to have been the most a. D. 297.
ancient inhabitants of the north of Britain, and before Julius Caesar's time,
and by consequence the same people so well known in the two former ages
bv the name of Caledonians ; and this testimony of Eumenius, for the
antiquity of the Picts or Caledonians in Britain, is so much the more
weighty, that he himself lived at Autun in the Gauls, where, as a place at
that time of great resort for learning, they had the best accounts of the
neighbouring nations, and that he pronounced this panegyric in presence
of Constantius himself and of his officers lately returned from an expedition
in Britain.
Now that the Caledonians were the same as the Picts, we have already
seen that Herodian, describing them, tells us they used to engrave on their
skin several sorts of figures, which is plainly the Picts, as Claudian after-
wards describes them by their name of Picts. Nothing can be more express
than the same Eumenius in another panegyric he made about ten years
after this, in the presence of Constantine the Great. There, speaking of
the death of this Constantius, father to Constantine, he says that Con-
stantius, being invited to the society of the gods, thought it below him to
make any more conquests on earth ; he deigned not, says the orator, to
acquire the woods and marshes of the " Caledonians and other Picts," no,
nor Ireland that lay next to them, nor the Fortunate Islands, &c.
But we have treated this matter at full length elsewhere, (a) and shown
the occasion and origin of the new name of Picts, it having been at first
given to all the unconquered nations of the north of Britain, and of its
being appropriated at last to the ancient people ot the Caledonians, with
whom, as the most powerful and famous among them, all the rest of the
unconquered ancient inhabitants of the north united for the preservation of
their liberty. But at this time there being others among them besides the
Caledonians, that still retained the ancient British custom of painting or
marking themselves, Eumenius' expression " Caledonum aliorumque Pic-
torum" is exact and conformable to the manners of that people in his time,
as if he had said, besides the Caledonians there are other people painted or
figured in the north of Britain.
From this follows, that all that hath hitherto been related of the Cale-
donians, and other unconquered people of the north of Britain, their wars
( * Crit. Essay, pp. 42 — 72.
22
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book [.
A. 1). -2!)7. against the Romans and provincial Britons, belongs properly to the historv
of the Picts ; and by this also, and by what we have elsewhere set down at
more length, appears how groundless are the reasonings of those modern
critics, who pretend that the Picts were not settled in Britain till the third
or fourth a^e, because they are not till then mentioned by the name of
Picts.
XVI. But to return to the history. The persecution of the Christians
which had made many martyrs in the Gauls and other parts of the empire,
from the beginning of Dioclesian and Maximian's reign, broke out with
incomparable more fury, and extended to all the Koman provinces, by the
imperial edict, published at Nicomedia, A. D. 303. This persecution
reached also the Roman provinces in Britain. For though Constantius,
who was averse to the persecution of Christians, had the government of
Britain in his share, yet, having as yet no more than the dignity of Caesar,
he was still under the jurisdiction of the emperors Dioclesian and Maximian,
and obliged to execute, or at least not to stop, the execution of their edicts.
Among iai those that suffered in the British provinces, S. Alban of Verularn,
and Julius and Aaron of Caerleon, were the chief. Gildas adds that many
other Christians were put to death in Britain with diversity of sufferings,
that those who escaped the fury of the persecutors retired to woods and
deserts and hid themselves in caves, and many more, no doubt, fled out of
the bounds of the empire to be out of the reach of the persecutors, by which
the number of Christians in the north of Britain must have been consider-
ably augmented, and their zeal animated by the example of so many whom
they beheld abandoning all, and reducing themselves to the greatest straits
to preserve the precious treasure of Faith.
This persecution lasted in Britain but about two years, for A. D. 505,
Dioclesian and Maximian resigned the empire, upon which Galerius and
Constantius were declared Augusti, or emperors, and governed by a division
independently each of another : and the western provinces, Spain, Gauls,
and Britain, falling to Constantius -1 share, the persecution ceased, and the
Christians were undisturbed in those parts.
XVII. The following year, 306, Constantius went over himself to Britain
with a resolution to make war upon the Caledonians and other Picts. He
was joined at his passage by his son Constantine, and after he had gained a
a > Gildas, c. viii. Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c. 7
Rook I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
#3
victory over the Picts, he died at York, where his son was immediately A. D. 306.
proclaimed emperor by tlie soldiers in Britain : and soon after Constantine
hasted over to the Gauls, but was not owned emperor by Galerius Max-
imian, till he was forced to it, A. D. 308.
Thus Constantine, being firmly settled in the empire, took care, in the
first place, of the tranquillity of those parts where he had been first pro*
claimed emperor; and, as Lactantius' a) says, the first thing he did was to
secure full liberty to the Christians, by which was more fully verified what
Cildas ,b) and Bede relate of the good effects of the cessation of the persecu-
tion in Britain ; that the Christians repaired their churches which had been
ruined, and that they founded and erected new ones to the memory of the
holy Martyrs, as trophies of their victory, kept the solemn festivals, and
celebrated the sacred Mysteries in their usual manner ; and from this time
we may date the flourishing state of the Church in Britain, which hitherto
must have laboured under great difficulties, the governors of the provinces
before Constantius, and the generality of the people being set against tin
Christians.
XVIII. One of the first proofs we meet with of the settled condition of
the British Churches, is the number of bishops that were sent from Britain C l
to the Council of Aries, A. D. 314. There, among others, we find three
bishops of Britain subscribing to it, Eborius, bishop of York (which about
tliese times (d) is thought to have enjoyed the primacy among all the British
bishops, as being the ordinary residence of the emperor when in the island,
and of the prefect of Britain), Restitutus, bishop of London, and Adelfius,
qualified de Civ. Colon. London. There were, no doubt, many more bishop^
in Britain at this time, but in a cause such as was that treated in tin
Council of Aries, it was enough to send one bishop out of each province in
name of the rest ; and it is known that the Roman part of Britain at this
time consisted only of three provinces. So also in the following Councils
there is ground to believe that there were British bishops present at the
Council of Nice. A. D. 325, and at that of Sardica, A. D. 347, and Sulpitius
Severus, ;e) a contemporary, assures us there were bishops from Britain
present at the Council of Rimini, 359.
Lactant. de Mortib. Persecutor.
Ib) Gililas, c. viii. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c. 8.
(c) Cotic.il. Gen. edit. Labbe. torn. i. col. 14:50.
"" Ussber, Ant. Brit. p. 52.
(r) Sulpit. Sever. Hist. [lib. ii. c. 55.]
24
civil,
AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I.
A. D. 3.59. XIX. By this it is evident that Episcopal government was equally
established in the Church of Britain in the first ages as in all other Christian
Churches. And since the knowledge and doctrine of Christianity was
derived to the northern parts of Britain from those of the south, there can
be no rational doubt made but the same kind of church government that
was in use in the south of Britain was equally delivered to the Britons of
the north, with the rest of the doctrines and practices of Christianity, as
being that form of government which had been established by Christ and
his Apostles, and that it was received and established among the northern
Britons in proportion as Christianity itself was settled and extended, and
in that manner, and as far as that martial people were susceptible of Eccle-
siastical polity.
It is not unlike that both the doctrine and discipline of Christianity
made considerable progress among them in the reign of Constantine the
Great, since during all that time we rind no account in the Roman writers
of any invasion made by the Caledonians or Picts on the Roman provinces,
nor of any expedition of the Romans against them, except that perhaps the
expedition*") that Constantine made in Britain about the year 310, may
have been to repress some new motion of theirs.
His son Constans, as appears by Ammian, (b) made another expedition
to Britain against the same northern nations about the year 343, but that
part of Ammian where he had given the particular relation of that war is
lost.
XX. Towards the end of the reign of Constantius. A. D. 360, the same
author (c) informs us that in Britain the Scots and Picts, two fierce people,
having broken the peace, were making havoc of the bordering provinces of
the empire ; so that the provincials, mindful of the former invasions and
ravages of these enemies, were all struck with dread and terror. These
news coming to the Caesar Julian, who was then at Paris, put him in great
solicitude and doubt what resolution to take ; for he durst not go over in
person to the assistance of the Britons, as the emperor Constans had done
some years before, as we have seen, for fear of leaving the Gauls destitute
of a governor whilst they were threatened with invasion and war from the
(a) Euseb. Vit. Constant, lib. i. c. 25.
(b) Ammian. lib. xx. c. 1.
(c) Cum in Britanniis Scotorum Pictorumque gentium ferarum excnrsii, rupla qnieie
eondieta, loca limiiibus vieina vastarentur, et implicabat formidn vicinas provincias, prs-
teritarum cladium consrerie fessas. .Ammian. lib. xx. c. 1.
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
25
Germans. Julian therefore sent Lupicinus, one of his generals, with new A. 1). 360.
forces to the Britons against the northern nations. But Lupicinus, upon
suspicion, was soon recalled ; and Julian himself revolting about the same
time against the emperor Constantius his uncle, and being more intent
upon securing his title to the empire than about defending the bounds of it,
the Scots and Picts were left at full liberty to continue their incursions on
the Britons, and overrun the Roman provinces for some years.
XXI. This being the first time, as we have seen elsewhere, la) that the
name of Scots is mentioned in authentic history, before we proceed to the
series of Ammian's relation of the Picts and Scots' inroads in the Roman
provinces in Britain, it is of importance, towards setting in a better light
the following part of the history, to repeat here in short what hath been
said in the first part of this Essay, concerning the first entry and settlement
of the Scots in Britain.
Having in that first part shown, at least with great probability, that the
cominp; in and first settlement of the Scots, even to Ireland, cannot be
placed higher than about or after the times of the Incarnation, it follows in
course that their first entry to, and settlement in Britain, must be yet
posterior to that, since it is generally agreed that it was from Ireland,
that they came in immediately to the north of Britain, whereof the Cale-
donians or Picts were the most ancient known inhabitants. Venerable
Bede< b > leaves it uncertain whether it was by force or favour that the Scots
at first settled among the Picts. [Scoti] "duce Reuda de Hibernia egressi
vel amicitia vel ferro sibimet inter eos [Pictos] sedes qiias hactenus habent
vindicarunt." Bede adds, that the Scots, on their coming to Britain, settled on
the north side of the frith of Clyde, which had been of old the boundary of
the Britons and Picts in that western part of Britain. Bede informs us also
upon this occasion that the Scots in Britain were as yet, in his time, called
Dalreudini : and long after Bede, a writerCO of the eleventh or twelfth age,
calls the kingdom of the Scots in Britain, before their union with the Picts,
Regnum Dalrietse. the kingdom of Dalrede. The Irish give, at length, an
account of the origin of this name Dalrieda, which they derive from Eocha
or Carbre Rieda, as may be seen in their writers. (d) I shall only observe,
W Crit. Essay, p. 643.
(b > Hist. Eccles. lib i. c. I.
" 1 Crit. Essay, app. iii. p. 783.
^ Ussher, Ant. Brit. pp. 3'20, 321.
26
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I.
A. D. 360. that in the best copies of the ancient genealogy of the kings of Scots, we
find one Eocha or Eedach Riada or Rieta, !a ' son of Conar, in the thirteenth
generation or degree, before Ere, father to Fergus, commonly called
Fergus II. And these thirteen generations or descents, in the ordinary
computation (allowing thirty years to each descent,) would amount to
more than three hundred years before this Fergus, son of Ere ; so that if
this Eocha Riada be the same with Beda's Reuda, first leader of the Scots
into Britain (as English and Irish writers affirm him to be), the placing
him, with the old genealogy, thirteen generations before Fergus, son of Ere
(who lived in the end of the fifth and beginning of the sixth age), would
advance the epoch of the Scots' first coming into Britain till about the
beginning of the third age, which would agree well enough with the first
mention that Ammian makes of the Scots in Britain about the year 360 ;
since it cannot be doubted but they were come into that island some time,
before they could make such a figure as to be taken notice of with the
Picts as dangerous enemies of the empire, by so judicious a writer as
Ammian. And even Ammian himself, though he doth not mention the
Scots in his history till the inroads that the Picts and they made into the
Roman provinces, A. D. 360, yet, in the short account he gives of them
for the first time on that occasion, he gives us clearly to understand that it
was not the first time that the Scots, in conjunction with the Picts, had
ravaged the British provinces, where, he says, the provincials were so
much more discouraged by these new invasions of the Picts and Scots, that
they were already quite spent and wearied with their former incursions
and ravages ; (b) Prseteritarum cladium congerie fessas " (provincias).
"We have showed elsewhere< c) that the Scots in Britain had not proper
kings of their own nation till Fergus, son of Ere, in the end of the fifth or
beginning of the sixth century. Till that time, and for some time after-
wards perhaps, they had still looked upon themselves as one people with
the Scots in Ireland, who continued after their first entry to Britain to flock
in to them yearly in great numbers, and to assist the Caledonians or Picts in
their expeditions against the Romans and Britons. But though in these
expeditions the Scots went generally with the Caledonians, yet it is like
<»> Crit. Essav, Geneal. Table, p. 235.
,b) Aramian. lib. xx. c. 1.
< c > Crit. Essay, pp. 666-689.
Book L
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
27
they had also chieftains of their own nation, even before they had kings A. D. 360.
in Britain proper to themselves.
XXII. After this short, but necessary digression, on the Scots' first
appearance in Britain, to return to the history, we have seen that, in the
year 360, the irruption of the Picts and Scots, and their devastation of the
Roman provinces had been overlooked by the Caesar Julian aspiring to the
empire ; and we do not find that, when he had attained it, during his short
reign, any stop was put to their incursions, nor during that of Jovian. So
it is no wonder that, upon Valentinian I. coming to the empire, A. I). 364,
among other Roman provinces invaded by the barbarous nations in their
neighbourhood, he found those of Britain ravaged not only by the Picts and
Scots, but that the example of their impunity had drawn in also upon the
Britons other new iaJ enemies, to wit, the Saxons and the Attacotti. What
the Saxons were is well known, and we shall hear enough of them in the
sequel of this history. The Attacotti were, according to S. Jerome, a
British people. Ammian calls them a warlike nation, "bellicosa hominum
natio." Valentinian then finding the empire attacked all at once on so
many sides, and not being in condition so soon to send succours to the
Britons, the Picts and Scots advanced daily in the British provinces, ravag-
ing all as they marched, carrying off captives, and reducing the Britons to
the greatest extremities.
XXIII. Their( b) numbers and boldness increasing daily, they killed
Follafaudus, the Roman general, and Nectarides, count of the maritime
coasts. An account of all this being brought to the emperor Valentinian,
so alarmed him, that he dispatched immediately over to Britain, first,
Severus, count of the domestics, whom he soon called back, and sent over
the general Jovinus, and caused quickly convey provisions and all things
necessary for a powerful army. At last, the emperor receiving daily more
frightful accounts of the progress of the enemies in Britain, thought fit to
confide the management of that war to one of the most famous generals of
the empire, Theodosius, father to the first emperor of that name. Him,
therefore, he sent over to Britain, and with him new and more considerable
forces.
Ammian^) informs us on this occasion, that in one of the former books
W Picti Saxonesque et Scoti et Attacotti Britannos serumnis vexavere innumeris.
Ammian. lib. xxvi. c. 4.
,hl Ammian. lib. xxvii. c. 8. Ammian. lib. xxvii.
28
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book [.
A. D. :ii;7. of his history he had given a description of Britain, but this book is lost.
which might have given great light into the origins of several of the dif-
ferent inhabitants of the island. He only tells us here that those who
overrun the provinces of Britain at this time were the Picts, divided into
two people, the Dycaledones and the Vecturiones (of whom we have spoken
elsewhere), < a) the Attacotti, a warlike nation, and the Scots, who, all dis-
persing their forces in different bodies up and down the country, did abun-
dance of mischief to the provincials
Theodosius, being arrived in Britain, divided also his army into several
bodies, and at first, passing by London, marched with expedition towards
the enemies, who being surprised unawares, and loaden with booty, he
forced them to retreat in haste, and abandon their prey, which he caused
restore to the owners, reserving only a share of it, to be distributed among
his soldiers. And having thus in a short time delivered the city of London
of the fears and difficulties it lay under from the enemies, he made his
entry into it as in triumph. And having informed himself of the state and
forces of the enemies, he found the only sure means to defeat them was to
draw them into ambushes, and by frequent and sudden incursions on them
to surprise them unawares. By all which it appears, that the Picts and
Scots had, before his arrival in the island, penetrated into the heart of Britain,
put London in terror and reduced it to straits, and that they appeared so
powerful to so valiant and experienced a general at the head of so great an
army, composed of the choice of the Roman legions, that he thought it not
advisable to hazard an open battle against them, but was forced to make
use (b) of stratagems and sudden onsets to get the Roman provinces rid of
them.
XXIV. Theodosius having by those means defeated and put to flight
all these enemies of the empire, made it his next care to restore the cities
and garrisons, and having forced the Picts and their auxiliaries not only
out of the British provinces, but out of all that debateable tract of ground
that lay betwixt the southern and northern walls, whereof they had pos-
sessed themselves (c) as a part of their property, he pursued them over the
friths of Clyde and Forth. This expedition of Theodosius against the Picts
W Crit. Essay, p. 82.
w Nonnisi per dolos occultiores et improvisos incursus superari posse. Ammian.
lib. xxvii. c. 8.
< c) Quae in ditionem hostium eoncesserat. Ammian. lib. xxviii. c. 3.
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
29
and Scots is expressed in one word by the orator Pacatus, (a) where he says a. D. 367.
that this general reduced the Scots to their marshes, including the Picts
and Scots under one name, and designing the country, whither they were
pursued, by the name of Marshes, which agrees perfectly with the descrip-
tion that Dio lb) and Herodian give of Caledonia, the ancient country of the
Picts or Caledonians, where the Scots had also begun to make an establish-
* ment. The poet Claudian, in two of his panegyrics, is somewhat more
large on this expedition. In the first, (c) on occasion of the third consul-
ship of the emperor Honorius, A. D. 397, speaking of this general Theo-
dosius, grandfather to that emperor, he expresses himself thus : —
Ule leves Mauros, nee falso nomine Pictos
Edomuit, Scotumque vago mucrone secutus
Fregit Hyperboreas remis audacibus undas.
And in another (d) poem, the year following, he expresses this expedition
of Theodosius in these few words : —
Ille Caledoniis posuit qui castra pruinis,
Incaluit Pictorum sanguine Thule:
Scotorum cumulos flevit glacialis Ierne.
These expressions would seem at first to import that this Roman gene-
ral had chased the Scots over sea to Ireland and pitched his camp in
Caledonia ; but we are not to press poetical hyperboles to the rigour of the
letter, otherwise we must suppose that Theodosius pursued the Picts to
Thule, and there made a great slaughter of them, whereas it is like that
neither Claudian nor the Romans knew where Thule stood, and its situation
is still under debate. However, as to the Scots, I do not pretend that they
were, by this time so well settled in the north of Britain that they never
used in whole or in great part to return to Ireland. It appears to me more
likely that the Scots, at their coming from Ireland, having first planted
themselves in the neighbouring islands betwixt the north of Britain and
Ireland, and made other settlements by degrees in Cantyre, in Argyle, Lorn,
and in the other western coasts of the north of Britain, by force, or by
" Kedactum ad paludes suas Scotum. Lat. Pacat. paneg. xi. c. 5.
b) Dion, in Sever. Herodian. lit. Hi.
' ' Claudian. Paneg. in III Cons. Honor.
"" Claudian. Paneg. in IV Cons. Honor.
30
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book [.
A. D. 367. favour of the Picts, continued still to live in a close union with the Scots in
Ireland, as being one and the same people, coming over in greater or smaller
numbers from Ireland to Britain, as occasion offered, either to enlarge
their possessions, and some of them as auxiliaries to go in conjunction
with the Picts in their expeditions or inroads into the Roman provinces,
and that in case of any great defeat, as it happened here, and a hot pursuit
by the Roman forces, the military men of the Scots had always safe retreat
into the isles, or even into Ireland, till the storm blowing over, and the
enemies retired, they might safely return thence back to their habitation
in the north of Britain, ready for a new expedition against the provincials
as a favourable opportunity presented itself. And I cannot but observe
here, that there is great appearance that this expedition of Theodosius,
followed by the total defeat of the Picts and Scots, and his forcing the Picts
out of their old possessions betwixt the walls, and, according to the rigour
of the letter of Claudian's expression, his forcing back the Scots to Ireland ;
there is great appearance, I say, that this general defeat hath given the first
rise to the story delivered by Fordun of a total dissolution of the Scots
monarchy in Britain, which he supposes had been fcmnded three hundred
years before Christ, and lasted till towards the end of this fourth age, when
it was destroyed, says Fordun, together with that of the Picts, not by this
Theodosius, but by Maximus, who usurped the empire, A- D. 383. But
besides that we have shown, in the first part of this Essay, that there is no
solid ground for a Scottish monarchy in Britain in the times either of
Theodosius or Maximus, it is, in the first place, more consistent with
Fordun's own chronology to attribute this defeat of the Scots and Picts in
this fourth age by a Roman general, to Theodosius than to Maximus.
Secondly, we shall show, in its proper ia > place, that this story of Fordun
cannot agree to the times of Maximus, nor to the circumstances of his
affairs.
XXV. However that be, it is certain that Theodosius, after having
given this great overthrow to the Picts and Scots, and pursued them beyond
the northern wall betwixt the friths, fortified anew this wall, made it again
the boundary of the empire, as it had been settled about two hundred and
thirty years before under the emperor Antonine. But what is chiefly to be
remarked is, that the general Theodosius, by the emperor Valentinian's
Infra, XXX.
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
.■31
order, erected into a new province all the debateable ground, which was A. D. 369.
formerly inhabited by the Mseats, from the wall in Northumberland to the
wall betwixt the friths, and gave it the name of Valentia, and thus added
a fifth province in Britain to the four that were before ; and in order to
defend this new province from the incursions of the Picts and Scots, the
Roman general settled strong garrisons( a) at this northern wall, formerly
built by Antonine's order, and having thus extended anew the bounds of
the empire to the friths, and settled peace and order in the British pro-
vinces, he returned with triumph to the emperor.
But all the precautions he had taken against the northern nations did
not hinder the Picts from seeking all opportunities to attack, and, at
last, recover their ancient possessions in this new erected province, which
they looked on as a part of their property. However, they lay quiet for a
season ; at least, we have no account of any new motion in these provinces
till towards the usurpation of Maximus.
XXVI. Meantime, this reduction of the debateable lands betwixt the
walls (which contain now the southern parts of Scotland) into a regular
province of the empire by Theodosius, and his establishing among the
inhabitants the Roman discipline and polity, was attended with a new
advantage, towards settling on a more lasting foot, among the Christians
in those parts, that order and apostolical form of government universally
practised in all other Christian countries from their first conversion, espe-
cially within the bounds of the empire. We have seen (b) that the light of
the Gospel had been early derived from the provincial Britons of the south
to these inhabitants of the northern parts of the island betwixt the walls,
and with the other doctrines and points of the discipline of Christianity,
they could convey no other form of church government to these new
Christians of the north, but what was in use among themselves in the
south ; and it cannot be doubted of, with any probable ground, but that the
Christians in the north, knowing no other but what they had received with
the elements of Christianity, practised the same discipline, as well in point
of church government as in all others, as far as the almost perpetual wars
they were engaged in could admit of. But whereas hitherto we have met
with no certain account of any one by name of their first apostles and
pastors, or of those that succeeded them, nor with any distinct account of
(>> Theodosius limites vigiliis tiiebatur et praetcnturis. Amraian. lib. xxviii. c. 3.
W Supra, VI. X.
32
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book [.
A. 1). the progress of Christianity among these northern inhabitants, no sooner
are they incorporated in the empire, by the erection of all betwixt the walls
into a Roman province, and the same form and polity established among
them as in the other provinces, but we begin to have a more distinct
account of the progress both of the doctrines and discipline of Christianitv
among them, and the names of some of the chief instruments that Divine
Providence made use of towards procuring to thejn that happiness. The
first whose name we have on record is the great S. Ninian (called by the
vulgar S. Ringan), the apostle and first bishop of the southern Picts or
Caledonians. No doubt there were others before him among the British
inhabitants betwixt the walls, since we will see by his life that they were
generally all Christians, princes and people, before his time. But if anvthing
hath been recorded of the first bishops or other pastors of those parts, and
of their successors, it hath been destroyed by the frequent wars and devas-
tations of those debateable lands, which so often changed masters. And we
might have remained in ignorance of S. Ninian, had not Venerable Bede ta)
recorded in his history the name and character of this holy bishop, and a
short account of his life and labours, which gave occasion to S. Ailred,
abbot of Rievaux, in the twelfth age, to write his life at large from such
monuments as remained of it in his time.
XXVII. Before I enter into the detail of S. Ninian's life, I cannot but
desire the reader to observe, on occasion of this holy bishop, the unaccount-
able confidence with which the Presbyterian writers, especially in Scotland,
in order to justify their new plan of church government set up at the
Reformation (which was begun and carried on by mere laymen, or at most,
by simple presbyters), have endeavoured to obtrude on our countrymen a
fabulous scheme of a primitive church government in Scotland by presby-
ters and monks, without either episcopal authority or ordination, as Blondel
and others, their brethren in foreign parts, have endeavoured to improve this
invention and impose it upon the Christian world abroad ; and all this upon
no better ground originally than that of one only passage of John Fordun, a
writer of the latter end of the fourteenth age. Whilst we have at the same
time certain accounts, both from monuments of history before Fordun, and
from Fordun himself, of S. Ninian, S. Patrick, S. Palladius, S. Servanus,
S. Ternan, S. Kentigern or Mungo, all of them bishops, and all either
al Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 4,
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
33
natives of the northern parts of Britain, or Scotland, or exercising there the A. D. 369.
Episcopal authority and functions, before there is mention so much as of
the name of any one presbyter or monk exercising the function of preacher,
doctor, or minister of the Word and Sacraments in our country. But of
this famous passage of Fordun we shall have more occasion to speak in its
proper place ; it suffices to have marked here that the first preachers of the
Gospel, or ministers of the Word and Sacraments in Scotland, whose names
we have account of, were all bishops.
XXVIII. To return to S. Ninian's life, written by S. Ailred. Thus
the life begins : S. Ninian, says Ailred, ;a) was born in that country of the
north western part of Britain, where the ocean, as it were, stretching forth
its arms, and forming on each side an angle, divides Scotland from England.
This is clearly Galloway, in its old extent. And what the author adds,
that this country, even to later times, had a king of its own: as we are
informed, says he, not only by history, (b) but even from the memory of
some yet alive ; this, from a writer of the twelfth age, confirms what we
have said elsewhere of the kingdom of the Britons in the west of Scotland
subsisting till the tenth or eleventh age.
The Saint was born of Christian parents. His father was king or
prince of that country. So it is like he was born before the expedition of
the General Theodosius, who erected that country, as we have seen, into a
Roman province, by the name of Yalentia, A. D. 369. Modern writers (c;
place his birth about the year 360. Whilst Ninian was as yet a child, he
showed great devotion (d) to churches (by which it appears, at least, in
Ailred's judgment, that this country was then generally all Christian, since
there were in it churches set up). Ninian was sober in diet, says Ailred,
sparing words, applied to reading and studies, grave in his behaviour,
vigilant to subject the flesh to the spirit. At last, by the inspiration of the
Holy Ghost, despising riches and all human grandeur, and renouncing all
la - Vita S. Niniani, per Ailredum, abbatem Rievall. [Vine Antiquae Sanctorum in
Scotia; vita Niniani, c. i.j
Ussber, Ant. Brit. Chron. A. D. 360.
(d > Mira illi circa ecclesias devotio erat. Ailred. ibid. [Vita Niniani, c. i.]
E
34
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I.
A. I). 369. carnal affections, this noble youth resolved to go abroad for his spiritual
improvement. Having, therefore, passed over the sea, he travelled through
the Gauls and Italy to Rome, and there addressed himself to the Pope (who,
it is like, at that time, was Damasus, a person of great sanctity and
learning), and having exposed to him the motives of his journey, the Pope,
commending his devotion, received him with a fatherly tenderness, and
committed him to the care of masters fit to instruct him in the Holy Scrip-
tures, and in the doctrine and discipline of the Church. The pious youth
applied himself with great avidity to the study of the "Word of God, and of
the holy fathers, laying up in his heart treasures of Christian verities for
the nourishment of his own interior man, and in due time fit to be poured
out for the spiritual comfort and instruction of others. Thus, being chaste
in body, and prudent in mind, provident in counsels, and circumspect in
all his actions, he gained the commendation of all, and became daily more
in favour with the supreme bishop, says Ailred.
XXIX. "Whilst Almighty God, in the order of his providence, was thus
preparing at Eome S. Ninian for the apostolical function of the conversion
of the southern Picts, he was about the same time fitting out, among the
natives of the same country of the north of Britain or Scotland, another
vessel of election to be the apostle of the neighbouring island. For it was
about this time, when the Romans, by the erection of the new province of
Valentia, were in possession of all betwixt the walls, from Northumber-
land to the friths, that the holy bishop, S. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland, was
born, A. D. 377, upon the confines of this Roman province, at Kilpatrick,
near Alcluyd, or Dunbritton, in the north of Britain, as all the learnedest
among the Irish, as well as other foreign writers, do now agree. < a) His
episcopal character, his quality of Apostle of Ireland, his labours in propa-
gating the Gospel, his zeal and eminent sanctity of life, all this in general
appears certain beyond any rational doubt. But as to the precise year of
his birth, or that of his death, and indeed as to the chronology of his life
and detail of his actions, it appears almost impossible to distinguish what is
>o suddenly, that he surprised the emperor Gratian unpre-
pared, and being therefore abandoned by his soldiers, was killed at Lyons.
All which seems to leave no room for Maximus losing any time before he
left Britain, to march against the Picts and Scots.
But we have seen elsewhereCs' that the whole story of a dissolution and
restoration of a Scots Monarchy in Britain in Maximus' time is a mere inven-
tion, chiefly perhaps devised to elude the force of the proofs drawn against
Fordun's system, from the remains of our ancient chronicles written before
their destruction or dissipation by King Edward L, in all which remains,
Fergus, son of Ere, is called the first king of the Scots in Britain, which
at once, ruining all Fordun's additions to the fabric of the high antiquities of
Scotland, begun before his time, he was under a necessity to find out this
and such other machines to support them.
> al Tir. Prosper, Chron. apud Canis.
W Greg. Turon. Hist. Sigebert, Chron.
< c) Fordun, edit. Hearne, lib. ii. c. 4.5.
W Supra, XXIV.
relates, the flower of the British youth, gave a fair opportunity
to the Scots to extend their habitations in the north of Britain, and to the
Picts to return and possess themselves anew of their ancient conquests in
the province of Valentia; which Divine Providence made use of towards
the propagating of Christianity among them.
XXXI. For it was about these times that S. Ninian (b ) before mentioned
having now passed several years at Rome, employed in the exercises of
pietv, in the study of the Scriptures, and of the doctrine and discipline of
the Church, and being looked upon as a person of eminent virtue, the Pope
also being informed that there was a nation in the north-western part of
Britain that had not yet embraced the Christian faith, promoted Ninian to
the episcopal degree, and gave him mission to preach the Gospel to that
people.
Ninian, in his return from Rome, was moved with an earnest desire to
visit the great S. Martin, bishop of Touts, famous for his sanctity and
miracles: whereupon he diverted from his journey to that citv, where S.
Martin received him with great respect, knowing by revelation, says Ailred,
that Ninian was extraordinarily sanctified by God, and destinated to be the
happy instrument of the salvation of many.
This shows that S. Ninian's return to Britain was before the year 897,
in which S. Martin died, according to the more common opinion.
S. Ninian having taken leave of S. Martin continued on his journey to
Britain, and arrived in Valentia, his own country. His long absence, the
report they had heard of his eminent sanctity, and the progress he had made
at Rome in the knowledge of divine truths, drew great multitudes of the
Christian people of these parts together, to welcome him at his return and
receive him with great joy and thanksgiving to God, because they looked
on him as a prophet. The holy man, profiting of these marks of esteem
and confidence of the people, set himself immediately to reform all abuses
that might have crept in among them, and having purged their minds from
errors, he instructed them in the duties belonging to good Christians, and by
works and examples showed himself a pattern of all virtue and piety, all
which he confirmed by frequent miracles. Having thus reduced the ancient
Christians of these parts to the knowledge and practice of the obligations
of their holy profession, he then proceeded to gain over to it by degrees the
(a) Gildas, c. ii. < w Vita S. Niniani, [c. ii.]
-to
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I.
A. D. 398. other inhabitants in their neighbourhood, to wit, the southern Picts. But
the progress of the Gospel among these last, was much retarded by the
motions they were in, and by those of the Roman troops against them,
towards the end of this age, and beginning of the next.
XXXII. For the Picts and Scots had not failed, as we observed, to lay
hold of the favourable opportunity that was offered them, by Maximus
his carrying over with him to Gaul so many of the regular troops, and of
the flower of the British youth: upon which, it appears bv the account
which Claudian the poet gives in the Panegyric of Stilicho, that by the
year -"398, the Picts and Scots had made such progress in ravaging the
neighbouring provinces of Britain ; that they were quite ruined, that thev
lived in perpetual dread and terror of the Picts ; that these were joined bv
the Scots, not only of Britain, but by new levies of Scots from Ireland ; that
an account of this miserable state of the British provinces being brought to
Stilicho, the Roman general under the emperor Honorius, he sent over
new forces to Britain, and having beat out the Picts and Scots from the
Roman provinces, he caused fortifv anew the northern wall against their
irruptions. For thus Claudian brings in Britain, lamenting her perishing
condition till Stilicho sent in forces to her succour against the Picts and
Scots.
(,) Me quoque vicinis pereuntem gentibus, inquit, (Britannia)
Munivit Stilicho, totam ciim Scotus Iernem
Movir, et infesto spumavit remige Tethvs.
Illius effectum curis, ne bella timerem
Scotica, De Pictum tremerem, &c.
But this fortifying the wall by Stilicho, and his placing anew guards and a
garrison on the frontiers of Valentin to overawe the Scots and Picts, and
protect the British provincials againt them, is more fully expressed in
another passage of the same poet, where, giving account of the several
legions which, by Stilicho's order, came to join him, A. D. 402, against
the Goths, before the battle of Pollentum, he thus marks among others
the Roman troops that guarded the wall in Britain, against the Scots and
Picts ;
lb) Venit et extremis legio prsetenta Britannis.
Qua? Scoto dat frsena truci, ferroque notatas
Perlegit exanimes Pictn moriente figures.
* CIaudian.de Laudib. Stiliehon. lib. ii. (b1 Claudian. de bello Getieo.
Book [.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
41
The poet, by an ordinary metaphor, calls the forces that guarded the fron- A. D. 40-2,
tiers of the British provinces a legion, though there needed always more
than one legion to oppose those northern enemies. But the description he
gives here of the Picts, as having figures imprinted with iron on them,
agrees exactly, as we have seen elsewhere,( a ) with the description that
Herodian gives of the Caledonians, and proves them clearly to have been
the same people under their old name of Caledonians and new name of Picts.
XXXIII. The most part of the Roman forces being thus removed from
the borders, and called over by Stilicho, the Picts and Scots failed not to
break through the wall, and enter the province of Valentia, and they had
so much the more favourable opportunity to overrun the British provinces,
that, besides that the frontiers were in great measure denuded of their
wonted garrisons, the rest of the Romans and Provincials in Britain were
in great confusion in these times, by placing or displacing new tyrants or
usurpers of the empire.
For, A. D. 407, the soldiers (b) in Britain set up one Marcus for emperor,
and soon after put him to death, and in his place created one Gratian, and
gave him the ornaments of the empire; but they also soon weaned of him,
and after four months' reign killed him, and elected for emperor one Cons-
tantine, a common soldier, who had no merit but that of his name. Thus
there were no less than four tyrants or usurpers in Britain, including
Maximus, in the space of little more than twenty years. This no doubt
gave occasion to S. Hierome, writing against Jovinian about the year 412,
to call Britain a province^') fertile of tyrants; and this shows, as we else-
where^ 1 observed, that the expression " Britannia fertilis provincia tyran-
norum et Scoticge gentes," &c, is not Porphyrius' words, who had no occasion,
when he wrote that book against the Christians, to give that character to
Britain, but !S. Hierome's own, on occasion of so many little tyrants he
had seen arise in that island.
Constantine, the last of these usurpers, passed immediately over to Gaul,
taking along with him what remained of regular forces in Britain, leaving
the Provincials a prey to their enemies, with vain hopes of being succoured,
if attacked, but he was no sooner arrived in the Gauls with his forces, than
Supra XII.
(b) Zosim. Hist. lib. vi.
(c) Uieronym. contra Jovinian.
(d) Grit. Essay, p. 514.
P
4 l 2
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Hook I.
A. U. 407. the Picts and Scots, according to their custom, embraced that favourable
opportunity, and broke in upon the British provinces. The Britons despairing
of obtaining assistance either from Constantine, wholly taken up with securing
his title to the empire in Gaul and in Spain, or from the Emperor Honorius,
not able to defend even the capital of the empire attacked by Alaric, the
Britons, I say, having no more hopes of assistance from the Romans, and
being encouraged, says Zosimus,( a ) by letters from Honorius to do the best
for themselves, resolved at last to shake off their dependence on the Roman
empire and put themselves at liberty, and endeavour to defend with their
own forces their country against their enemies. Thus Britain ceased to be
a part of the empire A.D. 409, about four hundred and seventy years after
Julius Caesar first entered the island about the year 55 before the Incarnation.
The Britons< b) found in a short time that they had presumed too much on
their own forces, and after a struggle of a few years, they saw themselves
so overpowered by the Picts and Scots, that they were forced to have a new
recourse to the Romans, their old masters; as we will see, after having first
considered the progress of Christianity in the north of Britain, by the
apostolical labours of S. Ninian.
XXXIV. This holy bishop (c) had now preached some years to the
Picts and other inhabitants of the north of Britain, and propagated the light
of the Gospel among them. He made his chief residence in Galloway, his
native country, at a place rendered from his time, famous by the church he
caused build there, all of cut stone, which it seems was such a rarity among
the Britons of those parts, that it gave the name of Candida Casa or white
house, vulgarly "Whithern, to the town in all after times. This church he
dedicated to God, under the title and in memory of S. Martin, and estab-
lished it the episcopal seat of these parts. Camden guesses, this to be the
town called by Ptolemy the geographer, Leucopibia, which he thinks is an
error of the copyists instead of XevnoiKibia, which hath the same signification
in English, to wit, white houses. But the origin which Bede gives to the
name is more natural, and not so far-fetched. To the church that Ninian
built, was no doubt joined his monastery or seminary, for such was the
custom of all these holy bishops, who planted or promoted the work of the
Gospel, in order to have a retreat for themselves amidst their labours,
t"> Zosim. Hist. lib. vi.
0» Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c 12.
Vita S. Niniani, [c. ii.]
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
43
and a proper place for breeding young churchmen to succeed in the sacred A. D. -409.
ministry.
S. Ninian's (a) preaching was attended with many miracles, which Al-
mighty God wrought by him, in confirmation of the doctrine he taught.
Among others, a prince of that country named Tuduvallus, who had been
struck with blindness for his opposition to truth, was, upon his repentance,
restored to his sight by the prayers of the holy man. S. Ailred marks parti-
cularly in his (b ' life that he ordained priests, consecrated bishops, and that
he divided the country into different districts, for the more convenient
service and instruction of the people. The word parochia signified of old
as well dioceses as what we now call commonly parishes, which last, by
all that I can find, were not generally established, even in the south of
Britain, till several ages after this, by Theodore, Bishop of Canterbury.
In those ordinations of bishops and priests, and in the distribution of
the country into districts, the holy bishop, in forming this infant church,
followed the model and order of canonical discipline which he had been
taught from his youth, and seen everywhere practised during his travels
through the south of Britain, in the Gauls, and in Italy, and which he knew
was the universal practice of the Church in that and all former ages, and
in all countries where Christianity was established. And though we had
no other authority that this Avas the discipline and form of government
observed among the ancient Christians of the north of Britain or Scotland,
from the beginning of Christianity settled among them, or at least, as soon
as the disposition of the civil state could allow a fixed and regular discipline
to be settled among them ; though, I say, we had no other authority for
this but that of Ailred, a writer of the twelfth age, grounded upon what
remained of ancient records in the monastery of Candida Casa, or Whithern,
and on the constant tradition in his time, yet this alone would I hope suf-
fice, in the judgment of all impartial readers, to prescribe against the notion
of a pretended primitive Church government without bishops, in Scotland,
before S. Palladius his time, advanced without any other authority but
that of John Fordun, a writer of the end of the fourteenth age. But of
this elsewhere' 0 ' at more length.
! Vita S. Niniani, [c. ii.]
'" Ordinavit Presbyteros, Episcopos cor.secravit, et totam terram per certas parochias
divisit. Ibid. [c. vi.]
' Infra, XXXIX, XL.
44
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I.
A. D. 409. It is also remarked by S. Ailred in the life of S. Ninian, that among
other holy exercises of prayer and lecture, in which he spent in his retire-
ments the time he could spare from his episcopal functions, one of his chief
applications was to teach and instruct the youth, and cultivate them with
the study of letters, as it was the general practice of all the first preachers
of the Gospel among the uncultivated nations, in order to polish them, to
root more deeply among them the knowledge of the truths of religion, and
transmit them to posterity. This, we shall see, was practised also by S.
Patrick, and other apostolical men among the Irish. Thus S. Ninian :a)
received, in his monastery at Whithern, the children of the nobles and
commons of the country, taught them sucred letters and sciences, and took
a special care to form their manners to piety, as a most effectual means to
enable them, by the edification of their lives and good odour of Christian
virtues, to draw others to the knowledge of the truth, and at the same time
to breed such among them, in whom he saw marks of divine vocation, to
the ecclesiastical functions, in order to keep up the succession of pastors,
and carry on the work of the Gospel. We have been informed already by
Ailred, that for this end the holy man ordained priests and consecrated
bishops of the choice of his disciples, whom he had trained up in the same
manner that he himself, according to Bede, had been instructed in Rome in
the faith and in the mysteries of truth ; by which we see that the faith
and mysteries of the true religion in which the primitive Christians, young
and old, of the south and west of Scotland, were instructed by S. Ninian,
were the same that he himself had been bred up to at Rome. This was the
doctrine and this the form of discipline which he instilled more particularly
in the hearts and minds of his disciples. The cultivating these tender
plants, and forming them to be one day worthy labourers in the vineyard
which he had planted, was all his comfort and refreshment, when, amidst his
toilsome voyages and laborious exercises of his episcopal functions, he
retired to his monastery of Candida Casa, or Whithern. And thus it was
that S. Ninian spent the rest of his days.
As to his death, though it did not happen till some years after this, yet
not knowing the precise year of it, (only that it is believed to have happened
about the year 430 or 432.) and not to be obliged so soon again to interrupt
the series of the civil and military transactions, I shall here add what
(1) Plures interea tarn nobiles, quam mediocre?, filios suos viro sancto sacris litteris tra-
dunt imbuendos, quos scientia erudiebat, moribus informabat, &c. Vita S. Niniani, [c. x.]
Book L
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
45
fur ther account we have of him. S. Ninian having spent about thirty A. D. 409.
vears, from his return to his country, in forming and cultivating the Chris-
tians of these parts, as well by the example of his life as by his preaching
and miracles, being perfect in virtue and well advanced in years, was called
by Almighty God to receive the reward of his labours, on the sixteenth day
of September, on which his memory hath ever since been celebrated by the
Church. He was buried in< a > the church of S. Martin at Whithern; there
his body lies, says Bede, with those of many other saints ; there his relics
were kept in great veneration, and honoured by the devotion and pilgrimages
made to his shrine by the faithful of all degrees, from our kings to the
meanest subjects, down till the times of the destruction of all monuments
of the piety of our ancestors, and of their gratitude to the memory of those
blessed instruments whom God has been pleased to make use of, towards
rooting out idolatry and planting and cultivating true religion among us.
XXXV. The progress of the Gospel was frequently interrupted in the
latter years of S. Ninian, by frequent wars betwixt the provincial Britons
and the northern nations. The Britons having, as we have said, shaken off
their dependence on the Roman empire, A.D. 409, resolving to defend
themselves by their own forces against their common enemies the Picts,
assisted by the Scots, found soon, by fatal experience, that they had presumed
too much on their national forces, for having more than once (b) been deprived
of all the military experienced soldiers, and of all the flower of the British
youth, carried over to the Gauls by the usurpers, what remained, being
generally unaccustomed to war or military discipline, they lay exposed as a
prey to their enemies. Wherefore, after a faint resistance in the beginning,
finding themselves overpowered by their enemies, after having lain groaning
under their oppression during several years, they at last found thefn'selves
obliged to make new application to the Romans, craving in a lamentable
manner their assistance, and promising again an entire subjection to the
empire, provided that by their means they were freed from the oppression
of their enemies. Upon this the Romans sent over forces to the Britons,
which falling °> on the Scots and Picts made great slaughter of them, and
beat them out of the bounds of the British provinces ; and having thus
(a) Cujus (Niniani) sedem episcopalem sancti Martini episcopi nomine et ecclesia
insignem, uhi ipse (Ninianus) etiam corpore una cum pluribus Sanctis requiescit. Hist.
Eccles. lib. iii. c. 4.
(b) Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib i. c. 12.
(C) Gildas, c. xii. Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c. 12.
46
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book L
A. D. 4±2. delivered them from oppression, ordered them, for a further security, to
repair or rebuild the ancient wall betwixt them and the Picts and Scots,
and so the Roman auxiliaries left them and departed home with triumph.
This wall the Britons, having more skill in that kind of structure,
built of turf rather than of stone, so it proved but a feeble defence to them.
Bede gives< a) a distinct account of this wall, and says it was built be-
twixt the friths of Clyde and Forth ; that it began at a place called Penel-
tun or Penuahel. Nennius, (b; or rather his interpolator, says it was called
Cenueil in the Scot's language, that is, the head of the Avail ; it is like the
same place since called Kineil, about two miles distant from Abercorn
(where in Bede's time stood a famous monastery on the side of the frith of
Forth,) and ending towards the west, near to Alcluyde, or Dunbarton, on
the frith of Clyde. Bede remarks that in his time, there, were extant as
yet, remains of this wall of great height and breadth, as there are still to be
seen till this day. But it proved of little or no use( c 'to the Britons, for how
soon the Picts and Scots had recovered themselves, and were informed that
the Roman forces were all returned home, they came back upon the Britons,
and without being at the pains to attack the wall, they broke in by sea over
the friths, and ravaged all the country of the Provincials, cutting down the
poor inhabitants like ripe corn.
XXXVI. The Britons unable to resist the fierceness of their enemies,
sent again deputies to the Romans, to expose their lamentable condition and
beg relief, which was promised ; and accordingly new forces were sent over
to Britain, under the command of Gallio, as Blondus' d > writes. These forces
arriving on a sudden in the island, surprised unawares the Picts and Scots
dispersed in different bodies preyimr on the country. The Romans slew
great numbers of them, and forced the rest to make the best of their, way
home over the narrow seas or friths, which was the only short and sure way
they had to escape, because the wall, being for the most part as yet entire,
stopped the land passage ; besides that they were accustomed every year to
pass these narrow seas to prey on the Britons.
All this happened about the year 426, and is set down at more length
by Gildas and Bede.
' a) Hist. Eccles. lib. i. e. 12-
Nennius, c. xix.
" (iild. et lied. ibid.
Blond, dec. i. lib. •>. apud Usser. Ant. Brit. p. :!I4
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
47
The Romans having thus rescued the Britons a second time from the a. I). 426.
oppression of their enemies, told them that they could not any more bring
over forces to their succour ; that therefore they ought to take arms them-
selves, and train up their countrymen to warlike discipline, to defend them-
selves with their native forces ; and to encourage them the more, they
caused build a stately wall, not of turf, nor betwixt the friths of Clyde and
Forth as the first wall, but of stone, eight feet broad and twelve feet high,
from sea to sea in Northumberland, betwixt the towns which were formerly
built there to keep off the enemy, and in the same place where Severus (a ->
had built his wall formerly, says Bede. This wall the Romans helped them
to build or repair, on public and private charges, and made it so strong and
lasting, that even in Bede's time it was as yet very conspicuous. Thev
caused also erect towns from place to place on the sea side, where their
enemies used sometimes to land. And thus having encouraged the Britons
by exhortations, and instructed them in military discipline, and how to
frame arms and instruments of war, they took their leave of them with a
resolution not to come back. Having elsewhere b) endeavoured to give an
account of this wall at more length, and shewn that it stood in Northumber-
land, where Adrian and Severus had formerly built a wall, I need add
nothing here, but refer to what I have said there, and go on with the
history.
XXXVII. After this wall was finished, the Romans left Britain for
the last time, telling the Britons not to expect their return any more to
their assistance, and therefore exhorting them to do the best for themselves.
The Scots and Picts, being informed that the Romans were departed the
island and never more to come back, came and took possession, instead of
the inhabitants (or provincial Britons) of all that space of debateable ground
(formerly possessed by the Meats or Midland Britons), which lay betwixt
the walls, from the northern extremities of the Roman part of the island,
(known by the name of the province of Valentia, terminated by the friths
and northern wall,) up to the wall in Northumberland. " Omnem^ aquilon-
arem extremamque terrse partem pro indigenis muro tenus capessunt."
This passage affords a new proof that the last wall, of which Gildas
,a,I Ubi et Severus quondam vallum fecerat. Hist. Eceles. lib. i. c. 12.
.
' b ' Bed. ubi supra.
W Constantius, vit. S. Germ. lib. i. c. •>$. Bed. Hist. Eecles. lib. i. c. 20.
Hook I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
49
Britain, A. D. 429, the Picts and Saxons, with joined forces, made war A. D. 429.
upon the Britons, who, to withstand these enemies, were drawn together
but distrusting of their strength to resist them, they implored the assistance
of the holy bishops, which they promised, and accordingly hastened to the
camp of the Britons. Their arrival inspired no less courage to the Britons,
than if a new army had come to succour them. S. German put himself
at their head, and choosed the ground proper for putting them into battle,
in order to put in execution what he had in view for obtaining an
unbloody victory. The place he pitched upon was a valley surrounded
with high hills. When the enemy began to approach, the holy bishop
gave out order to all the soldiers to repeat with loud clamours the words
they should hear him pronounce. So just when the enemies thought
to have fallen on, imagining their march had not been discovered, the
holy bishop all of a sudden cried out in a loud voice Alleluia ! three
times, whereupon the whole British army, with one voice thundered out
the same word Alleluia after the Saints. This noise multiplied and re-
bounded by the echoes from the mountains that surrounded them, so
terrified the enemies, that they fell a trembling as if not only the rocks
and hills round about, but that the firmament had been falling on their
heads. So they all threw away their arms, betook themselves to flight
and dispersed, glad to escape with their lives ; and many of them were
swallowed up by a river in their flight, into which they had thrown them-
selves headlong to get away with greater speed. Thus Constantius at more
length.
In this narration he doth not name the Scots, either because they were,
it is like, in a distinct body from the Picts and Saxons, or perhaps, because
he confounds here the Scots with the Saxons ; by reason that when Con-
stantius wrote this life, soon after S. German's death, which happened
A. D. 449., the Saxons called over by the Britons to their assistance against
the Picts and Scots, had turned their arms against the Britons themselves,
and joined with the Picts, were ravaging the island and destroying the
ancient natives. So it was natural for Constantius to think, that those who
joined with the Picts attacked the Britons whilst S. German was in the
island a few years before, were the same people, to wit, Saxons, as those
who with the Picts were making war on the Britons, when he wrote S.
German s life. However, it appears that this miraculous victory inspired
the Britons with so great courage, and struck such terror into their enemies
G
50
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book L
a. D. 4-2S). that they made the best of their way home, being pursued in their turn by
the Britons, so that the holy bishops left the island in peace and security,
when they returned back to the Gauls. " Composita insula pace multi-
plied" says Bede, after Constantius.
It was in order to oppose the Pelagian heresy that S. German with S.
Lupus had made this voyage to Britain. Everybody knows that this heresy
attacked chiefly the gratuity, necessity, and efficacy of the grace of Christ.
The author, Pelagius, being a Briton, the heresy also made a greater progress
in that island, promoted chiefly by one Agricola. But he was not the only
one that spread that heresy in Britain. Prosper informs us elsewhere, (a)
that it got a footing there by the enemies of God's grace returning to the
soil of their origin. So it appears there were more than this Agricola, and
those Britons who being themselves infected with the Pelagian heresy,
returned to Britain and infected others. But care was taken by the sounder
part of the British Church to put a remedy to this growing evil ; and there-
fore the Britons distrusting their own sufficiency to repress such subtile
adversaries, they very prudently addressed themselves to the Gallican bishops
in their neighbourhood, and craved their assistance in the common cause
of the defence of the Catholic doctrine. The bishops of the Gauls upon
that assembled in a great council, in which by common consent they made
choice of these two holy bishops, S. German of Auxerre, and S. Lupus of
Troyes, to go over to Britain ; Pope Celestine also joined his authority to
that of the Gallican bishops, and at the instance of the deacon Palladius,
(who had a particular zeal for the Britons,) the Pope gave commission to
S. German to go over in his name, and withO) his authority, vice sua, as
Prosper informs us, and oppose the common enemy, to reduce the Britons
to the Catholic faith, and confirm them in it. The two holy bishops
zealously undertook the employment and performed their commission with
great success, confirming their preaching by miracles, by which those that
had been seduced were brought back to the true faith, the doubtful were
confirmed in it, and the obstinate adversaries were confounded and reduced
to silence.
W Prosper, contra Collatorem, c. xxi.
(b) Agricola Pelagianus, Severiani episcopi Pelagiani fiTius, ecclesias Britanniae dog-
raatis sui insinuatione corrupit, sed actione Palladii diaconi, Papa Caelestinus Gerrnanum
cpiscopum Autisiodorensem vice sua mittit, et deturbatis hereticis, Britannos ad Catholi-
i-am fidem redigit. Prosper, in ChroD. ad A.D. 429.
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
,51
This perverse heresy being thus repressed (says Constantius,'^ an a. D. 429.
author of the times, and after him Bede,) and the authors of it confuted, so
that all men's minds were settled in the purity of the faith, the holy bishops
repaired to the sepulchre of S. Alban the Martyr, with an intention to give
thanks to God by his intercession. There S. German having with him
relics of the apostles and divers martyrs (whereof, as the authors relate, he
used to carry a boxful hanging round his neck,) after prayer made, he
caused S. Alban's sepulchre to be opened, because he would there lay up
those precious gifts ; for he thought it convenient that the same repository
should contain the members of many saints out of divers regions, whom
heaven had received for the equality of their merits. Having then with
great honour deposed and united together so many relics, he digged up
from the place where S. Alban had shed his blood a mass of earth, which
he intended to take along with him, in which were yet marks of the blood
of the martyr : these things being thus performed, an innumerable multi-
tude was that day converted to our Lord. Thus Constantius ; by which we
see what was, in those times, the faith of the British Christians, and of the
holiest and learnedest bishops of the Gauls, concerning the veneration of
relics and prayers to the saints. Soon after this happened the miraculous
victory obtained by these holy bishops' prayers in favour of the Britons
over the Picts and Saxons or Scots, which we have already set down ; after
which, and many other miracles wrought by these bishops, they left the
Britons in peace and security, and returned to the Gauls, A.D. 430. And
to finish here at once what concerns S. German's zeal for preserving the
Catholic faith among the Britons, this holy bishop, accompanied with
Severus, Bishop of Treves, was obliged to make a second voyage to that
island, about the year 447, to repress the same enemies of the grace of God,
who had begun again to spread the poison of their heresy in Britain. But
these holy prelates, by their instructions and miracles, did so confirm the
Britons in the Catholic faith that the authors of the heresy were expelled
the island.
XXXIX. As to S. Palladius, the deacon above mentioned, who excited
S. Celestine, Pope, to concur with the Gallican bishops in the first legation
of S. German to Britain against the Pelagians, this is he who was ordained
bishop by the same Pope, and sent by him, A. D. 431, to preach the Gospel
" , Constantius, Vita S. Germani. Red. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c. 18.
52
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I.
A. D. 431. to the Scots. As to his country, the opinion of Fordun and others of his
being an Oriental, or the same with Palladius, disciple of Evagrius, or
Bishop of Helenopolis, is exploded long since by all the learned. But his
singular zeal for the Britons, as also the choice that S. Celestine made
afterwards of him, preferably to others, to send him to preach the Gospel
to the Scots, seems to render more probable Possevins' conjecture that he
was a Briton, or of those parts. This is confirmed by what Archbishop
Ussher( aJ relates that he found in a MS. of a work of William of Malmes-
bury, a note in an ancient hand, bearing that this Palladius was a Briton.
And we see, by the example of S. Ninian, that some of the British youth,
touched with a desire of advancing in piety and in the knowledge of the
heavenly truths, used in those ages to repair to Rome, and there, according
to their merit and progress, were advanced to Orders, and last to the degree
of bishop, and sent back to propagate Christianity in their country or the
neighbourhood. We shall see shortly another example in S. Patrick.
Now as to S. Palladius's (b) mission, Prosper, a contemporary writer,
speaking of the great zeal of S. Celestine, Pope, in particular for the
Chui'ches of Britain, gives us the first account of Palladius's ordination and
mission to the Scots by that Pope in the following words. That this holy
Pope Celestine, whilst he endeavoured (by the deputation above mentioned
of S. German) to preserve the Roman part of Britain in the Catholic faith,
did, by ordaining a bishop to the Scots, render a barbarous island Christian.
Thus Prosper writing, A. D. 432, soon after the mission of S. Palladius,
full of the hopes of the success of it, but before he could have any distinct
account of it. But in his Chronicle, written several years after, and when
by the preaching of S. Patrick, the second bishop sent from Rome to the
Scots, the number of Christians was increased among them, he gives a
more distinct account of the time of the ordination and mission of S. Pal-
ladius, the first bishop sent to the Scots, in these words. A. D. 431,
Palladius was ordained by Pope Celestine, and sent the first bishop to the
Scots believing in Christ. ( c )
(a) Palladium Britannicum genere. Ussher, Ant. Brit. p. 41 8.
(b) Nec segniore cura ab hoc eodem morbo (Pelagianismi) Britannias liberavit
(Caclestinus Papa,) quando quosdam inimicos gratia; solum sua; originis occupantes, etiam
ab illo secreto exclusit oceani, et ordinato Scotis episcopo, dum Romanam insulam studet
servare Catholicam, fecit etiam barbaram Christianam. Prosper contra Collatorem.
(0 Ad Scotos in Christum credentes ordinatur a Papa Cselestino Palladius et primus
episcopus mittitur. Chron. Prospcri, ad A. D. 431.
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
53
The two passages of Prosper containing the surest and first account Ave a. D. 431 .
have of a bishop sent from Rome to the Scots, whether in Ireland or
Britain, have been the subject of great debates, not only as to what con-
cerns the beginning or first preaching of Christianity to the Scots, but
more especially in regard of the form of ecclesiastical government among
them, wherefore these passages of Prosper are not to be passed transiently
over, but require to be considered and examined more narrowly in order to
fix the true meaning of them, which writers of different parties and nations
have endeavoured to wrest in favour of the various opinions they were
prepossessed with.
The first debate is about the meaning of the words "ad Scotos, &c," in
Prosper's Chronicle. Who were these Scots to whom Palladius was sent
by Pope Celestine \ Whether to those in Britain, or to those in Ireland :
both Irish and Scots pretend, and with great warmth each of them, that
he was sent to them. To clear this matter, I conceive it is of importance
to observe, first, that Prosper's words, ad Scotos, &c, are in themselves
undetermined, and so their obvious and natural meaning is, that Palladius
was sent to the people or nation of the Scots in general, whether in Ireland
or in Britain. Secondly, on the one hand it must, indeed, be owned that
Prosper's words in the first passage (contra Collatorem) " fecit etiam bar-
baram (insulam) Christianam," he made a barbarous, or extra-provincial
island, Christian, and this in opposition to Britain, which he calls a Roman
Island, it must be owned, I say, that this passage insinuates that, according to
Prosper, both Pope Celestine and Palladius had chiefly the Scots in Ireland
in view, they being in those days as yet the greatest number, and a nation
in one island by themselves, without the bounds of the empire, and there-
fore termed barbarous, whereas in these times the Scots in Britain, though
already settled in the isles and western coasts of the island, yet it appears
not that they made as yet, and for several years after this, a distinct nation
and kingdom in Britain by themselves. Thirdly, on the other hand, we are
informed by the British writer Nennius,C a ) who lived in the ninth age, and it
is owned even by all the Irish writers in the most ancient accounts they give
us of S. Palladius, that being well received by the Irish (because, say they,
the conversion of Ireland was reserved to S Patrick), S. Palladius left Ireland
(a) Et profectus est iste Palladius de Ilibcrnia, pervenitque ad Britanniam, et ibi
'lefunetus est in terra Pictorum. Nonnius, e. liv. edit. (Jale. Vit. 2da S. Patricii. p. 13,
n. 24. Vit. 7ma S. Patricii, p. 128. edit. Colgan, in Triade Thaumaturga.
54
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I.
A. I). 431. in a short time, and returned back to Britain and there remained till his
death, in the northern parts of the island where the Picts dwelt, and where,
also, long before this, the Scots had a habitation in the north-western parts
of Britain, now can it be thought that S. Palladius would have overlooked
these Scots, since his mission was intended for the Scots nation wherever
they dwelt, and those in Ireland refusing to hear him, can we doubt but he
would preach the Gospel to those in Britain, when he came among them or
among the Picts in their neighbourhood.
The second debate on the sense of Prosper's passages is on the words
"primus cpiscopus," in his Chronicle. Fordun, as we shall see, joining his
own gloss upon these words to his notion of a much more early Chris-
tianity of the Scots in Britain, hath built upon them chiefly his new scheme
of hierarchy, or church government among the Scots in ancient times : of
which anon.
But not to insist upon the word " primus, 1 ' its being wanting, as Ussher (a;
observes, in ancient MS. copies of Prosper's Chronicle, and retaining the
common meaning of these words, as Bede and other ancients have it,
nothing will be more plain than the meaning of the words by which Pal-
ladius is designed the first bishop sent from Rome to the Scots, if it be
observed that Prosper wrote his Chronicle about A. D. 445, some fourteen
years after the mission of Palladius (A.D. 431), the first bishop sent to the
Scots, and several years after the mission of S. Patrick, the second bishop
sent to them. For, as it is nowise likely that S. Prosper, living at Rome,
could be ignorant of the mission of S. Patrick to the Scots, nor of the great
conversions made by him in Ireland, by the year 445 : so it was very
natural that he, writing his Chronicle at the time he knew there had been
sent a second bishop to the Scots, should call S. Palladius the first bishop
sent to them, with reference to S. Patrick, the second bishop sent also to
them, as I doubt not but S. Prosper would have designed him, if he had had
occasion to mention him, as both Marianus( b) Scotus and Florence of
AVorcester do, and supply what is wanting in Prosper's Chronicle. Thus,
" ad Scotos in Christum credentes ordinatus a Papa Caelestino Palladius
primus episcopus missus est." Thus far Prosper : to which Marianus and
Florence subjoin, "post ipsum Patricius, &c." ; thus the meaning of the
word " primus," in Prosper, is clear : Palladius was ordained by Celestine,
»" Ussher, Ant. Brit. p. 417.
' " Marian. Scot, in Chron. Florenf. Wigorn. Chron.
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
55
Pope, and sent the first bishop to the Scots, and after him S. Patrick was ,\. D.4.'il.
sent to them. So the true and natural meaning of the word " primus "
in Prosper is, that of the two bishops sent to the Scots from Rome, S.
Palladius was the first.
The word " credentes," in Prospers Chronicle ("ad Scotos in Christum
credentes ordinatur a Cselestino Papa Palladius et primus episcopus mit-
titur"), makes the subject of a third debate. What is the meaning of these
words, " ad Scotos credentes," &c. ? Were those Scots to whom Palladius
was destinated already Christians, or believers, before he was sent to them \
Fordun, and the following Scots writers, interpret these words of Prospers
Chronicle in that sense, and suppose that long before the coming of Pal-
ladius the Scots in Britain were already all Christians ; but this interpre-
tation seems to put Prosper in contradiction with himself, for in the firs-
passage of Prosper, taken from his book contra Collatorem, he calls the
island or nation, to which Palladius was sent, a barbarous island or nation,
by which in this place Prosper must necessarily mean, that the generality,
at least, of the inhabitants Avere as yet infidels, since he says, that of bar-
barous, that they were before, Celestine by the mission of S. Palladius,
made them, or intended to make them, Christians. li Fecit etiam (insulam)
barbaram Christianam." Since, then, Celestine made the nation to which
he sent Palladius a Christian nation, according to Prosper, it Avonld seem
to follow that he was persuaded that when Palladius was sent, they were
as yet infidels, or not Christians, at least as to the bulk of the nation. So
I conceive the seeming contradiction betwixt the two passages of Prosper
might be naturally thus reconciled ; when Palladius was sent to the Scots,
A. D. 431, there were, no doubt, as we shall just now see, Christians
already, or believers in Christ, among them, both in Britain and Ireland,
and that suffices to verify the passage of Prosper' s Chronicle, that Palladius
was sent to the Scots believing in Christ. For it was natural that the
Pope should address the Bishop Palladius to those among the Scots who
were already believers or Christians, but that doth not hinder that the
nation of the Scots in general, and the bulk of the inhabitants, might have
been still infidels, and that Palladius was sent to convert them, and make
them, that is the nation, Christians, which verifies the other passage of
Prosper in his book against Cassian's Conferences, where, speaking of Pope
Celestine's intentions in sending Palladius to the Scots, he relates it with so
great hopes of success that he reckoned the work was done. By ordaining
56
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book [.
A. D. 431. : ' bishop for the Scots, says Prosper, he made a barbarous island or nation
Christian, and thus the passages of Prosper may be easily reconciled.
As to the account of Palladius' mission, given by Nennius, 1 "-' a British
writer of the ninth age, where he plainly says that the Bishop Palladius
was sent by Pope Celestine to convert the Scots : in the first place, Nennius
lived about four hundred years after Palladius and Prosper' s time; secondly,
Nennius is a writer of very small authority, and very credulous ; thirdly, it is
visible by his text that he means here the Scots in Ireland, and not those
in Britain, since he tells that Palladius soon left the Scots in Ireland and
came over to Britain, where lie died in Pictland. But though w r e should
understand the words of Nennius, " ad Scotos in Christum convertendos," of
the Scots in general, or nation of the Scots wherever they dwelt, that doth
not hinder there being before his coming some number of Christians among
the Scots, both in Britain and Ireland. And there is great reason to
believe that Pope Celestine was informed, either by Palladius himself, who
was so zealous for the British Islands, or by S. German, or by some that
accompanied him into Britain, on their return from thence, that there was
a beginning of Christianity among the Scots, and a door open towards the
conversion of all the nation, and that upon this information the Pope, fol-
lowing the constant practice and zeal of his predecessors, who, in all ages,
since the Apostles' time, never failed to improve all opportunities towards
propagating the Gospel, and extending the limits of the kingdom of Christ,
by sending bishops to nations where they heard there was some number of
Christians, and favourable dispositions in the rest, upon these informations.
I say, and these motives, S. Celestine ordained Palladius bishop, and sent
him to form a Christian Church and propagate the Gospel among the Scots.
Now it was natural, that in order to this, the Pope should address the
new bishop more immediately to those among the Scots who had already
embraced the faith of Christ ("ad Scotos in Christum credentes") that he
might take information from, and measures with them, on the proper means
for converting the rest of the nation, as well as that he might begin by
settling order and discipline among them by constituting a Christian
Church, which, properly speaking, and according to the sense of antiquity,
they could not be truly called till they had a bishop at their head : he alone
having by his character, according to Christ's institution, the power to
1 Nennius, c. liv. Missus est Palladius episcopus primitus a Cselestino Papa Ro-
mano ad Scotos in Christum convertendos.
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
57
govern in chief, to preserve true faith, and to propagate it by ordaining A. D. 431.
other pastors, and by giving them mission to deliver down to posterity the
faith once delivered to the saints, and spread it in their neighbourhood, to
maintain unity under a common head, within themselves, and communion
with other Churches in their neighbourhood, and so with all the rest of the
Christian world abroad.
Xow that, by the year 431, when Palladius was sent to the Scots, or
before his mission, there was a beginning of Christianity, or some that
believed in Christ among them, is very likely, even in regard of the Scots
settled in former ages, on the western coasts and in the isles of Britain, by
reason of their living upon one side, in the neighbourhood of the Britons,
from whom they were only separated by the frith of Clyde, and who were
generally Christians, and on the other side, contiguous to the Picts, who
had begun to receive the Gospel by the preaching of S. Ninian. And as
to the Scots in Ireland, that there were among them Christians before the
mission of S. Palladius, I refer the reader to the British Antiquities of
Archbishop UssherW where he will find, in about thirty pages in folio,
accounts of Christians in Ireland before Palladius was sent thither. And,
however dubious most of the legends quoted by Ussher upon this occasion
may happen to be, independently of that, it is nowise credible that Ireland,
lying in the neighbourhood of Britain, all Christian, could have remained
two or three ages, since the Britons were Christians, without some Chris-
tians, or believers in Christ, among them ; and that suffices to verify Pros-
pers expression, " ad Scotos in Christum credentes," as we have shown.
XL. After having thus endeavoured to fix the true meaning of Prosper's
two passages, to reconcile them together, and with those of other ancient
writers that mention S. Palladius, his mission to the Scots, it remains to
give account of the use our historian Fordun hath made of the passage of
Prosper's Chronicle, " ad Scotos in Christum credentes," &c, and of the
inferences which he, according to his usual method, hath drawn from this
passage, upon which, with the help of his new scheme of the high antiqui-
ties of the Scots in Britain, and of his opinion of their Conversion to Chris-
tianity, A. D. 203, Fordun built the following story of S. Palladius, and of
the church government among the Scots before Palladius's mission.
