The writer has chiefly followed the Lives of
Cumineus
and
Adamnan, as also Colgan's Appendices.
Adamnan, as also Colgan's Appendices.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v6
Our great Irish Hagiogra- pher Father John Colgan 4I and the Bollandists have published the Acts of St.
Columba.
42 Moreover, Dean Cressy,43 Thomas Innes,44 and the Benedictines ofSt.
Maur,45haveaccountsregardinghim.
InthequartoeditionofAdrian Baillet,46 in L'Abbe Ma-Geoghegan,47 in George Mackensie,48 and in Bishop
Nicolson 5°
62 minister of
John Smith, Campbelton, pub-
Edinburgh, 170S, 171 1, 1722. Three volumes in folio, a rare and curious work.
49 See "Britannia Sancta," part i. , pp. 36 See "Florilegium Insulse Sanctorum," 351 to 356. Also his "Memorial of An-
49 are to be found Lives ofSt. Columba.
rantly confounds Columbanus of Bobio with St. Columba of Iona, and indeed he makes a disgraceful medley of the whole subject, when he treats about these great Abbots. Besides, Dr. Samuel Johnson 5I has not forgotten to commemorate the locality of St. Columba with distinguished praise. John Pinkertonhaspublished52 theLatinLivesofSt. Columba,byCumin53 and by Adamnan. 54 He has added notes and various readings. Besides, Bishop Tanner,55 the Rev. Alban Butler,56 Chalmers,5? Thomas Pennant,58 Harris' Ware,5^ and Dr. Sylvester O'Halloran,00 have an account of St. Columkille. Several Lives of him have appeared anonymously, and these are chiefly intended
Challoner,
Bishop
igno-
for
61
The Rev.
popular reading.
tiquitates," cap. xv. , xvii.
35 See "
Lectiones," tomus v. ,
Antiquse
pp. 559 to 621. Ingoldstadt, 1604, 4to.
pp. 141 to 184.
37 See "De Probatis Sanctorum Vitis,"
ix. Junii, pp. 144 to 161.
38 See "General History of Ireland,"
translated by Dermod O'Connor, Esq. , part
ii. , pp. 369 to 390. Duffy's edition, 1854, 8vo.
"
42 See "Acta Sanctorum, Junii ix. , tomus ii. , pp. 180 to 236.
"
43 See his
part ii. , book xii. , chap, iii. , x. , xi,, xii. , pp. 260, 267 to 271.
44 There are various discursive passages of
this writer in reference to St. Columba, in
his " Civil and Ecclesiastical History of "
cient British Piety," pp. 89, 90.
50 See "Scottish Historical Library," pp.
65. London edition, a. d. 1776.
5t See his works, edited by Arthur
"A to Murphy, Esq. , vol. , viii. , Journey
the Western Islands of Scotland," pp. 391 to 397. A New edition in Twelve volumes. London, 1816, 8vo.
Notas panculas adjecit.
s3 See ibid. Vita Columbse, Pictorum
Septentrionalium Apostoli, auctore Cuminio Abbate Hyensi, pp. 27 to 45.
S* See ibid. Vila Columbse auctor Adam-
nano, tribus Libris conscripta, pp. 52 to 187. 55 See '* Bibliotheca Britannico-Hiber-
nica," p. 192.
56 His Lives of the Saints contain the
name of St. Columba or Columkille, A. , at
the 9th day of June.
39 See "De Scriptoribus Hibernise," lib. i. , cap. ii. , pp. 14, 15.
52 See "Vitse Sanctorum antiques
qui habitaverunt in ea parte Britannia? , nunc vo- torum," tomus i. , lib. iii. , num. 249, pp. cata Scotia vel in ejus insulis. Quasdam edidit ex MSS. quasdam collegit Johannes 41 See 1 rias Thaumaturga, pp. 319 to Pinkerton qui et variantes Lectiones et
40 See 149, 150.
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Sco-
"
Church History of Brittany,"
Scotland, chiefly in the Second Book.
