J 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
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 in 2018 with funding from 
 Getty Research Institute 
 
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THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT, 
 
 prior of fPailros anb Biebop of Xinbisfarne: 
 
 BY 
 
 A MONK OF LINDISFARNE ABBEY. 
 
EDINBURGH: PRINTED BY SCOTT AND FERGUSON. 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Tins very ancient and anonymous life of St. Cutlibert 
 was written by tbe desire of Bisbop Edfrid and tbe Monks 
 of Lindisfarne, between a.d. 698, wlien Edfrid became 
 Bishop, and 705, tbe year of Aldfrid’s death, wbo is spoken 
 of as tbe reigning Sovereign. 1 It is dedicated to tbe same 
 Edfrid, Bisbop of Holy Island, a fact wbicb of itself is a 
 sufficient security for the accuracy of tbe narrative. 
 
 Further evidence of its historical value may be gathered 
 from Bede’s own words, in tbe preface to bis Life of St. 
 Cutlibert. “ After I bad digested my little work, I kept 
 it back in manuscript, and showed it frequently to our 
 most reverend brother Herefrid , 2 tbe priest, when he came 
 here, as well as to several other persons, wbo, from having- 
 long dwelt with tbe man of God, were thoroughly acquainted 
 with bis life, that they might read it, and deliberately 
 correct or expunge what they should judge advisable. 
 
 1 “ De Alfrido qui nunc regnat pacifice.’\ Bedce Opera Historica 
 Minora: Bond., 1841, p. 274. 
 
 2 Herefrid was Abbot of the Monastery of Lindisfarne (Bede’s Life, 
 § 13), and had attended Cutlibert during his last illness (§ 59). Bede, 
 therefore, could not easily have found a more competent critic. 
 
IV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Some of these amendments 1 have carefully adopted at 
 their suggestion, as seemed good to me; and thus all 
 scruples having been entirely removed, I have ventured 
 to commit the result of this careful research, conveyed in 
 simple language, to these few sheets of parchment. And 
 when I transmitted to you (Bishop Edfrid) what I had 
 written, that it might be either corrected if false, or 
 approved if true, . . . my little work was for the space 
 
 of two days read before the elders and more learned 
 members of your congregation ; and after every part had 
 been shrewdly weighed and had passed under your examina¬ 
 tion, it was found unnecessary to change any single word, 
 and all that had been written was pronounced worthy by 
 common consent to be read without any doubt.” 1 The 
 historical value of the “ Anonymous Life ” may now easily 
 be ascertained by noticing, as Sir Thomas D. Hardy 
 observes, that “ nearly the whole of this narrative in sub¬ 
 stance, and sometimes in expression, is incorporated by 
 Bede in his Life of St. Cuthbert, and it is perhaps this 
 work to which he alludes, when he says that his materials 
 have been derived from written information obtained from 
 the Monks of Lindisfarne.” 2 We may then be assured that 
 
 1 Bede’s Life of St. Cuthbert, translated by tbe Rev. J. Stevenson, 
 § 7, p. 3. 
 
 2 Sir T. Duffus Hardy, Descriptive Catalogue of Materials, vol. ii., 
 p. 297. 
 
I 
 
 PREFACE. v 
 
 we are here in possession of an authentic narrative, written 
 by an eye-witness, who lived with Cuthbert at Melrose 1 
 and at Lindisfarne, 2 who had ample means of ascertaining 
 every particular respecting the life of the Saint, and who 
 took care, as he himself states, to record nothing of the 
 accuracy of which he was not fully informed. 
 
 The “ Anonymous Life ” is the account of a Saint by his 
 friend, and contains valuable details omitted by Bede. The 
 venerable historian, for instance, does not state where 
 Cuthbert was keeping watch over the flocks committed to 
 his charge, whereas the “ Anonymous Life ” states that they 
 were near the River Leader, in Scotland. 3 The route of 
 his journey [a.d. 68Ij is more clearly marked by the 
 “ Anonymous Life,” the circumstances are recorded with 
 greater precision, and various incidents of Cuthbert’s life 
 are related, with additional particulars as to persons and 
 places. 
 
 In the following translation of the “ Anonymous Life ” 
 we have followed the text edited for the Historical Society 
 by the Reverend J. Stevenson, S.J. 4 
 
 The beautiful manuscript belonging to Sir John Lawson, 
 Bart., and known as the Lawson Manuscript, now claims 
 
 1 §§ 8, 13. 
 
 2 §§ 44, 45, 46. 
 
 3 The Leader empties itself into the Tweed near Melrose. 
 
 4 Venerahilis Bedce Opera Minora, L. 1841. 
 
VI 
 
 PREFA CE. 
 
 our attention, ancl will amply repay it. This manuscript, 
 covering 200 leaves of vellum, in a beautiful hand¬ 
 writing, formerly belonged to and was written in the 
 Monastery of Durham, as may be proved from the heading 
 of page 329 : “ Quomodo corpus Beati Cuthberti incor- 
 ruptum sit inventum et. in nostram ecclesiam translatum.” 
 It contains Bede’s “ Prose Life of St. Cuthbert,” with two 
 chapters from his “ Ecclesiastical History,” and is enriched 
 with forty-five full-page illuminations of ecclesiastical 
 subjects. 1 
 
 Sir F. Madden considers the painting and writing to be 
 the work of English Artists, of the date of the twelfth 
 century, or very early in the thirteenth—not later than 
 1210. It is, I think, admitted that as early as the twelfth 
 century the English illuminators produced works superior 
 to those of the same date on the Continent. England, 
 
 1 This is a duodecimo volume, in size about 5 A x 3f- in., divided 
 into four chief parts: —First. A mutilated Transcript of Bede’s 
 Life of St. Cuthbert, pp. 1-160, with three extracts from Bede’s 
 History : Second. The History of the Translation of St. Cuthbert, 
 a.d. 875, pp. 169-327 : Third. The Translation, a.d. 1104, pp. 329-352: 
 Fourth. Miscellanea:—Some Miracles of St. Cuthbert, p. 352; the 
 Book of Boisil, 352 ; the Durham Bell, 354 ; the Cure of the Scotch 
 "Women, 358; the Vision of Earnan, 359; another Vision, 364; the 
 Danes at Lindisfarne, 368; the arrival at Durham, 376 ; the date of 
 St. Cuthbert’s Consecration, 389 ; and the lands belonging to the 
 patrimony of St. Cuthbert, 390. 
 
 An illustration belonging to the first chapter has unfortunately been 
 destroyed ; it represented the scene described in p. 6, children standing 
 on their heads, &c. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 vii 
 
 however, possesses now very few biographies as com¬ 
 pletely illustrated as the “Life of St. Cuthbert,” 1 and the 
 Lawson Manuscript may be considered as a valuable and 
 rare specimen of English pictorial art of the thirteenth 
 century. 
 
 The illuminations are also full of historical value and 
 artistic interest, particularly as illustrating the life of St. 
 Cuthbert, and forming connecting links with other pictorial 
 illustrations of the same life, such as the Oxford Manuscript 
 in University College (MS. clxv.), the magnificent St. 
 Cuthbert’s window in York Cathedral, and the interesting 
 paintings on panel in Carlisle Cathedral. The Publishers 
 have endeavoured to reproduce the illuminations exactly as 
 they are in the original, without attempting to restore 
 what time has injured or defaced. 
 
 The Editor has ventured to give a short explanation of 
 the illustrations. It would, however, require a volume to 
 tell the history of St. Cuthbert, of his worship and of his 
 relics. Such a book fortunately exists ; it has been compiled 
 with great care and grace of diction by Archbishop Eyre, 
 
 1 Amongst the most noteworthy may be mentioned— The Life of 
 St. Cuthbert , in the Library of University College, Oxford (twelfth 
 century); The Life of St. Gutlilac (British Museum, Hart. Roll ); 
 The Life of St. Edward, Library of the University of Cambridge ; The 
 Life of St. Alban (British Museum, Cotton, Nero D. I.) ; Lydgate’s Life 
 of St. Edmund, end of fifteenth century (B. M., Harl., 2278). 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 viii 
 
 ancl his History of St. Cuthbert is so complete, that it will 
 never be superseded. 
 
 The Editor desires especially to acknowledge the 
 courteous liberality of Sir John Lawson, in allowing him 
 to reproduce his valuable manuscript, and also to thank 
 Messrs. Scott & Ferguson, to whose liberal and patient 
 co-operation he feels deeply indebted. 
 
The Preface, 
 
 . The Anonymous Life— 
 
 PAGE 
 
 i.-iv. 
 
 Prologue, 
 
 Book I. Cuthbert’s Life up to the time of his entrance into 
 the Monastery, .... 
 
 Book II. His Monastic Life, .... 
 
 Book III. His removal to Fame, .... 
 
 Book IY. Cuthbert as Bishop of Lindisfarne—His Miracles— 
 His Death, . 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 11 
 
 23 
 
 30 
 
 Description of the Illuminations— 
 
 I. Frontispiece : St. Cuthbert. 
 
 II. Bede represented engaged in writing his Life of St. 
 Cuthbert. 
 
 II I.-IV.' How the Wind was changed by his Prayer, and how the 
 Ships, which had been driven out to sea, were brought 
 back to the shore. 
 
 Y. How the Lord supplied him with Food when he was on a 
 journey. 
 
 YI. What Boisil, a holy man, prophesied in spirit concerning 
 Cuthbert when he came to his Monastery. 
 
 VIL-VIII. How Cuthbert entertained an Angel as his guest; and 
 whilst he sought to minister earthly bread, how he was 
 permitted to receive from the same that which was 
 heavenly. 
 
 IX. How Boisil, when dying, foretold what was to happen to 
 Cuthbert. 
 
 X. Hew earnest Cuthbert was in the Ministry of the Word. 
 
X 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 XI. How, after Cuthbert had spent the night Praying in the 
 "Water, three Sea Otters offered service to him* on 
 coming ont; and how a Brother, witnessing this, fell 
 sick through fear, and was restored to health by means 
 of his prayers. 
 
 XII-XHI. How, when the Sailors were prevented by a Tempest from 
 re-embarking, he foretold that the Sea should he calm 
 on a certain day ; and meantime obtained for them a 
 supply of Food by his Prayers. 
 
 XIV. How during a Jonrney he foretold that he should receive 
 a supply of Food on the way by the Ministry of an 
 Eagle ; and how he received it. 
 
 XV How when preaching to the People he foresaw that the 
 appearance of a tire would be suddenly raised by the 
 Devil; and how when it appeared he dispelled it; 
 and how he extinguished it. 
 
 XVI. How by Prayer Cuthbert extinguished the flames of a 
 House which was really on fire. 
 
 XVH. How he cast out a Devil from the "Wife of the Prefect, 
 before he had even seen her. 
 
 XVIH. Of his manner of life and method of instruction in the 
 Monastery of Lindisfarne. 
 
 XIX. How he built a Cell for himself in the Island of Fame. 
 
 XX. How he produced "Water out of the dry ground in the 
 middle of his Cell by his Prayers. 
 
 XXI. How by a word he drove away a flock of Birds from a 
 crop of Com which he had sown with his own hands. 
 
 XXII. In what manner two Crows sought to appease by Prayers 
 and Gifts the Man of God for the injury which they 
 had done him. 
 
 XXTTT . How even the Sea ministered to his necessities. 
 
 XXIV. How he gave counsels of Salvation to many who came to 
 him. and how he exposed the feeble snares of the old 
 enemy. 
 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xi 
 
 XXV. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 How the Abbess Elfleda and one of her Xuns were healed 
 of their infirmity by his Girdle. 
 
 What he foretold to the same Elileda on her inquiry as to 
 the life of King Egfrid and his own Episcopacy. 
 
 King Egfrid and Bishop Trumwin, Bishop of the Piets, 
 and many Xohlemen, sail over to Eame, and beseech 
 Cuthbert to quit his cell in Eame and to accept the 
 Bishopric. 
 
 Cuthbert elected Bishop of Hexham by the unanimous 
 will of all assembled in the Synod. 
 
 How, after he was chosen Bishop, he cured the Servant 
 of an Earl with Consecrated Water. 
 
 How when absent he saw in spirit the death of King 
 Egfrid, and his warfare, which he had formerly foretold. 
 
 Earl Heunna’s Wife cured by Holy Water. 
 
 How he cured a Damsel of a pain in her head and side 
 by anointing her with oil 
 
 How Hildmer, a Prefect of King Egfrid’s Court, was 
 healed by Bread which had been blessed by Cuthbert. 
 
 How, during a time of mortality, he restored a dying Child 
 to sound health in its Mother’s arms. 
 
 XXXV.-XXXVI. How Cuthbert, sitting at Elfleda’s Table, saw the 
 soul of a certain person taken up to Heaven who 
 was killed by falling from a tree. 
 
 XXX VII. Cuthbert turning Water into Wine. 
 
 XXXVIII. Cuthhert’s last Voyage to Eame. 
 
 XXXIX. What were the last commands which he gave to the 
 Brethren, and how, after receiving the Viaticum, he 
 yielded up his spirit amid words of prayer. 
 
 XL. One of the Brethren who accompanied Herefrid ran and 
 lighted two candles, and holding one in each hand, he 
 went up to a higher place to show to the Brethren who 
 remained in the Monastery of Lindisfarne that the holy 
 soul of Cuthbert had now departed to the Lord. 
 
PROLOGUE. 
 
 § 1. Would that it were in my power, 0 holy bishop 
 Edfrid, 1 to fulfil your command, and the wish of your com¬ 
 munity, with all the effect that I desire. The task which 
 you have set me is difficult, and the resources of my 
 understanding are insufficient for it. I am, to say truth, 
 in danger of being overwhelmed by the great amount of 
 precious material at my disposal, nor can I hope to turn it 
 all to account. I must therefore satisfy myself with an 
 attempt to render obedience to your injunction to the 
 best of my ability, and if I cannot accomplish all that you 
 desire, I shall at least have paid the debt of duty which I 
 owe. Should you be in any degree disappointed with the 
 work when it is finished, I must implore you, in justice, to 
 take into consideration my weakness, and the magnitude of 
 the task you have imposed upon me, and ascribe its im¬ 
 perfection to want of capacity rather than of good will. To 
 my mind it will be the most signal proof of my respect and 
 esteem for you, and for your reverend associates, that I 
 have undertaken, at your request, more than I am able to 
 accomplish. 
 
 1 Edfrid, Bishop of Lindisfarne from a.d. 698 to 721. — ( Flor . 
 Wigorn., I., 45-50.) He rebuilt the oratory on Fame Island, where 
 Cuthbert had lived in solitude. He wrote and illuminated the Evan- 
 geliarium, known as the Durham Book, or Lindisfarne Gospels, which is 
 one of the most beautiful MSS. in Europe. Smith asserts that this 
 volume was written for the express use of St. Cuthbert. It is preserved 
 in the Cottonian Library, Hero, D. IV. See Wanley’s Catalogue, 
 appended to Hickes’s Thesaurus, p. 250. 
 
 
4 
 
 THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 
 
 § 2. Should I succeed in producing anything worthy of 
 your perusal, it will undoubtedly be owing to the Divine 
 aid and assistance. It will also be due in great measure to 
 your kindness and benevolence, which is capable of moving 
 even the idle to exertion, and to that confidence with which 
 you encourage me to undertake the work, this being itself 
 a pledge and assurance that I shall be able to complete what 
 you so trustingly confide to me. Your prayers have certainly 
 preceded and lightened the burden of the commission you 
 have asked me to fulfil, as I judge from the pleasure with 
 which I received the commands of your charity. Whatever 
 I have to record of the holy Cuthbert is so much clear gain 
 and advantage to myself, since the knowledge of what he 
 was shows to me the perfect path to virtue. If you accept 
 all that popular report has said concerning him—as you 
 may safely do—even then you will have gathered but a 
 small portion of the truth, for I feel sure that you yourself 
 cannot be acquainted with his whole history. 
 
 S 3. I therefore undertake to write the life of Saint 
 Cuthbert, narrating what he was before he became a bishop, 
 as well as how he exercised the duties of the episcopate; 
 though I know how impossible it is for me to describe his 
 virtues in all their fulness. There was much, marking; his 
 own interior life, which is known neither to me nor to any 
 other, for he never sought the praise of men ; and as far as 
 in him lay, would have wished his great qualities hidden 
 from the view of every one. I have even omitted many 
 facts known to myself, as I thought it would suffice to write 
 down only those things which are more remarkable and 
 excellent, having some consideration for my readers, who 
 
PROLOGUE. 
 
 5 
 
 might be wearied with too great an accumulation of detail. 
 Let me earnestly assure them, however, that they may 
 accept, without the smallest hesitation, everything which I 
 shall advance, and I beg them so to accept it, and to believe 
 that I state nothing of which I am not absolutely certain. 
 I have preferred to be silent where I ran any risk of stating 
 what is false. And as nothing that can be spoken or 
 written of him can add anything to the value of the works 
 themselves which he wrought, I shall without further 
 preface proceed to the narrative of what he did during 
 his life. 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 CUTHBERT’S LIFE UP TO THE TIME OF HIS ENTRANCE 
 INTO THE MONASTERY. 
 
 § 4. We will first relate an incident which occurred 
 in his earliest years, and which we have heard recorded by 
 a number of persons, among whom was Bishop Tnma, 1 of 
 holy memory, as also Elias, a priest of our church, who had 
 heard and repeated from the mouth of St. Cuthbert himself 
 this proof of God’s spiritual election and predestination to 
 his future course of life. Their account is as follows:— 
 When he was a child of eight years he excelled all his 
 companions of the same age in activity and playfulness, 
 
 so that often, when the others were tired out and obliged 
 
 . * 
 
 to rest, he would remain by himself, as though triumphant, 
 on the playground, challenging any of them to contend 
 longer with him. One day a number of lads were assembled 
 in the meadow, he himself being amongst them, when they 
 began to engage in all manner of wild and extravagant 
 freaks. Some actually took their clothes off and stood on 
 their heads, with their feet and legs extended in the air, 
 performing other like antics and feats of strength. 
 
 1 Tuma, more generally called Trumwine, a bishop of the Piets (Bede’s 
 (Bede’s Eccl. Hist., IV., 12, § 288, 341), was amongst those who in the 
 year 685 induced Cuthhert to accept the bishopric of Lindisfarne (IV., 
 28, § 347). Upon the death of Egfritli, King of Northumbria, in a.d. 
 684, he was driven from his diocese and compelled to take refuge in the 
 Monastery of Streoneshalch, or Whitby (IV., 26, § 341). An outline of 
 his life may be seen in the Acta SS. mens., Feh. ii., 414. 
 
THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 
 
 7 
 
 § 5. One of their number, a little boy only three years 
 old, kept repeatedly calling out to him, “Oh! be quiet, 
 and leave off this foolish play.” Receiving no attention, he 
 insisted more and more, and at last began to cry and sob 
 violently, being quite inconsolable. After they had re¬ 
 peatedly asked him what was the matter, he called out, 
 “ 0 holy bishop and priest Cuthbert, these tricks of agility 
 are quite unsuitable to your character and position.” 
 Cuthbert did not at the time understand the meaning of 
 these words, yet he left off his play to comfort the child, 
 and returning to his home, revolved the word of prophecy 
 in his mind, as holy Mary kept the words foretold of Jesus, 
 pondering them in her heart (S. Luke ii. 51.) 
 
