Emtur336 ought to be written for Nemtur, or Nentur 337 ;
while,
the whole
difficulty, regarding these forms, is said to have arisen, from the use of agglu-
tination,338 and from ignorance or imperlect knowledge of the Celtic
language.
while,
the whole
difficulty, regarding these forms, is said to have arisen, from the use of agglu-
tination,338 and from ignorance or imperlect knowledge of the Celtic
language.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v3
3'3 Nemthurissaidtohave been the place of his birth.
3'9 This place, if not the other localities here alluded to, must be sought for in Scotland, to furnish the requisite evidence, that she may claim St.
Patrick, as one of her many distinguished sons.
The neighbourhood of Glasgow has been generally accepted, as tlie probable spot, to be assigned for St. Patrick's birthplace. Here it is thought should be found that ancient North Britain city of Nemthur, otherwise called Alcluide. 32° Now Alcluaid or Ercluad has been translated3^^ "upon an
3°9 Dr. Rock has asserted, that the WTiter
of St. Fiech's Hymn and its Commentator
had assigned the Britisli city, Alcluilh, under the poetical name of Nemthur, as the birth-
3'9 Sae "Septima Vita S. Patricii," lib. i. , cap. i. , p. 117.
3^° According to the . Scholiast, on the Hymn, attributed to St. Fiach. Again, in " The Four Ancient Books of Wales," edited by William F. Skene, there is an old Poem, copied from a Manuscript, formerly belonging to a Priory of Black Canons in Carmarthen, suppressed in the reign of King Henry VIII. This Poem professes to be a conversation, between Merdyn and Taliesin ;
Britons and their northern enemies, who were routed. In the first line of the third stanza,thet—ownofNempthurorNevturis mentioned
:
" Rac denur inentur y tirran. "
" Before two men in nevtur will they land. "
of St. Patrick. See "Did the Church of Ireland acknowledge the Pope's Supremacy ? answered in a Letter to Lord John Manners," p iii. Yet, there seems to be little similarity, in those names, in sound or meaning.
place
Early
3'° Camden seems to confine Letha, or, as
some writers of the middle ages call it, Le- and, it describes a battle, between the
lavia, to that tract, now denominated Bri-
tany. See "Britannia," col. cxxxii.
3" See " Hymnus sen Prima Vita S.
Patricii. " Strophe i, p. i.
3'^ See " Secunda Vita S. Patricii," cap.
i. , iv. , p. II.
3'3 See " Tertia Vita S. Patricii," cap. i. ,
iv. , p. 21.
3'* Except, indeed, that it was situated in
a afterwards called " be- Mr. in reference to this
plain, camp-field,"
cause a Roman army had there wintered, for
Skene,
awhile ; hence the was called Ta- —
bern, Campus" Tabuerni, id est, campus tabernaculorum.
3'S We find " mare and one not to —or indeed
and, spot
" *^
that to a called place
gests for Thyrrenum "is Gallicum," as the Gaulish Sea was near Armorica. See
"
Quarta Vita S. Patricii," cap. i. , p. 35, and n. 4, p. 48.
3'6 See " Quinta Vita S. Patricii," lib. i. , cap. i. , p. 51.
castle of Alclude
3'7 See iv. , p. 65.
"
Sexta Vita S.
"
3"* See Sister Maiy Francis Clare Cusack's Life of St. Patrick," p. 372.
Patricii," cap. i. ,
Poem, says : " There is one—allusion in it which marks
gi'eat antiquity
Nevtur—" which can be no other
than
Neinpttir themostancientname added, juxta Thyrre- barton, applied it,
of Dum-
num. " However, as Colgan remarks, this
latter denomination means the Tuscan or
known, after the eighth century. " Vol. i. , chap, xii. , p, 222. John Hardyng, who lived in the fourteenth century, wrote an English Chronicle, in verse. Relating the historic
legends of that time, he says, a king, named Ebranke, who live—d 800 years B. C. , built the
Lower Sea, M'liile the emendation he sug- ""
"
:
In Albanye he made and edifyed.
The Castle of which Dumbri- Alclude,
tayne.
As some authors by Chronicle hath ap-
. plied.
462 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17. angle or a corner. " 322 But, according to other writers, this denomination is
or " a rock," and Ciuid, the name Ail,323
resolvable into two
compounds, Al,
for the present River Clyde. Hence, the compound word might mean, " the
rock on the Clyde. " According to this derivation, Alcluid should be in Albain or North Britain. It is supposed, this may be identical with the Petra Cloithe,324 mentioned by Adamnan. 3^5 From the Clyde, also, is derived the name of that district, Strathclyde,^^^ through which it flows ; while, we are told, that the level land, on the bank opposite to Dumbarton, had been
Dumbarton Rock and Castle, Scotland.
called Ara-cluide, or " shore of the Clyde. " 327 The place where its insulated rock stood is described, by Venerable Bede, as on the right hand of the western gulf, which formerly divided the Picts from the Britons. There was the strong city Alcluitli, where the western extremity of the Roman Wall ended. 32S The Irish version of Nennius, we are told, describes it, as the Cathraig, in Leamhain, or " the Rock on the Leven," as found in the " Book of Ballymote. " 3*9 This again, is said to have been known as Dun-Britton,
And some sayen on the Fight wall
certayne,
At the west end it stood, that now is
playne. "
After the thirteenth century, the name of
Alcluid was supplanted by Dun-breatain, "Life of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 15,
now Dumbarton. Very Rev. Canon Toole's
P- 43-
'^^ For a detailed accoinit of the Strath-
see Chalmers' "
cluyd Britons, Caledonia,"
vol. i. , pp. 235 to 249.
'-7 Manuscript of Very Rev. Laurence
Canon Toole, pp. 24 to 26.
5-8 See " Ilistoria Ecclesiastica Gcntis
and with notes and indices, 33° See FuUarton's " Gazetteer LL. D. , edited, Imperial
to
3^' See Martin A. O'Brennan's "
Manuscript, pp. 30
34.
of Ireland," p. 44I.
3^^ See Dr. Todd's Irish version of the
Liber Hymnorum.
3^3 See Edward "
O'Reilly's Irish-English
Dictionary," under either form of the word.
