No More Learning

Monastery of Durham were also richly endowed, in honour of their famous
patron; while princes and nobles proved themselves special protectors of the place. The bishop was declared a count palatine, and he obtained a very
extensive civil jurisdiction. '''^ Yet, Durham and its people suffered, in course of time, from the ravages of war.
William the Conqueror marched with an army towards the North, and on his way devastated the whole country, between York and Durham. This warlike expedition is referred to a. d. i 069. ^7 From the city of Durham its inhabitants fled, and the monks left their convent. After a repose of seventy- five years, the bones of St. Cuthbert were once more removed to Lindisfarne. It is said, those who accompanied the relics were enabled to pass over dry- shod, to the island on that occasion. '*^ When the storm of war had subsided, the ho! y man's reuiains were brought to his former resting-place, and de-
see the fine folio volume of Robert
« •' of St. &c.
tion,
William
Illustrations and Descriptions of the Cathe- dral Church at Durliam. " Published at London, in 1843.
*' Le Comte de Montalembert.
*' See "Les Moines d'Occident," tome
Cuthbert," inscription :
*°See Dugdale's " Monasficon," where
Billing,
tuled,
SanctUS Cuthbertus Monachus Episcopus Lindisfar- nensis nunc patronus ecclesias ac libertatis
Dunelmensis. "
int
"Architectural
History
*5 It bore this
*'
liv. This is an XV. , chap, i. , p. 436.
history y John Speed's
iv. ,
opinion, in which the writer agrees, from a close and careiul inspection ot all its sur- roundings and interior, made on the occasion of a visit, in July, 1872.
See
he treats about the
Britaine," book ix. , chap, ii. , num. 17, p. 428.
** See this account furnished, in a very in- teresting article on Durham City, in Lewis*
of Durham.
" Historie of Great
March 20. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 899
posited in a shrine. It is related, that in the twelfth century, on the 29th of August, A. D. 1104,^9 the body of our saint was translated, and found to be entire. 5° It was publicly shown at Durham,^* by Radulph, afterwards Arch- bishop of Canterbury.
In the time of King Henry VIII. , the shrine ot St. Cuthbert was plundered^' and demolished. The officials bore off his rich shrine, having removed the body, which was found to be entire. s^ Afterwards, the monks buried it privately, and under the spot,s+ where the faithful for so many ages hadpaiditsuchmarkedreverence. But,withthechangeofreligiousbelief, a knowledge of the grave passed away from popular traditions, so that the exact spot now appears to be unknown. ss Within the present century, the site of St. Cuthbert's relics was thought to have been ascertained ; and, accordingly, in May, 1827, preparations were made for their disinterment. Under a blue stone, in the middle of the presumed shrine of St. Cuthbert, and at the eastern extremity of the choir of Durham Cathedral, was then found a walled grave, containing the supposed coffin of our saint. The first, or outer one, was said to have been that of 1541 ; the second of 1041 ; the third, ot inner one, answered in every particular —to the description of that, referred to a. d. 698. 5^ This was found to contain not, indeed, as had been averred then, and even until 1539, the incorruptible body, but the entire skeleton of the saint ; the bottom of the grave was perfectly dry, free from offensive smell, and without the slightest symptom, that a human body had ever undergone decomposition within its walls. 57 The skeleton was found and swathed in five silk robes of emblematical embroidery ; the ornamental parts were laid with gold-leaf, and these again were covered with a robe of
"Topographical Dictionary vol. ii. , pp. no, III.
of
England,"
57 So
writer in the Quartei-ly Review states
<9 For a further account, the reader is re-
ferred to that date, in the present work. "
"
5° See Rev. John Lingard's Antiquities bert. It is quite possible, that the body
of the Anglo-Saxon Church," chap, viii. , p. 162.
5' See William of Malmesbury, Liber iv. , " De Pontificibus Angliae. "
may have been incorrupt, when it was first disinterred in 698. Instances are known in wliich, from natural causes, bodies have re- mained perfect for a considerable length of
5' A copy of St. John's Gospel was found time. But it would seem that, probably
in the coffin, and in the eighteenth cencury, the Earl of Litchfield bestowed this precious
document, on Rev. Thomas Philips, Canon of Tongres.
