Three Months IN THE b rests of France 9 % YAIUE^ajVEKMTHr- Nfe 1919 ¦MM .«?¦ This book was digitized by Microsoft Corporation in cooperation with Yale University Library, 2008. You may not reproduce this digitized copy ofthe book for any purpose other than for scholarship, research, educational, or, in limited quantity, personal use. You may not distribute or provide access to this digitized copy (or modified or partial versions of it) for commercial purposes. THREE MONTHS IN THE FORESTS OF FRANCE. ERRATUM. Page viii. 1. 21. The work referred to is "The Voyage of Bran, son of Febal, to the Land of the Living," edited, with Translation, Notes, and Glossary, by Professor Kuno Meyer. With an Essay upon the Irish Vision of the Happy Otherworld and the Celtic Doctrine of Rebirth, by Mr. Alfred Nutt. London : D. Nutt. Lfclp lip ¦' ' I '>.:> ' '. ' 1 mm FACADE OF THE ABBEY OF ST. RIQU1ER. Three Months in the Forests of France A PILGRIMAGE IN SEARCH OF VESTIGES OF THE IRISH SAINTS IN FRANCE Witf} numerous gnugtrationg / BY MARGARET STOKES HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY, ETC., ETC. Amor mi mosse che mi fa parlare. LONDON GEORGE BELL AND SONS 1895 CH1SWICK I'RESS: — CHARLES WMITT1NGHAM AND CO. TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON, Bettcatton. TO THE FRIENDS WHO FORM THE CHURCH HISTORY CLASS IN THE LITERARY SOCIETY OF ALEXANDRA COLLEGE, DUBLIN. PREFACE. I NOW present a second instalment of the series of letters from the continent commenced in 1892, relating to the missions of the Irish Church in the sixth and seventh centuries. The scene has changed from the valleys and heights of the Apennines to those forests on the plains of France where Columban led the first mission from Ireland, and Fursa the second ; and to the localities most connected with their memories, whether in the Southern Vosges and Department of the Haute- Saone, or in Picardy and on the borders of the rivers Marne and Oise. Since the story of St. Fursa's life which appears in the follow ing pages was signed for press, I have met with the following legend of a characteristic incident in his life, the beauty of which will, I trust, prove sufficient excuse for its insertion here at the last moment. There was a young nun who waited on St. Molaisse of Leighlin, who loved and was beloved by a clerical student. She tells her lover to flee from the wrath of her master. " It is enough," she says, " that I should be ruined " (as lor, ar si mu mhudhugudh sa). St. Molaisse curses her, and deprives her of heaven. She dies in childbed, and is buried in a bog outside the church and graveyard. Her lover devotes himself to saving her soul from hell. He builds a hut by her grave, and every day he recites seven times the Beatus and the Psalms, and he performs a hundred prostrations. After a year her spirit appears viii PREFACE. to him, blesses him, and declares that she is almost rescued, and that the Beatus has helped her most. The story ends thus : "Once, then, Fursa the Pious came to the church and beheld the service of angels (between heaven and the grave in the bog). ' Well, O Molaisse,' saith Fursa, 'what saint is there in the bog?' 'An idol is therein,' saith Molaisse, ' a diabolic nun.' ' Look, Molaisse ! ' saith Fursa. They both look, and they beheld the service of the angels ascending from the grave to heaven. " Thus the nun's body was taken out of the bog and buried in the graveyard. And Fursa took the cleric under his protection ; wherefore he afterwards became a holy man, and went to heaven. " So that the Beatus is better than any prayer for saving a soul from devils." J The fame of St. Fursa (Fr., Furcy), who is still honoured as the Patron of Lagny and of Peronne, does not, as in the case of St. Columban, rest upon the importance ofthe schoolsand monasteries founded by him so much as on the fact that his visions of heaven and hell are among the first and most interesting of that circle of visions which culminate in the Divina Commedia of Dante. Such apocalypses are not confined to Christianity, and in a forth coming work of Mr. David Nutt, the reader will soon have an opportunity of comparing those of our Irish seers with their fore runners, the non-Christian