After
episcopacy
had been abolished, looms were erected within the aisles, 1560-7,95 and in different ways was St.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
1418, when the succession from Ireland failing, German monks of the Benedictine Order were substituted.
67 In Germany, St.
Giles is reckoned as one of the Vierzehn Noth-halfer.
6S Towards the end of the eleventh century, the veneration of St.
/Egidius extended in Hungary, while the saintly King Ladislaus, son of the Champion Bela, ruled there.
He founded a monastery and church
dedicated to the holy abbot, at Semichen, and this religious house was 6
subjected to the parent one, ? already established in the Flavian Valley. In that, also, only French monks were to be received. 70 To the discretion of the Hungarian monarch was left certain affairs connected with that monastery. 71 Besides, at Rome itself, were churches and religious places connected with a veneration for the Blessed Abbot ^Egidius. 72
On the 1 st of September, the feast of their patron, at Saint-Gilles-Vieux-
Marche, at Saint-Gilles-Pligneaux, and at Saint-Gilles du Mene, in Bretagne, a great number of pilgrims annually assemble to invoke his intercession.
After the middle of the thirteenth century, Pope Urban IV. " ordered an Office of Nine Lessons for St. yEgidius to be inserted in the Roman Breviary, and it was to be recited as a semi-double. 7* But, about the middle of the sixteenth century, that office was reduced to a simplex? * and as thus regulated by Pope St. Pius V. , it has since been observed. However, in many dioceses, especially in France and Belgium, the office of our saint has had a higher position. Hence, the Lessons recited on the Festival of St. ^Egidius are varied according to the circumstances of churches and provinces. In Ireland, it is a simplex, the third Lesson of which is a proper one,76 dealing with the acts of St. /Egidius and having a special prayer. With fifteen other saints, for many ages in various churches of Western Christendom, he was invoked by the special title of " Auxiliator. " 77 This must be attributed to the confidence felt by the faithful in the efficacy of his intercession. 78
67 Bucelin, who records these facts, adds ; Patet hodie magistratui, extinctis post mutatam religionem in urbe monachis, cele- braturque summopere amplissimce basilicce architectur—a,egregiumpriscisplendorisargu-
'*
<;
Arelatem ad beatum Ccesarium 77 Father Papebroke, when treating of St.
"
63
statement, contendit. "
mentum. "
Germania Sacra," parsii. ,p. 3. See Rev. S. Baring- Gould's "Lives of
reasons
for such a
title ;
but he has a only
the Saints," vol. ix. , September I, p. 10.
69 This is to be seen in the Letter of Pope Paschal II. , in 1106, and directed to Hugh, Abbot of St. /Egidius in Septimania. See Baluzius, in " Miscellaneorum," tomusii. , p.
183.
70 This is stated by the monk Albericus, in
his Chronicle, at A. D. 1078.
71 See Mabillon's " Annales Ordinis S.
Benedicti," tomus v. , lib lxv. , num. xlviii. ,
p. 137.
71 See the Bollandists' " Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus i. , Septembris i. De Sancto ^Lgidio Abbate in Fano S. ^Egidii Occitaniae. Com- mentaiius Praevius, sect. i. Veneratio Sancti longe lateque propagata, pp. 284 to 287.
73 He ruled from a. d. 1261 to a. d. 1264.
74 Father Stilting adds, " ut ex Gavanto
scribit Bailletus ad I. Septembris in S.
yEgidio. "
75 He presided over the Church from a. d.
conjecture to offer, that such appellation had been given, because each of those saints was venerated and invoked for some special necessity. In certain Missals is the Mass, De Quindecim Sanctissimis Auxiliatoribus. In some old Missals, there is a Mass thus intituled, Missa de Quinque Sanctis Privile- giatis. In the Collect for both these Masses, St. /Egidius is specially numbered.
? 8 To the prayers offered for his interces-
sion, by Judith Wladislai, wife of the King of Poland, she is believed to have given birth to a son, afterwards known as Boleslaus, King of Poland, in the beginning of the twelfth century. When the latter grew up, with a few priests and other pious men, that prince made a pilgrimage in a plain habit to the tomb of St. yFgidius. A great part of this journey he accomplished in his bare feet, and on the way, he bestowed liberal alms on the churches, monasteries and poor. He remained in fastings and prayers fifteen days before the tomb of the holy Abbot, as
1566 to a. d. 1572.
76 In this single Lesson is inserted the related by Joannes Herburtus. See Bene-
"
for April, and at p. 149, investigates the
George in the
Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. ,
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September
In art, St. Giles is represented as wearing a monastic habit, with his beloved hind? 9 beside him, the saint's hand pierced with an arrow and resting on its head. When his festival takes place at Valencia, it is customary to bless a sprig of fennel. 80 His devout clients invoke his intercession, more- over, to avert fire, the falling sickness, weakness of mind, and fear.
Jn England, in Ireland, and also in Scotland, for many ages past, St. Giles has been held in great veneration ; while in those countries many elegant and noble churches have been erected in his honour. 8 ' About the year 1090, Alfime, the first master of St. Bartholomew's. Hospital, London,
founded the old church, dedicated to St. Giles, in Cripplegate, anciently a fen or moor, the houses and gardens of which were counted a village, called
without the walls of that
82 The of this church was patronage
Mora,
formerly in private hands, until one Alemund, a priest, granted the same to the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul. In the year 1545, the old Church of St. Giles was destroyed by fire. Afterwards, a fine Gothic church was
erected, 114 feet in length, by 63 in breadth, 33 feet high to the roof, and 122 feet to the top of the tower. It is one of the few London churches that escaped the dreadful conflagration in 1666. The monuments of several
8
celebrated persons are to be found within this church. 3 Fragments of the
old Roman wall may still be seen in the churchyard of St. Giles', Cripple-
city.
