3°-* See " An Inquiry as to the
Birthplace
of St.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v3
Lanigan ; still, he thinks, it may be resolved, by a series of changes, into Nevthur, Nephthur, or Nepthur,^^' from Irish vocables.
He supposes it to have been a province or territory, well known, at the time when St.
Fiach's Hymn had been com- posed ; and, he proceeds to show, that it comprised an extensive tract, be-
"
Life of St. Patrick,'' chap, v. , vi. This is thought the more pro- bable, as his assumed relative, St. Martin, was Bishop of Tours. However, it cannot be made to agree, with the text of St. Patrick's Confession. That city, in our saint's time, was so respectable and cele- brated, that had the Irish Apostle been a native of it, nothing could have been more
^'^ The conversion of v into b is even
more common. We find a familiar illustra-
tion of this cliange, in the old Latin name
for Ireland. As almost every student knows,
our island was variously written, Ibemia,
Ivemia, Hibernia, Juvernia, and lernia.
However, the English word Tavern, which
is exactly derived from the Latin Tabcntce,
is a still more apposite illusU-ation, as re-
gards the present enquiry. The intermediate
vowel swayed in sound, with those conso-
nants, which enclosed it. As the primary
Latin t changed into the softer and feebler d,
and the b into v, the intermediate a lost its
full force. Mediaeval Latin melts it into an
7, in the word Divernia. Again, the modern easily expressed. Nor would there have
French form, Desvres, brings it back, to- wards its place, at the head of the alphabet. Nor does it run the whole vowel gamut, as from Ibernia to Juvernia.
been any necessity for adding the name of the district, such as Tabicrnia. Neither could such a city as Tours have been deno- minated viats. Besides, Tours was never
^" It is stated, that N is but a prefix comprised, in any part of Armorica ; nor
introduced, to fill a hiatus in the text, while Emtur is the proper verbal form. This word, then, means, not Holy Tower, but a
tower, belonging to some place or person, indicated by the word Em.
could it be referred to that province, for it lay at too great a distance from the sea.
^t^ " His- See Dr. Lanigan's Ecclesiastical
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, iii. , sect, vi. ,
and nn. 55, 56, pp. 91, 92.
-^ is deemed to be for Colgan responsible,
a mistranslation of its meaning.
^^' When Jocelyn spells Nempthor or Emptlior, with /, in the " Sexta Vita S.
Patricii," cap. i. , xi. . Dr. Lanigan says he should have omitted the letter in.
'^^ It is said to be even so of our Breviaries.
spelled,
in some
-T= In one Manuscript, this is said to have been in Provence, France.
-76 See nn. 226, 227, 233, 234, in the First Chapter of this Life.
^^ " Ballynamuck, for example," says Mr. John Cashel Hoey, "means the town of, or on, the river Muck. Tulloch na Daly (whose swelling dimensions the Frencli afterwards curbed into the famous name of Tollendall) is a more apposite instance. "
"T^ See Lynch's
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 459
tween the Loire and Meuse, in ancient Gaul. Consequently, Boulogne lay within this territory, usually called Neustria, but frequently also known, as Neptricum,orNeptria. Wearetold,^^^thatlongafterSt. Fiach'sHymnhad been written, the name Neptria or Neustria became confined to a smaller part of this great province. ^^3 That Bannaue or Bonavem, St. Patrick's birthplace, was in the province of Nevtria,^^4 has been asserted by Probus. ^^5 According to these writers of the Third and Fourth Lives, however, Nemthor wasinTaburnia,andJocelynsays,thatNemthorwasnearTaburnia. This does not well accord, with Dr. Lanigan's theory, about Neustria, or Neptria. This ancient name, he states, was applied to the old Britain ; but, in course of time, and when the Normans began to invade various parts of north- western Gaul, the name Normannia was used indiscriminately for Neustria. ^^^ They were so identified, that, as one of them happened to be limited to a smaller extent of country, the other was likewise circumscribed ; so that, when writing in Latin, Neustria is the term applied to Normandy, by modern writers. 2^7 The circumstance of St. Patrick calling his country Britain is re-
garded as affording intrinsic evidence, respecting the antiquity of his Con-
fession ; for, the saint well knew the name of his own province, and he also
took into account, that it must have been known, by the people, to whom he
wrote, under a like name. After the denomination Neustria prevailed, that
of Britain fell into disuse. ^^^ However, in his erudite and ingenious Essay
on the birthplace of St. Patrick, Mr. John Cashel Hoey concludes, by iden-
tifying Divernia Bononiensis, with the TahernicR Bononiensis, while he thinks
Toiirnehem must be identical with Nemtur, or' Emtor, and Enna he makes
synonymous with Enon. If it were necessary, he says, to push liis proofs a
step further, there is the district, called Le Wicquet, which is undoubtedly
derived from the " which be the vt'co Bona- Latin, Vicus,"^^9and, mightnaturally
vem Tabernice, of which the Confession speaks ; yet, the historian of Desvres,
Baron d'Ordre, already cited, disputes this derivation. He maintains, the word is Celtic, and that it comes from IVic, a Celtic term for "wood," like our word "wicket. " Both may be right, for Viciis may be a Latin form of the same word. ^9° We have thus fairly analysed some of the best inferential proofs, from topographic names occurring, for France, and especially for its northern parts, as having a presumed connexion with the birth and with the early childhood of our glorious national Apostle.