visitants of the other world, such as are given in the voyages of Bran, son of Febal, of Maelduin, of Connla and others. Believing, as I do, that the main interest of this volume lies in the fact that it contains Fursa's vision, and that the whole subject of this strange chapter in the history of our native literature is too little known to the general public, I begged of my elder 1 See " Lives of Saints, from the Book of Lismore," translated and edited by Whitley Stokes, D.C.L., Preface, p. x. PREFACE. ix brother to allow me to enrich my little book with a reprint of his translation of Adamnan's " Vision of Heaven and Hell," fifty copies of which had been privately printed in Calcutta thirty-five years ago.1 In granting my request he has but added one more to the many debts I owe him. I have also to offer my grateful acknowledgment to my kind friend the Rev. Christopher McCready, for placing at my disposal his literal translation of the visions of St. Fursa, from the Codex Salmanticensis, now at Brussels, which is given in a condensed form at page 87 of this volume. Finally, I have again to thank the President ofthe Royal Irish Academy, Dr. Ingram, who, in the midst of his laborious life, has found time to revise my proofs. 1 See also " FraseiJs Magazine," February, 1871, p. 184. CONTENTS. PAGE. CHAPTER I. Introductory , xvii CHAPTER II. Life of St. Columban in France i CHAPTER III. Letters from Luxeuil CHAPTER IV. Legend of St. Deicola 41 CHAPTER V. Letters from Luxeuil 45 CHAPTER VI. Legends of St. Fursa and his Companions 81 CHAPTER VII. Letters from Mayo 133 CHAPTER VIII. Letters from Suffolk 153 CHAPTER IX. Letters from France 163 xii CONTENTS. PAGE. Appendices : I. Gallo-Roman Inscriptions found at Luxeuil 235 II. St. Walbert 240 III. Ancient MSS. formerly belonging to the Library of Luxeuil 241 IV. Early Irish MSS. in France 248 V. On Western Chambers in primitive churches 252 VI. List ofthe first teachers in the seventh century who spread the Columban Rule from Luxeuil 254 VII. Funeral Custom at Cross Roads ... 256 VIII. Festivals, Bibliography and Iconography of St. Fursa . . 259 IX. Adamnan's Vision 265 Index , 281 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Fit;. I. 3-4- 5- 6. 7-8. 9- io. 1 1. 12. 13- M- 15- 1 6. '7-iS.ig. 20. 21.2"> 23-24- 25-26. 27- AUTHORITY OR ARTIST. Facade of St. Riquier . . Facsimile Gallican Lectionary Facsimile Homilies of St. Augustine Coin of Clovis II Coin of Eligius Merovingian Coin found at Crondal Iron Bell, Museum, Amiens . Iron Bell, Museum, Peronne Gallo-Roman Tomb found at Luxeuil Bust found in Gymnasium, Luxeuil Besancon, Hill of the Citadel View of Luxeuil . . . . Cave of St. Columban . . . Holy Well of St. Columban Chapelle Fontaine .... Vale of Annegrai Cashel of Annegrai .... Holy Well of St. Walbert . Hermitage of St. Walbert . Mazer of' St. Walbert . . . Case for Mazer of St. Walbert View of Fontaines. . . Monastery of Lure Well of St. Deicola Abbey and Presbytery of Luxeuil Cloisters of Abbey of Luxeuil Interior of Abbey of Luxeuil . . Dujardin Leopold de Lislt M. de la Tour 33 >> Mr. Akerman . Photograph Tinted Photograph Frontispiece xxvi Margaret Stokes . 33 3) f. Kavanagh . . 33 Margaret Stokes . 31 33 Tinted Photograph Margaret Stokes . J. Kavanagh . . 33 Margaret Stokes . Old Engraving . Margaret Stokes . M. f. Cornetet 33 33 Tinted Photograph xxvn xxviii xxviii xxviii xxx xxxi 7 9 17 2124 25 2627 28 3132333437 47 49 57 5961 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FIG. 28. Bay of Nave in Abbey of Luxeuil . 29. Romanesque Window, Abbey of Luxeuil 30. Romanesque Porch, Abbey of Luxeuil 3 1. ¦> Transition Capitals, Abbey of 32./ Luxeuil 33. Statue of St. Peter, Luxeuil . . . 34. Crosier of Luxeuil 35. Font at St. Sauveur ;6. Font at St. Sauveur . . . . 37. Font at St. Sauveur 38. St. Anna and the Virgin 39. Seal of Abbey, Luxeuil 40. Doorway of St. Fursa's Church, Co. Galway 41. Roman Fort at Burghcastle . 42. View of Peronne 43. Holy Well of St. Algise 44. Capital found in Inisquin Abbey. . 45. Bridge of Shrule 46. Corra Fursa 47. Killfursa, Interior — West End . . 48. Killarsa— East Window 49. View of Killarsa, near Cong . . . 50. Funeral Custom — Cong 51. Funeral Custom — Tenacre . . 