In Cormac's "Glossary," translated and
annotated by the late John O'Donovan, script, p. 27.
History
by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , Alt is rendered
""
a cliff" or height. "
1868, 4to.
3=-»
Meaning, likewise, Clyde. "
See p. 4, Calcutta, "rock on the
3^5 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
Angloruni," lib. i. , ca]>, i. , xii.
^''s According to Canon Toole's Manu-
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 463
"
or
holds, against the assaults of their enemies. The site is thought, also, to have been a Roman naval station, under the name of Theodosia ; and, it appears not improbable, that the rock was occupied, by a Roman fort. It has an interesting history. The rock is an erupted trappean mass of basalt, pro- truding through beds of red sandstone, having a double peaked form, and cleft towards the summit, by a narrow, deep chasm. It rises sheer up, from the circumjacent low, flat, marshy tract, and, it stands completely isolated, from any other elevations. This is said to have been the capital city of Strathclyde. 33° To-day,itisknownasDumbarton,averynotableland-mark, on the north bank of the River Clyde. 33^ A castle, and a small garrison, with the governor's house, occupy this position, from which the view is truly panoramic and gorgeous. 332 It must be observed, Avhile endeavouring to prove Nemthur identical with Alcluide, or near it, Colgan was yet puzzled, to find the exact locality for such a town. 333 None of those writers, treating on this subject, have succeeded, by identifying St. Patrick's birth, with any single ancient locality, about or near Dumbarton, and named in original documents. Nor,inthecourseofcarefullyexaminingthisdistrict,bycon- sulting recognised authorities concerning its topography, is it possible to
obtain any acceptable evidence, in corroboration. 334 By some authorities,333
the British fort," because it was regarded as one of their chief strong-
of Scotland, Topographical, Statistical and Historical," vol. i. , p. 413.
33' Colgan has even quoted Jocelyn as his authority for Taburnia having been situated, near to the Clyde, and on its south bank. See "Trias Thaumaturga," Sexta Vita S.
Patricii, cap. xi. , pp. 66, 67, and Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. ii. , p. 223.
332 The accompanying view of Dumbarton
Rock and Castle has been drawn on the
wood, from a photograph, by William F.
Wakeman, and it was engraved by George A. Hanlon.
333 See his Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. ii. , pp. 221 to 224. "Trias Thaumatui-ga. " —
334 However, Mr. J. II. Turner recog- nising the difficulty of determining the true charact—er of Nemthur, as a town, or as a
in Berwickshire. In the Upper Ward is llie
River Nethan, a tributary of the Clyde, which may even have given name to the district or province. In this latter supposi- tion, it is easy to perceive, how the name may have been mistaken for that of a town, by persons who were not acquainted witli the localities, and who were misled by a plausible and obvious etymology of the word. It is thought, that Nentria may have been the primal or archetypal name of Strathclyde district, and that it was probably
district remarks, that besides meaning ety- "
derived from the Cymric nant,
and, dwr, "water," or combined, "the valleyofthewater;" for,theClyde,along the greater part of its course, flows in a dale, between chains of hills, through which it ap- pears to have formed a channel for its course, so that the name Nentria, taken in such a sense as the foregoing, has a peculiar appropriateness, as applied to the territory of
mologically the heavenly," or "the holy
tower," or "mount," it may also mean,
"the vaulted tower," or "the tower of
Nen. " Thus, the old Gaelic noem, modern seems to have reference to the Attacots or
Attacoti, who were inhabitants of western
noam, is "holy;" neam, or neamh, is
"heaven ;" while the Cymric neti possibly — —
and who lived
"
not far from the
the word on which the name was formed
westernsea. " Inits
original
GdcHc
form,
means "a vault," and hence, metaphori- their tribe-name was Aithaich-coilteach, "''
nenni. But and Nem or " being Nenn, Nann, woods,"
cally, heaven," the corresponding adjective which may signify, either inhabitants of tlie
giants
were all Celtic proper names. Thus, Ni- would seem, that Probus, having heard or
nias, or Ninian, the name of the great Pictish read of their prowess in arms and ferocity, Apostle, under his cognomen of St. Ringaii, like the Anakim or giants of the Old Testa- is the same with Nennius, and both names ment, chose to interpret their name in the mean "heavenly. " The Cymric tor is latter sense, supposing their physical stature either a pointed hill, or a tower. Plence, corresponded with their wild and savage the name Nentria or Nemthur is
susceptible of various explanations. Some have been
character. See" Scotica,"vol. Archocologia
disposed to identify Nemthur with Nemph- lar, an ancient township or village, close to the burgh of Lanark. We find a Nenthorn
V. No. X. An Inquiry as to the birthplace of St. Patrick, part ii. , pp. 276, 277, and notes, read before the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland,8thofJanuary,1872. TheRev.
Strathclyde. Again, in allusion to the ''
words, which giants are said formerly to have inhabited ;" however ludicrous, this
Scotland,
of the woods and, it ;"
"
a valley,"
464 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS
[March 17.
Emtur336 ought to be written for Nemtur, or Nentur 337 ;
while,
the whole
difficulty, regarding these forms, is said to have arisen, from the use of agglu-
tination,338 and from ignorance or imperlect knowledge of the Celtic
language. 339 Thus, em is thought to be only the Celtic definite article, repre-
sented by a« or «;/// although em, or am, is not always now the definite
article, for when it comes between the preposition ///, or ajin, and a noun, it
is frequently only what grammarians call an euphonic particle, but which
appears to be used like an indefinite article. 34° Again, the Irish text of St.
Fiach's Hymn requires consideration,341 while, we are told, after all, that there is no word, in Celtic or Gaelic, beginning with Nemp, or Emp, that it is barbarous Latin, and a proper name, made from a common noun. It is guessed, that Emptor—or, as sometimes rendered, Empthoria—is easily detected, in barbarous phonetic corruptions of the Latin word, Emporium, " a market town. " By the Rev. Duncan Macnab, its site is thought to be Chapel Hill342—beside the village of Kilpatrick—and where Scottish anti- quaries are agreed, that there was not only a Roman fort,343 but a station for troops, at the end of the wall built by Antoninus. The name Taburnia, or Tabernia,344 as applying to any part of Great Britain, cannot be found, it is stated, in Ptolemy ; nor in any of the old Roman Itineraries ; as, for instance, in that, which goes under the name of Antoninus. 345 Neither is it to be
Duncan Macnab is inclined, however, to tomus i. Prolegomina, pars i. , p. xc.
give the name of giants—as understood by
the Scottish bards and historians—to the
"
heroes of Ossian's Poems. See Archaso-
logical Dissertation on the Birthplace of St.
