Their mother was Sywara regent
holy
of the kingdom,^ at that time, owing to the immature age of Ethelmund, but
they furnished letters of recommendation to both mother and brother, on
behalf of Botulph, when he returned to England.
holy
of the kingdom,^ at that time, owing to the immature age of Ethelmund, but
they furnished letters of recommendation to both mother and brother, on
behalf of Botulph, when he returned to England.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v6
63 The place was afterwards
assaults of the Kavanaghs.
nally from the East,6s and to have spread over the greater part of Europe,66 beforethemiddleofthefourteenthcentury,andit visitedIreland6? with destructive ravages, a. d. 1348. In this year, and chiefly in September and October, there came from divers parts of Ireland, Bishops and Prelates, Churchmen and religious, lords and others, and commonly all persons, of both sexes, to the pilgrimage and wading of the water at Thath-Molyngis, in troops and multitudes, so that you could see many thousands there at the
68 Some came from
but others, and they the majority, from dread of the plague which then grew
very rife. That pestilence deprived of human inhabitants villages, and cities, and castles, and towns, so that there was scarcely a man found to dwell therein ; the pestilence was so contagious, that whosoever touched the sick or the dead was immediately infected and died ; and the penitent and the con- fessor were carried together to the grave; through fear and dread, men scarcely dared to perform the offices of piety and charity in visiting the sick, and
tanys,
by
Edmund
Butler,
rector
of Tullow, who, aided by the
same for time,
many days together.
feelings
of
devotion,
fortified,
guard
navigation of the River Barrow from
59 The Anglo-Irish family of Talon were settled at Agha, County Carlow. See Rev. John Francis Shearman's "Loca Patri- ciana," No. XII. , pp. 383, 384.
60 The O'Codhlitanswere a County Car- low family, now reduced to poverty. The name is now Collatan. The Cantitines were a sept of Anglo-Norman descent, now Anglice Condon.
61 See Friar Clyn's "Annals of Ireland,"
P- IS-
62 Some of these have the appearance of
the interior of an old limekiln, the stones being in many places burst by the action of fire. It may have been, that the action of successive fires has given them such an ap- pearance ; for, we may readily suppose, it did not escape unscathed during the general demolition and burning of the succeeding times.
63 See Friar Clyn's -'Annals of Ireland," p. 34.
"* From a document, preserved amongst the records in the Bermingham Tower, Dublin Castle, it appears, that in pursuance ofanorderoftheyear1581,asumof^£350 was levied off the counties of Wexford and Kilkenny, and the cities of Waterford and Kilkenny, for the purpose of erecting a
tower—at St. Molin's. The remains of a
—wer most theoneherereferred to probably
to were removed, and the materials were used in the building of the present St. Mullin's Mills. See Patrick O'Leary's " Ancient Life of St. Molyng," &c. , Ap- pendix, pp. 57, 58.
6* to
the
A terrible pestilence is said to have come origi-
6s Many thousands of the Saracens and in- fidels succumbed to it, as we learn from Friar Clyn's "Annals of Ireland. " See pp. 35 t0 37-
^ No less than 50,000, and even more, were carried off, in the south of France from the month of May to the Feast of St. Thomas' Translation, and we read, that the cemetery which Pope Clement VI. conse- crated was nothing less than the River Rhone itself, into which the bodies were cast; yet, by reason of that solemn benediction of the river, these were considered to receive Christian burial. (Torfaus. )
6? Its were first manifested at symptoms
Dublin, Dalkey and Drogheda. In the first mentioned of these cities, no fewer than 14,000 inhabitants are said to have perished,
Thisplaggueisnoticed,also,inThadyDow
" ling's"^
Annales Breves Hiberniae," p. 23. a Friar Clyn's "Annals of Ireland," pp.
35 to 37.
ling's
724 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 17.
in burying the dead ; many died of boils, and abscesses, and pustules on their shins, and under their arm-pits ; others died frantic with the pain in their head, and others spitting blood. 6? Such was the testimony of a contem- porary witness, and of one, who seems to have anticipated his own fast ap-
proaching end. 70
The local fame of few men survives a generation without some adequate
cause. That of St. Moling is still green in the memories of his local patrons. Nor is it ever likely to perish with the lapse of time, because it is entwined with the religious veneration of a people, who still proclaim his praises. The
holy bishop Molyng, through the grace of God, possessed all the apostolic virtues. Great miracles distinguished his career ; for he raised the dead, he cleansed the lepers, he caused the lame to walk, he gave sight to the blind, and he cured various diseases. The Almighty has called him away from the perishable toils of earth, to crown him with those joys which are boundless, and with those imperishable rewards which are the portion of all his faithful servants.
Article II. —St. Botulphus, Abbot in England. [Seventh Cen- tury]. It seems to be generally allowed, that the Acts of St. Botulph rest on very doubtful traditions, and that various errors of statement have crept into them, before they came down to our times. Indeed, in some incidents related, we find most contradictory accounts. At least, it is very difficult to reconcile them with the known facts of history. Yet, it is sufficiently estab- lished, that Botulph in his day had been a popular saint. In the ancient chronicles of England his memory has been recorded. St. Botulph is men-
of
*9 The Rev. Dean Butler, the editor of
Clyn, remarks, that the pestilence described
in Clyn, as occurring in 1348, was the Black Death. In the province of Avignon, where
the Pope then resided, it raged with great violence ; 500 a day died, the whole number of deaths there was 60,000. See Notes, ibid. ,
pp. 63 to 69.
7° The writer closes his Annals in 1348,
thus: "But I, Friar John Clyn of the Franciscan Order of the convent of Kil- kenny, have in this book written the memo- rable things happening in my time, of which I was either an eye-witness or learned them from the relation of such as were worthy of credit ; and that these notable actions might not perish by time and vanish out of the
Anglo-
memory
of our
the
many
treating about King Edgar, who reigned from a. d. 959 to A. D. 975.
2"
See Flores Hisloriarum," at A. D.
DCMHI. , p. 230.
