Those relating to a subse- quent period of his life, as indicated by their
subjects
and circumstances, are reserved for further notice.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v6
Yet, often he threatened sinners with impending death or damnation, so that when the love
138 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbx, lib. i. , cap. lxxx. , p. 402.
QuintaVita S. Columbse, lib. i. , cap. lxxxi. , p. 402.
I43
See ibid. , cap. lxxxii. , p. 402. I44 See ibid. , cap. lxxxiii. , p. 402. 145 The Irish name Cl/UAin true
'39 See the Bollandists' "Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus iii. , xiv. Maii. De S. Carthaco seu
Mochudda, Episcopo et Abbate Lismo- interpreted, by some writers, Meadow of
riensi, in Hibernia, p. 381.
140 See the Life of St. Carthage or Moch-
udda, on his feast, May 14th, in the Fifth Volume of this work, Art. i. , chap. ii.
141 SeehisLife,onthe9thofSeptember.
"
son of Nos," derived from Nos, son of
142 See "Trias Colgan's
Thaumaturga,"
barony of Garrycastle in King's County theabbeywassituated.
*46 His Irish was Wac An patronymic
That one made of gold
Fiadach, one of the Dealbhna-Eathra, the
tribe in whose district
—now known as t—he
tloif,
is
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 325
of virtue did not urge them to refrain from vice, the fear of punishment might induce them to a better state. 144
Already Clonmacnoise I4S had been founded, a. d. 548, or about that time, by St. Ciaran. 146 His chief patron was King Diarmait, who granted the site with its endowments. The saint died, however, on the 9th day of Septem- ber, a. d. 549, only in the thirty-fourth year of his age. 147 He was esteemed one of Ireland's chief saints,'48 and his monastery soon rose to the highest degreeofimportance. WhileintheprovinceofMeath,itisrelated,thatSt. Columba travelled in the direction of Clonmacnoise, to St. Kieran. To the latter he presented the copy of a Hymn, he had composed, in the praise of God. Hiscustomwastospendhisfewleisuremomentsincomposinglittle effusions in praise of the Almighty, when freed from the recital of the Divine Office and other pious exercises, and when he relaxed from holy meditation. These hymns and tracts were written partly in the Latin, and partly in the Irish language. I4 9 Once, while St. Columba was engaged writing a Book of Gospels, St. Kieran, son of the artisan, being asked to do so, promised he
" And
whose
afterwards became well known throughout Ireland, for his knowledge of the
Sacred and for his of miracles. I52 Various successive amend- Scriptures, gift
ments had been made on the Continent, in the Rule for celebrating Easter, about St. Columba's time. These regulations left the British churches considerably in arrear ; partly owing to their unwillingness to abandon ancient institutions,
subsequently prevailed for so many years, and especially among the Irish Churches, concerning the differences of time for the proper celebration of Easter. St. Columba could hardly have been ignorant of the discrepancy, between the Irish and the Continental churches ; yet, he evinced no desire to alter the existing practice, as lie found it in Ireland. Suchwas the respect for liis memory, in after times, that the bare fact of his observing the old rule operated, during more than a century, as a great obstacle to the adoption of the Roman Easter in the monastery of Hy and in its dependencies 155
much "promise on the part of God, that the middle parts of Ireland shall rejoice in your name and pay tribute t—o your monastery. "150 While at the monastery
would the middle complete
part.
I,"
said Columba
very
pleased,
of — a certain Clonmacnoise, boy
held to be bythemonks earnestlydesiredtoobtainSt. Columba'sblessing;but,through bashfulness,hedidnotdaretoaskforit. However,heapproached,andinafur- tivemanner,hetookathreadortwofromthehemofoursaint'sgarment. He was rudely repelled by the monks, who were near; but the saint, knowing well his interior dispositions, not only imparted his blessing, buteven predicted be- fore all who were present, that the boy should be celebrated, in after time, for his holinessandknowledge. ThischildwasErnan,151sonofCressen,andwho
and
greatly and inordinately addicted to their national usages. 154 In Clonmac- noise, St. Columkille prophesied regarding those future dissensions, which
owing partly
to the circumstance
alleged
"
c-fAoir, Latinized Filius Artificis. "
147 See his Life, at the 9th of September.
148 In Cummian's Paschal he is
"Lite of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. iii. , pp. 23 to 26.
of the Irish. See Ussher's
Veterum Epis-
xi. , p. 33.
149 bee Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,
Vita S. pp. 400, 401.
lib.
" cap. lxx. ,
'S5 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's Life of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 3, n.
Quinta
Columba? ,
i. ,
150 See ibid. , cap. lxxxviii. , p. 403.
,S1 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
(1), p. 26.