53 According to the testimony of Harps- field, S£ec. vii. , chap. 34.
5^ As we learn from " Ancient. Rites of the Church of Durham," p. 160.
55 See Rev. Alban Butler's " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol. iii. , March xx. , at St. Cuth- bert.
5° We have an interesting account, written
" St.
elicited a reply in which —some exceptions lifetime ; but, it
by Rev. James Raine, and entitled
Cuthbert ; with an account of the state in
which his Remains were found, upon the
opening of his tomb, in Durham Cathedral,
in the year MDCCCXXVII. " Durham, 1828. ancient form, and set with garnets. It may This book conta—ins four plates. This work well have been worn by St. Cuthb>. 'rt in his
are taken to his statements from Rev. Dr. portable
is a rciic ol the saint. — personal
"
the Saint Cuthbertof theRev. JamesRaine. "
Lingard, and it is intituled
It was published at Newcastle, 1828, 8vo.
:
Remarks on
:
as the month of —a lately July, 1872,
:
There can be no reasonable doubt, that these were the actual remains of St. Cuth-
long beiore the translation in 1104 (when only one or two persons were allowed to
touch it), what passed for the incorrupt St. Cuthbert had been in truth a skeleton so shrouded and enveloped in robes as to give the appearance of an eiuiie body. The cavities of the eyes in the skull of the saint had been filled with round artificial balls of a whitish colour ; indicating, perhaps, that when first the actual body showed signs of collapsing, these balls had been inserted to give the full outline beneath the face-cloth, which no one was ever allowed to raise. " Respecting the relics, taken (rom among the
robes, the same writer makes—the following "
rather ill-con>idered remarks : They com- prise, among others, a cross of gold of very
is more
certain,
that a small
of oak
square slip plated
altar—a
with silver
Only portions of the silver plating remain ; and the oak beneath is inscribed with letters,
900
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 20.
linen. Besides the skeleton were deposited several gold and silver insignia, with other rehi-s of the samt. ^^
At the present time, some doubt seems to prevail, regarding that exact spot, in which the body had been deposited. "^9 In September, 1867. certain explorations took place, to ascertain its discovery and identification,^" owing to the circumstance, that a hereditary Roman Catholic ot Gateshead became a Protestant, and gave up a paper, on which was written a secular tradition. ^' This paper was said to have been taken from the inside of a waistcoat, be- longing to a former Vicar-Apostolic. ^^ The information given was ascer- tained to have been no hoax; and, accordingly, the late Protestant Dean Waddington invited some of the Fathers from Ushaw College, and the head of the English Benedictines, to witness the explorations. Digging was com- menced, yet nothing was found but concrete and rock. ^3
In Ireland, the festival of St Cuthbert, Bishop and Confessor, was
formerly observed with an Office, containing Nine Lessons,^^ on the xiii.
Kalends ot April, corresponding with March 20th. In Rev. Dr. Kelly's
edition of the " oi we find entered, at the xiii. of the Martyrology Tallagh,"
:
Kalends of April, March 20th " Cutbricti Saxonis (i. Insi Menoc)^^ Innse
Menoc. "^^ Our Irish writers frequently apply the term Saxon, to those saints of their country, who laboured among the Saxons. We do not dis- cover any mention ot this saint, in the Irish Calendar, preserved in the Royal Irish Academy, at the xiii. of the Calends of April. The Scottish Kalendars have notices of this holy man, at the 20th of March, thus : the Kalendar of Drummond records his Natale, as GuthDert, in Britain f^ also the Kalendar of Hyrdmanstown, as St. Cuthbert, Bishop and Confessor f^ the Kalendar of Culenros has St. Cuthbert, Bishop f"^ the Kalendar De Nova Farina enters him, in a like manner ;7° the Kalendar of Arbuthnott has St. Cuthbert, Bishop and Confessor, with a notice, that his Office contained Nine Lessons ;7' the Kalendar in the Breviary of Aberdeen has Cuchtbert, Bishop and Con- fessor, with a similar notice, regarding his Office •p'^ in Adam Kmg's Kalen- dar, we have entered S. Cuthbert, bischop and confess, in Scotland vnder
"
Eugenius ye 2 -p while Dempster, in his
Menologium Scoticum," notes, at
the form of wliich shows, that the altar was coeval with St. Cuthbert. It was no doubt used by him ; and in accordance with a custom of that age, it may have been placed on his breast at his first interment. "
of " Noics and Queries," vol. xii. , pp. 149,
"^
lims, it is noticed, in the Kalendars of the Trinity College, Dublin, Manuscripts, local contemporaneous provincial news- classed : B. i. i. B. 3. i. B. 3. 5. B. 3. 8. paper, —the Newcastle Chronicle, which B. 3 9. B. 3. 10. B. 3. 12. B. 3. 13. B.