8'* A
in the Fields—to distinguish it from St. Giles, Cripplegate—was made parochial, in the year 1547. 85 The Church and village of St. Giles in the Fields are supposed to have sprung from an hospital for Lepers founded
Especially was St. Giles honoured in Edinburgh, where a celebrated church was built and dedicated to him. 88 The original church on its site
whom is not known. 00 A new
in lieu of the original one, was erected by King David I. , in the early part
gate.
village,
called from a church
standing
there a. d. St. Giles 1222,
aboutthe 86 In 87 year1117. 1354, King
wifeof
Edward III. granted that hospital to the Master and Brethren ot the Order of Burton St. Lazar of Jerusalem, in Leicestershire.
there,byMatilda,
HenryI. ,
was erected before a. d. 8q but 854,
church,
by
diet Gononus,in "Vitis Patruum Occidentis,"
iii. , p. 251.
84 See Ward and Lock's "Pictorial Guide
to London," p. 19.
8s See Walter Harrison's "New and
Universal History, Description and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster,"
&c, book v. , chap, i. , p. 536.
86
See "London," edited by Charles Knight, vol. iii. , sect. Ixvi. , St. Giles's, Past and Present, p. 258.
8? See a plan of St. Giles in the Fields and its connexion with the First St. Giles' Church. when both were regarded as in a suburban position outside the walls in London, in the
lib. iii. ,
79 The hind is represented, likewise, as
the armorial bearing of the city of Saint- Gilles. See Les Petits Bollandistes, "Vies des Saints," tome x. , premier jour de Sep- tembre, p. 405.
80
See Rev. S. Baring-Gould's "Lives of the Saints," vol. ix. , September 1, pp. 9, 10.
81
See "Les Petits Bollandistes," tome x. , ic jour de Septembre, p. 405.
1
In process of time, the village increased so considerably in buildings, that it was con- Stitttted a prebend of St. Paul's Cathedral,
by the appellation of Mora. This preben- dary has the ninth stall on the right side of the choir in St. Paul's Cathedral. See Walter Harrison's "New and Universal Hi>tory, Description and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster, the Borough of Southwark, and their adjacent Parts," book ii. , chap, xvi. , p. 468, and n. ibid.
Si Milton was buried, where his father had been buried before him, in the Church of St. Giles, Cripplegate. See Charles Knight's "Old England," vol. ii. , book vi. , chap.
p. 155.
work just quoted, Hid. , p. 272. 88 "
See Registrum Cartarum Ecclesia'
Sancti Egidii de Edinburgh," edited by the Bannatine Club.
8' See Francis 11. Groome's "Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland : a Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical, and Historical," vol. ii. , p. 515.
9° The original building was probably of small dimensions, but the parish Church of Edinburgh. See Rev. Mackenzie E. C. Walcott's " Scoti-Monasticon : the Ancient Church of Scotland," p. 363.
September i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
of the twelfth century. Additions of aisles, transepts, chapels and a choir, were subsequently made to it; but, in 1385, it was destroyed by the Duke of Gloucester and the English who invaded
St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh.
confirmed its privileges to St. Giles' by charter. 93 It contained several
chapels,94 all of which were destroyed in 1559, by the Earls of Argyle and Glencairn.
After episcopacy had been abolished, looms were erected within the aisles, 1560-7,95 and in different ways was St. Giles' afterwards dese-
9t See the history of St. Giles's Church, from the churches in all parts of Scotland,
with illustrations, in Daniel Wilson's "Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time," vol. ii. , chap, xi. , pp. 157 to 176.
"and in Edinburgh was that great idole, Sanct Geyle, first drowned in the North Loch, after burned, which raised no small trouble in the town. " He afterwards gives an account of the tumult, to which allusion has been made, in his " History of the Refor-
92 Through the intervention of the King
of France, after long entreaty on the part of
the clergy and people of Edinburgh. This
relic, embossed in silver, was kept among mation in Scotland," book i. , pp. 256 to 261.
the Church treasures, until the Reformation.
See " The Works of John Knox ;" collected
and edited David Laing, vol. i. , Edin- by
See Arnot's " of History
268.
93 See Maitland's ''History of Edin- burgh, 1864, 8vo.
burgh," p. 272.
94 When the rage of the Scottish Reformers _
Edinburgh," p.
« See Rev. Dr. Mackenzie E. C. Walcott's
"Scoti-Monasticon," Edinburgh, pp. 133,
against images was prevalent, on the 1st of
September, 1558, a wooden image of St.