3 See the Bollandists' "Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus iii. , Junii xvii. De S. Bothulpho Abbate et S. Adulpho Episcopo, Confessori- bus in Anglia. Commentarius Praevius, sect, ii. , num. 7, p. 400.
4 See " Sanctorum Angliae. " Legenda
5 In "Acta Sanctorum, "Saec. Bend. , tomus iii. , pars. i. His copy was obtained from a Manuscript Codex of the Monastery (Uti-
by John
Brompton,
Westminster,*
by
successors, seeing
evils that encompass us, and every symptom placed as it were under a malevolent influ-
1 Matthew of
the
There are two ancient Manuscript Lives of Botolphus ; and, of these, some distinct^ copies exist. 3 One of them had been used by John Capgrave/ and another by Father John Mabillon,* in compiling Acts of our saint. The Life given in Father Mabillon's work has been reproduced by the Bollandists, and it has been acknowledged in a Prologue of the original
tioned
Saxon Chronicle.
ence, expecting death among the dead until
it comes, such things as I have heard de- censis). The Bollandists used, likewise, a
livered with veracity, and have strictly ex- amined, I have reduced into writing ; and lest the writing should perish with the
copy procured from the Canons Regular of Rubea-Vallis near Bruxelles, as certified by
the signature of Rosweyde, and another ob-
and
writer, and the work fail with the workman,
I leave behind me parchment for continuing it, if any man should have the good fortune to survive this calamity, or any of the race of Adam should escape this pestilence, to con- tinue what I have begun. " See ibid. , p. 37. —
Article II.
'
In his Chronicle, when
June 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
725
writer, that it had been founded on popular rumour alone. 6 John Capgrave suppressed this Prologue, in the abbreviated account he gives of St. Botulph orBotolph. ThereisalsoaLifeofthisholyman,byFolcard,? abbotof Thorney. 8 The old Breviary of Sleswick, which was printed at Paris in 1512,9 contains an office of St. Botulph, in nine Lessons, and this is thought to give the most correct account of the saint. The Bollandists 10 have a notice of St. Botulph, Abbot, and with him they associate St. Adulph, Bishop, as Confessor, in England, at the 17th day of June. There is a previous com- mentary in two sections," with Acts taken from distinct sources. 13 In their previous commentary, the editor institutes a critical examination of all the circumstancesknown,andrelatingtoSaintsBotulphusandAdulphus. The
life of St. Botulph has been given in English, by Bishop Challenor,^ Rev. 1
AlbanButler, * andbyRev. S. Weare 16 Baring-Gould. 'S informed, thatBotulph
descended from the illustrious race of the Scottish Kings. According to another
account, he had a brother Adulph, and both were of noble English-Saxon
extraction. No doubt, the names are Saxon in form \ yet, there are inherent
difficulties presented, to warrant such statements. The impression, that
SaintsBotulphandAdulphJ7 werebrothers,wasowingprobablytothefact,
that their remains had been venerated in the same place. Again, it has been
stated, that both of these brothers sailed over to Saxony, or rather to Belgic
18
Gaul,
where they embraced a monastic life. There, they are said like
tained from Colgan, which was sent to Bol- landus, by the Jesuit Grothusius.
6 " To this, a writer after 972 added a part
of his own to supply the deficiency. But his addition is characterized by gross inac- curacy. He makes the Saxons before the in- vasion of Britain to have been Christians, and to have sent their sons into monasteries. He also makes S. Adulph, bishop of
vol. vi. , June xvii.
9 At the expense of the Sleswick Canons,
and by the authorization of Bishop Godscale
See Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Junii xvii. De S. Botulpho Abbate et S. Adul-
pho Episcopo Confessoribus in Anglia, pp. 398 to 406.
and the brother of S.
TM from Mabillon and two Manu- First,
Utrecht,
pointed to that See by the king. If he scripts ; secondly, from a Breviary of Sles- means King Pepin, the father of Charle- wick ; and thirdly, from the Legends of
magne, he is wrong, for Pepin had no John Capgrave. Annotations are also given
of S. Botulph and S. Adulph being trans- lated together in 972, and these two saints being venerated the same day, like S. Me- dard and S. Godard, they were supposed to
14 See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and other principal Saints," vol. vi. , June xvii.
be brothers. No
1
«* See "Lives of the Saints, "vol. vi. June
17th, pp. 247, 248.
l6 In the of the holy man's Life, Epitome
taken from the Sleswick Breviary.
17 There was a king over the East Angles, who was named Adulph, and he was son to Anna. He had a sister, known as St. Etheldrita or Etheldreda, who was born and who died in ac-
to a Life, which is extant. Her feast occurs, at the 23rd of June. As the time of St. Botulph and of King Adulph nearly corresponded, and as both were of equal origin, it is possible these may have been thought to be brothers.
18 In the seventh century, there was no
monastery among the Saxons of the Conti-
nent, who were then pagans.
'» It is easy to perceive, that a long chro-
of the name of Alulph is known in the Chronicles of the Church of Utrecht. The writer may have mistaken Utrecht for Maestricht (Ultro- trajectum forTrajectum), which was founded much earlier, but no bishop of t—he name of
bishop
Botulph, ap-
authority in that part, which was governed
by the heathen Radbod, Duke of Frisia.
Moreover, that See was not founded till 696,byS. Willibrord,whodiedin739. The AdulphwithhisaccountofSt. Botulph. origin of the blunder arises from the bodies
Adulph occupied that See. " Rev. S. about A. D. 645, 689,
" Lives of the
Saints,"
7 See ibid. There is a Manuscript copy of this Life in the Cottonian Collection, num.
III.
8 He was first a monk of St. Bertin's, at St.
Omer, and afterwards made Abbot of Thor- ney, by William the Conqueror, in 1068. See Rev. Alban Butler's "Lives of the
Fathers, Martyrs, and other principal Saints,"
cording
Baring-Gould's
vol. vi. , June 17th, pp. 247, 248.
de Alevede. 10 "
" In thirteen paragraphs.
by Father Daniel Papebroke.
13 See "Britannia Sancta," part i. , pp.
370 to 372. Bishop Challenor unites St.
