twelfth century, having unearthed a sarcophagus, the workmen found
:
engraved on its lid " Hoc est sepulchrum Begu.
:
engraved on its lid " Hoc est sepulchrum Begu.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
See his Acts, in the Eighth Volume of this work, at that date, Art.
ii.
59 Called by him Heru, and the nunnery which she built is designated Heruteu.
See "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum,"
lib. iv. , cap. xxiii.
60 See Tomlinson's " Life and Miracles of
Sancta Bega," p. 14.
61 Now a and sea-port
city. It is situated on a bold and nearly insulated promontory, which forms the north horn of a fine bay. At present, its import and export trade is very considerable. Sec "Gazetteer of the World," vol. vi. , pp, 821,822.
62
The Aberdeen Breviary calls it : "in insula quadam deserta," which the Bol- landist editor states to have been the place where the Monastery of Heorthensis had been founded ; although he wonders, why it had been established on a desert island, and adds, "an forte prima S. Begae cella, quam num. 13 Commentarii Camdenus collocat in promontoriolo oceani, cum
Heorthensi confunditur, et qui—a in mare "
procurrebat, insula appellatur ? I-ect. iii. , and n. (d).
in the Palatine of Durham, 18 miles E. S. E. of that
parish
September 6. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
penitents were known to have visited her, and to have remained in her
63
community.
Over all these Bega presided with a mother's care and tenderness, and
she acted the part of a servant rather than of a mistress ; by example rather than by precept, she enforced discipline and study. She ministered as a cook in the kitchen, and prepared food, which she served to the workmen. She taught her disciples to avoid idleness, and with them engaged in washing, making and mending the church vestments, and in supplying altar decora- tions. With such offices were combined fasts and vigils, the singing of psalms, hymns and canticles, the assiduous reading of the Sacred Scriptures and other books of devotion. Thus, she united the busy works of Martha with the contemplative life of Mary; she charmed all with her humility ; and she was an object of love and admiration to the Almighty and to her fellow- creatures. It pleased not only King Oswald, but also his successor, Oswin,6* to bestow gifts and possessions on St. Bega's Monastery.
CHAPTER II.
ST. HRRU DEEMED TO BE IDENTICAL WITH ST. BEES—SHE RESIGNS HERETU TO THE GOVERNMENT OF ST. HILDA—AFTERWARDS HERU RETIRES TO CALCARIA— FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN ST. HILDA AND ST. BEGHU—VISION REGARDING ST. HILDA'S DEATH—DEATH OF ST. BEES AND TRANSLATION OF HER RELICS—SUBSEQUENT MIRACLES—FESTIVALS AND COMMEMORATIONS OF THE HOLY VIRGIN—CON- CLUSION.
13
It is stated, that Heru, having founded the Monastery of Heruteu, wished
to relinquish its government, and to seek elsewhere a place for her pious exer-
cises. Heiu is also a name given to her, yet whether she is to be confounded
with St. Begu or Bees has yet to be clearly determined. 3 The celebrated
St. Hilda,* having resolved on a religious life, spent some time in the province
oftheEastAngles. ThenceshewascalledbyBishopAidan,tofounda
monastery on the north side of the River Wire, and there she led a monastic
life with very few companions. So charmed was St. Bees with her virtues
and capacity for government, that she visited St. Aidan, and procured from
him the favour of retiring from her own charge, and of devoting herself in
subjection to the tranquillity of a contemplative life. 5 Hilda was then set
over the of Hereteu, while Heru left for the of 6 monastery city Calcaria,
63 " Sic sponsa Christi quae in amore founded by Heru, identical with St. Bees, sponsi languebat, hujusmodi fulciri floribus See his "Church History of Brittany," stipari malis ardenter satagebat. "—Vita S. part ii. , book xv. , chap, xxi. , p. 373.
Begse, p. 55.
64 He was king of Deira, the brother of
St. Oswald, and he began to reign a. d. 642.
He was slain in 651, by Oswio, the seventh
Bietwalda. After a reign of twenty-eight
However, Leland makes them different, in his M De Rebus Britannicis Collectanea," tomus hi. , p. 39. Both Leland and Camden think Heortu to have been Hartlepool.
vears, the latter died a. d. 670. See Lingard's Moines d'Occident," tome v. , liv. xvii. ,
"
History of England," vol. i. , chap, ii. , pp. 93to103. —
Chapter ii. St. Bees, it is thought,
has been alluded to under this name by date, in the Eleventh Volume of this Venerable Bede, and on his authority follows work. Other festivals have been assigned a similar statement in the Manuscript Latin her, at the 5th of March, and at the 25th of Life of that holy virgin. According to August.
Alford and Suysken, she was also known as 5 See the Aberdeen Breviary, lect. vii.
Heyne.
2 Sometimes written Heorthu. Dean Benedicti," tomus i. , lib. xiv. , sect, xxxix. ,
Cressy thinks this place to have been p. 435.
3 See Le Comte de Montalembert, M Les chap, i. , sect, ii. , pp. 264, 265.
4
November. See an account of her, at that
Her festival occurs on the 18th of
6"
See Mabillon's Annales Ordinis S.