Giles was destroyed by a mob, when borne
in procession through Edinburgh. John references illustrating its various compart- Knox relates that images were stolen away ments, previous to 1829, in Daniel Wilson's
Scotland, during the reign of King Richard II. In 1387, the re- construction of St. Giles' Church was
and for the most part it was carried out in the Early
commenced,
Gothic
which dis-
style,
tinguished that period,
although much of the
1
In 1393, King Robert III. annexed it to Scone, the Crown and Municipal Council granting sums for its restoration, at various times. The church had been a cell to Dumfermline, until refounded out of consoli- dated chapelries as a collegiate church, in 1446, by the Provost
and Magistrates. In 1454, the arm-bone of St. Giles was obtained
2
for it as a relic. 9
on the 22nd of February, 1466, King James III.
old masonry remained. 9
134-
96 There is an interesting ground plan of
St. Giles's Church, with description and
Again,
24 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September i
crated. 00 Formerly it had the ordinary cathedral cruciform outline; but, owing to additions, alterations and curtailments, it lost nearly all trace of its original form. ? In 1829 to 1832, under the direction of Mr. Burn, it under-
8
went a very tasteless so-called renovation ;° wasproposedtorestoretheinterior,? andin1872,underthedirectionofMr. \V. Hay, the work was commenced, owing chiefly to the public spirit and
100
generous liberality of the eminent publisher, Dr. William Chambers. When the ecclesiastical changes, consequent on the establishment of Protestantism in the sixteenth century, had put an end to the old Catholic ritual in Edinburgh, and St. Giles' had become a place for plain Presbyterian worship, its long drawn aisles were not thought to be advan- tageous for the preachers of the day, and the interior of the edifice was
consequently partitioned into a number of separate places for worship. The choir was first restored in 1873 ; but, owing to various obstacles, great delay was occasioned before the renovation was finally accomplished in 1883.
St. Giles was also venerated in 101 in Fintray,
102
Moffat,
and in where Elgin,
fairs were held in his honour.
This holy servant of God is commemorated in several Martyrologies and
Calendars; asinsomeadditionstothoseofAdoandoftheVenerableBede,
in the Gallican103 and
in an ancient Franco-Gallic Martyrology, edited by Labbe,105 at the 1st of
108
"Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden disfigured in like manner. The side chapels Time," vol. ii. , appendix, sect, xviii. , pp. were either demolished, or blocked up with
as, also,
Anglican
10* Kalendars. He
is commemorated,
IO° in a Codex of Corbie 107 and in an ancient
; manuscript
September ;
belonging to the Monastery of Lerins.
original work, the name of Saint ^Egidius does not occur, but it is to be found in many of the more modern additions to Usuard. Through the Kalendar of Sarum, St. Egidius, or Giles, finds his place in the Scottish Kalendar. In the Scottish Kalendar of Hyrdmanistoun, at the 1st of September, St. Egidius, Abbot,100 is commemorated. In Scotland he is
221 to 223.
97 On Sunday, July 23rd, 1637, when the Protestant Bishop of Edinburgh ascended the pulpit of St. Giles to introduce the English Liturgy upon the Presbyterians of Scotland, he was violently assailed by the congregation assembled. Riot after riot followed, until the great National Covenant
nned, and Rebellion succeeded. See Charles Knight's "Old England," vol. ii. , book vi. , chap, i. , pp. 174, 175.
98 The exterior of the building was then newly encased in stone, which only served
the unadorned wood-work of galleries and
pews, as was the case with the historic
Albany Aisle.
" The accompanying illustration, drawn
on the wood and engraved by Gregor Grey, has been copied from an approved etching of St. Giles' Church, before the late restora- tions had been commenced.
still further to obliterate its historic features
;
,01 " See Keith's
Aberdeen," p. 245. IOS "
View of the Diocese of
the stately old tower, surmounted by its
finely proportioned mural crown being at
1 resent the only characteristic of its external
See RegistrumEpiscopatusMoravien- sis," p. 313.
which can
ancient. At the same time, the interior underwent other changes for the worse. The massive octagonal pillars in the nave were sliced down into narrow fluted shafts, alto- gether out of keeping with the general eiiaracter of the architecture. In order t—hat
room might be made for the galleries
rather modern innovation—arches and
tals were ruthlessly cut into, and the whole building made as unlike its former state as possible. The transepts and choir were
,o3 in that of Andrew Especially
aspect,
really
be as regarded
Saussay. 10 * As in those of York and Sarum.
capi-
by Martene, " Thesauri Anecdotorum," col. 1613.
a
tomus
,o8 This has been edited
but, in the year 1867, it
In the genuine copies of Usuard's
I0°
"Memoir of William and Robert Cham- bers," by William Chambers, LL. D. , sup- plementary chapter, 1865— 1883, pp. 357 to
371, Edinburgh and London, 1893, sm- 4l o.
See that most instructive and interesting
,os See " Bibliothecas MSS," tomus ii. , p. 702.
:
,u6 There we read " Eodem die depositio
beati Egidii Abbatis. "
I0? Published in "
by D'Achery Spici-
in
legium,"
ii. , p. 17.
,0? See Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p. 45.
September i;] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 25 known as St. Giles. Also, in the Kalendars of Culenros110 and De Nova
"
September,
Edinburgh.
quotes he
1. 1 112
See ibid. , p. 75.
abbatis et confessoris.
