No More Learning

See Bishop Forbes' Kalendars of
Scottish Saints," p. 112.
'7 There was a P'intereth, Fintre, or Fin-
trich, in the deanery of Gavioch and diocese
of Aberdeen; there was, likewise, a collegiate
church at in the of
Fintray, deanery Lennox,
archbishopric of Glasgow. See Rev.
num
Modanum Midanumque /rai/r^j ad ""
— Acta
See "Circle of the Seasons," p. 35.
;
XXVI. inscripsit.
Sanctorum,"
tomus i. , Februarii iv. De S. Modano,
"
Abbate in Scotia, sec. 5, p. 497.
Mackenzie E. C. "Walcott's
Scoti-Mo-
"
nasticon," pp. 115, 197, 265, 372. This latter is likely to have been the place,
^^ See Forbes' "Kalendars of Bishop
Scottish Saints," p. 128.
'9 Fintray was a parish church, and one
of the endowments of St. Patrick's collegiate
See, also, the
"
Lives of the Irish Saints,"
a Cistercian Monk, at this
"See the Bollandists' "Acta Sancto-
rum," tomus i. , iv. Februarii, pp. 497, 498.
by
date, p. 198.
'3 See "Kalendars of Scottish Saints," pp. church, at Dunbarton. See Chalmers'
400, 401. This remark is also made by "Caledonia," vol. iii. , chap, viii. , sect.
''
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," tomus ii. , Ub. xii. , num. 936,
Dempster, in p. 493.
viii. , p. 901.
^'* At the
p. 401. We are informed, moreover, that
Scottish Saints," p. 143.
" also. Hector Boetius, "Scotorum See,
Hystoriae," lib. viii. , fol. clvii.
u
of November. See Vol. II.
14th
idid. ,
='°
See Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of
29© LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February 4.
February. ^^^ Other saints, bearing the name of Modan or Muodan, occur in
our Irish Calendars. ^3 King Conran is said to have succeeded his brother
Congal, A. D. 501. ^''^ During his reign, Hector Boetius states, that several
eminent, holy and learned saints flourished. Among these, he observes,
Medan and Modan were pious preachers of Christ's Gospel, among the
Scots and Picts. ^5 These are also said to have been contemporaries and
countrymen of Winfredus, a son of the Scottish king,'"^ who left Scotia to
spread the Gospel elsewhere, and who is said to have been the same as St.
Fridolin,=7byDempster. Hislearningandmeritsaregreatlyextolled. ^^^ We
are left in doubt, regarding the Scotia, to which St. Modan and St. Medan
belonged by birth. The Breviary of Aberdeen states, however, that casting
aside his royal descent and riches, the pious servant of God, Modan, assumed
thelowlycowlofamonk. Thus,hewishedtobecometheheirofChrist.
From the very beginning of his life, Modan's days were passed, under the
monastic rule and habit. He thus lived, in poverty, in chastity, and in
obedience. Medan is said, likewise, to have adopted the monastic rule and
profession ; and, it has been stated, that he wrote a book, On the Praise of a
Monastic Life. ^9 A monastery,3° probably founded by Oswald, the Anglo-
Saxon King of Northumberland, at Melrose,3^ in Roxburghshire, existed
A. D. 664 ;32 and, it is thought possible, that the religious residence of Dry-
burgh had been transferred to the former place, long before Venerable Bede
had composed his history. 33 With the latter place, our saint's life appears
tohavebeenmoreparticularlyconnected. TheAbbeyofDryburgh,situated
near Mailros, was anciently one of the most famous monasteries in Scotland.
The fact of Woodburn, in the county of Antrim, and of Druin-la-Croix, in
the county of Armagh,34 having been subjected to it, seems to confirm an opinion, that an original Scoto-Irish foundation had been there established. 35
At this date, Camerarius has placed St. Modanus, -as Abbot of Dryburgh. 3^
^ See Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p, 191.
^4 This is said to have been the fourth mate. The monks, believing that it an-
=3 At the 6th of March, there is a St.
Muadan, Bishop of Carn-furbaidhe ; at the
29th of May, there is a St. Mo-Dune ; and,
at the 30th of August, there is a St. Muadan,
Bishop of Aireagal-Mhuadain. See " Mar-
tyrology of Donegal," edited by Drs. Todd
and Reeves. Table of the Martyrology, Melrose, a miraculous sound used to be pp. 450, 451, 454, 455. heard, before the death of each religious in-
year of King Ambrosius' reign, and the twelfth of Anastasius, Prince of the Ro- mans.
nounced the near decease of one among their fraternity, began at once to prepare for
*'
Scotorum," lib. iv.
^"i Venerated on the 6th of March.
