He raises an objection, that the Boyne
"5 Many of these chaldrons have been dug out of our Irish bogs or soil.
"5 Many of these chaldrons have been dug out of our Irish bogs or soil.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v3
xvi.
, p.
68 ; the Seventh Life, lib, i.
, cap.
xxii.
, p.
120 ; all relate this legend.
in St. Fiech's a Hymn : IToi^T^u'b
choif fo^-
"* So states the
Hymn
of St. Fiach
: 1)ai
|\inT) teicc, tiiA]AAic &. e\ in bi\onnA. Thus translated into Englisii : "He placed his foot upon the Leac (stone) : its trace re-
"
"
Ecclesiastical Record," vol. iv. , pp. 284, 285, and n. 20.
At a few yards distance from the N. E.
Down, Connor and Dromore," p. 84, n. (c. )
°'
•
Dr. Lanigan says, it is worth ob-
Victoricus,
called
History
vii. , n. 41, p. 146.
of
'"3 The Scholiast on St. Fiach has such
footprint
494 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17
thoroughly acquired a knowledge of the idolatry, the customs, manners, temperament, language and habits of the people ; all this, as he says himself,
*'
wastheworkofGod. " Here,too,hesufferedthosetrialsandhardships, which trained him in Christian patience, fortitude and humility. Adversities serve to remove effeminacy and cowardice of soul, while they have an in- vigorating effect, on the youthful constitution, and habituate the body to enduregreatfatigues,duringtheafterstrugglesofheroicminds. TheFourth Life and Probus have seven years of servitude. '°^ This computation must be understood, however, not of these years having been completed ; but, that the saint's release occurred, in the seventh year of his captivity. Again, the Tripartite Life states, that there was a law, in Ireland, and according to it, slaves should become free, in the seventh year. ^°7 We are told, moreover, that this was conformable to the practice of the Hebrews. '"^ But, those writers forgot, that the privilege granted in the Mosaic law to slaves, as to their being freed in the seventh year, was not applicable to foreigners, but relative only to native Hebre\vs. ^°9 Patrick was not in the same situation, however, with regard to the Irish chieftain, as a Hebrew servant must have been,relativelytohismaster. "° InoppositiontotheConfession,^"andto various authorities, which might be quoted, the Scholiast on St. Fiach makes St. Patrick travel only sixty miles, or, he adds, as others say, one hundred. "^' Otheraccountshaveitattwohundredthousandpaces. "3 TheScholiaston St. Fiach relates a ridiculous story about Kienan,"'* who sold the fugitive to
certain sailors, for a brazen chaldron. "^ When Kienan received a raanifes- )'e btiAt)riA 1 irojriAtn. It is thus translated garding the eastern origin of the Irish
into " He was six in English : years
nation.
*'
S. Patricii, cap. i. , num. 6, p. 190.
"* See "Trias Thaumaturga," Prima Vita S. Patricii, scholia 9, p. 4. Fiach's Scho- liast brings St. Patrick near a church or monastery of Kienan, on the northern bank of the River Boyne, while endeavouring to
effect his escape.
"3 The Second Life states " forte aberat
A comment is
w&xn ,1. jromcAmuit ha ubiLe bicce eb]Aeo-
"' It about the states, treating
slavery. "
subjoined, 1^05- "
in Et non erat prope, sed forte aberat ducenta millia passus, et ibi nunquam fueram, nee ibi quenquam notum de hominibus habebam. "—Father Villa- nueva's " Sancti Patricii, Ibemorum Apos- toli, Synodi, Canones, Opuscula. " Confessio
^\um. It is translated :
according to the little Jubilee of the He- brews. " — " Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol. iv. , pp. 284, 2S5 and n. 10.
'°s It is strange, that Butler's account of
St. Patrick has six months, instead of six
years. See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs
and other principal Saints," vol. iii. March
xvii. '°°
St. Fiach's Hymn, stanza 3, p. i, the
Tripartite Life, lib. i. , cap. xviii. , p. 119, and other accounts agree, as to only six full
years. See Ussher's "Primordia," cap.
xvii. , p. 830, and Colgan's
Trias Thaunia- 37, and Quinta Vita S. Patricii, lib. i. , cap.
ducenta millia passus," &c. , cap. xviii. p.
