853. National MSS. of Scotland, Part iii. No. 84.
854. J. Major, Historia Majoris Britanniæ, B. i. c. 4.
855. See Barbour’s Bruce, edited for the Spalding Club, Preface, p. xviii.
856. Ais-eiridh na Sean Chanoin Albanaich: no an nuadh oranaiche Gaidhealach.
857. Quoted in the dissertation prefixed to the poems of Ossian, by the Rev. Archibald Clerk, vol. i. p. 3.
APPENDIX.
I.
THE OLD IRISH LIFE OF ST. COLUMBA,
The following is a literal translation of the Irish Life of St. Colum Cille, as contained in the Leabar Breac (Royal Irish Acad. Library, indicated by the letters L. B. in the foot-notes), collated with another copy preserved in the Book of Lismore in the same library (distinguished in the notes by the letter L.), and with the text of a Gaelic MS. in the Advocates’ Library, Edinburgh (indicated in the notes by the letters A. L.).
Of these texts, that of the Leabar Breac (L. B.), transcribed about the year 1397, is certainly the oldest, not only as regards the date of transcription, but also as regards the language, which is remarkably pure, and may be considered as fairly representing a text composed some three centuries before.
The second in point of age is the text of the Book of Lismore (L.), which was copied about the year 1460. The narrative agrees pretty closely with the account of St. Colum Cille’s Life in the Leabar Breac; but the language in L. is much more modern than that of the latter MS., and seems to have been reduced by the transcriber of L. to the standard of the time in which he wrote.
The date of the Advocates’ Library MS. (A. L.) is apparently a little more recent than that of the Book of Lismore (L.), with the text of which, however, A. L. agrees, as far as the contents of both MSS. correspond.
The Leabar Breac account may be regarded as the original from which the narrative in the Book of Lismore has been taken, notwithstanding that the curious specimens of Latinity with which the Leabar Breac text is interlarded are wanting from the latter, as they are also wanting from the MS. A. L. But the copy in the Advocates’ Library MS. must have been taken from some independent authority, as it contains several paragraphs not found in the Leabar Breac or Book of Lismore. This additional matter has been included in the following translation, enclosed within brackets, as at pp. 482, 488, 504, 505-507.
The insertion beginning with the bracket on p. 494, and ending with the bracket on p. 502, has been translated from the copy of the Amra (or Eulogy) of St. Colum Cille, composed by Dallan Forgall, contained in A. L., compared with copies of the same curious tract in the Leabar Breac and in the Yellow Book of Lecan (Trin. Coll., Dublin).
The following account of St. Colum Cille is rather a sermon than a ‘Life,’ as the author here and there speaks as if addressing a congregation on the occasion of commemorating the Saint’s festival. (See pp. 473-507.)
Such as it is, however, the reader may regard it as a very literal translation from the original.
Exi de terra tua, et de cognatione tua, et de domo patris tui, et vade in terram quam tibi monstravero. ‘Leave thy country and thy land, thy kindred and natural inheritance,[858] for my sake, and go into the land which I shall show unto thee.’
The Lord Himself it was that gave this friendly counsel to the head of the perfect faith and perfect religion—viz., to Abraham, son of Thare—that he should leave his own country and land, i.e. the land of the Chaldees, and go in pilgrimage into the country which God had shown to him, viz., the Land of Promise.
Moses, also, the son of Amram, the leader of God’s people, the man who was filled with the grace and abundance of the Holy Spirit—’twas he that wrote this holy narrative[859] beyond in the genesis of the law, in order that the friendly counsel which the Lord Himself gave to Abraham in imposing[860] pilgrimage upon him might abide always with the church, when He said, Exi de terra, ‘Leave thy country and thy land for my sake.’
Haec quidem historia[861] nota est, Abraham a Domino preceptum fuisse ut terram Caldeorum desereret et terram repromissionis[862] adiret. ‘It is a famous story in the Scriptures, the Lord Himself imposing it on Abraham to leave the land of the Chaldees, which was his rightful patrimony, and go in pilgrimage to the Land of Promise, because of the benefits that would arise therefrom to himself, and to his children, and to their race after them.’