^^ By Rev. Dr. Lanigan. Jocelyn. "—" Ecclesiastical History of Ire- ^^3 Other names had been applied, for land," vol. i. , chap, iii. , sect, x. , and notes
various portions of it. See liadran Valesius loc. cit.
province
^^* This is one of the passages, which in- duced Colgan to dislike Probus. The Bol- landists blame him, for having used the word Nevtria. They say, he should have called it
Hadrian Valesius writes, Fag7im Pontiviiin vitus liber de vita S. Judoci vocat ; vocat et liber vetustissimus de vita B. Furscui abbatis ; et amboe vita; Haimonem ducem in eo pago sedem habuisse tradunt. " See
callsit "CadomumNeustriasocellum. "
^'^^ See Dr. "Ecclesiastical Lanigan's
History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, iii. , sect, xv. , pp. 117, 1 1 8.
^^9 According to M. Jean Scoti, Lieu- tenant particulier de la Sennechaussee de
Boulogne.
^5° Among the names of villages, in this dis-
trict, of the history ofwhich Mr. Hoey could find no trace, one was called Erin, the place where Blessed Benedict Joseph Labre was
and not have made a of it, since it was only a town.
" Notitia at Pontiviis Galliarum,"
Nemthuria,
^ ^^7 Hadrian Valesius, at Normannia, In the Dedication of the " Geographia Sacra," speaking of Caen in Normandy, Bochart
28s "Why should Probus not make Ncv-
tria a province," asks Dr. Lanigan, " having just before mentioned the town Bannaue?
Was he to
was in the town of Nevtria? They re- spected, however, Probus as an author, and have defended him against an unwarrantable attack of Stanihurst. Some others, among whom Harris (Bishops, p. 6), have endea- voured to depreciate the authority of Pro- bus, who, in spite of their wish to support the fable of Nemthor in Great Britain, is vastly more respectable than their favourite
say,
that the town of Bamtaue
94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, pp. loi, 102. ^^ "
pagus.
460 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
The opinion, that St. Patrick was a Scotchman, has been held, by many of our most respectable authorities, and it has nearly the unanimous assent of all the Scottish historians^^^ and antiquaries. ""^^ Various Chronicles and
Martyrologies have been quoted, by Dempster,^93 to prove, that St. Patrick had been born in Scotland. Among the chief writers, who are in favour of
this theory, may be named Ussher,^? ^ and Colgan. A special Dissertation, on the birthplace of St. Patrick, has been inserted, by the latter. ^95 Sir
James Ware, and his editor Walter Harris,^9^ the Bollandists,'97 Rev. Alban
Butler,298 Rev. James Wills,=99 Rev. Daniel Rock, D. D. ,3°° Rev. Dr. James Henthorn Todd,3°i Alfred Webb,3°2 as, also, various other writers, maintain
this view.
Special Treatises have been written, by the Rev. Duncan Mac-
3°4 and Rev. Laurence Canon 3°5 to establish Very Toole,
3°3
this claim for St. Patrick's nativity in Scotland.
nab,
J.
A.
Turner,
CertaincommentsuponSt. Fiech'sHymn,andwhich,forthefirsttime, had been published by Colgan, 3°^ state, that Nemthur was a city in Northern Britain. They call it Alcluid, or Alcluida y°^ and, the name Nempthur is
also
as *' " or " Tower. " 308 the translated, meaning heavenly holy However,
bom. TheCommissionersfortheTopography
of Gaul, as established under the authority of
the late Emperor of the French, A. D. 1858, in
addition to the topographical surveys and ex- cavations, which they have carried on, have
published an oro-hydrographical ^nap of Gaul, in four sheets ; a map of Coesar's cam- paigns, now out of print ; a map of Gaul under Cresar's proconsulate, in four sheets, like the first ; as also some parts of an archaeologi- cal Dictionary of Gaul. The Celtic Period contains forty-two quarto sheets, and forty engraved folio plates, giving a rcsiuiic of the archaeological history of each locality, the nameofwhichissetdown; amapofGaul, indicating the site of dolmeqs and megalithic monuments, as also that of inhabited caverns in pre-historic times ; a preliminary map of Gaul, referring to the fifth century B. C. ; and instructions for
correspondents
^5fi See Harris' Ware, vol.
i. ,
"Arch-
mission. They have also in contemplation
a map, showing the geographical distribution
of the Gallic tribes, and a Dictionary of Gallo- Roman archreology, from the reign of Augustus, to the period of the Frankish kings. The non- private publications of the Commission, and such as are not out of print, can be had, at the Libraire Militaire de Du- niaine,inParis. InanissueoftheAcademy,
"
Edinburgh, 1872,
vol. v. , part i. , No. x. , pp. 261 to 284, 4to.
A. D. M. Henri Gaidoz calls 1S73,
3°5 In an admirable
" Where was
special attention to the very interesting results, then
St. Patrick born ?
"
Paper,
read at the Catholic
reachedbytheCommission.
"
-9' See James Walsh's
Catholic Church of Scotland," chap, iii. ,
Academia,Manchester,1S76. Thelearned
author has kindly lent his Manuscript of this valuable Tract—yet unpublished—and it has been used with great advantage, in discussing the present question.
pp. 40, 41.
