No More Learning

Picti, Saxones,
et Scoti et Attacot—ti
of the
Dal-Riada,
these are antedated
is that set down in the " Chronicum Scotorum. " 1 ^ The Annals
the migration of the sons of Ere to Alba during the pontificate of Symmachus, 1
the Calends of January being on feria prima. ** Flann refers this emigration of the sons of Ere, to the fifteenth year after the battle of Ocha, which should bring the true date to a. d. 506. 146 The sway of the Alban Dalaradians extended over the greater part of that country, now called Argyleshire, and probably over some of the Hebrides or Western Islands, in St. Columba's time. From their close connection with Ireland, it is generally believed, that they had acquired a knowledge of the Christian religion, before the preach- ing of St. Columba. From this time forward, the two rival nations in Alba wereengagedinacontinuedstruggleforascendency. Victoryleanedsome- times to one side, and sometimes to the other. That country, which spread north of the rude bulwark 1 ^ erected the
by Emperor
occupied in the time of St. Columba, by two distinct races known as the
Picts and the Scots. Sometimes, these combined their forces to plunder, and lay waste the rich and fertile plains of their Lowland neighbours. Frequently, too, combinations of other races with them made irruptions on the Roman settlements in Britain/*8 A tribe of the Northern Picts had
at least five x42 The years.
Antoninus was Pius,
Frith of Clyde on the west, to the Frith of Forth on the east. It was intended to mark the ultimate frontier of the Roman Empire ; at the same time, it served as a barrier against those tameless savage tribes, which then inhabited the beautiful though moun- tainous regions, now known as the Scottish
Ammianus rum," lib. xxvi.
" Rerum Gesta-
Marcellinus,
366 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9. Those southern Picts had received the faith from St. Ninian, a hundred and
pars. iii. , cap. lxxii.
'J4 A district in the
before St. Columba's arrival at 1 ^ In the middle of the sixth Hy.
fifty years
century, the Northern Picts I5° were heathens, but the nature of their super-
stitions seems to be imperfectly known. 151
In the second century of the Christian era, Conaire, son of Modh-
Lamha, ascended the throne of Ireland a. d. i58, 152 and he reigned eight
years, when he fell by Neimhidh, son of Sruibhgheann, in the year 165. The
monarch Conaire left three sons, viz. , Cairbre Muse, from whom descend the
Muscraige 153 Cairbre Baschaein, —from whom are the Baiscnigh, in Corca- ;
Baiscinn ;'S4 and Cairbre Riad—a I5S otherwise called Cairbre Righfada, and Reuda by Venerable Bede I56 who was ancestor of the Dal-Riada. This latter chieftain seems to have drawn together a considerable following, and to have organized an expedition for Pictland, where, either by friendly negotia- tion or by the sword, his adherents succeeded in forminga settlement among the Caledonians. This territory, first acquired by the Scotj or Gaeidhil, after- wards received the name of Airer-Gaeidhil, now shortened to Argyle. From a very remote period, however, the Irish incursions to the northern parts of Britain had commenced 15? and, in the reigns of Olmucad, Tigernhmas,
tohavetakenplace. 158 AgreatfamineprevailedinthesouthernpartsofIre- land ; and many of those people—called Dal-Riada—resolved to migrate and seek more distant settlements. They left Munster, and some fixed a home for themselves in the present county of Antrim, while the greater number crossed over into Alba, also known as Caledonia. Ancient writers never mention that country by its present name of Scotland, as for many cen- turies Scotia 15' was a denomination peculiar to Ireland. There they estab- lished some colonies, and in progress of time, they grew into the Dalriadic race. '60 However, it is pretty clear, the Irish colony, that had gone to Scot- land from the part of Antrim called Dalriada,161 were still subject, for many years, to the Irish monarch. From the name of its founder, the colony was known as Albanian Dalriada, and the settlers have been denominated the Scoto-Irish. 162 In their new country, these settlers were known as the Scoti or Scots from Ireland. They chiefly inhabited the south-western islands and
;
Reatch, and other monarchs, expeditions to the coasts of Alban are recorded
I4' There is no distinct authority for sup-
posing, that St. Ninian preached the Gospel on the north of the Frith of Forth ; and, it
is quite certain, that he did not carry the faith into the mountainous districts. See Ve-
"
nerable Bede's
tisAnglorum,"lib. iii. , cap. iv. , pp. 168, 169.
