Columba, by putting some of his books and garments 77 2 upon the altar, as also by fasting and by
chanting
psalms.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v6
75?
Even in Christian times, a distinctive tribe was there, and organized under a king.
758 Probably belonging to it was a certain priest named Jogenanus,759 who is mentioned in the Acts of St.
Columba in connexion with the following anecdote.
Here, too, we find a Pictish priest living in Leinsttr.
A Book of Hymns ?
ec> for the
the early Irish ecclesiastics required them to
carry about from place to place, were pro- vided with leather cases, These varied in size and execution. They were called •pot<vir\e or cases, and ciaja or satchels.
the impression became indelible. A re- duced drawing of the back, faithfully execu-
ted, may be seen in Dr. George Petrie's "Ecclesiastical Architecture and Round Towers of Ireland," part ii. , sect, iii. , subs.
75J See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's I, p. 332. But, as this case does not fit the
"Life of St. Columba," lib. ii. , cap. 8, pp. 114 to 116.
754 It is called BovovlvSa, by Ptolmey, the Greek Geographer, and it is Latinized Buvinda, and in the Irish language it is written Domne. In Tirechan's Life of St. Patrick, we read " Vadum Carnoi i m Boend," in Liber Armacanus, fol. \\aa. Again, we find it written "Amnis Boindeo,"
book—which, without the boards, measures
ibid. , fol. 16b a. See Zeuss'
"
Grammatica
of a number of impressions executed from the same block for various manuscripts. At the upper corners of the sides are the remains of coarse straps, which were stitched on with leather thongs. These were for the purpose of slinging the case from the shoulder like a modern post-bag. There are various illus- trations of the Book of Armagh, in the " Fac-similes of National MSS. of Ireland," edited by John T. Gilbert. See part i. , Nos. xxv. , xxvi. , xxvii. , xxviii. , xxix.
Celtica," pp. 67, 74.
"5 This or some similar miracle seems
alluded to in Colgan's "Tiias Thauma-
turga," Secunda Vita S. Columbia, cap. v. ,
Tertia Vita S. Columbae, xiv. , p. 326. cap.
P- 333- Quarta Vita S. Columba? , lib. ii. , cap. viii. , p. 352. Quinta Vita S. Columba? , lib. iii. , cap. lxxii. , p. 445.
"6 Of leather cases, the cover of the Book of Armagh is the most interesting example now remaining. It came together with its inestimable enclosure, into the Rev. Dr.
757 See Rev. " Jeoffrey Keating's
at the end of 1853. It is formed of a single piece of strong leather, 36 inches long, and 12 broad, and folded in such a way as to form a six-sided case 12 in- ches long, 12% broad, and 2% thick, having a flap which doubles over in front ; while it is furnished with a rude lock, and eight staples,
admitted through perforations in the flap, for short iron rods to enter, and meet at the
75' This was the name of King vEdan's
Reeves'
possession,
lock. The whole outer surface, which has tic Society. Of this, however, only the first
become perfectly black from age, is covered
with figures and interlacings of the Irish pat-
tern, in relief, which appear to have been
produced by subjecting the leather in a damp
state, before it was folded, to pressure upon no great consequence relating to St.
a block of the whole size, having a depressed lumkille, on three slips of Vellum, attached pattern, and by allowing it to remain until to the "Liber llyinnuium,'' belonging to
only 7%" by 5% inches, and is thicker than
—
the receptacle it is likely to have been one
History of Ireland," vol. i. , p. 318, Haliday's edi-
tion.
758 At the year 666, Tigernach writes :
" —nn-oln Rex Eochaigh Jarlaithe pi Cpmclino
Pictorum Midensium mortuus est. '' Rev.
"
1 )r. Rcrum Ilibernicarum Scripto-
O'Conor's
res," tomus ii. , p. 206.
"
lib. iii. , cap. v. Also do we meet Eugena-
"
Annales Ultonienses," at A. D. 65? . 691, 700.
700 The celebrated Liber Hymnorum now
preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, the Rev. Dr. Todd has in parts e iited for the Irish Archaeological and Cel-
son. See Adamnan's
Vita S. Columba? ,"
nus, in the
and second fasciculi have as yet appeared, the lamented death of the learned editor having interfered with the prosecuti—on of his task. There are som—e Irish notes yet of
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 585
office of every day in the week,? 61 and in the handwriting of St. Columba, with
the leathern satchel ? 62 which contained 6 3 to be in a it,7 happened submerged
river,
insome ofLeinster. Ithad
part dropped
fromtheshouldersofa
boy,'
6*
who fell from the bridge. ? 65 The book having been in the water, from the
feast of the Nativity of our Lord, until the end of the Paschal solemnities,
was afterwards found on the bank of the river, by some women, who were
walkingthere. Itwasbroughtbythemtoitsowner,Jogenanus,inthesame
satchel, which was not only wet, but even rotten. He was a Pict ? 66 by birth,
to whom it formerly belonged. On opening the satchel, Jogenanus found
his book 6? It was as clean and as if it had been all the time in
uninjured. ? dry, hisdesk,andhadneverfallenintothewater. ? 68 Thelikethinghappenedinseveral
community, Merchant's-quay, Dublin.
761 We have no collection remaining to
answer the present description ; but, there are abundant materials for an Irish Hymnal,
"
is alluded to as
gente Pictum. " See Quinta Vita S. Co- lumbae, lib. iii. , cap. lxxiii. , p. 445.
767 This virtue of resisting the influence of water was, however, supposed to reside generally in the writings of early Irish Saints, and formed one of the standing sub- jects for legends in the compiling of their Lives.