 § 6. You see, brethren, how it was intimated that this 
 Saint had been chosen by the Providence of God, before he 
 became known through his labours and his works, as was 
 declared of the patriarch by the prophet, “ Jacob I have 
 loved, but Esau have I held in hatred ” (Malach. i. 2, 3); 
 and as Samuel and David are both found to have been 
 chosen in their childhood, so the prophet Jeremy (Jer. i. 5) 
 and John Baptist (Luke i. 15, 44) are said to have been 
 consecrated in their mothers’ womb to the service of God. 
 And this the Apostle of the Gentiles has asserted, when he 
 says, “Whom He predestined, them He also called” (Rom. 
 viii. 30). 
 
 § 7. While he was still about the same age, the Lord 
 distinguished him by another miracle as one predestined to 
 election. When yet a child, as I have said, and a laic, he 
 was subject for a long time to the burthen of a painful 
 
8 
 
 THE LIFE OF ST CUTHBERT. 
 
 malady. His knee became swollen and the nerves con¬ 
 tracted, so that he went lame, one foot not being able to 
 reach the ground. On a certain day, when they carried 
 him outside and laid him beneath the w T all in the sunshine, 
 he saw a man of noble appearance and extraordinary beauty, 
 clad in white garments, and riding up towards him from a 
 considerable distance, seated on a horse magnificently 
 caparisoned. As the stranger drew near, saluting and 
 accosting graciously the child, he inquired whether he was 
 willing to offer hospitality to him as his guest. The boy, 
 showing his bodily infirmity, answered fearlessly, “ Jf it 
 were God’s will, and if He had not bound me for my sins 
 with the bond of this infirmity, I would not be backward in 
 ministering' to strangers for the honour of His name.” The 
 rider thereupon dismounted and examined his knee, which 
 he had already explained had not been treated by any 
 surgeon, and gave him this direction: “You must boil 
 wheat flour with milk, and bathe your knee with it when 
 quite warm.” After his guest was gone, the boy, on 
 carrying out this prescription, perceived that lie had been 
 visited by an angel of God. In a few days he was healed, 
 according to his faith, and returned thanks for the mercy of 
 God, Who had granted to him a complete and perfect cure, 
 as He had to blind Tobias, by the healing hand of His 
 angel. From this time forward he ever received the help 
 of the angels when he supplicated it of God, on occasions 
 of great difficulty, as he himself acknowledged to persons 
 whose statement can be entirely depended on. 
 
 § 8. At another time during his youth, and while lead¬ 
 ing a secular life among the hills in the neighbourhood of 
 the River Leader, being engaged in the care of his master’s 
 
 ? o o o 
 
a.d. 651 .] THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 
 
 9 
 
 flock along with other shepherds, he remained awake all 
 night, as was his custom, having his mind deeply rooted in 
 faith, and occupied with frequent and fervent prayers. He 
 then saw in a vision the heavens opened out to him—not by 
 any actual unclosing of the elements, but by the acuteness 
 of his spiritual sight, as did the blessed patriarch Jacob in 
 Luza, called Bethel (Gen. xxxv. 6)—showing the angels 
 ascending and descending, and bearing in their hands a 
 holy soul, carried to heaven as in a globe of fire. Imme¬ 
 diately rousing up the other shepherds, he related this 
 marvellous appearance to them exactly as he had seen it, 
 assuring them prophetically that this was the soul of the 
 holy Bishop Aidan, 1 who had expired on the same night, 
 and at the same hour in which he saw the vision. 
 
 § 9. One other miracle which occurred in his youth 
 must not be omitted. When travelling from the south 
 towards the River Wear, on reaching a place called 
 Leunckcester, 2 he crossed the river, and, rainy weather 
 coming on, went for refuge to some buildings inhabited 
 only during spring and summer. As it was then winter 
 time, the place was entirely deserted, so that he found no 
 one to speak to or give him any refreshment. But he and 
 
 1 31st August 651. Aidan, a monk of Iona, Apostle of Northumbria, 
 and first Bishop of Lindisfarne, enjoyed the highest reputation for holi¬ 
 ness and practical wisdom. Bede, who was born twenty years after his 
 death, “ has made his character and life the subject of one of the most 
 eloquent and attractive pictures ever drawn by the pen of the venerable 
 historian” (Montalembert, Monks of the West, IV., 23, Translation). 
 Simeon of Durham records the same wonderful vision, “juxta fluvium 
 Leder ” (Ch. hi., p. 24). 
 
 The Leader flows from the north, and joins the Tweed two miles 
 below Melrose. 
 
 2 Probably the present Lanchester, situated near the River Wear, 
 not far from Durham. 
 
 B 
 
io 
 
 THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. [a.d. 651 . 
 
 his horse were tired and hungry, and so, taking off its 
 saddle, he led the animal into the house and tied it up to 
 the wall. Here he engaged in prayer to God, and waited 
 for the weather to clear. All at once he observed the horse 
 raise its head to the roof of the shed and eagerly draw down 
 some hay from the thatch, bringing along with it a 
 quantity of bread, still warm, together with pieces of 
 meat, all carefully and neatly wrapped in a linen napkin. 
 He finished his prayer, and on reflection felt convinced 
 that the food was intended for him, and sent from God by 
 the hand of an angel, who often came to his assistance in 
 his necessities. So he returned thanks to God, blessed and 
 ate, and then, refreshed and sustained by this Divine 
 nourishment, loudly praising the Lord, he set out again, 
 and successfully accomplished his journey. 
 
 § 10. I pass over in silence many other wonderful 
 incidents of his earlier years, that I may not weary the 
 reader, being also anxious to enter upon a particular recital 
 of the more mature fruits of his advanced manhood, as 
 shown in his practice of the virtues of Christ, and in his 
 service before God. I do not dwell upon the fact how, 
 when in the field with the army, though his salary was a 
 mere pittance, he had during all this time abundance of 
 food, so that Providence even gave him stronger health, 
 just as Daniel and the three children, who refused the 
 King’s food, marvellously throve upon a sparing use of the 
 fare of slaves. Moreover, I forbear to tell how he saw 
 the soul of his general carried up to heaven at his death, 
 or of how wonderfully he put the devils to flight and cured 
 madness by his prayers. 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 HIS MONASTIC LIFE, EXTENDED PROPHECIES, AND 
 OTHER MIRACLES, [a.d. 651-661.] 
 
 § 11. Having now made the excellent resolve to dedicate 
 himself to a severe mode of life in a monastery, and to 
 relinquish his habits as a secular, pious and innocent 
 though they were, for the pursuit of a higher state, he 
 patiently addressed himself to those pious customs which 
 long practice in the voluntary service of God had by 
 frequent use made natural and easy to him. His extraordi¬ 
 nary endurance of watching and fasting amazed even the 
 incredulous. He constantly spent whole nights in prayer, 
 sometimes remaining thus for two or three days and nights 
 continuously, taking rest only on the fourth day; for he 
 remembered the words of the Apostle Paul, “ All discipline 
 for the present indeed seemeth not to bring with it joy, but 
 sorrow, but afterwards it will yield to them that are exercised 
 by it the most peaceable fruit of justice.” 0 my brethren, 
 I do not presume to think myself worthy of having enjoyed 
 his conversation; no words could ever express what that 
 was like. He was as an angel in his look, graceful in his 
 language, holy in all he did, pure in body, brilliant in genius, 
 great in counsel, catholic in faith, most patient in hope, and 
 unbounded in charity. I will endeavour, nevertheless, to 
 explain somewhat more in detail by what steps he trod the 
 path of virtue. 
 
 The vision of the soul of Aidan carried up to heaven by angels was 
 the turning-point in the life of Cuthbert, for from this moment, impressed 
 
THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. [a.d. 651 . 
 
 12 
 
 with the vanity of earthly things, and emulous of the glorious termination 
 of a saint’s career, he resolved to renounce the world and consecrate him¬ 
 self wholly to God in the monastic state. “ He knew that the Church of 
 Lindisfarne contained many holy men, by whose teaching and example 
 he might be instructed ; hut he was moved by the great reputation of Boisil 
 —better known as St. Boswell—a monk and priest of surpassing merit, 
 to choose for himself an abode in the Abbey of Mailros” (Old Melrose, two 
 miles to the east of Melrose Abbey). At this time Eata was Abbot of 
 the Monastery, and Boswell was Prior. We next meet with Cuthbert at 
 the gate of the Monastery of Mailros. “ As he leaped from his horse, 
 and was about to enter the Church to pray, he gave his horse to an 
 attendant, as well as the spear which he held in his hand. Boisil was 
 standing at the door, and saw him first. As soon as he set his eyes upon 
 him, he recognised in Cuthbert the future Saint: ‘ Behold a servant of 
 God !’ he exclaimed to those who stood near him. Boisil, without saying 
 more, kindly received Cuthbert as he approached, and when he had heard 
 the cause of his coming, namely, that he preferred the monastery to the 
 world, he kept him near himself.”—(Bede, Life of St. Cuthbert, chap, vi.) 
 
 After spending a few quiet but fruitful years in the peaceful cloisters 
 of Mailros, Cuthbert was transferred from the banks of the Tweed to the 
 banks of the Ure. 
 
 § 12. Soon after he had taken in the Monastery of 
 Ripon the yoke of Christ’s service and the tonsure of Peter, 1 
 formed in imitation of the crown of thorns which encircled 
 the head of Christ, according to the testimony of unim¬ 
 peachable witnesses, another special grace was conferred 
 upon him in confirmation of his sanctity : “ The neophyte 
 was immediately chosen from the other brethren to wait 
 upon strangers coming to the house. Amongst these, one 
 morning during the winter season, when snow was on the 
 ground, there visited him an angel of the Lord, under the 
 appearance of a grave man of mature age, as the angels 
 manifested themselves under the appearance of men to the 
 patriarch Abraham in the vale of Mambre (Gen. xviii. l). 
 
 1 On this subject cf. Innes, Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scotland, 
 p. 242 ; Lingard, Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church , vol. i., chap. i. 
 
a. d. 651 .] THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 
 
 13 
 
 He received him kindly, according to his wont, believing 
 him to be of mortal, not angelic nature; he washed his 
 hands and feet, and wiped them with a towel, and in all 
 humility rubbed his hands and warmed his feet on account 
 of the cold, after which he entreated him to wait until the 
 third hour of the day, that he might breakfast; and when 
 the stranger objected, on the ground that he was obliged 
 to proceed on his journey, he pressed him, till at length he 
 obtained his consent by adjuring him in the name of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. The signal for Terce being given, and 
 the prayer concluded, he laid the table, placing on it such 
 food as he could find ; and because it chanced that there 
 was no bread at hand, he put on the table only the crumbs 
 that had been collected for blessed bread. He then went 
 to the monastery to obtain some more, but not getting it, as 
 the bread was still baking in the oven, he returned to his 
 guest, whom he had left eating alone. But he found him 
 not, nor any trace of his footsteps, though snow covered all 
 the ground. Greatly amazed, and now convinced that his 
 visitor w T as an angel of God, he removed the table to an 
 inner chamber, and on entering at once perceived the 
 fragrance of a marvellous pleasant odour as of fresh bread, 
 while he saw lying beside him three hot loaves; and so 
 gave thanks to God, because in his person had been ful¬ 
 filled the saying of the Lord: “ He that receiveth you 
 receiveth Me; and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him 
 that sent Me ” (S. Matt. x. 40). And again : “ He that re¬ 
 ceiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive the 
 reward of a prophet; and he that receiveth a just man in the 
 name of a just man shall receive the reward of a just man ” 
 (S. Matt. x. 41). And often after this day the Lord fed 
 
H 
 
 THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. [a.d. 66i. 
 
 him when he was hungry, as he acknowledged to faithful 
 brethren, not boastingly, but for the edification of many, 
 even as St. Paul related many things of himself from the 
 same motive. 
 
 Cuthbert’s sojourn at Ripon was brief. He returned to Mailros, 
 and shortly after, a.d. G61, England was visited by that terrible 
 scourge known as the Yellow Pest. Boisil, the Prior of Melrose, was 
 one of those attacked by it. Summoning Cuthbert to his bedside, 
 he said, “I have but seven days to live;” and then he told him 
 to take and read for their mutual instruction a copy of the Gospel of 
 St. John, which was divided in seven parts, that thus reading and 
 commenting on one each day, they might have it ended before his death. 
 During the familiar intercourse which took place during his illness be¬ 
 tween the aged Prior and St. Cuthbert, Boisil foretold that the virulence 
 of the pestilence which was then raging should continue for three years 
 —that is, from 661 to 664. He revealed also to his disciple all the events 
 of his future life, and that he would one day be a bishop. When the 
 seven days were accomplished, St. Boisil's soul entered into the joys of 
 eternal life.—(Bede, Chap, viii.) Cuthbert succeeded Boisil as Prior, and 
 inherited not only his eminent wisdom and sanctity, but his burning zeal 
 and love for souls. He displayed the fervour of an apostle in converting 
 the surrounding populace far and wide from their former foolish life, and 
 leading them to the love of heavenly joys. He was wont chiefly'to seek 
 out and preach in those remote villages which were situated far from 
 the world in wild mountain places, remote and fearful to behold, which, 
 as well by their poverty and distance up the country, prevented inter¬ 
 course with such as could instruct their inhabitants.—(Bede, chap, ix.) 
 
 § 13. This circumstance is also worthy of being related, 
 which I heard from several excellent persons, amongst 
 whom was the priest Pleculf. During the time that he 
 was with us at the monastery of Mailros, he was sent for 
 by Ebba 1 the holy widow, and mother of us all in Christ. 
 He accordingly went, as invited, to the monastery called 
 
 1 Ebba, a daughter of Ethelfrid, King of Northumbria. Her brother 
 King Oswy gave her a small Roman camp on the Derwent, in the 
 western part of the county of Durham, which she changed into a 
 monastery, and which was called Ebchester after her. The village 
 church is also dedicated to her.—(Surtees, Durham, II., 301.) 
 
A.D. 661.] THE LIFE OF ST CUTHBERT. 
 
 i5 
 
 Coldingham, 1 and remained there some days, and in 
 nothing altering his usual habits of life he began at night 
 to walk along the sea-shore, singing and watching as was 
 his custom. He was observed by one of the brothers of 
 the monastery, who secretly followed him at a distance, 
 wishing to know how he passed the night. The man of 
 God, Outhberfc, resolutely drawing near to the sea, walked 
 into it up to his waist, the waves in succession rising as 
 high as his armpits. When he came back from the sea, 
 and had knelt down in prayer on the sand, two small sea 
 otters immediately followed his footsteps, stretched them¬ 
 selves on the sand before him, licking his feet, wiping them 
 dry with their fur, and warming them with their breath. 
 As soon as this service was rendered, Cuthbert gave them 
 his blessing and dismissed them to their native element. 
 
 § 14. At cock-crow the man of God returned to say 
 office with the brethren in the church. Meantime the 
 aforesaid monk, terrified and frightened at the sight, 
 remaining hid among the rocks, spent all the night in sore 
 distress and at death’s door. On the following day he cast 
 himself at the feet of the man of God, and in piteous accents 
 begged for forgiveness. The holy man replied in words 
 that showed his enlightenment from on high, “ What is the 
 matter, brother ? Did you approach me nearer than was 
 
 1 Colodesbyrig in the MS., i.e. Coldingham. in Berwickshire, about 
 ten miles from the borders of England. Ebba was also Abbess of 
 Coldingham, and gave her name to St. Abb’s Head, the black rock 
 hard by, which juts into the sea. Coldingham was a double monastery, 
 i.e., an establishment in which monks and nuns resided, apart indeed, 
 but under one head. 
 
16 THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. [ a . d . 661. 
 
 meet % As you own your fault, I will pardon you on this 
 condition, that you promise never to reveal what you have 
 seen to any one before my death.” The brother promised 
 as he was desired, and departed from him with his bene¬ 
 diction. He kept his promise as long as Cuthbert lived, 
 but took care to publish what he had seen to many 
 after Cuthbert’s death, in proof of the submission of the 
 animal creation to him, as we read that the lions were sub¬ 
 missive to Daniel, and because it showed that Cuthbert 
 had detected him by spiritual insight when he was in 
 concealment and watching his conduct, as Peter saw 
 Ananias and Sapphira when they were tempting the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 § 15. On another occasion he travelled from Mailros with 
 two brethren, and after sailing to the territory of the Piets, 
 arrived without accident among the Niduari. 1 There they 
 remained for some days in great destitution, as they had 
 nothing to eat, and stormy weather prevented their putting 
 to sea. The man of God spent the night on the shore of 
 the sea in prayer, and rejoined the others in the morning, 
 it being the Feast of the Lord’s Epiphany, for they had set 
 out on their journey after Christmas. He gave them this 
 advice, “ Let us go and search, and pray to God according 
 to his promise, ‘Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and 
 you shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened to you.’ 
 I think our Lord will bestow something upon us, to aid us 
 
 1 Niduari is the reading in Bede for the corrupt Mudsieralegis given 
 by the MS. By Niduari is probably meant a people dwelling by the 
 banks of the Biver Nitb, that falls into the Solway. 
 
A.D. 661.] THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 
 
 17 
 
 in celebrating the day on which the Magi adored Him with 
 their gifts, and on which the Holy Spirit descended on 
 Him like a dove, when He was baptised in Jordan, on 
 which also He turned the water into wine at Cana in 
 Galilee, to strengthen the faith of His disciples.” 
 
 § 16. Then they rose and went out, he himself walking 
 in front of them, as though to show the way, and leading 
 them toward the sea. On reaching it they found three 
 pieces of the flesh of a dolphin, as if cut by human hands 
 and washed clean in water, and on bended knees they gave 
 thanks to God. Then Cuthbert said, “ Take them up and 
 bear them away, and bless the Lord. For see, these three 
 portions will be sufficient for three men during three days 
 and nights, and on the fourth day the weather will be fine 
 enough to allow us to set sail.” They took the fish and 
 cooked it, and were delighted with the wonderful sweetness 
 of its taste. The tempest continued with great violence 
 for three days, but on the fourth, as he had predicted, they 
 resumed their voyage under a serene sky, and reached 
 their harbour in safety. This was related to us in presence 
 of many witnesses, by one of the two brethren present, 
 named Tydi, who is still living and is a priest. And 
 he glorified God whose mercy once sent flesh to Elias in 
 the desert, as now He did to this holy man; who, imbued 
 with the same spirit as the Apostle Paul, recorded in 
 the Acts of the Apostles, foretold both tempest and fine 
 ■weather to his fellow-voyagers (Acts xxvii. 22). 
 