45 In the first volume of the "Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti," Ssec i. , we find entered Vita S. Columbse, Abbot of Iona, with previous observations, in 27
57
"
See Caledonia," vol. i. , book ii. , chap.
paragraphs, pp. 361 to 366.
46 At the 9th of June, in Baillet's
"
vii. , pp. 313 to 322.
58 See " A Tour in Scotland, and Voyage
to the Hebrides, mdcclxii," pp. 276 to 298, with some fine copperplate illustrations of Iona.
"
Les Vies des Saints," tome ii. , we find entered, St. Columb or Columkille, Abbot of Hy,
59 See vol. ii. ,
i. , chap, iii. , pp. 17 to 19.
and Apostle of the Picts, pp. Ill, 113.
47 See " Hisloire de l'lrlande Ancienne et
60 See "A General History of Ireland," Moderne," tome i. , Seconde Partie, chap. vol. ii. , book viii. , chap, v. , vi.
iii. , pp. 293 to 295, and chap, iv. , pp. 337,
338.
48 See ' ' Lives and Characters of the most
Eminent Writers of the Scottish Nation,"
61
" The Life of Saint Patron of Columb-kille,
Ulster, and Apostle of the Pictish and Scotch Nations ; including a full vindication of our
Writers of Ireland," Book
Among these may be enumerated :
June 9] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
2 59
63 The Rev. John Lingard, D. D. ,6* the General Biographical Dictionary,^ the Rev.
lished a Life of St. towards the close of the last Columba,
century.
Dr.
66 Richard Migne,? ° Michaud,?
67 the Rev.
68 D. Chambers,73
69
0'Sullivan, LeComtede
66
See "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland,"
79 " The Life of St. Columba," Demy 8vc\ Kenmare Series.
80 See " An Ecclesiastical of History
Ireland," sixth century, chap, i. , pp. 61 to
65. Dublin edition, 1864, 8vo. 81 "
Lanigan,
Ryan,
JamesWills, A. M. ,
theAbbe
1 LeDr.
Hoefer,?
2 R.
Montalembert,74 the English Cyclopedia of Charles Knight^ and Rev. Hugh
6
JamesRose,? haveintheirvariousworksdistinctreferencestohiscareerin
history. The most important of all monographs relating 1o St. Columba is undoubtedlythatcompiledbytheVeryRev. Dr. WilliamReeves. " Alater version of this work, but in an altered form, has been since issued. ? 8 Sister Mary Frances Clare Cusack has written a special biography for this great
8° Rev. P.
allusions to him. Gaelic, has been composed by Alastair Cameron. 8^
81 and
saint. 79 The Rev. M.
James Taylor,
J. Brenan, O. S. F. ,
J. Carew, A Life of St.
John
in
Hill 82 have Burton,
Columba,
special
8s Rev. Hubert
M'Laughlin, M. A. ,
The Rev. John Alzog,84
86 Rev. Robert 8? King,
Saint's Loyalty and Patriotism, from the Censure of former Biographers. Historical Sketches of the State of Ireland and Great Britain ; together with his Prophecies re- specting Ireland," compiled from original Documents, by an eminent Divine ol the Roman Catholic Church. Dublin, C. M. Warren, publisher, i8mo, no date. Also in " The Young Christian's Library ; or Lives of Eminent Saints and Servants of God," there is a penny Life of St. Columkille, No. 25. Dublin, Messrs. Duffy & Co. , i8mo, no date.
62 See " The Life of St. Columba, the Apostle and Patron Saint of the Ancient Scots and Picts, and joint Patron of the Irish ; commonly called Colum-kille, the Apostle of the Highlands. " Edinburgh, 1798, 8vo.
63 In matters of fact, this is very frequently most incorrect, and as a literary performance by no means remarkable.
The writer has chiefly followed the Lives of Cumineus and
Adamnan, as also Colgan's Appendices.
64 See "Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon
Church," chap, iv. , pp. 75, 76.
