" " Because,"
:
replied Columba " I do not wish more clearly to intimate the companion
who will injure you, lest frequent remembrance should make you more unhappyuntilthehourofyourdissolutionbeaccomplished.
:
replied Columba " I do not wish more clearly to intimate the companion
who will injure you, lest frequent remembrance should make you more unhappyuntilthehourofyourdissolutionbeaccomplished.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v6
140 to 142.
clearly identified.
The Rev.
Dr.
Smith con
" Life of St. Columba," lib. ii. , cap. II, and
nn. (a, b), pp. 119, 120
,I2
But,
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 449
be in Argyleshire. " 5 He desired Cailtan to repair in all haste to him. Cail-
tan understanding the saint's pleasure came speedily to Iona, in company with the monks, that went for him to a cell called Diunus. 116 When the
saint saw he Cailtan,
in the manner
" O
have
his benediction, Cailtan went to the guest-room and fell sick that very night. According to the saint's word, he departed on the seventh day afterwards to
11
Cailtan, you doneverywellinhasteningtomesoobediently,restyoualittle. Lovingyou as a friend, I invited you to come, that you might finish the course of your mortal life here, under my care and in true obedience. Before this week comestoanend,youshallrenderyoursoulinpeacetoGod. " ThenCail- tanus, giving thanks to the Almighty, kissed our saint with tears. Receiving
year.
1 ' 8 Our saint then
replied :
" You
may
not live with me a
year,
as
you
spoke
following :
a better life.
Often Columba foretold the future destiny, sometimes happy, and sometimes
unhappy, of many persons, even while living in this mortal flesh. On a cer- tain Sunday, some persons cried out from the further side of the sea, so often mentioned. Hearingthiscry,thesaintsaidtothebrethrentiienwithhim: " Go, in all haste, and bring the pilgrims that come from a far country. " As the saint directed they went, and brought the strangers to his presence. When
he had saluted them, Columba began to question them, concerning the object of their journey. They told him, how they came to sojourn with him for that
?
desire, unless you take the monastic vows. " When the attendants heard these
words addressed to strangers only newly arrived, they were very much sur-
prised. Theeldestamongthestrangersmadeanswer:"Truly,wehadno such intention hitherto ; notwithstanding, we will embrace your counsel, in- spired by God, as we believe. 1J 9 They then followed our saint devoutly into the oratory. There, on their knees, they obliged themselves to observe the monastic vow. 120 Then St. Columba addressed his speech to the brothers present. He said: "These two strangers, presenting themselves a living sacrifice to God, 121 and who in Christian perfection have " fulfilled a long time
iectures, it is Loch Awe. See his " Life of a brother to Cailtan. The markland of Kil-
St. Columba," p. 151. The Rev. Dr. Lani- gan accepts that identification, in his "Eccle- siastical History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap. xi. , sect, xv. , and n. 176, pp. 172 to 174.
mun, which is near Lochavich, has a church, formerly called Kildachmanan, and dedi- cated to St. Peter, the Deacon of LochAwe. The Rev. Dr. Reeves thinks, that this may have had its origin in the Cella Divini of the
114 There is a lake in the Island of Mull,
called Loch Ba, at the north-east end of text. It is now called Kilchrenan. See
which there is an old burying-ground, on
the lands of Knock. It is called Kill-Martin.
In the of Rev. Dr. the opinion Reeves, style
and circumstances of this narrative indicate a nearer position to Iona than Loch Awe.
"
Multi
"Origines Parochiales Scotise," vol. ii. , part i. , p. 120.
"7 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
'"
Life of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 31, and nn. (a, b), pp. 60, 61.
II8
year 675
entry
:
—
description
we find this
At the
Pietores dimersi sunt illaind Abes" Rev. Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus iv. , Annales Ultonienses, p. 60. This may be a reference to the place mentioned in the text.
Visitors of this
in our saint's
115 There was a smaller lake, formerly
called Loch-Affy, and now known as Loch-
avich, lying to the north-west of Loch Awe.
A charter of King Robert Bruce, about A. n.
1322, grants to Roderick, son- of Alan, the
lands of Louchaly in Argyle. See " Ori- Concilii Tridentini Canones et Decreta. "
gines Parochiales Scotise," vol. ii. , part i. , p. 104. This may have been the place here mentioned.
116 Adamnan says, that place was so called in his day, after a certain Diunus, who was
Vol. VI. —No. 8.
I2°
stance of admission to the monastic profes- sion, without the year of probation.
i f
are called indiscriminately Acts, hospites,
proselyli,ws\& peregrini.
"9 The period of probation varied origi-
nally, at the discretion of the founder. Pope Alexander III. ordained, that the term of a
year's probation, should always precede. At length, the Council of Trent decreed for Re-
gulars, that in cases where the year's proba- tion was omitted, the profession should be
*'
Sess. xxv. , De Regularibus et Monialibus, cap. xv.
invalid. See
Sacrosancti CEcumenici
Colgan observes, that this is an in-
45° LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
shores of a called lake,
"Life of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 32, and
nn. (b, c), pp. 61, 62.
124 The use of the word Coire, and the ex-
pressions "barbari vestatores," referring pro- bably to the Picts or Saxons, seem to indicate Scotland as the scene of this narrative. The term Coire, so common in the Scotch High- lands to designate a hollow or cul de sac in the mountains, is scarcely known in Ireland.