768 Adamnan adds : But, the account we have given of the above-mentioned book of Jogenanus, we have received from certain trustworthy and good men, whose testimony cannot be doubted, and who saw the book itself, perfectly white and clean, after sub- mersion of so many days, as we have stated.
preserved in the Antiphonary of Bangor, and "
in the Leabhar Breac, See Mone's Hymni
Medii jEvi. ," published at Freybug, A. D. 1853. 762 Besides the polaire, the Irish employed for the carriage of their books, leather re- ceptacles of larger and regular construction,
called tiagha or satchels.
763 In Latin, a receptacle of this descrip- tion is denominated scetha, and it assumes
various forms, such as sceta, squesa, and
cetha. This term is probably akin to the
English word Sheath. We find it stated :
"
Aperiens jam
S. Fiachra scetam suam ad
ducendum inde librum baptismi, brachium
76«
"
Sed et alia de libris manu Sancti Co-
5. — in aerem sursum velociter avo-
lumba; craxatis, similia ab indubita—n- expertis
Comgalli
lavit. " Fleming's "Collectanea Sacra,"
ter didicimus in diversis acta ''
Vita S. Comgalli, cap. 30, p. 313a. This last passage is the only authority for the word in Du Cange.
locis," &c. Colgan's TriasThaumaturga,"QuintaVita
to books written the hands ofSt. Columba 6* that by ;?
with
is to say, that the books could suffer no injury, from being immersed in water. "
On the first occasion, when the monks of Iona had to draw overland long
or 1 someofwhichweremadeof ships boats,? ?
places,
regard
pine bringhometothatIslandalargequantityofmaterialsforbuildingships; in
order to obtain from God a favourable wind for their voyage, they invoked
"
Trias Thaumaturga," he is called lib. ii. , cap. ix. , p. 352. In O'Donnell's, he
Trinity College, Dublin. These are not in
the same handwriting, as found in the pre-
ceding folios. This Manuscript is classed E.
4, 2. There is another Liber Hymnorum Iogenanus. See Quarta Vita S. Columba, Codex in possession of the Irish P'ranciscan
764 This was a customary mode of carrying
books in Ireland, as shown in the Acts of our
Irish Saints. Thus, we read in the Vita S.
Carthaci : "Duas cethas libris plenas suis
humeris imposuit. "—"Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus iii. , Junii xiv. , p. 380. Again, in and singular merits before the Lord. See
the Acts of St, Kiaran, we find it stated :
Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's "Life of St. Columba," lib. ii. , cap. 9, pp. 1 16 to 118.
771 These were probably made of hollowed
boats of were trees. Some great length thus
formed. Specimens have been found in bogs and at the bottom Irish lakes. A very large and remarkable one, taken from out of Lough Owel, county of Westmeath, may be seen, at the present time, in the crypt of the
"
S. Kiaranus benedixit fratribus suis, et ac-
cipiens cethas —suas cum libris in humeris,
pen-exit inde. " VitaS. Kiarani, cap. xxv. , in
the Codex containing Latin Lives of the Irish Saints, in Marsh's Library, fol. 146^ b.
7<5s It should be an interesting subject for investigation, to know where in Leinster this ancient bridge was to be found, and as to
andothersof andto oak,
whether it had been built of stone or of wood. 766 In Adamnan's version, as published in
Colgan's
Eogananum Praesbyterum
S. Columbae, lib. ii. , cap. ix. , p. 352.
770 Giving the foregoing account, Adamnan says, the—se two miracles—he relates three,
in
however though wrought matters of
small moment and shown in opposite ele- ments, to wit, fire and water, redound to the honour of the holy man and prove his great
586 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
St.
Columba, by putting some of his books and garments 77 2 upon the altar, as also by fasting and by chanting psalms. This happened, in the time of
Adamnan, who relates these particulars. Accordingly, God granted their requests, owing to the intercession of St. Columba. So soon as the sailors had made all their preparations for conveying the materials above mentioned in skiffs 773 and currachs,774 for several days before the winds had been unfavourable ; but suddenly, they changed into propitious breezes, which blew favourably for them the entire day, and enabled all the boats with flowing sails 775 to make their long and dangerous passage to Hy with expedition and safety. The second miracle to which Adamnan alludes was wrought a few years after the one already mentioned. The monastery requiring certain repairs,7? 6 the monks cut down some oak trees near the mouth ofthe River Sale,777 and put them into twelve currachs, which were brought for the pur- pose. Those sailors then put out to sea, the day being calm and the waves
8
sprang up, which obliged them 779 to seek for shelter in the harbour of a neighbouring island, called in the Scottish
tranquil. Suddenly a westerly wind ? 7
or Irish 8c language Airthrago. 7
the monks
this unfavourable change in the wind, and as it were, to blame St. Columba,
by saying,
" Does our detention in this
place please you,
Columba ?
Hitherto,
Thereupon,
began
to of complain
we had hoped that we might receive from you some assistance in our labours
and dangers, thinking that God would be propitious to us through your inter-
cession,whichwesupposedtobeverypowerfulwithhim. " Nosoonerhadthey spoken thus, than the west wind ceased, and a most favourable breeze 7 8r
sprung up. Having raised the sail-yards in the form of a cross, and having spread the sails upon them, the sailors put to sea. The breeze continuing steady and favourable during the whole day, they were enabled, and without the slighest fatigue, to reach Hy that evening, together with all who were en- gaged assisting in the carriage of that timber. Another miracle, of which Adamnan washimself an eye-witness, was wrought under the following circum- stances. In the summer, after the celebration of a synod 78* in Ireland, the representatives from Iona seem to have been detained by contrary winds for
Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.
772 These were preserved as relics of the
saints in Iona.
"3 Seapha they are called in the text.
774 They are Latinized curuca, a form de-
rived from the Irish cu|\ac.
"5 From this it appears, that their vessels
were furnished with vela, antenna, and ru- denies ; while they had oars to serve as occa-
sion required.