Epistle,
I52 See
Colgan's
" Trias
Thauiraturga,"
"
called Queranus Coloniensis,"and it ranks Quinta Vita S. Columbse, lib. i. , cap. lxxi. ,
"" him, likewise, among the Patres priores
p. 401.
I53 Especially by St. Wilfrid.
"
I54 See Venerable Bede's Hhtoria Eccle-
s'astica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. xxv.
"
tolarum Hibernicarum Sylloge," Epistola
proficiencyiwas
very
slender
••
of the 1 " that were Irish, they
326
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
CHAPTER V.
HE LITERARY WORKS OF ST. COLUMBA—THE VARIOUS SUBJECTS HE TREATED IN PROSE AND VERSE—HIS PROPHECIES—TRAVELS OF ST. COLUMB THROUGH LEINSTER, AND THE RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS THERE FOUNDED BY HIM.
The mental and bodily industry and love for labour of St. Columba were extraordinary. His missionary works were hardly ever interrupted. He never could spend even one hour, without study, or prayer, or writing, or some
other
of his genuine productions are now probably unknown or lost. However, although various prophetical and other Poems 2 are ascribed to St. Cohim- kille, their authorship or invention does not appear to date back to his period. 3 Like all true missionaries, now as then, Columba spoke and wrote in the vernacular of his country, while his cultivated taste and his innate genius added to its literature. According to a quatrain,'* quoted in the old Irish Life, 5 he had an intense relish for the promotion of religious and national feeling with literature, not alone in his own but even in the Latin language. Most of his Tracts are inspired by a deep and sublime sentiment of devotion ; while several serve to show, likewise, that his patriotic feelings were of a warm and of an intense nature. Indeed, it is difficult to conceive, how there can be any true piety, zeal, or charity, where love of one's country and of one's own people is stilled and unstimulating in the human heart.
TheRoyalIrishAcademy'sLibrarycontains6 severalpoeticpieces,attri- buted to St. Columkille. In like manner, the Manuscript Room of Trinity
College Library. Dublin, preserves some compositions, ascribed to him. Over thirty Poems in the Irish language, and supposed to have been written
by him, were in possession of Edward O'Reilly, the subjects being miscel- laneous, but the chief part were religious. He had also Prophecies, which, if written by Columba in any form, must have been interpolated and cor-
rupted, by
modern writers. ? The Bodleian 8 at Library,
Oxford,^
and the
Chapter v. — 1 us by Adamnan.
Such is the account left
5 In the "Leabhar
Breac,"
and this has
2
See for some of these Messrs. Hodges'
been translated into English, by William
Maunsell Hennessey, Esq. , M. R. I. A. It is
published as Appendix I, with annotations,
in William F. Skene's "Celtic Scotland : a
History of Ancient Alban," vol. ii. , pp. 467
to 507. This is evidently a Panegyric, ad-
dressed to a congregation, and probably
composed for some Festival of our saint.
6
Messrs. Hodges' and Smith's small 8vo paper MS. , No. 145, in the Royal Irish Aca- demy, contains some poems ascribed to St Columkille. Also, a MS. classed No. 46, 4; and No. 6, 5 ; as likewise, No. 27.
and Smith's collection of Manuscripts be-
longing to the Royal Irish Academy, Folio Paper MS. , No. 221. Also a 4to Paper MS. , No. 27.
3 Thus, a Manuscript, belonging to the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and classed Laud, 615, contains 136 Irish Poems, for the most part ascribed to St. Columba. See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life of St. Columba. " Additional Notes F, n. (a),
P- 265.
« Thus has the stanza been rendered into
English :—
Thrice fifty noble lays the Apostle made,
Whose miracles are more numerous
than grass ;
Some in Latin, which were beguil-
•ng :
Some in Gaelic, fair the tale. "
7 See "
Four Hundred Irish Writers," &c, p. xxxviii.
8 «'
In his Scottish Historical Library,"
Bishop Nicolson mentions his works in Irish verse, as being found among the Laud Manuscripts, and marked in the Catalogue, toin. i. , part i. , num. 784. See chap, vi. , p. 65 n. 19.
"
1 St. Cohimkille is the reputed author of various Prose
holy occupation.
Tracts, Poems and Prophecies, in the Irish and Latin languages, and copies of which are still preserved in public libraries, at home and abroad. Several
Chronological
Account of
nearly
June 9. ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
327
BurgundianLibrary,atBruxelles,havecopiesofhisPoems, Thefollowing compositions have been ascribed to him ; however, we are not obliged to accept them very generally as his genuine works. Neither can we presume to fix the dates, for their issue, in all cases ; but, from the subjects treated and the circumstances and occasions to which they refer, we may well con- sider —precluding the idea of their being spurious—several of them must have been composed before he left Ireland for Alba.
