Hinc, virile
accrescente
rctate, et Rrigantes Nortabriorum gentem, et Novanles mariti- mos illos sedulus invisit : quorum sedes ibi
erant, ubi nunc Begcc promontorium, I.
erant, ubi nunc Begcc promontorium, I.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
, p.
95.
Edinburgh, 1871, 8vo.
And a translation into English of
the same work, by his brother, Felix J. H. Skene, lib. iii. , cap. ix. , pp. 86, 87. Edinburgh, 1872, 8vo.
2* See "The Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland," by Androw of Wyntoun, edited by David Laing, vol. i. ,book v. , chap, x. , p. 385, and vol. ii. , book viii. , chap, xvi. , p. 357. Edinburgh, 1872, 8vo.
29 See Nova Legenda Anglie," fol. ccxli. , ccxliii.
30 See " Commentarii de Scriptoribus Britannicis," chap, xxxiii. , pp. 56, 57.
31 See Joannis Pitsei Angli, S. Theologiae
Doctoris, Liverduni in Lotharingia Decani,
" Relationvm Historicarvm de Rebus pp. 2 to 6. Anglicis," tomus i. , Aetas Quinta, num. 30.
De Niniano, pp. 86, 87. Parisiis, 1619, 4to.
Library
at
48 See "History of Stirlingshire," vol. i. , chap, xxi. , pp. 375 to 377.
49 It has since been translated into English, book viii. , chap, xii. , pp. 154, 155, and with notes and additions, by D. Oswald- chap, xxi. , p. 161, also book ix. , chap, xi. , Hunter Blair, O. S. B. , Monk of Fort pp. 184, 185. Augustus. This translation in Four 8vo. 33 See "Britannia Sancta," part ii. , pp. volumes has appeared under the title
32 See " The Church History of Brittany,"
130 to 133.
34 See " Bibliotheca
History of the Catholic Church of Scot-
nica," pp. 548, 549.
85 See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and
other Principal Saints," vol. ix. , September
the present Day. Edinburgh, 1877 to 1890, 8vo.
50 See ibid. , vol. i. , chap, i. , pp. 1 to 17. Published by T. Toovey, in 1845, 12m*
Britannico-Hiber-
Scotland,' vol. ii. , part vi. , chap, i. , pp. 162 et seq.
38 See " Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, i. , n. 149, p. 45, and chap, ix. , sect, ii. , and n. 17, pp. 434, 437, 438.
39 See "Ecclesiastical History of Scot- land," vol. i. , chap. ii.
40 See "Church History of Scotland," vol. i. , chap, iii. , pp. 50 to 53.
41 See " Histoire Generate de l'Eglise,"
tome iii. , p. 165.
42 See "Les Moines d'Occident," tome
iii. , liv. x. , chap, i. , pp. 19 to 24.
43 See " Vies des Saints," tome xi. ,
xvie Tour de Septembre, pp. 127, 128, and n.
44 See vol. xvii. , p. 513. Ninth edition.
1875, et seq. Edinburgh, 4to.
45 See vol. vii. , p. 506. New edition.
Edinburgh, 1888, etseq. Imp. 8vo.
46 See "Lives of the Saints," vol. ix. ,
September xvi. , pp. , 262 to 265.
47 See "Celtic Scotland : a History of
Ancient Alban," vol. ii. , book ii. , chap. i.
"
land from the introduction of Christianity to
3 88 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 16. Bishop of Candida Casa, and attributed to the Rev. John Barrow, D. D. ,
Oxford. In the " of Dictionary
of St. Edmund
Hall,
Christian Biography,"5 there is an interesting account of this saint, written
formerly Principal
2
bytheRev. JamesGammack. 53 However,mostcompleteandsatisfactory of all other Memoirs to the historical student are the researches of a prelate, who has rendered inestimable services to the elucidation of Scottish ecclesias- tical history. The Lives of St. Ninian and of St. Kentigern, have been edited by the Right Rev. Alexander Penrose Forbes, D. C. L. , Bishop of Brechin. 54 Not alone has he given an English translation of St. Ailrid's Latin Life of St. Ninian but in his learned General Introduction, and in
;
the appended Notes, which illustrate the allusions contained i-n it, hardly
anything seems wanting to furnish material for additional investigation. We
acknowledge with grateful obligation our indebtedness to this scholarly
monograph, for such intelligence as we may be able to convey, regarding the difficulties and obscurities that surround a biography and a period of history
so remote, and yet so interesting, as dating back to the very primordia of Christianity in Scoiland.