776 It seems probable, that the first tempo-
rary huts erected by St. Columba and his companions were constructed of stakes, through which oziers or wattles were woven ; while in a short time afterwards, sawed planks were used for more stable wooden buildings, which were covered with reeds or thatch. In the fifth century, the Irish and Britons seem to have built their —houses
while the Romans even in Britain —preferred the more solid and dur-
the idea of it being the River Shiel, which connects Loch Shiel with the sea, and form- ing part of the boundary between the coun- ties of Inverness and Argyle. However, it seems quite probable the Sale, mentioned in the text, was this Shiel.
chiefly of wood
;
nan Vulturnusque flat," has been applied indifferently to the north-east wind, and to a south-east wind, by Latin writers. Where- fore, it is likely, a north-east wind blew on this occasion.
able stone buildings.
7&2 The exact date of this synod is not known; but, from the closing words of the
—— 777 This river as conjectured
it have been celebrated • appears to
has not been identified. The circumstance of a south- ea^t wind conveying the monks to Hy, in the opinion of Rev. Dr. Reeves, precludes
chapter,
considerable time before St. Adamnan w rote these memoirs, and possibly before he be- came Abbot, or at least, at an early period
7? 8 Classically termed Favonius, by Adam- ""
nan, and also Zephyrus ventus.
"9 Adamnan seems to convey by the word
"nobis," that he formed one of the crew.
? 8° It is said to have lain to the south-east
ofHy. It is unidentified, unless it be Arran,
according to Rev. Dr. Reeves.
~
Sl
Theclassic expressionusedbyAdam- "
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 587 a few days, among the Loern people. ? 83 They had reached the Island of
84 where the of St. Columba's festival found them sad and dis- vigil
Sainea,7
contented,785 because they wished to celebrate that joyous festival in their ownchurchofHy. Accordingly,asonaformeroccasion,sonowagainthe
monks to began
and to
" Is it
to
you, Columba,
complain
that we should spend your festival-day among strangers, and not celebrate it in your own church ? It is easy for you to obtain from God,? 86 that the wind may be favourable in the morning, and that we may be able to celebrate the Mass of your feast in your own church. " On the following morning, the
voyagers arose very early, and seeing that the wind had ceased, they went on
board their vessels and put to sea in a profound calm,787 when lo ! suddenly
sprung up a south wind,? 88 which was most favourable for that voyage they were
so anxious to make. The sailors then joyously raised the sails, when so
quick and so favourable was their passage, owing to God's mercy exerted in
their behalf and through the intercession of St. Columba, that they reached
8
the port of Hy 7 9 after the third hour. 79° Thus, they obtained the object
of their anxious wishes and prayers. Afte* washing their hands and feet, Adamnan and the voyagers entered the church at the sixth hour,79* in com- pany with their brethren. Thus, they were able to celebrate the Mass of St. Columba's and of St. Baithene's 792 come from the Isle of
feast, having
Shuna ? 93 that same morning. 794
After the foregoing narrative, Adamnan observes, that what he was about to
relate concerning the plague,795 which in his own time had twice ? 96 visited the
of his incumbency.
78 i Those descended from Loam Mor, from
thus indicates the latter year. "
785 As, during his lifetime, St. Columba was
whom the territory was named Lorn, which
became the chief stronghold of the Cinel-
Loairn in Scotland. It also gave name to a
large rural deanery, including the parishes of Kilmartin, Craignish, Kilchattan, Kilbran- Iona.
don, Kilmelford, Kilninver, Kilbride, Kil- more, Kilchrenan, Inishail, Muckairn, Glen- orchy, Ardchattan, Lismore, and Appin. It included, that portion of the present Argyll- shire, lying north and west of Loch Awe, extending to Loch Leven on the north, and to the Crinan canal on the south-west. For a description of the foregoing parishes see Cosmo Innes' "OiiginesParochialesScotise," vol. ii. , pars i. , pp. 91 to 169, and the ac- companying fine Map of the Diocese of Argyll and part of the Diocese of the Isles.
784 Now Shuna, an Island, in the parish of Kilchattan, lying close to Luing on the east, and separated from it by the Sound of Shuna. It is situated in the Nether Lame, and near its southern extremity.
783 The situation is thus expressed by Adamnan: "ibidemque demoratos festiva sancti Columbce nox et solemnis dies nos in- venit valde tristificatos," &c. On this, the Rev. Dr. Reeves remarks in a note " The
:
787 When they could only expect to make
headway by rowing.
788 Denominated " notus," by Adamnan.
NowShunalies E. S. E. ofIona.
789 Port-a-churaich was the nearest land-
ing place, but it is not certain they there dis- embarked.
790 This was the canonical hour for Tierce.
791 This was at Noon, the canonical hour for Sext.
792 This was on the 9th of June.
7M 'nnS island is fully thirty miles distant from Hy.
794 Having recorded the foregoing mira- cles, Adamnan observes, that there were then living, not merely one or two witnesses for their authentication, as the law requires, but a hundred and more witnesses, who could then bear testimony to their truth. See
say :
agreeable
Life of St. 45, pp. 176 to 182, choicebetween596and597,astheyearof andnn. (a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,k,1,m,n,o,
St. Columba's death, depends, Abp. Ussher says, upon the determination of the question " num nox ilia media, qua Columba deces- sisse diximus diem Junii nonum vel inchoa- verit vel finierit "
p, q, r, s, t, u).
793 The plague here referred to belonged to
that class of diseases known in Ireland by
The present expression favours inchoaverit, and or
(wks. vi. , p. 235).
"
invoked from remote places, which we find in
the Life by Adamnan, lib. ii. , cap. 5, 13, 39 and 40 ; so after his death were prayers ad- dressed to him, as the great Patron Saint of
Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
"
Columba," lib. ii. ,
cap.