16 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September6.
called the Kalcacestir,? and there fixed her 8 There, for by Angles dwelling.
many years, she passed a life of great perfection^ and her house was under the government of the Abbess Hilda. According to some writers, she retired to Tadcaster 10 it is not certain, that such had been the —
; yet, place denoted in her Ac—ts. Others state, that Newton Kyme" and Aberford"
bothinYorkshire aretheplacestowhichreferencehasbeenmade. Again,
1 1*
it has been stated, * that St. Bees visited Beal, alias Beag Hall, a parish in
the township of Killington, near Pontefract,xs in the West Riding of
16
Yorkshire.
Meanwhile, St. Hilda had been invited to found a noble monastery, at a
placethenknownasStreneshalch,nowcalledWhitby. BetweentheAbbess
Hilda and Beghu a firm friendship and intimacy existed ; for although they severally lived a distance from each other, this did not prevent a frequent exchange of visits, which were mostly employed in consultations and conversations relating to the sanctification of their own and the souls of others. However, a mortal distemper had seized on the Abbess, and she borewithgreatresignationandpatiencethismalady. Towardsthecloseof her life, a St. Bega had visited a convent of nuns at some distance from her own. 1 ? According to Venerable Bede, this place of habitation was called Hacanos, now Hackness'8—about thirteen miles distant from Whitby—and it seems to have been founded by St. Hilda, the very year of her death, which
1
happened A. D. 680. While Begu ? slept in the dormitory of those sisters,
suddenly she heard the well-known sound of a bell in the air, and which used to awake and call to prayers, when any of them had been taken out of the world. On awaking, she saw the top of the house to open, and a strong light to pour in from above. Then looking intently on that light, she beheld there the soul of St. Hilda, attended and conducted to Heaven by angels. After awaking, finding all the sisters lying around her, Begu perceived, that whatsheexperiencedhadbeeneitheradreamoravision. Inagreatfright, she arose and awoke Frigyth, a virgin who then presided in the nunnery, and
I By some of the Saxons styled Hel- bridge, on the south side of the river Aire,
See Samuel Lewis' "Topographical Dic-
tionary of England," vol. i. , p. 182
' 5 This considerable town appears to have 9 Although Bede only states "ibique risen from the ruins of Legeolium, a Roman mansionem sibi instituit," yet, it is reason- station in the neighbourhood, now called able to suppose, that St. Bega had there a Castleford. By the Saxons it was known as cell or small nunnery, in which in solitude, Kirkby, and after the Conquest, it was
cacester.
8"
See Venerable Bede's Historia Ecclesi-
astica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iv. , cap. xxiii.
or, with some nuns, she spent the rest of her life.
10 Now a market-town and parish in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It formed the Roman station Calcaria, and so called, because the soil abounded in calx, or lime- stone. Roman coins have been here found, at different times. The town is situated on the navigable river Wharfe. See Samuel Lewis' "Topographical Dictionary of Eng- land," vol. iv. , pp. 294, 295.
II A
denominated Pontefrete by the Normans,
See ibid. , vol. iii. , pp. 587 to 589.
,6 See Tomlinson's " Life and Miracles of
Sancta Bega," pp. 17, 18 and notes.
' 7 According to Rev. Alban Butler, the Bega, whom Venerable Bede places at Hacanos upon the death of St. Hilda, and who then had served God in the monastic state for more than thirty years, seems to have been different from St. Bees, as St. Aiden died one hundred years before her. See "Lives of the Fathers, and other
l8 Now a parish, in the Liberty of Whitby- Strand, in the North Riding of Yorkshire,
The village is romantically situated in a valley, through which the Uerwent flows. See Samuel Lewis' " Topographical Die- tionary of England," vol. ii. , p. 364,
in the West Riding of York- shire, about two miles from Tadcaster, towards the west. See ibid. , vol. iii. , p. 41 1. " A parish, in the West Riding of York- shire. The town is built near the small
river Cock. See ibid. , vol. i. , p. 4.
13 By Strype, in his Life of Archbishop Grindall.
Martyrs Principal Saints," vol. ix. , September vi.
parish,
1 * It is four miles eastwards from Ferry-
»9 According to some statements, Frigyth.
September 6. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 117
who represented the Abbess. With many sighs and tears she announced, that the Abbess Hilda, the mother of them all, had departed this life, and
that in her sight, with a great light and with angels accompanying, she had ascended to eternal bliss. Having heard such statement, Frigyth awoke the other sisters, and called them to the church, where she admonished them to pray and sing psalms for Hilda's happy repose. This they did during the remainder of that night. When morning came, the brothers arrived from Whitby with a message announcing her death. The nuns then related the vision, which had already assured it to them, and also at that very hour which the messengers had reported. Thus, adds Venerable Bcde, while some witnessed her departure out of this world, others became acquainted with her admittance into the spiritual and eternal life. 20
21
According to the Legend of her Life, and to local tradition, St. Bega remained in that monastery of Acconos,22 in which she had such a vision. We are told, the day of her death happened on that before the November Kalends. 2 3 There, too, it is said, she was interred. However, some suppose St. Bega had not been buried at Hackness, but rather at Calcaria, and that probably her remains had been removed to Heorthu for interment. 24 But the ravages of the Danes25 effaced all recollection of the exact place of her sepulture. Four hundred and sixty years had elapsed after her decease, before it had been resolved to seek that spot in the cemetery of Hackness,
so that her remains be transferred to might
Whitby.
twelfth century, having unearthed a sarcophagus, the workmen found
:
engraved on its lid " Hoc est sepulchrum Begu. " Having removed that
covering, they found within the tomb the dust of her sacred body, with the veil upon her skull almost whole. A most agreeable odour proceeded from the remains. Then a procession was formed, and with hymns and canticles,
2 they were borne to Whitby, and reverently placed in a suitable position. ?