The present saint, Monenn or Maoinean, supposed to have been
identical with St. Ninian, is the earliest recorded Apostle of the Picts or
Caledonians. In this connection, the honorific Irish word mo, which signifies
""
my has been prefixed to Nenn or Nean, which are forms of St. Ninian's
name. The coincidence of the festival day, both in the Irish and British
Martyrologies, serves to favour such conjecture.
The great apostle of the S uthem Picts has been variedly named. By
Venerable Bede he has been called Ninia, and again Nynias. The Welsh
call him Nynnian. ss According to Venerable Bede, Bishop Ninian was of the nation of the Britons. These are said to have been the Cumraig Britons,s6 who, with the Roman soldiers, at the time of his birth, held the Romanised province of Valentia. Various opinions have been offered as to the exact place of Ninian's birth. It has been generaWy held, that he first saw the light in the country of the Niduni, or Niduari,57 in the south-western district of Scotland. 58 Some writers would make him to have been a Pict, by birth ; but, it has been stated, there were no Picts in that district until 426, at soonest. 59 However, the districts south of the Firths of Forth and Clyde, extending to the Solway Firth on the west, and to the Tyne on the east, were possessed by two kingdoms of the Britons. The former of these lay to the west, and extended northwards from the river Derwent in Cumberland,
5* Edited by William Smith, D. C. L. , as on the Map in William F. Skene's
LI,. I). ,and Henry Wace, D. D. , vol. iv. , pp. "Celtic Scotland: a History of Ancient
45. 46. Alban," vol. i. , hook i. , chap, v. , p. 228.
55M. &—
A. , LL. D. , Aberdeen. Leland thus writes regarding "Ninianus
54 .
"
"Ex Venetica duxisse eum
This edition forms the Fifth Volume of
Britannus"
:
the
1874. 8vo.
origininem provincia antiquitas adlirmabat, fratremque habuisse nomine Ph'benium, et trnerosin melioribus studiisannos collocssse.
Hinc, virile accrescente rctate, et Rrigantes Nortabriorum gentem, et Novanles mariti- mos illos sedulus invisit : quorum sedes ibi
erant, ubi nunc Begcc promontorium, I. u°u- ballia et Gallovidia Pu/ica. "—" Commen- taiii de Scriptoribus Britannicis," cap. xxxiii. , p. 56.
59 See John Pinkerton's " Enquiry into the History of Scotland," vol. ii. , part vi. , chap. i. , p. 265.
Historians of Scotland," Edinburgh,
55 On referring to the Life of St. Ninnio
or Ninian, the Senior, or the Old. Apostle
of the Southern Picts, chap, i. , at the 25th
of July, and in the Sixth Volume of this
work, Art. i. , the many other names, by
which he had been distinguished may be found.
56 See John Pinkerton's "Enquiry into the History of Scotland," vol. ii. , part vi. , chap, i. , p. 265.
» Sometimes distinguished Niduari Picts,
September 16. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 389
to the Firth of Clyde, and its people were known as the Strathclyde Britons ; while the latter included the Angles of Bernicia, towards the east.
It is stated, that this early Christian Apostle had been the son of a Christian father, who was also a king in that part of the island of Britain, towards the north-west,6° where the ocean stretching forth its arms formed an angle on each side, which divided Scotland from England in after times.
6'
This description applies to Galloway, in its old extent.
Scotland was inhabited by a people known as the Gallo Gaidhel. 62 That
6 3 which was situated in the south part of Britannia Barbara, * or the country lying north of the Picts' Wall, so far as Graham's Dyke, including also Northumberland, Dumfries, and other parts of Scotland. This territory was wrested from the Picts and Scots, during the reign of Valentinian, and formed into a Roman Province by Theodosius. However, it remained only for a short time in
possession of the Romans.
