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Aidan
The Apostle of England

Aidan
The Apostle of England

By
Alfred C. Fryer, Ph.D., F.S.A.
Author of
"Cuthbert of Lindisfame, " "Llantwit Major,'' etc.

London
S. W. Partridge & Co.
8 and 9 Paternoster Row
1903

Contents.

CHAPTER I.
PAGE
KINS OSWALD AND THE BATTLB OF "HEAVEN FIELD," . 7

CHAPTER n.
COKMAN'S MISSION IN NOETHUMBEIA, . . . 15
CHAPTER HI.
LINDISFAKNE,  19
CHAPTER IV.
THE ISLAND HOME,  24
CHAPTER V.
THE LINDISFAENB SCHOOL,  36
CHAPTER VI.
HEATHENDOM  43
5

6 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII. PAOE
MISSION LABOtlE,  57

CHAPTER VIII.
OSWALD THE SAINT,  67
CHAPTER IX.
AIDAN ON FAENE ISLAND, . .... 73
CHAPTER X.
OSWIN AND OSWIU,  79
CHAPTER XI.
CONCLUSION,  84

Aidan
The Apostle of England

CHAPTER I.
KING OSWALD AND THE BATTLE OF "HEAVEN
FIELD."
We open the volume of Northumbrian history
at a sad and darksome page — at a time when it
seemed likely that the toil and labour of noble-
minded, generous-hearted men were rudely to be
swept away. " It seems," it has been said, " an
almost universal law of mission work, that the
definitive victory is not won without a temporary
reaction of more or less severity. The powers of
darkness, seen and unseen, the spiritual wicked
ness which constitute the real background of
every form of heathenism — these, with all whom
they can enlist in their ranks, gather themselves
up, as with the energy of despair, for a last and
decisive struggle with the kingdom of light. A
fierce tempest of wrath sweeps over the Church,

8 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
and the patient work of years perishes, or seems
to perish, in an hour." ^
This was a time, Bede says, that was " hateful
to all good men." ^ The beloved Edwin, King of
Northumbria, had been slain at Hadfield* by
Cadwalla, King of Gwynedd (North Wales), and
the heathen Penda, King of Mercia. Then
followed " a great slaughter throughout the
Church and nation of Northumbrians." In the
words of Bede : " No longer might the cups of
brass hang safely by the roadside wells; or a
woman with her babe traverse the kingdom of
Edwin from sea to sea, without dread of insult." *
The royal palace and church at " Campodonum "
was burned, and the cruel Welsh king "spared
neither women nor children, but put them to
torturing deaths, raging for a long time through
all the country, and resolving he would be the
man to exterminate the whole English race
within the bounds of Britain," and although he
was a Christian by profession, yet he paid no
respect to the Christian religion. To these
terrors of invasion were added the horrors of
1 Archbishop Trench's "Mediceval Church History,"
p. 34.
2 Bede, 'H.E.' iii. 1.
3 The Welsh call this place Meiceren. Aim. Oamb
4 Bede, 'H. E.'ii. 16.

KING OS WALD AND " HE A VEN FIELD." 9
civil war. Northumbria was split into the two
provinces of Deira and Bernicia, of which the
former feU to Osric, Edwin's cousin ; the latter to
Eanfrid, one of the exiled sons of Ethelfrid.
Both monarchs abandoned the Christian faith,
and shortly afterwards were slain by Cadwalla.
This was indeed an ill-fated year, and a time
of sorrow and distress. Paulinus fled from his
post, and deserted the Northumbrian Church in
the hour of her greatest need, when he saw the
head of Edwin brought to York.^ Then it was
that he thought it right to escape persecution, and
he persuaded himself that " he had a primary
duty to Ethelburga — the widowed queen — whom
he had escorted to Northumbria, although a brave
thane, named Bass, was at hand to guard her
return." ^ The night of heathendom again closed
over the land. The Eoman mission had proved a
failure ia spite of all the energy of its chief.
A sponge, it had been remarked, had passed over
Northumbria, and scarce a vestige of the work of
Paulinus remained.^ James " the deacon," * other-
1 Bede, 'H. E., ii. 20. The body was afterwards
recovered, and buried at Whitby ; iii. 24.
2 Blight's "Early English Church History," p. 129.
2 See Lightfoot's "Leaders of the Northern Church,"
p. 41.
4 Bede, ' H. E. ' ii. 20.

lo AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
wise known as "the chanter," from his skill in
Church music, was alone left to conduct the
services of the Church.
When autumn shadows were stealing over the
land, James, who lived on the Bernician frontier,
would hear with joy that a Christian prince, a
younger brother of the apostate Eanfrid, was
determined to make a stand for his throne and
his people, and save Northumbrian independence
if it were possible.
This famous prince was Oswald, "the good
king," the saint, who was honoured and loved by
the forefathers of the sturdy fishermen, miners,
and dalesmen of the North Country.
A few miles from Hexham, and not far from
the Eoman Wall,^ may be seen a humble chapel,
built on the rising ground, and dedicated to
St. Oswald. It is a beautiful spot, commanding
a fine view of hill and valley, wood and river,
— a grand and noble country, less changed than
many another historic spot famous in the annals
of the North. There seems little doubt that it
1 See Burton's " Hist. Scot." i. 21 ff. Not far from St.
Oswald's can be seen the northern foss of the wall, also the
southern vallum-line and the stations and forts. The
Cymric Chronicles gave the battle the name of Catscaul,
or Cad-ys-gual, the battle of the wall. See Skene's " Celt.
Scot." i. 245.

