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Category: Irish saints in Scotland

Irish Saints Honoured in Scotland

November 30 is the feast of the Scottish patron, Saint Andrew. Last year I posted an article by the Fort Augustus Benedictine hagiologist, Dom Michael Barrett, on The Saints of Catholic Scotland. To mark the feast this year we can read another of his papers, this time on the Irish saints honoured in Scotland. Like the previous offering, it contains a wealth of detail and is an interesting read. Whilst many of the saints featured are familiar ones, the final holy man, Saint Geradin, was new to me.

IRISH SAINTS HONORED IN SCOTLAND.

IN an article entitled “The Saints of Catholic Scotland,” which appeared in a former issue of this Review (July, 1918), it was stated as unquestionable that the majority of those holy ones of bygone centuries whose names were held in reverence as saints of God in the kingdom of Scotland were actually denizens of Ireland. The circumstances which led to such a result may be thus summarized:

1. The large monastery, founded at Whithorn by St Ninian, on the model of the celebrated Marmoutier of his kinsman, St Martin, and popularly styled Magnum Monasterium, attracted crowds of eager students from Ireland. Thither — besides numerous pilgrims of less distinction— came the renowned St. Finnian of Moville, to study the Sacred Scriptures and to drink in the principles of true monasticism, for the benefit later on of his own country. Thither, too, as tradition affirms, came the illustrious St Patrick himself, to visit in loving veneration St Ninian, the helper of the earliest missionaries to Ireland, and his senior by some forty years. For the fishermen of Port Patrick, from the testimony of a priest living here a century ago, were accustomed to point out a certain spar of rock there as the spot where St. Patrick tied up the boat on which he crossed over frequently from the Irish shore.

2. That district of Strathclyde, moreover, where the “Great Monastery” was situated, gained distinction from the fact that it was the traditional birthplace of St. Patrick. “For more than a thousand years,” Cardinal Moran asserts, “it was the uninterrupted tradition of Ireland and Scotland that our apostle, St. Patrick, was born in the valley of the Clyde.” Although, as he goes on to remark, this opinion was rejected by learned historians of the nineteenth century, many documents which had come to light since then had served to confirm what he styles “the more venerable” tradition, and that to which he himself had always adhered.

3. Three Irish chieftains, sons of Erc, and named respectively Fergus Mor, Lorn and Angus, left the district of Dalriada, in Ulster, early in the sixth century, and with their followers settled on the opposite coast of what is now called Scotland. There, north of the Clyde, and westward from the mountain range of Drumalban, in the district now known as Argyle, they founded a little kingdom, which they named after their homeland, Dalriada. Small in its beginnings, the kingdom increased in extent and power during the following centuries, until in the eleventh century the name of Scotia — properly belonging to Ireland, the land of the Scots — was extended to the country which was embraced by the Dalriadan rule on the opposite coast, and eventually to the whole of Giledonia or North Britain. The first settlers in Scottish Dalriada were Christians, who had been blessed by St. Patrick in person, and they formed the nucleus from which faith was to spread later in that part of the country.

From these facts we are able to estimate the close connection which sprang up between the two countries, and especially the surpassing interest felt in the spread of Christianity among the pagan peoples of the north by their Irish neighbors. In Strathclyde — St. Patrick’s birthplace — was the further attraction of the “Great Monastery” of St. Ninian, to whom Irish Christians looked for the attainment of sanctity and learning; in Dalriada their own countryfolk had settled, and their boundaries were growing ever wider — stretching on the one hand to the islands of the west and on the other towards the territories of the partly converted Southern Picts beyond the mountains, while to the north lay the vast pagan lands inhabited by Northern Picts. Add to this the fact that as early as the end of the century which saw the death of St Ninian, hundreds of former converts in Strathclyde and among the Southern Picts — dwelling between the Firth of Forth and the Grampians— had relapsed into paganism. The missionary zeal of the Irish was stirred on behalf of peoples whose destitute condition seemed to cry out: “Come over * * * and help us!” And to that appeal they gave a generous answer.

It was to Scottish Dalriada, as was natural, that the first Irish missionaries seem to have come. Among the first of these, if we are to accept the opinion which places his death in 507, was St. Modan. He was certainly one of the most celebrated; traces of his labors are to be found all along the west coast of Scotland. Many places still bear his name, although his life and labors have been forgotten by those who inhabit them. He was the son of an Irish chieftain, and became a monk early in life. All that is known of his after career is gathered from the many dedications in his honor in the districts where he preached. His first oratory was at Balmodhan (“St. Modan’s Dwelling”), a short distance from the later priory of Ardchattan, near Loch Etive; St. Modan’s Well is still pointed out. The site is one of great beauty and charm. Another ancient church of which he is patron is that of Rosneath, in Dumbartonshire. Its name signifies the “Promontory of the Sanctuary.” It was here that he was laid to rest, and his tomb was the bourne of a favorite pilgrimage. Kilmodan, on the Kyles of Bute, and another church in Argylleshire were also under his patronage. Scott testifies to the popular devotion shown to this saint in his “Lay of the Last Minstrel”:

“Then each to each his troubled breast,
To some blest saint his prayers addressed —
Some to Saint Modan made their vows,
Some to Saint Mary of the Lowes.”

As in the case of saints of Scottish origin, it is necessary for brevity’s sake to restrict our view to the chief figures of each century. To touch upon all would demand a volume rather than a few pages. We pass on, therefore, to a prominent saint of the same sixth century, St. Medan (also called Modwenna), an Irish nun who took part in the spread of religion in Scotland by the foundation of as many as six or more churches and monasteries for women. She had received the habit of a nun from St. Patrick himself, and was the dear friend of another of his disciples, the renowned St. Brigid. Medan was born in the district of Conaille, and after spending some years as a recluse in her own land, passed over to Scotland. The chief of her foundations was in Galloway, in the parish known by her name in the corrupted form of Kirkmaiden; her cave chapel is still existing close to the Mull of Galloway, near to the site of the ancient church, which, dedicated to the saint — as were also at least three other parish churches in the same county — gave the place its designation. Other churches were founded by St. Medan in Strathclyde; recent antiquarian discoveries on the top of Trapain Law, East Lothian, are considered by competent judges to have brought to light the remains of one of these. An ancient life of the saint says that one of her churches was situated on Mons Dunpeleder — a corruption of Dunpender, the original Celtic name of the hill in question. But still more interesting is the fact that a similar discovery made in 1918 under the chapel in Edinburgh Castle known as St. Margaret’s, has led to the conjecture that another of St. Medan’s foundations-that of Edinburgh — must have existed in that spot. If so, it is a striking corroboration of the opinion of the learned Dr. Skene, a former Historiographer Royal of Scotland, that the terms “Maiden Castle” and “Edinburgh” referred to this saint. Her name Medan, or Medana, is formed from Mo-Edana, after a common practice with regard to Celtic names, as will be seen more than once in this article. “Medan’s Castle” and “Edana’s Burgh,” in such cases, have suffered little change in course of time.St. Medan is said to have died in extreme old age at Longfordan, near Dundee, after a most penitential life, during which she made at least one pilgrimage on foot to Rome. In addition to her ancient dedications and her holy well at Kirkmaiden, the saint’s name has been perpetuated in the modem Catholic church at Troon, called SS. Mary and Medan; it stands appropriately in Meddan (or Medan) street in that Ayrshire town.
St. Brendan was another very popular saint in the western parts of Scotland. After missionary labors in Wales and the foundation of many monasteries in his native country, where he is said to have ruled over as many as 3,000 monks, he journeyed to Scotland. The exact sites of the two monasteries he founded there cannot be accurately designated: three in the Hebrides and the Island of Bute are conjectural localities. The many dedications of churches in his honor witness to the devotion shown to the saint, whether or not they were in some instances founded by him. They are Kilbrannan, in Mull; Kilbrandon, in the island of Seil; Boyndie, in Banffshire; Bimie, in Moray; Kilbimie, in Ayrshire, and a ruined chapel on St. Kilda. The fishermen of the Western Isles perpetuated until almost recent times an ancient appeal to the saint for a favorable wind. Though ignorant of the significance of the invocation, they would cry repeatedly: “Brainuilt, Brainuilt!” — a contraction, it is supposed, of the Gaelic equivalent for “Brendan the Voyager!” The title refers to the tradition perpetuated by narratives — probably dating long after the saint’s time — of his wonderful missionary voyages to regions hitherto unknown to mariners. Much in these stories is undoubtedly fabulous, but it is undeniable that the saint’s journeying was extensive. Some writers have maintained that he actually touched the American shore. However this may be, there can be little doubt that the tradition — familiar in every European country — of St. Brendan’s wonderful discoveries of vast countries in the west hitherto unexplored, kept in mind the possibility of lands existing beyond the western seas and led eventually to the discovery of the great American continent. The feast of St. Brendan, on May 16, has been restored to the Scottish calendar. He died in 577.