Ninian is said to have been born about the year 360, and of noble
parentage, in the country of the Novantes, near the Leuchophibia of Ptolemy, and the Whithern of modern times. 65 According to some accounts he had a brother named Plebenius, but this seems to be on a very doubtful tradition. 66 In his very infancy, Ninian was regenerated in the water of holy baptism ; and in the rhetorical language of his biographer Ailred, he preserved immaculate the nuptial robe of white he had received, while as a conqueror of vice, he presented it in the sight of Christ, and that Holy Spirit he first received to cleanse him, by most devout ways he merited to maintain, as the instructor of his pious heart. While still a boy, he shunned
whatever was contrary to religion, adverse to chastity, opposed to good morals, or discordant with the law of Truth. He ceased not to follow what- ever was useful to man, or pleasing to God ; he meditated on the command- ments, by day and by night ; he fulfilled every duty of life with the greatest devotion. Sparing* in food, reticent in speech, agreeable in manners, full of seriousness, and assiduous in study ; in everything he subjected the flesh to the spirit. He had a great reverence for churches, and a love for religious men. EspeciallywashisminddevotedtothestudyoftheSacredScriptures, and from them he learned to aspire after perfection, in which through a profound sense of humility he deemed himself very deficient. At length, through divine inspiration, he was induced to abandon family, friends and home, and to undertake a distant pilgrimage, as a suitable preparation for an enterprise of great importance he then meditated.
Having passed over the Britannic Sea, he travelled through Gaul. At this time paganism and the old heathen ideas were fast disappearing before the advances of Christianity on the continent. The most ancient city of modern
district was also within the Roman Province of 6
Valentia,
German)', Treves,
6? on the Moselle River, had been the long
60 This was as a distinct regarded
63 See Dr. William Smith's "
capital
Dictionary
princi- pality until about the tenth or eleventh
century.
61 See Father Innes' "Civil and Ecclesi-
astical History of Scotland," book i. , sect. xxviii. , p. 33.
62
This district, con*isting of the shires of Kirkcudbright and Wigton, was known to the Welsh as Galwydel, and to the Irish as Gallgaidel, from which had been formed
the name Gallweitha, now Galloway. See William F. Skene's "Celtic Scotland: a HistoryofAncientAlban,"vol. i. , booki. , chap, v. , p. 238, 239.
of Greek and Roman Geography," vol. ii. ,
p. 1254.
H See Ammianus Marcellinus, " Notitia
Imperii," lib. xxviii. , cap. 3.
6s See William Nimmo's "History of
Stirlingshire," vol. i. , chap, xxi. , p. 375.
66 Thus Bishop Tanner states: "Ex Venetica duxisse originem provincia anti- quitas affirmabat, fratremque habuisse nomine Plebenium et teneros in melioribus studiis annos collocasse. " — " Bibliotheca
Britannico-Hibernica,"p. 548.
• 6?
In ancient Gaul, a town occupied its
That portion ol
39° LIVES01THEIRISHSAINTS. [September16.
of the Gauls, and the seat of the Roman Prefects. 68 It was then the centre of Occidental civilization. After the accession of Constantine to the Roman Empire, one of his first acts was to restore the public exercise of their worship to tin Christians of Gaul. 00 Even before this time a great library
hadbeenattachedtothe
taught philosDphy, medicine, jurisprudence, belles-lettres, grammar, and
imperial palace,?
astrology, with the other sciences esteemed in those early ages. ?
2
Its
The Roman Black Gate,{(Treves.
importance was so great, that Ansonius called it the second capital of the Roman Empire. When Treves ceased to be a political capital, it became ecclesiastical ; and for more than a thousand years, it was known as the holy city of the Tr£veres, being under the rule of its bishops. In part, the grand
site, when taken possession of by the tration to Aries. It was frequently a royal
Romans, and the inhabitants were named
by them Treviri. Under the denomination
Augusta Trevirorum, it became a flourishing
city, and it is still most interesting as Smith's " Church in Roman Gaul," chap, containing many remains of Roman xiii. , p. 143.
grandeur, such as the Porta Nigra, the
palace, the amphitheatre, and extensive
ruins of the public baths. Few ancient
towns are richer in Roman antiquities ;
inscriptions, coins and medals are frequently
dug up ; and, it is said, that piers of the Treves was the most distinguished, and budge over the Moselle are of Roman or
Gaulish origin. Treves is included in the Rhenish Province of Germany.
"After the time of the Emperor Con- stantine, repeated inroads of the Germans caused the removal of the seat of adminis
singularly favoured by the Emperor Gratian, a great patron of learning.
andmthevariousschools? 1 were
residence under the Franks. See " Gazetteer of the World," vol. xiii, p. 162.
6j See Rev. Canon Richard Travers
70 See Guizot's " Ilistoire de la Civiliza-
tion en France," tome i. , p 104.
71 In Gaul, the Romans had then
established schools at Marseilles, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Autun, and Lyons. But that at
72 The accompanying illustration of the
Porta Nigra at Treves, from an approved modern engraving, has been drawn on the
wood and engraved by Gregor Grey.