=^ See Georgius Conseus, " De Statu Re-
ligionis apud Scotos," lib. i. , p. 30.
o's See Hector Boetius' "
Scoto-
=^ "
rum," lib. viii. , fol. clvii.
See Joannes Leslzeus, **De Gestis
3= According to Venerable Bede's Ec-
"
'9 Such is Dempster's account, in his Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum,"
clesiastica Historia Gentis Anglorum," lib.
iii. , cap. xxvi. , p. 239.
33 See Francis Grose's "Antiquities of
Scotland," vol. i. , pp. loi, I20.
*. 34 See Archdall's " Monasticon Hibemi-
cum," pp. 140, 141.
35 See Bishop Spottiswoode apud Keith's
Hystorie
tannise,
cap. xii. , p. 78.
tomus ii. , lib. xii. , num. 844, p. 450. Ac-
cording to some, he flourished A. D. 534,
while others state, he lived A. D. 803. He p. 400. Edition Russel, Edinburgh, 1824,
is ranked among the saints of Scotland, and
he is said to be the patron of Kylmadak.
See John Lesley, "De Gestis Scotorum," lib. iv. , p. clxvii.
"
Kalendars of Scottish Saints. This maybe found under Scottish Entries in the Kalendar of David
Camerarius, p. 234.
3° St. Aidan became first bishop or presi- dent over it. See James A. Wade's " His- tory of St. Mary's Abbey, Melrose, the Monastery of Old Melrose, and the Town and Parish of Melrose," chap, ii. , pp. 82,
%},.
3' John Major relates a curious popular
tradition, that in the church or cloisters of
Confession. See
Historia Majoris Bri-
tarn
lib. Anglix quam Scotise," ii. ,
"Catalogue of the Bishops of Scotland,"
3^ See Bishop Forbes'
February 4. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS 291
It seems clear, if this be admitted, the date for his government of this abbey, A. D. 522,isaltogetherinadvanceofthetruetime. InthereignofDavidI. ,
King of Scotland, about a. d. i 150, Hugo de Morville, Constable of Scotland, and his wife Beatrix de Beauchamp, founded, at Dryburgh, a Premontre or Premonstratensian Abbey ; and, they obtained for it a charter of confirma- tion, from the monarch. It was afterwards taken under his protection. The churchyard was consecrated, on St. Martin's day, 1150. 37 This religious foundation experienced various subsequent vicissitudes. 3^ Dryburgh Abbey was the offspring of Alnwick,39 from which place the monks came a. d. 1152. Many other Scottish foundations took their constitutions from English houses. This abbey is celebrated, all the world over, because it contains the dust of one,"*® illustrious in the literary annals of Scotland. '*^ Sir Walter Scott was interred in his family burial aisle, amid the ruins of Dryburgh Abbey ;42 and, there the pilgrim of sensibility and of culture will recollect his exquisite poetic lines,43 which seem, as it were, to have been inspired, by aconsciousnessofhisownundyingliteraryrenown. TheruinsofDryburgh are in a deep gloom of wood, on the northern side of the River Tweed. -»* The situation and surrounding scenery render the old abbey a most pic- turesque objectj'^s while its historic associations are full of special interest. In1772,therewerescarcelyanyremainsofthechurch; but,muchofthe convent, part of the cloister walls, a fine radiated window of stone-work, with the refectory, supported by two pillars, several vaults and other offices, were to be seen. ^^ The refectory had fallen,'^7 although its gable ends re-
37 See Hay's "Reliquiae Sacrse Scotiae," vol. i. , p. 301.
3^ See a very interesting account of it, in
Francis Grose's " of Antiquities Scotland,"
vol. i. Berwickshire, pp. loi to 109.
the distinguished novelist and poet accom- panies this memoir.
;
Who that when the Poet dies, say,
Mute Nature mourns her worshipper,
And celebrates his ; obsequies
Who say, tall cliff and cavern lone. For the departed Bard make moan ; That mountains weep in crystal rill ; That flowers in tears of balm distil ; Through his loved groves that breezes
sigh.
And oaks, in deeper groan, reply ; And rivers teach their rushing wave To murmur dirges round his grave. "
39 See "
Article on Scottish Abbeys and Cathedrals, p. 117.
^° See that most interesting of biographies,
*'
J. G. Lockhart's
Sir Walter Scott, Bart. ," chap. Ixxxiii.
*'
Among the beautiful elegiac tributes, reared to the memory of the great departed, not the least worthy is that by a distinguished
Quarterly Review," June, 1849.
conclude
:
" When
In mindless gloom,
Lay
feeling, fancy,
wit shall
sleep
44 See Pennant's "Tour in Scotland,"
MDCCLXXII. , part ii. , p. 269. An engrav-
ing, in copper, accompanies the description of Pennant, and it gives a good idea of their state, at that time.