111
there is a like entry. Again, it is in the Kalendar of Arbuthnot," 1
2
Farina
while in that of Aberdeen, the feast is noted as a minor duplex, *3 and entered likewise in the Martyrology of Aberdeen,"* on the same day. In his " Menologium Scoticum," Thomas Dempster has this saint also entered, at
the 1st of 1 ^ as Patron of
116
For this, he Joannes Molanus, Theologus Lovaniensis. " As Giles, he is entered at t—
11
same date, in the Scottish Kalendar. ? In the ol—Martyrology Tallagh
compiled from various ancient church calendars
for the Abbot 8 at the 1st of Egidius,"
1x
d of
there is noticed a festival
September ; it is entered 9 in the Liber Sancte Trinitatis, Dublin.
and, at the same
date,
Although spending their lives with religious ardour and steady perseverance in love and veneration, walking ever in the way of God's Commandments, animated by His graces and the grateful recollection of His supernatural favours ; yet, had the saints found time and opportunity to discharge all necessary obligations and charitable offices towards their fellow-creatures. Thus they merited that love and veneration, which was bestowed on them by men of good will while they lived, and which transmitted to posterity the
names of so many holy persons, who were eminently deserving respect and honour from succeeding generations.
Article II. —St. Neman, Bishop of Cill Bia. There are no entries made in the published Martyrology of Tallagh, from 31st of August until the 4th of September ; and therefore, the present saint's name, with that of other holy persons, is not there found recorded. However, in the copy contained in the Book of Leinster, although entries are given for the missing days, the
name of Neman is not mentioned, at the present date. The Martyrology of 1
Donegal registers a festival, at the 1st of September, in honour of Neman, Bishop, of Cill-Bia, which seems to have been one of the early small sees in Ireland. In the table which follows this record, a commentator observes, that if by him, Nemhan be understood, this name may fairly be interpreted CcdesHtms? In the Introduction to the Martyrology, it is stated, that Cill Bhi is in Connaught ;3 but, this is by no means certain. At present, it seems no easy matter to discover this place/ among the existing parish or townland denominations of Ireland. However, there is a reasonable conjecture, as Cill-Bia and Cill-mbian are not distinct denominations, and while the latter place is said to have been founded by St. Fearghus,* Bishop of Druim-Leath-
1. 0 See ibid. , p. 61.
"9 Thus, " Eodem die
See ibid. , p. 104.
113 See ibid. , p. 120.
114 The Martyrology of Aberdeen states at
the Kl\ Septembris. —"In pago Neuma- James Henthorn Todd, p. 152.
censi Sancti Egidii abbatis. "—" Proceedings
of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland," vol. ii. , p. 267.
"Kalendars of
l
Article 11. — Edited by Drs- Todd and
Reeves, pp. 232, 233.
115 See
Scottish Saints," p. 210.
Bishop
ginal
passage:
ruotfi-an,
Forbes5
" As
116 Adam King, in his Kalendar, gives this distinction at the 1st of September to
"
S. Geles, abot of Arls in Prouance, patron of Edinbourge, under Charles ye greit" See ibid, p. 161.
"7 See ibid. , p. 255.
118
Thus entered e^itm ab.
sancti Egidii, —"The Book of Obits and Martyrology of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity," edited by
John Clarke Crosthwaite, and Rev. Dr.
2
note to this
from viAorh, holy, is Latinized Sanctanus, so tl email, from nerh, 'heaven,' is rendered Ccclestinus" See ibid. , pp. 458, 459.
3 See ibid. , p. xxxix.
4 Cill Bia has not been hitherto clearly identified.
5 His feast occurs on the 30th March, at which date notices of him may be seen, in
"
;
Dr. Reeves appends the following mar-
26 LIVES OE THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September i.
giaise, more commonly called Dun-da-leath-ghlas, or Down ; an ancient graveyard called Killyman, in the townland of Barnamaghery and parish of
Kilmore, in the Diocese of Down, may represent the site of the once impor- tant church of Cill-mbian, mentioned in several of our annals. In that
6
graveyard, at present, there are no remains of a church ;
of stones had been removed from it, to build a bridge over the Glasswater. It might well be expected, that Cill-mBian? —pronounced Killmian—as having been founded by one of the bishops of Down, should remain closely connectedwiththeSee; and,asKillymanwasachapelinthemensalparish of Kilmore, and probably one of seven mentioned as having belonged to it,
not unreasonably it may be regarded as the ancient Cill m-Bian.
8
If such
identification be correct, as the founder, St. Fearghus, Bishop of Downpatrick, died a. d. 583,9 the present St. Neman flourished hardly at an earlier date than the seventh century. How long Cill m-Bian or Cill-Bia continued to be the see of a bishop does not seem to be known ; for we cannot find farther allusion to it in our Irish Annals or Calendars. Neither is the name of Neman one often to be met with, 10 and certainly not in a form, to furnish probable identity with the saint there venerated. Under the head of Cill- Bia, Duald Mac Ferbis enters Nemhan, bishop of Cill-Bia, at the 1st day of September. "
Article III. —St. Cuimmen, Son of Cuanna, or Cuanach, probably AbbotofDruim-Snechta,nowDrumsnat,CountyofMonaghan. To us it seems very probable, that the present holy man was not distinct from a saint bearing the same appellation, and said to have been venerated on
1
the 4th of this month, at Drumsnat, County of Monaghan. The name of
Cuimmen, son of Cuana, or Cuanach, occurs in the Martyrologies of Tal- 2
lagh, of Marianus 0'Gorman,3 and of Donegal,* at the 1st of* September.
Article IV. —St. Sceallan, the Leper, of Armagh, County of
Armagh. Onthisday,thefeastofSt. Sceallanoccursinsomeofournative
1
Martyrologies. His memory is recorded in the Calendar of Marianus
O'Gorman.