It is possible, that this Translation of St. Bega's relics may have taken place, onthe6thdayofSeptember. TheholyIrishvirginisthoughtbymanyto
have died at Calcaria, about the year 680.
28
Father Suysken places it
after that year.
20 3° If, however, she had been identical with that virgin,
20 "
See Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis
Anglorum," lib. iv. , cap. xxiii.
translatum est in monasterio de Witbe in
magno habetur pretio, languidis in praesens sanitatem prsebens," lect. viii.
*7 The writer of St. Bega's Life then
declares, that as he had not sufficient know-
ledge of the miracles wrought and particulars of that tranlation, he should leave the task of writing to those who were witnesses and who were present. But, the miracles per- formed at Kirkebibeghoc (St. Bees), in Coupland, where first she led a solitary life, and where her memory was held in great veneration by the people, he would attempt to record for the instruction of posterity, and regarding which he had a more accurate
21
As already remarked, it seems not so
probable, that she had been identical with
the Irish St. Bega, the first nun in North-
umberland.
22 ''
Mabillon, who calls her Heru, alias
Bega," states " obiit apud Hacanos monas-
terium virginum, tertio apud Scardoburgo millaria. "—" Annales Ordinis S. Benedicti,"
tomus i. , lib. xiv. , sect, xxxix. , pp. 435, 436. 23 See the Aberdeen Breviary, lect. viii. The Bollandist editor is at a loss to know whence the compiler of those Lessons had his authority for such statement. However,
it agrees with what is related in the Latin knowledge. See "Vita S. Begse," pp. 59,
"
34 Seethe Bollandists' " Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus ii. , Septembris vi. De Sancta Bega Abbatissa, Commentarius Praevius, sect. ii. , num. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, pp. 697, 698.
<S See at a. d. 869, R. P. Michaelis Alfordi, "Fides Regise Britannica, sive Annales Ecclesiae Britannicse," tomus iii.
26 The Aberdeen Breviary states, "quod divinitus revelatum nunc digno cum honore
60.
28 See Rev. Alban Butler's " Lives of the
Fathers, Martyrs and other Principal Saints," vol. ix. , September vi.
Manuscript
Vita S. Bega? . "
26 At in the length,
3»
Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Septembris vi. De Sancta Bega Abbatissa, Commentarius Praevius, sect, i. , num. 24,
p. 698.
3o Called Frigyth by Venerable Bede.
Or after the middle of the seventh
"
century. See
n8 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 6. who had a revelation regarding the death of St. Hilda, St. Bega must have
1
survived beyond the year 680. 3
Bees, and to have been buried in the Church of her own founding ;3* yet this statement is at variance with all her ancient Acts.
The religious establishment, formed by Bega at St. Bees, was subse- quently destroyed by the Danes. 33 From remote times, and long popular among them,34 the north-western inhabitants of England, used frequently resort to St. Bees as pilgrims. Many miracles were wrought through the Saint's intercession. After her death, as the Legend of her Life declares, that bracelet, which had been left at the place where she lived in solitude at Copeland, was preserved as a precious relic. This was held to be a
guarantee for the peace preservation of that place. It was customary to swear on it in trial cases, and those who foreswore themselves, were believed to incur the heaviest penalty of perjury and come to a speedy death. It is related about a certain Galwaither, or native of Galloway,^ how his mother warned him, setting out on a predatory expedition towards Copeland, that he should not commit any theft or depredation on the land of St. Bees. This admonition he contemptuously rejected,36 and joined by other freebooters, he took a horse from her territory, on which he was mounted, when certain young men, called together by the blowing of horns, pursued the robbers. The culprit in question was shot by an arrow, when he fell immediately from his horse and expired. This account soon spread throughout Galwathia, and thenceforward the people of that country feared to commit any offence against St. Bees' sanctuary, or to break the peace of her church. After the Norman conquest, William de Meschines,3? Lord of Coupland,38 gave St. Bees to the monks of St. Mary, in York. 39 There, too, the founder built a monastery for these religious men. 4° But, after- wards, certain envious persons persuaded him, that the monks had extended their possessions, and had unjustly encroached on his lands. This caused a dispute to arise, regarding the lawful bounds of their monastery. Themonksweresummonedtodefendtheircause,whichthey didbyproducingtheirtitledeeds. Aftermuchdispute,adaywasnamed for a final decision. The monks betook themselves to prayer, meantime, and on the day appointed, a vast number of people assembled to learn what
should be the result. Then was witnessed a most extraordinary spectacle.
» This is the date assigned for the de- parture of St. Hilda.
32 See Bishop Challoner's "Britannia
36 See Le Comte de Montalembert, " Les Moines d'Occident," tome v. , liv. xvii. , chap, i. , sect, ii. , pp. 266, 267.
Sa"C arii, 12
°: „Wf. .