" sickness ;" in Britain it was called Vad Velen
the denomination jalap bintJe,
yellow
the yellow plague. "
588 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
greater part of the world,? ? deserved to be reckoned among the most extra- ordinary of St. Columba's miracles. That dreadful pestilence ravaged, on
countries of 00 Europe, including Italy,?
two different occasions,? 08 all the
great
the Roman States, Spain, and the Cisalpine province of Gaul. Nor were
its ravages confined to these countries ; they extended to all the islands of the sea, including those of Scotia 8o° and of Britain. 801 The only people that
802 whose territories
its visitations were the Picts and Scots of
are separated by the mountains of Drum Alban. 8°3 And, although these nations 804 were not free from those grievous crimes, which generally provoke the anger of the eternal Judge, yet he had hitherto borne patiently with them and had mercifully spared them. To what other cause could their exemp- tion from the plague be attributed, Adamnan can no otherwise conceive, than to the prayers of St. Columba, whose intercession they deserved, by the re- spect they always showed for the monasteries he founded in their territories. 8°s But, it is melancholy to be obliged to add, he observes, that there are many in both countries, who do not acknowledge that they owe their exemption from the plague to the prayers of our saint, and who, unmindful of the mercytheyhavereceived, ungratefullyabusethepatienceandthegoodness ofGod. OftenAdamnanreturnedhismostgratefulthankstotheAlmighty for having, through the intercession of that holy patron, preserved him from the pestilence, not only while he remained in Hy, but also, on two occasions in the territory of the Saxons, 8o6 when he went to visit King Aid-
escaped
Britain,
es'5 Thefirst ofthis appearance
frightful mortality
in Rome, and also in
pestilence in Britain and in Ireland is noted at A. D. 537. Again, in Britain, it has been described as "Mortalitas magna," in the "Annales Cambriae,"atA. D. 547. SeeeditionofRev. John Williams ab Ithel, M. A. , p. 4. Again, that plague appeared, which was called the " Crom Conaill vel flava Scabies," in Ire-
Ticinum, where its inhabitants fled to the
tops of the neighbouring mountains, until
the plague ceased. See "Chronica Majora,"
edited by Henry Richards Luard, M. A. ,
vol. i. , pp. 307, 308.
800
By this term Ireland is understood and contra-distinguished from Britain.
801 From earlier accounts, the following
land about the year 550, as recorded, in
"
Annales. " See Rev. Dr.
to have been Matthew of copied by
Tigernachi
appears
Westminster
talitas adeo invaluit in Anglia ut homines gregatim ad maris loca prasrupta venientes, sese in eo praecipites darent, prasferentes cita
O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicarum Scripto-
res," tomus ii. , p. 139.
"7 It is interesting to note here, the de- structive character of that epidemic, not alone from this account by Adamnan, but also from other independent sources. It seems to have broken out frequently, in the latter part of the seventh century ; and, from our Irish Annals, we learn, at A. D. 684, that there was "a mortality upon all animals in general, throughout the whole world, for the space of three years, so that there escaped not one out of the thousand of any kind of animals. "—Dr. O'Dovovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 290, 291.
79s The second visitation, which was the
most severe, happened in 663, 664, 666, and 667, according to the Annals of Ulster. This
affected Ireland and all southern Britain, with
the province of Northumbria, as stated by " VenerableBede,inhis HistoriaEcclesiastica
Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. xx vii. , p. 240. ? » In the year 686, Matthew of Paris
:
" Anno gratiae dclxv. Mor-
chronicles eclipses of the Sun and Moon, autem Columba primus doctor fidei Chris-
while during the same year followed a great pestilence, which raged in the month of
July, August, and September, there being a
tianas transmontanis Pictis ad aquilonem, primusque fundator monasterii quod in Hii insula multis diu Scottorum Pictorumque
morte pr—seveniri quam longo tabis cruciatu "
perire. " Flores Historiarum," p. 234. This account is also contained, in the Greater Chronicle of Matthew of Paris, and at the same year, almost in the words here cited.
802 The other people of Britain were the Saxons and Britons.
803 The Latin terms used by Adamnan are " Dorsi montes Britannici. "
804 Allusion is here made to the Picts, as so
called by the Roman writers, and to the
Cruithei, applied to the settlers of Irish
origin. See on this subject, the remarks of
Father Joachim Laurence Villanueva, in
"
Sancti Patricii Ibernorum Apostoli, Synodi, Canones, Opuscula et Scriptorum quae supersunt, Fragmenta," pp. 250, 251.
805 Venerable Bede remarks " Erat ;
JUNE 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 589
8°7 who honoured him with his The first occasion to which friendship.
frid,
he alluded was immediately after Ecfrid's war,8°8 and the other was two years
8o°
on both
810 the
was
occasions,
8'1
plague or by any other disease.
Besides the memorials of St. Columba already mentioned, there are fur-
ther traces of that popular veneration entertained for him in Ireland and else-
where. Itmustbeataskbeyondourendeavour,notwithstanding,tocollect all that are to be found in tradition or even upon record. A few must here suffice. A relic of the Holy Abbot, called St. Columkille's Cross, appears to have been preserved in Ireland, until the sixteenth century, when it—came
while,
and carrying off great numbers in all the surrounding villages. Yet, God mercifully saved Adamnan from falling a victim to it, although he was within the sphere of its malignant and deadly influence. The Divine mercy was also extended towards his companions, not one of whom was attacked by that
subsequently ;
raging violently
into the — possession
of Sir Perrot. 813 At Skreen-Cholumcille now John
Skreen in Meath certain relics of this saint were preserved
8'3 ;
and, in like
manner, at Derry, where the Soscela Martain, or Gospel of St. Martin, was kept. Again, we learn, that in the seventh year of his reign, Kenneth Mac Alpin obtained some relics of St. Columba for a church, which he built at Dunkeld. Among the treasures of the grand cathedral church at Durham, the bones and relics of St. Columcille are noted in a catalogue, written in
populis venerabile mansit. "—" Historia Ec-
clesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. v. ,
cap. x. , p.
the early Irish ecclesiastics required them to
carry about from place to place, were pro- vided with leather cases, These varied in size and execution. They were called •pot<vir\e or cases, and ciaja or satchels.
the impression became indelible. A re- duced drawing of the back, faithfully execu-
ted, may be seen in Dr. George Petrie's "Ecclesiastical Architecture and Round Towers of Ireland," part ii. , sect, iii. , subs.