=9= See William F. Skene's
"
Celtic Scot-
land a of ancient
: History Alban,"
''
3°^ See his 3°7 See ibid.
n.
3='* Colgan has it, "Neamthur sive
— Crclestis turris
Neamptor, i. e. , appellatur. "
chap, i. , pp. 19, 20.
=9^ See " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Sco-
torum," tomus ii. , lib. xv. , num. looi, p. 521.
"
I, p. 4.
Britannicarum Ecclesiarum An- tiquitates," cap. xvii. , pp. 426, 427.
"9'* See
of the Com-
^59 See "Lives of Illustrious and Distin- guished Irishmen," vol. i. , part i. First Period, pp. 85, 86.
3°° See his book, "Did the early Church
of Ireland acknowledge the Pope's Supre- macy? answered in a Letter to Lord John Manners. "
3°' See "St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland,"
chap, ii. , pp. 355 to 361.
3^- See "A Compendium of Irish Bio-
graphy," p. 430.
3^^ See his * ' Dissertation Archaeological
on the Birthplace of St. Patrick," read in
St. Margaret's School-room, at Airdee, on
the 25th of September, 1865. Duffy's, Dublin : 1866, 8vo.
3°-* See " An Inquiry as to the Birthplace of St. Patrick," read before the Society of
Scottish Antiquaries, 8th of January, 1872.
History of the
vol.
Trias
Scholia Veteris Scholiastcc,
ii. ,
Thaumaturga. "
Ibid. , n. 2, p. 6. The Fourth (cap. i. ) and the Seventh (lib. i. , cap. i. ) Life of our Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. ii. , pp. saint have the same interpretation. See pp.
"^5 See "Trias Thaumaturga. " Quinta
221 to 224. 35. "7-
bishops of Armagh," pp. 5, 6.
^' See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. ,
xvii. Martii. De S. Patricio, Episcopo, Com- mentarius pra;vius, sect, ii. , pp. 518, 519.
^® See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and other Principal Saints," vol. iii. , March xvii.
Archasologia Scotica,"
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 461
writer adds, in another note, that St. Patrick and his family removed from Alc]uida,3°9 and they went, for the transaction of business, to Armorican Lethania, or Letha. 3'° This latter word, as we are informed, has nearly the same meaning as Armorica, being styled by the British Celts, Llydaw, i. e. , litoralis, or " upon the shore. " The First. s" Second^'^ and Third3^3 Lives of our saint have nothing to indicate the situation3'4 of Nemthor, and nothing whatever about Alcluida, or Alcluide ; while the Fourth Life brings his parents from Armorica,3's to the region of Strato-CIude, Anglicised, Strath- Clyde, where he was born. The Fifth Life has it, that Patrick's birth took place, among the Britons ; that he belonged to the village Bannaue, of the Tiburnian district, and of the province of Nentria. 3i^ The Sixth Life states, that he was born and brought up, in the village, called Taburnia, near the town of Nempthor. 317 Again, the Irish Tripartite Life has it, that St. Patrick'soriginwasfromtheBritonsofAlcuide. 3'3 Nemthurissaidtohave been the place of his birth. 3'9 This place, if not the other localities here alluded to, must be sought for in Scotland, to furnish the requisite evidence, that she may claim St. Patrick, as one of her many distinguished sons.
The neighbourhood of Glasgow has been generally accepted, as tlie probable spot, to be assigned for St. Patrick's birthplace. Here it is thought should be found that ancient North Britain city of Nemthur, otherwise called Alcluide. 32° Now Alcluaid or Ercluad has been translated3^^ "upon an
3°9 Dr. Rock has asserted, that the WTiter
of St. Fiech's Hymn and its Commentator
had assigned the Britisli city, Alcluilh, under the poetical name of Nemthur, as the birth-
3'9 Sae "Septima Vita S. Patricii," lib. i. , cap. i. , p. 117.
3^° According to the . Scholiast, on the Hymn, attributed to St. Fiach. Again, in " The Four Ancient Books of Wales," edited by William F. Skene, there is an old Poem, copied from a Manuscript, formerly belonging to a Priory of Black Canons in Carmarthen, suppressed in the reign of King Henry VIII. This Poem professes to be a conversation, between Merdyn and Taliesin ;
Britons and their northern enemies, who were routed. In the first line of the third stanza,thet—ownofNempthurorNevturis mentioned
:
" Rac denur inentur y tirran. "
" Before two men in nevtur will they land. "
of St. Patrick. See "Did the Church of Ireland acknowledge the Pope's Supremacy ? answered in a Letter to Lord John Manners," p iii. Yet, there seems to be little similarity, in those names, in sound or meaning.
place
Early
3'° Camden seems to confine Letha, or, as
some writers of the middle ages call it, Le- and, it describes a battle, between the
lavia, to that tract, now denominated Bri-
tany. See "Britannia," col. cxxxii.
3" See " Hymnus sen Prima Vita S.
Patricii. " Strophe i, p. i.
3'^ See " Secunda Vita S. Patricii," cap.
i. , iv. , p. II.
3'3 See " Tertia Vita S. Patricii," cap. i. ,
iv. , p. 21.
