And Colum Cille then said to Domhnall that they should both go to converse with Aedh, son of Ainmire. And Domhnall was much afraid to converse with the king. But Colum Cille said, ‘Be not much afraid, for the Holy Spirit shall be protecting thee against him.’ They went together to speak to the king.
Grievous fear seized the king afterwards [on seeing the cleric[1131]], because of the great miracle he had previously wrought.
The clerics came subsequently into the assembly. The king rose and bade them welcome.
‘Our demand must be granted,’ [said Colum Cille[1132]].
‘You shall get it truly,’ said the king.
‘The poets must be retained,’ said Colum Cille.
‘It shall not be done,’ said the king, ‘for their evils against us are great.’
‘Say not so,’ observed the cleric, ‘for the praises they will sing[1133] for thee shall be enduring, as the praises the poets sung for him are enduring for Cormac,[1134] grandson of Conn. And the treasures that were given for them were transitory, while the praises live after them.’
And the cleric composed this little ‘rhetoric,’[1135] viz.—
‘It is not I who will expel them,’ said Aedh. The poets were retained through this.
‘Release Scannlan,’[1136] said Colum Cille.
‘I shall not do so,’ answered the king, ‘until he dies in the hut in which he is.’
‘We will not pursue the subject further,’ said Colum Cille; ‘but if it be pleasing to God, may it be he that shall take off my shoes[1137] to-night, at matins, in whatsoever place I may be.’
Colum Cille went afterwards from the assembly, until he came to the Dubh-regles[1138] at Derry. It was not long after Colum Cille’s departure until a thunderbolt came into the convention, and they all turned their faces to the ground. Afterwards there came a bright cloud to Scannlan, to the place in which he was, and a voice in the cloud said to him, ‘Rise, O Scannlan, and leave thy chains and thy prison, and come forth, and put thy hand in mine.’
Scannlan came out, and the angel in front of him. The guards heard the noise of something passing by them; and what the guards said was, ‘Who is this going past us?’ ‘Scannlan,’ said the angel. ‘If it was he, you would not say so,’ answered they. They (Scannlan and his deliverer) went[1139] afterwards to Derry.
The time the Cleric (C. C.) about matins, was going westwards[1140] through the chancel-screen, it was Scannlan that assisted to take off his shoes. And what Colum Cille said is, ‘Who is this?’
‘Scannlan,’ answered he.
‘Hast any news?’ asked Colum Cille.
‘A drink,’ said Scannlan.
‘Hast brought us a blessing?’ asked Colum Cille.
‘A drink,’ said Scannlan.
‘Say how camest thou?’ said Colum Cille.
‘A drink,’ said Scannlan.
‘Delay in answering attend thy successors.’[1141] said Colum Cille.
‘Speak not so,’ said Scannlan. ‘Thou shalt always have their rents, and their tributes and customs.’
‘May bishops and kings be of thy race for ever,’ said Colum Cille. ‘Here is one drink for thee,’ said he, ‘to wit, a vessel of ale, containing enough for three.’[1142]
ScannlanScannlan then lifted the vessel between his two hands, and drank the contents in one drink. And he afterwards ate his meal, to wit, seven joints of old bacon, and ten wheaten cakes; after which he lay down, and was three days and three nights in one sleep. He then arose, and was conducted to Ossory, and the great bachall[1143] was sent with him. The day he arrived was the day his father, the king of Ossory, died[1144] through grief for him. And he subsequently assumed the kingship of Ossory, and granted a tribute from the Ossorians, every seventh year from that day, to Colum Cille.
And it is in this wise Scannlan was released.
The third cause[1145] was regarding the Dalriada. Colman, son of Comgellan, it was that delivered the decision, in place of[1146] Colum Cille, as Colum Cille himself prophesied when he came to the house of Comgellan, and found within only two young boys[1147] who were on the border of the fireplace. And the second boy looked over Colum Cille’s right shoulder; and it appeared to Colum Cille that the grace of the Holy Spirit was upon him. And Colum Cille afterwards called him, and took him in his arms,[1148] and composed a rann for him:—
Colum Cille blessed him after that, and left him the gift of wisdom, and told him that it was he who would give judgment between the men of Eriu and the men of Alba concerning the Dalriada. And this was verified. The judgment, moreover, is this, viz., their expedition, and their hosting, with the men of Eriu (for it is ‘hosting with territories’ always), and their rent[1149] and their tribute with the men of Alba.