M
37
According to the Legend of St. Bees'
'f
astica Cumberland, 11. St. Bees
33 ? '"? , {
guagc.
century,
the Britons
!
il an sonofDuncan ofther al lmeof
*
bee Bishop Tanners Notitia Mon- Life Ranu
1
t
^Ccmte de Montaemberts •!
i5.
now St. Bees-with all its appurtenances and other things to" God and
the Blessed Vir in free and
g > 'y Hberally to
tne monks, 3,8•-. __„. n. -/,, . .
<f,
•'Moines d Occident tome v. , hv. xvii. ,
Kirkby
Begog,
eVlM 5'
3S5V^'T 5. f. 1TMmia The Latin writers of the Middle Ages
called it Gallwallia and Gallovidia, from the
He is called Earl of Cumberland, and ^ i'"u Tf"u^7kKl"g- °i
who
styled themselves Gael, in their own Ian-
Irish,
formerly occupied
it, and who
.
In the tenth
called it Galwydel, and in the Gaelic it was Gallgaedhel. Of late, a most learned and
' ^"fi'? ? fur
" 39 interesting work, the History of the Lands
and their Owners in Galloway," has been written by P. H. McKerlie, F. S. A. Scot. , in five 8vo volumes, Edinburgh, 1870 to 1879.
See Bishop Challenor's "Britannia Sancta," part ii. , p. 120.
She is said likewise, to have died, at St.
<° They were constituted as a Benedictine priorandsixmonks. SeeBishopTanner's It is profusely illustrated with woodcuts of "Notitia Monastica," Cumberland, ii. St.
notable localities and objects. Bees.
surnamed
lhe town of Rirkebi-oth. rwise written
^
'
°y
,
i
ph,
Meschines, gave
,
,
°,
* dau-hter who n*med
! \' ^coUand
-
September 6.
J
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
119
A snow*1 fell and covered all the deep
to the attached by the monks to the church of St. Bega, and for which they were
2
contending, while within them not a single flake was visible. *
This was a matter of great rejoicing among the multitude who had assembled.
Another remarkable miracle is related concerning certain horses
belonging to a knight, named Godard. *3 They had trespassed on a field belonging to the monks, in which barley had been sown and reaped. But when the keepers of the horses were appealed to by one of the brotherhood to drive them out of the field, and to make good the damage done, he was derided by the foolish boys. Then said he, looking towards the Church of
:
the Holy Patroness of St. Bees " Oh, St. Bega, do justice to thy servants,
suffering under injuries, and avenge us on those animals. " Then a wonder- ful miracle was wrought; for the hoofs separated from the horses' feet. Among them was a steed, on which Godard, who was Castellan of Egre- mont, had set a special value. Moved by this incident, he gave the meadow, from which the horses broke loose, to the monastery of St. Bega, and he confirmed that grant in perpetuity by charter. 4*
A nobleman of England, named Walter de Spec,** instigated by the advice and importunity of Roger, his son and heir, went to law with the monks of St. Mary, York, respecting certain lands, which had been claimed in right of their monastery. He was one of the chief barons of the King ; and on that account, the judges appointed to try the case were his unjust
ground adjacent
bounds,
6 Still was it to swear witnesses on the trial. How- necessary
partisans. *
ever, the monks had a concession from the Supreme Pontiff, that in any
question touching their rights, the adversary should be obliged to swear on any of St. Bega's relics, which the monks of her church were inclined to
prefer. Wherefore, her bracelet was produced, and Walter perjured
himself, in the judgment of impartial and learned persons, through the allegations he made. To him was then awarded that possession, which of
right belonged to the church. However, only a short time elapsed after the trial, when rejoicing at the result, and returning home with their friends, his son Roger, who had instigated Walter to commit perjury, fell with a restive horse on the earth, when both horse and rider were killed. Grieving for the loss of his son, William deemed it a punishment that had been inflicted for his crime. In atonement and becoming penitent, Walter restored that land unjustly taken from the monastery, in perpetual alms.
41 Alluding to St. Bega, William Camden vol. iii. Cartae ad St. Begae Coenobium in
writes
:
"
Cujus sanctitate miiacula adscri-
Agro Cumbrensi, Ceilam Sanctae Mariae
Eboraci, spectantes, num. iii. iv. , v. , vi. ,
buntur de tauro cicurato, copiosissima nive, quae Solstitiali die, ilia precante, valles et
pp. 577. 578.
44 : montium summitates alte intexerat. " — The account thus concludes 4 *
u
Britannia," p. 325.
42 The old chronicler concludes the account
"
Ungula: vero ordeo plenae ad ecclesiam sanctae vir-
ginis sunt deportatae, et ad judicium et testi- monium miraculi hujus diebus multis ibidem reservatae. Ut licet omnes fere patriot* illud signum insigne praedicent et clamant, specialiter tamen illud protestantur pratum ecclesiae collatum quod monachi in present i possident, et carta inde facta quam habent," —"Vita S. Begae," p. 67.
in thesewords:
venerant ad tarn stupendum miraculum ; laudes efferunt in ccelum ; omniumque judicio et favore remanserunt termini terri- torii ecclesioe sanctae Begae usque in presens, sicut eos designaverat descriptum celeste prodigium. "—" Vita et Miracula S. Begae," p. 65.
