This king fell ill, and he was struck with
blindness
for his opposition to truth.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v7
There his ecclesiastical studies appear to have commenced, and it hasbeenstated,^thatheresidedinRomefortwenty-fouryears.
Hislearning and exemplary life caused the Pope to take notice of him.
6° The Sovereign Pontiff being informed there was a nation in the north-western part of Britain, that had not yet embraced the Christian faith, Ninian was deemed by birth, influence, talents, and virtues, eminently qualified to become a missionary
among
that
people.
61 He had now
passed
several
years
at Rome
in the exercises of piety, in the study of the Scriptures, as also learning the doc-
trineanddisciplineoftheChurch. Atlength,hewasconsecratedabishop,
anddestinedtoexercisetheofficeinhisowncountry. Perhaps,throughthe
solicitude of St. Palladius, he had been elevated to that dignity. It is stated,
likewise, that Ninian was one of the thirty-two bishops ordained by Pope
62
CHAPTER II.
ON HIS RETURN FROM ROME, ST. NINIAN VISITS ST. —MARTIN OF TOURS—TAKING LEAVE OF HIM, ST. NINIAN RETURNS TO BRITAIN DISTURBED STATE OF SCOT- LAND AT THAT PERIOD—ST. NINIAN'S RECEPTION THERE ON HIS RETURN—HIS MISSIONARY ZEAL AND LABOURS—HE FOUNDS CANDIDA CASA OR WHITHORN— MIRACLES.
On his return from Rome, Ninian was moved with an earnest desire to visit
Ciricius.
the great St. Martin, Bishop of Tours.
54 See Right Rev. Alexander Penrose Forbes' " Lives of S. Ninian and S. Kenti- gem. " Life of S. Ninian, chap. 'i. , pp. 8, 9.
At this time, he was famous for sanc-
s6 This was given from Treves, and it soon became known in Britain,
57 Possibly, it is thought, under St. Jerome and St. Damasus.
"
gia Britannica, sive Annales Ecclesioe Bri- tannicse," &c, tome i. , A. C. 370, sect, i. , pp.
ss According to Alford. See 467, 468.
Fides Re-
learned,
many
employed
" Ecclesiastical History of Scotland," book i. ,
ss gee Rev. Thomas Innes' num. xxviii. , p. 34.
Civil and
v IA
370 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 25.
tity and miracles. Ninian turned aside from his direct journey, and went to that city. There, St. Martin received him with great affection and respect. He
knew by revelation, that his visitor was wonderfully sanctified, and destined by Divine Providence to become a profitable instrument for the salvation of many others. St. Ninio is said to have lived as a disciple with St. Martin of Tours;1 however, there seems to be no warrant for considering him to have been more than a visitor. For some time, at least, Ninian was in friendly conversation with that celebrated cenobite. Ninian besought St. Martin to furnish him with skilled masons, so that he might accomplish a cherished purpose, to build churches, and to establish offices in conformity with the
usages
of the
Holy
request
willingly granted.
Roman Church. This
4
St. Martin
Some of the religious of Marmoutier set out to join in this enterprise. His first effort was to reproduce on the Scottish coast a house somewhat resem- bling their cherished home of piety and learning. Having taken an affec- tionate leave of St. Martin, Ninian continued under the guidance of Christ his journey towards Britain. He safely arrived in Valentia, which was his ownpartofthatcountry. ThedateforhisreturntoBritainisnotrecorded in his Life. 3 But from what has been already stated, an inference may be drawn, that it must have taken place before the year 397,* when St. Martin died, according to the most common opinion of historians. 5 The turbulent Picts had then made settlements in that province, which lay between the Roman walls. In the fourth century, the Roman Governor, Maximus Clemens, attacked with great vigour the Picts and Scots. 6 These had made incursions into the Roman provinces,? and for a time he repressed their incursions. 8 Being proclaimed Emperor by the Roman soldiers in Britain, Maximus resolved on usurping the empire. Accordingly, in the year 383, ambitious to secure to himself the empire of the west, he passed over to Gaul, with these troops he commanded, and a large army of native Britons.
Many of these never saw their own country again, 9 and it is thought some of them were placed in Armorica, called Lesser Britain. 10 The numerous British levies which passed over to Gaul with Conan of Meriadog, and his brother-in-law Maximus Clemens, were founders of the first Christian kingdom, erected on the north-western coast of Gaul. " On the present
SJ By various writers. However, the Bol- landists think he did not remain there lor so
60 '* " See Rev. Jeremy Collier's Ecclesiasti-
Ninian, Bishop of Candida Casa, chap, vi. , pp. 75 to 85.
says: C'est une grande question de savoir si S. cal History of Great Britain, chiefly of Martin est mort en Tan 397 ou en l'an 400, England, from the first Planting of Chris- y ayant bien des raisons de parte d'autre. II tianity to the Reign of King Charles II. , nous en paroist neanmoins davantage pour withabriefAccountofReligioninIreland," l'an397. "—"Memoirespourserviral'His-
a
long period.
4 Le Sieur Nain de Tillemont
vtil. i. , p. 43. 61 "
See Lives of English Saints. " Life of St. Nini. in, Bishop of Candida Casa, chap. v. , pp. 56 to 94.
i le was elected January 12th, 383, and
he died —22nd, A. D. so late as a. d.
CHAPTER
'6 He was consecrated
See Tiro
February 398.
placed
See
444. p. 13.
"Chronicle. "
11.
Bishop of that See, July 3rd, a. d. 371.