September 16. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 391
cathedral is of Roman construction, although its chief features are original Gothic. "
At length, Ninian arrived at Rome, then the centre of the world's religious life, and the resort of many distinguished men, even from the remote Eastern countries. St. Jerome7'* had passed several years in study there, and his works afford us most vivid pictures of society and manners, during the fourth century. Then the rites of the Church were celebrated with pomp and dignity, in the basilicas over ground ; while the catacombs became the scenes of increased religious fervour, as they were sanctified by the tombs of the martyrs. The stricter clergy lived in colleges, thus antici- pating the monastic life; and as the dread of heathenism was gradually
disappearing, the churches were decorated with paintings and mosaics.
Pilgrims to the city were now beginning to arrive in great numbers, even from distant lands.
There Ninian visited those churches and holy places, where the relics of
the Apostles were kept. With many prayers commending himself to their protection, he shed abundance of tears through excess of devotion. There
too he resolved on
himself to Pope Damascus? 6 who is thought then to have ruled
exposed to him the motives for his journey. The Pontiff accepted his devotion with great affection, and recommended him to the care and instruction of teachers, who grounded him in Faith and in a knowledge of theSacredScriptures. 77 ThemysteriesofDivineWisdomNinianthoroughly embraced,78 and soon learned that many things contrary to sound doctrine had been taught him and his fellow-countrymen by unskilled teachers. His diligence, prudence and circumspection, combined with purity of soul and body, commended him to all, and even he obtained the favour and friend- ship of the Supreme Pontiff. Knowing that in the western parts of Britain some had heard the word of the Gospel from heretics or from men ill- instructed in the law of God, while many had not yet received the faith of Christ, and moved by a holy inspiration, the Roman Pontiff desired to remove all obstacles in the way of their conversion, and he deemed Ninian admirably qualified to become the happy instrument to effect such a result. Accordingly, he was ordained at Rome,79 and thus prepared for the arduous mission that had been destined for him.
It is stated, that he received episcopal consecration at the hands of Pope
St. Siricus. 80 A mission to the the Caledonians81 was preach Gospel among
then delegated to him. 82 On his return to Scotland, he passed by way of
73 See Elisee Reclus' " Nouvelle Geographie Universelle," tome iii. , liv. iii. , chap, iii. , sect, iii. , pp. 600, 603.
74 His festival occurs on the 30th September. See an account of this holy Father and learned Doctor of the Church in Le Sieur le Nain Tillemont's ''Memoir pour servir a l'Histoire
? 8 "
Nynia Episcopo
reverentissimo et sanc-
tome xii, of the Catholic Church of Scotland," &c, by Very Rev. Canon Alphons Bellesheim, D. D. , translated by D. Oswald- Blair, O. S. B. , vol. i. , cap. i. , p. 7. ? 6 His pontificate was from A. D. 366 to
Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. iv.
79. See William Nimmo's " History of
Stirlingshire," vol. i. , chap, xxi. , p. 375.
8o He over the Church from a. d. presided
to See Sir Harris Nicolas' " Chro- 384 398.
nology of History," p. 211.
75 See *'
Ecclesiastique," History
"
Chro- 77 See the Life of St. Ninian, by Ailred,
"
The Lives of St. Ninian and St. Kentigern," edited by Alexander Penrose Forbes, D. C. L. , Bishop of Brechin.
expedition of Severus in 208, the light of
Christianity had penetrated among the 'Caledonian Britons before they had been subdued by the Romans. This appears from Tertullian in his "Liber adversus
Judaeos," cap. vii.
a. d. 384. See Sir Harris Nicolas'
nology of History," p. 209.
chap, ii. , p. 9, in
the— of the Father. ? * — seeking patronage Holy Addressing
tissimo viro, de natione Brittonum, qui erat
Romae regulariter fidem et mysteria veritatis
—"
edoctus. " Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica
8l
It has been thought, that during the
82
Saint Boniface Ie» lui confera l'ordination
The Petit Bollandists state: "Lepape
Ninian
392 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September16
Tours to visit its renowned Bishop, St. Martin,83 then so celebrated for his miracles. This was a source of mutual joy to both. By him St. Ninian was received with affection and instructed in monastic 8*
discipline. Through prophetic illumination, the merits of the new bishop became known to St. Martin, who recognised him as a vessel of election, and sure to be profitable for the salvation of many souls, According to some writers, the Albanian
Scots had become Christians
early
in the third 85 it does century; however,
not appear that such conversion could have been very general, either as to
place or numbers. It is alleged to have taken place during the Pontificate
of St. Victor, who sat in the chair of Peter from a. d. 192 to 202.
the same work, by his brother, Felix J. H. Skene, lib. iii. , cap. ix. , pp. 86, 87. Edinburgh, 1872, 8vo.