Freed from agglutination, the Irish text
Genitus est Patricius in turri," in English, ^'Patrick was begotten in the correction, Emtur, in the oldest extant tower. " There is no reason for setting down the ein here in question, as anything else than the definite article, according to the Rev. Duncan Macnab ; especially, as we have no means for knowing the euphonic entertained St. Fiach and the
ideas, by Irish Celts of his time.
3*- Here sepulchral stones, coins, and other Roman remains, have been discovered.
343 Nempthor is called an oppidtini, or a walled and fortified town, by Jocelyn, and
by three other biographers of St. Patrick, and by two of the Breviaries. Indeed, these of Armagh and of Paris tell us ex- pressly, that Emptor or Empthoria was in Britain ; and, we have seen, that St. Fiach's Scholiast places it at Alcluith, in North Britain.
Patrick," pp. 30 to 32.
335 Professor Eugene O'Curry found the
literally,
Manuscript of St. Fiach's Hymn, preserved in the British Museum. It is also in some of the Brevaries. The Rev. Duncan Macnab approves it.
" the tower. " 337Meaning ofthetowers. "
33* This means ''
simply
338 By this technical term, pronouns are joined to verbs, and sometimes, also, the
auxiliary verb to that which it helps to form
;
prepositions are united to nouns, and they also coalesce with pronouns ; while, occasion- ally, the last letter of a word is prefixed to the succeeding word. See Max Miiller's " Lec- tures on the Science of Language," p. 303.
340 The euphonic particle an, or am, is inserted between the preposition ann (in),
339 See "
Dissertation on the Birthplace of St. Patrick," p. 12.
a noun and—
used indefini-
Celtic as Hibemia—
Archaeological
or singular plural,
bernia —is as
Ann I-Erin i. e. , the island of Erin, Tabh-
tely as Ann an tigh, in a house
a? n baile. Before the article or relative ann is written anns, as anns an tigh (in the house).
Very often the preposition is elided, as am^ bail die, in another town. The ellipsis is always left unmarked ; but, as an and am may in this connection be mistaken for the article, they should be written ^am, ^an, for
as am bail' die, the other town ; '«;« baiV die, in the other town.
"
See Munro's
34' Dr. Charles O'Conor gives it thus :
" Genair Patraic i Nemthur," which he translates, "Natus est Patricius Nemturri. " See " Rerum Hibemicarum Scriptores,"
Erin, or Tab-Erin, i. e. , the sea of Erin.
Tabernia may also, though not so naturally, be resolved into Taob-Enn ; for, in Taob, a side, ao is a diphthong whose sound ac- cording to the different provincial dialects or accents is approximated by the Latin a or u, but cannot be expressed l)y —ao pronounced
the sake of distinction
and "Archoeolo- distinctly. "
;
separately
gical Dissertation on the Birthplace of St.
Gaelic Grammar," p. 194.
Patrick," p. 9.
345 The places, where Roman camps were
established in Great Britain, had been
usually designated, by the adjunct castra. Wherefore, Chester, or ceskr, is a form, in
;
should stand,
''
Genair Patraic in em thur ;"
or, as corrected by Professor O'Curry,
"Genair Patraic in em tur," This means
"
344 The Rev. Duncan Macnab says : "Ta-
clearly
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 465
found in the "Britannise Chronographia," written by the anonymous geographer ofRavenna. 346 Nomentionofitoccurs,inRicardusCorenensis,347norin
WiUiam Camden,348 nor in John Speed,349 nor in Horsley,35o nor in any other known authority. Although Ussher himself had illustrated,35i or noted, the list of old British towns, as given by Nennius 352 he has not
; yet, attempted toidentifythoseplaces,alludedtointheActsofSt. Patrick. Still,itishard to believe, that a British topographical denomination could have wholly dis- appeared from history, and have been lost to tradition ; especially, in a locality, where Celtic designations of places have so numerously come down from olden ages. However, the ordinary disturbing causes of time and change have frequently induced disguises or alterations in nomenclature ; so that the ingenuity of etymologists or theorists need not necessarily be at fault, in finding the requisite equivalent. In the first instance, it seems from the historic evidence cited, that St. Patrick was captured, but perhaps not born, at Bonaven Taberniae j353 and, again, if it were necessary to find his birthplace so denominated, it could not be unreasonable to suppose, that the
" and the " River-mouth,"
3S4 or "
were identical with the estuary of the Clyde, at Dumbarton, in Scotland. 3s6
which we find the names of very many cities
and towns, especially in England, to have their termination.
34* However, he gives Memanturam as one among several name-places, in North Britain. "If we suppose the initial M to have been substituted for N," says Mr. Turner, " this would be the Latinization of Nemthur. " Again, the anonymous writer mentions Nemeton, stating it lies where Britain is naiTowest from sea to sea, and that it was connected with other towns named. Owing to the fact, that he wrote in barbarous Latin, and from the circumstances related, the Rev. Duncan Macnab infers, it
355 In the seventy-seventh Psalm, we
may possibly be identified with Emptur or "
Taneos.
35* Mr. J. H. Turner, while despairing of
being able to localize, with certainty, Ban- naue or Bonaven, as also Tiburnia, Tabur-
nia, or Taburne, yet finds, that Bannave might answer admirably to denote the mouth
of the Leven, where it joins the Clyde ; whereas, Taburnia or Tiburnia is a desig-
nation, most appropriate for a river-district, or a 7-oss, placed between two streams. It
is thought, that of all the existing names, in western Scotland, Bunaw, or " the mouth of the Awe," where it falls into Loch Etive, is that which most closely represents the Bannaue of Probus. Thus, the most pro- bable site for it is the confluence of the Aven or Avon, with the main stream of the Clyde, near which the present town of Ha- milton stands. Tabernia or Taburnia, the same writer derives ftom the Gselic taib/i, and tobar, gen. tobair, "water," Cymric,
Nempthor. See Archseological Disserta- tion on the Birthplace of St. Patrick," p. 37, and n. 63, pp. 62, 63.