Prosper's
» See Gregory of Tours' " Historia. "
8 See " Chronicle. "
' According to the statement of Gildas.
I0 "
See Rev. Ur. Dodd's Church History
of England from the commencement of the gem," compiled in the twelfth century. Sixteenth Century to the Revolution in
There he
departed
this life, November nth,
Sigebert's
about the close of the Fourth century. His
Life has been written by Sulpicius Severus.
Edited by Alexader Penrose Forbes, D. C. L. ,
Bishop of Brechin. Life of St. Ninian,
chap, ii. , p. 10.
i See "Lives of the English Saints," St.
a"
See Lives of S. Ninian and S. Kenti-
toire ecclesiastique," tome x. , p. 340. Also a learned note in the same volume, pp. 779
to 781.
s In the Rev. J. Ingram's version of "The
Saxon Chronicle," the death of St. Martin is
1688," with Notes, Additions, and a con- tinuation by the Rev. M. A. Tierney, F. S. A. , vol. i. , pnrt i. , Art. i. , p. 12.
" Rev. John Francis Shearman's unpub-
July 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 371
borders of England and Scotland, the colonists of Roman birth and the
Britons lived in perpetual dread of the northern Caledonian tribes. The
Picts had not failed to seize upon that favourable opportunity offered them
by Maximus, when carrying over with him to Gaul so many of the regular
troops and the flower of the British youth. More than one Roman legion
wasrequiredtoopposethosenorthernenemies. ThedescriptionClaudian
gives of the Picts, regarding their having figures stamped on their bodies with
iron," agrees exactly with that representation Herodian gives of the Caledo-
nians. ^ Itseemstoprove,thatbothhadbeenthesamepeople,undertheir
old name of Caledonians, and under their new name of Picts. These were
joined by the Scots, not only of Britain, but by new levies of Scots coming
1
overfromIreland. * Intheyear398,thePictsandScotshadmadesuchpro-
gress in ravaging the neighbouring provinces of Britain, that these were quite ruined. Ts EventheTeutonsorSaxonshadinvadedBritain. 16 Anaccount—of
this miserable state of the British — been provinces having brought
to Stilicho whocommandedundertheEmperorHona/ius newforcesweredespatched to Britain. Having beaten out the Picts and Scots from the invaded Roman provinces, Stilicho caused the northern wall, built against their irruptions, to
be again repaired. He placed guards and a garrison *? on the frontiers of Valentia, to overawe the Scots and Picts, and to protect the British provin- cials against them.
A long absence and that veneration the people had entertained for his eminent sanctity, with the progress he made at Rome in the knowledge of Divine truths, drew great multitudes of the Christians in these parts, to wel- come St. Ninian on his return. They received him with great joy and wonderful devotion. They thanked God, likewise, because they looked on him as a prophet. Taking advantage of these marks of esteem and confidence manifested by the people, Ninian immediately began like an active husband- man in the Lord's vineyard, to root up what had been ill-planted, and to reform all abuses, that might have crept in among them. Having purged the minds of the faithful from all errors, he instructed them in the Faith and in their Christian duties. 18 By words as by example, he was a pattern of all virtue. *» St. Ninian's preaching was attended with the performance of many
lished work, "The Celtic Races of Great "
Movit, et infesto spumavit remige
Tethys.
Illius effectum curis, ne tela time-
Britain and Armorica, chap, iv. , p. 91.
12 He thus marks among others, those Roman troops, that guarded the w—all in Bri-
rem Scotica,
ne lit-
tain against the Scots and Picts
:
"Venit et extremis legio prsetenta Britannis,
Quae Scoto dat frena truci, ferroque notatas
Perlegit exsangues Picto moriente *
figuras. "
—De Bello Getico, vv. 416 to 418.
13
See lib. iii.
14 Thus Claudian introduces Britain
lamenting her perishing condition, until
ne Pictum tore tuto
tremerem,
Stilicho sent forces to her succour Picts and Scots :—
against
the
" Me quoque vicinis pereuntem genti- bus, inquit,
Me juvit Stilicho, totam cum Scotus lemem
—"
De Laudibus Stilichonis,"
lib. vv. ii. ,
Prospicerem dubiis venturum Saxona ventis. "
25010255.
IS See that account, which Claudian the
Poet gives, in the panegyric of Stilicho, the
Roman general.
"
See Edward A. Freeman's
of the Norman Conquest of England," vol. i. , chap, ii. , p. 11.
' 7 The Claudian gives an account of poet
the several legions which by Stilicho's order
came to join them, a. d. 402, against the Goths, and before the battle of Pollen- turn.
l8 See Rev. Thomas Innes' " Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scotland," book i. ,
,<s
History
372 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 25.
miracles. 20 These Almighty God wrought through him, in confirmation of the doctrine he taught. A prince of that country, named Tuduvallus, had been violently opposed to the doctrine and ministrations of the saint.