726 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 17.
industrious bees, to have culled honey from the flowers of Divine wisdom, and to have received the clerical tonsure. One of them, St. Adulph, is said to have been selected to fill the See of Utrecht ;** while St. Botulph was destined to glean a harvest of souls, by returning to his native country. While abroad, as we are told, two royal virgins, who were sisters to Ethelmund,20
of the South
King Angles,
31 had been
religiously
educated in that same
monastery,
22 where the
man resided.
Their mother was Sywara regent
holy
of the kingdom,^ at that time, owing to the immature age of Ethelmund, but
they furnished letters of recommendation to both mother and brother, on
behalf of Botulph, when he returned to England. After the death of his
Scottish father, 24 according to the Sleswick Breviary, St. Botulph was selected
tosucceedhim; but,heresolvednotonlytorelinquishthecrown,butalso
his country. This he left, and set out for England, where he was received
by King Edmund2* with distinguished respect. That king, finding him to
be piously disposed, especially desired his promotion to Holy Orders. For
seven he dwelt in the Edmund's court 6 at the end of that years, King f but,
time, he asked for a place, where he might wholly serve God. 27 Accordingly, the king set apart for him a beautiful site on which to build a church, and where there was a confluence of rivulets towards a certain great river. Here, theholymanwassoondistinguishedforthemiracleshewrought. Hehada disciple, who lived with him at that place. One day, a poor man called at his door asking for an alms, in the name of God. When our saint desired his disciple to grant some relief, the latter replied, that nothing was left to
nological interval must exist between the
traditional times of St. Botulph and St.
that he was Eugenius IV. , King of Scotland, who departed this life, A. D. 620. Afterwards, Ferchar or Ferquard, the son of Eogan,
Adulph, if the latter is regarded as having
been bishop of Utrecht. That See was not succeeded him, as ninth in the series of
founded until Charolomann recommended the project to St. Boniface, who consecrated St. Willibrord as its first bishop, in 744. It is possible, that St. Adulph may have been bishop there, that he afterwards returned to England, and that his days were ended in the monastery of St. Botulph, beside whose remains he may have been buried. This had
they
30 " We find no mention of this Prince in any other historian ; which is not to be wondered at, if by the South Angles are here meant the South Saxons; for no histo- rian lias given us a co—mplete list of the kings of that province. " Bishop Challenor's
"Britannia Sancta," part i. , p. 370, note. " His name is differently given, as Edel- mundus, in MS. Utic, as Edmundus, in the Sleswick Breviary, and as Ethmundus, in a
Manuscript possessed by the Bollandists.
38 Mabulon observes: "Forte Brigensi
seu Eboriacensi monasterio, quod modo S.
Pharae dicitur, aut certo jotrensi Andile-
Again, Papebroke hazards a conjecture, that Botulph probably persuaded the Queen been a Christian, and perhaps to have been to send her daughters to some French of the royal race of the East Angles, or even monastery for their education, so that he
to have been a sister to King Sigebert, who might the more conveniently depart for his was baptized in Gaul, a. d. 636. His place of solitude. Besides, one of his example brought over the rest of his sub- reasons for wishing to leave the court
jects to Christianity. might have been his failure to convert the
accountforthefable, that been brothers.
"Pictorial ofScot- History
might
James Taylor's
land," vol. i. , chap, hi. , p. 281.
gove. "
33 Papebroke considers this Queen to have
**
Father Daniel Papebroke conjectures, King to Christianity.
Scoto-Irish Kings of Scotland, and he reigned from A. D. 621 to A. D. 637. He was deposed for his crimes, and cast into prison, where he died. Papebroke also supposes,
that when Botulph quitted the kingdom, his brother Donevald was called to the throne. This Donal-Breac is stated to have reigned from A. D. 637 to A. D. 642. See Rev. Dr.
25 We find no Saxon King bearing this
name, among the East Saxons or among the
East Angles, before the ninth century. See
John " of Great Britaine," Speed's History
book vii. , chap, viii. , pp. 309 to 312, and chap, xi. , pp. 324 to 328. Neither do we find a king of that name, among the South Saxons. See ibid. , chap, vi. , pp. 300 to 302.
36
Papebroke seems to suppose, the king himself had been a pagan, although his mother may have been a Christian, and that Botulph acted as her chaplain, and as the instructor of her daughters.
37
June 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
727
them but a single loaf. Then said the saint
give one of them to the poor man. " Soon afterwards, three other paupers arrived, and he ordered the remaining portions to be given, so that their necessities might be supplied. The disciple then murmured, but the holy
the holy man built a church, in honour of St. Martin. While there, he was accustomed to keep many hens, but an eagle, which came out from an adjoin-
ing wood, frequently carried several of them away. On a certain occasion, when the bird of prey had carried off a cock, the saint menaced the depreda- tor. At once, the eagle brought that bird living and placed it at the feet of Botulph, while at the same time, he fell down and expired. According to oneofSt. Botulph'sLives,heaskedEthelmund,3? KingoftheSouthSaxons, and his kinsmen Ethelwerd and Ethelwold,30 to give him some deserted spot, which had been rejected or abandoned by cultivators, so that he might build there a church without loss to any person, and gather around him a number
and
ourloss. " He had scarcely spoken, when no fewer than four boats, laden with food and drink supplied by the faithful, landed at their place. It so happened, that the spot selected for his habitation had been infested by evil spirits, and as the king visited Botulph one day, he asked for another place, and the king granted his request. This desired situation was on the River Thames,38 and there
:
mansaid "Myson,donotbedisturbed,forGodisableto
repair
of pious disciples. This petition was favourably received. Another account 1
states, that St. Botulph began to build his monastery, about the year 654V in the time of Adelhere, who had succeeded his brother Anna as King over the
2
Wherefore, Botulph selected a place called Ykanno," or Ikanhoe,3* and so called, because it was a "hoe" or mound covered with
trees, and girdled round with rushes, in the midst of a vast, stagnant morass, the haunt of wild fowl. 35 There he dwelt and founded an Abbey. 36 There, too, arose a town in aftertimes. While some have thought that place to be in Kent ; it is assumed with greater appearance of probability, that it lay in the mostdismaldistrictofallEngland,andamongtheLincolnshirefens. Itwas afterwards known as Boston, 3 ? and it is said to have obtained its designation fromSt. Botulph. Whentheholymanhadlivedthirteenyears38inaplace he had chosen, the old enemy appeared in the shape of a snake and inflicted a severe bite, when the saint again besought the king to give him another site. 3?
