Part 4 (2/2)

He was an Englishman of good family, who, after some years of study in the monastery of Lindisfarne, followed the almost universal custom of those days and pa.s.sed over to Ireland, then renowned for its monastic schools, entering the monastery of Melfont. During his stay there a pestilence broke out which carried off a great number of the inmates. Egbert prayed earnestly to be spared that he might live a life of penance, making a vow never more to return to England, to recite daily the whole psalter in addition to the canonical hours, and to fast from all food one day in each week for the rest of his life. His vow was accepted and his life spared.

After some years Egbert was raised to the priesthood, and his zeal for souls led him to desire to preach the faith to the pagan people of that part of Germany then known as Friesland, In this project he was joined by some {72} of his pious companions. A vessel had been chartered, and all things were ready, when it was revealed to Egbert through a holy monk that G.o.d had other designs in his regard; in obedience to this intimation the voyage was at once abandoned.

The later life of Egbert exemplifies the way in which G.o.d chooses and preserves the instruments for accomplis.h.i.+ng His Will. Entering the monastery of Iona when already advanced in years, he spent the last thirteen years of his life in untiring efforts to induce the monks to give up the Celtic traditions to which they clung, and to conform to the Roman computation of Easter. His sweetness and gentleness were at last rewarded. On Easter Day 729 he pa.s.sed away at the ripe age of ninety, ”rejoicing,” as St. Bede says, ”that he had been detained here long enough to see them keep the feast with him on that day, which before they had always avoided.”

Though the monks of Iona did not then, as a body, accept the Roman custom, yet the seeds sown by Egbert bore fruit eventually in complete conformity with the rest of the Church, {73} St. Egbert thus merits a high place among the saints of Scotland, although but a short period of his life was spent in the country. He also shares with St. Willibrord the renown of converting Friesland to the Faith; for it was by his example and persuasion that the latter was induced to undertake the work which terminated so successfully. On account of his connection with the conversion of the country, the feast of St.

Egbert was formerly celebrated in the diocese of Utrecht. Some authors maintain that St. Egbert never took monastic vows, but was a priest living in the monastery; others say, and with good reason, that he was a bishop.

25--St. Cunibert, Bishop, A.D. 699.

This saint was entrusted by his parents for his education to some monks living in a monastery near the Tay, whose site cannot now be identified. He became a priest, and afterwards bishop. Towards the end of his days he retired into solitude as a hermit, and thus finished his earthly course.

St. Machalus, Bishop, A.D. 498.

He was a bishop in the Isle of Man, which {74} then formed part of Scotland. His name is variously written as Machalus, Mach.e.l.la, and Mauchold. One of the parishes in the island bears his name, and in the churchyard is the saint's holy well. A ledge of rock hard by is called his ”chair”; it used to be a favourite devotion of pilgrims to seat themselves on this ledge while drinking the miraculous water of the well and invoking the saint's aid. The water is said to have been effective in preventing the action of poison. Many churches in Scotland are called by his name. There was a chapel near Chapeltown in Banffs.h.i.+re known as Kilmaichlie, which seems to refer to this saint. A holy well is still to be found in the vicinity.

29--St. Middan, Bishop.

Very little is known of this saint. Some think him to be identical with St. Madden or Medan, who was honoured at Airlie, in Angus. Near the church of Airlie is a spring called by the name of St. Medan, and a hillock hard by is known as ”St. Medan's Knowe.” The bell of the saint was also preserved there till it was sold for old iron during the last century. Ecclesmaldie, {75} now called Inglismaldie, in the Mearns, has also a ”Maidie Well,” which may possibly be connected with St. Middan.

30--St. Brioc, Bishop, A.D. 500.

This saint was British by birth. He became a disciple of St. Germa.n.u.s and devoted himself to preaching the Gospel to his fellow-country men. Flying for his life from the fury of the pagan Saxons, he pa.s.sed over the sea to Brittany, and there built a monastery on the sea coast which was afterwards called by his name. The town which grew up in the vicinity became the seat of a bishop, and is still known as St. Brieuc.