Considerations of space urge the passing over of such names as St Blane, whose church at Ehmbkine became one of the Scottish Cathedrals; of St. Finbar, of Cork, missionary to Kintyre, whose memory lives in the designation of the island of Barra and in other place-names; of St. Finan the Leper, patron of Glenfinnan, in Argyleshire, where his ancient bronze bell is still treasured, and of others of like renown. The prominent figure among the Irish missionaries of the century is the great Columcille, or, to give him his more customary title, St. Columba. It is impossible to pass by this world-wide saint without a few words of appreciation; yet to treat adequately his wondrous life with its labors, penances and miracles, is out of the question here.

The apostle of the northern regions of Scotland was born of kingly race in 521. He gave himself in his early youth to God’s service, and at twenty-five years of age founded his first monastery at Derry — the precursor of the hundred houses of God which Ireland was to owe to his unremitting zeal. As a proof of his boundless energy in the work of transcription which formed the chief labor of his monks, it is said that he actually wrote out with his own hands 300 manuscripts of the Psalter and the Gospels. In his forty-second year Columba was inspired with the resolution of carrying into effect a long-cherished project of leaving his beloved land to carry the Gospel to the pagans of Caledonia. On Whitsunday, 563, after a brief examination of the island of Oransay, he landed with twelve companions on Iona, destined to become the centre of their marvelously successful labors. When on June 9, 597, St. Columba was called to his reward in heaven, after thirty-four years of unremitting effort, his missionaries had carried the faith beyond the Grampians and even to Shetland and Orkney, while churches and schools of sanctity and learning had been fotmded on all sides, both on the mainland and adjacent islands. The traces of the cult paid to this saint in the shape of dedications, place-names, holy wells, fairs and the like, are too numerous to recount St Columba is credited with having founded no less than fifty churches in Scotland.

The work of evangelizing the north was continued with no less zeal by St. Columba’s disciples. Two of them deserve special notice. St Machar, called also Mochonna, son of a chieftain of Ulster, was one of the twelve first companions of the great missionary. After being consecrated Bishop he was sent to Strathdon with twelve others, to preach the Gospel there. Tradition says that St Columba commanded Machar to settle at a spot near the river Don, where the shape of a Bishop’s pastoral staff was formed by its windings, and that this led him to fix his see at Aberdeen. The old Cathedral there bears his name, as also two parishes in the county. His holy well was venerated near the Cathedral. St Machar’s feast falls on November 12 and was restored to the calendar by Leo XIII in 1898.

St. Drostan, the other disciple alluded to, lived beyond the end of the sixth century, and his name is in still greater estimation. He is said by some writers to have been born in Scotland of the race of kings of Dalriada. He became a monk at Iona, and was chosen by St. Columba to evangelize the district of Buchan in Aberdeenshire. In reward for the restoration to life at the prayer of Columba of the son of a Pictish chief, land was given for the establishment of a monastery on the bank of the river Ugie, about twelve miles inland from the Moray Firth. Drostan was left in charge, and his sorrow at parting with his master led to the place being called Deer. The Celtic legend embodied in the “Book of Deer,” the oldest Scottish MS. extant, preserved at Cambridge University, thus relates the circumstance:

“Drostan’s tears (deara) came on parting with Columcille. Said Columcille, ‘Let Dear be its name henceforward.’

The saint ended his days at Deer, and according to the Aberdeen Breviary, was laid to rest in a stone tomb at Aberdour, “where many sick persons,” it affirms, “find relief.” Before entering Iona, St.Drostan seems to have labored as a missionary in Inverness-shire. The beautiful and fertile valley known as Glenurquhart, opening out from Loch Ness, about twelve miles from Inverness, is associated with him. A small piece of land there is still called in Gaelic “St Drostan’s Croft,” and the glen was formerly styled Urchudainn mo Dhrostain— “St. Drostan’s Urquhart” — to distinguish it from other localities bearing the same name. There are numerous dedications to St. Drostan in Scotland. The churches of Aberdour and Old Deer in Aberdeenshire; Glenesk, Edzell and Lochlee, in Forfarshire; Rothiemay, Banffshire; Alvie and Urquhart, Inverness-shire; Halkirk and Cannisbay, in Caithness, are some of them. No less than five holy wells in the adjacent counties of Aberdeen and Forfar bear his name.

St Moluag, a contemporary of St. Columba, was a monk of Bangor who passed over to Scotland to work for souls. He took up his abode on the island of Lismore, in Argyleshire, and converted many to the faith. He founded churches and monasteries in other localities also, especially in Ross-shire. St Moluag’s name is an example of a custom alluded to above, of the addition of the prefix Mo to the actual designation of a person. His real name was Lugaidh (pronounced and sometimes written Lua); its Latin form is Luanus. Mo in Gaelic is a title of honor, and ag an endearing suffix; thus Moluag may be translated literally, “My own dear (little) Lugaidh.” Killmalomaig, an ancient burying ground near Fort Augustus, and reserved to Catholics long after the Reformation is named after this saint. St. Bernard, in his life of St. Malachy, relates of St Moluag: “One of the sons of that sacred family (Bangor), Lua by name, is said himself alone to have been the founder of a hundred monasteries”-this refers, of course, to Ireland.’ St Moluag died in 592.

Lismore became eventually the seat of the Bishopric of Argyle; and the ruins of the ancient Cathedral-said to be the smallest in Britain, though possibly much of the fabric has entirely disappeared -may still be seen. It bore the saint’s name as did also, many churches in the Western Isles as some others on the mainland. The pastoral staff of St. Moluag is in possession of the Argyle family. His ancient bell was lost at the time of the Reformation. Great devotion was shown to this saint both in Scotland and Ireland. He is styled in the “Feilire of Aengus”:

“Luoc the pure, the brilliant, the Sun of Lismore in Alba.”

St.Donnan,-another contemporary of St. Columba, was an Irish monk who journeyed with fifty-two companions to the Island of Eigg, in the Hebrides. While the Saint was saying, Mass, the pagans broke in upon them. Respite was asked until Mass was ended, when all were slain. The massacre was ordered by a female proprietor of the island, styled in ancient chronicles the Queen. The saint and his companions were reckoned martyrs, and many churches built in their honour in the Western Isles. The feast of St. Donnan and his companions has been restored to Scotland, and is kept on April 17 – the date on which Sunday fell in the year of their martyrdom, 617.

Mention has been made already of St, Finian, the founder of the celebrated monastery of Moville, in County Down, as haying studied at Candida Casa, St Ninian’s “Great Monastery” at Whithorn. It was at Moville that many notable Irish saints and scholars were trained _ St.Columba being one of them. St. Finian’s part in the evangelization of Scotland must not be overlooked. The Scottish tradition speaks of his having settled in Ayrshire with a few companions; and established monastic life in the Cunningham district; the abbey of Kilwinning, where Benedictines were established in a later age, is called after him, for its name signifies “Church of Wynnin.” The varying forms in which his name appears are to be accounted for by the character of the different languages used, There is a still more startling change of this kind in connection with the same saint.- After a pilgrimage to Rome, whence he returned to his own land with a treasure — precious in those early days — under the form of a manuscript copy of the Sacred Scriptures, Finian traveled to Italy a second time. Staying for a time in the city of Lucca, when that see was vacant, the people became so struck with his holiness that they procured his consecration as their Bishop. His life and miracles in that place form the subject of a portion of the “Dialogues” of St Gregory the Great. In Italy this saint is known under the designation of Frigidian. He died in 572.”