KING OSWALD AND " HE A VEN FIELDS 1 1
was here that Oswald, " with an army, small in
number, but fortified by faith in Christ," took
up their position.^
The night before the battle Oswald dreamed
that St. Columba appeared to him in angelic
form and shining raiment, bidding him " Be of
good courage and play the man."
When the winter morning dawned ^ he caused
a cross of wood ^ to be hastily made, and having
it placed in a hole dug for its reception, he held
it firm with his own hands while his men heaped
up soil around it. As the morning mist rolled
up the valley the tall king, with his long face
and thin beard,* stood near the symbol of his
faith which pointed heavenward, and bade his
soldiers kneel down with him and "entreat the
true and living God, who knew how just was
their cause, to defend them from the proud and
1 Oswald told this afterwards to Abbot Seghine ; Adamn-
V. col. i. 1.
2 Freeman and Lingard date the battle 635, but it
appears to have been about December, 634. See Bright's
" Early English Church History," p. 181, note 6.
3 " That cross stood till the time of Bede, some 150 years
after, and had become, like Moses' brazen serpent, an
object of veneration. For if chips cut off from it were put
into water, that water cured men or cattle of their
deseases." Kingsley's " Hermits," p. 289.
* Tradition thus describes him. Hist. Transl. S. Cuthb.
6, in Bede's Works, vi. 409 (Giles).

12 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
fierce enemy." ^ Then they arose and charged
Cadwalla's superior forces. That charge was
overpowering. The foe turned and fled far away
down the steep slope into the valley below imtil
they reached the Denisburn,^ as Bede calls it,
most likely a brook near Dilston, somewhat
eastward of Hexham. Here Cadwalla ended
his fierce life, and an old saying, —
"Cadwalla's slaughter checked the Denis flow,''
has long been remembered.
This was the Battle of " Heaven Field," as it
was called in after times. Pew battle-fields can
have greater interest for Englishmen, for not
only did the Welsh scheme to re-conquer
England receive its death-blow, but the cause
of Christianity was to triumph from that day
in Northumbria. Once again the visible cross
had been the standard of victory, says a modern
writer.^ Once again the watchword of a
Christian warrior had been Hoc signo vinces ; but
a purer, nobler, simpler, manlier heart beat in
Oswald's breast than in Constantine's.
1 Bede, ' H. E.' iii. 2.
2 Hen. Hunt. iii. Smith, p. 720, thinks that Erringburn
was Denisburn, north of St. Oswald's. See Bruce's " Hist.
of the WaU," p. 142.
2 " Leaders of the Northern Church," by Bishop Light-
foot, p. 28.

KING OSWALD AND " HEA VEN FIELD." 13
Oswald now became the king of the united
provinces of Bernicia and Deira, and in thinking
of him we instinctively think of Alfred. Like
Alfred he was kind and gentle, and yet, like
Alfred, he possessed great strength and force of
character. He became to his people more than
Edwin had been, for he came to his nation in
her weakness, " in the prime and glow of a pure
and noble manhood." " On the one hand," says
Professor Bright, " Oswald was so able a captain
and ruler that he extended the area of Bretwalda's
supremacy until it even included the Picts and
Scots.^ On the other hand, as devout as if
he lived in a cloister, thinking little of half a
night spent in devotion,^ and accustomed from
such habits to keep his palms instinctively
turned upward, even while sitting on his throne ;
thus, ' wont, while guiding a temporal kingdom,
to labour and pray rather for an eternal one ; ' ^
withal, as generous and afi'ectionate as he was
pious, 'kind and beneficent to the poor and to
strangers,' humble of mind and tender of heart,
1 Bede, iii. 6, "Denique omnes nationes," etc. So that
Oswald anticipated the over-lordship of such a " BasUeus "
of Britain as Althestane or Edgar. See Freeman, i. 547.
"Totius Britannias imperator," Adamnan, i. 1.
2 Bede, ' H. E.' iii. 12. Comp. iv. 7.
3 Bede, ' H. E.' i. c.

14 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
amid all that might have ' lifted him up to
arrogance.'"^ In truth Oswald was indeed a
prince of men, and he attracted such a general
enthusiasm that he was the object of universal
admiration and love by his devoted subjects.
In the Christian ideal of human society kings
should be saints, and saints should be kings, says
Bishop Lightfoot.^ The combination is indeed
rare. In Alfred of England and St. Louis of
France the king and the saint are combined,
and in this small class of kingly saints and saintly
kings Oswald takes his place.
1 Bede, ' H. E.' iii. 6, Comp. Oswin ; Bede, ' H. E.' iii.
14. ^ " Leaders of the Northern Church," p. 33.