This king fell ill, and he was struck with blindness for his opposition to truth. By
the advice of his relations, he sent messengers to the man of God. Repenting of his error, the prayers of the holy bishop Ninian were offered earnestly to God, and then he went straightway to the sick man. Touching the ruler's head, pain was driven away from it, and signing his closed eyes with the cross, light again came to him. Thenceforward, knowing that the power of the Almighty was on the side of Ninian, that potentate began to cherish and vene- rate the saint with all affection. Another miracle took place, when an unfor- tunate woman committed herself with a young man, to whom she bore an illegi- timate male child, and afterwards she charged the guilt on a presbyter to whom Ninian had committed the charge of that district. To the great scandal of
the faithful, this lie she preferred in a public assembly, where the Bishop, the Priest, and her real paramour were present. From the lips of the infant then proceeded a statement, that confounded the guilty man, and absolved the innocent, while it convicted the slanderer of falsehood. Then were fulfilled
those words of the Psalmist
:
" Out of the mouth of babes and of sucklings,
21 In of his mission, Ninian pursuance
O thou hast Lord,
perfected praise. "
ordained priests, consecrated bishops, and distributed other ecclesiastical
22
for the more con- venient service and instruction of the people. However, the organization of what are now known as parishes did not commence in Southern Britain, for
ages after his time. At the same time, he wished to select from among aspirants to the ministry, those in whom he found evident marks of a Divine vocationtotheecclesiasticalstate. 23 Sohedesignedtokeepupthesuccession of pastors, and to carry on the work of the Gospel. We are informed, that for this end, the holy man ordained priests and consecrated bishops, the chosen ones among his disciples, and whom he had trained up personally, after the same manner in which he had been instructed at Rome. 2* In forming this infant church, Ninian followed the model and order of canonical discipline, which he had been taught from his youth. These he had seen everywhere prac- tised, during his travels through the. south of Britain, in the Gauls, and in Italy. Those practices, too, he knew to have been universal in the Church, during that age, as in all former ages, and in all countries, where Christianity had been established. 25
dignities. He divided the country into several districts,
sect, xxxi. , p. 39.
x9 See Right Rev. Alexander Penrose
Forbes' " Lives of S. Ninian and S. Kenti-
glorum," lib. iii. , cap. iv. , pp. 272, 273.
2s The Rev. Thomas limes observes,
though we had no other authority, that this
gern. " Life of S. Ninian, chap, ii. , pp. was the discipline and form of government
10, 11. observed among the ancient Christians in
20
See Ailred's "Vita S. Niniani," the north of Britain, or Scotland, it must
cap. iv.
seem sufficiently plain, they were used, so soon as the disposition of the civil state could allow of a fixed and rule for
21
Psalms viii. , 2.
22 The word " "
parochia signified
of old as well dioceses, as what we now commonly denominate parishes. See Rev. Joseph
"
Bingham's Origines Ecclesiasticoe, or the
Antiquities of the Christian Church," book ix. , chap, viii. , sect. I.
83 See " Lives of the English Saints," St. Ninian, Bishop of Candida Casa, chap, vii. , pp. 85 to 119.
84 See Venerablis Bedse Opera quae super- sunt omnia. Rev. Dr. J. A. Giles' edition,
regular
living. Then Ailred, a writer of the twelfth
vol.
ii. ,
" Ilistoria Ecclesiastica Gentis An-
age, grounded his observations, on the ancient records in the monastery of Candida Casa, or Whithern, and on the constant tra- dition in his time. This alone should pre- scribe against the notion of a pretended primitive church government without bishops in Scotland, before St. Palladius preached there. Such a statement has been advanced, however, yet without any other authority, but that of John Fordun, a writer who lived
July 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 373
About that time, Ninian was residing in the districts inhabited by the
Novantes or Niduarii a6 and 2? The first Scottish church built St. Selgovi. by
Ninian was that of Candida Casa, towards the close of the fourth a8 or begin- ning of the fifth 29 century. The site selected for his religious establishment andchurchwasonapromontoryofGalloway. St. Niniothusengagedinerect- ing a church, at a place known formerly as Leucophibia, at least by the Greeks. This local designation as recorded by Ptolemy 3° shows, that it was imposed long antecedently to the period of St. Ninian. If Candida Casa had its origin in the former Greek term, the name is more probably derived from the primi- tive lime-white houses there, than from the church afterwards built by St.
the
Saxon appellation, Whitherne or White House, was subsequently the Candida Casa, a translation into Latin, and perhaps from the older Greek designation. It is now Whithorn, near which is the Island of Whithorn. In early Celtic hagiology, this place was named Alba, Rosnat, Futerna, and Magnum Monasterium,32 owing as we may suppose to»its superior distinction. It is said, that while building his church at Candida Casa, having heard about the death of his patron, St. Ninio dedicated the edifice under the invocation of St. Martin of Tours. From this circumstance, it was known likewise as the Church or House ofMartin. CandidaCasaandWhitherne,theLatinandSaxonequivalentsfor theGreekname,confirmasuggestedemendationofthetext. InIrishauthori-
Ninian, among
savage Galwegians,
ties, it is called Iniscais, which is a partial translation of Insula Casse, the Island of Candida Casa, or Inis Whitherne. This denomination became Inis
Vitryn, and Bangor Wydrin or Vydryn, another of the assumed or adopted names for Glastonbury. The latter part of this name is so suggestive of
Vitrum, and its English equivalent glass, that we have the Glassy Isle, as
"
alias for Glastonbury or Glastonia, rendered Urbs Vitria, or
In consequence of this coincidence, it is stated, that a good deal more of the history of the Galwegian church of St. Ninian has been transferred to its southern rival. In this fictitious adaptation, some germs of truth may be found, and from its application to Glastonbury, we are enabled to catch a passing glimpse into the obscure and almost forgotten history of Candida Casa. 33
Among the miracles recorded by Ailred is one referring to a want of vege- tables in the refectory of the brethren, and St. Ninian asked the gardener why on that day no leeks or potherbs had been set on the table. He declared, that nothing had then grown in the garden, but he was told to go, and to
at the end of the fourteenth age. See Foundations, Collegiate Churches, and Hos-
" Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scot- land ," book i. , num. xxxiv. , p. 43.