Those relating to a subse- quent period of his life, as indicated by their subjects and circumstances, are reserved for further notice. Besides that Monastic Rule to which we have already alluded, but of which a copy has not yet been recovered, or authenti- cated ;'° we must here present a list of those compositions, which are set down to his credit, and, in many instances, we may fairly accept the con- tinuous traditions of Ireland, as lending great weight to their genuineness. To St. Columkille has been attributed a Life of St. Patrick," from which have beendrawnlateraccountsofourgreatNationalApostle. " Alludingtothat Life, Colgan thinks it was written in one Book, if not in a greater number. ^ However, it is said,'4 that our saint was among the first to compile and nar- rate the Miracles of St. Patrick. *5 He is said, also, to have composed a
in 16 which is a Hymn Irish,
panegyric
ofSt. as it was a short Brigid;'? and,
one,ColganhastranslateditintoLatin18 whichhehaspublished. Heisre- ,
puted to have written this Hymn, about a. d. 563, on his passage over to Britain.
As St. Columba delighted in singing the Divine praises, we are not to be sui prised, that his inspired soul was poured out in the composition of several
"
sublime and devotional canticles. In the
served three distinct Latin Hymns,20 attributed to him, and these are regarded by many—and from a remote time—as his genuine effusions. These are classed thus in traditional order. I. A Latin Hymn of St. Columba,21 intituled
9 'Among the Manuscripts, Laud. D. 17,
are to be found his Exhortation to Princes
and his Prophecies, as also some account of
his own Life. See Bishop Nicolson's "Irish position to St. Columba. However, the
Historical Library, "chap, iv. , p. 34, andn. 4. 10 We do not here refer to the Rule of St. Colum Cille, which contains precepts for the regulation of the life and time of religious, preferring solitude to living in community. Of this a summary is given in Eugene O'Curry's "Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History," Lect. xviii. , p. 374. Also Appendix, No. 612. A translation of it into English may be found, in William F. Skene's "Celtic Scotland," vol. ii. , Appendix II. ,
Irish Life of St. Brigid, attribute its com- scholiast has doubts, as to whether it may
cxviii. , p.
pp. 508, 509. ""
,8 See "Trias
Septima p. 128.
12
Vita S.
Patricii,
lib.
i. , cap. lxix. ,
See Colgan's
Trias Thaumaturga,"
of the Ancient Church of Ireland. " In Rev. 13 See ibid. Tenia Appendix ad Acta S. Dr. W. Macllwaine's " Lyra Hibernica
See ibid. , lib. iii. , cap. xcix. , p. 167.
Columbse, Secunda Pars. , num. I.
u In the Manuscript copy oi the Tripar- tite Life of St. Patrick found in the British
Museum, Egerton 93, and also in a copy be-
longing to Eugene O'Curry.
15 See " Lectures on the Manuscript
Materials of Ancient Irish History," Appen-
dix, No. CVI. , p. 608.
Sacra," there are English metrical versions of those Hymns,
2I
This was published, in the first instance. by Colgan in "Trias Thaumaturga," Tertia Appendix ad Acta S. Columbse, Pars Ter- tia, pp. 473 to 475. It was extracted from a copy oi the Book of Hymns, now preserved in the Franciscan Convent, Dublin. In that
Manuscript, it had two Prefaces, partly in
16
In the original it begins with these
Liber Hymnorum," 19 there are pre-
words, Brigid be blithmaith.
' 7 A scholiast on this Hymn, and also an
not have been the
composition
of St. Bren-
dan of Clonfert. Notwithstanding, Colgan thinks it should rather be assigned to our
saint, as well because of a statement con- tained in St. Brigid's Irish Life, as on ac- count of a cause alleged by the scholiast for composing that Hymn, and more nearly in- dicating such a conclusion.
Thaumaturga," Appendix S^cunda ad Acta S. Brigidse, cap. xxiii. ,
p. 606.
I9 It is classed E. 4, 2, among the Trinity
College Manuscripts.
20 The Rev. Dr. Todd has edit d this
LeAbViAp Imuiun, or "The Book of Hymns
.
together
towards
328
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
2
22 on the Unity and Trinity of God, 3 written, it is thought,
Altus
aboutthe
addressed to our Lord Jesus Christ. 26 III. A Latin Hymn, by the same
Prosator, year 560
orearlier. 2* II. ALatinHymnbySt. Columkille,2*also
writer, beginning with "Noli pater indulgere. " Colgan has printed two
2 ? of this 28 and the Rev. Dr. Todd 2 9 has given us another ver- copies Hymn,
sion. It is stated, that Columba composed it,3° in the doorway of Disert
Uaire Chalcaigh, in the time of Aedh, the son of Ainmire. This was when
the saint came to hold a conference with the king, and when he was about to
1
found Derry. 3
A devout and deprecatory prayer 3* against dangers and calamities
Latin, and partly in Irish, of which Colgan has only given the substance. He presents also the Arguments prefixed to each stanza, and he has translated those Irish words that occur, intermixed with Latin in the original. Another version of it appears, in the le-ab- hap 1mimin, edited by Rev. Dr. James Hen- thorn Todd, who tells us, that a leaf in the original Manuscript being lost, as also one of another copy in the Leabhar Breac, we must still depend upon Colgan's copy for the missing stanzas. See Fasciculus ii. , p. 201.