He begins by relating Prosper's words from Bede and Sigebert, and
W Ussher, Ant. Brit. pp. 386-416.
II
58
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Hook [.
A. D. 431. supposes Palladius to be the disciple of Evagrius, mentioned by the histo-
rian Socrates, and then, quoting the Polychronicon for his voucher, goeth on
thus : — "A.D. 430, Pope Celestine' 3 ' sent to Scotland the first bishop Palla-
dium, concerning whom the Scots are persuaded that he taught by word and
example, with great care, the orthodox faith to the nation of the Scots,
who had been long before believers in Christ, that he taught them also to
celebrate carefully the feasts and ecclesiastical solemnities. Before whose
coming the Scots had for their doctors of faith and administrators of sacra-
ments, priests only, or monks, following the rites of the primitive Church.
Palladius came to Scotland with a great company of clergy, the eleventh
year of King Eugenius's reign, and that king gave him, in a free gift, a
dwelling-place where he himself had chosen it. : '
The only voucher that Fordun quotes for this story is the Polychronicon ;
now supposing these words were truly to be met with in the Polychronicon.
it would add little or no authority to the credit of so ancient a fact, since
Ralph Higden, author of the Polychronicon, lived but in the same fourteenth
age with Fordun, and both of them above nine hundred years after the
mission of Palladius. But as to the Polychronicon, the truth is, that besides
that there are no such words in Mx, Gale's edition, the only one I know of
it in print, the true Polychronicon (whereof I have seen an excellent MS.
in the Colbert b) library, belonging to the Count de Segnelay, in a hand near
the time,) gives this account of S. Patrick and S. Palladius's mission, lib. iv.
c. 32, where, after mentioning Pope Celestine, he adds, " Iste (Cselestinus /
est qui misit S. Patricium primum ad Hiberniam convertendam et Palla-
dium Romanian Diaconum ad Scotos convertendos, anno Pontificatus sui
nono." These words, far from assuring that the Scots were converted long
before Palladius, " longe ante credentem," as Fordun alleges, quite over-
turn that story, and attribute the Conversion of the Scots to Christianity as
much to Palladius, as they do that of the Irish to S. Patrick, so Fordun\s
citation of the Polychronicon here is a bare flourish at best ; and it doth
£ a) Polychronicon, A.U. 430. Papa Caeleslinus primum cpiscopum in Scotkm misit
S. Palladium, de quo Scotis convenit, quod suam, id est, Scotorum gentem, longe ante in
Christum credentem, fidem orthodoxam verbo sollicite perdoeuit et exemplo, festa simul et
memorias eeclesiasticas diligenter celebrare. Ante cujus adventum habebant Scoti fidei
doctores ac sacramentorum ministratores, nresbyteros solummodo et monachos, ritum
scquentes ecclesiae primitivae. Advenit vero Scotiam magna cleri comitiva, Regis Eugenii
regnationis anno undecimo; cui rex mansionis locum, ubi petierat, gratis dedit. Fordun,
edit. Hearne, lib. iii. c. 8.
W Biblioth. Colbeitin. MS. num. 3147.
Hook I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
59
not appear that he had any better ground for the story above rehearsed, A. D.431.
than his own interpretation of Prosper's words, with the opinion he was
prepossessed with of the Scots' high antiquities, and of their early Conver-
sion as we have observed.
However, Fordun being looked upon, as we have shown elsewhere, by
all our succeeding writers as the standard of the Scots history, this passage
concerning Christianity before Palladius's coining, with Fordun's notion of
the church government in those times, was copied verbatim by his continu-
ators, by the compiler of Palladius' Lessons in the Scottish Breviary, 00 and
with some alteration in the words rather than in the sense by our following
Catholic writers, Major, Boece, Lesley, &c. But how many citations so-
ever are brought for this story from our writers, Catholic or Protestant,
they all depend upon Fordun's sole authority, and must necessarily fall or
stand with it. But to be sure, neither Fordun himself, nor any of his con-
tinuators, nor the author of the Legends in the Scots Breviary, nor any
other Catholic writer ever dreamt of a Scottish Presbyterian Church in
those early times, that is, of a succession of priests or ministers of the
Word and Sacraments, without episcopal ordination, or a parity of bishops
and priests in their character and authority; they all knew that this heresy
had been condemned anciently in Aerius, and lately in the Waldenses,
Wickliff'e, and other sectaries ; and that such an imagination of a succession
of Christian pastors, without episcopal ordination, would have been, in the
judgment of all antiquity, looked upon almost as no less absurd in religious
matters, than it would be in natural things to suppose a race of men grow-
ing up like mushrooms, or propagated in the world without fathers.
The expression of Fordun, "ante cujus (Palladii) adventum,'' &c, was
meant by himself and understood by all those other Catholic writers, in a
very orthodox sense, nowise opposite to the known doctrine and practice
of the Christian Church in all ages. All those writers being prepossessed, as
well as Fordun, with the common opinions received in their times, that the
Scots were settled in Britain before the Incarnation, that they had embraced
Christianity from the beginning of the third age ; and then observing
Palladius, called by Prosper the first bishop, sent to the Scots above two
hundred years after their pretended Conversion, they all concluded, after
Fordun, very naturally, from these premises, that during all that time, that
Breviar. Aberdonen. in festo S. Palladii. Gto Ju'.ii.
Go
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I
A. D. 431. is, from the year 203, when this Conversion of the Scots to Christianity is
placed by Fordun, till 431 (that Palladius, the first bishop, was sent to
thern), the Scots had no ordinary bishop residing among them, and yet
were all Christians (so they understood the words, " ad Scotos in Christum
credentes,'' in Prosper,) when Palladius came to them, and by consequence,
it not being possible to preserve Christianity among a people without pas-
tors to instruct them and administrate the sacraments to them, and these
functions, next to bishops, belonging properly to priests, these writers con-
cluded naturally with Fordun, that the Scottish Christians must of necessity
have had priests among them for performing of those functions, during
these first two hundred years after they embraced the Christian religion.
But neither Fordun himself, nor any of our Catholic writers that copied
him. ever dreamt that those priests or doctors of the Scots had no episcopal
ordination, or that they were ordained by laymen, or by bare presbyters ;
they knew very well it was no hard matter for their priests to receive
ordination and mission from bishops in the neighbourhood, or in foreign
countries, as it hath been the charitable practice in all ages of foreign and
neighbouring bishops and Churches, to send in priests for instructing the
people and administrating the sacraments to those Christians or Catholics
who happened to have no proper bishops among them. For the purpose,
everybody knows that the Catholics in Scotland remained more than one
hundred years after the new Reformation without bishops residing among
theai, and during all that time they continued, as much as the severity of
the new laws brought in with the Reformers would permit, in the profession
of the Catholic Faith and use of sacraments, having no other doctors of faith
or administrators of sacraments but clergy, priests and regulars of several
orders, till at last they received the first bishop, several years after the
Reformation, consecrated and sent to them from abroad. Xow, I suppose,
this fact may one day come to be chronicled, and could it be better ex-
pressed than in the words of Prosper's Chronicle, mutatis mutandis, thus,
A. D NX. ad Scotos Catholicos ordinatur a Papa N. et primus episcopus
mittitur. A. P> NN. was consecrated by Pope N. and sent the first
bishop to the Scots Catholics, to wit, after the destruction of the old re-
ligion with the hierarchy.
I suppose, also, the case of those Catholics, as to pastors, wanting
bishops, from the subversion of the episcopal order at the Reformation till
the coming in of this new bishop, may also come one day to be chronicled,
Hook I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
Gl
could it be better expressed than in Fordun's words, ante cujus (NN. cpis- a. D. 431.
copi) adventum, habebant Scoti (Catholici) fidei doctores ac sacrameutorum
ministratores presbyteros solummodo vel monachos. Before the coming
in of the new bishop, the Scots Catholics had for doctors of faith and
ministers of the sacraments, only clergy, priests and regulars, from the
expulsion or death of their old Catholic Ordinaries.
Both these accounts, in the words of Prosper and Fordun, would be
literally true and applicable, as well, at least, to the Catholics in Scotland
since the new Reformation, as to the first Christians among the Scots before
Palladius, and would it be a tolerable inference to conclude from thence, as
the Presbyterian writers do from Fordun's account of the state of the Scots
in the first ages after they are supposed to have received Christianity, that
during more than one hundred years after the new Reformation, the
Catholics in Scotland had, for their pastors and ministers of the Word and
Sacraments, none else but men bearing the title and using the power of
priests who had not received episcopal ordination, nor any at all but from
mere laymen, or at most, from simple presbyters ? As if their priests could
not easily have received ordination (as they did effectually) from the bishops
of foreign Catholic countries ; or that some of these might have had the charity
and zeal to make a visit among tliem, and ordain lawful pastors for them.
I add, what I hope none that know the doctrine and discipline of anti-
quity will contest, that at least from the beginning of the third age, when
Christianity is supposed by Fordun to have been first planted among the
Scots in Britain, till the coming in of Palladius, A. D. 431, the distinction
of bishops and priests, and the necessity of episcopal ordination for consti-
tuting priests or ministers of the Word and of the Sacraments, were no less
the universal belief and practice of the Christian Church in all other parts
of it than in the sixteenth and seventeenth ages : 1 say, I hope this will
not be contested, because even the most learned among the adversaries of
episcopacy (such as Salmasius, ;a ' Blondel, (b) Bochard, &c.,) do commonly
acknowledge that the distinction of bishops and priests and episcopal
government were generally received by the middle, or before the end of the
second age.
That being : now suppose we should let pass that groundless notion of
Presbyterian writers, that the hierarchy of the Christian Church, consisting
Salmas. sub mentito nomine Walon. Messal. p. 17.
''" Hlondel, Apolog. S. llieron.
62
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book f.
A. D. 431. of the distinct degrees of bishops, priests, and inferior ministers, had no
divine institution, but vras a bare ecclesiastical polity, introduced at first by
those who succeeded immediately to the apostles in the second age, but
being found necessary towards entertaining peace and unity in the Christian
Church, that it had been universally received and settled before the begin-
ning of the third age, in all Christian countries, civilized, or not barbarous,
where there were Churches formed, as the only form of church government.
This supposed, and that episcopal government was the onlv known govern-
ment of the Church throughout all the lioman empire, that is, through all
the polished part of the world, and that undeniably by the end of the second
age, that is, before the Scots in Britain, according to Fordun and his fol-
lowers, received the light of the Gospel, I would willingly ask of the
Scottish Presbyterian writers whether their insisting so much on a Presbv-
terian government in Scotland from the first entry of Christianity among
the Scots, A. D. 203, according to Fordun, till A. D. 431, that is, during
the third, fourth, and beginning of the fifth age, whilst all the other
Churches of the Christian world, orient and Occident, and all those Churches
among others that were immediately founded by, and received the doctrine
and discipline of Christianity from some one of the apostles themselves,
not only owned episcopal government as the only settled form in the
Church by Christ its Founder, but in consequence of that, condemned those
who dared to take upon them the authority of the Christian priesthood
without episcopal ordination as usurpers,' 1 ' and all that they did of that
kind as sacrilegious and null, and upon their repentance reduced them to
the state of bare laymen. I would willingly ask, I say, of our Scots Pres-
byterian writers in this supposition, whether their insisting so much on an
anti- episcopal Church in Scotland, in those times, doth great honour to the
first Scots Christians of these ages, to single them thus out as the only
Church that differed from all the rest of the Christian and even the aposto-
lical Churches in ecclesiastical discipline and government, as being alone
destitute of an ecclesiastical polity, order, and discipline, settled in all
formed Churches over the Christian world : is this, 1 say, very honourable
to these first Christians of Scotland ? or is it a likely story, or will it find
credit in the learned world, especially having no other voucher but an
author of the fourteenth age I
'' Infra, XLIII, the case of Colluth.us and Isjliyras.
Hook [.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
63
But enough of this, for I do not pretend here to enter upon the contro- a. U. 431.
versy about Episcopacy in general. I refer the readers to the learned
tracts written upon that subject by the Catholic divines, and by those of
the Protestant Church of England ; my intention here being only to examine
Fordun's account of church government among the Scots, before the coming
in of S. Palladius, and I hope that by what I have said on that, it appears
clearly that neither Fordun himself understood the words of Prosper's
Chronicle, nor any of our Catholic writers understood Fordun's words, " ante
cujus (Palladii) adventum," &c, in the Presbyterian sense, as if the Scots
had, for above two hundred years before Palladius, had no other ministers
of the Word and Sacraments but nominal presbyters who had received no
ordination from bishops, nor indeed any ordination at all, but what they
received from simple presbyters or mere laymen. It was reserved to the
times of our new Reformation, made and carried on in Scotland partly by
mere laymen, and partly by bare presbyters ; it was, I say, reserved to those
men to give this interpretation to Fordun's words, " ante cujus adventum,"
&c, and that too being forced to it by necessity, to screen themselves from
the obvious accusation of usurping themselves, and admitting others to the
pastoral functions without any episcopal ordination or mission, and without
any precedent from antiquity for their so doing. To men in those circum-
stances, Fordun's unwary and groundless expressions were more precious
than- all the Councils and Fathers of the first five ages, than the authority
even of S. Hierome himself, whom of all the ancients, the anti-episcopal
writers suppose the most favourable to their beloved parity, or an equal
power in priests and bishops ; for S. Hierome, in his epistle to Evagrius,
(besides many other passages of his other works, which manifestly show
that he believed with all the rest of the ancient Fathers, the subordination
of priests to bishops,) expressly excepts the power of ordination as an
episcopal function, incommunicable to priests, 4i Quid a > facit, excepta ordin-
atione, episcopus, quod non facit presbyter."
And now it will, I am afraid, appear that I have already insisted tco
long on Fordun's account of the pretended primitive church government in
Scotland, but if the reader will attentively consider the abuse that hath
been made, since the new Reformation, of Fordun's words, towards over-
turning the whole ancient form of government of the Christian Church, and
' a) Ilicronym. c\ informs us,
from the life of S. Kentigern, disciple to Servanus, that S. Palladius
preached and exercised his episcopal functions several years, among the
Picts and Scots in Britain ; that not finding himself able alone to discharge
all the pastoral duties among these people, he made choice of Servanus, a
person of great sanctity, whom he instructed in what belonged to the pas-
toral charge, consecrated him bishop, and appointed him his coadjutor or
suffragan for advancing the work of the Gospel, and for assisting him in the
Conversion and instruction of the people.
Both the Irish (b) and Scottish writers, after Nennius, agree that S.
Palladius died at Fordun in the Mearns, which the Picts possessed in those
days, "in terra Pictorum ;'' his festival was celebrated all over Scotland the
sixth of July, the day of his death, and he was recorded and honoured as the
Apostle of the Scots, for thus his festival is inscribed in red letters in the
ancientest Scottish calendars, "Prid.Non. Julii S. Palladii episcopietapostoli
Scotorum," and this title of Apostle of the Scots, given to S. Palladius in the
ancientest calendars of the Church of Scotland before Fordun's time, seems
to imply that the churchmen and writers of Scotland, in more early times,
were not persuaded that the body of the Scots nation was converted to
Christianity before Palladius' time in the fifth century, and is a new proof
that this Presbyterian scheme of the ancient church government of Scotland
is fabulous. S. Palladius' memory is still kept up till this day at Fordun
in the Mearns by a yearly fair, called by the vulgar, Padie-fair, curtailed
for Palladie's fair, at Padie-kirk, where his relics were, in all bygone times,
kept with great veneration ; and where, A.D. 1494, (ci William Scheves,
Archbishop of S. Andrews, caused place them more honourably in a silver
shrine ; which, as the report goes, says Spottiswoode, (d) was taken up at the
demolishing of churches, at the time of the new Reformation, by a gentle-
(a) Fordun, lib. in. c. 9.
(b) Nennius, c. xxiv.
< c) Boeth. Hist. Scotor. lib. vii. fol. 129, edit. Ferrer.
< d ' Uist. p. 7.
I
66
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I.
A. D. 431. man of good rank, (Wishart of Pitarro,) who dwelt near the place. The
people of the country, observing the decay which followed on that family
not many years after, ascribed the same to the violation of S. Palladius'
grave : — thus Spottiswoode ; nor is this the only example of divine justice
fallen upon families for the sacrileges committed in those times.
This is all we know from the Scottish writers that now remain, of S.
Palladius of the exercise of his mission, and honour paid to his memory
among the Scots. As to the Irish writers, it is true that they generally
suppose after Nennius, that Palladius did not longW survive his retiring
from Ireland, and that he died soon after among the Picts in Britain, and
that it was upon the news of his death that S. Patrick was consecrated
bishop, and sent to the Scots in Ireland. But it is like, this tradition of the
Irish had no other ground than that the Irish having no further account of
S. Palladius after he left Ireland, believed he was dead, or rather that his
retreat from Ireland, with a resolution never to return back to it, was in re-
gard of them the same thing as his death, and made the sending another
bishop to Ireland equally as necessary, as if Palladius had been really dead ;
and thus the tradition of the Irish concerning him, may be probably recon-
ciled with that of the Scots in Britain, who are persuaded that S. Palladius
outlived his retreat from Ireland, and exercised his pastoral functions
several years among the Picts and Scots in the north of Britain, as we
have said.
However that be, it must be owned after all, that the cultivating and
progress of the Christian religion in these early times among the Scots in
Britain, as well as among the northern Picts, was chiefly owing to S. Pat-
rick, his disciples, or to their successors, among whom the great S. Columba,
as will afterwards appear, bears the principal rank. We may have also
occasion, in the sequel of these essays, frequently to observe the communi-
cation and intercourse, which lasted for several ages afterwards, betwixt the
Scots in Ireland (as long as they bore that name), and the Scots in Britain
(to whom the name of Scots was by degrees at last wholly appropriated),
whence it came to pass in ancient times that both the Scots in Ireland and
those in Britain, looked upon the Scottish Saints, without examining
whether they were born in Ireland or in Britain, as belonging to the Scots
(a) Post parvum intervallum defunctus est Palladius in campo Girgin, in loco qui
dicitur Fordun. Dicunt alii martyrio coronatum esseeum illic. Colgan, in Triade Thau-
maturga, vit. '2 da S. Patricii, c. xxiv. p. 13.
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
67
in common, and in consequence, both those of Britain and those of Ireland A. D.431.
promiscuously adopted them for their patrons, celebrating their memories,
and looking upon the sanctity of their lives, and their zeal to propagate
Christianity, and their other memorable actions, as being equally honour-
able to both nations, without having ever had, as far as appears, any con-
testation about them. It had been happy for them both, and advantageous
to both nations, and for their mutual interests, spiritual and temporal, that
this harmony and close union had been preserved without interruption be-
twixt them, as it appears it was without any considerable breach, as long
as the Irish continued a free and independent nation, governed by their
own native kings and laws. But from the time that the Irish by degrees
became entirely subject to the English, and especially after the usage that
Edward Bruce, who had gone over to rescue them, met with, A.D. 1318,
this mutual harmony betwixt the Scots and the Irish was interrupted, and at
last the Irish being forced by the persecutions of the new Reformers to come
over in great numbers to foreign Catholic countries, and there as a ready
means to find protection, subsistence, and establishment, having begun
under the name of Scots, (which had for many ages been in desuetude
among them,) to claim to themselves alone all the merit of the Scottish
Saints who were honoured in foreign countries, for the Conversions wrought
by them in former ages, or for the sanctity of their lives, without leaving
any share of the merit to the Scots in Britain, who were persuaded, with the
consent of the generality of strangers of those times, that they had a right
and title to these ancient eminent Scots, as good and better than the Irish,
from thence began those hot debates and long paper war, which hath em-
ployed the best pens of both nations within these two last centuries, to no
other purpose than to expose them both to strangers by their altercations
and animosities, which I would be much more inclined to contribute all I
could to heal and make up than to exasperate, that being certainly more to
the edification of the public, and more acceptable than all those debates to all
equitable men of both nations, and to our common patron S. Patrick, for
which reason I am resolved to enter as little as I can into these altercations
and to content myself to call by the name of Scots those I find so called in my
vouchers, leaving to those that have more leisure, the task of discussing to
which of the two islands they belong,and this particularly during the four
following ages that the name of Scots continued to be given to the natives
of both countries. I now return to the history of S. Patrick.
68
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book L
A. D. 432. XLII. Upon S. Palladius leaving Ireland with a resolution never to
return, S. Patrick, who had been particularly chosen by Almighty God for
the Conversion of that island, being then in the course of his travels and
studies at Auxerre in Prance, with the holy bishop S. German, so zealous
for the British Churches, was by him' a) sent anew to Rome, and there or-
dained bishop, and received mission from the Pope. The precise year in
which this happened is not certain. Marianus places S. Patrick's ordina-
tion and mission A.D. 432. and ascribes it to Pope Celestine, whose death
he puts off till 433. But it being certain that Pope Celestine died in April
432, and was soon after succeeded by Pope Sixtus III. who lived till A.D.
440, it is most probable that it was from Pope Sixtus that S. Patrick re-
ceived both his ordination and mission for Ireland. Nothing is more
edifying and apostolical than the account the Saint himself gives in his
Confession or Apology of the dispositions with which he entered and
carried on the work of the Gospel in that island. He abandoned b > his family,
renounced his nobility to serve a stranger nation ; he devoted himself to
God, to go and carry the knowledge of his name to the utmost bounds of
the earth, resolved to endure all for the accomplishment of the work he had
been called to, to bear with equanimity adversity or prosperity, and equally
to render thanks to God for all that should befall to him.
These were the dispositions in which he entered Ireland to preach the
Gospel to a nation which had not' e) as yet received the knowledge of the
true God, and was wholly given up to idolatry. He consecrated himself
entirely to the service of a people to whom he was unknown, except in
quality of a slave and captive, resolved to suffer all sort of bad treatments,
persecutions, and prisons, and even to lay down his life for the Gospel with
joy, if God should judge him worthy of that honour. He informs us that
he was once taken up with the' d) companions of his labours, by order of
some of their kings, and all that they had, seized upon, and himself put in
irons, they intending to put him to death, but that his time not being yet
come, Almighty God preserving him to continue on the work to which He
had called him, after a fortnight's imprisonment they were released.
He tells us, also, no doubt for the information of those that should suc-
ti0 Act. Sanctor. Bolland. ad 17 Martii.
Confessio S. Patricii, a Warseo edita, et correctius a Sociis Bollandin.
Confess n. 21.
(") Ibid. n. 18.
< c > Act. Sanct. Rolland.
«" Confess, n. 18.
70
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I.
A. 1). 43-2. God ; he had, as we observed, in his travels abroad made long abode in the
most renowned monasteries of foreign countries, such as S. Martin's of
Tours, those of Auxerre, and of Lerins, and others. There he had learned
monastic discipline, and was the first that introduced it into our northern
parts, and many of his converts embraced that way of living, for whom he
founded proper mansions, as we shall see, which became the nurseries as
well of bishops and pastors, as of religious men devoted to a solitary life.
But S. Patrick's care for consecrating bishops for carrying on and main-
taining the work of the Gospel, is particularly remarked by all the writers
of his life. Nennius, (a ^ the British writer, in the beginning of the ninth
age, confirms the same, and says that during the long course of his mission
in Ireland, he ordained above three hundred bishops, for as many Churches
that he had founded, and above three thousand priests to serve under them.
This great number of' bishops said to have been ordained by S. Patrick,
during the course of his mission in Ireland, and some other unusual prac-
tices that we may meet with in relation to episcopacy and church govern-
ment in the earliest times of the Christianity, as well of Ireland as of the
northern parts of Britain, without the bounds of the Roman empire, will
no doubt appear very surprising to those that consider the discipline of the
Church, as to bishop's seats, such as they were regulated by the Canons
within the Empire.
XLIII. In order, therefore, to obviate the difficulties that may arise
from some unusual practices in Ireland, and especially in the northern extra-
provincial parts of Britain, to avoid being obliged to repeat frequently
the same remarks, and to prevent objections against episcopal government
in general, arising from the prejudices of some of our modern writers, I
must take the freedom to make some stop here, and for once go to the
bottom of this subject ; and in the first place, after endeavouring to give a
true notion of Episcopacy in general, distinguish what is essential and im-
mutable in that sacred Order, according to the institution of Christ, from
what is changeable or alterable, according to the circumstances or manners
of a people or nation where Episcopacy is established. In the second place,
lay open the wide difference there was in primitive times in the settlement
of bishops betwixt the state, manners, and circumstances of the ancient
inhabitants within the several provinces of the Roman empire, and those of
u ' Nenniu?, c. lix.
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
71
the nations or other inhabitants that had never been subject to it, such as A. D. 43-2.
those of Ireland and of the northern parts of Britain beyond Antonine's
wall.
I join here to the inhabitants of Ireland those of the northern parts of
Britain, to wit, the Picts and Scots, (upon whose account, chiefly, I make
this digression, in order to set what concerns Episcopacy in the best light I
can, and to obviate the objections drawn from the singular circumstances
and situation of bishops in ancient times among the Scots and Picts,) I
join, I say, these three people under one consideration, first, because in
ancient times, before they received Christianity, the circumstances and
manners of these three people were much the same, being all three destitute
of the form of polity settled within the Roman empire. Secondly, because
in the earliest times, after they received the Christian faith, there was
an essential connexion and conformity betwixt them (at least as great as
could be betwixt the inhabitants of two different islands, and under different
governments,) both in the doctrine and in the discipline of Christianity, as
being all derived from the same source, that is, from the preaching and
practice of S. Patrick, of his disciples, and of those that had been instructed
and formed by them, as it will fully appear in the continuation of this essay.
Now in the first place, as to the nature or character of Episcopacy, or of
the episcopal Order. By Episcopacy in general is understood the fulness of
sacerdotal power, which Christ having received from his Eternal Father,
communicated to his Apostles, appointing them his vicegerents, upon his
withdrawing his visible presence from the earth, to be by them transmitted
to the bishops, their Successors, and handed down by them, and preserved
in his Church to his second coming.
And thus He established Episcopacy or the episcopal Order, the source
of all the spiritual powers which He left towards governing, propagating, and
preserving the Church, which is his spiritual kingdom upon earth, whereof
He appointed the Apostles and their Successors the bishops, the supreme
magistrates, with a due subordination among them, and all the powers and
authority necessary for preserving faith, order, and unity, and for perpetua-
ting his kingdom, and maintaining it against all enemies by their ministry,
animated by the invisible operation of his Spirit, according to his promise
to be always with the Apostles and their Successors, even to the end of the
world.
Hence in the episcopal Order or Character, all inferior Orders, as well that
72
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I.
A. I). -I3-2. of priesthood as the rest, are contained as in their source, and all of them
derive from it that portion of the sacerdotal power they are invested with,
as so many streams flowing from Episcopacy, the fountain head. Thus,
when a bishop ordains a priest or deacon, he confers upon him that power
that the Order he receives requires, but he still retains, if I may so say, the
sovereignty or fulness of it himself.
Hence the priest, by virtue of the portion of sacerdotal power communi-
cated to him, can give children to the Church by baptism, but cannot give
Fathers to it by ordination ; he can give, by baptism, the spiritual life, but
cannot, by his ordinary power, give the perfection of Christianity ; he can
offer the Christian Sacrifice, he can forgive sins by the sacrament of pen-
ance, he can govern and feed by the Word and Sacraments the portion of
the flock committed to him, and so of the other powers communicated to him
by the bishop ; but all of them to be exercised either by order of, or with
relation to the bishop, and with dependance on him. These were the senti-
ments of the primitive times, That of S. Ignatius, Martyr, disciple of the
apostles, is clear upon the head. " Sine (a) episcopo nemo quidquam faciat
eorum quae ad ecclesiam spectant....Non licitum est sine episcopo, neque
baptizare, neque agapen facere," &c. In fine, the dignity of the priest is
sublime, but limited to himself ; he cannot communicate it to others, nor
convey it down heyond his own life. Whereas the bishop possesses all the
sacerdotal powers, not only in a much more noble and independent manner,
but can transmit them. He not only can give children to the Church, but
he can give Fathers to it, which priests cannot do. This is the principal
difference betwixt the Orders of bishops and priests assigned by S. Epi-
phanius in his book of Heresies, where he argues against the heretic Aerius,
who, among other heresies, was the first that broached in the fourth century,
this of the equality of priests to bishops.
" The Order of bishops," says this holy Father, (b) " begets Fathers to the
Church, that of priests cannot beget Fathers, it engenders only children (by
the laver of regeneration) but not Fathers or Masters." In a word, the bishop
contains in his Character, not only all that is necessary towards governing
and preserving a Church already formed, but he alone can form new
(i) S. Ignat. epist. ad Smyrn.
...'H yap £ well versed in
the discipline of the Church, it did subsist in some places in the apostolical
times, where we have no clear proof that the Apostles always ordained any
number to the limited Character of priests of the second Order, but conferred
often all at once, the plenitude of episcopal powers upon those who were
sent to convert the nations, and to form Churches of their new converts.
The circumstances of the Church in those first times, seem to have
often required this disposition, for all the first apostolical labourers, as well
as the Apostles themselves, were destinated to go out into the world to
preach the Gospel, according to Christ's commission, to all men, " omni
creaturse," to form Churches of those whom they converted, and to settle
pastors over them, not only to feed the flock already brought into the
Church, but to propagate the Gospel in the neighbourhood, and in propor-
tion as the number of the faithful daily augmented, to form new Churches,
and give them pastors, with power equal to their own, for the more speedy
propagation of the Gospel.
But, however that be, from what we have said, it follows that of all the
powers contained in the plenitude of the Episcopal dignity, the power of
giving Fathers to the Church, or of consecrating or ordaining bishops
priests, and deacons or ministers, is the most characteristic or distinguish-
ing prerogative ; all the rest, even that of governing, visiting, correcting, of
giving Confirmation, of veiling virgins, dedicating churches, &c, though
they be proper functions of a bishop, yet they mav be all of them delegated
(1) Thomassin, de ant. Ecclcs. Disciplina, lib. i. c 1.
Hook L
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
75
to priests upon urgent occasions, but the power of ordaining bishops or .\. D. 4;3J.
priests can never be delegated to any not endued with the episcopal
Character ; nor is there any example of its having been allowed of in all the
history of the Christian Church, but, on the contrary, we find that, when-
ever any under the episcopal Character presumed to usurp the power of
ordination, the Orders they had pretended to confer were declared null, and
the usurpers, with those they had attempted to ordain, were universally
condemned in the earliest times Witness the decision of the famous case
of Ischyras and Colluthus, whereof here follows a brief account, taken from
authentic Acts, preserved to us by S. Athanasius.
Colluthus, a simple presbyter, having usurped the episcopal office, and
in that quality conferred the Order of priesthood (among others) upon one
Ischyras, a layman of Mareotis ; for this reason, in a numerous Council of
bishops holden, A.D. 319, at Alexandria, in which the famous Osius pre-
sided, ic was enacted that this Colluthus, being only a priest, and not a true
bishop, but an imaginary one, (or (a ' fancying himself to be a bishop,) should
thenceforth take no other quality upon himself but that of a simple presbyter,
as he truly was no more, and in consequence, that all his ordinations were
null, and those he had ordained reduced to their former condition, and
among others, Ischyras declared no presbyter, though he had valued himself
upon that quality, by virtue of a pretended ordination from Colluthus.
Thus in substance the public Acts set down by S. Athanasius in his Apology.
It is, I conceive, of the last importance for all our countrymen of the
Presbyterian way to consider seriously with themselves whether or not this
judgment passed by the great Osius, in so early times, and in so numerous
a Council, recorded by S. Athanasius, doth not at least equally level at all
the pretended ordinations of ministers of the Word and Sacraments, derived
from the Knoxian ordinations, made by laymen, or, at most, by simple
presbyters, at our Scottish Reformation, and from thence continued down
upon the same footing, till our times.
And in order to put this synodical judgment in a better light, it is of
consequence to add here to it, the judgment that the historian Socrates,
speaking the sense of the Church of his time, A.D. 439, makes of this
Ischyras's taking upon him the quality and office of priest, without a true
(lo'A'Vns) UVK tort itfitafivrtpas' Ino yuf> \\o\\ov9ov rou irptaQvrtpav tyavTaoOtVTos
(TTKTKonljv — ac. r. A. Libellu Clericor. Mareotic. in Apologia S. Athanasii relat. torn. ii.
Cuncil. General, edit. Cos^art et Labbe, pp. 458-45!).
76
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I.
A. I>. 432. episcopal ordination, having received his ordination only from Colluthus,
an imaginary bishop.
" A (a) man of that country, (says Socrates, speaking of Mareotis,) called
Ischyras, did a thing (i. e. committed a crime) which deserved to be
punished by more than one death, for he had the boldness to take upon
him the name, and to exercise the sacred functions of a priest, though he
had never been initiated to the priesthood." Such authorities as these,
containing the sense of so early times upon the necessity of episcopal or-
dination, need not great discussion, but only to be seriously laid to heart by
all whom it concerns.
By all we have said, I hope it sufficiently appears that the power of
ordination is the most essential prerogative of the episcopal Character, and
the most inseparable from it.
For which reason, all that I shall have occasion to say of the necessity
of bishops, in the northern parts of Britain in ancient times, and of the im-
possibility of a Christian Church its subsisting without the ministry of
bishops, is chiefly to be understood of the power of ordination. All other
episcopal powers and functions have their exceptions ; the power of ordina-
tion hath none, but is essentially annexed to the episcopal Character, and
incommunicable to any other.
So that without the bishop's ministry, as I have already often observed,
according to the constant uniform practice of the Christian Church, there
can be neither bishops, or priests, or any proper ministers of the Word
and Sacraments, no spiritual government that binds to obedience, no power
of the keys, &c, in a word no Church. Thus episcopal authority is essen-
tial to it
XLIV. But whether the bishop have a fixed district, or govern at large,
whether he have a proper seat, or travel about from place to place, whether
he have the inspection and government of one whole people, nation, or
kingdom, or only of a portion of it, whether in the exercise of his functions
he subject himself, out of humility, to any other, whom he judges superior
in sanctity and prudence to himself, (though of an inferior Character) ai.d
takes directions from him, or exerts upon all occasions the superiority of
his power, which depends upon Cod alone, whether he have fixed revenues,
Ev dt to) Mapeurq tovtco la^vpas rts (iuriii KaXovpevos, Trpaypa vntSv nuXXaiv GavuTicv
a£tOV' ovfte TlunrnTe yap ifpoavvqt tv\wv TO tov TTptu^vTfiJuv ovopa iavTco TTtpidipe vos, Ta
iepeos TrpiiTTfiv (ToXprjo-e. Socrat. Hist. Eceles. lib. i. c. 27. edit. Vales, j> 64.
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
77
or subsist upon the labour of his own hands, or upon the charity of the A. D. 432.
faithful, all these things may vary according to times, places, and other
circumstances, but the episcopal Character is still the same. The history
of the Church furnishes us with examples of bishops in all these circum-
stances ; but without the power of ordination, there can be none, nor was it
ever allowed to exercise it without the episcopal Character.
Thus we find in the monuments of the Church many bishops at large.
The Apostles and apostolical men were generally such. We find, also,
regionary bishops, who had no fixed districts or dioceses ; such were those
who, in the seventh, eighth, or ninth ages, converted the nations of the
northern continent; S. Amand, S. Suibert, Willebrod, Willehad, &c, and
in Germany, Boniface and Kilian ; and all those (for the same reason as the
first twelve Apostles and apostolical men,) looking upon themselves as called,
not barely to govern a particular flock, but to propagate the Gospel, to erect
new Churches, and settle proper bishops in them. And sometimes they
themselves at last fixed their residence or seat in some one of the cities or
towns they had converted. Among the regionary bishops may be also
reckoned several bishops of Little Br it any, such as Samson, Leonor, Maclo
or Malo, who all of them at first exercised their episcopal functions through
the country at large, though they afterwards choosed fixed residences, which
by degrees came to be held for bishops' seats, and to have a determined
precinct or diocese.
But what is chiefly to the present purpose, we find also, in the same
ecclesiastical monuments, bishops of whole nations, countries, or kingdoms.
Such were Moyses, bishop of the Saracens ; Eritannion, bishop of the Scy-
thians ; Frumentius, bishop of the ^Ethiopians, or Abyssinians; Ulphilas,
bishop of the Goths, and others ; but all of them without the bounds of
the Roman empire.
All these usages, how different soever they appear from those of later
times in Catholic or Christian countries, or even from those of ancient
times, within the bounds of the Roman empire, all these usages, I say,
make no rial difference in the episcopal Character, much less do other
differences of lesser moment betwixt bishops of ancient times and those in
more modern, such as that those ancient bishops had neither stately churches,
nor fixed revenue, nor numerous attendants or trains, but were often reduced
to great straits, sometimes forced to earn their bread with the labour of
their hands, according to the apostolical model. For example, Spiridipn
78 CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL Book I.
A. D. 432. <>f Trimithunte, keeping his own slieep, was as true, and as great a bishop,
and as much respected, as any that sat in the great Council of Nice.
I insist upon this, because we meet with examples of these different
usages in ancient times among bishops in Ireiand, and more yet in the
northern parts of Britain, and this chiefly, because they lived without the
bounds of the empire, in countries where the Roman government had
never penetrated, nor their discipline and polity ever been in use.
For the chief occasion of the variety we meet with in the exterior dis-
cipline of episcopacy, was the circumstances and manners of the inhabitants
where it was established. For hence the difference we find in ancient times
of the situation of bishops within and without the Roman empire.
This whole empire was, in the time of Constantine the Great, (who first
gave full liberty to the Christian religion), divided into four great districts,
or prefectures, and each of these governed by chief magistrates, called pre-
fects. Each province contained so many towns or cities, whereof the capital
was called metropolitan, and had a magistrate with jurisdiction over all the
province and rest of the cities. Each city had its proper magistrates. The
cities were generally built of stone, and had each within its precinct, public
edifices for their civil and religious assemblies. Of all which there are still
statelv remains, or ruins, to be seen in many provinces, or countries which
had been subject to the empire, whilst it stood.
This disposition or polity served, in the order of Divine Providence, for
the speedy progress of the Gospel throughout the bounds of the empire, and
became a general plan for settling episcopal seats in due subordination, by
degrees, as the light of the Gospel spread itself through the provinces. It
was natural to settle a bishop as the chief spiritual magistrate in each city,
and among the bishops of the province, the bishop of the chief city or
metropolis, was of course entitled to have jurisdiction over the rest, by the
name of metropolitan, or archbishop; and the city of Rome, being the chief
of all others, and the centre of the empire, it was by a special order of
Divine (a) Providence, that S. Peter, appointed by our Lord himself the
first and chief of the Apostles, was directed by the Spirit of Cod to place in
that city his fixed seat, which was to be in all after ages the chief seat, and
centre of unity in the Church of Christ, and head of the episcopal college,
(al Beatissimus Petrus Princeps apostolici ordinis, ad arcem Romani destinatur
imperii; ut lux veritatis qua in omnium gentium revelabatur salutem, effieacius se abipso
eapite per totum mundi corpus efl'underet. S. I.eo, Sermon. 80.
Hook I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
79
with a far greater a) extent of spiritual jurisdiction, than it ever had of civil a. D.
authority at the greatest height of its power and dominion.
As to the countries without the bounds of the empire, such as Ireland
and the northern parts of Britain, we have no account of any such civil
polity. The government was indeed monarchical in Ireland, and among the
Picts and Scots in Britain. Ireland was also divided into four provinces,
as we are told, to wit, Leinster, Ulster, Munster, and Connaught ; in each
of which was a little king, as they relate, and under him several chiefs, or
heads of clans, who took also sometimes the title of kings. But all this,
depending more upon force and violence than upon any laws or regulation
of polity, was not lasting or uniform.
But Ave have no certain account of any considerable town, either in
Ireland, before the invasion of the Danes in the eighth or ninth age, nor
in the northern parts of Britain, without the bounds of the empire, that is,
beyond the northern wall. Nor have there been found, by the most dili-
gent enquirers, any considerable ruins or remains (except of Roman works)
in the north of Britain. No conspicuous ruins, for example, are to be
seen lb) at Tara, the chief seat of the kings of Ireland ; nor at Abernethy in
the north of Britain, though it was once the chief city< c) of the Picts, and the
ordinary dwelling-place of their kings. The chief reason of this is, that
whereas within the empire the houses were generally built of stone, in
Ireland, and in our northern parts, in the times we speak of, and long after-
wards, they were made only of wood, interwoven with the branches of trees.
The Danes, upon their invasions into Ireland, in the eighth and ninth
age, made the first stone buildings. But the natives as yet, in the twelfth
age, looked even upon churches of stone as an unusual novelty, and scarce
could bear the sight d ' of them.
Stone buildings were certainly long before that in use, at least for
churches, among the Picts in the north of Britain, since we find that, A.D.
715, Naitan, (e) king of the Picts, in his message to Ceolfrid, abbot of Were-
_ (4) (Roma) persacram Bead Petri sedem caput orbis eti'ecta, latius prasidercs rellgione
Divina quam dominatione terrena. S. Leo, Sermon. 80.
— Sedes Roma Petri, quae pastoralis honoris
Facta caput niundo, quidquid non possidet armis,
Religione tenet.
<*» Ware, Ant. Hibern. p. 111.
< c) Nunc fait ille locus (Abernetliy) Principalis Regalis et Pontificalis per aliqua
tempora totius Regni Pictorum. Lib. Paslet. in Riblioth Reg. Lond. MS. lib. iv. c. 12.
Vita Rumoldi, pp. 158, 159, &c.
,c) In Hibernia siugulse pene Ecelesia? singulos habent cpiscopos, raultiplicatos ad
arbitrium Metropolitan!. Bernard. Vita S. Malachia?.
( consecrated to God was accounted an
adulteress if she married, and was debarred the Holy Communion, till she
forsook the adulterer and did penance : Third, That when a new< e) church
was erected, the Holy Sacrifice could not be offered in it, till first it was
consecrated by the Bishop: Fourth, That no (f) church could be erected,
nor any stranger bishop or priest administrate any Sacraments in it with-
out leave of the Bishop of the place. By these last Canons it appears,
that by the time these Canons were made the country was begun to be
distributed into districts or dioceses.
In the other Council it is statuted among other regulations : First, That
excommunicated (s ) persons be debarred from the Communion, from Mass,
and from the kiss of peace (a Communione et Missa et pace) : Second, That
if any of the clergy fell into a grievous( h ) sin, he was to be deprived of the
exercise of all functions, retaining only the name or title of his Order :
Third, That the Holy Sacrifice^ was offered for the deceased : Fourth,
That if any one' k > took upon him the clerical functions without being
chosen to it by a bishop, that is, without episcopal ordination, he was to
be condemned and degraded.
There are many other Canons in these two Councils, but the copies
whence they were taken, besides their barbarous style, Avere so depraved,
that some of them can scarce be made sense of. It appears, by several
other Canons that bear the name of S. Patrick, that there must have been
" Ware, Opusc. S. Patricii, p. 31-42.
1,1 Labbe, Concil. General, torn. iii. p. 1477-1481.
< c > Can. 2, 3. Can. 4.
< d) Can. 17. (h) Can. 10.
' el Can. 23. « Can. 12.
(f) Can. 24, 30, 33. « Can. 10.
Book L
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
87
other Councils, said to be holclen by him anrl his fellow-labourers during A. D. 432.
the long course of his episcopal ministry.
The reason why I take so much notice of this and other remains of the
discipline settled by S. Patrick in Ireland, is particularly because the same
doctrine and discipline first established by him in that island, Avere by his
disciples and their successors introduced and settled in the northern parts
of Britain, among the Scots and Picts. And besides that King Fergus, son
of Ere, the first king of the Scots, and the other Scots that came into
Britain with him, towards the end of this fifth and beginning of the
sixth century, both churchmen and military men, had been all converted or
instructed in Ireland by S. Patrick and his disciples, the writers of his life
give us sufficient ground to believe that he himself preached in the north
of Britain to the Scots.
XLVIII. They give a clear account of his preaching to the inhabi-
tants of the Isle of Man, called anciently Eubonia, and sometimes Mona,
but entirely distinguished from Anglesey, called also sometimes Mona.
S. Patrick having converted the Isle of Man, settled in it a bishop's (a) seat,
and consecrated Germanus for their first bishop. To Germanus succeeded
Conindrus, who had for his successor Romulus, and after him Machael, or
Machaldus, was Bishop of Man. The same writers relate that S. Patrick
preached the Gospel in the other isles also, and having converted the inhabi-
tants, he placed bishops in each of them, and that his custom was to place
bishops not only in towns, but in lesser places (non solum in urbibus sedin
oppidis) to the end that the faithful might not be deprived of the benefit
of Confirmation. These islands were chiefly those betwixt Scotland and
Ireland. Now Orosius having informed us about the beginning of the
fifth century that these islands were inhabited by Scots, who were begun
long before these times to have dwellings in the north-western parts of the
mainland of Britain, it cannot be reasonably doubted but S. Patrick's pas-
toral care was extended to these Scots of Britain as well as to those of
Ireland, he being, as S. Palladius had been, destinated to be the Apostle of
the nation of the Scots in general wherever they dwelt, though his chief
vocation was to those of Ireland, whose Conversion had been, by a particular
order of Divine Providence, reserved to him. Nor can it be reasonablv
W Jocelin. Vit. Patric. c. xciii ; Probus, Vit. Patric. lib. ii. c. 11 : apud Colgan.
Triad. Tbaumaturg.
S8
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I.
A. D. 432. doubted but S. Patrick, who looked upon settling everywhere bishops, as
the chief means of propagating the Gospel, in proportion as the Conversion
of the Scots in Britain advanced, failed not to send bishops to them, as
being absolutely necessary towards preserving and perpetuating Christianity,
since it could not subsist without the sacred ministry which, without a
bishop, could not outlast one man's life.
I have insisted the longer upon S. Patrick's apostolical labours in plant-
ing the Gospel in Ireland, and upon the means he made use of for carrying
it on, as a necessary introduction for clearing the way and putting in a
better light the propagating the Gospel among the Scots in Britain, and
planting it among the northern Picts in the following age. \Ve must now
return to the civil transactions that passed betwixt the remains of the
provincial Britons and those northern nations.
XLIX. After the victory, whereof we have already C a ) given an account,
which the Britons, in a miraculous manner, by the repetition of the word
"Alleluia," and by the prayers of the bishops SS. German and Lupus,
gained over the Picts and other nations of the north, these holy men being
returned to Gaul, the Scots and Picts broke in again upon the Britons and
ravaged their country.
Bede relates ;b) from Gildas, that the Britons, under these pressures,
applied once more to the Romans for aid, and sent to the Consul Aetius,
the groans of the Britons, " gemitus Britonum," (as Gildas calls them,)
that is, an account of their miserable circumstances, informing him that the
Barbarians (so they call the Scots and Picts) drove them to the sea, and the
sea drove them back to the Barbarians ; so we are, say they, exposed either
to be drowned or slaughtered.
But the Romans were at this time in no condition to assist them, having
then the Huns, Goths, and other enemies to oppose. So the Britons, des-
pairing of any hopes of human assistance, began to enter into them-
selves/ 0 ) to reform their lives, and to apply to Almighty God, who had
compassion on them, and inspired them with courage to return upon their
enemies and encounter them. Upon which the Hiberni, that is, the people
(called as yet promiscuously, by Gildas and Bede, by the names of Hiberni
or Scoti,) returned home, that is, those of them that were already settled in
« Supra, XXXVIII.
< b) Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c. 13.
(c) Gildas, c. xix. Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c. 14.
Book L
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND;
89
Britain, passed home to their own dwellings in and about Argyle, and in A. I). 446
the north-western coasts or isles of Britain. But those that were only
adventurers, that had come over from Ireland, either as auxiliaries to the
Scots of Britain, or only to prey upon, or carry off captives from the
Britons, most of them returned home again to Ireland, others remained
with their friends in the north of Britain, ready to march with them and
the Picts upon a new expedition, as it hath been elsewhereOO shown.
L. As to the Picts ceasing also at the same time to pursue the Britons
and their retiring back, Gildas and Bede express this retreat in the following
words. " Picti in extrema parte insula?, turn primum et deinceps requiev-
erunt." The Picts then, for the first time, and from thenceforth, remained
quiet in the extremity of the island. These words " the extremities of the
island of Britain," taken in general, are the subject of a contestation, because
thev are susceptible of two different interpretations. The one is, that by
" Britain," or the " island of Britain," may be meant the whole island,
including all from the most southern parts to the extremities of the north,
both the provincial and extra-provincial parts of Britain, and in that sense
" the extremity of Britain " would denote the most northern part of all
the island. The other interpretation is, that by " Britain," may be under-
stood those parts only of the island that had been included in the Roman
dominions, which in their greatest extent reached no farther north than
Antonine's wall, betwixt the friths of Clyde and Forth ; in this sense by
" the extremity of Britain " is meant the more northern parts of Roman
Britain, terminated by the northern wall betwixt the friths ; in a word,
that part of the island which made formerly the Roman province of
Valentia. bounded by the southern and northern walls. Now, to pretend
that the meaning of Gildas and of Bede here was, that the Picts in their
retreat, about A.D. 447, settled "for the first time" in the northern
parts or extremities of Britain, taking it in the first sense, that is, for all
the island, as if they had not been settled in the northern parts of Britain
before this time, were visibly to put Gildas and Bede in contradiction, not
only with all the most certain accounts that we have of the Picts, but
even with themselves, since nothing is more certain in history, as we
have seen all along hitherto, than that the Caledonians or Picts were long
before this, and time out of mind, in possession of the northern extremities
,a) Crit. Essay, pp. G-58, 650.
M
90
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I.
A. D. 447. of the island of Britain, and particularly that, according^) to Bede, they were
the most ancient or first known inhabitants of those parts of that island.
This supposed, it follows in course that the second interpretation alone
can take place here, and that by Britain, in this passage of Gildas and Bede,
must be understood that part only of the island that was bordered by An-
tonine's wall, betwixt Clyde and Forth, and not all the island. And this
is conformable to other passages of these writers, as when they relate that
the Picts and Scots, their invading the Britons after the building of the
last wall, and the Romans returning home, A.D. 429, with a resolution to
come no more to their assistance ; upon this, says Bede.( b > after Gildas, the
Scots and Picts possessed themselves, instead of the native inhabitants, of
all the northern and farthest part of the island up to the wall, " omnem
aquilonalem extremamque insuhe partem muro tenus capessunt," where it
is visible that, at least, the Picts took possession of the British province
called Valentia, which was the most northern and farthest part of Britain,
according to an expression usual in Bede, and other ancient writers, who
give the name of Britain to that part of the island which the Romans pos-
sessed and surrounded with walls, and looked upon what lay beyond the
friths of Clyde and Forth as another island. Thus Tacitus, (c) speaking of
Agricola's progress to these friths, says, " inventus est in Britannia ter-
minus :" and adds for a reason of his calling those friths the extremities of
Britain, that by his fortifying the pass betwixt those two friths, the enemies
were driven out into Caledonia, as into another island : " Submotis velut
in aliam insulam hostibus." And Bede, speaking of that part only of the
island, which the Romans possessed, and surrounded with a wall, calls it,
all Britain, "totam( d ) Britanniam," and the island of Britain, "Britanniam
insulam. "( e )
By all this I hope it is manifest, that, by the extremities of the island
of Britain, where, according to Gildas and Bede, the Picts retired about
A.D. 447, and for the first time fixed their habitation, or rather lay quiet
in them, must necessarily be understood, the extremities of Roman Britain
only, or the province of Valentia, whereof the Picts had been so often in
possession before, and as often forced out by the Romans, till now that the
< a > Crif. Essay, pp. 48, 49.
<») Gildas, c. xv. Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c. 12.
< c) Vit. Agric. c. Ixxxi.
< a > Hist. Eccles. lit), iii. c. 2.
< c > Ibid. lib. iii. c. 22.
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
91
Romans having for ever abandoned the island, the Picts took a lasting A. 1). 447
possession, at least of all the eastern parts of that province bordered by
the Gulf of Forth. For I suppose some of the Britons remained still in
possession of the western parts of Valentia, bordered by the Gulf of Clyde,
and remained masters of the impregnable rock of Alcluid, and of the adja-
cent countries, as well as of what was afterwards called Galloway, as it will
afterwards appear.
Gildas and Bede adjoin to the passage which we have endeavoured to
explain, the following words, " prjedasW et contritiones de Britonum gente
nonnunquam facientes ;" by which we are informed, that, though the Britons
had abandoned to the Picts the eastern part of the province of Valentia,
afterwards called Pictland, and left the Picts in quiet possession of these
fertile territories, hoping by that means to keep them from invading the
more southern parts of their country, upon the same motives that had en-
gaged the Romans and the Britons, A.D. 426, to content themselves to
build the last wall in Northumberland, and abandon to the Picts those
same territories of Valentia, as hath been elsewhere( b ) observed : yet this
new compliance of the Britons had its effect only for some time, and the
Picts remained quiet and ceased from invading the Britons beyond the Nor-
thumbrian wall only till a new opportunity presented itself, which at last
proved the ruin of the Britons, of which we are now to give an account.
LI. The Britons, after the retreat of the Scots and Picts, and by the
surrender they had made to the Picts of the eastern territories of Valentia,
enjoyed for some time( c ) peace and quiet, and upon that ensued a great
plenty, which the Britons, forgetful of their past misfortune, abusing to
luxury and giving themselves to all sorts of vices, they were punished with
a dismal plague, which brought a great desolation on their country, whereof
their old enemies, the Picts, joined with the Scots, resolved to take advan-
tage, embraced this opportunity to invade them again and subdue them.
'The rumour of their preparations so terrified the Britons, that, not knowing
to what hand to turn themselves for help, they, with their infatuated king,
\ ortigern, resolved to call over into Britain the Saxons, a foreign people,
from Germany, to assist them to defend their country from the Picts and
the Scots.
(a) Gildas, c. xix.
(b) Supra, XXXVI.
(t '' GiMas, c. xix. 15cd. Mist. Ecclcs. lib. i. c. 14.
9^2
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I.
A. D, 4-19. The SaxonsM received the invitation with great joy, and embarking
their forces under the conduct of Hengist and Horsa, their leaders, landed
in the island of Thanet. The coming in of the Saxons to Britain is
reckoned to have happened A.D. 440, or 450. Soon after their arrival
they marched northwards by Vortigern's order, and, in conjunction with
the Britons, fought with the enemies and defeated them. Huntingdon 00
informs us that this first encounter betwixt the Saxons, joined to the
Britons, and the Picts and Scots, was at Stanford in Lincolnshire, in the
heart of England, by which we see how much masters of the south of
England these northern enemies were become. The Saxons failed not to
acquaint their countrymen abroad of the success of their arms, of the fer-
tility of the country of Britain, and of the indolence of the Britons ; upon
which a more considerable fleet was sent over with a greater power of
Saxons, who, being added to the former numbers, made up an invincible
army. These new comers received of the gift of the Britons a place to
inhabit, upon condition that they should wage war against their enemies
for the peace and security of the country, and the Britons should give the
soldiers their pay.
LIE Bede' c ) gives here an account of the nations from whence these
first Saxons came into Britain, and posterior English writersC 4 ) have treated
the subject more at length ; to these I remit for the particulars concerning
these nations. Bede adds that swarms of Saxons hasting over into the island,
this new come people began to increase to that decree that they became
terrible to the natives themselves, who had called them, that at last, of
auxiliaries becoming enemies, to fortify themselves the more, they entered
into a league with the Picts, whom they had by this time( e ) drove to a
greater distance by force of arms, and began to turn their weapons against
the Britons their confederates. At first, they obliged them to furnish
greater plenty of provisions, and, seeking an occasion to fall out, they pro-
tested that unless greater store of provisions were brought them they would
break the confederacy and ravage all the island ; nor were they backward
in putting their threats in execution. In short, the fire kindled by the
hands of these infidels proved God's just revenge for the crimes of the
<»> Bod. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c. 15.
(b > Huntingdon, lib. ii. [Mon. Hist. Brit. vol. i. p. 707.]
w Hist. Eccles. lib i. c. 15.
< d > Ussher, Ant. Brit. pp. 208, "209, &C.
(0> Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c. 15.
Hook I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
93
people : uot unlike that which, lighted by the Chaldeans, consumed the a. D. 441).
walls and other buildings of Jerusalem. For the wicked conquerors in the
same manner, or rather the just Judge so permitting it, plundered all the
neighbouring cities and country, and carried on the conflagration from the
eastern to the western sea; in short, they destroyed all, sacred and profane,
slew or put to flight the ancient inhabitants, whereof some of the miserable
remains being taken in the mountains, were butchered in heaps ; others
with fearful hearts fled to countries beyond sea. Others continuing in
Britain, full of dread, led a poor life on mountains, in woods, and on craggy
rocks. Among other retreats to which the Britons fled for refuge, one of
the safest was to their countrymen, the remains of the Maeates, or midland
Britons, the ancient inhabitants of the western territories betwixt the
southern and northern walls, and who (since the coming in of the Picts,
and their settlement, as we have seen, on the south side of the Forth,) had
retired most part towards the west, to Clydesdale and Calloway, and there
had set up a little kingdom, whereof the chief seat was that impregnable
rock, or fortress, called Alcluid, and which, from the long habitation of the
Britons in these parts, is still known by the name of Dunbritton.
It was in and about this place that the northern wall terminated towards
the west, and where the chief guards of these frontiers of the empire were
placeil, while the province of Valentia subsisted. Upon the Roman forces
leaving Britain, the provincials who inhabited those parts had formed
themselves into a little state or kingdom (as we have( a ) shown elsewhere,)
in order to defend themselves against the Scots and Picts, and the accession
of great numbers of the Britons of the south, who retired to those of
Clydesdale, to secure themselves from the ravages of the Saxons, was a
new recruit to their little state, and contributed not a little to the stand
that these Britons made against the new enemies.
For whatever account maybe made of Bede's authority in the historical
matters of Britain in general, it were very hard to take all at the letter
that he and the other Saxon writers set down of the almost constant
triumphs of the Saxons over those ancient inhabitants, without having some
regard to what Nennius and the other British writers, even Ceoffrey him-
self, say of the stand the Britons made after the first surprise (occasioned
by the Faxons turning treacherously on a sudden against them,) of the re-
W Crit. Essay, pp. 32, 33.
!)'• CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL Book I.
A. 1). 44:». sistancc made by the Britons for a long time, and of the advantages which
they sometimes had over the Saxons in other encounters, besides that of
Badenhill, which all the Saxon writers own. But the truth is, it is no
easy matter, or rather, impossible, at this distance of time, to find out the
truth of all that passed betwixt the Britons and Saxons in these early times,
nor doth this properly belong to my subject ; the reader may consult upon
it the learned English writers. So I return to the history of the northern
inhabitants of Britain.
LIII. Among these inhabitants, it hath been fully shown in the first
part < a) of this Essay, that the Caledonians or Picts were the most ancient
and first known possessors of all the northern parts of the island beyond
the friths of Clyde and Forth ; we have also remarked < b) the occasion of
the new name of Picts given to the Caledonians by the Roman writers
in the third age of Christianity ; we have given, (c) from the best Roman
writers, a short chronological account of the warlike actions of the Cale-
donians or Picts, the only inhabitants of Britain who maintained their
liberty and independency against the Romans, and that without any foreign
assistance till the coming in of the Scots ; we have seen that, not contented
with their ancient bounds on the north side of the Friths, they had begun
to make early settlements on the south side, and that, when overpowered
by the Roman forces, they were obliged to abandon these new acquisitions,
they missed no opportunity of recovering them again. We have observed
that (d) the settlements they had made upon the south side of the friths,
and the hopes of enlarging them in a fertile country, had encouraged them
to grant the Scots, come from Ireland about the third age, a retreat and
footing on the western coasts and islands of Britain, in order to have them
for auxiliaries against the Romans and Britons ; we have seen (e) that, at
last upon the Romans leaving the island, the Picts had forced the Britons
to give up to them the eastern parts of the province of Valentia, betwixt
the walls, whilst the remains of the old Britons kept still possession of a
part of the western coasts of that province. Now it cannot be supposed, in
reason, that the Caledonians or Picts could ever have been able thus to
carrv on almost a constant war, offensive and defensive, against so powerful
(a) Crit. Essay, pp. 4-2, 43, &c.
»"> Ibid. p. 57.
< c) Supra, II. VIII. et alibi.
Supra, XXI.
" • Supra, XXXVII.
Book 1.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
95
adversaries as the Romans and provincial Britons, during so many ages, A. D. 451.
without a common concert and union among themselves, that is, without a
government and a common head or leader, clothed with authority to con-
vocate them upon all exigencies, to lead them on in battle, to act for them in
treaties, and administrate justice in time of peace ; in a word, without a king.
Accordingly we have given several catalogues'*' of their ancient kings,
and among these one more authentic than all the rest, of greater antiquity,
and supported by the testimony of the most ancient writers of the Irish in
the neighbourhood, under the title of " Chronicle of the Origin or first
Kings of the ancient Picts," of which a full account is given in the first
part' b ) of this Essay, where we have also laid open the defects and incor-
rection of the first part of the only copy we have hitherto discovered, both
in the true reading the names of the kings, and more yet in the numeral
letters designed to mark the years of each of the reigns of the first thirty-
six kings. For which reason we have hitherto superseded setting down
their names, not being possible to reduce them to the chronological order
that we endeavour to follow. Whereas the second part of this Pictish
Chronicle, beginning at the reign of Durst, son of Irb or Erp, being one of
the most exact' c) short chronicles that I have seen, as to the years of each
king's reign, I shall henceforth set down each of the kings according to the
order of time.
LIV. A.D. 451. Drest. or Durst, son of Irb, the thirty-seventh king
of the Picts, according to their Chronicle, deceased after a reign of forty-five
years, according to the surest calculation : there being a visible mistake in
the number of years assigned to his reign, as well as to several of those of
his predecessors, in the incorrect copy we have of the first part of the Pict-
ish Chronicle (as hath been( jl elsewhere observed). It is said there that
this king Durst fought a hundred battles, and we have seen the frequent
inroads the Picts, no doubt under his command, made into the British pro-
vinces, which must have given occasion to many battles and skirmishes ; it
was upon occasion of these frequent invasions that the Britons were twice
obliged to call in the Roman forces to their assistance, and with their help
to repair first the northern and then the southern wall to secure themselves
(1) Crit. Essay, p. 77G, and p. 798.
b) Ibid. p. 105.
Ir > Ibid. pp. 110, 111. &e.
< d) Ibid. p. l:5G.
90
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Look I.
A, I). 451. against their northern enemies. But all in vain, for the Picts passed over
all these walls, and made themselves so often masters of the midland pro-
vinces, that the Britons, as we have ;H) seen, were obliged, in order to hinder
them to ravage the other inland provinces, to abandon the midland province
to them, where they settled on the eastern coasts of it, leaving the Britons
in possession of the western territories. All this happened under King
Durst's reign, and it cannot be doubted but that he had the greatest share
in these exploits.
But the most remarkable occurrences that fell out during his time was
the Conversion of the Southern Picts, by S. Ninian bishop, and the mission
of the holy bishops S. Palladius and S. Patrick, to preach the Gospel to the
Scots, as hath been' b) already related. The Pictish Chronicle takes notice
of the mission of S. Patrick to Ireland, during King Durst's reign, but
placing it in the nineteenth year of King Durst is certainly one of the
many errors which are to be met with in the numeral letters of the first
part of that Chronicle. With the light of the Gospel, the knowledge of
letters was. by degrees, introduced among the Picts, as it was also, upon the
same occasion, that is, by the first preachers of the Gospel, first communi-
cated to the inhabitants of Ireland, and to the other northern- nations with-
out the bounds of the Empire. And from thenceforth we have a. more
certain account of the succession of Pictish kings, and of the years of each
of their reigns.
To King Durst succeeded TaLarg or Talore, the son of Aniel or Amgl,
the thirty- eighth king of the Picts, who reigned four years.
LV. A.D. 455. This King Talore dying, was succeeded by Nectan,
son of Erp or Irb, and the thirty-ninth king of the Picts. He was brother
to King Durst, and had been maltreated by him and forced to retire into
Ireland.
A.D. 458, the third year c of Nectan's reign, according to the Pictish
'*> Supra, XLIX.
w Supra, XXXIX. XLII.
(c) Tertio anno regni ejus [Neelanii, sive Nectonii.] Darlugtach abbatissa, Cells?
Darade Ilibernia exulat proxime ad Britanniani. Secundo anno adventus sui iniraolavit
Nectonius Abernethige Deo et Sanctaj Brigida?, pra?sente Darlugtadi, qua? cantavit Alle-
luia super istam hostiam. Optulit igitur Nectonius magnus Alius Urnp, rex omnium
provinciarum Pictorum, .Apurnethige Sancta? Brigidae, usque ad diem judicii, cum suis
h'nibus, qua; positce sunt a lapide in Apurfeirt, usque ad lapidem juxta Cairfuil, id est
Lethfoss ; ct inde in altum usque ad Ethan. Causa oblationis hsec est. Nectonius in
exilio manens, f'ratre suo Drusto expulsante se usque ad Hiberniam, Brigidam Sanctam
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
97
Chronicle, the virgin Darlugdach, disciple and companion to the famous S. A. D. 458.
Brigid, and afterwards her successor, and Abbess of Kildare, being banished
from Ireland, came over to Britain. Two years after her arrival, this Nec-
tan, or Naitan, called Nectan the Great, son of Urup, or Irb, king of all the
provinces of the Picts, gave unto God and to S. Brigid, Abernethy, until
the Day of Judgment, that is, he made a perpetual donation of it, together
with all the bounds thereof, from a stone in Aberfort unto another stone
near Cairfuil, that is, Lethfoss, and from thence upwards to Ethan. The
occasion of this donation was this. Nectan, whilst as yet a private man,
being exiled by his brother King Durst, and forced to seek refuge in Ireland,
addressed himself to the famous virgin, S. Brigid, and recommended himself
to her prayers. The holy virgin, after consulting God in prayer, assured the
prince of the Divine protection, and that he should return to his country
and obtain peaceable possession of the kingdom of the Picts ; all this came
to pass accordingly. And Nectan, having succeeded to this kingdom after
the death of King Talore, as a monument of his gratitude, founded the
church of Abernethy, and endowed it, and it became afterwards the chief (a)
seat both of the kings and of the bishops of the Picts.
We see by this that King Nectan was a Christian, and probably so also
were many of his people. This was the first church that we have account
of erected on the north side of the friths in Caledonia, as that of Candida
Casa, or Whithern, in Galloway, was the first that we hear of erected by
the bishop S. Ninian, apostle of the Southern Picts, betwixt the walls, in
the south-western parts of what is now Scotland. As to what is re-
lated of another foundation of the church of Abernethy, attributed by some
posterior writers, as we shall ( b) see, to Garnard, the fiftieth king of the
Picts, by others to Nectan, their fifty-first king, successor to Garnai'd, who
lived both about one hundred years later than the first King Nectan, it is
like that this hath rather been a restoration of that ancient church, made
petivit, ut postularet Deum pro se. Orans autem pro illo dixit : si pervenies ad patriam
tuam Dominus miserebitur tui, regnum Pictorum in pace possidebis. Ex Chronico Pic-
torum. Vide Crit. Essay, app. ii. p. 778. [See Notes of Mr. Herbert and Dr. Todd on
the Irish version of Nennius, p. 161, in which a correction is made in the reading of the
Chronicle, and the obvious mistake as to chronology, in reference to S. Darluchdach, is
pointed out. She was the immediate successor of S. Bride as Abbess of Kildare, and did
not attain that dignity till at least sixty years after the date here mentioned. See, also,
Pinkerton's Enquiry, vol. i. p. 296, edit. 1814.]
(a) Fuit ille locus (Abernethy) principalis Regalis et Pontificalis per aliqua tempora
totius regni Pictorum. Lib. Paslet. in Biblioth. Reg. Lond. M.S. lib. iv. c. 12.
»> Infra, LIV.
N
9S
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Boor I.
A. D. 458. by the Pictish kings after the total Conversion of all the Picts of south and
north, brought about by the great S. Columba, who not only converted to
Christianity the Northern Picts, who dwelt beyond the Grampian hills, but
in all appearance reconciled many of those that dwelt on the south side of
those hills, among whom it appears, by S. Patrick's expostulation against
the British tyrant Coroticus (of which afterwards), that there must have
happened a great decay of religion, which is not much to be wondered at,
if it be considered that, besides the warlike temper and natural fierceness
of this people, so opposite to the meekness of the spirit of Christianity,
scarcely one half of them, to wit, only the Picts of the south, had been con-
verted by their first apostle, S. Xinian, and the almost constant wars, and
vearly expeditions that they were in former times engaged in against the
provincial Britons, left but little opportunity to their first pastors to instruct
them thoroughly in the doctrine, or to inure them to the practice of Chris-
tianity. And the coming in of the Saxons about the middle of this fifth
century, engaging the Picts in a new war, first against the Saxons, and soon
after in conjunction with them against the Britons, became a new obstacle
to the progress of Christianity, and gave, probably, occasion to many of
them to forsake it, and upon that account to be called apostate by S. Patrick.
LVL We have already given a short account 00 of the first entry of the
Saxons into Britain, of the occasion of it, and of the troubles and alterations
with which it was followed. But leaving to the English writers the other
particulars of these alterations, I shall only add here, that to the wicked
King Vortigern (according to the British writers) succeeded his son \ orti-
merus, to him Ambrosius. But of all the British kings that reigned during
their struggle w r ith the Saxons, there is none so celebrated in the British
history as King Arthur. He is said to have flourished in the beginning of
the sixth century, and Geoffrey, the British writer, hath attributed to him
so incredible feats of war, that his accounts have given occasion to most of
the judicious writers to reckon almost all he says as fabidous, and to some
to go even the length of doubt ( b ) of the very being of Arthur. But that
there was about these times such a prince, I conceive the account given of
him by Xennius, (c) in the ninth age, and those given by other writers,
sufficiently prove it, though Geoffrey's' d ' account be rather a romance than
a history.