26
Their names are perpetuated in the River
Nith. This and the Solway estuary are 402, the assumed correct date for St.
local memorials of these ancient people.
2? These people lived to the north-west of the Solway Frith, which is said to have taken
its name from them.
28
Martin's decease.
3° In modern editions of the geography of
Ptolemy, it has been suggested, and with much probability, that the proper form of the name should be XevKocKidia, or Leucoiki- dia, "the white houses," so called from the custom of the ancient Britons to limewash their circular dwellings,
over the waters of the 1 The Solway. 3
According to the Rev. Mackenzie E. C.
Walcott, B. D. F. S. A. , Praecentor of Chiches-
ter, the first Scottish church founded by St.
Ninian was in A. D. 397, and of which we
have any definite historic account. It was
built of polished stone. This was the church
of Whitherne or Candida Casa, being the
earliest known in the province of Strathclyde
and the south Picts. See " Scoti-Monasti-
con: The Ancient Church of Scotland," A Monasterium," or Marmouthier at Tours,
3a This is suggestive of the "Majus History of the Cathedrals, Conventual which was founded by St. Martin.
pitals of Scotland.
39 St. Ninian is said by some, to have
erected the church at Whitherne about a. d.
3I See Cosmo Innes' " Sketches of early Scotch History and Social Progress," chap. i. Church Organization. The Parish, p. 1. Edinburgh, 1861, 8vo.
Glastown. "
374 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 25.
gather whatever he could find. Doing as required, he went into the garden,
and to his great surprise, he beheld not only leeks but other vegetables grown and bearing seed. From these he culled some, and then set them on the table
before the bishop, while the guests looking at each other with heart and voice magnified God in His saints, and retired refreshed both in mind and body. 34 Some light as to the social state existing around St. Ninian's monas- tery is revealed in a statement, that he had flocks for the use of his brethren, thepoor,andthepilgrims,asalsohutsforhisshepherds. Theseheusedto visit and impart to them his blessing. On one occasion, he enclosed his cattle in a particular place, and he drew a circle around them with his staff, com- manding that all of them should remain that night under the protection of God. Havingdonethis,theholybishopturnedasidetorestforthenight, in the houset>f a certain honourable matron. However, when the inmates had supped and retired to rest for the night, seeing that the cattle were not enclosed by walls, nor protected by hedges, nor kept in by a ditch, certain thieves resolved on stealing those beasts. In the silence and darkness, and no watch-dogs barking to frighten them, the thieves entered that enclosure made by the saint. Meantime, the bull of the herd rushed against those robbers with fury, and killed theleader, at a place called Farres Last,3* which has not been identified. 36 Other thieves were seized with madness, and kept running all night about the circle formed by St. Ninian. However, the com- passionate bishop restored their leader to life, and his followers in terror cast themselves at St. Ninian's feet asking his pardon. Then, benignantly chiding them, and impressing upon them the fear of God, he gave them his benedic- tion, and granted them permission to depart. 3? Wherever Ninian journeyed, prayers and meditation occupied his thoughts. He always carried with him a Book of Psalms, and wherever he or the animal on which he rode rested,
he felt with the " how sweet are prophet, Oh,
thy sweeterthanhoneytomymouth. " Hedelightedinspiritualreadingandin
hymnology. Even when the heaviest rain fell, and while he read in open air, no moisture reached that book from which he read. However, while
travelling one day with a saintly brother, named Plebia, he solaced the tedium of his journey, according to his custom, with the Psalms of David, having turned aside from the public road. The weather was then serene, but soon dark clouds began to gather, and then to dissolve in heavy rain. Like a chamber arching round the servant of God, the light air, as if it were an impenetrable wall, screened them from the descending torrents. Affected for a moment by some unlawful thought, during the singing, Ninian turned his eyes from the book, when the rain began to fall on it and on himself. The brother who was sitting by had a knowledge of what took place, and he gave a gentle admonition to his superior, who blushed for giving way to such a vain imagination. That same moment, he drove away the thought, and the shower was stayed. 38
33 Observations in Rev. John Francis Shearman's unpublished work, " The Celtic Races of Great Britain and Armorica," chap, iv. , pp. 92,93, 100, 101.
3* See " Lives of S. Ninian and S. Kenti-
gem," compiled in the Twelfth century. Edited by Alexander Penrose, Forbes, D. C. L. , Bishop of Brechin. Life of S.
Ninian, chap, vii. , p. 16.
a stone which happened to be under his feet. These left a print in the rock, which was to be seen in the twelfth century,
36 The Right Rev. Bishop Forbes, on the
authority of Rev. W. E. Buckley, M. A. , late
Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the University
of Oxford, states Fear or Fearr to be the
Saxon for Taurus or Bos, while Last has the
3S This Saxon
has been inter-
or " or " course. " See Note T to footstepj"
appellation
preted the Footprint of the Bull ; because,
according to the Legend, that furious animal tore up the earth with his hoofs, and smote
Life of St. Ninian, pp. 286, 287.
3? See ibid. , chap, viii. , pp. 16, 17. 3* See ibid. , chap, ix. , pp. 18, 19.
words to throat
my ! yea,
meaning of Vestigium or Orbita, "a trace"
July 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
375
CHAPTER III.