 § 17. The same priest Tydi told us also of this other 
 miracle, known to a large number of persons. The Saint 
 
 c 
 
THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. [a.d. 66i. 
 
 was travelling one clay near the River Tesgesta, 1 in the 
 direction of the south, teaching and baptising the country 
 people who dwelt among the hills. He asked a boy 
 who was walking with him as his companion, “Have 
 you any idea who is preparing dinner for you to-day \ ” 
 Upon his answering that he knew no one on the road, and 
 had no expectation of receiving kindness from strangers, 
 the servant of God said to him again, “ Have confidence, 
 my son ; God will provide food for those who hope in 
 Him, for He has said, ‘ Seek first the Kingdom of God 
 and His justice, and all these things shall be added to you,’ 
 and He will fulfil the words of the prophet (Ps. xxxvi., 
 25), ‘ I have been young, and have grown old, and I have 
 not seen the just abandoned;’ and again (S. Luke x. 7), 
 ‘ The labourer is worthy of his hire.’ ” 
 
 § 18. Cuthbert, looking upwards, and seeing an eagle 
 flying in the sky, said to the boy, “It is this eagle that 
 God has commanded to prepare our dinner to-day.’’ Going- 
 further, they saw the eagle sitting on the bank of the 
 river. Then the boy ran to the eagle, at the command of 
 the servant of God, and stopped upon seeing a very large 
 fish, which he brought back to Cuthbert. But the man of 
 God, said to the boy, “Why have you not given our fisher¬ 
 man his share ? ” The young lad did as he was told, and 
 cutting the fish into two parts gave one to the eagle; they 
 took away the rest, and boiled it at the first house they 
 came to, both eating it themselves and giving of it to 
 others to eat. Having had enough, they prayed to the 
 
 1 Possibly a misreading for Tevyota, the Teviot, which joins the 
 Tweed at Kelso. 
 
a.d. 66 1 .] THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 
 
 *9 
 
 Lord, and returned thanks according to the will of God, 
 and continued their journey to the mountains, as has 
 been already narrated, teaching the people and baptising 
 them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the 
 Holy Ghost. 
 
 § 19. At the same time, while baptising among the 
 mountains, and preaching the Word of life to a number of 
 persons who were assembled in a certain village, Cuthbert 
 suddenly foresaw in spirit that the old enemy was present 
 among them to hinder the work of salvation. Whereupon 
 anticipating his snares, “ 0 beloved brethren,” he cried, 
 “if any temptation suddenly arises from outside, do you 
 nevertheless remain stedfast, and not run out of doors, 
 for it is only a delusion to induce you to put off listening 
 to the Word of God.” After these words, he resumed the 
 thread of his discourse which he had interrupted. Soon 
 they heard loud voices and cries of fire, as if a house was 
 burning, and nearly all the people present, except a few 
 whom he kept back with outstretched hand, rushed out 
 and hastened to the building which they supposed to be in 
 flames, trying to pull down the walls and put out the fire. 
 Then all at once they could see neither fire nor trace of 
 smoke, and discovering that they had been mocked by some 
 delusive and phantom fire which the devil had raised up, 
 they came back to the man of God, and on bended knees 
 besought his pardon, confessing that they now understood 
 the crafty and manifold artifices of seduction which are 
 practised by evil spirits. Thus one and all of them, greatly 
 improved and strengthened by his teaching, returned re¬ 
 joicing to their own homes. 
 
20 
 
 THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. [a.d. 66i. 
 
 § 20. About the same time the holy man of God was 
 invited by a woman named Kenswith, 1 who is still living, 
 a widow, and devoted to a religious life, who had brought 
 him up from the age of eight years until the time when he 
 attained his full growth and entered on the service of God. 
 He called her his mother on this account, and often visited 
 her. He went one day to the village in which she lived, 
 named Herningaham, 2 when a house situated at the extreme 
 eastern end of the town was observed to be on fire, and the 
 wind blowing very strongly from that quarter, the con¬ 
 flagration began to spread. His mother ran back in alarm 
 to her own house, where he was, and implored him in good¬ 
 ness to ask the help of God for the preservation of their 
 homes from the masses of fire which were flying on all 
 sides. Showing no signs of alarm, he desired her to keep 
 quiet, saying, “Fear not, this flame will not hurt you.” 
 He cast himself on his face to the ground in front of the 
 door, and prayed in silence, and as soon as he began to pray 
 a strong wind began to blow from the west, and drove the 
 whole force of the flame in the opposite direction, where it 
 could do no harm. Thus they perceived that the Divine 
 power of God had evidently exerted itself through him, 
 and that they had been preserved from great danger by 
 His protection, wherefore they gave thanks and blessed 
 the Lord. 
 
 § 21. There was a certain religious man especially dear 
 to the servant of God, whose name was Hildmer, and whose 
 
 1 Kenswith, miswritten Kenspid. 
 
 2 Herningaham, probably Wrangholm, Bleau’s Wrangumm, between 
 the Kivers Leader and Tweed. 
 
a.d. 661 .] THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 
 
 21 
 
 wife was greatly vexed by a devil. She was quite wasted 
 away, and brought nearly to the gates of death, and used 
 to gnash her teeth and cry out with a lamentable voice. 
 Her husband being assured she would come to some miser¬ 
 able end, hastened to our monastery and begged to see St. 
 Cuthbert, who was at that time the Provost of our Church. 
 He said that his wife was sick even to death, but did not 
 reveal that her disease was madness, as he felt at the 
 moment ashamed to let it be known that one who was 
 formerly a religious woman should now be harassed by an 
 evil spirit, being not aware that Christian people are fre¬ 
 quently liable to such possession. He only requested to 
 have a priest sent with him, and a spot assigned for her 
 burial. The man of God at once went to bid some one go 
 with him, but suddenly turned back, and, moved by the 
 Spirit of God, called to him : “I ought not to send another, 
 but go myself with you to visit her.” 
 
 § 22. Then the man of God got ready, and they all set 
 out on horseback. He perceived that his companion was 
 deeply affected and in tears, caused first from the fear of 
 losing his wife and seeing his children left orphans, but 
 especially from a sense of the degraded and miserable con¬ 
 dition into which her insanity had brought her, knowing 
 that the man of God would find her utterly forlorn, regard¬ 
 less of herself, and filthy and drivelling in her habits. 
 But Cuthbert gently comforted him, intimating that he was 
 aware of all that had been concealed from him, and with 
 prophetic lips he added, “ As soon as we reach your house, 
 the wife, who you think is dying, will come out to meet me, 
 and take the bridle of my horse, which I hold at this 
 
22 
 
 THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. [a.d. 66 i. 
 
 moment, for by the help of God the demon shall be cast 
 out, and she herself will minister to us.” On their arrival 
 at the mansion—as the man of God had said—the lady, 
 as if roused from sleep, came forth to meet them, and at 
 the first touch of the bridle the devil was completely 
 put to flight. She was restored to her former health, 
 and, joyfully giving thanks to God, offered hospitality 
 to them. 
 
BOOK III. 
 
 HIS REMOVAL TO FARNE, MIRACLES, ETC. [a.d. 664.] 
 
 § 23. St. Cuthbert admirably discharged the duties 
 of Provost in the above-mentioned monastery of Mailros, 
 serving the Lord Who wrought many miracles by his 
 instrumentality, such as I have endeavoured to relate, on 
 account of the weakness of those who were infirm in faith. 
 At length he took to flight from the glory of the world, and 
 withdrew into a life of more perfect solitude. Afterwards, 
 at the urgent summons and invitation of holy Bishop 
 Eata, he came across, with the help of God’s holy will, to 
 this island of ours, which is called Lindisfarne, and here, 
 whether present or absent, healed those who were possessed, 
 and cured many suffering from various kinds of disease. He 
 lived according to the precepts of Holy Scripture, preserving 
 the spirit of the contemplative life though engaged in active 
 duties, and for the first time drew up for us the rule which 
 we observe to this day, in conjunction with that of St. 
 Benedict. After some years he determined to remove to 
 the island called Fame, a desolate spot in the midst of the 
 waves, and there lead a solitary life for a space, an enter¬ 
 prise which no one had ever attempted before, because of 
 certain appearances of evil spirits in that place. He put 
 the demons to flight by his fearless courage, and dug a 
 chamber in the solid rock to the depth of nearly a cubit, 
 adding to it a wall which was truly extraordinary. Besides 
 being a cubit high, it was built of stones so large that no 
 
24 
 
 THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. [a.d. 676 . 
 
 one could believe they had been placed by him in their 
 present position, who did not know the amount of strength 
 God had given him. His dwelling-place was divided into 
 two rooms, so constructed that he could behold nothing 
 from them except the heavens above. 
 
 Simeon of Durham states that this change of residence occurred 
 a.d. 664 (lib. i., chap. vi.). 
 
 This was after a residence of twelve years at Lindisfarne, which, 
 dating from a.d. 664, carries us on to 676. 
 
 § 24. In the interior of the island he had found a stone, 
 which one day he asked some brothers who were on a visit 
 to fetch for him 011 the cart, that he might place it in his 
 building. They went with prompt obedience to bring it, 
 but were obliged to leave it when half the journey only 
 was accomplished, fearing that its weight might break down 
 their cart, or do them some injury. A few days afterwards, 
 upon the same brothers sailing across to the island again, 
 they found the stone they had been unable to move, now 
 neatly laid in its place in the structure which the servant of 
 God was rearing, and so praised and glorified God, who does 
 such marvellous works through his servants, remembering 
 that “ God is admirable in his Saints.” 
 
 § 25. On another occasion some of the brethren came 
 to visit him, to whom, according to his custom, he first 
 preached the word of God, and then said to them, “ My 
 beloved brethren, you know that this spot is almost unin¬ 
 habitable for want of water; therefore let us implore the 
 help of God, and do you dig in this stony bit of ground, 
 m the middle of the pavement of my abode, seeing that the 
 Lord God is able to bring water out of the hard rock for 
 
a.d. 676 .] THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 
 
 25 
 
 those who pray to him, as he once gave water to the thirsty 
 people when Moses struck the rock with his staff; and 
 again gave Samson water to drink, when he was thirsty, 
 from the jaw of an ass.” The brethren accordingly dug in 
 the ground as he had desired, and at his prayer they 
 immediately saw a spring of living water break forth from 
 the stony ground and flow towards him. We have tasted 
 of this spring, and thankfully experienced its extraordinary 
 sweetness, which continues to this day. And I know from 
 the testimony of reliable witnesses that the holy anchorite 
 and servant of God confessed that in this water, which God 
 had given him, he could discover the sweet taste of all 
 other liquors. 
 
 § 26. There is another miracle I will not pass over, 
 which God wrought out of love for his valiant soldier. 
 As he was in want of a beam twelve feet in lensfth to 
 
 O 
 
 form the foundation of some part of his building, he 
 asked the brethren who came to visit him to bring him one. 
 The waves of the sea reached the end of the hollow place he 
 had dug in the rock, and sometimes flowed into it, and he 
 proposed to fix in this spot the beam of wood I have 
 mentioned, and build upon it as a foundation. But he could 
 not obtain that favour from his brethren (may God not 
 impute it to them to their hurt). Our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 however, to whom he addressed this prayer, came to his 
 aid, for that very night the sea waves brought with them a 
 beam twelve feet long floating on the water, and deposited 
 it, in answer to the servant of God, exactly at the edge of 
 the rock where he wanted to place it for his building. 
 
 D 
 
26 
 
 THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. [a.d. 676 . 
 
 The brethren, who were watching during the night, saw it 
 in the morning, and gave thanks to God that in Christ’s 
 honour the sea should have rendered more obedience than 
 men to the holy anchorite; and at this very day the build¬ 
 ing, resting on the transverse beam, is plainly evident to 
 all who sail by. 
 
 § 27. As the sea was subservient to the man of God, so 
 also were the birds of the air. He was one day engaged in 
 digging the ground in his island, for during the first two or 
 
 OO OO 7 O 
 
 three out of the many years which he spent there, before he 
 closed his doors and remained constantly within, he used to 
 labour with his hands for his daily subsistence, according to 
 the words, “ He who does not labour must not eat.” He 
 saw that day two ravens, old denizens of the island, pre¬ 
 paring to make their nest by pulling away the thatch from 
 the roof of a house which stood on the landing-place built 
 for sailors. He waved them away by a movement of his 
 hands, lest their depredations should occasion trouble to the 
 brethren. But when they paid no attention to his signal, 
 he changed his tone, and sternly ordered them in the name 
 of Jesus Christ to take themselves off and leave the island. 
 Without an instant’s delay they both abandoned their 
 homes in obedience to his command. Three days after¬ 
 wards one of the two returned, and laying itself at the feet 
 of the man of God as he was digging in the ground, it 
 spread out its wings over the furrow and bent its head to 
 the ground, as though suing humbly for his pardon. Then 
 the man of God, seeing that it was repentant, gave per¬ 
 mission for its return. Peace being concluded, both the 
 
a.d. 676 .] THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 
 
 27 
 
 ravens came back the same hour bearing a gift with them, 
 for each carried in its beak a large piece of pork, which it 
 laid at his feet. He forgave them their fault, and they are 
 living in the island to the present day. I have been 
 assured of the truth of this story by witnesses who could 
 not be mistaken, and who, when visiting him, used to oil 
 their shoes with the fat of this pork for twelve months after¬ 
 wards. 
 
 [a.d. 681 ] 
 
 § 28. The consecrated virgin and royal abbess Elfleda 
 humbly requested this holy anchorite to come to meet her 
 on Coquet Island. The handmaid of God went down on 
 her knees, and put many questions to him, and at last 
 solemnly adjured him, in the name of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and the nine orders of Angels, and all the holy 
 Saints, to tell her how long her brother King Egfrid had 
 to live. Thus urged, and fearing to offend our Lord, the 
 man of God began in many words, yet wdthout directly 
 answering the question, to remind her of the brevity of 
 human life, adding these words, “ 0 handmaiden of God, 
 surely it is no slight privilege for one to be secure of life 
 for even twelve months ! ” She understood that he spoke 
 with design and foreknowledge,, and wept bitterly, and a 
 year afterwards her grief, and that of multitudes of others, 
 was only too painfully renewed at seeing the fall of the royal 
 house, struck dowm by the foeman’s sword, wielded with 
 such cruel hand. She next went on to ask : “ By that same 
 Holy Unity and Trinity I adjure you to tell me whom he will 
 have for his heir.” He paused a few moments, and said : 
 “ Him you may take for your brother, not less than the 
 
28 
 
 THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. [a.d. 684 . 
 
 other.” This she seemed unable to understand, and earnestly 
 inquired where the person was to be found. He listened to 
 her with great gentleness, and replied : “0 servant of God, 
 why should you wonder if he were now in an island in this 
 sea ? ” Upon this she remembered that his words must 
 apply to Alfrid, now happily reigning, who was at that 
 time in the island called Hy. She then proceeded to 
 question him about himself, knowing that the king wished 
 to call him to the episcopate, and asked whether the king’s 
 wish would take effect, and how long he was to be bishop. 
 He declared himself unworthy of this honour, but added 
 that it was impossible for him to avoid it by concealing 
 himself on land or sea, “and within the brief space of two 
 years,” said he, “ I shall find the reward of my labours. 
 But do you also listen to what I enjoin you in the name of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, and see you tell this to no one as 
 long as I live.” Then after many other prophetic words, 
 which all beyond doubt came true, he entered his boat and 
 returned to Fame. 
 
 § 29. Thus he continued to live for many years in 
 solitude, withdrawn from the sight of men ; but under all 
 circumstances he was always the same in his expression of 
 countenance and the disposition of his mind. He was 
 always joyful and glad-hearted; no recollection of sin ever 
 saddened his face; no praises or marks of surprise and 
 admiration ever elated him. His language, modest but full 
 of point and ready wit, comforted the sad, instructed the 
 ignorant, and calmed the angry, convincing all who heard 
 him that nothing is to be preferred to the love of Christ. 
 
a.d. 684 .] THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 
 
 29 
 
 And before the eyes of all he habitually placed the great¬ 
 ness of the good things that are to come, and of the gifts 
 which God has already bestowed upon us, Who spared 
 not His own Son, but delivered Him up for the salvation 
 of all men. 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
 CTJTIIBERT AS BISHOP OF LIKDISFARNE—HIS MIRACLES— 
 HIS DEATH, [a.d. 684.] 
 
 § 30. Having been chosen to the episcopate of our 
 church of Lindisfarne at the request of King Egfrid, 
 of the Saxon Bishops, and of the Senate, the King in person, 
 and Bishop Trumwin, of holy memory, together with some 
 chosen members of our household, went to him, the Synod 
 being assembled with closed doors within the Monastery, 
 and, falling on their knees, adjured him by our Lord Jesus 
 Christ to accede to their request. Most reluctantly, with 
 many tears and expressions of grief, he was conducted before 
 the Synod, at which Archbishop Theodore presided, and 
 after the usual delay was admitted to the episcopate. It is 
 not within my power or province to express how excellent 
 and (Treat he was in the exercise of this office, although it 
 is better to give some account than to omit all mention. 
 He continued ever what he had been before, unchanged in 
 the sympathy of his heart, in the simplicity of his outward 
 appearance. Thus, with all authority and grace, he filled 
 the dignified post of bishop, without departing, however, 
 from either the strict rule of the monk or the virtue of the 
 anchorite. In all things he remembered to observe the 
 teaching of St. Paul to Titus : “ A bishop must be without 
 crime.” His discourse was equally pure and resolute, 
 equally grave and straightforward, full both of sweetness 
 and grace, when he spoke upon the ministry of the law, or 
 
A.D. 684.] the LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 
 
 3i 
 
 the teaching of faith, or the virtue of continence, or the 
 practices of a just life. To every one he gave varied and 
 suitable instructions, because he always knew beforehand 
 what to say, and to whom, when, and how to say it. 
 Above all other things, it w’as his special care to join 
 fasting, prayer, and watching to the study of the Scriptures. 
 His memory, keeping always before his mind the canons of 
 the Church, and enabling him to recall the virtue of the 
 Saints, stood him in place of books. He fulfilled all the 
 duties of brotherly love towards his brethren, and practised 
 humility and that super-eminent charity without which 
 every other virtue is valueless. He took care of the poor, 
 fed the hungry, clothed the naked, harboured strangers, 
 redeemed the captives, and protected widows and orphans, 
 that he might merit the reward of eternal life in the com¬ 
 pany of the choirs of angels with our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 § 31. The holy Cuthbert being thus deeply rooted in 
 the virtues befitting the exercise of the episcopal office, was 
 advanced by our Lord to the fullest and highest degree of 
 dignity and authority by many miracles and prodigies, and 
 as it was said to the Apostles “ Whatever you shall loose 
 on earth shall be loosed in heaven,” so his priests and 
 deacons have assured us these words were fulfilled in him 
 not spiritually only, but by bodily act as well, and there 
 were wrought, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, many 
 signs and wonders among the people. 
 
 § 32. Of these we may narrate the following. One of 
 the Earls of King Egfrid named Heunna, living in the 
 country called Henitis, had a wife who fell dangerously 
 
3 2 
 
 THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. [a.d. 684. 
 
 ill, so that her life was almost despaired of. As our holy 
 bishop was travelling and preaching the word of God among 
 the people, he arrived at the place inhabited by the above- 
 mentioned Earl. The latter at once went forth to meet the 
 bishop, and returning thanks to God for his coming, kindly 
 and hospitably received him and his companions, and 
 washed their hands and feet. He then made known to the 
 holy bishop the dangerous condition of his wife, which 
 occasioned much grief and sorrow to all the household, 
 asking him to bless some holy water for her use, as he 
 thought she would then depart more easily if she was to 
 die, or would recover more quickly were her life to be spared. 
 The holy bishop blessed the water before them all, and gave 
 it to his priest, Beta, who is still living. Entering into 
 her bed-chamber, where she lay like one half dead, the 
 priest sprinkled her and her bed, and opening her mouth he 
 poured a little of the water. She immediately recovered 
 consciousness, and gave thanks and blessed God, who had 
 vouchsafed to send so many and so great guests to visit and 
 cure her. Without delay, she rose up in sound health, and, 
 like the mother-in-law of Peter, ministered to them with 
 her own hands, being the first of this noble family to 
 offer the cup of joy to the bishop, w T ho had removed from 
 her lips the cup of death. 
 