150 That territory, occupied by the North- ern Picts, may be roughly described, as stretching across the Island of Britain, from the Roman Wall on the south, to the Frith of Murray on the north.
•s* On this subject, the reader may con-
suit John Hill Burton's "History of Scot-
land," vol. i. , chap, vi. , pp. 217 to 246.
's2 See Dr. O'Dononvan's " Annals of the
Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 106, 107.
•S3 See Roderick O'Flaherty's "Ogygia,"
of
Cruithne, yet seized by him and his fol- lowers, so that thenceforth, from the con-
queror it was called Dal-Riada, or the portion of Riada. See George Chalmers'
"Caledonia," vol. i. , book ii. , chap, vi. , p. 273.
I56 See "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. i. , cap. i. , pp. 23, 24.
'S8 See Thomas Moore's M History of Ire- land," vol. i. , chap, vii. , p. 128.
*» It is derived from the warlike tribe of
the Scots, who are supposed to have come
originally from Spain, and having subdued the native Hiberni, to have conferred their own name on our Island.
l6° To their illustrious stock the belonged
Historia Ecclesiastica Gen-
present county
Clare, embracing the baronies of Moyarta Kings of Scotland in uninterrupted line,
and Clonderalaw.
'-5 He is said to have conquered a terri-
tory of thirty miles in extent in the north- east corner of Ireland, then enjoyed by the
from Feargus, through the various branches of the Stuarts, down to Robert Bruce,
l6t
Corresponding with the modern dis- trict of the Route.
157 George Buchanan states
Scotorum ex Hibernia transitum in Albion factumnostri annalesreferunt,"&c. —"Re- rum Scoticarum Historiae," lib. ii. , p. 50.
:
" Nee semel
June 9. ] LIVES -OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 367
districts in Scotland. There, they obtained a stable settlement, and soon they
became a dominant people. They multiplied exceedingly in both countries; while a common origin and bonds of sympathy caused them to form a close
alliance and to maintain also a constant and friendly intercourse. The Picts, after a long-continued series of conflicts with the Scots, at length were com- pletely subdued, and the two distinct kingdoms were united under the Scot- tish sovereign, Kenneth McAlpine, about the year 84o. l63 After this con- quest, the name of Picts gradually disappears from the page of history. The two hostile peoples were rapidly blended together, and towards the close of the next century, the whole country began, for the first time, to be called Scotland. This name it derived from the conquering race. 16*
The means by which St. Columba obtained peaceable possession of Iona have somewhat divided the opinion of calendarists, biographers and historians. Some accounts have it, that Island had been inhabited l6s before the time of his arrival there ; while others state, that it had been previously uninha- bited. Before his departure from Ireland, Columba had probably obtained the grant of Iona. It was one of those Islands, off the coast of Argyll on the mainland, and which was in the occupation of the Dalriadan Scots, who possessed those districts forty years before his arrival. Their king was Gabh- ran, grandson to Feargus Mor Mac Ere. But, in the year 560, these colonists sustained a great reverse, when Brude, son of Mailchu, the powerful king of the Picts, attacked and drove them back, when their King Gabhran was slain. 166 For the time, their limits were confined to the peninsula of Kintyre and Knapdale, and probably Cowal. These reverses are thought to have greatly influenced and expedited the miss'on of St. Columba; for, being closely connected, through his grandmother, with the line of Dalriadic Kings, whose expulsion from the country was then threatened, he felt, that if he could succeed in gaining the Pagan Picts to the faith of Christ, he might be able, also, to establish peaceable relations between them and the Irish colonists. 16? However, there are ancient writers who distinctly state, that he received Iona as a grant from the Picts, and among these are the Venerable Bede,168 while such an assertion is made, also, in the Liber Hymnorum. l69 On the death of Gabhran, Conall, son of Comgall, was recognised as King of Scottish Dalriada, and his chief place of residence seems to have been at
Delgon or Kindelgend, in Kintyre, probably situated on the west coast of Knapdale. There are writers who assert, that Iona was given to Columba by this king, named Conall, who ruled over the Albanian Scots, to a. d. 574. 170
162 "
See George Chalmers* Caledonia," magno ab eo freto discreta, sed dona-
vol. i. , book ii. , chap, vi. , p. 274.
tione Pictorum [qui illas Britannise plagas incolunt], jamdudum monachis Scotorum
tradita, eo quod, illi—s prsedicantibus, fidem
Christi " "Historia Ecclesias- perceperunt.
