No More Learning

5 Colgan says, he is identical with a St.
January. HisActswillbefoundattheist ^3Thefollowingparticularsaregleaned
Septima Vita S. Patricii, pars iii. , cap. Sunday, October 17th, a charity sermon,
Caidoc, Apostle of the Morini, in France,
and whose feast is referred to the 24th of derry. " Sheets I, 2, 5, 6.
of April.
^ See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. '" day, October 20th, 1875. On the previous
xcviii. , p. 167, and n. 125, p. 188.
^ Another St. Catan graces our calendars, at the 1 2th of December. At the 17th and i8th of May, the Scottish Calendars com-
able, learned and instructive, was preached in St. Cadan's Roman Catholic Church,
Magilligan, by the Rev. John Keys O'Doherty, Newtownstevvart, in aid of the fund for clearing off a debt incurred by the
respected pastor of the parish. Rev. Bernard M'Gurk, P. P. , in erecting his parochial house. A grand High Mass and ceremony
delighted and edified the parishioners oq this occasion.
memorate, likewise, a Bishop Cathan. ^"
See Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hiber- niae," Februarii i. De S. Catano a/irtj Cad- dano, cap. ii. , p. 233.
9 In the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, translated by William M. Hennessy, among
^
See Miss Mary F. Cusack's
"
Life of St.
tica Gentis Scotorum," tomus i. , lib. iii. , sect. 237, p. 138.
" Also called Tamlaght Ard, in the barony of Keenaught. See ' ' Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of London*
from the Londonderry Journal of Wednes-
240 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February i.
occupies a commanding rind picturesque site on the high lands there, and it stands in the midst of historical and religious remains, whose existence is hallowed by antiquity, and made sacred by the holy hands that blessed them. Alittletotherightisshownthemound,whereoncestoodacele- brated Franciscan monastery, and where the ploughshare oft turns up the bonesofthoseinterredinthesacredprecincts. Now,afertileplainstretches between this mound and the sea ; but, tradition and geology show where the surging waves in olden time laved its base, while but lately the steps, by which the monks descended from their house to the shore, were discovered. About the same time and place were found the anchor to which they moored, and the ring to which they bound their little skiffs. To the left, in the old churchyard, is shown the grave of St. Cadan,^^ where reposed his bones when his missionary labours were ended. Close beside lies St. Cadan's well -^^ while^ on many a valley and hill around are traceable the labours of theapostolicSt. Patrick,andthechurch-lovingSt. Columb. Itisthensuit- able, that in these modern days the faith should flourish, where it was planted so firmly of yore, and it is equally fit that the missioners of to-day should have residences appropriate to their sacred calling.
^"^
A new parochial house People in the neigh- bourhood call him Espog or Bishop, which would make him accord with the assumed grades of our saint. Aidan seems to be another name applied to him; but,onthewhole,thereisreallynoreliabletraditionexistingatMa- gilligan,'7 in reference to St. Cadan. Only some hazy notions float in the parishioners' minds, when alluding to him. ^^ The Parish Priest of Tamlacht Ard and Magilligan, Rev. B. M'Guirk, is of opinion, that St. Catan's festival
has been lately erected, near St. Cadan's Church.
there fell on the 12th of Decem. ber, rather than on the ist of — February. ^9
TheRev. ina " ^^ ofwhich
John Graham,^°
poem, intituled,
Magilligan"
'* The Rev. John Keys O'Doherty kindly procured, from the Rev. B. M'Guirk, P. P. , of Tamlacht Ard and Magilligan, the fol- lowing local information, in a letter dated
dawn witnessed the faithful kneeling around their shepherd bishop, and praying for that peace and liberty which we to-day enjoy. "
'7 in this parish is the mountain of Ben- yevenagh, 1,200 feet over the sea-level,
February 7th, 1876, referring to St. Catan's
tomb, "There was a hole in a stone over See
the grave, from which earth was taken for
cures, but this practice has ceased for very
manyyears. "
's This well has yet considerable local re-
pute for effecting cures.