 § 33. The priest Ethelwold, now Abbot of the Monas¬ 
 tery of Mailros, related to me another instance of a cure 
 which was witnessed by himself. “ One day,” he said, 
 “ we came with the holy bishop to a town called Bedesfeld. 
 A girl in that place, who was a near relative of mine, was 
 very ill, and for almost a whole year had suffered severe 
 
A.D. 684.] the LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 
 
 33 
 
 pain in her head and down one side, which no physician 
 had been able to cure or alleviate. Our bishop, having 
 heard of the girl’s illness, at our request had compassion on 
 her and anointed her with oil consecrated by himself. 
 Immediately from that hour she began to amend, and in a 
 few days was restored to perfect health.” 
 
 § 34. Another miracle of the same kind I heard from 
 the testimony of many witnesses, whose statement leaves no 
 room for doubt. Amongst these, Heunna related—“ One 
 day the holy bishop set out from Hagustaldese, and 
 travelled in the direction of Carlisle. He broke his journey 
 on the way in the region named Alise. A great number of 
 people had assembled there, and he remained two days, lay¬ 
 ing his hand on the head of each one, anointing them with 
 the oil he had consecrated, and preaching the word of God. 
 When, lo! there suddenly appeared some women carrying 
 on a litter a young man wasted by a long and grievous 
 sickness ; and, setting him down at the outlet of the forest, 
 not far from our tents, where the holy bishop was, they 
 sent to beg him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that 
 he would grant the poor man his blessing, and that of the 
 other holy men with him, and would pray for him to the 
 Lord that he might obtain pardon for his sins, on account 
 of which he was bound under the Divine vengeance. When 
 the bishop perceived their unhesitating faith, he sent us 
 away, and gave his blessing to the youth, whose malady he 
 cured, and restored him to health, glorifying God for having 
 come to the aid of His servant who had trusted in Him. 
 Rising up the same hour, and refreshed with a little food, 
 the youth walked away in company with the women, 
 
 E 
 
34 
 
 THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. [a.d. 684. 
 
 giving thanks and magnifying the Lord, Who works such 
 wonders in His saints/’ 
 
 § 35. The priest Tydi, whom I have already mentioned, 
 gave me the following account:—“ Our holy bishop was 
 in a town called Methelwong 1 during the pestilence which 
 devastated both that neighbourhood and many others, and 
 was preaching the Word of God to such of the people as 
 were left, when he turned to me and asked in a low tone, 
 
 ‘ Is there any one in this town still sick of the pestilence, 
 to whom I can go to carry blessing and consolation \ ’ I 
 pointed out to him a poor woman standing at a distance, 
 and appealing to him with many tears in behalf of one son 
 who had just died, while she held in her arms his brother, 
 now swollen and gasping for breath in his mortal agony. 
 Cuthbert instantly rose, and going to her, blessed and 
 kissed her child, and then assured her, £ 0 woman, weep 
 not, the son you have lost is saved; neither shall any of 
 your family henceforth die of this pestilence.’ The mother 
 and son are both living, and bear witness to the truth of 
 this narrative.” 
 
 § 36. Neither may I omit what was related by a priest 
 of ours, still alive, but at that time a layman in the service 
 of a certain earl, who recounted this deed of mercy in his 
 presence :—“ When our holy bishop began to preach the 
 Word of God among the country people, he was invited by 
 my lord, whose name was Tibba, one of the earls of King 
 
 1 In the MS. Medilpong, obviously an error for Methelwong, the 
 Field of Discussion.—(Vita Sti. Cuthberti, auctore anonymo., Note, 
 § 35 .) 
 
A.D. 684.J 
 
 THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 
 
 35 
 
 Egfrid, who lived near the river called Tweed, 1 to come to 
 his town, and so arrived in procession with his companions, 
 singing psalms and hymns. My lord received him most 
 cordially, and informed him of the desperate condition of 
 one of his servants, lying there very ill, in fact drawing 
 his last breath. The holy bishop, compassionating his case, 
 blessed water for him, and gave it to me, as I was attending 
 him, with this injunction, £ Go and give the sick person this 
 water, which, by God’s help and according to our faith, is 
 about to place him in safety, because the Lord will pardon 
 the sins for which he is afflicted, and grant him rest from 
 his labour, either now, by restoring him to health, or in the 
 world to come, if he is going to die.’ I went immediately 
 to the sick man as I was desired, and while I was pouring 
 a little of it for the third time into his mouth, the patient, 
 through the help of God, returned to consciousness, and 
 recovered his former health. He is still living, and gives 
 thanks to God, calls down blessings on the bishop, and 
 prays for him continually.” 
 
 § 37. While King Egfrid was laying waste the kingdom 
 of the Piets, where, according to the predestined judgment 
 of God, he was ultimately overthrown and slain, our holy 
 bishop in the course of his progress visited the city of 
 Luel (now Carlisle), 2 in which the Queen was then staying, 
 awaiting the issue of the war. On Saturday, at three 
 o’clock in the afternoon, as is affirmed by the priests and 
 
 1 In the Latin text Opide , most probably the Tweed, according to 
 Bede’s narrative, which informs us that Cuthbert was then on his way 
 from Mailros to Lindisfarne. 
 
 2 Luel, i.e., Lugubalia, which is corruptly called Luel by the Angles.— 
 (Bede, Life of St. Cuthbert, Chap, xxvii.) 
 
36 
 
 THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. [a.d. 684. 
 
 deacons, many of whom are alive to this day, while 
 all present were inspecting the city wall, and also a 
 fountain of marvellous workmanship, formerly constructed 
 by the Romans, as they were told by their guide, Waga, 1 
 Provost of the city, the good bishop, as he leant on his staff, 
 suddenlv bent his face toward the ground, then again 
 raising himself, he lifted his eyes to heaven, and groaning 
 deeply, three times exclaimed, “ Ah ! ah! ah! I fear the 
 war is over, and that judgment has been pronounced 
 against our people engaged in it.” When all inquired of 
 him what had happened, he replied ambiguously, “ 0 my 
 children, do you not see how marvellously changed and 
 disturbed the air has become X And who among mortals is 
 sufficient to search out the judgments of God X” Within a 
 few days the sad and unexpected intelligence of the result 
 of the battle, which was fought and ended on the very day 
 and at the very hour in which it had been revealed to 
 Cuthbert, was known all over the country. 
 
 § 38. In this same city of Carlisle there came to him 
 from the western islands a venerable anchorite named 
 Herbert, who had often previously visited him, and now came 
 according to his wont to resume his spiritual colloquy with 
 Cuthbert. After much pious discourse, in which he gave 
 him wholesome exhortations, the holy bishop said propheti- 
 
 1 Waga, hitherto printed Paga, but incorrectly. The description of 
 a fountain, in which the traces of Eoman workmanship are still dis¬ 
 cernible, is given in Lyson’s Magna Brit. Cumberland, p. ccvii. Smith 
 appears to have had the same information from Nicolson, then Bishop of 
 Carlisle. Carlisle was the Lugurallium of the Romans, a station on the 
 great Roman Wall. On the frequency of Roman remains at Carlisle, see 
 Camd. Brit. Col., 1024 . 
 
a.d. 686.] THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 
 
 37 
 
 cally, in the hearing of a number of persons, “ Bethink you, 
 beloved brother, of anything you may have need to ask me, 
 and speak to me about it, for, as Paul predicted to the 
 Ephesians, never in this world, from this hour, shall we see 
 one another again.” On hearing this, Herbert fell at his 
 feet, and, shedding many tears, answered mournfully, “ I 
 beseech you, through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, pray to 
 the Holy Trinity not to leave me in this world deprived of 
 your presence, but to receive me along with you into the 
 joy of His eternal kingdom.” The bishop, after praying 
 for a moment, bade him, as he still lay on the ground, 
 “ Rise, and rejoice ; for,” said he, “ you shall certainly 
 receive from the Lord Jesus Christ that which you have 
 sought from him.” The issue of the story needs not many 
 words. At the same time, on the same night—Wednesday, 
 the 20th of March 687—at the same hour of the night, the 
 bishop and and the anchorite both died, and now reign 
 together with Christ for ever and ever. 
 
 We learn from Bede (chap, cxxvii.) that Herbert was first purified 
 by a long infirmity, and this perhaps by the dispensation of our Lord’s 
 mercy, that the continual pain of a long sickness might supply whatever 
 deficiency of merit he might have in comparison with the blessed 
 Cuthbert, so that he being made equal in grace to his intercessor, they 
 both might depart together at the same hour, and on one and the same 
 day, be thought worthy to be admitted to one and the like seat of ever¬ 
 lasting blessedness. 
 
 § 39. The most faithful Abbess Elfleda revealed to me 
 another instance of miraculous knowledge in the holy 
 bishop. As he was seated with her at table in her 
 Monastery of Osingadun (near Whitby), Cuthbert became 
 wrapt in contemplation; his eyes were fixed, and the knife 
 which he held in his hand dropped upon the table. Hastily 
 
38 
 
 THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 
 
 [a.d. 686. 
 
 bending towards him, she asked, “ I beseech you, my lord 
 bishop, tell me what you have just seen.” “ I have seen,” 
 he replied, “ the soul of a certain holy person of this 
 monastery borne up by the hands of angels to heaven, and 
 placed among the choir of angels and holy martyrs.” On 
 her proceeding to ask the name of the person, his answer 
 was, “ To-morrow, when I am celebrating Mass, you your¬ 
 self shall tell me his name.” Upon hearing this, the abbess 
 at once sent to the monastery to inquire who had lately 
 departed this life, but the messenger brought word that all 
 were safe and well. Making further inquiry, however, 
 they learned that one of the shepherds had met his death 
 by falling from a tree which he had incautiously climbed. 
 The abbess, when told of it, ran to the bishop, who was 
 then consecrating the church, and had reached the prayer 
 of the Mass beginning “Memento, Domine famulorum;” she 
 at once gave him the name of the deceased brother, which 
 was Haduald. Thus was made manifest to all the abundant 
 spirit and power of prophecy which was granted to the 
 mind of the holy man, whose apostolic foresight in many 
 ways clearly anticipated the time of his own death. 
 
 § 40. Having spent two years in the government of 
 bis diocese, Cuthbert, imbued with the prophetic spirit of 
 God, and foreseeing that the day of his departure was at 
 hand, threw off the burthen of the pastoral office, and, 
 drawn by the love of his former life of solitude, returned 
 to the island whence he had been forcibly withdrawn, and 
 there dwelt alone, satisfied with the converse and ministry 
 of angels, and fixing his faith and hope firmly upon God, 
 though very ill in body and borne down by much infirmity. 
 
a.d. 687 .] THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 
 
 39 
 
 [a.d. 687.] 
 
 § 41. As his weakness increased, and he drew near his 
 end, he sent for a tried and faithful brother, now living, 
 by name Walhstod, who was then suffering from dysentery, 
 desirous that he should come to him and minister 
 to him in his cell. Walhstod gladly went, and the 
 moment that his hand touched the bishop, as he is wont to 
 relate with tears, his sickness and weakness completely 
 left him, and whereas he had previously felt depressed 
 under the belief that he was about to die, he now felt him¬ 
 self restored to life and health, as with thanksgiving to God 
 he informed the brethren. 
 
 § 42. After this Cuthbert the bishop, of holy memory, 
 having received communion, raising his hands to heaven, 
 and commending his soul to God with his last breath, 
 calmly seated, without a groan departed to the joys of the 
 kingdom of Heaven. The brethren brought his remains 
 to our island in a boat, washed the body, wrapped the 
 head in a handkerchief, placed the sacramental elements 
 on his holy breast, robed him in the sacerdotal vestments, 
 with sandals on his feet to be ready to meet Christ, and 
 after enclosing the body in a cerecloth, while the soul 
 rejoiced with Christ, they laid the incorruptible remains, 
 apparently but asleep, to rest with all due honour in his 
 sepulchre within their church. 
 
 § 43. Eleven years afterwards, moved thereto by the 
 Holy Ghost, with the advice of the chief persons in the 
 monastery, and with the consent of the holy Bishop 
 Ead berth, they formed the resolution to raise from the 
 
4 ° 
 
 THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. [a.d. 687. 
 
 tomb the bones of the saintly Bishop Cuthbert, the most 
 illustrious member of their body. As soon as they opened 
 the tomb, they found, wonderful to relate, the whole body 
 as entire as when they had first buried it, eleven years 
 before. The limbs were not set and stiff with shrunken 
 sinews and skin dried up, bearing every mark of antiquity, 
 but were flexible, with full suppleness in the joints. When 
 they raised his body out of the tomb, they could move 
 the knees and neck like those of a living man. His shoes 
 and such part of his robes as had come in contact with 
 his skin were in nowise decayed. The cloth in which 
 his head had been enveloped was as bright as when 
 first made, and, along with the new sandals that he wore, 
 is to this day kept as witness thereof among the relics in 
 our church. 
 
 § 44. Our Lord, for the honour of His holy servant, 
 granted the favour of miraculous cures to a considerable 
 number of persons after his death. In the case of a boy 
 tormented by a most cruel spirit, so that he yelled, howled, 
 and strove to destroy everything within his reach, yea, 
 even to tear his own flesh, the priest Tydi, whom I have 
 so often mentioned, found himself unable to work a cure 
 or put the evil spirit to flight. Wherefore he counselled 
 his father to take the boy in a cart to the monastery, and 
 pray to God for him before the relics of the holy Apostles 
 and Martyrs which are there. The cries and screams of 
 the unhappy demoniac struck horror into all that heard, 
 him, and many despaired of the possibility of finding any 
 relief for the miserable child. But one of the priests, who 
 was strong in faith and purity of life, placing his hope in God, 
 
a.d. 687.] THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 
 
 4i 
 
 and invoking the aid of the holy Cuthbert, took compassion 
 on him. He blessed some water, went to the spot where 
 the water had been poured wherewith the Saint’s dead 
 body had been washed, and taking thence a little portion 
 of the mould, placed it in water. The boy having tasted 
 the water blessed by him, ceased screaming and gibbering, 
 and on the following day, accompanied by his father, with 
 many thanks to God, he visited the relics of the Saints, for 
 whose sake he believed God had cured him, and prayed in 
 presence of our community, after which he returned home 
 glorifying God in his Saints. 
 
 § 45. The Lord God has been willing to fulfil, in honour 
 of this holy confessor of God and his incorruptible body, 
 what Jesus Christ at His departure predicted of John the 
 Evangelist, “ I will that he remain thus till I come” 
 (S. John xxi. 22), and many wonderful things are every day 
 taking place in our presence by His permission. One of 
 these occurred recently. A certain clerk of Bishop Wil- 
 brord 1 came from the parts beyond the sea, and was 
 received and entertained in our house, and while a guest 
 among us was taken with a very grievous malady, which, 
 by continually increasing, for a long time reduced him to 
 a very hopeless condition. One Sunday he said to his 
 attendant, “ Take me to-day after Mass, if you can possibly 
 do so, to the tomb of the most holy man of God. For I 
 trust and hope in God, with simple faith and confidence, 
 that for the honour of His servant, whose body is there 
 perfect and incorruptible, He will either grant com- 
 
 1 First Bishop of Utrecht, in Holland. 
 
 F 
 
42 
 
 THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. [a.d. 687. 
 
 plete recovery to my limbs now wasted with sickness, or 
 assign to me, set free from the bonds of suffering, some 
 share of that celestial glory which Cuthbert now possesses.” 
 I need not make a long story of it. When with much 
 trouble they had led him to the tomb, he knelt down, and 
 bowing his head to the ground, prayed that he might be 
 healed ; no sooner had he done this, than he gave thanks to 
 God, rising up cured. Without assistance he walked 
 back to the hospice, and a few days afterwards, his 
 strength being entirely restored, he proceeded on his 
 journey home. 
 
 § 46. I will not omit another miracle, very similar to 
 this, which occurred during the present year. There was 
 in a neighbouring community a young man afflicted with 
 palsy, who was brought in a cart to consult the skilful 
 physicians of our monastery. They gave every attention 
 to his case, and did for him everything that could be done, 
 but nearly all his limbs had become mortified, his whole body 
 had lost the power of motion or feeling, and after long 
 efforts they were at last obliged to give the case up as 
 hopeless. The youth, finding himself deserted by the 
 physicians of the body, said to his attendant with tears and 
 groans, “This insensibility and mortification began at my feet 
 and has thence spread through all my limbs; beg, therefore, 
 of the Abbot to let me have the shoes which covered the 
 feet of the incorruptible man of God.” His attendant did 
 so, bringing him the shoes and putting them on his feet 
 the same night, at the usual time for going to rest. At 
 the hour of matins next morning, wonderful to relate, he 
 rose up and sang the praises of God, though before he 
 
a.d. 687.] THE LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 
 
 43 
 
 could not move any of his limbs or scarcely use his tongue. 
 During the day he visited all the shrines of the holy 
 martyrs, 1 returning thanks to God, for that by the merits 
 of the holy bishop, in answer to his own faith, he had 
 been restored to his former health. 
 
 These few particulars I have dictated, brethren, while 
 omitting a far greater number which I have not included 
 only lest the reader should be surfeited with their number, 
 and so give up reading my narrative altogether. I will 
 but say briefly, with reference to these, that in many places 
 infirm and possessed persons acknowledged that the demons 
 quitted them at his coming, often even before he came, and 
 they never returned ; others were healed by his presence, and 
 with a single word. In many cases brethren proposed in 
 their own hearts, and without the knowledge of any one, 
 to ask him to pray for the favours they required, and 
 he anticipated them through his prophetic spirit, procuring 
 for them the desire of their hearts ere they had asked him. 
 Of which spirit Paul says, “ He has revealed it to us by 
 the Holy Ghost.”—(1 Cor. ii. 10.) Neither will I describe 
 the marvellous production of blest bread, which in such 
 quality and quantity took place on two occasions, or the 
 draught of water which he blessed, so that those who drank 
 after him tasted therein the sweetness of every liquor; or 
 how the deacon of the holy Bishop Winfrid was on two 
 occasions healed of sickness by the relics of this confessor 
 of God. 
 
 1 Possibly a portion of those relics of the martyrs which Benedict 
 Biscop had brought into England a few years previously, and distributed 
 among the neighbouring churches. See his life by Bede, § 6. 
 

 
I. 
 
 FRONTISPIECE. 
 
 St. Cuthbert, in his episcopal robes, on a red and gold ground. A low mitre of 
 white and gold, the simple white crosier shaded red, and turned inward in the left 
 hand. His right hand is raised in benediction. The chasuble is blue, very thin, and 
 the stole without ornament. The stole and maniple are purplish red and very narrow. 
 The dalmatic is green, edged with red at the skirts. The shoes are red. A Benedic¬ 
 tine monk is bending down to kiss his right foot. 
 
 St. Cuthbert is nearly always represented, in sculpture as well as in 
 stained glass and on seals, as holding in his hand, or supporting on his 
 arm, the head of the sainted King Oswald. He is so represented for 
 several reasons : because King Oswald established Christianity in the 
 northern province of his kingdom ; because he founded the sea of Lindis- 
 farne, of which St. Cuthbert was bishop; because his head, that was cut 
 off by the tyrant Penda after the battle of Maserfeld, was put into the 
 coffin of St. Cuthbert when the monks fled with it from Lindisfarne, and 
 was found in the coffin in 1104 ; and because, when the relics of other 
 saints were removed from the coffin of St. Cuthbert, the head of St. 
 Oswald was suffered to remain.—(Archbishop Eyre, Life of St. Cuthbert, 
 
 p. 280 .) 
 