58 See notes to " Mannion. "
59 See, on this subject, the Fourth Series the Saints," vol. iii. , March 20, n. i, pp.
274, 311.
°° This event has been alluded to, in a
sta es
:
" Tiie excavations commenced last
3. 18, 19.
^5 1 hj^ ^as the ancient Irish name for
week in Durham Cathedral, with a view of
discovering the resting-place of St. Cuth-
bert, have created some stir. Althougli not
the slightest doubt seems cast upon the in-
formation given of the wherealtouts of the we find, Cuchb|Mcctif Soisco "oe Ini]* saint's body which led to these operations; tTlenoc.
some doubts are entertained, whether the *'^ See
spot where the present excavations have Scottish
been commei. ce^i is tlie place indicated. "
"' It runs to this effect : "Subter gradus saxeos (secundum et tertium) climacis ascen- dentis et ducentis erga turrim campanarum in templo cathedrali civitatis Dunelmensis,
'*
See ^ See 7° See '* See ^^ Sec
ibid. , p. 38. ibid. , p. 55. ibid , p. 69. ibid. , p. 97. ibid,, p. 114.
prope horologium grande quod locatur in
augulo austraii fani ejusdem, sepultus jacet
ihesauros pretiosus (corpus S. Cuthberti). "
"^
father had been a servant.
lo him, the pervert's father or grand-
^^ See Rev. S. Baring-Gould's " Lives of 359, 360.
Lindi>farne.
^ See, " Calender of Irish Saints," p. xix.
In the Franci>can copy, at the present date,
Forbes' "Kalendar of Saints, p. 8.
Bishop '
March 20. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 901
Durham, the Deposition of Cuthbert, bishop, on this day. 74 In his History of Scottish Writers,75 more extensive notices are to be found. In Father
Henry Fitzsimons' anonymous Catalogue of Irish saints, pubhshed by O'Sullevan Beare, at the 20th of March, we read Luchbertus,? ^ but Cuthber-
tus most probably is meant. In the Martyrologies of Ado, of Usuard, of
Bishop Challoner,77 and in many others, St. Cuthbert, bishop of Lindisfarne,
as also in the Roman
few general Kalendars of the Church saints are without a simitar record. 7^
Among the churches and religious edifices, dedicated to St.
Cuthbert, the following deserve more especial notice. In Ireland, the church of Kilma- cudrick, in the county of Dublin,79 was a memorial edifice, as noticed in the Registry^" of St. Patrick's Deanery. ^^ There is a church at Dunluce, on the north coast of Antrim, which is said to have been dedicated to St. Cuthbert. ^^ The late Very Rev. Monsignor Laurence Canon Forde, V. G. , of Dublin Archdiocese, and P. P. over the district of Kilmacud, has most appropriately dedicated the handsome new Catholic Gothic church of Stillorgan, to St. Cuthbert's memory. The following churches in Scotland have been dedicated to this saint, viz, : Ballantrge f^ Hailes f^ Glencairn ; Denesmor ; Kirkcud- bright f'^ Glenholm :®^ Ednam f^ IJruminelzier ; Maxton f^ Edinburgh ;^9 Wick ;9° Prestwick f^ Hauster f^ Eccles ; Drysdale ; Girvan -p Ewes in Eskdale ; Straiton in Carrick ;94 Manchline ; Maybole f'= Monktown ;9^ In- vertig ;97 and Weem, near Dunkeld. The following fairs, as found in tlie old Almanacks, were held under his patronage, viz. : Langton in Merse, Poole,
Grange, and Linlitligow. 98 In 1875, '^'^s ^^v- William 0'Sliaughnessy,99 Pastor of Girvan, commenced the erection of a small but elegant church, at
is commemorated at this
"
Maybole,
^^ See
The Scottish Kalen-
*'' " Priorat. S. Andree," Regist.