2* See "The Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland," by Androw of Wyntoun, edited by David Laing, vol. i. ,book v. , chap, x. , p. 385, and vol. ii. , book viii. , chap, xvi. , p. 357. Edinburgh, 1872, 8vo.
29 See Nova Legenda Anglie," fol. ccxli. , ccxliii.
30 See " Commentarii de Scriptoribus Britannicis," chap, xxxiii. , pp. 56, 57.
31 See Joannis Pitsei Angli, S. Theologiae
Doctoris, Liverduni in Lotharingia Decani,
" Relationvm Historicarvm de Rebus pp. 2 to 6. Anglicis," tomus i. , Aetas Quinta, num. 30.
De Niniano, pp. 86, 87. Parisiis, 1619, 4to.
Library
at
48 See "History of Stirlingshire," vol. i. , chap, xxi. , pp. 375 to 377.
49 It has since been translated into English, book viii. , chap, xii. , pp. 154, 155, and with notes and additions, by D. Oswald- chap, xxi. , p. 161, also book ix. , chap, xi. , Hunter Blair, O. S. B. , Monk of Fort pp. 184, 185. Augustus. This translation in Four 8vo. 33 See "Britannia Sancta," part ii. , pp. volumes has appeared under the title
32 See " The Church History of Brittany,"
130 to 133.
34 See " Bibliotheca
History of the Catholic Church of Scot-
nica," pp. 548, 549.
85 See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and
other Principal Saints," vol. ix. , September
the present Day. Edinburgh, 1877 to 1890, 8vo.
50 See ibid. , vol. i. , chap, i. , pp. 1 to 17. Published by T. Toovey, in 1845, 12m*
Britannico-Hiber-
Scotland,' vol. ii. , part vi. , chap, i. , pp. 162 et seq.
38 See " Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, i. , n. 149, p. 45, and chap, ix. , sect, ii. , and n. 17, pp. 434, 437, 438.
39 See "Ecclesiastical History of Scot- land," vol. i. , chap. ii.
40 See "Church History of Scotland," vol. i. , chap, iii. , pp. 50 to 53.
41 See " Histoire Generate de l'Eglise,"
tome iii. , p. 165.
42 See "Les Moines d'Occident," tome
iii. , liv. x. , chap, i. , pp. 19 to 24.
43 See " Vies des Saints," tome xi. ,
xvie Tour de Septembre, pp. 127, 128, and n.
44 See vol. xvii. , p. 513. Ninth edition.
1875, et seq. Edinburgh, 4to.
45 See vol. vii. , p. 506. New edition.
Edinburgh, 1888, etseq. Imp. 8vo.
46 See "Lives of the Saints," vol. ix. ,
September xvi. , pp. , 262 to 265.
47 See "Celtic Scotland : a History of
Ancient Alban," vol. ii. , book ii. , chap. i.
"
land from the introduction of Christianity to
3 88 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 16. Bishop of Candida Casa, and attributed to the Rev. John Barrow, D. D. ,
Oxford. In the " of Dictionary
of St. Edmund
Hall,
Christian Biography,"5 there is an interesting account of this saint, written
formerly Principal
2
bytheRev. JamesGammack. 53 However,mostcompleteandsatisfactory of all other Memoirs to the historical student are the researches of a prelate, who has rendered inestimable services to the elucidation of Scottish ecclesias- tical history. The Lives of St. Ninian and of St. Kentigern, have been edited by the Right Rev. Alexander Penrose Forbes, D. C. L. , Bishop of Brechin. 54 Not alone has he given an English translation of St. Ailrid's Latin Life of St. Ninian but in his learned General Introduction, and in
;
the appended Notes, which illustrate the allusions contained i-n it, hardly
anything seems wanting to furnish material for additional investigation. We
acknowledge with grateful obligation our indebtedness to this scholarly
monograph, for such intelligence as we may be able to convey, regarding the difficulties and obscurities that surround a biography and a period of history
so remote, and yet so interesting, as dating back to the very primordia of Christianity in Scoiland.