The Third Life " ducentis has, quasi
millibuspassuum;" TertiaVitaS. Patricii,
turga," Quarta
Vita S.
iii. , p. 51- "
cap. xiv. , p. 22. The Fourth Life, quoting, in like manner as the Tripartite, from St. Patrick himself, has " 200 milie
.
'°7 Gentilis enim ille populus solebat
Ijognam, i. e. ,
"
Patricii, cap. xvi. , p. 13.
servitutis anno manumissos, libertate donar—e, nisi ipsi sponte velint am-
pliiis servire. " See ibid. , lib. i. , cap. xxi. , Vita S. Patricii, cap. xxi. , p. 38. Probus
servos
septimo
spatium
passuum erat usq ; ad locum," &c. Quarta
p. 120.
'"*
follows the Confession, nearly word for
"
See the Second Life, cap. xii. , p. 12,
word, and he has also,
200 millia pas-
and Fourth Life, cap. xvi. , p. 37. The suum. " See Quinta Vita S. Patricii, lib. i. , "
Seventh Life of St. Patrick says, more cap. iii. , p. 51. Jocelyn says, that the place
Hebrseorum. " See lib. i. , cap. xviii. , p.
" Ecclesiastical His-
Lanigan's
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, iv. , sect, vii. ,
n. 43, p. 147. Were this the law in Ire- land, Dr. Lanigan thinks, it must tend to strengthen General Vallancey's theory, re-
was distant, "ducentis millibus passuum. " Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. xv. , p. 68. The
Tripartite Life, quoting the Latin text of
St. Patrick, has ^'^ liabebat ducenta mil- forte
lia passuum. " Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. i. , cap. xxii. , p. 120. Ibid.
"* Afterward Patron of Duleek. His feast occurs, at the 24th of November.
119.
'°9 See Leviticus, xxv. , 39 to 46.
"° See Dr.
which he escaped,
ship,
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 495
tation of his false conduct, he repented, and Patrick was set at liberty by them. "^ Afterwards, the commentator adds, that Kienan was baptized by St. Patrick. "? But, this conversion, which occurred during our Apostle's mission, appears to have been confounded, with the time of St. Patrick's escape from captivity. Harris altogether omits the distance of that place, where the ship was lying, although professing to follow the account, contained in St. Patrick's Confession. He merely says, that St. Patrick made all the haste he could to the sea-side, and found a ship. "^ This would naturally make the reader think, that the vessel lay within no great distance, from the
place of the saint's captivity. "^
After leaving the district of his captivity, the power of God directed
Patrick's steps to a place, called Benan. "° In Sir James Ware's edition of St. Patrick's Confession, it seems to be written Bonum. "* In their edition oftheConfession,insteadofBonum,theBollandistshaveBenum. '^^ They interpret it, as the River Boyne,"3 the mouth of which was formerly called Inver Colpa, by the Irish. "* According to Ptolemy, the Latin name of the Boyne"5 seems to have been Buvinda, not Boandum, as Colgan writes it. Ussher sometimes calls it Boinum, in compliment to modern readers. It opens on the Irish sea, about three miles from the present town of Drogheda. "^ The Scholiast on St. Fiach does not say, however, that it was at the Boyne St. Patrick embarked. The ship and mariners, that afforded him an opportunity for escape, are supposed by Rev. Dr. Lanigan to have been lying, in some port on the south coast of Ireland, and in a harbour, or river, convenient for a passage to Gaul.
He raises an objection, that the Boyne
"5 Many of these chaldrons have been dug out of our Irish bogs or soil.
"* Another version of this story is in the Fourth Life, cap. xxii,, p. 38, and in the Tripartite Life, lib. i. , cap. xxiv. , pp. 120, 121.