^^ headed
97 "Charter to Cro. sraguel.
98 5ee Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of
Scottish Saints," p. 319.
99 His earlier mission was in a poor
joiner's workshop,
"" Here the celebrated Knox, over John
three hundred years ago, raised his sacrile-
gious hand against the Church of his fathers,
He was at first discomfited, by the words
and writings of the learned Quuitin Kennedy,
Abbot of the Franciscan Monastery of
Crossraguel. But, he ultimately succeeded
in destroying this rchgiuus insli uie, as also
several churclics in that — parochial quarter.
«6 "
'°°
and this he dedicated, to our Lady and to St. Cuthbert.
'°'
It, is in
73 See ibid. , p. 147.
i. , pp. 203. 297.
? i^/^. , p. 195.
p. 29. "New Statistical Account of Scotland,"
9° " Parochiales Scotise," Ongines
dar and Camerarius also mention hmi at pp.
236, 249.
75 See Thomas
Edinburgh, p. 664.
Dempster's
*' Histoiia
pars. ii. , p. 277. "New Statistical Account of
Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," tomus i. ,
lib. iii. , num. 234, p. 136.
7^ See "Histoiise Catholics Ibernias
Compendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. xi. , p.
50.
77 See "A Memorial of Ancient British
Piety," p. 54.
7** Stephen White also mentions him, in
"Apologia pro Hibernia," cap. ii. , p. 15, cap. v. , p. 66.
7^ A. D. 1540, George Brown united it to the church of St. Machotus of Clon- dalkin.
*' FoHo 106 fl.
*' See Sir James Ware, " De Scriptoribus Hibernice," lib. i. , cap. iii. , p. 31.
14th June, 1878.
®3 See "Old Statistical Account of Scot-
land," vol. i. , p. 2H.
^4 Lib Cart. S. Crucis.
85 '« New Statistical Account of Scotland. "
Kirkcudbright, p. 25.
Oiigines Parochiales Scotise," p. 180.
Lib. Eccles. de
Raine's " of North
^? History Durham,"
and Anderson's "Diplom. Scotire. " ^^"Origines Parochiales Scotite," pars,
Scotland," Caithness, p. 160.
»' " New Statistical Account of Scot-
land," Ayr, p. 166.
92 "New Statistical Account of Scot-
land," Caithness, p, 160.
93 Robert III. , to Cros- Charter, by
"
93 "New Staiistical Account of Scot-
Letter from Rev. David B. Alulcahy, Lys Marie, Ballynafeigh, Belfast,
Scon, pp. 83, 84.
day
;
Martyrology. Indeed,
raguel," 24th August, 1404.
Charter to
s-*
land," Ayr, p. 499. ^IbiJ. ,^. 170.
Crosraguel. "
'°' The — accoujpanyiiig illustration
giving a side and an end view has been drawn,
by WilUam F. Wakenian, on the wood,
"
902
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 20.
the early English Gothic style, having a nave, porch and tower. We find some notices of the ancient'church of St. Cuthbert at Coldingham,'" in the Martyrology, belonging to the church of Aberdeen. There is a place, in England, called St. Cubert, on the west coast of Cornwall. It has been suggested,'°3 that it may have been named after our saint, the letter / being silent, as in the c^se of Kirkcudbright, in Scotland. Likewise, in the diocese ofBeverly,atMickley,thereisachurchdedicatedtoSt. Cuthbert; asalso
St. Cutbbert's Catholic Church, Maybule, bcutlaod.
one in the diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, at Wigton, at Durham, at
Crook, at Darlington, at Ushaw, at Berwick-on-'i'weed, at Cowpen, at North Shields, and at Prudhoe Hall. *°4 The interesting relic, known as "The Durham Book, St. Cuthbert"s Gospels, or the Lindisfarne Gospels," is said to have been miraculously preserved from the bottom of the sea, and to have remained uninjured in the water,'°5 having been cast up by an extraordinary ebb of the tide at Whithorn, or Candida Casa. The book is yet preserved, in the British Museum, where it is shown to the public, as one of its greatest curiosities, and also as one of the most valuable Manuscripts, in this or in any other country. This book is nearly twelve hundred years old, and we must go back to the Saxon era, in order to relate its history. After St. Cuthbert's death, as some writers state, his successor Egfrith, in 698, de- termined to show some singular respect towards the memory of hi—s distin-
'°^ This he whichshouldoccupythebishopmanyalongyear. TheManuscript,whichwas
guished predecessor.
did, by writing
out the a work Gospels
from pho'o^rnphs furnished by the Rev.