Salchain may be Salen, on the east side of Mull, near which is a chapel called Colum- kille.
I2s According to Adamnan's account, this man had been first asked in what region he
122 shall their souls to Christ our Lord, before yield up
within a short
this present month comes to an end. " And so it happened, for both of them gave thanks to the Almighty, and then retired to the guest-room. Afterwards they fell sick, one succeeding the other. They departed to a better life within the time prophesied and defined by the saint. The elder brother died within thatweek. Theyoungerbrotherfollowedhimtothetomb,sevendaysafter the departure of his senior. ,2 3 The saint told a certain peasant that came to
him, when he was sojourning in a district, called in Irish, Coire Salchaim 124 ;
" Lo ! barbarous enemies, now sack and spoil all the province you inhabit. "125 Whether this had been in Ireland I26 or in Scotland I2? has been questioned ; but most probably, it lay within the latter country. The place was near the
1 * 8 This doleful news made the fellow poor
space,
Crogreth.
fall into pitiful lamentations for his wife and children. The saint, seeing him
depressedwithsorrowandanguish,saidtohim "Yourwifeandfamilyhave :
escaped to the mountains, but your goods and cattle the enemy hath taken away with their unjust spoils. " On going home, that man found all to be true as the saint had told him. I29 He felt somewhat comforted, however, that his misfortunes had not been greater. A certain valiant and strong man,
named Goreus,T3° who was an humble
saint, what kind of death he should encounter. This man was a native of Corcaraide. 132 It is thought to be probable, that Guaire I33 was the equiva- lent for the Latin designation I3* given to him, and that he belonged to the race of Roidhe I35 in Ireland. This clan or tribe I36 was so called from
121
See Romans xii. , 7.
122 See Wisdom iv. , 13.
123 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's he is called Coreus, and in the body of the
chapter Gereus.
131 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life
of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 47, and nn. (a, b, c, d), pp, 89, 90.
132 The word is written in Cod. A, in a different style of letter from the rest of the narrative, namely, in the semi-unicial Greek character of the Irish school. If the place belong to Ireland, as the structure of the name seems to indicate, it is clearly a form of Co|\c& TiAme, or the race of Roidhe.
133 The Irish 3«Air»e is a name, which was
called Goury, in the county of Londonderry, in the seventeenth century. See Rot. Pat.
Jac I. , p. 57^; Ulster Inquisitions, London- derry, No. 4.
134 This denomination is still preserved in Seygorry, Suit>e 5UAiyve, or Sessio Gorri. It is the name of a townland in Aghadowey parish.
,3s Tirechan renders their country by these Sallachan Bay, Sallachan-isol, Sallachan words, Regiones Roide. See Liber Arma-
resided, and he answered,
"
In the district near the shore at Lake Crograth. "
126 Colgan places it in Ireland, and he tries, but unsuccessfully, to accommodate an Irish name in Westmeath.
12
7 There is a Salachain in Upper Lome,
between Loch Creeran and Loch Appian.
Point and Sallachan-ard, are situated on the west of the entrance of Loch Eil. There is a Sallachan in Morvern, opposite Aros ; and a Glen Sallachan on the south-east of Loch Creeran, opposite Airds. Among these and other places of the same name, it is diffi- cult to fix the scene of the present inter- view.
128
it was near the border land, in the neighbourhood of the Picts or Saxons.
canus, fol. 11 a, a.
136 Their former patrimony is now said to
be known as Corkaree, a barony in the county of Westmeath, lying north of Mullin- gar, according to Mac Firbis' Genealogical
Manuscripts, p. 136. But this, the only ap- parent identification of the name, is open to the objection, that Corkaree is an inland district, whereas ware and navis are used in reference to the inhabitants of that recorded
Probably
129 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's in the text.
" Life of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 46, and 137 See Roderick O'Flaherty's "Ogygia," nn. (a, b), pp. 88, 89. pars hi. , cap. lxix. , p. 333
peasant,
1 *1 would fain learn of the
130
In the title of Adamnan's version, as
found in Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 4Si
Fiacha Raidhe, grandson of Fedhlimidh Rechtmar,^ who flourished from a. d.
111toa. d. 119. Thesainttoldhim "Youshallnotbeslaininthefield,nor :
drowned in the sea ; but the companion of your travels, whom you least dis- trust or suspect, shall be the cause of your death. Perhaps, replied Goreus :
" One of my travelling companions may murder me, or chosing another hus- band, my wife may poison me. " " Not at all," returned the saint. " Why then," said Goreus, " refuse to declare the manner of my death ?