 In the Lawson MS. St. Cuthbert is represented without the head of 
 St. Oswald, and the following reasons may account for it. In the galilee 
 of Durham Cathedral there is an arched recess adorned with beautiful 
 specimens of distemper painting. On the sides of the arch are two 
 stately figures of Norman character, and in very perfect condition. “ I 
 have no doubt whatever,” says Archbishop Eyre, “ that the one on the 
 left hand is the figure of St. Cuthbert, and the one on the right that of 
 St. Oswald.” It is probably the earliest pictorial representation of St. 
 Cuthbert, and bears a very close resemblance to the one that forms the 
 frontispiece to the Lawson MS., so much so that it is very probable that 
 the illumination in the MS. was copied from the Norman painting in the 
 galilee; if so, it will account for the absence of the head of St. Oswald 
 in the frontispiece to the manuscript.— (Hist, of St. Cuthbert, p. 290 .) 
 
 Both these Norman paintings are engraved and coloured in Scott’s 
 Antiquarian Gleanings in the North of Scotland. 
 
One of tlie most beautiful representations of St. Cuthbert may be seen 
 in the Benedictionale S. Aethelwoldi (MS. of the Tenth Century), 
 reproduced with great care in Archceologia, vol. xxiv., p. 48. A group of 
 seven Confessors, crowned, and with the hair cut short, stand under a 
 triple arch, the three foremost having their names, -|- “ Scs Gregorius 
 presul,” “ + Scs Benedictus Abbas,” and “ + Scs Cuthbertus 
 antistes,” inscribed on their palliums. This drawing is copied in colours 
 in Mr. Humphrey’s Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages (PI. VII.). 
 
 A MS. commentary of the Scriptures by Nicholas de Lyra, written 
 in 13S6 (Manuscripts of the Dean and Chapter of Durham, A. I. 3), 
 deserves special mention. The initial H of the volume, splendidly 
 illuminated, contains a full length figure of St. Cuthbert, holding upon 
 his arm the head of King Oswald, with Stiphel the writer kneeling 
 before him, and saying, “ Confessor vere Cuthberte, mei miserere.” The 
 background is gold; St. Cuthbert’s dalmatic is scarlet; his chasuble is 
 blue, with scarlet spots, and lined with green; his mitre, his crosier head, 
 and the crown of King Oswald are gold. 
 
 “ The figure of St. Cuthbert in the Lawson MS., earlier than the one 
 m the window in York Minster by about 300 years, may be compared 
 with it in respect of the absence of St. Oswald’s head and the more 
 simple vestments.”— (Cf. Rev. J. T. Fowler, F.S.A., Yorkshire Arclice- 
 vlogical Journal, vol. iv.) 
 
II. 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Bede represented engaged in writing his Life of St Cuthbert. 
 
 To every monastery was attached a scriptorium or writing-room, in 
 which the scribes sat to write whatever was enjoined them by their 
 superiors. 
 
 A charming account of one of these scriptoria is given by Nicholas, 
 the secretary of St. Bernard :—“ Its door opened into the apartment of 
 the novices, where commonly a large number of persons, distinguished by 
 rank as well as by literature, had put on the new man in newness of life. 
 On the right was the cloister of the monks, appropriated to the recreation 
 of the more advanced part of the community. Here, under the strictest 
 discipline, they individually opened the books of divine eloquence, not to 
 winnow out the treasures of knowledge, but to draw forth the treasures of 
 love, of compunction, and of devotion. On the left extended the in¬ 
 firmary and the place of exercise for the sick, where their bodies, wearied 
 and weakened by the severities of the rule, were refreshed with better 
 food; until, cured, or at least restored to better health, they rejoined the 
 congregation who laboured and prayed, did violence to the kingdom of 
 Hfeaven, and took it by force.” “ But it must not be supposed,” he con¬ 
 tinues, “ that my little tenement is to be despised; for it is a place to be 
 desired, and is pleasant to look upon, and comfortable for retirement- 
 It is filled with most choice and divine books, at the delightful view of 
 which I feel contempt for the vanity of this world. This place is assigned 
 to me for reading, writing, and composing, for meditating and praying, 
 and adoring the Lord of Might.” 
 
 In some monasteries small scriptoria were devoted to the accom¬ 
 modation of monks who had rendered some service to the community, or 
 who were likely to do so. Thus, for instance, when Arnold, abbot of 
 Villers, in Brabant, resigned his abbacy, one of these scriptoria was 
 assigned to him as his private apartment.—(Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy, 
 Catalogue, vol. iii., p. xi.) 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
III.— IV. 
 
 How the Wind was changed by his Prayer, and how the Ships, 
 
 WHICH HAD BEEN DRIVEN OUT TO SEA, WERE BROUGHT BACK 
 TO THE SHORE. 
 
 On two pages. 
 
 On the grass, beside a blue river, kneels a boy with auburn hair, his head encircled 
 by the nimbus. Over his head a hand with two fingers extended, issuing from red 
 clouds. The river flows across to the opposite page, where it widens out at its mouth 
 into a tempestuous sea. Three ships in which men are seen praying. The ships, as in 
 the Oxford MS. (University Coll., No. clxv.), have both ends alike, or nearly so, in 
 the shape of a long beak. By the water-side stands Tynemouth Priory, two monks 
 appearing at the Norman doorway. 
 
 This incident seems to belong to Cuthbert’s youth, and to have 
 occurred before he entered the monastery of Mailros. Bede relates that 
 Cuthbert was standing on the opposite bank, and surrounded by a 
 number of people, who, when they saw the rafts driven out to sea till 
 almost out of sight, began to jeer at the mode of life of the monks, as if 
 those who had ventured to introduce amongst them a new and unknown 
 rule of life deserved to suffer such a calamity. Cuthbert, however, 
 checked the reproaches of the scoffers, exclaiming, “ What are you doing, 
 brethren, in speaking evil against those whom you see hurried away towards 
 death 1 Would it not he more like men were you to pray to the Lord for 
 their safety, rather than thus to rejoice at their peril 1 ” The only reply he 
 got from those rude and churlish people was, “ Let no one pray for them ; 
 may God have pity on none of them, seeing they have taken away 
 our old worship, and no one knows how to observe the new ! ” Cuthbert, 
 not heeding the old heathen feelings of the populace, bent his knees in 
 prayer to the Lord, and bowed his head to the ground, and at once the 
 violence of the winds being turned round, the rafts were brought in 
 safety to the beach. On seeing this the rustics blushed for their unbelief, 
 and proclaimed their faith in the venerable Cuthbert with the praise due 
 to him.—(Bede’s Life of St. Cuthbert, § 6.) 
 
 This incident is omitted in the anonymous legend ; but Bede says he 
 had the account from one of the brethren of the monastery of Tynemouth. 
 
 The subject is represented at Carlisle and in the Oxford M.S. Cf. 
 “The St. Cuthbert Window in York Minster,” by the Bev. J. T. Fowler. 
 —Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, vol. iv. 
 
 (The Oxford and the Lawson MS. are both of considerably earlier 
 date than the window.) 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
Y. 
 
 How the Lord supplied him with Food when he was on a 
 
 JOURNEY. 
 
 See Life, § 9, p. 9. 
 
 A boy on his knees looks round at his white horse, whieh, saddled and girthed, 
 is pulling at the thatched roof of a shepherd’s hut, and bringing down, along with the 
 straw covering, a white sheet containing bread and meat. 
 
 The hut was one of those temporary habitations, called “eheals ” or 
 “ shealings,” still to be seen among the wilder Northumbrian hills. 
 
 The same subject is painted on the back of the stalls in Carlisle 
 Cathedral. Cf. Lady C. 6. Y. Harcourt, Legends of St. Augustine, St. 
 Anthony, and St. Cuthbert, painted on the bach of the Stalls in Carlisle 
 Cathedral: Carlisle, 1868. The Essay on the St. Cuthbert Window 
 in York Minster by the Rev. J. T. Fowler— Yorkshire Archaeological 
 Journal, vol. iv. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
VI. 
 
 What Boisil, a holy man, prophesied in spirit concerning 
 
 CUTIIBERT WHEN HE CAME TO HIS MONASTERY. 
 
 See Life, p. 12. 
 
 In the year 651, Cuthbert, having forsaken all earthly concerns, hastened to put 
 himself under monastic discipline. Allured by the fame of the exalted virtues of 
 Boisil, a monk and priest, he chose to go to Mailros (Old Melrose), a monastery 
 which stood two miles to the east of the present Melrose Abbey. 
 
 The artist represents Cuthbert’s arrival “as he leaped from his horse, and was 
 about to enter the church to pray—having given his white horse to an attendant, as well 
 as the spear which he held in his hand.”-—(Bede, chap. vi.). He is received by 
 Prior Boisil, who was standing at the gate of the monastery. Behind him appears 
 the head of a religious. 
 
 “ Sigfrid, a devout priest, and a long-tried servant of the Lord, used 
 to speak of this as an eye-witness; for he was standing in the doorway 
 along with others, when Boisil recognised in Cuthbert the future Saint, 
 and said to those who stood near him, “ Behold a servant of God.” 
 This subject is represented at Carlisle in the Oxford MS. ; cf. “ The St. 
 Cuthbert Window in York Minster,” by the Kev. J. T. Fowler, p. 46. 
 
 The exact date of Cuthbert’s profession is given by Simeon of 
 Durham :—“ In the year of our Lord’s Incarnation 651, the fifty-fifth 
 year after the coming of St. Augustine into Britain, the seventeenth year 
 after the province of Bernicia, through the means of King Oswald, had 
 received the faith of Christ, the same year in which the Bishop Aidan 
 passed into heaven, and the ninth year of the reign of King Oswin, that 
 very holy youth entered the Monastery of Mailros to devote himself to 
 the service of Christ alone.—( Hist ., p. 24). 
 
 The dress of the monks consisted of a white habit ( tunica ), over 
 which they wore a Camilla, consisting of a body and hood made of wool, 
 retaining the natural colour of the material. When working or travelling 
 they wore sandals, which were usually removed when sitting down 
 to meat. 
 
 In the Lawson MS. they are also represented with leather boots. 
 
 The Monastery of Old Melrose was one of the offshoots from Lindis- 
 farne, founded by St. Oswald and St. Aidan about the year 635. Its 
 first Abbot was the “ gentle ” Eata, belonging to the little band of 
 twelve Saxon boys trained by St. Aidan in his cathedral school at 
 Lindisfarne. 
 
After flourishing for two hundred years under a race of distin¬ 
 guished and holy abbots, the Monastery was burnt down by Kenneth, 
 King of the Scots, in 839, in one of his many invasions of the Saxon 
 territory. 
 
 When it had lain waste for several years, we again hear of it about 
 1073 as giving shelter for a short season to a few fugitive monks led by 
 Aid wine, Prior of Wincalcombe, in Gloucestershire; until, in the year 
 1075, they were recalled to Durham. 
 
 All that survived of the venerable Abbey of Mailros was a chapel 
 dedicated to St. Cuthbert, which, as late as the fifteenth century, was a 
 famous resort of pilgrims. The foundations of the wall which enclosed 
 the convent on the land side were standing in 1743, but all traces of the 
 monastic buildings, and of the chapel of St. Cuthbert, had been utterly 
 destroyed. A few names which still cling to various spots, such as 
 “ Chapel Knoll,” and the “ Holy Well,” and the “ Monk’s Ford ” alone 
 recall the memory of the venerable home of Boisil and Cuthbert.-—(See 
 The Monastic Annals of Tweeddate, by the Eev. J. Morton ; Consitt’s Life 
 of St. Cuthbert, p. 15.) 
 
 Cuthbert was probably twenty-four years of age when he entered the 
 Monastery at Mailros.—(See Skene’s Celtic Scotland, ii., 205 : Arch¬ 
 bishop Eyre’s Life of St. Cuthbert, p. 5.) 
 
VII.—VIII. 
 
 HOW CUTHBERT ENTERTAINED AN ANGEL AS HIS GUEST; AND 
 WHILST HE SOUGHT TO MINISTER EARTHLY BREAD, HOW HE 
 WAS PERMITTED TO RECEIVE FROM THE SAME THAT WHICH 
 WAS HEAVENLY. 
 
 See Life, § 12, p. 12. 
 
 Two Pictures. 
 
 VII. At a long table covered by a white cloth, on which lie a brown-hafted table- 
 knife, a cup, and a piece of bread, an angel is seated with blue robe and coloured 
 wings, having a nimbus. He holds one foot suspended over a red bowl with short 
 stem and stand, while a monk wearing his hood up and a towel over his shoulder is 
 drying the other. 
 
 VIII. A monk stands holding up both hands, as if in amazement at the discovery 
 of three round white loaves on a table covered with a light cloth. 
 
 The same subject is treated at Carlisle, in Oxford MS., and in the St. Cuthbert 
 window in York Minster. 
 
 After spending a few years in the peaceful cloisters of Mailros, 
 Cuthbert was transferred to Eipon. 
 
 In the year 661 King Alchfrid, the son of Os win, founded a 
 monastery at Eipon, and made it over to the Abbot Eata, who introduced 
 the same monastic discipline which prevailed at Mailros. He took 
 St. Cuthbert with him to Eipon, and appointed him guest-master. Only 
 one event connected with his life at Eipon has been handed down to us, 
 that in which he was privileged to entertain an angel. 
 


 
 
 
 
 
IX. 
 
 How Boisil, when dying, foretold what was to happen to 
 
 CUTHBERT. 
 
 See footnote to § 12, p. 14. 
 
 On a yellow boarded bed, with blue quilt, rests an old man wearing a black 
 monastic habit, with raised hood, engaged in talking to a young monk who sits at 
 his feet. 
 
 The saintly Boisil, knowing that his end was near, called upon his 
 beloved disciple Cuthbert to watch by his bedside, and, together with 
 him, to read the Gospel of St. John, dividing it into seven days, which he 
 foretold should be his last. The copy which was read by Boisil and his 
 pupil was long preserved at Durham, and that which St. Cuthbert 
 carried with him in all his wanderings as prior, anchorite, and bishop, 
 and which was taken from his tomb in 1104, is now one of the most 
 precious treasures of the library at Stonyhurst College.— Of. Archbishop 
 Eyre, Life of St. Cuthbert, pp. 160, 323. 
 
 This subject of BoisiFs instructing Cuthbert, and revealing all that 
 would happen to him, was a favourite one with artists. It is represented 
 at Carlisle in the Oxford MS., and in the St. Cuthbert window in York 
 Minster. 
 
 For description of the beds and their furniture see account of the St. 
 William window in York Minster by Bev. J. T. Fowler, vol. iii.— 
 Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, pp. 225, 312. 
 
 After many years the relics of Boisil were placed alongside those of 
 his illustrious pupil and successor, under the vaulted roof of the choir 
 in the majestic Cathedral of Durham. 
 
Si, 
 
X. 
 
 HOW EARNEST CUTHBERT WAS IN THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD. 
 
 A monk leaning on a prior’s staff addresses a crowd of laymen wearing long robes. 
 
 See footnote to § 12, p. 14. 
 
 Cuthbert frequently went out from the Monastery of Mailros, 
 sometimes on horseback, but more generally on foot, and preached the 
 way of truth to those who were in error throughout the neighbouring 
 villages. It was the custom in those days with the English people, when 
 a clerk or a priest came into a village, that all at his command flocked to 
 hear the Word, willingly hearkened to what was said, and more willingly 
 still followed up by works what they heard or understood.—(Bede, Vit. 
 Guthb., § 15.) His labours extended over all the hilly district between 
 the two seas, from the Solway to the Forth. 
 
 To-day the land of St. Cuthbert is celebrated for its rich pastoral 
 beauty. “ Cheviot and Lammermoor, Ettrick and Teviotdale, Yarrow 
 and Annan-water, are musical with old ballads and border minstrelsy. 
 Agriculture has chosen its valleys for her favourite seat, and drainage 
 and steam power have turned sedgy marshes into farm and meadow. But 
 to see the Lowlands as they were in Cuthbert’s day, we must sweep away 
 meadow and farm again, and replace them by vast solitudes, dotted here 
 and there with clusters of wooden hovels, and covered by boggy tracts, 
 over which travellers rode spear in hand, and eye kept cautiously about 
 them.”—(Green, English People, vol. i., p. 53.) 
 
 Such were the features of the region in which St. Cuthbert 
 pursued his labours. He spent often whole months, without returning 
 to his monastery, in evangelising the poor, scattered, half-barbarous 
 inhabitants. “ So great,” says Bede, “ was Cuthbert’s skill in teaching, 
 so vast was his power of loving persuasion, so striking was the 
 light of his angelic countenance, that no one in his presence dared to 
 conceal from him the hidden secrets of his heart, hut each declared openly 
 in confession what he had done amiss, and strove to wipe away the sins 
 he had confessed, as the Saint commanded, with fruits worthy of 
 repentance.”—(Bede, Vit. Cuthb., Chap, ix.) 
 
 The name of Cuthbert still lives in the traditions of the Lowlands, and 
 is preserved in the numerous churches raised to his honour. Along the 
 northern part of old Northumbria, the whole county of Kirkcudbright, 
 as well as its chief town, bears memory of his name. 
 

XI. 
 
 HOW, AFTER CUTHBERT HAD SPENT THE NIGHT PRAYING IN THE 
 
 Water, three Sea Otters offered service to him on 
 
 COMING OUT ; AND HOW A BROTHER, WITNESSING THIS, FELL SICK 
 
 THROUGH FEAR, AND WAS RESTORED TO HEALTH BY MEANS OF 
 
 his Prayers. 
 
 See § 13, p. 14. 
 
 A naked figure is represented in the water, by the side of which sits a monk, 
 evidently meant for the Saint himself after he has emerged. Three small animals, 
 half in the water, present their faces towards the bare feet of the seated monk. In 
 the distance, another religious is lying on the grass, eagerly watching the figure in 
 the sea. 
 
 This event happened during St. Cuthbert’s visit to the Monastery of 
 Coldingham. 
 
 “The original monastery was on the Head itself, not at the village of 
 Coldingham, the site of the later foundation. There is a little inlet of 
 the sea just at the north side of the Head, exactly suited for St. 
 Cuthbert’s midnight orisons. In a recent hasty visit to the place, I saw 
 no other spot where he could well have got into the water, so high and so 
 precipitous are the rocks.”—(J. T. Fowler, on the St. Cuthbert Window in 
 York Minster, p. 127.) 
 
 Reginald says that Cuthbert made for himself a bath of stone, in 
 which he used to pass sleepless nights in cold water, praying with heaven- 
 stretched hands.—( Libellus , Cap. xxv.) Praying in water is a habit 
 quite peculiar to our early Celtic Saints. A singular example of this 
 penitential exercise was seen in the famous penitent of Melrose, Drythelm, 
 in the year 694. It was his custom to plunge into the waters of the 
 Tweed, which flowed by the monastery, to pray there, and that even when 
 the river was covered with ice, which he had to break before he could 
 enter the stream. “ Brother Drythelm,” some one called to him from the 
 bank, “how can you bear such coldl” “I have seen it harder and 
 colder,” he quietly answered.—(Bede, V., § 12; Th. Innes, Civil and 
 Ecclesiastical History of Scotland, p. 297.) 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
XII.—XIII. 
 