William O'Sliaughuessy, and the engraving is by Mrs. Millard.
"* The foregoing information has been gleaned, from the Ufhcial "Cathohc Direc- tory, Ecclesiasiical Register and Almanack" for England, Wales and Scotland.
'°5 bee "Church of Cre>sy's History
Briltanv," book xxviii. , chap, xix. , p. 760.
"* See Seldeu's " X. " Pne- {scripioris
facio, p. 25.
10.
•'
See Antiquaries
Proceedings of the Society of
of Scotland," vol.
"3 By Rev. David B. Mukahy, of Bally-
in a letter to the dated June 14th, 1878.
mfeigh, Belfast,
writer,
i. , pp. 84, 85.
March 20. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
903
the result of his labours, may vie, in respect of its delicacy in penmanship, and the beauty of its general execution, with any that can be produced. It is written, in a large, bold, uniform hand ; the ink retains all its depth of colour, and the unvarying equality of thickness as to letters is so remark- able, that it seems hardly possible, it was written wirh a common quill. It is in the Latin language, and it contains 258 double-column folio pages, 131^ inches by 9^ inches. It is written throughout, in uncial or initial letters, on carefully glazed vellum. ^Ethelwald, who succeeded Egfrith, clothed this book with a binding of gold and silver, and inlaid it with precious stones. The execution of this was mainly the work of St. Bilfrid,'°7 a pious hermit, and a worker in gold. The initial letters of each Gospel are most remarkable ;
each one of them is of gigantic dimensions, most elegantly ornamented, with an endless variety of patterns. What astonishes most is the quality and perma- nence of its inks and colours. The history of this wonderful book became also a record for the Lindisfarne brethren. About fifty years after the time which has been mentioned, the Danes began to appear off English coasts, when they burned down Lindisfarne monastery, and murdered many ecclesi- astics. Thus compelled to fly, while carrying with them the bones of St. Cuthbert and of other saints, together with their precious volume, the perse- cuted monks wandered about, until at last they settled at Durham. Altera while, St. Cuthbert's gospels were translated into Saxon, the Dano-Saxon, or common language of that day, the translation being beautifully written betweentheLatinlines; and,thiswasdone,abouttheyear950. Fromthis period, some six centuries elapse, before any further account of St. Cuthbert's Book appears. When it again came under observation, it had been despoiled of its noble cover, which probably was stolen, at a time when monas- terieshadbeendissolved. Thisseemstohavebeendone,forsakeotitsgold and jewels. It was then found, in the hands of Robert Bower, Clerk of Parlia- ment, under James I. , and afterwards, it was in the library of Sir Robert Cotton, at Westminster. By him, it was bought, and afterwards, it was trans-
ferred to the British Museum, by Sir John Cotton, along with the remainder of his library. A few years ago, the Museum authorities suggested the idea
of rebinding this book, in something like its original style. The honour of doing so fell into the hands of Edward Maltby, Protestant Bishop of Durham, who spent ;;^ioo on the work. '°^
According to John Bale,'°9 St. Cuthbert is said to have written " Ordina-
and "
Viscount Montaigne, who procured the relic from Sir Robert Hare, to whom Dr. Watson, the last Catholic Bishop of Lincoln, gave it, again presented the ring of St. Cuthbert, containing a sapphire enchased,"^ to Dr. Richard
la the Life of St. Cuthbert, by John of Tinmouth, and aiterwards edited by John Capgrave, the Monastic Institutions of the saint, delivered to his monks, are mentioned. Probably, this is the same book as the one, called " Exhortationes ad Fratres. "'" He is said to have ordained by decree, that no woman should enter his monastery. "^' Lord Anthony
tiones Suae lib. Ecclesise,"
i. ,"°
Prgecepta
Vitge lib. i. Regularis,"
by Dempster,
'"' See his Life, at the 6th of March.
. vocant. " Ceniur. i. , num. Ixxxi. , p.