W Supra, LI. LII.
00 Gul. Neubrigen. lib. iii. c. 7.
(c) Nennius, cc. lxii, lxiii.
W Hist. Brit. lib. vii.
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
99
As to Ambrosius, Bede (a) gives, from Gildas, the following account of A. D. 458.
him. The Britons had at this time for their leader Ambrosius Aurelius, a
modest man, who alone perhaps of the Roman nation had survived the
storm, all the royal progeny having been slain in the same. Under this
commander the Britons revived, and offering battle to the victors, by the
help of God, came off victorious. From that day forward, sometimes the
natives, and sometimes the Saxons, their enemies, prevailed, till the year
of the siege of Baddesdownhill, when the Britons made no small slaughter
of those invaders. This victory is placed by Bede forty-four years after the
coming in of the Saxons ; for thus Bede interprets the words of Gildas,
which have given occasion to intricate debates, of which afterwards.
LVII. To return now to S. Patrick, and finish what concerns him. Of
all the contradictions and afflictions which he met with amidst his apostoli-
cal labours in Ireland, nothing seems to have affected him more than the
barbarous treatment which he, and his new converts in Ireland, met with
from Coroticus, a British prince. This wicked (b) man made a descent into
Ireland, and pillaged that part of it where S. Patrick happened to reside
for the time, and to be actually employed in instructing and in baptizing
the neophytes, or those that had newly embraced Christianity. Coroticus,
with his followers, broke suddenly in upon these neophytes of both sexes,
who were as yet in their baptismal white robes, and without respect to the
sanctity of the mysteries in which they were initiated, killed some of them,
and carried off others captives, and sold them to those of the Scots, who it
seems were yet infidels, and to Picts/ 0 ) whom he calls apostates, for the
reasons I have already assigned.
The holy bishop, exceedingly grieved at this profanation and barbarity,
deputed the next day to the tyrant a priest, with some others of the clergy,
to entreat him to set at liberty the Christians whom he had led captives,
and to restore at least some of the plunder ; but instead of a satisfactory
answer, Coroticus mocked his messengers ; upon which the Saint wrote a
circular letter addressed to all the Faithful, by which he declares (d > Coro-
ticus, and all those that had participated with him, separated from the
W Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c. 16.
(b) S. Patric. Epistola de Corotico apud Waraum inter opusc. et apud Bolland. ad 17
Martii.
.
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
101
history he hath given us of this Saint, prefers these pieces to all that hath a. D. 458.
been written of him; and, indeed, the sense of piety, of humility, the
ardent love of God, the vehement desire to do, and suffer all for the cause
of God, and for the salvation of souls, render these pieces worthy of an
apostolical man, notwithstanding their barbarous Latin style, which is not
to be wondered at from one born in the farthest extremities of the Roman
empire, and who had lived for so many years in Ireland. In fine, they are
the most ancient writings of any native of Britain that now remain. This
invasion made by Coroticus, on S. Patrick's flock in Ireland, must have
happened when the Saint was well advanced in age, since he tells vis that
the priest, whom he deputed to Coroticus, to recover the captives, had been
educated by himself from his infancy.
"We have no certain account how long S. Patrick lived after writing this
last piece, and, what is still more surprising, though perhaps no Saint's life
hath been written by more authors, and in more different forms, (whereof
Colgan' a) hath given us no less than seven, besides several appendixes,)
yet the learned have so mean opinion of them, that many of them think
these pieces so very little serviceable to furnish out a true account of the
life of this great Saint, that they rather serve to perplex and encumber
it, so that some of the ablest writers that have undertaken it, differ in no
less than thirty years in fixing the era of his death, some placing it A.D.
460, others A.D. 493. This last date is more conformable to the different
accounts of his life, which give him one hundred and thirty-two years of
age, and in this they are followed, not only by Colgan, but by Usserius,
Waxaeus, Cave, &c. But the Bollandian^ Acts, and after them Baillet, fc)
retrench the number of years of his life, and place his death A.D. 4G0, by
reason that they find not, even in the many writers that have treated of
him, anything memorable done by him during the last thirty years of his
life.
However that be, it is certain that this great Saint was the glorious
instrument that Divine Providence made use of towards the Conversion of
the inhabitants of Ireland from paganism, and that the Scots, and other
northern inhabitants of Britain, owed in a great measure, chiefly to him
and his disciples, if not their Conversion, at least their instruction in the
(1) Colgan, Trias Th. Lovan. 1647, fol.
< b) Act. Bolland. ad 17 Martii.
(c) Baillet, Vies des Saints, 17 Mars.
102
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book I.
A. D. 458. doctrine and discipline of Christianity ; and I have insisted so long upon
the life and actions of S. Patrick, not only because he was a native of those
parts of Britain, which are contained many ages ago within the kingdom of
Scotland, but because we cannot have a more faithful account of the doctrine,
discipline, Church government, and other practices of the first Christians
among the Scots in Britain, (which are otherwise involved in so great
obscurity,) than from the accounts that remain of the doctrine and religious
customs of S. Patrick and his disciples in Ireland, from whom they were
originally derived, (as will appear in the sequel of this work,) to the Scots
and other northern inhabitants of Britain.
LVIII. Some readers will perhaps be surprised that I have said so
little of the prodigies and miracles said to have been wrought by S. Patrick
in Ireland, whereas all the writers of his life insist so much upon them.
But, besides that miracles require a certitude and attestation of a different
nature from ordinary historical facts, many of the miracles attributed to
S. Patrick, far from having the proofs and vouchers that the Church re-
quires for extraordinary cures, and other operations beyond the common
course of nature, are not only related by writers that lived at too great a
distance from S. Patrick's time to be sufficiently assured of them, but many
of these miracles are written with so little judgment, and regard to likeli-
hood, that I have no apprehension that any men of true taste and literature,
will blame my caution and reservedness in passing them over ; and what I
say of the miracles contained in the legends of S. Patrick, I mean of all
such other miracles which we meet with in other legends and pieces of no
better authority.
But without entering into the detail of the miracles attributed to S.
Patrick by the many writers of his life, published by Father Colgan,< a ) (to
whom the reader, if he thinks fit, may have recourse,) and even without in-
sisting upon what Nennius( b) (of some greater authority, because nearer the
time,) says of S. Patrick's miracles, in short, I may at least conclude with
the words of Marianus/ 0 - 1 our countryman, that the Conversion of all Ireland
" was not brought about by S. Patrick without many signs and miracles,
during the forty years that he laboured in that island." Since it had been
W Colgan, Vit. S. Patricii in Triad. Th.
(b) Nennius, cc. lviii, lix, &c.
Icl (S. Patricius) per aonos quadraginta signis alquc mirabilibus totam insulam
Hiberniani convertit. Marian. Scot, ad A.D. 432.
Book I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
103
the greatest of all miracles, that a whole nation of uncultivated people, A. D. 458.
blinded with superstition and idolatry, drowned in sensuality, governed
only by their brutal passions, only actuated by exterior and sensible objects,
and who had no distinct notions or ideas of immaterial things, should be so
wonderfully changed and converted in a short time, without any other force
or power, but upon the bare word or preaching of a stranger, as not only to
forsake the worship of their false deities, and adore an invisible God, and
renounce too their carnal passions, in hopes of a spiritual recompense in
another life ; but many among them renounce even to the world, to the
use of permitted eases, pleasures, and possessions, and embrace for the rest
of their days voluntarily, poverty, chastity, and obedience.
And what I say of the Conversion of the Irish by S. Patrick, is equally
applicable and true of the Conversion of the Southern Picts by S. Ninian,
and of the Northern by S. Columba ; of the Cumbrian Britons, Scots, and
Saxons, by S. Kentigern ; and of the inhabitants of Britain by other saints,
replenished with a portion of the apostolical spirit. For though in what I
may have to say of their lives and actions, I shall not give any detail of the
miracles attributed to them, by the authors of what remains we have of their
lives ; yet to suppose that all these Conversions were wrought without any
miracles, would be to suppose a most extraordinary and surprising miracle,
against the common course of all that we meet with in the most authentic
histories of the Conversions of the several nations of the world, from idola-
try to Christianity.
Before I conclude what concerns S. Patrick, I must observe, that it is
no small surprise to find that Bede hath never once, in his history, named
S. Patrick, though he mentions, and sometimes at length, other saints of
Ireland, every way inferior to him. But since we have S. Patrick placed
upon his proper day (17 March) by Bede in his true Martyrologe, published
lately by Dr. Smith, the omission of him in his History is a new proof of
the insignificancy of negative arguments drawn from Bede's silence. But
of this negative argument we have said enough elsewhere. Neither can
anything be concluded against S. Patrick's being a true bishop, even in
Bede's judgment, from his being qualified only " confessor " by Bede in his
Martyrology, (xvi. kal. April, in Scotia, S. Patritii confessoris) ; for in the
style of Bede, and of other monuments of antiquity, the title of " confessor ''
is often equivalent to that of " episcopus et confessor ; " as in the same
authentic Martyrologe of Bede, we find many great saints, whose episcopal
104
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book 1.
A. D. 458. Character no knowing person doubts of, qualified simply " confessor." Thus
we find in it, " 4 April. S. Ambrosii confessoris ; 28 Maii, S. Gerrnani
confessoris ; 8 Jun. S. Medardi confessoris; 4 Julii, translatio S. Martini
confessoris, (S. Martin of Tours) ; 1 Octob. S. Remigii confessoris," &c.
I thought proper to add this remark for a general answer to such objections,
as a learned Presbyterian gentleman, Mr. George Crawfurd, made to me
at Edinburgh, against S. Kentigern or S. Mungo's episcopal Character,
because he is sometimes found, for brevity's sake, designed only as "con-
fessor," in writs where he is transiently named, such as in Donations to
the Church or the like.
THE
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
BOOK SECOND.
THE
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
BOOK SECOND.
I. a.d. 480. After a reign of twenty-five years, happened the death
of Nectan or Naitan, first of that name, the thirty-ninth king of the Picts,
called in the Pictish Chronicle " Nectan the Great." To him succeeded
Drest or Drust Gormoth, their fortieth king, and reigned thirty years. In
his time happened one of the greatest events that are to be met with in the
history of the North of Britain, to wit, the erection of the kingdom of the
Scots in that island, whereof this is the best account we can collect from
the few remains we have of the history of those times.
The Scots, as we have shown elsewhere, (a) began to come over from
Ireland and settle in Britain, by favour of the Picts, during the third age
after the Incarnation. We have also given< b > account of all that history
furnishes concerning them, both in the Critical Essay, part first, and in
different places of this second part, according to the order of time, till the
coming in of the Saxons to the assistance of the Britons. By these auxili-
aries, joined to the Britons, the Picts and Scots were at first repulsed in an
engagement near Stanford, as we have already observed. (c)
Bede informs us also, in particular concerning the Picts, that the num-
ber of the Saxons being exceedingly increased by the coming in of new
troops, they drove the Picts to greater( d ) distance, and that, nevertheless,
not long after, upon the Saxons turning their arms against the Britons, who
(a) Crit. Essay, p. 638.
(b) Ibid. pp. 638-C66.
1,1 Supra, Book First, LI.
td) Longius bellando pepulerant. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c. 15.
108
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 480. had brought them in to their aid, the Picts, who (being admonished of this
perfidy of the Saxons against the Britons, of what they themselves might
look for at the hands of so faithless a nation, if they suffered their power
to increase), should, for their own security, by all the rules of good policy,
have joined with the Britons, in order to expel this common enemy out of
the island ; instead of that, the Picts let themselves be so blinded by their
old enmity and domestic quarrels as to join with the Saxons against the
Britons : whereas (a) the Scots, better advised, joined the Britons, according
to Fordun, against the Saxons and Picts. And this is the first instance we
meet with in history of any open breach betwixt the Picts and the Scots.
But it was not long ere the Picts had occasion to repent of their incon-
siderate bargain with their new confederates, and observe their error in
fomenting so dangerous an enemy in their neighbourhood, as the Saxons
proved to be to them in particular, as well as to the other ancient inhabi-
tants of Britain.
Nennius (b) and Malmesbury inform us, that some years after the coming
in of the Saxons, Hengistus, their chief leader, had obtained the consent of
Vortigern, king of the Britons, to call over his brothers Oth or Octa and
Ebusa, and to settle them in the northern parts of the Roman provinces of
Britain, under the pretext of guarding the Britons against the irruptions of
their northern enemies. Accordingly a strong body of Saxons came over
under leaders, and began to settle in the countries betwixt the Walls, or in
the province of Valentia, inhabited at that time by the Picts and by the
remains of the Britons ; and the forces of the Saxons daily augmenting by
the coming over of new bodies of their countrymen, by degrees they be-
came masters of a part of these midland territories, and in proportion ob-
liged the Picts of these parts to retire northwards, which made them press
hard upon the Scots, and gave a new occasion to widen the breach betwixt
them.
The Picts, at the first entry of the Scots into Britain, being willing to
have them auxiliaries in their wars against the Romans and provincial
Britons, allowed them so much the more freedom to settle on their north-
western coasts, and in the little islands betwixt Britain and Ireland, that at
the first coming in of the Scots, and whilst the Picts had war with the
Romans, they had a door open on the south side of the friths to extend
' a > Fordun, lib. i. cc. 14, 15, 16.
had taken
peaceable possession of the eastern parts of Valentia, and remained since
that entirely masters of them, as a part of their property till the descent of
Octa and Ebusa.
But these new invaders, notwithstanding the former (b) agreement made
betwixt the Picts and the Saxons of the south, as Bede observes, began to
attack the Picts in their possessions of Valentia, and by frequent accession
of new bodies of Saxons coming over to them, increased their forces, so as
to get a footing and settlement in these northern parts.
By these encroachments of the Saxons, the possessions of the Picts to
the south of the friths were reduced into narrow bounds, and from that time
forwards the breach between the Picts and the Scots, which, upon the Scots
separating from the Picts and joining with the Britons (as Fordun observes
they did) had been already begun, widened daily more and more ; other
new motives contributing daily to increase it, made the Picts begin to re-
pent of their too great indulgence and too liberal concessions to the Scots.
11 Supra, Book First, XXXVII. L.
' bl Supra, Book First, LII.
110
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 480. By reason that, on the one hand, instead of the room or space that the
Picts had, in former times, to enlarge their bounds betwixt the walls, they
now began to be pent up by the Saxons, and exposed rather to lose a part
of what formerly they possessed to the south of the friths, than in condition
to augment their possessions : on the other hand, instead of auxiliaries,
or trusty allies, as the Scots had been, at their first coming into Britain,
having by this time acquired large possessions in the north-western parts
of the island, and their number and forces still augmenting by frequent ac-
cession of new forces from Ireland, they began to set up by themselves, to
depend no more upon the Picts, but had joined with the Britons against
them, and were at last become so considerable a colouy that they wanted
onlv a king at their head to become an independent monarchy. All these
motives could not fail of raising the jealousy of the Picts, and even their
apprehensions, to a very high pitch ; but the means they used to obstruct
the growth and power of the Scots, had just a quite contrary effect, and gave
occasion to the increase of their power, and to the first establishment of the
monarchy of the Scots in Britain.
Fordun, (a) in the account he gives of the erection of the Scottish mon-
archy in Britain, gives ground to believe that the Picts, upon the foresaid
motives of fears and jealousies of the growth and power of the Scots, entered
into a resolution to endeavour to force the Scots out of all Britain, and had
actually begun to harass and annoy them all they could. Upon this, the
Scots of Britain, as they were used to do in all their pressures, failed not
to acquaint the Scots in Ireland of the danger they were exposed to, and to
call to them for assistance.
II. But before we proceed farther in the account of the foundation of
the Scottish monarchy, in order to put this essential period of our history
into a better light, we must recapitulate here in few words, what hath been
elsewhereC b) treated at full length, and observe that Fordun (from whose
Chronicle we have most of the particulars of the erection of the Scottish
monarchy) had formed to himself a new system of its antiquity, which he
thought more honourable to the nation, and had advanced the era of its
foundation about seven or eight centuries higher than its true date ; and
because all the nation in all ages had agreed that the name of first founder
of the monarchy in Britain was Fergus, Fordun could not choose but pitch
<»> Fordun, lib. i. cc. SI, 82 ; lib. ii. c. 12.
tb) Crit. Essay, p. 637, &c.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
Ill
upon one of the same name for its founder. But whereas, according to all the A. D. 480.
most ancient catalogues of the Scottish kings, all the remains of their most
ancient Chronicles, and the uniform tradition of the Scots down to Fordun's
own time (witness the many testimonies'*' of his contemporary writer
Winton), Fergus, the son of Frch, had been uniformly believed by all the
Scots to have been their first king and founder of the monarchy (as it hath
been in the first part (b) of this Essay sufficiently proved), Fordun, to make
his new system of the monarchy bear up with the antiquity to which he
had raised it, and agree with the uniform belief and tradition of the Scots
in his own time, that their first king and founder of the monarchy was
called Fergus, finding in the old Genealogy c°) of the Scots kings one Forco,
Forgo, or Fergus, son of Erch (which in the common account was more
than enough to place him seven or eight centuries before) upon this, Fordun
pitches upon this Fergus, son of Feredach or Ferchard, and makes him the
first king and founder of the monarchy of the Scots in Britain.
In consequence of this, Fordun, in his Chronicle,< d ' ascribes to this first
Fergus, son of Feredach, whatever he had met with in the ancient Chro-
nicles of the Scots (and assuredly he had the use of many that we have no
more,) relating to the first founders, and to the occasion of the first erection
of the monarchy. But having elsewhere (e > proved that the first foundation
of it was not three or four centuries before the Incarnation, as Fordun
would have it, nor the first founder (f > Fergus, son of Feredach, but Fergus,
the son of Erch, it follows in course that all the account of its first founda-
tion and founder, which Fordun hath collected from what he found extant
in his own time, and applied to Fergus, son of Feredach, did not belong to
him, nor to the epoch in which Fordun hath placed him, but to Fergus, son
of Erch, and to his time, for which reason I make no difficulty to make the
application of them to him.
This supposed, I return to the account of the establishment of the
Scottish monarchy, such as we find it in Fordun or other ancient writers.
The Scots of Ireland, who by this time were, for the most part, Chris-
tians, being informed that those in Britain, hitherto without a king, and
< a > Crit. Essav, p. 680, app. vii. p. 820, &c.
"" Ibid. p. 666, &c.
(c) Ibid. p. 235, Genealog. Tables.
<,l) - Fordun, lib. i. cc. 31, 32; lib. ii. c. 12.
(e) Crit. Essay, p. 638.
"' Ibid. pp. 666, 689.
112
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 503. dispersed in different quarters of the western parts of the island, were daily
exposed to the insults and encroachment of the Picts, and even threatened
to be expelled the island, were moved with concern at their pressures, and
resolved to send to their assistance. Upon this, Fergus, ta) the son of Erch,
a prince of extraordinary courage and valour, and of a royal descent, taking
a more particular concern in the Scots of Britain, and at the same time ex-
cited by the ambition of making himself a king, resolved to put himself at
the head of those that were to march from Ireland to their relief. So
having assembled a great body of choice troops, he passed over to the
west of Britain with his brothers Loarn and Angus, and gathering together
the Scots who had lived hitherto most part dispersed in the western islands
and cantons of Britain, he united them into one body of people with the
Scots that he had brought over with him from Ireland, and made (b) himself
the first king over them, giving them also laws (c) and making statutes for
the government of this his new kingdom, and thus, according to Fordun,
our first general historian that now remains, the monarchy of the Scots in
Britain was originally founded by Fergus, his taking upon himself the go-
vernment of the Scots, to protect them against their enemies. And here
we have not the least mention of any election made of Fergus, either by
the heads of clans or by the nobles or commons, nor the least hint of any
original contract, or " pacta-conventa," betwixt king and people.
Winton/ dJ our second general historian, gives mucht he same account
of the origin of the Scottish monarchy, where he informs us that Fergus,
the son of Erch or Erth, brought over with him from Ireland the famous
fatal stone, and made himself king over the Scots, and over all their pos-
sessions, from Drumalban to Sluaghmore and Inchegall.
Fergus Erthesone, fra him (Simon Brek) syne
Down descending, lyne be lyne,
Into the five-and-fiftie gre, (i. e. degree,)
As even recknand men may see,
Brought this stane within Scotland,
First quhen he came and wan that land."'
° Fordun, lib. i. c. 34.
Ib > Super eos (Scotos) regem primum se constituit (Fergus). Fordun, lib. i. c. 37.
< c > Datis legibus et statutis. Fordun, lib. ii. c. 12. Crit. Essay, p. 262.
"" Crit. Essay, p. 263, and app. p. 820.
W [Wyntown, vol. i. p. 58.]
Book 1L
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
113
He that was called Fergus More, A. D. SOS.
In the Third Hake ye hard before,
Was Fergus Erthesone, yat tlire zere
Maid him beyond ihe Drum to steir.
Owre all the hvehts, ever ilk ane,
As yai ly frae Drumalhane
Till Stanemore and Inchegall,
King he maid him owre yam all. ( "
III. It is related al by some of the Irish, writers of S. Patrick's life, that
this King Fergus, the son of Erch, when he was as yet very young, in Ire-
land, and before he came to Albany or was king, was blessed in a particular
manner by S. Patrick, who foretold his future grandeur, and that he was to
be the stock of a race of kings that were to reign in Albany. However
that be, all the inhabitants of Ireland being generally before this time con-
verted to Christianity by S. Patrick and his disciples, there can be no doubt
made of Fergus, his being a Christian, when he came over to Britain, as
well as his numerous followers.
And Fordun (b) in particular attests the Christianity of King Fergus, and
of his two brothers, Loarn and Angus, where, after giving account of the
death of King Kenneth the Great, the son of Alpin, he adds, " he was buried
in Iona, where King Fergus, son of Erch, with his brothers Loarn and
Angus had been buried ; " to which he adjoins this vulgar prayer for
Christians deceased: " May (c) their souls rest in perpetual peace."
Now, if we reflect on what hath been already^ said of the great number
of bishops ordained by S. Patrick in Ireland, and in proportion of church-
men of the second Order, I hope nobody that considers the universal practice
and discipline of Christians everywhere in those days, especially in Ireland,
where Fergus and his followers had been born and bred up, will think it a
groundless conjecture to suppose that such a great body of Christians, came
not over to Britain, without bringing along with them their pastors ; that
is, one or more bishops, and a competent number of churchmen of the
(') [Wyntown, vol. i. p. 71.]
"> Colgan, Trias Th. Vit. S. Patricii, p. 95.
W Fordun, lib. iv. c. 8.
(c) [Kenethus fil. Alpin] in insula Iona, cum honore decenti, maximoque Scotorum
ejulatu, sepultus est, ubi quondam Rex Fergusius filius Erth cum fratribus Loarn et
Oenegus, hurao condebatur: quorum animae pace perpetua perfruar.tur. Fordun, ibid.
< d) Supra, Book First, XLVI.
P
lit
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Hook II.
A. I). 503. second Order, necessary for preserving and propagating Christianity in the
places where they were to settle.
It is true we have now no more any detail of what passed in those first
times, among the Scots, in any ancient history remaining. But that there
were bishops in Scotland, in these times, we are informed in the first place
by the anonymous (a) author of the Life of S. Finnan, or Winnyn, (from whom
the abbey of Kilwinning derives its name,) that there lived in these wes-
tern parts of Scotland, about this time, a holy bishop called Nennio, who
had his seat at the great monastery, "apud magnum monaster ium,'' which,
as Dean Cressy< b) with reason judges, was that of Candida Casa, or Whit-
hern, founded formerly by the holy bishop S. Ninian, and still kept up by
his successors, which, from the numerous society of religious men who lived
there under the care of bishop Nennio, was called by excellence the Great
Monastery. It was to this bishop Nennio that Finnan (whose name was
pronounced Winnyn, as bishop (b; Ussher remarks, by the Britons who in-
habited those parts.) was recommended by bishop Colman from Ireland,
and was bred up in this monastery under Nennio, to the sacred letters and
regular discipline. This Winnyn, going afterwards to Rome, was ordained
bishop and returning back, exercised his sacred functions in Ireland, and in
these western parts of Scotland, where he died in great opinion of sanctity,
and was buried in Cunningham, at the place called Kilwinning from his
name, where an abbey was afterwards erected.
We are also furnished by Matthew Westminster^' (if we could depend
upon his authority,) with a proof of bishops at this time, both among the
Picts and the Scots, coming to intercede for these people with King Arthur.
But this story being taken from Geoffrey the British historian, who accord-
ing to his custom, adds romantic circumstances to it, to magnify his hero,
Arthur, I pretend not that any other use can be made of it than to show
that Geoffrey, an author of the twelfth age, was persuaded that the govern-
ment settled among the Scots and Picts, in the beginning of the sixth age,
was episcopal ; which is, I hope, a sufficient prescription against writers
two or three hundred years later, such as Fordun.
But without being obliged to have recourse to English or British writers,
(a) Vita S. Finnani sive Wynnini episcopi apud Capgrav. ex Joan. Tinmuthen. f'ol.
clxvii.
(»> Cressy, Ch. Hist, of Britain, p. 240.
(c) Ussher, Ant. Brit. p. 494.
(d) M. Westmonaster. ad A.D. 521.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
115
those of our own country furnish us with proofs of the Scots and Picts hav- a. D. 503.
ing bishops in these times. But before I set down their authorities, I must "~ — ~
here remind the reader of what I took notice of in the prefaced to the
Critical Essay, that the arguments and proofs contained in the first part of
that Essay against the accounts given by Fordun, Boece, Buchanan. &c,
of the forty pretended ancient kings, and other remote antiquities of the
Scots, ought not to derogate from the authority of these same writers in
their other historical accounts, especially of ecclesiastical matters, in follow-
ing ages; particularly when the accounts they give are conformable to, or
not contradicted by more ancient writers, nor appear to have been written
with any design to serve a turn, as we have shown (b) that Boece's accounts
of the kings were originally intended. And I conceive that the accounts
we meet with in Boece and in other writers before the Reformation, of our
ancient bishops or other ecclesiastical matters, however lame they be, are
so much the more valuable and to be depended upon, that since their times
there are infinite numbers of ancient records, histories, and monuments,
particularly relating to the Church, entirely lost, (for the destruction of
this kind of writings and books seems to have been one of the chief objects
of the fiery zeal of the ringleaders among our first Reformers,) and they '
have fully satisfied their wrath against them, as hath been shown else-
Avhere. (c)
Now it appears by what our later writers have delivered relating to
ecclesiastical matters in the times posterior to Fergus son of Erch, that
they had no design but to set down with simplicity what they found in
more ancient writers, and what was generally believed in their times of
the names, quality, and actions of the holy bishops and other saints of the
Scots in ancient times, and all they contain is conformable to the remains
that we have of ancient kalendars and liturgical books in use among the
Scots in Catholic times, by which it appears that the festivals of these holy
bishops, and other saints, were annually celebrated in our churches. Such
are for the most part the holy bishops mentioned in several ages in Boece's
history, and some of them in that of Buchanan, and in our ancient brevi-
aries and missals.
For which reasons I shall make tise of these with so much the less
Crit. Essay, pp. 090, 691, &c.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
117
of the succession to the crown, to avoid divisions and civil wars, (and the A. D. 503.
succession of our first kings after Fergus, plainly shows that the order
settled by him was that the crown should descend to the immediate heirs
of line) ; in fine, the repulsing the encroachments of the Picts ; the freeing
the Scots from all subjection to the Picts, and dependence on them ; and
making his new monarchy independent ; all these were as many necessary
applications unavoidable to this king on his first entry upon the adminis-
tration, and more than enough to fill up his short reign, which lasted only
three years, according to all the ancient chronicles and catalogues^ of the
kings of Scots.
Fordun indeed assigns sixteen years to Fergus's reign, and is followed
in that by Boece, Buchanan, &c. ; but we have elsewhere (b > observed For-
dun's motives for lengthening the reigns of some of the kings, from this
Fergus till King Aidan, as well as for his adding three new names of kings
to them, which had not been heard of before, in order to make the drawing
out three generations, to fill up about two hundred years, less perceptible,
which was a necessary consequence of Fordun's anticipating King Fergus's
reign one entire century before its true date.
A.D. 506. To King Fergus succeeded his eldest son and immediate
heir, Domangard or Dongard, who, after a reign of five years, was also im-
mediately succeeded, A.D. 511, by his eldest son and next heir, Comgal ;
by which it appears, as we observed already, that the first order of succes-
sion settled among the Scots in Britain, from the origin of the monarchy,
was not only hereditary in general, but intended to descend to the next
immediate heir of line.
It is true that the circumstances of the Scots in the first ages of the
monarchy, surrounded on all sides by powerful enemies, and therefore
obliged to be always on the wing, and ready to march with their king at
their head, as chief commander, to encounter their enemies, these circum-
stances obliged the Scots afterwards, when the immediate heir was under
age, and not able to govern or command in person, to commit the adminis-
tration to the nearest relation that appeared most qualified for the govern-
ment and command. But this alteration of the first order of succession,
however well intended, brought it in length of time into an inevitable con-
(1) Crit. Essay, app. iv. v. vi. vii.
°" Crit. Essay, p. 689, &c.
118
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Rook II.
A. D. 510. fusion, which, as it was natural it should be, was followed with intestine
divisions, civil wars, and bloodshed ; and these frequent troubles and con-
fusions obliged the Scots at last, in the tenth century, to re-establish the
original order of succession, and to enact that upon the death of each king,
his immediate heir of line, of whatever age, should succeed, as we shall see
in its proper place.
A.D. 510. Durst( a) Gorthinmoth, or Gormot, king of the Picts, dying,
had for successor Galanan, or Galain, the forty-first king of the Picts, who
reigned twelve years.
A.D. 511, died Domangart,' b> or Dongart, the second king of the Scots,
and was succeeded by his son and immediate heir, Comgal, who reigned
twenty-four years.
V. It was, according to the most probable opinion, during his reign that
the famous battle or siege of Badon-hill fell out, at which, according to the
British writers, the Saxons received a great defeat from the old Britons,
commanded, as they relate, by their king Arthur. Nennius is the most
ancient writer that ascribes this victory to King Arthur, but without mark-
ing the precise date of it ; he only says it was the twelfth and last battle of
King Arthur against the Saxons.
There are so many different opinions among the learned about the date
of this battle, that it seems impossible, almost, to fix it. Giildas, himself,
seems indeed to mark this date in these words following : " Et eo' c) tempore
nunc cives nunc hostes vincebant, usque ad annum obsessionis Badonici
montis qui prope Sabrinum ostium habetur, novissimaeque ferine de furci-
feris non minima? stragis, quique quaclragesimus quartus, ut novi, oritur
annus, mense jam primo emenso, qui jam et mese nativitatis est." It is clear
by this, that the siege or battle of Bansdown, or Badon-hill, happened the
same year that Gildas was born ; and the concern that the learned, take in
the date of this battle, is not so much on account of the battle itself as in
order to fix the time of the birth and chronology of Gildas, the most ancient
British writer of whom we have now any remains; besides that, Gildas
having been famous in his time for the sanctity of his life, for his zeal for
the propagation of the Gospel in our parts of Britain, for the increase and
advancement of piety, and for his courage in rebuking publicly the wicked-
(1) Catal. Piegg. Pictor. 2d part, Crit. Essay, p. 137, et app ii.
(b) Catal. Iiegg. Scotor. Crit. Essay, app. iv. v. vi. vii.
(c) Gildas, c. xxvi.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
119
ness of the times, and the vices even of the princes and prelates, as well as a. D. 511.
those of the people in his own time, he deserves that the memory of his
life and actions be conveyed down with clue respect to posterity. And what
interests chiefly the Scots in this subject is, that Gildas, according to all the
writers of his life, was a native of the northern parts of Britain, or Scotland,
and a short account of him belongs so much the more to the present subject,
that the Scottish writers seem hitherto scarce to have known him, or that
their country had any interest in him. Even Dempster/ 10 so zealous for
multiplying writers of Scotland, confounds Gildas with Nennius, (whose
works in most MSS. bear the name of Gildas,) and places him in the ninth
age. Buchanan (b) knew so little about him that he supposes, with the
legendary writers of the Britons or Welsh, that Gildas died and was buried
at Glastonbury. Now, the source of the contestations about fixing the date
of Gildas's birth arises partly from Bede's interpretation of the foresaid
passage of Gildas himself, partly from the different relations of Gildas's life.
Bede's interpretation^ or paraphrase of Gildas's words is as follows: " Et
eo tempore nunc cives, nunc hostes vincebant, usque ad annum obsessionis
Badonici montis, quando non minimas eisdem hostibus strages dabant, quarto
circiter et quadragesimo anno adventus eorum in Britanniam." From that
day, sometimes the natives, sometimes their enemies, prevailed, till the
year of the siege of Baddesdown-hill, when they made no small slaughter of
these enemies, being the forty- fourth year after their arrival in Britain.
Here Bede visibly supposes that the forty-four years, mentioned by Gildas,
Avere to be reckoned from the entry of the Saxons to Britain, which having
happened about A.D. 449, it follows, in Bede's account, that the battle of
Baddesdown-hill, and by consequence the birth of Gildas, fell out A.D. 493.
Whereas Gildas's words, if attentively considered, as Archbishop Ussher, ( a )
Father Mabillon,( b ) and Dr. Smith, in the last edition of Bede observe, im-
port that since the battle of Baddesdown-hill, at which time Gildas was born,
till the time of Gildas writing this historical piece, there had passed forty-
four years and about one month ; so the fixing the date of this battle, and
of the birth of Gildas, depends upon finding out the precise year in which
Collier's Church Hist. vol. i. p. 61.
W Colgan, Act. SS. llibern. p. 181.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
121
apply, as his fancy leads him, some part of it to Gildas, whom he calls a. D. 511.
Albanius, and other parts to Gildas, whom he names Badonicus.
But the learned Father Bollandus (a) and Father Mabillon< b > refute this
modern invention, chiefly grounded on legendary accounts attributed to
Caradoc, or what John of Tinmouth, or Capgrave, have transcribed from
him, and prove that there was but one Gildas, called Albanius from Albany,
now Scotland, where he was born at Alcluyd or Dunbritton, surnamed, also,
Badonicus, from Baddesdown-hill battle, because he was born in the year
that this battle was fought. Vossius, (c > also, and Dr. Stillingfleetf d) make
but one Gildas ; and the late Dr. Smith,< e) in his accurate edition of Bede's
History, is of the same opinion, which is also the judgment of the exact
critic, M. Baillet/ f > in his life of this Saint, after having examined the
various opinions concerning him.
I easily foresee that this account of Gildas may come to be contested by
some of the learned of our neighbour nations, who pretend that there were
two Saints of the name of Gildas, much about the same time ; and that the
famous Gildas, author of what is called " Historia Britonum," and of the
epistle or invective against the princes and clergy of the Britons, was not a
native of our northern parts of the island. But to the reasons and autho-
rities I have already set down, I have this further to add in short, that all
the writers of Gildas's life, whether he be by modern writers called Albanius
or Badonicus, whether there was one Gildas only, or that he be divided
into two persons, all the writers, I say, of the Lives of Gildas the historian,
or writer, do assert that he was born in the north of Britain, called since
Scotland. The abbot of Ruyse'e } tells the particular place of his birth,
which he calls Arcluyd or Alcluyd, now Dunbritton. Caradoc, in Bishop
Ussher's extracts^ 1 ' of his Life, says that Gildas was son to a king of the Scots,
the most noble of all the northern kings ; and Capgrave, (i) from John of
Tinmouth, affirms that Gildas's father was king of Albany.
(a1 Act. Sanctor. Bolland. ad 29 Januar.
(b) Mabillon, Annal. Benedict, torn. i. p. 150.
(c) Vossius, de Scriptor. Latin.
(d) Stillingfleet, Brit. Ant. p. 209.
per Usser. apud Colgan. torn. i. p. 179, cx Caradoco
Lancarvanen.
" Vit. Gild. Capgrav. fol. 150.
Q
122
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 511. By all this, it appears that Gildas, the most ancient writer of Britain
now extant, was a native of that part of Britain now called Scotland. We
shall see that the two next writers of Britain, Cumineus and Adamnan,
were also both of them abbots of Ycolmkill in Scotland.
As to the year of Gildas's birth, I should be inclined rather to remain
in the general, and assign it to the end of the fifth, or beginning of the
sixth, century, without pretending, amidst so great variety of opinions, to
determine the precise year of it, if the fixing of it were not necessary for
regulating the chronology of his life and actions ; so, amidst the various
opinions about it, after a due examination, I have chosen to follow the date
assigned by Matthew Westminster'*) in his Chronicle, as the most probable,
and which, for that reason, is followed by Bishop Ussher (b> and others, that
is, the year 520, in which, according to Westminster, happened the siege
or battle of Bansdown-hill, and, by consequence, the birth of Gildas.
VI. All the writers of Gildas's life agree, as I said, that he was born in
the northern parts of Britain, now called Scotland. The most authentic (c)
account that we have of it, to wit that of the abbot of Buyse, says positively
that Gildas was born at Arcluyd or Alcluyd, that is, Dunbritton ; that he
was son of the king of those parts, that is the king of the Middle-Britons,
called afterwards Cumbrians ; that his father's name was Caunus or Cau ;
he is also called Xau or Navus. His father had several sons, whereof the
eldest was Cuil Hael, or Hoel, as it is differently pronounced. The British
writers say that this Hoel was killed by their king Arthur ; but the abbot
of Ruyse^ tells that he succeeded his father in his kingdom. His other
children were Mselocus, Egreas, Allsecus, and a daughter, Peteona, who all
renounced the world, and passed their lives in retirement, and in the exer-
cises of prayer, penance, and mortification, and became famous by the
sanctity of their lives, and by their miracles : says my author.
But of all that happy family Gildas became the most eminent, not ordy
by his piety, but by the service that he rendered to the Church, and by his
writings. He was educated under the care of S. Iltut, or Eltut, a British
abbot, whose monastery was a famous school or seminary in these days, in
which were brought up, in piety and learning, many children of the best
< a > M. Wesfmonaster. ad A.D. 520.
(b) Ussher, Chron.
< c) Vit. Gild. edit. Jo. Bos. c. i.
«« Ibid. c. ii.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
123
quality in Britain. S. Iltut's first and chief application was to form the A.D. 511.
hearts of his disciples to solid piety, upon the maxims of the Gospel, but
without neglecting to cultivate their minds with learning, for which he
found in the young Gildas natural enduements. But he having, says my
author/ 3 ^ from his youth had the Holy Spirit for his inward master, he
preferred the studies of piety to all others, and made those of human litera-
ture subservient to them. Thus he learned under Iltut, not the bare
speculative knowledge of the truths of salvation, but the love and practice
of them ; so that in a short time he became the most humble, the most
patient, and the "most mortified of all his condisciples, and gave early hopes
of his becoming one day, not only a pattern of Christian virtues, but a zeal-
ous preacher of the Gospel in the north of Britain and in Ireland ; and
though that happened only several years afterwards, yet not to interrupt the
thread of the narration, I shall here add what concerns this great man till
his passing over to Gaul, A.D. 554 ; and without wearying the reader any
longer with tedious discussions about the chronology of his life, I shall
content myself to abridge what the abbot of Ruyse relates of him.
Gildas having spent^ several years in Iltut's school, took his leave of
him, and went to consult other masters. John Bosco's edition of Gildas's
Life expresses this passage of it in these words : " Iren perexit ut et aliorum
Doctorum sententias exquireret." Colgan< c > and some other writers pretend
that by Iren here is meant Ireland, whither he supposes that Gildas went
for further improvement ; others say it should be read " perexit Ieen,"
which is brought at last to signify Oxford, whither Gildas went to consult
the Doctors. To say nothing here of this far fetched gloss, (which Stilling-
fleet< d ) justly calls sports of wit,) there is no appearance that the author of
this Life is to be understood here of Ireland. Gildas, indeed, went after-
wards to Ireland, as we shall see, and that he went not there as a scholar,
but as a master, which gives this author occasion to speak several times of
that island, but he always calls it by its usual names, Hibernia or Hiber-
niensis Insula ; what likelihood, then, is there that in this place the author
should have affected to call Ireland by an unusual name, known only to the
learned, and probably to few or none, even among them, in the author's
< a > Vit. Gilo. c. iii.
(b) Ibid. c. vi.
< c) Col K an, Act. SS. Hibern. p. 189.
w Stillingfleet, Brit. Ant. p. 207.
12t
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 511. time, and thus go to borrow the name to it from Diodorus Siculus, a Greek
writer, the only one, perhaps, even among the ancients, that calls Ireland
by the name of Iris, and that instead of making use of its usual name,
Hibernia, by which he calls it more than once in the same work.
This makes the learned Father MabillonV a) reading of this passage
incomparably more probable, and that the author's original words were " ire
perexit," meaning that Gildas, after learning all he could be taught at
at Iltut's school, "went forward" to consult the learned men of other
monasteries, which in those days were the only schools or universities for
learning. There was about this time, as we have already^) remarked, a
famous one in the north of Britain, Gildas's own country, called the Great
Monastery, " Magnum Monasterium," from the great number of religious
men and disciples that were bred up there under the care of Bishop Nennio,
to whom S. Finnan or Winnyn was sent from Ireland to be educated in
piety and letters. I conceive it is not improbable that among other monas-
teries that Gildas resorted to for improvement in learning, this was one.
However Gildas having been by Xennio, or some other bishop in his
own country, advanced to the degree of priesthood, and being animated (c)
with an apostolical zeal, went to the more northern parts of the island, and
by his preaching and miracles converted many infidels, and reduced to the
bosom of the Church, heretics and schismatics that had gone astray ; as it
is related more at length by the foresaid author of his Life. This same
author adds to this, immediately, the message of Ainmire, King of Ireland,
to Gildas, to invite him over to that island ; but that happened only about
the year 56G, when Gildas was in the Gauls, where he passed over from
Britain about the year 554, and settled in Little Britany, where he founded
the monastery of Ruyse.
VII. About the beginning of this sixth century lived S. Kentigern,
(called S. Mungo by the vulgar,) Bishop of Glasgow. Ussher' d) places his
birth about the year 514 ; but I conceive it ought rather to be placed at the
end of the fifth century, since, according to the best account we have of his
life, he was educated under the care of S. Servanus, who, according to
Fordun, had been consecrated bishop by S. Palladius, which must have
<*> Mabillon, Act. Benedict, torn. i. Vit. Gildae.
<"> Supra, Book Second, III.
« Vit. Gild. c. viii.
W) Ussher, Ant. Brit. Ind. Chronulog.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
125
happened about the year 440, according to the accounts the Scottish writers A. D. 511.
give of S. Palladius, that he lived and preached several years among the
Picts and Scots, after his coming back from Ireland, about A.D. 432, as we
have elsewhere' 0 ' related. Now Servanus being at least thirty years of age,
according to the Canons, when he was consecrated bishop, could not, in the
common course of nature, have lived long enough into the sixth century to
educate S. Kentigern, and, by consequence, it seems more probable that
Kentigern's birth happened in the end of the fifth age. However it is
certain that he flourished chiefly in the sixth.
His Life written by Joceline, taken from two more ancient relations of
it, and dedicated to another Joceline, who was Bishop of Glasgow from
A.D. 1175 till A.D. 1199, is extant in a MS. of Cotton< b > Library, written
at full length, containing some important passages that are not in the com-
pend of it published by Capgrave from John of Tinmouth. There is in the
same Cotton Library an imperfect beginning of another more ancient Life
of this Saint, (1) but of no better character, written at the desire of Herbert,
who sat Bishop of Glasgow in the same age, from 1147 till 1164. It is
from these MSS., compared with the abridgment that we have of them in
Capgrave, and from the preface to the ancient chartulary of Glasgow, that
I shall take my accounts of S. Kentigern, who deserved to have had his
Life written by more judicious and less credulous authors, and nearer his
own time.
I pass over the account of his birth, of which there appears nothing
certain, but rather fabulous, only that his mother's name was Thanew or
Tenew, daughter to the king of the Midland Britons or Cumbrians. She
lived afterwards a retired and penitential life, and was honoured as a Saint < c)
on the 18th day of July. Kentigern himself was educated under the care
of the holy bishop Servanus, whose chief abode in his old age was at Cul-
lenros or Culross, where he lived with a religious society of disciples. S.
Kentigern, having resolved upon a more solitary life, left Servanus and
passed into Cumbria. This country, according to Joceline,^ and the pre-
^ Supra, Book First, XLI.
MS. Cotton. Vitellius, C. VIII.
<» [See this Life printed in the Chartulary of the Church of Glasgow; Appendix II.
to Editor's Preface.]
(c) Breviar. Scot.
Jocelin. Vit. S. Kentigerni. [Vitae Antiquac Sanctorum in Scotia; Vita Kente-
gerni, c. xi.]
126
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A.D. 511. face of the old chartulary of Glasgow, included all the territories that lay
towards the western coasts, betwixt the northern and southern walls, which
formerly made a part of the province of Valentia, and composed at that
time the kingdom of the Middle Britons. S. Kentigern upon his arrival
there endeavoured to live unknown, and therefore retired to a solitary place,
and gave himself to the exercises of prayer and mortification.
But the inhabitants of these parts being most part Christians, and their
king and great men having founded a bishop's seat at Glasgow, which at
this time happened to be vacant, Kentigern was by the orders of God
chosen for their bishop, not without great reluctancy on his side, and having
sent to Ireland for a bishop, they caused him to be consecrated according to
the form in use among the Britons and Scots, which, as the author adds,
" consisted (b) only in anointing the elect bishop's head with chrism, and in
the imposition of the bishop's hands upon him, with invocation of the Holy
Ghost or prayer and benediction." These rites sufficed, no doubt, for the
validity of his c6nsecration, but because it was performed by one single
bishop (whereas the Canons require three), and that it seems some other
usual ceremonies were wanting, the author excuses it by reason that these
islanders being (c) at a distance from the rest of the Christian world, and
exposed to the infestation of Pagans, were become very ignorant of the
Canons and customs of the Church ; and the author adds that S. Kentigern
travelled afterwards to Rome, and had any defects that might have happened
in his consecration supplied by the Pope.
The Prince( d ) mentioned here Avas called Marcus or Marken, King of the
Cumbrians or Midland Britons, who had his chief seat at Alcluyd or Dun-
britton, near Glasgow. It was at this last place that S. Kentigern fixed
his chief residence, and a great number of disciples assembling to him, he
formed a numerous congregation of Religious men, who had all things in
common, says the author, and lived according to the apostolical primitive
form, and intermixed their prayers and spiritual functions with the labour
of their hands. But the principal application of this holy bishop was to
gain souls, travelling for that end everywhere through the country, not on
(1) Jocelin. Vit. S. Kent. [Vit. Kent. c. xi ]
<»> Ibid. [Vit. Kent. c. xi.]
(c) Insulani quasi extra orbem positi, emergentibus paganorum infestationibus, cano-
num erant ignari. ecclesiastica ideo censura ipsis condescendens excusationem eorum
admittit in liac parte. Ibid. [Vit. Kent. c. xi ]
W Ibid. [Vit. Kent. c. xxi.]
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
127
horseback, but on foot, after the example of the Apostles. By these means a. D. 511.
he converted many infidels, abolished everywhere the remains of idolatry,
reduced the heretics to the union of the Church, and began to divide the
country into districts, as much as the circumstances of the people, infected
by the Pagan Saxons, lately come in among them, could allow.
For by this time the Saxons, who were infidels, after possessing them-
selves, as we have seen, of the best parts of the south of the island, had begun
to get a footing in the more northern parts betwixt the walls, which not
only hindered the settling of regular discipline among the .ancient Chris-
tian inhabitants, but gave occasion to many of them to relapse into idolatry
and superstition. This w r as a new exercise of the holy man's zeal to recover
those that had fallen away, and to fortify those that were staggering in faith.
VIII. But whilst he was wholly taken up with this apostolical function,
the devil/*) envying the success of his labours, stirred up some wicked men
who had the king's ear, to irritate him against the Saint, and raised a per-
secution which obliged him to leave this country, ,and retire into the
southern part of the island, now called Wales, where he" settled at a place
called Elwy, and by the example of his holy life, being followed by a num-
ber of disciples, he founded a monastery, which came afterwards to be a
bishop's seat. For. as we have elsewhere observed, that most part of the
cities and episcopal sees in Ireland had their origin from some holy man's
retiring and assembling a numerous congregation of disciples, so, also, the
same thing happened among the Scots, and even among the old Britons,
where there had not been ancient Roman cities.
Joc3line (b) informs us that in S. Kentigern's monastery at Elwy, there
assembled to him above nine hundred and sixty-five disciples, who all lived
under regular discipline. That of this number, three hundred, who were
illiterate, he appointed to till the ground, and feed cattle without the
monastery ; other three hundred he allotted to prepare nourishment and
perform other necessary works within the monastery ; and that he deputed
the other three hundred and sixty-five, who were scholars, to celebrate the
daily canonical Office, and these he divided again into several bands or
companies, to the end that when one band had finished the Service of God
in the church, another presently might succeed and begin the Office again,
which being ended, a third company without delay resumed the same pious
(a) Jocelin. Vit. S. Kent. [Vit. Kent. c. xxiii.]
< b > Ibid. [Vit. Kent. c. xxv.]
128
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 522. exercise. By this means prayers were offered, to God, and his praise sung
in the church, without intermission day and night.
What confirms this account that Joceline gives of S. Kentigern's mon-
astery, is, that it is certain that the same pious practice of incessant prayers
and praises of God, called Laus perennis, was in use( a) in the same age
in many of the great monasteries of France, such as those of S. Denys,
S. Maurice, S. Benigne at Dijon, Luxeu, Marmoutier, &c, and probably
in others of Britain and Ireland.
IX. A.D. 522. Galaam or Galanan Etelick, forty-first King of the Picts,
dying, was succeeded by Drest or Dadrest, their forty-second king, who
reigned one year only, and had for successor Drest or Durst, son of Gyrom,
who reigned one year alone, and five years in partnership with Durst, son
of Adrost, after whose death Drest or Durst, son of Gyrom, reigned other
five years alone.
About this time, to wit, A.D. 523, is placed the death of S. Brigid,
Virgin, so famous in Scotland, as well as in Ireland, her native country,
where she founded the monastery of Kildare. In both these kingdoms and
abroad, a great number of churches were dedicated to God under the name
of this holy Virgin, whose feast is kept the first of February. Her death
was soon after followed by that of Darlugtach, Virgin, her disciple : the
same who came over< b) to Britain during the reign of Nectan, the thirty-
ninth king of the Picts, and concurred with him to the first foundation of
the ancient church of Abernethy. Her feast is celebrated October the first.
A.D. 534. After the death of Durst, son of Gyrom, King of the Picts,
Gartnach, son of Gyrom, succeeded, and was their forty-fourth king, and
reigned seven years.
A.D. 535, died Comgal, third king of the Scots, and his son Conall
being under age and not capable to govern in person, the crown devolved
to Gabhran or Gauran, brother to the late king. He reigned twenty-two
years. But I find no certain account of the transactions during his time.
He is called Goran and Couran by our modern writers.
A.D. 541, Gartnach, the forty-fourth king of the Picts, was succeeded
by Cealtrain or Kelturain, son of Gyrom, who, after one year's reign, had
for successor Thalarg, son of Muircholach, who reigned eleven years. In
™ Mabilloii, Annal. Benedictin. torn. i. pp. 29, 46, 123, 174, 212, &c. 315, 342,
418, 422.
< b) Supra, Book First, LV.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
129
the second year of his reign, A.D. 542, is placed the death of King Arthur, a. D. 542.
to whom so many martial deeds are ascribed by the British writers. He
is said (a) to have had a sister called Anna, married to one Loth, whom they
call king of the Picts, though no such name appears either in the catalogue
in Fordun's History, or in the Pictish Chronicle, or in any of the other
catalogues of their kings, The modern Scottish writers add, that from the
name of this King Loth was derived that of the province of Lothian, not
heard of till several ages afterwards. They give him for his children Wal-
wanus and Modredus, who is also made king of the Picts, but all this seems
originally grounded only upon the British stories of King Arthur, who,
they say, was mortally wounded in a battle against this Modredus, assisted
by the Scots and Picts, and was conveyed to Glastonbury, where he died
and was buried. All which may be seen, with no small variety of circum-
stances, in the British writers, and in our modern historians Boece and
Buchanan.
About these times died S. David, Bishop of Menevia, famous for the
sanctity of his life, and for his miracles among the Welsh or old Britons,
who hold him for their principal patron. His feast is celebrated the first
of March.
X. A.D. 547, the kingdom of the Saxons in Northumberland began.
We have elsewhere observed that the Saxons had long ago begun a settle-
ment in these northern parts. But hitherto they had contented themselves
with Chieftains or Dukes, depending on the king of Kent, till this year
that Ida, having brought over with him new forces, and joined them with
the rest of the Saxons, inhabitants of these northern parts, was the first
that took the title of kinof.
•This northern kingdom, which was the fifth of the Saxon Heptarchy,
was afterwards divided into two states or little kingdoms, called Deira and
Bernicia, which sometimes had each a proper king of its own, at other
times they were both subject to one king.
That of Deira, according to mistaken accounts of some of the English (bl
writers, was extended from the River Humber to that of Tweed, which,
say they, was the boundary of the kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia. Others
write, with much more probability, that Deira extended no farther than
the River Tees, and make that river the boundary of these two little king-
(a > Boeth. Hist. fol. pp. 151. 155, &c.
M Ussher, Ant. Brit. pp. 212, 213.
It
130 CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL Book II.
A. D. 547. doms. The English writers pretend also that the kingdom of Bernicia
extended from the Tees or Tweed to the frith of Forth, on the Scottish
sea. But these boundaries varied often, according as the Picts or Saxons
were more or less powerful in these parts.
XT. It would, indeed, at first appear, by some expressions of Bede, that
the Saxons had been masters of the territories to the south of the friths,
and that the Pictish inhabitants of these parts were sometimes overrun and
kept under by some of the more powerful of the Northumbrian kings ; yet
besides that Bede, being a Saxon writer, is not absolutely to be depended
upon in the account he gives of the victories of the Saxon kings, nor of the
extent he gives of their power and dominions over their neighbour princes
and nations, enemies of the Saxons, he himself owns that the Picts re-
covered^' again their territories whereof the Saxons had possessed them-
selves ; and the Picts remained so much masters of the countries to the
south of the friths, that in the seventh or eighth century these provinces
are called Pictorum terra even by Bede himself, in the( b > Life of S. Cuth-
bert, according to the remarks of the last learned editor of Bede's History,
and Bishop Trumwin, who had his seat at Abercorn, on the south side of the
friths, is called by Bede himself Pictorum.( c) Episcopus, and, by consequence,
his diocesans, or the inhabitants of the country where he resided, were Picts,
though, according to Bede, they happened at that time, that is A.D. 681, to
be subject to the Saxons. And Bede himself owns that this subjection was
only transient, and lasted only about four years, till A.D. 685, that by the
victory which Brude, king of the Picts, obtained over Egfrid, king of the
Saxons, in a battle where King Egfrid himself was killed and his army
routed by the Picts, by this victory, says (d) Bede, " the Picts recovered their
own lands which had been held by the English," which certainly must be
understood of the lands to the south of the friths, for we nowhere read
that the Saxons or English in those days ever possessed a foot of ground
of the Pictish lands to the north of the friths ; accordingly, in this defeat
the Picts drove the English out of all their bounds, from the friths, says
a) Hist. Eecles. lib iv. c. 26.
w Vita S. Cuthberti, c. xi. Quodam tempore pergens (Cuthbertus) ad terram
Pictorum quae Niduari vocatur. (i. e. populus aecolens ripas fluvii Nid in Solvay fretum
influentis). Not. D. Joan. Smith, editoris Hist. Bed.
(c) Hist Eccles. lib. iv. c. 12.
(d) Ibid. lib. iv. c. 26. Nam et Picti terram possessions suaa quam Angli tenuerunt
reeeperunt.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
131
Mr. Collier/*' to the Tweed. And Whithern, or Candida Casa, in Gal- a. D. 547
loway, is placed in terra gentis Pictorum, in Pichtland, by Florence of Wor-
cester,( b ) one of the most ancient English historians after Cede.
All this considered, with what hath been said in the first paVt of this
Essay, and in several places of this part, it cannot but seem very strange
that so learned a writer as Bishop Ussher is deservedly esteemed, especially
in the antiquities of Britain and Ireland, should let himself be so overruled
by partiality against the right the Picts had, in ancient times, and from
them the Scots, to Loudian or Lothian and the other territories to the south
of the friths which belong to the kingdom of Scotland, as to advance that
the Southern Picts, whom S. Ninian converted, had no' c) habitation on the
south side of the friths, but only on the north side, between these friths
and the Grampian hills ; whereas, besides all the authorities above set down,
there remains still a lasting public monument of the Picts having been in
possession of Lothian and the adjacent counties, since the eminent hills in
the heart of Lothian still retain the name of Pichtland hills, called by
corruption Pentland hills by the vulgar, from the Saxon Peohtaland hills,
as being more easily pronounced. And nothing shows how far national
prejudices are capable to carry even learned men, than to observe that
Bishop Ussher, to elude the force of this palpable proof of the Picts having
been in ancient times the possessors and inhabitants of Lothian, is obliged
to have recourse to a groundless conjecture of Buchanan,( d ) who, without
the least proof from record or history, imagines that the Pichtland hills
(because the vulgar by corruption call them Pentland hills) had their name
from one Penthus, never heard of before. But to be persuaded of the little
solidity of this conjecture of Buchanan about Penthus, he himself speaking,
some pages' 6 ' before, of the Pichtland frith (called also by the vulgar
Pentland frith) which divides Caithness from the Orkney Islands, had
called it Picticum fretum, from the Picts, who in ancient times possessed
all these northern parts. I thought it necessary to insist a little upon
this notion of Bishop Ussher concerning the Pictish dominions, because
of the abuse that some English and Irish writers make of his authority
(a) Church Hist. vol. i. p. 109.
< b > Flor. Wigorn. Chron. p. 688, edit. Francofurt. A.D. 1601. In terra gentis Pic-
torum, episcopus Candidae Casae.
(c) Ussher, Ant. Brit. pp. 348, 350.
calls a most
powerful king, began to reign alone, and was the forty-ninth king of the
Picts, and reigned thirty years. It was under his reign that the Gospel
was preached by S. Columba to the Northern Picts, as we shall shortly see.
A.D. 557, died Gauran, the fourth king of the Scots, to whom succeeded
his nephew Conal, son of Congal, and reigned fourteen years.
It was about these times that S. Kentigern returned back from "Wales
to his episcopal see at Glasgow, of which Joceline, in his Life, gives the
following account. Whilst S. Kentigern( b ) governed the church and mon-
astery that he had founded at Elwy, in Wales, whither he had been forced
to retire, as we related before, by Marken, King of the Midland Britons or
Cumbrians, many of the inhabitants of Cumbria had relapsed into idolatry,
partly for want of pastors and instruction, partly by the mixture of the
Saxons, as yet infidels, who had possessed themselves of a part of that
country. This infidelity of the Cumbrians drew upon them the wrath of
God and severe punishments.
At last Almighty God raised up another king called Rederec, whom
Adamnan, (c) in S. Columba's Life, makes mention of as having his chief
seat at Alcluyd, now Dunbritton (ad petram Cloithe). This King Rederec,
being a particular friend of S. Columba, a pious and zealous prince, and
having resolved to restore to its purity the Christian Religion within his
dominions, sent messengers with pressing letters to S. Kentigern, conjuring
him with great instance to come back to his pastoral charge at Glasgow,
upon which the holy man resolved to return.
But in the first place, not to leave the work he had begun, and which
had so well prospered under his hand at Elwy, without providing for its
preservation, he consecrated one of his choice disciples a bishop, his name
(•> Regnante apud Pictos Eridio filio Meilochon rege potentissimo. Bed. Hist.
Eccles. lib. iii. c. 4.
island (Hy) hath an Abbot,
who is a priest, for its ruler, to whose direction all the province, and even
the bishops, contrary to the usual order, are subject.'' Now Blondeh b)
himself, the most learned of all the Presbyterian writers, and the chief
fountain whence all their common writers draw their arguments, explains
with reason the word " province " in this passage, of the territories of the
Picts and Scots, and, in consequence, he infers from it that the bishops
mentioned here by Bede, were those of the Picts and of the Scots that
were, according to Bede, subject to the Abbot of Ycolmkill.
We shall discuss this passage, and the nature of the subjection men-
tioned in it, in its proper place ; I mention it only here to prove that,
according to Bede, the Picts and Scots had bishops in S. Columba's time,
and in that of his successors, and yet Bede never gives us the name of one
(a) Habere autem solet ipsa insula (Hy) rectorem semper Abbatem Presbyterum,
cujus juri et omnis provincia et ipsi etiam episeopi, ordine inusitato, debeant esse subjecti.
Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 4.
' bl Pictorum Scotorumque septentrionalium episeopi. &c. Blondel, Apolog. S.
Ilieronymi, p. 370.
Rook II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
139
of them, excepting those alone who were employed in the Conversion of the A. D. 557
Saxons, whose history was all that Becle had in view. And thus far as to
the arguments drawn from the silence of Bede, especially concerning S.
Kentigern and his successors, Bishops of Glasgow.
XV. The desolation, above-mentioned, of this Church, and of the
ancient inhabitants of Cumbria, happened about the eighth or ninth century,
and upon that disaster followed in course the interruption of the episcopal
succession in those parts ; but such was the goodness of God, and his pater-
nal care for the preservation of the necessary means of salvation among
these desolate inhabitants, that no sooner was the episcopal succession in-
terrupted at Glasgow, in the one extremity of Cumbria, or the kingdom of
the Midland Britons (and in. course, with the cessation of the episcopal
ministry, especially of ordination, a stop put to the propagation to posterity
of all true ministers of the Word and Sacraments, in a word of a Christian
Church), but about the same time, that is, about the beginning of the eighth
age, the most ancient episcopal see of Candida Casa or Galloway, at the
other end of Cumbria, was by a special providence of God re-established (a)
by the Northumbrian Saxons (converted to Christianity in the seventh age,
as we shall see, by the Scots) and the bishopric of Galloway or Candida
Casa being restored, the necessary pastors were duly ordained, and sent to
the rest of the diocese of Glasgow.
But such were the confusions of the civil state of that country during
these miserable times, arising from the perpetual struggle of the Picts,
Saxons, Scots, and Danes, worrying one another about the possession of it,
that the country of Galloway ( b > being almost quite destroyed, the episcopal
succession was again interrupted, after it had lasted since its restoration,
under the administration of six bishops, according to Florence (c) of Wor-
cester, who gives us their names (Malmesbury mentions only four of them),
during the space of above one hundred years, and from thenceforth the
Christians of that country, in order to be furnished with lawful pastors, were
obliged to have recourse to the Bishops of Holy Island, Hexham, S.
Andrews, and others in their neighbourhood, till the restoration of the
episcopal sees of Galloway and Glasgow, by King Malcolm Canmore and
his children.
Flor. Wigorn. Chron. p. 688.
HO
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 5.57. But this happened long afterwards, and will be treated in its proper
place. What I have said here, by anticipation, upon occasion of S. Kenti-
gern and his successors in the see of Glasgow, is only in order to show
that all these inhabitants betwixt the walls, the most ancient Christians of
what is since called Scotland, had always enjoyed, down from the first
erection of a Christian Church by S. Ninian, in the end of the fourth and
beginning of the fifth century, a succession of bishops, as much as the con-
vulsions of the State, by the invasion of infidels, or other enemies, had left
bishops at liberty to reside, and the Christians at freedom to possess and
exercise their religion, and to enjoy their lands and liberties.
But when we observe these western provinces so frequently ravaged
and destroyed, and the civil government so often overturned, can we wonder
that the government of the Church, which is so connected with the peace
of the State, suffered frequent interruptions 1 So that I dare confidently
advance that we have in all ages equal proofs of an episcopal government
in Scotland, as we have of a Christian Church, particularly in these western
parts of the kingdom (where/ 1 ) since the Knoxian Reformation, by the new
spirit which the authors and promoters of this new form of doctrine and
discipline have inspired to the inhabitants, they have distinguished them-
selves from all the rest of the kingdom by an aversion, which hath too often
degenerated into rage and fury, not only against the Catholics, from whose
hands they received the knowledge of Christianity and the books of the
Holy Scripture, but even against the poor remains of the episcopal Order,
such as it hath been endeavoured to be kept up among their brethren of
the Protestant Communion).
XVI. Thus far as to the ancient state of Christianity in the southern
and western parts of Scotland : we are now, according to the order of time,
to continue on the progress of its doctrine and discipline in the more
northern parts of the kingdom, where, though the Gospel had begun to be
preached long ago, yet the propagation of it, and the total Conversion of the
northern inhabitants, especially of the Picts, was chiefly owing to the great
S. Columba and to his disciples, and even as to the Southern Picts, by
what we have had occasion to observe in what hath been related of their
history, it doth not appear that hitherto Christianity had been so well
settled, and so deeply rooted among them as not to have suffered some
(! ° Q. whether this parenthesis ought not to be left out as being too harsh, though
too true ?
Boor II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
141
eclipses, by reason of their warlike temper, their being almost still upon A
expeditions, and the instability of the civil government, and other impedi-
ments of the spirit of Christianity elsewhere mentioned. Whereas, by the
conversions made among the Picts, by the preaching, the example, and the
miracles of S. Columba and his disciples, by the pious institutions of so
many monasteries within the bounds of the Picts, and in their neighbour-
hood among the Scots, especially that of Ycolmkill, which, by the admirable
lives of its holy inhabitants, raised up to a degree of Christian perfection,
far exceeding the ordinary course of human nature, became a shining lamp
that enlightened all the countries around, by all this, I say, Christianity
was so deeply rooted among these people that it never afterwards suffered
any considerable interruption.
And whereas in the accounts we have hitherto given of the first estab-
lishment and progress of the Gospel in those northern parts, we have often,
for want of vouchers, been obliged to depend upon what could be gleaned
from ancient writers, sometimes upon likely conjectures drawn from the
circumstances of the people, of the neighbourhood, and of the times, and
upon the authority of writers who were either too credulous, or lived too long
after the transactions they treat of, to be fully relied on, we have the Life
of S. Columba from the hands of two abbots, his successors in Ycolmkill,
who may be both in some manner reckoned almost contemporary with the
Saint, at least both of them well informed, upon the place, of all that con-
cerned him, since the first of the two, Cumineus, might have possibly seen
S. Columba himself, and undoubtedly had his accounts from those of Ycolm-
kill who had conversed with the Saint, and had been witnesses to his life
and actions.
XVII. S. Adamnan, the other writer of his Life, and his successor also
in the government of Ycolmkill, where he sat Abbot from A.D. 679 till
A.D. 704, besides that he had the records and monuments left by the
abbots his predecessors, and by other religious men of this abbey, he had
also conversed with some of the ancients, as yet alive in his time, who had
been witnesses of many of S. Columba's actions and miracles, as he him-
self < a) often assures us. So there can be no doubt made of his being fully
informed of all that concerned the holy abbot.
And as to his veracity, as well as to his capacity and character of probity.
W Adamnan. Vit. S. Columbae, lib. i. cc. 1,2, 38, 4-3,49; lib. ii. cc. 44, 45, 49; lib.
iii. cc. 19, &c.
U<2
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. or>7. Bede, one of the most capable judges of these times, who knew Adamnan,
gives< a) him the character of " a good and wise man, throughly instructed
in the knowledge of the Scriptures."
Adamnan was besides in great credit and esteem with the greatest and
most considerable men of Britain in his time, such as Alfrid, King of the
Northumbrians, to whom he was twice sent in embassy from the Scots and
Picts, with the learned Ceolfrid, Abbot of Weremouth, who knew him
personally, and calls (b) him " the excellent Abbot of the Columbites," and
says that " his words and actions were graced with a wonderful prudence,
humility, and piety."
This being the character given of Adamnan by his contemporaries, the
greatest men and best judges of merit in Britain during his time, we may
surely, and without any hesitation, depend upon the protestation that he
makes in the preface to his work, to wit, " that< c > in writing his relation of
S. Columba, he had not only set down nothing against truth, nor dubious
or uncertain reports, but that he had made use of such accounts only as he
had assurance of, either by the relations of his predecessors, or of other
ancient persons worthy of faith, and well-informed, who knew matters by
themselves, and related them to him without any hesitation, or in fine, from
written relations which he found done before his time."
And that this Life of S. Columba, in three books, was truly the genuine
work of S. Adamnan, Abbot of Ycolmkill, besides the testimony of the MS.
of Cotton Library, of which afterwards, we have not only the testimonies
of all the Irish writers, such as Ussher, < d) Waraeus, < e > Messingham, (f)
Colgan, ( s) &c, but also those of all the most learned among other foreign
(1) Erat (Adamnanus) vir bonus et sapiens, et scientia Scripturarum nobilissime
instructus. Hist. Eccles. lib. v. c. 15.
(b) Adamnanus egregius Abbas et Sacerdos Columbiensium...miram in moribus ac
verbis prudentiam, humilitatem, religionem ostendit. Ceolfrid Abbas Wiremuthen. epis-
tola ad Naitan Regem Pictorum, apud Bed. Lib. v. c. 21.
(c) Nemo me de hoc tam praedicabili viro (Columba) aut mentitum aestimet, aut quasi
dubia vel incerta scripturum; sed ea quae majorum fideliumque virorum tradita exper-
torura, congrua relatione narrantium, et sine ulla ambiguitate narraturum sciat, et vel ex
his quae ante nos inserta paginis reperire potuimus, vel ex his, quae auditu ab expertis qui-
busdam fidelibus antiquis, sine ulla dubitatione narrantibus, diligentius sciscitantes didici-
mus. Adamnan. Praefat. secund. ad Vit. S. Columbae.