22 There is a Prologue to this Hymn by Colum Cille, followed by eight stanzas, only in the "Leabhar Breac," one of the Irish
Manuscripts, lately published by the Royal Irish Academy. The other stanzas have dis-
appeared, with that portion missing between pages [238] and [238a], where there is a chasm of one, or more folios. See Contents,
pp. 21, 22. The portion of this Hymn re- maining is abundantly interlined with Latin and Irish glosses. See body of the book, No. CLXV. , CLXVI. , pp. 237, 238.
. Alcur ppoptcop tieuurcuf oiermm ec in gem cup,
lation, additional glosses, and various read-
23 It with the line — begins :
It commences with the line or lines 111 ce Chpirce cpe'oencuim impepeA-
and itissaid to have been composed, asa peni-
tential exercise for three battles, of which Co- lumbahad been the occasion in Ireland; while
a second tradition has it, that the Hymn was
an extemporaneous effusion, uttered in Hy. However, Adamnan seems to have been p. 476.
28 See be-abb-ap Imuiun. "The Book of
Hymns of the Ancient Church of Ireland,"
Fasciculus ii. , No. xvi. , pp. 25910263.
29 The first of those is only an extract, ending with &c. ; while the latter copy he has published is stated to be a little more correct, although not entirely exact, yet writ-
ten in an old hand.
30 Already allusion has been made to it,
in a previous chapter of this Life. -
31 An English metrical version of the three foregoing Hymns will be found, in Rev. Dr. mences with a letter of the Alphabet, and the - John Smith's "Life of St. Columba," Ap-
ignorant of such a tradition, if not of the Hymn itself, for he omits all mention of either. The Hymn is of considerable anti- quity, for in many places there is quoted a Latin version of the Scriptures, older than therecensionofSt. Jerome. Itiswrittenin rude Latinity, with many obsolete words in- troduced, and it has been versified in English, by Rev. Dr. W. Macllwaine.
24 One account states, that it had been
composed after seven years of study, in the Black Church of Deny. Each stanza com-
number of stanzas is twenty, in that order ; while each stanza contains six lines, with the exception of the first having seven lines, and
pendix, pp. 136 to 143.
32 Colgan had a copy of this, and it began
with the words Sciac -oe •oo tilth,—rendered in Latin "Scutum Dei de Ccelo. " "Trias Thaumaturga," Tertia Appendix ad Acta. S.
Columbse, Secunda Pars, p. 472.
33 This was one of a class of Poems, popular
an addition of three lines
the end. This Hymn is certainly of Irish • origin, and it has been annotated by Rev. Dr. Todd, who furnished an English trans-
ings. See, also, Eugene O'Curry's
"
Lec-
tures on the Manuscript Materials of An-
cient Irish History," Lect. iv. , n. 36, p. 77.
25
This was first published by Colgan, in " Trias Thaumaturga," Tertia Appendix ad Acta S. Columbae, Pars Tertia, pp. 475, 476. There is a short Preface, in which it is stated, St. Columba composed this Hymn in cursive rythm, and because St. Gregory the Pope had said he too sparingly praised the Holy Trinity, in the Hymn preceding. Some doubt is thrown on the authorship of certain stanzas in this Hymn, as having been com- posed by St. Columba ; wherefore, many were accustomed to repeat only those lines he was thought to have composed, at Hy, and in the time of Aedh, son to Ainmire.
See beAbh^p Imtntm, "Book of Hymns of the Ancient Church of Ireland," edited by Rev. Dr. Todd, Fasciculus ii. , No. xv. , pp. 252 to 258.
26
— :
The language of this Hymn is evidently an- cient, and it has been translated into English
pip
ommum.
verse by Mary F. Cusack. " 27 One of these appears, in
Trias Thau- maturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbx, lib. i. , cap. xlix. , p. 397, and elsewhere, in Tertia Appendix ad Acta S. Columbae, Pars Tertia,
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 329
was formerly recited, and known as The Lorica 33 or Shield Armour of St. Columkille. 34 There is copy of his Lorica, among the Burgundian MSS . in theLibraryofBruxelles. 35 Amuchshorteronethanthisis alsotobefound,36 andstatedtobeofhiscomposition. 37 APoemontheExercisesandDelights
of a contemplative Life is attributed to him. 38 Columkille on St.