347 See " De Situ Britannioe. " 348 See his " Britannia. "
"
35^ See Ussher's "
35° See
"
349 See his
59, and the following pages.
352 See their names, in the Irish Version
of this author, edited by Rev. Dr. Todd
and by the Hon. Algernon Herbert, pp. 28, 29 and note (x. )
353 The Rev. Duncan Macnab
in Celtic, Bonaven Taberniae means the mouth of a river flowing into the Irish sea. He adds, there is a slight difference, be- tween what Probus states, that the birth- place of St. Patrick was not far from the western sea, and what Jocelyn writes, that it was contiguous to the Irish sea, but these relations are easily reconcilable. See
"Archaeological Dissertation on the Birth- place of St. Patrick," pp. 43 to 45.
History of Great Britaine. " Britannia Romana. "
354 This word be may probably
Sir Samuel
"
Tabern,"
hut-plain
of 355 encampment,"
Primordia," cap. v. , p. dwfr.
The n is accounted from the for,
states, that,
Strathaven,
as identical with the Irish CAbAipne, "a notes, pp. 35, 197.
"
tavern. " 357 See the
Statistical Survey of Scot* 2G
regarded,
Ferguson's
Congal,"
find a nearly similar form,
"
"
in campo
assumption of the Ge. aon, "country," or "district," as the conjoined word tobair-aon. Eliding ao, and adding an appropriate ter- mination, the result is Tabernia, the appel- lative. This should be the present district
or the course of the upper
of
Clyde itself, which might well be so desig- nated, in reference to the Falls, presenting one of the most striking combinations of natural beauty and grandeur. Mr. Turner thinks, that the explanation of Tabernia, by the monkish writers of St. Patrick's Lives, as campus tabernaculorum, "the field of
" quiry as to the Birthplace of St. Patrick,"
tents," is a mere paragram. See his
In-
part ii. ,
likewise.
pp. 275, 270, with notes. See,
466 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
We are informed, that a rock in the Clyde bore the name, " St. Patrick's Stone," and that the figure of a man, said to have been St. Patrick, was to be
seenonanantiquatedtombstone,atOldKilpatrickchurchyard. 357 Ithescon- tiguous t—o Chapel Hill. 358 ^—XqzA tradition of this having been his birth-
which
place,
few at insist on could yet prevails although present it,
359
hardly have arisen, it is contended, unless the belief in his having been a native of the district had been strongly rooted, in the minds of the popula- tion. 3^° Lastly, a place, nearly resembling Enon, in etymology, has been sought for, near Dumbarton, yet, with indifferent success. 361 However, as Enon is a doubtful reading for " enim," this search, perhaps, is only a mere waste of time and labour ; but, as few very old Manuscript copies of St. Patrick's Confession remain,362 and these, for the most part, apparently not
St. David's Cathedral, Wales.
older than the eleventh century, we can hardly determine this matter, by
reference to their respective readings. Although, not attempting to identify with exactness, all those places named, as connected with St. Patrick's nativity,
we think, notwithstanding, the preponderating weight of evidence should determine that event, as occurring in Strathclyde district, and within the present kingdom of Scotland.
That he was born, in the vale of Rosina, in the country of Tibornia, or Neutria, in the village of Banava, and in the county of Pembroke, in Welsh
land," vol. v. , at Old Kilpatrick, and 276.
Garnett's " Tour," vol. i. , p. 6.
35^ See Rev. Duncan Macnab's "Archae-
ological Dissertation on the Birthplace of
3*' See Rev. Duncan Macnab's " Archs-
ological Dissertation on the Birthplace of
St. Patrick," pp. 46, 47.
3^^ The oldest known is that, in the
" Book of referred to the ninth Armagh,"
century.
3*3 See " Relationum Historicarum de
Rebus Anglicis," tomus i. , pars, ii. , p. 90. By the Welsh, our Irish Apostle was called
Padrig Maenwyn, son of Mawon, and he is
Saint Patrick," p. 39.
359 This is
mentioned, by
Mr.
John Dillon,
in a Paper on St. Patrick, which was read
to the Society of Scottish Antiquaries, on
3*° See J. II. Turner, " An Inquiry as to the Birthplace of St. Patrick," part ii. , p.
the 25th of November, 1816.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 467
Britain, is an opinion, held by John PittSjS^s and apparently founded on a statement, in the " Aurea Legenda," as interpreted by Caxton, who relates,
that the country of the Irish Apostle was Pendiac, or Pependiac, near the vale of Rosina, William Camden3^4 and Humphry Lluyd^^s adopt this statement.
According to one account, admitting his birth to have been in this locality, the village of Tabumia, was hard by Emptor town, now called St. David's,3^s otherwiseoldMentvia. HereyetstandsastatelyCathedralofthemiddle ages ^367 but, there is no evidence of any value to show, that St. Patrick was born in this locality. 3^^ However, such a notion may have arisen from the circumstance, recorded in some of his Acts, that before embarking for Ire- land, he stood in the beautiful vale of Rhos, or Rosina.
Touching the diversity of opinions, respecting this point, the writer of the English Martyrology3^9 considers Bristol, in England, to have been the place of his nativity. 370 This latter city, it is said, lost the name of Cser Britton soon
after St. Patrick's time, and then it appeared as Brit-stow, Brightstowe, or Bristol. 371 It is supposed, that the old denomination of this latter place being unknown to St. Fiach's Scholiast, he identified Nemthor with Alcluit, otherwise bearing the Roman-British etymon, Cser-Britton, now Dumbarton. 372
said to have been born in Cwrt-y-Carn, Glamorganshire.
Version of the " Historia Britonum" of
Nennius, we find Kser-Bristow, and again,
s^** See his
of in Pembroke,
to which the editor Thomas Gale attaches the following comment :
"
Quae Huntingdoniensi et Cambd. pag. 173. est Cair-Briston, id est, BristoUia. Melius forte Dun-Britton Alcluid olim dic-
description
"Britannia," voh ii. , col. 756. Gibson's
edition.