65 See New Edition, revised and enlarged,
by Alexander Chalmers, F. S. A. , vol. x. , pp. 96, 97-
7* See " Les Moines d'Occident," tome Iii. ,
vol. ii. , chap, xi. , sect. vii. to xv. , chap, xii. , sect. xiii. to xv. , pp. 106 to 181, and 236 to
See EcclesiasticalHistoryofIreland," chap, vi. , pp. 179 to 199.
259-
67 See "
vol.
82 See " of Scotland," vol. History
" Beath-EachdraidhCha- luim-Chille, ceud Abstol na Gaidhealtacdh. "
Itwas published, at Edinburgh, 1871,241110. 84 See " Manual of Universal Church His- tory," translated by Rev. F. J. Pabisch and Rev. Thomas S. Byrne, vol. ii. , Period 2, Epoch 1, Part i. , chap, i. , sect. 156, pp. 44
to 46.
85 See " Pictorial History of Scotland,"
vol. i. , chap, iii. , pp. 25 to 27.
86 See " Sketches ofAncient Biographical
Irish Saints," sect, ii. , pp. 14 to 38.
87 "
See Primer of the Church History of
Biographia Hibernica," pp. 485, 486.
i. ,
i. ,
68 See " Lives of Illustrious and Dis- tinguished Irishmen," vol. i. , part i. , First Period, pp. 114 to 125.
69 See " Irlande Poesies des Bardes," &c, p. 125. Paris, 1853, 8vo.
70 See "Patrilogiae Cursus Completus," tome lxxxvii. , 726. Paris, 1850, small fol.
"
chap, vii. , pp. 261 to 272.
71 See
et Moderne," tome viii. , p. 667.
Biographie Universelle Ancienne
72 See"Nouvelle Biographie Generate,"
tome cols.
xi. , 307, 308.
73 See "The Book of Days," vol. i. , pp. 755. 756.
liv. xi. , pp. 101 to 334. "
75 See Biography," vol. ii. , col. 334.
76 See " A New General Biographical
Dictionary," vol. vi. , pp. 418, 419.
77 Now Protestant Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore. It is intituled : "The Life of St. Columba, Founder of Hy," written by Adamnan, Ninth Abbot of that Monastery. The Text printed from a Manu- scriptoftheeighthcentury; withthevari- ous Readings of six other Manuscripts pre- served in different parts of Europe. To which are added, copious Notes and Dis-
sertations, illustrative of the early History of the Columbian Institutions in Ireland and Scotland. By William Reeves, D. D. , M. R. I. A. , Curate of Kilconriola, in the Dio- cese of Connor. Dublin, 1857, 4to.
78 It is printed as vol. vi. , of the series "Historians of Scotland. " Its title there
83 It is
intituled,
" Life of St. Columba, Founder of
stands
Hy. " Written by Adamnan, ninth Abbot of that Monastery. Edited by William Reeves, D. D. , M. R. I. A. , Rector of Tynan and Canon of Armagh. Edinburgh, 1874, 8vo.
:
260 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[June 9.
88 William F. 8o Chambers's 00 the Rev. Bishop Forbes, Skene, Encyclopaedia,
01 02 Q S. Baring-Gould, the Encyclopedia Britannica, les Petits Bollandistes, 3
the Dictionary of Christian Biography, * His Eminence Cardinal Moran,°5 Alfred Webb,00 and the Duke ofArgyll, ? present us with various dissertations,
whichservetothrowgreatlightonhisbiography. Itmustproveanimpracti- cable task, however, to enumerate all the special treatises and articles published, which have a direct or mediate bearing on the subject of St. Columb's Acts.