Another missionary of that epoch was St. Mirin, who preached the faith at Paisley, where his tomb became the bourne of many pilgrims. His name was perpetuated in the dedication of the important abbey of Cluniac Benedictines, founded there in a later age. There are many traces of other dedications to this saint and of holy wells called after him. The seal of the abbey bore his image with the inscription: “O Mirin, pray to Christ for thy servants!” Lights were kept burning round his tomb for centuries, and a small chapel of great beauty, built in the late fifteenth century by a devout citizen and his wife, in honor of St. Mirin and St Columba, is still to be seen annexed to the ruins of the ancient choir of the abbey. It is used as a mortuary chapel by the Abercorn family, who came into possession of the monastic property.

A female saint who inspired great devotion in Scotland was the virgin Triduanna. She lived as a solitary at Rescobie, in Forfarshire, about the seventh century. Of her a popular legend related that when a prince of that country conceived an unlawful passion for her and pursued her with his unwelcome attentions, Triduana plucked out her beautiful eyes— her chief attraction — and sent them to him. In reward she obtained the power of curing diseases of the sight She died at Restalrig (anciently written Lestalrig), a village about two miles from Edinburgh. Her tomb became a popular place of pilgrimage from all parts of Scotland, and was the most important shrine in that part of the country. Her holy well there was frequented by those who suffered from any affection of the eye Sir David Lyndsay, the satirical poet of the Reformation, ridicules the superstition of those who resorted to “St Trid Well” “to mend their eye.” On account of the popularity of this church, and the fact that Dean Sinclair, the superior of the collegiate body established there, was one of the most prominent opponents of the Reformation, the building was ordered by the General Assembly of the Kirk in the first year of the supremacy of the Reformers (1560), “to be razed and utterly cast down as a monument of idolatry.” This was so completely done that only fragments were allowed to remain.

In 1907, after the building had served for some seventy years (by means of partial restoration) as a chapel of ease to the parish church of South Leith, a scheme was set on foot to restore a small six-sided building hard by, which went by the name of “Chapter House,” but which had become entirely filled with earth and rubbish with trees growing out of it. Wonderful to relate, this was found to be a beautiful Gothic building which had once stood over a well of water, to which steps led down. There could be no doubt in the minds of antiquarians that this had been the famous “Trid Well” of pre-Reformation fame. The building has been put into complete repair. The saint’s name is met with in many different parts of Scotland, but in some cases it has undergone such changes as to render it almost unrecognizable. It occurs under the forms of Tredwell, Tradwell, Traddles, Trallew, Trallen, etc, and is found as far north as the Orkney Islands.”

It may be noticed here that legends speak of the coming of St Brigid to Scotland in an earlier century; there was certainly a widespread devotion to her, and one of her disciples founded a monastery for women at Abernethy, to which it is possible she may have come. The sacred songs of the Western Islanders are filled with the praises of Brigid, Patrick and Columba. Many churches too, bear St Brigid’s name.

Other Irish female recluses visited Scotland. Among these were St. Kentigerna, daughter of one Irish prince and wife of another, who took up her abode on an island in Loch Lomond, after her husband’s death. The island acquired the name of Innis no Catilich (“The Nun’s Island”), and is still so called. The old parish church of Buchanan, built there, was dedicated to her. It is now in ruins. St Kentigerna died in 733. A century later two other holy women from Ireland came over to Scotland to live a more hidden life and to pray for the people of the country. One of these emigrants was St. Baya (or Vey), a virgin recluse who lived in solitude on the island of Little Cumbrae, in the Firth of Clyde, where ruins of her chapel are to be seen. St. Maura, another Irish virgin, who governed a community of nuns on the mainland, used to visit her friend Vey for spiritual converse from time to time. She died at Kilmaurs (“Church of Maura”) in Ayrshire. These two saints flourished in the ninth century.

With St Kentigerna came her young son Foelan, both being in charge of her brother, – Comgan. The latter was prince of his province in Ireland, but had to fly for his life on account of opposition to his Christian rule, and took with him for safety his sister and her son. St. Comgan lived in great austerity in Lochatsh, Argyleshire, and died at an advanced age. There were many dedications in his honor in different parts of the country. One of the most important was Turriff, in Aberdeenshire, where a collegiate church was founded in the thirteenth century for the benefit of thirteen poor men who were maintained there. It was known as St. Comgan’s Hospital.

St. Foelan (or Fillan) spent some years with his uncle at Lochalsh, but the scene of his labors was Perthshire, where Strathfillan is called after him. Near Houston in that district are the ruins of an old church which bore his name, a stone hard by is called Fillan’s Seat, and a holy well once existed there, until a parish minister of the eighteenth century caused it to be filled up as a remnant of superstition. A fair was formerly held there also on the saint’s feast day. In Strathfillan are the ruins of another ancient chapel, close to the Holy Pool of St. Fillan, whose waters in Catholic ages were believed to have power in curing the insane. Even now it is much frequented — chiefly by Protestants — for the cure of various maladies; about a century ago a visitor relates that he saw hundreds of persons bathe in the water: the stones at the side were covered with gloves, handkerchiefs and bandages — a relic of Catholic practice in bygone days. Near Struan Church, in the same county, another well of this saint was once greatly esteemed as miraculous; St. Fillan’s fair was held there annually on his feast, January 9, and continued after the Reformation.

There are two notable relics of St. Fillan still in existence. His crozier is in the National Museum, Edinburgh; his bell, once kept near his holy pool, was carried off to England by a visitor more than a century ago, but was restored to Scotland later, and is now preserved in the museum of the Antiquarian Society in Edinburgh. The relic of the arm of the saint is said to have been instrumental in gaining for Robert the Bruce the victory of Bannockburn. The custodian had feared to risk the loss of the relic, and had brought to the battlefield the empty case only, but on opening the latter before the battle, the relic was found within it; the miracle is said by the chronicler, Boece, to have given such valor and confidence to the army that their success was the result. The saint’s feast was restored to Scotland by Leo XIII.

St. Adamnan, abbot of Iona, is famous for his Vita S. Columbae, styled by a Protestant writer of repute “the most complete piece of such biography that all Europe can boast of, not only at so early a period, but even through the whole Middle Ages.” He was born in Ireland, about 626, and belonged to the family of St. Columba. At the age of thirty-five he entered the monastery of Iona, and was raised to the abbacy about twenty years later. For learning and literary ability he ranks very high among ecclesiastics of his time, being well versed in Scripture and acquainted with both Hebrew and Greek; he is extolled for his holy and penitential life by St. Bede, Alcuin and many other of his biographers. Devotion to this saint is evidenced by the many churches dedicated to him, and the place-names still in use. His chief churches were Aboyne and Forvie (Aberdeenshire), Forglen (Banffshire), Kileunan (Argyleshire), Dull, Blair-Athole and Grantully (Perthshire), Kinneff (Kincardineshire), and Abriachan (Inyerness-shire). Many holy wells bore his name, and fairs were held on his feast day in some places. The name of Adamnan has passed into various forms in different localities; it has been, corrupted to Aunan, Arnty, Eunan, Ounan, Teunan (“Saint-Eunan”), Skeulan, Arnold, Eonan and Ewen — the latter being a favorite Christian name in the Highlands. St. Adamnan’s feast falls on September 23.

In the same eighth century flourished St Maelrubha, another Irish saint, very popular in Scotland. He passed over from Ireland in his thirtieth year and founded at Applecross, in Ross-shire, a monastery which eventually rivaled the Irish monastery where he had been trained; over it he ruled as abbot for more than fifty years. Throughout the whole of the west of Scotland and the adjacent islands he acquired a widespread reputation for sanctity. Scottish tradition has ranked, him with the martyrs, as having been slain by pagan Norsemen, but in this the Irish record do not concur. Antiquarians have maintained that with the exception of St. Columba, no saint had more churches dedicated in his honor in the western districts of Scotland than St Maelrubha, As in the case of St Adamnan, this saint also is known wider the most varied appellations — Malruf, Molroy, Mury, Maree, Errew, Olrou and the like. At many places fairs, were held, on his feast: at least twenty-one churches are enumerated as bearing his name – many of them, formerly considered as dedicated to St. Mary,.are now held by historians as having St Maree for titular.