138 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbx, lib. i. , cap. lxxx. , p. 402.
QuintaVita S. Columbse, lib. i. , cap. lxxxi. , p. 402.
I43
See ibid. , cap. lxxxii. , p. 402. I44 See ibid. , cap. lxxxiii. , p. 402. 145 The Irish name Cl/UAin true
'39 See the Bollandists' "Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus iii. , xiv. Maii. De S. Carthaco seu
Mochudda, Episcopo et Abbate Lismo- interpreted, by some writers, Meadow of
riensi, in Hibernia, p. 381.
140 See the Life of St. Carthage or Moch-
udda, on his feast, May 14th, in the Fifth Volume of this work, Art. i. , chap. ii.
141 SeehisLife,onthe9thofSeptember.
"
son of Nos," derived from Nos, son of
142 See "Trias Colgan's
Thaumaturga,"
barony of Garrycastle in King's County theabbeywassituated.
*46 His Irish was Wac An patronymic
That one made of gold
Fiadach, one of the Dealbhna-Eathra, the
tribe in whose district
—now known as t—he
tloif,
is
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 325
of virtue did not urge them to refrain from vice, the fear of punishment might induce them to a better state. 144
Already Clonmacnoise I4S had been founded, a. d. 548, or about that time, by St. Ciaran. 146 His chief patron was King Diarmait, who granted the site with its endowments. The saint died, however, on the 9th day of Septem- ber, a. d. 549, only in the thirty-fourth year of his age. 147 He was esteemed one of Ireland's chief saints,'48 and his monastery soon rose to the highest degreeofimportance. WhileintheprovinceofMeath,itisrelated,thatSt. Columba travelled in the direction of Clonmacnoise, to St. Kieran. To the latter he presented the copy of a Hymn, he had composed, in the praise of God. Hiscustomwastospendhisfewleisuremomentsincomposinglittle effusions in praise of the Almighty, when freed from the recital of the Divine Office and other pious exercises, and when he relaxed from holy meditation. These hymns and tracts were written partly in the Latin, and partly in the Irish language. I4 9 Once, while St. Columba was engaged writing a Book of Gospels, St. Kieran, son of the artisan, being asked to do so, promised he
" And
whose
afterwards became well known throughout Ireland, for his knowledge of the
Sacred and for his of miracles. I52 Various successive amend- Scriptures, gift
ments had been made on the Continent, in the Rule for celebrating Easter, about St. Columba's time. These regulations left the British churches considerably in arrear ; partly owing to their unwillingness to abandon ancient institutions,
subsequently prevailed for so many years, and especially among the Irish Churches, concerning the differences of time for the proper celebration of Easter. St. Columba could hardly have been ignorant of the discrepancy, between the Irish and the Continental churches ; yet, he evinced no desire to alter the existing practice, as lie found it in Ireland. Suchwas the respect for liis memory, in after times, that the bare fact of his observing the old rule operated, during more than a century, as a great obstacle to the adoption of the Roman Easter in the monastery of Hy and in its dependencies 155
much "promise on the part of God, that the middle parts of Ireland shall rejoice in your name and pay tribute t—o your monastery. "150 While at the monastery
would the middle complete
part.
I,"
said Columba
very
pleased,
of — a certain Clonmacnoise, boy
held to be bythemonks earnestlydesiredtoobtainSt. Columba'sblessing;but,through bashfulness,hedidnotdaretoaskforit. However,heapproached,andinafur- tivemanner,hetookathreadortwofromthehemofoursaint'sgarment. He was rudely repelled by the monks, who were near; but the saint, knowing well his interior dispositions, not only imparted his blessing, buteven predicted be- fore all who were present, that the boy should be celebrated, in after time, for his holinessandknowledge. ThischildwasErnan,151sonofCressen,andwho
and
greatly and inordinately addicted to their national usages. 154 In Clonmac- noise, St. Columkille prophesied regarding those future dissensions, which
owing partly
to the circumstance
alleged
"
c-fAoir, Latinized Filius Artificis. "
147 See his Life, at the 9th of September.
148 In Cummian's Paschal he is
"Lite of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. iii. , pp. 23 to 26.
of the Irish. See Ussher's
Veterum Epis-
xi. , p. 33.
149 bee Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,
Vita S. pp. 400, 401.
lib.
" cap. lxx. ,
'S5 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's Life of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 3, n.
Quinta
Columba? ,
i. ,
150 See ibid. , cap. lxxxviii. , p. 403.
,S1 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
(1), p. 26.
Epistle,
I52 See
Colgan's
" Trias
Thauiraturga,"
"
called Queranus Coloniensis,"and it ranks Quinta Vita S. Columbse, lib. i. , cap. lxxi. ,
"" him, likewise, among the Patres priores
p. 401.