(d > Ussher, Ant. Brit. p. 3G7.
{e) Ware, de Scriptor. Ilibern. p. 34.
(,) Messingham, in Florileg.
(g) Colgan, in Triad. Thaumat.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
143
writers who had occasion to mention it, such as Canisius, (a) who gave us a. D. 557.
the first imperfect edition of it, the Bollandian Collectors of Saints' Lives,
who published a perfect edition of it, Father Mabillon,< b > Mr. Cave,( c) &c,
who all of them, as well as other learned men who mention it, acknowledge
it a genuine work of Adamnan, and nobody that I know ever called it in
doubt but Sir James Dalrymple, and his anonymous friends at Edinburgh :
and whether their authority will be able to cope with that of those above
mentioned, I leave to others to judge. An easy matter it is to deny a work
to be genuine, but not so easy to prove it so.
But that the reader may not be led into mistake by imperfect editions,
and may find out more easily the passages I have had occasion to quote
from Adamnan's work, T thought it not amiss here to give a more distinct
account of the several editions of it, because there are considerable differ-
ences betwixt them, according as the MSS. copies they are taken from are
more or less perfect and complete.
There are four printed editions of S. Columba's Life by Adamnan. The
first, published A.D. 1604, at Ingolstad, by Canisius, from a very lame and
imperfect MS. copy, or rather abstract of it, in the monastery of Windeberg,
in Bavaria. And from this printed edition of Canisius, Thomas Messingham,
an Irishman, hath given us a second edition, with all the faults and defects
of the former ; and in both the one and the other there are wanting a great
many full chapters of Adamnan's genuine work. The same imperfect copy
is inserted in Surius's Collection of Saints' Lives. The third edition was
published by Father Colgan, with notes and dissertations, in his Trias Thau--
maturga, printed at Louvain, A.D. 1647. This edition, which I have fol-
lowed, is taken from a very ancient MS. of the Abbey of Richenau (Angia
Dives), situated in an island of the Lake of Constance. It contains a full
and entire copy of Adamnan's genuine work, and hath all the chapters
wanting in Canisius's edition. The fourth edition was given by Father
Papebroch, and the other continuators of the Bollandian Acts, from the
same ancient MS. of the Abbey of Richenau, reviewed again and accom-
panied with notes of the learned editors. Both these two last editions,
being taken from the same MS., are in substance the same, both of them
contain the same divisions, and number of books and chapters, and conclude
(a) Canisius, in cditione Vit. S. ColumbaR, per Adamnan.
W Mabillon, Annal. Benedictin. torn. i. p. 618.
< c) Cave, de Scriptorib. p. 389.
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. 1). 557. with the adjuration of Adamnan to the transcribers (of which afterwards),
and with the petition of the transcriber, Dorbenius, whom Father Colgan
conjectures to have been Abbot of Ycolmkill in the eighth age.
There is also a fair copy of this work of Adamnan in a very curious Col-
lection of Saints' Lives in Cotton Library, ra) written above four* hundred years
ago. This copy of S. Columba's Life, as far as I could judge (having, at
the time I saw it, none of the printed editions at hand to collationate with
it), this MS. copy of Cotton Library, I say, appeared to me entirely con-
formable to the MS. copy of Richenau, whence the two last above-mentioned
perfect editions are taken. It appears also to have been transcribed from a
former copy, written in Ycolmkill, by order of one of our King Alexanders,
by a monk called Simeon, under the direction of William, Abbot of Ycolm-
kill. This appears, I say, by verses added to the end of the Life in this
Cotton MS., a part of which verses Bishop UssherO) hath set down, and a
full copy may be inserted in the Appendix to this work. In fine, lest it
might be alleged that, notwithstanding the authority due to Adamnan's
genuine work, such as it came immediately from his own hand, yet posterior
credulous writers might have made additions to it, or interpolations in
transcribing it, so that the copies we have of it might happen not to be
genuine, providence hath also taken care to obviate this objection, and given
us an assurance of the integrity and authenticity of the transcripts of this
work of Adamnan, greater than we have of most other works transmitted
to us from ancient times, and that by the solemn adjuration' 0 ' with which
Adamnan concludes this work, and which he addresseth to all that shall in
after times copy and transcribe it : conjuring them in the name of Christ,
Judge of the world, to transcribe it with the greatest care and fidelity, and
to collationate and correct it with utmost diligence, upon the copy from
whence they transcribe it, and at the same time recommending earnestly to
them to add this adjuration to each copy they make of it : to the end that
by that means it may be conveyed down to posterity, and accordingly it
hath been handed down, and is to be met with in the ancient MS. copies,
< a > Cotton Library, Tiberius, D. VIII.
lb) Ussher, Ant. Brit. p. 364.
CcJ Obsecro eos quicunque voluerint hos describere Libellos, immo potius atljuro per
Christum, Judicem saeculorum, ut postquam diligenter descripserint, conferant et etnendent
cum orani diligentia ad exemplar unde traxerunt, et hanc quoque adjurationem hoc in loco
subscribant. Ad calcem Vitae S. Columba?, per Adamnanum, editae per P. Colganum et
PP. Bollandian. ex MS. Angiae Divitis. Habetur etiam in MS. Cottoniano.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
145
and particularly in these from whence the two last printed editions of it A. D. •■357.
have been taken, as also it is in the MS. of the Cotton Library.
So it would appear that Providence hath taken a special care, not only
to preserve and bring down to posterity this ancient monument of the
doctrine and discipline of Christianity in our northern parts, but to ascertain
beyond the common course the authenticity and fidelity of it, to the re-
motest ages : foreseeing, no doubt, that there would one day, in after ages,
arise in our country a set of men, who, not being able, or not daring to
contest the sanctity of S. Columba's life against the respect and veneration
due to his memory by all our countrymen, and still paid to it by those of
the Highlands and Isles, where he chiefly conversed, and yet less daring to
contest his quality of founder, or chief doctor of Christianity, by himself
and by his disciples, in our northern parts, attested beyond exception by
Bede and all ancient writers, they would at least endeavour, against the
plain evidence of this ancient monument,, as we will see, to impose upon
their ignorant prepossessed sectators, and persuade them that the doctrine,
church government, and discipline taught and settled by S. Columba and
his disciples among the Scots and the Picts, was Presbyterian, and as dif-
ferent from that of the rest of the Catholic Church, as the apostolical method
practised by this holy man, and by his disciples in planting and promoting
the Christian religion among our ancestors, by the edification of their ex-
emplary lives, formed upon the strictest maxims of the Gospel, convincing
their hearers of their divine mission, and confirming their doctrine by
sensible miracles, as, I say, this apostolical method was different from the
Knoxian method of reforming religion, by arming the subjects against
their lawful sovereign at home, and inviting from abroad an armed power
to support their Reformation.
But to return back to Adam nan's Life of S. Columba. I insist the
more upon asserting the authority of it (as imperfect as it seems), that
besides what it contains of the life and actions of the Saint, it is the most
ancient and most authentic voucher now remaining of several other impor-
tant particulars of the sacred and civil history of the Scots and Picts, as it
will appear in its proper place in the order of time. It had indeed been
much to be wished that Adamnan, and his predecessor Cuminius, both of
them writers of S. Columba's life, had insisted more upon historical facts,
which might have given us greater light into the transactions of these
ancient times, than upon the miracles of the Saint. But to do them justice,
T
U6
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 557. that is not so much their fault as it is that of the times or age in which
they wrote ; and the same bad taste that reigned in the Lives of many other
Saints, written in the seventh and eighth age, is no doubt the reason why
we find so little method and order of time, as well as so little choice of facts,
observed in this Life of S. Columba.
And I cannot but add here, upon this work of S. Adamnan, the same
observation that I mentioned elsewhere, upon occasion of the negative ar-
guments which the Presbyterian writers endeavour to draw from the
silence of Bede upon certain facts and subjects that he had not proposed to
himself to treat of, and which had no necessary connexion with the matter
he proposed to handle in his History.
Bede and Adamnan propose to themselves to write upon certain limited
subjects, and their character in general seems to be to keep close to what
they proposed, without mixing in other matters, except in as far as they
served to give light to the subject in hand. Thus, Bede having proposed
to himself to write the Ecclesiastical History of the English Xation, limits
himself to that, as we have seen, and therefore gives us little or no further
account of the ecclesiastical history of the neighbouring nations, to wit, the
Britons, the Picts, the Scots, and the Irish, than what was necessary to
illustrate or give light to the history of the Saxons or English, and that
only by the by, and as it hath a connexion with the subject he speaks of.
So also, Adamnan in this work having proposed to treat of the life and
actions of S. Columba in three books, that is, to relate in the first his
prophetical revelations ; in the second, his miracles wrought by Divine
power ; and in the third, the angelical apparitions made to him ; he, in
consequence, reduces all he has to say to these three heads, and limits to
them his relation of S. Columba's life and actions. So that all other matters,
all persons and places which he mentions, come only in by the by, and as
they have connexion with one or more of the three foresaid heads.
From this it visibly follows that all arguments drawn from Adamnan's
silence of, or his not mentioning, such and such persons and affairs that do
not belong to some one of the three heads he had in view, can be of no force
to prove that there were no such persons or affairs, in the times that he
treats of. And, by consequence, no proof can be drawn from this work of
Adamnan that there were no ordinary bishops among the Picts and Scots
in the times that Adamnan writes of, because he gives no distinct accounts
of their names or seats. It is enough that the respect due to the episcopal
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
147
Character, and rendered to it even by S. Columba himself, the necessity of A. D. 557.
episcopal ministration for the ordination of priests in S. Columba's times,
appears evidently by this work, and that bishops were to be found among
the Scots and Picts upon a call, and were never wanting when there was
need of them for ordinations.
XVIII. And notwithstanding the defects and imperfection of Adam-
nan's work, which, making allowance for the age in which he wrote, and
the design of his work, are very excusable, it must be acknowledged that we
owe very much to him, for the detail which the setting forth the miracles
of S. Columba obliged him to enter into, from which, besides what his
work contains of the Saint's life, and of the doctrine and discipline which
he planted among the Scots and Picts, we have even as to our civil history
the names of six of our ancient kings/ a > to wit, Gauran, Comgal, Conal,
Aidan, Eochod-buyd, and Donnal-breac, before the History of Bede (from
which we have the first account of the Saxon or English kings) was written.
So that I cannot enough admire the confidence with which one of the most
learned among our Scottish Presbyterian writers (who hath otherwise
given more than ordinary proofs, in his way, of zeal for the Scottish anti-
quities, and of his being versed in them), tells us very dogmatically, that it
was agreed (b) on all hands (no doubt those of his party), that Adamnan's
Life of S. Columba was a fabulous history lately published in his name, &c.
But this only shows that Adamnan's work was not esteemed by those
gentlemen, favourable to the Presbyterian scheme of doctrine and discipline,
nor to the remote antiquities of the Scots, and to Boece's plan of their his-
tory, both which this late writer endeavours to vindicate. (c)
And indeed the most valuable part of Adamnan's work is the many
particulars that may be learned from it of the doctrine and discipline of
Christianity, such as they were taught and practised among the Scots and
Picts in ancient times under S. Columba's eye, and by his authority, which
the foresaid Presbyterian writer, and others of his way (taking advantage
of the general ignorance we have hitherto lived in, since the destruction of
our ecclesiastical monuments, carried on chiefly by their forerunners),
have so wildly misrepresented, that if one could believe them, our first and
< a) Adamnan. Vit. S. Columbae, lib. i. cc. 7, 8, 9, 49; [Vitae Antiqua; Sanctorum in
Scotia, Vit. secund. Columb. c. 50 ;] lib. iii. c. 5.
(b) Vindication of Sir James Dalrymple's Hist. Collect, p. 21.
(c) Hist. Collect. Sir James Dalrymple, cc. 1, 2, 3, &c.
148
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 557. most ancient Christianity was of a quite different species, both as to doc-
trine and discipline, from that of all the rest of the Christian Churches of
the polished world, and particularly from those that were immediately
planted by the Apostles themselves.
Besides the history of S. Columba'' s life left us by Cumian and
Adamnan, Bede also, and other ancient writers, furnish light into it. And
among the moderns, Archbishop Ussher, in his British Antiquities, Father
Colgan, in his Trias Thaumaturga, and Father Papebroch, have made con-
siderable Collections on this subject. It is from all these monuments that
I have drawn the following account of S. Columba and of his monasteries.
XIX. S. Columba was descended of the royal family of Ireland, whereof
he was a native. His father's name ra) was Feidlimid, son of Conal-G'ulban,
who was son to Niel, surnamed of the nine hostages, and died king of all
Ireland about A.D. 404. His mother's name was iEthne, who was ad-
monished, (b) whilst with child, of his future greatness; he was born A.I).
521, and for his first education he was committed to the care of Cruithno-
can, a pious priest, who returning home one day from the church after
mass, says Adamnan/ C) found all the room where the child lay, illustrated
with a bright splendour, flowing from a globe of fire that reposed above the
child. He was afterwards sent to Finian( d ) or Finnio, who is also named
Findbar, a holy bishop, who had a famous seminary or school of piety and
learning, in his monastery at Clonard, in Ireland, where assembled to him
a great number of disciples, of whom many became afterwards bishops and
abbots, the most famous in Ireland for the sanctity of their lives and for
their learning and zeal for the salvation of souls.
Among all these, S. Columba was eminent for all sort of virtues, gifts,
and graces. " FromC e ) his childhood, he gave himself," says Adamnan, " to
the service of God, to the practice of Christian perfection, and to the study
of wisdom, preserving, by a special gift of God, the purity and integrity of
his body and mind ; and though he lived here upon earth, yet his conver-
sation was in heaven. He had an angelical countenance, his discourse was
pure and chaste, his actions holy, an excellent ingine, a great discretion,
(a) Colgan, Trias Thaumat. p. 447 ; Adamnan. Praofat. secund. in Vit. S. Columb.
[Vit. secund. Columb. lib. i. c. 1.]
Adamnan. ibid.
< c > Ibid. lib. iii. c. 2.
< d > Ibid. lib. ii. c 1. Vita S. Finiani, apud Colgan. torn. i. p. 393.
Prsefat. secund. Adamnan. Vit. S. Columb. [Vit. secund. Columb. lib. i. c. 1.]
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
149
never letting pass one hour in which he was not applied either to prayer, A. D. 557.
to reading, to writing, or to some useful labour. His fasting and watch-
ing surpassed the common course of human ability. With all this, pre-
serving always an equanimity and agreeable temper, he was most acceptable
to all those he lived with ; and the cheerfulness of his countenance, accom-
panied with modesty, show that his soul was replenished with spiritual
joy and the inward consolation of the Holy Ghost." It was during his
abode in this monastery, that being( a ) in the Order of deacon, it happened
that the holy Bishop Finian, his master, being about to offer the holy
Sacrifice, (b> and there being no wine, S. Columba, by his prayers, changed
water into wine. Being afterwards promoted to the dignity of priesthood,
he founded several monasteries in Ireland before he came over fc > to Britain,
of which, that which was called Dearmach, that is, the Field of Oaks, was
chief. It is called by Adamnan( d) Roboretum Campi, in the same sense ;
it is now called Durrogh, in King's County, and is to be distinguished
from another monastery, founded also by S. Columba, in Ulster, and called
likewise, from the abundance of oaks, Roboretum re) Calcheghi, now Derry ;
in both which monasteries, and others that he founded in Ireland, he placed
the more accomplished of his disciples for Superiors.
XX. As to the occasion of S. Columba 1 s coming over to Britain, the
chief cause, no doubt, was the merciful disposition of Divine Providence
towards the inhabitants of the northern parts of our island, but as to the
immediate cause, the Irish writers 1 ^ after Adamnan give this account of it.
That Dermod, King of Ireland, being provoked without any just ground
against the kindred of S. Columba, marched against them with great forces,
in a resolution to destroy their country, and extirpate the inhabitants ;
upon which, they being but a small number in comparison of King Der-
mod' s army, had recourse to S. Columba, who obtained of God to them by
his prayers a signal victory over their enemies, who were routed with a
great slaughter. This battle was called Cuiledreme battle, and happened
A.D. 561.
However innocent S. Columba was of this bloodshed, it is said he was
(a) Adamnan. lib. ii. c. I.
(b) Sacrificale Mysterium. Adamnan. ibid.
(c > Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 4.
"" Adamnan. lib. i. c. 29; lib. ii. c. 2. Ware, Ant. Hibern. p. 186.
Ce > Ibid. lib. i. cc. 2, 20 . lib. iii. c. 15. Ware, Ant. Hibern. p. 214.
(f) Ussher, Ant. Brit. pp. 467, 468, &c.
150
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 561. excommunicated in a Synod by the Irish Churchmen of the adverse party.
But this sentence was looked upon as null and unjust by all the most re-
ligious men of the time, both at home and abroad. Among others, S.
Brandan coming to the Synod, gave them such proofs of S. Columba's
sanctity that he obliged ( a ) those that had pronounced this sentence to
acknowledge the injustice of it, and to pay a due respect to S. Columba.
S. Gildas also, who by this time was gone over to the Gauls, being con-
sulted'^ about this sentence, by a letter from S. Columba, declared the sen-
tence unjust and foolish, and kissed the letter, declaring publicly that he
that had written it was full of the Spirit of God. But S. Columba, though
not conscious to himself of any real sin in praying for the protection of
God, and good success to his relations in their own defence against an un-
just invader, not satisfied with the judgments of the two holy abbots,
Brandan and Gildas, in favour of his innocence, thought fit, out of humility,
and for the respect he bore to the episcopal Character, to submit his case to
the good bishop, S. Finian or Findbar, his old master, and ask counsel of
him. Though S. Finian was equally persuaded, as all other holy men,
of the injustice of the sentence, being more and more confirmed in the
opinion he always had of S. Columba's sanctity, by seeing him accompanied
by an angel 00 when he came to visit him, yet the good bishop considering
the animosities that had ensued upon the battle of Cuiledreme among the
different clans in Ireland, and apprehending some danger to S. Columba
from King Dermod's resentment, he advised him to leave Ireland, and,
without doubt moved by a particular inspiration of the Spirit of God,
making use of his episcopal authority, he gave him mission to go over to
Britain, in order to settle there, and to propagate the Gospel, particularly
among the Northern Picts.
XXL S. Columba, having thus received mission from this holy bishop,
resolved to pass over to Britain, as soon as he had put order to his monas-
teries in Ireland, in each of which he placed for Superior one of his disciples
to govern them under his direction during his absence, resolving to visit
them himself, as he did in the voyages he made from time to time to Ire-
land. The arrival of S. Columba in Britain is placed by Bede< d ) A.D. 565 ;
(a) Adamnan. lib. iii. c. 3.
00 Dssher, Ant. Brit. p. 469.
(c) Adamnan. lib. i. c. 7.
w Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 4.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
151
but according to the surest calculation it happened A.D. 563, that is, the A. D. 563.
sixth year of the reign of Conal king of the Scots in Britain, two years
after the battle of Cuiledreme, as Adamnan^ informs us. Now according
to the Ulster Annals/^ this battle was fought A.D. 561. « S. Columba,"
according to (c) Bede, " came into Britain to preach the word of God to the
provinces of the Northern Picts, that is, to those that are separated from
the southern parts by a ridge of steep and frightful hills ; for the Southern
Picts who dwelt on this side of these mountains had long before, as we have
related, forsaken the errors of idolatry, and embraced the true Faith, by the
preaching of Ninian, a most reverend bishop, and most holy man of the
British nation, who had been regularly instructed at Rome in the faith and
mysteries of truth." S. Columba brought along with him twelve of his
disciples, whose names we have in Boece, and more correctly in Ussher, < d >
and in the MS. copy of S. Columba's Life in Cotton Library, above
mentioned.
The holy abbot upon his arrival into the territories of the Scots in
Britain, addressed himself to King Conal, a most religious prince, who,
according to our re) writers, had made several good laws in favour of religion,
and he being well informed of the eminent piety and zeal of S. Columba,
welcomed him with great respect, which was not little augmented by the
first conversation he had with him just upon his arrival. For the holy
man' f ) gave him, by the spirit of prophecy, as particular an account of the
battle of Monamoir, at the very hour it was fought in Ireland, as if he had
been present at it, telling him the names of the kings that were victorious,
and of those that were beat, with the circumstances of their defeat. This
conversation happened apparently in the island of lona or Hy, called after-
wards Ycolmkill, where it is not unlike that in those early times the kings
of Scots made frequently their residence, (s) being a pleasant and fertile
little island, situated almost in the middle of their dominions, consisting
then of the Western islands and north western parts of the mainland.
< a) Adamnan. lib. i. c. 7.
^ Ussher, Ant. Brit. p. 363.
< c ) Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 4.
ftl) Ussher, Ant. Brit. p. 363.
Boetb. fol. 166.
(f) Adamnan. lib. i. e. 7.
Fuit (lona ins.) locus sepulturae et sedes regalis regum Scotia? et Pictinia?. Act.
Bolland. torn. ii. Junii. p. 181. ex Scotichr. MS. Fordun, lib. v. c. 10.
152
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book IT.
A. D. 563. XXII. S. Columba having informed the king of the religions motives
of his coming to Britain, King Conal made to him a donation of the island
of Iona or Hy, in order to erect a monastery in it for his residence and
that of his disciples. We have elsewheret a; shown the mistake of Bede in
ascribing this donation of Iona to the Picts, which, as Father Mabillon (b)
well observes, is contradicted by what Bede himself had elsewhere informed
us of the situation of the Pictish and Scottish dominions in Britain, where
he tellsW us that the Scots, at their first coming over to this island, settled
upon the north-western coasts of it, near to which is the island Iona, in the
heart of the Scottish dominions, all which lay betwixt Iona and the terri-
tories belonging to the Picts. Besides that, when S. Columba arrived, the
Scots being Christians received him, as. we have seen, with great respect,
whereas the king of the Picts, Brudeus, was as yet an infidel, and the first
time that S. Columba went to visit him, two years after this, he caused shut
his gates' d) against the Saint. But that Iona or Hy was the donation of
Conal, king of the Scots, is farther confirmed by the Irish Annals (e) of
Tigernac and of Ulster. I saw a very ancient MS. copy of the Annals of
Ulster, by the favour of the Duke of Chandos, in his grace's library at
Canons near London. This copy is in Irish intermixed with Latin, in
which language the death of Conal, King of Dalriada, that is, King of the
Scots, and the donation of Iona or Hy, made by him to S. Columba, are
expressed in the following very clear but very coarse terms, partly Irish,
partly Latin, thus : " Bar Conal mac-Comgail rig Dalriada xiii 0 anno regni
sui, qui offeravit (sic) insulam la Colmeill ;" that is, the death of Conal,
son of Comgal king of Dalriada, who offered or made a donation of the
island of la or Y to Colmkill, happened the thirteenth year of his reign.
In fine, the relation that S. Adamnan gives of S. Columba' s voyages (f) to
convert the Picts, demonstrates that his chief monastery was not situated
in the Pictish but in the Scottish dominions. As to the Ulster Annals
placing the death of King Conal in the thirteenth year of his reign,
whereas, according to all the remains'* 5 ' of our ancient chronicles, he reigned
(a > Crit. Essay, pp. 88, 89.
lb) Mabillon, Annal. Benedict, torn. i. p. 210.
Crit. Essay, pp. 88, 89.
<«> Ibid. pp. 789, 797, 811, 824.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
153
not barely ten or eleven years, as our modern writers have it, but fourteen A. D. 563
years. This may be simply a fault of the copyist of those Annals.
We may farther observe here, that the first thing that S. Columba re.
solved upon, in order to carry on with success his apostolical functions of
preaching the Gospel to the Northern Picts, was the erection of a monastery
in their neighbourhood. S. Ninian, (a) when he preached the Gospel to the
Southern Picts, had begun by settling a monastery at Candida Casa, in
Galloway; S. Patrick did the same (b) in several provinces of Ireland: so
also S. Augustine, Apostle of the Saxons, (c) founded a monastery, how soon
King Ethelbert granted him a place proper for it. The same method was
followed by those that planted the Faith in the several countries of the north
without the bounds of the Empire, and in Germany. Thus the famous
monastery^' of Fulda was founded A.D. 744, by S. Boniface, Apostle of that
nation. The intention of all these holy men in these pious institutions was
not only to have a place of retirement amidst their labours, but chiefly to
be a nursery of young labourers to carry on the work of the Gospel, and to
be a bulwark to Christianity : or, as it is related of the foundation of new
Corbey or Corvey (e ' in Saxony, the intention of these pious foundations was
to defend and to perpetuate the Christian religion.
Accordingly the island of Iona, called afterwards Ycolmkill, that is, the
convent or church of S. Columba in the island of Y or Hy, was erected by
King Conal and S. Columba, in the same view and intention, to be a fort-
ress of Christianity among the Scots, a nursery of apostolical labourers to
propagate it among the Northern Picts, to form and furnish pastors of the
first and second Order to both these people, and supply all their spiritual
necessities, and particularly the want of diocesan Episcopacy and parochial
churches, till Divine Providence should, by uniting into one body of state,
and into one kingdom, the several different nations that possessed these
northern territories, now called Scotland, furnish the means to establish in
this kingdom the same canonical discipline that was in use, in all other
parts abroad, of the Catholic Church.
XXIII. And because this once famous monastery of Ycolmkill was the
^ Supra, Book First, XXXIV.
"' Supra, Book First, XLV.
1 Bed Hist. Fccles. lib. i. c 33.
( "» Mubillon, Annal. Benedict, torn. ii. p. 125.
{c> Ibid. p. 470 ad tutandam perennandamque religionem.
U
154
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTIC AL
Book II.
A. D. od2. chief source of the doctrine and discipline of Christianity in these northern
parts of Britain, and remained, from its first foundation till the eighth or
ninth century, the centre, as it were, of all religious matters, it is of so
much the more importance to give a full account of it, that the adversaries
of Episcopacy, confounding what is essentia] to, and immutable in that
sacred Order, with what, being only more convenient and usual, depends
upon times, places, and other circumstances, endeavour to draw arguments
against the necessity, authority, and divine institution of the episcopal
Order, and against its superiority to that of priests, from some expressions
dropt from Bede, and some few other ancient writers, copying after Bede,
concerning the authority of the abbots of Ycolmkill, and the respect paid
to them even by bishops, and some other usages of that monastery. For
these reasons, it is of great importance, towards setting in a true light the
state of the Church among the Scots and Picts in S. Columba's time, and
during the following ages, down to the gradual division of the kingdom
into dioceses and parishes, to enter into some detail, before we proceed
farther, and give at some length an account of the design that Divine Pro-
vidence appears to have had in the foundation of this famous monastery, of
the discipline and order established and observed in it, and of the influence
that it had into all ecclesiastical affairs in our northern parts of Britain.
After having, in the first place, made a short review of what concerned
Church government in these parts of the island in the times preceding the
erection of this monastery.
It must then be considered, that though the light of the Gospel, as we
have seen, had early begun to shine even in our northern parts of Britain
which had never been subject to the Empire, and that in proportion as the
Christian religion was planted among them, and as they persevered in the
profession and exercise of it, they must have had pastors to entertain and
keep it up by preaching the "Word and the use of the Sacraments ; nor
could they be true pastors, according to all antiquity, without ordination
received from a bishop, either of their own, or from those in their neigh-
bourhood, yet the inhabitants of these northern parts, that lived without
the limits of the Empire, being, as we have seen all along, a martial people,
almost always upon expeditions, and engaged in wars offensive or defensive,
it was not possible in the common course to establish, during some ages,
among them that exterior ecclesiastical polity, to which, as hath been fa)
& Supra, Book First, XLIY.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
155
observed, the form of the Roman government had paved the way, and A. D. 563.
made it easy to be settled among the inhabitants of the provinces that
were, or had been formerly, included in the Empire, that is diocesan
Episcopacy.
For the purpose, we have seen< a) that there had been bishops long
before S. Columba's time, in the country of the old Mseates, called by the
Romans Valentia, and in the middle ages named Cumbria, lying to the
south of the friths (which makes now a part of the kingdom of Scotland),
such were, in the end of the fourth and beginning of the fifth century, S.
Ninian and his successors. For S. Ailred tells us,< b) in S. Ninian's Life,
that he consecrated bishops, no doubt, to succeed him, and carry on the
work of the Conversion of the Southern Picts, and keep up the profession
of the Christian religion among the Mteates or Britons betwixt the walls.
Among these successors of S. Ninian may be reckoned the Bishop Nennio,
mentioned ( c ) before, who governed the Great Monastery in those parts,
probably the same that S. Ninian had first established. And in this sixth
century lived also S. Kentigern, who had many successors, as we are in-
formed by the Inquest of the lands belonging to the Church of Glasgow,
already mentioned. Among these successors of S. Kentigern, in the sixth
century, is reckoned S. Baldred, Bishop, whose festival is marked in our
old calendars on the sixth of March. And if all these bishops to the south
of the friths have more the resemblance of diocesan bishops, as having
fixed seats, S. Ninian, Nennio, &c , at Whithern or Candida Casa in Gal-
loway, S. Kentigern, S. Baldred, and others, at Glasgow, the reason is
patent, they were all within the bounds of Valentia, formerly a province of
the Empire.
XXIV. It was not so with the Scots and Picts, inhabitants of these
northern parts beyond the friths, who had never been subject to the Empire.
For though we have seen, that, before the coming of S. C'olumba, there
were bishops among the Scots, in all appearance^ from S. Patrick's time,
and at least from the coming'^ over of King Fergus, son of Erch, and the
erection of the Scottish monarchy ; yet when one considers the manners,
" Supra, Book First, XXXI.
00 Supra, Book First, XXXIV.
•<■> Supra, Book Second, III.
111 Supra, Book Second, III.
" Supra, Book First, XLIV.
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. I) 5C>3. temper, and circumstances of the Scots and Picts in those early times, such as
they are described in the most ancient writers, it must be acknowledged that
no other kind of bishops could have been at first settled among them, but
such, as we have observed, were among the other warlike nations without
the bounds of the Empire, that is, bishops of one whole people, nation, or
kingdom, such as Ulphilas, Bishop of the Goths, Frumentius, Bishop of the
Ethiopians, Britannion, Bishop of the Scythians, Moyses, Bishop of the Sa-
racens, and others. Such, in all appearance, were the bishops of the Scots
and Picts in the first times of their Christianity, one bishop for each king-
dom, to direct and govern king and people in all religious matters, and to
ordain priests and other ministers for instructing them, and administrating
the Sacraments to them.
And as the jurisdiction of these ancient bishops of the Scots and Picts
was not limited to any particular district or portion of those kingdoms, but
extended as far as the authority and dominions of each of the kings reached,
and accordingly limited ; so in that sense these ancient bishops might have
been called truly diocesan bishops, in so far as they had each of them a
Avhole kingdom for their diocese, and that all the Christians within the
bounds of it were subject to their jurisdiction. It was much in the same
manner that the first bishops were established among the Saxons in Eng-
land, during the Heptarchy, in proportion as their kings were converted or
their subjects brought to the knowledge of the truth ; each kingdom having
generally but one bishop, as we see Aidan, and the Scots his successors,
were in the beginning the only bishops of the Northumbrians And
Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, was the first that augmented the
number of bishopricks in England, and distributed that country into
parishes.
But as to the Scots and Picts, though we had no other proof but the
example and usages of all other warlike nations without the bounds of the
Empire who had embraced Christianity, that alone might suffice to satisfy
impartial people, versed in the history and ancient discipline of the Church,
that the Scots and Picts, professing the Christian religion, could not have
preserved it, nor propagate it to posterity, without having each people at
least one such a national bishop, as we find among all other Christians in
like circumstances. But that this was truly the case of these two people in
ancient times receives a new confirmation and additional proofs from all
such remains as are left us of the ancient state of Church government in
both these nations.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
15?
As to the Picts, all our writers (a) agree generally that S. Terrenanus, A. D.563.
or Ternanus, was their first bishop, and what is more authentic, he is re-
corded as first bishop of the Picts in the calendars of the ancient liturgy
books of the Church of Scotland, particularly in the only copy remaining
that I could hitherto meet with of the Missal of the Metropolitan Church
of S. Andrews, carefully preserved with some other liturgical books in the
ancient noble .family of the Viscounts of Arbuthnot, which the present
Viscount was pleased to allow me to peruse. In this Missal, S. Ternan
is designed, both in the calendar and in the collect or prayer of the Liturgy
of the day, " S. Terrenanus Archiprsesul et Archiepiscopus Pictorum," and
his festival was annually celebrated, with great solemnity, on the twelfth
day of June. Boece, also, and Leslie, call him Archbishop of the Picts.
As to his episcopal seat, and that of his successors, bishops of the nation of
the Picts, the ancient Chronicle of Abernethy, quoted by the book of Paisley
or Scotichronicon. in the King's Library at London, informs us that the
seat b) of the bishops of the Picts, as well as that of their kings, was at
Abernethy in Stratherne, and the diocese of these bishops included all the
Pictish kingdom.
As to the Scots, we have elsewhere (c) observed, that according to Boece
(who might have perused many ecclesiastical monuments before the Refor-
mation, which are perished since by the zeal of the party that chiefly car-
ried it on), there were bishops among the Scots in Britain, at least, from
the time of Fergus, the son of Erch, and of the erection of the monarchy ; and
Boece gives us their names, whereof some are to be found in the ancient
calendars of the Church of Scotland.
But a proof of the Scots having anciently had a national bishop, is the
style or title of Episcopus Scotorum, that is, Bishop of the Scots in
general, or Bishop of the nation of the Scots, given to their chief bishop;
and it appears that this title of Episcopus Scotorum, had, by a long and
immemorial custom, been so appropriated to the chief Bishop of the Scots,
that even after the division of the kingdom into dioceses, this title of
Bishop of the Scots (Episcopus Scotorum) continued to be used by their
(I) Fordun, lib. iii. c. 9. Boeth. fol. 128, edit. Ferrer. Leslsei Hist, p 137.
"■' Fuit ille locus (Abernethy) principalis Regalis et Pontificalis per aliqua tempora
totius regni Pictorum. Fordun, lib. iv. c. 12, sive Liber Paslel. in Biblioth. Reg. Londin.
cilat. ChroD. de Abernethy, ibid.
W Supra, Rook Second, III.
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Hook II.
A. I) 563. chief bishops ; to wit, the Bishops of St. Andrews, in their writs and
charters, 0 " down to the twelfth century, and on their seals down h) to the
thirteenth, as is manifest by the charters of Robert, Arnald, &c, and by
the seals of the bishops of that see, down to Bishop William Fraser, who
died A.D. 1297. All this is confirmed by this formal passage, set down
by Sir James Dalrymple, from the excerpts of the ancient chartulary of
S. Andrews, in these words : — " The (c) Bishop of S. Andrews was called
the Bishop of the Scots, and thus, both in ancient and in modern writs,
the Bishops of S. Andrews are called Archbishops, or Chief Bishops of
the Scots, whence Bishop Fothet caused engrave upon the cover or case of
the Gospel, this inscription — Fothet, the chief bishop of the Scots, caused
make this case for the (jiospel. So also now, in the vulgar language, the
Bishop of S. Andrews is called Espic Allaban, that is, Bishop of the Scots,
and so they are now called by excellence among all other bishops of the
Scuts, who are styled from the places where they reside."
As to the seat of the national bishop of the Scots in ancient times,
and before the union of the two kingdoms, there is all appearance that it
was either in Ycolmkill, which in these first times was the centre of all
their religious matters, as we shall see, or in the place where their kings
made their ordinary residence.
What is chiefly to be observed in these citations, is, that these national
bishops of the Picts and Scots were anciently designed, the one Archi-
e|>iscopus and Archipra?sul Pictorum, the other Primus or Summus Epis-
copus et Archiepiscopus Scotorum : not to insist upon a writ that Sir
James Balfour Al informs us he had seen of Bishop Kellach to the Keledees
of Lochlevin, in which Kellach styles himself Maximus Scotorum Episcopus-
(al Chartular. vetus S. Andreas penes Comitem de Panmure, fol. 54. Robertus Dei
gratia Episcopus Scotorum, &c. Ibid. fol. 55. Ernaldus Dei gratia Scotorum Epis-
copus, &c.
" Diplomat. Scot. Sigilla Robert. Ernald. Ricard. Roger. Will, et Will. Fraser, Epp.
Scotorum.
(c) Episcop. Sanct. And. dictus est Episcopus Scotorum : Et sic in scriptis tam vetustis
quam modernis inveniuntur dicti summi Archiepiscopi, sive summi Episcopi Scotorum ;
linde et conscribi fecit in theca Evangelii Fothet Episcopus,
Hanc Evangelii thecam construxit aviti,
Fothet qui Scotis summus Episcopus est.
Sic et nunc quoque in vulgari et communi locutione Episcop. Alban. (f. Espic
Allaban) i.e. Episcopi Albaniae appellantur. Sic et dicti sunt et dicuntur per excellen-
tiam ab universis Scotorum Episcopis qui a locis quibus praesunt appellantur. Dalrymple,
Coll. p. 127.
> d) Dalrymple, Coll. p. 129.
HOOK II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
159
Now these titles of Archiepiscopus or Summus Episcopus given to the A. 1> 568.
two national Bishops of the Picts and Scots, clearly insinuate that, besides
these two bishops who had the chief direction of all ecclesiastical matters
in the two kingdoms, there were other bishops under them, who, though
perhaps not ordained to any title, fixed locality, seat or district, had the
episcopal Character conferred to them under the chief bishop of each
nation, either in order to honour the sanctity of their lives and their dis-
tinguished merits, or to be suffragans or coadjutors to the two chief
bishops, (as Fordun (a) tells us that S. Servanus was consecrated bishop by
S. Palladius for the same end), that is, to perform the episcopal functions
for them in distant places of the country, for the greater conveniency of
the people, who could not easily, on many occasions, have recourse or
access to the chief bishop of the nation.
The great extent of these two national bishops' jurisdiction, including
each a whole kingdom, the frequent wars and expeditions that made their
access difficult and dangerous in many occasions, and to many places, the
spiritual wants and necessities of the people forced them apparently to fall
upon this expedient, and the ignorance of the canons, which could not fail
to be very general in these ancient times among the Scots and the Picts,
and other islanders remote from the more polished countries, where cano-
nical discipline was in vigour, made them less scrupulous and more excus-
able. For as Joceline (b) observes in the Life of S. Kentigern (where he
excuses this Saint's being consecrated by one single bishop), " the islanders
living, as it were, in another world, and being frequently infested by infi-
dels, their ignorance of the canons deserves to be excused." This ignor-
ance gave occasion to their transgressing often the canons in rites and other
matters of discipline that were not essential. Among other transgressions
of the canons may be reckoned that of ordaining bishops by one single
bishop, because in these tumultuous times other bishops could not be had,
as also the custom of ordaining them at large, and without a proper title
and limited district.
XXV. And these unusual practices of the Scots and Picts were so
much the more excusable, that besides that the almost perpetual motion thev
were in by their intestine wars, one against another, and their foreign
expeditions, hindered, as we have often observed, the canonical division of
Archbishop of Can-
terbury, complaining of it.
As to the Scots and Picts, this irregular practice of ordaining bishops at
large, and without a proper district, to be suffragans and coadjutors of the
national bishops, had been, most probably, introduced at first among them,
as we have observed, partly in order to administrate the Sacraments, an-
nexed to the episcopal Character, and perform the other episcopal functions
in places where the two chief bishops of these nations could not have easy
access ; partly in order to do honour to religious men of an eminent and
distinguished piety, zeal, and sanctity of life, as we find the like was done
sometimes (b) in the purest ages, and in countries where the canonical disci-
pline was most in vigour. Thus Sozomen informs us that in or about the
famous city of Edessa, Barses, Eulogius, and other religious men, were con-
secrated bishops in the fourth age, not in order to govern any diocese, says
Sozomen, but out of honour and respect, and as a recompense of the purity
and sanctity with which they had lived in their monasteries. And what
makes it the more likely that this was the case of some of our bishops at large
among the Scots and Picts, to wit, that the sanctity of their lives was the
chief motive of ordaining many of these bishops is that, by all accounts
that we have remaining of these ancient bishops ordained at large in our
country, they were all persons of so eminent piety that they were after-
wards honoured as Saints, and their festivals annually celebrated on the clays
they are marked in all our ecclesiastical calendars and liturgical books that
have escaped the zeal of the Knoxian Reformers, and of those that suc-
ceeded him of the same spirit, and it is from these remains (c) that we have
chiefly account of these bishops.
(a) Anselm. lib. iii. epistola, 147. Ussher, Vet. Epist. Hibern. Sylloge, p. 96.
Dicitur Episeopos in vestra terra passim eligi, et sine certo Episcopatus loco constitui ;
atqne ab uno Episeopo, Episcopum sicut quemlibet Presbyterum, ordinari, &c. Ad Reg.
Muriard.
w Sozomen. Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. c. 34.
(c) Kalendar. et Missal. MS. Ecclesise de Arbutlinot dioe. S. Andrea; penes Vieecomi-
tem de Arbutlinot. Kalendar. et Breviar. Aberdon. 1.509.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
161
Such were S. Nachlan or Nathalan, Bishop, January the eighth, at A. D. 563.
Tullich, in Mar; S. Wollock or Macwolock, Bishop, January the twenty-
ninth, at Logy, in Mar; S. Glascian, Bishop, January the thirtieth, at
Kinglass, &c. ; S. Modock, Bishop, January the thirty-first, at Kilmodock ;
S. Marnan, Bishop, March the first ; S. Duthac, Bishop, March the eighth,
famous in Ross; S. Ronan, Bishop, May the twenty-second, at Kilmaronan,
in Lennox ; S. Colmock, Bishop, June the sixth ; S. Molock or Molonach,
Bishop, June the twenty-fifth, at Lismore, in Argyle; July the first, S.
Servan or Serf, Bishop, of whom elsewhere ; August the tenth, S. Blane,
Bishop, at Dunblane ; August the twenty-fourth, S. Yrchard, Bishop, at
Kincardine- 0' Neil; September the first, S. Murdach, Bishop; September the
twenty-second, S. Lolan, Bishop; September the twenty-fifth, S. Bar or
Finbar, Bishop, at Kilbarr, in the Isle of Barra, and in Caithness ; September
the twenty-eighth, S. Machan, Bishop; October the sixteenth, S. Colman,
Bishop ; October the twenty-eighth, S. Marnoch, Bishop ; October the
thirtieth, S. Talarican or Tarkin, Bishop ; November the thirteenth, S.
Devenick, Bishop, at Banchory-Devenick ; November the eighteenth, S.
Fergusian or Fergus, Bishop ; December the second, S. Ethernan, Bishop ;
December the eighteenth, S. Manir, Bishop; December the twenty- second,
S. Ethernase, Bishop ; &c.
All these holy bishops' names are taken from the calendars or liturgical
books of St. Andrews and of Aberdeen, these being the only two I can hear
of, which escaped our Reformers' zeal ; but I doubt not but, if the calendars
of the Churches of Glasgow, of Galloway, of Argyle, of Dunkeld, and espe-
cially of the Isles, could be recovered, we should there find many more of
the names of the ancient bishops of the Scots and Picts. Among these
bishops, some, no doubt, were the chief or national bishops of the Scots
and Picts. But the loss of the ancient monuments of our ecclesiastical
history hinders us from being able to distinguish which among them were
the national or ordinary bishops, and which were bishops at large and co-
adjutors or suffragans, and renders it impossible to fix their chronology.
As to the dates assigned to each of them in Adam King's' 3 ) Scottish Calen-
dar, published A.D. 1587, as he brings no authority to prove these dates,
and some of them are certainly wrong, we can in no manner depend upon
them. The names of some of our ancient bishops are still preserved at the
<"> Adam Regius or King, Professor of Philosophy and Mathematics at Paris, his
Calendar, printed at Paris, A.D. 1587.
X
162
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. I). 563. respective country churches, or other places where they were honoured.
It was probably at these places where these holy bishops made their ordin-
ary abode with their disciples, and to which they used to retire amidst their
labours, where they finished their course and were buried, and where their
relics were, in former ages, held in great veneration, and the great resort
made to them by the faithful, as places of devotion, especially on their
anniversary days, or festivals, was what gave the first rise and occasion to
yearly fairs and markets kept on their anniversaries, whereof some are
as yet to be seen marked in the old Scottish almanacs, notwithstanding the
zeal of our new Reformers to abolish the memory of these ancient Saints of
their country.
After this prospect of the ecclesiastical government in Scotland in
ancient times, which appears to have continued much on the same footing
as long as the civil government was divided into different states and king-
doms, before the union of the Scots and Picts, and that of all the provinces
of the north and south into one monarchy, I come now in course to give
account of the famous monastery of Ycolmkill, and of the discipline
settled in it, of which Divine Providence made use as a means to preserve
and propagate religion in our part of the island, to establish it upon a more
firm foundation than ever it had been hitherto, and not only to furnish
these parts with pastors of the first and second Order, but to form Aposto-
lical men towards the Conversion of all the northern parts of England.
Now we shall see that the monastery of Ycolmkill was that means, and that
it was fitted by Providence to answer all those ends, after having first
considered the situation of it, and the discipline established and observed
in it.
XXYI. The island of Hy or Iona is situated at the south-western
point of the isle of Mull, and about two miles distant from it. It would
appear that the distance betwixt these two islands was not so great in S.
Columba's time, since we find that passengers used to call a over the frith
from Mull to Ycolmkill. This island is now about two miles in length and
one in breadth ; it is fertile of all things which that part of the climate pro-
duces. It is as free of all venomous beasts, by S. Columba's benediction,
so as they could( b ) do hurt to nobody. We have already shown that it was
the donation, not of the Picts, but of Conal, King of the Scots. S. Co-
(,J Adamnan. lib. i. cc. 25. 27.
<*» Ibid. lib. ii. c. 28.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
163
lumba began by erecting in it a church, no doubt of wood, for such was the A. D. 563.
custom of the Scots during these times, and the monastery or habitations
he caused build for himself, for his disciples and for the multitude of those
that frequented the holy place, were of a very mean fabric, that is cottages,
such as were in use among the country people, if we may judge of the rest
by S. Columba's own habitation which Adamnan calls more than once
" tuguriolum,"( a ) a little cottage. And no wonder that their buildings were
so mean, for they were all of their own fabric ; labouring with their hands,
as we shall see, and providing for themselves the necessaries of life, without
being a burthen to others, was a part of the exercises of S. Columba and
his first disciples.
As to the discipline of this monastery, it is certain that S. Columba was
author of a monastic rule peculiar to his monasteries, and "WaraeusOO in-
forms us that this rule is still extant, but, by what I can learn, it hath not
been as yet published. To supply the want of it w£ may learn in general
what were the exercises of S. Columba and his disciples, from a passage in
S. Adamnan, in which he gives us a short notion of the ordinary religious
exercises of S. Columba himself, and, by consequence, of what he prescribed
to his disciples, and to those that were to succeed them in the monasteries
governed by his rule. For as Bede observes/ 0 ) it was the chief maxim of
these holy men, that " they taught no otherwise than they themselves and
their followers lived and practised," that is, their lives and conduct were
models and patterns of the pious exercises that they recommended to the
practice of those whom they instructed. So that we cannot have a more
certain account, in few words, of the exercises of the religious men in
Ycolmkill, especially of those among them whom S. Columba destinated to
the sacred ministry, than what S. Adamnan gives us of this holy man's own
daily exercises in this monastery, to wit, that he spent all the hours of the
day either in< d > prayer, that is, in his private conversation with God, in
which he spent often whole nights, as well as days, and in reciting the
canonical Office of the day and night, in reading or studying, in writing or
<»> Adamnan. lib. i. c. 25 ; lib. ii. c. 26 ; lib. iii. c. 15.
(b) Ware, de Scriptor. Hibern. p. 15.
(c) Cujus (Aidani) doctrinam id maxime commendabat omnibus, quod non aliter
quam vivebat cum suis, ipse docebat. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 5.
(d > Nullum unius horse intervallum transire poterat, quo non aut orationi, aut lectioni,
vel scriptioni, vel etiam alicui operationi incumbcret. Adamnan. Prajf. secund. in Vit.
S. Columba?, edit. Colgan, p. 337. [Vit. secund. S. Columb. lib. i. c. 1.]
164,
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 563. copying books, and in corporal labour. And as for the farther particulars
of these exercises, and of the usages of the monastery, we may gather them
from S. Adamnan's account of the life of S. Columba, from what Bede
relates of the lives, usages, and exercises of S. Aidan, and the other holy
men bred up in this monastery, who planted the Gospel in the north of
England, and settled among the Christians they converted, and in the
monasteries that they founded in those parts, the usages that they had
brought along with them from Ycolmkill.
XXVII. And in the first place, it is to be observed that, as all S. Co-
lumba's disciples bore the name of monks, in the language of these times,
so the houses where they lived were named monasteries, and the discipline
established among them resembled that of monks. They had a fixed rule,
they had all in common, according to the form of living of the first Chris-
tians in apostolical times. Wherefore, and according to that evangelical
model, as Bede( a > relates, " they neither sought nor loved anything in this
world ;" it appears also that they made vows (b) of renouncing to all pro-
perty, of forsaking the world with all its concerns, and of consecrating
themselves wholly to the exercises of religion. It were superfluous to add
that they lived in perpetual continency, for everybody knows that all those
of the monastic profession, and who renounced the world, renounced at
same time to the married state. They all lived under the obedience of an
Abbot, or other Superior, to be disposed of by him, either to remain all
their lives in the low state of simple religious men, or to be advanced to
the respective degrees of sacred Orders, according to the judgment that
their Superior, after a long trial, made, in the first place, of their progress
in piety and sanctity of life, as well as of their talents and other qualifica-
tions for the service of the Church.
So that, however they were called monks, according to the language of
these times, yet, excepting those among them that, being illiterate, were
chiefly deputed to corporal labour, and those who were admitted as public
penitents (who, by consequence, were excluded by the canons of the
Church from the entry to holy Orders), the rest of them, in general, were,
properly speaking, a body of regular clergy, such as those bred up in the
monasteries or seminaries of S. Eusebius, of Vercelli, S. Martin, of Tours,
S. Augustine, in Africa, S.Honoratus, of Lerins, &c, of whose disciples, those
W Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cc. 5, 26.
lb) Adamnan. lib. i. c. 32 ; lib. ii. c. 39.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
165
chosen out by these holy men, directed by the Spirit of God, were advanced to a. D. 563.
holy Orders in the clerical state, and employed in the service of the Church,
and it was from these religious houses that many of the greatest bishops of
the ages, in which the discipline settled by the founders flourished in them,
were taken ; and it was also from the same monasteries or seminaries in
foreign parts that S. Patrick brought over to Ireland the first patterns of
religious and clerical education and institution, and from Ireland S. Co-
lumba introduced them into Britain, and settled a most complete model of
them in Ycolmkill, whence they spread through all the northern parts of
Britain.
But it suffices to consider the practice of S. Columba himself, and the
exercises established by him in Ycolmkill and his other monasteries, to be
persuaded that the design of Divine Providence in the establishment of
that famous monastery was not so much to form monks, in a strict sense, or
solitaries, such as those of the Orient, whose only aim was their own sancti-
fication, without taking further share in the hierarchical functions than, by
their prayers, to draw a blessing upon those that were employed in them.
But that the monastery of Ycolmkill was established in the same view as
those above-mentioned of S.Eusebius, S. Martin, S. Augustine, S. Honoratus,
&c, that is to breed up their disciples in solid piety, which chiefly consists
in the right regulation of the heart, and, in the first place, in the separation
of their affections from the world, and in the renunciation to its cares and
affairs, to all unnecessary ' eases and pleasures of life. And as for the
ecclesiastical state, those wise directors, animated by and regulating their
instructions upon the maxims of Holy Scripture and canons concerning
the necessity of divine vocation to that state of perfection, at the same
time that they endeavoured to inspire those of their disciples whom they
found proper for that holy state, with an ardent zeal for the salvation of
souls, and a promptitude to sacrifice themselves to that great work which
our Lord himself had begun, and his Apostles and their successors had
continued, these prudent directors, I say, took care to excite in their
disciples, at same time, a high esteem and profound veneration for the dif-
ferent degrees of the sacred ministry, and holy dread and apprehension of
the burden of the charge of souls, so as that they were disposed not only
not to aspire or aim at it of themselves, but rather to decline the weight
of it, and to submit to it only in as far as the spiritual wants of souls
redeemed by the blood of Christ, and the order of God, manifested to them
166
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 563. by the voice of their Superiors, directors, or other holy men of these times.
forced them to submit, out of an apprehension to disobey Almighty God in
the person of his servants.
Of all these preparations and dispositions, we shall see afterwards a
perfect pattern in our countryman, the great S. Cuthbert, bred from his
youth in the Columbite monastery of Mailross, as Bede relates at length in
his History, and in the Life of this Saint. But to return to the discipline
of S. Columba's monasteries.
XXVIII. At the same time that his disciples were bred up in these
inward dispositions to piety, they were instructed in all that might qualify
them for the pastoral functions, in case the spiritual necessities of the
Church called for their help, and their chief exercises in the monastery
were calculated to that end.
We have already given from Adamnan a general view of these exercises
in the practice of S. Columba himself, who taught them more by his own
example to his disciples than by his words or regulations. These exercises,
as we have seen, were reduced to these four heads, "orationi," prayer:
"lectioni," lecture or studying; " scriptioni," writing or copying ; " oper-
ationi," working, or the labour of their hands.
As to prayer, besides the continual prayer or tendency of the heart
to God, in which S. Columba himself lived, and trained up his disciples in
the same pious disposition, there were regular times of public prayer at the
canonical hours of the day and of the (a) night, to which they all convened
at the sound of a bell, for so I understand the barbarous word " clocca," < b >
which Adamnan makes use of. They sung (c ' the public Office, and were
exact to perform it at the stated hours, as well abroad in their voyages and
upon their missions, as at home in the monastery. Adamnan, upon that
occasion, makes mention^ of the miraculous elevation of S. Columba's
voice, during the sacred Psalmody.
But the principal part of their public prayer, or of divine Service, was
the celebration of the holy sacrifice of the Eucharist, or the solemnity of
Mass ; and the terms of respect in which S. Adamnan expresses the holy
mysteries being the same that the Catholic Church makes use of at present,
la) Adamnan. lib. iii. c. 23, n. 9, edit. Colg.
« Ibid.
,c) Ibid. lib. i. c. 37; lib. iii. c. 12.
< d) Ibid.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
167
demonstrates that the faith that S. Columba settled in his monasteries, and A. D. 5G3.
among the ancient Scots and Picts, concerning the real presence of the Body
of Christ, or the oblation or sacrifice of the Mass, was in those days the
same as it is now. For he calls them, the sacred Mysteries < a) of the
Eucharist, the most holy' b) Mysteries, the Solemnity' 0 ' of Mass, the sacred
Solemnity ( d ) of Mass ; and to show that they believed that the holy
Eucharist was offered as a sacrifice or oblation, he calls Mass the Mysti-
cal'^ Sacrifice, the Mysteries' f) of the sacred Oblation. And that they
believed that the Body of Christ was rendered present in the sacred mys-
teries by the words or prayer of the consecration appears, by Adamnan' s
informing us, not only that the bishop or priest at Mass consecrated'*' the
holy mysteries of the Eucharist, that they consecrated' 10 the sacred oblation,
but that by the consecration of the oblation at the altar, the bishop's or
priest's pronouncing in the name of Christ the words or prayer of conse-
cration, and acting by his authority, derived to them in an uninterrupted
succession from the Apostles by the channel of ordination, made or pro-
duced the Body of Christ, " Christi Corpus'"' ex more conficere ;" allud-
ing to an expression of S. Hierome, by which to express the eminence of
the Character of priests above that of deacons, S. Hierome says, that by the
prayer' k ' of the priests the Body and Blood of Christ are made or produced,
and elsewhere, the priests with their sacred mouths make or produce' 1 ' the
Body of Christ. And it is in these same terms that S. Adamnan explains
the meaning of another expression of his own imitated from the Scripture,
to wit, to break'™' 1 the Lord's bread.
By all this the impartial reader, I hope, will perceive that the doctrine
taught by S. Columba, and by his disciples and successors, concerning the
W Sacrse Eucharistise Mysteria. Adamnan. lib. i. c. 40; lib. iii. c. 17.
00 Sacro Sancta Mysteria. Ibid.
< c) Missarum Solemnia, lib. i. c. 40; lib. iii. c. 17; lib. iii. c. 23, n. 1.
< d) Sacra Missarum Solemnia, lib. ii. c. 45.
(e) Adamnan. lib. ii. c. 1. Sacrificale Mysterium.
<° Sacrse Oblationis Mysteria. lib. i. c. 40.
<«' Sacrae Eucharistise Mysteria consecrare.
(h) Globus igneus in vertice S. Columbse ante altare stantis et sacram oblationem
consecrantis. Adamnan. lib. iii. c. 17.
W Christi corpus ex more conficere. lib. i. c. 44.
(k) Ad quorum (sacerdotum) preces, Christi corpus sanguisque conficitur. S. Hiero-
nym. Epist. ad Evagrium.
© Christi corpus sacro ore conficiunt. S. Hieronym. Epist. ad Heliodorum.
< m) Dominicum panem frangere. Adamnan. lib. i. c. 44.
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CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 563. sacred mysteries of the Eucharist, was the same in substance with that of
the Catholic Church in this present and in all former ages. But as to the
rite, or discipline observed in the celebration of the holy mysteries, it
appears that the usages of the Picts and Scots in ancient times were, as it
was usual in other countries, different in some things from the modern
usages of the occidental Church. And first, in this, that, as it appears by
the several expressions of Adamnan (hereW marked) compared together,
the holy sacrifice of Mass was not offered ordinarily but upon Sundays or
festivals, or upon the news of the death, or on occasion of the anniversary,
of some pious men related to the monastery. Secondly, that there is great
ground to believe that the Scots in ancient times, in the celebration of the
sacred mysteries, followed the Gallican rite or liturgy, introduced at first
into Ireland by S. Patrick, educated in Gaul, and from Ireland brought over
by S. Columba to our northern parts of Britain. But this, and the other
varieties of rites observed in Scotland in the celebration of the sacred
mysteries or Mass, and in the canonical offices (vulgarly called the Breviary)
through the different ages, from the first establishment of Christianity till
the new Reformation, may perhaps come to be elsewhere examined in a
dissertation apart upon the ancient Liturgy of Scotland.
XXIX. The second exercise of S. Columba and his disciples in their
monasteries was lecture, " lectioni," reading or study, especially of what
belonged to the doctrine and practice of religion, and, in the first place, of
the Holy Scriptures : for thus S. Columba had been from his childhood
taught in the monastery or seminary of the holy Bishop S. Finian or
Findbar. where all his studies are comprehended by Adamnan( b ) under the
name of the wisdom or knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, " sapientiam
sacrse Scripturse," that is, not the bare lecture or study of the letter of the
Scriptures, but the meditation of the truths contained in them, to sink them
into the heart, in order to produce that divine wisdom which teaches to fix
the heart in God, and to withdraw all its affections from the transitory
satisfactions of the present life. And, doubtless, S. Columba inspired the
same spirit into his disciples, to make, with S. Augustine, (c) the sacred
Scriptures their greatest pleasure and consolation. For we find that the
W Adamnan. lib. i. c. 40 ; lib. ii. cc. 1, 45 ; lib. iii. cc. 12, 1 7, 23, n. 1.
(l>) Cum vir venerandus (Columba) iD Scotia apud Findbarum Episcopum adhuc
juvenis, sapientiam sacra? Scriptura; addiscens, commaneret. Adamnan. lib. ii. c. 1.
Cc) Sint castas delicise mere Scripturae tuaj. S. Aug. Confession.
Boor II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
169
assiduous lecture and meditation of them was one of the chief practices ' a > A. D. 563.
of the Columbites both in Scotland and England.
But to reap the fruit of these pious lectures, the young and unlearned
among them were not abandoned to themselves to search out the meaning
or sense of the Scriptures without a guide, but they were taught the true
meaning of them by their ancients, who were instructed in the sense and
meaning of the Church ; and we see in the example of S. Cuthbert, and in
the method he was taught to understand the Holy Scriptures by his master,
Boisil, Superior of the Columbite monastery of Mailross, that their custom
in their conferences upon the Holy Scripture with their disciples, was cb '
not to dive into the profound questions of the sacred text, but to render
them attentive to, and cause them remark what was of greatest edifica-
tion, to wit, the simplicity of faith that works by charity. But this exer-
cise was chiefly for those that were already advanced and lettered, as for
those that were as yet young in years, such as the twelve Saxon< c) children
chosen out by S. Aidan, to be bred up to the ecclesiastical state in his
monasteries, according to S. Columba's rule, and in general as to all illite-
rate persons that were received in the Columbite monasteries, the first
application of their masters was to teach those of them, in whom they found
capacity and inclination to letters, to read and write, joining those exercises
to the necessary instructions of Christian doctrine and rules of piety.
To these first elements, in proportion to their progress in piety, and the
hopes they gave of being one day useful instruments of the salvation of
others, and of their being called to the clerical state, was added the apply-
ing them to learn the Latin tongue, this being the common language in
religious matters of the occidental Church, of which they were members,
to enable them to understand the Holy Scriptures, the canons of the coun-
cils, or such writings of the Fathers, or other ancients, as they could pro-
cure, to qualify them by those solid lectures and studies (to which the
theology of those times was chiefly reduced) for the different degrees of
the sacred ministry to which they might happen afterwards to be called
<4) Ut omnes qui cum eo (Aidano) incedebant, sive attonsi sive laici, meditari
deberent, id est, aut legendis Scripturis, aut Psalmis discendis operam dare. Hoc erat
quotidianum opus illius, et omnium qui cum eo erant fratrum, ubicunque locorum devenis-
sent. Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 5.
;b > (Boisil in Collationibus de Sacra Scriptura cum Cutliberto) solam in ea fidei qua;
per dilectionem operatur simplicitatem, non autem qua?stionum profunda tractabat. Bed.
Vit. S. Cutbbert. c. viii.
< c) Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 26.
Y
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Book II.
A. D. 563. and promoted. It is remarkable that the application of their young scholars
to lecture and study was so great and perseverant, that they carried< a) books
(which in those days were no small burthen) along with them in their
voyages.
XXX. Their third exercise was writing or copying books, " scriptioni."
This we find was, according to Adamnan, one of the ordinary( b) exercises of
S. Columba himself, and of his chief disciples. The great number of them
that were applied to reading or studying, and the rarity of books in those
days, put S. Columba under the necessity of employing many of his disciples
in transcribing books, in order to form a library in his monasteries, for the
spiritual comfort and improvement chiefly of those that were destinated to
the public canonical office, and to the service of the Church and sacred
Orders. So that the transcribing the Holy Scriptures, what they could
recover of the canons, of the books of the holy Fathers, and of other ancient
ecclesiastical writers, and of other books necessary for Divine Service, and
for the use of the learned and improvement of students, was one of the
chief exercises of all those that were skilful and expert in the art of writing,
to which all that were capable in the monasteries were bred up. And we
see, by what Adamnan remarks/ 0 ' that they were so careful of revising
their copies, and rendering them correct, that there was not so much as an
iota neglected. He givesC d ) us also account of Psalters and other books
transcribed by S. Columba himself, and therefore held in great veneration,
and miracles wrought by them.
The fourth exercise of S. Columba's disciples, according to the example
he had given them, was corporal or manual labour, " operationi." This
exercise, strictly enjoined by all the founders of religious congregations,
was also recommended by the canons' e) of the Church in particular to the
clergy. And none among the Columbites were exempted from labour of
the hands, though the chief burden of it lay upon those that were illiterate,
or not employed in studies, or destined to the service of the Church. Thus
we see it was these religious men themselves that erected (f ' their build-
ings, that brought horned the materials of them, that tilled the ground,
W Adamnan. lib. ii. c. 8.
(W Ibid. lib. i. cc. 23, 25; lib. ii. cc. 8, 9, 16 ; lib. iii. c. 23, n. 7.
to Ibid. lib. i. c. 22.
o> Ibid. lib. ii. cc. 8, 9, 16, 44, 45 ; lib. iii. c, 23, n. 7.
(t '> Concil. iv. Carthagin. can. 51.
< f) Adamnan. lib. i. cc. 29, 37 ; lib. iii. c. 15.
<*> Ibid. lib. ii. cc. 3, 45.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
171
cut< a > the corn, went a fishing for the monastery, in a word, that provided A. D. 563.
for themselves, and for entertaining hospitably, all the necessaries of life,
as much as they were able without being a bui'den to others.
Now all these exercises of the pious inhabitants of S. Columba's monas-
teries were accompanied with their regular fasting, not only in Lent upon
one meal a day, and that only (b) in the evening, and after vespers or even-
ing song, about five or six o'clock at night, at sunset, according to the uni-
versal practice of the Church in those ages, but during the course of all the
year (excepting the fifty days from Easter to Whitsunday) the Columbites
fasted all Wednesdays^) and Fridays upon one meal a day, with this differ-
ence from the great fast of Lent, that upon their weekly fasts they advanced
their sole meal till three in the afternoon (" hora nona "), whereas in Lent
they ate none till night. Adamnan also observes that their charity and
love of entertaining hospitably engaged them to interrupt or relax their fast,
upon the arrival of any extraordinary stranger of great merit that came to
visit them. But some of the moi'e fervent among them observed threeC d )
Lents, one at the usual time before Easter, one after Whitsunday, and one
before Christmas. It was also the custom of some of the more advanced
in piety to pass all the timc f0 > of Lent in retreat, or entire separation from
company.
But it is to be observed, that however strict and austere the discipline
of Lent was among the Columbites as to fasting, they allowed a greater
indulgence as to abstinence, even in Lent, than in modern ages. For
though they all abstained absolutely from flesh on fasting days, yet it
appears that they allowed(0 the use of milk and white meats, and even of
eggs. And probably this indulgence extended to all the Scots in those
days. However, it is certain that the Scots, in following ages, embraced
the common discipline of the rest of the Church, and abstained during
Lent, from white meats, milk, eggs, and all that comes of flesh, till the
fifteenth century, that Pope Nicholas the Fifth, by a special indult, (s)
A.D. 1451, granted first to the diocesans of Glasgow a licence to use milk
(a > Adamnan. lib. ii. c. 19 ; lib. i. c. 37.
< b) Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. e.
(c) Ibid. lib. iii. c. 5.
< d) Ibid. lib. iii. c. '27.
Cc) Ibid. lib. v. c. 2.
(f) Ibid. lib. iii. c. 23.
(e) Chartular. Glasg.
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A. D. 5G3. and white meats in Lent, and A.D. 1459, the same Pope grantedW the
same licence for the diocesans of St. Andrews, to James Kennedy, Bishop
of that Church, present in person at Rome, and from thenceforth this indul-
gence was, by degrees, extended to the rest of Scotland ; the reason
assigned for the licence, to wit, the want of oil, being common to all tlie
kingdom. But in neither of these indults is any word of allowing eggs in
Lent. And thus far as to the discipline of Ycolmkill, and other monas-
teries of S. Columba.
XXXI. It remains now to show that the monastery of Ycolmkill was,
for some ages after its establishment, the chief centre and support of Chris-
tianity among the Scots and Picts ; that this abbey, with the other monas-
teries derived from it, as so many colonies, and founded by S. Columba in
different places of the kingdom of the Scots and Picts, were the nurseries
of churchmen of all orders and degrees, as well as of simple religious men.
That these monasteries, by the bishops and priests formed and consecrated in
them and sent out from them, supplied the want and answered the ends of
diocesan episcopacy and parochial churches during the several ages after the
foundation of Ycolmkill, whilst the separate interests of the Scots and
Picts, the frequent wars betwixt them and with the neighbouring nations,
their mutual incursions one upon another, and the other confusions of the
civil state, hindered the canonical division of this northern country into
dioceses and parishes, which could not be conveniently effected, nor estab-
lished upon a lasting foundation, till the kingdoms of the Scots and Picts,
with the debatable lands, from the northern friths to the Tweed and Solway,
were at last all united into one monarchy of Scotland ; till the debates
about the right of succession were fully settled, by the re-establishment of
the primitive rule of the succession of the next immediate heir of the
royal line, and till, by those means, the kingdom was brought to perfect
union and tranquillity, that rendered it susceptible of the same canonical
discipline and ecclesiastical polity which had been established in other parts
of Christendom.
That the monastery of Ycolmkill was, in the order of Divine Providence,
the centre, and, as it were, the fortress of Christianity among the Scots
and Picts, appears by the prerogatives which, as Bede (b) tells us over and
(a) Chartular. Dunferra. Exemplar Panmurian. p. 307.
w Hy insula, ubi plurimorum caput et arcera Scoti babuere caenobiorum. Bed.
Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 21. Hy monasterium in cunctis pene Scotorum septentrionalium,
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
173
over again, belonged to it, such as that it still continued in Bede's time the A. D. 563.
head and bulwark of religion among the Scots and Picts, the source from
Avhich all the monasteries, founded among these two people, were derived
and propagated, and of the authority by which they were governed, and by
consequence, the centre and chief seat of religion in these two kingdoms.
Adamnan also tells us of the great number of monasteries founded by S.
Columba, or his disciples, within the bounds of the Scots and Picts, and
proves how beneficial these pious establishments were to these two people,
and how acceptable^ they were to Almighty God, by the visible and dis-
tinguishing marks of his protection over them, especially in the time of the
general pestilence, by preserving from that plague the Scots and Picts
alone among all the inhabitants of Britain, or rather of the rest of the
Occident, and that, says Adamnan, by the prayers of S. Columba, and upon
account of the honour paid by the Scots and Picts to his memory, and to
his monasteries founded within the bounds of these two people : as we shall
see at more length in its proper place.