Loch Maree, a beautiful fresh-water lake in Ross-shire, renowned for its magnificent scenery, is the most interesting locality connected with this saint. One of its many islands contains the remains of an ancient chapel and burying ground; a deep well near it was famed for the efficacy of its water in curing lunacy. The feast of St. Maelrubha falls on August 27; it was restored to the Scottish calendar by Leo XIII.

St. Adrian and his companion martyrs belong to a later century. An old legend, now held as unauthentic, made him a native of Hungary, who journeyed to Scotland with several companions to preach the faith there. It has been demonstrated by modem antiquarians that this saint is identical with Odhran, an Irish missionary, who took up his abode with several companions on the Isle of May, in the Firth of Forth, and there founded a monastery, which became in later ages a famous place of pilgrimage, after he and his monks had been martyred by the Danes. A Benedictine priory, under the jurisdiction of Reading abbey, in Berkshire, was established there by King David I. in the twelfth century; it was later transferred to the Austin Canons. St. Monan, one of the martyrs, who had preached the Gospel in Fifeshire, became patron of Abercrombie, in that county; the town became known as St Monance, on account of the translation thither of the saint’s relics, but is now generally called by its former title. St. Adrian and his companions were put to death about the year 875.

St. Geradin (or Gervadius) was an Irish hermit who took up his abode in the province of Moray in the latter half of the ninth century. The site of his cave was long pointed out at Lossimouth, now an attractive little watering place about five miles from Elgin. For many centuries this habitation was left intact; an ancient Gothic doorway and small window were built into the face of the rode, which acquired the name of “Holy Man’s Head.” More than a hundred years ago the stonework was demolished by a drunken sailor, and eventually the whole rock, with the sacred spring known as Gerardin’s Well, was scooped out by stone quarriers. No trace is left of it. The saint had an oratory at Kinnedar also; the spot is now identified with the churchyard of Drainie, the parish in which Lossiemouth is situated.Tradition tells that the saint was accustomed on stormy nights to wave a lantern to and fro, in order to warn passing vessels of the proximity of dangerous rocks. It is interesting to find this tradition perpetuated in the armorial bearings of the modem burgh of Lossiemouth: St. Gerardin, lantern in hand, is there portrayed, and above him runs the motto: Per noctem lux. A recently built Presbyterian church there has been named — contrary to the usual custom — after this local saint. St. Gerardin died in 934.

Many illustrious examples might be added to the above: the great Bishops Aidan, Finan, Colman, Malachy — all prominent in the history of their times — as well as others less known, such as SS. Boniface, Ronan, Voloc, Mamock, etc.; the abbots Regulus, Canice, Kieran, Kevin, Cumine, Baitan and the martyred Blaithmaic; the hermits Fiacre, Molios, Ethernasc, Fechin, Mahew, Fillan the Leper and others; these with many more took part in the evangelization of Scotland by prayer, preaching, and — more powerful than all else — the virtues of a saintly life.
Enough has been said to show the immensity of Scotland’s spiritual debt to the Island of Saints, and her acknowledgment of it by the loving reverence paid throughout the ages of faith to those holy sons and daughters of Ireland. May that devotion revive and increase in our own generation; then we may surely hope to experience the effects of the powerful intercession of the saints in the restoration of the faith of old to the people of Scotland.

Michael Barrett, O. S. B. Fort Augustus Abbey, Scotland.

The American Catholic Quarterly Review, Vol. 44, (1919), 331-343.
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November 30, 2017
Saint Rónán, August 18

August 18 is the feast of Saint Rónán, a name borne by a number of Irish holy men, most of whom are obscure. Pádraig Ó Riain’s Dictionary of Irish Saints records that the name is derived from rón, a seal. Canon O’Hanlon, in his account below, covers the dearth of information about the August 18 Rónán by diverting us to the island of Iona. As he so often does, however, he builds us up to embrace a possible Scottish connection only to let us down by admitting that there is no actual evidence to connect our saint of the day with the Rónán commemorated on Iona. We do get a charming sketch as compensation though:

St. Ronan.

There are several saints bearing this name, included in the Irish Calendars; but of most, we have nothing left to determine their identity or period, or even the localities with which they were respectively connected. At the 18th of August, the Martyrology of Donegal registers a festival in honour of Ronan, having in like manner, no further designation. In Scotland, also, this name appears to have been known, and it is found as a compound word in local denominations. On the east side of Iona, there is an old church, Tempul Ronain, and a village at a landing place, called Port Ronan, a little to the south of the cathedral and chief group of antiquities there. Tempul Ronain was formerly a parish church, dependent on the Monastery of Iona. It had a nunnery connected, in which several prioresses are said to have been buried. Towards the close of the last century, the nunnery church was quite entire, one end of it being arched and very beautiful; then also stood the parish church entire, but tottering. This was a building about the size of St. Oran’s chapel, and north-east of the nunnery, but inside of its enclosures. It is not known, however, to which of the saints named Ronan, this place had been dedicated.

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August 18, 2017
The Saints of Catholic Scotland

November 30 is the feast of Scotland’s patron, Saint Andrew, and thus a fitting occasion on which to bring a 1918 article by Dom Michael Barrett (1848-1924) on Scottish saints. We will not of course be straying too far off-topic for many Scottish saints have links to Ireland, a number of whom are mentioned here. I was also interested to learn of the two later medieval saints at the end of the paper, both of whom were new to me. The author was a convert to Catholicism who entered the Benedictine order and established a reputation as a hagiologist. His best-known work, A Calendar of Scottish Saints, is also available to read online through the Internet Archive:

THE SAINTS OF CATHOLIC SCOTLAND.

SOME three years ago, when the Chapel of St. Andrew and the Saints of Scotland in Westminster Cathedral was being decorated by the generosity of the Marquess of Bute, the present writer was privileged to assist in the compilation of the list of saints’ names now inscribed upon those marble walls. To many persons — Catholics, even — that enumeration has been matter for wonder; it has seemed almost beyond belief that so many holy ones, linked close to the history of Scotland, should have become so absolutely forgotten that their very names, for the most part, were unknown. It is indeed a matter for lament that until recent years many such saints should have attracted so little interest; still more is it to be regretted that the writers who have helped to perpetuate their memories must be sought for, as a rule, among non-Catholic antiquarians — we Catholics, the saints’ own brethren in the faith, taking but little interest in their histories or cult.

It may help forward this tardy appreciation, now at length beginning to stir in the minds of Catholics, if some brief notes on the subject be here offered. The names selected for the adornment of the chapel in question were carefully chosen from a larger number as representing saints authentically vouched for by reliable sources. It would encroach too much upon valuable space to attempt to touch upon even these. It will be sufficient for our present purpose to restrict our inquiry to the saints of Scottish origin alone, and of these only the better known. Dr. Hill Burton, sometime Historiographer Royal of Scotland, used to delight, as his Catholic widow told the present writer, in the gibe — without foundation, as will be seen — that all the Scottish saints were Irish! It is true that the intimate connection between the west of Scotland and adjacent Ireland in early ages led to numerous Christian missionaries passing over to preach the Gospel to the pagan races of the mainland; from this fact comes the preponderance of Irish names in the calendar of Scottish saints. Of these saintly men and their deeds it may be possible to speak on another occasion; in this paper we will confine our researches to Scots alone.

A preliminary remark suggests itself as to the sources of information upon which we have to rely. Of books or manuscripts on the subject there is a regrettable dearth. The “Breviary of Aberdeen” (1509), compiled by the illustrious Bishop of that see, William Elphinstone, founder of Aberdeen University, is the chief fount of information. Others consist of Irish ecclesiastical records. But alongside of these and forming strong corroborative evidence are the traces of the cult of ancient saints in the dedication of churches, in holy wells, fair-days and the innumerable place-names still in use. This will be recognized in passing.