There is no record of the saint having visited Scotland, but there was much devotion to him among Celtic peoples, and Scottish dedications bear witness to the honour in which he was held in that country. He is the patron of Rothesay; the church bore the designation of St. Mary and St. Brioc, and ”St. Brock's Fair” was held there on the first Wednesday in May. ”Brux day fair,” which seems to refer to this saint, was inst.i.tuted in 1585 to be {76} held in July every year on the island of c.u.mbrae, but it has long ceased to be kept. Dunrod Church, in Kirkcudbright, bears the dedication of St. Mary and St. Brioc. The island of Inchbrayock in the Esk, near Montrose, is called after him. The French keep his feast on May 1st, but in Scotland it was celebrated on April 30th.

MAY

1--St. Asaph, Bishop, A.D. (about) 590.

St. Asaph was one of the most eminent of the disciples of St. Mungo (Kentigern). When the latter was driven from Scotland he took refuge in Wales and there founded a monastery, which attracted a great number of disciples desirous of placing themselves under his guidance. It was to Asaph that St. Mungo resigned the government when he himself was allowed to return to Glasgow. Owing to the sanct.i.ty and renown of the new abbot the monastery eventually bore his name.

St. Asaph was consecrated Bishop about A.D. 650, and his diocese has {77} retained the name of St. Asaph's for thirteen centuries. Some writers have maintained that St. Asaph accompanied his master to Scotland, but it seems more probable that Scottish devotion to him originated in his close connection with the ”beloved” saint of Glasgow. Many traces of this devotion still survive. In the island of Skye is a ruined chapel dedicated to him called ”Asheg.” In that island is also an excellent spring of clear water known as _Tobar Asheg_, or St. Asaph's Well. Kila.s.sie, an old burial ground near Loch Rannoch, also takes its name from him.

The most interesting of these remains is a ruin in the island of Bearnarey, in the Sound of Harris. It is evidently a chapel of the saint and is called _Cill Aisaim_. Near it once stood an obelisk about eight feet high, bearing sculptured symbols, and in comparatively recent years this was surrounded by heaps of coloured pebbles, coins, bone pins, and bronze needles, which were probably pilgrims offerings. The obelisk was broken up some years ago and its materials used for building, but a Scottish antiquarian managed to gain possession of a fragment. {78}

3--St. Fumac.

This was a saint specially venerated in Banffs.h.i.+re. He was the patron of Botriphnie or ”Fumac Kirk” in that county. According to an old MS.

of the eighteenth century, the wooden image of the saint was formerly preserved there, and the old woman who acted as its custodian used to wash it with all due solemnity in St. Fumac's Well on the 3rd of May annually. This image was in existence in 1847, but a flood of the Isla swept it away to Banff, where the parish minister in his Protestant zeal burnt it. St. Fumac's Fair was kept on this day at Botriphnie and also at Dinet, in Caithness, and Chapel of Dine, Watten, in the same county.

9--St. Comgall, Abbot, A.D. 602.

He was a native of Ireland, and founder and ruler of the renowned monastery of Bangor, where he is said to have governed no less than three thousand monks. In the year 598, anxious, like so many of his countrymen, to bring the blessing of the Christian Faith to Scotland, he left his native land to found a {79} monastery in Tiree. He was a great friend of St. Columba, and was one of that saint's companions in the journey to Inverness and the miraculous conversion of King Brude. St. Comgall did not remain permanently in Scotland; he died in Ireland, and was laid to rest at Bangor. The date of his death is given by Irish authorities as the 10th of May, but his feast has always been celebrated in Scotland on the 9th. The church of Durris, Kincardines.h.i.+re, bore his name, and an annual fair, the only remains of his festival in Protestant times, was formerly held there on this day.

16--St. Brendan or Brandan, Abbot, A.D. 577.

He was born in Ireland, and in early youth became the disciple of St.

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