*^ From the sermon, as
'^
So has the writer been informed, in a
the fol- lowing interesting local anecdote must be
^^ He writes to Rev.
February 7th, 1867, as follows
pie here have no special day set apart for his
holy bishop in disguise to minister to the spiritual wants of your forefathers. He had retumed from banishment at the risk of his life, and, attired as a shepherd, he tended the flocks by day on these mountains of Magilligan, and by night stole into the hu—ts of the poor to exercise his sacred ministry to bring joy to the living, and hope and con-
solation to the sick and
a watchman posted on every eminence to give notice of the approach of the dreaded
soldiery, did he offer up the unbloody sacri- '''
'*
Enshrined in stone, near Tamlaght's tem«
pie high.
Brought from Northumberland by Col-
man's care,
The honoured ashes of old Aidan lie.
fice ; and the Mass Hill and the Mass '
Hollow,' the 'Priest's Knowe and the 'Canon Hill' still point out to the pious inquirer the hallowed spots where the gray
reported,
John Keys O'Doherty,
:
Here,
so late as the seventeenth century, came a veneration ; but, I am confident, the 1 2th
deemed worthy of preservation :
"
dying. Here,
with
of this — as production, relating
to the
local
"
vol. ii. , p. 723.
Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland,"
letter from Rev. John Keys O'Doherty,
P. P. , Newtownstewart, County Tyrone, and
dated Febuiary 8th, 1876.
December, is the day fixed for him. "
=° He parodied to great advantage a num- her of Moore's " Irish Melodies," and he
composed several Orange songs and poems, which are yet popular in various parts of Ulster.
=^'
The stanzas succeeding will give the reader an idea, regarding the tone and style
patron
:
" The peo-
February i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS 241
place he was Protestant rector some years ago—has alluded to St. Cadan, whom he confounds with St. Aidan, of Lindisfarne, in Northumberland. ^^ Poetic license, in this case, is doubtless very freely applied to dissolve the historic mist. It is traditionally related among other things, that St. Cadan was a great artificer, and that he made a celebrated shrine, which was in ex- istence in the fourteenth century. The altar of this holy man was pointed out, but it has now disappeared. This was a large stone, in a field t—o the south of the graveyard. It is said, there was a place in it for his book this
wasprobablythebook-stand while,themarksofhiskneeswereshownin ——
a second stone, on which he knelt in prayer. ^3 supposedtobetheCatanusofSt. Patrick'sLives istobeseenbesidethe church of Tamlacht Ard. It is built of ashlar masonry, and it is evidently of great antiquity. However, it had been so covered up with earth, owing to the adjacent interments, that no sketch of it could be obtained by Dr. Petrie. ^4 Now, it may be questioned, whether or not, the Catan of St. Patrick's Acts ever left Ireland. Perhaps, he only moved to another part of it. The accidental agreement of his name, with that of a saint so denoted, in Scotland, can hardly establish identity ; especially, as we find insufficient contemporaneous evidence to prove it, while diverging festivals, and conflict- ing dates, tend towards a contrary conclusion. On the whole, we find much difficulty in reconciling the preceding recorded statements and personal facts, with those which follow, and which may have allusion to quite a distinct Catan. He went over from
Island of Butc^^s His sister Erca^^—also called Ertha^7 or Ercha^^ either accompanied or followed him to that place, while she was not very far ad- vanced in age ; for, we are informed, that afterwards, she bore a son, who was called Blaan, to a handsome young man of that country. This son, in course of time, was celebrated for his sanctity, both in Scotland and in Ireland. ^5 He became the future bishop of a place in Scotland, known as
Ireland,
The first that sat in Landisfame chair, When grateful Oswald made him bishop
there.
Of him, says Bede, an adversary just— * I praise this Aidan for his holy mind,
His learning and humility, but must Condemn the fault we in his conduct find, His breach with Rome, the mistress of
mankind.