I53 Especially by St. Wilfrid.
"
I54 See Venerable Bede's Hhtoria Eccle-
s'astica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. xxv.
"
tolarum Hibernicarum Sylloge," Epistola
proficiencyiwas
very
slender
••
of the 1 " that were Irish, they
326
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
CHAPTER V.
HE LITERARY WORKS OF ST. COLUMBA—THE VARIOUS SUBJECTS HE TREATED IN PROSE AND VERSE—HIS PROPHECIES—TRAVELS OF ST. COLUMB THROUGH LEINSTER, AND THE RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS THERE FOUNDED BY HIM.
The mental and bodily industry and love for labour of St. Columba were extraordinary. His missionary works were hardly ever interrupted. He never could spend even one hour, without study, or prayer, or writing, or some
other
of his genuine productions are now probably unknown or lost. However, although various prophetical and other Poems 2 are ascribed to St. Cohim- kille, their authorship or invention does not appear to date back to his period. 3 Like all true missionaries, now as then, Columba spoke and wrote in the vernacular of his country, while his cultivated taste and his innate genius added to its literature. According to a quatrain,'* quoted in the old Irish Life, 5 he had an intense relish for the promotion of religious and national feeling with literature, not alone in his own but even in the Latin language. Most of his Tracts are inspired by a deep and sublime sentiment of devotion ; while several serve to show, likewise, that his patriotic feelings were of a warm and of an intense nature. Indeed, it is difficult to conceive, how there can be any true piety, zeal, or charity, where love of one's country and of one's own people is stilled and unstimulating in the human heart.
TheRoyalIrishAcademy'sLibrarycontains6 severalpoeticpieces,attri- buted to St. Columkille. In like manner, the Manuscript Room of Trinity
College Library. Dublin, preserves some compositions, ascribed to him. Over thirty Poems in the Irish language, and supposed to have been written
by him, were in possession of Edward O'Reilly, the subjects being miscel- laneous, but the chief part were religious. He had also Prophecies, which, if written by Columba in any form, must have been interpolated and cor-
rupted, by
modern writers. ? The Bodleian 8 at Library,
Oxford,^
and the
Chapter v. — 1 us by Adamnan.
Such is the account left
5 In the "Leabhar
Breac,"
and this has
2
See for some of these Messrs. Hodges'
been translated into English, by William
Maunsell Hennessey, Esq. , M. R. I. A. It is
published as Appendix I, with annotations,
in William F. Skene's "Celtic Scotland : a
History of Ancient Alban," vol. ii. , pp. 467
to 507. This is evidently a Panegyric, ad-
dressed to a congregation, and probably
composed for some Festival of our saint.
6
Messrs. Hodges' and Smith's small 8vo paper MS. , No. 145, in the Royal Irish Aca- demy, contains some poems ascribed to St Columkille. Also, a MS. classed No. 46, 4; and No. 6, 5 ; as likewise, No. 27.
and Smith's collection of Manuscripts be-
longing to the Royal Irish Academy, Folio Paper MS. , No. 221. Also a 4to Paper MS. , No. 27.
3 Thus, a Manuscript, belonging to the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and classed Laud, 615, contains 136 Irish Poems, for the most part ascribed to St. Columba. See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life of St. Columba. " Additional Notes F, n. (a),
P- 265.
« Thus has the stanza been rendered into
English :—
Thrice fifty noble lays the Apostle made,
Whose miracles are more numerous
than grass ;
Some in Latin, which were beguil-
•ng :
Some in Gaelic, fair the tale. "
7 See "
Four Hundred Irish Writers," &c, p. xxxviii.
8 «'
In his Scottish Historical Library,"
Bishop Nicolson mentions his works in Irish verse, as being found among the Laud Manuscripts, and marked in the Catalogue, toin. i. , part i. , num. 784. See chap, vi. , p. 65 n. 19.
"
1 St. Cohimkille is the reputed author of various Prose
holy occupation.
Tracts, Poems and Prophecies, in the Irish and Latin languages, and copies of which are still preserved in public libraries, at home and abroad. Several
Chronological
Account of
nearly
June 9. ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
327
BurgundianLibrary,atBruxelles,havecopiesofhisPoems, Thefollowing compositions have been ascribed to him ; however, we are not obliged to accept them very generally as his genuine works. Neither can we presume to fix the dates, for their issue, in all cases ; but, from the subjects treated and the circumstances and occasions to which they refer, we may well con- sider —precluding the idea of their being spurious—several of them must have been composed before he left Ireland for Alba.