Iste autem Abraham caput fidei est, et pater omnium fidelium, sicut dicit Apostolus. ‘The man, moreover, to whom God gave this counsel, viz., Abraham, he it is that is reckoned in the Scriptures as father of all the faithful, as the Apostle certifies when he says Omnes qui sunt ex fide, hii sunt filii Abrahæ: “they are truly the sons of Abraham,” says the Apostle, “all those who imitate the perfect faith.”’
Quod autem patri fidelium precipitur,[863] hoc omnibus filiis ejus implendum relinquitur, ut terram suam deserant et carnalem patriam derelinquant. ‘The good [counsel],[864] then, that God enjoined here on the father of the faithful, viz., on Abraham, is also required to be observed by his sons after him, viz., by all the faithful, to wit, that they should abandon their country and land, their wealth and worldly delight, for the Lord of the elements, and go in perfect pilgrimage after his example.’example.’
Tres autem sunt modi vocationum. ‘In three ways, moreover, the people[865] are called to the knowledge and friendship of the Lord.’
Primus ex Deo. ‘The first way is, firstly, the inciting[866] and inflaming of the people by the divine grace, that they may come to serve the Lord, after the example of Paul and the monk Anthony, and of the other faithful monks who served God yonder in Egypt.’
Secundus per hominem. ‘The people are called, then, in the second way through man, viz. through the holy preceptors who preach in the divine Scriptures to the people, after the example of the Apostle Paul, who preached to Gentiles, until he brought them by the net of the Gospel to the harbour of life.’
Tertius ex necessitate. ‘The people are called, then, in the third way, through necessity, viz., when they are forced to serve God through tribulations and perils of death, or through parting with their temporal goods,[867] according to the example of the people of Israel, who frequently turned to the Lord from the worship of idols and images when forced to do so by the troubles and hardships they suffered[868] from the stranger tribes, as is related in the Holy Scriptures.’ Hinc David dicit. ‘And it is to illustrate this the prophet David says, “Clamaverunt ad Dominum cum tribular[u]ntur, et de necessitatibus eorum liberavit eos.”’ ‘When the people of Israel would experience[869] great tribulations and hardships, they used to implore and beseech the Lord until He used to free them from those hardships.’
Abraham igitur divina gratia instinctus mandatum quod fuerat ei imperatum a Domino implevit,[870] et exiit[871] in Haran,[872] in qua mortuus est pater ejus, et inde transmigravit in terram repromissionis.[873] ‘Abraham, then, the head of perfect devotion, and of the perfect faith, when prompted by the divine grace, fulfilled the commandment imposed on him by the Lord—viz., he went into the land of the Chaldees [to Haran,[874] where his father died; and went from thence] to the Land of Promise.’
Tribus autem modis patria deseritur, uno inutili et duobus utilibus. ‘There are also three modes by which one leaves his patrimony when he goes as a pilgrim; and there is one of them for which no reward is obtained from God, and [there are] two for which it is obtained.’
Aliquando enim patria corpore tamen relinquitur, nec mens a carnalibus studiis alienatur, nec bona opera appetuntur. ‘That is because[875] sometimes one leaves his patrimony in the body only, and his mind abstains[876] not from sins and vices, and he yearns not to do acts of virtue or good works.’
In tali igitur peregrinatione nil nisi afflictio corporis sit, nullus vero anime profectus. ‘From the pilgrimage that is performed so, moreover, neither fruit nor profit[877] arises to the soul, but vain labour and motion of body; for it is little profit to one to abandon his fatherland, unless he does good away from it.’[878]
Nam et postquam Abraham corpore patria exivit,[879] tunc ei[880] dominus dixit. ‘For even Abraham himself, it was after he had left his own country, and after separating from it according to the body, that the Lord gave him this counsel, when He said, “Exi de terra tua,” “Withdraw thy mind henceforth from thy country and from thy land, and let not thy intention be towards returning to it again.”’
Ac si aperte diceret, carnalia vitia patriæ in qua fueras corpore, mente simul et corpore devita. ‘As if it was what God Himself would openly say to Abraham, “Avoid in body and mind from henceforth, in thy pilgrimage, the sins and vices of the country in which thou didst formerly abide according to the body;” for it is the same to one as if he would abide[881] in his fatherland, if he followed the customs of his fatherland in his pilgrimage.’
Non enim in via pedum sed in via morum proximatur ad Dominum. ‘For it is not by way of foot, nor by motion of body, that one draws nigh unto God, but through the exercise[882] of good customs and virtues.’