East Angles. 3
28
this was in
on the right bank of the Thames ; as Edmund is said to have been king over the
Southern Angles.
2 9 Ethelmund did not reign in Lincoln-
shire,
30 There was a King Ethelwold over the
East Saxons.
3 1 In the Anglo-Saxon Chronology, edited ""
Papebroke supposes,
Surrey,
with Venerable Bede's Historia Ecclesias- tica Gentis Anglorum," we read: "Anno dcliv. Botulphus monasterium sedificare
tavit.
35 See Rev. S. Baring-Gould's Lives of
the Saints," vol. vi. , June 17, and n. 1,
P- 248.
36 Matthew of Westminster, at A. D.
ccepit. "
3* See "Monasticum
p. 88, of Ely, the house he built is said to have been " in loco qui dicitur Wenno"—doubtless Ikenno
should have been the correct reading.
33 Its situation has not been pointed out
where in the abbreviated
History
DCLIV. , thus notices this foundation :
more
towards Sussex, as Ethelmund seems to have been king over the South Saxons. See Rev. Alban Butler's " Lives of the Fathers,
specifically.
Anglicanum,"
" Hoc
:
parts,
" Divide it into four
Martyrs, and other principal Saints," vol. vi. , June xvii.
* In William Camden's work, we read, that twenty miles from Lincoln and towards the east, where the River Witham flows into the ocean between two mounds, the town of
"
Boston is situated,
a Botulpho enim Saxone sanctissimo, qui ad Icanoe monasterium habuit, nomen depor-
rectius Botolphotowne,
etiam tempore Botulphus apud Hiccanhoe "
ecclesiam construct. "— Flores Histona-
rum," p. 230.
v His monastery was erected on the north
Some think it was side of the present church, according to
"
Samuel Lewis'
of England," vol. i. , p. 309.
Topographical Dictionary 38 According to the Sleswick Breviary.
"
728 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 17. Edmund led him far from the sea, into a valley through which a river flowed, and
which was covered with thorns and " said the " is a jungle. Here," king,
for you. " There, accordingly, Botulph built two churches ;
dedicated to St. Peter and the other to St. Paul. Wherever his monastery had been situated 4°—and the site has been much contested—the holy man gathered there a band of faithful monks, who laboured with him day and night. These he endeavoured to form, on the best models of perfection ; while he appears to have established a special rule for their direction. But, his own life and manners were the best guide for his disciples. He was patient, mild and humble, in word and in work ; whenever he spoke, it was to proclaim the goodness of God, to hold colloquies on the happiness of the just, and on their rewards. He was gifted with the spirit of prophecy, while he expelleddemons,throughtheefficacyofhisprayers. Havingaccomplished variousgoodworks,hesetoutonapilgrimagetoRome,41 sothathemightvisit and pray at the tombs of those glorious Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. From Romehereturned,bearingwithhimmanyrelics. Beforeenteringhisformercell, he cured a girl that was blind through his prayers. When King Edmund heard of Botulph's return, he was greatly rejoiced, and he spent three days with the holy servant of God. Soon afterwards, the saint was called to his reward, after a long illness, which he bore with exemplary patience. He is said to have died the same year as St. Hilda,*1 in 655 ;«3 but, if we attend to the con- jectures of Father Daniel Papebroke, his death must be referred to a much later period. His disciples took care, that the funeral rites should be cele- brated with all due solemnity, when his body was consigned to the tomb. There several miracles were wrought. His monastery of Ikanho is said to have been destroyed in 870,+* by the Danes/5 On account of the havoc made by these pagans in the holy places, it is now difficult to determine where this sanctuary of religion stood. However, there still remained a church there, and it was served by one priest. In devotion to St. Botulph, it was
6 In the
of St. Botulph were translated/8 by St. Ethelwold/ Bishop of Winchester. They were removed, partly to the monastery of Ely,50 and partly to that of
the
Thorney,51 founded in the year 972. 5*
39
Apparently
pancies in different narratives, Papebroke supposes that this change may have occurred
about 644, when Botulph felt inspired to visit Gaul, in order to learn better the nature of monastic institutions, and to visit his for- mer pupils, who were sisters of the king, and who had probabiy embraced lives of strict monastic seclusion.
*° Papebroke seems to think, that Botulph had not presided over his religious house, until after he had returned from Gaul, and when he was advanced in years. This he
supposed to have been, about A. D. 654.
*l this to Papebroke conjectures journey
have been made after the year 660. Unless the Southern Saxons had different kings from the Eastern Saxons, which does not appear to have been the case, about the year 661, accord- ing to Alford, Edelwalchus, the successor of
was The Roman Pon- Edmund, baptized.
tiff then reigning was St. Vitalianus.
** See Rev. Alban Butler's " Lives of the
Fathers, Martyrs, and other principal Saints," vol. vi. , June xvii.
of the relics King Edgar/7
greatly frequented by
people/
days
Athird portion which remained, was
43 See Rev. S. " Lives of Baring-Gould's
the Saints," vol. vi. , June 17th, p. 248.
** Its remains have been converted into a
dwelling house, known as Botolph's Priory. "
See Samuel Lewis' Topographical Dic-
tionary of England," vol. i. , p. 309.
«5 According to John of Brompton in his Chronicle, it was destroyed by the murderers
of St. Edmund the king.
*6 See Bishop Challenoi's "Britannia
Sancta," part i. , p. 371.
*7 He ruled from A. D. 959 to A. D. 975.
John of Brompton relates this Translation, in his Chronicle.
48 This before A. D. and happened 975,
this Translation is mentioned by Odericus
Vitalis, in the following words: "Corpus S. Botulphi tr—anslatum est ad monasterium
"
Tormeyense. " Historia Ecclesiastica,"
p. 834.