Also,
we find entered in the of 2 that Martyrology Donegal,
the Third Volume of this work, Art. ii. I0 A Neman, Abbot of Lismore, died, A. D. The graveyard is exclusively used by 610.
dedicated to the holy abbot, at Semichen, and this religious house was 6
subjected to the parent one, ? already established in the Flavian Valley. In that, also, only French monks were to be received. 70 To the discretion of the Hungarian monarch was left certain affairs connected with that monastery. 71 Besides, at Rome itself, were churches and religious places connected with a veneration for the Blessed Abbot ^Egidius. 72
On the 1 st of September, the feast of their patron, at Saint-Gilles-Vieux-
Marche, at Saint-Gilles-Pligneaux, and at Saint-Gilles du Mene, in Bretagne, a great number of pilgrims annually assemble to invoke his intercession.
After the middle of the thirteenth century, Pope Urban IV. " ordered an Office of Nine Lessons for St. yEgidius to be inserted in the Roman Breviary, and it was to be recited as a semi-double. 7* But, about the middle of the sixteenth century, that office was reduced to a simplex? * and as thus regulated by Pope St. Pius V. , it has since been observed. However, in many dioceses, especially in France and Belgium, the office of our saint has had a higher position. Hence, the Lessons recited on the Festival of St. ^Egidius are varied according to the circumstances of churches and provinces. In Ireland, it is a simplex, the third Lesson of which is a proper one,76 dealing with the acts of St. /Egidius and having a special prayer. With fifteen other saints, for many ages in various churches of Western Christendom, he was invoked by the special title of " Auxiliator. " 77 This must be attributed to the confidence felt by the faithful in the efficacy of his intercession. 78
67 Bucelin, who records these facts, adds ; Patet hodie magistratui, extinctis post mutatam religionem in urbe monachis, cele- braturque summopere amplissimce basilicce architectur—a,egregiumpriscisplendorisargu-
'*
<;
Arelatem ad beatum Ccesarium 77 Father Papebroke, when treating of St.
"
63
statement, contendit. "
mentum. "
Germania Sacra," parsii. ,p. 3. See Rev. S. Baring- Gould's "Lives of
reasons
for such a
title ;
but he has a only
the Saints," vol. ix. , September I, p. 10.
69 This is to be seen in the Letter of Pope Paschal II. , in 1106, and directed to Hugh, Abbot of St. /Egidius in Septimania. See Baluzius, in " Miscellaneorum," tomusii. , p.
183.
70 This is stated by the monk Albericus, in
his Chronicle, at A. D. 1078.
71 See Mabillon's " Annales Ordinis S.
Benedicti," tomus v. , lib lxv. , num. xlviii. ,
p. 137.
71 See the Bollandists' " Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus i. , Septembris i. De Sancto ^Lgidio Abbate in Fano S. ^Egidii Occitaniae. Com- mentaiius Praevius, sect. i. Veneratio Sancti longe lateque propagata, pp. 284 to 287.
73 He ruled from a. d. 1261 to a. d. 1264.
74 Father Stilting adds, " ut ex Gavanto
scribit Bailletus ad I. Septembris in S.
yEgidio. "
75 He presided over the Church from a. d.
conjecture to offer, that such appellation had been given, because each of those saints was venerated and invoked for some special necessity. In certain Missals is the Mass, De Quindecim Sanctissimis Auxiliatoribus. In some old Missals, there is a Mass thus intituled, Missa de Quinque Sanctis Privile- giatis. In the Collect for both these Masses, St. /Egidius is specially numbered.
? 8 To the prayers offered for his interces-
sion, by Judith Wladislai, wife of the King of Poland, she is believed to have given birth to a son, afterwards known as Boleslaus, King of Poland, in the beginning of the twelfth century. When the latter grew up, with a few priests and other pious men, that prince made a pilgrimage in a plain habit to the tomb of St. yFgidius. A great part of this journey he accomplished in his bare feet, and on the way, he bestowed liberal alms on the churches, monasteries and poor. He remained in fastings and prayers fifteen days before the tomb of the holy Abbot, as
1566 to a. d. 1572.
76 In this single Lesson is inserted the related by Joannes Herburtus. See Bene-
"
for April, and at p. 149, investigates the
George in the
Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. ,
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September
In art, St. Giles is represented as wearing a monastic habit, with his beloved hind? 9 beside him, the saint's hand pierced with an arrow and resting on its head. When his festival takes place at Valencia, it is customary to bless a sprig of fennel. 80 His devout clients invoke his intercession, more- over, to avert fire, the falling sickness, weakness of mind, and fear.
Jn England, in Ireland, and also in Scotland, for many ages past, St. Giles has been held in great veneration ; while in those countries many elegant and noble churches have been erected in his honour. 8 ' About the year 1090, Alfime, the first master of St. Bartholomew's. Hospital, London,
founded the old church, dedicated to St. Giles, in Cripplegate, anciently a fen or moor, the houses and gardens of which were counted a village, called
without the walls of that
82 The of this church was patronage
Mora,
formerly in private hands, until one Alemund, a priest, granted the same to the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul. In the year 1545, the old Church of St. Giles was destroyed by fire. Afterwards, a fine Gothic church was
erected, 114 feet in length, by 63 in breadth, 33 feet high to the roof, and 122 feet to the top of the tower. It is one of the few London churches that escaped the dreadful conflagration in 1666. The monuments of several
8
celebrated persons are to be found within this church. 3 Fragments of the
old Roman wall may still be seen in the churchyard of St. Giles', Cripple-
city.