Aliquando mente tamen patria relinquitur et non corpore sicut sunt quidam qui quamvis in patria peragunt vitam regione, patriam tamen vivendo carnaliter non norunt, sed justis causis quibusdam cogentibus in suis locis manent habitantes quasi non habitantes. ‘Another time, however, one leaves his fatherland from zeal of heart and mind, although he leaves it not in body, as happens to the dignitaries who spend their lives in their own countries until death, because laics and clerics[883] detain them in the lands in which they may be, on account of the extent of their usefulness to all; and because that it is not through[884] carnality they remain in their fatherland, their good-will[885] comprehends pilgrimage for them with the Lord.’
Aliquando mente et corpore, ut sunt hii quibus dicitur. ‘Sometimes, moreover, one leaves his country altogether in body and mind, as the Apostles and the people of the perfect pilgrimage left it, to whom the Lord promised great benefits in the Gospel, when He said, “Vos qui dereliquistis omnia propter me, patrem et matrem, uxorem filios et filias, agrum et omnia quae habere potuistis, centuplum accipietis in hoc saeculo, et vitam eternam in futuro.” “Make sure of this,” said Jesus, “little or much[886] as you have abandoned for my sake your country and kindred, your possessions and worldly pleasures, that you shall receive a hundred times the equivalent of good from me here in this world, and in the perpetual life beyond after the judgment of doom.”’
Hii sunt veri peregrini[887] qui cum psalmista possunt dicere. ‘These are truly the people of the perfect pilgrimage in whose persons the prophet said, in proclaiming and giving thanks to God, “Advena sum apud te, Domine, et peregrinus sicut omnes patres mei,” “I give thee thanks for it, O God,” says the prophet, “that I am in pilgrimage and exile in the world, after the example of the seniors[888] who have gone before.”’
Multitudes of the faithful servants of the Lord, moreover, both of the Old and New Testament, have perfectly observed this profitable counsel, viz., left their country and land, their patrimony and kindred, for the sake of the Lord of the elements, and went in voluntary pilgrimage to far distant countries, in the same way as he observed it, and abandoned his natural inheritance for the love and fear of the Lord—the eminent saint and eminent sage, and the elect son of God, for whom there is a festival and commemoration at the occurrence[889] of this season and time, i.e. Sanctus presbyter[890] Columba, viz., the illustrious priest of Inis-Gaidel,[891] the battle-brand who was endowed with the talents and various gifts of the Holy Ghost, to wit, the person[892] Saint Colum Cille, son of Fedlimidh [son[893] of Fergus Cennfoda, son of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Naoighiallach].
When the Christians, moreover, celebrate the festival and solemnity of Colum Cille’s obit, is on the fifth of the ides of June, as regards the day of the solar month[894] every year, in this day to-day, etc. The learned of the Gaidel likewise relate, at that time every year, a few particulars[895] in illustration of the good family and nobility of Saint Colum Cille, and also of the innumerable prodigies and miracles the Lord wrought for him in the world here, and of the distinguished end and termination He ultimately granted to his victorious career, viz., his reaching to his own true patrimony and true inheritance, i.e. to the possession of Paradise in the presence of God for ever.[896]
Noble, then, was the family of Colum Cille in respect of the world, viz., of the race of Conall son of Niall was he.[897] He was eligible to the kingship of Eriu according to family,[898] and it was offered[899] to him, if he himself had not abandoned it for God.
It is manifest, moreover, that he was an elect son of God, because the patron saints[900] of Ireland were foretelling him before his birth. In the first place, the senior of the priests of Ireland, viz., Old Mochta of Lugbad,[901] foretold the person Colum Cille, one hundred years before his birth; for on one occasion Mochta’s cook, MacRith his name, went with a cup of nuts in his hand for him, whereupon Mochta said to him, ‘Not mine,’ said he, ‘is the land from which those nuts were brought; preserve them until the person comes whose land it is.’ ‘When will that time come?’ asked the cook. ‘At the end[902] of a hundred years,’ said Mochta.