45 Two fine copperplate views of the ruins,
at Dryburgh, and differing in point of posi-
Memoirs of the Life of
*'
Lines written on the
Irish poet, in the
Death of S—ir Walter Scott," and which thus
—"The v. , sect. i.
of the Last Minstrel,"
canto
Then dull forgetfulness may creep Around his-tomb !
Then, may tha pilgrim step forego That honoured shrine :
Then weeds on Dryburgh's tomb may
grow,
And, Avon, thine !
The Idolatress ; and other Poems," by James Wills, D. D. M. R. I. A. , pp. 195 to
197.
*^ See a view of this venerable moulting
pile, given with a biographical sketch of Sir Walter Scott, in "The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge," 1832, vol. i,. No. 37, p. 304. A representation of Mr, Chantrey's bust of
in Francis Grose's Antiquities of Scot- land," vol. i. , pp. loi, 108. One view shows a south-west aspect, and it was drawn in 1789.
4*^ See Thomas Pennant's description in his "Tour in Scotland," MDCCLXXII. , part ii. , p. 269.
47 See the ground-plan and another beauti-
ful illustration of the ruins, in Rev. Mackenzie
—"
43 " Call it not vain — do not
tion, from Pennant's engraving, may be seen ""
E. C. Walcott's 328, 529.
"
Scoti-Monasticon," pp.
they err,
2*92 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February 4
mained, a few years subsequently, when Francis Grose had come to sketch and describe the old abbey. -^^ From several appearances in the ruins now remaining, there is reason to believe, that there had been buildings, at Dry- burgh, of the ancient foundation, when the new works were erected in the twelfth century. 49 Fragments of a more ancient style of architecture are found, intermixed with those of King David's age. 5° Modan gave six or seven hours every day to prayer. s^ Moreover, he seasoned with it all his other actions and employments. ^^ In these good works, he is said to have beenemulated,byhisbrotherMedan. ss Wherethelatterlived,wearenot informed. Prayer is founded in the purity of man's affections. It is also the fruit of self-denial, humility and obedience. Hence, proceeded the ardour, with which Modan studied to crucify his flesh and senses, by practi- sing the greatest austerities. He wished to place himself beneath all crea- tures, by the most profound and sincere humility ;54 and, in all things, he desired to subject his will to that of his superiors, with such an astonishing readiness and cheerfulness, that these directors unanimously declared, they never saw any one, like Modan, so perfectly divested of all self-seeking and so deadtohimselfss InthemonasteryatDryburgh,thisholydisciplededicated himselftoGod,abouttheyear522,accordingtoCamerarius. s^ This,how- ever,istooearlyadate. IntheChronicleofScone57aresomedistinctiveno- tices, regarding this saint. He is classed among those, belonging to the Bene- dictineorder,byJohnWilsons^andbyArnoldWion. s9 Yet,FatherJohn Boland very justly remarks, that if he lived, in the beginning of the sixth century,*^° such could not have been the case, since at that early period, the Benedictine institute had not been extended beyond Italy f^ whereas, if he flourished, about 800, the matter might be less doubtful, for Boland thinks, at the latter period, the Benedictine rule and manner of living had been widely spread throughout Britain. ^^^ But, Hector Boetius^3 and Lesley^'* aver, that Medan and Modan were brothers, who became monks, and who were remarkable for their sanctity and learning. They flourished, it is said, during the reign of King Achaius,^5 and this brings them so late as the ninth
'''^ See'* p. 108.
Antiquities
ofScotland,"vol. i. ,
s*See"DeStatuHominis,veterissimul ac novae Ecclesije, et Infidelium Conver- sione," lib. i. , pars ii. , cap. iii. , sec. 2, p.
142.
s? There is a beautiful illustration of the
Market Cross and Palace Gate at Scone, in
Rev. Mackenzie E. G. Walcott's " Scoti*
Monasticon," p. 19.
'
assert.
*' For proof of this assertion, the reader
''5 This opinion seems to be confirmed from the fact, that there was a sacristy or chapel and an ahar, dedicated to St. Modan. See Rev. Mackenzie E. C. Walcott's "Scoti-
Monasticon," p. 329, ""
5" See Grose's Antiquities of Scotland, vol. i. , p. 163.
58
S9 in "Lignum Vitae. " ^° As Hector Boetius,
5' See Camerarius, "De Statu Hominis,
veteris simul acnovee
Conversione," lib, i. , pars ii. , cap. iii,, sec. 2, p. 142.