CHAPTEE II.
GORMAN'S MISSION IN NOETHUMBEIA.
Oswald had spent many years of his exile in the
island mission station of lona.^ There he had
found a welcome and a home, and the good
Columban monks had taught him the precepts
of Christianity. Now, he was the king of
Northumbria, and believing that he had over
come the Mercians and Britons through the
mercy of Him whose sacred symbol he had raised
on the field of battle, he wished to reconvert his
people to the true faith. So he sent a messenger
to Seghine, who was then abbot of lona, and
entreated him to send a missionary to teach his
people. It was not from Eome, but from lona
1 The name was originally I, la, or Hii, or, as it was
known in later times, Icolumkill, "Hy of Colum of the
Churches." " The name lona arose from a misprint of
lona, the adjective form used by Adamnan, the root of
which was low." See Maclear, " Conversion of the West,
—the Celts," p. 110 ; Eeeves' " Adamnan," p. ccxvii.
15

1 6 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
Oswald invited his evangelists. So it came
about that the evangelisation of these northern
counties flowed almost solely from Celtic and
not -from Eoman sources.^
Seghine at once complied with Oswald's wish
and sent him a bishop whom Scotch tradition
has called Corman.
The missionary left his sea-girt home and set
out at once for Northumbria, where he en
deavoured for a time to preach the Divine
Word. But Corman thought the rude heathens
of Durham and Yorkshire were indocile, and at
length returned in disgust from the mission
station. He failed signally in the work assigned
to him, even more signally than the Eoman
Paulinus. "Hard with hard makes no wall"
says Fuller, quaintly, quoting an old proverb;
" and no wonder, if the spiritual building went
on no better, wherein the austerity and hardness
of the pastor met with the ignorance and sturdi-
ness of the people." Disappointed with the ill-
success of his mission, the austere Corman
returned to lona, disgusted with the failure
which he attributed to his flock and not to
his own preaching. The intelligence was re-
1 See Lightfoot's " Leaders of the Northern Church," p.
31.

CORMAN S MISSION IN NORTHUMBRIA.^.']
ceived with sorrow, and the brethren of Hy
(lona) grieved for the lot of the Northumbrians,
and were still eager to help them. "It is no
use," Corman told the assembled monks, "to
attempt to convert such people as they are."
Then was heard a gentle voice full of remon
strance, saying: — "Methinks, brother, thou hast
forgotten the apostle's maxim about milk for the
babes. Didst thou not deal too rigidly with
those untaught minds, and expect too much,
and too soon, as the fruit of teaching too high
for them to follow ? " Well has a modern writer
remarked that the humility, the patience, the
gentle sympathy, the wise discretion, the whole
character of the man flashes out in this simple,
eager utterance.^
All eyes were turned on the speaker, a humble
monk named Aidan. He was a native of Ireland,
and had sprung from thf royal line of Eo-chaidh
Finn, of which St. t'ridig was a collateral
descendant.^ The same name was borne by
several Irish and Dalriadic kings.^ All the
1 Lightfoot's " Leaders of the Northern Church," p. 44.
2 Dr. Forbes' " Kalendar of Scottish Saints," p. 269.
3 Forbes' "Lives of St. Ninian and St. Kentigern" ;
Eeeves' "Life of St. Columba," p. 254, 264, 287 ; Lamg's
" Cronykel of Wyntown," p. 324 ; Burton's " Hist. Scot."
i. 279. 2

1 8 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
assembled members of that solemn chapter
agreed that Aidan was the right man to
undertake the work. So he was consecrated
bishop,! most likely by one or more bishops
who lived at lona, and one fair summer morning
in the year A.D. 635, he bid adieu to the com
munity he loved so well, and sailed away from
lona, with a fond remembrance of the " Great
Fort" and the "Angel's Mount," where the
good Columba had prayed to God and thought
how he could win the heathen to the faith of
Christ. ^ " That he was worthy of the episcopate, because he had
in an eminent degree the grace of discretion, which is the
mother of virtues." Bede, ' H. E. ' iii. 6.

CHAPTEE III.
LINDISFAENB.
Ten years after Paulinus had fled from York,
Aidan arrived in Northumbria. He was a true
son of the Celtic Church, and did not choose his
home in the ancient capital of York where Paul
inus had lived, and where the British Bishops had
their seat long before his days ; but like Columba,
who lived on the wild Isle of lona, and David,!
who abode on the lonely Menevia, Aidan chose
Lindisfarne, a place which Bede describes as
"twice a day contiguous to the mainland of
Northumbria, and twice a day like an island
enclosed in the sea, according to the ebb and
flow of the tide." 2 Sir Walter Scott, in his
poem on " Marmion,"^ points this out : —
" For, with the flow and ebb, its style
Varies from continent to isle ;
! Freeman, " Norm. Conq." i. 349.
2 Bede, ' H. E.' iii. 3. ^ « Marmion," C. 2.
19