Dallan afterwards came to converse with Colum Cille, when it was that he recited the preface.[1150] And Colum Cille said that he (Dallan) should not make it[1151] but at the time of his (Colum Cille’s) death; and that it was for one dead it was fitting. Colum Cille promised to Dallan the richness and products of the earth for this eulogy; and Dallan would not accept them, but Heaven for himself and for every one who would recite it, and would understand it between sense and sound.
‘How shall thy death be known, and thou in pilgrimage, and I in Eriu?’ asked Dallan. Colum Cille therefore gave him three signs as to the time he should make the eulogy. The first sign was, that it was the rider of a speckled steed who would announce the death of Colum Cille; and that the first word he would utter should be the beginning of the eulogy. And it was verified in ripe time, and was the wonderment of the island.[1152]]
One day in the month of May Colum Cille went to inquire after the ploughmen in the north of the island. He was consoling[1153] them and instructing them.
‘Good, then,’ said he; ‘about the Easter that went past in the month of April—it was then I should have liked to go to Heaven; but I would not wish grief or sadness to you after your labour; and therefore it is that I remained with you, protecting you, from Easter to Whitsuntide.’
When the monks heard these words they were very sad.
He turned his face westwards after that, and blessed the island, with its inhabitants, and he banished toads[1154] and snakes out of it.
When he had blessed the island, then he came subsequently to his recles; and it was not long after that until the end of the Sabbath and the beginning of Sunday arrived. And when he then raised up his eyes, a great blushing came upon his countenance and face; and those brethren[1155] saw indeed the angel of God, who remained over his head there.
He went afterwards to bless the Sabhall,[1156] and said to its attendant,[1157] viz., Diarmait, that he would go to Heaven on Sunday night.
The venerable senior, viz., Colum Cille, sat down afterwards on the margin of the road, for fatigue came upon him, though his journey was short. (His age at that time was 77 years.) Then came to him the garran[1158] that was wont to be with the monks in the island, and wept in the cleric’s bosom until he wet his clothes. The attendant,[1157] i.e. Diarmait, essayed to drive the garran away from him. ‘Let him alone, O’Diarmait,’ said Colum Cille, ‘until he has done enough of tears and sadness lamenting me.’
[Colum[1159] Cille, moreover, used to go to Heaven every Thursday whilst he was alive, when he wished.]
But it is excessive to reckon and relate the number of prodigies and miracles which God wrought in the lands for Colum Cille; because there is no one that could reckon them entirely unless his own angel, or the angel of Heaven’s God, should come to relate them. So that it is sufficient for us to give this much of them, by way of example.
[A certain[1160] bad, furious man wounded a monk of Colum Cille’s people; but he only cut the monk’s girdle, although the spear was sharp. Colum Cille cursed the Saxon, and he died immediately. Bishop [Aedan?] and Colman of Inish-bofinne[1161] were they whom Colum Cille left with the Saxons, preaching the word of God to them.
Colum Cille went afterwards upon a time to the king of the Picts, to Brudi, son of Maelchu, and the door of the fort was closed against him. But the iron locks of the place opened instantly through the prayers of Colum Cille. The son of the king, to wit, Maelchu, and his druid came after that, to contend with Colum Cille through paganism;[1162] and the king’s son and the druid along with him died forthwith through Colum Cille’s word. The names[1163] of God and Colum Cille were magnified thereby.]
There was not born of the Gaidhel, however, a being more illustrious, or more wise, or of better family, than Colum Cille. There came not of them any person who was more modest, more humble, or more lowly.