*' * He with the Greeks his feast of Easter
it has been —in the settled, stated,
keeps,
Regardless of the Latin rubric rule ;
Nor heeds he whether Peter's Vicar &c. , of each County, vol . v. , pp. 536 to
weeps
Or smiles, while England, in her zeal
grown cool,
Receives her doctrine from lona school. '*
Here have his bones for thirteen lain,
547, Edinburgh, 1805 to 1808, Svo,
^^ This form of name was common in
Ireland.
=7 According to Dempster.
^^ These seem to be forms of a not name,
known in the Irish language.
=^9 Had St. Blaan flourished A. D. 446, as
Dempster asserts, not alone should he have lived some years before his uncle and mas- ters, by whom he was baptized and in-
structed, but even many years before his father was born, for we learn the latter was a mere child in 535. See *' Historia Ec- clesiastica Gentis Scotorum," tomus i. , lib, ii. , p. 78.
R
As fleeting generations pass away ; Preserved with care, and honoured, here
remain
The stone that marks his lowly bed of
clay,
His well, his altar, and his natal day. "
" His feast occurs at the 31st of August.
=3
**
These stones were blasted with pow-
der by the farmer owning thQ field, some Vol. II.
ages
—The tomb of St. Cadan
and
sixteen or seventeen years ago,_as they were . -—
in the way of his plough. " Extract from
Rev. B. M'Guirk's letter, to Rev. John
Keys O'Doherty.
^^ See his " Ecclesiastical Architecture
and Round Towers of Ireland," part ii. , sect, iii. , subsect. viii. , pp. 454, 455'
^5 See an account of this island, being also
a shire, in Robert Forsyth's admirable work, "The Beauties of Scotland : containing a
clear and full account of the
Commerce, Mines and Manufactures ; of the Population, Cities, Towns, Villages,
"
Agriculture,
242 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February t.
Cenn-Garadh. Atfirst,helivedunderthedisciphneofSt. Catan. 3° Much doubt exists as to the time, when St. Catan went over to Scotland, and re- gardingtheactualplacewherehechieflyresidedinBute. Itisrelated,how- ever, that he built a cell at a spot, which took its name from him, and which isnowcalledKilcathain. 3^ Here,hespentsometime,inveryrigorousexer- cises of penance. He lived a hermit's life, and his soul was wholly intent on heavenly contemplation. His youthful nephew, Blaan, was educated by him, in like practices, and soon was the pupil enabled to lay up a store of vir- tues and merits, for his future distinguished missionary enterprises. Colgana'* thinks it can be proved, that Catan must have lived in Scotland, after a. d. 550. 33 It is not known, at what exact time the emigrant St. Cadan left Ire- landandflourishedinScotland. Thedate460isconsideredtobetooearly, although some authors have given it. 34 Indeed, doubts exist, that he was even born until a later period. Nor can it be deemed at all probable, that after receiving episcopal consecration, he could have lived a very austere life in North Britain, for a lapse of over ninety years. 3S If we are to believe
Dempster, while living at Kilcathan, he wrote a book
''
Meditationes," an-
" Acta Sanctorum Hiber- niae," Februarii i. De S. Catano alias
Caddano Episcopo, cap. v. , vi. , p. 233.
3' The situation of this place is shown on the map of Bute, towards the south-eastern part of the island. See " The New Statis- tical Account of Scotland, by the Ministers of the respective Parishes, under the Super- intendence of a Committee of the Society for the Benefit of the Sons and Daughters
"
of the Clergy,
3^ See "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae,"
Februarii i. D. S. Catano alias Caddano Episcopo, cap. vii. , p. 233, and n. 12, p. 234-
33 This position is sought to be established, by adducing two leading arguments. First, Catan's nephew, St. Blaan, was baptized and taught at the time when St. Canice and St. Comgall flourished in Ireland ; while, during this era, likewise, he obtained the episcopal rank, at the hands of his uncle. Now, St. Canice died in the eighty-fourth year of his age, a. d. 598, while, St. Com- gall departed A. D, 600, at the age of ninety, having spent thirty years, three months
and ten days in the Abbacy of Bangor, ac- cording to the " Annals of the Four Mas- ters. " See Dr. O'Donovan's edition, vol. i. , pp. 224, 225. About the year 550, St.