" " Because,"
:
replied Columba " I do not wish more clearly to intimate the companion
who will injure you, lest frequent remembrance should make you more unhappyuntilthehourofyourdissolutionbeaccomplished. " Someyears afterwards, the aforesaid Goreus chanced to be lying under his boat, while scraping the bark J 3 8 from a spear-handle. Seeing men fighting near him, he ran in haste to separate them. Meantime, by some chance or other, he let his knife fall carelessly, and it wounded him in the knee. Mortification set in, and after a sickness of some months, he died in great agony. So the prophecy of our saint was fulfilled, and Goreus remembered with surprise the companion who caused his death, and in a manner so unexpected.
saintcommended 539 abanished Tarainus,
Onone the occasion,
glorious
nobleman of Pictland,I4° to the care ofa certain wealthy man, named Ferada-
chus,'41 who lived in Islay 142 Island. I43 He entreated him through respect, to entertain Tarainus as a friend, for some months. 144 Notwithstanding our saint's entreaty and recommendation, that cruel man put the nobleman to
138 The Latin word used by Adamnan is
lie, the Irish name given to it, as may be
seen in edition of " His- Haliday's Keating's
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , p. 192. 143HewasoccupiedbythePicts. asatempo-
as follows " Per Christiliam :
interpreted
intelligit christam seu cuspidem hastse. " See
" Colgan's"TriasThaumaturga, VitaQuarta
S. Colnmbse, lib. i. , cap. xxxxvi. , and n. 97, pp. 349, 380. It is adopted by the Bollan-
dists and by Ducange. But it seems objection- able, according to the Rev. Dr. Reeves,
"
rary resting-place in their migration from Ireland to subdue the north of Scotland. See the ancient poem in the teAbhar» bjxeAcVmAch Aniifo fif, or the Irish Ver- sion of the Historia Britonum of Nennius, edited by the Rev. Dr. James Henthorn Todd and the Hon. Algernon Herbert, pp. 146 to 148, and n. (d), ibid. It was one of the five Ebudse or Hebrides, anciently called Epidium. It is argued, also, that the first King of Gwyddyl Fichti or the Picts of Bri- tain, called Brudi Bout, drew his
who renders
English, "rust," or "bark," in his Glossary.
Cristilia," by the words in
139 It has been conjectured, that probably, he is the subject of those following notices,
in the Annals of Ulster, at A. D. 696.
"
Tara-
cin de regno expulsus est. " Tighernach has the entry at A. D. 697. Again, we read, at
These
Hiberniampergit.
dates, however, seem fatal to the conjecture. 140 Where we read about the reputed
origin of the Cruithnians, Taram, the name of an early Pictish King, is probably an error for Tarain, in the "Historia Britonum, or Irish Version of Nennius," p. 158, and Ad- ditional Notes, No. xviii. , p. lxxv. We find the name Tarain at a later date in the cata- logue of the Pictish Kings, thus Taran filius Enfidaid iiii. [annis regnavit]. See ibid. , pp. 164, 165, and p. lxxvi. Edition of Rev. Dr. James Henthorn Todd and the
Hon. Algernon Herbert.
141 A Latinized form of ^eyvAOAch, which
was the Irish name.
143 This is a large Island, which lies to the
a. d. " Tarinad 698,
cognomen from Bute, a likely place to have become his re- sidence while in Islay. See Additional Notes, No. xvii. , pp. xxix to lxvi. , ibid. Subse- quently it came into the possession of the Dalriadic colony. Early in the sixth cen- tury, Muiredhech, son of Aengus Beg, son of Ere, settled in it. As the tract on the Men of Alba states, he was the first of the Scoti,
west of Cantyre, and it contains three and also in Lodbroch's Epiced, pp. 23, 107,
parishes, Kilarrow, Kilchoman, and Kildal-
108. In the Books of Lecan at fol. \\%b, a,
and in Mac Firbis' at 401, Genealogies, p.
we find the original Irish, of which the fol-
ton. See " Parochiales Origines
Scoriae," vol. ii. , part i. , pp. 260 to 275. Kilarrow is said to have its derivation fromCiLbniAoL-
"
imba. Ilea, an adjective form, comes from son of Ere (who was slain by his brother),
who inhabited He. See Roderick O'Fla- "
herty's Ogygia," pars iii. , Scotia; Regum Catalogus Chronologo-Genealogicus, p. 470. From Aengus, son of Fergus Mor, and father of Muiredhach, the family called Cmeb n ^engur'A derived its name.
144 As seems most probable on Islay, called II, in Haco's Expedition, pp. 54, 56,
lowing is a translation :
Fergus the Little,
452 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
death, within a few days. This grievous crime soon came to the saint's hearing, ithavingbeenrelatedbycertaintravellers. Tothem,hespokeinthismanner: "That unhappy man hath not lied to me, but to God, and his name shall be blotted out of the Book of Life. This I say now, in the middle of summer, but before he taste in autumn pork that hath been fed with acorns, he shall die suddenly and be buried in hell. " The accursed wretch laughed to scorn our saint's prophetic threat. At length, the harvest season being come, the wicked man commanded a hog, fattened with acorns and the kernals of nuts,
to be for none of his other swine had killed,
yet
ordered that a piece of its flesh should be roasted, so that by tasting of it, he
might frustrate the saint's prophecy. Being roasted, the wretch stretched out his hand to take a morsel of the flesh ; but, before he could put this hand into his mouth, he fell down a corpse. 146 Exhaling thus his wicked soul, before those horrified persons who were present, the murderer was consigned tohiseverlastingdoom. Thosewhoheardandsawthisprodigionseffectof