163 See John Hill Burton's
"
History of Scotland," vol. i. , chap, ix. , p. 329.
164 See Venerable Bede's " Historia Eccle- siastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. i. , cap. i.
tica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. iii. , l6s This is stated by Hector Boece, in p. 167. This he repeats, in the following
" Scotorum Historiae," lib. vi. , fol. no.
166
MS. Rawlinsoncopyin the Bodleian Library, Oxferd,—enter "Mors Garbain maic Domon- gairt. " William F. Skene's "Chronicles of the Picts, Chronicles of the Scots, and other early Memorials of Scottish History," p. 167.
"
167 See William F. Skene's
land: a History of Ancient Alban," vol, ii. ,
book
168 He writes '' videlicet insula ad : Quae
cap. iv. , pp. 168, 169.
l6'
Alluding to St. Columba's mission it states: "Bruidi autem Alius Melchor rege- bat Pictos tunc, et iste immolavit (i. e. , abtu- lit) ColumbaNiubiColumbcumessetarmo- rum 67. sepultus est. "
'7° Thus : "A. C. 574, bory Conaibl true Comgoill ^15 OaLrviA'OA [mors Conalli fillii Comgalli regis Dalraidae], xvi. anno regni sui : qui obtulit Insulam la Colaim-cille. "
At A. D. 560, the Annals of Inisfallen,
ii. , chap, ii. , pp. 78 to 84.
See Ussher's Works, vol. vi. , rum Ecclesiarum
Britannica-
jus quidem Britanniae pertinet, non p. 246.
Celtic Scot-
" Antiquitates," cap. xv. ,
368 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
11 Among these are the learned and judicious Irish Annalist Tigernach, ? as
also thecompilersofthe UlsterAnnals,1? 2 andthe "ChronicumScotorum/'^s The Dalriads of Scotland were already Christians, and their dominion appears to have extended over Mull and Iona. In the opinion of Ussher, Hy was too far distant from the Pictish territories to form a part of them. '74 Next, how is it to be supposed, adds Rev. Dr. Lanigan, that Bridius, who was still a pagan when Columba arrived, would have been applied to for a grant, orwouldhavevoluntarilymadeoneP1? 5 TheO'Clerysstate,merely,thatthis Island was offered to him, with many other churches. They remark, that having gone on a pilgrimage to Albain, he dwelt on I Coluim Cille.
Before St. Columba set out for that Island, afterwards known by the name of I-Columb-Kill, his relative, Conall—sometimes called Conwall—was then a
over the Albanian Scots. 1 ? 6 This
said to have been celebrated for his piety and zeal, in desiring to promote the
king,
ruler,
1 ? 8 while he was liberal in founding churches, and in establishing monasteries. 1^ Conall, son of Comgal, succeeded his uncle
interests of
religion j
Gabhran, 181
a. d. It is
180 on the Scottish throne. He ruled for a term of fifteen
years.
of his 182 It is not kingdom.
560
highly probable,
when he became Our saint had a natural claim upon this King of the Scots. With Conall, he was allied by blood, while the fame of his labours and miracles made his presence most acceptable to a pious and royal relative. It is thought, likewise, that Iona was an appendage
before their conversion, he had established his monastery at Iona.
he took an ruler, to invite Columba into his dominions.
early occasion,
that the Picts would have
the Island to Columba before their conversion, and yet, it is certain, that
likely, moreover,
given
The two
l8 opposite accounts, however, may be brought into perfect harmony. 3 Being
situated near the confines of the two kingdoms, and of small importance, Iona had probably never been taken possession of by either monarch. Thus, Columba found the island uninhabited, it is thought, and he established a monastery upon it.
No doubt, he obtained, also, the sanction and encourage- ment of his relative, the
'7 1
the death of
Mac
Regum Hibernorum Albania: Series Metrica, pp. cxxvii. , cxxxvii.
meic
anno —sui Comgaill regni xvj. qui
obtu-
Recording
Conall,
mena," pars i. ,
Comgaill, King of Dalriada at A. D. 574, in
the thirteenth year of his reign, Tighernach
adds : "qui oferavit (obtulit) Isolam la Colaim-cilie. "
1? 8 See Hector Boece's toriae," lib. ix. , fol. 166.