8'* A
in the Fields—to distinguish it from St. Giles, Cripplegate—was made parochial, in the year 1547. 85 The Church and village of St. Giles in the Fields are supposed to have sprung from an hospital for Lepers founded
Especially was St. Giles honoured in Edinburgh, where a celebrated church was built and dedicated to him. 88 The original church on its site
whom is not known. 00 A new
in lieu of the original one, was erected by King David I. , in the early part
gate.
village,
called from a church
standing
there a. d. St. Giles 1222,
aboutthe 86 In 87 year1117. 1354, King
wifeof
Edward III. granted that hospital to the Master and Brethren ot the Order of Burton St. Lazar of Jerusalem, in Leicestershire.
there,byMatilda,
HenryI. ,
was erected before a. d. 8q but 854,
church,
by
diet Gononus,in "Vitis Patruum Occidentis,"
iii. , p. 251.
84 See Ward and Lock's "Pictorial Guide
to London," p. 19.
8s See Walter Harrison's "New and
Universal History, Description and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster,"
&c, book v. , chap, i. , p. 536.
86
See "London," edited by Charles Knight, vol. iii. , sect. Ixvi. , St. Giles's, Past and Present, p. 258.
8? See a plan of St. Giles in the Fields and its connexion with the First St. Giles' Church. when both were regarded as in a suburban position outside the walls in London, in the
lib. iii. ,
79 The hind is represented, likewise, as
the armorial bearing of the city of Saint- Gilles. See Les Petits Bollandistes, "Vies des Saints," tome x. , premier jour de Sep- tembre, p. 405.
80
See Rev. S. Baring-Gould's "Lives of the Saints," vol. ix. , September 1, pp. 9, 10.
81
See "Les Petits Bollandistes," tome x. , ic jour de Septembre, p. 405.
1
In process of time, the village increased so considerably in buildings, that it was con- Stitttted a prebend of St. Paul's Cathedral,
by the appellation of Mora. This preben- dary has the ninth stall on the right side of the choir in St. Paul's Cathedral. See Walter Harrison's "New and Universal Hi>tory, Description and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster, the Borough of Southwark, and their adjacent Parts," book ii. , chap, xvi. , p. 468, and n. ibid.
Si Milton was buried, where his father had been buried before him, in the Church of St. Giles, Cripplegate. See Charles Knight's "Old England," vol. ii. , book vi. , chap.
p. 155.
work just quoted, Hid. , p. 272. 88 "
See Registrum Cartarum Ecclesia'
Sancti Egidii de Edinburgh," edited by the Bannatine Club.
8' See Francis 11. Groome's "Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland : a Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical, and Historical," vol. ii. , p. 515.
9° The original building was probably of small dimensions, but the parish Church of Edinburgh. See Rev. Mackenzie E. C. Walcott's " Scoti-Monasticon : the Ancient Church of Scotland," p. 363.
September i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
of the twelfth century. Additions of aisles, transepts, chapels and a choir, were subsequently made to it; but, in 1385, it was destroyed by the Duke of Gloucester and the English who invaded
St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh.
confirmed its privileges to St. Giles' by charter. 93 It contained several
chapels,94 all of which were destroyed in 1559, by the Earls of Argyle and Glencairn.
After episcopacy had been abolished, looms were erected within the aisles, 1560-7,95 and in different ways was St. Giles' afterwards dese-
9t See the history of St. Giles's Church, from the churches in all parts of Scotland,
with illustrations, in Daniel Wilson's "Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time," vol. ii. , chap, xi. , pp. 157 to 176.
"and in Edinburgh was that great idole, Sanct Geyle, first drowned in the North Loch, after burned, which raised no small trouble in the town. " He afterwards gives an account of the tumult, to which allusion has been made, in his " History of the Refor-
92 Through the intervention of the King
of France, after long entreaty on the part of
the clergy and people of Edinburgh. This
relic, embossed in silver, was kept among mation in Scotland," book i. , pp. 256 to 261.
the Church treasures, until the Reformation.
See " The Works of John Knox ;" collected
and edited David Laing, vol. i. , Edin- by
See Arnot's " of History
268.
93 See Maitland's ''History of Edin- burgh, 1864, 8vo.
burgh," p. 272.
94 When the rage of the Scottish Reformers _
Edinburgh," p.
« See Rev. Dr. Mackenzie E. C. Walcott's
"Scoti-Monasticon," Edinburgh, pp. 133,
against images was prevalent, on the 1st of
September, 1558, a wooden image of St.