3*5 See his " Britannicse Descriptionis
Commentariolum," &c. , fol. 61.
3** See the English translation, by W, P. ,
Esq. , of Father Peter Ribadeneira's " Lives
of Saints," &c. , part L, p. 156. Dublin epithets being omitted. See Historise
edition.
3<^7 The accompanying illustration of St. tores XV. ," pp. 115, .
The neighbourhood of Glasgow has been generally accepted, as tlie probable spot, to be assigned for St. Patrick's birthplace. Here it is thought should be found that ancient North Britain city of Nemthur, otherwise called Alcluide. 32° Now Alcluaid or Ercluad has been translated3^^ "upon an
3°9 Dr. Rock has asserted, that the WTiter
of St. Fiech's Hymn and its Commentator
had assigned the Britisli city, Alcluilh, under the poetical name of Nemthur, as the birth-
3'9 Sae "Septima Vita S. Patricii," lib. i. , cap. i. , p. 117.
3^° According to the . Scholiast, on the Hymn, attributed to St. Fiach. Again, in " The Four Ancient Books of Wales," edited by William F. Skene, there is an old Poem, copied from a Manuscript, formerly belonging to a Priory of Black Canons in Carmarthen, suppressed in the reign of King Henry VIII. This Poem professes to be a conversation, between Merdyn and Taliesin ;
Britons and their northern enemies, who were routed. In the first line of the third stanza,thet—ownofNempthurorNevturis mentioned
:
" Rac denur inentur y tirran. "
" Before two men in nevtur will they land. "
of St. Patrick. See "Did the Church of Ireland acknowledge the Pope's Supremacy ? answered in a Letter to Lord John Manners," p iii. Yet, there seems to be little similarity, in those names, in sound or meaning.
place
Early
3'° Camden seems to confine Letha, or, as
some writers of the middle ages call it, Le- and, it describes a battle, between the
lavia, to that tract, now denominated Bri-
tany. See "Britannia," col. cxxxii.
3" See " Hymnus sen Prima Vita S.
Patricii. " Strophe i, p. i.
3'^ See " Secunda Vita S. Patricii," cap.
i. , iv. , p. II.
3'3 See " Tertia Vita S. Patricii," cap. i. ,
iv. , p. 21.
3'* Except, indeed, that it was situated in
a afterwards called " be- Mr. in reference to this
plain, camp-field,"
cause a Roman army had there wintered, for
Skene,
awhile ; hence the was called Ta- —
bern, Campus" Tabuerni, id est, campus tabernaculorum.
3'S We find " mare and one not to —or indeed
and, spot
" *^
that to a called place
gests for Thyrrenum "is Gallicum," as the Gaulish Sea was near Armorica. See
"
Quarta Vita S. Patricii," cap. i. , p. 35, and n. 4, p. 48.
3'6 See " Quinta Vita S. Patricii," lib. i. , cap. i. , p. 51.
castle of Alclude
3'7 See iv. , p. 65.
"
Sexta Vita S.
"
3"* See Sister Maiy Francis Clare Cusack's Life of St. Patrick," p. 372.
Patricii," cap. i. ,
Poem, says : " There is one—allusion in it which marks
gi'eat antiquity
Nevtur—" which can be no other
than
Neinpttir themostancientname added, juxta Thyrre- barton, applied it,
of Dum-
num. " However, as Colgan remarks, this
latter denomination means the Tuscan or
known, after the eighth century. " Vol. i. , chap, xii. , p, 222. John Hardyng, who lived in the fourteenth century, wrote an English Chronicle, in verse. Relating the historic
legends of that time, he says, a king, named Ebranke, who live—d 800 years B. C. , built the
Lower Sea, M'liile the emendation he sug- ""
"
:
In Albanye he made and edifyed.
The Castle of which Dumbri- Alclude,
tayne.
As some authors by Chronicle hath ap-
. plied.
462 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17. angle or a corner. " 322 But, according to other writers, this denomination is
or " a rock," and Ciuid, the name Ail,323
resolvable into two
compounds, Al,
for the present River Clyde. Hence, the compound word might mean, " the
rock on the Clyde. " According to this derivation, Alcluid should be in Albain or North Britain. It is supposed, this may be identical with the Petra Cloithe,324 mentioned by Adamnan. 3^5 From the Clyde, also, is derived the name of that district, Strathclyde,^^^ through which it flows ; while, we are told, that the level land, on the bank opposite to Dumbarton, had been
Dumbarton Rock and Castle, Scotland.
called Ara-cluide, or " shore of the Clyde. " 327 The place where its insulated rock stood is described, by Venerable Bede, as on the right hand of the western gulf, which formerly divided the Picts from the Britons. There was the strong city Alcluitli, where the western extremity of the Roman Wall ended. 32S The Irish version of Nennius, we are told, describes it, as the Cathraig, in Leamhain, or " the Rock on the Leven," as found in the " Book of Ballymote. " 3*9 This again, is said to have been known as Dun-Britton,
And some sayen on the Fight wall
certayne,
At the west end it stood, that now is
playne. "
After the thirteenth century, the name of
Alcluid was supplanted by Dun-breatain, "Life of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 15,
now Dumbarton. Very Rev. Canon Toole's
P- 43-
'^^ For a detailed accoinit of the Strath-
see Chalmers' "
cluyd Britons, Caledonia,"
vol. i. , pp. 235 to 249.
'-7 Manuscript of Very Rev. Laurence
Canon Toole, pp. 24 to 26.
5-8 See " Ilistoria Ecclesiastica Gcntis
and with notes and indices, 33° See FuUarton's " Gazetteer LL. D. , edited, Imperial
to
3^' See Martin A. O'Brennan's "
Manuscript, pp. 30
34.
of Ireland," p. 44I.
3^^ See Dr. Todd's Irish version of the
Liber Hymnorum.
3^3 See Edward "
O'Reilly's Irish-English
Dictionary," under either form of the word.
In Cormac's "Glossary," translated and
annotated by the late John O'Donovan, script, p. 27.
History
by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , Alt is rendered
""
a cliff" or height. "
1868, 4to.
3=-»
Meaning, likewise, Clyde. "
See p. 4, Calcutta, "rock on the
3^5 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
Angloruni," lib. i. , ca]>, i. , xii.