"' See Scholia Veteris Scholiasts, n. 91. ,
pp. 4, 5. Ibid. There is found, also, that foolish story of St. Patrick having miracu- lously discovered a lump of gold, which served to pay his ransom to Milchuo. It is followed, by the Second Life, cap. xvii. , xviii. , pp. 12, 13, the Third Life, cap. xiv. , xv. , p. 22, the Fourth Life, cap. xxi. , p. 38, the Sixth Life, cap. xv. , xvi. , pp. 67, 68, the Seventh Life, lib. i. , cap. xxii. , xxiii. , p. 120. Yet, there was no necessity to invent such a story in order to justify the fugitive's escape, from his captivity.
"° Dr. Lanigan considers this to be the
"*
bishops of Armagh," p. 8.
Patricii," p. 7. Dr. Lanigan doubts, whether bonum means here good, that is, a good end or purpose, or whether it should be taken as the name of a place.
'" The passage is thus given : "in virtute
Dei, qui viam meam dirigebat, veni ad Benum. "—"Acta Sanctoram," tomus ii. ,
cap. ii. , num. 7, p. 534.
"3 Whoever wishes to become thoroughly
familiar with the history and topography of its various romantic windings must consult
that scholarly and charmingly-illustrated Guide-Book, written by Sir William R. Wilde, " The Beauties of the Boyne, and its tributary, the Black Water," Dublin, 1849, 8vo.
See Harris' Ware, vol. i. , "Arch-
"9 Harris was
stances of a ship, destined by Providence for can7ing St. Patrick back to his own country, and of its being placed about 200 miles from Antrim, could not well be recon- ciled with his hypothesis, about St. Patrick being a native of Scotland. This country was so near the Antrim coast, that Ireland and Scotland can be seen from each other, on a clear day. Between both lands, there could not have been wanting frequent communica- tion, with opportunities for crossing to either
" Where was St. Patrick born ? "
'^5 Our engraving, by Mrs. Millard, pre- sents a view of the Maiden Tower and the Lady's Finger, which were mediaeval land- marks, or beacons, for mariners, at the mouth of this river. The subject was drawn
on the wood, by William F. Wakeman.
"* That part of the barony of Drogheda, in Louth County, containing 4,498 a. , 1 r. , 26/. , is shown on the "Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Louth," Sheets 21, 24 ; while, that portion in Meath
aware,
that the circum-
script,
p. 49.
side, even in boats. See Dr. Lanigan's County, containing 1,203 ''•> 2 ^^ 29 /. , is ""
Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , shown on the Ordnance Survey Townland chap, iv. , sect, vii. , n. 42, p. 147. Maps for the County of Meath," Sheet 20.
true reading.
121 4( j^j ygjjj j^ virtute Domini, qui viam
meam ad bonum dirigebat. "—" Confessio S.
I:
"* Thus noticed, in Canon Toole's Manu-
496 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
couldnotbedeemedtwohundredmilesfromSlieveMis; and,heconsiders,
that Bentraighe,'^7 or Bantry Bay"^ was more likely to have been the place, where Patrick found the ship. "9 Or he thinks it possible, that if Bonum, as
in Ware's edition, was a proper name, it might signify the river, now called Bandon,^3o^yhichfallsintothesea,atKinsale. Thisharbourwasquitecon- venient for intercourse with Gaul. The distance of about two hundred
Mouth of the Boyne.
Roman miles answers very well, to account for St. Patrick's escape, by his taking a straight line, through the central parts of Ireland. '^'
Tlie wanderer, guided on his way^s^ by Divine aid, feared nothing, until he came up to the ship, which was manned with Gentile sailors. But, when he was at the port, the vessel had gone from its place, and Patrick asked for means to set sail. The captain, however, was displeased, and he answered
with
great indignation :
"
" Do not
you
dare ask to come with us ? " ^33 When
named, from a colony of Gauls, that settled there. This circumstance, together with its favourable position, he says, might have made it a resort for Gallic navigators.
'3°Dr. thataand are Lanigan remarks,
used indiscriminately, as by Baxter, at the word Boniuni.