Great indeed was the humility of Colum Cille, for it was he himself that used to take their shoes off his monks, and that used to wash their feet for them. ’Tis he that used often to take his share of corn on his back to the mill, and that used to grind it and bring it home with him. ’Tis he that would not have[1164] linen or wool to his skin, that would not sleep until his side came in contact with the bare earth. Under his head there used not to be but a pillar-stone for a pillow, and he would even sleep only whilst his protégé[1165] Diarmait would be reciting three chapters of the ‘Beati.’ He would get up [immediately[1166]] after that, and would utter[1167] cries and lamentations, like unto a fond mother lamenting her only son. He would afterwards recite the ‘three fifties,’[1168] until morning, in the sand of the sea-shore, ut dixit:—
[When[1170] he would lie in the sand, moreover, and his garments round him, the impression of his ribs through them was plain, ut poeta dixit]:—
This was his night-work. In the day following, however, he would frequent the canonical hours, and would offer the Body of Christ and His Blood; would preach the Gospel; would baptize, bless, and anoint; would cure lepers, and the blind and lame, and people suffering from every disease. He used to resuscitate the dead.
[And[1172] he used not drink ale, and used not eat meat, and used not eat savoury things,[1173] as Dallan Forguill said in the Amra:—
And he used to make two hundred genuflexions every day, ut Dallan dixit:—
And he had not a love of riches, as Dallan said:—
For saith (sufficiency) is the name for innmus (riches), ut poeta dixit:—
The three places, moreover, in which is the full habitation of Colum Cille are Hi, and Down, and Derry, ut Berchan dixit:—
And it was to illustrate this the poet said:—
A hundred churches, ‘which the wave frequents,’[1178] is the number of churches he has on the margin of the sea. Or, perhaps, ‘one hundred churches, with the fulness[1179] of a wave.’ There was a mass chalice in every church, as the poet explains[1180]:—
When it came then to the last hours for Colum Cille, and when the bell was rung for matins on the night of Whitsunday, he went before the others to the church, and made genuflexions and earnest prayers at the altar. At that time an angelic brightness filled the church about him on every side, and the venerable patron then resigned his spirit to heaven, to the joy and gladness of the people of heaven in general. His body, moreover, is in the earth here, with honour and veneration from God and men, attended with virtues and miracles every day of them.[1185] And though great his honour hitherto, it will be greater in the assembly of judgment, when he will shine like the sun, through the incorruptibility of his body and soul. ’Tis then, moreover, this great glory and respect shall be given to him, in the union of the nine orders of heaven which cannot be surpassed; in the union of the apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ; in the union of the divinity and humanity of the Son of God; in the union that is higher than every union; in the union of the noble, illustrious, holy, almighty Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.
I implore the mercy of Almighty God, through the intercession of St. Colum Cille. May we all reach that union. May we deserve it. May we possess it in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.
858. Inheritance. Athardu; lit. ‘patrimony;’ from athair, ‘father.’
859. Narrative. Coibige (here translated ‘narrative’) seems = coimfige, ‘weaving together,’ from figim, ‘I weave.’
860. In imposing. The MSS. have do erail, ‘to persuade.’
861. Historia. Istoria, A. L. and L. B.
862. Repromissionis. Repromisionis, A. L. and L. B.
863. Precipitur. Precipitum, L. B.; preceptum, A. L.
864. Counsel. Comairle, omitted from MSS., but the context seems to require it, and it has therefore been supplied in brackets.
865. The people. Na dóine. Om. A. L.
866. The inciting and inflaming. Gresacht ⁊ adannad, B. Lismore. A. L. and L. B. have angresacht ⁊ anadannad nandoine (which literally means ‘their inciting and inflaming of the people’), an idiom of frequent occurrence in old Irish.
867. Their temporal goods. The Irish text is fris na maithib aimserda imbit; lit. ‘from the temporal goods in which they are wont to be.’
868. Suffered. The original is fuaratar, ‘received.’
869. Would experience. Fogebed; lit. ‘would receive.’
870. Implevit. Impleverit, L. B.
871. Exiit. Exit, L. B.
872. Haran. Carran, L. B.
873. Repromissionis. Repromisionis, L. B.
874. Haran. Carran, L. B. The orig. of the clause within brackets is not in A. L. For co Carran (to Haran), L. has co rainic, ‘until he reached.’