These monasteries, especially that of Ycolmkill, were the nurseries in
which, under the direction of the Abbot, or other Superior, and of chosen
masters, were bred up to piety and letters, children (such as the twelve
Saxon children of S. Aidan) and other young people, to which also retired
men of riper years, all of them with a resolution to renounce absolutely to
the world, to all its cares and affairs, and to devote themselves wholly to
the service of God in a religious state, to live according to the rule and
discipline of the monastery where they entered, and in an exact obedience
to the Abbot, or other Superior, to be wholly disposed of afterwards by
him, according as he, by the knowledge he had of their dispositions and
talents, after having consulted the will of God, should advise them either
to remain in the lay state of simple religious, or to enter that of the clergy.
XXXII. These monasteries were then not only retreats for monks and
solitaries, but seminaries of the clergy, as we have already observed, from
whence, as from storehouses, according to the exigencies of the Church, the
most qualified subjects for piety and learning were chosen out by the
abbot, with advice of the ancients, to be promoted to sacred Orders, and to
et omnium Pictorum monasteriis, non parvo tempore arcem tenebat ; regendis eorum popu-
lis praaerat. Bed. Hist. Ecclcs. lib. iii. e. 3. Ex utroque monasterio (Hy et Dearmach) per-
plurima monasteria per discipulos ejus (Columba;) et in Britannia et in Hibernia propagata
sunt. In quibus idem monasterium insulanum (Ily) principatum tenet. Ibid. lib. iii. c. 4.
< 4) Adamnan. lib. ii. c. 46.
17*
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 5G3. the dignity of priesthood or episcopate, and sent out to the several cantons,
where their ministry was wanted. And as all this was done according to
the direction of the Abbot of Ycolmkill, or other Superiors of monasteries
depending upon him, to whom, at their admission into the monasteries,
they had promised obedience, this gave naturally to the Abbot of Ycolmkill,
as head of all the other Scottish and Pictish monasteries, an ascendant and
a kind of superiority over all the churchmen of these parts, of whatever
degree, and to whatever post they were afterwards promoted. So it was
no wonder that all of them, from the lowest to the highest degree, having
been educated and ordained at these monasteries, and sent out to labour
from some one or other of them, and having been accustomed from their
entry to the monastery to an entire subjection and dependence upon the
Abbot of Ycolmkill, as Superior-in-chief of them all; this being the case,
it is no wonder, I say, that all of them, even the bishops who had been bred
up there, should continue to pay such a deference to the Abbot, as to do
nothing of moment without his advice or direction, and therefore to have
recourse to him and consult him in all important cases and causes, and that
this custom long continued should have appeared to Bede, a stranger, and
living at a distance, a kind of right or jurisdiction of the Abbot over them.
XXXIII. This, with the pre-eminence and superiority that Ycolmkill
had over all the Scottish and Pictish monasteries, so often mentioned by
Bede, is what this Saxon writer was struck with, when he tells us (a) " that
the northern province of the Scots and all the Picts, even the bishops
themselves, were, by an unusual custom, subject to the Abbot of Ycolmkill,
though he was a priest only, and not a bishop." But that this was only a
voluntary deference or respect paid to that abbot by the bishops, occasioned
by their education from their youth, or from their first entry to the monas-
tery, under the obedience to this abbot, and that it can by no means be
understood of any derogation from the episcopal dignity considered in itself,
appears evidently by what Adamnan, abbot of this same monastery (upon
the place and nearer the time, and, by consequence, incomparably better
informed than Bede could be), relates of Cronan, the stranger bishop who
came to visit S. Columba in Ycolmkill. And this relation, though it hath
(i > Habere autem solet ipsa insula (Hy) rectorem semper Abbatem Presbyterum,
cujus juri, et omnis provincia, et ipsi etiam Episcopi, ordine inusitato, debeant esse sub-
jecti, juxta exemplum primi doctoris illius qui non Episcopus, sed Presbyter extitit et
Monachus. Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 4.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
175
been frequently quoted already by Episcopal writers, yet it containing a A. D. 563.
most evident proof of the respect paid to the episcopal Character in the
monastery of Ycolmkill, particularly by S. Columba himself, I shall here
set it down in Adamnan's words.
At a certain^ time there came out of the province of Momonie to S.
Columba (in his monastery of Ycolmkill) a stranger bishop called Cronan,
who, out of humility, did all he could to conceal his Character, so as it might
not appear that he was a bishop, but that he might pass for a priest only.
But he could not keep his dignity or Character undiscovered by S. Columba ;
for upon the Lord's day, according to custom, being invited by the Saint to
consecrate' b) the Body of Christ, he called upon the Saint that they might
like two priests join together in the fraction of the Bread of the Lord. S.
Columba, therefore, coming to him at the altar suddenly, and looking him
attentively in the face, discovering what he was, said to him : Christ bless
you, brother, do you alone break this sacred Bread according to the episcopal
rite, for now we know that you are a bishop. Why have you hitherto con-
cealed yourself from us, and hindered us to pay you the respect and venera-
tion due to your Character. The humble stranger, hearing this, was struck
with astonishment, and he and all that were present glorified Christ in the
Saint.
By this relation of Adamnan it is evident, in the first place, that a very
great distinction used to be made in Ycolmkill in the respect to bishops,
from what was usually paid to priests, and that the respect due by the custom
of that holy place to bishops, was so far above that which was paid to priests,
that S. Columba amicably accuses this stranger bishop of giving occasion,
by concealing his dignity, to himself and to his religious men to fail in their
duty in omitting to render him the respect and veneration due to a bishop,
and treating him only with that due to a priest, till the Saint by revelation
discovered his Character.
It appears in the second place by this relation, that according to the
usages of Ycolmkill, which in those days were the standard of discipline
among the Scots and Picts, a greater respect was in some manner paid to
bishops in that monastery, and a greater distinction made betwixt them and
priests in the celebration of the sacred mysteries, than in other Churches of
the Occident, either in those ages or ours. For by this relation it appears
(a > Adamnan, lib. i. c 44.
(b) Conficere Corpus Christi. Ibid.
176
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Boor II.
A. D. 5G3. that in Ycolmkill a priest, even the abbot S. Columba himself, looked upon
a bishop so far superior to him, that he would not presume, even though
invited, to concelebrate or celebrate the holy mysteries jointly with him ;
but though he was ready to join with this stranger in the consecration of
the mysteries, taking him at first only for a priest, how soon he discovered
that he was a bishop he modestly retired, and prayed him to consecrate
alone according to the episcopal rite, as bishops used to do then among the
Scots.
Whereas in the Roman Church, according to a most ancient custom as
yet in use in several great Churches in France, the bishop upon solemn days
was accompaniedC a ) by twelve priests, who concelebrated or jointly cele-
brated with him ; pronouncing with him the words of consecration, and all
the Canon of the Mass. In the Church of Paris, on Maundy Thursday,
two priests concelebrate in the same manner with the bishop, pronounce
all with him, and communicate with him in both kinds. And everywhere,
even at present in the Occident, as it is prescribed in the Pontifical,( b ) all
priests newly ordained or consecrated concelebrate with the bishop that
ordains them, saying along with him, word for word, the Avords of the
oblation and consecration, and all the rest of the Canon, which it seems
would have been looked upon as a derogation to the respect due to the
Character of a bishop in Ycolmkill.
It is to be further observed in this relation, that at the same time that
Adamnan makes use of the scriptural expression of breaking the Bread of
our Lord, instead of the sacred mysteries of the Eucharist, or solemnity of
Mass, which are his usual expressions, he explains in the most energical
terms, upon this occasion, the faith of S. Columba and of his disciples
concerning this mystery, by the words " conficere Corpus Christi," which
(as we have already observed,) literally signify to make or produce the
Body of Christ at the altar.
But to return. And now, I hope, by the behaviour of S. Columba
towards Bishop Cronan, it hath sufficiently appeared that there was no
where a greater respect paid to the episcopal Character than in Ycolmkill,
nor anywhere a greater distinction made betwixt a bishop and a priest, and
that, by consequence, the subjection of the Scottish or Pictish bishops to
the Abbot of Ycolmkill mentioned by Bede, (and supposing that Bede was
" Mabillon, Musaeum Ital. Ordo Roman.
tM Pontificale Roman, in Ordinatione Presbyter.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
177
not mistaken,) can be only meant of a certain deference or respect that the a. D. 3G';
bishops bred up in Ycolmkill (where generally all the bishops of the Scots
and Picts were educated in those ages,) continued afterwards to pay to the
abbot ; and that no argument can be drawn from Bede's words against the
distinction of bishops and priests, nor against bishops being of a superior
Order to priests. Even Bede himself was surprised at what he heard of the
Abbot of Ycolmkill's power over bishops, and therefore calls it an unusual
custom.
XXXIY. But supposing even that it had been more usual, it could be
of no use to the Presbyterian cause, which chiefly depends upon, and must
be reduced to this question : Whether the Character of a simple presbyter be
equal to that of a bishop, and can enable him to perform validly the functions
attached to the episcopal Order, especially that of ordaining priests and
bishops. For, as I have elsewhere observed, (a) the power of ordination,
and that alone, is the characteristic distinction betwixt bishops and priests,
and everybody that is acquainted with the history, discipline, and usages of
the Church, knows that a wide difference is to be made betwixt the power
of Order, which is of divine institution, and that of jurisdiction, superiority
of rank and exterior honours and deferences, which, ofttimes, depend upon
times, places, and other circumstances of human institution. So that,
though it could be shown that some abbots had a superior rank, or even
exercised a kind of jurisdiction over some bishops, yet that would in no
manner serve to authorise the Presbyterians intruding themselves, without
episcopal ordination, into the exercise of the power of the keys, the
administration of the Word and Sacraments, their taking any spiritual
authority over the faithful, or intermeddling with any other functions
belonging to the pastoral charge, much less with that of giving ordination,
which, as we have shown, is the most essential prerogative of the episcopal
Character, incommunicable to any other.
We have too many examples in ecclesiastical history of churchmen, of
an inferior Order and Character, their endeavouring to equal themselves,
and, by degrees, to obtain a preference of rank and honour, and even a
superiority over those of a higher Order. But whatever toleration, or
even approbation, those pretensions have, by degrees, obtained, yet there is
no example of the Church's tolerating, much less approving, any usurpation
W Supra, Book First, XLIII.
Z
17S CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL Book II.
A. D. 563. of the power of ordination, in any, however dignified or powerful, who was
not invested with the episcopal Character.
For the purpose, the presumption of some deacons, or archdeacons, in
great Churches, and their aspiring to an equality, or even a preference to
priests, is a grievance as old as S. Hierome's time, (a) in the end of the
fourth, or beginning of the fifth century. And though the trust that many
bishops put in their archdeacons, their being the dispensers of the Church
revenue, their having a share of episcopal jurisdiction delegated to them,
and other privileges and prerogatives granted to them by tie bishops pre-
ferably to others of their clergy of higher Orders, though all this, I say,
increased at last their power and authority to that height that some arch-
deacons came at last to have a court of their own, with jurisdiction over
curates and other priests in their precinct, with a power not only to visit
and correct, but to decern pains against them. Yet, as it would be absurd
to conclude from this power of jurisdiction granted to archdeacons over
priests, that therefore the Order of deacon (which is all that belongs to any
archdeacon) was equal or preferable to that of a priest, or that an archdeacon
who had only the Order of diaconate, and had never been promoted to that
of priesthood, could validly exercise the chief functions of the sacerdotal
Order, to wit, consecrate or offer the holy mysteries of the Eucharist, so it
is no less absurd, even supposing that the Abbot of Ycolmkill had had
jurisdiction over the Scottish or Pictish bishops in some ages, to infer from
thence that these abbots had the power of ordaining priests, or that any of
them, being only in priest's Orders, ever adopted it.
XXXV. But we hive from the same Adamnan, one of these abbots, a
proof by which, if well considered, it appears no less evidently than by that
we have already brought from him of the superiority of the Character of
bishops over that of priests, that the Columbite priests, however dignified,
even though founders and Superiors of Columbite monasteries, yet never
dared to venture upon conferring the Order of priest, not even to one of
their own monks, hut that though they had the strongest motives to exert
the power of ordination, had they been invested with it, yet they were
forced to send at a distance for a bishop to come and perform the function,
when they had resolved to have one of their Religious men promoted to the
Order of priesthood. I shall here set down at full length this relation of
■ Ilieronym. Epistola ad Evaq;.
Hook II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
179
Adamnan, with its proper title (which contains the names and quality of A. I). 5^3
the persons and places) and then make some observations upon it.
The title, which is of equal authority with the text, is conceived thus :
" TheW Prophecy of the holy man (S. Columba) concerning Findchan,
priest and founder of the monastery (of Columbites) in Shetland, which in
Scots is called Artchain." Then follows the relation itself in these words :
" Upon a certain time, the said Findchan, priest and soldier (that is, ser-
vant) of Christ, brought with him from Ireland to Britain, in the clerical
(or religious) habit, Aidus or Hugh, surnamed the Black, descended of the
royal race of Ireland, that he might pass some years with him, in a peni-
tential pilgrimage in his monastery of Artchain. Now this Aidus Niger
had been a very sanguinary man, and had put many to death, among others
he had killed Dermod, the son of Kerbuil, who had been made king of all
Ireland, by God's appointment. After that this Aidus Niger had spent
some time in penance in Findchan's monastery, he was there, by Findchan's
order, who had a vehement affection for him, ordained priest, against the
canons, by a bishop sent for on purpose. But the bishop" (informed, appa-
rently, of the former wicked life of Aidus,) "refused to impose hands upon
him, unless Findchan, in token of his consent and confirmation, would at
same time lay his right hand upon Aidus's head. When an account of this
ordination" (so opposite to the canons) " was brought to S. Columba, it
shocked and grieved him extremely, and" (in a prophetic spirit) " he pro-
Beati Prophetatio viri (Columba?) de Findchano presbytero, illius inonasterii
fundatore, quod Scottice Artchain nuncupatur, in Ethica terra.
Alio in tempore, supramemoratus presbyter Findchanus Christi mile?, Aidum cogno-
mento nigrum, regio genere ortum, Cruthinium gente, de Scotia ad Britanniam sub
clericatus habitu secum adduxit, lit in suo apud se monasterio per aliquot peregrinaretur
annos; qui scilicet Aidus niger valde sanguinarius homo, et multorum fuerat trucidator;
qui et Dermitiuni filium Cerbuil totius Scotia; regnatorem, Deo authore ordinatum, interfe-
cerat. Ilic itaque idem Aidus post aliquantum in pcregrinatione transactum tempus, accito
episcopo, quamvis non recte, apud supradictum Findchanum presbyter ordinatus est. Epis-
copns tamen non ausus est super caput ejus manum imponere, nisi prius idem Findchanus,
Aidum carnaliter amans, suam capiti ejus pro confirmatione imponeret dexteram. Qusb
talis ordinatio cum postea sancto intimaretur viro, (Columbte) aigre tulit. Turn proinde
banc de illo Findehano, et de Aido ordinato formidabilem profatur sententiam, inquiens.
Ilia manus dextera quam Findchanus, contra fas et jus ecclesiasticum, super caput fdii
perditionis imposuit, mox computrescet, et post magnos dolorum cruciatus, ipsum in terra
sepeliendum pracedet, et ipse, post suam humatam manum, per multos superstes victurus
est annos. Ordinatus vero indebite Aidus sieut canis ad vomitum revertetur suum, et
ipse rursus sanguinolentus trucidator existet, et ad ultimum lancea jugulandus, de ligno
in aquam cadens, submersus morietur. Talem multo prius terminum promeruit vitse qui
totius regem trucidavit Scotiae. Qua; beati viri prophetia de utroque adimpleta est
Adamnan. Vit. S. Columb. lib. i. c. 36.
180
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. I). 563. nounced this formidable sentence against Findchan and Aidus. That right
hand which Findchan hath irreligiously, and against the laws of the Church,
imposed upon the head of the son of perdition, shall rot away after many
piercing torments, and be cut off and buried, and Findchan himself shall
outlive his hand many years.
"And as for Aidus, so unlawfully ordained," continues the Saint, "he
shall, like a dog, return to his vomit, and become a sanguinary man again,
till at last he shall be pierced with a lance, and, falling from a tree into the
water, he shall be drowned. Such a miserable end the murderer of the
king of all Ireland deserved long ago.
" This prophecy of S. Columba was fully accomplished," says Adamnan,
" concerning them both. For the right hand of the priest Findchan, being
rotten off at the wrist, was buried, long before him, in the isle called
Ornon, and he himself, as the Saint had foretold it, survived it several
years ; and Aidus Niger, unworthy of the name of priest, relapsed into his
former crimes, and, being pierced with a lance, fell down into a loch from
the prow of a ship or bark, and was drowned."
XXXYI. And now I ask leave to make some obvious observations upon
this relation of Adamnan ; and, in the first place, it is to be remarked that
this Findchan was one( u ) of the disciples of S. Columba, who either came
along with him, or followed him soon after, from Ireland into Britain, that
he was not only a Columbite priest, but a founder, president, or Superior
of one of their monasteries, and, by consequence, one of the chief of them,
and endued with all the powers or faculties that any priest of Ycolmkill
could pretend to. On the other hand, this Aidus Niger had been King of
Ulster, was a particular friend of Findchan, whom he passionately loved,
" carnaliter amans," says Adamnan, and therefore he was at the pains to
make a voyage on purpose to Ireland in hopes to reclaim him, and engage
him into a penitential course of life to atone for his many crimes. Accord-
ingly, Aidus gave all the outward appearances of a real conversion, and, for
a proof of it, renounced his royal dignity and possessions, embraced the
monastic state and put on the habit, and, in these apparent good dispositions,
came along with Findchan to Britain, and was received in his monastery of
Artchain, in Shetland, where, after some years' trial, Findchan, blinded by
his affection for Aidus, and so more (b) easily persuaded of the sincerity of
(1> Colgan, Vit. SS. Hibern. torn. i. p 583.
Ibid. torn. ii. pp. 699. 700.
«« Mabillon. de re Diplomat, p. 629.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
185
even from the north of Ireland, where there were many monasteries, sub- a. D. 563.
ject to Ycolmkill, there came bishops to receive their consecration in that
Mother- Church, witness Colman, of whose journey to Ycolmkill Adamnan that this
Colman's journey to Ycolmkill was in order to be consecrated bishop.
All this being, and considering the great number^ of bishops in Ireland,
whence the Scots had received the doctrine and discipline of Christianity,
and from whence S. Columba coming over, brought along with him the
same discipline, as well as doctrine, concerning Church government, to
which he himself and his first disciples had been bred up and accustomed,
and not to insist upon what the author of the fifth Life of S. Columba
relates ( d ) of many bishops coming over from Ireland with S. Columba, nor
upon the conjecture already' e) mentioned, though it be very natural, that
Ycolmkill was in those ancient times the ordinary residence of the chief or
national Bishop of the Scots in Britain, but especially considering the prac-
tice above-mentioned of proper bishops in other great monasteries, where
there was no absolute necessity of them, as it is visible there was in Ycolm-
kill. All this, 1 say, considered, I do not conceive how it can be rationally
doubted but that there was one or more bishops residing in Ycolmkill.
Nor is this practice or usage of Hy or Ycolmkill destituted of examples
in antiquity. This usage, as we have seen, consisted chiefly in this, that
the Abbot or Superior of the monastery had not only the charge of the
monastery, but that, though he was only a priest, and not a bishop, he had
the administration of the pastoral functions and charge of the souls of the
faithful of all the country around, that, he was therefore obliged to provide
them of pastors, and for that end took care to educate and to form in his
monastery subjects proper not only to be ordained pastors of the second
Order, but fit to be promoted to the episcopal degree, and that in order to
that, he had ahvays in his monastery with him a bishop, as his coadjutor,
for administrating the Sacraments of Confirmation and Order.
Now, of all this we have a famous example in the person of S. Gregory,
administrator of the Church of Utrecht, in the eighth age. S. Gregory,
born of noble parents, educated by S. Boniface, Apostle of these northern
(a> Adamnan. lib. i. c. 5.
w Vit. S. Ita;, Virg. c. 21, apud Colgan, torn. i. SS. Ilibern. p. 69.
< c) Supra, Book First, XLVI.
(d) Colgan, Trias Thaumat. p. 410.
< e) Supra, Book Second, XXIV.
A a
186
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 563. parts of the Continent (afterwards Bishop of Mentz, and Martyr) being left
by him administrator of Utrecht and the adjacent countries, settled in his
monastery at Utrecht a famous school or seminary for the education as well
of churchmen of all degrees, as of simple Religious men, and his humility,
as that of S. Columba did, having engaged him to decline his being pro-
moted himself to the episcopal dignity, he sent Alubert. an Englishman,
one of his disciples, to be consecrated bishop at York, in order to be his
coadjutor, and to perform the episcopal functions of giving Confirmation
and Ordination, which he himself, being destituted of the episcopal Charac-
ter, could not administrate. This appears just a parallel case to that of
S. Columba, and to his monastery of Ycolmkill. This S. Gregory of
Utrecht lived in the eighth age. An account of him may be seen at more
length in Mabillon s Benedictine'* 1 Annals, in M. Baillet's Saints' (b) Lives,
taken from S. Gregory's original Life written by S. Ludger, Bishop, his
disciple and contemporary, and printed by Mabillon in the Acts of the
Benedictine< c) Order.
XXXVIII. Second, we have a plain proof from the Ulster Annals,
as Bishop Ussher assures us, of there having been a proper bishop in Ycolm-
kill or Hy : not to insist upon the conjecture of " Episcopus Myensis "
being a mistake of the transcriber for Episcopus Hyensis, in the subscriptions
of the bishops to the Council of Calcluith, holden about A.D. 787, in the
north of England, which is so much the more likely, that we find nowhere
in England any bishop of the title of Myensis, and that nothing is more
ordinary than mistakes of one letter for another in the reading of old M.SS.
Third, as Ycolmkill was the nursery of bishops for the Scots and Picts,
so it served them also for a place of retreat or refuge when either age ren-
dered them unable to continue their labours, or that they were forced by
opposition to abandon their charge, or were frightened with the burden, or
wearied with toil. Hither, also, they frequently retired to renew and re-
suscitate the spirit of fervour by the holy exercises and exemplar conversa-
tion of the pious inhabitants, and in all their difficulties and doubts, thither
they resorted to consult the Abbot or other experienced Religious men, full
of the Spirit of God and of the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and
canons of the Church, with which this island abounded, especially in the
11 Mabillon, Annal. Benedict, pp. 172, 186.
w Baillet, Vies des Saints, 25 Aoust.
(c) Mabillon, Act. Benedict. Sa-cnl. iii. part. 2.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
187
first ao-es after its foundation, and before the invasion of the Danes, in the A. D. .563.
ninth and tenth ages. Thus, besides the ordinary bishop residing in this
island, there scarce ever wanted other bishops, brought thither by some of
the foresaid motives.
Thus we see Bishop Colman,( a ) being obliged to abandon his flock in
Northumberland, A.D. 664, went straight back to the monastery of Ycolm-
kill, and stayed there two or three years before he went to Ireland and set
up a new monastery for his followers ; for, according to Bede, Colman left
Northumberland and went to Ycolmkill immediately after the dispute,
about Easter, A.D. 664. And he sailed thence to Ireland, to settle his
new monastery only A.D. 667, according to Bishop Ussher,( b ) from the
Ulster Chronicle. Thus Ceollach,( c ) Bishop of the Mercians, left his
charge and returned also to Ycolmkill for the rest of his days. Thus
Egbert (who, as Mabillon( d ) shows, was a true and proper bishop, and we
shall prove it in its own place,) thus Egbert, I say, came from Ireland
to YcolmkillOO before A.D. 716, and lived fourteen years in this monas-
tery, till his death, A.D. 729 ; besides many other bishops, whom the
sanctity of the place, and the society of so many learned and holy men,
attracted to visit them frequently, and even to live and die among them.
By all this, it is evident there never wanted one or more bishops in Ycolm-
kill, in order to consecrate other bishops and priests for the Picts and Scots,
to be sent wherever their ministry was required, and by that means to
supply all the ends of diocesan episcopacy, where it was not as yet settled.
XXXIX. We are now to show that this monastery of Ycolmkill, with
those derived from, and depending upon it, supplied also in our northern
parts the want of curates or proper priests of the second Order, before that
country was divided into parishes. We have already observed that, till the
time of Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, A.D. 668, the English or
Saxon Churches were not distributed into parishes, and, considering the
wars and frequent alterations of marches among the Scots, it is like this
discipline was of a later establishment among them than in England. Till
this distribution of the country into parishes was settled, the spiritual wants
(Colmanus Episcopus) relictis in ecclesia sua Lindisfarnensi fratribus, primo
venit ad insulam Hy. Bed Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 4.
< b > Ussher, Ant. Brit. p. 499. Vide etiam Joannis Smith Notas ad Bedam, p. 146.
(c) Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 21.
W Mabillon, Annal. Benedict, torn. ii. p. 81.
(c) Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. v. c. 23.
188
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 563. of these people were supplied by bishops and priests from the several mon-
asteries founded by S. Columba himself, or by his disciples, in different
places of the two kingdoms. Besides the monasteries of Ycolmkill, in
Britain, and of Dearmach, in Ireland, Bede( a ) relates that there were a
great number of monasteries derived from these two chief ones, and founded
in both countries, not only by S. Columba himself, but also by his disciples.
And Adamnan informs us of the foundation of these monasteries in Britain,
where, giving account of the pestilence that raged in his time (circ. A.D.
680) over all Europe, and particularly in Britain and Ireland, he attributes
the (b) preservation of the Scots and Picts alone from that contagion, by a
special protection of Almighty God, to the prayers of S. Columba, whose
monasteries, says Adamnan, erected within the bounds of these two people,
are till this day held in the greatest veneration by them both. By this we
see, first, the confidence that our predecessors, the Scots and Picts, put in
S. Columba's prayers many years after his death, and the distinguishing
mercies they were persuaded that Almighty God showed them by S. Co-
lumba's intercession. Secondly, that there were many monasteries of
Columbites spread up and down through the kingdoms of the Scots and
Picts. But as to their names, their number, and their situation, Adamnan,
keeping so scrupulously within the bounds which he had proposed to him-
self in the Life of S. Columba, as we have already observed, that is, only
to treat of his prophecies, miracles, and of the angelical apparitions made
to S. Columba, gives us no other detail of his monasteries, nor almost even
of his life, than as it happens to come in, as it were, by the by, in the rela-
tion of some one or other of the three foresaid heads, to which all his work
is reduced. And, for the same reason, we have from him so lame and
transient accounts, or rather, bare hints, of our civil and ecclesiastical his-
tory. So what we observed elsewhere of the insufficiency and weakness of
all negative arguments drawn from the silence of Bede upon our history, is
no less visible in Adamnan's relations of S. Columba's life.
For the purpose Adamnan makes no mention of any of the monasteries
(a) Per plurima exinde monasteria per discipulos ejus (Columba;) in Britannia et
Ilibernia propagata sunt. Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 4.
Oceani insula; per totum, videlicet Scotia et Britannia, binis vicibus vastata;
sunt dira pestilentia, exceptis duobus populis, hoc est, Pictorum plebe et Scotorum Bri-
tannia?.. ..Cui alio itaque base tribuitur gratia a Deo collatanisi S. Columba?, cujus monas-
teria intra utrorumque terminos fundata. ab utrisque usque ad praesens tempus valde sunt
honorificata. Adamnan. lib. ii. c. 47.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
189
founded by S. Columba among the Scots and Picts in Britain, as well as in A. D. 563
Ireland, but transiently, and upon occasion of some passage of S. Columba's
life or miracles; and even as to Ycolmkill itself, the head and chief of all
S. Columba's monasteries, and in which he made his ordinary residence,
Adamnan gives us no particular account of its foundation, nor of the order
and discipline established in it, but what we may collect and glean, as it
were by the by, from some passages of Adamnan concerning S. Columba's
life and miracles. Thus also, that is, only transiently, he mentions the
monasteries of CampolungheW and Artechain( b ) in Shetland, Cella Duini, ( c )
Killdune, the monasteries in the island of Himba, (d) where S. Columba
retired sometimes. (It is like Himbawas what is since called Ouyst or the
Long Island.) But there can be no doubt, (though Adamnan doth not
mention it,) but one of S. Columba's chief monasteries among the Picts was
at Abernethy in Stratherne ; that being the principal seat of the kings and
bishops of the Picts ; another, no doubt, was at Dunkeld, which held S.
Columba always for its patron. BoeceO) relates that King Conal, among
other monasteries, built one at Dunkeld for S. Columba ; one in the island
CEmonia, in the frith of Forth, called from him Insula S. Columb;je, Inch-
colm, where, according to Fordun, S. Columba took up his dwelling (0
sometimes, whilst he preached the Faith to the Picts and Scots. It was
afterwards erected into an abbey of Canons-regular by King Alexander the
First. There was also a monastery of S. Columba founded in his own time
at Old Aberdeen by S. Machar, otherwise called S. Mochonna, whom the
Saint sent with others of his disciples, twelve in number as we shall see, to
preach the Gospel among the Picts in the north ; and many other monas-
teries through the Pictish and Scottish territories. Such, among others,
were the monasteries, churches, or cells of most of these holy bishops,
whose names we have already ( e) set down from our ancient kalendars. In
these monasteries they lived with their disciples, whereof some were always
priests, and to them the people in the neighbourhood had their recourse for
instruction, and for the sacraments of Baptism, Penance, and the Holy
(a) Adamnan. lib. i. cc. 30, 41.
(b > Ibid. lib. i. c. 36.
Ibid. lib. i. c. 31.
(d) Ibid. lib. i. cc. 21. 45.
(e) Boeth. Hist. fol. 167.
(0 Fordun, apud Colgan Trias Thaumat. p. 46G.
Supra, Book Second, XXV.
190
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 563. Eucharist. From the remains of these monasteries of the Columbites came
originally so many churches in all parts of Scotland, especially in the High-
lands and Isles, called Ceille or Kill, with the addition of the name of some
holy bishop, abbot, or other saint, who had formerly founded or inhabited
these monasteries or churches, or from whose names, in memory of their
sanctity, the piety of the inhabitants had erected and called these religious
monuments, many of which gave the origin to parish churches, and some
of these Columbite monasteries gave probably the first origin to bishop's
seats, as at Dunkeld, Brechin, Aberdeen, &c.
All these monasteries were originally derived from that of Ycolmkill,
lived in dependance upon it, and in a constant correspondence with it, as
being the mother house and centre of all religious matters within the king-
doms of the Picts and the Scots. And now, by all we have said, I hope it
sufficiently appears that it was from that monastery, and from other lesser
ones depending upon it, that the want of diocesan episcopacy and parochial
churches was supplied, whilst the unsettled state of the inhabitants hindered
them to be regularly established.
XL. If we would have a farther account of the zeal, the voyages, the
pious exercises, and of the other particulars of the manner in which the
Columbite bishops and priests served in all religious matters the Scots and
Picts, during the times that the circumstances of these people did not allow
of the settlement of fixed dioceses and parishes, we have it in the account
that BedeW gives us of S. Aidan, S. Finan, S. Colman, S. Cuthbert, and
other Columbite bishops and priests in the north of England and south of
Scotland, all of them bred to the rule and exercises of the monastery of
Ycolmkill, or in the monasteries derived from it.
But referring that to its proper place, I shall only take notice here that
the sanctity of the lives and the religious behaviour of the Columbite bishops
and priests, bred up and formed to the ecclesiastical state in the manner we
have already described, and entering it in the dispositions and preparations
we have set down, their detachment from the world, all their conversations,
care, and only business, as Bede describes( b ) them, being only about the
next life, concerning Almighty God, and what related to his service. All
(a > Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cc. 5, 26.
(b) Tota enim tunc fuit solicitudo doctoribus illis Deo serviendi non saeculo
Unde et in magna erat veneratione, tempore illo, religionis habitus, ita ut ubicunque
clericus aliquis vel monachus adveniret, gaudenter ab omnibus tanquam Dei famulus,
exciperetur, &c. Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 26.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
191
this made so deep an impression on the people that not only they thronged A. D. 563.
in to hear them, and to receive their blessing and instructions, when any
of them came into their neighbourhood, says Bede, but it obtained to them
among the vulgar, the peculiar name of Servants of God, expressed in
former times by the word Ceiledee or Keledee, so famous in our country in
following ages, but whether originally Pictish or Gaelic is not easy to de-
termine at this distance of time. However though the word Keledee be
now become obsolete, it is still expressed in Gaelic by the word Gildee or
Guildhee, which hath the same signification, and almost the same sound.
But of this more at length in its proper place.
And now it is time to bring to a conclusion this long digression con-
cerning Ycolmkill. The learned and judicious readers will, I hope, excuse
my insisting so long upon it, because they will easily perceive how impor-
tant it was to go at once to the bottom of all that concerns that famous
monastery, and its more singular usages ; thereby at the same time to give
more light to the following part of our history, whereof that of Ycolmkill
is, as it were, a key; but chiefly in order to dissipate the clouds with which
the prejudices joined to the ignorance of some of our modern writers have
endeavoured to overcast and wrest the history of Ycolmkill, thereby to
screen their levelling Genevian scheme of Church government, doctrine, and
discipline from the just accusation of novelty, and of its being quite opposite
as well to the ancient Church government doctrine and discipline of our
ancestors the Scots and Picts, as to that of all the rest of the Christian
world in those early times..
XL1. I return now to the chronological order of S. Columba's life, and
of the other transactions in our northern parts of the Island, from his coming
over to it.
S. Columba arriving in Britain, as we have seen, A.D. 563, employed
the first two years in settling his monastery in the island Iona, which
Conal King of the Scots had given him. That island being of such a small
compass could not furnish the materials necessary for building a church and
other habitations for S. Columba and his disciples. We see by S. Adam-
nan's relations (a > that the religious men of Ycolmkill were obliged to bring
from the mainland the materials for their buildings ; so that however poor
and mean they made them, being most part in those times but bare cottages,
it required both time and labour to erect a church and a monastery.
(s) Adamnan. lib. ii. c. 45.
192
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 563. XLII. It was during the time they were employed in that, and not long
after S. Columba's arrival, that Oilrannus( a ) or Oran, one of those that
followed him from Ireland, died, and was the first buried in the island.
One of the writers of S. Columba's life set down by Colgan, gives the
following account of S. Oran's death. It is related, says lie, that upon
S. Columba's arrival with his disciples into the island Iona or Hy, he spoke
thus to them : "Whosoever of us, out of a desire to be with God, shall choice
and be content to be the first that dies and is buried in this island, he shall
procure a twofold advantage ; the one to himself, to wit, that of going more
quickly to Christ, the other to his condisciples and brethren, to wit, that of
confirming and ratifying their right to this island, by taking corporal pos-
session of it. Oran, who was wearied of the miseries of the present world,
and had his heart fixed upon the happiness of enjoying God in the life to
come, upon hearing these words of S. Columba immediately replied to him
that he joyfully accepted the option, and was most willing to go to God
without delay. Upon which the holy man said to him, Dear son, you may
assuredly reckon upon the future happiness which you long after, and,
besides, you shall even before men enjoy this farther prerogative in this
world, that whoever comes to ask any favour of Almighty God at my sepul-
chre, he shall not obtain the effect of his demand unless he first pay his
respects and visit yours. S. Oran died soon after, having been but short
while sick, and was the first buried in the island, in a place still called the
monument or sepulchre of S. Oran. This relation is not in S. Adamnan's
Life of S. Columba, but in that of a later writer, I have here insert it, as
having given occasion to a fabulous story current in the island concerning
S. Oran's death. His festival was annually kept upon the twenty-seventh
October.
After S. Columba had thus employed the first two years in settling the
monastery in the island of Hy, and instructing more fully the Scots in
Britain already Christians, he proceeded to the chief design of his mission
into Britain ; that is, to preach the Word of God to the provinces of the
Northern Picts, who were separated by steep and frightful mountains from
the Picts of the South, who had long before forsaken idolatry, and embraced
the faith of Christ, by the preaching of Ninian, a most reverend bishop, as
we have elsewhere related.
Colgan, Vita Quinta S. Columb. Trias. Thaumat. p. 411.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
193
XLIII. The first entry of S. Columba among the Northern Picts A. D. 565.
happened at the time that Brudeus, son of Meilochon, a most powerful
king, says< a) Bede, reigned over them, in the ninth year of his reign, which
he had begun A.D. 556. So the coming of S. Columba to the Picts
happened A.D. 565. This gave Bede, no doubt, occasion to place his com-
ing to Britain that year. Bede adds that he converted the Northern Picts,
by his word and example, to the faith of Christ ; this supposes that these
Picts were, as yet, generally infidels ; and we have elsewhere shown the
occasion of a great decay of Christianity in the Pictish< b> nation, which, at
the coming of S. Columba, was gone that length, that even Brudeus, their
king, was an infidel, having given himself up to the superstition of their ma-
gicians, the same kind of men as the Druids among the old Britons and Irish.
Hence it came to pass, that the first time^ that S. Columba went to
King Brudeus's court, the king, puffed up with pride, and valuing himself
upon his grandeur, caused the gates of his palace to be shut against the
Saint, which the holy man perceiving, approached the gates, and, first
making the sign of the cross upon them, and then gently knocking at them,
instantly the locks and bolts flew off, and, the gates opening of themselves,
the holy man entered with his company. The king with his council, terri-
fied with this miracle, came forth and met the Saint, and entertained him
with great reverence, and from that time forward the king bore a great
respect to him, and had him in singular veneration as long as he lived.
Upon this followed the Conversion of the king and of his court, and
that made way for the Conversion of the rest of the Northern Picts, and
the reconciling those of the South who had fallen away, and in propor-
tion as the inhabitants embraced Christianity, S. Columba settled, from
place to place, monasteries among them, to advance and cultivate the doc-
trine of truth, and in order to that, the Saint made choice of the more
zealous and capable of his disciples in Ycolmkill, and sent them out through
the country to preach the Gospel and plant new monasteries, and by that
means to entertain and forward these happy beginnings.
XLIV. Among others of those that the holy man sent out upon these
missions we have, in one of the Lives of S. Columba, published by Colgan,
_ (a) Hist. Eocles. lib. iii. c. 4 Venit (S. Columba) Britanniara regnante Pictis
Bridio filio Meilocbon regc potentissimo, nono anno regni ejus
W Supra, Book First, LV.
(c) Adamnan. lib. ii. c. 35.
B b
194-
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 565. an account a) of the holy bishop, S. Machar, patron and first preacher of
the Gospel at Aberdeen, and this account agrees in substance with that
contained in the Breviary of Aberdeen, which was annually recited in that
Church upon the twelfth of November, being the festival of S. Machar, and
both these relations are said to be taken from a Life of this Saint of a
higher antiquity. S. Machar was born, of noble parents, in Ireland, and
at first named Mochonna. I find him also called Mauritius, but Machar
is the name by which he is commonly known. He had followed S. Co-
lumba into Britain, and after he had made more than an ordinary progress
in piety and in learning in Ycolmkill, S. Columba, having caused him to be
advanced to holy Orders, and afterwards to be consecrated bishop, sent him
with twelve of his disciples to preach the Gospel in the most northern parts
of the Pictish provinces, admonishing him to settle and erect a church
upon the brink of a river where he should find that by its windings it
formed the figure of a bishop's crosier. S. Machar, following this admoni-
tion, went on northward, preaching the Gospel till he came to the brink of
the river Don, near its entry to the sea, at a place where, by its windings,
the river makes the foresaid figure of a crosier,( b ^ and there he built a
church, which still bears his name, and became the Cathedral of Aberdeen
in the time of King David I., who transferred the bishop's seat from Mort-
lich to the Old-town of Aberdeen. It is reported that S. Machar went
afterwards to Rome, in the time of Gregory the Great, and the Aberdeen
Breviary insinuates that it was at Rome that he was consecrated bishop.
It is also reported that, upon his return, he stopt at Tours, in France,
where he died, and was buried in S. Martin's church : which is probably
the reason why, in the remains of the Church of Aberdeen, there is no
account of his relics honoured there, as it was usual for holy bishops, dying
on the place where they had resided and laboured. However, we see in
this, and other examples, that S. Columba's custom was to send out through
the country, of his disciples commonly to the number of twelve, with a
bishop, or with one designed to that dignity, at their head, to form new
Churches, and thus by the preaching and miracles of S. Columba and of his
disciples, and by the example of their lives, the Gospel was spread through
the Northern Picts ; and the body of the nation was so much the more
00 Colgan, Trias Thaumat. Vit. quint. S. Columb. p. 435.
Adamnan. lib. i. c. 1 ; lib. ii. c. 32. < k) Adamnan. lib. ii. c. 10.
< b) Ibid. lib. ii. cc. 4, 5, 30, 31, &c. (1) Ibid. lib. ii. cc. 22, 23, 24.
W -Ibid. lib. ii. c. 42. Ibid.
(f) Ibid. lib. ii. cc. 35, 36. ^ Ibid. lib. i. cc. 1, 8.
(6) Ibid. lib. ii. c. 1. <■*> Ibid. lib. iii. passim.
Ibid. lib. ii. c. 41. (r) Ibid.
<» Ibid. lib. ii. c. 44. Vit. Gild, ut supra.
(b) Mabillon, Annal. Benedict, torn. i. p. 151.
(c) Vit. S. Colnmb. per Cumineum, c. v. apud Colgan, Trias Tliaumat. p. 321.
(d) Adamnan. Vit. S. Columb. lib. iii. c. 5.
Book. II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
201
one after another, with the book in his hand, and reiterated to him the A. D 571.
command of the Lord to ordain or inaugurate Aidan king.
Wherefore the holy Abbot, in obedience to this order of God, passed
over to the island Iona or Hy, and, Aidan coming thither also about the
same time, the Saint proceeded to the ceremony of ordaining or inaugurat-
ing him king, as he had been commanded ; and during the ceremony S.
Columba foretold by a prophetic spirit what was to happen to his sons, his
grand-children, and great-grand-children, and imposing his hands upon the
King's head, he recited over him the prayers of ordination or blessing< a) of
kings. Cumineus Albus, says Adamnan, in the book which he wrote of
the virtues of S. Columba, tells that the Saint addressed to Aidan the
following admonition by spirit of prophecy, concerning himself, his poste-
rity, and his kingdom : Believe without doubt, 0 Aidan, that none of your
adversaries will be able to stand before you, until you wrong me, or the
posterity of my family ; wherefore recommend this to your children, that
they may transmit the same order to their sons, their grand-sons, and to
their posterity, lest, by hearkening to wicked counsel, they deserve that the
sceptre of this kingdom be wrested out of their hands. For at whatever
time they shall attack me or my relations in Ireland, the scourge which
upon your account I have endured from the angel, shall be, by the hand of
God, turned against them to their ruin, the heart of men shall be taken
from them, and their enemies shall exceedingly prevail over them.
Thus Adamnan copying after Cumineus his predecessor, another of the
abbots of Ycolmkill, who might have had this account from King Aidan
himself, and without doubt he had it from those that lived with S. Columba
and King Aidan, and from the records of the monastery. And Adamnan
was so fully persuaded of the truth of this relation, that he adds as a thing
publicly known at the time when he wrote, the accomplishment of a part of
this prophecy, which happened to be fulfilled in his own time, under King
Donald Breac, grand- son to King Aidan, as we shall see in its proper
place.
Father Martene, a learned French Benedictine, in his book " de Anti-
quis< b > Ecclesiae Ritibus," observes that this inauguration of King Aidan is
the most ancient account that after all his searches he had met with of the
a Imponensque nianum super caput ejus, ordinans bencdixit. Adamnan. Vit. S.
Columb. lib. iii. c. 5. >
ll " Martene, de Antiquis Ecclesize Ritibus, torn. iii. p. 183.
C c
202
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Boor II.
A. D. 571. Benediction or Ordination of kings, which are the names that Adamnan
gives this ceremonv. But since he mentions also the sceptre of the king-
dom given to King Aidan, we may, I conceive, conclude from it that the
rest of the regalia, or royal ensigns, such as the crown, sword, &c, were
also delivered to him in this solemnity, though they be not mentioned bv
Adamnan, no more than King Aidan's being seated upon the famous fatal
stone, whereof all our writers make mention as the most ancient ceremony
used at the inauguration of our kings ; so 1 see no reason why I might not
have made use of the word Coronation in setting down this solemnity, but
I thought best to keep scrupulously to Adamnan's own terms of Benediction
and Ordination. Martene observes' 3 ' also, that by this relation of S. Adam-
nan, it appears that this ceremony of inaugurating their kings was not a
new custom, but an usual one among the Scots, since there was a proper
ceremonial containing the forms of prayers and benedictions to be used in
such solemnities. This ceremonial book is called by Adamnan, Liber
Yitreus, because, perhaps, the cover of it was encrusted with glass or
crystal.
As to S. Columba's officiating in this solemnity, and not a bishop, besides
that the ceremony of coronation, or inaugurating kings, is not a function to
which the episcopal Character is absolutely necessary, as it is to that of
ordination of priests and bishops; we see that, in the present case, there
was an express appointment and order of Almighty God to S. Columba for
performing this solemn inauguration. And, besides, the eminent sanctity
of his life which gained to him the respect and veneration of the Scots of
all degrees ; his being favoured beyond all those of his time, even above
those of a more sublime Character, with the gift of prophecy and miracles,
gave him the preference in performing a ceremony to which no other
Character was required than that of a priest and an abbot, and especially of
an Abbot-superior of all the Scottish and Pictish monasteries, who had so
extraordinary a pre-eminence, as we have seen, in all religious matters in
Scotland. But it was not for want of bishops in our northern parts that
S. Columba was preferred in this august ceremony, for, besides others, S.
Mungo or Kentigern, Bishop of Glasgow, was then near those parts, and,
according to Joceline' b > in his Life, had about this time a solemn meeting
(,) Martene, de Antiquis Ecclesise Ritibus, torn. iii. p. 183.
tb) Jocelin. Vita S. Kentegern. MS. [Vit. Kent. c. xxxix.] Capgrav. fol. 211.
Rook II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
'203
with S. Columba, each of them attended by their religious disciples. Our a. D. 571.
modern^ writers say that this meeting was at Dunkeld.
L. King Aidan, from whom all our kings do lineally descend., being
thus by the express order of Heaven inaugurated king of the Scots by S.
Columba, his veneration for this holy abbot, and his confidence in him daily
increasing, used frequently to resort to Ycolmkill to consult him, and
entertain him upon all more important affairs upon the state of the kingdom
and of the royal family. Hence it happened upon a time that King Aidan
desirous to know which of his three eldest sons should survive and succeed
him, and knowing that S. Columba was endued with the gift of prophecy,
presented to him the young princes, his three eldest sons, Arthur, Eochod-
find, and Domangard, in order to know which of them would live to be his
successor after his death. Adamnan says it was S. Columba that asked
that question at the king, who answering that he knew not, S. Columba
replied: None !b) of these three will live to succeed you, for they will be
each one killed in battle in your own time ; but if you have any younger
sons let them be brought to me, and he that^ the Lord hath chosen for
king after you will instantly come running to me, and throw himself into
my arms.
Accordingly/*" the king having caused introduce his younger sons, as
the holy man desired, Eochod-buyd, the eldest of them, came instantly of
his own motion, running towards S. Columba, and leaned his head upon his
bosom. The holy man, embracing the child and blessing him, spoke thus
to the king his father : This child will survive you, and succeed to you in
the kingdom, and his sons will reign after him. All this prophecy, says
Adamnan, was exactly fulfilled in its own time ; for some years after this
Arthur and Eochod-find were killed in the battle called by Adamnan prae-
lium Miatorum. Domangard was killed in a battle against the Saxons,
and Eochod-buyd succeeded to his father in the kingdom.
This Eochod-buyd, called by our modern writers Eugene the Fourth,
was, as we see, by a special order of God king of the Scots, as Aidan his
father had also been appointed in the same manner, each of them by a new
and miraculous title accumulated to that of their birth-right and hereditary
<*> Boeth. Hist. fol. 167.
' Adamnan, lib. i. c. 9
(c) Quern ex eis elcgerit Dominus
Adamnan. ibid.
204
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 571. succession. It is, indeed, by the order of God that all kings reign, but wc
meet with very few examples in history so well documented as this, under
the New Testament of kings, thus chosen and placed upon the throne by
an express and immediate order of God outwardly manifested. However
tli is special favour of God towards two of our kings, Aidan and Eochod,
from whom all our kings are descended in a direct line, being a sensible
manifestation of the Divine protection and care of them and of their royal
race, could not fail to inspire all true Scotsmen, their subjects, a more than
ordinary respect for their kings, and oblige them to look upon their persons
as sacred in a most singular manner.
LI. It was during King Aidan's reign that happened the death of the
holy abbot S. Brendan, (a) an intimate friend of S. Columba, whose happy
passage to heaven amidst the choirs of angels being revealed to him in his
island, he caused instantly get all ready for celebrating a (b) solemn mass
for him. Adamnan gives us other examples of S. Columba's pi'actising this
ancient usage of the Catholic Church of all ages, in celebrating himself, or
causing celebrate in his monastery,' 0 ' the sacred mysteries, immediately
upon his being advertised, either by revelation or by other information, of
the death of any of his friends.
Another Saint of the name of Brendan, famous for his pilgrimages, lived
about these times. Of this last Brendan, John of Tinmouth in his Life,
gives long incredible stories. But however fabulous that legend may be, I
find by Adamnan's relations d) that in those days many Scottish and Irish
devout men were so inclined to solitude and forsaking the world, that they
made long voyages at sea to find out the most remote and desert islands in
the north, for setting up monasteries in them. Thence came the Columbite
monasteries of Campo-Lunghe/ e > Ardchain,( f ) and others in the Shetland
Islands (in Ethica terra) designed chiefly for the retreats of penitents. To
these houses S. Columba used to send penitents,^' after hearing their con-
fession, and enjoining them penitential exercises for a number of years, in
proportion of their sins, to be performed under the direction of the Superior
(i) AdamnaD. lib. iii. c. 11.
<*> Missarum Solemnia. Ibid.
< c) Adatnnan. lib. iii. cc. 12, 23.
< d > Ibid. lib. i. cc. 6, 20. lib. ii. c.42.
M Ibid. lib. i. cc. 30, 41.
to Ibid. lib. i. c. 36.
t*> Ibid. lib. i. c 30. lib. ii. c. 39.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
205
of the monastery where they retired. Sometimes for great or scandalous (a) A. D. 571.
crimes he obliged them to leave their country, or the place where the scan-
dal had happened.
LII. But we have a very distinct account of the usage established by
S. Columba, conformable to the canons, in the imposition of penance, and
reconciliation of penitents, set down by Adamnan in his relation of the
penitent Libranus, whereof I shall give here the substance, because by it
we may learn what was the practice in use among the Scots in ancient
times concerning the administration of the sacrament of penance.
Libranus, born in Connaught in Ireland, being touched with the spirit
of penance, came over to Ycolmkill to consult S. Columba upon the state
of his conscience, and receive from him the order and measure of pen-
ance he was to perform to obtain mercy of God, and the grace of recon-
ciliation. After giving account of himself to the holy abbot, and informing
him of the resolution he had taken to retire into a monastery, and there
endure whatever penitential labours and mortifications should be enjoined
him to expiate his sins ; (b > he then without delay made to the holy man a
particular confession of all his sins upon his knees, and promised to accom-
plish the laws and order of penance which he should enjoin him, which
were as follows : That he should retire fc) to the monastery of Campo-
Lunghe in Shetland (whereof his chief disciple, Baitheneus, was Superior)
and there pass seven years in penitential exercises, and at the end of that
time he should return back to him to Ycolmkill during Lent time, in order
to be reconciled, admitted to the altar, and receive the holy Eucharist at
Easter. All which being conformable to the common discipline of penance
practised in the Church of that age, informs us that it was in vigour as yet
in our country, as well as among the other Christians of the Occident.
Adamnan informs us that Libranus after his seven years' penance return-
ing to Ycolmkill, found S. Columba alive, as he had foretold, and was by
him reconciled to the holy altar, and received the communion.
From the same spirit of retreat or penance the long navigations to the
of S.
Cormac's voyages, S. Columba, who happened to be at the time at the court
of Brudeus, King of the Picts, where the prince of the Orkney-isles was
also present, prayed King Brudeus to recommend Cormac and his other
monks to this prince of the Orkneys (whose pledges as being a vassal of
King Brudeus this king had in his hands), and to take care that they were
well used, in case they should come to these islands ; as they happened
effectually to come, and were accordingly delivered from imminent danger
in consequence of King Brudeus's recommendation. By this it appears
that the prince of the Orkneys was subject and tributary to the king of the
Picts, and that the Pictish dominions extended to the utmost bounds of the
north of Britain and adjacent islands.
LIII. A.D. 584, is placed the battle of Stanmore,< b ' otherwise called
Fethenlegh, betwixt the Britons, assisted by the Scots, against the Saxons.
When Malgo, king of the Britons, being attacked by Ceaulin, king of the
West Saxons, sent to require aid from King Aidan, according to the league
that was betwixt them, Fordun says that King Aidan sent forces to the as-
sistance of the Britons, under the command of his son Griffin (of whom wo
have no where else any account), and of Brendin, lord of the Isle of Man ;
that these marching together with the Britons against Ceaulin, had at first
the advantage, but that in the second engagement they were routed with
a great slaughter,
LIV. A.D. 586, died Brudeus son of Meilochon, King of the Picts.
Bede ;c) gives him the title of a most powerful king rex potentissimus,
the same title that he and other English writers give to those of the Saxon
kings during the Heptarchy, whom their later writers call monarchs of the
English, because that, besides their paternal kingdom, they obtained by
their great power and victories a pre-eminence over their neighbouring
princes. So that though we have no certain ancient account of the Avarlike
actions of this King Brudeus, we may very reasonably conclude from this
high title, of a most powerful king, given to him by the English writers, that
he not only possessed in full freedom all the ancient demesnes of the Pictish
kingdom, from Orkney to the frith of Forth, but that he also recovered the
Pictish possessions to the south of these friths, which the Saxons had over-
< l1 Adamnan. lib. i. cc. 6, 20. lib. ii. c. 42.
W Fordun, lib. iii. c. 28. Ussher, Ant. Brit. p. 296.
(c) Hist. Ecclcs. lib. iii. c. 4.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
207
run or taken possession of. King Brudeus died the thirtieth year of his a. D. 586
reign. Adamnan relates a remarkable occurrence that happened at his
death. We have already ^ made mention of a little white stone, blessed
by S. Columba, which, because of the miraculous cures performed by drink-
ing of water infused upon it, was kept as a precious jewel in the treasure of
the Pictish kings. He adds that when the time appointed by God for the
death of any sick person was come, there was no finding this stone ; that,
accordingly, upon the day of King Brudeus's death, the stone being sought
for with the utmost diligence in the ordinary place where it had been care-
fully laid up, it could not be found.
King Brudeus was succeeded in the throne by Gartnaich or Garnard,
son of Domilch or Domnath, the fiftieth king of the Picts, who reigned
eleven years. To this King Garnard is ascribed by Fordun (b) the founda-
tion of the church of Abernethy. We have< c > a story full of anachronisms
concerning this foundation of Abernethy by King Garnard in the legend of
Mazota Virgin (December 22). Boece,( rt > also, in his History, gives an
account of the foundation of a convent of nuns (whereof S. Mazota was one
of the chief), made at Abernethy by King Garnard. In fine, the Register ( e )
of St. Andrews attributes the foundation of Abernethy to Necton or Naitan,
successor to Gartnaich, whereas we have elsewhere (f) seen from the Pictish
Chronicle that the first founder of the church of Abernethy was King Nectan
or Naitan, the son of Irb or Erp, and thirty-ninth king of the Picts.
Now, to discover the truth, or what seems more likely, amidst so dif-
ferent accounts, we must observe that the first church of Abernethy,
founded by King Naitan I., having no doubt been ruined during the Avars,
or decayed by length of time, it cannot be doubted but that among the
many monasteries founded or restored by S. Columba, or by the Pictish
kings at his exhortation, one of the chief of them, next to that of Ycolm-
kill, was settled at Abernethy (the principal seat of the kings and of the
bishops of the Picts), in the place where King Naitan I. had settled the
first church above one hundred years before, as we have seen, that this
establishment of the church of Abernethy, begun, perhaps, by King
Brudeus after his conversion and baptism, was perfected under his successor
, Supra, Book Second, XLVII.
'" ISreviar. Aberdon. ad 22 Decern.
W Boeth. Hist. fol. 180, 181.
(d) Appendix to Crit. Essay, num. v.
(e) Ibid. num. ii.
208
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 586. Garnait, and a monastery erected and Columbite Religious settled in it,
as in all the other monasteries during S. Columba's time ; that King Nectan
or Naitan, the second of that name, and fifty-first King of the Picts, suc-
cessor to King Garnait, made an addition to this monastery, and that some
other of the Pictish kings founded also a monastery of Religious virgins,
among whom S. Mazota was the most eminent for sanctity. But this royal
city of the Picts being (as Boece relates) destroyed at the devastation of the
Pictish kingdom by King Kenneth Mac-Alpin, their records also, and his-
torical monuments, had the same fate, and nothing escaped that we know
of, but such extracts of them as that we have given in the Appendix to the
Critical Essay.
From all this it hath happened, that posterior writers, for want of
ancient records, having nothing but vulgar traditions to guide them, fell
into contradictions and anachronisms concerning the first author and time
of the foundation of Abernethy. The author of St. Andrews Register,
knowing apparently nothing of King Nectan I. and little of the Christianity
of the Picts before S. Columba, and knowing only by a popular tradition
that the church of Abernethy was founded by a Pictish king called Xectan,
attributed the foundation of it to Nectan II. after the coming of S. Columba.
Fordun, knowing by tradition that this church and monastery was brought
to perfection, and the first Columbites settled in it, during the reign of
King Garnart or Garnard, made himOO the first and chief founder of it.
And Boece, following Fordun as to the foundation of this church, and ob-
serving that there had also been there a monastery of virgins, whereof
Mazota, and nine others, were the most eminent, and their memory pre-
served in the calendars and offices of the Church, and celebrated upon the
twenty-second December, he attributed also to King Garnard the foundation
of this monastery of virgins.
A.D. 588. According to the Ulster Annals, cited by Ussher,( b > hap-
pened the Conversion of King Constantine to the Lord, " conversio Con-
stantini ad Dominum," as these Annals express it. It is reported that this
was that Constantine, King of Cornwall (Cornubiae) against whom Gildas
makes a bitter invective, as a cruel tyrant, exhorting him, withal, to do
penance : which sound advice Constantine having afterwards embraced,
abandoned his kingdom, retired to Ireland, and embraced the monastic
" Fordun, edit. Hcarn. p. 299.
(b) Ussher, Ant. Brit, in Indice Chron. p. 533.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
209
state, that being afterwards advanced to Orders, though contrary to the A. D 588.
ecclesiastical discipline of these ages, he went thence over to Scotland, and
preached among the Scots and Picts, says Fordun, and erected a monastery
at Govan, and converted many in Kintyre, where it is said he suffered
martyrdom by the hands of some wicked men. His memory was honoured
in the Church of Scotland upon the eleventh of March.
Fordun relates that this Constantine came to Scotland along with S.
Columba in his return from one of his voyages to Ireland, whither he
passed over sometimes to visit his monasteries in that kingdom. One of
the most memorable voyages which he made to Ireland, was A.D. 586, in
company of King Aidan, to an Assembly holden at Drumcheat,( a ) in Ireland,
at which were present with King Aidan and S. Columba, Aidus, son of
Ainmire, King of Ireland, and many other great men, bishops and abbots
of both kingdoms, for settling their affairs. Adamnan sets down an
account which he had well attested by those that were present, of many
miracles wrought during this voyage by S. Columba, upon several persons,
either by touching them with his hand, by sprinkling holy water upon
them, by drinking water infused upon bread blessed by the Saint, by
touching the hem of his garment, &c.
It was about the same time that S. Columban, Abbot, so famous after-
wards for the monasteries he founded in France and Italy, came over from
Ireland, and, it is like, in S. Columba's company, upon his return to
Britain after the Assembly of Drumcheat. Columbanus had been bred up
in the great monastery of Bangor, in Ireland, governed by S. Comgall,
otherwise called Faustus, a faithful disciple of our S. Columba, as we are
informed by Notker, (b ) a monk of the monastery of S. Gall. This S. Gall
was one of the twelve disciples whom S. Columban, as it was usual in
those days, brought along with him, first to the north of Britain, no doubt
to Ycolmkill, and from thence to France, where being well received by
Childebert II., King of Austrasia, he established( c ) the monasteries of Ane-
gray, Luxeu, and others, and gave them a rule that he had brought with
him, the same that was in use at Bangor, settled there by S. Comgall, who,
as Notker informed us, having been a disciple of our S. Columba, it is like
the rule was much the same in substance in both these monasteries of
<■' Adamnan. lib. i. cc. 10, 11, 49, 50; lib. ii. c. «.
(b) Notker Balbulus, Martyrolog. 9 Jun.
(c) Jonas, in Vita S. Columbani, edit, a P. Fleming inter Opera Columbani.
d d
•210 CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL Book II.
A.D. 592. Bangor and Ycolmkill. This ruleW of S. Columban is still extant.
S. Columban, after twenty years' abode in Austrasia, Burgundy, &c,
where he had to suffer not only upon account of his zeal against the vices
of all states of men, but for his attachment to his Irish usages, particularly
in the celebration of Easter, he was at last forced to leave that country by
Theodoric, King of Austrasia, at the instigation of the wicked Queen
Brunechild, and, after some years of an unsettled life, he retired at last
into Lombardy, where he established the abbey of Bobbio, and there died
A.D. 615.
LV. A.D. 59:2, fell out the battle of Wodenburch, as it is called by
Fordun,C b ) betwixt Ceaulin, King of the West Saxons, and Aidan, King of
the Scots, come to the assistance of the Britons, to whom also many Saxons
had joined against this Ceaulin, who, by his tyranny, had rendered himself
odious to all the nations around him. Adamnan calls this battle, pradium
Miatorum, for Mseatarum perhaps, because it is like a part of the British
troops in King Aidan's army Were of those Midland Britons, called formerly
AlseataB. However, Adamnan, upon occasion of this battle, gives a new
instance of S. Columba's prophetical spirit, as well as of his zeaK c ) and
that of his Religions disciples in Ycolmkill, for the prosperity of Aidan
their sovereign. S. Columba being, at the hour this battle was given, in
his monastery of Ycolmkill, called out of a sudden to Dermitius, his servant,
to run quickly and toll the bell ; upon hearing the sound, all his Religious
men convened in haste to the church, with the holy man at their head,
where, falling on his knees, he said to them, Let us all earnestly pray to
Cod for this people and for King Aidan, for at this very hour they are en-
gaged in battle with their enemies. And after some space of time, going
out of the oratory, and looking up to the heavens, he said, Now the enemies
are put to flight, and King Aidan hath got the victory, adding withal that
it was a doleful victory for him, because, in the battle, two of his sons,
Arthur and Eochod-find, were killed, as the Saint had foretold( d ) long
before ; at the same time he told them the precise number of those that
were slain in Aidan's army, that is three hundred and three men. The
slaughter was incomparably greater on Ceaulin's side, his army quite routed,
al Jonas, in Vita S. Columbani, edit, a P. Fleming inter Opera Columbani.
"» Fordun, lib. iii. c. 29.
W Adamnan. lib. i. c. 8.
W Ibid. lib. i. c. 9.
Book II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
211
himself put to flight, and so dispirited that he soon after died denuded a. D. 597.
of all.
The year 597 was very memorable for the great events that happened
in it. And first, the death of Garnait, son of Domeleh, King of the Picts,
in the eleventh year of his reign. His name was famous in following ages
by the restoration, as we have observed, or new foundation, of the ancient
church and monastery of Abernethy, and his settling in it, in conjunction
with S. Columba, the Religious Columbites, so well known in posterior
ages by the name of Keledees, whereof this monastery was, next to Ycolm-
kill, as it were, the mother-house from which several colonies were derived,
to St. Andrews, and several other places of Scotland. King Garnait was
succeeded by Nectan, son or nephew of Irb or Erp ; he was the fifty-first
king of the Picts, and reigned twenty years. We have already observed
the mistake of the abstract of the Register of St. Andrews, which attributes
to this King Nectan the foundation of the church of Abernethy, which had
been made by King Nectan I. above one hundred years before.
LVI. But nothing rendered this year so remarkable among the Scots
and the Picts as the death of the great S. Columba. We have a full relation
of the happy passage of this holy man from S. Adamnan, with a detail of
circumstances, which well deserves a place in this work, not only because
of the edifying particulars which it contains, but because all that concerns
this apostolical man, especially this last period of his mortal life, ought to
be very precious to our countrymen, who have so great obligations to him,
not only for his labours in the conversion of the northern Picts, from whom
so many of the inhabitants of Scotland are descended, but for his settling
Christianity on a more lasting foot, even among the Scots.
Adamnan begins the relation of S. Columba's death by the account of
a vision that the Saint had, A.D. 593, in which' 3 - 1 it was manifested to him
that Almighty God, moved by the prayers of many Churches, had resolved
to prolong his life for four years beyond the time at which the Saint had
hoped to leave this world ; after which, Adamnan continues thus : The
term (b) of these four years drawing nigh in the month of May, the holy man
going out one day in a waggon (because of his age and weakness,) to visit
the brethren that were at work in a field in the western part of the island,
he said to them, 1 had an earnest desire to go to our Saviour upon Easter-
(,) Adamnan. lib. iii. c. 22. edit. Colgan.
lM Adamnan. lib. iii. c. 23.
212
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 597. day last, but because I would not have the joy of that day changed into
mourning, I chose to defer my departure from this world a little longer.
These words having grieved his disciples, he began to encourage them with
comfortable discourses, and standing upon an eminence, turning his face
towards the east, he lifted up his hand and blessed all this our island, says
Adamnan, adding, that from that time forward no viperous animal should
hurt either man or beast in it, as long as the inhabitants should be careful
to observe the commands of Christ.
On Saturday^ following, the holy man accompanied with his beloved
servant Dermitius, went out to bless a barn, and in coming back to the
monastery he stopt in the way, and sat down to rest him at a Cross cb) of
stone, which, says Adamnan, is yet to be seen set up at the side of the way.
This stone Cross had certainly been erected by S. Columba's own order, and
is an evident proof of the ancient usage among the Scottish Christians,
(taught them above eleven huudred years ago by S. Columba himself,) of
planting Crosses of stone or wood upon the highways, or in the most con-
spicuous places, thereby to excite frequently the love and devotion of the
Faithful to their Redeemer, by that sensible memorial adapted to the meanest
capacities, of his unbounded love for them ; and this usage was propagated
through the kingdoms of the Scots and Picts, in proportion as Christianity
itself was extended. Accordingly there are yet to be met with in all places
of Scotland, the rubbish or ruins and names of Crosses demolished at or
since the new Reformation by men, to say no more, who had certainly a
quite different spirit and taste of devotion from that of S. Columba, and of
the other saints who planted or promoted Christianity in our country, who,
conformably to the usage of the rest of the Christian world in ancient times,
made a part of their devotion consist in renewing frequently, by sensible
signs, the memory of our Lord's Passion in the hearts of the Christian people.
Adamnan makes mention of two other Crosses< c) set up in Ycolmkill in S.
Columba's own time, and of many miracles wrought by him by the sign W
of the Cross.
As the Saint returned to the monastery( e) accompanied by his beloved
servant Dermitius, after enjoining secrecy to him, he told him that he was
(a) Adamnan. lib. iii. c. 23.
Ibid. lib. i. c. 45.
Ibid. lib. ii. cc. 16, 27, 29, &c.
(e) Ibid. lib. iii. c 23.
Boor II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
213
to depart out of this world that same night at midnight ; and going up to a. D. 597.
another little eminence^ that overlooked the monastery, and standing on
the top of it, he lifted up his hands and blessed the monastery, adding : To
this place, however despicable and mean it now appears, not only the kings
of the Scots with all their people, but kings also of foreign nations with
their subjects, shall pay great honour and respect, and the holy men of other
Churches will hold it in no small veneration.
Being come back to the monastery ;b) he sat down in his cell, and con-
tinued to transcribe a Psalm-book which he had begun, and being come to
this verse of the thirty-third Psalm, " They that seek the Lord shall not
want any good thing," there, says he, I must stop at the end of this page,
let Baitheneus continue on to write what follows. This last verse which
the Saint copied agreed perfectly well to him, since he shall never be de-
prived of the eternal good things of heaven where he is entered : and the
verse following : " Come my children and hearken to me, and I will teach
you the fear of the Lord," agrees no less well to his successor Baitheneus,
whom he left for spiritual master to his children, and who succeeded him
not only in the office of teaching but also of writing.
After this the Saint entered the church( c ) to assist at the canonical Office
of the first vespers of Sunday, and then returned to his cell, and there laid
himself upon his bed, where, instead of straw, he had a bare stone, and in-
stead of a bolster or pillow another stone, which at present, says Adamnan,
stands for a title as a monument at his sepulchre. In that posture, none
being present but his said beloved servant, he gave by him his last commands
to his disciples, saying, I commend to you, my dear children, these my last
words : Entertain peace and unfeigned mutual charity one with another,
which if you observe according to the example of the holy fathers, God, the
comforter of the good, will assist you, and I being present with Him will
intercede for you, and He will abundantly bestow upon you, not only the
necessaries of this life, but the eternal happiness in the next, which is pre-
pared for those that observe his commandments.
After which( d ) words, his last happy hour approaching, he was silent,
and spoke no more ; but when the bell rang at midnight for the nocturnal
Ibid.
< c > Ibid.
<« Ibid.
214
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Book II.
A. D. 597. Office, he arose in haste, and went to the church, where being arrived sooner
than the rest, and going in all alone, he fell upon his knees near the altar.
Dermitius, his servant, following more slowly, saw at a distance all the church
illustrated with an angelic splendour, which at his approach instantly disap-
peared. This splendour was also seen at a distance by others of the brethren.