20 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
Dry-shod, o'er sands, twice every day,
The pilgrim to the shrine finds way ;
Twice ev'ry day the waves efface
Of staves and sandall'd feet the trace."
We must remember that this is a poet's
description, and going there "dry-shod" is
scarcely accurate, for the path from Beal at low
water is " at best wet and plashy.''^ The " Island-
peninsula" of Lindisfarne derives its name from
a stream, the Lindis, which enters the sea at a
point on the Northumbrian coast directly opposite,
and from the Celtic word " Fahren," — a recess,
sufficiently indicative of its wild and secluded
character. " No sacred spot in Britain," says
Professor Bright, "is worthier of a reverential
visit than this ' Holy Island ' of Aidan and his
successors." ^ This little islet measures about two
and a quarter miles from East to West, and one
and a half from North to South, and it is about
a mile and a half distant from the Northumbrian
coast. Little changed is the prospect which Aidan
and his followers gazed upon, twelve hundred
years ago. The blue Cheviots still raise their
rounded summits over an arm of the sea to the
North, while to the South is seen the majestic
1 Murray's " Durham and Northumberland," p. 227.
2 Bright's " Early Eng. Ch. Hist." p. 137.

LINDISFARNE.

fortress-crowned promontory of Bamborough,
where rose " King Ida's castle, huge and square,"
built on the site, it is said, of a Eoman castle by
King Ethelfrith, and called " Bebbanburgh," from
Bebba, his first queen. The eye wanders over the
ocean to the Fame and Staple Islands peering out
of the blue deep ofl' Bamborough headland, and
the mind dwells on the British heroine, whose
name will be for ever associated with those bleak
and lonely isles.
The natural strength of the position probably
guided Aidan in selecting Lindisfarne as his
future home, and, moreover, it was only an hour's
sail distant from the royal fortress of Bamborough.
Doubtless Aidan loved to hear the sound of the
ocean wave, and the rush of the wild wind ; they
would remind him every day and every hour of
another islet home where he had so often heard
the solemn roar of the great Atlantic.
On entering on his new work, Aidan never
thought of asking for any sanction from Eome
or Canterbury; "He was a missionary bishop
sent from the neighbouring Scotic Church, at the
request of the Northumbrian king; this was his
position, and he would never have admitted the
principle that aU episcopal jurisdiction must be

22 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
derived from Eome,! qj. j^j^^t a pope had a right
to make an English archbishop supreme over ' aU
the bishops of Britain.' Yet Eome ^ acknowledged
him as a canonised bishop."®
This Celtic mission not only extended over a
wide area, and possessed historical interest, but a
personal attraction seems to rivet our love on this
brave, noble man, whose gentle words and sterling
character won the hearts of the rough north-
countrymen with a stronger power than an en
chanter's wand. The zeal of these self-sacrificing
men for Christ was unbounded. " I see them
coming ! " says an eloquent writer, " not counting
their lives dear unto themselves, clad in the
armour of purity and innocence, to contend with
strong seas and barren shores. ... I see them
coming ! the leader and his twelve undaunted
associates and disciples ! Happy number ! like
those of old, who, by the power of the weakness
of God, trampled upon strength, and under the
ignominious sign of the cross conquered the
honourable world. They approach the shore ;
they land ; the meek have taken possession of
the unknown rock upon which their sandals
tread. The cross, emblem of self-denial, agony
1 CoUier, i. 203.
2 See Alb. Butler, 31st August.
3 Bright's « Early Eng. Ch. Hist." p. 138.

LINDISFARNE. 23
and shame, carries the armour of an invisible
panoply. Onward advances the sacerdotal host.
The isles obey ; kingdoms are conquered ; the
word has gone out into all lands." ^ In this spirit
Aidan and his successors went forth to preach;
in this spirit they toiled ; in this spirit they
triumphed. Never did the pure flame of the
evangelistic spirit burn more brightly than in
these earnest, simple, self-sacrificing lives; and
never was there a nobler missionary than Aidan.
" The spirit of missions," said Dr. Livingstone,
"is the spirit of our Master, the very genius of
true religion, which requires perpetual propagation
to attest its genuineness ; " while " of all great
men," said Frederick Myers, " I count the greatest
Christian apostle, be he martyr or missionary,
who unites the love of Christ with the love of
truth and the love of souls ; who counts not his
life dear unto him, but gives it up a willing
sacrifice, if only he may turn men from sin unto
God." 1 Gordon's " Monasticon," i. 575.