The most complete and trustworthy materials, for the elucidation of
the
published by Colgan. 00
the succeeding pages.
present memoir,
are to be found in the five different 08 biographical Treatises,
These are usually quoted, in his order, throughout
The first of Colgan's Lives is not very lengthy, and in
it several incidents are told, but without apparent attention to the order ot
time. At one period, the editor was of opinion, that it had been composed
by Cumineus Albus ; but again, he thought it should be attributed to some
other unidentified author. He concluded, likewise, this treatise had been
written some one or other of St. Columba's 100 who had recorded
by disciples, theirgreatarchimandrite'sacts. 101 ThisfirstLifecontainsmanyancedotes,102 not found in the second ; while, in the other three, those have been intro- duced according to a different plan and order. From various arguments, which he gives, Colgan laboured to prove, that the second of his published Lives must be attributed to Cumineus Albus. io3 These are the chief reasons alleged ; first, Father Hugh Ward, a most learned investigator of Irish anti- quity, had prefixed the name of Cumineus Albus to his copy of it ; secondly, becausetheauthorofit seemedtohavebeenamonkofIona,IO-» tohavelived about the I05 and to have that he had seen St. Columba's
immediate
year 650, disciples,
intimated,
or those who were his 100 contemporaries ;
thirdly,
Ireland, vol. i. , book i. , chap, ix. , x. , xi. ,
no chapters—the third in 78 chapters, pp. 389 10455.
99 These Acts are admirably introduced by a Dissertation regarding them, in the shape of a Preface, and addressed to the reader. They are all learnedly annotated, and succeeded by five most methodical and illustrative Appendices.
100 See the account of such a in tradition,
the time of Venerable Bede, "Historia Ec-
clesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. hi. ,
cap. iv.
pp. 74 to 107. 88 "
See Kalendars of Scottish Saints,"
PP- 3o6> 3°7- "
89 See Celtic Scotland," vol. ii. , book ii. ,
chap. ii. to iv. , pp. 78 to 148.
90 See vol. hi. , pp. 136, 137. Revised edi-
tion. London, 1874, small fol.
91 See "Lives of the June 9, pp. 90 to 126.
Saints,"
vol.
vi. ,
92 See vol. vi. , p. 167. Ninth edition, Edinburgh, 1877, 4to.
93See "Vies des
tome
101 to Thomas six
ixe de Jour
Saints," Juin, pp. 541, 542.
vi. ,
According
or seven of those
Dempster,
wrote St. Columba's Life, viz. : St. Baithen, St. Ether- nan, St. Failbe, St. Finten, St. Gallan, St. Golgus, and St. Virgnous. See "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," num. 123,
459, 5p3. 5°7. 556, 578, 1 1 70.
102
See cap. v. , vi. , viii. , xi. , xiv. . xv. , xxi. , «7 See Io-na," Third Edition.
Nicolson 5°
62 minister of
John Smith, Campbelton, pub-
Edinburgh, 170S, 171 1, 1722. Three volumes in folio, a rare and curious work.
49 See "Britannia Sancta," part i. , pp. 36 See "Florilegium Insulse Sanctorum," 351 to 356. Also his "Memorial of An-
49 are to be found Lives ofSt. Columba.
rantly confounds Columbanus of Bobio with St. Columba of Iona, and indeed he makes a disgraceful medley of the whole subject, when he treats about these great Abbots. Besides, Dr. Samuel Johnson 5I has not forgotten to commemorate the locality of St. Columba with distinguished praise. John Pinkertonhaspublished52 theLatinLivesofSt. Columba,byCumin53 and by Adamnan. 54 He has added notes and various readings. Besides, Bishop Tanner,55 the Rev. Alban Butler,56 Chalmers,5? Thomas Pennant,58 Harris' Ware,5^ and Dr. Sylvester O'Halloran,00 have an account of St. Columkille. Several Lives of him have appeared anonymously, and these are chiefly intended
Challoner,
Bishop
igno-
for
61
The Rev.
popular reading.
tiquitates," cap. xv. , xvii.
35 See "
Lectiones," tomus v. ,
Antiquse
pp. 559 to 621. Ingoldstadt, 1604, 4to.
pp. 141 to 184.
37 See "De Probatis Sanctorum Vitis,"
ix. Junii, pp. 144 to 161.
38 See "General History of Ireland,"
translated by Dermod O'Connor, Esq. , part
ii. , pp. 369 to 390. Duffy's edition, 1854, 8vo.