'"^ See Miss Cusack's
City and County of Cork," chap. xvii. To- pographical Guide. An elegant engraving of Bantry Bay faces p. 352. See, likewise,
Smith,
inhis "
History
ofthe of County
Cork," vol. i. , p. 39 ; and, also, Seward, in ''
his Topographical Dictionary of Ire- land," at the word Bantry,
"* Dr. Lanigan thinks, Benum agrees much better with Bantry. Its ancient name, or rather that of the district, or, of the barony, was Bentraighe. According to Lhuyd and Shaw, in their Irish Dictionaries, thraigh means " shore," and the other com- pound means "of the Ben. " This latter might have been Latinized into Benum, as a name for the bay ; while Bentraighe might have been that of the adjoining territory.
"9 Near the bay, there is a place, called Adragoal, or Ardgoai. Dr. Lanigan is of opinion, that it may have been probably so
'3' " See Dr. Lanigan's
History of the
Ecclesiastical His- tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, iv. , sect, vii. ,
n. 44, pp. 148, 149.
'3^ The Fourth Life calls it "itinirarium "
sive odaeporicon, and states, that no one
acted as guide to St. Patrick. Colgan re-
marks, that the latter word, which means ""
directorium vita;, was found as an inter- lineation, but whether written by the original copyist, or added by a commentator, he could not pronounce.
'33 Probus makes the master of the ship "
say: Nequaquam tu nobiscum ibis sine naulo. " See Quinta Vita S. Patricii, lib. i. .
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 497
Patrick heard these words, he separated from them, to take refuge in the hut,
where he Hved, and, on the journey, he began to pray. Before he had finished this prayer, he heard one of the sailors, crying loudly after him : " Make haste, for these men are calling you. " Immediately, he returned to
"
and
faith,^34 and we wish to enter into friendship with thee, so far as thou art willing. " That very day, he embarked on board their ship. Nevertheless,
hehadlittlehope,thattheywouldsaytohim "Cometous,inthefaithof
:
Christ," because they were Gentiles. ^35 AH this toleration, however, he obtained from them, and immediately they set sail. ^36 ^. t this time, accord- ing to some, he had an angelic admonition that he should seek Italy, to be- come a student of the Holy Scriptures. '37 Jocelyn'38 tells us, as also the Tripartite Life, '39 that St. Patrick sailed to Britain, meaning to Great Britain. "t° Yet, for this supposition, there are thought to be no just grounds, and, it is said, that the course of the vessel was rather directed to the coast of Gaul. Although Dr. Lanigan—a stickler for Patrick's nativity in France—does not guarantee, as probable, a narrative of Probus, in reference to a third captivity of our saint ; yet, on such authority, he maintains, that it was to his own native country, the sailors brought him,'4i when escaping from Ireland. '*^
After a prosperous'43 sail of three days, they landed. ''*^ According to one accountj'^s however, a storm arose, and St. Patrick miraculously quelled it. 'i^ About this time, the Franks and Saxons had been ravaging the Norman coasts. Towards the end of the third century, Carausius had been waging war with them. ''*? For about one hundred and fifty years, the Franks
cap. iv. , p. 51. It appears his reason, for land," vol. i. , chap, iii. , sect, xv. , n. 157, p.
them,
they began
to
say :
Come,
thee,
in
good
not giving St. Patrick a passage, as Probus states, was because the poor fugitive had
acknowledged, he had no money to pay for it. This circumstance is certainly very pro- bable, although the saint himself does not mention it. — 134 «'Veni quia ex fide recipimus te. "
119.
'•s The Fourth Lif—e remarks, "elevate
velo prospero flatu. " Cap. xxiii. , p. 38. Jocelyn says, that the wind was very fair ;
" Confessio S. Patricii. " Ware's
Vita S. Patricii," cap. xvii. , p. 68.
Edition, p. 7. The expression, "ex fide," probably
'* The Confession " Protinus na- states,
vigavimus, et post triduum terram cepimus. " may be understood, of their giving him a Dr. Lanigan conjectures, that this was
passage, on his promise, or credit, and, that they would wait for payment, until his arrival in Gaul.
135 We are told, by Probus, that Patrick
preached the faith to them, the very day he embarked.