Comgall is said to have become abbot, and after his rule commenced, it is related, that he lived from the baptism, to the ordination as priest, of St. Blaan. Secondly, St. Catan lived in Britain, at least twenty years after the birth of St. Blaan, and the latter does not appear to have been born before A. D. 550, since he is said to have been the
this was not so on the mother's for she side,
is represented as the daughter of a British king, according to St. Laserian's Acts, whereas, the mother of St. Blaan was an Irishwoman, Erca, the sister of St. Catan. Now, after the year 535, while ^dan was very young—and the younger of two sons— his mother brought him to Ireland, as Hector "
3° See
Colgan's
vol. V. Ayr-Bute.
"Rerum Scoticarum Historia," lib. v. , p. 141. Also, William Guthrie's "General History of Scotland, from the earliest ac- counts to the present time," vol. i. , book ii. , p. III. Granted, that ^^dan, about this time, had been a boy of ten or twelve years, it does not seem likely, for five or six years subsequently, he could have been the father of St. Blaan, the son of Erca, and consequently, not until after A. D. 540. Now, more than twenty years must have followed, before the elevation of St. Blaan to his ecclesiastical grade, and therefore, we should suppose St. Catan to have lived in Scotland, some years after 560. Taking into account, that King Aidan, according to the aforesaid Scottish historians, died A. D. 604, in the thirty-fourth year of his reign, it is not likely he had a son more than thirty years, before he assumed the sceptre, and more than sixty-four years before his own
death, especially as no writer attributes to him an extreme old age. See Colgan's
"
Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," Februarii i. De S. Catano alias Caddano, Episcopo, n. 12, p. 234. This whole matter, however, is involved in great difficulties, nor is it an easy task to solve them satisfactorily.
Gentis Scotorum," tomus i. , lib. iii. , sect.
237, p. 138.
35 See Colgans "Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
niae," Februarii i. De S. Catano alias Gad* dano, cap. vii. , p. 233.
son of i^dan, the son of Goran, a
3* See " Historia Ecclesiastica Dempster's
cele- brated King of Scotland, as related in the Acts of St, Laserian, whose feast occurs on the 1 8th of April. Again, St. Blaan is con- sidered to have been the brother of Gemma, daughter to the aforesaid King ^dan ; yet,
very
Boetus states, in his
lib. ix. , fol. clxix. , as also Buchannan, in
Scotorum Historise,"
February i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 243
other " Confessiones Secretse," and a book " De suis Apparitionibus. "36 in the Life of St. Blane,37 it is stated, Cathaii was uncle to that saint, whom he ordained and consecrated bishop. 3^ According to Dempster,39 St. Catha- nusdiedintheplace,whichfromhimderiveditsnameofKillcathan. Little seems to be known regarding his career in Scotland. It is said, however,
that St. Catan resided at Stornoway. '»° There his remains were preserved,** ""
after he departed to bliss. '^ Yet, his exuviae are likewise reported to
have been in Scarinche. '»3 It is thought, by Colgan, that, although the exact
date is uncertain, his St. Catan died, after a. d. 560. 4* Our Calendarists,
Marianus O'Gorman, Charles MaguirCj-^s and the Martyrology of Donegal*^ mention, on this day, Catan, tutor to Blaan, i. e. , of Blaan of Cenn-Garadh.