875. Because. Uair, A. L. Not in B. L. or L.
876. Abstains. Etirscarann, lit. ‘separates.’
877. Nor profit. No tarbai. Omitted in A. L.
878. Away from it. Na h-ecmais; lit. ‘in its absence.’
879. Exivit. Exisit, L. B.
880. Ei. Ex, L. B.
881. As if he would abide. The orig. ⁊ no aithebad means literally ‘and that he would abide.’
882. Exercise. The orig. is denam, ‘doing.’
883. Laics and clerics. Tuatha ⁊ eclaisi; lit. ‘territories and churches;’ but in a secondary sense ‘church and state,’ or ‘laics and clerics.’
884. Through. Ar; lit. ‘for.’
885. Good-will. Cainduthracht; ‘bona voluntas.’ Compare ar cainduthracht (gl. propter bonam voluntatem).—Zeuss’ Gram. Celt. 578.
886. Little or much. Uathad sochaide. These words also signify ‘few [or many];’many];’ but it would seem from the context that they were intended to refer to the worldly substance abandoned, and are therefore translated in that sense.
887. Peregrini. Perigrini, L. B.
888. Seniors. Na sruthi. Comp. inna sruthe (‘veterum’).—Goidilica, 1st ed. 25; sruith athair (gl. patronus).—Nigra, Reliq. Celt., 33.
889. At the occurrence. In ecmoing, lit. ‘in the occurrence.’ Comp. ecmaing, ‘it chanced.’—Leb na hUidre, 98 b.; ind aecmaingthech (gl. fortuitu).—Zeuss, ed. Ebel, 608.
890. Presbyter. Prespiter, L. B.
891. Inis-Gaidel. The Island of the Gaidel; by which the writer evidently meant Ireland.
892. The person. In tii; an emphatic form, very usual in Irish.
893. Son. The original of the clause within brackets is not in L. B. or B. Lismore.
894. Of the solar month. Mis greine; lit. ‘month of the sun.’
895. A few particulars. Becan cumair; lit. ‘a brief little.’
896. For ever. Co sir, L. B. Tre biuthu sir, ‘through life everlastingeverlasting,’ A. L. and L.
897. Was he. The orig. is atacomnaic, which is explained by comainm, ‘appellation,’ in old Irish glossaries, and used in this sense in the Book of Leinster, fol. 200, a 1.
898. Family. The orig. of this clause is not in A. L.
899. Was offered. Tarcus. The text should probably be taircfid, ‘would be offered.’
901. Lugbad. Louth, Co. Louth.
902. At the end. I cind; lit. ‘at the head,’ or immediately before.
903. Ut dixit. A. L. has conad annsin do raid Mochta, ‘when it was that Mochta said.’
904. With. La (apud), A. L. and L. B.; ic. ‘at,’ Lismore.
905. Of the nations. Nambitho, A. L., L. B.; nambidho, Lismore.
906. Saint. Naem. Omitted in L. B. and L.
907. The head. Cenn. Omitted in A. L. and L. B.
908. Rann. Rann properly means a stanza. The text should be na ranna sa (these verses).
909. Beloved. The orig. of this line and the next are not in L. B.
910. With. La; lit. ‘apud,’ but in a secondary sense, ‘in the sight of.’
911. Brigid. The first letter of the name only is given in A. L. and L. B. The Book of Lismore text has ‘Bec mac De;’ but according to the Irish Annals generally, Bec mac De did not ‘begin to prophesy’ before A.D. 545, more than 20 years after Colum Cille’s birth.
912. To observe him. Rathugad. In other words, to perceive his coming.
913. Ard-Sratha. Ardstraw, Co. Tyrone; anciently an episcopal see.
914. Buite. Founder of Monasterboice; who died on the night of Colum Cille’s birth.
915. Measure. Tórindfess; i.e. ‘that shall mark the limits of.’
916. Manifested. Ro fiugrad; lit. ‘was figured.’
917. Innsi-mod. The group of islands in Clew Bay, on the west coast of Mayo.
918. Caer-nam-brocc. Supposed to be Burghead, on the north-east coast of Scotland. Adamnan, 191, note e.
919. Of the world. An domain. Not in L. B. or Lismore.