3'* Except, indeed, that it was situated in
a afterwards called " be- Mr. in reference to this
plain, camp-field,"
cause a Roman army had there wintered, for
Skene,
awhile ; hence the was called Ta- —
bern, Campus" Tabuerni, id est, campus tabernaculorum.
3'S We find " mare and one not to —or indeed
and, spot
" *^
that to a called place
gests for Thyrrenum "is Gallicum," as the Gaulish Sea was near Armorica. See
"
Quarta Vita S. Patricii," cap. i. , p. 35, and n. 4, p. 48.
3'6 See " Quinta Vita S. Patricii," lib. i. , cap. i. , p. 51.
castle of Alclude
3'7 See iv. , p. 65.
"
Sexta Vita S.
"
3"* See Sister Maiy Francis Clare Cusack's Life of St. Patrick," p. 372.
Patricii," cap. i. ,
Poem, says : " There is one—allusion in it which marks
gi'eat antiquity
Nevtur—" which can be no other
than
Neinpttir themostancientname added, juxta Thyrre- barton, applied it,
of Dum-
num. " However, as Colgan remarks, this
latter denomination means the Tuscan or
known, after the eighth century. " Vol. i. , chap, xii. , p, 222. John Hardyng, who lived in the fourteenth century, wrote an English Chronicle, in verse. Relating the historic
legends of that time, he says, a king, named Ebranke, who live—d 800 years B. C. , built the
Lower Sea, M'liile the emendation he sug- ""
"
:
In Albanye he made and edifyed.
The Castle of which Dumbri- Alclude,
tayne.
As some authors by Chronicle hath ap-
. plied.
462 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17. angle or a corner. " 322 But, according to other writers, this denomination is
or " a rock," and Ciuid, the name Ail,323
resolvable into two
compounds, Al,
for the present River Clyde. Hence, the compound word might mean, " the
rock on the Clyde. " According to this derivation, Alcluid should be in Albain or North Britain. It is supposed, this may be identical with the Petra Cloithe,324 mentioned by Adamnan. 3^5 From the Clyde, also, is derived the name of that district, Strathclyde,^^^ through which it flows ; while, we are told, that the level land, on the bank opposite to Dumbarton, had been
Dumbarton Rock and Castle, Scotland.
called Ara-cluide, or " shore of the Clyde. " 327 The place where its insulated rock stood is described, by Venerable Bede, as on the right hand of the western gulf, which formerly divided the Picts from the Britons. There was the strong city Alcluitli, where the western extremity of the Roman Wall ended. 32S The Irish version of Nennius, we are told, describes it, as the Cathraig, in Leamhain, or " the Rock on the Leven," as found in the " Book of Ballymote. " 3*9 This again, is said to have been known as Dun-Britton,
And some sayen on the Fight wall
certayne,
At the west end it stood, that now is
playne. "
After the thirteenth century, the name of
Alcluid was supplanted by Dun-breatain, "Life of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 15,
now Dumbarton. Very Rev. Canon Toole's
P- 43-
'^^ For a detailed accoinit of the Strath-
see Chalmers' "
cluyd Britons, Caledonia,"
vol. i. , pp. 235 to 249.
'-7 Manuscript of Very Rev. Laurence
Canon Toole, pp. 24 to 26.
5-8 See " Ilistoria Ecclesiastica Gcntis
and with notes and indices, 33° See FuUarton's " Gazetteer LL. D. , edited, Imperial
to
3^' See Martin A. O'Brennan's "
Manuscript, pp. 30
34.
of Ireland," p. 44I.
3^^ See Dr. Todd's Irish version of the
Liber Hymnorum.
3^3 See Edward "
O'Reilly's Irish-English
Dictionary," under either form of the word.
In Cormac's "Glossary," translated and
annotated by the late John O'Donovan, script, p. 27.
History
by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , Alt is rendered
""
a cliff" or height. "
1868, 4to.
3=-»
Meaning, likewise, Clyde. "
See p. 4, Calcutta, "rock on the
3^5 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
Angloruni," lib. i. , ca]>, i. , xii.
^''s According to Canon Toole's Manu-
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 463
"
or
holds, against the assaults of their enemies. The site is thought, also, to have been a Roman naval station, under the name of Theodosia ; and, it appears not improbable, that the rock was occupied, by a Roman fort. It has an interesting history. The rock is an erupted trappean mass of basalt, pro- truding through beds of red sandstone, having a double peaked form, and cleft towards the summit, by a narrow, deep chasm. It rises sheer up, from the circumjacent low, flat, marshy tract, and, it stands completely isolated, from any other elevations. This is said to have been the capital city of Strathclyde. 33° To-day,itisknownasDumbarton,averynotableland-mark, on the north bank of the River Clyde. 33^ A castle, and a small garrison, with the governor's house, occupy this position, from which the view is truly panoramic and gorgeous. 332 It must be observed, Avhile endeavouring to prove Nemthur identical with Alcluide, or near it, Colgan was yet puzzled, to find the exact locality for such a town. 333 None of those writers, treating on this subject, have succeeded, by identifying St. Patrick's birth, with any single ancient locality, about or near Dumbarton, and named in original documents. Nor,inthecourseofcarefullyexaminingthisdistrict,bycon- sulting recognised authorities concerning its topography, is it possible to
obtain any acceptable evidence, in corroboration. 334 By some authorities,333
the British fort," because it was regarded as one of their chief strong-
of Scotland, Topographical, Statistical and Historical," vol. i.