'3° See the Second Life, cap. xviii. , p. 13, the Third Life, cap. xvi. , p. 22, the Fourth Life, cap. xxi. , p. 38, n. 11, p. 49, the Fifth Life, lib. i. , cap. iv.
in St. Fiech's a Hymn : IToi^T^u'b
choif fo^-
"* So states the
Hymn
of St. Fiach
: 1)ai
|\inT) teicc, tiiA]AAic &. e\ in bi\onnA. Thus translated into Englisii : "He placed his foot upon the Leac (stone) : its trace re-
"
"
Ecclesiastical Record," vol. iv. , pp. 284, 285, and n. 20.
At a few yards distance from the N. E.
Down, Connor and Dromore," p. 84, n. (c. )
°'
•
Dr. Lanigan says, it is worth ob-
Victoricus,
called
History
vii. , n. 41, p. 146.
of
'"3 The Scholiast on St. Fiach has such
footprint
494 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17
thoroughly acquired a knowledge of the idolatry, the customs, manners, temperament, language and habits of the people ; all this, as he says himself,
*'
wastheworkofGod. " Here,too,hesufferedthosetrialsandhardships, which trained him in Christian patience, fortitude and humility. Adversities serve to remove effeminacy and cowardice of soul, while they have an in- vigorating effect, on the youthful constitution, and habituate the body to enduregreatfatigues,duringtheafterstrugglesofheroicminds. TheFourth Life and Probus have seven years of servitude. '°^ This computation must be understood, however, not of these years having been completed ; but, that the saint's release occurred, in the seventh year of his captivity. Again, the Tripartite Life states, that there was a law, in Ireland, and according to it, slaves should become free, in the seventh year. ^°7 We are told, moreover, that this was conformable to the practice of the Hebrews. '"^ But, those writers forgot, that the privilege granted in the Mosaic law to slaves, as to their being freed in the seventh year, was not applicable to foreigners, but relative only to native Hebre\vs. ^°9 Patrick was not in the same situation, however, with regard to the Irish chieftain, as a Hebrew servant must have been,relativelytohismaster. "° InoppositiontotheConfession,^"andto various authorities, which might be quoted, the Scholiast on St. Fiach makes St. Patrick travel only sixty miles, or, he adds, as others say, one hundred. "^' Otheraccountshaveitattwohundredthousandpaces. "3 TheScholiaston St. Fiach relates a ridiculous story about Kienan,"'* who sold the fugitive to
certain sailors, for a brazen chaldron. "^ When Kienan received a raanifes- )'e btiAt)riA 1 irojriAtn. It is thus translated garding the eastern origin of the Irish
into " He was six in English : years
nation.
*'
S. Patricii, cap. i. , num. 6, p. 190.
"* See "Trias Thaumaturga," Prima Vita S. Patricii, scholia 9, p. 4. Fiach's Scho- liast brings St. Patrick near a church or monastery of Kienan, on the northern bank of the River Boyne, while endeavouring to
effect his escape.
"3 The Second Life states " forte aberat
A comment is
w&xn ,1. jromcAmuit ha ubiLe bicce eb]Aeo-
"' It about the states, treating
slavery. "
subjoined, 1^05- "
in Et non erat prope, sed forte aberat ducenta millia passus, et ibi nunquam fueram, nee ibi quenquam notum de hominibus habebam. "—Father Villa- nueva's " Sancti Patricii, Ibemorum Apos- toli, Synodi, Canones, Opuscula. " Confessio
^\um. It is translated :
according to the little Jubilee of the He- brews. " — " Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol. iv. , pp. 284, 2S5 and n. 10.
'°s It is strange, that Butler's account of
St. Patrick has six months, instead of six
years. See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs
and other principal Saints," vol. iii. March
xvii. '°°
St. Fiach's Hymn, stanza 3, p. i, the
Tripartite Life, lib. i. , cap. xviii. , p. 119, and other accounts agree, as to only six full
years. See Ussher's "Primordia," cap.
xvii. , p. 830, and Colgan's
Trias Thaunia- 37, and Quinta Vita S. Patricii, lib. i. , cap.
ducenta millia passus," &c. , cap. xviii. p.