1 God's justice, honoured Christ in his holy prophet. *?
The holy man prophesied, in a most miraculous manner, regarding a cer-
tainRoman 1*8 Atone Mocuminx+9cameto the saint, city. time, Lugbeus
after the harvest, and that monk found him greatly excited, for Columba's face shone with a wonderful brilliancy. Wherefore Lugbeus could not bear to look at him, and he ran away in great terror. It would seem, Columba had then a vision, concerning the very remarkable destruction of Alvum, after- wards known as Citta Nova,IS° in Istria. Some have supposed,'S1 the ancient name of that
was ^Emonia 152 however, according to other authorities, city ;
this denomination belonged to Labacum, or Laubac,^ in Lower Carniola. By gently clapping his hands, the saint called Lugbeus back, and asked him on returning, why he fled so quickly? "I fled, because I was very much
alarmed," he replied. After a while, becoming more confident, he said to the saint: "Did any strange vision appear to you just now? " The saint
answered " A fearful vengeance has been exacted in a distant country. "
:
" What vengeance," said the youth, "and in what country? " The saint then addressed him thus : "A fire of sulphur has been poured down from
had one son, viz. , Seudna, a quo Cinel Con- cridhe in He, or Cinel Coneraige, i. e. , Con- craith or Concrighe, son of Bolg, son of Seudna, son of Fergus the Little, son of Ere, son of Eochaidh Muinreamher. " A parallel place in the Book of Ballymote, calls this family of Islay the Cenel Secn-a. See fol. 84b, a.
145 Islay is remarkable for its fertility. In
565, Colman Beg, son of Diarmait Mac
Cerbhail, in company with Conal, son of relaturi essent. " Martyrologium V. Id.
Comgall, Lord of Dalriada, invaded this island, and carried away much booty. See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Mas-
ters," vol. i. , pp. 204, 205, and n. (a).
146 It appears, from the Scotch Retours, that the lands of Nerrabolfada (now Nera-
Junii. See Canisius, tomus vi. , p. 854.
"
,SI See the "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , bols), in the Rinns of Islay, together with Junii, p. 2o8(5 ; also tomus vii. , Maii, p.
Woull (now Vaull), in Tiree, formerly be- 14 ; Geogr. Blavina, vol. viii. , p. 57, 58. longed to the Monastery of Derry, accord- J52 It became an episcopal See, in the ing to the Inquisitions, Spec. vie. Argyll, tenth century. John, its first bishop, was
"
147 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " jEmonia Vindicata," Salisburgi, 1647.
No. 67, 83, 93. styled
Episcopus /Emonensis. " See
"Life of St. Columba," lib. ii. , cap. 23, pp. 134, 135. See also nn. (a, b, c, d), tbid.
IS3
J. L. Schonleben, Archdeacon of Lower Carniola, published an Essay to show, that ^Emonia was the former name of this
148 The Rev. Dr. Reeves gives the modern
place.
been J « He slaughtered.
name, on authority of Notker Balbulus, as
being identical with the present Citta Nuova.
The event is thus narrated, by that ancient
"
Subversionem quoque civitatis
writer:
qure nunc Nova dicitur in Italia, in subi- taneo stupore, terrae hiatu, imo coelestis vise respectu subversam conspexit, et aliis exta- sin ejus mirantibus id ipsum nuntiavit, sed et hoc prcedixit, quod Gallici nautre, sicut et factum est eande—m rem ipso anno in Scotia
Antique Lectiones," ,49 Of him, Adamnan had already spoken,
*s°
It is situated, on the north bank of the River Quieto, in Istria.
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 453
heaven this moment on a city, subject to Rome, and within the Italian terri- toryj almost3,000men,besideswomenandchildren,haveperished. 154 Before the end of this year, sailors coming here from the provinces of Gaul, 155 shall tell you these tidings. " 156 His words proved true, in a few months ; for, the same Lugbeus, happening to accompany the saint to Cantyre, met with the captain and crew of a bark, that had just arrived. These told everything regarding the city and its inhabitants, exactly as had been foretold. 157
Among the companions of St. Columba on Iona, none was more distin-
than St. Baithen. 158 We find him called the " or
guished
economus, steward,"
tery. 15? Among those wonderful manifestations of prophetical spirit may be mentioned here the comforting visit which the monks of St. Columba, at one time, received from him on a journey.
"
dispensator,"
were in the returning
came to a 160 place,
while in other
records,
he is made
superior
of a monas-
to the
This was situated midway between the western
of the brethren. He said to them " Now, my brethren, whoever notices
:
anything wonderful and unusual, between the corn fields and the monastery,
160 half between the Machar and Just way
the Monastery, and a little east of Cnoc Orain, there is a spot called Bol-leithne. This maybea corruption of the originalname.
work,
called in Irish Cuuleilne.
evening
monastery, they
little l62 of plain
101
and their
16* Each of the monks he thought
Iona,
saw something strange and unusual, about which, however, they didnot venture to speak to one another. 16* And so it happened, for some days successively, at the same time and place. The holy Baithen then superintended the work
monastery.
must declare it openly. " An elder brother said
I shall tell you what I observed, on this spot. evennow,Ifeeljustasifalltheflowersl65 onearthwerecollectedtogether, the fragrant odour is so refreshing ; I feel also a glow of heat within me, not at
•54 « Est autem Istria Italiacarum Provin- ciarum sub dominio Veneto una ; atque hoc sensu hie dicitur Romani juris, i. e. , intra Italics terminos sita fuisse civitas ilia. " Baer-
tius,
(f),
in "Acta 161 The word which Sanctorum," tomusii. , cuib,
n.
Junii ix. De Sancto Columba, Vita Secunda, cap. iv. , p. 208.