"
Life of St. Patrick,'' chap, v. , vi. This is thought the more pro- bable, as his assumed relative, St. Martin, was Bishop of Tours. However, it cannot be made to agree, with the text of St. Patrick's Confession. That city, in our saint's time, was so respectable and cele- brated, that had the Irish Apostle been a native of it, nothing could have been more
^'^ The conversion of v into b is even
more common. We find a familiar illustra-
tion of this cliange, in the old Latin name
for Ireland. As almost every student knows,
our island was variously written, Ibemia,
Ivemia, Hibernia, Juvernia, and lernia.
However, the English word Tavern, which
is exactly derived from the Latin Tabcntce,
is a still more apposite illusU-ation, as re-
gards the present enquiry. The intermediate
vowel swayed in sound, with those conso-
nants, which enclosed it. As the primary
Latin t changed into the softer and feebler d,
and the b into v, the intermediate a lost its
full force. Mediaeval Latin melts it into an
7, in the word Divernia. Again, the modern easily expressed. Nor would there have
French form, Desvres, brings it back, to- wards its place, at the head of the alphabet. Nor does it run the whole vowel gamut, as from Ibernia to Juvernia.
been any necessity for adding the name of the district, such as Tabicrnia. Neither could such a city as Tours have been deno- minated viats. Besides, Tours was never
^" It is stated, that N is but a prefix comprised, in any part of Armorica ; nor
introduced, to fill a hiatus in the text, while Emtur is the proper verbal form. This word, then, means, not Holy Tower, but a
tower, belonging to some place or person, indicated by the word Em.
could it be referred to that province, for it lay at too great a distance from the sea.
^t^ " His- See Dr. Lanigan's Ecclesiastical
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, iii. , sect, vi. ,
and nn. 55, 56, pp. 91, 92.
-^ is deemed to be for Colgan responsible,
a mistranslation of its meaning.
^^' When Jocelyn spells Nempthor or Emptlior, with /, in the " Sexta Vita S.
Patricii," cap. i. , xi. . Dr. Lanigan says he should have omitted the letter in.
'^^ It is said to be even so of our Breviaries.
spelled,
in some
-T= In one Manuscript, this is said to have been in Provence, France.
-76 See nn. 226, 227, 233, 234, in the First Chapter of this Life.
^^ " Ballynamuck, for example," says Mr. John Cashel Hoey, "means the town of, or on, the river Muck. Tulloch na Daly (whose swelling dimensions the Frencli afterwards curbed into the famous name of Tollendall) is a more apposite instance. "
"T^ See Lynch's
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 459
tween the Loire and Meuse, in ancient Gaul. Consequently, Boulogne lay within this territory, usually called Neustria, but frequently also known, as Neptricum,orNeptria. Wearetold,^^^thatlongafterSt. Fiach'sHymnhad been written, the name Neptria or Neustria became confined to a smaller part of this great province. ^^3 That Bannaue or Bonavem, St. Patrick's birthplace, was in the province of Nevtria,^^4 has been asserted by Probus. ^^5 According to these writers of the Third and Fourth Lives, however, Nemthor wasinTaburnia,andJocelynsays,thatNemthorwasnearTaburnia. This does not well accord, with Dr. Lanigan's theory, about Neustria, or Neptria. This ancient name, he states, was applied to the old Britain ; but, in course of time, and when the Normans began to invade various parts of north- western Gaul, the name Normannia was used indiscriminately for Neustria. ^^^ They were so identified, that, as one of them happened to be limited to a smaller extent of country, the other was likewise circumscribed ; so that, when writing in Latin, Neustria is the term applied to Normandy, by modern writers. 2^7 The circumstance of St. Patrick calling his country Britain is re-
garded as affording intrinsic evidence, respecting the antiquity of his Con-
fession ; for, the saint well knew the name of his own province, and he also
took into account, that it must have been known, by the people, to whom he
wrote, under a like name. After the denomination Neustria prevailed, that
of Britain fell into disuse. ^^^ However, in his erudite and ingenious Essay
on the birthplace of St. Patrick, Mr. John Cashel Hoey concludes, by iden-
tifying Divernia Bononiensis, with the TahernicR Bononiensis, while he thinks
Toiirnehem must be identical with Nemtur, or' Emtor, and Enna he makes
synonymous with Enon. If it were necessary, he says, to push liis proofs a
step further, there is the district, called Le Wicquet, which is undoubtedly
derived from the " which be the vt'co Bona- Latin, Vicus,"^^9and, mightnaturally
vem Tabernice, of which the Confession speaks ; yet, the historian of Desvres,
Baron d'Ordre, already cited, disputes this derivation. He maintains, the word is Celtic, and that it comes from IVic, a Celtic term for "wood," like our word "wicket. " Both may be right, for Viciis may be a Latin form of the same word. ^9° We have thus fairly analysed some of the best inferential proofs, from topographic names occurring, for France, and especially for its northern parts, as having a presumed connexion with the birth and with the early childhood of our glorious national Apostle.