CONVERSION OF THE SOUTHERN PICTS BY ST. NINIAN—HIS SCHOOL ESTABLISHED AT
CANDIDA CASA—
OF BRITAIN WHEN THE ROMANS WITHDREW—CLOSING YEARS OF ST. NINIAN— HIS DEATH—FESTIVALS AND COMMEMORATIONS—CONCLUSION.
among
that
people.
61 He had now
passed
several
years
at Rome
in the exercises of piety, in the study of the Scriptures, as also learning the doc-
trineanddisciplineoftheChurch. Atlength,hewasconsecratedabishop,
anddestinedtoexercisetheofficeinhisowncountry. Perhaps,throughthe
solicitude of St. Palladius, he had been elevated to that dignity. It is stated,
likewise, that Ninian was one of the thirty-two bishops ordained by Pope
62
CHAPTER II.
ON HIS RETURN FROM ROME, ST. NINIAN VISITS ST. —MARTIN OF TOURS—TAKING LEAVE OF HIM, ST. NINIAN RETURNS TO BRITAIN DISTURBED STATE OF SCOT- LAND AT THAT PERIOD—ST. NINIAN'S RECEPTION THERE ON HIS RETURN—HIS MISSIONARY ZEAL AND LABOURS—HE FOUNDS CANDIDA CASA OR WHITHORN— MIRACLES.
On his return from Rome, Ninian was moved with an earnest desire to visit
Ciricius.
the great St. Martin, Bishop of Tours.
54 See Right Rev. Alexander Penrose Forbes' " Lives of S. Ninian and S. Kenti- gem. " Life of S. Ninian, chap. 'i. , pp. 8, 9.
At this time, he was famous for sanc-
s6 This was given from Treves, and it soon became known in Britain,
57 Possibly, it is thought, under St. Jerome and St. Damasus.
"
gia Britannica, sive Annales Ecclesioe Bri- tannicse," &c, tome i. , A. C. 370, sect, i. , pp.
ss According to Alford. See 467, 468.
Fides Re-
learned,
many
employed
" Ecclesiastical History of Scotland," book i. ,
ss gee Rev. Thomas Innes' num. xxviii. , p. 34.
Civil and
v IA
370 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 25.
tity and miracles. Ninian turned aside from his direct journey, and went to that city. There, St. Martin received him with great affection and respect. He
knew by revelation, that his visitor was wonderfully sanctified, and destined by Divine Providence to become a profitable instrument for the salvation of many others. St. Ninio is said to have lived as a disciple with St. Martin of Tours;1 however, there seems to be no warrant for considering him to have been more than a visitor. For some time, at least, Ninian was in friendly conversation with that celebrated cenobite. Ninian besought St. Martin to furnish him with skilled masons, so that he might accomplish a cherished purpose, to build churches, and to establish offices in conformity with the
usages
of the
Holy
request
willingly granted.
Roman Church. This
4
St. Martin
Some of the religious of Marmoutier set out to join in this enterprise. His first effort was to reproduce on the Scottish coast a house somewhat resem- bling their cherished home of piety and learning. Having taken an affec- tionate leave of St. Martin, Ninian continued under the guidance of Christ his journey towards Britain. He safely arrived in Valentia, which was his ownpartofthatcountry. ThedateforhisreturntoBritainisnotrecorded in his Life. 3 But from what has been already stated, an inference may be drawn, that it must have taken place before the year 397,* when St. Martin died, according to the most common opinion of historians. 5 The turbulent Picts had then made settlements in that province, which lay between the Roman walls. In the fourth century, the Roman Governor, Maximus Clemens, attacked with great vigour the Picts and Scots. 6 These had made incursions into the Roman provinces,? and for a time he repressed their incursions. 8 Being proclaimed Emperor by the Roman soldiers in Britain, Maximus resolved on usurping the empire. Accordingly, in the year 383, ambitious to secure to himself the empire of the west, he passed over to Gaul, with these troops he commanded, and a large army of native Britons.
Many of these never saw their own country again, 9 and it is thought some of them were placed in Armorica, called Lesser Britain. 10 The numerous British levies which passed over to Gaul with Conan of Meriadog, and his brother-in-law Maximus Clemens, were founders of the first Christian kingdom, erected on the north-western coast of Gaul. " On the present
SJ By various writers. However, the Bol- landists think he did not remain there lor so
60 '* " See Rev. Jeremy Collier's Ecclesiasti-
Ninian, Bishop of Candida Casa, chap, vi. , pp. 75 to 85.
says: C'est une grande question de savoir si S. cal History of Great Britain, chiefly of Martin est mort en Tan 397 ou en l'an 400, England, from the first Planting of Chris- y ayant bien des raisons de parte d'autre. II tianity to the Reign of King Charles II. , nous en paroist neanmoins davantage pour withabriefAccountofReligioninIreland," l'an397. "—"Memoirespourserviral'His-
a
long period.
4 Le Sieur Nain de Tillemont
vtil. i. , p. 43. 61 "
See Lives of English Saints. " Life of St. Nini. in, Bishop of Candida Casa, chap. v. , pp. 56 to 94.
i le was elected January 12th, 383, and
he died —22nd, A. D. so late as a. d.
CHAPTER
'6 He was consecrated
See Tiro
February 398.
placed
See
444. p. 13.
"Chronicle. "
11.
Bishop of that See, July 3rd, a. d. 371.
Prosper's
» See Gregory of Tours' " Historia. "
8 See " Chronicle. "
' According to the statement of Gildas.