4« His feast is celebrated, at the 1st of
August.
-° The head is said to have been placed
there.
assaults of the Kavanaghs.
nally from the East,6s and to have spread over the greater part of Europe,66 beforethemiddleofthefourteenthcentury,andit visitedIreland6? with destructive ravages, a. d. 1348. In this year, and chiefly in September and October, there came from divers parts of Ireland, Bishops and Prelates, Churchmen and religious, lords and others, and commonly all persons, of both sexes, to the pilgrimage and wading of the water at Thath-Molyngis, in troops and multitudes, so that you could see many thousands there at the
68 Some came from
but others, and they the majority, from dread of the plague which then grew
very rife. That pestilence deprived of human inhabitants villages, and cities, and castles, and towns, so that there was scarcely a man found to dwell therein ; the pestilence was so contagious, that whosoever touched the sick or the dead was immediately infected and died ; and the penitent and the con- fessor were carried together to the grave; through fear and dread, men scarcely dared to perform the offices of piety and charity in visiting the sick, and
tanys,
by
Edmund
Butler,
rector
of Tullow, who, aided by the
same for time,
many days together.
feelings
of
devotion,
fortified,
guard
navigation of the River Barrow from
59 The Anglo-Irish family of Talon were settled at Agha, County Carlow. See Rev. John Francis Shearman's "Loca Patri- ciana," No. XII. , pp. 383, 384.
60 The O'Codhlitanswere a County Car- low family, now reduced to poverty. The name is now Collatan. The Cantitines were a sept of Anglo-Norman descent, now Anglice Condon.
61 See Friar Clyn's "Annals of Ireland,"
P- IS-
62 Some of these have the appearance of
the interior of an old limekiln, the stones being in many places burst by the action of fire. It may have been, that the action of successive fires has given them such an ap- pearance ; for, we may readily suppose, it did not escape unscathed during the general demolition and burning of the succeeding times.
63 See Friar Clyn's -'Annals of Ireland," p. 34.
"* From a document, preserved amongst the records in the Bermingham Tower, Dublin Castle, it appears, that in pursuance ofanorderoftheyear1581,asumof^£350 was levied off the counties of Wexford and Kilkenny, and the cities of Waterford and Kilkenny, for the purpose of erecting a
tower—at St. Molin's. The remains of a
—wer most theoneherereferred to probably
to were removed, and the materials were used in the building of the present St. Mullin's Mills. See Patrick O'Leary's " Ancient Life of St. Molyng," &c. , Ap- pendix, pp. 57, 58.
6* to
the
A terrible pestilence is said to have come origi-
6s Many thousands of the Saracens and in- fidels succumbed to it, as we learn from Friar Clyn's "Annals of Ireland. " See pp. 35 t0 37-
^ No less than 50,000, and even more, were carried off, in the south of France from the month of May to the Feast of St. Thomas' Translation, and we read, that the cemetery which Pope Clement VI. conse- crated was nothing less than the River Rhone itself, into which the bodies were cast; yet, by reason of that solemn benediction of the river, these were considered to receive Christian burial. (Torfaus. )
6? Its were first manifested at symptoms
Dublin, Dalkey and Drogheda. In the first mentioned of these cities, no fewer than 14,000 inhabitants are said to have perished,
Thisplaggueisnoticed,also,inThadyDow
" ling's"^
Annales Breves Hiberniae," p. 23. a Friar Clyn's "Annals of Ireland," pp.
35 to 37.
ling's
724 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 17.
in burying the dead ; many died of boils, and abscesses, and pustules on their shins, and under their arm-pits ; others died frantic with the pain in their head, and others spitting blood. 6? Such was the testimony of a contem- porary witness, and of one, who seems to have anticipated his own fast ap-
proaching end. 70
The local fame of few men survives a generation without some adequate
cause. That of St. Moling is still green in the memories of his local patrons. Nor is it ever likely to perish with the lapse of time, because it is entwined with the religious veneration of a people, who still proclaim his praises. The
holy bishop Molyng, through the grace of God, possessed all the apostolic virtues. Great miracles distinguished his career ; for he raised the dead, he cleansed the lepers, he caused the lame to walk, he gave sight to the blind, and he cured various diseases. The Almighty has called him away from the perishable toils of earth, to crown him with those joys which are boundless, and with those imperishable rewards which are the portion of all his faithful servants.
Article II. —St. Botulphus, Abbot in England. [Seventh Cen- tury]. It seems to be generally allowed, that the Acts of St. Botulph rest on very doubtful traditions, and that various errors of statement have crept into them, before they came down to our times. Indeed, in some incidents related, we find most contradictory accounts. At least, it is very difficult to reconcile them with the known facts of history. Yet, it is sufficiently estab- lished, that Botulph in his day had been a popular saint. In the ancient chronicles of England his memory has been recorded. St. Botulph is men-
of
*9 The Rev. Dean Butler, the editor of
Clyn, remarks, that the pestilence described
in Clyn, as occurring in 1348, was the Black Death. In the province of Avignon, where
the Pope then resided, it raged with great violence ; 500 a day died, the whole number of deaths there was 60,000. See Notes, ibid. ,
pp. 63 to 69.
7° The writer closes his Annals in 1348,
thus: "But I, Friar John Clyn of the Franciscan Order of the convent of Kil- kenny, have in this book written the memo- rable things happening in my time, of which I was either an eye-witness or learned them from the relation of such as were worthy of credit ; and that these notable actions might not perish by time and vanish out of the
Anglo-
memory
of our
the
many
treating about King Edgar, who reigned from a. d. 959 to A. D. 975.
2"
See Flores Hisloriarum," at A. D.
DCMHI. , p. 230.
3 See the Bollandists' "Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus iii. , Junii xvii. De S. Bothulpho Abbate et S. Adulpho Episcopo, Confessori- bus in Anglia. Commentarius Praevius, sect, ii. , num. 7, p. 400.