Dermitius, therefore, entering the church, called out to the Saint with a mourn-
ful voice, 0 Father, where are you 1 and groping up and down in the dark,
he found him lying prostrate before the altar, and lifting him up a little, and
sitting down by him, he laid his blessed head in his bosom ; meantime all
the brethren came in with lights, and seeing their holy Father ready to
expire, began to lament. We were told by some that were there present,
that a little before he expired he opened his eyes and looked about with a
joyful countenance, beholding the holy angels that came to fetch him.
Meantime Dermitius lifted up his blessed hand, that he might give his
last blessing to his brethren assembled about him in the choir, and the holy
man himself endeavoured, as he was able, by the motion of his hand to give
them his blessing, since he could not pronounce it by the voice of His mouth,
and after giving them in this manner his sacred blessing, he instantly yielded
up his happy soul. The angelical vision left such a cheerfulness remaining
in his countenance, that it appeared after his death rather the pleasant aspect
of one asleep, than the ghastly face of a dead man. Meantime all the church
resounded with the doleful lamentations of his Religious disciples. The
canonical 1 ^ Office of the nocturns being finished, his sacred body was carried
back from the church to his cell, accompanied by the holy symphony of
Psalms, and his obsequies were, according to custom, solemnly celebrated
three days and three nights, which being spent in Divine praises, the body
of our blessed Patron was wrapt in fine linen, laid into a coffin prepared for
that end, and buried with great veneration, there to remain till it arise in
a glorious and eternal brightness.
S. Columba died, as Bede ;b > informs us, in the seventy-seventh year of
his age, and, as Adamnan' c) relates, the thirty-fourth year after his coming
to Britain, which happened, as we have seen, A.D. 563 ; so his death fell
out in the year 597. It is the constant tradition and belief of the inhabi-
tants of Ycolmkill and of the neighbourhood at this day, that S. Columba's
W Adamnan. lib. iii. c. 23.
< b > Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 4.
(c ' Adamnan. lib. iii. c. 22.
Rook II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
215
body lies still in this island, being hidden by pious people, at the time of A. D. 597.
the new Reformation, in some secure and private place in or about the
church, as it used frequently to be in former ages during the ravages of the
infidel Danes ; and not only the inhabitants of Ycolmkill, and those of all
our Western Islands, and of all the Highlands in general, but all the Scots
look upon the pretended translation of S. Columba's body to Ireland as
fabulous.
LVII. And, indeed, to prove the Irish story of this translation a fable
in its origin, it might suffice to set it down such as the Irish writers, and
among them the diligent Colgan (a ' relates it from the best vouchers that he
could find, which in short is thus : That the shrine of S. Columba being
taken up in Ycolmkill by the Danish pirates, and they finding instead of
the treasure they looked for, nothing but dust and bones, threw it into the
sea, and that it swimmed miraculously from Ycolmkill, over the sea, to
Down in Ireland, which is above one hundred miles ; and Colgan tells us
elsewhere' 1 " that this pretended translation or transportation happened
A.D. 857. He gives for author of the story of this translation, one Ber-
chanus, but what he was or when he lived he could find nothing certain.
The first known authors that mention this translation are Giraldus Cam-
brensis (c) and Roger Hoveden' d) who wrote in the twelfth age, and say that
A.D. 1177, the bodies of S. Patrick, S. Brigid, and of S. Columba, were
by revelation discovered at Down, but without giving any account how S.
Columba's body was brought thither. That there was a discovery made
about A.D. 1177 of three Saints' bodies at Down, and that one of them was
supposed to be called S. Columba, I shall not contest, since it is related by
the two foresaid writers, Giraldus and Hoveden, but there being many Irish
saints of the name of Columba or Columban, which is the same, there is no
doubt but the body found at Down was of some other S. Columba, supposing
one of the three found at Down bore that name, which depends upon the
credit of that revelation.
For as to our S. Columba, Apostle of the Northern Picts, besides the
uniform uninterrupted tradition and persuasion of the inhabitants of Ycolm-
kill, and of all the Scots of these parts, that his relics or body lies as yet in
of his History, that the Scots and all other followers of the dis-
cipline of the Columbites celebrated the feast always upon a Sunday, and
never celebrated it upon the fourteenth of the moon, the same day with the
Jews, but where this fourteenth day happened to fall upon the Sunday.
So this error or mistake of the Columbites proceeded originally from their
simplicity or ignorance of the decrees and practice of foreign Churches and
not from any affectation to celebrate the feast upon the same day with the
Jews or with the Asiatic Schismatics.
It is no wonder to find Bede so careful to vindicate S. Aidan's adher-
ing to the customs of his country in celebrating Easter from all imputation
of the spirit of schism, when, at the same time, he relates the testimony
that the Heavens rendered to his sanctity, not only during his life but at
the moment of his departure from this world, which gave occasion to the re-
treat of S. Cuthbert, another precious ornament of our country, and his
entry to the Columbite monastery of Melrose, founded by S. Aidan upon
the river Tweed.
S. Cuthbert's Life was written from the relations of those that knew
him by Bede, first a part in prose, and then in verse, besides the large
account he gives of him in his Ecclesiastical History ; and it was also
written' by a contemporary anonymous writer who might have seen the
Saint. From all which it appears in the judgment, not only of Scottish
Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cc. 4, 19, 25 ; lib. v. c. 21.
it
230 -CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL ^ DowiLD I.
A. D. 651. writers, but of the most learned among the English and French, that he
■was a native of the eastern parts of the Island which make a part of the
kingdom of Scotland, for, according to these authentic relations of his life,
we find him from his childhood brought up in those parts at a place called
Tyningham, by a devout widow whom, for that reason, he used to call his
mother. We find him also a very young man near the river Tyne in
Lothian, and a shepherd upon the river Leder or Lauder in Lauderdale
when it pleased God to manifest to him the glory of S. Aidan at his death,
which Bede relates in the following words : —
' ; One night it happened that whilst S. Cuthbert was watching in prayer,
the other shepherds his companions being asleep, he saw on a sudden a
light from heaven so bright that it dispelled all the darkness, and therein
he saw great multitudes of Angels descending to the earth, (a) and, presently
after, returning to heaven, carrying with them a soul of marvellous bright-
ness. This light touched exceedingly the devout youth, and inspired him
with an earnest desire to undertake a spiritual life, that thereby he might
be a partaker of eternal felicity. Having awakened his companions he gave
them an account of what he had seen, adding — Surely this was either a
holy bishop or some other perfect person whom I saw, says he, with re-
splendent brightness and such quires of Angels carried up to heaven.
" The next day he was informed," says Bede, " that S. Aidan, Bishop of
the Church of Lindisfarne, a man of admirable piety, died that very hour in
which he had seen his soul mounting up to heaven. Whereupon he pre-
sently resigned the sheep committed to his care to their owner, and resolved
without delay to retire to a monastery." Bede continues on, and relates
the exactitude of S. Cuthbert, in observing the fast of Friday, till three
afternoon (which was the general observance of all devout people, especially
of those instructed by S. Aidan and the Columbites) ; to recompense which
Almighty God was pleased to send him food in a miraculous manner upon
his journey.
There were at that time, among others, two famous monasteries in
those parts (both founded by S. Aidan) Lindisfarne near the borders, and
Melrose in Scotland. Cuthbert chose this last where Eata was abbot, and
Boisil prior, both of them disciples of S. Aidan, and both houses governed
by the rule of Ycolmkill, and clothed in habits of white (such as S. Columba
< a > Vita Cuth. c. iv.
Donald L
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
231
and the Columbites wore) or rather of the colour of the wool afforded by A. D. 651.
the sheep, which custom continued in these monasteries as yet, in Bede's
time.
Boisil, says Bede, (a) kindly received, the devout young man, in the
absence of Eata the abbot, to whom, at his return, having declared the good
intention of Cuthbert, he obtained permission for him, after he had re-
ceived the tonsure after the manner in use among the Scots, to be admitted
among the brethren. Thus entering into the monastery, Cuthbert was
careful to equal, or excel the rest of the brethren in the religious observ-
ances of reading, working, watching, and prayer. In which words we may
observe the same pious exercises in Melrose, as we have seen in Ycolmkill,
whereof Melrose was a daughter or colony derived from it by S. Aidan.
And accordingly we find the same usages as well as pious practices among
those bred in Melrose as in those of the island Hy.
After this account of S. Cuthbert's origin and first beginning, taken
from so authentic writers, it is scarce worth the while to mention a legend
of his life, translated from the Irish, and published by Capgrave, from John
of Tinmouth, which makes S. Cuthbert son to an Irish king, born in
Ireland, and conducted by his mother, in his infancy, to Scotland, at the
time that one Columba was bishop at Dunkeld. (b) The same writer men-
tions two other bishops in Scotland about these times, Eatan and Moedan,
whom Colgan endeavours, with great pains, to make also Irishmen. ;c)
As to this Bishop Columba, he endeavours to show, by the analogy
of Irish names, that he was the same with the famous Bishop Colman who
was sent by the Scots, A.D. 661, upon the death of Einan, Bishop of the
Northumbrians, to succeed to him ; and our modern writers suppose Colman
was bishop before his mission to England. But whatever be the truth of
this legend, first given by John of Tinmouth, it suffices to show that before
Fordun's time, it was believed there were in this seventh age several
bishops in Scotland.
The same year, 651, to Aidan in the episcopal dignity among the
Northumbrians succeeded Finan,< d > sent as S. Aidan had been, from the
island Hy or Ycolmkill where he had received the degree of bishop.
w Vita. Cuth. c. vi.
(b) Colgan, Vit. SS. Hibern. p. 679.
,r) Ibid. p. 691.
ld) Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cc. 17, 25.
232
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Donald L
A. D. 651. being ordained by the bishops, who, as we observed elsewhere, resided
either in Ycolmkill or in the neighbour provinces, and were to be found
upon a call. S. Finan built in Lindisfarne island a church becoming the
Episcopal seat ; the which, nevertheless, after the manner of the Scots,
he made not of stone, but of hewed oak, and covered it with reeds.
It was in Bishop Finan' s time that the controversy about Easter began
to be agitated with greater warmth betwixt the Scots that followed the
discipline and usages of the Columbites, on the one hand, and, on the other,
those that came from Kent or from the Gauls, who accused the Scots as
keeping Easter Sunday, contrary to the custom of the universal Church. ( a )
This difference about Easter, whilst Bishop Aidan lived, was patiently
tolerated by all men, as being sensible that he could not keep Easter con-
trary to the custom of those that sent him ; yet he was most exact in the
practice of the Christian virtues of faith, piety, and love, according to the
custom of all holy men ; which made him be deservedly beloved by all,
even by those who differed in opinion from him about Easter : but of this
afterwards.
A.D. 052, died Segenius, Abbot of Ycolmkill, one of the greatest men
of those times, and one of the most forward defenders of the Scottish
usages, as Ave have observed. To him succeeded in the government of that
Abbey, Suibneus, son of Cuthri, who sat five years. However, the usages
of the Columbite Scots began about these times to be more violently
attacked. Nevertheless, it pleased Almighty God to continue his blessing
upon their labours among the Saxons with a visible success. And the
year G6-% the second of Bishop Finan's episcopal administration, became
remarkable for the conversion of the Midland English, and the recovery
of the East Saxons to the Christian Faith, whereof Bishop Finan and the
Columbite Scots, or those educated and ordained by them and following
their usages, were, under God, the principal instruments — of all which we
have the following account from Bede. < b >
About this time the Middle Angles, under their prince, Peada, son of
Penda, received the faith and sacraments of Truth. This prince heing an
excellent youth, and most worthy of the title and dignity of a king, was
by his father Penda set over that part of the kingdom. He went to
Oswy, King of the Northumbrians, and asked to have in marriage his
a) Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 25.
* b) Ibid. c. 21.
Donald I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
233
daughter Alfleda, but could not obtain his desire unless he would embrace A. D. 653.
the Faith of Christ, and be baptized with the nation that he governed.
Whereupon, beginning to give ear to the preaching of truth, he was so
touched Avith the promise of a heavenly kingdom, the hopes of a glorious
resurrection and future immortality, that he declared that he was resolved
to become a Christian, even though he should be refused the virgin, being
chiefly persuaded to embrace the Faith by a son of King Oswy. called
Alchfrid, his kinsman and friend, who had married his sister. He, there-
fore, with all his companions, and soldiers, and their servants, was baptized
by Bishop Finan in a village belonging to the king, called At the wall, (Ad
murum). And, having received from the Bishop four priests, who, for
their learning and good lives, were found proper to instruct and baptize
his nation, he returned home with great joy.
The names of these priests were Cedd, and Adda, and Betti, and Diuma,
the last of which was a Scotsman, the others English.
These priests, being arrived with the Prince in the province of the
Middle Angles, preached the Word and were willingly listened to; and
many of the nobility, as well as of the common sort, daily renouncing
idolatry were baptized. Nor did King Penda himself, though an idolater,
make any opposition to the progress of the Gospel ; on the contrary he
gave free leave to preach it in his own kingdom of the Mercians to all who
had a mind to hear it. Nay, he hated and despised such as had received
the Faith of Christ, and did not perform the works of Faith, saying, they
were contemptible and wretched who did not obey their God, in whom they
believed. These things began about two years before the death of King
Penda.
(a) The same year, the Christian Faith was restored among the East
Saxons, which they had formerly abandoned, expelling Mellitus their
bishop. It was at the instance of King Oswy that they now received it ;
for Sigebert, King of the East Saxons, being a great friend of King Oswy,
and coming often to see him, Oswy exhorted him to the contempt of the
idols, and Sigebert, being at last fully persuaded of the truth, was baptized
with his followers by Bishop Finan, at the foresaid place called At the wall,
(Ad murum.) King Sigebert become thus a citizen of the eternal kingdom,
returned to the seat of his temporal dominion, and requested King Oswy to
(a > Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 22.
234-
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Donald I.
A. D. 653. send him some teachers who might convert his nation to the Faith of
Christ, and baptize them. Oswy, therefore, recalled the man of God,
Cedd, from the Middle Angles, and adjoining to him another priest for a
companion, sent them to preach to the East Saxons, where, after travelling
through all the country they assembled a great congregation to the Lord.
As it happened that the holy man Cedd returned home to the Church and
Island of Lindisfarne, where he had been educated, to confer with Bishop
Finan, the good bishop, finding how successful Cedd had been in the work
of the Gospel, resolved to promote him to a higher dignity ; wherefore,
calling to him two others, bishops, to assist him in the ordination, he
created him Bishop of the East Saxons.
I cannot help observing here a sensible proof of the belief of the
necessity of bishops, its being as much established in Ycolmkill and among
the Columbites as it was in any other part of the Christian Church, other-
wise what motive could Bishop Finan, a Columbite, bred up in Ycolmkill,
and governing himself by the usages and institutions of that mother house,
have to advance Cedd from the dignity of presbyter to that of bishop, but
that Bishop Finan and the Columbites were persuaded, as all other
Christians in those days, that though the Character of the presbyter Cedd
sufficed to qualify him to preach the Gospel to the East Saxons, to con-
vert and baptize them, now that it was the question to form these neo-
phytes into a Church, to furnish them with pastors, and to preserve unity
among the pastors of the second Order, to govern them and to perpetuate
the sacred ministry among them, kc, it was necessary to settle a bishop
in their country, and none being so acceptable to them as Cedd, to advance
him to the episcopal dignity. And what the Columbite Bishop Finan ob-
served on this occasion, we ought not to doubt but the other bishops, bred
up as Finan had been in Ycolmkill, had followed the same practice among
the Scots and the Picts from the beginning, and that according as new pro-
vinces were brought in, and the number of the faithful increased, they used
to send them a bishop necessary to govern them, to form them into a regu-
lar Church, and by ordination of pastors, to perpetuate the sacred ministry
among them, and to perform the other functions annexed to the episcopal
Character. Thus the holy man Cedd having, says Bede, received the epis-
copal degree (or as Bede calls it, in another place, having attained to the
degree of high priest, " summi sacerdotis gradu") returned to his province,
and then with a more ample authority prosecuted the work he had begun,
Donald I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
235
performing now, by the power annexed to the episcopal Character, functions A. D. 65.S.
which he could not perform before whilst he was only a presbyter, such as,
among others, that he erected churches in several places, ordained priests
and deacons to assist him in the work of the Gospel and the ministry of
baptism, following the example of generally all other first preachers of
Christianity. In order to form a sufficient number of churchmen for the
service of the people, he assembled and set up two communities or se-
minaries of devout servants of Christ, and taught them to observe the
discipline of a regular life according to the Columbite institution and
usages in which he himself had been educated at Lindisfarne.
It is scarce possible to find in antiquity more energetical terms than
what Bede makes use of here to express the episcopal dignity of this
Columbite Bishop Cedd, its proper functions, and the distinction of it
from, and its superiority to the degree of presbyters; especially if we add
to this what Bede adjoins in this same chapter, of the power of excom-
munication exercised with so great authority by Bishop Cedd, that it is
extended even to punish all that violated his censure not even excepting
the king's person. And in the following chapter Bede relates the solemn
consecration of a church and of a monastery by the same bishop, as shall
be related afterwards. Now both these functions of solemn excommuni-
cation and consecration of churches were reserved peculiarly to bishops in
this age.
Bede gives us the following account of the consecration of this church
and monastery/ 3 ) by Bishop Cedd, who, as we have observed, had been
educated with his three brothers in the monastery of Lindisfarne, according
to the rule and practices of Ycolmkill established in Lindisfarne by S.
Aidan its founder.
Bede informs us, then, that Odilvald, King of Deira, having resolved to
found in his kingdom a monastery to which he might from time to time
retire to give himself to prayer and hearing the Word of God, having also
in his view to choose this monastery for his burial place, to the end that
both during his life, and after his death, he might be edified by the daily
prayers of those who were to serve God in that place, being fully persuaded
that the prayers of those whom he was to establish in it for performing
Divine Service would be very beneficial to his soul; ( b ) wherefore, being in-
(a) Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 23.
Ibl Ibid.
236
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Donald I.
A. 1). (i«33. formed of the sanctity and wisdom of the above mentioned Cedd, Bishop of
the East Saxons, upon a time when he came to Northumberland, the king
intreated him to accept of a parcel of ground for erecting a monastery in
his dominions. The bishop yielded to his desire, and made choice for the
situation of this monastery, not of a fertile or agreeable soil, but of remote
and steep mountains, which had formerly been rather the lurking places
of robbers or the retreat of wild beasts than the habitation of men.
And the bishop having informed the king that the usage of those among
whom he had been bred up to a regular life, that is, of the Columbites, was to
consecrate to God by prayer and fasting the places that were destinated for
churches or monasteries, he prayed the king that he might have leave to
pass the forty clays of Lent, which was at hand, in these holy exercises ;
which he performed accordingly, fasting, according to custom, every day of
Lent, except Sundays, till night, and then allowing himself a small quantity
of bread with one egg, and a little milk and water. When the time of
prayer and fasting was over, he erected and dedicated the church and mo-
nastery to God, and established in it Religious men, according to the rules
and usages to which he himself had been bred up in the Columbite monas-
tery of Lindisfarne, founded by S. Aidan according to the rule and discipline
of Ycolmkill, of which from this relation of Bede we have a faithful account,
and by consequence of the religion and holy observances established by S.
Columba, and practised by the Columbite bishops and priests among our
ancestors the Scots and Picts.
A.D. 653, died Donald, King of Scots, the first of that name, surnamed
Breac, after a reign of fourteen years. Our modern writers who call him
Donald the Fourth, give him the character of a good and religious prince,
and these characters are due to the humanity with which he sheltered
Oswald and the other children of King Ethelfrid, and the zeal with which
he caused educate them in the Christian religion, in the monastery of Ycolm-
kill, but they make no mention of the war made, (according to Adamnan),
against Donald, King of Ireland, grandson to Ainmire, a near relation of
S. Columba, against the express injunction the holy abbot had given to our
King Aidan at his coronation, to recommend to his posterity that none of
them should attack his relations in Ireland, under pain of incurring the
indignation of Almighty God, so as to have the heart of men taken from
them, that is, to lose their wonted courage and see their enemies prevail
against them. The kingdom fell into such a decay before strangers, in
Mai.duin.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
237
Adamnan's time, that it caused him exceeding grief. Perhaps an effect of A. D. 653.
this decay of the Scottish monarchy was that the same King Donald was,
according to the Irish Annals, overcome and killed by Hoan, King of the
Britons, and to the same transgressing the holy abbot's injunction may be
owing the exorbitant power that, according to the Saxon writers, some of
the English kings had over the Scots as well as over the Picts, and the
other neighbouring princes in this age.
This King Donald the First had for immediate successor, according to
all the remains of our ancient chronicles, Malduin the eleventh king of
Scots, and not Ferchard, as our modern writers, following Fordun, have
him. Malduin reigned sixteen years.
A.D. 656, Oswy, King of the Northumbrians, being attacked with a
numerous army by Penda, the pagan king of the Mercians, gained with a
small body of troops a signal victory over him, having routed his army and
killed him ; and soon after he made himself master of Penda's kingdom.
It is observable that Oswy, in order to obtain the protection of God against
this powerful and cruel prince, obliged himself by a solemn vow to conse-
crate to the service of God, in perpetual virginity, his only daughter
Flfleda, and accordingly placed her to be educated in a monastery under
the famous Columbite abbess, Hilda. Such was the devotion that King
Oswy had learned among the Scots in the abbey of Ycblmkill, where, as
we have observed, he had been educated with the rest of his brethren, and
instructed in the faith and practices of Christianity, according to the usages
of the Columbites in that famous monastery.
This Abbess Hilda was of royal blood of the Northumbrian kings, and
after passing honourably thirty years in a secular life, being resolved to
consecrate herself to God in a monastery, and for that end to leave her
country and to pass over to the monastery of Chelles in France, she was
stopt by S. Aidan, and by him consecrated abbess of a monastery called
Heruteu in Northumberland, founded by one Heiu, who was the first Saxon
woman of those parts who had embraced the monastic state, and had been
consecrated a nun by the foresaid Bishop Aidan. Hilda being set over
this monastery began immediately to reduce all things to a regular course
of life, according as she was instructed by learned men, especially Bishop
Aidan ; and by consequence, the rule settled in it was that of the Colum-
bites for those of her sex, and we shall see her persevere in the Columbite
usages with greater steadiness than many others. And no wonder, for
23S
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Malduin*.
A. D. 656. Bede observes, that her innate wisdom and zeal for the service of God
made her be esteemed, frequently visited, and thoroughly instructed by
Aidan, and other eminent persons of piety.
" When Hilda had for some years governed this monastery, wholly
intent upon establishing a regular life, it happened that she also under-
took either to build or to arrange a monastery in the place called
Streaneshalch (Whitby), which work she industriously performed; for
she put this monastery under the same regular discipline as she had done
the former; and taught there the strict observance of justice, piety,
chastity, and other virtues, and particularly of peace and charity ; so
that after the example of the primitive Church, no person was there
rich, and none poor, all being in common to all, and none having any
property. Her prudence was so great, that not only indifferent persons,
but even kings and princes, as occasion offered, asked and received her
advice ; she obliged those who were under her direction to attend so
much to reading of the Holy Scriptures, and to exercise themselves so
much in works of justice, that many might be there found fit for ecclesi-
astical duties, and to serve at the altar. In short, we afterwards saw
five bishops taken out of that monastery, and all of them men of sin-
gular merit and sanctity, whose names were Bosa, Hedda, Oftfor, John,
and Wilfrid." 00
We see by this relation that, according to the Columbite discipline,
there were monasteries of virgins and women as well as of men. Such
were in Scotland, in Bede's time, the monasteries of Coldingham and
Tinningham in the south, and others in Ycolmkill itself and other parts
of the Isles, as appears yet by the names of the places where they were
situated; and whatever abuses the decay of regularity and the general
corruption of mankind must have afterwards introduced into these sanc-
tuaries, upon which, for a caution to posterity our writers are not silent,
nor the Church neglected to apply remedies ; nor shall I be as occasion
offers ; but whatever abuses may have crept in by length of time, such
a sensible proof of the force of God's grace, and according to the ancient
Fathers, such a demonstration of the verity and sanctity of the Christian
Religion, wherewith even infidels were astonished and induced to open their
eyes upon the perfection of Christianity, such a practice, I say, as the
1 Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 23.
Malduin.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
239
observance of perpetual virginity, so much commended by the Apostle, a. D.
could not be decried in itself, be inveighed against, and run down by
words and example, nor the rules so necessary for observing it designedly
destroyed by any who were animated by the apostolic spirit. For if the
gift of continency be a privilege granted only to some, and therefore ac-
cording to the evangelical law entirely left to each one's free choice, and
according to the ancient laws of the Church, not to be undertaken under
any perpetual tie without mature examination and previous trial; yet
either to render the observation almost impossible, the shutting up all re-
treats necessary for observing it seems a reflection upon the wisdom of the
Author of our holy religion by supposing that the Lord and his apostles
had imposed on their followers impracticable perfection : but how much
more to break through the solemn vows once made to God to observe it,
and more yet to glory in this prevarication and incite others to the in-
fidelity can proceed only from the hearts and minds of men void of the
Spirit of God, and wholly ingulfed in carnal sensuality.
Secundo. That some of these monasteries were double, composed of
Religious men as well as women, but both of them living in separate habi-
tations, and each employed in applications fitting their sex, and conform-
able to their talents ; and all for the edification or service of the Church.
But to return to King Oswy. The effects of his victory over Penda,
and of his becoming master of the kingdom of the Mercians, was the con-
version of the inhabitants and the settling of a bishop over them. The
first was Diuma, a Scotsman, educated in the Columbite monastery of Lin-
disfarne, sent at first by Finan, as we have seen, with three other Colum-
bite priests to preach to the Middle Angles, and now settled and consecrated
by him bishop both of the Middle Angles and of the Mercians ; for the
scarcity of subjects fit for the episcopal degree obliged Finan to commit
two nations to one bishop. We may here observe, that hitherto among
the bishops of the Saxons of the north converted by the Scots there ap-
pears no other division of districts or dioceses but only that of kingdoms.
Each bishop being a national bishop as we have observed those among
the Scots and Picts were. So it appears that the discipline in the estab-
lishing of bishops among the Saxons by our Scottish Columbite bishops
was regulated rather upon what they had seen practised in their own
country, as well as upon the circumstances of the Saxons whom they had
lately converted, than upon the canonical order observed in Churches
240
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
31 ALL) TIN.
A. D. 657. abroad, with which, it is like, they were not much acquainted; besides that
the circumstances of the inhabitants that had never been under the
Roman Empire did not as yet allow of that exterior form of diocesan
bishops to which the Roman polity had prepared the way; and this
custom of regionary or national bishops seems to have continued in most
parts of England till the time of Archbishop Theodore, a prelate well
skilled in the discipline and canons of the Church, who seems to have been
the first that applied himself to multiply the bishops' of the Scots, and to
assign to each of them a locality or diocese according to the general prac-
tice of the rest of the Church and the prescript of the canons.
To Diuma, first bishop of the Mercians, who gained many souls to God
in a short time, succeeded Bishop Ceollach, who was also a Scotsman/ 8 )
Ceollach after some years resigned his charge and returned to Scotland to
Ycolmkill, which is the chief and as it were the bulwark of the Scottish
monasteries, and there remained till he died. After him succeeded Trum~
here, an Englishman : he had been educated also among the Scots, and was
at first settled abbot of a place called Ingetlingum, a monastery founded
by Queen Eanfled in the place where King Oswin was killed, in order to
have prayers daily made there for the soul of the deceased king, and for
obtaining mercy from God for King Oswy that killed him.
A.D. 657. Upon the death of Suibne, Abbot of Ycolmkill, succeeded
Cuminius, surnamed the White, and governed twelve years. This is he
who wrote the first account that we have of S. Columba's life, which
Adamnan makes mention of and follows. It is the first of the collection of
the Lives of the Saint published by Colgan ;( b ) it was afterwards printed
by Father Mabillon ( c ) from a manuscript of the monastery of Compien.
and by Father Papebrock from another manuscript. The same year, 657,
Thalarg, King of the Picts, was succeeded by Talorcan, son of Enfret or
Anfrade, who reigned four years.
About this time King Alchfrid, son to Oswy, having for the health of
his soul made to Eata, Abbot of Melrose, a donation of a place called
Inhrvpum, now Rippon, in order to found a monastery, this abbot chose
out of Melrose some of the brethren to plant this new monastery, in
which he established the same institutes and discipline as in Melrose, that
,a) Bed. Hist. Eceles. lib. iii. c. 24.
(*>) Trias Thaumat.
c Acta Benedict. Wm. i.
Malduin.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
241
is the Columbite rule and usages/*) Among those that the Abbot Eata a. D. 660.
pitched upon for this new establishment was Cuthbert, who, as we have
seen, had about ten years ago renounced the world, and entered Melrose
under the discipline of the holy man Boisil, who was Prior of that house
under the Abbot Eata, and a very spiritual man endued with the gift of
prophecy. ( b ) Cuthbert having wholly resigned himself to his directions,
received from him both the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and the
example of good works ; for, as we have elsewhere observed, the method of
the Columbite masters was to prescribe nothing to their disciples but what
they practised themselves. We have also seen the prudent caution ob-
served by Boisil and so of the other Columbite doctors in training up their
disciples in the knowledge of the Holy Scripture, which was one of their
chief studies.
Eata gave to Cuthbert in his own new monastery of Rippon the charge
of attending the guests, in which, says Bede, he had the happiness some-
times to receive angels. But this new establishment of Rippon remained
not long in the hands of Eata and the Columbites.( c ) For the same King
Alchfrid that had bestowed it upon them, being upbraided by the famous
Wilfrid and by him prejudged against the Columbite usages, especially of
Easter and the tonsure, after urging Eata and his religious men either to
abandon these usages or to leave this new monastery, they chose this last,
and returned in a body to Melrose, upon which King Alchfrid gave the
monastery of Rippon to Wilfrid, of whom because of the figure he makes
in the ecclesiastical history of these times it is necessary to give a short
account.
Wilfrid born of a noble family in Northumberland, was at the age of
fourteen placed by Eanfled, spouse to King Oswy, for his education in the
Columbite monastery of Lindisfarne, the chief school of piety and letters in
the nortli of England. After four years' abode in that house, having con-
ceived some doubt about the usages of the Columbites, he resolved to
travel abroad for his farther improvement and in order to be fully instructed
in the subject of the debates of those times. After passing a short while
with Honorius, Archbishop of Canterbury, he passed in company of Bene-
dict Biscop to Lyons in France, and was kindly received and entertained by
u) Vita Cuth. c. vii.
(b) Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 27.
' Vita Cuth. c. viii.
Hh
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Maldui.v.
A. D. G60. the Archbishop Dalfin, otherwise called Annemund or Chaumond, and from
thence he went to Rome, where, being thoroughly instructed in the great
debates of the time concerning Easter and the tonsure, he returned to
Lyons, and after the death or martyrdom of his friend the Archbishop
Dalfin he returned home to his country, and being kindly received by
King Alchfrid, because of his virtue, learning, and attachment to the
Roman usages, he was by this prince put in possession of the monastery of
Rippon, which Eata, Cuthbert, and the rest of the Columbites had chosen
rather to give up than to renounce their own usages.
We have already given a short account of the controversy about Easter.
It is necessary before we proceed, to say something of that about the tonsure.
It chiefly consisted in the form of the tonsure. Those that followed the
usage of Rome and other foreign Churches had their tonsure shorn in a circle;
whereas the tonsure of the Scots was not fully round and did not reach the
hindermost part of the head, and therefore resembled a crescent or semi-
circle; such as Father Mabillon hath caused engrave a model of( a ) in the pic-
ture of Mummoleu, Bishop of Noyon, who had been bred in the Scottish or
Irish monastery of Luxeu. The question at the bottom seems now-a-days
not to have been of that importance which it appeared to be to those of the
seventh or eighth age, and perhaps one reason of the heats about it was that
the party opposite to the Scots, to render their adversaries more odious, attri-
buted the Roman form of tonsure to the institution of S. Peter, and that of
the Scots to Simon Magus. But that origin which was so generally believed
in those days is long since exploded by the learned, who assign a more na-
tural origin to the tonsure, which seems not to have been in use till the
fifth or sixth age. I cannot, I conceive, give a better account of the origin
of the clerical tonsure and habit than in the words of one of the most
esteemed historians of our time and the most versed in the ecclesiastical
discipline.^) "In the first ages of the Church there was no distinction
between the clergy and the laity, as to the hair, the dress, and the whole
exterior ; this would have been to expose oneself needlessly to the perse-
cution, which was always more cruel against the clergy than against the
simple faithful ; and all had a modesty of exterior which would have
become clergymen. The freedom of the Church from persecution pro-
(a) Annal. Bened. torn. i. pp. 528, 529.
^Fleury, Droit Canon, c. v. p. 32. [Opuscules de Fleury ; Institution au Droit
Ecclesiastique, c. v. p. 177. Nismes. 1780.]
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
243
duced no change in this respect ; and more than a hundred years after, A. D. 6f>o.
that is to say in the year 428, the Pope, S. Celestine, testified that the
bishops themselves had nothing in their dress which distinguished them
from the people. All the Latin Christians then wore the ordinary dress
of the Romans, which was long, with the hair very short, and the beard
shaven. The barbarians who ruined the empire were of a figure wholly
different; the dress short and tight, the hair long, some without beard,
some with great beards. The Romans viewed them with horror, and as, at
the time when these barbarians established themselves, all the clergy were
Roman, they carefully preserved their dress, which became the clerical
dress, so that, when the Franks and the other barbarians had become
Christians, those who entered among the clergy had their hair cut, and
assumed the long dress. About the same time, several among the bishops
and the other clergy assumed the dress which the monks then wore, as
most conformed to Christian modesty ; and from this comes, as is believed,
the clerical corona ; for there were monks who shaved the front of the
head to render themselves contemptible." However that be, it appears by
a passage of S. Gregory of Tours, that the tonsure in form of a crown
was already in use in the beginning of the sixth age. And this was the
form of it at Rome, and elsewhere abroad, at the time the controversy about
it arose ; but this form hath been much altered in posterior ages, and at
last this crown, brought into a smaller or larger circle among the clergy
according to the lower or higher degree of Orders they are advanced to ;
whereas the monks or regulars have preserved it more in the ancient large
form. Thus far as to the origin and alterations of it in the usage of Rome.
But I find no distinct account of the true origin of the semi-circular form
of the tonsure, anciently in use among the Scots, and old Britons, and
Irish. And upon the whole, I cannot but join with Ceolfrid in that wise
saying of his, in his letter to Naitan, King of the Picts. "The difference of
tonsure is not hurtful to those whose faith is pure towards God, and their
charity sincere towards their neighbour.' 1 ( a ) For what appears most
reprehensible in the controversy about these ceremonial points is the heat
with which some of the parties carried the matter to schism and breach
of communion, as it appears some of the Scots and Irish did. by the
Archbishop Laurence's letter to Bede ; and the old Britons seem to have
W Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. v. c. 21.
244
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Malduin.
A. D. 661. carried it to the last extremity, as we see by Aldhelm's letter to one of
their kings. C a )
A.D. 661. Amidst these debates happened the death of Finan, Bishop
of the Northumbrians, upon the seventeenth of February, on which day his
festival is marked in our calendars and was always afterwards celebrated
in our churches whilst the Catholic religion stood. His charity and zeal
for promoting the conversion of the Saxons, both in the north among the
Middle Angles, and even as far south as the East Saxons, where Sigebert
their king, whom he baptized, re-established the Christian religion, and
consecrated a bishop to continue in the work of the Gospel, the charity I
say, and zeal of this holy bishop was no doubt abundantly compensated,
and covered before God, the ruggedness that Bede challenges in his temper,
for not yielding to the solicitations of those (among other men of one Ronan
another Scotsman) who pressed him to abandon the Columbite usages, to
which the example of the holy men among whom he had been bred in
Ycolmkill, and particularly of his predecessor, S. Aidan, and of the great
S. Columba, kept him attached.
Finan sat bishop of the Northumbrians ten years, and was succeeded by
Colman, who, as his predecessors had been, was also sent bishop from
Ycolmkill ' b ' by the Scots; among whom, our modern writers, Boece and
Lesly, pretend that he exercised his episcopal functions before his going
into the north of England and after his return from it.
However that be, which I leave upon the credit of these writers, it is
certain that nothing took up more both these bishops Finan and Colman
next to the discharge of their pastoral office, during their abode in England,
than the controversy about Easter solemnity and the form of the ecclesi-
astical tonsure which makes a considerable part of the history of the Church
of the Scots in these times.
A.D. 662. The Abbot Eata, with Cuthbert and the rest of his new con-
gregation at Rippon, being, as we have seen, dismissed by King Alchfrid
because of their attachment to the Columbite usages, and the monastery
of Rippon bestowed upon Wilfrid, they returned to their abbey of Melrose,
and soon after the holy man Boisil, Prior of that abbey, being deceased,
Cuthbert was obliged by the Abbot Eata to accept of that charge.
Cuthbert then being established Prior of Melrose, not only instructed
i»> Ibid, lib v. c. 18.
<»> Ibid. lib. iv. c. 4.
Malduin.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
245
by word and example those of the monastery in the duties of piety and of A. D. 662.
a religious life, but travelled far and near among the inhabitants of those
parts, especially in the parts of Scotland to the south of the friths, preaching
to them and exhorting them to be converted from their wicked conversa-
tion by laying before them the happiness and joys of heaven. For many
of them, even of those that were Christians, in the time of pestilence, in-
stead of addressing God to obtain mercy and deliverance from Him, had re-
course to charms and diabolical enchantments to be preserved from the sick-
ness. Wherefore to remedy this illusion, the holy man, following the example
of his predecessor Boisil, went frequently out of the monastery through the
country, sometimes on horseback, but more frequently on foot, to the vil-
lages around, and preached the way of truth to the inhabitants. For the
custom began in the time of S. Aidan, as we observed already, and in that
of his Columbite disciples continued still among those people, to wit, that
when a priest or other Churchman came into any village, all the people,
upon his advertisement, used joyfully to convene to him to hear the Word,
and with great cheerfulness to obey and practice what they had heard or
learned.
And Cuthbert had such a talent of preaching, such a zeal for moving
and persuading what he preached, such an angelical countenance and pene-
tration, that none could conceal from him even the secrets of their heart,
but all of them made to him an open and voluntary confession of their sins,
being persuaded that nothing could escape his knowledge, nor were they
less careful to perform the penitential works that he enjoined them for the
sins they had confessed. And here Bede and another contemporary writer
to S. Cuthbert, give us in the description of S. Cuthbert's life such a perfect
model of the zeal and labours with which he, and our other Columbite
Churchmen performed their pastoral functions both in Scotland and England
before the canonical division was settled into dioceses and parishes.
The custom of S. Cuthbert, says Bede, was to travel chiefly through
those places, and to preach in those villages and hamlets, which, being the
most remote and situated among the steep and high mountains, were fright-
ful to look at, and by the poverty as well as rudeness of the inhabitants
hindered the access of other doctors or preachers to come at them. But the
holy man was so far from being terrified by these inconveniences that he
used often to leave the monastery and not only to undergo all the toil and
hardships of these barbarous parts, but took such pleasure to cultivate with
246
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Malduin.
A. D. tJ62. the doctrine of salvation these rude inhabitants, that he frequently made
his abode among them, in these mountainous places two or three weeks
and even whole months at a time, in order to inspire and inflame them bv
his preaching and example with the love of heavenly things.
But what chiefly gave so great success to his preaching among our
countrymen to the south of the friths, was not only his labours and zeal for
the salvation of souls but the sanctity of his life accompanied with miracles,
of which Bede relates several wrought by him, whilst he was Prior of Mel-
rose, in his different progresses through those parts of Scotland to preach,
instruct, and baptize the people. Among others, being in desert places and
without all provisions he was miraculously fed, once in Niddisdale, another
time in Teviotdale. Being upon a time at a village of those parts called
Runigham, and lodged in the house of a devout woman, he miraculously
extinguished a violent fire that threatened to consume all the village. This
holy woman whose name was Kenspre had taken care of him and entertained
him from nine years of age till he was a man, and therefore he used to call
her his mother, by which it is evident that S. Cuthbert was a native of those
parts of Scotland, and that is also the opinion of all the learned who have
examined this point. So we may also observe, what Bede and other ancient
authors of his life relate of his preaching and miracles, whilst he was Prior
of Melrose, happened generally all in different places of the south of Scot-
land. Thus it happened that the report of his sanctity and miracles, spread
far and near in those parts, engaged the Abbess of Coldingham to send to
intreat him to come to visit her monastery, and comfort them by his pious
exhortations. This abbess was the famous Ebba, sister to King Oswy,
and daughter to King Ethelfrid. She had been, as we have said, instructed
and baptized with the rest of King Ethelfrid's children among the Scots,
and bred up to the Columbite usages. Upon Aidan's coming to preach to
the Northumbrians in King Oswald's time, she had by him or by his suc-
cessor S. Finan been consecrated to God, and settled Abbess of Coldingham.
This monastery, as we observed, was double, consisting of virgins and church-
men, like that of Streaneshalch. But however, they lived in separate habita-
tions, yet by degrees abuses crept in, and brought upon it the judgments of
heaven, as we shall see in its proper place. S. Cuthbert being come hither
upon the abbess' invitation, abode some days and preached to them the way
of justice, or rules of Christian and religious life, both by his words and ex-
ample. It is observed by Bede, that during his abode in this monastery,
Malduin.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
247
which is upon the sea-side, he used every night, according to his custom, a. D. 662.
while the rest were asleep, to go down to the sea, and persist in prayer
standing in the cold water, till the hour of the canonical office called him
home to the monastery to perform it with the rest of the brethren.
This singular practice of standing in cold water during their private
prayers, which, it is said, was used by S. Patrick, was a penitential exercise
of other holy men in these times. We will see a singular example of it in
the famous penitent of Melrose, our countryman Drythelm, towards the
end of this age.
Meantime the controversy about Easter, and other usages of the Colum-
bites, which had lain dormant in Bishop Aidan's time, had begun to be
agitated with greater heat in that of Bishop Finan, and broke out anew
with more violence during the episcopate of Colman, those that were come
from Kent or France affirming that the Scottish manner of observing Easter
was contrary to the custom of the Universal Church.< a) Among these, one
of the most fierce adversaries of the Scottish usages, was one Ronan, a
Scotsman by birth, but educated in Italy and France, and there, says Bede,
instructed in the true rules of the Easter observation, who encountering
often Bishop Finan, reduced many to the canonical observation of the high
solemnity, or at least to make a more diligent enquiry into the matter.
But his arguings made no impression upon Bishop Finan, but on the con-
trary rather exasperated him, and made him a professed adversary to the
true observation of Easter, Finan being himself a man of a warm temper
and perhaps irritated by the reproofs of an inferior, asRonanwas. James,
formerly deacon of the venerable archbishop Paulinus, kept also the true
and Catholic Easter, with all those that he could reduce to the more correct
way. "Queen Eanfleda and her followers also observed the same, as she had
seen practised in Kent, having with her a Kentish priest that followed the
Catholic mode, whose name was Romanus. Thus it is said to have hap-
pened in those times that Easter was twice kept in one year, and that, when
the king having ended the time of fasting, kept his Easter, the queen and
her followers were still fasting, and celebrating Palm Sunday. This dif-
ference about the observance of Easter, whilst Aidan lived, was patiently
tolerated by all men, as being sensible, that though he could not keep
Easter contrary to the custom of those who had sent him, yet he industri-
Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 25.
248
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Malduin.
A. D. 664. ously laboured to practice all works of faith, piety, and love, according to
the custom of all holy men ; for which reason he was deservedly beloved bv
all, even by those who differed in opinion concerning Easter, and was held
in veneration, not only by indifferent persons, but even by the bishops,
Honorius of Canterbury, and Felix of the East Angles.
" But after the death of Finan, who succeeded him, when Colman, who
was also sent out of Scotland, came to be bishop, a great controversy arose
about the observance of Easter, and the rules of ecclesiastical life. Where-
upon this dispute began naturally to influence the thoughts and hearts of
many, who feared lest having received the name of Christians, they might
happen to run, or to have run, in vain. This reached the ears of King
Oswy and his son Alchfrid ; for Oswy, having been instructed and baptized
by the Scots, and being very perfectly skilled in their language thought
nothing better than what they taught. But Alchfrid, having been instructed
in Christianity by Wilfrid, a most learned man, who had first gone to Rome
to learn the ecclesiastical doctrine, and spent much time at Lyons, with
Dalfin, archbishop of France, from whom also he had received the ecclesi-
astical tonsure, rightly thought this man's doctrine ought to be preferred
before all the traditions of the Scots. For this reason he had also given
him a monastery of forty families, at a place called Rhypum ; which place,
not long before, he had given to those that followed the system of the Scots
for a monastery ; but forasmuch as they afterwards, being left to their choice,
prepared to quit the place rather than alter their opinion, he gave the place
to him, whose life and doctrine were worthy of it.
" Agilbert, bishop of the West Saxons, above mentioned, a friend to
King Alchfrid and to Abbot Wilfrid, had at that time come into the province
of the Northumbrians, and was making some stay among them ; at the re-
quest of Alchfrid, he made Wilfrid a priest in the monastery. He had in
his company a priest whose name was Agatho. The controversy being there
started, concerning Easter, or the tonsure, or other ecclesiastical affairs, it
was agreed, that a synod should be held in the monastery of Streaneshalch,
which signifies the Bay of the Light-house, where the Abbess Hilda, a
woman devoted to God, then presided. The kings, both father and son,
came thither, Bishop Colman with his Scottish clerks, and Agilbert with
the priests Agatho and Wilfrid. James and Romanus were on their side;
but the Abbess Hilda and her followers were for the Scots, as was also
the venerable Bishop Cedd, long before ordained by the Scots, as has been
Maldi'ix.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
249
said above, and he was in that council a most careful interpreter for both a. D. 664..
parties.
" King Oswy first observed, that it behoved those who served one God
to observe the same rule of life ; and as they all expected the same king-
dom in heaven, so they ought not to differ in the celebration of the divine
mysteries; but rather to inquire which was the truest tradition, that the
same might be followed by all; he then commanded his bishop, Colffian,
first to declare what the custom Avas which he observed, and whence it
derived its origin.
"Then Gorman said, — 'The Easter which I keep I received from my
elders, who sent me bishop hither ; all our forefathers, men beloved of
God, are known to have kept it after the same manner ; and that the same
may not seem to any, contemptible or worthy to be rejected, it is the same
which S. John the Evangelist, the disciple beloved of our Lord, with all
the Churches over which he presided, is recorded to have observed.'
" Having said thus much, and more to the like effect, the king com-
manded Agilbert to show whence his custom of keeping Easter was derived,
or on what authority it was grounded. Agilbert answered — ' I desire that
my disciple, the priest Wilfrid, may speak in my stead ; because we both
concur with the other followers of the ecclesiastical tradition that are here
present, and he can better explain our opinion in the English language,
than I can by an interpreter.'
'' Then Wilfrid, being ordered by the king to speak, delivered himself
thus : — ' The Easter which we observe, we saw celebrated by all at Rome,
where the blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul, lived, taught, suffered, and
were buried ; we saw the same done in Italy and in France, when we
travelled through these countries for pilgrimage and prayer. We found the
same practised in Africa, Asia, Egypt, Greece, and all the world, wherever
the Church of Christ is spread abroad, through several nations and tongues,
at one and the same time ; except only these and their accomplices in
obstinacy, I mean the Picts and Britons, who foolishly, in these two
remote islands of the world, and only in part even of them, oppose all the
rest of the universe.'
"When he had so said, Colman answered, 'It is strange that you will
call our labours foolish, the example of so great an apostle, who was
thought worthy to lay his head on our Lord's bosom, when all the world
knows him to have lived most wisely.'
I i
250
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Malduin.
A. D. 664. " Wilfrid replied, 4 Far be it from us to charge John with folly, for he
literally observed the precepts of the Jewish law, whilst the Church still
Judaized in many points, and the apostles were not able at once to cast off
all the observances of the law which had been instituted by God. In
which way, it is necessary that all who come to the faith should forsake
the idols which were invented by devils, that they might not give scandal
to the Jews that were among the Gentiles. For this reason it was that
Paul circumcised Timothy, that he offered sacrifice in the temple, that he
shaved his head with Aquila and Priscilla at Corinth ; for no other ad-
vantage than to avoid giving scandal to the Jews. Hence it was, that
James said to the same Paul, You see, brother, how many thousands of
Jews have believed; and they are all zealous for the law. And yet, at
this time, the Gospel spreading throughout the world, it is needless, nay.
it is not lawful, for the faithful either to be circumcised, or to offer up to
God sacrifices of flesh. So John, pursuant to the custom of the law, be-
gan the celebration of the feast of Easter, on the fourteenth day of the
first month in the evening, not regarding whether the same happened on
a Saturday or any other day. But when Peter preached at Rome, being
mindful that our Lord arose from the dead, and gave the world the hopes
of resurrection, on the first day after the Sabbath, he understood that
Easter ought to be observed, so as always to stay till the rising of the
moon on the fourteenth day of the first moon, in the evening, according
to the custom and precepts of the law, even as John did. And when that
came, if the Lord's day, then called the first day after the Sabbath, was the
next day, he began that very evening to keep Easter, as we all do at this
day. But if the Lord's day did not fall the next morning after the four-
teenth moon, but on the sixteenth or the seventeenth, or any other moon
till the twenty-first, he waited for that, and on the Saturday before, in the
evening, began to observe the holy solemnity of Easter ; thus, it came to
pass, that Easter Sunday was only kept from the fifteenth moon to the
twenty-first. Nor does this evangelical and apostolic tradition abolish the
law, but rather fulfil it ; the command being to keep the passover from
the fourteenth moon, of the first month, in the evening, to the twenty-
first moon, of the same month, in the evening ; which observance all the
successors of S. John in Asia, since his death, and all the Church through-
out the world, have since followed ; and that this is the true Easter, and the
only one to be kept by the faithful, was not newly decreed by the Council
of Nice, but only confirmed afresh ; as the Church history informs us.'
Malduin.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
251
"'Thus, it appears, that you, Colman, neither follow the example of A. D. (it>4.
John as you imagine, nor that of Peter, whose traditions you knowingly
contradict ; and that you neither agree with the Law nor the Gospel in the
keeping of your Easter. For John keeping the paschal time according to
the decree of the Mosaic law, had no regard to the first day after the
Sabbath, which you do not practise, who celebrate Easter only on the first
day after the Sabbath. Peter kept Easter Sunday between the fifteenth
and the twenty- first moon, which you do not, but keep Easter Sunday
from the fourteenth to the twentieth moon ; so that you often begin Easter
on the thirteenth moon, in the evening, whereof neither the Law made any
mention, nor did our Lord, the Author and Giver of the Gospel, on that
day, but on the fourteenth, either eat the old passover in the evening, or
deliver the sacraments of the New Testament, to be celebrated by the
Church in memory of his Passion. Besides, in your celebration of Easter,
you utterly exclude the twenty-first moon, which the Law ordered to be
principally observed. Thus, as I said before, you agree neither with John
nor Peter, nor with the Law nor the Gospel, in the celebration of the
greatest festival.'
" To this Colman rejoined. ' Did Anatolius, a holy man, and much
commended in Church history, act contrary to the Law and the Gospel when
he wrote that Easter was to be celebrated from the fourteenth to the twen-
tieth ? Is it to be believed that our most reverend father Columba and his
successors, men beloved by God, who kept Easter after the same manner,
thought or acted contrary to the Divine writings? Whereas there were
many among them, whose sanctity is testified by heavenly signs and the
working of miracles, whose life, customs, and discipline I never cease to
follow, not questioning their being saints in heaven.'
" ' It is evident,' said Wilfrid, ' that Anatolius was a most holy, learned,
and commendable man, but what have you to do with him since you do not
observe his decrees ? For he, following the rule of truth in his Easter,
appointed a revolution of nineteen years, which either you are ignorant of,
or if you know it, though it is kept by the whole Church of Christ, yet
you despise it. He so computed the fourteenth moon in the Easter of our
Lord, that, according to the custom of the Egyptians, he acknowledged it
to be the fifteenth moon in the evening ; so in like manner he assigned
the twentieth to Easter Sunday, as believing that to be the twenty-first
moon when the sun had set ; which rule and distinction of his it appears
252
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Maldcix.
A. D. 6G4. you are ignorant of, in that you sometimes keep Easter before the full
of the moon, that is on the thirteenth day. Concerning your father Col-
umba and his followers, whose sanctity you say you imitate, and whose
rules and precepts you observe, which have been confirmed by signs from
heaven, I may answer, that when many on the Day of Judgment shall
say unto our Lord that in his name they prophesied and cast out devils
and wrought many wonders, our Lord will reply that He never knew them.
But far be it from me that I say so of your fathers ; because it is more
just to believe what is good than what is evil of persons whom one does
not know. Wherefore I do not deny those to have been God's servants,
and beloved by Him, who with rustic simplicity, but pious intentions, have
themselves loved Him. Nor do I think that such keeping of Easter was
very prejudicial to them, as long as none came to show them a more per-
fect rule ; and yet I do believe that they, if any catholic adviser had come
among them, would have as readily followed his admonitions as they are
known to have kept those commandments of God which they had learned
and knew.
t: But as for you and your companions, you certainly sin, if, having
heard the decrees of the Apostolic See and of the universal Church, and
that the same is confirmed by Holy Writ, you refuse to follow them ; for,
though your fathers were holy, do you think that their small number, in a
corner of the remotest island, is to be preferred before the universal Church
of Christ throughout the world I And if that Columba of yours, (and I may
say ours also, if he was Christ's servant) was a holy man and powerful in
miracles, yet could he be preferred' before the most blessed prince of the
Apostles, to whom our Lord said, ' Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I
will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it ;
and to thee I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven V
'• When Wilfrid had spoken thus, the king said, ' Is it true, Colman,
that, these words were spoken to Peter by our Lord ? ' He answered ' It is
true, O king ! ' Then says he, ' Can you show any such power given to
your Columba ? ' Colman answered, ' None. ' Then added the king, ' Do
you both agree that these words were principally directed to Peter, and
that the keys of heaven were given to him by our Lord \ ' They both an-
swered, ' We do. ' Then the king concluded, ' And I also say unto you,
that he is the door-keeper, whom I will not contradict, but will, so far as I
know and am able, in all things obey his decrees, lest, when I come to the
Malduiv.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
253
gates of the kingdom of heaven there should be none to open them, he A. D. 664.
being my adversary who is proved to have the keys.' The king having
said this, all present, both great and small, gave their assent, and renounc-
ing the more imperfect institution, resolved to conform to that which they
had found to be the better. "( a >
The disputation being ended and the company broken up, Agilbert re-
turned home ; and Colman finding himself neglected, and those of his
party with their usages over-ruled, taking along with him such as would
follow him, that is, those who refused to receive the general calculation of
Easter and form of tonsure (for there was likewise much controversy about
that), went back first to his church of Lindisfarne, and took along with
him all the Scots that he had assembled there, with about thirty English-
men, both the one and the other bred up to the monastic profession ac-
cording to the Columbite discipline, and leaving only some of the brethren
in the monastery, he went straight back to Ycolmkill, whence he had been
sent at first, and there remained some years. Colman carried, likewise,
along with him from Lindisfarne a part of the bones of the most reverend
Bishop Aidan, and left the other part in that church where he had pre-
sided, ordering them to be buried in the chancel. By which we may ob-
serve the respect which the Columbite bishops had for the relics of the
saints. Bede gives us here, upon occasion of Colman's retreat from Lin-
disfarne, the edifying account of the lives and conversation of this holy man
and of the Scottish bishops, his predecessors, and of their Columbite
disciples, particularly of their frugality, detachment, and spirit of poverty :
all which I have already set down in the general description of their lives
and manners. Bede adds that the whole time of the episcopacy of the
Scots in the northern province of the English amounted to thirty years ;
whereof Aidan sat seventeen, Finan ten, and Colman only three years.< b)
It is observable that Bede informs us and repeats more than once, (c > (as
if he had intended to make his readers take particular notice of it) that
upon S. Colman and the Columbites' retreat, the pest, which had begun
before to rage in the South, broke out in these northern parts and carried
off many ; among others Tuda,( d) who, as we will see, was placed bishop of
'*» Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 25.
< M Ibid. lib. iii. c. 26.
W Ibid. lib. iii. c. 27; lib. iv. c. 1.
w Ibid. lib. iii. c. 27.
254
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Maldiin.
a. D. (>64. Lindisfarne in Colman' s room ; and after Tuda's death the episcopal see
of Lindisfarne was fourteen years without a proper bishop. < a >
Meantime the issue of the conference of Streaneshaloh, and success of
Wilfrid's victory, besides the retreat of Colman, made other great altera-
tions as to the question of Easter and the tonsure, in all the northern parts
of England, where, it appears, the generality of churchmen of all degrees
came over to the common practice of the Churches abroad. Among others
Bishop Cedd forsook the usages of the Scots, and being returned to his
monastery died of the pest this same year. Eata, also, Abbot of Melrose,
with Cuthbert, the Prior, and the other religious of that abbey, forsook also
those usages of the Scots that were opposite to the general practice of the
Church, to wit, those that concerned the calculation of Easter and the form
of the tonsure ; but continued to observe the Columbite rule and discipline
upon other heads, since it appears that even long after this, when those of
Lindisfarne had received first the rule of Eennet, they continued to observe
that of S. Columba together with it : as we find the ancient monasteries of
France, founded by S. Columban, after they had received S. Bennet's rule,
continued for a long time to observe along with it that of S. Columban.
To Colman, in the see of Lindisfarne, succeeded Tuda, who had been
instructed and ordained among the southern Scots, and, according to the
custom of that province, having the ecclesiastical tonsure, and observing the
catholic time of Easter. He was a good and religious man, and taught both
by word and example what belonged to faith and truth. But he governed
this Church only a short time, and died this same year of the pest. Bede
continues : Eata that was Abbot of Melrose, a most reverend and meek
man, was transferred to Lindisfarne and settled abbot over the brethren that
chose to remain in that Church when the Scots went away. This, they say,
Colman, being upon his departure, requested and obtained of King Oswy,
who much loved Bishop Colman because of his singular discretion, for Eata
was one of Aidan's twelve children of the English nation whom he made
choice of, when he was first made bishop, to be educated and instructed in
( hrist. Eata, then, being translated to Lindisfarne brought Cuthbert
along with him, and established him Prior of this monastery; that he
might there also, by the authority of a Superior and his own example,
instruct the brethren in the observation of a regular discipline.' b >
l,) Anglia Sacra, torn. i. p. 693.
tb) Vita Cuih. c. xvi. Hist. Eccles. lib. if. c. 27.
Malduin.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
255
The holy man in this station was a perfect model of Superiors, particu- a. D. t>64.
larly of communities, by accompanying his zeal for the reformation of ab-
uses and advancement of those under his charge with a singular prudence,
uniformity, and unwearied patience and meekness, of all which, the ac-
count that Bede has left us deserves the serious attention of all that are
engaged in like employments.
There were, says Bede, in the monastery some who were attached to
their imperfect old customs, and preferred them to the regular discipline
that the holy man endeavoured to establish among them. These he en-
deavoured to gain over by his meekness and patience, and by his daily ex-
hortations to bring them up to a more regular and perfect way of living.
And it often happened in the assembly of the brethren, whilst he ex-
horted them to the observance of the rule, that some of the more refractorv
having, by their unbecoming language and contradiction, as it were wea-
ried his patience, he would on a sudden rise up and with a sedate and calm
countenance and disposition of mind dismiss the assembly and retire. And
yet the very next day, on a new assembly, as if he had met with no con-
tradiction the day before, would, with great calmness, resume the same
purpose and repeat to them the same charitable admonition and exhorta-
tions, and thus by little and little he brought them all to reason and to
comply with what he desired. For he chiefly excelled in the virtue of
patience, and was invincible in bearing with courage all adversities of body
or mind, preserving always an equanimity of temper and a serenity of
countenance, even amidst the most grievous and cross accidents, by which
it evidently appeared that it was by the inward consolation of the Holy
Spirit that he surmounted and contemned all exterior pressures.
Nor was his zeal for the salvation of souls confined to those in the mo-
nastery, but how soon he had settled in it good order and exact discipline,
he continued on here what he had begun at Melrose, to make excursions
through the neighbouring countries, and by his frequent visits and exhorta-
tions to excite the inhabitants — among the meanest of the vulgar — to as-
pire and use all their endeavours to arrive at eternal happiness. And being
now indued with the gift of miracles, he restored by his instant prayers
to their wonted health, many that were tormented with different distem-
pers. He delivered also some that were possessed with unclean spirits,
not only while present to them by his touch, command, and exorcising, but
even when at a distance from them he restored them by his prayers, or fore-
256
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Maldiin-
A. 1). t>64. told their being cured. Among others, one was the wife of Hildmer, a de-
vout man, who was prefect to King Egfrid. He continued during all the
time he was Prior of Lindisfarne, that is ten or twelve years, in the labo-
rious exercises of making frequent circuits through the adjacent countries,
especially in the southern parts of Scotland, instructing, baptising, and ad-
ministrating the sacraments to the inhabitants ; but his heart being daily
more and more set upon the love of a solitary life, at last he obtained li-
cence of his abbot, Eata, to separate himself by degrees from all unneces-
sary conversation with men, and retired to the island of Farne, where he
led a most mortified and penitential life in prayer, fasting, and watching,
and was often sustained in a miraculous manner. < a >
To return to the other alterations in the state of the Church that fol-
lowed upon the Conference of Streaneshalch, Wilfrid, who had been the chief
actor in it, was chosen bishop of Northumberland, by the mutual consent
both of the princes, clergy, and people. Says Eddius, in his Life ; ( bi And
as to his consecration, Wilfrid, excepting against receiving it, either from
British or Scottish bishops, as being either Quarto-deciraans, or ordained
by C^uarto-decimans, upon his earnest request he was sent into France, by
King Alchfrid, who reigned jointly with his father, Oswy, and recommen-
ded Wilfrid to the King of France, in order to receive his consecration
from the Gallican bishops. It is worth observing, that the name of Quar-
to-decimans, that Eddius makes Wilfrid give to the Scottish and British
bishops, cannot be understood, at least as to the Scots, as if they had cele-
brated Easter always on the fourteenth of the moon, whatever day of the
week it happened (which was properly the error of the Quarto-decimans
of Asia), since Wilfrid himself, in the Conference of Streaneshalch owns, as
we have seen, that the Scots always celebrated Easter upon Sunday, and
that their error or mistake lay chiefly in this, that when the fourteenth of
the moon happened upon a Sunday, they did not transfer it to the following
Sunday, as was the custom of the other Churches, but celebrated Easter
that day, and so upon the same day with the Jews. By which expression
of Wilfrid, if Eddius has not mistaken his meaning, we see how far the heat
of dispute will sometimes drive otherwise great men to render their adver-
saries' opinion odious. Secundo — We may observe here, that at this time
there were other Scottish as well as British bishops besides Colman. " Sunt
w Vita Cuth. cc. xvii — .xxii.
b) Eddius, c. xi.
Malduin.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
257
hie in Britannia multi episcopi . . • ut Britones et Scoti," a > as, no A. D. 665.
doubt, there were both among the Scots and Picts.
A. D. 665, "Wilfrid being arrived in France, was there consecrated at
Compiegne, with great pomp, as Bede and Eddius describe it.( b) But upon
Wilfrid's not returning home so soon as was expected, King Oswy pitched
upon Ceadda, a disciple of S. Aidan, who had succeeded his brother, the
holy Bishop Cedd, in the government of the Abbey of Lastingham, and
sent him to be consecrated Bishop of York, to the South of Britain, where,
finding the see of Canterbury vacant by the death of Archbishop Deusde-
dit, Ceadda received his consecration from Wini, who governed the bishop-
rick of London, assisted by British bishops. So, upon Wilfrid's return,
finding the see of York full, he was obliged to return to his Abbey of B,ip-
pon, to expect better times ; being, in the meantime, frequently invited by
"Wulfhere, King of the Mercians, and by Egbert, King of Kent, he went and
performed the episcopal functions in their kingdoms.
And Ceadda, being thus consecrated Bishop of York, began immedi-
ately to apply himself to promote the doctrine of the Church, accompany-
ing his preaching by the practice of chastity, humility, and continency, and
set times for lecture or study ; to travel about, not on horseback, but after
the manner of the apostles, on foot, to preach the Gospel in towns and
through the country — in the villages, cottages, and castles. For he had
been one of Aidan's disciples as well as Bishop Cedd and his two other
brothers, and all of them regulated their actions and behaviour upon Aidan's
example and instructions, by which it appears that though Ceadda and the
other Saxon Churchmen, bred up in the Columbite monasteries, had, for
peace sake, after the Conference of Streaneshalch, conformed to the common
discipline of the Church, concerning Easter and the tonsure, yet they con-
tinued in other matters, especially in their way of living and preaching, to
observe the Columbite discipline.
Meantime, we may observe, by this disposition of ecclesiastical matters
concerning Wilfrid and Ceadda that King Oswy, notwithstanding of his
acquiescing in the universal practice of foreign Churches concerning Easter
and the tonsure at the Conference of Whitby, which gave occasion to
Bishop Colman's retreat, and to the other alterations that ensued in the
Northumbrian Church, yet he still retained a warm side to the Columbites,
(I> Ibid. c. xii.
< b) Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 28. Eddius, c. xii.
K k
258
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Maldcin.
A. D. 66.5. as he did to Bishop Colman, himself in particular, as Bede expressly
remarks, and, therefore, favoured them in all that did not concern these two
controverted heads of discipline ; and it would appear also, that he enter-
tained some grudge against Wilfrid, as having given occasion to those
alterations, and though, at his death, according to Bede, King Oswy was
perfectly reconciled to Wilfrid, yet it would appear by what we shall meet
under his reign, that his son King Egfrid inherited the indisposition of
his father against Bishop Wilfrid.
At the same time, we may observe all over the fondness and attach-
ment that King Oswy's son Alchfrid, King of Deira, had for Wilfrid,
and, as no doubt, the preference that the king his father gave to Ceadda,
and the little regard he had to Wilfrid in not waiting his return from
France, could not but grieve Alchfrid; all this could not fail of raising
some dissension and grudges betwixt the father and son, which was one
of the bad effects of the expulsion of the Scots Columbites from the
Northumbrians who owed to them their Christianity, and seemed to
deserve, that greater regard had been had to the sanctity of their lives
which Bede so much commends, and to the signal services they had ren-
dered to these northern inhabitants of England. But I would be very
loath to impute, as Fordun does,( a ) to the jealousy or envy of the English
Churchmen, the opposition and contradiction that obliged Bishop Colman
and the Columbites to leave England and return home. However, as to
Wilfrid's fast friend King Alchfrid, after this discussion we hear no more
of him, and it appears by his younger brother Egfrid's succeeding im-
mediately to King Oswy, that King Alchfrid died in his father's time.
A.D. 657. To Garnard, King of the Picts, succeeded his brother
Drest or Durst, and reigned seven years. The same year Bishop Colman,
who after his retreat from his bishoprick in Northumberland to Ycolmkill,
had abode tiil now, that is three years, in that Abbey or among the Scots;
for it appears by Bede,( b ) that he left Northumberland, A.D. 664, and
went to Ycolmkill whence he had been at first sent bishop to the Nor-
thumbrians, and by the Chronicle of Ulster it appears that he went not
from Ycolmkill till A.D. 667,( c ) and carried along with him part of the
relics of the Saints which he had brought from Lindisfarne, as we observed,
(a) Fordun, lib. iii. c. 2.
(b) Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 4.
(tJ Ussher, Ant. Brit. p. 499. Bed. not. Smith, p. 146.
Malduin.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
259
Colman being arrived with his disciples in Ireland, retired into a little a. D. 667.
island to the westward called Inisbofind, that is, the isle of the white calf.
But shortly after, a dissension happening betwixt the Scots and English,
Colman left his Scottish disciples in possession of the monastery of Inis-
bofind, and carried the English along with him to a place called Mayo,
where he founded for them another monastery which continued to flourish
in regular discipline till Bede's time. According to the same Chronicle
of Ulster, Bishop Colman returned back to the monastery of Inisbofind,
where he had settled his Scottish disciples, and there continued till his
death, which happened A.D. 675.
A.D. 669. Theodore, a Grecian by birth, and a very learned man,
was consecrated bishop at Rome, and sent to Britain, where he arrived
the next year, to fill the archiepiscopal see of Canterbury, which had
been vacant four years. Theodore, soon after his arrival, made a pro-
gress through England, being accompanied by the Abbot Adrian sent
along with him from Rome ; and they were most willinglyO) heard and
entertained by all persons. He everywhere taught the right rule of life,
and the canonical observation of Easter. He was likewise the first
archbishop, to whom all the English Church submitted itself. And in-
asmuch as both Theodore himself and the Abbot Adrian were perfectly
skilled as well in sacred as in secular literature, having a numerous corps
of disciples, there daily flowed from them, says Bede, rivers of saving
knowledge for watering the hearts of their hearers. They also delivered
to them the arts of ecclesiastical poetry, astronomy, and arithmetic.
From that time they began in all the English Churches to learn ecclesias-
tical music. In a word, Bede tells that there were never happier times
than these since the English came to Britain. He adds, that Theodore
visiting all parts, ordained bishops in proper places, and with their assis-
tance corrected such things as he found faulty.
Among others, he challenged the holy Bishop Ceadda (who at that
time, as we have seen, filled the metropolitan see of York), and objected
to him that he had not been duly consecrated. The ground of this
quarrel was probably that Bishop Ceadda had been consecrated by Wini
and other bishops that did not follow the canonical form of Easter, or
rather that he was ordained to a see to which Wilfrid had been previously
Cl) Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 2.
260
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Maldcin.