75J See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's I, p. 332. But, as this case does not fit the
"Life of St. Columba," lib. ii. , cap. 8, pp. 114 to 116.
754 It is called BovovlvSa, by Ptolmey, the Greek Geographer, and it is Latinized Buvinda, and in the Irish language it is written Domne. In Tirechan's Life of St. Patrick, we read " Vadum Carnoi i m Boend," in Liber Armacanus, fol. \\aa. Again, we find it written "Amnis Boindeo,"
book—which, without the boards, measures
ibid. , fol. 16b a. See Zeuss'
"
Grammatica
of a number of impressions executed from the same block for various manuscripts. At the upper corners of the sides are the remains of coarse straps, which were stitched on with leather thongs. These were for the purpose of slinging the case from the shoulder like a modern post-bag. There are various illus- trations of the Book of Armagh, in the " Fac-similes of National MSS. of Ireland," edited by John T. Gilbert. See part i. , Nos. xxv. , xxvi. , xxvii. , xxviii. , xxix.
Celtica," pp. 67, 74.
"5 This or some similar miracle seems
alluded to in Colgan's "Tiias Thauma-
turga," Secunda Vita S. Columbia, cap. v. ,
Tertia Vita S. Columbae, xiv. , p. 326. cap.
P- 333- Quarta Vita S. Columba? , lib. ii. , cap. viii. , p. 352. Quinta Vita S. Columba? , lib. iii. , cap. lxxii. , p. 445.
"6 Of leather cases, the cover of the Book of Armagh is the most interesting example now remaining. It came together with its inestimable enclosure, into the Rev. Dr.
757 See Rev. " Jeoffrey Keating's
at the end of 1853. It is formed of a single piece of strong leather, 36 inches long, and 12 broad, and folded in such a way as to form a six-sided case 12 in- ches long, 12% broad, and 2% thick, having a flap which doubles over in front ; while it is furnished with a rude lock, and eight staples,
admitted through perforations in the flap, for short iron rods to enter, and meet at the
75' This was the name of King vEdan's
Reeves'
possession,
lock. The whole outer surface, which has tic Society. Of this, however, only the first
become perfectly black from age, is covered
with figures and interlacings of the Irish pat-
tern, in relief, which appear to have been
produced by subjecting the leather in a damp
state, before it was folded, to pressure upon no great consequence relating to St.
a block of the whole size, having a depressed lumkille, on three slips of Vellum, attached pattern, and by allowing it to remain until to the "Liber llyinnuium,'' belonging to
only 7%" by 5% inches, and is thicker than
—
the receptacle it is likely to have been one
History of Ireland," vol. i. , p. 318, Haliday's edi-
tion.
758 At the year 666, Tigernach writes :
" —nn-oln Rex Eochaigh Jarlaithe pi Cpmclino
Pictorum Midensium mortuus est. '' Rev.
"
1 )r. Rcrum Ilibernicarum Scripto-
O'Conor's
res," tomus ii. , p. 206.
"
lib. iii. , cap. v. Also do we meet Eugena-
"
Annales Ultonienses," at A. D. 65? . 691, 700.
700 The celebrated Liber Hymnorum now
preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, the Rev. Dr. Todd has in parts e iited for the Irish Archaeological and Cel-
son. See Adamnan's
Vita S. Columba? ,"
nus, in the
and second fasciculi have as yet appeared, the lamented death of the learned editor having interfered with the prosecuti—on of his task. There are som—e Irish notes yet of
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 585
office of every day in the week,? 61 and in the handwriting of St. Columba, with
the leathern satchel ? 62 which contained 6 3 to be in a it,7 happened submerged
river,
insome ofLeinster. Ithad
part dropped
fromtheshouldersofa
boy,'
6*
who fell from the bridge. ? 65 The book having been in the water, from the
feast of the Nativity of our Lord, until the end of the Paschal solemnities,
was afterwards found on the bank of the river, by some women, who were
walkingthere. Itwasbroughtbythemtoitsowner,Jogenanus,inthesame
satchel, which was not only wet, but even rotten. He was a Pict ? 66 by birth,
to whom it formerly belonged. On opening the satchel, Jogenanus found
his book 6? It was as clean and as if it had been all the time in
uninjured. ? dry, hisdesk,andhadneverfallenintothewater. ? 68 Thelikethinghappenedinseveral
community, Merchant's-quay, Dublin.
761 We have no collection remaining to
answer the present description ; but, there are abundant materials for an Irish Hymnal,
"
is alluded to as
gente Pictum. " See Quinta Vita S. Co- lumbae, lib. iii. , cap. lxxiii. , p. 445.
767 This virtue of resisting the influence of water was, however, supposed to reside generally in the writings of early Irish Saints, and formed one of the standing sub- jects for legends in the compiling of their Lives.
768 Adamnan adds : But, the account we have given of the above-mentioned book of Jogenanus, we have received from certain trustworthy and good men, whose testimony cannot be doubted, and who saw the book itself, perfectly white and clean, after sub- mersion of so many days, as we have stated.
preserved in the Antiphonary of Bangor, and "
in the Leabhar Breac, See Mone's Hymni
Medii jEvi. ," published at Freybug, A. D. 1853. 762 Besides the polaire, the Irish employed for the carriage of their books, leather re- ceptacles of larger and regular construction,
called tiagha or satchels.