4 See " Sanctorum Angliae. " Legenda
5 In "Acta Sanctorum, "Saec. Bend. , tomus iii. , pars. i. His copy was obtained from a Manuscript Codex of the Monastery (Uti-
by John
Brompton,
Westminster,*
by
successors, seeing
evils that encompass us, and every symptom placed as it were under a malevolent influ-
1 Matthew of
the
There are two ancient Manuscript Lives of Botolphus ; and, of these, some distinct^ copies exist. 3 One of them had been used by John Capgrave/ and another by Father John Mabillon,* in compiling Acts of our saint. The Life given in Father Mabillon's work has been reproduced by the Bollandists, and it has been acknowledged in a Prologue of the original
tioned
Saxon Chronicle.
ence, expecting death among the dead until
it comes, such things as I have heard de- censis). The Bollandists used, likewise, a
livered with veracity, and have strictly ex- amined, I have reduced into writing ; and lest the writing should perish with the
copy procured from the Canons Regular of Rubea-Vallis near Bruxelles, as certified by
the signature of Rosweyde, and another ob-
and
writer, and the work fail with the workman,
I leave behind me parchment for continuing it, if any man should have the good fortune to survive this calamity, or any of the race of Adam should escape this pestilence, to con- tinue what I have begun. " See ibid. , p. 37. —
Article II.
'
In his Chronicle, when
June 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
725
writer, that it had been founded on popular rumour alone. 6 John Capgrave suppressed this Prologue, in the abbreviated account he gives of St. Botulph orBotolph. ThereisalsoaLifeofthisholyman,byFolcard,? abbotof Thorney. 8 The old Breviary of Sleswick, which was printed at Paris in 1512,9 contains an office of St. Botulph, in nine Lessons, and this is thought to give the most correct account of the saint. The Bollandists 10 have a notice of St. Botulph, Abbot, and with him they associate St. Adulph, Bishop, as Confessor, in England, at the 17th day of June. There is a previous com- mentary in two sections," with Acts taken from distinct sources. 13 In their previous commentary, the editor institutes a critical examination of all the circumstancesknown,andrelatingtoSaintsBotulphusandAdulphus. The
life of St. Botulph has been given in English, by Bishop Challenor,^ Rev. 1
AlbanButler, * andbyRev. S. Weare 16 Baring-Gould. 'S informed, thatBotulph
descended from the illustrious race of the Scottish Kings. According to another
account, he had a brother Adulph, and both were of noble English-Saxon
extraction. No doubt, the names are Saxon in form \ yet, there are inherent
difficulties presented, to warrant such statements. The impression, that
SaintsBotulphandAdulphJ7 werebrothers,wasowingprobablytothefact,
that their remains had been venerated in the same place. Again, it has been
stated, that both of these brothers sailed over to Saxony, or rather to Belgic
18
Gaul,
where they embraced a monastic life. There, they are said like
tained from Colgan, which was sent to Bol- landus, by the Jesuit Grothusius.
6 " To this, a writer after 972 added a part
of his own to supply the deficiency. But his addition is characterized by gross inac- curacy. He makes the Saxons before the in- vasion of Britain to have been Christians, and to have sent their sons into monasteries. He also makes S. Adulph, bishop of
vol. vi. , June xvii.
9 At the expense of the Sleswick Canons,
and by the authorization of Bishop Godscale
See Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Junii xvii. De S. Botulpho Abbate et S. Adul-
pho Episcopo Confessoribus in Anglia, pp. 398 to 406.
and the brother of S.
TM from Mabillon and two Manu- First,
Utrecht,
pointed to that See by the king. If he scripts ; secondly, from a Breviary of Sles- means King Pepin, the father of Charle- wick ; and thirdly, from the Legends of
magne, he is wrong, for Pepin had no John Capgrave. Annotations are also given
of S. Botulph and S. Adulph being trans- lated together in 972, and these two saints being venerated the same day, like S. Me- dard and S. Godard, they were supposed to
14 See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and other principal Saints," vol. vi. , June xvii.
be brothers. No
1
«* See "Lives of the Saints, "vol. vi. June
17th, pp. 247, 248.
l6 In the of the holy man's Life, Epitome
taken from the Sleswick Breviary.
17 There was a king over the East Angles, who was named Adulph, and he was son to Anna. He had a sister, known as St. Etheldrita or Etheldreda, who was born and who died in ac-
to a Life, which is extant. Her feast occurs, at the 23rd of June. As the time of St. Botulph and of King Adulph nearly corresponded, and as both were of equal origin, it is possible these may have been thought to be brothers.
18 In the seventh century, there was no
monastery among the Saxons of the Conti-
nent, who were then pagans.
'» It is easy to perceive, that a long chro-
of the name of Alulph is known in the Chronicles of the Church of Utrecht. The writer may have mistaken Utrecht for Maestricht (Ultro- trajectum forTrajectum), which was founded much earlier, but no bishop of t—he name of
bishop
Botulph, ap-
authority in that part, which was governed
by the heathen Radbod, Duke of Frisia.
Moreover, that See was not founded till 696,byS. Willibrord,whodiedin739. The AdulphwithhisaccountofSt. Botulph. origin of the blunder arises from the bodies
Adulph occupied that See. " Rev. S. about A. D. 645, 689,
" Lives of the
Saints,"
7 See ibid. There is a Manuscript copy of this Life in the Cottonian Collection, num.
III.
8 He was first a monk of St. Bertin's, at St.
Omer, and afterwards made Abbot of Thor- ney, by William the Conqueror, in 1068. See Rev. Alban Butler's "Lives of the
Fathers, Martyrs, and other principal Saints,"
cording
Baring-Gould's
vol. vi. , June 17th, pp. 247, 248.
de Alevede. 10 "
" In thirteen paragraphs.
by Father Daniel Papebroke.
13 See "Britannia Sancta," part i. , pp.
370 to 372. Bishop Challenor unites St.
