from Alban to Erin at that time-viz., for the releasing of Scannlan Mor, son of Cendfaelad, king of Ossory, with whom he went in pledge; and for the staying of the poets in Erin-for they were in banishment on account of their burdensomeness, for there used to be be thirty in the company of each ollamh or chief poet, and fifteen in the company of each anrad, or poet next in rank; and for pacification between the men of Erin and Alban about Dalriada.' Columba then came to the assembly, and 'all rose up before him for welcome to him. According to another tradition,82 however, there rose not up one before him but Domnall, the king's son. For the king said there should not rise up one before him; for he knew that about which he had come, and his coming was not thought well of by him; for the staying of the poets or the releasing of Scannlan was not pleasing to him. So that it is then Columcille blessed this Domnall, because he was reverent to that extent.' The burdensomeness of the poets arose from their right to exact what was called coinmed, or refection from the tribes for themselves and their retinue; and Columba, who, as a poet himself, sympathised with them, succeeded in having their sentence of banishment revoked on condition of the retinue, for which coinmed could be exacted, being reduced to twenty-four for each ollamh, and twelve for each anrad. The chief ollamh of Erin at this time was Dallan Forgaill; and out of gratitude for Columba's efforts on behalf of the poets, he composed the poem termed the Amra, or praise of Columcille. The preface from which this account is taken states the superstitious use that was made of it. Columcille promised to Dallan the gifts and produce of the earth for this praising; 82 Amra Columcille by J. O'Beirne Crowe, pp. 9, 11, 15. The same account is given in the Advocates' Library Ms. of the old Irish Life, evidently taken from the Amra. The other tradition referred to seems to be that in Adamnan. See B. i. c. 8, where this incident is mentioned. and he took not them, but heaven, for himself and for every one who would recite it each day, and would understand it between sense and sound. Ut quidam dixit, 'Amra Coluim-every day Whoever will recite it completely, Columba did not, however, succeed in obtaining the liberation of Scannlan Mor. With regard to Dalriada, which was the main object of his attending the assembly, the question was how far the colony, now that Aidan had been solemnly inaugurated king, should be made independent of the mother country. As a colony or subject state, it was liable to the same burdens as were exacted from all the petty principalities in Ireland. These consisted in the payment of certain rents and tributes known as cain and cobach, and certain military services which consisted of what was called fecht, or the obligation of joining the superior king in expeditions, and sloged, or 'hosting,' that is, taking part in the general levy of the country for war. This question was referred to Colman, son of Comgellan, who was of Dalriada, and Columcille said it is he who should make pacification between the men of Erin and of Alban; and this is the judgment he gave:-Their fecht and their sloged with the men of Erin always, for there is sloged with territories always; their cain and their cobach with the men of Alban, or their sea gathering only with the men of Alban, but all beyond that with the men of Erin.' 84 That is, the kingdom of Dalriada in Scotland was to be freed from all tribute towards the supreme king of Ireland, but they were to join in expeditions and hostings when called upon, with the exception of the sea gathering, or maritime 83 Amra Columcille, p. 15. 84 Tb., p. 13. expedition. This made Aidan practically independent, and Dalriada ceased to be a subject state to Ireland. On his return from the assembly, Columba had probably little difficulty in obtaining from King Brude a recognition of Aidan's character as independent king over the western districts which were occupied by the Scots of Dalriada. CHAPTER IV. THE FAMILY OF IONA. Columba years; and of the "Family TWELVE years had now elapsed since Columba first set foot What St. on the island of Iona, and he had already to a great extent had accomplished in accomplished the task he had set before him. He had twelve founded his monastery in the island, as the central point meaning of his mission; and the exhibition of the Christian life, as expression alone it was possible to present it in the state of society of Iona." which prevailed among these pagan tribes, as a colony of tonsured monks following a monastic rule, had its usual effect in influencing the population of the adjacent districts. He had converted and baptized the most powerful monarch that ever occupied the Pictish throne, and secured his friendship and support; and this was soon followed by the whole nation ostensibly professing the Christian faith. He had succeeded in re-establishing the Irish colony of Dalriada in the full possession of its territories, and obtained from the Ardri, or supreme king of Ireland, the recognition of its independence. He now found himself occupying a position of great influence and authority both in Ireland and Scotland- -as the founder of numerous monasteries in the former, and as the acknowledged head of the Christian. Church in the latter. Adamnan tells us that he had founded monasteries within the territories both of the Picts and of the Scots of Britain, who are separated from each other by the great mountain range of Drumalban.1 These monas 1 Exceptis duobus populis, hoc est, Pictorum plebs et Scotorum Britanniæ, inter quos utrosque Dorsi Monasteries founded in the islands." teries, as well as those which he had founded in Ireland, regarded the insular monastery of Iona as the mother church, and as having, as such, a claim to their obedience; and became subject to her jurisdiction, while their inmates constituted the great monastic fraternity which was termed the Muintir Iae, or family of Iona, in the extended sense of the term. Adamnan mentions only a few of these monasteries, and gives no details which might enable us to fix the exact date of their foundation; though we can gather from his narrative that some of them existed during the earlier years of his mission, and all must, of course, have been founded at some period during the thirty-four years of his life in Iona. Among the islands in which he founded monasteries, the two most important are those termed by Adamnan 'Ethica terra' and 'Insula Hinba,' or Hinbina:' the former has been conclusively identified with the low-lying and fertile island of Tiree, the Tireth, or 'land of corn,' which lies about twenty miles to the north-west of Iona, and whose dim outline would be barely seen on the horizon were it not for the elevated promontory of Ceannavara at the south end of the island. The name Hinba or Hinbina seems to designate the group of islands called the Garveloch Isles, situated in the centre of the great channel which separates the island of Mull from the mainland of Lorn, and which were the Imbach, or 'sea-surrounded.' The most westerly of the four islands which constitute this group is termed Elachnave and Eilean na Naomh, or the Island of Saints. It is a grassy island rising to a considerable height, and has at the west side a small and sheltered bay, on the lower ground facing which are a fountain, called St. Columcille's Well, and the foundations of what must have been a . . . Cujus (Columbæ) monasteria præsens tempus valde sunt honorificata.-B. ii. c. 47. |