^''s According to Canon Toole's Manu-
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 463
"
or
holds, against the assaults of their enemies. The site is thought, also, to have been a Roman naval station, under the name of Theodosia ; and, it appears not improbable, that the rock was occupied, by a Roman fort. It has an interesting history. The rock is an erupted trappean mass of basalt, pro- truding through beds of red sandstone, having a double peaked form, and cleft towards the summit, by a narrow, deep chasm. It rises sheer up, from the circumjacent low, flat, marshy tract, and, it stands completely isolated, from any other elevations. This is said to have been the capital city of Strathclyde. 33° To-day,itisknownasDumbarton,averynotableland-mark, on the north bank of the River Clyde. 33^ A castle, and a small garrison, with the governor's house, occupy this position, from which the view is truly panoramic and gorgeous. 332 It must be observed, Avhile endeavouring to prove Nemthur identical with Alcluide, or near it, Colgan was yet puzzled, to find the exact locality for such a town. 333 None of those writers, treating on this subject, have succeeded, by identifying St. Patrick's birth, with any single ancient locality, about or near Dumbarton, and named in original documents. Nor,inthecourseofcarefullyexaminingthisdistrict,bycon- sulting recognised authorities concerning its topography, is it possible to
obtain any acceptable evidence, in corroboration. 334 By some authorities,333
the British fort," because it was regarded as one of their chief strong-
of Scotland, Topographical, Statistical and Historical," vol. i. , p. 413.
33' Colgan has even quoted Jocelyn as his authority for Taburnia having been situated, near to the Clyde, and on its south bank. See "Trias Thaumaturga," Sexta Vita S.
Patricii, cap. xi. , pp. 66, 67, and Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. ii. , p. 223.
332 The accompanying view of Dumbarton
Rock and Castle has been drawn on the
wood, from a photograph, by William F.
Wakeman, and it was engraved by George A. Hanlon.
333 See his Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. ii. , pp. 221 to 224. "Trias Thaumatui-ga. " —
334 However, Mr. J. II. Turner recog- nising the difficulty of determining the true charact—er of Nemthur, as a town, or as a
in Berwickshire. In the Upper Ward is llie
River Nethan, a tributary of the Clyde, which may even have given name to the district or province. In this latter supposi- tion, it is easy to perceive, how the name may have been mistaken for that of a town, by persons who were not acquainted witli the localities, and who were misled by a plausible and obvious etymology of the word. It is thought, that Nentria may have been the primal or archetypal name of Strathclyde district, and that it was probably
district remarks, that besides meaning ety- "
derived from the Cymric nant,
and, dwr, "water," or combined, "the valleyofthewater;" for,theClyde,along the greater part of its course, flows in a dale, between chains of hills, through which it ap- pears to have formed a channel for its course, so that the name Nentria, taken in such a sense as the foregoing, has a peculiar appropriateness, as applied to the territory of
mologically the heavenly," or "the holy
tower," or "mount," it may also mean,
"the vaulted tower," or "the tower of
Nen. " Thus, the old Gaelic noem, modern seems to have reference to the Attacots or
Attacoti, who were inhabitants of western
noam, is "holy;" neam, or neamh, is
"heaven ;" while the Cymric neti possibly — —
and who lived
"
not far from the
the word on which the name was formed
westernsea. " Inits
original
GdcHc
form,
means "a vault," and hence, metaphori- their tribe-name was Aithaich-coilteach, "''
nenni. But and Nem or " being Nenn, Nann, woods,"
cally, heaven," the corresponding adjective which may signify, either inhabitants of tlie
giants
were all Celtic proper names. Thus, Ni- would seem, that Probus, having heard or
nias, or Ninian, the name of the great Pictish read of their prowess in arms and ferocity, Apostle, under his cognomen of St. Ringaii, like the Anakim or giants of the Old Testa- is the same with Nennius, and both names ment, chose to interpret their name in the mean "heavenly. " The Cymric tor is latter sense, supposing their physical stature either a pointed hill, or a tower. Plence, corresponded with their wild and savage the name Nentria or Nemthur is
susceptible of various explanations. Some have been
character. See" Scotica,"vol. Archocologia
disposed to identify Nemthur with Nemph- lar, an ancient township or village, close to the burgh of Lanark. We find a Nenthorn
V. No. X. An Inquiry as to the birthplace of St. Patrick, part ii. , pp. 276, 277, and notes, read before the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland,8thofJanuary,1872. TheRev.
Strathclyde. Again, in allusion to the ''
words, which giants are said formerly to have inhabited ;" however ludicrous, this
Scotland,
of the woods and, it ;"
"
a valley,"
464 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS
[March 17.
Emtur336 ought to be written for Nemtur, or Nentur 337 ;
while,
the whole
difficulty, regarding these forms, is said to have arisen, from the use of agglu-
tination,338 and from ignorance or imperlect knowledge of the Celtic
language. 339 Thus, em is thought to be only the Celtic definite article, repre-
sented by a« or «;/// although em, or am, is not always now the definite
article, for when it comes between the preposition ///, or ajin, and a noun, it
is frequently only what grammarians call an euphonic particle, but which
appears to be used like an indefinite article. 34° Again, the Irish text of St.
Fiach's Hymn requires consideration,341 while, we are told, after all, that there is no word, in Celtic or Gaelic, beginning with Nemp, or Emp, that it is barbarous Latin, and a proper name, made from a common noun. It is guessed, that Emptor—or, as sometimes rendered, Empthoria—is easily detected, in barbarous phonetic corruptions of the Latin word, Emporium, " a market town. " By the Rev. Duncan Macnab, its site is thought to be Chapel Hill342—beside the village of Kilpatrick—and where Scottish anti- quaries are agreed, that there was not only a Roman fort,343 but a station for troops, at the end of the wall built by Antoninus. The name Taburnia, or Tabernia,344 as applying to any part of Great Britain, cannot be found, it is stated, in Ptolemy ; nor in any of the old Roman Itineraries ; as, for instance, in that, which goes under the name of Antoninus. 345 Neither is it to be
Duncan Macnab is inclined, however, to tomus i. Prolegomina, pars i. , p. xc.
give the name of giants—as understood by
the Scottish bards and historians—to the
"
heroes of Ossian's Poems. See Archaso-
logical Dissertation on the Birthplace of St.