^^ By Rev. Dr. Lanigan. Jocelyn. "—" Ecclesiastical History of Ire- ^^3 Other names had been applied, for land," vol. i. , chap, iii. , sect, x. , and notes
various portions of it. See liadran Valesius loc. cit.
province
^^* This is one of the passages, which in- duced Colgan to dislike Probus. The Bol- landists blame him, for having used the word Nevtria. They say, he should have called it
Hadrian Valesius writes, Fag7im Pontiviiin vitus liber de vita S. Judoci vocat ; vocat et liber vetustissimus de vita B. Furscui abbatis ; et amboe vita; Haimonem ducem in eo pago sedem habuisse tradunt. " See
callsit "CadomumNeustriasocellum. "
^'^^ See Dr. "Ecclesiastical Lanigan's
History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, iii. , sect, xv. , pp. 117, 1 1 8.
^^9 According to M. Jean Scoti, Lieu- tenant particulier de la Sennechaussee de
Boulogne.
^5° Among the names of villages, in this dis-
trict, of the history ofwhich Mr. Hoey could find no trace, one was called Erin, the place where Blessed Benedict Joseph Labre was
and not have made a of it, since it was only a town.
" Notitia at Pontiviis Galliarum,"
Nemthuria,
^ ^^7 Hadrian Valesius, at Normannia, In the Dedication of the " Geographia Sacra," speaking of Caen in Normandy, Bochart
28s "Why should Probus not make Ncv-
tria a province," asks Dr. Lanigan, " having just before mentioned the town Bannaue?
Was he to
was in the town of Nevtria? They re- spected, however, Probus as an author, and have defended him against an unwarrantable attack of Stanihurst. Some others, among whom Harris (Bishops, p. 6), have endea- voured to depreciate the authority of Pro- bus, who, in spite of their wish to support the fable of Nemthor in Great Britain, is vastly more respectable than their favourite
say,
that the town of Bamtaue
94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, pp. loi, 102. ^^ "
pagus.
460 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
The opinion, that St. Patrick was a Scotchman, has been held, by many of our most respectable authorities, and it has nearly the unanimous assent of all the Scottish historians^^^ and antiquaries. ""^^ Various Chronicles and
Martyrologies have been quoted, by Dempster,^93 to prove, that St. Patrick had been born in Scotland. Among the chief writers, who are in favour of
this theory, may be named Ussher,^? ^ and Colgan. A special Dissertation, on the birthplace of St. Patrick, has been inserted, by the latter. ^95 Sir
James Ware, and his editor Walter Harris,^9^ the Bollandists,'97 Rev. Alban
Butler,298 Rev. James Wills,=99 Rev. Daniel Rock, D. D. ,3°° Rev. Dr. James Henthorn Todd,3°i Alfred Webb,3°2 as, also, various other writers, maintain
this view.
Special Treatises have been written, by the Rev. Duncan Mac-
3°4 and Rev. Laurence Canon 3°5 to establish Very Toole,
3°3
this claim for St. Patrick's nativity in Scotland.
nab,
J.
A.
Turner,
CertaincommentsuponSt. Fiech'sHymn,andwhich,forthefirsttime, had been published by Colgan, 3°^ state, that Nemthur was a city in Northern Britain. They call it Alcluid, or Alcluida y°^ and, the name Nempthur is
also
as *' " or " Tower. " 308 the translated, meaning heavenly holy However,
bom. TheCommissionersfortheTopography
of Gaul, as established under the authority of
the late Emperor of the French, A. D. 1858, in
addition to the topographical surveys and ex- cavations, which they have carried on, have
published an oro-hydrographical ^nap of Gaul, in four sheets ; a map of Coesar's cam- paigns, now out of print ; a map of Gaul under Cresar's proconsulate, in four sheets, like the first ; as also some parts of an archaeologi- cal Dictionary of Gaul. The Celtic Period contains forty-two quarto sheets, and forty engraved folio plates, giving a rcsiuiic of the archaeological history of each locality, the nameofwhichissetdown; amapofGaul, indicating the site of dolmeqs and megalithic monuments, as also that of inhabited caverns in pre-historic times ; a preliminary map of Gaul, referring to the fifth century B. C. ; and instructions for
correspondents
^5fi See Harris' Ware, vol.
i. ,
"Arch-
mission. They have also in contemplation
a map, showing the geographical distribution
of the Gallic tribes, and a Dictionary of Gallo- Roman archreology, from the reign of Augustus, to the period of the Frankish kings. The non- private publications of the Commission, and such as are not out of print, can be had, at the Libraire Militaire de Du- niaine,inParis. InanissueoftheAcademy,
"
Edinburgh, 1872,
vol. v. , part i. , No. x. , pp. 261 to 284, 4to.
A. D. M. Henri Gaidoz calls 1S73,
3°5 In an admirable
" Where was
special attention to the very interesting results, then
St. Patrick born ?
"
Paper,
read at the Catholic
reachedbytheCommission.
"
-9' See James Walsh's
Catholic Church of Scotland," chap, iii. ,
Academia,Manchester,1S76. Thelearned
author has kindly lent his Manuscript of this valuable Tract—yet unpublished—and it has been used with great advantage, in discussing the present question.
pp. 40, 41.
=9= See William F. Skene's
"
Celtic Scot-
land a of ancient
: History Alban,"
''
3°^ See his 3°7 See ibid.
n.