"
Scotorum Hys-
'? 2 At A. D. 574, we read
:
" Mors CoDaill
'"See Innes' "Civil and Ecclesiastical
History of Scotland," p. 151.
l8° See " " Scotioe O'Flaherty's Ogygia,"
Regum Catalogus Chronologo-Genealogi-
cus," p. 473, and "Ogygia Vindicated,''
p. 104.
l8'
See the LeabhAr\ b^eAchiiAch Atinro flf. The Irish Version of the Historia Bri- tonum of Nennius, edited by Rev. Dr. James Henthorn Todd and the Hon. Algernon Herbert, pp. 276 to 279, and n. (u).
l8a See Rev. Dr. " Ecclesiastical Lanigan's
History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xi. , sect, xiii. , n. 146, p. 156.
lit isolam Iae Coluimcille. " William F. "
Skene's Chronicles of the Picts, Chroni-
cles of the Scots, and other early Memorials
of Scottish History," p. 345.
'" Edited by William M. Hennessey, pp.
60, 61.
74 See " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti-
quitates," cap. xv. , p. 362. '"See "Ecclesiastical
of Ire- land," vol. ii. , chap, xi. , sect, xiii. , n. 146,
p. 156.
°See Chalmers' "Caledonia,"
book vi. , 281. ii. , chap, p.
l8j
,?
vol.
According to Rev. Dr. Reeves,
'" See Rev. Dr. O'Conor's "Rerum Hiber- nicarum Scriptores," tomus i. "Prolego-
the son of 1 " is Domangart,
of the Scots. — the conversion King Afterwards, upon
of the Picts, —he received from their sovereign
in Caledonia that formal grant, of which mention is made by Venerable Bede. St. Columba was sent by Heaven as their apostle of peace and first teacher to the Scots and Picts. l8*
History
i. ,
l84 See Rev. Dr. " Gene- JeoffryKeating's
ral History of Ireland," at the reign of King Aedh, part ii. , p. 374. Duffy's edition.
the more powerful monarch The one, he sought to confirm in the
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 369
Faith, which they had partially known, but heeded not ; to the other, he longed to teach those Divine truths, of which as yet they had hardly heard.
CHAPTER VIII.
PROPHECY OF ST. BRENDAN, ABEOT OF BIRR—THE ISLAND SELECTED FOR ST. COLUMBA'S PERMANENT HABITATION—HIS VOYAGE TO SCOTLAND—HIS CHOICE OF IONA FOR A MONASTIC ESTABLISHMENT—EUROPEAN AND BRITANIC SOCIETY BEFORE ST. COLUMBA'S EPOCH—HIS FIRST ERECTIONS, AT IONA, AND MODE OF LIVING THERE—ST. COLUMBA'S PROPHETIC ANNOUNCEMENT OF A BATTLE FOUGHT IN IRELAND.
In a beautiful but to him as yet a strange land, its future illustrious Apostle was about to seek a more arduous field ; and, among a more distant people, his missionary labours were henceforth to be exercised. However, it was not withour a pang, that he turned his back upon the monasteries he had founded,anduponthefriendsheloved. Beforesettingoutonhisvoluntary
—missionand
hesenta
messengeron
avisittoSt.
Brendan,
1 AbbotofBirr
exile,
—who had a reputation for possessing the spirit of wisdom in a marked degree
so that his counsel might be obtained, regarding that place, where Columba might rest. Then, for a while, Brendan remained in silent thought, and looking towards heaven, he directed the earth to be opened, beneath the feet of that messenger. There, a stone was found, and on it was inscribed a single character, to which attention was directed. 2 The vowel I was that letter, by which St. Brendan of Birr is said to have indicated to St. Columba the Island for his future sojourn. 3
original
I,
Y,or
tongue
8
Jona It is
name was 5
with an — In the Gaelic aspirate Hy.
At that period, however, it had no place in history.
4 -
Hy6
assumes different forms, in the historical records of the middle ages.