 HOW, WHEN THE SAILORS WERE PREVENTED BY A TEMPEST FROM 
 RE-EMBARKING, HE FORETOLD THAT THE SEA SHOULD BE CALM ON 
 
 ■ A CERTAIN DAY ; AND MEANTIME OBTAINED FOR THEM A SUPPLY 
 
 of Food by his Prayers. 
 
 Two Pages. 
 
 See §§ 15 and 16, p. 16. 
 
 On his return to Mailros from Coldingham, Cuthbert went partly by 
 sea to visit the Piets of Galloway. Setting sail with two of his brethren 
 —one of whom, named Tydi, subsequently became a priest—he landed 
 on the day after Christmas Day at a seaport in the territory of the 
 Kiduari—the people of Kith—-somewhere on the banks of the River Kith, 
 which falls into the Solway. 
 
 On the spot where they had been storm-stayed, tradition tells us that 
 a church was afterwards built, and the name Kirkcudbright—a royal 
 Scottish borough—hands down to us a memorial of their visit. 
 
 “ All the monks of the Korthumbrian shores were, like Cuthbert, bold 
 and unwearied sailors. There are no more interesting recollections of 
 their life than those which show them to us in constant conflict with the 
 element on which England has established her dominion. They coasted 
 continually between the different monasteries and their dependencies, 
 which extended along that coast, bristling with rocks and reefs. Some¬ 
 times the furious waves drove them out at sea, out of sight of land, 
 sometimes held them shut up in some desert isle or solitary bay for whole 
 days and weeks. Then, as soon as the wind fell, they put out again to 
 encounter new dangers in their miserable barks, rocked on the crest of 
 waves like sea-gulls.”—(Montalembert, Monks of the West, vol. iv., 
 p. 430.) 
 
 The ships were built of wood, and generally covered with tanned 
 bull’s hides. 
 
. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

XIV. 
 
 How during a Journey he foretold that he should receive a 
 supply of Food on the way by the Ministry of an Eagle ; 
 
 AND HOW HE RECEIVED IT. 
 
 See Life, §§ 17 and 18, p. 17. 
 
 St. Cuthbert and his attendant,—a boy whom he took with him to serve his mass 
 and assist whilst he administered the sacraments,—overtaken by the night, and worn 
 out with the fatigue of a long day’s journey on foot. 
 
 St. Cuthbert, resting on his crutch-staff, speaks to a little boy with golden hair 
 and a red tunic, who kneels on the ground, and holds part of a fish by the tail with his 
 left hand, while in his right he carries a large gold-bladed knife. Close by stands a 
 tawny eagle, devouring the head of the fish. The fishing eagle or osprey (Pandion 
 lialicetus ) is still found in Scotland. 
 
 This event is illustrated in Oxford MS., the Carlisle Series, and St. Cuthbert’s 
 window, York.— ( Yorkshire Arch. Journal, vol. iv.) 
 
XV. 
 
 HOW WHEN PREACHING TO THE PEOPLE HE FORESAW THAT THE 
 
 APPEARANCE OF A FlRE WOULD BE SUDDENLY RAISED BY THE 
 
 Devil; and how when it appeared he dispelled it; and 
 
 HOW HE EXTINGUISHED IT. 
 
 See Life, § 19, p. 19. 
 
 Over a house, having a projecting chimney and Norman doorway, with indications 
 of red and yellow flames issuing from roof and windows, hovers a red devil. Two 
 men in tunics hold large basins in their hands. A monk stands by, resting his left 
 hand on a crutch-staff, and raising his right in form of blessing. 
 
 As St. Cutlibert was preaching the Word of Life to a number of 
 persons who were assembled in a certain village, he suddenly foresaw in 
 spirit that the old enemy was present among them to hinder the work of 
 salvation. Whereupon Cuthbert determined to anticipate his snares by 
 beginning to teach ; for as he was in the midst of his discourse, he 
 suddenly broke out into such an admonition as this—“ It is important, 
 most beloved brethren, that as often as the mysteries of the kingdom of 
 heaven are preached to you, you should hearken under them with an 
 attentive heart, and with an ever vigilant ear; lest haply the devil, who 
 is master of a thousand mischievous arts, should entangle you with super¬ 
 fluous cares, and lure you from listening to eternal salvation ; ” and saying 
 this, he resumed the thread of his discourse where he had interrupted it. 
 And immediately that most wicked enemy caused the house adjoining to 
 appear as if on fire, so that sparks of fire seemed to fly through the whole 
 village, and, fanned by the wind, their sound filled the air. 
 
 Nearly all those who had assembled for instruction, with the excep¬ 
 tion of a few whom he kept hack with outstretched hand, leaping up, 
 rushed out to fetch water to quench the fire ; hut no true water could 
 extinguish these false flames, until by the prayers of Cuthbert, that man 
 of God, the author of these fallacies was put to flight, and vanished into 
 empty air, together with the seeming fire. On seeing this, the wondering 
 crowd was wholesomely put to shame, and returning to the man of God, 
 besought pardon on bended knees for their inconstant minds.—(Bede, 
 Life of St. Cuthbert, § 20.) 
 

 
 
 
 
 
XVI. 
 
 How by Prayer Cuthbert extinguished the Flames of a House 
 
 WHICH WAS REALLY ON FlRE. 
 
 See Life, § 20, p. 20. 
 
 Ven. Bede introduces St. Cuthbert to us as dwelling in a small town in the neigh¬ 
 bourhood of Mailros, in the house of a virtuous woman named Kanswith, from the 
 first years of his boyhood, so that he was wont to call her mother. The Lindisfarne 
 monk gives us the name of the town as Herningaham, supposed by Archbishop Eyre 
 to be Wrangholm, between the Leader and the Tweed. 
 
 It was probably about 661 that Cuthbert preserved her house from 
 fire by means of his prayers. 
 
 In the Oxford MS. Kenswith kneels at Cuthbert’s feet, while a man 
 is hewing down the burning house with an axe. 
 
 The dwelling-houses appear to have been of the slightest construction. 
 Adamnan notices the gathering “ virgarum fasciculos ad hospitium con- 
 struenduiyi.” Bede describes a wooden dwelling-house in 654. The 
 occupants were engaged in feasting at night, and having kindled a great 
 fire in the middle, it happened that the sparks flying up set on fire the 
 roof, which was made of wattles and thatched with hay.—(H. E., 
 lib. iii., c. x.) 
 

 
 
 
XVII. 
 
 How he cast out a Devil from the Wife of the Prefect, before 
 
 HE HAD EVEN SEEN HER. 
 
 See Life, § 21, p. 20. 
 
 The wife of Hildmer, in white nightdress and leather shoes, is sitting up on a bed, 
 by which stand a layman and a monk with crutch-staff, as if invoking her cure. 
 
 Bede and the Lindisfarne monk both speak of Hildmer and Cuthbert 
 riding on horses. They are thus represented in the Oxford MS., and a 
 woman, coming out at a door, holds the bridle of the monk’s horse. 
 
 Hildmer, an officer of Ecgfrid, afterwards King, was, along with all 
 his household, feryent in the practice of devout works. He was in con¬ 
 sequence particularly beloved by the blessed Cuthbert; and when 
 occasion offered, if his journey lay in that direction, he frequently 
 visited this man’s house. 
 
 The following incident shows at once the liveliness of domestic 
 affections among those newly baptised barbarians, and their filial and 
 familiar confidence in their pastor. Hildmer arrived one day in breath¬ 
 less haste at Lindisfarne, overwhelmed with grief, his wife, a woman as 
 pious and generous as himself, having been seized with a fit of violent 
 madness. But he was ashamed to disclose the nature of the attack ; it 
 seemed to him a sort of chastisement from heaven, disgracing a creature 
 hitherto so chaste and honoured : all that he said was that she was 
 approaching death, and he begged that a priest might he given him to 
 carry to her the viaticum, and that when she died he might be permitted 
 to bury her in the holy isle. Cuthbert heard his story, and said to him 
 with much emotion, “ This is my business; no one but myself can go 
 with you.” As they rode on their way together the husband wept, and 
 Cuthbert, looking at him, and seeing the cheeks of the rough warrior wet 
 with tears, divined the whole; and during the rest of the journey con¬ 
 soled and encouraged him, explaining to him that madness was not a 
 punishment of crime, but a trial which God inflicted sometimes upon the 
 innocent. “Besides,” he added, “when we arrive we shall find her 
 cured; she will come to meet us, and will help me to dismount from my 
 horse, taking, according to her custom, the reins in her hand.” And so 
 the event proved; for, says the historian, the demon did not dare to 
 await the coming of the Holy Ghost, of which the man of God was full. 
 The noble lady, delivered from her bondage, rose as if from a profound 
 sleep, and stood on the threshold to greet the holy friend of the house, 
 seizing the reins of his horse, and joyfully announcing her sudden cure. 
 —(Montalembert, Montis of the West, vol. iv., p. 404.) 
 

 
 
iUlBIMMlUm 
 
XVIII. 
 
 Of his manner of life and method of instruction in the 
 Monastery of Lindisfarne. 
 
 See Life, § 23, p. 23. 
 
 In a chair a monk sits holding an open book in his hand. Before him are other 
 
 monks seated. 
 
 In 664, at the request of Bishop Colman, the Monastery of Lindis¬ 
 farne was given by King Oswin to the community of Mailros. Eata, who 
 had been trained by St. Aidan, was made Abbot of both monasteries, 
 and Cuthbert was by him transferred to Lindisfarne, “ there to teach the 
 ules o f monastic perfection with the authority of a superior.”—(Bede, xvi.) 
 St. Cuthbert, by order of the Abbot, composed a rule for the Anglo- 
 Saxon monks, and to this new rule was shortly afterwards added the 
 rule of St. Benedict. One of his regulations is specially recorded. He 
 imposed on the brethren of Lindisfarne the obligation of wearing the 
 habit in undyed wool, as was usual in the Irish monasteries. During 
 the first part of his rule he met with some unpleasantness from several 
 of his monks, who chose rather to follow their ancient custom than to 
 obey the new institute. These he overcame by the quiet influence of his 
 patience.—(Bede’s Life of St. Cuthbert , § xvii.) 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 • . ... • l’*'A ' . 1 V .f ‘ * 
 
 
XIX. 
 
 How HE BUILT A CELL FOR HIMSELF IN THE ISLAND OF FaRNE. 
 
 See Life, §§ 23 and 24, p. 23. 
 
 An angel is seen taking hold of one end of a square block of stone, while a monk, 
 with hood down, takes the other, and together they are in the act of laying it in a course 
 of a wall. The monk seems to be standing on the wall, whereas the angel is supported 
 in the air by his wings. There is another monk standing with hand and face raised 
 upwards, probably St. Cuthbert putting the demons to flight. Above him in the 
 margin, outside the border of the picture, the lower extremities of two small black 
 demons have been drawn, but these are now hidden by the binding. 
 
 After a residence of twelve years at Lindisfarne—which, dating from 
 a.d. 664, carries us on to 676—Cuthbert had well-nigh reached his 
 fortieth year. His heart was not fully at rest. He was ever longing 
 after still greater solitude. Therefore, in the year 676, with the blessing 
 of the Abbot Eta, he retired to a spot not far removed from the monastery. 
 This was the small island Bince, known as St. Cuthbert’s Island, and 
 separated about a stone’s-throw from the shore. Cuthbert did not remain 
 long in this retreat. Yearning for a more perfect seclusion remote from 
 the eyes of all, he sailed to the island of Fame. This island, about 
 eleven miles in extent, is the largest of a picturesque group of islands 
 lying off the coast to the eastward, nearly opposite Bamborough, and 
 surrounded on all sides by the deep and boundless ocean. < It was with¬ 
 out water, fruits, or trees. By his prayers St. Cuthbert received a 
 supply of water from the rock, and with his own hands, as we shall see 
 later, raised a scanty crop of barley. At its southern extremity a rugged 
 block of basaltic rock rises to a height of 80 feet, and, extending laterally 
 to west and east, hems in two sides of the island with a jagged and solid 
 wall. On the other side, towards the ocean, a gentle slope falls to the 
 water’s edge, and there Cuthbert reared his humble dwelling-place. 
 
 Both Bede and Symeon minutely describe the building, if building it 
 can be called. It was nearly circular, and measured four or five perches 
 in diameter. The wall itself, constructed of hewn stones and turf, was 
 a little higher than the stature of a man, hut a considerable height had 
 been gained within by excavation. The roof was formed of rough beams, 
 and thatched with straw. Within the walls there were only two com- 
 
partments,—an oratory and a cell. At the landing-place, however, 
 Cutlibert erected a larger house, in which the monks, when they came to 
 see him, might he received and take rest; and close to it was a fountain 
 of fresh water.— (Bede, chap, xvii.) 
 
 Of the island, and the state of the buildings in the twelfth century, 
 at the time of Bartholomew the Hermit, we have an account in the fourth 
 chapter of the Bollandist’s Life of St. Bartholomew, from which it appears 
 that the guest-house of stone and turf built by Cuthbert still remained 
 in the twelfth century; and that a narrow' pathway led one to the 
 oratory of St. Cuthbert, which v'as situated in a hollow, so shut in on 
 all sides by u'alls of rock that nothing could be seen from it, either 
 of the wide waste of wrnters around, or of the landward prospect on the 
 other side. 
 
 Archbishop Eyre states that, “from a careful examination of the 
 island, he has satisfied himself of the situation of the hospitium and 
 St. Cuthbert’s cell. It the first place, it appears certain, for many 
 reasons, that the ‘ creek ’ at the north-east corner was never the landing- 
 place of those who came from Holy Island to Fame. In the next place, 
 the present ‘ haven,’ if to a certain degree artificial, is still a natural 
 harbour, and sheltered by the Wide-opens. Sometimes the water is so 
 low that a person may walk on the dry sands from Fame to the Wide- 
 opens. The situation of the hospitium is marked by the east well, near 
 the mouth of the haven and close to the water’s edge, and also by the 
 existing building, which seems to be on the exact spot of the hospitium, 
 and rebuilt from time to time. The other spring will mark the exact 
 spot of St. Cuthbert’s cell. It is half a stone’s-throw from the u'ater’s 
 edge, and the gradual ascent to it from the hospitium coincides with the 
 account already quoted.” 
 

 
 
XX. 
 
 HOW HE PRODUCED WATER OUT OF THE DRY GROUND IN THE MIDDLE 
 of his Cell by his Prayers. 
 
 See Life, § 25, p. 24. 
 
 Both the Lindisfarne Monk and Bede state that there were two wells 
 or springs on the island—one very near the landing-place and hospitiuxn> 
 and the other in the middle of Cuthhert’s cell. Both these wells 
 exist to this day. That the one mentioned first, though incidentally, was 
 not a natural spring, we learn from Bede’s Ecclesiastical History , where 
 he states that when Cuthbert came to the island it was quite destitute of 
 water, and that he obtained this by his faithful prayers.—(Book IV., 
 p. 227.) The Lindisfarne monk also leads us to infer the same, when 
 he quotes the words of St. Cuthbert —“ 0 beloved brethren, you know 
 that this spot is almost uninhabitable for want of water; therefore let us 
 implore the help of God, and do you dig in this stony piece of ground 
 in the middle of the pavement of my abode, seeing that the Lord God is 
 able to bring water out of the stony rock for those who pray to Him.”— 
 (§ 25.) Simeon of Durham, quoting from Bede, mentions that at first the 
 island was “ nunc aquse prorsus inops,” but that the holy man “ de rupe 
 saxosa precibus fontem elicuit.” Both Cuthbert and his Lindisfarne 
 biographer testify to the excellent quality of this water. 
 
 Reginald states, in addition, on the authority of Bartholomew and 
 Elwin, monks from Durham, then living at Fame, that when Eistan, 
 King of Norway, during the reign of King Stephen, was ravaging the 
 coast of England, and, landing on Fame, destroyed the property of the 
 holy men resident there, the well ceased to flow, and the barbarians 
 were compelled to leave the island, because they could not drink salt 
 water. At their departure the water began to flow as usual .—(The 
 History of St. Cuthbert, by Archbishop Eyre, p. 39. 
 
 Spades and shovels were generally made of wood, shod with iron. 
 On these shovels, see Arch. Journal, xxxi., 53. 
 

 
 
 \ 
 
 
XXL 
 
 HOW BY A WORD HE DROVE AWAY A FLOCK OF BIRDS FROM A CROP 
 
 of Corn which he had sown with his own hands. 
 
 Cut.hbert at the door of his cell is addressing three birds, which fly away; and in a 
 field by the sea-shore a young man in red tunic and green hose is occupied sowing com 
 broadcast from a basket slung round his neck. Two birds are pecking at the corn. 
 
 At the beginning of his seclusion Cuthbert accepted a little bread 
 from the monks for his food, and drank of his fountain ; but afterwards 
 he judged it more suitable to live by the labour of his own hands, 
 according to the example of the fathers. He asked the monks, therefore, 
 to bring him some implements of husbandry and barley to sow. As soon 
 as the crop of barley sown by Cuthbert appeared above the ground, the 
 birds came in flocks to devour it. The Saint advanced towards them 
 and thus addressed them : “ Why do you touch the grain which you 
 have not sown 1 Do you think you have more need of it than 11 If, 
 nevertheless, you have obtained leave from God to do this, do what He 
 allows you; but if not, depart, and do no injury to the goods of another.” 
 At his words the birds at once flew away, and never afterwards molested 
 his harvest.—(Bede, Life of St. Cuthbert, § xix.) 
 
XXII. 
 
 In what manner two Crows sought to appease by Prayers 
 and Gifts the Man of God for the injury which they 
 
 HAD DONE HIM. 
 
 See Life, § 27, p. 26. 
 
 Cuthbert with crutch-staff, standing at the door cf a circular building very near 
 the sea, on the roof of which are four black crows, holds out his hand over another 
 crow fluttering at his feet with a piece of lard in its beak. 
 
 There were then, as there are now, vast numbers of sea-fowl who 
 resorted to the islands to breed. Amongst these the eider ducks deserve 
 particular notice from their intimate connection with the saint. For cen¬ 
 turies they have been known as “ St. Cuthbert’s ducks,” and their down 
 was called Cuthbert’s down. These beautiful birds breed nowhere but 
 on the Fame Islands. According to Reginald, he lavished upon them 
 special marks of kindness and affection. They obeyed his every word, 
 and became so tame and so familiar with him that they would allow him 
 to approach them at all times without fear, and caress them with his hand, 
 He gave them full liberty to come and go, and build their nests, and 
 rear their offspring; though he confined them, for this purpose, to certain 
 localities of the island. (Reginald of Durham, chap, xxvii., p. 62, 
 quoted by Archbishop Eyre, p. 47.) 
 
XXIII. 
 
 HOW EVEN THE SEA MINISTERED TO HIS NECESSITIES. 
 
 See Life, § 26, p. 25. 
 