A. D. 669. elected. However, this holy man Ceadda answered Theodore's challenge
with so great humility, that it surprised and satisfied him. If you know,
said Ceadda to him, that I have not entered into this bishoprick aright,
I willingly depart from the office, as having never thought myself worthy
of it ; but though unworthy, it was only out of obedience that I yielded
to receive it. The Archbishop overcome with this humble answer, replied
that it was not fit that he should quit the episcopal office, and therefore he
again perfected his ordination after the Catholic manner, that is, he sup-
plied any ceremony that might have been wanting according to the Roman
rules ; after which, Ceadda being now at liberty, retired according to his
own wishes to his monastery of Lastingham, where he had not remained
long, when upon the death of Jaruman, Bishop of the Mercians, Wulf-
here their king, requested the Archbishop to appoint a bishop over his
subjects, he would not ordain a new bishop, but desired King Oswy that
Ceadda who was living quietly in his monastery might be given them for
their bishop, (a) he being now without an episcopal see ; for Wilfrid, as
we said, had been possessed of that of York and of all the Northumbrians,
and even of the Picts, says Bede, as far as the empire of Oswy reached,
that is, in the meaning of Bede, of those Picts who dwelt upon the south
side of the friths, who, according to Bede, had been for some years in a
kind of subjection to the more powerful Saxon monarchs.
Ceadda being thus appointed bishop of the Mercians, placed his
episcopal seat at Lichfield, and took care to administrate his pastoral
charge with great perfection of life, according to the example of the
ancient fathers, that is, of the Columbite bishops, especially of S. Aidan,
and accordingly following their example, he used to make his visits on
foot; which the Archbishop Theodore observing and considering the
extent of his diocese, and how precious his health and life was to the
Church, he commanded him to ride whensoever he had a long journey to
make, which Ceadda being very unwilling to do out of the spirit of mor-
tification, the Archbishop himself lifted him up to his horse, because he
found he was a holy man, and thus he made to Ceadda a kind of reparation
for his harsh dealing towards him before he knew his true worth. The
other particulars of Ceadda's holy and happy life may be seen in Bede at
more length. < b > He died in the year 672.
W Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 3.
(b) Hist. Eccles. ibid.
Malduin.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
261
About this time Cuminius Albus, Abbot of Ycolmkill, died after A. 1). 669.
twelve years' administration. We have already observed that he was
author of the first account we have of S. Columba's life. He was suc-
ceeded by Failbeus, of whom Adamnan (a) makes mention as being his
immediate predecessor. Failbeus governed ten years. This same year,
669, died Malduin, King of the Scots. To him succeeded Ferchard,
Second of that name, and twelfth king, surnamed Fada, that is, the long,
son of Ferchard the First : of whom afterwards. All our ancient Chronicles
give him twenty-one years of a reign, and place his reign after Malduin's,
and not before it as the moderns have done. The next year, 670, died
Oswy, King of Northumberland. Bede relates that, in his last sickness,
he bore so great affection to the Roman and Apostolical usages, that had
lie recovered, he was resolved to go in person to Rome, and there to end
his days at the holy places, having entreated Bishop Wilfrid to be his
conductor in that journey. (b)
To King Oswy succeeded his son Egfrid. But it is of some impor-
tance towards setting in due light the history of these times, to observe
that besides this Egfrid, Oswy had two other elder sons, called Alchfrid
and Aldfrid, who, because of the resemblance of their names, are by
modern writers frequently confounded together, though they are in reality
entirely different, and distinguished by their birth, characters, inclinations,
and stations, and by all the marks that two brothers can be distinguished
one from another. Alchfrid was eldest and lawful son to King Oswy,
and his father gave him off a portion of his kingdom (it is like, Deira),
to govern by him, and so he had the title of king during his father's life-
time, but did not survive him. He was the great friend, patron, and pro-
tector of Wilfrid. In his favour he took back from Eata and the Colum-
bites the monastery of Rippon, and bestowed it upon Wilfrid ; he was
also a great stickler for him at the conference of Streaneshalch, and pro-
bably died soon after ; at least we hear no more of King Alchfrid after
that meeting.
Aldfrid was only a natural son to King Oswy, and upon his father's
death, out of apprehension or jealousy of his brother Egfrid, who was
younger and succeeded, he was forced to leave the country, and retired to
Ycolmkill, where he had his education among the Scots, with whom for
,a) Adamnan. lib. i. c. 3.
(b) Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 5.
262
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Ferchard II.
A. D. 670. that reason he ever afterwards entertained an amicable intercourse, as we
will see, and particularly with Adamnan the Abbot.
I must not omit to take notice here of so rare an example of the love
of virginal chastity, that the like is scarce to be met with in Church
history, especially it being a question of a sovereign Princess, and of
matter that passed in a monastery of Scotland. The fact is related bv
15ede. This King Egfrid, who succeeded to his father Oswy, King of
Xorthumbria, had espoused Etheldred, daughter of Anna, King of the
East Angles. This princess had been before married to another prince
called Tondbert, and he dying soon after the marriage, left her a virgin.
Accordingly she resolved to persevere in the same resolution, and being
married again to Egfrid lived twelve years with him, and though he knew
that she loved him beyond all others, yet such was her love to virginity,
by an extraordinary gift of God, that he could never prevail to obtain her
consent to live with him as married persons, and at last, after her perse-
verant solicitations, she obtained leave of him to retire to a monastery,
which accordingly having granted at last with great reluctance, she entered
the Abbey of Coldingham in Scotland, under the government of her aunt
S. Ebba, and was afterwards made Abbess of another monastery, Ely, where
she died and was buried ; and as a token how acceptable her conduct was
to God, Bede testifies that her body remained uncorrupted, and makes an
eloge of her in verse as well as in prose. (a)
This Ebba, Abbess of Coldingham, mentioned here, was daughter to
Ethelfrid. King of the Northumbrians ; and after his defeat and slaughter,
she had with the rest of his children fled to the Scots, as has been else-
where related, and being there instructed, baptised, and educated in the
Christian Faith, upon her brother Oswald's recovering his kingdom, she
came back with the rest of the royal family of the Northumbrians, during
the time that S. Aidan was bishop, when by the fervour of the spirit of
the perfection of Christianity, inspired to these northern inhabitants by
the preaching of S. Aidan and our other Columbite bishops, religious,
and churchmen, persons of the best families, made their nobility consist
in devoting themselves wholly to the service of Christ. At that time
many congregations both of men and women were spread through those
parts of the island, severally embracing the spiritual warfare of our Lord,
W Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c c. 19, 20.
Fercqard II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
263
yea sometimes in the same place, persons of both sexes, men and virgins. A. i). 670.
under the government of one spiritual father or one spiritual mother,
armed with the sword of the Spirit, did exercise the combats of chastity
against the powers of darkness enemies thereto. Such was the monastery
of the famous Hilda at Streaneshalch or Whitby. The institute and practice
of these was imitated by S. Ebba, who in the flower of her youth, for the
love of the Son of God, contemned whatsoever was great or desirable in
the world, preferred the service of our Lord to secular nobility, spiritual
poverty to riches, and voluntary abjection to honours.
Her first monastery is thought to have been a place called from her
Ebbacester upon Derwentwater in the bishoprick of Durham, and from
thence she was called to that of Coldingham in Scotland, in a place named
by Bede the city of Colud (Coludi urbs)/ a - ) There she had the charge of
a numerous congregation of men and women who had separate habitations,
yet contiguous one to another, who, all united in one holy profession under
the Columbite rule given them by S. Aidan, or S. Finan, with great joy
and comfort, lived under her direction a long time with great regularity.
It was into her monastery that the famous princess Etheldred retired
and became her disciple, submitting herself to the rudiments of so great
a mistress. S. Cuthbert also used, as we have seen, to visit S. Ebba;
and for the instruction of those under her care of the one and other sex,
he used to make for some days abode in the monastery, and had his
instructions been carefully observed, the relaxation of discipline which
happened in this monastery, even in S. Ebba's time, and the calamitv
that ensued after her death upon the inhabitants of that monastery, had,
no doubt, been prevented. But of that afterwards in its proper place.
A.D. 673. Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, had his first council
of all England at Hertford, in which he endeavoured to settle Church
discipline according to the ancient canons. I take notice the rather of it,
that the canons of this council became a common rule of discipline of the
Church of the Saxons, for the bishops, the clergy, and monks. We sec
by it that each bishop had his distinct district or diocese, and that it was
resolved to augment the number of dioceses in proportion to that of the
faithful. It is, also, to this archbishop that the first distribution of
England into parishes is ascribed/ b) and it is certain otherwise, that
(a > Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 19.
(b > Spelman, Concil. torn. i. p. 152. Bed. Smith, p. 189.
264
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Ferchaud II.
A. U. 674. Theodore being one of the most learned of the bishops of his time,
especially in the knowledge of the canons and discipline of the Church,
put a new and more regular order in the Church of the Saxons, and
rendered it more conformable to the ancient canons and to the best ordered
Churches abroad.
A.D. 674. Happened the death of Drest or Durst, the sixth of that
name, and fifty-eighth king of the Picts. We have an account of the
occasion of his death from Eddius,' a > the writer of S. Wilfrid's Life,
where he recounts the prosperous successes that King Egfrid's enterprises
were attended with, in the first years of his reign, whilst he favoured
Bishop Wilfrid, but set down, as is all the rest of the work, more in an
oratorian style (full of bitterness against Wilfrid's adversaries, and eloges
of his friends), than in that of a historian.
Thus then he goes on to relate King Egfrid's successes against the
Picts. In the first years of his reign (that is, about this year 674, as
appears by the circumstances of the time), whilst his affairs were not as
yet fully settled, the Picts resolved to make use of the opportunity before
King Egfrid's power increased, to shake off the subjection under whicli
the Picts to the south of the friths had been brought by the powerful
King Oswy his father, assembled a great army from their northern
habitations to attack him with great ardour and fierceness. Which how
soon King Egfrid was informed of, he instantly sent out against them a
disciplined body of cavalry under the command of Bernhoeth, a courage-
ous general, who having engaged battle with that undisciplined multitude,
made so great a slaughter of them that two rivers, says Eddius, were filled
with the bodies of the slain, and pursued the rest in their flight so nar-
rowly, that great numbers were taken and remained in captivity under the
Saxon yoke till the day that King Egfrid himself was overcome and killed
by the Picts, A.D. 685 : that is, this subjection lasted about ten years,
when the Picts, under their next king had full revenge of their Saxon
enemies. Among others of the Picts slain in this battle was their king
Durst the Sixth as we said. His successor was the valiant King Brude or
Bridei, one of the most powerful monarchs of Britain in his time : he
was the son of Bili, and fourth king of the name of Bridei, and fifty-ninth
king of the Picts, and reigned twenty-one years.
This same year, 674, the famous monastery of Weremouth or Jarrow,
C»i Vita Wilf. c. xix.
Ferchakd II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
265
was founded by Benedict Biscop, who was the first that established the A. D. 675.
rule of S. Benedict in the monasteries, and from thence chiefly as well
as by the zeal of Bishop Wilfrid, it was propagated by degrees through
other monasteries in England. This same Abbot Benedict Biscop, a very
active and industrious person, introduced glass work first to the island.
He also brought along with him from France, architects for building of
churches according to the rules of the art of architecture, grown in de-
suetude in the island since the Romans left it.
A.D. 675. According to the Chronicle of Ulster, quoted by Bishop
Ussher, W Colman (otherwise called Columbian), formerly Bishop of the
Northumbrians, died among his Scottish disciples, in his monastery of
Inisbofind, whither (after he had settled that of Mayo for his Saxon
disciples), he had come back to pass the rest of his days in prayer, fasting,
l'etreat, and in the exercises of religion. His memory was honoured in
Scotland by an annual festival upon the eighteenth of February, the day
of his death, as appears by the Kalendars of our Churches. We shall
consider in its proper place the stories that our modern writers relate of
Bishop Colman.
About this time, the holy man Cuthbert, Prior of Lindisfarne, retired
to the solitary island of Fame to lead an anchoritic life. A.D. 678, a dis-
sension falling out betwixt King Egfrid and Wilfrid, Archbishop of York,
by the instigation chiefly of Queen Ermenburga, wife to King Egfrid,
Wilfrid was removed from his seat, no doubt with the concurrence of
Archbishop Theodore, who, in pursuance of the canon of the Council of
bishops, in the province of York, at the same time ordained Bosa Bishop
of the Deirians, whose seat was at York, and Eata for the Bernicians,
having his Cathedral at Lindisfarne, whereof he had been settled Abbot.
The reason given of this multiplication of bishops, was the decree of the
Council of Hertford, and the too great extent of the diocese of York.
There was another no less important reason, to wit, the order of Pope
Gregory I., to augment to the number of twelve, the suffragans of York,
in proportion to the increase of the number of the faithful in these parts,
which was by this time come to pass, chiefly by the zeal and labours of the
Scots Columbites, or those ordained and sent by them. But it appears not
that, either Theodore or Wilfrid minded upon that decree of the Pope, or
(i) Ant. Brit. p. 499.
Ll
i>66
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Fekchard II.
A. D. 678. thus, looked upon it as obsolete. And we see, by frequent examples in the
history of Britain, that the decrees of Rome, in matters of discipline,
were not looked upon as binding, but in as far as they were conformable
to the received discipline of each Church.
However, Wilfrid being thus, by secular power, countenanced by
Archbishop Theodore's authority, forced from his see, went first into
Friesland, thence through France to Ecme, to crave justice of the Apo-
stolical see to which he had appealed for redress of his grievances. He
met with many clangers and difficulties in his voyage, but at last arrived
safe at Rome, whilst Agatho, the Pope, was holding a Council of one hun-
dred and twenty-five bishops, against the Monothelite heresy. < a) Wilfrid's
arrival had been prevened by a message from Archbishop Theodore,
against him. However, he was himself at last called into the Council to be
heard, and his cause being tried, and being acquitted, he was requested to
make a confession and declaration, as well of his own faith, as of that of
the several Churches of the island of Britain from whence he was come.
Upon which, he made this declaration, which, says Bede, was inserted in
the acts of this Roman Council in the following terms.
Wilfrid, the beloved of God, Bishop of the city of York, appealing to
the Apostolical see in his cause, and being by that authority acquitted of
certain and uncertain things, and seated in judgment with the other one
hundred and twenty -five bishops in the Synod, made confession of the
true and Catholic Faith, and subscribed the same in the name of all the
Northern parts, to wit, the Isles of Britain and Ireland, which are in-
habited by the nations of the English and Britons, and by those of the
Scots and Picts, and in all their names made confession of the true and
Catholic Faith, and corroborated it with his subscription.
By this authentic act and solemn declaration, made before the Pope
and Council, we see, beyond all rational doubt, the conformity of all the
inhabitants of Britain in general, and of the Scots and Picts in particular,
in all matters of Catholic Faith, with the Church of Rome and other
Churches of the Occident, assembled by their deputies in this Council at
Rome. And no body could be better informed of the faith and doctrine
of the Churches than Bishop Wilfrid, nor if the circumstances of the
time be considered, any body more ready in all appearance to accuse, in
* Red. Hist. Ecclcs. lib. v. c. 19.
Ferchakd II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
L 267
particular the Scots in Britain, and especially the Columbites, of errors, in A. 1). 678.
case they had dissented from the Roman and Catholic Church in any
matter of faith, especially considering that the two bishops, whom in the
Roman Synod he accused Theodore of having intruded on his diocese,
were both bred Columbites, to wit, Bosa, created Bishop of York in his
room, having been bred up in the Columbite monastery of Whitby or
Streaneshalch, < a > and Eata made Bishop of Lindisfarne, one of the twelve
chief disciples of S. Aidan. So that we have the orthodoxy, or confor-
mity with the Catholic Church in all matters of faith, of the Scots and
Picts in general, and Columbites in particular, avouched and confirmed by
one of the greatest adversaries they had at this time, whose interest it was
to have found them guilty.
However, as to the sentence obtained by "Wilfrid, in his favour from
the Pope and this Council, Theodore who had been made Archbishop,
and sent to Britain by the Apostolic see, had so little regard to it, that far
from putting it in execution, we shall just now see that he acted just a
contrary part, and gave "Wilfrid new subjects of dissatisfaction, almost upon
the back of the favourable sentence he had obtained. And we do not find
that Rome enacted any penalty against Theodore for his apparent dis-
obedience. So true is it, what we have already observed, that in those
days, for fear of augmenting of troubles, or giving occasion of schism, the
Apostolical see, even after giving its judgment upon matters of discipline,
referred to its tribunal, left the execution of its sentence to the prudence
of the chief pastors upon the place, to be followed out in the manner the
circumstances of persons and places required, towards cementing and pre-
serving the peace of the Church, or procuring the essential advantage of
the faithful, which visibly in the present case demanded an augmentation
of the number of bishopricks in those Northern parts to the south side of
the Friths. For supposing that the succession of the Bishops of Glasgow
and Whithern continued on to these times, which it is very probable they
did, though we have no distinct account of the series of the bishops ; yet
it is visible, that the province of York, as well as other countries of the
Saxons, being by the labours of our Scottish bishops, Aidan, Finan, and
Colman, generally all become Christians, the order of the canons required
an augmentation of bishops, in proportion to the multiplication of the
1 Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 23.
LIS
268
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Ferchard II.
A. I). 678. faithful and extent of the country. These, or such motives of his conduct,
in regard to Bishop "Wilfrid, no doubt the Archbishop Theodore sent to
Rome by his deputies; and probably they were the chief reason why the
Pope with the Council, though he acquitted Bishop Wilfrid of any accu-
sations against his person, yet they did neither censure the conduct of
Theodore, nor repeal the decree he had made for the multiplication of
bishopricks, according as he and his Council found it necessary for the
benefit of the faithful. The conduct of the Apostolic see towards Theodore
on this occasion, and its forbearance with him, is a full answer to all that
Mr. Collier alleges, by which he endeavours to show, that Aidan and our
other Columbite bishops, their not submitting to the decrees of Rome about
Easter, was a sign they did not own its authority ; for nobody can doubt
of Theodore's subjection to the Apostolic see, notwithstanding of his
resistance to its decrees, in the case of "Wilfrid.
A. J). 679. Failbeus, Abbot of Ycolmkill, after ten years of govern-
ment, dying, the famous Adamnan, author of S. Columba's Life, succeeded,
and ruled that Abbey twenty-five years. Of him we have already given
account, and shail have as yet, more than once occasion to mention him.
I shall only take notice here, that he is entirely to be distinguished from
another Adamnan, of whom afterwards, an exemplary penitent, who lived
at Coldingham, and foretold the punishment which was to fall upon that
place.
A. D. 680. Died the famous Hilda, foundatrix and Superior of Streanes-
halch or Whitby, and though nobody stood up more for the Columbites
than this Abbess, yet none of her sex has a greater character from Bede,
for he tells us she was a woman of such eminent prudence, that not only
men of ordinary condition, but kings and princes also used to consult her
and follow her counsel. fa) Her monastery was double, and she had church-
men as well as virgins, in separate habitations, under her government ; and
such care she had to make her subjects diligent in reading the Scriptures,
and exercising works of piety, that there were very many persons found
there very fit for the ecclesiastical degree, and to serve at the altar. In a
word, we have seen, says Bede, out of that one monastery no less than five
bishops, all of them men of singular merit and sanctity; their names are
Bosa, Hedda, Oftfor, John, and Wilfrid the younger. For her piety and
w Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 23.
Ferchard II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
269
other excellent qualities, famous even among persons at a great distance A. D. 686.
from her, she was generally called by the name of Mother ; and her life was
not only a pattern to those that lived with her, but the fame of her pru-
dence and virtue, became the instrument of the conversion and salvation to
many that lived afar off from her.
Before her death, she was visited for the space of six years, with sharp
and long infirmities, during all which time she never ceased to give thanks
to her Maker, and publicly or privately to instruct the flock committed to
her charge. In the midst of which prayers and exhortations having
received the viaticum of the most holy Communion, she passed from death
to life on the seventeenth of November, on which day her festival was cele-
brated in England.
I have dwelt the longer on this holy virgin, because that besides the
eminent sanctity of her life, she not only governed her monastery by the
Columbite rule, but distinguished herself all along by her attachment to our
Columbite bishops, Aidan, Finan, and Colman ; and though upon the
other Saxon Christians, after the famous Conference held in her monastery,
embracing the general practice of the Churches abroad as to the festival
of Easter, it is like she also prudently yielded, yet she remained in all
other respects attached to the spirit and discipline established in her
monastery by S. Aidan and the other Columbite Scottish bishops. This
was no doubt the source of the only blemish observed by the Saxon writers
in Hilda's life, to wit, a perseverant indisposition to Bishop Wilfrid, the
greatest adversary of the Columbites.
In effect, not only did S. Hilda declare herself against Wilfrid, A.D.
664, in the controversy about Easter, and was one of the chief defenders
of Bishop Colman and the Columbite cause, but Malmesbury gives us a
letter of Pope John VI., A.D. 705, to King Ethelred, by which that Pope
informs us that the Abbess Hilda was one of those that wrote against
Iiishop Wilfrid to the Apostolic see. But she was not the only one, since
Malmesbury marks in the same place, that Theodore and Berthwald,
Archbishops of Canterbury, John of Beverley, and Bosa of York, all of
them acknowledged for Saints, wrote to the Pope against Wilfrid (»). S.
Hilda was succeeded in the government of the monastery of Whitby, bv
Elfled, sister to King Egfrid, who had been by her father, King Oswy,
consecrated to God in that monastery, as we have seen from her infancy.
(I) Malmesb. fol. 151, et Eddius, c. lii.
270
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Febghabd II.
A. D. 681. A. D. 681. That is three years after Bishop Wilfrid's expulsion, or
rather retreat, and notwithstanding the sentence passed in his favour in
the Roman Council, Theodore continuing in the same resolution of aug-
menting the number of the bishopricks in England, which, it must be
owned, was very canonical in itself, far from laying aside those whom he
had ordained in the province of York, augmented their number by con-
secrating Tunbert for the seat of Hexham, the Bishop Eata reducing
himself to that of Lindisfarne ; and Trumwine he made Bishop for the
Southern province of the Picts, (») which, at that time, happened to be
subjected to the dominion of the English. By this province of the Picts
is, without doubt, meant the Pictish possessions to the south of the Friths
so often mentioned : and, accordingly, this Bishop Trum wine's seat was
upon the south of the Frith at Abercurning, still known by the name of
Abercorn, where he had erected a monastery for his own retreat after his
labours, and for breeding up churchmen for the service of these Picts
of the south side of these Friths. As to the Picts of the North, as we
do not find that he exercised any authority over them (no more than
Wilfrid had done before him), because the Picts of the North, as we
have seen before, had bishops of their own ; and besides, they retained still
as yet their own discipline and usages concerning Easter and the tonsure,
as we will see they did for about thirty years after this in King Naitan's
time, who, though their own native king, had great difficulty to oblige
them to part with them. This attachment of the Picts to their own
ancient usages, would have rendered Trumwine or any of the Saxon
bishops very unacceptable to them, and by consequence useless. And if
we may judge, by what happened four years afterwards, it is like he could
promise no security to himself among them, being forced upon them by a
declared adversary. Accordingly, how soon, by the victorious arms of their
valiant King Brude the Fourth, they recovered their liberty, Bishop Trum-
wine, finding no security among them for his own person, left instantly his
monastery, deserted his flock, and made the best of his way to England.
A. D. 683. Upon the twenty-third of August, deceased Ebba, first of that
name, Abbess of Coldingham, in Scotland. We have already had occasion,
more than once, to mention her. One of the last actions she did, was to
obtain the liberty of Bishop Wilfrid, kept prisoner by her nephew, King
Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 12.
Fercuard IF.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
271
Egfrid. She lived to a very great age, which, no doubt, gave occasion to A. D. 683.
the relaxation of the discipline of her convent, which, though she failed
not to put order to it, how soon she was advertised, augmented after her
death to the degree of drawing heavy judgment upon her monastery.
Some years after her death, this monastery of Coldingham was burnt clown
by carelessness, or rather by a just judgment of God upon the wickedness
of those that dwelt in it.
We have the account of this calamity from Bede, who was born not
far from the place, and though, at the time it happened, he was very
young ; yet he had the relation of it from a holy priest, who was actually
dwelling in Coldingham at the time the monastery was burnt. Wherefore,
it being a remarkable example of the instability of human establishments,
and containing a singular example of a true penitent, and the whole having
passed in a monastery of Scotland, I cannot omit to set it down, and
that in Bede's own words.
M About these times," says Bede, "the monastery of virgins called the
city of Coludi, above mentioned, was burned down through carelessness;
and yet all that know the same, might observe that it happened through
the malice of those who dwelt in it, and chiefly of those who seemed to be
the greatest. But there wanted not a warning of the approaching punish-
ment from the Divine Goodness, by which they might have stood corrected ;
and by fasting, prayers, and tears, like the Ninevites, have averted the
anger of the just Judge.
"There was in that monastery, a man of the Scottish race called Adam-
nan, leading a life entirely devoted to God in continence and prayer,
insomuch that he never took any food or drink, except only on Sundays
and Thursdays ; but often spent whole nights in prayer. This austerity
of life he had first adopted from necessity, to correct his evil propensities ;
but in process of time, the necessity became a custom.
"For in his youth he had been guilty of some wicked action, for which,
when he came to himself, he conceived extraordinary horror, and dreaded
lest he should be punished for the same by the upright Judge. Repairing
therefore to a priest, who he hoped might show him the way of salvation ;
he confessed his guilt, and desired to be advised how he might avoid the
future wrath of God. The priest having heard his offence, said, < A great
sore requires much attention in the cure; and, therefore, give yourself up
as far as you are able to fasting, reading of Psalms, and prayer ; to the end
272
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Ferchabd II.
A. D. 683. that thus preventing the wrath of our Lord in confession, you may find
Him merciful.' Being highly affected with the grief of a guilty conscience,
and desiring as soon as possible to be loosed from the inward fetters of sin
which lay heavy upon him, he answered, ' I am young in years, and strong
of body, and shall, therefore, easily bear whatever you shall enjoin me to
do, so that I may be saved in the day of our Lord ; though you should
command me to spend the whole night in prayer standing, and to pass the
whole week in abstinence.' The priest replied. ' It is too much for you to
hold out the whole week without bodily sustenance ; but it is sufficient to
fast two or three days ; do this till I come again to you in a short time,
when I will more fully show you what you are to do, and how long to con-
tinue your penance.' Having so said, and prescribed the measure of his
penance, the priest went away, and upon some sudden occasion passed over
into Ireland, whence he derived his origin ; and returned no more to him
as he had appointed. Remembering this injunction and his own promise,
he totally addicted himself to tears, penance, holv watching, and conti-
nence ; so that he only fed on Thursdays and Sundays as has been said ;
and ate nothing all the other days of the week. When he heard that his
priest was gone to Ireland, and had died there, he ever after observed that
same abstinence according to his direction ; and as he had begun that
course through the fear of God, in penitence for his guilt, so he still con-
tinued the same unremittingly for the Divine love, and in hope of his
reward.
; ' Having practised this carefully for a long time, it happened that he had
gone on a certain day to a distance from the monastery, accompanied by
one of the brothers; and as they were returning from this journey, when
they drew near to the monastery and beheld its lofty buildings, the man of
God burst into tears, and his countenance discovered the trouble of his
heart. His companion perceiving it, asked what was the reason, to which
he answered ; ' The time is at hand when a devouring fire shall consume all
the structures which you here behold, botn public and private.' The other
on hearing these words, as soon as they came into the monastery, told them
to Ebba, the Mother of the congregation. She with good cause, being
much concerned at that prediction, called the man to her, and narrowly
inquired of him how he came to know it. He answered, ' Being busy one
night lately in watching and singing Psalms, I, on a sudden, saw a person
unknown standing by me, and being startled by his presence, he bade me
Fekchard II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
273
not to fear, and speaking to me in a familiar manner, ' You do well,' said a. D G8;j.
he, 'in that you spend this night-time of rest, not in giving yourself up to
sleep, but in watching and prayer.' I answered, ' I know I have great need
of wholesome watching, and earnest praying to our Lord to pardon my
transgressions.' He replied, ' You are in the right, for you and many more
do need to redeem their sins by good works, and when they cease from labour-
ing about temporal affairs, then to labour the more eagerly for the desire of
heavenly goods. But this very few do; for I having now visited all tins
monastery regularly, have looked into every one's chambers and beds, and
found none of them, except yourself, busy about the care of his soul ;
but all of them, both men and women, either indulge themselves in sloth-
ful sleep, or are awake in order to commit sin; for even the cells that
were built for praying or reading are now converted into places of feasting,
drinking, talking, and other delights ; the very virgins dedicated to God,
laying aside the respect due to their profession, whensoever they are at
leisure, apply themselves to weaving fine garments, either to use in
adorning themselves like brides, to the danger of their condition, or to
gain the friendship of strange men; for which reason a heavy judgment
from heaven is deservedly ready to fall on this place and its inhabitants
by devouring fire.' The Abbess said, ' Why did you not sooner acquaint
me with what you knew ? ' He answered, ' I was afraid to do it out of
respect to you, lest you should be too much afflicted : yet you may have
this comfort, that the calamity will not happen in your days.' This
vision being divulged abroad, the inhabitants of that place were for a few
days in some little fear, and leaving off their sins began to punish them-
selves ; but after the Abbess's death they returned to their former wicked-
nesses — nay, they became more wicked ; and when they thought themselves
in peace and security, they soon felt the effects of the aforesaid judgment.
" That all this fell out thus, was told me by my most reverend fellow-
priest Edgils, who then lived in that monastery. Afterwards, when many
of the inhabitants had departed tlience on account of the destruction, lie
lived a long time in our monastery, and died there. We have thought fit
to insert this in our History, to admonish the reader, of the works of our
Lord, how terrible He is in his counsels on the sons of men, lest we should
at some time or other indulge in the pleasures of flesh, and, dreading the
judgment of God too little, fall under his sudden wrath, and either be
M m
274
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Ferchard II.
A. D. 683. severely afflicted with temporal losses, or else, being more severely tried,
be snatched away to eternal perdition." (a)
Thus, Bede: to which add the History of Durham, printed under
Simeon of Durham's name ; but which the learned agree is truly the
work of Turgot the Prior, who became afterwards Bishop of St. Andrews.
This author tells that S. Cuthbert, who lived retired in Fame at this
time, being promoted not long after this accident to the episcopal degree,
entirely separated from his religious all society of women, for fear any
then alive, or any of their successors, might after the aforesaid manner
provoke the wrath of God against them. By the general consent, there-
fore, of all of both sexes, he, both for present and future time, interdicted
to his monks any conversation with women, wholly forbidding them any
entrance into his church. And, therefore, in the isle of the episcopal
see, he built a church apart, where women were to come to hear mass and
instructions, that they might never come nearer the monastery.
This monastery was rebuilt, and continued a retreat for religious wo-
men till A.D. 870. when another Ebba being Abbess, she, with her re-
ligious sisters under her care, suffered martyrdom from the Danes for
preservation of their chastity, as we shall see in its proper place.
A.D. 684. Egfrid, King of the Northumbrians, invaded Ireland ; and
notwithstanding the earnest entreaty of the holy man Egbert, who repre-
sented that the Irish had done him no hurt, sent an army, under the com-
mand of Beort, into that island, which miserably wasted, says Bede,( b ^
that harmless people, who had always been affectionate to the English ;
yet so furious was the rage of this army, that neither churches nor monas-
teries were spared. The natives, according to their ability, repelled force
by force, and withal, by earnest pravers, solicited the assistance of heaven,
at the same time using many imprecations against their enemies ; and,
although those that use bitter language and cursing shall be excluded the
kingdom of heaven, yet it was believed that the English and King Egfrid
who, by their impieties, deserved such curses, by the just judgment of
God did not long escape their due punishment, as we shall see next year.
Our modern writers pretend that this invasion, made by King Egfrid's
troops, was upon the Scots in Galloway ; but this is against the formal
testimony of Bede, and has not so much as Fordun to authorise them.
M Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 25
lb) Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 2G.
Ferchabd II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
275
Egbert here mentioned is the same who became afterwards so famous A. D. 684.
among the Scots, and therefore deserves that we give account of him
now at large. He was by birth a Saxon, of a noble family of the Nor-
thumbrians, who, being converted to Christianity in the time of the
Bishops Finan or Colman, went with many other Saxons to Ireland, to be
more fully instructed, where he was living retired with his brother
Edilhum and many others, in the monastery called Rathmelfigi.
This same year, towards the winter, in a great Synod held at Twyf'ord,
upon the river Ain, King Egfrid being present, and the Archbishop Theo-
dore President of the Synod, Cuthbert, who was retired in his solitude of
Fame island, was, by the unanimous consent of all, chosen Bishop of
Hexham. But there being no drawing Cuthbert from his monastery by
many letters and messengers sent to him, at last King Egfrid himself,
with the Bishop Trumwine and other religious and great men, passed
over into the Island. Many also of the brothers of the same isle of Lin-
disfarne assembled together to the same purpose ; all of them by tears and
conjuring him in the name of our Lord, engaged him to come to the
Synod, where he continued to make all the opposition he was able to his
promotion, well remembering the maxim of the great Gregory concerning
the engaging into the weighty burthen of the Episcopal charge, — virtutibus
plenus coactus accedat, virtutibus vacuus nec coactus, — he did not yield till,
by the perse verant unanimous consent of all the Synod, and the order of
all that had authority over him, he saw no possibility of resisting longer,
without disobeying Almighty God. Thus he was at last overcome, and
compelled to submit to the formidable burthen laid upon him. However,
his consecration was put off till after winter. It was performed at Easter
following, in the city of York, and in the presence of the aforesaid King
Egfrid ; seven bishops meeting together, and Archbishop Theodore, their
head. Cuthbert was first, as we said, elected Bishop of Hexham in the
place of Tunbert, who had been deposed from the episcopal dignity by
the same Theodore who had three years before installed him in it.
But in regard that Cuthbert chose rather to be placed over the Church
of Lindisfarne, near his beloved retreat at Fame, Eata returned to the
Church of Hexham, and left that of Lindisfarne to Cuthbert.
This same year, a short while after the consecration of S. Cuthbert,
happened the famous victory of the Picts over King Egfrid and the
Saxons, which gave a fatal blow to the kingdom of the Saxons in Nor-
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Fkrchabd II.
A. D. (is;, thumberland, and by which they lost all that their most powerful kings
had gained over the Picts. Thus it is described by Bede : — King Egfrid
rashly leading his army to ravage the province of the Picts, much against
the advice of his friends, and particularly of S. Cuthbert, who had fore-
told to his sister Elfleda, Abbess of Whitby, the disaster that he was
threatened with if he engaged in that expedition ; the Picts, commanded
by their King Brude, making show as if they fled, King Egfrid, pursuing
them with his army, was drawn into the straits of inaccessible mountains
and slain, with the greatest part of his forces which he had led on, in the
fortieth year of his age, and fifteenth of his reign. This victory was
gained by the Picts upon the eighteenth of May, and at a place, as Simeon
of Durham or Turgot tells us, called Nectan's mere ; and he adds that his
body was taken care of, and sent to be honourably buried in Ycolmkill, the
common burial place of the kings of the Picts and Scots.
From this time, says Bede, the hopes and strength of the English
crown began to decay and fade ; for the Picts recovered their own lands
which had been held by the English, — that is, the Pictish possessions in
Lothian and other territories to the south of the Forth, which, as we have
seen, some of the more powerful of the English kings, such as Oswald and
Oswy, according to Bede, had possessed themselves of, and kept in subjec-
tion the ancient Pictish inhabitants of those parts : for we nowhere find in
any ancient writer that ever the Saxon kings possessed a foot of ground to
the north of the Friths. By consequence what Bede adds, that by this
victory and downfall of the power of the Northumbrian kings, not only
the Picts but the Scots also, and some of the Britons, recovered their
liberty; this, I say, can be only meant of those Scots who, especially from
the time of Aidan, one of their most powerful kings, had possessed them-
selves of some of the territories to the south of the Clyde, amidst the
Britons of those parts, but that afterwards, during the reign of King
Donald Breac, having transgressed the injunctions given them by S.
Columba not to hurt or invade those of his family in Ireland, they had
deserved, in a great measure, the punishment which he had threatened
them with — with a decay of their power and courage, and by that, from
Donald Breac's time till now their acquisitions to the south side of the
Clyde had been overrun and curtailed by some of the more powerful of
the Saxon kings, but by this defeat of King Egfrid they had begun to
recover again, but suffered as yet still a diminution of their former valour
Ferchaud II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
and power, as appears by the heavy lamentation which the Abbot Adamnan, A. D. 68;5.
who wrote about these times, makes of their present circumstances.
In short, what Bede says here of the Picts, Scots, and Britons recover-
ing their lands and liberties upon King Egfrid's death and defeat, has re-
lation to what he had elsewhere mentioned more than once of the triumphs
of some powerful kings — viz., Edwin, Oswald, Oswy— over the nations; < a )
all which, by this one victory of the Picts was sunk and faded away, the
province of Lothian and other parts to the south of the Forth reunited to
the Pictish monarchy, and the Saxon inhabitants in these parts were either
killed or forced to submit to the dominion of the Picts, or, leaving the
country, to fly into England. Among others of those that fled was Trum-
wine, (b ) settled by Archbishop Theodore Bishop of the Southern Picts.
He withdrew with all his followers that were in the monastery of Abev-
corn, where he had fixed his habitation, and which is seated in the country
which the English were then in possession of, and which, for that reason 5
Bede calls the country of the English, but close by an arm of the sea, to
wit, the Frith of Forth, which parts those territories that had been pos-
sessed by the English and the ancient kingdom of the Picts or Caledonia.
It appears, by Trumwine's sudden retreat with all his retinue, upon the
Picts recovering their dominions to the south of the Forth, that his being
placed Bishop among them was against the grain of the Picts ; and being
joined with Archbishop Theodore's endeavouring to extend his metropoli-
tan power over them, was looked upon by them as a part of the Saxon
yoke, which, having now by their valour shaken off as to civil jurisdiction
and, having bishops of their own to answer all needs of the faithful, they
were resolved to abolish all marks, of whatever nature, of their dependence
upon the Saxons. Trumwine was, no doubt, apprized of this temper of the
Picts, and, therefore, how soon they became again masters of these terri-
tories to the south of the Friths, where he had his seat, he suddenly
abandoned all, and, with his followers, made quickly for England, where,
having recommended his disciples, wheresoever he could, to the monasteries
of his friends, he chose his own place of residence in the often-mentioned
monastery of Streaneshalch — Whitby — composed of men and -women ; and
there he led a life in all monastic austerities, not only to his own, but to
the benefit of many ; and dying there, he was buried in the Church of S.
(a) Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. c. 5.
< b) Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 26.
278
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Ferchard II.
A. D. 68.5. Peter the Apostle, with the honour due to his life and rank. The royal
virgin, iElfled, who had succeeded to Hilda, with her mother Eanfled,
then presided over that monastery, but the Bishop coming thither the
devout Abbess found in him extraordinary assistance in governing, and
comfort to herself.
To King Egfrid, in the Northumbrian throne, succeeded Aldfrid, his
natural brother, and son to King Oswy, who, though he was the elder
brother, yet because he was not lawfully begotten, was rejected by the
Northumbrians, and Egfrid preferred to the crown, upon which he retired
to Scotland, either by force or by fear, and there remained in Ycolmkill,
where he applied himself to the study of letters, and became so accom-
plished a prince, that, upon his brother Egfrid's death, and the disasters
following upon it, the Northumbrians with no less ardour invited him
home to fill the throne, than they formerly rejected him. He returned
then, and took upon him the government of the Northumbrian kingdom,
reduced now into narrower bounds, especially towards the north, by the
Picts repossessing Lothian, and their other ancient dominions to the south
of the Friths.
It is from the first author of S. Cuthbert's Life, who wrote during King
Aldfrid's reign, that we learn that the place of King Aldfrid's retreat
(which Bede calls (a) the Scottish Islands, "in insulis Scotorum," and
ATalmesbury calls " Hibernia") was really Ycolmkill. For thus that ano-
nymous contemporary author speaks : " Aldfrid, son of Oswy, who now
reigns, was at this time (A.D. 684) in the Island called Hy." (b) Thus we
see that it was usual to the exactest writers to confound Scotland with Ire-
land in these times, when the name Scotia, and, as appears by this passage
of Malmesbury and others, even the name Hibernia was common to both.
It was in this abode of Aldfrid, among the iearned men of Ycolmkill,
that this prince became so great a proficient in morality, in govern-
ment, and all kind of learning, that his countrymen judged none was more
fit to save the remains, and heal the wounds, of a broken state left by
Egfrid.
It was also from this abode in that Island, where Adamnan was abbot
at the time, that nobody was thought by his countrymen more proper to
be twice sent in embassy to King Aldfrid than Adamnan : in one of which
<»> Vita Cuth. p. 247.
1 Act. Holland, torn. iii. Martii, p. 121.
Ferchakd II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
embassies, he presented to that king, as a learned prince, his book of the As D. 68(>.
description of the Holy Land. But of this afterwards.
A.J). 686. Deceased Eata, one of the last of the Columbite Bishops of
England. He was one of the twelve Saxon children whom S. Aidan, upon
entry into the Northumbrian territories, had made choice of to instruct
them in the doctrine of Christ, and to breed them up for the service of the
Church. Having embraced the religious state, which, according to the
Columbite usages, was joined to that of the clergy, he was afterwards made
Abbot of Melrose ; had first Boisil, and after him Cuthbert, for his Prior,
who, after the Conference of Whitby, having embraced the common rule of
Easter, came with him to Lindisfarne, and exercised there the same func-
tion. Upon the dissension of King Egfrid and Wilfrid, new bishopricks
being erected by Theodore in the diocese of York, Eata was made Bishop
of Lindisfarne and of Hagulstad ; and, at last by the election of Tunbert
for Hagulstad, Eata confined himself to Lindisfarne. But (A.D. 684) Tun-
bert being deposed, and Cuthbert, the newly-elected bishop, preferring the
see of Lindisfarne because of his solitude of Fame to that of Hagulstad,
Eata, leaving that of Lindisfarne to Cuthbert, went back to Hagulstad.
Such was the holy temper, and humble disposition, and detachment, which
this holy man had received from his Columbite education, that he was
always disposed to sacrifice his own satisfaction to that of others, and to
the peace and edification of the Church. Minding only the service of
God, and the advantage of the faithful, he was indifferent in whatever
station Superiors thought he could most advantageously contribute to it.
Eata passed in Hagulstad the two last years of his life, administering with
piety and zeal his episcopal functions, till at last our merciful Lord re-
solving to crown his labours, he was struck with a dysentery, by the tor-
ments of which he was purified and prepared to pass into eternal happiness,
as he did upon the seventh of May this year. His successor in Hagulstad
was John, surnamed of Beverley, of whose sanctity and miracles Bede gives
account.
S. Cuthbert, to whom Eata resigned the see of Lindisfarne, entered
his pastoral charge soon after his consecration at Easter, A.D. 6-5, as we
have seen, and following, says Bede, lb ) the example of the Apostles, be-
came an ornament to the episcopal dignity by his virtuous actions. For
Hist. Eccles. lib. v. cc. 2, 3, 4. &c.
*' Ibid. lib. iv. c. 28.
M m 2
280
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Fkrchard II.
A. D. 686. he both protected the people committed to his charge by prayer, and ex-
cited them by most wholesome exhortations to heavenly practices, and,
which is the greatest duty of pastors, he showed in his own life and be-
haviour the example of Avhat was to be performed by others. For he was,
in the first place, wholly influenced with the fire of charity, modest in the
virtue of patience, most assiduous and ardent in prayer, affable to all that
came to him for comfort, being persuaded that, to afford the infirm breth-
ren the help of his exhortations was no less acceptable to God than prayer,
well knowing that he who said " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,"
said, likewise, " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." He was also
remarkable for penitential abstinence, and always intent upon heavenly
things, through the grace of compunction. In fine, when he offered up to
God the sacrifice of the saving Victim, he paid his vows to God not only
with his voice, but with tears flowing from a heart thoroughly touched.
These were the dispositions with which this holy bishop was animated. So
it was no wonder that they were attended with a course of miracles during
all the short time of his episcopal administration, which extended to those
parts of Scotland that lie to the south of the Friths. For it appears that
many of the inhabitants of these parts were, during these times, and long
afterwards, under the direction of the Bishops of Lindisfarne and Hexham ;
and this lasted till the restoration of the see of Whithern. For the
Southern Picts and other inhabitants of these parts being now at full
liberty, and rid of the Saxon yoke, submitted willingly to be governed by
S. Cuthbert and the other bishops in the neighbourhood, when they found
them seeking nothing but the salvation of their souls ; whereas they were
impatient, as we have seen, under the administration of Trumwine, though
he was himself a good religious bishop ; but his being imposed by King
Egfrid, an enemy, and Archbishop Theodore, made him odious to them ;
whereas nothing of that kind could be objected to Cuthbert. His episco-
pal seat was at Lindisfarne in England, and it was only his charity and
zeal for their souls that engaged him to exercise his episcopal functions
in the adjacent province of the Picts, where his ministry was wanted, the
Picts having no bishop of their own on that side of the Friths. Accor-
dingly we find S. Cuthbert often in these parts, as appears by the account
that Bede has left W of his miracles whereof one of the first was wrought
,a Vita Cuth, c. xxv.
Perch ard II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
281
at his returning home from Melrose, where he had gone to confer with a. D. 686.
Bishop Eata, upon a servant of a nobleman who was cured by drinking a
mouthful of the infusion of holy water blessed by S. Cuthbert. About the
same time, being at Carlisle near the borders of Scotland, he foretold the
defeat and deathW of King Egfrid the moment it happened. Being come
to the same place soon after, for making ordination and giving the monas-
tic habit to the Queen Ermenburga, widow of King Egfrid, he obtained of
God to his beloved friend and disciple, Herbert, that he should not outlive
him. It appears by what Bede relates of the conversion of these two holy
( b ) men, that Herbert was wont to make to S. Cuthbert, every time they
happened to meet, a private confession of all his faults and failings. In
the same parts likewise, by holy water, he restored to perfect health the
wife of a Count who lay a-dying. Others he healed by blessed oil. ( c ) The
pestilence raging everywhere this year and carrying off great multitudes,
did not hinder S. Cuthbert from making his usual episcopal visits and cir-
cuits all around, with so much the greater zeaK d ) that being admonished
from heaven that his death was approaching, and resolved to retire to his
beloved solitude of Fame, to prepare himself by prayer and other pious
exercises for meeting it with greater confidence, he began by making a
general visit, not only of all his own district, which included Lothian and
the other southern provinces of Scotland, but of all the adjacent parts,
exhorting and animating, by the fervour of his discourses, the faithful every-
where, and confirming his doctrine by curing the sick, and many other
miracles set down by Bede in his Life. Among other places to which he
extended his pastoral care, was the monastery of Tyningham in Lothian,
which formerly, says Bede, was a convent of men, when Cuthbert, as yet a
child, had miraculously obtained of God the preservation of the barks and
men belonging to the monastery ; ( e ) but as vicissitudes happen by length
of time, it was in Bede's days changed into a noble congregation of virgins
devoted to Christ. Of this monastery Verca was then Abbess, a lady of
great quality and of so eminent piety, that Cuthbert, to testify the respect
he had for her,(0 caused preserve a piece of linen, whereof she had made
him a present, to serve him for a winding-sheet; and accordingly, upon
(>) Vit. Cuth. c. xxvii.
(b) Ibid. c. xxviii.
Ibid. c. iii.
1 1 Ibid. c. xxxvii.
N n
282
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Ferchard II.
A. D. 686. the approach of death, he ordered his body to be wrapt in the linen which
the Abbess Verca, beloved of God, had sent him. In this monastery, Cuth-
bert changed water into excellent wine, as Bede was assured by one present
at the time, who had tasted it.
After this visit, being returned to his seat of Lindisfarne, after putting-
order to all that belonged to his charge, he at last retired to his beloved
solitude of Fame Island, from which he had been, two years before, as it
were torn away by force of authority and obedience, and after which he had
still breathed, amidst the toils, labours, and solicitudes of his episcopal
administration.
We have, in his Life by Bede, an account from Herefride, Abbot of
Lindisfarne under S. C'uthbert's direction, who was present, of the holy
man's last sickness, death, and burial, which, in short, was, that being re-
tired to his solitude of Fame, a short while after Christmas, about the
beginning of A.D. 687, and after passing there two months in retreat,
prayer, and mortification, he fell suddenly sick ; and, being at his own
earnest desire left all alone, he suffered exceedingly during five days that
the tempestuous weather hindered all approach of barks to the rock where
he lay. At last, the Abbot returning found him reduced to extremity by
sickness and faintness. Having first recommended to his disciples, as his
last will, the preservation of peace, humility, hospitality, particularly unity
with all the rest of the Church in the lawful observation of Easter, the
canons and rules of the holy Fathers, and the regular discipline that he
had established in the monastery ; and then, having fortified his passage
out of the world by the holy Sacraments, to wit, the communion of the
Body and Blood of Christ, which the Abbot Herefride administered to
him, lifting up his eyes and hands to heaven, he rendered up his soul to
God during the nocturnal Office, the twentieth of March, 687. His body,
as he had permitted at the earnest desire of the brethren, was carried back
to Lindisfarne, and with great solemnity buried there in a stone chest,
in S. Peter's Church, and remained uncorrupted. Bede relates that " Di-
vine Providence, wishing to make more extensively known the great
glory in which this Saint lived after death, whose exalted life previous to
death was distinguished also by frequent miraculous signs, put it into
the minds of the brethren, eleven years after his interment, to raise his
bones, which they thought should be found dry, and the rest of the body
by this time wasted away and reduced to dust, as happens with the dead:
Fekchard II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
2S3
and, in order to testify their becoming veneration, to place them, after A. D. C87.
being laid in a light coffin, in the same spot, but above the pavement.
When, about the middle of Lent, they informed Eadbert, their Bishop, of
this their resolution, he acceded to their design, and gave orders that they
should see to it that this was done on the day of his death, which was on
the thirteenth before the Kalends of April. Accordingly they did so; and,
on opening the grave, they found the whole body uncorrupted, as if he
were still alive, and, in the flexibility of the joints of the limbs, much liker
a sleeping than a dead person ; and all the vestments, also, in which the
body had been wrapped up, appeared not only uninjured, but also with
their first freshness, and wonderfully white. "When the brethren saw this,
they were instantly struck with such excessive fear and trembling, that
they scarcely dared to speak, or look upon the miracle thus disclosed, and
hardly knew what they were doing.
" To give proof that there was no corruption, having taken off his
outer vestments (for they were extremely afraid to touch what was next
his flesh), they hastened to relate what they had found, to the Bishop, who
then happened to be living in solitude in a place lying at some distance
from the monastery, and surrounded on all sides by the ebbing waves of
the sea : for in this place he was wont always to spend the time of Lent,
and to pass forty days before Christmas, in devoting himself earnestly to
fasting, prayer, and weeping; and in this place, also, his venerable prede-
cessor Cuthbert, before he retired to Farne, was for some time in the way
of serving the Lord in solitary retirement, as we have stated before. And
they brought with them, also, part of the vestments which had been
wrapped round the holy body. While thankfully receiving these gifts,
and gladly hearing of the miracles (for he even kissed, with marvellous
feeling, the garments, as if they still enveloped the body of the Father), he
said, ' Wrap new garments round the body instead of those you have
brought, and so replace it in the coffin which you have prepared. And I
know most assuredly that the place will not remain long empty, which has
been consecrated by a heavenly miracle of such virtue. And blessed, in-
deed, is he on whom the Lord, the author and giver of true happiness,
thinks fit to bestow a resting place in it.'
" When the Bishop, with many tears, and his tongue trembling with
great emotion, had finished these and more sayings to the same effect,
the brethren did as he had ordered ; and, wrapping the body in new ap-
284
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Ferchard II
A. D. 687. parel, and laying it in a light coffin, placed it above the pavement of the
sanctuary.''
After his death, Bishop Wilfrid, lately returned from his exile, and
reconciled to King Aldfrid by the mediation of Archbishop Theodore, took
care of the bishoprick of Lindisfarne till the election of a new Bishop. Dur-
ing this vacancy of the See, which lasted a year, the church and monastery
of Lindisfarne were so disturbed, that many of the brethren' 8 ) chose rather
to abandon the place than to be exposed to such contradiction and tumult.
The Bollandian writers think that this disturbance arose from Wilfrid,
who was vehement in all that his zeal prompted him, by his endeavouring
to substitute the rule of S. Benedict for the Columbite rule, and the dis-
cipline established by S. Cuthbert. This is contradicted by Father
Mabillon, who is of opinion that the rule of S. Benedict was received in
Lindisfarne during S. Cuthbert's time ; but the anonymous and almost
contemporary writer of S. Cuthbert's Life insinuates that the rule settled
by S. Cuthbert continued till this writer's time, towards the beginning of
the eighth age, to be observed in that monastery, jointly with that of S.
Benedict, after it was introduced.
To S. Cuthbert, after the year of Wilfrid's administration was finished,
succeeded Eadbert, a man, says Bede, ( b ) illustrious for his knowledge of
the Sacred Scriptures, and by his exact observation of the Divine precepts,
and his alms deeds. He governed the see of Lindisfarne about eight
years, and with him peace and tranquillity were restored to the monastery ;
for having been bred up by the Columbites, and walking in their footsteps
in their apostolical way of living in primitive simplicity, all tumults and
dissensions ceased ; and the Catholic form of observing Easter being by
this time universally received in all the Saxon churches, and the Colum-
bite rule, with the institutions of S. Cuthbert, being jointly observed with
the rule of S. Benedict, and all that done by way of persuasion rather than
authority, all occasion of dissension or tumult that happened in Wilfrid's
time in the monastery was taken away. And the good Bishop continued,
as S. Cuthbert had done, to govern and exercise his episcopal functions,
not only in the places of Northumberland adjacent to Lindisfarne, but
throughout all the eastern parts of Lothian or Pictland, to the south of the
Friths ; and, as it is like, their successors continued to do, till the erection
(a > Vita. Cuth. c. xl.
b 'IIist. Eccles. lib. iv. c 29.
Ferchard II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
285
of the see of St. Andrews, and the extent of its jurisdiction to Berwick A. D. 687.
inclusive. For this reason I shall continue on till then the series of the
Bishops of Lindisfarne, as being, for the time, Bishops of the southern
parts of Scotland, called in these days and long afterwards, by the name
of Pictland, because it made a part of the Pictish dominions, as having been
long ago at first yielded up by the Britons to the Picts. And though,
after the coming in of the Saxons, this country had been also invaded by
them, and a great many Saxon families settled in it, by whom the Saxon
language had been first introduced into these parts ; yet upon King Egfrid's
defeat, A.D. 685, the Picts recovered them, and from thenceforth they
became so much masters of that country that from them it was called
Pictland — of which denomination the Pictland Hills in Lothian remain as
yet a lasting monument. And at last, by the union of the Pictish and
Scottish kingdoms into one monarchy, and by the advantages the Scots
had over the Saxons whilst they were harassed by the Danes, all these
countries, from Berwick-upon-Tweed inclusive, to Carlisle upon the Eden
or Solway Frith, were reunited to the Scottish monarchy, and became a
part of Scotland, as they still remain.
What I have said of the Bishops of Lindisfarne, their exercising the
episcopal functions in Lothian and other parts of Pictland to the south of
the Friths towards the east, is to be equally understood and applied to the
Bishops of Hagulstad or Hexham, who supplied, in a great measure, on
the same side of the Friths towards the west, the long vacancy of the
ancient sees of Glasgow and Whithern during the interruption of the
succession of these two diocesan Bishops. For which reason I shall like-
wise continue on the succession of the Bishops of Hexham till Bishop
Eardulph's time, in the ninth age, during whose time it was united to
that of Lindisfarne, and the Bishop's seat, with S. Cuthbert's body, trans-
ferred to Circenster or Chester, and from thence, in the end of the tenth
age, to Durham.
Meantime (as we have more than once observed) the Picts of the
provinces to the north of the Friths, called ancient Caledon, and the Scots
were governed by Columbite bishops of their own country. We have
elsewhere set down the names of those of them which we could recover,
who for the sanctity of their lives were honoured by the faithful with
annual festivals, and whose names arc marked in the Kalendars of what
remain of our Liturgical books. But as to the particulars of their lives
28G
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Ferchard IJ.
A. D. 687. and actions, and even the precise time in which they lived, we are de-
prived, for the most part, of that satisfaction, by the destruction of eccle-
siastical monuments in our country : of which elsewhere.
To return now to Bishop Wilfrid, who endeavoured also to extend his
jurisdiction over the Picts in Lothian, whilst he sat peaceably at York, to
which he had been lately restored. His restoration, which happened this
year, was owing chiefly to the Archbishop Theodore, who, being now very
aged, and upon the brink of eternity, had, it seems, a remorse for his
hard usage towards S. Wilfrid, and therefore sent for him, was recon-
ciled to him, and, for a full satisfaction of the wrong that Wilfrid com-
plained of, Theodore wrote strong letters of recommendation in his fa-
vour, — among others to Aldfrid, King of the Northumbrians, which, being
joined to the earnest solicitation of the Princess iElfled, sister to that
King, and Abbess of Streaneshalch, procured Wilfrid's reconciliation to
King Aldfrid, and his restoration to the see of York, which was the
more easy that all occasion of Wilfrid's complaints were taken away by
the removal of Bosa, who had been placed Bishop of York in Wilfrid's
place, and S. Cuthbert's retiring to his solitude, and soon after dying,
as Eata of Hexham was deceased the year before. But this reconci-
liation lasted only about four years.
A.D. 688. Adamnan, Abbot of Ycolmkill, was deputed the second
time in an embassy from the Scots, no doubt from King Ferchard the
Second, then reigning, to Aldfrid, King of the Northumbrians. His first
embassy to the same King happened two years before, as he tells us himself,
soon after the war in which King Egfrid was killed by the Picts. This
last legacy of Adamnan is not only mentioned by Adamnan himself, but by
Bede, < a) and by Ceolfrid, Abbot of Yarrow, ,b) in his letter to Naitan,
King of the Picts. It is like, his first embassy was not only in the name
of the Scots of his own nation, but likewise of the Picts, to regulate the
marches of the kingdoms, Aldfrid being forced, upon Egfrid's defeat, as
Bede informed us, to give up to the Picts large territories — no doubt, those
that his brother and other Northumbrian Kings, his predecessors, had
usurped from the Picts and Scots towards the east, and also from the
Britons, to the south of the Friths, towards the west. None could be more
acceptable to the Northumbrian King than Adamnan, who had been
familiarly acquainted with him during his long retreat in Ycolmkill, where
Ibid. c. 21.
Ferchard II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
287
that prince stayed, as in banishment, all the time of his brother Egfrid's A. D. 688.
reign, Failbe, and after him, Adamnan himself, being at the time Abbots
of that famous monastery ; for which reason, Adamnan calls him by the
familiar name of a friend.. " Regem Alfridum visitantes amicum." And,
indeed, King Aldfrid had more than one reason to be a friend to the
inhabitants of that sacred place, since he had found there, not only a retreat
and protection in the time of his distress, but learned masters, by whose
instructions he was become one of the most learned princes that had sat
upon the Saxon throne ; especially in the Holy Scriptures, which was the
chief subject of the studies of the inhabitants of Ycolmkill, according to '
the example of S. Columba, their founder ; and, accordingly, Bede calls
King Aldfrid a man most learned in the Scriptures, " vir in Scripturis
doctissimus." (a)
It was, no doubt, in that quality of a learned as well as friendly
prince, that Adamnan presented to him his curious book, containing the
description of the Holy Places, or Holy Land, " we do not cease
to render thanks to God for his having preserved us by the intercession
and prayers of our venerable patron, S. Columba, from the attacks of the
plague, both in these our islands and when we went to visit our friend,
King Aldfrid, during the time the plague was raging everywhere, and carry-
ing off numbers of people in the villages through which we passed. For
such was the goodness of God towards us that, both in our first visit, after
the battle in which King Egfrid was killed, and two years afterwards, in
our second visit or progress through England, though we travelled amidst
the plague, yet, not only none of our company died, but not so much as
one of them was troubled with any sickness or distemper ;" and, which is
more, in the same chapter, Adamnan gives us an account of the wonderful
preservation of our ancestors, the Picts and Scots, alone among all the
nations of Europe, from the universal plague that raged through all other
countries ; and this singular favour was granted to them by the prayers of
S. Columba. For after narrating, in the forty-fifth chapter, several miracles
wrought by S. Columba's prayers, in Adamnan's own presence, he thus
continues in the forty-sixth : —
" Nor ought it, I conceive," says Adamnan, " to be reckoned the least
among S. Columba's miracles, what happened in the time of the plague,
which, in our own time, ravaged twice the most part of the world. For, not
W Vit. Columbtr, lib. ii. c. 46.
Ferchabd II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
291
to mention other large countries of Europe, that is, Italy, Rome itself, the A. D. 688.
Gauls and Spain, even the islands in the ocean, to wit, Britain and Ireland,
were twice ravaged with a dreadful plague, all of them, excepting only the
two people of the Picts and the Scots of Britain, who are separated one from
another by the hills of Drumalbain : — and though the sins of both these
people were grievous enough to provoke the wrath of the Eternal Judge,
yet He has been pleased hitherto patiently to forbear and spare them.
" Now, to what else can we attribute this singular favour of God but to
the prayers of S. Columba, whose monasteries, founded within the bounds
of these two peoples, are, by them both, held in the greatest respect till
this time % But I cannot help adding here, with grief in my heart," says
Adamnan, " that, notwithstanding these singular mercies bestowed by Al-
mighty God upon these two peoples, there are still some of them so fool-
ishly ingrate to the prayers of the saints, by which they have been hitherto
protected, that they still continue to abuse the mercies of God."
Thus Adamnan : and what lamentations would not the good Abbot
have made, could he have foreseen that these monasteries of S. Columba,
and even Ycolmkill itself — which in his time was held in so great honour
by the Scots and Picts — the Mother Church of their Christianity — pillaged
and ravaged, not by the pagan Danes, as in former ages, but by the avarice
of the inhabitants of these same countries which owed to S. Columba and
his disciples the first light of the Gospel, and the progress and preservation
of it among them during so many ages. But Almighty God has not
let pass unpunished the chief instruments of this last destruction of these
holy places, for it is till this day the opinion of Protestants as well as
Catholics, in our Highlands and Isles, that the misfortunes, decay, and heavy
judgments, which have ever since the new Reformation till now hung
over a most ancient and once most potent family which had the immediate
hand in ravaging Ycolmkill, are no less the lasting effects of the wrath of
God for that sacrilegious depredation of these holy places, consecrated to
the memory of the second Apostle of our country, than the decay and ruin
that happened to an ancient family in the Mearns, was, in the judgment of
all the neighbourhood, reckoned as the due punishment of the violation
of the monument of S. Palladiu6, reckoned by the Scots among the first
apostles of their nation.
In the end of this seventh age, about A.D. 689, the holy man, Egbert,
who, as has been related, was living retired in a monastery of Ireland, pro-
0 o 2
292
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Ferchard II.
A. D. 689. posed to himself to do good to many, and resolved to undertake the work of
preaching the Gospel to some of those nations in Germany from whom the
English were descended; and, in order to that design, to sail about Britain
towards these parts, to try to bring them over to Christ ; or, if that could
not be done, he designed to go to Rome, to see and venerate the repositories
of the holy apostles and martyrs of Christ. But whilst he was full of these
thoughts, and preparing all for the journey, the holy man, Boisil, formerly
Prior of Melrose under Eata, as we have seen, appeared three several
times to one of the brethren of the monastery where Egbert lived, and
ordered him to deliver the following message to Egbert from our Lord —
to wit, that he must not undertake the journey to Germany, as he had in-
tended, but that the will of God was that he rather went to Ycolmkill and
the Monastery of S. Columba, in order to bring them into the right way,
that is, to reduce them to the canonical way of celebrating Easter.
Upon this, Egbert, being thus by the will of heaven disappointed of all
hopes of undertaking in person this pious design of preaching the Gos-
pel in Germany, gave not wholly over his holy resolution, but resolved to
do by others what he was hindered to go about himself. He, therefore,
sent holy and industrious men to the work of the Gospel. Among these,
Willibrord, born in England but educated under Egbert's direction in Ire-
land, having thus received from Egbert a mission to preach the Gospel,
went, accompanied with two brothers, and in a short time they converted
many from idolatry to the faith of Christ. Willibrord, who was the chief
and head of them, going afterwards to Rome, was ordained, by Pope Ser-
gius, bishop at large, to preach the Gospel to the infidels upon the coast
of Germany ; and at last he fixed his seat at Utrecht, and he is held to
be the Apostle and first Bishop of that city, in Holland.
Many other holy men, moved by an apostolicnl zeal, went from our
British Islands, during this and the following ages, to preach the Gospel in
Germany and in the northern countries, whose lives and actions may be
seen in the general history of the Church, and the particular Lives of each
of them ; so that it were useless to digress upon them in this work, espe-
cially since it would be both an endless and invidious labour to enter into
the discussions and debates of the modern Scottish, English, and Irish
writers, about the places of the birth and origin of each one of these
apostolical men. These debates chiefly arise from the dubious and equivo-
cal meaning of the names Scotia and Hibernia, which in these times were
Ferchard II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
<293
indifferently applied, by the writers, to Ireland and Scotland, and particu- A. D. 689.
larly to the Island of Ycolmkill, whicli not only belongs to Scotland, but
was, in this seventh and eighth age, as it were, the very centre of all civil
and ecclesiastical affairs of that kingdom. For example, S. Kilian, bishop
and martyr, and patron of Wurzburg, about this same time, is, by some of
the authors of his Life, called an Irishman; but by Trithemius, who was
Abbot of the Scottish monastery of Wurzburg, and no doubt had examined
the ancient monument of it, Kilianus is called " monachus Hyensis," a
monk of Ycolmkill, and his adding "in Hibernia," is the effect of the con-
fusion of this name, applied sometimes, as I said, in ancient times, as well
to the northern part of Britain, iuhabited by the Scots, as to Ireland,
properly so called.
But not to cumber this work with interminable debates, to little other
purpose than to revive the contestations of the different pretenders to these
apostolical men, I return to Egbert, who, by his zeal for the conversion of
infidel nations, and more yet by his giving mission to other evangelical
preachers, upon his being hindered himself to go and labour towards their
conversion, appears to have been even at this time promoted to the epis-
copal Order, which is confirmed by the manner that Bede speaks of him.
For though it is observable that Bede mentions him nine different times,
he never once calls him by the name of presbyter, by which he designs
those who were only in the second Order of priesthood ; whatever other
pre-eminence they had, even the great S. Columba, Abbot of Ycolmkill,
whom he never calls but presbyter, whereas, he calls Egbert, everywhere,
sacerdos, which, in Bede's language, is common to the first and second
Order of the priesthood, but made use of more often by him to design a
bishop than a priest, as we seeM in his account of the mission of the Gal-
lican bishops, Germanus, Lupus, and Severn s, to Britain against the Pe-
lagians. Bede calls these bishops no less than fourteen times by the name
of sacerdos. But not only everywhere is Egbert called by Bede, sacerdos,
and never once presbyter, but the epithets that Bede gives him every time
he mentions him, sufficiently prove that he was a bishop ; for he calls him
four several times " reverendissimus pater et sacerdos Egbertus," and,
again, " reverendissimus et sanctissimus pater et sacerdos Egbert," and
though those expressions alone of Bede might suffice to convince impartial
Hist. Eccles. lib. i. cc. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21.
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Ferchard II.
A. D. 689. men that Egbert was a true bishop, yet, independently of Bede, other
ancient writers who lived about or near the time, such as Alcuin and
Ethelwerd, call Egbert expressly bishop, — episcopus and antistes ; whence
Mabillon concludes that there can be no doubtW but that Egbert was a
true bishop in the proper sense, though, perhaps, says he, he was attached
to no particular seat or diocese, which was an ordinary custom in Britain,
and more yet in Ireland, in those times. But besides that, there was a
particular reason why Egbert was bishop at large, and not fixed at first
to any seat. For his first design, as we have seen, being to go to Saxony,
Friesland, and other parts of Germany, to convert the old Saxons, and
establish Christianity among them, and having towards that end assem-
bled fellow-labourers to assist him and prepared all other necessaries, it
was natural that he should receive the Order of episcopacy before he left
Ireland, to qualify him for ordaining pastors, founding and dedicating
churches — functions necessary in the founding a new Christian Church —
and being once promoted to the episcopal degree, the stop that Almighty
God put to his intended mission made him a bishop at large without a see,
till he came at last, as we shall see, and fixed himself at Ycolmkill, where
he resided till his death, and acted with an authority, and got a greater
ascendant over the monastery of Ycolmkill than ever their abbots had.
A. D. 690, died Ferchard, Second of that name, surnamed Fada, that is,
the Long, and the twelfth King of the Scots. This is the second of our
real kings whom Boece, from Veremund, makes a tyrant, or rather a monster
of wickedness, and brings in his subjects preparing to impeach and punish
him for his maladministration, had they not been dissuaded, say they, by
the good Bishop Column . They add, that being at last punished by God
with a loathsome distemper, he repented, and was assisted at his death by
the same Bishop Colman. Now, besides that there is nothing of all this
in Fordun, who furnished all the real grounds of Boece's History that we
know of, the falsehood of what they relate of this King Ferchard appears
by the account already set down of Bishop Colman. We have shown
that after his retreat from England, A.D. 664, he abode three years in
Ycolmkill, or other parts of Scotland, in the exercise of his episcopal
functions, before he retired to Innisbofind, upon the coast of Ireland,
which happening A.D. 667, two years before Ferchard the Second came
Annal. torn. ii. p. 81 .
Ferchard If.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
295
to the crown, which, according to the exactest calculation we can make A. D. 690.
from all the most ancient monuments now remaining, happened A.D. 669.