The
—it means "an island. "
or
The name of
10 11 written, however, almost indifferently Ii, Ia,9 Io, E0, Hi, Hie, Hu, Yi.
It is also written Hya,12 Hithe,13 Ych I4 and Aoii, as also Hoide Collum Cill. 15 In legal documents, the form most frequently used is I-Columkille or M the island of Columkille. " The modern name, Iona, has afforded a great
Chapter viii. of November.
3
—l
Venerated, at the 29th
torke," lib. vi. , fol. no.
9 The Annals of Tigernach and of Ulster
use this form.
The foregoing is found in a Vita S. Brendani Birrensis.
3 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
Secunda Appendix ad Acta S. Columbse,
See Ussher's Works, vol. vi. , Britan nicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates," cap. xv. , p. 240.
5 See Rev. Thomas Innes' "Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scotland," book ii. , p. 170.
6 This is the denomination it receives from
Venerable Bede, but, in his ' ' Historia Eccle-
siastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. iii. ,
p. 97, as published at Antwerp, a. d. , m. d. l. ,
in folio, wefind it "
printed Hydestinatus. "
i This name, which it obtained in later ages, is the one by which it is now popularly known.
8 As in Hector Boece's " Scotorum His-
10
St. Blaithmaic, it is thus written.
Pars Prima, num. xliv. , p. 462. 4"-
or Iona?
sometimes written
In Walafrid Strabo's metrical Life of
" Archbishop Ussher, citing the " Appa- ratus ad Histoiiam Scoticam," lib. i. , cap. xv. , num. v. , vi. , and xi. , observes: 'Ludi- brium enim omnibus Thomas Dempsterus debet, qui ex Hydestinati, Hu vel Hy et
—nominibus tres nobis
Jona: effingit "
insulas," &c. Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiqui-
tates," cap. xv. , p. 365.
" In Vita S. Edi, and Vita S. Fintani.
I3 In Vita S. Cainici.
I4
*S See Dermod O'Connor's Keating's
"General of Ireland," ii. , History part pp.
356, 374.
'
In Vita S. Ythse.
. 6 Tnus, n3 p is rendered into our verna- r'
cular letters as Yona.
I
37° LIVES OF THE IKISH SAINTS. [June 9.
subject of controversy to the etymologists.
coincidence.
striking
supposed, therefore,
be observed, that Iona is used by Adamnan, according to his custom, as an adjective and not as a substantive. 18 As found in its present form, the deno- mination of Iona probably originated in a mistaken reading of n for «. IQ It is one of the Hebrides, and peacefully reposing on the bosom of the Atlantic Ocean, it lies off the western point of the Island of Mull, in Argyleshire, Scotland. It seems somewhat strange, that the Island of Iona could have been mistaken as possibly applying to Hinba, by the learned Benedictines,20 Father John Mabillon and D'Achery, or that the geography of the Hebrides had not been better known, in the beginning of the last century. The first great interest of Iona, however,lies in the remoteage to which it takes us back. More than thirteen hundred years have now passed, since Columba first landed on
stantive; and,
ofui
—nto «—
adds
:
" Eo autem loco visitur de lapis quo
J 7
its shores. It is very easy to speak of such numbers, or to write them ; but, it is not quite so easy to have before us a definite idea, regarding the place
21
tion ; while they were told to prepare food for themselves, in a fashion quite irreconcilable with friendly hospitality. Then follows a story of sufficient extravagance to well merit its rejection. It is said, that Columba felt insulted
occupied by the last thirteen centuries, in the history of our world.
to one 22 received the of St. Molas- account, having injunction
According
sius to leave Ireland, our saint and twelve companions went on a visit to Cruimther-fraech 23 or Priest Froecus. On the way, they came to a certain place called Kill-Mudain 74> as night approached. It happened to be Friday, and at that place lived Mudan,25 who received his guests with scant cour- tesy. A barn was assigned for their dwelling, and it was in a filthy condi-
*l Fordun has been led to suppose, this Island had been called after its holy patron ; the Latin word Hy Columkille being translated into the Hebrew word, Yona. See William F. Skene's edition of the " Scoti- chronicon," vol. i. , lib. ii. , cap. x. , p. 43, lib. iii. , cap. xxiv, p. 109, cap. xxix. , p. 115, cap. xxxiv.