 There is a deep and narrow cleft in the rocks of Fame, into which 
 the sea has free access. It is now called St. Cuthbert’s Gut, and it is 
 probable that Cuthbert wished to build over it a little hut, as Bede says, 
 suited to his daily necessities. He required a beam twelve feet long to 
 put across this chasm, and besought the brethren to bring him one. 
 They, however, forgot to do so. The artist has represented them return¬ 
 ing on the appointed day, but without the beam they had promised to 
 bring. St. Cuthbert points to a red beam of the above-named size, which 
 the tide had drifted in and laid on the shore at the very place where it 
 was required for the building. Seeing this, they marvelled greatly at 
 the holiness of the venerable man, to whose necessities even the elements 
 ministered. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
XXIV. 
 
 How HE GAVE COUNSELS OF SALVATION TO MANY WHO CAME TO 
 HIM, AND HOW HE EXPOSED THE FEEBLE SNARES OF THE OLD 
 ENEMY. 
 
 See Life, § 29, p. 29. 
 
 St. Cuthbert stands at his door talking to laymen in long robes, on the grassy 
 shore of the blue sea, in which part of their boat is seen. In the Oxford MS. he is 
 looking out of the window of his cell, and conversing with a group of laymen in tunics. 
 
 The more St. Cuthbert tried to fly from the conversation of men, 
 and hide himself in the deepest solitude, the more did God manifest his 
 sanctity, and proclaim his virtues before the eyes of the whole world. 
 Not only from the neighbouring districts of Lindisfarne, but also from 
 the remoter parts of Britain, pilgrims came to see him, to confess their 
 sins to him, and to seek light in their doubts, guidance in their difficulties, 
 and comfort in their services. Their confidence in the Saint was well 
 repaid, “for no one,” says Bede, “departed from him without the joy of 
 consolation; and the sorrow of mind which each man brought with him 
 accompanied him no more in his departure.” “ For Cuthbert knew 
 how to refresh the mourner with pious exhortation; he knew how 
 to remind those that were in tribulation of the joys of heavenly life, 
 and to show that both the smiles and the frowns of this world are 
 equally transient; and he was skilled in revealing to those that were 
 tempted the manifold wiles of the old enemy. He showed how readily 
 the soul that was void of brotherly or Divine love might be taken 
 prisoner, and how he that walked in the strength of Divine faith, might 
 pass safely through the snares of the adversary, with the Lord’s assist¬ 
 ance, as through the threads of a spider’s web.”—(Bede, Life of St. 
 Cuthbert, chap, xxii.) 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
XXV. 
 
 How the Abbess Elfleda and one of her Nuns were healed 
 of their infirmity by his Girdle. 
 
 A monk in a light-coloured habit brings a long green girdle to a nun wearing a 
 black mantle over a white dress, and seated in a tine Norman building, while a young 
 girl binds the girdle round her head. 
 
 Bede states that several miraculous cures were wrought by the man 
 of God, even when he had withdrawn from human intercourse. The 
 venerable and saintly Elfleda, the Abbess of St Hilda’s Monastery at 
 Whitby, as she herself informed Herefrid, priest of the church of 
 Lindisfarne, from whom Bede heard the story, had almost entirely lost 
 the use of her limbs, so as to be unable to walk or stand upright or 
 move, except on all fours. One day, along with the burden of her sad 
 thoughts, the holy mode of life of Cuthbert came into her mind, and she 
 said, “ I would that I had something belonging to my dear Cuthbert, 
 for I know of a surety, and I trust in the Lord, that I should soon be 
 healed ! ” God made known her wish to the saint, for not long after a 
 message arrived at the monastery, and with it a linen girdle which 
 Cuthbert had sent to her. Bull of joy and confidence, she girt herself 
 round with it, and next morning was able to stand erect, and on the 
 third day she was restored to perfect health.-—(Bede, Life of St. Cuthbert, 
 chap, xxiii.) 
 
 She could boast royal descent on both sides of her family, her father 
 being Oswin, King of Bernicia, and her mother Eanfleda, daughter of 
 Edwin, first Christian King of Deira. Concerning Elfleda see the Acta 
 SS. Mens., Feb. ii., p. 178. 
 

 
 
 
 
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XXVI. 
 
 What he foretold to the same Elfleda on her inquiry as 
 
 TO THE LIFE OF KlNG EGFRID AND HIS OWN EPISCOPACY. 
 
 See Life, § 28, p. 27. 
 
 The Abbess Elfleda, in black habit, kneels prostrate on the sea-shore before 
 Cuthbert, who is bending over her as if to raise her up. At his back are two monks, 
 and behind Elfleda a crowd of laymen in loDg robes of various colours. 
 
 In the year 684 Cuthbert’s solitude was interrupted for a brief space 
 by a memorable interview which took place between him and Elfleda. 
 The Abbess had sent to the man of God, adjuring him in the name of 
 our Lord that he would condescend to meet her. The place fixed upon 
 for this meeting was the island of Coquet, opposite the mouth of 
 the river of that name, about a mile from Amble, aud twenty miles 
 south of Fame. Upon the island is still to be seen a fragment of the 
 monastic ruin. Cuthbert, accompanied by some of the brethren from 
 Lindisfarne, sailed from Fame, and met Elfleda at the large monastery 
 which then existed on the island. 
 
 After they had conversed together for a short time, Cuthbert answering 
 the many questions which she put, the royal Abbess made known to him 
 the real motive which had induced her to seek for this interview. 
 She suddenly fell at his feet, and adjured him to tell her how long King 
 Egfrid, her brother, should live and reign over the kingdom of the 
 Angles 1 It was not through idle curiosity that she asked the question. 
 A great crisis in the state seemed to be near at hand. The long struggle 
 between the Kings of Northumbria and Mercia had weakened the North¬ 
 umbrian kingdom, and now the savage Piets were invading it from the 
 north. Egfrid’s ambition and restless character were well known to her, 
 and she was anxious to learn from Cuthbert what would be the termina¬ 
 tion of the war in which he was now embarked, and the fate of the 
 brother whom she loved so well. Thus entreated, the saint revealed to 
 her that her royal brother would not outlive the year. 
 

XXVII. 
 
 King Egfrid and Bishop Trumwin, Bishop of the Picts, and 
 many Noblemen, sail oyer to Farne, and beseech Cutiibert 
 to quit his Cell in Farne and to accept the Bishopric. 
 
 In the autumn of a.d. 684, a well-attended Synod (see Bede, Eccl. 
 Hist., IV., xxviii.), under the presidency of Theodore, to which King 
 Egfrid himself came, was held at Twiford (the two fords, probably at 
 Alnmouth, about three miles from Alnwick). At this Synod Cuthbert 
 was unanimously chosen Bishop. 
 
 When, in spite of the numerous messengers and letters which were 
 sent to him, he could not be dragged from his retreat, the King himself 
 and Bishop Trumwin, and many noblemen and religious, sailed to the 
 island, and there all kneeling down, with tears adjured him by the Lord 
 to consent; nor did they desist till they drew him, weeping, from 
 his beloved seclusion, and dragged him before the Synod. (Bede, 
 XXIV., § 42.) 
 

 
 
 
-'ll..-.—. 
 
XXVIII. 
 
 CUTHBERT IS ELECTED BlSHOP OF HEXHAM BY THE UNANIMOUS WILL 
 OF ALL ASSEMBLED IN THE SYNOD. 
 
 See Life, § 30, p. 30. 
 
 On his arrival at the Synod, in spite of his great reluctance, his unwill¬ 
 ingness was overcome by the unanimous will of all assembled, and he 
 was constrained to bow his neck to accept the yoke of the bishopric. 
 Nevertheless, his consecration did not follow immediately, nor until the 
 winter, which was then at hand, had passed. (He was consecrated at 
 York, on Easter Day—26th March 685. See Bede, Eccl. Hist., IV., 
 xxviii., § 347.) 
 

XXIX. 
 
 HOW, AFTER HE WAS CHOSEN BlSHOP, HE CURED THE SERVANT OF AN 
 Earl with Consecrated Water. 
 
 After his election to the episcopate, Cuthbert returned to his island, 
 where for some short time he continued, with his wonted devotion, to 
 wrestle in secret for the Lord, till Eata, the venerable Bishop of Lindis- 
 farne, called him forth, and summoned him to a conference with himself 
 at Mailros.—(Bede, Life of St. Cuthbert, xxv., § 43.) 
 
 In that sacred spot, where they had spent so many happy years 
 together, these two holy Bishops mutually agreed to make an exchange 
 of their episcopal sees. Eata chose Hexham, and Cuthbert was trans¬ 
 lated to the charge of his beloved Lindisfarne. 
 
 As he was returning from his visit to Eata at Mailros, an Earl, 
 attached to the Court of King Egfrid, earnestly besought h i m to turn 
 aside from his journey that he might give a blessing to his village and 
 household. On his arrival, the nobleman told him of the severe illness of 
 one of his servants, saying, “ I thank God the holy Father has vouchsafed 
 to enter my house.” Cuthbert blessed some water, and sent it to the sick 
 man by one of the Earl’s dependants, who afterwards became a priest of 
 the church of Lindisfarne, and was an eye-witness of the miracle. Ko 
 sooner had the sick man received some drops of the blessed water into his 
 mouth, than he fell into a profound sleep, and on wakening next 
 morning found himself restored to perfect health. —(Bede, Chap, xxv.) 
 
XXX. 
 
 HOW WHEN ABSENT HE SAW IN SPIRIT THE DEATH OF KlNG 
 EGFRID, AND HIS WARFARE, WHICH HE HAD FORMERLY FORE¬ 
 TOLD. 
 
 See Life, § 37, p. 35. 
 
 Cuthbert, with white mitre and crozier, and in red cope, is speaking to Elfleda in 
 a black habit with hood raised. Lay folk are standing around, and in the foreground 
 is placed a circular well, out of which water flows. 
 
 King Egfrid, though noted for his piety and zeal for religion, was 
 fond of conquest, and engaged in many wars. During the May of 685, 
 much against the advice of St. Cuthbert (see Bede’s Eccl. Hist., IV., xxvi., 
 § 341), he led an army into Scotland, and began to ravage the kingdom 
 of the Piets with great violence and cruelty. 
 
 Cuthbert knowing that the time of Egfrid’s death was near at hand, 
 as he had foretold a year before to the King’s sister, the Abbess Elfleda, 
 set out for the city of Carlisle 1 to meet the Queen Ermenburga, who had 
 gone there to the monastery of her sister, to await the issue of the 
 campaign. 
 
 Meanwhile Egfrid crossed the firth, and, penetrating beyond the 
 Tay, destroyed two forts. But the native forces, by feigned retreats, 
 succeeded in luring the invaders into a defile at Dunnichen, near Forfar, 
 where Egfrid was surrounded and slain, with nearly all his army, on that 
 very day, the 20th of May, and at the same hour in which it was revealed 
 to Cuthbert, as he was standing in ecstasy beside the fountain (see § 37). 
 The shock of the fatal termination of Egfrid’s expedition induced his 
 Queen, Ermenburga, to retire into the monastery over which her sister 
 presided at Carlisle, and St. Cuthbert shortly after gave her the 
 religious habit. 
 
 1 King Egfrid before his death had bestowed on the saint the ancient Roman 
 city of Carlisle ; and the county adjoining was made oyer to him. There he established 
 a monasterj' of nuns, and a school in which clerics were trained for the service of 
 the church. 
 

 

 
XXXI. 
 
 Earl Heunna’s Wife cured by Holy Water. 
 
 See Life, § 32, p. 31. 
 
 A monk, holding a holy water bucket in his left hand, and a sprinkler in his right, 
 stands by a bed in which is a woman in white night-dress. 
 
 The Lindisfarne monk records several additional particulars, and his 
 narrative gives us an insight into the manner in which visitors were 
 received at the houses of the wealthy. 
 
 A certain Count Heunna, from whom he sought hospitality during 
 one of his pastoral journeys, received him on his knees, thanking him for 
 his visit, hut at the same time telling that his wife was at the point of 
 death, and he himself in despair. “ However,” said the Count, “ I fir ml y 
 believe that were you to give her your blessing, she would be restored to 
 health, or at least delivered by speedy death from her long and cruel 
 sufferings.” The saint immediately sent one of his priests, without enter¬ 
 ing into the sick-room himself, to sprinkle her with water which he had 
 blessed. The patient was at once relieved; and herself came to act as 
 cup-hearer to the prelate, offering him, in name of all her family, that cup 
 of wine which, under the name of the loving cup , has continued since the 
 time of the Anglo-Saxons to form a part of all solemn public banquets.” 
 —(Montalembert, Monks of the West, vol. iv., p. 405.) 
 
 Cf. Oxford MS .; J. T. Fellow, On the St. Cuthbert Window, p. 90. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 . 
 
 
 
 
XXXII. 
 
 How HE CUBED A DAMSEL OF A PAIN IN HER HEAD AND SIDE BY 
 ANOINTING HER WITH OIL. 
 
 See Life, § 33, p. 32. 
 
 Cuthbert, “ having heard of the young woman’s illness, anointed her 
 with oil consecrated by himself.” On the use of extreme unction in the 
 Anglo-Saxon Church, see Lingard’s Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church, 
 vol. ii., p. 40. 
 
 This girl was a kinswoman of Ethelwold, one of the many witnesses 
 who were present and related the above cure. He was then Cutlibert’s 
 chaplain, and became Abbot of Mailros and Bishop of Lindisfarne in 
 724 (see Ecd. Hist., § 395; Ada SS. Mens., Feb. ii., 604). 
 

 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
XXXIII. 
 
 How Hildmer, a Prefect of King Egfrid’s Court, was healed 
 by Bread which had been blessed by Cuthbert. 
 
 A bishop in mitre and red cope, holding a crozier in his left hand, places a piece 
 of bread in the mouth of a man who sits up in bed, wearing a light-coloured nightshirt. 
 
 We have made mention already of Hildmer the prefect (§ 21), 
 whose wife had been freed from an unclean spirit by the man of God. 
 The same Hildmer fell afterwards into a very grievous illness, so that 
 his trouble increasing daily, he was confined to his bed, and appeared to 
 be gradually declining to the point of death. Several of his friends 
 assembled to comfort the sick man, and as they were seated by the bed 
 on which he lay, one of them suddenly happened to mention that he had 
 a loaf with him, which Cuthbert, the man of the Lord, had lately 
 given him, after bestowing on it the grace of his benediction. “ I 
 believe,” said he, “ that were Hildmer to taste of this, it would prove a 
 remedy, provided the slowness of our faith did not prevent it.” Now 
 they were all laymen, hut devout persons. Then each of them turning 
 to the other, confessed that they believed, without any doubt, that he 
 might be cured by the communion of this blessed bread. And filling a 
 cup with water, they put into it a little piece of that loaf and gave it 
 him to drink. As soon as that taste of water, which was sanctified by 
 the bread, reached his bowels, the pain which he felt entirely departed, 
 the wasting away of his outward limbs ceased, and not long after he 
 was restored to robust health. The speed of this unexpected cure de¬ 
 servedly stirred up the hearts, not only of himself and his friends, but 
 also of all who heard of it, to praise the holiness of the servants of 
 Christ, and to marvel at the virtue of a faith unfeigned.—(Bede, chap, 
 xxxi.) 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
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 wJj 
 
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XXXIV. 
 
 HOW, DURING A TIME OF MORTALITY, HE RESTORED A DYING CHILD 
 TO SOUND HEALTH IN ITS MOTHER’S ARMS. 
 
 See Life, § 35, p. 37. 
 
 St. Cuthbert, in red cope over a green dalmatic bordered with red, having a plain 
 alb beneath, with white mitre, and a crozier in his left hand, holds his right, with two 
 fingers extended, towards a child. The mother, with long yellow hair, and flowing 
 robes, holds before him her child dressed in white. 
 
 Of this pestilence, which must have occurred about the year 684, 
 Bede says that it produced so great a mortality that, in towns which had 
 formerly been large, and in villages once filled with inhabitants, few, 
 yea, sometimes not one, remained.—(Bede, Life of St. Cuthbert, chap, 
 xxxiii.) 
 
 This subject is represented in the Oxford MS., the Carlisle Paintings, 
 and the St. Cuthbert Window in York Minster. 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
XXXV.—XXXVI. 
 
 HOW CUTHBERT, SITTING AT ELFLEDA’S TABLE, SAW THE SOUL OF A 
 CERTAIN PERSON TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN WHO WAS KILLED BY 
 FALLING FROM A TREE. 
 
 See Life, § 39, p. 37. 
 
 XXXV. represents a man falling headlong from a tree. (XXXVI.) St. Cuthbert 
 sits at a table with jvhite diapered cloth, on which are placed a fish lying in a dish, a 
 plate, and a covered cup; a knife is seen to drop from Cuthbert’s hand. Elfleda 
 stands on his left. A man in tunic and cloak is delivering a letter to the Abbess. 
 
 Cuthbert was heartily attached to all the royal family of Northumbria, 
 the Bernician dynasty, which had been restored in his childhood under the 
 great and saintly Oswald. He had special devotion for that martyred 
 king, whose head was represented on his seal. Oswald’s niece, the 
 Abbess Elfleda, as we have seen (PI. XXY.), had the liveliest affection for 
 the Prior of Lindisfarne, and at the same time an absolute confidence in 
 his sanctity. 
 
 Shortly before his death, and during his last pastoral visitation, Cuth¬ 
 bert went to see Elfleda, in the neighbourhood of the great monastery of 
 Whitby, to consecrate a church which she had built there, and to con¬ 
 verse with her for the last time. They dined together, and during the 
 meal, seeing his knife drop from his trembling hand in the abstraction of 
 supernatural thoughts, she had a last opportunity of admiring his pro¬ 
 phetic intuition, and his constant care for the salvation of souls. 
 
 The fatigue of the holy bishop, who said, laughingly, “ I cannot eat 
 all day long; you must give me a little rest ”—the eagerness and pious 
 curiosity of the young Abbess, anxious to know and do everything, who 
 rushes up breathless during the ceremony of the dedication to ask from 
 the bishop a memento for a monk whose death she had just heard of— 
 all those details, says Montalembert, form a picture complete in its 
 simplicity, upon which the mind can repose amid the savage habits and 
 wild vicissitudes of the struggle, then more violent than ever, between 
 the Xorthumbrians and Piets, the Saxons and the Celts. 
 
 This subject is represented in a fresco discovered some years ago in 
 the church at Pittington, near Durham.—(Consitt, Life of St. Cuthbert , 
 
 p. 118.) 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

XXXVII. 
 
 CUTHBERT TURNING WATER INTO WlNE. 
 
 Cuthbert receives with his right hand a cup from a man dressed in green, who 
 presents it on one knee. To the right of St. Cuthbert the Abbess Verca is seated. 
 Another man, in a red cloak, and with a tonsure, probably his chaplain, sits by 
 Cuthbert. 
 
 Cuthbert’s last visit of all was to tbe nunnery at Tynemouth, over 
 which Verca ruled as Abbess. A chapel of wood was built here by 
 King Edwin, in which his daughter took the veil. This chapel was 
 afterwards rebuilt with stone in the eighth century, and dedicated to St. 
 Mary ; and after being repeatedly plundered by the Danes and demolished, 
 was rebuilt in 1110. 
 