Giles was destroyed by a mob, when borne
in procession through Edinburgh. John references illustrating its various compart- Knox relates that images were stolen away ments, previous to 1829, in Daniel Wilson's
Scotland, during the reign of King Richard II. In 1387, the re- construction of St. Giles' Church was
and for the most part it was carried out in the Early
commenced,
Gothic
which dis-
style,
tinguished that period,
although much of the
1
In 1393, King Robert III. annexed it to Scone, the Crown and Municipal Council granting sums for its restoration, at various times. The church had been a cell to Dumfermline, until refounded out of consoli- dated chapelries as a collegiate church, in 1446, by the Provost
and Magistrates. In 1454, the arm-bone of St. Giles was obtained
2
for it as a relic. 9
on the 22nd of February, 1466, King James III.
old masonry remained. 9
134-
96 There is an interesting ground plan of
St. Giles's Church, with description and
Again,
24 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September i
crated. 00 Formerly it had the ordinary cathedral cruciform outline; but, owing to additions, alterations and curtailments, it lost nearly all trace of its original form. ? In 1829 to 1832, under the direction of Mr. Burn, it under-
8
went a very tasteless so-called renovation ;° wasproposedtorestoretheinterior,? andin1872,underthedirectionofMr. \V. Hay, the work was commenced, owing chiefly to the public spirit and
100
generous liberality of the eminent publisher, Dr. William Chambers. When the ecclesiastical changes, consequent on the establishment of Protestantism in the sixteenth century, had put an end to the old Catholic ritual in Edinburgh, and St. Giles' had become a place for plain Presbyterian worship, its long drawn aisles were not thought to be advan- tageous for the preachers of the day, and the interior of the edifice was
consequently partitioned into a number of separate places for worship. The choir was first restored in 1873 ; but, owing to various obstacles, great delay was occasioned before the renovation was finally accomplished in 1883.
St. Giles was also venerated in 101 in Fintray,
102
Moffat,
and in where Elgin,
fairs were held in his honour.
This holy servant of God is commemorated in several Martyrologies and
Calendars; asinsomeadditionstothoseofAdoandoftheVenerableBede,
in the Gallican103 and
in an ancient Franco-Gallic Martyrology, edited by Labbe,105 at the 1st of
108
"Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden disfigured in like manner. The side chapels Time," vol. ii. , appendix, sect, xviii. , pp. were either demolished, or blocked up with
as, also,
Anglican
10* Kalendars. He
is commemorated,
IO° in a Codex of Corbie 107 and in an ancient
; manuscript
September ;
belonging to the Monastery of Lerins.
original work, the name of Saint ^Egidius does not occur, but it is to be found in many of the more modern additions to Usuard. Through the Kalendar of Sarum, St. Egidius, or Giles, finds his place in the Scottish Kalendar. In the Scottish Kalendar of Hyrdmanistoun, at the 1st of September, St. Egidius, Abbot,100 is commemorated. In Scotland he is
221 to 223.
97 On Sunday, July 23rd, 1637, when the Protestant Bishop of Edinburgh ascended the pulpit of St. Giles to introduce the English Liturgy upon the Presbyterians of Scotland, he was violently assailed by the congregation assembled. Riot after riot followed, until the great National Covenant
nned, and Rebellion succeeded. See Charles Knight's "Old England," vol. ii. , book vi. , chap, i. , pp. 174, 175.
98 The exterior of the building was then newly encased in stone, which only served
the unadorned wood-work of galleries and
pews, as was the case with the historic
Albany Aisle.
" The accompanying illustration, drawn
on the wood and engraved by Gregor Grey, has been copied from an approved etching of St. Giles' Church, before the late restora- tions had been commenced.
still further to obliterate its historic features
;
,01 " See Keith's
Aberdeen," p. 245. IOS "
View of the Diocese of
the stately old tower, surmounted by its
finely proportioned mural crown being at
1 resent the only characteristic of its external
See RegistrumEpiscopatusMoravien- sis," p. 313.
which can
ancient. At the same time, the interior underwent other changes for the worse. The massive octagonal pillars in the nave were sliced down into narrow fluted shafts, alto- gether out of keeping with the general eiiaracter of the architecture. In order t—hat
room might be made for the galleries
rather modern innovation—arches and
tals were ruthlessly cut into, and the whole building made as unlike its former state as possible. The transepts and choir were
,o3 in that of Andrew Especially
aspect,
really
be as regarded
Saussay. 10 * As in those of York and Sarum.
capi-
by Martene, " Thesauri Anecdotorum," col. 1613.
a
tomus
,o8 This has been edited
but, in the year 1867, it
In the genuine copies of Usuard's
I0°
"Memoir of William and Robert Cham- bers," by William Chambers, LL. D. , sup- plementary chapter, 1865— 1883, pp. 357 to
371, Edinburgh and London, 1893, sm- 4l o.
See that most instructive and interesting
,os See " Bibliothecas MSS," tomus ii. , p. 702.
:
,u6 There we read " Eodem die depositio
beati Egidii Abbatis. "
I0? Published in "
by D'Achery Spici-
in
legium,"
ii. , p. 17.
,0? See Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p. 45.
September i;] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 25 known as St. Giles. Also, in the Kalendars of Culenros110 and De Nova
"
September,
Edinburgh.
quotes he
1. 1 112
See ibid. , p. 75.
abbatis et confessoris.
111
there is a like entry. Again, it is in the Kalendar of Arbuthnot," 1
2
Farina
while in that of Aberdeen, the feast is noted as a minor duplex, *3 and entered likewise in the Martyrology of Aberdeen,"* on the same day. In his " Menologium Scoticum," Thomas Dempster has this saint also entered, at
the 1st of 1 ^ as Patron of
116
For this, he Joannes Molanus, Theologus Lovaniensis. " As Giles, he is entered at t—
11
same date, in the Scottish Kalendar. ? In the ol—Martyrology Tallagh
compiled from various ancient church calendars
for the Abbot 8 at the 1st of Egidius,"
1x
d of
there is noticed a festival
September ; it is entered 9 in the Liber Sancte Trinitatis, Dublin.
and, at the same
date,
Although spending their lives with religious ardour and steady perseverance in love and veneration, walking ever in the way of God's Commandments, animated by His graces and the grateful recollection of His supernatural favours ; yet, had the saints found time and opportunity to discharge all necessary obligations and charitable offices towards their fellow-creatures. Thus they merited that love and veneration, which was bestowed on them by men of good will while they lived, and which transmitted to posterity the
names of so many holy persons, who were eminently deserving respect and honour from succeeding generations.