The earliest saint of Scottish birth, and indeed the first authentic Christian missionary in the country, was St. Ninian. One of the best known of Scottish saints, his history need be but briefly outlined. St. Bede, in his History calls the saint “a most reverend Bishop and holy man . . . who at Rome had been regularly instructed in the faith and mysteries of the truth.” St. Aelred, a later biographer, gives further particulars. Ninian, he tells us, was the son of a Pictish chieftain of Galloway and was born about A.D. 360. After a youth of true piety, he journeyed to Rome, where Pope St. Damasus gave him competent instructors in all Catholic learning, and Pope Siricius ordained him, consecrated him Bishop and sent him to evangelize the pagan peoples of the west of Scotland. Not only did the saint convert the people of Galloway, but also the southern Picts, inhabiting the country north of the Forth; he ordained priests, consecrated Bishops, portioned out the country into missionary districts and founded at Whithorn a monastery destined to become the centre of learning and school of sanctity for Ireland as well as Scotland. From St. Martin of Tours — a relative, as it is said — he obtained workmen to erect the first stone church in Scotland. From its walls of shining white it gained the name of “Candida Casa” (“White House”), which gave the title, still borne by the Bishop of Galloway, to the see established by St. Ninian, as well as that of “Whithorn” to the town which grew up around it. At St. Martin’s death, before the building was finished, the founder determined to call the church by that saint’s name, but later ages changed it for that of Ninian. So popular was the devotion to this saint that in Scotland alone the churches dedicated to him are computed to have numbered at least sixty-three. In Ireland, too, his memory was deeply cherished. Though many writers give A.D. 432 as the date of his death, that is by no means certain.

It is a departure from the resolve to speak of Scottish saints alone if we interpolate here some remarks upon the mission of St. Palladius in the closing years of the life of St. Ninian; but it seems desirable for more reasons than one. From St. Prosper of Acquitaine we learn that Pope Celestine raised Palladius, the Roman deacon, to the episcopate about the year 431, and sent him as Bishop to the Christian Scots. At that date, Ireland was known as Scotia, and a well-founded tradition tells of St. Ninian having assisted Palladius in his missionary efforts in Ireland in the founding of a church and monastery there by the great Scottish Bishop. From many Irish records it is clear that Palladius visited that country, though some historians relate that he quitted it eventually on account of the people being ill disposed towards him. Scottish tradition, however, maintains that St. Palladius was a missionary in Scotland, where he carried on the work begun by St. Ninian. As proof of this, Scottish writers adduce the facts of the baptism of St. Ternan (to be mentioned later) by Palladius and the foundation by him of the church at Fordun, in Kincardineshire, where, as the historian Boece relates, his relics were translated to a silver shrine by Archbishop Schevez, a thousand years later. The ruins of his chapel at Fordun and a holy well there, called by his name, as also “Paldy’s Fair,” formerly held annually on July 6, are further proofs. The contradictory traditions seem to be reconciled by the testimony of the “Vita Prima S.Patritii,” written before the eleventh century; it is there stated that the saint on leaving Ireland was driven by a tempest to the east coast of Scotland and landed at Fordun. Other Irish writers hold the same view and have been followed by the Aberdeen Breviary. The Arbuthnott Missal, too, contains a hymn in celebration of his missionary labors. The chief reason for alluding here to St. Palladius is the fact of his mission in Scotland having been referred to, as a traditional belief, in the Bull “Ex supremo Apostolatus apice,” by which Leo XIII. in 1878 restored the Scottish hierarchy. The same Pontiff recognized, in 1898, the immemorial cultus of the saint.

Whatever difference of opinion may cast doubt upon the actual presence of St. Palladius in the country, there can be no denying the missionary labors of his disciple, St. Ternan. Scottish tradition tells of his baptism by Palladius, by means of a miraculous spring of water provided for the purpose. This, like many such embroideries of reliable history, need not detain us. What is certain is that Ternan took up the work commenced by St. Ninian in the northern district of which he was a native. He fixed his residence, after he became Bishop, at Abernethy, but other churches in the district were later placed under his patronage, a testimony to his missionary labors in those parts. Arbuthnott, in Kincardineshire, where an ancient Romanesque church of St. Ternan is still to be seen, was one of these. A manuscript missal, the only Scottish book of the kind that has survived the Reformation, was used in this church and is known as the Arbuthnott Missal, from the fact that Robert Arbuthnott, proprietor of the estate, caused it to be drawn up some time before his death in 1509 by the then vicar, James Sibbald. This missal contains a proper Mass and Office for St. Ternan, and St. Palladius, as already noted, is referred to in its pages. St. Ternan died at Abernethy, but was buried at Banchory, on the Dee, distinguished by the additon of the saint’s name from another Banchory in the district; the former is known as Banchory-Ternan, and the church, dedicated to him, possessed in Catholic ages not only his relics, but a copy of St. Matthew’s Gospel which had belonged to him, magnificently bound in gold and silver, and the saint’s bell. The latter is thought to have been identical with an ancient bell discovered in recent times during the construction of a railway; unfortunately, owing to ignorance, it was not preserved. St. Ternan was titular of the church at Slains, Aberdeenshire, and of chapels at Findon, Kincardineshire, and Taransay, in the island of Harris; at Findon is St. Ternan’s Well and at Banchory a fair was formerly held on his feast day, June 12, and may possibly still survive.

Thenog (or Thenew), mother of St. Kentigern (or Mungo), lived in the sixth century and was honored among Scottish saints; her feast day was celebrated on July 18. Her history is involved in much obscurity, for the legends that had grown up around it and were committed to writing six centuries later can scarcely be accepted as sober history. She is said to have been the daughter of a pagan ruler of Southeast Scotland, and that having been deceived and betrayed, she was about to become a mother. Her father in anger ordered the girl to be placed in a little coracle and set adrift on the open sea. The boat was launched at Aberlady, on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth, but it drifted inland towards the northwest and came ashore near Culross, in Fifeshire. A saintly hermit who lived there — Servan (or Serf) by name — befriended the outcast and the infant to whom she gave birth. He baptized both and educated the boy, who became renowned in Scottish annals as the illustrious Mungo. Thenog is said to have given herself to a life of prayer and penance. After her death she was invoked as a saint and her remains were honored in Glasgow Cathedral, where they were enshrined with those of her saintly son. A chapel was built in a later age on the spot where she landed, and its ruins are still to be seen. Another chapel was erected to her memory in the city of Glasgow; the street in which it stood (part of the present Argyle street) gained the name of St. Thenew’s Gate, and the chapel with its holy well hard by became a favorite place of pilgrimage. The chapel is mentioned in documents dating from 1426, and traces of it were still to be seen as late as 1736. Up to the end of the eighteenth century the well was a place of resort; votive offerings of metal eyes, ears, hands and feet still hung upon the old tree near it — witnessing to the power of the saint’s intercession. A Presbyterian church occupies the site of the ancient chapel; it bears the name of St. Enoch’s, a corrupt form of St. Thenog’s, which had passed into St. Tennoch’s in the course of ages. The square in which the modern church stands has given its designation to St. Enoch’s railway station. St. Thenog’s feast is given in the Aberdeen Breviary with a proper Office.

In this connection it seems desirable to treat upon St. Servan — known also as St. Serf — before passing on to the less debatable ground occupied by St. Mungo, his accredited disciple. Until comparatively recent times the story of the charity shown to the forlorn Thenog and her child passed without question. But modern historical critics pointed out an undeniable anachronism in the story which tended to cast doubt upon any connection between Serf and Kentigern. If St. Serf, as had been stated by Fordun and others, was, like Ternan, a disciple and fellow-worker with St. Palladius, who died about the middle of the fifth century, he must have been born about the beginning of that century, and at the birth of St. Mungo (given as 518) must have been a centenarian at least. This might pass, but other records mention St. Serf, the founder of the church of Culross, as a contemporary of St. Adamnan, and the head of the Culdees in the seventh century. The only possible explanation which can meet the case is to suppose that two saints bearing the same name lived at Culross at different epochs. Color is given to this suggestion by the fact of the absolute silence of any connection between St. Serf and St. Kentigern in one ancient life of the former still extant. Whatever be the case, the name of Serf was held in honor at Culross and the neighborhood. The saint’s cave became a place of pilgrimage, and the locality in which it stood, known as Dysart (“Desert”), gave its name to the town which sprang up there. Churches were dedicated to St. Serf at Monzievaird, in Perthshire, and Alva, in Stirlingshire; holy wells called after him were venerated in each of these places. Fairs held on his feast day at Abercorn and Aberlednock seem to point to dedications to him there also. But it was at Culross that his memory was especially cherished. The Cistercian monastery founded there in the thirteenth century united his name with that of Our Lady as titular; a fair was held there also on his festival. But more striking still, the custom prevailed at Culross from time immemorial of a procession of young men through the streets, all carrying green branches, on the 1st of July (St. Serf’s Day) and of the dedication of the remainder of the day to holiday sports and amusements; the Town Cross, too, round which the procession was accustomed to pass, was gayly decorated with garlands and ribbons. These festivities, evidently Catholic in origin, continued up to the time of George III. To avoid too many public holidays, they were transferred to the King’s birthday, and even survived the accession of Queen Victoria. St. Serf’s feast is placed on July 1 in the Breviary of Aberdeen.