TheScotch,however,seemtoplacehisfestival,atthe17thofMay. 47 This may be another feast, distinct from his Natalis ; although, it is not very cer- tain, that the present Catan might not be distinguished from him of Cenn- garadh. Bishop Forbes^^ has the festival of this latter holy Bishop Cathan, at the 1 8th of May. Altogether, it is difficult to reconcile these feasts and the facts already recorded with one and the same man. In the west of Scotland, many places were called after this bishop. Thus Kilcattan, in Kil- blane, Bute \^'^ Kilchattan, in Luing Island f° Ard-Chattan or Ballyboden f^ at Kilchattan Bay, at —Kilchattan Mill and Suidhe Chatain^^ in Kingarth parish. Island of Bute53 said to have been his chief seat ;5< at Kilchattan in Gigha,5s where a church of which he is patron had been called after him f^ at Kilchattan, deanery of Lorn;57 at Colonsay. s^ St. Cathanus of Over Ruthven,59 was given by Gilbert, Earl of Strathearn, to the Abbey of Inch- affiray. ^° In Ireland, long after his death, the memory of a St. Catan was famous, as the patron and protector of those addicted to fasting. We are surprised to learn, that so late as the seventeenth century,^^ it was quite usual
3*See "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Sco- torum," tomus i. , lib. iii. , sect. 237, p. 138.
37 Probably, that quoted by Dempster, as written by George Newton, Archdeacon of Dunblane.
3^ According to the Breviary of Aberdeen, pars Estiva, lol. Ixxviii.
39 See " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," tomus i. , lib. iii. , sect. 237, p. 138.
''° Afterwards, this was a cell, and its first prior came from the Abbey of Inchaffray.
*' See "Origines Parochiales Scotiae," vol. ii. , p. 381.
tica Gentis Scotorum," tomus i. , lib. iii. , sect. 237, p. 138.
"
49 gee " Parochiales Origines
*=' The date strangely given is A. D. 710.
vol. ii. , pp. 210, 214.
ss Here too was a cell of the
43 See Keith's " of the Bishop- Catalogue
Holy
Bishops of Scotland," p. 393. Edinburgh, 1824, Ed. Russel.
" Scoti-Monasticon : The Ancient Church age, in the practice of good works. See of Scotland," p. 171. Also, "Origines
44 Dempster says, that he lived to an old
"
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," tomus i. , lib. iii. , sect. 237, p. 138.
45 By this writer, he is specially charac-
terized as being devoted to abstinence and "
Parochiales Scotise," vol. ii. , p. 257.
s; in the diocese of Argyle. See Rev. Mackenzie E. C. Walcott's " Scoti-Mo-
nasticon," p. 221.
58 See "Origines Parochiales Scotiae/'
fervour. See Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae,"
Februarii i. De S. Catano alias Caddano, vol. ii. , p. 280. It is celebrated as "lonely
cap. viii. , and nn. 10, 13, pp. 233, 234.
4^ Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
36, 37. In the table subjoined to this Mar-
tyrology,
Latinized, Cathandus. See pp. 370, 371, ibid.
*7 See Dempster's "Historia Ecclesias*
Colonsay," by Sir Walter Scott.
59 See lib. Insulae Missar. , vol. Tiii. , ^
the name of this saint has been
8, 18.
^° See
" of
Douglas' Peerage Scotland,"
'*^ See
Kalendars of Scottish Saints," pp. 298, 299.
Scotiag," vol. ii. , p. 9. "Old Statistical Survey of
Scotland," vol. viii,, p. 56.
so gge "Origines Parochiales Scotise,"
vol. ii. , p. 100.
51 See ibid. , p. 148.
^2 Xhjs is 520 feet in height,
53 See " New Statistical Survey of Scot-
land," vol. v. , pp. 83, 84.
54 See "Origines Parochiales Scotise,"
Trinity.
ss See Rev. Mackenzie E. C. Walcott's
vol. ii. , p. 556.
°'
Colgan attests this fact as known tq himself.
244 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS [February i.
for many of the Irish, and especially for those of Ulster, to spend three whole
days in a Triduum, without partaking of any kind of food or drink. This
great austerity was intended, in imitation of this holy Bishop Caddan, to com- memorate his virtues and to secure his intercession. ^^ A character so gentle and so austere as his had been, could not, and did not, fail to win the affec- tion and esteem of the people in either Scotia. Yet, like a flower that flourishes in summer and appears bright, whilst in winter it presently withers ; even so, frail and deceitful life must pass away, and our saint saw it run to a happy close.
Article VI.