CHAPTEE IV.
THE ISLAND HOME.
To see Lindisfarne as it was when Aidan and
his brave band of followers first set foot on its
desolate shore, we must sweep away the massive
ruins of the grand old Saxon abbey, with
its " rainbow arch " and ponderous columns ; the
poor fishing village, and the historic castle,
perched on, or rather built into, the summit of
a singular and most inaccessible pile of rock,
which Scott describes as —
" The castle with the battled walls.
The ancient monastery's halls,
A solemn, huge, and dark-red pile
Placed on the margin, of the isle.''
But the ocean waves still boom on the eastern
strand with awful grandeur, and the sea-birds
swoop down and scud over the white-crested
billows with unearthly groanings and wild
piercing cries. 24

THE ISLAND HOME. 25
The buildings which the missionaries erected
on the south-western corner of the island, were of
the simplest character, and were, most likely,
surrounded by a vallum or rampart.
The most important building was the humble
church, a simple structure of oaken beams,
thatched with a species of coarse grass, probably
the "wiry bent," which still grows abundantly
upon the island.^ The church was called the
sacra domics ; or, sometimes, ecdesia or oratorium.
Attached to it, and communicating with it by a
door, was a sacristy where the bell was kept which
summoned the brethren to the house of prayer.
Beside the oratory several other buildings were
required by the little community, such as a
dwelling-house for Aidan, and the cells for the
brethren, and those set apart for the entertain
ment of strangers ; the kitchen with its various
cooking utensils, the refectory, and a room we
may call the library for the preservation of the
books. Of a ruder description were the wattle
huts which served as byres for the cows, the
granary with its grain; and, perhaps, like lona,
Lindisfarne might possess a stable with a cart and
horse. Then there would be a smithy, and a
carpenter's workshop, where the brethren built
1 Bede, ' H. E. ' iii. 3.

26 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
their boats, and the rough beams of timber would
be fioated at high tide from the mainland to the
island. The monastic system, which Aidan brought
with him from lona, presents so many features
of interest, that it may be well to dwell at some
length on this subject.^
The brethren regarded themselves as Soldiers of
Christ, and each member on enrolment became
pledged to withdraw from the cares of the world
and spend his life for the propagation of the Gospel.
The measure of obedience exacted from them was
clearly defined, " Usque ad mortem," Even unto
death. Hence at the shortest notice they were
ready to set forth on long journeys, and to brave
the perils of flood and field, of wild beasts, and
still more of savage men; or, if at home, they
were content to put their hand to any labour
that might be required of them even in the most
inclement weather. Body and mind were both
exercised — one in out-door labour, the other in
diligent study. They enjoyed their goods in
common. Personal rights in property were
absolutely disclaimed, according to Columba's
! See Dr. Eeeves' edition of Adanman's "Life of
Columba," which contains all that is known of the
monastic system of the Columban Church, and is given with
great accuracy and critical judgment.

THE ISLAND HOME. 27
rule : " Be naked, in imitation of Christ, and in
obedience to the precepts of the Gospel." Alms
giving was specially commended; but the
disciples of Columba exercised discrimination in
selecting their objects of charity, and while hos
pitality formed a marked feature in their practice,
itinerant begging was discouraged. Celibacy was
enforced, and humility stood first in the rank of
virtues. Whenever a guest presented himself at
Lindisfarne, Aidan and his brethren went forth
to meet him and bid him welcome. Then he was
taken to the oratory, and thanks were offered to
God that he had arrived in safety, for that was an
age when the traveller had to cross sedgy marshes
and vast solitudes, where the clusters of rude huts
were few and far between ; that was an age when
the traveller had good reason to fear a foe, and
keep his spear grasped firmly in his hand ready
for the first alarm. From the oratory he was
conducted to his lodging, where water was sup
plied to wash his feet. If, perchance, the day on
which he arrived was a fast day, then the fast
was relaxed in his favour.
The elder brothers were called " seniors '' ; those
who, from bodily strength or previous occupation,
were fitted for out-door labours were termed

28 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
" working brethren " ; the younger members who
were receiving instruction were styled " juniors.''
When the brethren were admitted into the com
munity, they took a solemn monastic vow on
bended knees in the oratory, and were tonsured
from ear to ear — that is, the fore part of the head
was shaven bare, and the hair was allowed to
grow only on the back part of the head. Strangers
were received at Lindisfarne who, under the names
of proselytes, penitents, and guests, sojourned
there for indefinite periods, or dwelt in the neigh
bourhood of the little colony.
As seats of instruction, the monasteries were
most useful, for many young men repaired to
them to be taught. In some of these communities
fifty scholars, and in others a larger number, were
accommodated. In Ireland and Scotland, these
scholars were regarded as inferior members of
the clerical order. Subsequently, they seem to
have occupied the position of cottars simply,
living in the immediate neighbourhood of the
monastery, upon lands which were set aside
especially for their support. They built their
huts of turf and branches of trees, and lived
principally upon grain or vegetables, which they
cultivated for themselves.!
' Book of Deer, p. cxxxix.

THE ISLAND HOME. 29
The duties of the brethren were simple, con
sisting chiefly in preparing food and in manu
facturing such implements or articles as were
required for domestic use or field labour. Farming,
on a large scale, as afterwards practised by monks,
was impossible to the Columban clergy, and it is
doubtful whether they were solely dependent on
their own efforts, or were supported by the
contributions of their converts. Probably they
cultivated as much land as yielded the desired
return of grain or vegetables, and reared sheep
and cattle in sufficient numbers to supply them
selves with food. Some of the community would
manufacture the various articles required for
personal and domestic use, and the pincerna, or
butler, who had charge of the refectory and all its
appointments, and the pistor, or baker, were very
necessary members.
The food was of the simplest description,
consisting of bread, sometimes made of barley,
milk, fish, and eggs. On the arrival of guests, or
on Sundays and high festivals, fresh meat was
served — mutton, or even beef. The general
practice was to dine in the evenings; but a
noonday repast was also permitted. In this
repast the rule of Columba was less strict than
that of ComgaU, which guided the Irish Church ;