255 Frequent intercourse between the Bri- tish Isles and Gaul then existed. When St. Columbanus was at Nantes, and the autho- rities there wished to send him back to Ire- land, a ship was found in that harbour,
for the — Scotorum com- ready purpose, "quae
mercia vexerat. " Jonas, Vita S. Columbani,
cap.
" Life of St. Columba," lib. ii. , cap. II, and
nn. (a, b), pp. 119, 120
,I2
But,
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 449
be in Argyleshire. " 5 He desired Cailtan to repair in all haste to him. Cail-
tan understanding the saint's pleasure came speedily to Iona, in company with the monks, that went for him to a cell called Diunus. 116 When the
saint saw he Cailtan,
in the manner
" O
have
his benediction, Cailtan went to the guest-room and fell sick that very night. According to the saint's word, he departed on the seventh day afterwards to
11
Cailtan, you doneverywellinhasteningtomesoobediently,restyoualittle. Lovingyou as a friend, I invited you to come, that you might finish the course of your mortal life here, under my care and in true obedience. Before this week comestoanend,youshallrenderyoursoulinpeacetoGod. " ThenCail- tanus, giving thanks to the Almighty, kissed our saint with tears. Receiving
year.
1 ' 8 Our saint then
replied :
" You
may
not live with me a
year,
as
you
spoke
following :
a better life.
Often Columba foretold the future destiny, sometimes happy, and sometimes
unhappy, of many persons, even while living in this mortal flesh. On a cer- tain Sunday, some persons cried out from the further side of the sea, so often mentioned. Hearingthiscry,thesaintsaidtothebrethrentiienwithhim: " Go, in all haste, and bring the pilgrims that come from a far country. " As the saint directed they went, and brought the strangers to his presence. When
he had saluted them, Columba began to question them, concerning the object of their journey. They told him, how they came to sojourn with him for that
?
desire, unless you take the monastic vows. " When the attendants heard these
words addressed to strangers only newly arrived, they were very much sur-
prised. Theeldestamongthestrangersmadeanswer:"Truly,wehadno such intention hitherto ; notwithstanding, we will embrace your counsel, in- spired by God, as we believe. 1J 9 They then followed our saint devoutly into the oratory. There, on their knees, they obliged themselves to observe the monastic vow. 120 Then St. Columba addressed his speech to the brothers present. He said: "These two strangers, presenting themselves a living sacrifice to God, 121 and who in Christian perfection have " fulfilled a long time
iectures, it is Loch Awe. See his " Life of a brother to Cailtan. The markland of Kil-
St. Columba," p. 151. The Rev. Dr. Lani- gan accepts that identification, in his "Eccle- siastical History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap. xi. , sect, xv. , and n. 176, pp. 172 to 174.
mun, which is near Lochavich, has a church, formerly called Kildachmanan, and dedi- cated to St. Peter, the Deacon of LochAwe. The Rev. Dr. Reeves thinks, that this may have had its origin in the Cella Divini of the
114 There is a lake in the Island of Mull,
called Loch Ba, at the north-east end of text. It is now called Kilchrenan. See
which there is an old burying-ground, on
the lands of Knock. It is called Kill-Martin.
In the of Rev. Dr. the opinion Reeves, style
and circumstances of this narrative indicate a nearer position to Iona than Loch Awe.
"
Multi
"Origines Parochiales Scotise," vol. ii. , part i. , p. 120.
"7 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
'"
Life of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 31, and nn. (a, b), pp. 60, 61.
II8
year 675
entry
:
—
description
we find this
At the
Pietores dimersi sunt illaind Abes" Rev. Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus iv. , Annales Ultonienses, p. 60. This may be a reference to the place mentioned in the text.
Visitors of this
in our saint's
115 There was a smaller lake, formerly
called Loch-Affy, and now known as Loch-
avich, lying to the north-west of Loch Awe.
A charter of King Robert Bruce, about A. n.
1322, grants to Roderick, son- of Alan, the
lands of Louchaly in Argyle. See " Ori- Concilii Tridentini Canones et Decreta. "
gines Parochiales Scotise," vol. ii. , part i. , p. 104. This may have been the place here mentioned.
116 Adamnan says, that place was so called in his day, after a certain Diunus, who was
Vol. VI. —No. 8.
I2°
stance of admission to the monastic profes- sion, without the year of probation.
i f
are called indiscriminately Acts, hospites,
proselyli,ws\& peregrini.
"9 The period of probation varied origi-
nally, at the discretion of the founder. Pope Alexander III. ordained, that the term of a
year's probation, should always precede. At length, the Council of Trent decreed for Re-
gulars, that in cases where the year's proba- tion was omitted, the profession should be
*'
Sess. xxv. , De Regularibus et Monialibus, cap. xv.
invalid. See
Sacrosancti CEcumenici
Colgan observes, that this is an in-
45° LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
shores of a called lake,
"Life of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 32, and
nn. (b, c), pp. 61, 62.
124 The use of the word Coire, and the ex-
pressions "barbari vestatores," referring pro- bably to the Picts or Saxons, seem to indicate Scotland as the scene of this narrative. The term Coire, so common in the Scotch High- lands to designate a hollow or cul de sac in the mountains, is scarcely known in Ireland.
Salchain may be Salen, on the east side of Mull, near which is a chapel called Colum- kille.