52. Funeral Custom at Bannow . . . 53. Caves of Cong 54. Lough Corrib 55. View from Roman Camp, Burghcastle 56. Tower, Burghcastle Church . . . 57. St. Riquier — Interior 58. Relics of Irish Saints — St. Riquier. 59. Chapelle Fontaine de St. Furcy. . 60. Holy Well of St. Fursa 61. Church of St. Jean, Peronne . . . 62. Chapel of St. Fursa, St. Jean, Peronne 63. Relics of St. Fursa AUTHORITY OR ARTIST. F. Ballet .... } - Martraret Stokes Photograph . . F. Ballet . . . Photograph . George Petrie, LL Margaret Stokes 33 33 Photograph . . Margaret Stokes George Du Noyer Photograph . . Marquis . . . Margaret Stokes Photograph . . 33 J. Kavanagh . Photograph . Photograph . D. PAGE. 62 63 64 6566 68 70 7' 72 73 7985 103 109 1 11 135 137139 141143 144146 147 148149151159161167169 175 '77 189190191 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Fir,. 64. Porte de Bretagne 65. St. Fursa, Patron of Peronne. 66. Entrance to Castle of Peronne 67. Church of St. Fursa, Lagny . 68. Cathedral of Laon 69. Cathedral of Laon — Interior . 70. Gallery of Tribune, Laon . . 71. Side Chapel, Laon 72. Cathedral of Laon— Interior . 73. Hermitage of St. Gopain . . . 74. Cave of St. Gobain 75. Bas-Relief on Altar, St. Gobain 76. Stone Markings at St. Gobain . 77. Calvary, St. Algise . . 78. On the Banks of the Oise . . AUTHORITY OR ARTIST. PAGE. Etching .... ¦93 Engraved from old painting . 195 Etching .... 197 33 .... 201 Photograph . . . 205 33 ... 209 Etching .... 2IO Photograph 213215219 33 ... Tinted Photograph 3) 33 221 Margaret Stokes . 222 f. Kavanagh . . 223 Margaret Stokes . 228 Photogravure . . 229 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. Carrig Breac, Howth, January, 1895. Dear E., IN the Preface to the letters I wrote you when on my pilgrimage in search of vestiges of the Irish saints in Italy, you will have seen that one object I had in view was " to find a clue to the origins of Irish art, and to discover the reason for the development of certain styles in Ireland ; " and it then seemed probable that the result of further expeditions of the same kind would be the discovery of " connecting links between Ireland and North Italy, through Gaul, by the Loire and Brittany, and along the Rhine, through Holland and Great Britain to Ireland." 1 am now inclined to modify this view ; for, if we search for such origins in the parts of France most frequented by Irish travellers and settlers, the result is that we arrive at localities about the middle of France and the bed of the Rhone rather than along the Loire and in Brittany. It is still quite uncertain at what period the art of enamelling was first practised in Ireland, and some writers are inclined to the belief that it originated in the British Isles. The subject is discussed in a paper read by Dr. Valentine Ball before the Royal Irish Academy, and Dr. Anderson ' is quoted as maintaining that the home of tli3 art was in Britain. However this may be, it is 1 See " Proc. of Soe. of Antiquaries, Scotland," vol. vii., p. 45. xviii THREE MONTHS IN THE FORESTS OF FRANCE. held, by the first authorities on the subject, that in the time of Septimius Severus (circa 200 A.D.) the art of enamelling was not practised either in Italy or Greece, and a Greek teacher, Philo- strates, who gained admission to the imperial palace at Rome, described the enamels on the horse trappings of " the barbarians who live in (or by) the ocean " as an entirely new art to him. Whoever the :i barbarians " were, there is a passage in Strabo (lib. iv., ch. 5) in which glass is mentioned, in connection with the trade with Britain, which seems rather to imply that it was imported to Britain from Gaul. The linguistic evidence on the history of enamel in Ireland in the first centuries of the Christian era, communicated to Dr. Ball by my brother, Whitley Stokes, seems to say that in Ireland, at all events, it was an importation. The Irish word " Cruan " is explained in O'Davoren's "Glossary" (p. 71) as follows : "Cruan, i.e., a kind ofthe old art-work from abroad. Cruan, i.e., the red. (kind), and Creduma, i.e., the yellow. Mailhne, i.e., yellow, and green, and white." Whether originally imported, or an entirely native art, enamelling appears