30 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.

it resembled the Benedictine formula, by which
dinner was appointed for twelve o'clock, with
supper in the evening. A strict fast was observed
on Wednesdays and Fridays, except in the interval
between Easter and Whitsunday, and Lent was
kept rigorously as a preparation for Easter ; and
during this season the fast was prolonged every
day except Sunday, tUl evening, when a light
meal, consisting of such food as bread, diluted
milk, and eggs, was taken.
Each brother of the little community was clad
thus: an under garment, called a tunic, of a
white material, was worn next the skin, and over
this was drawn the cuculla, or cowl. This consisted
of two parts — a hood, or cape, and a body, or
skirt. The cuculla was generally made of undyed
woollen stuff of a coarse texture, and retaining
its natural colour. In cold weather, or when
travelling, a warmer garment — anvphibalus — of
the nature of a cloak, was worn. Out-of-doors
and at work the brethren wore sandals; these
were taken off when they sat at meals. They
occupied separate cells, in which each bed was
provided with a mattress and pillow; as they
slept in their clothes, coverlets were unneeded.
Occasionally one or more of the community
would practise extreme asceticism, and some of

THE ISLAND HOME. 31
these Columban monks were known to pass a
certain time with the body immersed in cold
water, and in that condition recite the whole or
part of the Psalter. It was usual when anyone,
whether lay or cleric, wished to enter upon a
special course of discipline, to depute some
distinguished saint as his ammchara, soul-friend,
or spiritual director, under whose guidance it was
fulfilled. When any offence was committed, the
penitent was required, on his <knees, in the
presence of all the community, to confess his sins,
and promise amendment. When he had done
this he was absolved, either on the spot, or
enjoined to observe a lengthened period of
discipline. The sign of the Cross was very generally used
as a " saving sign." The pail was crossed before
milking, and tools before they were used ; and it
was generally believed that the sign of the Cross
had power to banish demons, unlock doors,
restrain river monsters, and lay low wild beasts.
Even at sea, the cruciform arrangement of the
masts and yards was regarded as boding a
favourable voyage.
Daily services were performed in the chapel,
to which the brethren were summoned by a bell
— those only who were engaged in the necessary

32 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
duties being exempted from attendance. Sundays
and saint-days were observed by rest from labour,
the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, and the use
of better food. The Lord's Day was held to
commence at sunset on the preceding day, and
its services, performed at stated intervals,
included Prime, Tierce, Sext, and probably None,
but the chief service was the Celebration, some
times at Prime, or at Sext, when the cantores
¦ chanted the wonted of&ce of " the Sacred
Mysteries of the Eucharist," or the " Mysteries of
the Sacred Oblation." For this rite wine and
water were mixed in a chalice by the deacon, and
the priest, standing before the altar, consecrated
the elements. If several priests were present, one
was invited to assist the oflSciating priest, and to
break bread with him as a token of equality.
But if Aidan officiated, he broke bread alone, as a
sign of his superior rank. The brethren then
approached the altar and partook of the Eucharist.
Easter was the principal festival, the period
between Easter-day and Whitsunday being known
as dies paschales. Then, indulgences were more
especially permitted; Christmas was attended
with similar privileges, while Lent, on the other
hand, was observed strictly as a period of fasting
and preparation for Easter-tide.

THE ISLAND HOME. 33
The Sacrament of Baptism was administered to
adult converts, after due instruction in the faith.
Occasionally, when Aidan was on a missionary
journey, he would administer it to a whole family,
or sometimes to an individual a short time before
death. Holy Orders were conferred only by Aidan, as
he was a Bishop. Young men were admitted to
the diaconate while they were students, and it
was part of their duty to wait upon the priests at
the altar.
The burial of the dead was considered a
religious duty, involving a regard to the future as
well as to the past. After death the body was
laid out in the cell, wrapped in linen clothes.
There it remained for several days and nights,
during the obsequies, in the course of which the
praises of God were sung. It was then swathed
in a fine white linen shroud, placed in a cof&n,
borne to the grave in solemn procession, and
reverently buried.
In the training of every monk, the study of the
Holy Scriptures formed an important part. The
Psalter received especial attention, and the
brethren were required to commit the whole, or
large portions, to memory. Some slight know
ledge of Latin and Greek might be acquired, o

34 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
sufficient for the transcription of monastic rules
or other documents. The circumstances of the
lives of the Columban monks were unpropitious
to the cultivation of deep learning, and in this
respect they compare unfavourably with church
men of a later age ; yet the biographer of Columba
gave proof of his classical attainments, and
Cummian's " Paschal Epistle " shows that the
writer was versed in ecclesiastical learning.
Such is a brief outline of the life and disciphne
which Aidan brought with him from lona. How
far it was beneficial is difficult to determine. As
pioneers of industry and art, the monks were
certainly useful. " What was on the side of the
monk's life," says Dean Church, " was its definite
aim and its hope of reward. It was a distinct
self-dedication to the service of the great Master,
and it looked for the great Master's special
approval."! ^he principles on which they regu
lated their lives were, in the main, excellent.
Self-discipline and self-control were the chief
objects sought ; and to use the words of a modern
writer,^ " In an age when there was so much
lawlessness, . . . they upheld and exhibited the
great, and then almost original idea, that men

1 "Life of St. Anselm," p. 71.
2 See Introduction to Dr. Eeeves' " Adamnan."