Mochta was wont, then, to turn his face towards the north when praying. His people used to ask him why he did so; ut dixit[903] to them:—
The father of baptism and doctrine of the Gaidel, viz., [Saint][906] Patrick, foretold him, when he was blessing Conall in Sith-Aedha, the time he placed his two hands on Conall and his son, Fergus son of Conall, to wit, his right hand on the head of Fergus, and his left hand on the head[907] of Conall. Conall wondered at that, and asked him why he had placed his hands so, when Patrick uttered this rann:[908]
Brigid[911] also foretold him when she said:—
Bishop Eoghan of Ard-Stratha[913] likewise foretold him, when he said:—
Buite[914] son of Bronach also, at the hour of his death, foretold the person Colum Cille, on which occasion he said to his people,
‘A child illustrious before God and men will be born on this night to-night, and he shall come here before thirty years from this night. Twelve men, moreover, will be his company; and he it is that will discover my grave, and measure[915] my cemetery; and our union shall be in heaven and in earth.’
As the birth of Colum Cille was thus predicted by the patron saints of Eriu, so was it manifested[916] in visions and dreams, as it was manifested[916] in the vision that appeared to his mother, viz., it seemed to her that a large garment was given to her which reached from Innsi-mod[917] to Caer-nam-brocc,[918] and there was not of the colours [of the world[919]] a colour that was not in it. She saw a young man in splendid raiment, who bore the garment away from her into the air. And Eithne was grieved at this. And she thought that the same young man came towards her again, and said to her, ‘My good woman,’ said the young man, ‘thou shouldst not exhibit grief, but joy and gladness[920] were fitter for thee; for what this garment signifies is, that thou wilt bear a son, and Eriu and Alba will be full of his teaching.’
The attendant woman[921] also saw a vision, viz., that the fowls of the air, and of the earth, as she thought, carried the bowels of Eithne throughout the regions of Eriu and Alba. [Eithne[922] herself, however, gave the interpretation of that vision; and what she then said is, ‘I shall bear a son,’ said she, ‘and his teaching shall extend throughout the regions of Eriu and Alba.’]
As it was[923] predicted by the patron saints[924] of Eriu, moreover, and as it was[923] seen in visions, so was Colum Cille born.
Gortan,[925] then, is the name of the place in which he was born. On the seventh of the ides of December, moreover, as regards the day of the solar month, he was born; on Thursday, as regards the day of the week.
Illustrious, indeed, was the boy born there—the son of the King of heaven and earth, viz., Colum Cille, son of Fedlimidh, son of Fergus, son of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Naoighiallach. His mother, then, was of the Corprige[926] of Leinster, viz., Eithne ‘the noble,’[927] daughter of Dima son of Noe.
Immediately after his birth, moreover, he was taken in order that the illustrious priest Cruithnechan, son of Cellachan, should baptize him. And he (Cruithnechan) subsequently fostered[928] him, after the angel of God had told him to do so.
When the time, then, arrived to him that he should learn,[929] the cleric[930] went to a certain prophet who was in the country to ask him when it would be right for the boy to begin. As soon as the prophet observed the heavens,[931] what he said was,[932] ‘Write now for him his alphabet.’ It was then written in a cake; and how Colum Cille ate the cake was thus, viz.—the half of it at the east side of water,[933] and the other half at the west side of water. [The prophet[934] said, through the gift of prophecy, ‘Thus shall this boy’s land be, viz., the half of it to the east of the sea (i.e. in Alba), and the other half of it to the west of the sea, to wit, in Eriu.’]
It was not long after that until he and his guardian went to Brugach son of Dega, the bishop, to the Raths of Magh-enaig[935] in Tir-Enna. It was commanded to his guardian, the cleric,[936] to perform the office of priest in that place on the festival. But great shame seized him, so that he was unable to recite the psalm that fell[937] to him. That psalm, then, is ‘Misericordias.’[938] But the son of grace, Colum Cille, recited the psalm in the place[939] of his guardian, although he had not read but his alphabet before that; so that the names[940] of God and Colum Cille were magnified through that great miracle.
Another time he and his guardian[941] went to attend a sick man. As they were going through a wood, the cleric’s (Cruithnechan’s) foot slipped on the path,[942] so that he fell, and died[943] suddenly. He (Colum Cille) placed his cloak under the cleric’s head, thinking[944] that he was asleep, and began rehearsing[945] his lessons, so that some nuns heard his loud reading as far as their church. What the learned relate is that there was a mile and a half between them, and the sound of his voice used to be often heard that distance, ut dixit:—
The nuns came afterwards, and found the cleric dead before them;[947] and they told him (Colum Cille) to resuscitate[948] the cleric for them. He went[949] forthwith to resuscitate[948] the cleric; and the cleric arose from death, at the word of Colum Cille, as if he had been asleep.