763 In Latin, a receptacle of this descrip- tion is denominated scetha, and it assumes
various forms, such as sceta, squesa, and
cetha. This term is probably akin to the
English word Sheath. We find it stated :
"
Aperiens jam
S. Fiachra scetam suam ad
ducendum inde librum baptismi, brachium
76«
"
Sed et alia de libris manu Sancti Co-
5. — in aerem sursum velociter avo-
lumba; craxatis, similia ab indubita—n- expertis
Comgalli
lavit. " Fleming's "Collectanea Sacra,"
ter didicimus in diversis acta ''
Vita S. Comgalli, cap. 30, p. 313a. This last passage is the only authority for the word in Du Cange.
locis," &c. Colgan's TriasThaumaturga,"QuintaVita
to books written the hands ofSt. Columba 6* that by ;?
with
is to say, that the books could suffer no injury, from being immersed in water. "
On the first occasion, when the monks of Iona had to draw overland long
or 1 someofwhichweremadeof ships boats,? ?
places,
regard
pine bringhometothatIslandalargequantityofmaterialsforbuildingships; in
order to obtain from God a favourable wind for their voyage, they invoked
"
Trias Thaumaturga," he is called lib. ii. , cap. ix. , p. 352. In O'Donnell's, he
Trinity College, Dublin. These are not in
the same handwriting, as found in the pre-
ceding folios. This Manuscript is classed E.
4, 2. There is another Liber Hymnorum Iogenanus. See Quarta Vita S. Columba, Codex in possession of the Irish P'ranciscan
764 This was a customary mode of carrying
books in Ireland, as shown in the Acts of our
Irish Saints. Thus, we read in the Vita S.
Carthaci : "Duas cethas libris plenas suis
humeris imposuit. "—"Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus iii. , Junii xiv. , p. 380. Again, in and singular merits before the Lord. See
the Acts of St, Kiaran, we find it stated :
Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's "Life of St. Columba," lib. ii. , cap. 9, pp. 1 16 to 118.
771 These were probably made of hollowed
boats of were trees. Some great length thus
formed. Specimens have been found in bogs and at the bottom Irish lakes. A very large and remarkable one, taken from out of Lough Owel, county of Westmeath, may be seen, at the present time, in the crypt of the
"
S. Kiaranus benedixit fratribus suis, et ac-
cipiens cethas —suas cum libris in humeris,
pen-exit inde. " VitaS. Kiarani, cap. xxv. , in
the Codex containing Latin Lives of the Irish Saints, in Marsh's Library, fol. 146^ b.
7<5s It should be an interesting subject for investigation, to know where in Leinster this ancient bridge was to be found, and as to
andothersof andto oak,
whether it had been built of stone or of wood. 766 In Adamnan's version, as published in
Colgan's
Eogananum Praesbyterum
S. Columbae, lib. ii. , cap. ix. , p. 352.
770 Giving the foregoing account, Adamnan says, the—se two miracles—he relates three,
in
however though wrought matters of
small moment and shown in opposite ele- ments, to wit, fire and water, redound to the honour of the holy man and prove his great
586 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
St.
Columba, by putting some of his books and garments 77 2 upon the altar, as also by fasting and by chanting psalms. This happened, in the time of
Adamnan, who relates these particulars. Accordingly, God granted their requests, owing to the intercession of St. Columba. So soon as the sailors had made all their preparations for conveying the materials above mentioned in skiffs 773 and currachs,774 for several days before the winds had been unfavourable ; but suddenly, they changed into propitious breezes, which blew favourably for them the entire day, and enabled all the boats with flowing sails 775 to make their long and dangerous passage to Hy with expedition and safety. The second miracle to which Adamnan alludes was wrought a few years after the one already mentioned. The monastery requiring certain repairs,7? 6 the monks cut down some oak trees near the mouth ofthe River Sale,777 and put them into twelve currachs, which were brought for the pur- pose. Those sailors then put out to sea, the day being calm and the waves
8
sprang up, which obliged them 779 to seek for shelter in the harbour of a neighbouring island, called in the Scottish
tranquil. Suddenly a westerly wind ? 7
or Irish 8c language Airthrago. 7
the monks
this unfavourable change in the wind, and as it were, to blame St. Columba,
by saying,
" Does our detention in this
place please you,
Columba ?
Hitherto,
Thereupon,
began
to of complain
we had hoped that we might receive from you some assistance in our labours
and dangers, thinking that God would be propitious to us through your inter-
cession,whichwesupposedtobeverypowerfulwithhim. " Nosoonerhadthey spoken thus, than the west wind ceased, and a most favourable breeze 7 8r
sprung up. Having raised the sail-yards in the form of a cross, and having spread the sails upon them, the sailors put to sea. The breeze continuing steady and favourable during the whole day, they were enabled, and without the slighest fatigue, to reach Hy that evening, together with all who were en- gaged assisting in the carriage of that timber. Another miracle, of which Adamnan washimself an eye-witness, was wrought under the following circum- stances. In the summer, after the celebration of a synod 78* in Ireland, the representatives from Iona seem to have been detained by contrary winds for
Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.
772 These were preserved as relics of the
saints in Iona.
"3 Seapha they are called in the text.
774 They are Latinized curuca, a form de-
rived from the Irish cu|\ac.
"5 From this it appears, that their vessels
were furnished with vela, antenna, and ru- denies ; while they had oars to serve as occa-
sion required.