THE ISLAND HOME 35
needed to rule and govern themselves ; that they
could do it, and that no use of life was noble or
perfect without ruling. . . . Eude as they were,
they were capable of nurturing noble natures,
single hearts, keen and powerful intellects, glowing
and unselfish affections." Their weaknesses were
those of their age, but the influence of their
virtues has long survived them, for in the religious
earnestness of Scottish Lowlanders may even now
be remarked the result of teaching in the remote
past, by the wandering disciples of lona and
Lindisfarne.

CHAPTEE V.
THE LINDISFAENE SCHOOL.
We read in Bede's " Ecclesiastical History"! ^jjj^t
Aidan established atLindisfarne a school for Enghsh
boys, twelve in number,^ and like St. Anskar when
he began his work in Denmark, and Bishop Selwyn
in New Zealand, and Bishop Patteson in the
Melanesian Islands, he sought to train them to
be in their turn evangelists" to their own people.
Aidan possessed a remarkable insight into
character, and it has been pointed out that the
same appreciation which led him to recall Hilda
to his side for an important work, guided him in
the choice of his scholars.
It was here that Wilfrid, the most famous of
northern churchmen in the succeeding age, re
ceived his first instruction. He was the son of a
I Bede, 'H. E.' iii. 26.
2 Twelve was regarded as a sacred number. In the intro
duction to Eeeves' Introduction to Adamnan's "Saint
Columba," Ixxi., a great number of instances are given.

THE LINDISFARNE SCHOOL. 37
Northumbrian thane, and was born in 634 — the
year when King Oswald gained the victory of
"Heaven Field." At the age of thirteen his father
bade him God-speed, and sent him to the North
umbrian Court. Queen Eanfied liked the " hand
some boy of quick intellect and graceful bearing,"
and she obtained for him the royal permission of
"serving God'' — the phrase then used with an
unhappy restriction of meaning for monastic life.
Cudda, one of Oswin's nobles, being afflicted with
paralysis, had determined to retire from the Court,
and pass the remainder of his days at Lindisfarne ;
and under his care, and as his attendant, Wilfrid
entered the island-monastery. Here he remained
for several years, and Eddie in his biography gives
this glowing picture of the youth of nineteen,
shortly after he had left Lindisfarne, "pleasant
in address to all, sagacious in mind, strong in
body, swift of foot, ready for every good work,
with a face that in its unclouded cheerfulness
betokened a blessed mind."! Wilfrid while he
was at Lindisfarne was very studious, and we rfead
that "he was loved by the other boys as a brother,
by the seniors," and doubtless by Aidan, " as a son." ^
Cedd was educated at Lindisfarne, and in after
years he was one of the four Celtic missionaries
1 Edd. 3, 4. 2 Edd. 2.

38 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
sent by Oswiu into Mid-Anglia. The missionaries
also preached in Mercia proper. Cedd, however,
did not remain there many months, being sum
moned by Oswiu to lead a mission to the East
Saxons. The next year — being thirty-eight years
after the failure of the Eoman mission there, by
the expulsion of Mellitus from London — Cedd was
consecrated by Finan to be bishop of the East
Saxons, but his seat was Tilbury, not London.
Another of those boys who received instruction
in Aidan's school was Chad or Ceadda, the youngest
of the four eminent brothers, Cedd, Cynebil, Celin,
and Ceadda — who in later years became the
apostle of the Mercians, and " whose name," says
the Eev. Baring Gould, " ought not to be forgotten
as long as virtues of chastity, humility, and a forsak
ing all for Christ's sake are esteemed among men." !
Besides these three youths who distinguished
themselves in after years as missionary bishops,
the gentle Eata, Aidan's successor in the See of
Lindisfarne, was a scholar in this famous school,
and throughout his useful life he was true to the
teaching he received at Lindisfarne,^being, as Bede
describes him, " the gentlest and simplest man in
the world." ^
We can picture the youths at their daily work
1 " Lives of the Saints," 2nd March. 2 jede iv. 27.