The Third Life " ducentis has, quasi
millibuspassuum;" TertiaVitaS. Patricii,
turga," Quarta
Vita S.
iii. , p. 51- "
cap. xiv. , p. 22. The Fourth Life, quoting, in like manner as the Tripartite, from St. Patrick himself, has " 200 milie
.
'°7 Gentilis enim ille populus solebat
Ijognam, i. e. ,
"
Patricii, cap. xvi. , p. 13.
servitutis anno manumissos, libertate donar—e, nisi ipsi sponte velint am-
pliiis servire. " See ibid. , lib. i. , cap. xxi. , Vita S. Patricii, cap. xxi. , p. 38. Probus
servos
septimo
spatium
passuum erat usq ; ad locum," &c. Quarta
p. 120.
'"*
follows the Confession, nearly word for
"
See the Second Life, cap. xii. , p. 12,
word, and he has also,
200 millia pas-
and Fourth Life, cap. xvi. , p. 37. The suum. " See Quinta Vita S. Patricii, lib. i. , "
Seventh Life of St. Patrick says, more cap. iii. , p. 51. Jocelyn says, that the place
Hebrseorum. " See lib. i. , cap. xviii. , p.
" Ecclesiastical His-
Lanigan's
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, iv. , sect, vii. ,
n. 43, p. 147. Were this the law in Ire- land, Dr. Lanigan thinks, it must tend to strengthen General Vallancey's theory, re-
was distant, "ducentis millibus passuum. " Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. xv. , p. 68. The
Tripartite Life, quoting the Latin text of
St. Patrick, has ^'^ liabebat ducenta mil- forte
lia passuum. " Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. i. , cap. xxii. , p. 120. Ibid.
"* Afterward Patron of Duleek. His feast occurs, at the 24th of November.
119.
'°9 See Leviticus, xxv. , 39 to 46.
"° See Dr.
which he escaped,
ship,
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 495
tation of his false conduct, he repented, and Patrick was set at liberty by them. "^ Afterwards, the commentator adds, that Kienan was baptized by St. Patrick. "? But, this conversion, which occurred during our Apostle's mission, appears to have been confounded, with the time of St. Patrick's escape from captivity. Harris altogether omits the distance of that place, where the ship was lying, although professing to follow the account, contained in St. Patrick's Confession. He merely says, that St. Patrick made all the haste he could to the sea-side, and found a ship. "^ This would naturally make the reader think, that the vessel lay within no great distance, from the
place of the saint's captivity. "^
After leaving the district of his captivity, the power of God directed
Patrick's steps to a place, called Benan. "° In Sir James Ware's edition of St. Patrick's Confession, it seems to be written Bonum. "* In their edition oftheConfession,insteadofBonum,theBollandistshaveBenum. '^^ They interpret it, as the River Boyne,"3 the mouth of which was formerly called Inver Colpa, by the Irish. "* According to Ptolemy, the Latin name of the Boyne"5 seems to have been Buvinda, not Boandum, as Colgan writes it. Ussher sometimes calls it Boinum, in compliment to modern readers. It opens on the Irish sea, about three miles from the present town of Drogheda. "^ The Scholiast on St. Fiach does not say, however, that it was at the Boyne St. Patrick embarked. The ship and mariners, that afforded him an opportunity for escape, are supposed by Rev. Dr. Lanigan to have been lying, in some port on the south coast of Ireland, and in a harbour, or river, convenient for a passage to Gaul.
He raises an objection, that the Boyne
"5 Many of these chaldrons have been dug out of our Irish bogs or soil.
"* Another version of this story is in the Fourth Life, cap. xxii,, p. 38, and in the Tripartite Life, lib. i. , cap. xxiv. , pp. 120, 121.
"' See Scholia Veteris Scholiasts, n. 91. ,
pp. 4, 5. Ibid. There is found, also, that foolish story of St. Patrick having miracu- lously discovered a lump of gold, which served to pay his ransom to Milchuo. It is followed, by the Second Life, cap. xvii. , xviii. , pp. 12, 13, the Third Life, cap. xiv. , xv. , p. 22, the Fourth Life, cap. xxi. , p. 38, the Sixth Life, cap. xv. , xvi. , pp. 67, 68, the Seventh Life, lib. i. , cap. xxii. , xxiii. , p. 120. Yet, there was no necessity to invent such a story in order to justify the fugitive's escape, from his captivity.