"
42 See "Acta Sanctorum, Junii ix. , tomus ii. , pp. 180 to 236.
"
43 See his
part ii. , book xii. , chap, iii. , x. , xi,, xii. , pp. 260, 267 to 271.
44 There are various discursive passages of
this writer in reference to St. Columba, in
his " Civil and Ecclesiastical History of "
cient British Piety," pp. 89, 90.
50 See "Scottish Historical Library," pp.
65. London edition, a. d. 1776.
5t See his works, edited by Arthur
"A to Murphy, Esq. , vol. , viii. , Journey
the Western Islands of Scotland," pp. 391 to 397. A New edition in Twelve volumes. London, 1816, 8vo.
Notas panculas adjecit.
s3 See ibid. Vita Columbse, Pictorum
Septentrionalium Apostoli, auctore Cuminio Abbate Hyensi, pp. 27 to 45.
S* See ibid. Vila Columbse auctor Adam-
nano, tribus Libris conscripta, pp. 52 to 187. 55 See '* Bibliotheca Britannico-Hiber-
nica," p. 192.
56 His Lives of the Saints contain the
name of St. Columba or Columkille, A. , at
the 9th day of June.
39 See "De Scriptoribus Hibernise," lib. i. , cap. ii. , pp. 14, 15.
52 See "Vitse Sanctorum antiques
qui habitaverunt in ea parte Britannia? , nunc vo- torum," tomus i. , lib. iii. , num. 249, pp. cata Scotia vel in ejus insulis. Quasdam edidit ex MSS. quasdam collegit Johannes 41 See 1 rias Thaumaturga, pp. 319 to Pinkerton qui et variantes Lectiones et
40 See 149, 150.
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Sco-
"
Church History of Brittany,"
Scotland, chiefly in the Second Book.
45 In the first volume of the "Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti," Ssec i. , we find entered Vita S. Columbse, Abbot of Iona, with previous observations, in 27
57
"
See Caledonia," vol. i. , book ii. , chap.
paragraphs, pp. 361 to 366.
46 At the 9th of June, in Baillet's
"
vii. , pp. 313 to 322.
58 See " A Tour in Scotland, and Voyage
to the Hebrides, mdcclxii," pp. 276 to 298, with some fine copperplate illustrations of Iona.
"
Les Vies des Saints," tome ii. , we find entered, St. Columb or Columkille, Abbot of Hy,
59 See vol. ii. ,
i. , chap, iii. , pp. 17 to 19.
and Apostle of the Picts, pp. Ill, 113.
47 See " Hisloire de l'lrlande Ancienne et
60 See "A General History of Ireland," Moderne," tome i. , Seconde Partie, chap. vol. ii. , book viii. , chap, v. , vi.
iii. , pp. 293 to 295, and chap, iv. , pp. 337,
338.
48 See ' ' Lives and Characters of the most
Eminent Writers of the Scottish Nation,"
61
" The Life of Saint Patron of Columb-kille,
Ulster, and Apostle of the Pictish and Scotch Nations ; including a full vindication of our
Writers of Ireland," Book
Among these may be enumerated :
June 9] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
2 59
63 The Rev. John Lingard, D. D. ,6* the General Biographical Dictionary,^ the Rev.
lished a Life of St. towards the close of the last Columba,
century.
Dr.
66 Richard Migne,? ° Michaud,?
67 the Rev.
68 D. Chambers,73
69
0'Sullivan, LeComtede
66
See "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland,"
79 " The Life of St. Columba," Demy 8vc\ Kenmare Series.
80 See " An Ecclesiastical of History
Ireland," sixth century, chap, i. , pp. 61 to
65. Dublin edition, 1864, 8vo. 81 "
Lanigan,
Ryan,
JamesWills, A. M. ,
theAbbe
1 LeDr.
Hoefer,?
2 R.
Montalembert,74 the English Cyclopedia of Charles Knight^ and Rev. Hugh
6
JamesRose,? haveintheirvariousworksdistinctreferencestohiscareerin
history. The most important of all monographs relating 1o St. Columba is undoubtedlythatcompiledbytheVeryRev. Dr. WilliamReeves. " Alater version of this work, but in an altered form, has been since issued. ? 8 Sister Mary Frances Clare Cusack has written a special biography for this great
8° Rev. P.
allusions to him. Gaelic, has been composed by Alastair Cameron. 8^
81 and
saint. 79 The Rev. M.