Stupent igitur qui con-
4s He fought under William le Gros, Earl of Albemarl and Holderness, in the battle of tion of St. Bees' Priory, as also to other the Standard, a. d. 1 138. Some accounts early grants. He appears to have given give him the command.
lib. iv. , cap. xxiii.
60 See Tomlinson's " Life and Miracles of
Sancta Bega," p. 14.
61 Now a and sea-port
city. It is situated on a bold and nearly insulated promontory, which forms the north horn of a fine bay. At present, its import and export trade is very considerable. Sec "Gazetteer of the World," vol. vi. , pp, 821,822.
62
The Aberdeen Breviary calls it : "in insula quadam deserta," which the Bol- landist editor states to have been the place where the Monastery of Heorthensis had been founded ; although he wonders, why it had been established on a desert island, and adds, "an forte prima S. Begae cella, quam num. 13 Commentarii Camdenus collocat in promontoriolo oceani, cum
Heorthensi confunditur, et qui—a in mare "
procurrebat, insula appellatur ? I-ect. iii. , and n. (d).
in the Palatine of Durham, 18 miles E. S. E. of that
parish
September 6. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
penitents were known to have visited her, and to have remained in her
63
community.
Over all these Bega presided with a mother's care and tenderness, and
she acted the part of a servant rather than of a mistress ; by example rather than by precept, she enforced discipline and study. She ministered as a cook in the kitchen, and prepared food, which she served to the workmen. She taught her disciples to avoid idleness, and with them engaged in washing, making and mending the church vestments, and in supplying altar decora- tions. With such offices were combined fasts and vigils, the singing of psalms, hymns and canticles, the assiduous reading of the Sacred Scriptures and other books of devotion. Thus, she united the busy works of Martha with the contemplative life of Mary; she charmed all with her humility ; and she was an object of love and admiration to the Almighty and to her fellow- creatures. It pleased not only King Oswald, but also his successor, Oswin,6* to bestow gifts and possessions on St. Bega's Monastery.
CHAPTER II.
ST. HRRU DEEMED TO BE IDENTICAL WITH ST. BEES—SHE RESIGNS HERETU TO THE GOVERNMENT OF ST. HILDA—AFTERWARDS HERU RETIRES TO CALCARIA— FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN ST. HILDA AND ST. BEGHU—VISION REGARDING ST. HILDA'S DEATH—DEATH OF ST. BEES AND TRANSLATION OF HER RELICS—SUBSEQUENT MIRACLES—FESTIVALS AND COMMEMORATIONS OF THE HOLY VIRGIN—CON- CLUSION.
13
It is stated, that Heru, having founded the Monastery of Heruteu, wished
to relinquish its government, and to seek elsewhere a place for her pious exer-
cises. Heiu is also a name given to her, yet whether she is to be confounded
with St. Begu or Bees has yet to be clearly determined. 3 The celebrated
St. Hilda,* having resolved on a religious life, spent some time in the province
oftheEastAngles. ThenceshewascalledbyBishopAidan,tofounda
monastery on the north side of the River Wire, and there she led a monastic
life with very few companions. So charmed was St. Bees with her virtues
and capacity for government, that she visited St. Aidan, and procured from
him the favour of retiring from her own charge, and of devoting herself in
subjection to the tranquillity of a contemplative life. 5 Hilda was then set
over the of Hereteu, while Heru left for the of 6 monastery city Calcaria,
63 " Sic sponsa Christi quae in amore founded by Heru, identical with St. Bees, sponsi languebat, hujusmodi fulciri floribus See his "Church History of Brittany," stipari malis ardenter satagebat. "—Vita S. part ii. , book xv. , chap, xxi. , p. 373.
Begse, p. 55.
64 He was king of Deira, the brother of
St. Oswald, and he began to reign a. d. 642.
He was slain in 651, by Oswio, the seventh
Bietwalda. After a reign of twenty-eight
However, Leland makes them different, in his M De Rebus Britannicis Collectanea," tomus hi. , p. 39. Both Leland and Camden think Heortu to have been Hartlepool.
vears, the latter died a. d. 670. See Lingard's Moines d'Occident," tome v. , liv. xvii. ,
"
History of England," vol. i. , chap, ii. , pp. 93to103. —
Chapter ii. St. Bees, it is thought,
has been alluded to under this name by date, in the Eleventh Volume of this Venerable Bede, and on his authority follows work. Other festivals have been assigned a similar statement in the Manuscript Latin her, at the 5th of March, and at the 25th of Life of that holy virgin. According to August.
Alford and Suysken, she was also known as 5 See the Aberdeen Breviary, lect. vii.
Heyne.
2 Sometimes written Heorthu. Dean Benedicti," tomus i. , lib. xiv. , sect, xxxix. ,
Cressy thinks this place to have been p. 435.
3 See Le Comte de Montalembert, M Les chap, i. , sect, ii. , pp. 264, 265.
4
November. See an account of her, at that
Her festival occurs on the 18th of
6"
See Mabillon's Annales Ordinis S.
16 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September6.
called the Kalcacestir,? and there fixed her 8 There, for by Angles dwelling.
many years, she passed a life of great perfection^ and her house was under the government of the Abbess Hilda. According to some writers, she retired to Tadcaster 10 it is not certain, that such had been the —
; yet, place denoted in her Ac—ts. Others state, that Newton Kyme" and Aberford"
bothinYorkshire aretheplacestowhichreferencehasbeenmade. Again,
1 1*
it has been stated, * that St. Bees visited Beal, alias Beag Hall, a parish in
the township of Killington, near Pontefract,xs in the West Riding of
16
Yorkshire.