to have been extensively practised in Ireland, as is proved by the fine examples in our museums of antiquities, found in this country and of native workmanship. No more remarkable discovery of enamel in its crude state has ever been made than the rough block of red enamel, first recognized as such by Dr. Ball, -which was discovered in the Rath of Caelchu on Tara Hill, brought there, or made there, probably before A.D. 565, when Tara was abandoned as a royal residence. Wherever the first origin of the art may be found, there is no doubt it was largely practised in Gaul in the Merovingian period, and especially in the i6l'c' Lyonnaise and the district INTRODUCTORY LETTER. xix round Autun.1 It seems, from what may be gathered from the legends of the first Christian students and teachers from Ireland in the fifth and sixth centuries, that they congregated in this central part of France. The school of Germanus at Auxerre was the school of St. Patrick,2 Brioc,3 Michomer,4 Isserninus (Irish Fith),5 who, with St. Lupus of Troyes, are said to have accompanied Germanus into Britain. Brioc returned to work in Brittany, Michomer to labour with St. Lupus in the district of Troyes and Langres, while Patrick and Isserninus worked and died in Ireland. It was about the year 432 that St. Patrick returned for the second time to Ireland, having received episcopal consecration from a Gaulish bishop as a missionary from the Gaulish Church, and was supplied with Gaulish assistants. He is described by Tirechan as arriving at certain islands (probably the Skerries) " attended by some Gauls, and by a multitude of holy bishops, presbyters, deacons, exorcists, ostiarii, and lectors, besides students." He is also said to have brought with him 1 The ancient name of this city of the Aedui was Augustodunum, Mons Bifractus — Bibracte — now Mont Beuvray, which lies in the suburbs of Autun. It stands in the Ville de France, on the Arroux (Saone-et-Loire), and the enamel workshops of Bibracte, with their furnaces, crucibles, moulds, and polishing stones, and with crude enamels in their various stages of prepara tion, have been recently excavated from the ruins of the city destroyed by Caesar and his legions. This Bibracte must not be confused with Bibrax, the Oppidum Rhemorum of Caesar ("Bell. Gall.," ii. 6), about the identification of which there has been much discussion. It was probably on the site of the village of Bruyere near Laon. ' " Autissiodorum nomen erat civitatis cuius St. Germanus erat superior et nobilis antistes." See " The Tripartite Life of St. Patrick," ed. with translation by Whitley Stokes, D.C.L., LL.D., 1887, Rolls Series, pp. 26, 416,420, 503, 510. 3 "Acta Sanctorum" (Boll.), torn, i., Maii i , pp. 91, 94. 4 lb., torn, iii., Aprilis xxx. " " Trip. Life of St. Patrick," pp. 342, 11. 1-24 ; 344, 1. 3. "Annals of Ulster," A.D 468. xx THREE MONTHS IN THE FORESTS OF FRANCE. " many relics, and books in plenty, given him by Pope Sixtus, who showed much kindness to Patrick." Such imported books and relics, many of which may have been enshrined, were probably examples of the arts of writing, illumination, and metal-work practised in Burgundy and Neustria in the beginning of the Merovingian era. In the ecclesiastical history of France the names of other Irish visitants at this early period occur, such as Mansuetus, who became first Bishop of Toul in the fifth century ; and there is a passage in the writings of Heric of Auxerre where he describes the Irish Michomer as visiting " all those towns which were in the country of the Aedui, whose capital was Bibracte," i.e., Autun.1 He ended his days as a recluse near Langres. From these evidences of early intercourse with Burgundy, it may not be thought rash to assume that we find an explanation of Columban's subsequent mission there in the reign of King Gontran. Then, in 590, Rachanarius, a disciple of Columban's at Luxeuil, became Bishop of Autun, and established the Columban Rule there, and the youths of Autun, Langres, Lyons, Chalons-sur-Marne attended the school of Columban at Luxeuil for instruction. " Ancient Gaul," says Paul Lacroix,2 " in spite of its disasters, still retained, in certain parts of its territory, men, or