776 It seems probable, that the first tempo-
rary huts erected by St. Columba and his companions were constructed of stakes, through which oziers or wattles were woven ; while in a short time afterwards, sawed planks were used for more stable wooden buildings, which were covered with reeds or thatch. In the fifth century, the Irish and Britons seem to have built their —houses
while the Romans even in Britain —preferred the more solid and dur-
the idea of it being the River Shiel, which connects Loch Shiel with the sea, and form- ing part of the boundary between the coun- ties of Inverness and Argyle. However, it seems quite probable the Sale, mentioned in the text, was this Shiel.
chiefly of wood
;
nan Vulturnusque flat," has been applied indifferently to the north-east wind, and to a south-east wind, by Latin writers. Where- fore, it is likely, a north-east wind blew on this occasion.
able stone buildings.
7&2 The exact date of this synod is not known; but, from the closing words of the
—— 777 This river as conjectured
it have been celebrated • appears to
has not been identified. The circumstance of a south- ea^t wind conveying the monks to Hy, in the opinion of Rev. Dr. Reeves, precludes
chapter,
considerable time before St. Adamnan w rote these memoirs, and possibly before he be- came Abbot, or at least, at an early period
7? 8 Classically termed Favonius, by Adam- ""
nan, and also Zephyrus ventus.
"9 Adamnan seems to convey by the word
"nobis," that he formed one of the crew.
? 8° It is said to have lain to the south-east
ofHy. It is unidentified, unless it be Arran,
according to Rev. Dr. Reeves.
~
Sl
Theclassic expressionusedbyAdam- "
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 587 a few days, among the Loern people. ? 83 They had reached the Island of
84 where the of St. Columba's festival found them sad and dis- vigil
Sainea,7
contented,785 because they wished to celebrate that joyous festival in their ownchurchofHy. Accordingly,asonaformeroccasion,sonowagainthe
monks to began
and to
" Is it
to
you, Columba,
complain
that we should spend your festival-day among strangers, and not celebrate it in your own church ? It is easy for you to obtain from God,? 86 that the wind may be favourable in the morning, and that we may be able to celebrate the Mass of your feast in your own church. " On the following morning, the
voyagers arose very early, and seeing that the wind had ceased, they went on
board their vessels and put to sea in a profound calm,787 when lo ! suddenly
sprung up a south wind,? 88 which was most favourable for that voyage they were
so anxious to make. The sailors then joyously raised the sails, when so
quick and so favourable was their passage, owing to God's mercy exerted in
their behalf and through the intercession of St. Columba, that they reached
8
the port of Hy 7 9 after the third hour. 79° Thus, they obtained the object
of their anxious wishes and prayers. Afte* washing their hands and feet, Adamnan and the voyagers entered the church at the sixth hour,79* in com- pany with their brethren. Thus, they were able to celebrate the Mass of St. Columba's and of St. Baithene's 792 come from the Isle of
feast, having
Shuna ? 93 that same morning. 794
After the foregoing narrative, Adamnan observes, that what he was about to
relate concerning the plague,795 which in his own time had twice ? 96 visited the
of his incumbency.
78 i Those descended from Loam Mor, from
thus indicates the latter year. "
785 As, during his lifetime, St. Columba was
whom the territory was named Lorn, which
became the chief stronghold of the Cinel-
Loairn in Scotland. It also gave name to a
large rural deanery, including the parishes of Kilmartin, Craignish, Kilchattan, Kilbran- Iona.
don, Kilmelford, Kilninver, Kilbride, Kil- more, Kilchrenan, Inishail, Muckairn, Glen- orchy, Ardchattan, Lismore, and Appin. It included, that portion of the present Argyll- shire, lying north and west of Loch Awe, extending to Loch Leven on the north, and to the Crinan canal on the south-west. For a description of the foregoing parishes see Cosmo Innes' "OiiginesParochialesScotise," vol. ii. , pars i. , pp. 91 to 169, and the ac- companying fine Map of the Diocese of Argyll and part of the Diocese of the Isles.
784 Now Shuna, an Island, in the parish of Kilchattan, lying close to Luing on the east, and separated from it by the Sound of Shuna. It is situated in the Nether Lame, and near its southern extremity.
783 The situation is thus expressed by Adamnan: "ibidemque demoratos festiva sancti Columbce nox et solemnis dies nos in- venit valde tristificatos," &c. On this, the Rev. Dr. Reeves remarks in a note " The
:
787 When they could only expect to make
headway by rowing.
788 Denominated " notus," by Adamnan.
NowShunalies E. S. E. ofIona.
789 Port-a-churaich was the nearest land-
ing place, but it is not certain they there dis- embarked.
790 This was the canonical hour for Tierce.
791 This was at Noon, the canonical hour for Sext.
792 This was on the 9th of June.
7M 'nnS island is fully thirty miles distant from Hy.
794 Having recorded the foregoing mira- cles, Adamnan observes, that there were then living, not merely one or two witnesses for their authentication, as the law requires, but a hundred and more witnesses, who could then bear testimony to their truth. See
say :
agreeable
Life of St. 45, pp. 176 to 182, choicebetween596and597,astheyearof andnn. (a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,k,1,m,n,o,
St. Columba's death, depends, Abp. Ussher says, upon the determination of the question " num nox ilia media, qua Columba deces- sisse diximus diem Junii nonum vel inchoa- verit vel finierit "
p, q, r, s, t, u).
793 The plague here referred to belonged to
that class of diseases known in Ireland by
The present expression favours inchoaverit, and or
(wks. vi. , p. 235).
"
invoked from remote places, which we find in
the Life by Adamnan, lib. ii. , cap. 5, 13, 39 and 40 ; so after his death were prayers ad- dressed to him, as the great Patron Saint of
Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
"
Columba," lib. ii. ,
cap.