Meanwhile, St. Hilda had been invited to found a noble monastery, at a
placethenknownasStreneshalch,nowcalledWhitby. BetweentheAbbess
Hilda and Beghu a firm friendship and intimacy existed ; for although they severally lived a distance from each other, this did not prevent a frequent exchange of visits, which were mostly employed in consultations and conversations relating to the sanctification of their own and the souls of others. However, a mortal distemper had seized on the Abbess, and she borewithgreatresignationandpatiencethismalady. Towardsthecloseof her life, a St. Bega had visited a convent of nuns at some distance from her own. 1 ? According to Venerable Bede, this place of habitation was called Hacanos, now Hackness'8—about thirteen miles distant from Whitby—and it seems to have been founded by St. Hilda, the very year of her death, which
1
happened A. D. 680. While Begu ? slept in the dormitory of those sisters,
suddenly she heard the well-known sound of a bell in the air, and which used to awake and call to prayers, when any of them had been taken out of the world. On awaking, she saw the top of the house to open, and a strong light to pour in from above. Then looking intently on that light, she beheld there the soul of St. Hilda, attended and conducted to Heaven by angels. After awaking, finding all the sisters lying around her, Begu perceived, that whatsheexperiencedhadbeeneitheradreamoravision. Inagreatfright, she arose and awoke Frigyth, a virgin who then presided in the nunnery, and
I By some of the Saxons styled Hel- bridge, on the south side of the river Aire,
See Samuel Lewis' "Topographical Dic-
tionary of England," vol. i. , p. 182
' 5 This considerable town appears to have 9 Although Bede only states "ibique risen from the ruins of Legeolium, a Roman mansionem sibi instituit," yet, it is reason- station in the neighbourhood, now called able to suppose, that St. Bega had there a Castleford. By the Saxons it was known as cell or small nunnery, in which in solitude, Kirkby, and after the Conquest, it was
cacester.
8"
See Venerable Bede's Historia Ecclesi-
astica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iv. , cap. xxiii.
or, with some nuns, she spent the rest of her life.
10 Now a market-town and parish in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It formed the Roman station Calcaria, and so called, because the soil abounded in calx, or lime- stone. Roman coins have been here found, at different times. The town is situated on the navigable river Wharfe. See Samuel Lewis' "Topographical Dictionary of Eng- land," vol. iv. , pp. 294, 295.
II A
denominated Pontefrete by the Normans,
See ibid. , vol. iii. , pp. 587 to 589.
,6 See Tomlinson's " Life and Miracles of
Sancta Bega," pp. 17, 18 and notes.
' 7 According to Rev. Alban Butler, the Bega, whom Venerable Bede places at Hacanos upon the death of St. Hilda, and who then had served God in the monastic state for more than thirty years, seems to have been different from St. Bees, as St. Aiden died one hundred years before her. See "Lives of the Fathers, and other
l8 Now a parish, in the Liberty of Whitby- Strand, in the North Riding of Yorkshire,
The village is romantically situated in a valley, through which the Uerwent flows. See Samuel Lewis' " Topographical Die- tionary of England," vol. ii. , p. 364,
in the West Riding of York- shire, about two miles from Tadcaster, towards the west. See ibid. , vol. iii. , p. 41 1. " A parish, in the West Riding of York- shire. The town is built near the small
river Cock. See ibid. , vol. i. , p. 4.
13 By Strype, in his Life of Archbishop Grindall.
Martyrs Principal Saints," vol. ix. , September vi.
parish,
1 * It is four miles eastwards from Ferry-
»9 According to some statements, Frigyth.
September 6. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 117
who represented the Abbess. With many sighs and tears she announced, that the Abbess Hilda, the mother of them all, had departed this life, and
that in her sight, with a great light and with angels accompanying, she had ascended to eternal bliss. Having heard such statement, Frigyth awoke the other sisters, and called them to the church, where she admonished them to pray and sing psalms for Hilda's happy repose. This they did during the remainder of that night. When morning came, the brothers arrived from Whitby with a message announcing her death. The nuns then related the vision, which had already assured it to them, and also at that very hour which the messengers had reported. Thus, adds Venerable Bcde, while some witnessed her departure out of this world, others became acquainted with her admittance into the spiritual and eternal life. 20
21
According to the Legend of her Life, and to local tradition, St. Bega remained in that monastery of Acconos,22 in which she had such a vision. We are told, the day of her death happened on that before the November Kalends. 2 3 There, too, it is said, she was interred. However, some suppose St. Bega had not been buried at Hackness, but rather at Calcaria, and that probably her remains had been removed to Heorthu for interment. 24 But the ravages of the Danes25 effaced all recollection of the exact place of her sepulture. Four hundred and sixty years had elapsed after her decease, before it had been resolved to seek that spot in the cemetery of Hackness,
so that her remains be transferred to might
Whitby.
twelfth century, having unearthed a sarcophagus, the workmen found
:
engraved on its lid " Hoc est sepulchrum Begu. " Having removed that
covering, they found within the tomb the dust of her sacred body, with the veil upon her skull almost whole. A most agreeable odour proceeded from the remains. Then a procession was formed, and with hymns and canticles,
2 they were borne to Whitby, and reverently placed in a suitable position. ?