 St. Cuthbert was received with great veneration by the Abbess and 
 her sisters. After the hour of the noonday rest, which was usually 
 observed by all religious communities, Cuthbert, feeling thirsty, asked 
 for something to drink. Upon their wishing to know whether they 
 should bring him wine or beer 1 “Give me water,” he said, and 
 they offered him water which they had drawn from the fountain. 
 He made the sign of the cross over it, as was his custom, and 
 having drunk a small quantity, handed hack the glass to his priest, 
 who was standing beside him, and returned it to the attendant. Having 
 taken the cup, the attendant said, “ May I be permitted to drink of the 
 draught of which the Bishop has drunk 1 ” To which the other replied, 
 “ Yea, why may you not 1 ?” How this man was the priest attached to the 
 monastery. He drank accordingly, hut the water seemed to him to have 
 acquired the flavour of wine, and wishing that a brother who was stand¬ 
 ing by should likewise be a witness of so great a miracle, he handed him 
 the cup, and when he too had drunk of it, the water seemed to his palate 
 also to have acquired the flavour of wine.—(Bede, xxxv.) 
 
 This miracle was related to Ven. Bede by one of the priests of the 
 church, who afterwards lived and died in the monastery of Jarrow, of 
 which Bede was a monk. 
 
 With many Anglo-Saxons it was an object to prepare during life the 
 linen in which they wished to be buried. Thus, on taking his leave of 
 Verca, the Abbess presented a linen winding-sheet to Cuthbert, which he 
 ever afterwards retained, and in which his body was enveloped at his 
 death.—(Lingard, History of the Anglo-Saxon Church, vol. ii., p. 44.) 
 

XXXVIII. 
 
 Cuthbert’s last Voyage to Farne. 
 
 It is probable that this illumination represents St. Cuthbert’s last 
 voyage to Farne, and that in the Lawson MS. it was apparently by mis¬ 
 take set at the beginning of the following chapter, which relates the cure 
 of Walhstod.— (Cf. Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, vol. iv.) 
 
 Two years, counting from the date of his election, had been spent by 
 Cuthbert as bishop. Warned of his approaching end, he returned to 
 Lindisfarne, and there spent the festival of Christmas in the midst of his 
 brethren. Immediately afterwards he withdrew to his hermitage in the 
 island of Farne. “ His faithful monks gathered round him as he was 
 about to embark, and one of their number, who, on account of his vener¬ 
 able age and long-tried virtue, was privileged to speak, asked him to tell 
 them when they might hope for his return.” He replied, “ When you 
 shall bring my body hither.” The sorrowing community then accom¬ 
 panied him in tears to the sea-shore. 
 
 Does not this final parting between the saintly Bishop and his spiritual 
 children recall to their minds that last farewell between St. Paul and the 
 clergy of Ephesus on the shores of the iEgean 1 “ Kneeling down, he 
 
 prayed with them all, and there was much weeping among them all; and 
 falling on the neck of Paul, they kissed him, being grieved most of all 
 for the word which he had said, that they should see his face no more. 
 And they brought him on his way to the ships.”—(Acts xx., 36.) 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
XXXIX. 
 
 What were the last commands which he gave to the 
 Brethren, and how, after receiving the Viaticum, he 
 
 YIELDED UP HIS SPIRIT AMID WORDS OF PRAYER. 
 
 See Life, § 42, p. 39. 
 
 St. Cuthbert is seated on a chair, after just receiving viaticum from the hands of 
 Herefrid. Behind him stands a tonsured figure in alb supporting the dying saint. 
 In front the Priest Herefrid holds a golden ciborium. In the air above two angels 
 bear up the soul of the Saint into the presence of Christ. 
 
 Last instructions of St. Cuthbert. 
 
 “ When God shall have taken ray soul bury me in this cell, at the 
 south side of my oratory, opposite the east arm 1 of the Holy Cross 2 
 which I have erected there. There is at the north of the same oratory 
 a (stone) coffin, hidden hy sods, which formerly the venerable Abbot 
 Cudda presented to me. Place my body in that, and wrap it in the 
 fine linen which you will find there. I would not indeed he clothed in 
 it while living, but for the love of the God-beloved woman who sent it to 
 me (the Abbess Verca to wit) I have taken care to preserve it wherein 
 to wrap my body. 3 
 
 “ He spent a quiet day till evening, in the expectation of future 
 blessedness ; yea, and tranquilly continued during the wakeful night also 
 in prayer. Now when the wonted time of the nocturn prayers—that is, 
 of matins—was come, after receiving the salutary Sacraments (of penance 
 and extreme unction) at my hands, he fortified his departure, which he 
 knew was drawing near, hy the communion of the Body and Blood of our 
 Lord ; and having lifted up his eyes to heaven, and extended his hands 
 on high, his soul, intent on heavenly praises, departed to the joys of the 
 kingdom of heaven.”—(Prior Herefrid’s Relation.) 
 
 His departure took place early on the morning of Wednesday, the 
 20th of March, a.d. 687. 
 
 1 Concerning the custom of being buried with the face looking towards the east, 
 see Martene, De Antiq. Feel. Ritibus, ii., 347, ed. fol. 
 
 2 “ Et in quocumque loco extra casmeterium Christianus sepeliatur, semper crux 
 capiti illius apponi debet, ad notandum ilium Christianum fuisse. . . .” Durand’s 
 Rationale Div. Offic., vii., xxxv., § 39. 
 
 3 Much curious information on this subject may be seen in the treatise of J. E. 
 Franzenius, De Funeribus Veterum Christianorum, p. 85, ed. Helm, 1709 ; as also in 
 Martene, De Antiq. Monachorum Ritibus, v., x., § 92. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
XL. 
 
 One of the Brethren who accompanied Herefrid ran and 
 
 LIGHTED TWO CANDLES, AND HOLDING ONE IN EACH HAND, HE 
 WENT UP TO A HIGHER PLACE TO SHOW TO THE BRETHREN 
 WHO REMAINED IN THE MONASTERY OF LlNDISFARNE THAT 
 THE HOLY SOUL OF CUTHBERT HAD NOW DEPARTED TO THE 
 
 Lord. 
 
 St. Cuthbert died at the hour when it was usual to sing matins. 
 One of his attendants immediately mounted to the summit of the rock, 
 where the lighthouse is now placed, and gave to the monks of Lindisfarne, 
 by waving a lighted torch, the signal agreed upon to announce the death 
 of the greatest saint who has given glory to that famous isle. 
 
 “ Seeing the lights, the monk who had been appointed to watch upon 
 the watch-tower on the heugh at once ran down to the church, where the 
 whole community were assembled for matins, and announced to them 
 that the sainted bishop and father was no more.”-—(Bede, chap, xl.) 
 

 
 
 
 

XLI. 
 
 How his Body was found incorrupt eleven years 
 
 AFTERWARDS. 
 
 See Life, § 43, p. 39. 
 
 “ In the year 698, during the episcopate of Eadbert, the seventh Bishop 
 of Lindisfarne, the monks, wishing to place the relics of the saint in a new 
 shrine raised above the floor of the church, after obtaining the permission 
 from the Bishop, opened his tomb on the 20th of March, the anniversary 
 of St. Cuthbert’s death, expecting that by this time the body would have 
 been consumed, and nothing left but the skeleton. To their joy and 
 amazement they found the body as entire as when he was living, and 
 more like one in a sound sleep than one who was dead. All the vest¬ 
 ments, moreover, with which he had been clothed were not only unsoiled, 
 but even appeared in all their freshness. Trembling with fear at the 
 sight, the monks hastened to inform the Bishop, who was spending the 
 Lent on the little island where St. Cuthbert had lived for a time before 
 migrating to Fame. They took with them the chasuble in which the 
 saint had been vested as a proof of the truth of their story. The holy 
 Bishop kissed the sacred relic, ordered the monks to swathe the body in 
 new garments, and to place it in the coffin or chest which had been 
 prepared. Not long after, on the 6th of May, the Bishop himself died, 
 and was buried in the grave in which the relics of St. Cuthbert had 
 reposed. The monks did as they were directed by the Bishop, and 
 wrapping the sacred remains in new raiment, they laid them in a light 
 chest upon the pavement of the sanctuary, on the right side of the high 
 altar in the Cathedral Church of St. Peter. 
 
 “ The incorrupt body of the saint reposed in peace in this shrine for 
 nearly one hundred years, and was visited by innumerable pilgrims, in 
 whose behalf many miracles were wrought, as is duly recorded in the 
 pages of Simeon and Beginald.”—(Bede, chap. ix. ; Consitt, Life of St. 
 Cuthbert, p. 145.) 
 
 Too much weight or importance cannot be given to this testimony of 
 the Lindisfarne biographer, as the anonymous monk, if even not present 
 at the opening of the tomb, must have very frequently heard the account 
 of the opening from those who were present. 
 
 The same account is given by Bede, who at that time would have been 
 about twenty-one years old, and must have heard over and over again 
 from the monks themselves every little particular connected with the 
 disinterment. If he, who was so scrupulous in receiving evidence, and 
 who wrote the account when his judgment was matured by age, was 
 satisfied of the fact of the body being incorrupt, we may rest quite 
 assured that on the occasion of the first opening of his tomb the body 
 of the saint was found whole and entire. —(Archbishop Eyre, Life of St. 
 
Cuthbert, p. 147. Cf. Lingard’s “Remarks on the St. Cuthbert of the 
 Rev. J. Raine, Newcastle, 1828.”) 
 
 According to contemporary accounts, when the Royal Commissioners 
 came to Durham in the course of the year 1540, it happened, contrary 
 to their expectation, that not only his body was whole and uncorrupted, 
 but the vestments wherein his body lay, and wherein he was accustomed 
 to say mass, were fresh, untouched, and not consumed.— [Cf. Rites of 
 Durham, and the account given in the Origin and Succession of the 
 Bishops of Durham, MS. in the Library of the Dean and Chapter of 
 Durham.) 
 
 These testimonies to the incorrupt condition of the body in 1540 
 are decisively confirmed by that of Harpsfield, Archdeacon of Canterbury 
 during the reign of Queen Mary. In his Historia Anglicana Ecclesiastica, 
 lie gives a most minute account of the condition of the body of the saint 
 when the shrine was broken open. 
 
 “ When, by command of King Henry VIII., the coffins of the saints 
 were everywhere throughout England plundered and broken to pieces, 
 and their remains thrown into places of disgrace, there was broken also 
 the wooden coffin of this holy body, which was cased in white marble. 
 
 And not only his body, but even the vestments in which it was 
 clothed were perfectly entire, and free from all taint and decay. 
 
 There were present, among others, when this sacred body was exposed to 
 daylight, Doctor Whitehead, the president of the monastery, Doctor 
 Sparke, Doctor Tod, and William Wilan, the keeper of the sacred 
 shrine. And thus it is abundantly manifest that the body of St Cuthbert 
 remained inviolate and uncontaminated eight hundred and forty years.” 
 
 We learn from records of the Chapter that the vault in which the 
 body of the saint was finally buried was begun about the 28th of 
 December 1541, and finished, together with the marble slab which covers 
 it, soon after the Epiphany. 
 
 Much has been said and written of a supposed discovery of his 
 remains in the year 1827; but it is very far from being proved that 
 those remains were the bones of St. Cuthbert. Archbishop Eyre, in the 
 History of St. Cuthbert, p. 197, has given the state of the question, and the 
 chief arguments that have been used in endeavouring to show that the 
 remains found were those of the saint. His own opinion is, “ that the 
 coffin found in 1827 was the original coffin of St. Cuthbert; that the 
 skeleton found was not that of the saint; that the body of St. Cuthbert 
 was removed in the reign of Queen Mary (1553-58); that it is very 
 possible that at the time they removed the body they erected the screen 
 round the feretory in order to disguise the removal ; and that the body 
 was removed in the linen cloth which was missing at the investigation 
 of 1827.” 
 
 “ But whether the remains found in the vault in 1827 were or were 
 not the relics of St. Cuthbert, the question of the incorruption of the 
 body down to 1537 is not thereby at all affected.”— (Life of St. Cuthbert, 
 
 p. 218.) 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
XI.IL 
 
 How a Sick Man was cured by praying at St. Cuthbert’s 
 
 Tomb. 
 
 See Life, § 45. p. 41. 
 
 Beside a plain oblong tomb kneels a man with a crutch, at one end sits the 
 keeper of the shriae reading over the tomb, a burning lamp hangs from the roof of a 
 Norman building. 
 
 St. Cuthbert’s Shrine. 
 
 When the necessary preparations had been made, the body of the 
 deceased Bishop was " placed in the church of the holy Apostle Peter, in 
 a stone coffin, on the right hand side of the altar.”—(Bede, chap, xl.) 
 
 The Keeper of the Shrine. 
 
 A keeper was appointed for the holy shrine of St. Cuthbext. 
 
 When the shrine was removed to the splendid feretory in Durham 
 Cathedral, there existed an officer named the feretory master, or feretrar, 
 and a clerk of the feretory. The feretrar was appointed to take charge of 
 the feretory and shrine, as well as of the relics, books, and other- 
 valuables therein contained. 
 
 In the midst of the feretory St. Cuthbert’s “ sacred shrine was 
 exalted, with most curious workmanship of fine and costly marble, all 
 limned and gilt with gold, having four seats or places convenient under 
 the shrine for the pilgrims or laymen sitting on their knees to lean and 
 rest on, in time of their devout offerings and fervent prayers to God and 
 holy St. Cuthbert.”— (A Description of the Ancient Monuments, Rites, 
 and Customs of Durham, Surtees Soc., 1842.) 
 
 The basement of the feretory still remains, and in the roof of the 
 church may still be seen the holes through which the cords passed that 
 served to raise the cover of the shrine. 
 

XLIII. 
 
 How a Man afflicted with Palsy was cured by the 
 
 APPLICATION OF St. CUTHBERT’S SHOES. 
 
 See Life, § 64. 
 
 It was the custom to bury the dead body in the dress which the 
 deceased had worn while living.—(See Martene, De Antiq. MonacJi. 
 Ritihus, V. x., § 87.) 
 
 At the time of the disinterment in the year 698 the shoes he had 
 worn were undecayed, and they were taken off and kept among the 
 relics in the church. 
 

 
 
 
 
XLIV. 
 
 Bethwegen healed.of a Palsy at St. Cuthbert’s Tomb. 
 
 St. Cuthbert’s hand is seen issuing forth to touch him. 
 
 “ There dwelt in that same monastery a brother whose name was 
 Baduthegn, who had for a considerable time waited upon the guests, and 
 who is still living, having the reputation with all the brethren and strangers 
 resorting thither, of being a man of much piety and religion, and serving 
 the office assigned to him only for the sake of a heavenly reward. This 
 man, having on a certain day washed in the sea mantles or garments 
 such as he used in the guest-house, was returning home, when on a 
 sudden, about half-way, he was seized with a sudden distemper in his 
 body, insomuch that he fell down, and having lain on the ground some 
 time, could scarcely rise again. When at last he got up, he felt that 
 one-half of his body, from the head to the foot, was struck with palsy, 
 and with much difficulty he reached home by the help of a staff. The 
 disorder increased gradually, and as night approached became still 
 worse, so that when day returned he could scarcely rise or walk alone. 
 In this weak condition a good thought came to his mind, which was to 
 go to the church, the best way he could, to the tomb of the reverend 
 father Cutlibert, and there on his knees to beg of the divine goodness 
 either to be delivered from that disease, if it were for his good, or if God’s 
 grace had ordained him longer to lie under the same for his punishment, 
 that he might bear the pain with patience and a composed mind. 
 
 “ § 356. He did according to his intention, and supporting his weak 
 limbs with a staff, entered the church, and prostrating himself before the 
 body of the man of God, he, with pious earnestness, prayed that through his 
 aid our Lord might be propitious to him. In the midst of his prayers he 
 fell, as it were, into a sleep, and, as he was afterwards wont to relate, after 
 feeling a large and broad hand touch that part of his body which had been 
 affected with the distemper, he was gradually delivered from the weakness, 
 and restored to health down to his feet. He then awoke, and rose up in 
 perfect health, and afterwards, returning thanks to God for his recovery, 
 told the brethren what had happened to him, and to the joy of them all, 
 he returned the more zealously, as if chastened by his affliction, to the 
 service which he was wont before so carefully to perform. The very 
 garments, moreover, which had clothed Cuthbert’s body, dedicated to 
 God, either whilst living or after he was dead, were not exempt from the 
 
virtue of performing cures, as may be seen in the books of his life and 
 miracles, by such as shall read it.”—(Bede’s Ecclesiastical History, Church 
 Historians of England, p. 491.) 
 
 A similar miracle is related by Thomas, Archbishop of York, a.d. 1090. 
 The Archbishop shall speak for himself from his own original charter, 
 preserved under his seal in the Treasury of the Dean and Chapter of 
 Durham, and printed at full length in Baine’s History of St. Cuthbert. 
 “ We for our part having been for two years chastised by the 
 scourge of God, and dried up by fever and faintness after an incredible 
 manner, when all our physicians held out to us nothing which they could 
 devise to soothe our pains, being warned by a vision, I spent a whole 
 night before the tomb of St. Cuthbert, groaning and wailing, and having, 
 from excess of disease and fatigue, fallen into a hasty sleep, there stood 
 before me, in a vision, St. Cuthbert himself, who, touching with his 
 hand my limbs, one after another, and rapidly passing over the diseased 
 parts of my body, straightway roused me from sleep, and restored me to 
 health.”—( History of St. Cuthbert, p. 69.) 
 

 
XLV. 
 
 A CERTAIN YOUTH CURED OF A SWELLED EYELID BY HAIR OF 
 
 St. Cuthbert taken from a reliquary. 
 
 “ Of one who was cured recently of a Disease in his Eye by these 
 Relics .—§ 357. Nor is that cure to be passed over in silence which was 
 performed by his relics three years ago, and was told me by the brother 
 himself on whom it was wrought. It happened in the monastery, which, 
 being built near the River Dacore, took its name from it, and over 
 which at that time the religious Suidberct presided as Abbot. In this 
 monastery was a certain youth on whose eyelid a large growth had come, 
 which, increasing daily, threatened the loss of his sight. The surgeons 
 applied medical fomentations to ripen it, but in vain. Some said it 
 ought to be cut off; others opposed this, for fear of worse consequences. 
 The said brother, having suffered long from his malady, and seeing no 
 human means that was likely to save his eye, which, on the contrary, 
 daily grew worse, felt himself suddenly cured, through the mercy of the 
 Divine goodness, by the relics of the most holy father Cuthbert; for the 
 brethren, finding his body incorrupt, after having been so many years 
 buried, took a portion of the hair, that they might, at the request of 
 friends, give or show it in testimony of the miracle, as is generally done 
 with such relics. 
 
 “ § 358. A priest belonging to that monastery, named Thruidred, who 
 is now Abbot there, had a small part of these relics in his possession at 
 the time. One day, having entered the church, he opened the box of 
 relics, that he might give part of them to a friend who begged this favour, 
 and it happened that the youth with the diseased eye was then in the 
 church. The priest, after giving his friend as much as he thought fit, 
 delivered the rest to the youth to put into its place. Having received 
 some hairs from the Saint’s head, by a happy impulse he applied them 
 to the sore eyelid, and endeavoured for some time by their application 
 to soften and abate the swelling. Having this done, he again placed 
 the relics in the box, as he had been ordered, believing that his eye 
 
would soon be cured by the hair of the man of God which had touched 
 it; nor did his faith go unrewarded. It was then, as lie was wont to 
 relate, about the second hour of the day; but being busy and intent 
 upon other things which had to be done, he waited till the sixth 
 hour, when, touching his eye on a sudden, he found that his eyelid 
 was as sound as if there never had been any swelling or deformity on 
 it at all.”—(Bede, Church Historians of England, Book IV., c. 32, p. 491.)