Freed from agglutination, the Irish text
Genitus est Patricius in turri," in English, ^'Patrick was begotten in the correction, Emtur, in the oldest extant tower. " There is no reason for setting down the ein here in question, as anything else than the definite article, according to the Rev. Duncan Macnab ; especially, as we have no means for knowing the euphonic entertained St. Fiach and the
ideas, by Irish Celts of his time.
3*- Here sepulchral stones, coins, and other Roman remains, have been discovered.
343 Nempthor is called an oppidtini, or a walled and fortified town, by Jocelyn, and
by three other biographers of St. Patrick, and by two of the Breviaries. Indeed, these of Armagh and of Paris tell us ex- pressly, that Emptor or Empthoria was in Britain ; and, we have seen, that St. Fiach's Scholiast places it at Alcluith, in North Britain.
Patrick," pp. 30 to 32.
335 Professor Eugene O'Curry found the
literally,
Manuscript of St. Fiach's Hymn, preserved in the British Museum. It is also in some of the Brevaries. The Rev. Duncan Macnab approves it.
" the tower. " 337Meaning ofthetowers. "
33* This means ''
simply
338 By this technical term, pronouns are joined to verbs, and sometimes, also, the
auxiliary verb to that which it helps to form
;
prepositions are united to nouns, and they also coalesce with pronouns ; while, occasion- ally, the last letter of a word is prefixed to the succeeding word. See Max Miiller's " Lec- tures on the Science of Language," p. 303.
340 The euphonic particle an, or am, is inserted between the preposition ann (in),
339 See "
Dissertation on the Birthplace of St. Patrick," p. 12.
a noun and—
used indefini-
Celtic as Hibemia—
Archaeological
or singular plural,
bernia —is as
Ann I-Erin i. e. , the island of Erin, Tabh-
tely as Ann an tigh, in a house
a? n baile. Before the article or relative ann is written anns, as anns an tigh (in the house).
Very often the preposition is elided, as am^ bail die, in another town. The ellipsis is always left unmarked ; but, as an and am may in this connection be mistaken for the article, they should be written ^am, ^an, for
as am bail' die, the other town ; '«;« baiV die, in the other town.
"
See Munro's
34' Dr. Charles O'Conor gives it thus :
" Genair Patraic i Nemthur," which he translates, "Natus est Patricius Nemturri. " See " Rerum Hibemicarum Scriptores,"
Erin, or Tab-Erin, i. e. , the sea of Erin.
Tabernia may also, though not so naturally, be resolved into Taob-Enn ; for, in Taob, a side, ao is a diphthong whose sound ac- cording to the different provincial dialects or accents is approximated by the Latin a or u, but cannot be expressed l)y —ao pronounced
the sake of distinction
and "Archoeolo- distinctly. "
;
separately
gical Dissertation on the Birthplace of St.
Gaelic Grammar," p. 194.
Patrick," p. 9.
345 The places, where Roman camps were
established in Great Britain, had been
usually designated, by the adjunct castra. Wherefore, Chester, or ceskr, is a form, in
;
should stand,
''
Genair Patraic in em thur ;"
or, as corrected by Professor O'Curry,
"Genair Patraic in em tur," This means
"
344 The Rev. Duncan Macnab says : "Ta-
clearly
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 465
found in the "Britannise Chronographia," written by the anonymous geographer ofRavenna. 346 Nomentionofitoccurs,inRicardusCorenensis,347norin
WiUiam Camden,348 nor in John Speed,349 nor in Horsley,35o nor in any other known authority. Although Ussher himself had illustrated,35i or noted, the list of old British towns, as given by Nennius 352 he has not
; yet, attempted toidentifythoseplaces,alludedtointheActsofSt. Patrick. Still,itishard to believe, that a British topographical denomination could have wholly dis- appeared from history, and have been lost to tradition ; especially, in a locality, where Celtic designations of places have so numerously come down from olden ages. However, the ordinary disturbing causes of time and change have frequently induced disguises or alterations in nomenclature ; so that the ingenuity of etymologists or theorists need not necessarily be at fault, in finding the requisite equivalent. In the first instance, it seems from the historic evidence cited, that St. Patrick was captured, but perhaps not born, at Bonaven Taberniae j353 and, again, if it were necessary to find his birthplace so denominated, it could not be unreasonable to suppose, that the
" and the " River-mouth,"
3S4 or "
were identical with the estuary of the Clyde, at Dumbarton, in Scotland. 3s6
which we find the names of very many cities
and towns, especially in England, to have their termination.
34* However, he gives Memanturam as one among several name-places, in North Britain. "If we suppose the initial M to have been substituted for N," says Mr. Turner, " this would be the Latinization of Nemthur. " Again, the anonymous writer mentions Nemeton, stating it lies where Britain is naiTowest from sea to sea, and that it was connected with other towns named. Owing to the fact, that he wrote in barbarous Latin, and from the circumstances related, the Rev. Duncan Macnab infers, it
355 In the seventy-seventh Psalm, we
may possibly be identified with Emptur or "
Taneos.
35* Mr. J. H. Turner, while despairing of
being able to localize, with certainty, Ban- naue or Bonaven, as also Tiburnia, Tabur-
nia, or Taburne, yet finds, that Bannave might answer admirably to denote the mouth
of the Leven, where it joins the Clyde ; whereas, Taburnia or Tiburnia is a desig-
nation, most appropriate for a river-district, or a 7-oss, placed between two streams. It
is thought, that of all the existing names, in western Scotland, Bunaw, or " the mouth of the Awe," where it falls into Loch Etive, is that which most closely represents the Bannaue of Probus. Thus, the most pro- bable site for it is the confluence of the Aven or Avon, with the main stream of the Clyde, near which the present town of Ha- milton stands. Tabernia or Taburnia, the same writer derives ftom the Gselic taib/i, and tobar, gen. tobair, "water," Cymric,
Nempthor. See Archseological Disserta- tion on the Birthplace of St. Patrick," p. 37, and n. 63, pp. 62, 63.
347 See " De Situ Britannioe. " 348 See his " Britannia. "
"
35^ See Ussher's "
35° See
"
349 See his
59, and the following pages.