I2s According to Adamnan's account, this man had been first asked in what region he
122 shall their souls to Christ our Lord, before yield up
within a short
this present month comes to an end. " And so it happened, for both of them gave thanks to the Almighty, and then retired to the guest-room. Afterwards they fell sick, one succeeding the other. They departed to a better life within the time prophesied and defined by the saint. The elder brother died within thatweek. Theyoungerbrotherfollowedhimtothetomb,sevendaysafter the departure of his senior. ,2 3 The saint told a certain peasant that came to
him, when he was sojourning in a district, called in Irish, Coire Salchaim 124 ;
" Lo ! barbarous enemies, now sack and spoil all the province you inhabit. "125 Whether this had been in Ireland I26 or in Scotland I2? has been questioned ; but most probably, it lay within the latter country. The place was near the
1 * 8 This doleful news made the fellow poor
space,
Crogreth.
fall into pitiful lamentations for his wife and children. The saint, seeing him
depressedwithsorrowandanguish,saidtohim "Yourwifeandfamilyhave :
escaped to the mountains, but your goods and cattle the enemy hath taken away with their unjust spoils. " On going home, that man found all to be true as the saint had told him. I29 He felt somewhat comforted, however, that his misfortunes had not been greater. A certain valiant and strong man,
named Goreus,T3° who was an humble
saint, what kind of death he should encounter. This man was a native of Corcaraide. 132 It is thought to be probable, that Guaire I33 was the equiva- lent for the Latin designation I3* given to him, and that he belonged to the race of Roidhe I35 in Ireland. This clan or tribe I36 was so called from
121
See Romans xii. , 7.
122 See Wisdom iv. , 13.
123 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's he is called Coreus, and in the body of the
chapter Gereus.
131 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life
of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 47, and nn. (a, b, c, d), pp, 89, 90.
132 The word is written in Cod. A, in a different style of letter from the rest of the narrative, namely, in the semi-unicial Greek character of the Irish school. If the place belong to Ireland, as the structure of the name seems to indicate, it is clearly a form of Co|\c& TiAme, or the race of Roidhe.
133 The Irish 3«Air»e is a name, which was
called Goury, in the county of Londonderry, in the seventeenth century. See Rot. Pat.
Jac I. , p. 57^; Ulster Inquisitions, London- derry, No. 4.
134 This denomination is still preserved in Seygorry, Suit>e 5UAiyve, or Sessio Gorri. It is the name of a townland in Aghadowey parish.
,3s Tirechan renders their country by these Sallachan Bay, Sallachan-isol, Sallachan words, Regiones Roide. See Liber Arma-
resided, and he answered,
"
In the district near the shore at Lake Crograth. "
126 Colgan places it in Ireland, and he tries, but unsuccessfully, to accommodate an Irish name in Westmeath.
12
7 There is a Salachain in Upper Lome,
between Loch Creeran and Loch Appian.
Point and Sallachan-ard, are situated on the west of the entrance of Loch Eil. There is a Sallachan in Morvern, opposite Aros ; and a Glen Sallachan on the south-east of Loch Creeran, opposite Airds. Among these and other places of the same name, it is diffi- cult to fix the scene of the present inter- view.
128
it was near the border land, in the neighbourhood of the Picts or Saxons.
canus, fol. 11 a, a.
136 Their former patrimony is now said to
be known as Corkaree, a barony in the county of Westmeath, lying north of Mullin- gar, according to Mac Firbis' Genealogical
Manuscripts, p. 136. But this, the only ap- parent identification of the name, is open to the objection, that Corkaree is an inland district, whereas ware and navis are used in reference to the inhabitants of that recorded
Probably
129 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's in the text.
" Life of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 46, and 137 See Roderick O'Flaherty's "Ogygia," nn. (a, b), pp. 88, 89. pars hi. , cap. lxix. , p. 333
peasant,
1 *1 would fain learn of the
130
In the title of Adamnan's version, as
found in Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 4Si
Fiacha Raidhe, grandson of Fedhlimidh Rechtmar,^ who flourished from a. d.
111toa. d. 119. Thesainttoldhim "Youshallnotbeslaininthefield,nor :
drowned in the sea ; but the companion of your travels, whom you least dis- trust or suspect, shall be the cause of your death. Perhaps, replied Goreus :
" One of my travelling companions may murder me, or chosing another hus- band, my wife may poison me. " " Not at all," returned the saint. " Why then," said Goreus, " refuse to declare the manner of my death ?
" " Because,"
:
replied Columba " I do not wish more clearly to intimate the companion
who will injure you, lest frequent remembrance should make you more unhappyuntilthehourofyourdissolutionbeaccomplished. " Someyears afterwards, the aforesaid Goreus chanced to be lying under his boat, while scraping the bark J 3 8 from a spear-handle. Seeing men fighting near him, he ran in haste to separate them. Meantime, by some chance or other, he let his knife fall carelessly, and it wounded him in the knee. Mortification set in, and after a sickness of some months, he died in great agony. So the prophecy of our saint was fulfilled, and Goreus remembered with surprise the companion who caused his death, and in a manner so unexpected.