Those relating to a subse- quent period of his life, as indicated by their subjects and circumstances, are reserved for further notice. Besides that Monastic Rule to which we have already alluded, but of which a copy has not yet been recovered, or authenti- cated ;'° we must here present a list of those compositions, which are set down to his credit, and, in many instances, we may fairly accept the con- tinuous traditions of Ireland, as lending great weight to their genuineness. To St. Columkille has been attributed a Life of St. Patrick," from which have beendrawnlateraccountsofourgreatNationalApostle. " Alludingtothat Life, Colgan thinks it was written in one Book, if not in a greater number. ^ However, it is said,'4 that our saint was among the first to compile and nar- rate the Miracles of St. Patrick. *5 He is said, also, to have composed a
in 16 which is a Hymn Irish,
panegyric
ofSt. as it was a short Brigid;'? and,
one,ColganhastranslateditintoLatin18 whichhehaspublished. Heisre- ,
puted to have written this Hymn, about a. d. 563, on his passage over to Britain.
As St. Columba delighted in singing the Divine praises, we are not to be sui prised, that his inspired soul was poured out in the composition of several
"
sublime and devotional canticles. In the
served three distinct Latin Hymns,20 attributed to him, and these are regarded by many—and from a remote time—as his genuine effusions. These are classed thus in traditional order. I. A Latin Hymn of St. Columba,21 intituled
9 'Among the Manuscripts, Laud. D. 17,
are to be found his Exhortation to Princes
and his Prophecies, as also some account of
his own Life. See Bishop Nicolson's "Irish position to St. Columba. However, the
Historical Library, "chap, iv. , p. 34, andn. 4. 10 We do not here refer to the Rule of St. Colum Cille, which contains precepts for the regulation of the life and time of religious, preferring solitude to living in community. Of this a summary is given in Eugene O'Curry's "Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History," Lect. xviii. , p. 374. Also Appendix, No. 612. A translation of it into English may be found, in William F. Skene's "Celtic Scotland," vol. ii. , Appendix II. ,
Irish Life of St. Brigid, attribute its com- scholiast has doubts, as to whether it may
cxviii. , p.
pp. 508, 509. ""
,8 See "Trias
Septima p. 128.
12
Vita S.
Patricii,
lib.
i. , cap. lxix. ,
See Colgan's
Trias Thaumaturga,"
of the Ancient Church of Ireland. " In Rev. 13 See ibid. Tenia Appendix ad Acta S. Dr. W. Macllwaine's " Lyra Hibernica
See ibid. , lib. iii. , cap. xcix. , p. 167.
Columbse, Secunda Pars. , num. I.
u In the Manuscript copy oi the Tripar- tite Life of St. Patrick found in the British
Museum, Egerton 93, and also in a copy be-
longing to Eugene O'Curry.
15 See " Lectures on the Manuscript
Materials of Ancient Irish History," Appen-
dix, No. CVI. , p. 608.
Sacra," there are English metrical versions of those Hymns,
2I
This was published, in the first instance. by Colgan in "Trias Thaumaturga," Tertia Appendix ad Acta S. Columbse, Pars Ter- tia, pp. 473 to 475. It was extracted from a copy oi the Book of Hymns, now preserved in the Franciscan Convent, Dublin. In that
Manuscript, it had two Prefaces, partly in
16
In the original it begins with these
Liber Hymnorum," 19 there are pre-
words, Brigid be blithmaith.
' 7 A scholiast on this Hymn, and also an
not have been the
composition
of St. Bren-
dan of Clonfert. Notwithstanding, Colgan thinks it should rather be assigned to our
saint, as well because of a statement con- tained in St. Brigid's Irish Life, as on ac- count of a cause alleged by the scholiast for composing that Hymn, and more nearly in- dicating such a conclusion.
Thaumaturga," Appendix S^cunda ad Acta S. Brigidse, cap. xxiii. ,
p. 606.
I9 It is classed E. 4, 2, among the Trinity
College Manuscripts.
20 The Rev. Dr. Todd has edit d this
LeAbViAp Imuiun, or "The Book of Hymns
.
together
towards
328
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
2
22 on the Unity and Trinity of God, 3 written, it is thought,
Altus
aboutthe
addressed to our Lord Jesus Christ. 26 III. A Latin Hymn, by the same
Prosator, year 560
orearlier. 2* II. ALatinHymnbySt. Columkille,2*also
writer, beginning with "Noli pater indulgere. " Colgan has printed two
2 ? of this 28 and the Rev. Dr. Todd 2 9 has given us another ver- copies Hymn,
sion. It is stated, that Columba composed it,3° in the doorway of Disert
Uaire Chalcaigh, in the time of Aedh, the son of Ainmire. This was when
the saint came to hold a conference with the king, and when he was about to
1
found Derry. 3
A devout and deprecatory prayer 3* against dangers and calamities
Latin, and partly in Irish, of which Colgan has only given the substance. He presents also the Arguments prefixed to each stanza, and he has translated those Irish words that occur, intermixed with Latin in the original. Another version of it appears, in the le-ab- hap 1mimin, edited by Rev. Dr. James Hen- thorn Todd, who tells us, that a leaf in the original Manuscript being lost, as also one of another copy in the Leabhar Breac, we must still depend upon Colgan's copy for the missing stanzas. See Fasciculus ii. , p. 201.