So Bishop Colman being, during King Ferchard's reign, retired to his
monastery of Ireland, either of Innisbofind or Magio, he could be of no
service to King Ferchard against his subjects in the beginning of his
reign, and far less could he he useful to him at his death, since we have
seen that the death of Colman himself fell out A.D. 675, fifteen years
before that of King Ferchard, which happened only A.D. 690. (What
Bishop Lesley adds to this fabulous account of Colman, concerning his
travels through Germany and Hungary, and his martyrdom in Austria,
regards another S. Colman, a Scot, martyrized in Austria in the eleventh
age.) But upon the whole, we see by this and other such examples, what
account ought to be made of the rest of our kings, supposed to have been
tyrants, whom Boece and other modern writers upon this, from this Vere-
mund, and Buchanan and Lesley after Boece, bring in arraigned or pun-
ished by their subjects. But I refer the reader to what is said of the
first origin and source of these fabulous arraignments and depositions of
the kings of Scotland in my Critical Essay, pages 251, 252, etc.
The same year, happened the death of Theodore, Archbishop of Canter-
bury, one of the most learned men of his age, and who contributed the
most of any, to settle in England ecclesiastical polity according to the
canons, and to polish it by all kind of literature. He was the first among
the Archbishops of Canterbury that exerted the metropolitan power to its
full length, by erecting new bishopricks, calling to his councils the bishops
of all the different kingdoms of the Heptarchy, exercising through them all,
and particularly in the province of York, a metropolitical jurisdiction, and
even endeavouring to extend it over the Picts, by settling a new bishop at
Abercorn. It is worth the observing, that this was the second step that
was made towards subjecting the Church of Scotland to that of England ;
and we have seen the check it met with from the Picts. The first step,
upon which all that followed in after ages was grounded, was the order of
Pope Gregory the First to S. Augustine, containing a draft of settling the
Church of Britain ; according to which there were to be two Archbishops,
one at London, and another at York; but this had hitherto never had any
execution ; and even Theodore, though sent from Rome, was so far from
conforming himself to S. Gregory's plan in what concerned the metropolicy
of York, that he not only took as great authority over that province as over
296
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Eocha II.
A. D. 690. his own, and settled new bishops there; but set up and pulled down even
the Bishops of York themselves, as he found it convenient, as we have
seen in the case of Ceadda, Wilfrid, Bosa, etc., and, in a word, it must be
owned that however learned he was and otherwise well-intentioned, his
government was very arbitrary. He died at the age of eighty-eight.
The same year died also another person of great distinction, though of
inferior character, who concurred very much to the literature and exterior
polity of the Saxon Church. This was Benedict, surnamed Biscop, before
mentioned, the founder and first xVbbot of Weremouth or Yarrow, where
he established the rule of S. Bennet, and from thence, especially by the
credit and zeal of Bishop Wilfrid, who was the first that introduced that
rule into England, it was by degrees propagated throughout Britain. Bene-
dict Biscop formed in his monastery of Yarrow a famous school or seminary
of learning, in which, among others, Bede, born A. D. 675, in those parts
near tlie borders of Scotland, was bred up to all kind of literature. To
Benedict succeeded Ceolfrid, of whom we shall have very soon another
occasion to speak.
To King Ferchard succeeded Eochod or Eocha alias Achai II., sur-
named Binneval or Stronaval, with the crooked nose, in Latin, habens
curvum nasum, as the Clironicon Scotorum expresses it. He was the son of
Dongard, who was son to King Donald Breac, and was the fourteenth king
of the Scots. His reign, which lasted thirteen years, is divided by our
modern writers, after Fordun, betwixt two kings, to the one of whom they
gave the name of Eugenius the Fifth, who has three or four years of a
reign assigned him, and give the other ten years reign to one Eugenius
the Sixth ; neither of whom are mentioned by that name in any of the re-
mains of our ancient Chronicles before Fordun, in. whose work the nncient
series or order of succession of our kings is inverted, by placing King
Alalduin after Ferchard the Second, whose predecessor he was, and who
succeeded immediately to Donald Breac; whereas Ferchard the Second had
for his immediate successor, according to all the ancient abstracts of our
Chronicles, this Eochod Rinneval, who reigned thirteen years, according to
the Chronicle in Latin rhythm, which agreeing better with the word
" tredecim," written at length, is less subject to alteration than bare numeral
cyphers ; for which reasons I have preferred it to other copies that allow
Eochod only three years of a reign.
About these times there happened in Scotland a miracle very memorable,
EOCHA II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
297
which might be compared to the wonders of old, says Bede, to whom I A. D. 694.
refer the reader to see the whole relation at length, and shall here set down
only a short abstract of it. To the end, says Bede, that negligent Christians
might be awakened into serious thoughts of the rewards destined to the
good, and of the punishment of the wicked after this life, a certain man,
after lying a whole night in the state of death, or rather in a trance, related
what he had seen in a vision of the state of souls according to the different
dispositions in which they depart out of this world. This man whose name
was Drythelm, was an honest housekeeper, who, with his family, lived a
religious life in Cunningham, in the west of Scotland, who having been
struck with a disease, which by degrees so increased, that at last it brought
him to the extremity, so that on a certain day towards the evening he died,
or rather seemed to expire, so that all those that attended him looked upon
him as truly dead. But early next morning, before day, he came to himself
again, and suddenly raising himself up in his bed, all those who mournfully
watched about him, being terribly frightened, ran away ; only his wife, who
tenderly loved him, stood still in great apprehension.
The man seeing his wife, bid her be of good courage. "Fear not," said
he, " for I am truly come alive, and permission is given me to live a while
ionger among men. But my conversation hereafter must be quite other-
wise than formerly it has been." Having said this he presently arose, and
went to the oratory of the village, and remaining in prayer till it was full
day, immediately divided all his substance into three parts ; one whereof
he gave to his wife, another to his children, and the third belonging to
himself he instantly distributed among the poor. Not long after, he re-
paired to the monastery of Melrose, which is almost enclosed by the win-
dings of the river Tweed, and there, having received the monastic tonsure,
he went in to a private mansion, which had been provided for him by Edil-
wald, Abbot of Melrose, who was afterwards Bishop of Lindisfarne, when
Bede wrote. He had a more private place of retreat in this monastery,
where he might apply himself to the service of his Creator in continual
prayer ; and that place being seated on the bank of the river, he was
wont to go down often into the water to chastise his body, and many times
to duck quite under the water, and to continue in it saying psalms or
prayers as long as he could endure it, standing still sometimes up to the
middle, and sometimes to the neck in water ; and when he went out from
thence he never took off his cold and frozen garments, but let them giw
P p
'298
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
EOCHA II.
A. D. 694. dry and warm on his body. And when in the winter weather, the half-
broken pieces of ice swimming about him, which he had sometimes broken
himself to have room to stand or dip in the river, those who beheld it
would say, " It is wonderful, Brother Drythelm, that you are able to endure
such austerity," he simply answered, (for he was a man of great simplicity
and mildness), "I have seen much greater austerity."
Thus he continued till the day of his death, in such extraordinary con-
trition and mortification, that though his tongue had been silent, his life
declared that he had seen extraordinary things, some very dreadful, others
very ravishing, which were unknown to others. He would not relate what
he had seen to slothful persons and such as lived negligently, but only to
those who had the fear of God, and being terrified with the dread of the
torments of the wicked, or delighted with the hopes of heavenly joys,
would make use of the relation to advance in piety. Bede adds, that
Aldfrid, King of Northumberland, a man most learned in all respects, was
so much taken with the relation that Drythelm made of his visions, that
when he happened to come into these parts, he went very often to hear him
and converse with him. But the person from whom Bede received the full
detail of Drythelm's visions, was one Hemgels, a religious man, distin-
guished by the sacerdotal degree, who was still alive when Bede wrote,
and having retired to Ireland, led there a solitary life upon coarse bread
and water. This man had been very familiar with Drythelm, and had heard
often from him all the particulars of his visions, and from him Bede had
the account that he has given of them, to whom I refer the reader ; and
without making any judgment of this vision, I shall only observe, primo,
that considering the holy man's simplicity, and the wonderful impression
what he had seen made upon his life, it cannot be doubted but his im-
agination had been deeply struck with the impression of the different states
of the punishments of the wicked, and happiness of the just that had been
represented to him. Secundo, that the opinion that the learned King
Aldfrid, and Abbot Edilwald, and others that knew him had of this holy
penitent, suffices to show that with all his simplicity he was a man of good
sense, and not a crazy brain. Tertio, that both the man himself, and all
those that gave ear to him, were persuaded, that besides the torments of
hell destined for the wicked, and the joys of heaven prepared for the just,
there was a middle state of purgation or purgatory for the souls of those
who had too long delayed to confess and do penance for their sins. Quarto,
EOCHA II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
that in this suffering state of purgation some remained till the Day of A. D. 695.
Judgment, but that many were relieved from it before, by the prayers of
the living, by alms, fasting, and chiefly by the celebration of masses, — and
that in this, the inhabitants of these southern parts of Scotland agreed
with all the rest of the Church in all ages and countries, that the imperfect
just deceased, were helped and relieved by the prayers and good works of
the living, as especially by the holy sacrifice of the mass offered for them.
A. D. 695, died Bride or Brude, the victorious king of the Picts, who
by the defeat of King Egfrid, had recovered all the Pictish territories to
the south of the Friths, and reduced the Northumbrian kingdom to nar-
rower bounds. He was succeeded by Taran, son of Entifidich, who reigned
four years, and was the sixtieth king of the Picts. In his time, the Picts
gained a memorable battle against the Saxons, in which was killed the
general of the Northumbrians, called Beort, who had attacked the Picts in
order to revenge the death of King Egfrid, but he had no better fate than
that king ; both he and his army being destroyed by the Picts, probably
led on in battle by Taran their king. It was also in this king's reign that
the abbot Adamnan, who, as we have said, by his own study, and the con-
versation of Abbot Ceolfrid, and other learned men in England, had been
fully satisfied of the error of his countrymen in the legal time of celebrat-
ing Easter, and that the observation, as well of the Roman and other
Churches abroad, as of all those of Britain, excepting the Scots and Picts,
and the Britons, was the only right one; and upon this, being desirous
to bring his religious men of Ycolmkill to conformity with the other
Churches, upon his return to that island he used all his endeavours to set
them right, but without any success; such was their attachment to their
ancient usages. Wherefore, leaving them for a space, A. D. 696, seven
years before his death, according to Ussher's Chronology, he passed over to
Ireland, with a resolution to labour towards the reducing those of the
inhabitants that had hitherto been refractory in the celebration of Easter,
to the common observance of other Churches, and had so good success in
that kingdom, that by his preaching and modest exhortations, he reduced
to the legal observance, almost all that had hitherto stood out among the
natives, excepting those that were subject to the jurisdiction of Ycolmkill.
A. D. 699, died Taran, King of the Picts, and had for his successor
Bridei or Brude the Fifth, son of Dereli, who reigned eleven years, and
was the sixty-first king of the Picts.
P p 2
300
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
EoCHA II.
A. D. 703. A. D. 703. The abbot Adamnan, after reducing great numbers of the
inhabitants of Ireland to the right observance of Easter, having celebrated
the solemnity in the canonical manner, returned this year to Ycolmkill, his
own island, and having most earnestly inculcated the observation of the
Catholic time of Easter, says Bede, in his own monastery, yet without
being able to prevail, it happened that he departed this world before the
year came about, the divine goodness so disposing matters, that he being
a great lover of peace and unity, should be taken to eternal life, and not
be exposed again upon the return of Easter, to fall more grievously at
variance with those that would not follow him in observing the true time
of the celebration of this great solemnity.
He died upon the twenty-third of September, and was buried in his
own monastery, and his annual festival was celebrated in all our Churches
in Scotland, by the name of S. Adavnan, the letter m or mh being pro-
nounced u or v in Gaelic, whence he was called by the vulgar S. Deunan
or Theunan ; and thus he is called by King in his vulgar calendar, on his
anniversary day, the twenty-third, and not the twenty-fifth September, as
he is placed by the name of Adamnan in the calendar of the Scottish
Common Prayer-book, printed A. D. 1638, in which he is qualified bishop.
Besides the sanctity of his life, and his zeal for uniformity in the
Church, and other virtues, for which we have seen him highly commended
by venerable Bede and Abbot Ceolfrid, his memory ought to be precious
among the Scots, as an ancient writer, particularly for the light he gives
us in these dark ages, both in our civil and sacred history, as the reader
will have seen all along in the many citations from Adamnan's Life of S.
Columba. Besides, we have from him another piece already mentioned,
and much esteemed by the learned, intituled De Locis Sanctis, or a de-
scription of the Holy Land in the state it was in the seventh age. For
though Adamnan was only the penman of that work, and the substance of
it is due to Arculfus, a French bishop, yet we should never have had it
without Adamnan. A third small work of Adamnan is some rules or
canons, chiefly concerning legal observances (according to the degree of
the first Apostolical council), particularly against eating things strangled,
or blood, which Apostolical precept, it appears by these canons and other
ancient monuments, was still observed by the Scots, both in Britain and
Ireland, as far down as the eighth or ninth age. These canons, which
are only nine in number, I have seen under the title of " Canones Adam-
LoCHA II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
301
nani" in an M.S. of the Cottonian Library, and in another very ancient A. D. 703.
M.S. formerly belonging to M. Bigot, now in the King of France's library,
number 3665.
Before I leave S. Adamnan, it is fit to take notice that, among other
works of piety, he rebuilt or repaired the buildings of the Abbey of Ycolm-
kill, which were beginning to decay in his time. Upon which, occasion he
gives account of a miraculous alteration of the winds, obtained in his own
presence, by his own, and those in his own company, their addressing to
S. Columba, by whose intercession the contrary wind was suddenly changed
into a favourable, which conveyed them in their boats, with all the materials
for building they were loaded with to Ycolmkill. In the same chapter,
he gives account of another miracle of the same kind, wrought in his own
presence, and in that of all who sailed with him, by the Saint's prayers.
He adds in the same and preceding chapter, two other miracles, to which
he himself, and all the neighbourhood were witnesses, wrought by exposing
the habit in which S. Columba expired, with books written in his own
hand.< a >
It will appear, perhaps to some, that I have insisted too long upon
S. Adamnan ; but, besides the light he furnishes to our history in ages
when our other writers are so barren of materials, the author of these
memoirs, born in a parish anciently devoted to the memory of this holy
man, and still preserving a monument of him, well known to all the neigh-
bourhood by the name of S. Eunan's well, and S. Eunan's tree, thought it
a duty to be at some more pains to illustrate his life and actions. (0
S. Adamnan had for his successor in the Abbey of Ycolmkill, Conain,
son of Failbe, who governed it six years. The same year, 703, died
Eochod Binneval, or Eocha II, called by our modern writers, as I have
observed, Eugenius. He had for his successor, Ambrecallach or Amber-
kellech, the son of Ferchard Fada, or as the Register of S. Andrews, Gray,
and Fordun have it, the son of Findan, who was son to Eochod Buyd.
Amberkellech reigned one year only. Fordun adds, that having unad-
visedly broken the peace with the Picts, and made an irruption into their
kingdom, he was there killed by the shot of an arrow. But Fordun has
nothing of the lust, avarice, and other vices with which, upon Veremundian
authority, our modern writers load this prince.
Vit. Col. lib. ii. cc. 44. 45.
(1> [Thc Parish referred to is Aboync. See Collections for a History of the Shires
of Aberdeen and Banff, p. -77.
EOGAN I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
305
tion of that see deserves to be mentioned in short in this work. "In the A. D. 709.
reign of Coenred, who succeeded Ethelred, there was a layman in a military
employment, no less acceptable to the king for his worldly industry, than
displeasing to him for his private neglect of himself. The king often
admonished him to confess and amend, and to forsake his wicked courses,
before he should lose all time for repentance and amendment by a sudden
death. Though frequently warned, he despised the words of salvation, and
promised he would do penance at some future time. In the meantime,
falling sick he was confined to his bed, and began to feel very severe pains.
The king coming to him (for he loved the man) earnestly exhorted him,
even then, before death, to repent of his offences. He answered, ' He
would not then confess his sins, but would do it when he was recovered of
his sickness, lest his companions should upbraid him with having done that
for fear of death, which he refused to do in health.' He thought he then
spoke very bravely, but it afterwards appeared that he had been miserably
deluded by the wiles of the devil.
" The distemper still increasing, when the king came again to visit and
instruct him, he cried out with a lamentable voice, ' What will you have
now? What are you come for? for you can no longer do me any good.'
The king answered, 'Do not talk so; behave yourself like a man in his
right mind.' ' I am not mad, 1 replied he, ' but I have now all the guilt of
my wicked conscience before my eyes.' 'What is the meaning of that'?
rejoined the king. ' Not long since' said he, 'there came into this room
two most beautiful youths, and sat down by me, the one at my head and
the other at my feet. One of them produced a very small and most curious
book, and gave it me to read ; looking into it, I there found all the good
actions I had ever done in my life written down, and they were very few
and inconsiderable. They took back the book and said nothing to me.
Then, on a sudden, appeared an army of wicked and deformed spirits,
encompassing the house without, and filling it within. Then he, who by
the blackness of his dismal face, and his sitting above the rest, seemed to
be the chief of them, taking out a book horrid to behold, of a prodigious
size, and of almost insupportable weight, commanded one of his followers
to bring it to me to read. Having read it, I found therein, most plainly
written, in black characters, all the crimes I ever committed, not only in
word and deed, but even in the least thought; and he said to those men in
white who sat by me, 'Why do you sit here, since you most certainly know
Q q
306
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
EOGAN I.
A. D. 709. that this man is ours.' They answered, ' You are in the right, take and
add him to the number of the damned.' This said, they immediately
vanished, and two most wicked spirits rising, with forks in their hands,
one of them struck me on the head, and the other on the foot. These
strokes are now with great torture, penetrating through my bowels to the
inward parts of my body, and as soon as they meet I shall die, and the
devils being ready to snatch me away, I shall be dragged into hell.'
" Thus talked that wretch in despair, and dying soon after, he is now in
vain suffering in eternal torments, that penance which he refused to suffer
during a short time, that he might obtain forgiveness. Of whom it is
manifest that (as the holy Pope Gregory writes of certain persons), he did
not see these things for his own sake, since they availed him only for the
instruction of others, who, knowing of his death, should be afraid to put
off the time of repentance, whilst they have leisure, lest, being prevented
by sudden death, they should depart impenitent. His having books laid
before him by the good or evil spirits, was done by Divine dispensation,
that we may keep in mind that our actions and thoughts are not lost in the
wind, but are all kept to be examined by the Supreme Judge, and will in
the end be shown us, either by friendly or hostile angels. As to the angels
first producing a white book, and then the devils a black one; the former
a very small one, the latter one very large ; it is to be observed, that in his
first years he did some good actions, all which he nevertheless obscured by
the evil actions of his youth. If, on the contrary, he had taken care in his
youth to correct the errors of his more tender years, and to cancel them in
God's sight by doing well, he might have been associated to the number of
those of whom the Psalm says, ' Blessed are those whose iniquities are for-
given, and whose sins are hid.' This story, as I learned it of the vener-
able Bishop Pecthelm, I have thought proper to relate in a plain manner,
for the salvation of my hearers.
" I knew a brother myself, (would to God I had not known him!) whose
name I could mention if it were necessary, and who resided in a noble
monastery, but lived himself ignobly. He was frequently reproved by the
brethren and elders of the place, and admonished to adopt a more regular
life ; and though he would not give ear to them, he was long patiently
borne with by them, on account of his usefulness in temporal works, for
he was an excellent carpenter. He was much addicted to drunkenness, and
other pleasures of a lawless life, and more used to stop in his workhouse
EoGAN 1.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
307
day and night, than to go to Church to sing and pray, and hear the Avord A. D. 709.
of life with the brethren. For which reason it happened to him, according
to the saying, that he who will not willingly and humbly enter the gate of
the Church will certainly be damned, and enter the gate of hell whether
he will or no. For he falling sick, and being reduced to extremity, called
the brethren, and with much lamentation, and like one damned, began to
tell them that he saw hell open, and Satan at the bottom thereof ; as also
Caiaphas, with the others that slew our Lord by him delivered up to
avenging flames. ' In whose neighbourhood,' said he, 1 1 sec a place of
eternal perdition provided for me miserable wretch.' The brothers hear-
ing these words, began seriously to exhoi't him that he should repent even
then whilst he was in the flesh. He answered in despair, 'I have no time
now to change my course of life, when I have myself seen my judgment
passed.'
" Whilst uttering these Avords he died, without having received the
saving viaticum ; and his body was buried in the remotest parts of the
monastery ; nor did any one dare either to say masses, or sing Psalms, or
even to pray for him. How far has our Lord divided the light from dark-
ness ! The blessed martyr Stephen, being about to suffer death for the
truth, saw the heavens open, the glory of God revealed, and Jesus stand-
ing on the right hand of God. And where he was to be after death, there
he fixed the eyes of his mind, that he might die with the more satisfaction.
On the contrary, this carpenter, of a dark mind and actions, when death
was at hand, saw hell open, and witnessed the damnation of the devil and
his followers ; the unhappy wretch also saw his own prison among them,
to the end that, despairing of his salvation, he might die the more miser-
ably, but might by his perdition, afford cause of salvation to the living who
should hear of it. This happened lately in the province of the Bernicians,
and being reported abroad, far and near, inclined many to do penance for
their sins without delay, which we hope may also be the result of this our
narrativc."0)
A. D. 710, died Brude, King of the Picts, apparently killed in the
battle fought this year betwixt the Picts and the Saxons, commanded by
their general Berfrid, of which the Saxon Chronicle, after Bede, contains
only this short account. Berfrid, commander of the Saxon troops, fought
' Hist. Eccles. lib. v. CC. 13, 14.
Q q 2
308
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Eocan L
A. D. 710. with the Picts betwixt Heugh and Carau. places near the Pictish "Wall, in
Northumberland, which shows how far the Picts had gained ground on
the Northumbrians, and were still advancing, when Berfrid, to check their
pride, as Huntingdon expresses it, marched to oppose them, and gained the
battle with a great slaughter of the Picts, and by their defeat revenged the
death of Kinj: Egfrid and of the General Beort, both slain by the Picts.
The same year (according to the Chronicles of Ireland, as Colgan
informs us), died Caideus or Caidinus, Bishop of Ycolmkill : and how
many more of the same character, are we deprived of the knowledse of,
by the destruction of the records and monuments of that same Abbey ?
To King Brude, succeeded his brother Nectan or Naitan, son of Dereli.
the third of that name, and the sixty-second king of the Picts, a learned
prince, and so zealous for uniformity, not only in doctrine, but in the rites
and discipline of the Church. For the divisions that had fallen out in
Britain in the former age, and the debates that frequently happened in his
time, about Easter and the tonsure, having excited this prince to examine
into the grounds of them, he no sooner came to the Pictish crown, but he
applied himself to establish in his kingdom the uniform practice observed
in almost all other Churches in the celebration of Easter, and the form of
the tonsure ; of which Bede, living at the time, has left us the following
account in his History : — (b)
At this time, Naitan, King of the Picts, inhabiting the northern parts
of Britain, being taught by the assiduous lecture and meditation on eccle-
siastical writings, renounced the error he and his nation had till then been
engaged in, concerning the observation of Easter ; and reduced himself and
all his people to celebrate the Catholic time of our Lord's Resurrection.
We may observe here, by the by, that the Picts were not that ignorant
and barbarous people they are represented by some writers, since not only
their clergv and religious men, but the king himself used to apply, and
that assiduously, to the reading of such as he could have of the ecclesi-
astical writings, that is, of the Scripture and Canons. But in order to
bring about more easily this reformation in these delicate points, he
thought fit to call for the assistance of some of the more learned of the
EngHsh nation, who, he knew, had long since formed their religious usages
and discipline, upon the model of the Apostolical Roman Church.
M Hist. Eccles. lib. v. c. 21.
EOGAN I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
309
Accordingly, he sent messengers to the venerable man Ceolfrid, Abbot A. D. 710.
of the monastery of the blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, which stands at
the mouth of the river Were, in the neighbourhood of the Pictish king-
dom, desiring that he would write to him a persuasive letter, by the help
of which he might be enabled to confute those that would continue to
keep Easter out of the due time, as also concerning the form and manner
of tonsure by which the clergy ought to be distinguished, owning that
he was himself already somewhat instructed in these matters. The king
also prayed the Abbot, that architects might be sent him to build in his
nation a church of stone after the Roman manner. The Pictish and
Scottish churches, as has been elsewhere observed, had been hitherto, as
the rest of their buildings, made of wood ; and King Naitan being in-
formed that the Abbot, Benedict Biscop, predecessor to Ceolfrid, had,
among other decorations of his church and monasteries, brought from
abroad ;a) not only architects for stone buildings, which were grown in
desuetude in Britain since the Roman times, but also glaziers to make
windows for the church and galleries, an art unknown to Britain till that
time ; King Naitan being informed, I say, of these and other decorations
for the Church and service of God, resolved to have a church built after
that manner, and promised to dedicate the same to the honour of S. Peter,
prince of the apostles, adding, that he and all his people would always
follow the custom of the holy Roman and Apostolical Church, as far as
they who lived at such a distance from thence, and whose language was so
different, could be informed of it.
The Abbot Ceolfrid, complying with the king's desire and request,
sent him the architects he desired, and a long letter concerning Easter
and the tonsure, which is set down by Bede, who, living at the time in
the same monastery of Yarrow, and being the person of the greatest
erudition, and the most skilled in those controverted points of discipline,
was in all appearance the penner of this letter ; to whom, therefore, for
abridging, I refer the reader to see the letter at length, and shall only set
down the beginning and end of it.
The letter begins thus . — " To the most excellent Lord and glorious King
Naitan, the Abbot Ceolfrid greeting in the Lord. "We most readily and wil-
lingly endeavour, according to your desire, devout king, to explain to you
">Vitae Abbatum, p. 295.
C$10
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
EoGAN I.
A. D. 710. the Catholic observance of holy Easter, according to what we have learned
_ " from the Apostolical see ; it being given by Almighty God to the Church,
to instruct even the masters of the world, who apply themselves to seek
the truth, to teach it, and endeavour to have it observed. For it is most
true, what a certain secular writer said, that the world would be most happy ;
if either kings applied to philosophers, or philosophers reigned ; which if a
man could say with truth of the philosophy of this world, he speaking
of worldly happiness, how much more it is to be wished and begged of
God, with earnest prayers, for the citizens of the heavenly country, during
their pilgrimage through this world, that in proportion as their power
extends over others, so also they be more diligent to hearken to the com-
mands of the Judge of all men ; and both apply themselves, and by their
example and authority, induce those that are committed to their charge to
observe the same." After this introduction, Ceolfrid enters into the matter,
and in the first part of his letter he treats learnedly, and at length, both
of the Jewish Pasch and of the Christian Easter ; and concludes from the
reasons and authorities he there sets down, that the calculation and obser-
vance of Easter used at Rome, and generally in all other Churches, was
the only right, and conformable to Scripture, and the universal tradition
since the great Council of Nice; and that the Scottish, the Pictish, and
British calculation and observance of that solemnity were erroneous. In
the second part, he treats of the clerical tonsure. But having already
treated of both these controverted points of discipline, as far as I thought
necessary to give light to the history, I refer the reader for further infor-
mation to the letter itself, set down at length by Bede, and shall only add
here from him the conclusion of it, and the effects it had in the kingdom
of the Picts.
Ceolfrid, in the- end of his letter, gives an account of the conference
which he had, A. D. 688, concerning these two heads of discipline, with
Adamnan, Abbot of Ycolmkill, in his last progress to England, and informs
the king that Adamnan was so fully persuaded by what he had heard and
seen in that voyage, of the preference due to the rules and discipline of
the Roman and other Churches abroad, concerning Easter and the form of
the tonsure, as we have already related, that he spared no pains to bring
over the religious of his own monastery of Ycolmkill to the like practice;
and his labours being unsuccessful as to them, he went to Ireland, where he
had more success. In fine, Ceolfrid concludes his letter, with an exhor-
EOCAN r.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
311
tation to King Naitan, in these respectful words. "I also admonish, your A. 1). 710.
wisdom, O King, that you endeavour in all points, with your nation over ~
which the King of kings and Lord of lords has placed you, to observe
those things which tend to cement and confirm the unity of the Catholic
and Apostolic Church: for by that means it will come to pass, that after
your reign in a temporal kingdom, the most blessed prince of the apostles
will readily open to you and yours, with the rest of the elect, the entrance
into the heavenly kingdom. May the grace of the Eternal preserve you,
and grant you a long reign for the peace of us all, my dear beloved son in
Christ."
The words of the learned abbot : " Over which [kingdom of the Picts]
the King of kings and Lord of lords has placed you," contain a clear
notion of the right by which the Pictish kings, and from them the kings
of Scots, hold their crown immediately from God, independently of all
human powers of whatever kind, as has been elsewhere observed,( a) and
particularly an acknowledgment by a famous Saxon writer, that the Pic-
tish kings had no dependence on Northumbrian or Saxon kings, even for
their lands and possessions to the south of the Frith, at least since King
Egfrid's time.
" This letter," says Bede, <; having been read in the presence of King
Naitan, and of many of the more learned of his nation, and carefully in-
terpreted into their own language by those who understood it, the king is
said to have greatly rejoiced at the exhortation, insomuch that rising from
among his great men that sat about him, he knelt on the ground, and
rendered thanks to God for having received such a present from England,
and then added : ' I knew indeed, before, that this was the true celebration
of Easter, but now I so fully see the reason for observing this time, that
I perceive I knew but little of it before ; wherefore, I publicly declare,
and do protest to you all that are here present, that I will, for ever, with
all my nation, observe this time of Easter; and I do decree, that this
form of tonsure we have heard is most reasonable, and shall be received
by all the clergy of my kingdom.'
" Accordingly, lie immediately caused this decree to be put in execu-
tion by his royal authority." This expression of Bede seems to insinuate
that this decree of King Naitan, concerning Easter and the tonsure, was
W Crit. Essay, pp. 261, 262, 263, 264.
312
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
EOGAN I.
A. D 710. enacted by his royal authority, without concurrence of the Pictish bishops
and clergy, who, being all Columbites, could not easily digest at first an
alteration of the discipline to which they had all been bred up and used.
Upon this, it happened that though many of the Pictish clergy submitted
at first, and complied, partly persuaded by the reasons and authorities
contained in Abbot Ceolfrid's letter to the king, (which had been read and
explained to them) partly out of regard to the royal authority, and not
daring openly to oppose what the king so absolutely commanded : yet, it
appears that many of them stood out and adhered to their old usages, and,
perhaps, brought over to their party some of those that had yielded at
first.
They were, no doubt, in the wrong, as well as the Scots and Britons,
being but a handful of Catholics in a corner of the world, in comparison
of all the rest of the Church, thus to remain divided from it for bare
ceremonial practices, whilst they agreed with it in all that concerned faith
and doctrine. But it must be considered that the Pictish clergy, as well
as those of the Scots, both in Britain and Ireland, lived in dependence
upon Ycolmkill. We have already seen in Bede, how obstinately the
Scots, in the north of Ireland, that depended upon that abbey, remained
fixed in their old usages, when the Abbot Adamnan went over on pur-
pose to reclaim them a few years ago ; notwithstanding that the rest of
the Scots of those parts yielded to his exhortations and authority. We
have also seen that Adamnan met with no less resistance in his own
monastery of Ycolmkill, notwithstanding their dependence on him as their
abbot ; and this general resistance of the Columbites, both in Ireland and
in Britain, to the Abbot Adamnan, a man otherwise so much esteemed,
and of so great reputation, and so well deserving it; this resistance, I
say, shows that the great authority Bede says the Abbot of Ycolmkill had
over the Scots and Picts, is not to be pressed to the rigour.
However, the Scottish and Pictish clergy being bred up in dependence
upon Ycolmkill, as we have seen, all along from the time of S. Columba,
and having, at their conversion to Christianity by that holy man, with
the doctrine and discipline of Christianity, received from him the Easter
cycle of eighty-four years, and the form of the tonsure, such as he used :
it was no wonder that they would not part with these observances as long
as their mother house, Ycolmkill, stood out, as it continued yet four or five
years longer to do.
EOCAN I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
313
It is not unlike that something, also, of a national jealousy might A. D. 711.
have influenced the incompliance of the Pictish and Scottish Columbites.
We have seen how ill the Bishop Trumwine, otherwise a holy man, was
received and used by the Picts, because he was placed over them by the
sole authority of Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury. So, it may very
well be, that their reluctancy, at this juncture, arose from their apprehension
lest the alteration of these points of discipline might look like a sub-
mission to Ceolfrid, a Saxon abbot, who lived according to a different rule
and institute from them. For the rule of S. Benedict, lately introduced
by Wilfrid, and by Benedict Biscop, predecessor to Ceolfrid, which he ob-
served in his monastery of Weremouth, was entirely new to our Pictish
and Scottish clergy and religious, who, all of them Columbites, and whose
predecessors having planted Christianity among the Saxons of the north,
might, apparently, be shocked that Ceolfrid, a northern Saxon's advice and
instruction, were preferred by their king, even in points of discipline, to
theirs, as if they had wanted any instruction from the Saxons or English
in religious matters.
But whatever were the motives of the reluctancy of the Pictish Col-
umbites, to alter their calcul of the Easter solemnity, or form of their
tonsure, it appears by the Chronicle of Ulster, that they resisted to that
degree, as to choose rather to lose their houses, and even to be banished
their country, than to submit to the alteration of these heads of their
ancient discipline, which had been taught them by S. Columba himself,
and practised by so many holy men, his successors and disciples. And, in
effect, it appears by the foresaid Chronicle of Ulster, quoted by Bishop
Ussher, that most of the Columbite Clergy were actually banished out of
Pictland by the same King Naitan. For this Chronicle, speaking of the
death of Dunchad, Abbot of Ycolmkill, during whose time happened this
embroil and contestation about these points of discipline, and the exile of
the Columbites, it expresses their banishment in these words. The family
of Y,W or Ycolmkill, that is of the Columbites, were by King Naitan ex-
pelled over Drumalban, that is, out of the Pictish territories, into those of
the Scots. For these two kingdoms, says Adamnan, were separated or
divided by the hills of Drumalban, as we have elsewhere shown. By
this, it appears, that the Pictish Columbites, being troubled by their own
(a) Expnlsio familiac I trans dorsum Albania? a Ncctano liege. Chron. Ulton. apud
Ussher, p. 367.
R r
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Logan L
A. D. 716. king, were obliged to seek refuge among the Scots, who remained under
their peaceable king, Eocha, Eogan, or Eugenius the Seventh, unmolested
in their usual observances.
But this exile of the Pictish Columbites, is to be understood of those
only among them who refused to submit to the canonical observances, to
which many of them no doubt yielded ; and it lasted only a very few, that
is, at most, three or four years, till the coming over of the holy prelate
Egbert, who, as we have seen, having been chosen long before by Al-
mighty God, for reclaiming the Columbites, especially those of Ycolmkill,
from their irregular practices, had, by the blessing of God, more influence
upon them and upon all that depended upon them, than their own abbot
Adamnan, as Bede relates; notwithstanding the great power that the same
Bede had attributed elsewhere to the Abbot of Ycolmkill. Thus the
reformation made in the island by Egbert, is related by Bede.
" Not long after the decree of King Naitan, the Scots monks of the
Island of Ycolmkill, with the monasteries that were subject to them, were,
by God's assistance, reduced to the canonical observation of Easter and the
tonsure. For, in the year 716 W after the Incarnation of our Lord, when
King Osred being slain, Coenred took upon him the government of the
Northumbrians, the beloved of God, and worthy to be named with all re-
spect, the prelate Egbert, of whom we have more than once made mention
already, coming to Ycolmkill, was honourably and joyfully received by the
religious men of that place. And he being a most mild and agreeable
teacher, and a most devout practiser of all that he prescribed to be done,
was most willingly heard by them all; and by his pious and frequent ex-
hortations, he changed that inveterate tradition of their ancestors to
whom may be applied, says Bede, those words of the Apostle, that they
had the zeal of God, but not according to knowledge, and taught them to
celebrate the principal solemnity of Easter after the Catholic and Apo-
stolical manner, as has been said, under the figure of a perpetual circle or
cycle. Thus, the monks of Ycolmkill were converted by the instruction
of Egbert, under their abbot, Dunchad, about eighty years after they had
sent S. Aidan to preach to the English nation; and the man of God,
Egbert, remained thirteen years in the foresaid island, which ho had con-
secrated to Christ, as it were, with a new shining light of ecclesiastical
»' Hist. Eccles. lib. v. c. 22.
EOGAN I.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
31.5
unity and peace." This expression of Bede, "consecrated to Christ," .\. D. 716.
seems an allusion to the episcopal functions ; Egbert, as we have elsewhere
shown, having been promoted to the degree of bishop ; and, no doubt, he
exercised the episcopal functions during the last thirteen years of his life
that he resided in this island, as in his proper seat, to which he had been
in a miraculous manner appointed by the call of Almighty God.
Dunchad, Abbot of Ycolmkill, above mentioned, during whose time
this reformation of the calendar happened, died upon the twenty-fifth day
of May the next year, 717, and was succeeded by Foelchuo, son of Dor-
beny. Some write, <» that this Foelchuo entered upon that administration,
A. D. 714, and that he resigned it to Dunchad, who was certainly abbot,
according to Bede, A. D. 716. However, Foelchuo, after he had governed
anew during three years, had for successor Killen or Killian, who sat
twenty-two years.
From this Abbot Killian or Killen, Colgan gives us a succession of
Abbots of Ycolmkill, down to the end of the twelfth age, taken from the
Irish Annals, which he quotes, and gives us from them the chronology of
this monastery, and of the abbots ; to the detail of which I shall refer
the reader.
Bede adds to the account of Egbert's reducing the Scots to the canoni-
cal observances of Easter and the tonsure, the following reflection upon
the wonderful conduct of the providence of God.
Ci This appears to have been done by a wonderful dispensation of the
Divine goodness, to the end, that by reason the Scots had taken care,
willingly and without envy, to communicate to the English the know-
ledge they had of the Divine mysteries, the Scots also should afterwards, by
means of a native of England, have communicated to them what was
wanting among them of the perfection of the way of living, that is. of the
canonical discipline ; whereas, on the contrary, the Britons, who would not
communicate to the English the knowledge they had of the Christian Faith
(whilst now, the English people do believe, and arc fully instructed in the
rules of the Catholic Faith and observances), do still persist in their
old irregular observances to expose their head without a crown, that is, a
round tonsure, and keep the solemnity of Christ without the society of the
Church."
By this last reflection that Bede makes upon the Britons, it appears
(a) Colgan, p. 499.
(t "Hist. Eccles. lib. v. c. 18.
B r 2
31 6
CIVIL AND FXCLESIASTICAL
MCRDACH.
A. D. 7-20. that the labours of Aldhelm ^which the same Bede relates Annal. Den. torn. ii. p. G60, ex Concil. Melden. A. D. 845.
MlHDACH.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
319
same relief to them from others. Having left the monastery some time, A. L). 729.
upon some displeasure of the abbess occasioned by the loss of some plate
belonging to her, carried off by some beggars from the holy man's cell, and
being miraculously stopped from returning to Pictland, his country, he
returned to the monastery, where he was received with universal joy, and
continued in his ordinary exercises of retreat, prayers, preaching, and other
exercises of his sacerdotal functions the rest of his life, and died in so great
reputation of sanctity, accompanied with miracles, that he began to be
honoured as a Saint soon after his death, which happened about A. D. 720.
About the same time, lived among the Picts, S. Maolrubius or Mulruy,
a religious man of great sanctity of life, who being slain by the Danes or
Norwegians in an invasion they made into Boss, A. D. 721, was buried at
Apercross, and his memory celebrated as a Martyr upon 21st April.
A. D. 725, died Nectan or Naitan the Third, King of the Picts, famous
for his zeal for settling uniformity of ecclesiastical discipline among his sub-
jects, as we have seen. He had for his successors, Drest or Durst the
Eighth, and Alpin, who reigned together five years.
A. D. 729, in which the feast of Easter fell upon the eighth of the
Kalends of May, the most reverend father, Egbert, after celebrating the
solemn mass in memory of our Lord's Resurrection, in the abbey of Ycolm-
kill (where he had made his residence these last thirteen years bygone), de-
parted, that same day of Easter, to our Lord, and thus consummated the joy
of the great festival (which he had begun with the brethren whom he had
converted to unity of discipline), with our Lord, the Apostles, and the other
citizens of heaven, or rather never ceases to celebrate the same. But it
was a wonderful dispensation of Divine providence, savs Bede, that this
venerable man did not only pass out of this world to the Father on Easter
day, but also that this should happen when Easter was celebrated upon a
day on which it had never been wont to be kept in those parts. The
brethren rejoiced in the certain and catholic knowledge of the time of
Easter; they rejoiced in the patronage of their holy father, by whom they
had been corrected, confiding that he would now be their patron and
intercessor with our Lord, to whom he was gone before. He himself re-
joiced and gave thanks to God for his being so long preserved alive, till
he saw his hearers admit of, and celebrate with him, that as Easter day,
which they had ever before avoided. Thus the most reverend father,
being assured of their standing corrected, rejoiced that he might see the
day of our Lord. He saw it and was glad.
320
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Ml'rdach.
A. D. 731. A. D. 730, to Durst and Alpin, conjunct Kings of the Picts, succeeded
Oengus or Hungus, called also Onnast, son of Ungust, or Fergust the sixty-
fourth king of the Picts, a warlike prince, who reigned thirty-one years.
The following year, 731, Bede concluded his Ecclesiastical History of
the English nation, and though, as we have elsewhere observed, he does
not treat in it of the Scots in Britain, but only by the bye, and in as far as
it serves to give light to his main subject, the Ecclesiastical History of
England, yet, considering the loss we have made of almost all our ecclesias-
tical documents and monuments, the transient glimpses that we have found
in Bede, of our ecclesiastical matters, serve extremely, to give light into
them ; and we shall be at no small loss, henceforth, that we are to be de-
prived of his assistance.
In the conclusion of his History, Bede gives us a short account of
the state of Britain, as it was, A. D. 731, containing the names of the
kings and bishops in its several provinces; for which the reader may
have recourse to Bede's own work. As to the countries adjacent to Scot-
land, he tells us that Ceolwulf, to whom his History is dedicated, was King
of the Northumbrians ; Wilfrid, Bishop of York ; Ethelwald, Bishop of Lin-
disfarne ; Acca, Bishop of Hexham ; and Pecthelm, Bishop of Candida Casa
or Whithern, which, says Bede, the number of the faithful being in-
creased, has been lately added to the number of episcopal sees, and has
Pecthelm for its first bishop, that is, as has been already observed, for its
first bishop after its restoration ; for, according to Bede himself, S. Ninian
was first Bishop, as well as founder of this see, about three hundred years
before, and Ninian had successors, as we have seen elsewhere. Bede con-
tinues thus. The nation of the Picts, also, at this time, was at peace
with the English nation, and rejoices in being partaker of the Catholic
peace and verity with the universal Church (that is, in having now em-
braced the true calcul of Easter and form of the tonsure, which had so
long caused debates and divisions in the Churches of Britain.) The
Scots that inhabit Britain being satisfied with their own territories, con-
trive no mischief against the nation of the English. The Britons, though
for the most part they are averse to the English nation, and wrongfully,
out of a perverse custom, oppose the celebrating Easter, at the time ap-
pointed by the whole Catholic Church, yet both divine and human power
opposing them, they can in neither part prevail, as they desire ; for though,
in part, they are their own masters, yet in some part, they are under sub-
MlJRDACH.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
321
jection to the English- Now, if at this time, either the Picts or the Scots A. D. 734.
had been in any part under subjection to the English rule, Bede who
never misses an opportunity of relating what tended to exalt the power
and the glory of his countrymen over their neighbour nations, had not
failed to inform us of it no less than of the subjection of a part of the
Britons. However, upon this general tranquillity, or rather suspension
of war, which happened, at this time, to be more general than ordinary
among the different nations that inhabited Britain, Bede makes this
remarkable observation : This peaceable and calm disposition of times
prevailing, many of the Northumbrians, as well of the nobility as private
persons, laying aside their weapons, rather incline to addict themselves
and their children to monastic vows, receiving the tonsure, than to study
martial discipline. What will be the end of this, says Bede, the next age
will be better able to discover ? Bede stops short here in his History, and
does not tell us further of what he apprehended of the consequences of
this general tendency of his countrymen to a monastic life.
But what he thought not proper to publish in his History, he expressed
with freedom soon after, in a private letter of advice or instruction, sent
A. D. 734, to Egbert, Archbishop of York, which was first published by
Ware, and more correctly by Dr. Smith, in his new edition of Bede. 00
And as there are in this letter, besides the state of ecclesiastical
matters in Northumberland, some things that may serve to put in a better
light, ecclesiastical transactions in Scotland in the following dark ages,
I shall here take notice of some heads of it.
Among other abuses, Bede complains that the monasteries were
frequently filled with people of irregular lives ; that the country seemed
overburdened with these foundations ; that there were scarcely estates
enow for the laity of condition ; and that if this humour increased, the
country would grow unfurnished of troops to defend their frontiers. But
what is chiefly to be remarked, is another abuse that he mentions ; that
some persons of quality of the laity, who had neither inclination to, nor
experience of, the monastic life, used to purchase some of the crown lands,
under pretence of founding a monastery, and then get a charter of
privileges signed by the king, the bishops, and other great men of Church
and State ; and by these expedients, they wrought up a great estate, and
,1J Bed. edit. Smith, p. 306, &c.
S S
322
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
MtJRDACH.
A. D. 734. made themselves lords of several villages; and thus, getting discharged
from the service of the commonwealth, they retired for liberty, and indulged
their passions ; took the name and office of abbots, and calling those places
monasteries or abbeys, they stocked them, not with true religious men, but
raked together a company of strolling monks, expelled for their misbe-
haviour; and sometimes persuaded their own retinue to take the tonsure,
and promise to them monastic obedience ; and, having furnished their
pretended monasteries with such an ill-chosen company, they lived a life
perfectly secular, under the exterior habit and appearance of monks ;
brought their wives into the monastery, and were husbands and abbots at
the same time ; intent, by turns, upon procreating children, and regulating
monks, and even allowing their wives to imitate those scandalous ways of
profaning the names of a holy state, and to set up monasteries of women,
and preside as abbesses over them.
Thus, for about thirty years after the death of King Aldfrid (A. D.
705), the country of the Northumbrians has run in riot, after this manner,
insomuch that there are scarce any of the lieutenants or governors of
towns, who have not seized the religious jurisdiction of a monastery, and
put their wives in the same criminal posts. And as all customs are apt to
spread, the king's inferior officers have taken up the same fashion; and
thus we find a great many inconsistent offices and titles tacked together,
the same persons being often all at once abbots and officers or ministers of
state. And men are trusted with the government of religious houses,
without practising any part of the obedience and discipline belonging to
them. For a remedy of these disorders, Bede advises the Archbishop, to
call a Synod, and have a visitation set on foot, and all such unqualified per-
sons thrown out of their usurpations.
In this letter, he insists also upon multiplying the episcopal sees in the
province of York, and bringing them up, according to S. Gregory's plan, to
the number of twelve ; and in order to that, to settle episcopal seats in
some monasteries, etc. ( a )
This was one of the last works of Bede, and it is the more probable
opinion that he deceased this year, 735, upon the feast of the Ascension.
Malmesbury, after making a great eloge of his piety and learning, laments
the loss of his industry and abilities in the ages following. He tells
'a* Col. 124, 125.
EOGAN II.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
323
us, that after his death, all notice of public transactions in Britain was in A. D. 737.
a manner buried since his time. The English, as he complains, grew '
slothful and unlettered, and took no care to come up to the sense and figure
of their predecessors; and thus, the inclination of posterity grew daily
cooler for improvement, till they dwindled at last to a remarkable ig-
norance.
The same year, 735, died Pectbelm, Bishop of Whithern. He was one
of the most distinguished prelates of his time, not only for his piety and
zeal, but for his learning and knowledge of ecclesiastical discipline, as ap-
pears by the consultation concerning the impediments of marriage, ad-
dressed to him by S. Boniface of Mentz, the Apostle of Germany.^) Pect-
helm was succeeded by Frithewald who sat thirty years.
The year following, 736, Mui'dach, King of Scots, dying, was suc-
ceeded by his son, Eogan or Ewan the Second. And here again the order
of succession, such as it is in all our ancient chronicles and catalogues
before Fordun, was inverted by him, and Ethfin, who was Eogan or
Ewan's successor, placed before him, immediately after King Murdach.
This Eogan is called Eugene the Seventh by Fordun, and after him, by our
modern writers. He reigned three years. The second year of King
Eogan's reign, A. D. 737, Ceolwulf, King of the Northumbrians, to whom
Bede dedicated his History, wearied of the world, resigned his kingdom to
his cousin Eadbert, and retiring, embraced a religious state in the monastery
of Lindisfarne, where he persevered till his death, and enriched that mon-
astery with his treasures and augmentation of their lands and revenues.
It was also by the credit of this king, after he became a monk, that a
licence was given to the monks of Lindisfarne to drink wine or beer ; for
till that time, says Hoveden, they were wont to drink only milk and water,
according to the institution and ancient tradition of S. Aidan, the first
bishop of that place, and of the monks that came along with him from
Scotland, and obtained a settlement in that island, as we have seen, by
the donation of King Oswald, and there joyfully passed their lives in great
strictness and mortification, minding only the life to come.
Thus Hoveden, which Turgot and Simeon, the one Prior, and the other
a monk, of Durham pass over in silence.
By this it appears that the evangelical spirit of voluntary poverty, of
W Letter ii.
s s 2
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
EoGAN II.
A. D 737. abnegation of the world and of mortification, to which S. Aidan and our
Columbites were bred up in Ycolmkill, as has been observed, and established
in all the monasteries which they founded, was such, that the Saxon monks
could not long live up to it, especially after the princes and great men of
the world began to make their abode among them, and heap riches upon
them, which could not fail giving entry in a great measure to the spirit of
the world ; and the plenty they began to enjoy was naturally followed with
cessation or relaxation of labour of their hands, and by degrees, with idle-
ness, and the consequences of it ; all this just one hundred years after the
foundation of that holy place ; and what happened here came by degrees,
to be the case with many other such sacred retreats, as we will too often
have occasion to observe.
As to Eadbert, successor to King Ceolwulf, he was brother to Egbert,
Bishop of York, who had been advanced to the bishoprick two years before.
This Bishop Egbert, says Malmesbury, ( a > by his own prudence and indus-
try, and assisted by the king, his brother's power, reduced the see of York
to its first state, having recovered from the apostolical see, the archiepiscopal
pall, and the dignity of metropolitan ; for Paulinus archbishop of York,
being forced to fly away to Kent, carried his pall with him. He left it at
Rochester, where he sat bishop till his death; and those that succeeded
him in the see of York, till this Egbert, had contented themselves with
the simple title of bishop, without aspiring higher. It was to this Bishop
Egbert that Bede addressed the instructions and advices already mentioned.
He was a man of parts, and a great encourager of learning, for which
reason he set up a famous school and noble library in York, as we see by
Alcuin's letters, who had been bred up under him.
As to our King, Eogan the Second, our modern historians, who wrote
since the invention of Veremund. give a very different account of this king,
and of his subjects' behaviour towards him, from what Fordun had given be-
fore him. Fordun informs us (b) that he was a humble and modest prince ;
that he chose to pass the time of his reign either in peace, as being more
beneficial to his subjects, than in war ; that being given to hunting, as most
princes then were, he annoyed only wild beasts, and not men ; that by his
wise behaviour, whilst he gained the favour and affection of his neighbour
< a, FoI. 153.
(b) Scotichron. lib. iii. c. 45.
Ethfin.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
325
princes, he employed his leisure in polishing and adorning with good laws A. D. 73'J.
his own kingdom. Thus Fordim, and it is confirmed by all our monastic
writers, his followers, till Boece published the Veremundian scheme of
our history (contrived in the dark, after king James the Third's death, and
presented to Boece as a new discovery of the ancient achievements of the
Scots.) According to this new draught, King Eugene the Eighth, as they
call him, or Ewan the Second, gave, indeed, at his entry upon the adminis-
tration, hopes of a good prince and happy reign, being a severe justiciary,
and reforming the disorders which he found had prevailed in the end of
the former reign; but he soon altered his course, and becoming a monster
of all sorts of lewdness, cruelty, avarice, and sacrilege; and refusing to
give ear to the wholesome admonitions of the bishops, in the third year*
of his reign he was put to death by his nobles, and all his familiars and
servants hanged up, which was an agreeable spectacle to the people.
Thus Boece and Buchanan, of which Fordun has nothing.
To this King Eogan or Ewan the Second, succeeded Ethfin, son to
Eochod Rinneval, who, as we have observed, is named by Fordun and his
followers, Eugene the Fifth or Sixth, while in the five extracts of out-
ancient Chronicles, he is ranked by them all (as may be seen in the
Appendix to the Essay,) immediately after King Ewan the Second, called
Eugene the Eighth. He is placed in the same order in a sixth abstract of
our Chronicles, to wit, that series of our kings inserted in the Chronicle of
Melrose, which, though it be not of the same hand nor equally ancient as
this Chronicle itself, as we have already observed, yet appears to be of
a very ancient hand, and certainly is anterior to Fordun's new scheme of
our kings, and differs from it in everything that the five abstracts set
down in the Appendix to the Essay differ from Fordun, and as far as it
contains, agrees with the other five abstracts both in the names and
order of succession of our kings. Now the entire harmony and agreement
of these six abstracts of our ancient Chronicles (the only Chronicles I have
ever met with written before Fordun,) appear to me, an evidence of the in-
novations made by him, not only in addition of forty-five ancient kings be-
fore Fergus son of Erch (as has been elsewhere shewn,) but in the names
and order of succession of several of the kings, posterior to this king
Fergus ; and Fordun having been looked upon and followed as the standard
of our history, by all that I have seen of our writers since publishing his
Chronicle, excepting James Gray's abstracts alone (for Winton wrote before
326
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Ethfin
A. D. 750. Fordun's was published,) all this being supposed, I hope the learned and
candid readers will agree, that in setting down the names and order of
succession of the kings, I could not rationally choose but prefer to Fordun's
new scheme, the concordant testimonies of so many witnesses writing or
setting down abstracts taken from our ancient records and Chronicles,
whilst they were still in being, and that before the end of the thirteenth
age, when, as is generally believed, in King Edward the First's ravaging
our country, the chief records and monuments of history were either
carried off, destroyed, or dissipated, which gave occasion to new schemes
of our history, and chiefly to that of Fordun, as the reader may see set
down at length in the Critical Essay.
To return to King Ethfin. The account that Fordun gives of him is,
that he behaved in a manner worthy of the royal dignity, and entertained
peace with the neighbouring princes the most part of his reign, which
lasted thirty years ; only towards the end of it he was attacked by the
Picts. Our modern writers give also a good character of this king, and
tell us he was a severe justiciary, and held his kingdom in peace ; and,
that under his government, his subjects increased in spiritual and temporal
advantages.
A. D. 740, died Ethelwald, Bishop of Lindisfarne ; and, in that quality,
having had the spiritual charge of the Pictish and other inhabitants of
Scotland, to the south of the Forth, as his predecessors and successors had,
till the erection 6f the see of St. Andrews, in the next age. To Ethelwald,
succeeded Cynewulf, in the bishoprick of Lindisfarne, and sat about forty
years. The same year the Picts, under their king, Onnust, or Hungus,
had war with Eadbert, King of the Northumbrians, < a ) and with the
Britons, two years afterwards. ( b)
A. D. 750, whilst CEngus, King of the Picts, was engaged in war
against Ethelwald, King of the Mercians, Eadbert, King of the Northum-
brians, invaded the Pictish territories, and possessed himself of the country
of Kyle, which the Picts had wrested from the Cumbrians, or Britons,
of these parts. Soon after, the same King Eadbert seized upon Cynewulf
Bishop of Lindisfarne, and imprisoned him in Bamburgh, and besieged
the church and monastery of Lindisfarne.
<»> Lang. p. 279.
<»>Chron. Mayl. p. 136.
Ethfin.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
327
A. D. 755, S. Boniface, otherwise "Winfrid, the Apostle of Germany, A. D. 756.
and Archbishop of Mentz, suffered martyrdom in Friseland, upon the fifth
of June, about twenty years after his first mission to Germany, in the
thirty-sixth year of his episcopal consecration. He is deservedly looked
upon as the Apostle of Germany, the restorer of ecclesiastical discipline
in France, and one of the chief encouragers and propagators of learning,
especially by the famous school he settled in the monastery which he
founded at Fulda. I mention him here because some modern writers
reckon him a Scotsman ; but it must be acknowledged that all the more
ancient writers, as well as the more learned among the moderns, assure
us that he was a Saxon, or an Englishman, born and bred up from his
infancy in Devonshire.
There would appear some more likelihood in what our modern writers
pretend, that the famous Alcuin, who about this time presided over the
schools of York, was a Scotsman, since he was born in the northern parts
of Britain, included in or bordering upon what makes long since a part of
the Kingdom of Scotland. Alcuin, or Alcuinus, was his true name, which
he afterwards changed into that of Albinus, adding to it the name of
Flaccus.W I observe this because our modern writers have multiplied the
same person, according to his different names. Alcuin himself informs us
that he was educated at York, under Bishop Egbert, who chiefly contributed
to make all kinds of learning flourish in the schools of that city, whereof
Alcuin was one of the greatest ornaments ; and there it was also that this
archbishop collected a noble library. He was afterwards invited over to
France, by the emperor, Charles the Great, who did not think it below him
to become his disciple in improving himself, as much as the public affairs
allowed him, in all kinds of literature. It was chiefly by Alcuin's exhor-
tations that this emperor set up, in several places of the empire, public
schools of learning , among others, at Tours, but especially at Paris ;
which gave afterwards the origin to this famous university, whereof, for
that reason, the same emperor was reputed the founder.
A. D. 756, Eadbert, King of the Northumbrians, and (Engus, King of
the Picts, having made up their differences, which had occasioned several
wars betwixt them, as we have seen, united their forces and attacked
jointly the strong city of Alcluid or Dunbarton, the chief fortress of the
Ann. Bened. torn. ii. p. 186.
328
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
Ethfih.
A. D. 761. Midland Britons, or Cumbrians, and the seat of their kings in the north of
Britain, where it appears their power was as yet in these times very con-
siderable, since it required the united forces of these two kings to subdue
them ; and from this time the power of the Cumbrian kings began to
decline in these parts. The year following, died, upon the sixth of March,
S. Balther, who led an anchoritical life at Tynningham, in Lothian, at or
near the famous monastery, whereof Bede makes mention in S. Cuthbert's
Life. But by the account of his life, which we have in a poem concerning
the Bishops of York, written, about these times, by the famous Alcuin, a
contemporary writer, it appears that S. Balther's ordinary residence or
retreat was the isle of the Bass < a) surrounded everywhere with high rocks.
Here, Alcuin relates, that this holy hermit did many miracles, such as
overcoming the devils by the sign of the cross, walking upon the sea, kc.
Soon after, 758, followed the retreat of Eadbert, King of the Northum-
brians, who, inflamed, says Florence, with the love of his heavenly country,
embraced the monastical state, and the Chronicle of Melrose says, he became
Canon of York, under his brother, Archbishop Egbert. However, he re-
signed his kingdom to his son, Osulf, who, after a year's reign, was killed by
the Northumbrians, and Ethelwold, surnamed Moll, succeeded to him.
A. D. 761, died (Engus, called also Unnust and Hungus, the first of
that name, King of the Picts. He had been a very warlike prince, as we
have seen, by his battles with the Northern Britons or Cumbrians, the
Northumbrians, and other Saxons, upon whom, it seems, he kept a heavy
hand, which, it is like, has given occasion to some of their writers to call
him a bloody and cruel prince, and to characterise his reign as a continual
butchery. To this King Hungus, succeeded Bride or Brude, the sixth of
that name, and the sixty-fifth king of the Picts. He was son to Wir-
gust or Fergus, and having reigned only two years, A. D. 763, to him
succeeded Kinioch or Kinoth, the son of Wirdech. He was the sixty-
sixth king of the Picts, and reigned twelve years. He appears to have
been one of the most powerful of the northern kings of Britain in his
time, and a protector of those of his neighbouring princes that fell into
distress ; and though he be not mentioned in Fordun's and the other Scots
modern catalogues of the Pictish kings, yet he is more than once named
by Simeon of Durham, by Roger Hoveden, and by the Chronicle of
& Scriptor. XV. torn. iii. p. 726.
Ethfin.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
329
Melrose. He is placed in his own rank with other kings, by the Pictish A. D. 775.
Chronicle, which demonstrates its authenticity, as it has been elsewhere
observed/ 11 '
The second year of his reign, A. D. 764, died Frithwald, Bishop of
Galloway or Whithern, and had Pectwin for his successor, who sat thirteen
years. A. D. 766, died Egbert, Archbishop of York, and was succeeded
by Albert, of whom Alcuin makes a great eloge,C b ) having been bred up
under him, and settled keeper of the rich library which Albert and his
predecessor Egbert had made up at York, and placed Alcuin as master or
superior of the famous seminary or school of York.
A. D. 769, Ethfin, King of the Scots, being deceased, was succeeded
by his son Fergus, called by our modern writers, Fergus the Third, but in
reality the Second of that name. Fordun tells us, that it was reported
that this king, being suspected by his queen to entertain other women,
was, out of jealousy, poisoned by her, in the third year of his reign ; for
which crime she, being tormented by a desperate remorse, put violent
hands on herself.
A. D. 772, to Fergus succeeded Selvach, son of Eogan or Ewen the
Second, and reigned twenty- four years. Our writers are divided as to
the character of this king. Fordun blames him for his indolence and
inactivity, in not making use of the almost perpetual divisions and tumults
that raged among the Northumbrians, to gain ground upon the Saxons,
and advance the bounds of his own kingdom.( c ) Boece and Buchanan
speak of him with more esteem, and lay the cause of his inactivity upon
the gout with which he was sore vexed, and, therefore, obliged to employ
his great men in the administration.
A. D. 775, died Kinoth or Kineoch, King of the Picts, who, the year
before, had granted shelter to Alcred, King of the Northumbrians, to pro-
tect him against his rebellious subjects. Kineoch died in the twelfth year
of h is reign, and was succeeded by Alpin, son of Wroid, who reigned three
years and a half. The second year of his reign, 777, the bishopric of
Galloway falling vacant by the death of Pectwin, to him succeeded Ethel-
bert, and sat fourteen years, and exercised the episcopal functions over the
western provinces of Scotland, especially to the south of the Friths;
(a) Critical Essay, p. 113.
330.
Dermitius, 212, 214.
Devenich, S., 161.
Diuma, bishop of the Mercians, 233,
239, 240.
Domangard, king of the Scots, 117,
118.
Donald I , king of the Scots, 222, 223,
224, 225, 236, 237.
Drest, king of the Picts, 128.
Drythelm, 227, 298, 317.
Dumbarton — see Alcluyd.
Dunchad, abbot of Iona, 313, 314, 315.
Dunkeld, 189, 330, 331.
Durst, son of Irb, king of the Picts, 95,
96.
Durst Gormoth, king of the Picts, 107>
118.
Durst, son of Gyrom, king of the Picts,
128.
Durst, son of Adrost, king of the Picts,
128.
Durst, son of Moneth, king of the Picts,
132.
Durst, son of Wide, king of the Picts,
258, 264.
Durst, king of the Picts, 319, 320.
Durst, king of the Picts, 330.
Duthac, S., 161.
Eadbert, bishop of Lindisfarne, 283,
284.
Eadbert, king of Northumbria, 323, 324,
326, 327, 328.
1 Eadfrid, bishop of Lindisfarne, 317.
Eata, bishop of Lindisfarne, 230, 231,
240, 241, 242, 244,254,256,261,
265, 267, 270, 279, 281, 286.
Ebba, abbess of Coldingham, 246, 262,
263, 270, 272, 279.
Egbert, 274, 275, 289, 291, 292, 293,
294, 314, 315, 319.
Egfrid, king of Northumbria, 261, 262,
264, 265, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278,
279, 280, 281, 286, 290, 299.
Eocha I., king of the Scots, 203, 204.
Eocha II., king of the Scots, 296, 301.
Eocha III., king of the Scots, 332.
Eogan I., king of the Scots, 302, 314,
316.
INDEX.
339
Eogan II., king of the Scots, 323, 324,
325.
Ethelbert, bishop of Candida Casa, 329,
331.
Ethelwald, bishop of Lindisfarne, 297,
298, 317, 320, 326.
Ethelwald, king of Northumbria, 328.
Ethernan, S., 161.
Ethernase, S., 161.
Ethfin, king of the Scots, 325, 326, 329.
Ethica, 261.
Failbe, abbot of Iona, 261, 268, 287.
Ferchard I., king of the Scots, 222, 223,
224, 225.
Ferchard II., king of the Scots, 261,
286, 294, 295, 296.
Fergus, son of Erch, king of the Scots,
112, 113, 117.
Fergus II., king of the Scots, 329.
Fergus S., 161.
Finan, S., bishop of Lindisfarne, 227,
231, 232, 233, 234, 239, 244, 246,
247, 248, 263, 269.
Finbar, S., 161.
Findchan, 179, 180, 181, 182.
Foelehno, abbot of Iona, 315.
Fordun, 65, 66.
Frithwald, bishop of Candida Casa, 322,
329.
Galam, king of the Picts, 132.
Galanan, king of the Picts, 118, 128.
Galgacus, 7.
Garnard, son of Wide, king of the Picts,
222, 225, 258.
Gartnach, son of Gyrom, king of the
Picts, 128.
Gartnach, son of Domnath, king of the
Picts, 207, 208, 211.
Gauran, king of the Scots, 128, 132.
Gildas, S., 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123,
124, 198, 199, 200.
Glascian, S., 161.
Glasgow, 126, 132, 134, 135.
Herefride, 282.
Higbald, bishop of Lindisfarne, 330.
Hilda, abbess of Whitby, 237, 238, 248,
268, 269.
Himba, 189, 200.
Hungus, son of Ungust, king of the
Picts, 320, 326, 327, 328.
Hungus, king of the Picts, 332.
Hy — see Iona.
Iona, 152, 153, 154, 158, 162, 163, 164,
165, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177,
178, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185,
186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192,
205, 207, 210, 211, 212,214,215,
216, 217, 222, 224, 227, 230, 231,
232, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 240,
253, 258, 261, 276, 278, 286, 287,
288, 289, 291, 292, 293,294, 299,
300, 301, 302, 312, 313, 314, 319,
324, 330, 332.
Kentigern, S , 124, 125, 126, 127, 128,
132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 138, 139,
202.
Killdune, 189.
Killen, abbot of Iona, 315.
Kilpatrick, 34, 36.
Kineoch, king of the Picts, 222.
Kinoth, king of the Picts, 328, 329.
Libranus, 205.
Lindisfarne, 227, 230, 232, 234, 235,
236, 239, 241, 253, 254, 258, 275,
279, 280, 282, 584. 285, 323, 330.
Lolan, S., 161.
Lollius Urbicus, 8, 9.
Machan, S., 161.
Machar, S., 189, 194.
340
INDEX.
Makluin, king of the Scots, 237, 261.
Manir, S., 161.
Maolrubius, S., 319.
Marken, king of Cumbria, 126, 132.
Marnan, S., 161.
Marnoch, S. 161.
Melrose, 229, 230, 231, 240, 241, 255.
281, 297.
Modoch, S., 161.
Moloch, S., 161.
Murdach, king of the Scots, 316, 323.
Murdach, S., 161.
Nathalan, S , 161.
Nectan I., king of the Picts, 96, 97, 107,
207.
Nectan II., king of the Picts, 211.
Nectan III., king of the Picts, 308, 309,
311, 313, 314, 319.
Ninian, S., 32, 33, 34, 39, 42, 43, 44,
45, 114.
Oran, S., 192.
Osred, king of Northumbria, 303, 318.
Osulf, king of Northumbria, 328.
Oswald, king of Northumbria, 224, 225.
Oswin, king of Deira, 225, 226.
Oswy, king of Northumbria, 225, 227,
232, 233, 237, 239, 248, 249, 254,
256, 257, 258, 260, 261.
Palladius, S., 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56,
57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66.
Patrick, S., 88, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103.
Pecthelm, bishop of Candida Casa, 304,
306, 316, 320, 323.
Pectwin, bishop of Candida Casa, 329.
Rederec, king of Cumbria, 132, 133.
Ronan, S., 161.
Ronan, 247.
St. Andrews, 332, 333.
Segenius, abbot of.Iona, 222, 232.
Selvach, king of the Scots, 329, 332.
Servanus, S., 65, 123, 125, 161.
Severus, 16, 17, 18.
Suibne, abbot of Iona, 240.
Talarg, king of the Picts, 96.
Talarg, son of Muircholach, king of the
Picts, 128, 132.
Talarican, S., 161.
Talorcan, son of Enfret, king of the
Picts, 240.
Talorgan, king of the Picts, 380.
Taran, king of the Picts, 299.
Tenew, S., 125.
Ternan, S., 157.
Thalarg, king of the Picts, 225, 240.
Theodosius, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31.
Trumwine, bishop of Abercoro, 270,
275, 277, 280.
Tuda, bishop of Lindisfarne, 253, 254.
Tunberr, bishop of Hexham, 270, 275,
279.
Tyningham, 230, 238, 281, 328.
Ulpius Marcellus, 13.
Verca, abbess of Tyningham, 281, 282.
Virius Lupus, 13.
Whitdern, — see Candida Casa.
Wilfrid, bishop of York, 241, 242, 244,
248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 256, 257,
258, 259, 260, 261, 264, 265, 266,
267, 268, 209, 270, 284, 290, 296,
303, 304.
Wollock, S, 161.
Ycolmkill, — see Iona.
Yrchard, S., 161.
GEO. CORNWALL, PRINTER, ABERDEEN.
I
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BW5390
The civil and ecclesiastical history of
Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library
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