James Taylor,
J. Brenan, O. S. F. ,
J. Carew, A Life of St.
John
in
Hill 82 have Burton,
Columba,
special
8s Rev. Hubert
M'Laughlin, M. A. ,
The Rev. John Alzog,84
86 Rev. Robert 8? King,
Saint's Loyalty and Patriotism, from the Censure of former Biographers. Historical Sketches of the State of Ireland and Great Britain ; together with his Prophecies re- specting Ireland," compiled from original Documents, by an eminent Divine ol the Roman Catholic Church. Dublin, C. M. Warren, publisher, i8mo, no date. Also in " The Young Christian's Library ; or Lives of Eminent Saints and Servants of God," there is a penny Life of St. Columkille, No. 25. Dublin, Messrs. Duffy & Co. , i8mo, no date.
62 See " The Life of St. Columba, the Apostle and Patron Saint of the Ancient Scots and Picts, and joint Patron of the Irish ; commonly called Colum-kille, the Apostle of the Highlands. " Edinburgh, 1798, 8vo.
63 In matters of fact, this is very frequently most incorrect, and as a literary performance by no means remarkable.
The writer has chiefly followed the Lives of Cumineus and
Adamnan, as also Colgan's Appendices.
64 See "Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon
Church," chap, iv. , pp. 75, 76.
65 See New Edition, revised and enlarged,
by Alexander Chalmers, F. S. A. , vol. x. , pp. 96, 97-
7* See " Les Moines d'Occident," tome Iii. ,
vol. ii. , chap, xi. , sect. vii. to xv. , chap, xii. , sect. xiii. to xv. , pp. 106 to 181, and 236 to
See EcclesiasticalHistoryofIreland," chap, vi. , pp. 179 to 199.
259-
67 See "
vol.
82 See " of Scotland," vol. History
" Beath-EachdraidhCha- luim-Chille, ceud Abstol na Gaidhealtacdh. "
Itwas published, at Edinburgh, 1871,241110. 84 See " Manual of Universal Church His- tory," translated by Rev. F. J. Pabisch and Rev. Thomas S. Byrne, vol. ii. , Period 2, Epoch 1, Part i. , chap, i. , sect. 156, pp. 44
to 46.
85 See " Pictorial History of Scotland,"
vol. i. , chap, iii. , pp. 25 to 27.
86 See " Sketches ofAncient Biographical
Irish Saints," sect, ii. , pp. 14 to 38.
87 "
See Primer of the Church History of
Biographia Hibernica," pp. 485, 486.
i. ,
i. ,
68 See " Lives of Illustrious and Dis- tinguished Irishmen," vol. i. , part i. , First Period, pp. 114 to 125.
69 See " Irlande Poesies des Bardes," &c, p. 125. Paris, 1853, 8vo.
70 See "Patrilogiae Cursus Completus," tome lxxxvii. , 726. Paris, 1850, small fol.
"
chap, vii. , pp. 261 to 272.
71 See
et Moderne," tome viii. , p. 667.
Biographie Universelle Ancienne
72 See"Nouvelle Biographie Generate,"
tome cols.
xi. , 307, 308.
73 See "The Book of Days," vol. i. , pp. 755. 756.
liv. xi. , pp. 101 to 334. "
75 See Biography," vol. ii. , col. 334.
76 See " A New General Biographical
Dictionary," vol. vi. , pp. 418, 419.
77 Now Protestant Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore. It is intituled : "The Life of St. Columba, Founder of Hy," written by Adamnan, Ninth Abbot of that Monastery. The Text printed from a Manu- scriptoftheeighthcentury; withthevari- ous Readings of six other Manuscripts pre- served in different parts of Europe. To which are added, copious Notes and Dis-
sertations, illustrative of the early History of the Columbian Institutions in Ireland and Scotland. By William Reeves, D. D. , M. R. I. A. , Curate of Kilconriola, in the Dio- cese of Connor. Dublin, 1857, 4to.