The present saint, Monenn or Maoinean, supposed to have been
identical with St. Ninian, is the earliest recorded Apostle of the Picts or
Caledonians. In this connection, the honorific Irish word mo, which signifies
""
my has been prefixed to Nenn or Nean, which are forms of St. Ninian's
name. The coincidence of the festival day, both in the Irish and British
Martyrologies, serves to favour such conjecture.
The great apostle of the S uthem Picts has been variedly named. By
Venerable Bede he has been called Ninia, and again Nynias. The Welsh
call him Nynnian. ss According to Venerable Bede, Bishop Ninian was of the nation of the Britons. These are said to have been the Cumraig Britons,s6 who, with the Roman soldiers, at the time of his birth, held the Romanised province of Valentia. Various opinions have been offered as to the exact place of Ninian's birth. It has been generaWy held, that he first saw the light in the country of the Niduni, or Niduari,57 in the south-western district of Scotland. 58 Some writers would make him to have been a Pict, by birth ; but, it has been stated, there were no Picts in that district until 426, at soonest. 59 However, the districts south of the Firths of Forth and Clyde, extending to the Solway Firth on the west, and to the Tyne on the east, were possessed by two kingdoms of the Britons. The former of these lay to the west, and extended northwards from the river Derwent in Cumberland,
5* Edited by William Smith, D. C. L. , as on the Map in William F. Skene's
LI,. I). ,and Henry Wace, D. D. , vol. iv. , pp. "Celtic Scotland: a History of Ancient
45. 46. Alban," vol. i. , hook i. , chap, v. , p. 228.
55M. &—
A. , LL. D. , Aberdeen. Leland thus writes regarding "Ninianus
54 .
"
"Ex Venetica duxisse eum
This edition forms the Fifth Volume of
Britannus"
:
the
1874. 8vo.
origininem provincia antiquitas adlirmabat, fratremque habuisse nomine Ph'benium, et trnerosin melioribus studiisannos collocssse.
Hinc, virile accrescente rctate, et Rrigantes Nortabriorum gentem, et Novanles mariti- mos illos sedulus invisit : quorum sedes ibi
erant, ubi nunc Begcc promontorium, I. u°u- ballia et Gallovidia Pu/ica. "—" Commen- taiii de Scriptoribus Britannicis," cap. xxxiii. , p. 56.
59 See John Pinkerton's " Enquiry into the History of Scotland," vol. ii. , part vi. , chap. i. , p. 265.
Historians of Scotland," Edinburgh,
55 On referring to the Life of St. Ninnio
or Ninian, the Senior, or the Old. Apostle
of the Southern Picts, chap, i. , at the 25th
of July, and in the Sixth Volume of this
work, Art. i. , the many other names, by
which he had been distinguished may be found.
56 See John Pinkerton's "Enquiry into the History of Scotland," vol. ii. , part vi. , chap, i. , p. 265.
» Sometimes distinguished Niduari Picts,
September 16. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 389
to the Firth of Clyde, and its people were known as the Strathclyde Britons ; while the latter included the Angles of Bernicia, towards the east.
It is stated, that this early Christian Apostle had been the son of a Christian father, who was also a king in that part of the island of Britain, towards the north-west,6° where the ocean stretching forth its arms formed an angle on each side, which divided Scotland from England in after times.
6'
This description applies to Galloway, in its old extent.
Scotland was inhabited by a people known as the Gallo Gaidhel. 62 That
6 3 which was situated in the south part of Britannia Barbara, * or the country lying north of the Picts' Wall, so far as Graham's Dyke, including also Northumberland, Dumfries, and other parts of Scotland. This territory was wrested from the Picts and Scots, during the reign of Valentinian, and formed into a Roman Province by Theodosius. However, it remained only for a short time in
possession of the Romans.
Ninian is said to have been born about the year 360, and of noble
parentage, in the country of the Novantes, near the Leuchophibia of Ptolemy, and the Whithern of modern times. 65 According to some accounts he had a brother named Plebenius, but this seems to be on a very doubtful tradition. 66 In his very infancy, Ninian was regenerated in the water of holy baptism ; and in the rhetorical language of his biographer Ailred, he preserved immaculate the nuptial robe of white he had received, while as a conqueror of vice, he presented it in the sight of Christ, and that Holy Spirit he first received to cleanse him, by most devout ways he merited to maintain, as the instructor of his pious heart. While still a boy, he shunned
whatever was contrary to religion, adverse to chastity, opposed to good morals, or discordant with the law of Truth. He ceased not to follow what- ever was useful to man, or pleasing to God ; he meditated on the command- ments, by day and by night ; he fulfilled every duty of life with the greatest devotion. Sparing* in food, reticent in speech, agreeable in manners, full of seriousness, and assiduous in study ; in everything he subjected the flesh to the spirit. He had a great reverence for churches, and a love for religious men. EspeciallywashisminddevotedtothestudyoftheSacredScriptures, and from them he learned to aspire after perfection, in which through a profound sense of humility he deemed himself very deficient. At length, through divine inspiration, he was induced to abandon family, friends and home, and to undertake a distant pilgrimage, as a suitable preparation for an enterprise of great importance he then meditated.