saintcommended 539 abanished Tarainus,
Onone the occasion,
glorious
nobleman of Pictland,I4° to the care ofa certain wealthy man, named Ferada-
chus,'41 who lived in Islay 142 Island. I43 He entreated him through respect, to entertain Tarainus as a friend, for some months. 144 Notwithstanding our saint's entreaty and recommendation, that cruel man put the nobleman to
138 The Latin word used by Adamnan is
lie, the Irish name given to it, as may be
seen in edition of " His- Haliday's Keating's
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , p. 192. 143HewasoccupiedbythePicts. asatempo-
as follows " Per Christiliam :
interpreted
intelligit christam seu cuspidem hastse. " See
" Colgan's"TriasThaumaturga, VitaQuarta
S. Colnmbse, lib. i. , cap. xxxxvi. , and n. 97, pp. 349, 380. It is adopted by the Bollan-
dists and by Ducange. But it seems objection- able, according to the Rev. Dr. Reeves,
"
rary resting-place in their migration from Ireland to subdue the north of Scotland. See the ancient poem in the teAbhar» bjxeAcVmAch Aniifo fif, or the Irish Ver- sion of the Historia Britonum of Nennius, edited by the Rev. Dr. James Henthorn Todd and the Hon. Algernon Herbert, pp. 146 to 148, and n. (d), ibid. It was one of the five Ebudse or Hebrides, anciently called Epidium. It is argued, also, that the first King of Gwyddyl Fichti or the Picts of Bri- tain, called Brudi Bout, drew his
who renders
English, "rust," or "bark," in his Glossary.
Cristilia," by the words in
139 It has been conjectured, that probably, he is the subject of those following notices,
in the Annals of Ulster, at A. D. 696.
"
Tara-
cin de regno expulsus est. " Tighernach has the entry at A. D. 697. Again, we read, at
These
Hiberniampergit.
dates, however, seem fatal to the conjecture. 140 Where we read about the reputed
origin of the Cruithnians, Taram, the name of an early Pictish King, is probably an error for Tarain, in the "Historia Britonum, or Irish Version of Nennius," p. 158, and Ad- ditional Notes, No. xviii. , p. lxxv. We find the name Tarain at a later date in the cata- logue of the Pictish Kings, thus Taran filius Enfidaid iiii. [annis regnavit]. See ibid. , pp. 164, 165, and p. lxxvi. Edition of Rev. Dr. James Henthorn Todd and the
Hon. Algernon Herbert.
141 A Latinized form of ^eyvAOAch, which
was the Irish name.
143 This is a large Island, which lies to the
a. d. " Tarinad 698,
cognomen from Bute, a likely place to have become his re- sidence while in Islay. See Additional Notes, No. xvii. , pp. xxix to lxvi. , ibid. Subse- quently it came into the possession of the Dalriadic colony. Early in the sixth cen- tury, Muiredhech, son of Aengus Beg, son of Ere, settled in it. As the tract on the Men of Alba states, he was the first of the Scoti,
west of Cantyre, and it contains three and also in Lodbroch's Epiced, pp. 23, 107,
parishes, Kilarrow, Kilchoman, and Kildal-
108. In the Books of Lecan at fol. \\%b, a,
and in Mac Firbis' at 401, Genealogies, p.
we find the original Irish, of which the fol-
ton. See " Parochiales Origines
Scoriae," vol. ii. , part i. , pp. 260 to 275. Kilarrow is said to have its derivation fromCiLbniAoL-
"
imba. Ilea, an adjective form, comes from son of Ere (who was slain by his brother),
who inhabited He. See Roderick O'Fla- "
herty's Ogygia," pars iii. , Scotia; Regum Catalogus Chronologo-Genealogicus, p. 470. From Aengus, son of Fergus Mor, and father of Muiredhach, the family called Cmeb n ^engur'A derived its name.
144 As seems most probable on Islay, called II, in Haco's Expedition, pp. 54, 56,
lowing is a translation :
Fergus the Little,
452 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
death, within a few days. This grievous crime soon came to the saint's hearing, ithavingbeenrelatedbycertaintravellers. Tothem,hespokeinthismanner: "That unhappy man hath not lied to me, but to God, and his name shall be blotted out of the Book of Life. This I say now, in the middle of summer, but before he taste in autumn pork that hath been fed with acorns, he shall die suddenly and be buried in hell. " The accursed wretch laughed to scorn our saint's prophetic threat. At length, the harvest season being come, the wicked man commanded a hog, fattened with acorns and the kernals of nuts,
to be for none of his other swine had killed,
yet
ordered that a piece of its flesh should be roasted, so that by tasting of it, he
might frustrate the saint's prophecy. Being roasted, the wretch stretched out his hand to take a morsel of the flesh ; but, before he could put this hand into his mouth, he fell down a corpse. 146 Exhaling thus his wicked soul, before those horrified persons who were present, the murderer was consigned tohiseverlastingdoom. Thosewhoheardandsawthisprodigionseffectof