Another saint whom tradition connects with St Ternan and who must therefore have flourished in the late fifth or early sixth century was St. Merchard, Bishop. Born of pagan parents in the district of Kincardine-O’Neil, Aberdeenshire, he became a Christian early in life and is said to have been ordained by St. Ternan, who associated him with himself in missionary labors. Tradition speaks of his having journeyed to Rome later in life and having been there consecrated Bishop. One of St. Merchard’s churches was in Glenmoriston, Inverness-shire; the writer is familiar with its site and the ancient burial ground, still in use, attached to it. The local tradition tells that the saint when laboring as a missionary in the neighboring glen of Strathglass, in company with two disciples, discovered by revelation three bright new bells buried in the earth. Of these he gave one to each of his companions and retained the third for his own use. Each was to take a different direction and found a church in a spot where his bell should ring thrice of its own accord. Two churches were thus built, one in Strathglass and the other in the Isle of Skye. St. Merchard scaled the hills towards Glenmoriston. The point where he came in sight of the glen is still called “Suidh Mhercheird” (“Merchard’s Seat”), and there his bell is said to have first sounded. Descending to the valley of the River Moriston, he came to a spot near Ballintombuie, where his bell rang the second time; the place is marked by a spring of excellent water, still called “Fuaran Mhercheird” (“Merchard’s Well”) by Protestants as well as Catholics. The old churchyard by the river, where his church was built, bears the name of “Qachan Mhercheird.” Whatever additions may have been made to the authentic story of the saint’s labors in that glen, it is beyond doubt that a very ancient iron bell was preserved in the churchyard for many centuries, even after the church had fallen to ruins in the seventeenth century. The narrow- pointed spar of granite which supported it may still be seen. The bell was removed by one of the lairds to his own residence, but so great was the dissatisfaction expressed by the people of the glen that he eventually restored it. Unfortunately it was wantonly hidden away by some half-tipsy strangers more than forty years ago, and has never since been found. A Scottish priest informed the present writer that he had questioned one of the delinquents in after years, but the man could not recall what they had done with the relic. Devotion to St. Merchard was very strong in that district in Catholic ages and the saint is still regarded by Catholics as the local patron; the small chapel in the glen, built when Catholics were far more numerous, bears his name. The saint’s remains were venerated at Kincardine-O’Neil, where a church was erected over his tomb. A fair was formerly held there for eight days, during the octave of his feast, which the Aberdeen Breviary places on August 24. He is sometimes referred to as Yrchard.

The renowned apostle of Strathclyde, St. Mungo, or Kentigern, must not be passed over, although his name has been more generally kept in remembrance than those of other Scottish saints. The legend of his education by St. Serf has been already mentioned. Mungo’s title to veneration rests upon his unwearying labors for the district of Scotland which he evangelized. The ancient kingdom of Strathclyde extended from the River Derwent, in Cumberland, to the Clyde. St. Ninian had long before preached the faith there, but in the course of two hundred years, owing to constant strife and warfare, it had almost disappeared. St. Mungo was to bring it back again by his imwearied labors, fervent prayers and the purity and austerity of his life. He took up his abode at Cathures, now known as Glasgow, where many disciples gathered round him. Eventually raised to the episcopate, he ruled his flock with all the ardor of an apostle. The persecution of a wicked king drove Mungo into exile. After preaching in Cumberland, where many dedications still bear witness to his zeal, he made his way into South Wales, where St. David, the great monastic founder, received him with affection. St. Mungo became the father of a flourishing monastery at Llanelwy, where mtore than nine hundred monks are said to have kept up by constantly renewed choirs day and night unceasing praise of God. Recalled to Glasgow, he left his monastic family in charge of St. Asaph, whose name took the place of the original designation, Llanelwy, and became, as St. Asaph’s, a centre of piety and learning and the seat of a bishopric. St. Mungo closed his career at Glasgow in extreme old age. He was laid to rest in the spot where the beautiful Gothic cathedral, still almost entire, was built over his tomb. There, in the magnificent undercroft, his resting place is pointed out to this day, although the splendid shrine, which kings delighted to visit out of devotion, was destroyed when Puritans ousted the Catholic religion. St. Mungo’s dedications, in England and Wales, as in Scotland, are too numerous to recall here. The date of his death is variously stated, but was probably 612, and certainly on the octave of the Epiphany, January 13. His feast, formerly kept on that day, is now observed on the 14th.

Of the two saints who follow, one is even better known than St. Mungo, and needs little mention here; the other is illustrious by reason of the connection between them. These are the great St. Cuthbert, the apostle of Lothian, and his master and teacher, St. Boisil. St. Cuthbert is generally classed among English saints, on account of his having been later raised to an English bishopric, but he has never been claimed as an Englishman by birth. The tradition of the church of Durham was that the saint was of Irish race, but this view does not tally with St. Bede’s account of Cuthbert, and the careful Bollandists for many reasons reject that tradition. The most reliable authorities are of opinion that he was born of lowly parentage in the neighborhood of Melrose. It was while tending his flock on Lammermoor that he had that vision of the heavenly glory of St. Aidan, the monk-Bishop, which turned his thoughts towards the monastic state. Later on he entered Melrose as a novice, and was received gladly by Boisil, the prior, who was enlightened to predict for the youth a glorious future in the Lord’s service. After years of monastic training, of teaching both by word and example, and of zealous missionary labors, which were most abundant and fruitful, Cuthbert was made Bishop of Lindisfarne, and for the two years he filled that office was a model of every virtue and a pastor full of zeal and charity. In the pages of St. Bede we have an authentic record of Cuthbert’s life and character, written not more than forty years after the saint’s death by one who was practically a contemporary and who styles him a saint. St. Cuthbert died in 687; he had been more than thirty years a monk. Eleven years after death his body was found still incorrupt. Incursions of the Danes rendered his tomb at Lindisfarne unsafe from desecration, and for two hundred years his body was conveyed from place to place, until it was laid to rest in Durham Minster. When Henry VIII. destroyed the sacred shrines of England St. Cuthbert’s incorrupt body was secretly moved by the monks of Durham to a secure hiding place whose exact locality has been handed down by tradition through certain chosen members of the Order of St. Benedict even to this present day.St. Cuthbert’s honored master, St. Boisil, was prior of Melrose, under the holy Abbot Eata. Melrose must not be confounded with the later Cistercian abbey of that name, founded by David I. Old Melrose was an earlier monastery which followed the rule of St. Columba, and had been founded by the same St. Aidan whose sanctity and glory had been revealed to the young Cuthbert. Boisil is styled by Venerable Bede “a monk and priest of surpassing merit and prophetic spirit”; he it was who welcomed Cuthbert to Melrose, and being deeply learned in the Scriptures, became his master and devoted friend. In 664 a terrible epidemic known as the “yellow plague” ravaged Scotland, carrying off numbers of the inhabitants. Boisil and Cuthbert were both attacked and in danger of death. But from the first St. Boisil foretold that he would die and St. Cuthbert recover, and so it fell out. Before the end, Boisil prophesied the future greatness of his beloved pupil and his elevation to the episcopate. In the few days remaining before Boisil’s peaceful death the friends were occupied in finishing the study of the Gospel of St. John, upon which they had been previously engaged. St. Boswell’s, near Melrose, took its name from this saint, and the church was dedicated to him. The present village of the name has sprung up at a little distance from the ancient place, which has now entirely disappeared with the exception of the old church, restored a century ago. St. Boisil’s holy well is near it, and an annual fair, held on July 18, seems to have some connection with the saint, although his feast in Scottish calendars occurs on February 23. St. Bede has written in great praise of St. Boisil’s personal holiness of life. His remains were translated to Durham Minster in 1030 and deposited near the body of St Cuthbert. Some other zealous Bishops who labored in various parts of Scotland must not be overlooked. St. Caran, a saint of the seventh century, was held in honor in the northeastern districts. At Fetteresso, in Kincardineshire, are the ruins of an ancient church dedicated to him. At Drumlithie, in the same county, is a holy well called St. Caran’s. A fair was formerly held on his feast day, December 23, at Anstruther, in Fifeshire, which seems to indicate the dedication of the church to this saint, though no other evidence is forthcoming. It may be remarked that it was at Anstruther that Knox preached one of his inflammatory sermons against idolatry which resulted in the destruction of the altars and images in that beautiful building. There are traces of the veneration of St. Caran in Strathrnore (Caithness) also, but he is thought to have been an east country saint. No particulars of his life are known to us; his feast is noted in the Aberdeen Breviary.