I0 "
See Rev. Ur. Dodd's Church History
of England from the commencement of the gem," compiled in the twelfth century. Sixteenth Century to the Revolution in
There he
departed
this life, November nth,
Sigebert's
about the close of the Fourth century. His
Life has been written by Sulpicius Severus.
Edited by Alexader Penrose Forbes, D. C. L. ,
Bishop of Brechin. Life of St. Ninian,
chap, ii. , p. 10.
i See "Lives of the English Saints," St.
a"
See Lives of S. Ninian and S. Kenti-
toire ecclesiastique," tome x. , p. 340. Also a learned note in the same volume, pp. 779
to 781.
s In the Rev. J. Ingram's version of "The
Saxon Chronicle," the death of St. Martin is
1688," with Notes, Additions, and a con- tinuation by the Rev. M. A. Tierney, F. S. A. , vol. i. , pnrt i. , Art. i. , p. 12.
" Rev. John Francis Shearman's unpub-
July 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 371
borders of England and Scotland, the colonists of Roman birth and the
Britons lived in perpetual dread of the northern Caledonian tribes. The
Picts had not failed to seize upon that favourable opportunity offered them
by Maximus, when carrying over with him to Gaul so many of the regular
troops and the flower of the British youth. More than one Roman legion
wasrequiredtoopposethosenorthernenemies. ThedescriptionClaudian
gives of the Picts, regarding their having figures stamped on their bodies with
iron," agrees exactly with that representation Herodian gives of the Caledo-
nians. ^ Itseemstoprove,thatbothhadbeenthesamepeople,undertheir
old name of Caledonians, and under their new name of Picts. These were
joined by the Scots, not only of Britain, but by new levies of Scots coming
1
overfromIreland. * Intheyear398,thePictsandScotshadmadesuchpro-
gress in ravaging the neighbouring provinces of Britain, that these were quite ruined. Ts EventheTeutonsorSaxonshadinvadedBritain. 16 Anaccount—of
this miserable state of the British — been provinces having brought
to Stilicho whocommandedundertheEmperorHona/ius newforcesweredespatched to Britain. Having beaten out the Picts and Scots from the invaded Roman provinces, Stilicho caused the northern wall, built against their irruptions, to
be again repaired. He placed guards and a garrison *? on the frontiers of Valentia, to overawe the Scots and Picts, and to protect the British provin- cials against them.
A long absence and that veneration the people had entertained for his eminent sanctity, with the progress he made at Rome in the knowledge of Divine truths, drew great multitudes of the Christians in these parts, to wel- come St. Ninian on his return. They received him with great joy and wonderful devotion. They thanked God, likewise, because they looked on him as a prophet. Taking advantage of these marks of esteem and confidence manifested by the people, Ninian immediately began like an active husband- man in the Lord's vineyard, to root up what had been ill-planted, and to reform all abuses, that might have crept in among them. Having purged the minds of the faithful from all errors, he instructed them in the Faith and in their Christian duties. 18 By words as by example, he was a pattern of all virtue. *» St. Ninian's preaching was attended with the performance of many
lished work, "The Celtic Races of Great "
Movit, et infesto spumavit remige
Tethys.
Illius effectum curis, ne tela time-
Britain and Armorica, chap, iv. , p. 91.
12 He thus marks among others, those Roman troops, that guarded the w—all in Bri-
rem Scotica,
ne lit-
tain against the Scots and Picts
:
"Venit et extremis legio prsetenta Britannis,
Quae Scoto dat frena truci, ferroque notatas
Perlegit exsangues Picto moriente *
figuras. "
—De Bello Getico, vv. 416 to 418.
13
See lib. iii.
14 Thus Claudian introduces Britain
lamenting her perishing condition, until
ne Pictum tore tuto
tremerem,
Stilicho sent forces to her succour Picts and Scots :—
against
the
" Me quoque vicinis pereuntem genti- bus, inquit,
Me juvit Stilicho, totam cum Scotus lemem
—"
De Laudibus Stilichonis,"
lib. vv. ii. ,
Prospicerem dubiis venturum Saxona ventis. "
25010255.
IS See that account, which Claudian the
Poet gives, in the panegyric of Stilicho, the
Roman general.
"
See Edward A. Freeman's
of the Norman Conquest of England," vol. i. , chap, ii. , p. 11.
' 7 The Claudian gives an account of poet
the several legions which by Stilicho's order
came to join them, a. d. 402, against the Goths, and before the battle of Pollen- turn.
l8 See Rev. Thomas Innes' " Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scotland," book i. ,
,<s
History
372 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 25.
miracles. 20 These Almighty God wrought through him, in confirmation of the doctrine he taught. A prince of that country, named Tuduvallus, had been violently opposed to the doctrine and ministrations of the saint.
