only whilst his protégé1 Diarmait would be reciting three chapters of the 'Beati.' He would get up [immediately2] after that, and would utter3 cries and lamentations, like unto a fond mother lamenting her only son. He would afterwards recite the 'three fifties,' until morning, in the sand of the sea-shore, ut dixit :—

The three fifties, great the vigil;
In the night great was the pain;
In the sea," by the side of Alba,
Before the sun would arise.

[When he would lie in the sand, moreover, and his garments round him, the impression of his ribs through them was plain, ut poeta dixit]:

'Tis plain he'd lie down, greatest of sufferings,

In the sand; the distress was great.

The impression of his ribs, through his clothing,
Was plain 'till the wind would blow it away."

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 he used not drink ale, and used not eat meat, and used not eat savoury things, as Dallan Forguill said in the Amra :He drank not ale; he loved not satiety; He avoided flesh.

7 Blow it away. Conidsetad gaeth; i.e. the mark of his ribs was imprinted, through his clothing, in the sand, until defaced by the action of the wind blowing the loose sand over the mark. This stanza is somewhat different in the Preface to the Amra in Lebor na hUidre.

8 And. From this down to the bracket on p. 507 is translated from A. L., the corresponding Irish being omitted in L. B. and L.

9 Savoury things. Ionmar; the Irish for 'dripping,' or 'seasoning.' Colgan translates it 'obsonium' (Acta SS., p. 734).

And he used to make two hundred genuflexions every day,

ut Dallan dixit:

He (kept) vigil1 whilst he was (in life).

And he had not a love of riches, as Dallan said :—

His sufficiency was little.

For saith (sufficiency) is the name for innmus (riches), ut poeta dixit

:

On Wednesday he went off, against orders,
In the track of the fierce-avenging demon;

On Wednesday greed for sufficiency seized him,2
The Wednesday noble Christ was betrayed.

The three places, moreover, in which is the full habitation of Colum Cille are Hi, and Down, and Derry, ut Berchan dixit:

His grace in Hii, without stain,

And his soul in Derry;

And his body under the flag-stone,

Under which are Brigid and Patrick.

And it was to illustrate this the poet said :

Hii, with the multitude of its relics,

Of which Colum was a fair disciple."
He went away from it at last,

So that Down is his blessed church.4

A hundred churches, 'which the wave frequents,'5 is the number of churches he has on the margin of the sea. Or, perhaps,

6

one hundred churches, with the fulness of a wave.'

There was

a mass chalice in every church, as the poet explains 7:

1

1 Kept vigil. Figlis ; a verb from figil, 'vigil.' It is the third sg. pres. indic., but is here used in the pret. sense.

2 Him. The person here alluded to was probably Judas Iscariot.

3 Disciple. Dalta. A foster-child. See note 1, p. 505.

4 Church. Neimedh=nemed (gl. Sacellum.-Zeuss, Gram. Celt. 11).

5 Which the wave frequents. Gus ataithig tonn; 'to which a wave fre

quents.' The allusion in this expression is rather obscure.

6 Fulness. Comlantas; lit. 'completeness,' from comlan, 'complete,' 'perfect.'

7 Explains. The explanation is not very explanatory, and seems to have no reference to Colum Cille, unless we may assume that it was intended to describe the chalices as made of the same materials as the party (foirend) of Crimthann's chessmen.

The chess-board of Crimthann Nia-nair-
A little boy could take it1 in his hand;

The half of its party 2 was of yellow gold,
And its other half of findruine.3

One man alone of its party"

Would purchase six cumhals.4]

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.5 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.

hammered on it.'-Mart. Donegal. App. to Introduction, xli.

4 Cumhals. A standard of value frequently mentioned in the Brehon Laws as worth three cows. Here ends the addition from A. L., which begins with the bracket, p. 505, supra. 5 of them; i.e. of the days that elapsed since St. Colum Cille's death.

II.

THE RULE OF SAINT COLUMBA.

This rule was first printed by Dr. Reeves from a MS. in the Burgundian Library at Brussels, with a translation by the late Professor O'Curry, in the Appendix to Primate Colton's Visitation of Derry, printed for the Irish Archæological Society. It was again printed in Haddan and Stubbs' Councils, vol. ii. p. 119. The translation alone is here given.

THE RULE OF COLUM CILLE BEGINNETH.

Be alone in a separate place near a chief city, if thy conscience is not prepared to be in common with the crowd.

Be always naked in imitation of Christ and the Evangelists. Whatsoever little or much thou possessest of anything, whether clothing, or food, or drink, let it be at the command of the senior and at his disposal, for it is not befitting a religious to have any distinction of property with his own free brother. Let a fast place, with one door, enclose thee.

A few religious men to converse with thee of God and His Testament; to visit thee on days of solemnity; to strengthen thee in the Testaments of God and the narratives of the Scriptures.

A person too who would talk with thee in idle words, or of the world; or who murmurs at what he cannot remedy or prevent, but who would distress thee more should he be a tattler between friends and foes, thou shalt not admit him to thee, but at once give him thy benediction should he deserve it.

Let thy servant be a discreet, religious, not tale-telling man, who is to attend continually on thee, with moderate labour of course, but always ready.

Yield submission to every rule that is of devotion.

A mind prepared for red martyrdom.

A mind fortified and steadfast for white martyrdom.

Forgiveness from the heart to every one.

Constant prayers for those who trouble thee.

Fervour in singing the office for the dead, as if every faithful dead was a particular friend of thine.

Hymns for souls to be sung standing.

Let thy vigils be constant from eve to eve, under the direction of another person.

Three labours in the day, viz., prayer, work, and reading.

The work to be divided into three parts, viz., thine own work, and the work of thy place, as regards its real wants ; secondly, thy share of the brethren's work; lastly, to help the neighbours, viz., by instruction, or writing, or sewing garments, or whatever labour they may be in want of, ut Dominus ait, 'Non apparebis ante me vacuus.'

Everything in its proper order; Nemo enim coronabitur nisi qui legitime certaverit.

Follow almsgiving before all things.

Take not of food till thou art hungry.
Sleep not till thou feelest desire.

Speak not except on business.

Every increase which comes to thee in lawful meals, or in wearing apparel, give it for pity to the brethren that want it, or to the poor in like manner.

The love of God with all thy heart and all thy strength.
The love of thy neighbour as thyself.

Abide in the Testaments of God throughout all times.
Thy measure of prayer shall be until thy tears come;
Or thy measure of work of labour till thy tears come;
Or thy measure of thy work of labour, or of thy genuflexions,
until thy perspiration often comes, if thy tears are not free.

FINIT.

III.

CATALOGUE OF RELIGIOUS HOUSES, at the end of the Chronicle of HENRY of SILGRAVE, c. A.D. 1272, so far as it relates to Scotland.

This Catalogue was printed by Mr. J. Stevenson from Coll. MS. Cleopat. A. xii. fol. 56, in his notes to the Scalachronica, edited for the Bannatyne and Maitland Clubs, pp. 241, 242; and again in Haddan and Stubbs' Councils, vol. ii. pp. 181, 182. The monasteries in 'Laudian' are omitted.