"° Dr. Lanigan considers this to be the
"*
bishops of Armagh," p. 8.
Patricii," p. 7. Dr. Lanigan doubts, whether bonum means here good, that is, a good end or purpose, or whether it should be taken as the name of a place.
'" The passage is thus given : "in virtute
Dei, qui viam meam dirigebat, veni ad Benum. "—"Acta Sanctoram," tomus ii. ,
cap. ii. , num. 7, p. 534.
"3 Whoever wishes to become thoroughly
familiar with the history and topography of its various romantic windings must consult
that scholarly and charmingly-illustrated Guide-Book, written by Sir William R. Wilde, " The Beauties of the Boyne, and its tributary, the Black Water," Dublin, 1849, 8vo.
See Harris' Ware, vol. i. , "Arch-
"9 Harris was
stances of a ship, destined by Providence for can7ing St. Patrick back to his own country, and of its being placed about 200 miles from Antrim, could not well be recon- ciled with his hypothesis, about St. Patrick being a native of Scotland. This country was so near the Antrim coast, that Ireland and Scotland can be seen from each other, on a clear day. Between both lands, there could not have been wanting frequent communica- tion, with opportunities for crossing to either
" Where was St. Patrick born ? "
'^5 Our engraving, by Mrs. Millard, pre- sents a view of the Maiden Tower and the Lady's Finger, which were mediaeval land- marks, or beacons, for mariners, at the mouth of this river. The subject was drawn
on the wood, by William F. Wakeman.
"* That part of the barony of Drogheda, in Louth County, containing 4,498 a. , 1 r. , 26/. , is shown on the "Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Louth," Sheets 21, 24 ; while, that portion in Meath
aware,
that the circum-
script,
p. 49.
side, even in boats. See Dr. Lanigan's County, containing 1,203 ''•> 2 ^^ 29 /. , is ""
Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , shown on the Ordnance Survey Townland chap, iv. , sect, vii. , n. 42, p. 147. Maps for the County of Meath," Sheet 20.
true reading.
121 4( j^j ygjjj j^ virtute Domini, qui viam
meam ad bonum dirigebat. "—" Confessio S.
I:
"* Thus noticed, in Canon Toole's Manu-
496 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
couldnotbedeemedtwohundredmilesfromSlieveMis; and,heconsiders,
that Bentraighe,'^7 or Bantry Bay"^ was more likely to have been the place, where Patrick found the ship. "9 Or he thinks it possible, that if Bonum, as
in Ware's edition, was a proper name, it might signify the river, now called Bandon,^3o^yhichfallsintothesea,atKinsale. Thisharbourwasquitecon- venient for intercourse with Gaul. The distance of about two hundred
Mouth of the Boyne.
Roman miles answers very well, to account for St. Patrick's escape, by his taking a straight line, through the central parts of Ireland. '^'
Tlie wanderer, guided on his way^s^ by Divine aid, feared nothing, until he came up to the ship, which was manned with Gentile sailors. But, when he was at the port, the vessel had gone from its place, and Patrick asked for means to set sail. The captain, however, was displeased, and he answered
with
great indignation :
"
" Do not
you
dare ask to come with us ? " ^33 When
named, from a colony of Gauls, that settled there. This circumstance, together with its favourable position, he says, might have made it a resort for Gallic navigators.
'3°Dr. thataand are Lanigan remarks,
used indiscriminately, as by Baxter, at the word Boniuni.