This king fell ill, and he was struck with blindness for his opposition to truth. By
the advice of his relations, he sent messengers to the man of God. Repenting of his error, the prayers of the holy bishop Ninian were offered earnestly to God, and then he went straightway to the sick man. Touching the ruler's head, pain was driven away from it, and signing his closed eyes with the cross, light again came to him. Thenceforward, knowing that the power of the Almighty was on the side of Ninian, that potentate began to cherish and vene- rate the saint with all affection. Another miracle took place, when an unfor- tunate woman committed herself with a young man, to whom she bore an illegi- timate male child, and afterwards she charged the guilt on a presbyter to whom Ninian had committed the charge of that district. To the great scandal of
the faithful, this lie she preferred in a public assembly, where the Bishop, the Priest, and her real paramour were present. From the lips of the infant then proceeded a statement, that confounded the guilty man, and absolved the innocent, while it convicted the slanderer of falsehood. Then were fulfilled
those words of the Psalmist
:
" Out of the mouth of babes and of sucklings,
21 In of his mission, Ninian pursuance
O thou hast Lord,
perfected praise. "
ordained priests, consecrated bishops, and distributed other ecclesiastical
22
for the more con- venient service and instruction of the people. However, the organization of what are now known as parishes did not commence in Southern Britain, for
ages after his time. At the same time, he wished to select from among aspirants to the ministry, those in whom he found evident marks of a Divine vocationtotheecclesiasticalstate. 23 Sohedesignedtokeepupthesuccession of pastors, and to carry on the work of the Gospel. We are informed, that for this end, the holy man ordained priests and consecrated bishops, the chosen ones among his disciples, and whom he had trained up personally, after the same manner in which he had been instructed at Rome. 2* In forming this infant church, Ninian followed the model and order of canonical discipline, which he had been taught from his youth. These he had seen everywhere prac- tised, during his travels through the. south of Britain, in the Gauls, and in Italy. Those practices, too, he knew to have been universal in the Church, during that age, as in all former ages, and in all countries, where Christianity had been established. 25
dignities. He divided the country into several districts,
sect, xxxi. , p. 39.
x9 See Right Rev. Alexander Penrose
Forbes' " Lives of S. Ninian and S. Kenti-
glorum," lib. iii. , cap. iv. , pp. 272, 273.
2s The Rev. Thomas limes observes,
though we had no other authority, that this
gern. " Life of S. Ninian, chap, ii. , pp. was the discipline and form of government
10, 11. observed among the ancient Christians in
20
See Ailred's "Vita S. Niniani," the north of Britain, or Scotland, it must
cap. iv.
seem sufficiently plain, they were used, so soon as the disposition of the civil state could allow of a fixed and rule for
21
Psalms viii. , 2.
22 The word " "
parochia signified
of old as well dioceses, as what we now commonly denominate parishes. See Rev. Joseph
"
Bingham's Origines Ecclesiasticoe, or the
Antiquities of the Christian Church," book ix. , chap, viii. , sect. I.
83 See " Lives of the English Saints," St. Ninian, Bishop of Candida Casa, chap, vii. , pp. 85 to 119.
84 See Venerablis Bedse Opera quae super- sunt omnia. Rev. Dr. J. A. Giles' edition,
regular
living. Then Ailred, a writer of the twelfth
vol.
ii. ,
" Ilistoria Ecclesiastica Gentis An-
age, grounded his observations, on the ancient records in the monastery of Candida Casa, or Whithern, and on the constant tra- dition in his time. This alone should pre- scribe against the notion of a pretended primitive church government without bishops in Scotland, before St. Palladius preached there. Such a statement has been advanced, however, yet without any other authority, but that of John Fordun, a writer who lived
July 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 373
About that time, Ninian was residing in the districts inhabited by the
Novantes or Niduarii a6 and 2? The first Scottish church built St. Selgovi. by
Ninian was that of Candida Casa, towards the close of the fourth a8 or begin- ning of the fifth 29 century. The site selected for his religious establishment andchurchwasonapromontoryofGalloway. St. Niniothusengagedinerect- ing a church, at a place known formerly as Leucophibia, at least by the Greeks. This local designation as recorded by Ptolemy 3° shows, that it was imposed long antecedently to the period of St. Ninian. If Candida Casa had its origin in the former Greek term, the name is more probably derived from the primi- tive lime-white houses there, than from the church afterwards built by St.
the
Saxon appellation, Whitherne or White House, was subsequently the Candida Casa, a translation into Latin, and perhaps from the older Greek designation. It is now Whithorn, near which is the Island of Whithorn. In early Celtic hagiology, this place was named Alba, Rosnat, Futerna, and Magnum Monasterium,32 owing as we may suppose to»its superior distinction. It is said, that while building his church at Candida Casa, having heard about the death of his patron, St. Ninio dedicated the edifice under the invocation of St. Martin of Tours. From this circumstance, it was known likewise as the Church or House ofMartin. CandidaCasaandWhitherne,theLatinandSaxonequivalentsfor theGreekname,confirmasuggestedemendationofthetext. InIrishauthori-
Ninian, among
savage Galwegians,
ties, it is called Iniscais, which is a partial translation of Insula Casse, the Island of Candida Casa, or Inis Whitherne. This denomination became Inis
Vitryn, and Bangor Wydrin or Vydryn, another of the assumed or adopted names for Glastonbury. The latter part of this name is so suggestive of
Vitrum, and its English equivalent glass, that we have the Glassy Isle, as
"
alias for Glastonbury or Glastonia, rendered Urbs Vitria, or
In consequence of this coincidence, it is stated, that a good deal more of the history of the Galwegian church of St. Ninian has been transferred to its southern rival. In this fictitious adaptation, some germs of truth may be found, and from its application to Glastonbury, we are enabled to catch a passing glimpse into the obscure and almost forgotten history of Candida Casa. 33
Among the miracles recorded by Ailred is one referring to a want of vege- tables in the refectory of the brethren, and St. Ninian asked the gardener why on that day no leeks or potherbs had been set on the table. He declared, that nothing had then grown in the garden, but he was told to go, and to
at the end of the fourteenth age. See Foundations, Collegiate Churches, and Hos-
" Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scot- land ," book i. , num. xxxiv. , p. 43.
26
Their names are perpetuated in the River
Nith. This and the Solway estuary are 402, the assumed correct date for St.
local memorials of these ancient people.