3='* Colgan has it, "Neamthur sive
— Crclestis turris
Neamptor, i. e. , appellatur. "
chap, i. , pp. 19, 20.
=9^ See " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Sco-
torum," tomus ii. , lib. xv. , num. looi, p. 521.
"
I, p. 4.
Britannicarum Ecclesiarum An- tiquitates," cap. xvii. , pp. 426, 427.
"9'* See
of the Com-
^59 See "Lives of Illustrious and Distin- guished Irishmen," vol. i. , part i. First Period, pp. 85, 86.
3°° See his book, "Did the early Church
of Ireland acknowledge the Pope's Supre- macy? answered in a Letter to Lord John Manners. "
3°' See "St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland,"
chap, ii. , pp. 355 to 361.
3^- See "A Compendium of Irish Bio-
graphy," p. 430.
3^^ See his * ' Dissertation Archaeological
on the Birthplace of St. Patrick," read in
St. Margaret's School-room, at Airdee, on
the 25th of September, 1865. Duffy's, Dublin : 1866, 8vo.
3°-* See " An Inquiry as to the Birthplace of St. Patrick," read before the Society of
Scottish Antiquaries, 8th of January, 1872.
History of the
vol.
Trias
Scholia Veteris Scholiastcc,
ii. ,
Thaumaturga. "
Ibid. , n. 2, p. 6. The Fourth (cap. i. ) and the Seventh (lib. i. , cap. i. ) Life of our Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. ii. , pp. saint have the same interpretation. See pp.
"^5 See "Trias Thaumaturga. " Quinta
221 to 224. 35. "7-
bishops of Armagh," pp. 5, 6.
^' See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. ,
xvii. Martii. De S. Patricio, Episcopo, Com- mentarius pra;vius, sect, ii. , pp. 518, 519.
^® See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and other Principal Saints," vol. iii. , March xvii.
Archasologia Scotica,"
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 461
writer adds, in another note, that St. Patrick and his family removed from Alc]uida,3°9 and they went, for the transaction of business, to Armorican Lethania, or Letha. 3'° This latter word, as we are informed, has nearly the same meaning as Armorica, being styled by the British Celts, Llydaw, i. e. , litoralis, or " upon the shore. " The First. s" Second^'^ and Third3^3 Lives of our saint have nothing to indicate the situation3'4 of Nemthor, and nothing whatever about Alcluida, or Alcluide ; while the Fourth Life brings his parents from Armorica,3's to the region of Strato-CIude, Anglicised, Strath- Clyde, where he was born. The Fifth Life has it, that Patrick's birth took place, among the Britons ; that he belonged to the village Bannaue, of the Tiburnian district, and of the province of Nentria. 3i^ The Sixth Life states, that he was born and brought up, in the village, called Taburnia, near the town of Nempthor. 317 Again, the Irish Tripartite Life has it, that St. Patrick'soriginwasfromtheBritonsofAlcuide. 3'3 Nemthurissaidtohave been the place of his birth. 3'9 This place, if not the other localities here alluded to, must be sought for in Scotland, to furnish the requisite evidence, that she may claim St. Patrick, as one of her many distinguished sons.
The neighbourhood of Glasgow has been generally accepted, as tlie probable spot, to be assigned for St. Patrick's birthplace. Here it is thought should be found that ancient North Britain city of Nemthur, otherwise called Alcluide. 32° Now Alcluaid or Ercluad has been translated3^^ "upon an
3°9 Dr. Rock has asserted, that the WTiter
of St. Fiech's Hymn and its Commentator
had assigned the Britisli city, Alcluilh, under the poetical name of Nemthur, as the birth-
3'9 Sae "Septima Vita S. Patricii," lib. i. , cap. i. , p. 117.
3^° According to the . Scholiast, on the Hymn, attributed to St. Fiach. Again, in " The Four Ancient Books of Wales," edited by William F. Skene, there is an old Poem, copied from a Manuscript, formerly belonging to a Priory of Black Canons in Carmarthen, suppressed in the reign of King Henry VIII. This Poem professes to be a conversation, between Merdyn and Taliesin ;
Britons and their northern enemies, who were routed. In the first line of the third stanza,thet—ownofNempthurorNevturis mentioned
:
" Rac denur inentur y tirran. "
" Before two men in nevtur will they land. "
of St. Patrick. See "Did the Church of Ireland acknowledge the Pope's Supremacy ? answered in a Letter to Lord John Manners," p iii. Yet, there seems to be little similarity, in those names, in sound or meaning.
place
Early
3'° Camden seems to confine Letha, or, as
some writers of the middle ages call it, Le- and, it describes a battle, between the
lavia, to that tract, now denominated Bri-
tany. See "Britannia," col. cxxxii.
3" See " Hymnus sen Prima Vita S.
Patricii. " Strophe i, p. i.
3'^ See " Secunda Vita S. Patricii," cap.
i. , iv. , p. II.
3'3 See " Tertia Vita S. Patricii," cap. i. ,
iv. , p. 21.
3'* Except, indeed, that it was situated in
a afterwards called " be- Mr. in reference to this
plain, camp-field,"
cause a Roman army had there wintered, for
Skene,
awhile ; hence the was called Ta- —
bern, Campus" Tabuerni, id est, campus tabernaculorum.