rather groups of men, in whose hearts the cultivation of art still remained a living principle. This was the case in Provence, round the archbishops of Aries ; in Austrasia (Metz), near the throne of Brunehaut ; in Burgundy, at the Court of King Gontran. Most of the works, and even the names of these artists, are now lost, but history has recorded the movement." Gregory of Tours appears to be the principal authority on the subject. He tells how, when King 1 See "Acta Sanctorum," torn, iii., Aprilis xxx. 2 "The Arts in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance." By Paul Lacroix, p. 256. INTRODUCTORY LETTER. xxi Clovis renounced paganism and asked to be baptized, " this intelligence was the greatest joy to St. Remi. He orders the sacred fonts to be prepared, the streets to be overhung with painted cloths, the churches to be ornamented with hangings." When the abbey church of St. Denis was consecrated " its walls were covered with tapestry, embroidered in gold and ornamented with pearls." These tapestries were long preserved in the abbey treasury. St. Remi (born at Laon, A.D. 439 ; died 533, January 13th) gave an impetus to Christian Art in many ways. He endowed the bishopric of Laon, placing the noble Guenebald, a man skilled in profane and sacred learning, over it, as well as over the bishoprics of Tournai, Arras, and Cambrai. He possessed a silver table decorated with sacred subjects. He gave to Rheims a silver chalice, ornamented with several images, which was sold in Hincmar's time for the ransom of captives taken by the Normans.1 The example of this great bishop may have given an impetus to early Christian Art which spread to Ireland. An extract from the life of one of our Irish pilgrims at this date will illustrate the kind of hospitality and protection which St. Remi was always ready to extend to these strangers. The old biographer, writing of Ireland, adds : 2 " From that island, I say, seven brothers started on a pilgrimage for the love of Christ. They were men of great piety and virtue. These men, Gibrian,3 Helan, Tressan, Germanus, Veranus, Habranus, Petranus, and three sisters, Frauda or Francla, Portia, and Possena. 1 Another chalice, but one which appears to be of later date, is shown as a chalice of St. Remi in the treasury of the church of Notre Dame, Rheims, which, after having appeared in the Cabinet of Antiquities, was returned in 186 1. 2 Boll., " AA. SS.," February 27th and October 3rd. 3 The village of St. Gibrien, near Chalons-sur-Marne, takes its name from this Irish saint, whose relics were finally enshrined in the church of St. Remi at Rheims. See "Acta Sanctorum," torn, ii., Maii viii. C xxii THREE MONTHS IN THE FORESTS OF FRANCE. "When they reached St. Remi, father of pilgrims, he received them with hospitality and kindness; and, learning their sacred purpose, deter mined to choose suitable places for their dwelling on the river Marne, where they might visit and help one another. They did not live only on the charity of those whom the pious president had commended them to, but also on their own industry and the labour of their hands, in accordance with the customs of the religious bodies of Ireland. This life, united to wonderful holiness and constant prayer, won for them a great love among the natives of the country. The holy priest Helan selected for himself the village of Buxiolum, on the Marne, a spot rich in meadows and vineyards, of soil not less fertile than that of the neigh bouring lands. In this place he, living for many years a life of sobriety, piety, and justice, instructing the people, and forming in them the habits of faith, piety, and morality, after a life of rectitude, at length quievit iti Domino." An Irish pilgrim, who adopted the name Amandus, returning from Italy through Gaul, was granted land by St. Remi and Clovis I., on which he founded a church, at Beaumont (Pulcher Mons), where, on his death, Remi ordered his tomb to be erected, and his oratory to be replaced by a larger stone building.' Fifty-five years after the death of St. Remi, St. Eloi, the patron saint of jewellers and farriers, the great Bishop of Noyon, was born in a villa named Cadaillac, six miles from Limoges. He not only founded