Having passed over the Britannic Sea, he travelled through Gaul. At this time paganism and the old heathen ideas were fast disappearing before the advances of Christianity on the continent. The most ancient city of modern
district was also within the Roman Province of 6
Valentia,
German)', Treves,
6? on the Moselle River, had been the long
60 This was as a distinct regarded
63 See Dr. William Smith's "
capital
Dictionary
princi- pality until about the tenth or eleventh
century.
61 See Father Innes' "Civil and Ecclesi-
astical History of Scotland," book i. , sect. xxviii. , p. 33.
62
This district, con*isting of the shires of Kirkcudbright and Wigton, was known to the Welsh as Galwydel, and to the Irish as Gallgaidel, from which had been formed
the name Gallweitha, now Galloway. See William F. Skene's "Celtic Scotland: a HistoryofAncientAlban,"vol. i. , booki. , chap, v. , p. 238, 239.
of Greek and Roman Geography," vol. ii. ,
p. 1254.
H See Ammianus Marcellinus, " Notitia
Imperii," lib. xxviii. , cap. 3.
6s See William Nimmo's "History of
Stirlingshire," vol. i. , chap, xxi. , p. 375.
66 Thus Bishop Tanner states: "Ex Venetica duxisse originem provincia anti- quitas affirmabat, fratremque habuisse nomine Plebenium et teneros in melioribus studiis annos collocasse. " — " Bibliotheca
Britannico-Hibernica,"p. 548.
• 6?
In ancient Gaul, a town occupied its
That portion ol
39° LIVES01THEIRISHSAINTS. [September16.
of the Gauls, and the seat of the Roman Prefects. 68 It was then the centre of Occidental civilization. After the accession of Constantine to the Roman Empire, one of his first acts was to restore the public exercise of their worship to tin Christians of Gaul. 00 Even before this time a great library
hadbeenattachedtothe
taught philosDphy, medicine, jurisprudence, belles-lettres, grammar, and
imperial palace,?
astrology, with the other sciences esteemed in those early ages. ?
2
Its
The Roman Black Gate,{(Treves.
importance was so great, that Ansonius called it the second capital of the Roman Empire. When Treves ceased to be a political capital, it became ecclesiastical ; and for more than a thousand years, it was known as the holy city of the Tr£veres, being under the rule of its bishops. In part, the grand
site, when taken possession of by the tration to Aries. It was frequently a royal
Romans, and the inhabitants were named
by them Treviri. Under the denomination
Augusta Trevirorum, it became a flourishing
city, and it is still most interesting as Smith's " Church in Roman Gaul," chap, containing many remains of Roman xiii. , p. 143.
grandeur, such as the Porta Nigra, the
palace, the amphitheatre, and extensive
ruins of the public baths. Few ancient
towns are richer in Roman antiquities ;
inscriptions, coins and medals are frequently
dug up ; and, it is said, that piers of the Treves was the most distinguished, and budge over the Moselle are of Roman or
Gaulish origin. Treves is included in the Rhenish Province of Germany.
"After the time of the Emperor Con- stantine, repeated inroads of the Germans caused the removal of the seat of adminis
singularly favoured by the Emperor Gratian, a great patron of learning.
andmthevariousschools? 1 were
residence under the Franks. See " Gazetteer of the World," vol. xiii, p. 162.
6j See Rev. Canon Richard Travers
70 See Guizot's " Ilistoire de la Civiliza-
tion en France," tome i. , p 104.
71 In Gaul, the Romans had then
established schools at Marseilles, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Autun, and Lyons. But that at
72 The accompanying illustration of the
Porta Nigra at Treves, from an approved modern engraving, has been drawn on the
wood and engraved by Gregor Grey.