1 God's justice, honoured Christ in his holy prophet. *?
The holy man prophesied, in a most miraculous manner, regarding a cer-
tainRoman 1*8 Atone Mocuminx+9cameto the saint, city. time, Lugbeus
after the harvest, and that monk found him greatly excited, for Columba's face shone with a wonderful brilliancy. Wherefore Lugbeus could not bear to look at him, and he ran away in great terror. It would seem, Columba had then a vision, concerning the very remarkable destruction of Alvum, after- wards known as Citta Nova,IS° in Istria. Some have supposed,'S1 the ancient name of that
was ^Emonia 152 however, according to other authorities, city ;
this denomination belonged to Labacum, or Laubac,^ in Lower Carniola. By gently clapping his hands, the saint called Lugbeus back, and asked him on returning, why he fled so quickly? "I fled, because I was very much
alarmed," he replied. After a while, becoming more confident, he said to the saint: "Did any strange vision appear to you just now? " The saint
answered " A fearful vengeance has been exacted in a distant country. "
:
" What vengeance," said the youth, "and in what country? " The saint then addressed him thus : "A fire of sulphur has been poured down from
had one son, viz. , Seudna, a quo Cinel Con- cridhe in He, or Cinel Coneraige, i. e. , Con- craith or Concrighe, son of Bolg, son of Seudna, son of Fergus the Little, son of Ere, son of Eochaidh Muinreamher. " A parallel place in the Book of Ballymote, calls this family of Islay the Cenel Secn-a. See fol. 84b, a.
145 Islay is remarkable for its fertility. In
565, Colman Beg, son of Diarmait Mac
Cerbhail, in company with Conal, son of relaturi essent. " Martyrologium V. Id.
Comgall, Lord of Dalriada, invaded this island, and carried away much booty. See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Mas-
ters," vol. i. , pp. 204, 205, and n. (a).
146 It appears, from the Scotch Retours, that the lands of Nerrabolfada (now Nera-
Junii. See Canisius, tomus vi. , p. 854.
"
,SI See the "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , bols), in the Rinns of Islay, together with Junii, p. 2o8(5 ; also tomus vii. , Maii, p.
Woull (now Vaull), in Tiree, formerly be- 14 ; Geogr. Blavina, vol. viii. , p. 57, 58. longed to the Monastery of Derry, accord- J52 It became an episcopal See, in the ing to the Inquisitions, Spec. vie. Argyll, tenth century. John, its first bishop, was
"
147 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " jEmonia Vindicata," Salisburgi, 1647.
No. 67, 83, 93. styled
Episcopus /Emonensis. " See
"Life of St. Columba," lib. ii. , cap. 23, pp. 134, 135. See also nn. (a, b, c, d), tbid.
IS3
J. L. Schonleben, Archdeacon of Lower Carniola, published an Essay to show, that ^Emonia was the former name of this
148 The Rev. Dr. Reeves gives the modern
place.
been J « He slaughtered.
name, on authority of Notker Balbulus, as
being identical with the present Citta Nuova.
The event is thus narrated, by that ancient
"
Subversionem quoque civitatis
writer:
qure nunc Nova dicitur in Italia, in subi- taneo stupore, terrae hiatu, imo coelestis vise respectu subversam conspexit, et aliis exta- sin ejus mirantibus id ipsum nuntiavit, sed et hoc prcedixit, quod Gallici nautre, sicut et factum est eande—m rem ipso anno in Scotia
Antique Lectiones," ,49 Of him, Adamnan had already spoken,
*s°
It is situated, on the north bank of the River Quieto, in Istria.
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 453
heaven this moment on a city, subject to Rome, and within the Italian terri- toryj almost3,000men,besideswomenandchildren,haveperished. 154 Before the end of this year, sailors coming here from the provinces of Gaul, 155 shall tell you these tidings. " 156 His words proved true, in a few months ; for, the same Lugbeus, happening to accompany the saint to Cantyre, met with the captain and crew of a bark, that had just arrived. These told everything regarding the city and its inhabitants, exactly as had been foretold. 157
Among the companions of St. Columba on Iona, none was more distin-
than St. Baithen. 158 We find him called the " or
guished
economus, steward,"
tery. 15? Among those wonderful manifestations of prophetical spirit may be mentioned here the comforting visit which the monks of St. Columba, at one time, received from him on a journey.
"
dispensator,"
were in the returning
came to a 160 place,
while in other
records,
he is made
superior
of a monas-
to the
This was situated midway between the western
of the brethren. He said to them " Now, my brethren, whoever notices
:
anything wonderful and unusual, between the corn fields and the monastery,
160 half between the Machar and Just way
the Monastery, and a little east of Cnoc Orain, there is a spot called Bol-leithne. This maybea corruption of the originalname.
work,
called in Irish Cuuleilne.
evening
monastery, they
little l62 of plain
101
and their
16* Each of the monks he thought
Iona,
saw something strange and unusual, about which, however, they didnot venture to speak to one another. 16* And so it happened, for some days successively, at the same time and place. The holy Baithen then superintended the work
monastery.
must declare it openly. " An elder brother said
I shall tell you what I observed, on this spot. evennow,Ifeeljustasifalltheflowersl65 onearthwerecollectedtogether, the fragrant odour is so refreshing ; I feel also a glow of heat within me, not at
•54 « Est autem Istria Italiacarum Provin- ciarum sub dominio Veneto una ; atque hoc sensu hie dicitur Romani juris, i. e. , intra Italics terminos sita fuisse civitas ilia. " Baer-
tius,
(f),
in "Acta 161 The word which Sanctorum," tomusii. , cuib,
n.
Junii ix. De Sancto Columba, Vita Secunda, cap. iv. , p. 208.
255 Frequent intercourse between the Bri- tish Isles and Gaul then existed. When St. Columbanus was at Nantes, and the autho- rities there wished to send him back to Ire- land, a ship was found in that harbour,
for the — Scotorum com- ready purpose, "quae
mercia vexerat. " Jonas, Vita S. Columbani,
cap.