'"^ See Miss Cusack's
City and County of Cork," chap. xvii. To- pographical Guide. An elegant engraving of Bantry Bay faces p. 352. See, likewise,
Smith,
inhis "
History
ofthe of County
Cork," vol. i. , p. 39 ; and, also, Seward, in ''
his Topographical Dictionary of Ire- land," at the word Bantry,
"* Dr. Lanigan thinks, Benum agrees much better with Bantry. Its ancient name, or rather that of the district, or, of the barony, was Bentraighe. According to Lhuyd and Shaw, in their Irish Dictionaries, thraigh means " shore," and the other com- pound means "of the Ben. " This latter might have been Latinized into Benum, as a name for the bay ; while Bentraighe might have been that of the adjoining territory.
"9 Near the bay, there is a place, called Adragoal, or Ardgoai. Dr. Lanigan is of opinion, that it may have been probably so
'3' " See Dr. Lanigan's
History of the
Ecclesiastical His- tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, iv. , sect, vii. ,
n. 44, pp. 148, 149.
'3^ The Fourth Life calls it "itinirarium "
sive odaeporicon, and states, that no one
acted as guide to St. Patrick. Colgan re-
marks, that the latter word, which means ""
directorium vita;, was found as an inter- lineation, but whether written by the original copyist, or added by a commentator, he could not pronounce.
'33 Probus makes the master of the ship "
say: Nequaquam tu nobiscum ibis sine naulo. " See Quinta Vita S. Patricii, lib. i. .
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 497
Patrick heard these words, he separated from them, to take refuge in the hut,
where he Hved, and, on the journey, he began to pray. Before he had finished this prayer, he heard one of the sailors, crying loudly after him : " Make haste, for these men are calling you. " Immediately, he returned to
"
and
faith,^34 and we wish to enter into friendship with thee, so far as thou art willing. " That very day, he embarked on board their ship. Nevertheless,
hehadlittlehope,thattheywouldsaytohim "Cometous,inthefaithof
:
Christ," because they were Gentiles. ^35 AH this toleration, however, he obtained from them, and immediately they set sail. ^36 ^. t this time, accord- ing to some, he had an angelic admonition that he should seek Italy, to be- come a student of the Holy Scriptures. '37 Jocelyn'38 tells us, as also the Tripartite Life, '39 that St. Patrick sailed to Britain, meaning to Great Britain. "t° Yet, for this supposition, there are thought to be no just grounds, and, it is said, that the course of the vessel was rather directed to the coast of Gaul. Although Dr. Lanigan—a stickler for Patrick's nativity in France—does not guarantee, as probable, a narrative of Probus, in reference to a third captivity of our saint ; yet, on such authority, he maintains, that it was to his own native country, the sailors brought him,'4i when escaping from Ireland. '*^
After a prosperous'43 sail of three days, they landed. ''*^ According to one accountj'^s however, a storm arose, and St. Patrick miraculously quelled it. 'i^ About this time, the Franks and Saxons had been ravaging the Norman coasts. Towards the end of the third century, Carausius had been waging war with them. ''*? For about one hundred and fifty years, the Franks
cap. iv. , p. 51. It appears his reason, for land," vol. i. , chap, iii. , sect, xv. , n. 157, p.
them,
they began
to
say :
Come,
thee,
in
good
not giving St. Patrick a passage, as Probus states, was because the poor fugitive had
acknowledged, he had no money to pay for it. This circumstance is certainly very pro- bable, although the saint himself does not mention it. — 134 «'Veni quia ex fide recipimus te. "
119.
'•s The Fourth Lif—e remarks, "elevate
velo prospero flatu. " Cap. xxiii. , p. 38. Jocelyn says, that the wind was very fair ;
" Confessio S. Patricii. " Ware's
Vita S. Patricii," cap. xvii. , p. 68.
Edition, p. 7. The expression, "ex fide," probably
'* The Confession " Protinus na- states,
vigavimus, et post triduum terram cepimus. " may be understood, of their giving him a Dr. Lanigan conjectures, that this was
passage, on his promise, or credit, and, that they would wait for payment, until his arrival in Gaul.
135 We are told, by Probus, that Patrick
preached the faith to them, the very day he embarked.
'3° See the Second Life, cap. xviii. , p. 13, the Third Life, cap. xvi. , p. 22, the Fourth Life, cap. xxi. , p. 38, n. 11, p. 49, the Fifth Life, lib. i. , cap. iv.