352 See their names, in the Irish Version
of this author, edited by Rev. Dr. Todd
and by the Hon. Algernon Herbert, pp. 28, 29 and note (x. )
353 The Rev. Duncan Macnab
in Celtic, Bonaven Taberniae means the mouth of a river flowing into the Irish sea. He adds, there is a slight difference, be- tween what Probus states, that the birth- place of St. Patrick was not far from the western sea, and what Jocelyn writes, that it was contiguous to the Irish sea, but these relations are easily reconcilable. See
"Archaeological Dissertation on the Birth- place of St. Patrick," pp. 43 to 45.
History of Great Britaine. " Britannia Romana. "
354 This word be may probably
Sir Samuel
"
Tabern,"
hut-plain
of 355 encampment,"
Primordia," cap. v. , p. dwfr.
The n is accounted from the for,
states, that,
Strathaven,
as identical with the Irish CAbAipne, "a notes, pp. 35, 197.
"
tavern. " 357 See the
Statistical Survey of Scot* 2G
regarded,
Ferguson's
Congal,"
find a nearly similar form,
"
"
in campo
assumption of the Ge. aon, "country," or "district," as the conjoined word tobair-aon. Eliding ao, and adding an appropriate ter- mination, the result is Tabernia, the appel- lative. This should be the present district
or the course of the upper
of
Clyde itself, which might well be so desig- nated, in reference to the Falls, presenting one of the most striking combinations of natural beauty and grandeur. Mr. Turner thinks, that the explanation of Tabernia, by the monkish writers of St. Patrick's Lives, as campus tabernaculorum, "the field of
" quiry as to the Birthplace of St. Patrick,"
tents," is a mere paragram. See his
In-
part ii. ,
likewise.
pp. 275, 270, with notes. See,
466 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
We are informed, that a rock in the Clyde bore the name, " St. Patrick's Stone," and that the figure of a man, said to have been St. Patrick, was to be
seenonanantiquatedtombstone,atOldKilpatrickchurchyard. 357 Ithescon- tiguous t—o Chapel Hill. 358 ^—XqzA tradition of this having been his birth-
which
place,
few at insist on could yet prevails although present it,
359
hardly have arisen, it is contended, unless the belief in his having been a native of the district had been strongly rooted, in the minds of the popula- tion. 3^° Lastly, a place, nearly resembling Enon, in etymology, has been sought for, near Dumbarton, yet, with indifferent success. 361 However, as Enon is a doubtful reading for " enim," this search, perhaps, is only a mere waste of time and labour ; but, as few very old Manuscript copies of St. Patrick's Confession remain,362 and these, for the most part, apparently not
St. David's Cathedral, Wales.
older than the eleventh century, we can hardly determine this matter, by
reference to their respective readings. Although, not attempting to identify with exactness, all those places named, as connected with St. Patrick's nativity,
we think, notwithstanding, the preponderating weight of evidence should determine that event, as occurring in Strathclyde district, and within the present kingdom of Scotland.
That he was born, in the vale of Rosina, in the country of Tibornia, or Neutria, in the village of Banava, and in the county of Pembroke, in Welsh
land," vol. v. , at Old Kilpatrick, and 276.
Garnett's " Tour," vol. i. , p. 6.
35^ See Rev. Duncan Macnab's "Archae-
ological Dissertation on the Birthplace of
3*' See Rev. Duncan Macnab's " Archs-
ological Dissertation on the Birthplace of
St. Patrick," pp. 46, 47.
3^^ The oldest known is that, in the
" Book of referred to the ninth Armagh,"
century.
3*3 See " Relationum Historicarum de
Rebus Anglicis," tomus i. , pars, ii. , p. 90. By the Welsh, our Irish Apostle was called
Padrig Maenwyn, son of Mawon, and he is
Saint Patrick," p. 39.
359 This is
mentioned, by
Mr.
John Dillon,
in a Paper on St. Patrick, which was read
to the Society of Scottish Antiquaries, on
3*° See J. II. Turner, " An Inquiry as to the Birthplace of St. Patrick," part ii. , p.
the 25th of November, 1816.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 467
Britain, is an opinion, held by John PittSjS^s and apparently founded on a statement, in the " Aurea Legenda," as interpreted by Caxton, who relates,
that the country of the Irish Apostle was Pendiac, or Pependiac, near the vale of Rosina, William Camden3^4 and Humphry Lluyd^^s adopt this statement.
According to one account, admitting his birth to have been in this locality, the village of Tabumia, was hard by Emptor town, now called St. David's,3^s otherwiseoldMentvia. HereyetstandsastatelyCathedralofthemiddle ages ^367 but, there is no evidence of any value to show, that St. Patrick was born in this locality. 3^^ However, such a notion may have arisen from the circumstance, recorded in some of his Acts, that before embarking for Ire- land, he stood in the beautiful vale of Rhos, or Rosina.
Touching the diversity of opinions, respecting this point, the writer of the English Martyrology3^9 considers Bristol, in England, to have been the place of his nativity. 370 This latter city, it is said, lost the name of Cser Britton soon
after St. Patrick's time, and then it appeared as Brit-stow, Brightstowe, or Bristol. 371 It is supposed, that the old denomination of this latter place being unknown to St. Fiach's Scholiast, he identified Nemthor with Alcluit, otherwise bearing the Roman-British etymon, Cser-Britton, now Dumbarton. 372
said to have been born in Cwrt-y-Carn, Glamorganshire.
Version of the " Historia Britonum" of
Nennius, we find Kser-Bristow, and again,
s^** See his
of in Pembroke,
to which the editor Thomas Gale attaches the following comment :
"
Quae Huntingdoniensi et Cambd. pag. 173. est Cair-Briston, id est, BristoUia. Melius forte Dun-Britton Alcluid olim dic-
description
"Britannia," voh ii. , col. 756. Gibson's
edition.
3*5 See his " Britannicse Descriptionis
Commentariolum," &c. , fol. 61.
3** See the English translation, by W, P. ,
Esq. , of Father Peter Ribadeneira's " Lives
of Saints," &c. , part L, p. 156. Dublin epithets being omitted. See Historise
edition.
3<^7 The accompanying illustration of St. tores XV. ," pp. 115, .