and endowed churches, but the exquisite works with which he is recorded to have enriched them were wrought by his own fingers. " His hands," says St. Ouen, " were finely formed, and his fingers long." He also wrought splendid 1 See Boll., " AA. SS.," torn, iii., Jan. xvi. In the account of the building of this church we meet with a variety of the same legend of the miraculous transportation of stones by dumb animals, that we have in accounts of the building of San Frediano at Lucca (see " Six Months in the Apennines," p. 72), but at Beaumont, two doves, instead of oxen, tow the stones across the river to their destination. INTRODUCTORY LETTER. xxiii furniture for kings' palaces, made coins and medals, while he entered into the labours of the common smith. He founded the monastery of Solignac, near Limoges, and the ancient church of St. Paul-des-Champs, at Paris, in 634, remarkable for its lofty, narrow, tapering bell-tower, and originally intended as a hospital for the poor and for pilgrims. The roof of this church was remarkably high, and covered with lead. He also built the church of St. Martial, in Paris. As a worker in gold and silver he wrought the shrine of SS. Germain, Severian, Piat and his friend Chrysole, Quentin, Lucien, Genevieve, Colombe, Maximien, Lolien, and Julien, Denis, Fursa, Brice, his greatest work being the shrine of St. Martin at Tours, and the shrine of SS. Crepin and Crepinien at Soissons. The friend of King Dagobert I., he is said to have wrought for him a throne of gold ; and for Clothair to have made two state chairs of gold. He was also Master of the Mint in Paris under Clothair 1 1., Dagobert I., and Clovis 1 1., and fourteen coins have been identified by the learned numis matist, M. Dancoisne, as struck by St. Eloi. If it can be established that St. Eloi, all through his career, from his youth in 590 to his death in 659, was associated with Irish missionaries and a visitor in their monasteries, may we not find indications ofthe school in which our Irish artificers learned their arts of filagree and jewellers' work ? His dearest friend, Ouen — called also Dadon — had been baptized by St. Columban when the Irish saint, after his banishment from Luxeuil, was resting in the house of Ouen's father, Autharius, at Eussi (Bussy, Busiacum), on the Marne. He was treasurer to King Dagobert when Eloi, the young goldsmith from Limoges, appeared in court. When Eloi, in course of time, embraced a religious life, Ouen or Dadon, " whom he cherished as his soul," followed in his footsteps. Eloi then proceeded on a mission to Brittany, where King Judicael was the reigning monarch. When, by the force of his goodness and mercy, he had won over this wild xxiv THREE MONTHS IN THE FORESTS OF FRANCE. people to peace, he returned to King Dagobert, and entreated that he would grant him the lands of Solignac in the Limousin, where he desired to found a monastery upon the plan of that of Columban at Luxeuil, as Montalembert has noted in the follow ing words : * " II faudrait surtout raconter la fondation de Solignac faite en Limousin par Saint Eloi. Elle eut lieu peu de temps apres le concile de Macon. Son illustre auteur, qui avait visite les principaux monas ters de la Gaule et avait reconnu que la regularite monastique n'e'tait nulle part observee comme a Luxeuil, declara qu'il la voulait absolument conforme au plan et a la regie de Tabbaye modele qu'il avait rencontree dans les Vosges et a laquelle il la subordonna directement." The monastery of Solignac was capable of receiving a hundred and fifty monks, whom he placed under the Columban Rule. " There [i.e., at that place] is at this time," says St. Ouen, in his biography of Eloi, " a great company adorned with all the flowers of various graces. There are also many artificers skilled in divers arts." And he goes on to describe how " it was surrounded by an enclosure (not, indeed, a stone wall, but a bank, with hedge and ditch, sphaerico muro non quidem lapideo ; sed fossatum sepe munitum) about a mile and a quarter in circumference." As monks from every side crowded to his monastery, Eloi, " impelled by the desire to enter still more thoroughly into the life of holy men," repaired to Luxeuil. Columban's