Colum Cille made an offering, after that, to the Lord of the elements, and solicited three requests from Him, viz., chastity, and wisdom, and pilgrimage. The three were fully given unto him.
He subsequently bade farewell to his guardian; and the guardian earnestly gave him permission[950] and a benison. Afterwards, he went to the illustrious bishop, viz., to Finden of Maghbile,[951] to learn knowledge. One time there Finden said that wine[952] was wanting from the offering. Colum Cille blessed the water, so that it was turned into wine, and put into the mass chalice. The name of God and Colum Cille was magnified by that miracle.
He afterwards bade fate well to Finden, and went to Master Gemman.[953] One time as he was learning[954] his lessons with Gemman, they saw a girl coming towards them, escaping before a certain murderer, until she fell in their presence, and the ruffian[955] killed her. Colum Cille laid[956] a word of malediction upon him, so that he died immediately.
He (Colum Cille) afterwards took leave of Gemman, and went to Finden of Cluain-Eraird.[957] He asked of Finden in what place he would make his bothy. Finden told him to make it at[958] the door of the church. He then made his bothy, and it was not at[958] the door of the church at that time. He said, moreover, that it would be the door of the city afterwards; and this thing was even fulfilled.
At supper-time[959] each man in turn of the apostles[960] used to grind his quern. An angel of the God of heaven, however, that used to grind in place of Colum Cille. That was the honour the Lord used to give to him, because of his nobility above all.
A vision appeared another time to Finden, viz., two moons ascended from Cluain-Eraird, to wit, a golden moon, and another, a silvery moon. [The golden moon went to the north of the island,[961] so that Eriu and Alba were illumined by it.] The silvery moon went and rested over[962] the Shannon, so that Eriu in the centre was illumined by it. Colum[963] Cille, moreover, with his grace, and with his good actions, and with the gold of his nobility and wisdom, was the golden moon. Ciaran, son of the carpenter,[964] with the splendour of his virtues and good actions, was the silver moon.
Colum Cille afterwards bade farewell to Finden, and went to Glaisnoiden,[965] for there were fifty persons learning in that place with Mobii, including Cainnech, and Comgall, and Ciaran. Their bothies, moreover, were at the west side of the water.[966]
One night there and the bell was struck for matins. Colum Cille went to the church. There was a great flood that night in the river. Colum Cille, nevertheless, went through it with his clothes on. ‘Bravely dost thou come there to-night, descendant of Niall,’ said Ciaran[967] and said Mobii. ‘God is able,’ said Colum Cille, ‘to ward off the labour from us.’ As they were coming out of the church, they saw the bothies at the east side of the water, in the vicinity of the church.
One time there a large church was built by Mobii, and the clerics were considering what each of them would like to have the church full of.[968] ‘I should like,’ said Ciaran, ‘its full of “sons of the church,” who frequent the canonical hours.’[969] ‘I should like,’ said Cainnech, ‘its full of books, to be used by “sons of life.”’ ‘I should like,’ said Comgall, ‘its full of sickness and diseases to be in my own body, to my subjugation and chastisement.’
Colum Cille, however, chose[970] its full of gold and silver, to make reliquaries and monasteries therewith. Mobii said that it should not be so; but that Colum Cille’s community would be richer than every community, both in[971] Eriu and Alba.
Mobii told his protégés to leave the place in which they were, for that an unknown[972] plague would come there, viz., the Buid Chonaill;[973] and he further said to Colum Cille that he should not receive land until permitted by him (Mobii).
Each of them went his way afterwards.
Colum Cille proceeded to Cenel-Conaill. The way he went was across the river, the name of which is Biur.[974] There he said, ‘Bir against fochainne,’[975] and the plague did not therefore reach beyond that. And this is still a lasting miracle, for every plague that is carried over it does not go beyond that, according to the ‘word’ of Colum Cille.
Colum Cille went afterwards to Daire,[976] viz., the royal dun of Aedh, son of Ainmire. He was king of Eriu at that time.
The king offered that dun to Colum Cille; and he refused it, because of Mobii’s command. As he was coming out of the dun, however, he met with two of Mobii’s people; and they had Mobii’s girdle for him, and permission for him to possess land, after the death of Mobii; ut dixit Colum Cille:—