78 It is printed as vol. vi. , of the series "Historians of Scotland. " Its title there
83 It is
intituled,
" Life of St. Columba, Founder of
stands
Hy. " Written by Adamnan, ninth Abbot of that Monastery. Edited by William Reeves, D. D. , M. R. I. A. , Rector of Tynan and Canon of Armagh. Edinburgh, 1874, 8vo.
:
260 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[June 9.
88 William F. 8o Chambers's 00 the Rev. Bishop Forbes, Skene, Encyclopaedia,
01 02 Q S. Baring-Gould, the Encyclopedia Britannica, les Petits Bollandistes, 3
the Dictionary of Christian Biography, * His Eminence Cardinal Moran,°5 Alfred Webb,00 and the Duke ofArgyll, ? present us with various dissertations,
whichservetothrowgreatlightonhisbiography. Itmustproveanimpracti- cable task, however, to enumerate all the special treatises and articles published, which have a direct or mediate bearing on the subject of St. Columb's Acts.
The most complete and trustworthy materials, for the elucidation of
the
published by Colgan. 00
the succeeding pages.
present memoir,
are to be found in the five different 08 biographical Treatises,
These are usually quoted, in his order, throughout
The first of Colgan's Lives is not very lengthy, and in
it several incidents are told, but without apparent attention to the order ot
time. At one period, the editor was of opinion, that it had been composed
by Cumineus Albus ; but again, he thought it should be attributed to some
other unidentified author. He concluded, likewise, this treatise had been
written some one or other of St. Columba's 100 who had recorded
by disciples, theirgreatarchimandrite'sacts. 101 ThisfirstLifecontainsmanyancedotes,102 not found in the second ; while, in the other three, those have been intro- duced according to a different plan and order. From various arguments, which he gives, Colgan laboured to prove, that the second of his published Lives must be attributed to Cumineus Albus. io3 These are the chief reasons alleged ; first, Father Hugh Ward, a most learned investigator of Irish anti- quity, had prefixed the name of Cumineus Albus to his copy of it ; secondly, becausetheauthorofit seemedtohavebeenamonkofIona,IO-» tohavelived about the I05 and to have that he had seen St. Columba's
immediate
year 650, disciples,
intimated,
or those who were his 100 contemporaries ;
thirdly,
Ireland, vol. i. , book i. , chap, ix. , x. , xi. ,
no chapters—the third in 78 chapters, pp. 389 10455.
99 These Acts are admirably introduced by a Dissertation regarding them, in the shape of a Preface, and addressed to the reader. They are all learnedly annotated, and succeeded by five most methodical and illustrative Appendices.
100 See the account of such a in tradition,
the time of Venerable Bede, "Historia Ec-
clesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. hi. ,
cap. iv.
pp. 74 to 107. 88 "
See Kalendars of Scottish Saints,"
PP- 3o6> 3°7- "
89 See Celtic Scotland," vol. ii. , book ii. ,
chap. ii. to iv. , pp. 78 to 148.
90 See vol. hi. , pp. 136, 137. Revised edi-
tion. London, 1874, small fol.
91 See "Lives of the June 9, pp. 90 to 126.
Saints,"
vol.
vi. ,
92 See vol. vi. , p. 167. Ninth edition, Edinburgh, 1877, 4to.
93See "Vies des
tome
101 to Thomas six
ixe de Jour
Saints," Juin, pp. 541, 542.
vi. ,
According
or seven of those
Dempster,
wrote St. Columba's Life, viz. : St. Baithen, St. Ether- nan, St. Failbe, St. Finten, St. Gallan, St. Golgus, and St. Virgnous. See "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," num. 123,
459, 5p3. 5°7. 556, 578, 1 1 70.
102
See cap. v. , vi. , viii. , xi. , xiv. . xv. , xxi. , «7 See Io-na," Third Edition.