2? These people lived to the north-west of the Solway Frith, which is said to have taken
its name from them.
28
Martin's decease.
3° In modern editions of the geography of
Ptolemy, it has been suggested, and with much probability, that the proper form of the name should be XevKocKidia, or Leucoiki- dia, "the white houses," so called from the custom of the ancient Britons to limewash their circular dwellings,
over the waters of the 1 The Solway. 3
According to the Rev. Mackenzie E. C.
Walcott, B. D. F. S. A. , Praecentor of Chiches-
ter, the first Scottish church founded by St.
Ninian was in A. D. 397, and of which we
have any definite historic account. It was
built of polished stone. This was the church
of Whitherne or Candida Casa, being the
earliest known in the province of Strathclyde
and the south Picts. See " Scoti-Monasti-
con: The Ancient Church of Scotland," A Monasterium," or Marmouthier at Tours,
3a This is suggestive of the "Majus History of the Cathedrals, Conventual which was founded by St. Martin.
pitals of Scotland.
39 St. Ninian is said by some, to have
erected the church at Whitherne about a. d.
3I See Cosmo Innes' " Sketches of early Scotch History and Social Progress," chap. i. Church Organization. The Parish, p. 1. Edinburgh, 1861, 8vo.
Glastown. "
374 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 25.
gather whatever he could find. Doing as required, he went into the garden,
and to his great surprise, he beheld not only leeks but other vegetables grown and bearing seed. From these he culled some, and then set them on the table
before the bishop, while the guests looking at each other with heart and voice magnified God in His saints, and retired refreshed both in mind and body. 34 Some light as to the social state existing around St. Ninian's monas- tery is revealed in a statement, that he had flocks for the use of his brethren, thepoor,andthepilgrims,asalsohutsforhisshepherds. Theseheusedto visit and impart to them his blessing. On one occasion, he enclosed his cattle in a particular place, and he drew a circle around them with his staff, com- manding that all of them should remain that night under the protection of God. Havingdonethis,theholybishopturnedasidetorestforthenight, in the houset>f a certain honourable matron. However, when the inmates had supped and retired to rest for the night, seeing that the cattle were not enclosed by walls, nor protected by hedges, nor kept in by a ditch, certain thieves resolved on stealing those beasts. In the silence and darkness, and no watch-dogs barking to frighten them, the thieves entered that enclosure made by the saint. Meantime, the bull of the herd rushed against those robbers with fury, and killed theleader, at a place called Farres Last,3* which has not been identified. 36 Other thieves were seized with madness, and kept running all night about the circle formed by St. Ninian. However, the com- passionate bishop restored their leader to life, and his followers in terror cast themselves at St. Ninian's feet asking his pardon. Then, benignantly chiding them, and impressing upon them the fear of God, he gave them his benedic- tion, and granted them permission to depart. 3? Wherever Ninian journeyed, prayers and meditation occupied his thoughts. He always carried with him a Book of Psalms, and wherever he or the animal on which he rode rested,
he felt with the " how sweet are prophet, Oh,
thy sweeterthanhoneytomymouth. " Hedelightedinspiritualreadingandin
hymnology. Even when the heaviest rain fell, and while he read in open air, no moisture reached that book from which he read. However, while
travelling one day with a saintly brother, named Plebia, he solaced the tedium of his journey, according to his custom, with the Psalms of David, having turned aside from the public road. The weather was then serene, but soon dark clouds began to gather, and then to dissolve in heavy rain. Like a chamber arching round the servant of God, the light air, as if it were an impenetrable wall, screened them from the descending torrents. Affected for a moment by some unlawful thought, during the singing, Ninian turned his eyes from the book, when the rain began to fall on it and on himself. The brother who was sitting by had a knowledge of what took place, and he gave a gentle admonition to his superior, who blushed for giving way to such a vain imagination. That same moment, he drove away the thought, and the shower was stayed. 38
33 Observations in Rev. John Francis Shearman's unpublished work, " The Celtic Races of Great Britain and Armorica," chap, iv. , pp. 92,93, 100, 101.
3* See " Lives of S. Ninian and S. Kenti-
gem," compiled in the Twelfth century. Edited by Alexander Penrose, Forbes, D. C. L. , Bishop of Brechin. Life of S.
Ninian, chap, vii. , p. 16.
a stone which happened to be under his feet. These left a print in the rock, which was to be seen in the twelfth century,
36 The Right Rev. Bishop Forbes, on the
authority of Rev. W. E. Buckley, M. A. , late
Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the University
of Oxford, states Fear or Fearr to be the
Saxon for Taurus or Bos, while Last has the
3S This Saxon
has been inter-
or " or " course. " See Note T to footstepj"
appellation
preted the Footprint of the Bull ; because,
according to the Legend, that furious animal tore up the earth with his hoofs, and smote
Life of St. Ninian, pp. 286, 287.
3? See ibid. , chap, viii. , pp. 16, 17. 3* See ibid. , chap, ix. , pp. 18, 19.
words to throat
my ! yea,
meaning of Vestigium or Orbita, "a trace"
July 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
375
CHAPTER III.
CONVERSION OF THE SOUTHERN PICTS BY ST. NINIAN—HIS SCHOOL ESTABLISHED AT
CANDIDA CASA—
OF BRITAIN WHEN THE ROMANS WITHDREW—CLOSING YEARS OF ST. NINIAN— HIS DEATH—FESTIVALS AND COMMEMORATIONS—CONCLUSION.