3'S We find " mare and one not to —or indeed
and, spot
" *^
that to a called place
gests for Thyrrenum "is Gallicum," as the Gaulish Sea was near Armorica. See
"
Quarta Vita S. Patricii," cap. i. , p. 35, and n. 4, p. 48.
3'6 See " Quinta Vita S. Patricii," lib. i. , cap. i. , p. 51.
castle of Alclude
3'7 See iv. , p. 65.
"
Sexta Vita S.
"
3"* See Sister Maiy Francis Clare Cusack's Life of St. Patrick," p. 372.
Patricii," cap. i. ,
Poem, says : " There is one—allusion in it which marks
gi'eat antiquity
Nevtur—" which can be no other
than
Neinpttir themostancientname added, juxta Thyrre- barton, applied it,
of Dum-
num. " However, as Colgan remarks, this
latter denomination means the Tuscan or
known, after the eighth century. " Vol. i. , chap, xii. , p, 222. John Hardyng, who lived in the fourteenth century, wrote an English Chronicle, in verse. Relating the historic
legends of that time, he says, a king, named Ebranke, who live—d 800 years B. C. , built the
Lower Sea, M'liile the emendation he sug- ""
"
:
In Albanye he made and edifyed.
The Castle of which Dumbri- Alclude,
tayne.
As some authors by Chronicle hath ap-
. plied.
462 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17. angle or a corner. " 322 But, according to other writers, this denomination is
or " a rock," and Ciuid, the name Ail,323
resolvable into two
compounds, Al,
for the present River Clyde. Hence, the compound word might mean, " the
rock on the Clyde. " According to this derivation, Alcluid should be in Albain or North Britain. It is supposed, this may be identical with the Petra Cloithe,324 mentioned by Adamnan. 3^5 From the Clyde, also, is derived the name of that district, Strathclyde,^^^ through which it flows ; while, we are told, that the level land, on the bank opposite to Dumbarton, had been
Dumbarton Rock and Castle, Scotland.
called Ara-cluide, or " shore of the Clyde. " 327 The place where its insulated rock stood is described, by Venerable Bede, as on the right hand of the western gulf, which formerly divided the Picts from the Britons. There was the strong city Alcluitli, where the western extremity of the Roman Wall ended. 32S The Irish version of Nennius, we are told, describes it, as the Cathraig, in Leamhain, or " the Rock on the Leven," as found in the " Book of Ballymote. " 3*9 This again, is said to have been known as Dun-Britton,
And some sayen on the Fight wall
certayne,
At the west end it stood, that now is
playne. "
After the thirteenth century, the name of
Alcluid was supplanted by Dun-breatain, "Life of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 15,
now Dumbarton. Very Rev. Canon Toole's
P- 43-
'^^ For a detailed accoinit of the Strath-
see Chalmers' "
cluyd Britons, Caledonia,"
vol. i. , pp. 235 to 249.
'-7 Manuscript of Very Rev. Laurence
Canon Toole, pp. 24 to 26.
5-8 See " Ilistoria Ecclesiastica Gcntis
and with notes and indices, 33° See FuUarton's " Gazetteer LL. D. , edited, Imperial
to
3^' See Martin A. O'Brennan's "
Manuscript, pp. 30
34.
of Ireland," p. 44I.
3^^ See Dr. Todd's Irish version of the
Liber Hymnorum.
3^3 See Edward "
O'Reilly's Irish-English
Dictionary," under either form of the word.
In Cormac's "Glossary," translated and
annotated by the late John O'Donovan, script, p. 27.
History
by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , Alt is rendered
""
a cliff" or height. "
1868, 4to.
3=-»
Meaning, likewise, Clyde. "
See p. 4, Calcutta, "rock on the
3^5 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
Angloruni," lib. i. , ca]>, i. , xii.
^''s According to Canon Toole's Manu-
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 463
"
or
holds, against the assaults of their enemies. The site is thought, also, to have been a Roman naval station, under the name of Theodosia ; and, it appears not improbable, that the rock was occupied, by a Roman fort. It has an interesting history. The rock is an erupted trappean mass of basalt, pro- truding through beds of red sandstone, having a double peaked form, and cleft towards the summit, by a narrow, deep chasm. It rises sheer up, from the circumjacent low, flat, marshy tract, and, it stands completely isolated, from any other elevations. This is said to have been the capital city of Strathclyde. 33° To-day,itisknownasDumbarton,averynotableland-mark, on the north bank of the River Clyde. 33^ A castle, and a small garrison, with the governor's house, occupy this position, from which the view is truly panoramic and gorgeous. 332 It must be observed, Avhile endeavouring to prove Nemthur identical with Alcluide, or near it, Colgan was yet puzzled, to find the exact locality for such a town. 333 None of those writers, treating on this subject, have succeeded, by identifying St. Patrick's birth, with any single ancient locality, about or near Dumbarton, and named in original documents. Nor,inthecourseofcarefullyexaminingthisdistrict,bycon- sulting recognised authorities concerning its topography, is it possible to
obtain any acceptable evidence, in corroboration. 334 By some authorities,333
the British fort," because it was regarded as one of their chief strong-
of Scotland, Topographical, Statistical and Historical," vol. i.