disciple and successor, Eustace, was then Abbot of Luxeuil. He became the friend of Eloi, who often went to visit him afterwards. " You should see him," writes Ouen enthusiastically,2 " how he entered that monastery; first falling prostrate on the ground, then walking forward with bowed head and downcast eyes, he 1 Montalembert, " Les Moines d'Occident," vol. ii., p. 572. ' Audeonus, "Vita St. Eligii," lib. i., c. 21. INTRODUCTORY LETTER. xxv approached the monks with gravity, honouring each in turn with a low salutation, and piously entreating their benediction." Nor did he quit them without carrying away a morsel of their bread, which he accepted as a benediction, and valued as a costly gift. So long as the bread remained incorrupt he would take a small fragment day by day, as if he thus partook of the Holy Communion. Eloi was brought into close contact with the Irish mission in Picardy and Flanders, commenced by St. Fursa and his companions, in the following manner: — One of the disciples of Columban, named Achaire, was promoted to the bishopric of Noyon (Noviomagus Vermanduorum), in Ville de France, Department of the Oise. When he died in 639, St. Eloi was named his successor, while Ouen became Bishop of Rouen. Noyon lies within easy distance of Peronne and Lagny, of both of which churches St. Fursa was patron. Fursa had landed in France three years before St. Eloi's conse cration, and the mission of Eloi in Flanders was henceforth carried on simultaneously with that of Ultan and Foillan, and the other Irish followers of Fursa. He, too, with Fursa, became a dear friend of Queen Bathilde. He also met with Erchenwald the mayor, who proved so true a friend to Fursa ; though Ouen, the biographer of Eloi, does not paint this functionary in such favourable colours as those in which he appears in the life of Fursa. Eloi outlived Fursa nine years ; but at the death of the Irish saint we learn that a shrine was prepared by him for Fursa's relics, and that he was assisted in the work by Autbertus and Medardus, and that when Eloi approached the church porch, bearing with him the precious shrine, Erchenwald met him with due honour, and prepared a tabernacle under which the shrine was temporarily placed. The Venerable Bede adds that these things happened four years after the death of Fursa. But this shrine, and all the other splendid works attributed to this artist saint, have disappeared. The few examples of art xxvi THREE MONTHS IN THE FORESTS OF FRANCE. contemporary with Columban and Fursa that I can here show you are two illuminated letters taken from MSS. formerly belonging to the abbeys of Luxeuil and Beauvais, and three gold pieces coined by Eloi. Fig. 2 is taken from the famous Gallican Lectionary of Luxeuil, fol. 172, MS. of the seventh century, used by Mabillon for his work on the Gallican liturgy, and now preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale of Paris (see C-piS. SCi /VCiu^YiriSSlnil Ioh Apos Fig. 2. — GALLICAN LECTIONARY, LUXEUIL. Appendix). Fig. 3 is from Homilies of St. Augustine, A.D. 625. This manuscript belonged to the church of Beauvais. It is now in the bibliotheque ofthe Chateau of Troussures (Oise). Mabillon believed it to date from the time of the coming of Columban, A.D. 585 or 586, and M. Leopold de Lisle has endorsed his opinion. Figs. 4 and 5 represent two golden coins struck in Paris in the time of Clovis II., and the name Eligius appears on the reverse, who was apparently none other that St. Eloi himself, who was Master of the Mint under Clothair II., Dagobert I., and INTRODUCTORY LETTER. xxvii Clovis II. I am indebted to the kindness of M. Henri de la Tour, head of the Coin Department, Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, who, with great skill and pains, has made casts from these coins for me, from which these photographs are taken. They are Nos. 686 and 693 of the magnificent collection of Merovingian coins in the Cabinet de France. Fig. 6 represents one of a hoard of coins found in the parish of Crondal, Hants, a. JE.X -Auaustitw BeUo-uac • inEpist-Jokannis SecuNOumTofosv',,'Necr>exOR©3NeLecTsoNuco nos soLeReTR<*.CT^T*e SeocfuBcXNiiwcsw tcvi pOSiT^eST SoLei*V)MT<7U3 SCOKucn>©jef£ucn quibusceR/r