Ecclesiae,
et Infidelium
John Lesley, Thomas Dempster and David Camerarius
s^" See Rev. Alban Butler's " Lives of the
Fathers, Martyrs and other Principal may consult Mabillon's "Annales Ordinis
Saints," vol. ii,, February iv.
s-* See Camerarius, "De Statu Hominis, veteris simul ac novee Ecclesiaj, et Infidelium
Conversione," lib. i. , pars ii,, cap. iii. , sec. 2, p. 142.
55 See Rev. Alban Butler's " Lives of the
Fathers, Martyrs and other Principal Saints," vol. ii. , February iv.
S. Benedicti," tomus i.
^* See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. , Feb*
ruarii iv. De S. Modano, Abbate in Scotia,
sec. 7, p. 497.
^^ See "Scotorum Hystorite," lib. viii. ,
fol. clvii.
^* See "Historia Scotise," lib. v. , p, 178. *s He died a,d. 819. See Johannis de
Fordun, "Chronica Gentis Scotorum," edited by William F. Skene, lib. iii. , cap. liii. , p. 138.
" Historia Ecclesiastica
sj See
Gentis Scotorum," tomus ii. , lib. xii. , num. 844, p, 450.
Dempster's
In the English Martyrology.
February 4. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
^^^
century ; for, the latter is said to have lived contemporaneously with the
Emperor Charlemagne, who was his ally. ^^ The abbacy of Dryburgh falling vacant,Modanwasraised,againsthiswill,tothatdignity. Itissaid,hewas thereverencedandmostreligiousfatherofmanymonks. ^7 intakingthis charge, his conduct was a clear proof, establishing the well-known maxim, that no man possesses the art of governing others well, unless he is perfectly a master over himself. ^^ From the hearts of many sons of iniquity, he cast
away anger, by his patience ; he extinguished envy, by love ; he prostrated pride, before humility ; he overcame sloth, by diligence in watching and prayer. Thus, he subdued every vice by its opposite virtue. His inflexible
firmness, in maintaining every point of monastic discipline, was tempered by the most winning sweetness and charity, and by an unalterable calmness and meekness. ^s» He wrought many wonderful miracles. Subduing his lower nature, St. Modan was content with bread and water, and he only took for nutriment herbs and water from the spring. He did not use wine or flesh. Thus, appeasing his hunger and thirst, his body was made a mirror of reli- gion ; while, frugal and sparing in food, his life was a model, in the ways of truth, virtue, and holiness. The name Modanus is said to have been be- stowed on him, because he hated all evil customs. 7° His habits were so
angelic, that what he lacked in heavenly grace he obtained by his prayers. 7^
Such, moreover, was his prudence, and such the unction of his words, when
instructing or reproving others, that his labours were most successful ; his
precepts and his very reprimands gave pleasure, and gained all hearts. His
presence inspired love, and communicated the spirit of every duty. He
tamed the external senses of sight and of hearing, which have been termed
the windows of death, and he closed these windows, with the bolts of Divine
fear and love. He never experienced irregular motions to sin ; for, by
chastity, he banished sensuality. He imbued with his doctrine the whole
Scotic race, who lived on the west side of the River Forth, or near the Scottish
sea. The people about Falkirk especially were converted to the inviolate
faith of Jesus Christ. ? ^ Dempster makes this saint the writer of various
tracts, only one of which remained,73 after the wreck of time ; however,
Father John Boland is sceptical regarding his statement, on which even he
throws discredit. 74 Although, St. Modan is called a bishop, by Dempster;
yet, we are told, that his place is unknown, and that, through the lapse of
time, many other statements are doubtful regarding him. 75 St. Modan
preached the word of life, with great zeal, and with no less fruit, in the country
7'5 His career was illustrious for the wonders he At wrought.
about
various places, near the River Forth, and especially at Falkirk, he carried
Sterling.
^ See Hector Boetius, " Scotorum Hys- toriae," lib. x. , fol. cxc. et seq.
Scottish Saints," p. 401.
73 it is called " De Episcopi Officio," lib.
—"
*^ See the Breviary of Aberdeen. of St. Modan, lect. i.
^^
Historia Ecclesiastica Geiitis Scoto- rum," tomus ii. , lib. xii. , num. 869, p. 459. 74 gee "Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. , Feb-
ruarii iv. , sect. 8, pp. 497, 498.
75 Thus some will have it, that he lived
A. D. 535, while others state, that he flour- ished a. d. 803. P'or notices regarding him and his brotlier Medan, Dempster quotes
Uion's "Lignum VitJe," lib, ii. , p. cdxxi. , "
See Rev. Alban Butler's "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other Principal Saints," vol. ii. , February iv.
'^ See Camerarius, " De Statu Hominis, veteris simul ac novae Ecclesiae, et Infidelium
Conversione," lib. i. , pars ii. , cap. iii. , sec. 2, p. 142.