The next saint is far better known, and traces of his cultus are not far to seek in the northern counties of Scotland, where he labored and prayed. This is the illustrious Bishop, St. Nathalan, patron saint of Deeside, who was of Pictish race and flourished in the seventh century. He was born of a noble family at Tullich, Aberdeenshire, and from his earliest years was distinguished for fervent piety. In spite of his rank he loved to labor in the fields as a means of fostering prayer and subduing the passions. In a moment of impatience he once murmured slightly against God’s providence, and as a penance he resolved to make a pilgrimage to Rome, wearing a heavy chain which he secured by a lock and then threw away the key into the River Dee; the spot still bears the name of “Pool of the Key.” One legend tells of his buying a fish for food when in Rome and finding the key within it; but this is not the only saint of whom the like wonder is related. In Rome Nathalan became a cleric, and after years of study was sent at his own desire to preach the faith to his countrymen. He was consecrated Bishop and returned to Scotland, where he labored as a missionary all his life. Three of the Deeside churches — built at his own cost — were founded by him, Tullich, his native place; Bothelney (now called Meldrum) and Cowie or Collie. Irish records allude to him as visiting that country, and the foundation of the monastery of Dungiven, in Ulster, is attributed to him. Many wonders are related of St. Nathalan; distributing all his corn to famishing neighbors on one occasion, he sowed his fields with sand, and a copious harvest, it is said, resulted; by the fervor of his prayers he stayed a raging pestilence with which Bothelney was threatened. The latter miracle earned for the saint the observance of his feast day there in after years as a general holiday, when no work was permissible; the day (January 8) continued to be thus kept even in Protestant times, when the reason for it had long been lost sight of. There are many traces of St. Nathalan in Deeside. Meldrum was once known as Bothelney, said to be a corruption of “Bothnethalen” (“dwelling of Nathalan”); Nauchlan’s Well is a spring near the old church, and the saint’s fair was annually held there until comparatively recent times. A huge slab of granite, now forming the lintel of one of the doors of the church at Tullich, formerly lay within the building. It has an antique cross engraved upon it, and it is conjectured that it may have formed part of the saint’s tomb originally. St. Nathalan died about A. D. 678. His feast was restored to Scotland by Leo XIII., and is kept on January 28, as the actual day of his death falls during the privileged octave of the Epiphany.

Very little is known for certainty about St. Talarican, the Scottish saint of about the same period. The Breviary of Aberdeen actually styles him an Irishman; but Dr. Forbes, a competent authority, maintains his Pictish origin from the character of his name and from the fact that no saint who can be identified with Talarican is mentioned in Irish calendars. Beyond the fact of his having labored strenuously in the north of Scotland — evident from the dedications to him which survive, and his care to offer Mass daily, there are no particulars of his life extant. The large district of Inverness-shire, known as Kiltarlity, where the ruins of Beauly Priory may still be seen, took its name from this saint. The church of Fordyce, Banffshire, where “St. Tarkin’s Well” exists, and the saint’s fair was annually held; a former church and burial ground called by his name near Loch Portree, in Skye; the traces of another church in the island of Taransay — these are St. Talarican’s chief memorials. He died early in the eighth century; has feast falls on October 30. His cultus was restored by Leo XIII.

Another saint of the eighth century, St. Baldred, has been erroneously styled the disciple of St. Mungo, but there is evidence that he lived more than a century later. He retired to a hermitage on the Bass Rock, the lofty conical islet in the North Sea opposite North Berwick; from thence he made occasional missionary excursions to the mainland. He has been called the apostle of East Lothian; it seems certain that he founded at least three churches in Haddingtonshire — Aldhame, Tyningham and Prestonkirk. At the site once occupied by the former village (which no longer exists) is St. Baldred’s Cave on the seashore. At Prestonkirk, where the church bears his name, is a holy well whose water, as a Protestant authority relates, is renowned for its excellence for making tea! The saint is patron of Tyningham church also, and his chapel, though ruined, is still discernible on the Bass Rock. An eddy in the Tyne is styled “St. Baldred’s Whirl.” Simeon of Durham gives the date of St. Baldred’s death as 756, and Alcuin, writing in the eighth century, also mentions him. A curious legend, which is scarcely likely to meet with acceptance from modern critics, is recounted in the Aberdeen Breviary in the lessons of the saint’s office on March 6. At the death of the saint, it is said, his three churches on the mainland each laid claim to his body. Grace dissensions would inevitably have been caused had not the saint settled the dispute in a manner which gave universal satisfaction. When the rival claimants appeared to bear away the precious remains, they found side by side on the shore three bodies exactly similar, and each party carried back to their own church what each had ardently desired to possess.

It should be borne in mind that the pious and learned compiler of the Breviary in question does not vouch for the absolute accuracy of the legends there set forth. He has merely embodied the traditional lore which he had found in existence in the late fifteenth century. With regard to the legend in question, an explanation of its origin readily occurs: relics of St. Baldred treasured in each of the three churches might easily acquire the popular designation of “St. Baldred’s body” in each case. The legend in its later form might thus take shape in the course of passing ages. Similar cases are to be met with in regard to the sacred remains of other saints; a relic of a head, especially if preserved in a reliquary of appropriate form, tends to become in popular speech “the head” of the saint in question. Have we not heard, to our amusement, the oft-repeated accusation that the Catholic Church tacitly permits the veneration of various arms, fingers and even heads of some particular saint in various localities at the same time? Though other saints who flourished at about the same period as the above might be treated upon, it may be more satisfactory to pass on to others of greater interest found in a later epoch. St Duthac, the next to claim our attention, lived in the eleventh century. Though born in Scotland, he passed over to Ireland for the sake of Scriptural studies. After returning to his own land he was made a Bishop and gave himself to the spread of the Gospel in the districts of Moray and Ross. He is said to have been particularly zealous in hearing confessions. An Irish record relates that he died at Armagh, but this is not in accordance with Scottish tradition. His tomb at Tain, in Ross-shire, became one of the chief Scottish places of pilgrimage, and the Breviary of Aberdeen tells of his body having been found incorrupt there, seven years after his death, and of miracles wrought by his intercession. Some Scottish writers place St. Duthac’s death two centuries later than the Irish tradition, but it has been pointed out that the saint’s visit to Ireland for study is inconsistent with the state of that country in 1220, though it is quite compatible with circumstances in the earlier century. The discrepancy may perhaps be explained by allowing that St Duthac may have died at Armagh about 1065, but that his remains were translated to Tain in the thirteenth century. But another view suggests itself: Ardmanach was the name by which the district around Tain was formerly known; it is possible that “Ardmacha” of the Irish annals may be a corruption of this. Tain bore the Celtic name of “Baile Dhuich” (“Duthac’s Town”). The burg arms still retain his figure with the inscription, “Sanctus Duthacus.” Two annual fairs were called after him, one in March — “St. Duthus in Lent,” the other in December; as his feast day was kept in March, it seems probable that the fair held on the sixth day after Christmas commemorated that later translation of his body “to a more honorable shrine,” referred to by the Aberdeen Breviary, which seems to strengthen the tradition of his earlier birth. St. Duthus’ Cairn at Tain recalls the saint’s memory, as well as a holy well in Cromarty parish. Loch Duich, Kintail, Kilduthie, in Kincardineshire, and Arduthie, in the same county, are named after him. Aberdeen Cathedral possessed some of his relics, and his bell was honored at Tain in 1505. Leo XIII restored St. Duthac’s feast to Scotland, and his memory is celebrated on March 8.