726 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 17.
industrious bees, to have culled honey from the flowers of Divine wisdom, and to have received the clerical tonsure. One of them, St. Adulph, is said to have been selected to fill the See of Utrecht ;** while St. Botulph was destined to glean a harvest of souls, by returning to his native country. While abroad, as we are told, two royal virgins, who were sisters to Ethelmund,20
of the South
King Angles,
31 had been
religiously
educated in that same
monastery,
22 where the
man resided.
Their mother was Sywara regent
holy
of the kingdom,^ at that time, owing to the immature age of Ethelmund, but
they furnished letters of recommendation to both mother and brother, on
behalf of Botulph, when he returned to England. After the death of his
Scottish father, 24 according to the Sleswick Breviary, St. Botulph was selected
tosucceedhim; but,heresolvednotonlytorelinquishthecrown,butalso
his country. This he left, and set out for England, where he was received
by King Edmund2* with distinguished respect. That king, finding him to
be piously disposed, especially desired his promotion to Holy Orders. For
seven he dwelt in the Edmund's court 6 at the end of that years, King f but,
time, he asked for a place, where he might wholly serve God. 27 Accordingly, the king set apart for him a beautiful site on which to build a church, and where there was a confluence of rivulets towards a certain great river. Here, theholymanwassoondistinguishedforthemiracleshewrought. Hehada disciple, who lived with him at that place. One day, a poor man called at his door asking for an alms, in the name of God. When our saint desired his disciple to grant some relief, the latter replied, that nothing was left to
nological interval must exist between the
traditional times of St. Botulph and St.
that he was Eugenius IV. , King of Scotland, who departed this life, A. D. 620. Afterwards, Ferchar or Ferquard, the son of Eogan,
Adulph, if the latter is regarded as having
been bishop of Utrecht. That See was not succeeded him, as ninth in the series of
founded until Charolomann recommended the project to St. Boniface, who consecrated St. Willibrord as its first bishop, in 744. It is possible, that St. Adulph may have been bishop there, that he afterwards returned to England, and that his days were ended in the monastery of St. Botulph, beside whose remains he may have been buried. This had
they
30 " We find no mention of this Prince in any other historian ; which is not to be wondered at, if by the South Angles are here meant the South Saxons; for no histo- rian lias given us a co—mplete list of the kings of that province. " Bishop Challenor's
"Britannia Sancta," part i. , p. 370, note. " His name is differently given, as Edel- mundus, in MS. Utic, as Edmundus, in the Sleswick Breviary, and as Ethmundus, in a
Manuscript possessed by the Bollandists.
38 Mabulon observes: "Forte Brigensi
seu Eboriacensi monasterio, quod modo S.
Pharae dicitur, aut certo jotrensi Andile-
Again, Papebroke hazards a conjecture, that Botulph probably persuaded the Queen been a Christian, and perhaps to have been to send her daughters to some French of the royal race of the East Angles, or even monastery for their education, so that he
to have been a sister to King Sigebert, who might the more conveniently depart for his was baptized in Gaul, a. d. 636. His place of solitude. Besides, one of his example brought over the rest of his sub- reasons for wishing to leave the court
jects to Christianity. might have been his failure to convert the
accountforthefable, that been brothers.
"Pictorial ofScot- History
might
James Taylor's
land," vol. i. , chap, hi. , p. 281.
gove. "
33 Papebroke considers this Queen to have
**
Father Daniel Papebroke conjectures, King to Christianity.
Scoto-Irish Kings of Scotland, and he reigned from A. D. 621 to A. D. 637. He was deposed for his crimes, and cast into prison, where he died. Papebroke also supposes,
that when Botulph quitted the kingdom, his brother Donevald was called to the throne. This Donal-Breac is stated to have reigned from A. D. 637 to A. D. 642. See Rev. Dr.
25 We find no Saxon King bearing this
name, among the East Saxons or among the
East Angles, before the ninth century. See
John " of Great Britaine," Speed's History
book vii. , chap, viii. , pp. 309 to 312, and chap, xi. , pp. 324 to 328. Neither do we find a king of that name, among the South Saxons. See ibid. , chap, vi. , pp. 300 to 302.
36
Papebroke seems to suppose, the king himself had been a pagan, although his mother may have been a Christian, and that Botulph acted as her chaplain, and as the instructor of her daughters.
37
June 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
727
them but a single loaf. Then said the saint
give one of them to the poor man. " Soon afterwards, three other paupers arrived, and he ordered the remaining portions to be given, so that their necessities might be supplied. The disciple then murmured, but the holy
the holy man built a church, in honour of St. Martin. While there, he was accustomed to keep many hens, but an eagle, which came out from an adjoin-
ing wood, frequently carried several of them away. On a certain occasion, when the bird of prey had carried off a cock, the saint menaced the depreda- tor. At once, the eagle brought that bird living and placed it at the feet of Botulph, while at the same time, he fell down and expired. According to oneofSt. Botulph'sLives,heaskedEthelmund,3? KingoftheSouthSaxons, and his kinsmen Ethelwerd and Ethelwold,30 to give him some deserted spot, which had been rejected or abandoned by cultivators, so that he might build there a church without loss to any person, and gather around him a number
and
ourloss. " He had scarcely spoken, when no fewer than four boats, laden with food and drink supplied by the faithful, landed at their place. It so happened, that the spot selected for his habitation had been infested by evil spirits, and as the king visited Botulph one day, he asked for another place, and the king granted his request. This desired situation was on the River Thames,38 and there
:
mansaid "Myson,donotbedisturbed,forGodisableto
repair
of pious disciples. This petition was favourably received. Another account 1
states, that St. Botulph began to build his monastery, about the year 654V in the time of Adelhere, who had succeeded his brother Anna as King over the
2
Wherefore, Botulph selected a place called Ykanno," or Ikanhoe,3* and so called, because it was a "hoe" or mound covered with
trees, and girdled round with rushes, in the midst of a vast, stagnant morass, the haunt of wild fowl. 35 There he dwelt and founded an Abbey. 36 There, too, arose a town in aftertimes. While some have thought that place to be in Kent ; it is assumed with greater appearance of probability, that it lay in the mostdismaldistrictofallEngland,andamongtheLincolnshirefens. Itwas afterwards known as Boston, 3 ? and it is said to have obtained its designation fromSt. Botulph. Whentheholymanhadlivedthirteenyears38inaplace he had chosen, the old enemy appeared in the shape of a snake and inflicted a severe bite, when the saint again besought the king to give him another site. 3?