22 There is a Prologue to this Hymn by Colum Cille, followed by eight stanzas, only in the "Leabhar Breac," one of the Irish
Manuscripts, lately published by the Royal Irish Academy. The other stanzas have dis-
appeared, with that portion missing between pages [238] and [238a], where there is a chasm of one, or more folios. See Contents,
pp. 21, 22. The portion of this Hymn re- maining is abundantly interlined with Latin and Irish glosses. See body of the book, No. CLXV. , CLXVI. , pp. 237, 238.
. Alcur ppoptcop tieuurcuf oiermm ec in gem cup,
lation, additional glosses, and various read-
23 It with the line — begins :
It commences with the line or lines 111 ce Chpirce cpe'oencuim impepeA-
and itissaid to have been composed, asa peni-
tential exercise for three battles, of which Co- lumbahad been the occasion in Ireland; while
a second tradition has it, that the Hymn was
an extemporaneous effusion, uttered in Hy. However, Adamnan seems to have been p. 476.
28 See be-abb-ap Imuiun. "The Book of
Hymns of the Ancient Church of Ireland,"
Fasciculus ii. , No. xvi. , pp. 25910263.
29 The first of those is only an extract, ending with &c. ; while the latter copy he has published is stated to be a little more correct, although not entirely exact, yet writ-
ten in an old hand.
30 Already allusion has been made to it,
in a previous chapter of this Life. -
31 An English metrical version of the three foregoing Hymns will be found, in Rev. Dr. mences with a letter of the Alphabet, and the - John Smith's "Life of St. Columba," Ap-
ignorant of such a tradition, if not of the Hymn itself, for he omits all mention of either. The Hymn is of considerable anti- quity, for in many places there is quoted a Latin version of the Scriptures, older than therecensionofSt. Jerome. Itiswrittenin rude Latinity, with many obsolete words in- troduced, and it has been versified in English, by Rev. Dr. W. Macllwaine.
24 One account states, that it had been
composed after seven years of study, in the Black Church of Deny. Each stanza com-
number of stanzas is twenty, in that order ; while each stanza contains six lines, with the exception of the first having seven lines, and
pendix, pp. 136 to 143.
32 Colgan had a copy of this, and it began
with the words Sciac -oe •oo tilth,—rendered in Latin "Scutum Dei de Ccelo. " "Trias Thaumaturga," Tertia Appendix ad Acta. S.
Columbse, Secunda Pars, p. 472.
33 This was one of a class of Poems, popular
an addition of three lines
the end. This Hymn is certainly of Irish • origin, and it has been annotated by Rev. Dr. Todd, who furnished an English trans-
ings. See, also, Eugene O'Curry's
"
Lec-
tures on the Manuscript Materials of An-
cient Irish History," Lect. iv. , n. 36, p. 77.
25
This was first published by Colgan, in " Trias Thaumaturga," Tertia Appendix ad Acta S. Columbae, Pars Tertia, pp. 475, 476. There is a short Preface, in which it is stated, St. Columba composed this Hymn in cursive rythm, and because St. Gregory the Pope had said he too sparingly praised the Holy Trinity, in the Hymn preceding. Some doubt is thrown on the authorship of certain stanzas in this Hymn, as having been com- posed by St. Columba ; wherefore, many were accustomed to repeat only those lines he was thought to have composed, at Hy, and in the time of Aedh, son to Ainmire.
See beAbh^p Imtntm, "Book of Hymns of the Ancient Church of Ireland," edited by Rev. Dr. Todd, Fasciculus ii. , No. xv. , pp. 252 to 258.
26
— :
The language of this Hymn is evidently an- cient, and it has been translated into English
pip
ommum.
verse by Mary F. Cusack. " 27 One of these appears, in
Trias Thau- maturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbx, lib. i. , cap. xlix. , p. 397, and elsewhere, in Tertia Appendix ad Acta S. Columbae, Pars Tertia,
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 329
was formerly recited, and known as The Lorica 33 or Shield Armour of St. Columkille. 34 There is copy of his Lorica, among the Burgundian MSS . in theLibraryofBruxelles. 35 Amuchshorteronethanthisis alsotobefound,36 andstatedtobeofhiscomposition. 37 APoemontheExercisesandDelights
of a contemplative Life is attributed to him. 38 Columkille on St.