The difficulty with regard to accurate dates, already referred to in other instances, occurs in relation to St. Bean, our next saint. Tradition makes him Bishop of Mortlach, but modem historical critics deny the existence of such a see. The evidence of the foundation of a Bishopric of Mortlach adduced by the historian Fordun— certain characters belonging to the See of Aberdeen — can no longer be accepted; the charters in question have been shown by internal evidence to be undoubtedly spurious. The Bollandists, however, incline to the view put forward by Robertson that though there was no See of Mortlach, St. Bean fixed his abode there. His connection with that Banffshire locality is proved by the dedicatiorv of the church to him, and the existence there previous to 1757 of an ancient stone statue traditionally reported to represent him. The place-name Balvanie (“Dwelling of Bean the Great,” as its Celtic form, “Bal-beni-mor,” indicates) is further evidence of the fact. The churches of Fowlis Wester and Kinkell, both in Perth-shire, were other dedications to this saint and an annual fair held at the former place on St. Bean’s feast, old style, as well as a sacred spring bearing his name are further proofs of his cultus there. He died on October 26, about the end of the eleventh century.

A curious blunder in the Roman Martyrology concerning St. Bean may here be mentioned. On December 16 is commemorated: “Aberdone in Hibernia sancti Beani Episcopi” (“At Aberdeen in Ireland the blessed Bishop Bean”). The explanation is not far to seek. An Irish Bishop of the same name was honored in that country on December 16, and the two came to be regarded as the same person. This led to the insertion in the Usuard of Molanus on that date of the following: “In Hybernia Beani episcopi primi Aberdonensis” (“In Ireland, Bean, first Bishop of Aberdeen”). A slight change in the wording produced the present extraordinary statement of the martyrology. St. Bean’s cultus was recognized by Leo XIII in 1898.

Regarding our next saint, we find the unusual instance of a Scotsman whose tomb in England became the bourne of an exceedingly popular pilgrimage in Catholic ages. St. William, honored later as a martyr, was a native of Perth in the latter part of the twelfth century. For many years he followed the trade of a baker. To atone for a period of irreligion in his youthful years, William began to lead a life of notable piety and charity. He made it a custom to bestow upon the poor in alms a tenth part of the bread he made. Finding a deserted infant lying abandoned in the street, he carried home the child and reared him as though he had been his own son until the lad grew to manhood. Desiring to make a pilgrimage to the holy places in Palestine, William set out, accompanied by this foster-child, by way of England. The two had passed through Rochester and were on their way to Canterbury, when the holy man’s companion, at a lonely spot near Maidstone, savagely attacked his benefactor with a blow from his staff, and having felled him to the ground, slew him with an axe. Robbing the body, he left it lying there and took flight. There the body lay for some days, until a mad woman in her wanderings discovered it. In childish sport she crowned the head with flowers and afterwards transferred the wreath to her own brow. In an instant she became of sound mind, and flying to the Cathedral, related to the clergy all that had happened. Touched by the miracle, they bore the body to the Cathedral for honorable burial. The circumstances of his death gained for William the title of martyr and led to the petition of Bishop Laurence de S. Martino to Pope Innocent IV. for William’s canonization; this was granted in 1256. The recognition of William’s sanctity led to the erection of a shrine in the Cathedral for his remains and a continually increasing concourse of pilgrims thither. From their generous offerings a new choir and a central tower and spire were added to the Cathedral. Among the pilgrims was the English monarch, Edward I., who made his offerings there in 1300. Pope Boniface IX in 1399 granted an indulgence to pilgrims to the shrine. A little chapel, erected at the spot where he had been slain, was evidently visited by pilgrims, as its name, “Palmersdene,” implies. Its ruins are still to be seen, near St. William’s Hospital, on the road to Maidstone. The relics of St. William of Rochester, as the saint came to be styled, met the fate of all such sacred remains in the general demolition of shrines in 1538. His feast was kept on May 23, which was probably the anniversary of the discovery of his body.

The last Scotsman canonized before the Reformation was St. Gilbert, Bishop of Caithness, who flourished in the thirteenth century. He was of noble birth, being son of William, Lord of Duffus. Entering the Cistercian abbey of Melrose, Gilbert became a monk. Later on he was raised to the episcopal See of Caithness, which he occupied for twenty years. His Cathedral at Dornoch was a humble building dedicated to the Irish saint, Finbar, who had been a missionary in those parts. The extreme poverty of the diocese and the unsettled state of society had prevented the erection of a worthier sanctuary. This became Gilbert’s first aim; under his direction and at his sole cost a beautiful Cathedral arose at Dornoch, an early English building, with aisles, transepts, central tower and lofty spire. The saintly prelate took a delight in laboring with his own hands in the work of erection and superintended the manufacture of glass for the windows in the glass works he had established for the purpose at Sideray. When the material building had been completed, St. Gilbert’s next care was the formation of his cathedral chapter. He established ten canons and adopted the use -of Lincoln in the sacred offices. The magnitude of his work may be better estimated by Waring in mind the half-savage nature of the people of his diocese at that period. Two of his predecessors had been either burned or stoned to death by an angry mob in return for what was considered excessive zeal on the part of the clergy; it was left to St. Gilbert, by his holy and wise administration, to tame, to some extent, such rebellious spirits. St. Gilbert dedicated his completed church to St. Mary the Virgin, a century after his death, which took place in 1245. It had come to be styled SS. Mary and Gilbert, for the many miracles attributed to him had led to his being regarded as a saint. In honor of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Gilbert, Pope Pius II conferred upon the Cathedral the privilege of “Sanctuary,” and the contemporary monarch, James III, confirmed the Papal grant by civil legislation In 1464. The relics of the saint were venerated in Dornoch until the Reformation; there is record of accused persons clearing themselves of charges by swearing “on the relics of St. Gilbert” and “touching the same relics” in the chapter house in 1545. The Cathedral was destroyed by fire in an affray between hostile barons in 1570, ten years after the overthrow of the Catholic religion in Scotland. It was rebuilt in modern times; the ancient tower has been incorporated into the present building. No portion of St. Gilbert’s shrine remains except a mutilated statue which is thought to have been part of it. The Breviary of Aberdeen gives St. Gilbert’s feast on April 1, the day of his death.

In this brief review of the chief saints of Scottish birth whom their fellow-countrymen delighted to honor in past ages it has to be confessed that there is a scantiness of detail as to many of them which is to be deplored. This is to be accounted for by the wholesale destruction of an immense number of documents referring to Church history, when lawless hordes were permitted and even encouraged to pillage and demolish all church property at the Reformation period. Father Thomas Innes (died 1744), one of the first in a later age to draw attention to the ancient Scottish Church and her history, writes thus on the subject:

“The registers of the churches and bibliothecs or libraries were cast into the fire; and these were so entirely destroyed that if in Scotland there had happened a debate about the consecrations or ordinations of Bishops and priests, either before or about the time of the Reformation, I do not believe that of all our ancient Bishops and priests, ordained within the country, there could have been found the register or act of consecration of any one of them — so careful were the Reformers to sweep clean away all that could renew the memory of the religion in which they had been baptized.”

The Protestant Archbishop Spottiswood in his history bears similar testimony. Writing about eighty years after the events he describes, he says: “Thereupon ensued a pitiful vastation of churches and church buildings throughout all parts of the realm; for every one made bold to put to their hands, the meaner sort imitating the ensample of the greater and those who were in authority. . . . The registers of the church and bibliothéques were cast into the fire. In a word, all was ruined.”

It is subject for thankfulness that some scraps of ancient records have been spared from the wreck to tell us the little that we are able to gather regarding the early saints of Catholic Scotland.

Michael Barrett, O. S. B.

Fort Augustus, Scotland.

The American Catholic Quarterly Review,Volume 43 (1918), 429-444.

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November 30, 2016