" sickness ;" in Britain it was called Vad Velen
the denomination jalap bintJe,
yellow
the yellow plague. "
588 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
greater part of the world,? ? deserved to be reckoned among the most extra- ordinary of St. Columba's miracles. That dreadful pestilence ravaged, on
countries of 00 Europe, including Italy,?
two different occasions,? 08 all the
great
the Roman States, Spain, and the Cisalpine province of Gaul. Nor were
its ravages confined to these countries ; they extended to all the islands of the sea, including those of Scotia 8o° and of Britain. 801 The only people that
802 whose territories
its visitations were the Picts and Scots of
are separated by the mountains of Drum Alban. 8°3 And, although these nations 804 were not free from those grievous crimes, which generally provoke the anger of the eternal Judge, yet he had hitherto borne patiently with them and had mercifully spared them. To what other cause could their exemp- tion from the plague be attributed, Adamnan can no otherwise conceive, than to the prayers of St. Columba, whose intercession they deserved, by the re- spect they always showed for the monasteries he founded in their territories. 8°s But, it is melancholy to be obliged to add, he observes, that there are many in both countries, who do not acknowledge that they owe their exemption from the plague to the prayers of our saint, and who, unmindful of the mercytheyhavereceived, ungratefullyabusethepatienceandthegoodness ofGod. OftenAdamnanreturnedhismostgratefulthankstotheAlmighty for having, through the intercession of that holy patron, preserved him from the pestilence, not only while he remained in Hy, but also, on two occasions in the territory of the Saxons, 8o6 when he went to visit King Aid-
escaped
Britain,
es'5 Thefirst ofthis appearance
frightful mortality
in Rome, and also in
pestilence in Britain and in Ireland is noted at A. D. 537. Again, in Britain, it has been described as "Mortalitas magna," in the "Annales Cambriae,"atA. D. 547. SeeeditionofRev. John Williams ab Ithel, M. A. , p. 4. Again, that plague appeared, which was called the " Crom Conaill vel flava Scabies," in Ire-
Ticinum, where its inhabitants fled to the
tops of the neighbouring mountains, until
the plague ceased. See "Chronica Majora,"
edited by Henry Richards Luard, M. A. ,
vol. i. , pp. 307, 308.
800
By this term Ireland is understood and contra-distinguished from Britain.
801 From earlier accounts, the following
land about the year 550, as recorded, in
"
Annales. " See Rev. Dr.
to have been Matthew of copied by
Tigernachi
appears
Westminster
talitas adeo invaluit in Anglia ut homines gregatim ad maris loca prasrupta venientes, sese in eo praecipites darent, prasferentes cita
O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicarum Scripto-
res," tomus ii. , p. 139.
"7 It is interesting to note here, the de- structive character of that epidemic, not alone from this account by Adamnan, but also from other independent sources. It seems to have broken out frequently, in the latter part of the seventh century ; and, from our Irish Annals, we learn, at A. D. 684, that there was "a mortality upon all animals in general, throughout the whole world, for the space of three years, so that there escaped not one out of the thousand of any kind of animals. "—Dr. O'Dovovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 290, 291.
79s The second visitation, which was the
most severe, happened in 663, 664, 666, and 667, according to the Annals of Ulster. This
affected Ireland and all southern Britain, with
the province of Northumbria, as stated by " VenerableBede,inhis HistoriaEcclesiastica
Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. xx vii. , p. 240. ? » In the year 686, Matthew of Paris
:
" Anno gratiae dclxv. Mor-
chronicles eclipses of the Sun and Moon, autem Columba primus doctor fidei Chris-
while during the same year followed a great pestilence, which raged in the month of
July, August, and September, there being a
tianas transmontanis Pictis ad aquilonem, primusque fundator monasterii quod in Hii insula multis diu Scottorum Pictorumque
morte pr—seveniri quam longo tabis cruciatu "
perire. " Flores Historiarum," p. 234. This account is also contained, in the Greater Chronicle of Matthew of Paris, and at the same year, almost in the words here cited.
802 The other people of Britain were the Saxons and Britons.
803 The Latin terms used by Adamnan are " Dorsi montes Britannici. "
804 Allusion is here made to the Picts, as so
called by the Roman writers, and to the
Cruithei, applied to the settlers of Irish
origin. See on this subject, the remarks of
Father Joachim Laurence Villanueva, in
"
Sancti Patricii Ibernorum Apostoli, Synodi, Canones, Opuscula et Scriptorum quae supersunt, Fragmenta," pp. 250, 251.
805 Venerable Bede remarks " Erat ;
JUNE 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 589
8°7 who honoured him with his The first occasion to which friendship.
frid,
he alluded was immediately after Ecfrid's war,8°8 and the other was two years
8o°
on both
810 the
was
occasions,
8'1
plague or by any other disease.
Besides the memorials of St. Columba already mentioned, there are fur-
ther traces of that popular veneration entertained for him in Ireland and else-
where. Itmustbeataskbeyondourendeavour,notwithstanding,tocollect all that are to be found in tradition or even upon record. A few must here suffice. A relic of the Holy Abbot, called St. Columkille's Cross, appears to have been preserved in Ireland, until the sixteenth century, when it—came
while,
and carrying off great numbers in all the surrounding villages. Yet, God mercifully saved Adamnan from falling a victim to it, although he was within the sphere of its malignant and deadly influence. The Divine mercy was also extended towards his companions, not one of whom was attacked by that
subsequently ;
raging violently
into the — possession
of Sir Perrot. 813 At Skreen-Cholumcille now John
Skreen in Meath certain relics of this saint were preserved
8'3 ;
and, in like
manner, at Derry, where the Soscela Martain, or Gospel of St. Martin, was kept. Again, we learn, that in the seventh year of his reign, Kenneth Mac Alpin obtained some relics of St. Columba for a church, which he built at Dunkeld. Among the treasures of the grand cathedral church at Durham, the bones and relics of St. Columcille are noted in a catalogue, written in
populis venerabile mansit. "—" Historia Ec-
clesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. v. ,
cap. x. , p.