East Angles. 3
28
this was in
on the right bank of the Thames ; as Edmund is said to have been king over the
Southern Angles.
2 9 Ethelmund did not reign in Lincoln-
shire,
30 There was a King Ethelwold over the
East Saxons.
3 1 In the Anglo-Saxon Chronology, edited ""
Papebroke supposes,
Surrey,
with Venerable Bede's Historia Ecclesias- tica Gentis Anglorum," we read: "Anno dcliv. Botulphus monasterium sedificare
tavit.
35 See Rev. S. Baring-Gould's Lives of
the Saints," vol. vi. , June 17, and n. 1,
P- 248.
36 Matthew of Westminster, at A. D.
ccepit. "
3* See "Monasticum
p. 88, of Ely, the house he built is said to have been " in loco qui dicitur Wenno"—doubtless Ikenno
should have been the correct reading.
33 Its situation has not been pointed out
where in the abbreviated
History
DCLIV. , thus notices this foundation :
more
towards Sussex, as Ethelmund seems to have been king over the South Saxons. See Rev. Alban Butler's " Lives of the Fathers,
specifically.
Anglicanum,"
" Hoc
:
parts,
" Divide it into four
Martyrs, and other principal Saints," vol. vi. , June xvii.
* In William Camden's work, we read, that twenty miles from Lincoln and towards the east, where the River Witham flows into the ocean between two mounds, the town of
"
Boston is situated,
a Botulpho enim Saxone sanctissimo, qui ad Icanoe monasterium habuit, nomen depor-
rectius Botolphotowne,
etiam tempore Botulphus apud Hiccanhoe "
ecclesiam construct. "— Flores Histona-
rum," p. 230.
v His monastery was erected on the north
Some think it was side of the present church, according to
"
Samuel Lewis'
of England," vol. i. , p. 309.
Topographical Dictionary 38 According to the Sleswick Breviary.
"
728 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 17. Edmund led him far from the sea, into a valley through which a river flowed, and
which was covered with thorns and " said the " is a jungle. Here," king,
for you. " There, accordingly, Botulph built two churches ;
dedicated to St. Peter and the other to St. Paul. Wherever his monastery had been situated 4°—and the site has been much contested—the holy man gathered there a band of faithful monks, who laboured with him day and night. These he endeavoured to form, on the best models of perfection ; while he appears to have established a special rule for their direction. But, his own life and manners were the best guide for his disciples. He was patient, mild and humble, in word and in work ; whenever he spoke, it was to proclaim the goodness of God, to hold colloquies on the happiness of the just, and on their rewards. He was gifted with the spirit of prophecy, while he expelleddemons,throughtheefficacyofhisprayers. Havingaccomplished variousgoodworks,hesetoutonapilgrimagetoRome,41 sothathemightvisit and pray at the tombs of those glorious Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. From Romehereturned,bearingwithhimmanyrelics. Beforeenteringhisformercell, he cured a girl that was blind through his prayers. When King Edmund heard of Botulph's return, he was greatly rejoiced, and he spent three days with the holy servant of God. Soon afterwards, the saint was called to his reward, after a long illness, which he bore with exemplary patience. He is said to have died the same year as St. Hilda,*1 in 655 ;«3 but, if we attend to the con- jectures of Father Daniel Papebroke, his death must be referred to a much later period. His disciples took care, that the funeral rites should be cele- brated with all due solemnity, when his body was consigned to the tomb. There several miracles were wrought. His monastery of Ikanho is said to have been destroyed in 870,+* by the Danes/5 On account of the havoc made by these pagans in the holy places, it is now difficult to determine where this sanctuary of religion stood. However, there still remained a church there, and it was served by one priest. In devotion to St. Botulph, it was
6 In the
of St. Botulph were translated/8 by St. Ethelwold/ Bishop of Winchester. They were removed, partly to the monastery of Ely,50 and partly to that of
the
Thorney,51 founded in the year 972. 5*
39
Apparently
pancies in different narratives, Papebroke supposes that this change may have occurred
about 644, when Botulph felt inspired to visit Gaul, in order to learn better the nature of monastic institutions, and to visit his for- mer pupils, who were sisters of the king, and who had probabiy embraced lives of strict monastic seclusion.
*° Papebroke seems to think, that Botulph had not presided over his religious house, until after he had returned from Gaul, and when he was advanced in years. This he
supposed to have been, about A. D. 654.
*l this to Papebroke conjectures journey
have been made after the year 660. Unless the Southern Saxons had different kings from the Eastern Saxons, which does not appear to have been the case, about the year 661, accord- ing to Alford, Edelwalchus, the successor of
was The Roman Pon- Edmund, baptized.
tiff then reigning was St. Vitalianus.
** See Rev. Alban Butler's " Lives of the
Fathers, Martyrs, and other principal Saints," vol. vi. , June xvii.
of the relics King Edgar/7
greatly frequented by
people/
days
Athird portion which remained, was
43 See Rev. S. " Lives of Baring-Gould's
the Saints," vol. vi. , June 17th, p. 248.
** Its remains have been converted into a
dwelling house, known as Botolph's Priory. "
See Samuel Lewis' Topographical Dic-
tionary of England," vol. i. , p. 309.
«5 According to John of Brompton in his Chronicle, it was destroyed by the murderers
of St. Edmund the king.
*6 See Bishop Challenoi's "Britannia
Sancta," part i. , p. 371.
*7 He ruled from A. D. 959 to A. D. 975.
John of Brompton relates this Translation, in his Chronicle.
48 This before A. D. and happened 975,
this Translation is mentioned by Odericus
Vitalis, in the following words: "Corpus S. Botulphi tr—anslatum est ad monasterium
"
Tormeyense. " Historia Ecclesiastica,"
p. 834.
4« His feast is celebrated, at the 1st of
August.
-° The head is said to have been placed
there.