Article II. —St. Neman, Bishop of Cill Bia. There are no entries made in the published Martyrology of Tallagh, from 31st of August until the 4th of September ; and therefore, the present saint's name, with that of other holy persons, is not there found recorded. However, in the copy contained in the Book of Leinster, although entries are given for the missing days, the
name of Neman is not mentioned, at the present date. The Martyrology of 1
Donegal registers a festival, at the 1st of September, in honour of Neman, Bishop, of Cill-Bia, which seems to have been one of the early small sees in Ireland. In the table which follows this record, a commentator observes, that if by him, Nemhan be understood, this name may fairly be interpreted CcdesHtms? In the Introduction to the Martyrology, it is stated, that Cill Bhi is in Connaught ;3 but, this is by no means certain. At present, it seems no easy matter to discover this place/ among the existing parish or townland denominations of Ireland. However, there is a reasonable conjecture, as Cill-Bia and Cill-mbian are not distinct denominations, and while the latter place is said to have been founded by St. Fearghus,* Bishop of Druim-Leath-
1. 0 See ibid. , p. 61.
"9 Thus, " Eodem die
See ibid. , p. 104.
113 See ibid. , p. 120.
114 The Martyrology of Aberdeen states at
the Kl\ Septembris. —"In pago Neuma- James Henthorn Todd, p. 152.
censi Sancti Egidii abbatis. "—" Proceedings
of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland," vol. ii. , p. 267.
"Kalendars of
l
Article 11. — Edited by Drs- Todd and
Reeves, pp. 232, 233.
115 See
Scottish Saints," p. 210.
Bishop
ginal
passage:
ruotfi-an,
Forbes5
" As
116 Adam King, in his Kalendar, gives this distinction at the 1st of September to
"
S. Geles, abot of Arls in Prouance, patron of Edinbourge, under Charles ye greit" See ibid, p. 161.
"7 See ibid. , p. 255.
118
Thus entered e^itm ab.
sancti Egidii, —"The Book of Obits and Martyrology of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity," edited by
John Clarke Crosthwaite, and Rev. Dr.
2
note to this
from viAorh, holy, is Latinized Sanctanus, so tl email, from nerh, 'heaven,' is rendered Ccclestinus" See ibid. , pp. 458, 459.
3 See ibid. , p. xxxix.
4 Cill Bia has not been hitherto clearly identified.
5 His feast occurs on the 30th March, at which date notices of him may be seen, in
"
;
Dr. Reeves appends the following mar-
26 LIVES OE THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September i.
giaise, more commonly called Dun-da-leath-ghlas, or Down ; an ancient graveyard called Killyman, in the townland of Barnamaghery and parish of
Kilmore, in the Diocese of Down, may represent the site of the once impor- tant church of Cill-mbian, mentioned in several of our annals. In that
6
graveyard, at present, there are no remains of a church ;
of stones had been removed from it, to build a bridge over the Glasswater. It might well be expected, that Cill-mBian? —pronounced Killmian—as having been founded by one of the bishops of Down, should remain closely connectedwiththeSee; and,asKillymanwasachapelinthemensalparish of Kilmore, and probably one of seven mentioned as having belonged to it,
not unreasonably it may be regarded as the ancient Cill m-Bian.
8
If such
identification be correct, as the founder, St. Fearghus, Bishop of Downpatrick, died a. d. 583,9 the present St. Neman flourished hardly at an earlier date than the seventh century. How long Cill m-Bian or Cill-Bia continued to be the see of a bishop does not seem to be known ; for we cannot find farther allusion to it in our Irish Annals or Calendars. Neither is the name of Neman one often to be met with, 10 and certainly not in a form, to furnish probable identity with the saint there venerated. Under the head of Cill- Bia, Duald Mac Ferbis enters Nemhan, bishop of Cill-Bia, at the 1st day of September. "
Article III. —St. Cuimmen, Son of Cuanna, or Cuanach, probably AbbotofDruim-Snechta,nowDrumsnat,CountyofMonaghan. To us it seems very probable, that the present holy man was not distinct from a saint bearing the same appellation, and said to have been venerated on
1
the 4th of this month, at Drumsnat, County of Monaghan. The name of
Cuimmen, son of Cuana, or Cuanach, occurs in the Martyrologies of Tal- 2
lagh, of Marianus 0'Gorman,3 and of Donegal,* at the 1st of* September.
Article IV. —St. Sceallan, the Leper, of Armagh, County of
Armagh. Onthisday,thefeastofSt. Sceallanoccursinsomeofournative
1
Martyrologies. His memory is recorded in the Calendar of Marianus
O'Gorman.
Also,
we find entered in the of 2 that Martyrology Donegal,
the Third Volume of this work, Art. ii. I0 A Neman, Abbot of Lismore, died, A. D. The graveyard is exclusively used by 610.