September 16. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 391
cathedral is of Roman construction, although its chief features are original Gothic. "
At length, Ninian arrived at Rome, then the centre of the world's religious life, and the resort of many distinguished men, even from the remote Eastern countries. St. Jerome7'* had passed several years in study there, and his works afford us most vivid pictures of society and manners, during the fourth century. Then the rites of the Church were celebrated with pomp and dignity, in the basilicas over ground ; while the catacombs became the scenes of increased religious fervour, as they were sanctified by the tombs of the martyrs. The stricter clergy lived in colleges, thus antici- pating the monastic life; and as the dread of heathenism was gradually
disappearing, the churches were decorated with paintings and mosaics.
Pilgrims to the city were now beginning to arrive in great numbers, even from distant lands.
There Ninian visited those churches and holy places, where the relics of
the Apostles were kept. With many prayers commending himself to their protection, he shed abundance of tears through excess of devotion. There
too he resolved on
himself to Pope Damascus? 6 who is thought then to have ruled
exposed to him the motives for his journey. The Pontiff accepted his devotion with great affection, and recommended him to the care and instruction of teachers, who grounded him in Faith and in a knowledge of theSacredScriptures. 77 ThemysteriesofDivineWisdomNinianthoroughly embraced,78 and soon learned that many things contrary to sound doctrine had been taught him and his fellow-countrymen by unskilled teachers. His diligence, prudence and circumspection, combined with purity of soul and body, commended him to all, and even he obtained the favour and friend- ship of the Supreme Pontiff. Knowing that in the western parts of Britain some had heard the word of the Gospel from heretics or from men ill- instructed in the law of God, while many had not yet received the faith of Christ, and moved by a holy inspiration, the Roman Pontiff desired to remove all obstacles in the way of their conversion, and he deemed Ninian admirably qualified to become the happy instrument to effect such a result. Accordingly, he was ordained at Rome,79 and thus prepared for the arduous mission that had been destined for him.
It is stated, that he received episcopal consecration at the hands of Pope
St. Siricus. 80 A mission to the the Caledonians81 was preach Gospel among
then delegated to him. 82 On his return to Scotland, he passed by way of
73 See Elisee Reclus' " Nouvelle Geographie Universelle," tome iii. , liv. iii. , chap, iii. , sect, iii. , pp. 600, 603.
74 His festival occurs on the 30th September. See an account of this holy Father and learned Doctor of the Church in Le Sieur le Nain Tillemont's ''Memoir pour servir a l'Histoire
? 8 "
Nynia Episcopo
reverentissimo et sanc-
tome xii, of the Catholic Church of Scotland," &c, by Very Rev. Canon Alphons Bellesheim, D. D. , translated by D. Oswald- Blair, O. S. B. , vol. i. , cap. i. , p. 7. ? 6 His pontificate was from A. D. 366 to
Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. iv.
79. See William Nimmo's " History of
Stirlingshire," vol. i. , chap, xxi. , p. 375.
8o He over the Church from a. d. presided
to See Sir Harris Nicolas' " Chro- 384 398.
nology of History," p. 211.
75 See *'
Ecclesiastique," History
"
Chro- 77 See the Life of St. Ninian, by Ailred,
"
The Lives of St. Ninian and St. Kentigern," edited by Alexander Penrose Forbes, D. C. L. , Bishop of Brechin.
expedition of Severus in 208, the light of
Christianity had penetrated among the 'Caledonian Britons before they had been subdued by the Romans. This appears from Tertullian in his "Liber adversus
Judaeos," cap. vii.
a. d. 384. See Sir Harris Nicolas'
nology of History," p. 209.
chap, ii. , p. 9, in
the— of the Father. ? * — seeking patronage Holy Addressing
tissimo viro, de natione Brittonum, qui erat
Romae regulariter fidem et mysteria veritatis
—"
edoctus. " Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica
8l
It has been thought, that during the
82
Saint Boniface Ie» lui confera l'ordination
The Petit Bollandists state: "Lepape
Ninian
392 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September16
Tours to visit its renowned Bishop, St. Martin,83 then so celebrated for his miracles. This was a source of mutual joy to both. By him St. Ninian was received with affection and instructed in monastic 8*
discipline. Through prophetic illumination, the merits of the new bishop became known to St. Martin, who recognised him as a vessel of election, and sure to be profitable for the salvation of many souls, According to some writers, the Albanian
Scots had become Christians
early
in the third 85 it does century; however,
not appear that such conversion could have been very general, either as to
place or numbers. It is alleged to have taken place during the Pontificate
of St. Victor, who sat in the chair of Peter from a. d. 192 to 202.