It is possible, that this Translation of St. Bega's relics may have taken place, onthe6thdayofSeptember. TheholyIrishvirginisthoughtbymanyto
have died at Calcaria, about the year 680.
28
Father Suysken places it
after that year.
20 3° If, however, she had been identical with that virgin,
20 "
See Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis
Anglorum," lib. iv. , cap. xxiii.
translatum est in monasterio de Witbe in
magno habetur pretio, languidis in praesens sanitatem prsebens," lect. viii.
*7 The writer of St. Bega's Life then
declares, that as he had not sufficient know-
ledge of the miracles wrought and particulars of that tranlation, he should leave the task of writing to those who were witnesses and who were present. But, the miracles per- formed at Kirkebibeghoc (St. Bees), in Coupland, where first she led a solitary life, and where her memory was held in great veneration by the people, he would attempt to record for the instruction of posterity, and regarding which he had a more accurate
21
As already remarked, it seems not so
probable, that she had been identical with
the Irish St. Bega, the first nun in North-
umberland.
22 ''
Mabillon, who calls her Heru, alias
Bega," states " obiit apud Hacanos monas-
terium virginum, tertio apud Scardoburgo millaria. "—" Annales Ordinis S. Benedicti,"
tomus i. , lib. xiv. , sect, xxxix. , pp. 435, 436. 23 See the Aberdeen Breviary, lect. viii. The Bollandist editor is at a loss to know whence the compiler of those Lessons had his authority for such statement. However,
it agrees with what is related in the Latin knowledge. See "Vita S. Begse," pp. 59,
"
34 Seethe Bollandists' " Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus ii. , Septembris vi. De Sancta Bega Abbatissa, Commentarius Praevius, sect. ii. , num. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, pp. 697, 698.
<S See at a. d. 869, R. P. Michaelis Alfordi, "Fides Regise Britannica, sive Annales Ecclesiae Britannicse," tomus iii.
26 The Aberdeen Breviary states, "quod divinitus revelatum nunc digno cum honore
60.
28 See Rev. Alban Butler's " Lives of the
Fathers, Martyrs and other Principal Saints," vol. ix. , September vi.
Manuscript
Vita S. Bega? . "
26 At in the length,
3»
Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Septembris vi. De Sancta Bega Abbatissa, Commentarius Praevius, sect, i. , num. 24,
p. 698.
3o Called Frigyth by Venerable Bede.
Or after the middle of the seventh
"
century. See
n8 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 6. who had a revelation regarding the death of St. Hilda, St. Bega must have
1
survived beyond the year 680. 3
Bees, and to have been buried in the Church of her own founding ;3* yet this statement is at variance with all her ancient Acts.
The religious establishment, formed by Bega at St. Bees, was subse- quently destroyed by the Danes. 33 From remote times, and long popular among them,34 the north-western inhabitants of England, used frequently resort to St. Bees as pilgrims. Many miracles were wrought through the Saint's intercession. After her death, as the Legend of her Life declares, that bracelet, which had been left at the place where she lived in solitude at Copeland, was preserved as a precious relic. This was held to be a
guarantee for the peace preservation of that place. It was customary to swear on it in trial cases, and those who foreswore themselves, were believed to incur the heaviest penalty of perjury and come to a speedy death. It is related about a certain Galwaither, or native of Galloway,^ how his mother warned him, setting out on a predatory expedition towards Copeland, that he should not commit any theft or depredation on the land of St. Bees. This admonition he contemptuously rejected,36 and joined by other freebooters, he took a horse from her territory, on which he was mounted, when certain young men, called together by the blowing of horns, pursued the robbers. The culprit in question was shot by an arrow, when he fell immediately from his horse and expired. This account soon spread throughout Galwathia, and thenceforward the people of that country feared to commit any offence against St. Bees' sanctuary, or to break the peace of her church. After the Norman conquest, William de Meschines,3? Lord of Coupland,38 gave St. Bees to the monks of St. Mary, in York. 39 There, too, the founder built a monastery for these religious men. 4° But, after- wards, certain envious persons persuaded him, that the monks had extended their possessions, and had unjustly encroached on his lands. This caused a dispute to arise, regarding the lawful bounds of their monastery. Themonksweresummonedtodefendtheircause,whichthey didbyproducingtheirtitledeeds. Aftermuchdispute,adaywasnamed for a final decision. The monks betook themselves to prayer, meantime, and on the day appointed, a vast number of people assembled to learn what
should be the result. Then was witnessed a most extraordinary spectacle.
» This is the date assigned for the de- parture of St. Hilda.
32 See Bishop Challoner's "Britannia
36 See Le Comte de Montalembert, " Les Moines d'Occident," tome v. , liv. xvii. , chap, i. , sect, ii. , pp. 266, 267.
Sa"C arii, 12
°: „Wf. .
M
37
According to the Legend of St. Bees'
'f
astica Cumberland, 11. St. Bees
33 ? '"? , {
guagc.
century,
the Britons
!
il an sonofDuncan ofther al lmeof
*
bee Bishop Tanners Notitia Mon- Life Ranu
1
t
^Ccmte de Montaemberts •!
i5.
now St. Bees-with all its appurtenances and other things to" God and
the Blessed Vir in free and
g > 'y Hberally to
tne monks, 3,8•-. __„. n. -/,, . .
<f,
•'Moines d Occident tome v. , hv. xvii. ,
Kirkby
Begog,
eVlM 5'
3S5V^'T 5. f. 1TMmia The Latin writers of the Middle Ages
called it Gallwallia and Gallovidia, from the
He is called Earl of Cumberland, and ^ i'"u Tf"u^7kKl"g- °i
who
styled themselves Gael, in their own Ian-
Irish,
formerly occupied
it, and who
.
In the tenth
called it Galwydel, and in the Gaelic it was Gallgaedhel. Of late, a most learned and
' ^"fi'? ? fur
" 39 interesting work, the History of the Lands
and their Owners in Galloway," has been written by P. H. McKerlie, F. S. A. Scot. , in five 8vo volumes, Edinburgh, 1870 to 1879.
See Bishop Challenor's "Britannia Sancta," part ii. , p. 120.
She is said likewise, to have died, at St.
<° They were constituted as a Benedictine priorandsixmonks. SeeBishopTanner's It is profusely illustrated with woodcuts of "Notitia Monastica," Cumberland, ii. St.
notable localities and objects. Bees.
surnamed
lhe town of Rirkebi-oth. rwise written
^
'
°y
,
i
ph,
Meschines, gave
,
,
°,
* dau-hter who n*med
! \' ^coUand
-
September 6.
J
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
119
A snow*1 fell and covered all the deep
to the attached by the monks to the church of St. Bega, and for which they were
2
contending, while within them not a single flake was visible. *
This was a matter of great rejoicing among the multitude who had assembled.
Another remarkable miracle is related concerning certain horses
belonging to a knight, named Godard. *3 They had trespassed on a field belonging to the monks, in which barley had been sown and reaped. But when the keepers of the horses were appealed to by one of the brotherhood to drive them out of the field, and to make good the damage done, he was derided by the foolish boys. Then said he, looking towards the Church of
:
the Holy Patroness of St. Bees " Oh, St. Bega, do justice to thy servants,
suffering under injuries, and avenge us on those animals. " Then a wonder- ful miracle was wrought; for the hoofs separated from the horses' feet. Among them was a steed, on which Godard, who was Castellan of Egre- mont, had set a special value. Moved by this incident, he gave the meadow, from which the horses broke loose, to the monastery of St. Bega, and he confirmed that grant in perpetuity by charter. 4*
A nobleman of England, named Walter de Spec,** instigated by the advice and importunity of Roger, his son and heir, went to law with the monks of St. Mary, York, respecting certain lands, which had been claimed in right of their monastery. He was one of the chief barons of the King ; and on that account, the judges appointed to try the case were his unjust
ground adjacent
bounds,
6 Still was it to swear witnesses on the trial. How- necessary
partisans. *
ever, the monks had a concession from the Supreme Pontiff, that in any
question touching their rights, the adversary should be obliged to swear on any of St. Bega's relics, which the monks of her church were inclined to
prefer. Wherefore, her bracelet was produced, and Walter perjured
himself, in the judgment of impartial and learned persons, through the allegations he made. To him was then awarded that possession, which of
right belonged to the church. However, only a short time elapsed after the trial, when rejoicing at the result, and returning home with their friends, his son Roger, who had instigated Walter to commit perjury, fell with a restive horse on the earth, when both horse and rider were killed. Grieving for the loss of his son, William deemed it a punishment that had been inflicted for his crime. In atonement and becoming penitent, Walter restored that land unjustly taken from the monastery, in perpetual alms.
41 Alluding to St. Bega, William Camden vol. iii. Cartae ad St. Begae Coenobium in
writes
:
"
Cujus sanctitate miiacula adscri-
Agro Cumbrensi, Ceilam Sanctae Mariae
Eboraci, spectantes, num. iii. iv. , v. , vi. ,
buntur de tauro cicurato, copiosissima nive, quae Solstitiali die, ilia precante, valles et
pp. 577. 578.
44 : montium summitates alte intexerat. " — The account thus concludes 4 *
u
Britannia," p. 325.
42 The old chronicler concludes the account
"
Ungula: vero ordeo plenae ad ecclesiam sanctae vir-
ginis sunt deportatae, et ad judicium et testi- monium miraculi hujus diebus multis ibidem reservatae. Ut licet omnes fere patriot* illud signum insigne praedicent et clamant, specialiter tamen illud protestantur pratum ecclesiae collatum quod monachi in present i possident, et carta inde facta quam habent," —"Vita S. Begae," p. 67.
in thesewords:
venerant ad tarn stupendum miraculum ; laudes efferunt in ccelum ; omniumque judicio et favore remanserunt termini terri- torii ecclesioe sanctae Begae usque in presens, sicut eos designaverat descriptum celeste prodigium. "—" Vita et Miracula S. Begae," p. 65.
Stupent igitur qui con-
4s He fought under William le Gros, Earl of Albemarl and Holderness, in the battle of tion of St. Bees' Priory, as also to other the Standard, a. d. 1 138. Some accounts early grants. He appears to have given give him the command.