THE LINDISFARNE SCHOOL. 39
in their school-chamber, with their waxed tablets,
styles, pens, and inkhorns, while upon the wall
hung leathern satchels holding those books which
the brethren needed on their mission journeys.
Some of the boys are perhaps learning to read and
to write, others are repeating a portion of the
Psalter to one of the brothers, and possibly Aidan
himself is helping some of these Northumbrian
lads in their study of the Holy Scriptures, while
he, in his turn, learns from them words and
phrases of their language.
When the boys were further advanced they
acquired the rudiments of Latin and helped the
brethren to write some of the service books
which so many new mission churches would
require. This needed much skill and patience,
for some of these early manuscripts had great
labour bestowed on them, and perhaps not a few
were embellished with beautiful ornamentation.
Often would the brethren tell these English
boys of Columba and how he converted King
Brude, and was loved by the people in spite of
the efforts of the Druid priests; and oft would
they tell them of lona, that holy island in the
western sea, from whose humble cells on its
wave-washed rock issued forth brave men to
preach the Gospel of Christ in lonely hamlets.

40 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
far and wide, among heathen peoples, confronting
superstition, idolatry, and immorality with the
purer life of Christianity.
The good brethren would teach them the
" Creed," " Our Father," and doubtless they
would learn the grand old hymn of Columba
called " Altus Prosator," ! which begins : —
" The Father exalted ; ancient of days, unbegotten
Without or beginning or origin : ever existing
Is and shall be : to infinite ages of ages.
With whom is Christ, sole begotten; with whom,
too, the Spirit
Co-eternal in glory, in Godhead alike everlasting.
We preach not three gods : one God we proclaim
and one only —
Showing our faith in Three Persons : eternally
glorious."
Or perhaps they would learn to repeat some
portions of the metrical prayer of St. Patrick,^
called lorica, because, as a coat of mail protects
from bodily hurt, its recitation was supposed to
shield from spiritual peril.
! This hymn is found in the Liber Hymnorum. The
above translation is by Dr. Todd, with a few alterations by
the editor of Lyra Hibernica Sacra.
2 See Todd's "St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland";
James Clarence Morgan's spirited translation in the Lyra
Ribernica Sacra ; and Dr. Petrie's " Memoir of Tara."
Tradition affirms that St. Patrick recited the above hymn
when on his way to meet the Druidical fire-worshippers at
Tara.

THE LINDISFARNE SCHOOL. 41
" I bind to myself to-day —
The strong power of the invocation of the Trinity,
The faith of the Trinity in Unity,
The Creator of the Elements.
" I bind to myself to-day —
The power of the Incarnation of Christ, with that
of His Baptism,
The power of the Crucifixion, with that of His
Burial ;
The power of the Eesurrection, with the Ascension ;
The power of the coming to the Sentence of
Judgment.
" I bind to myself to-day —
The power of the love of Seraphim,
In the obedience of Angels,
In the hope of Eesurrection unto reward,
In the prayer of the noble Fathers,
In the prediction of the Prophets
In the preaching of Apostles,
In the faith of Confessors,
In the purity of Holy Virgins,
In the acts of righteous men."
Or, perhaps, Aidan would desire them to learn
this beautiful stanza from the same ancient
prayer : —
" I bind to myself to-day —
The Power of God to guide me.
The Might of God to uphold me.
The Wisdom of God to teach me.
The Eye of God to watch over me.
The Ear of God to hear me.
The Word of God to give me speech.

42 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.

The Hand of God to protect me,
The Way of God to prevent me.
The Shield of God to shelter me,
The Host of God to defend me, —
Against the snares of demons.
Against the temptations of vices,
Against the lusts of nature.
Against every man who meditates injury to me, —
Whether far or near,
With few or with many." !
Or the words of the martyr Codoe may have
been taught to these youths by these good
Columban monks : —
" Without knowledge, no power.
Without knowledge, no wisdom.
Without knowledge, no freedom.
Without knowledge, no beauty.
Without knowledge, no nobleness.
Without knowledge, no victory.
Without knowledge, no honour.
Without knowledge, no God.
The best of attributes is humility.
The best of occupation, work.
The best of sentiments, pity.
The best of cares, justice.
The best of pains, that which a man takes to
make peace between two enemies.
The best of sorrows, sorrow for sin.
The best of characters, generosity."
1 This is a very ancient hymn, and in the seventh
century it was believed to have been the composition of
St. Patrick.

CHAPTEE VI.
HEATHENDOM.
It may be well, in this chapter, to give a sketch
of the heathenism which Aidan and his brave
band of missionary monks had to confront.
The primitive faith of the Teutons was
extremely simple, and it taught a belief in one
supreme god, called Allfadir — the "living and
awful being," the " author of everything that
exists." He is the Lord of the universe and
created heaven and earth, and made man, and
gave him a living soul that could not perish,
though his body was consumed on the funeral
pyre.! ijq « ^\^q Eternal " was attributed infinite
power and boundless knowledge; and He might
only be worshipped in the solemn forest, or the
consecrated grove, for He could not be confined
within the enclosure of walls, nor dare His

1 Thorpe's " Northern Mythology," i. 229.
43

44 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
devotees represent Him by any hkeness to the
human figure.!
This pure primitive faith, this lofty sublime
theism of our Anglo-Saxon forefathers, was too
refined to retain a lasting hold on the mind and
conscience, and gradually its distinctness faded
away, and delirious fancy added other deities so
profusely that the air, the sea, the rivers, the
woods, and the earth became so stocked with
divinities, that it was easier, as an ancient sage
remarked, to find a deity than a man.
The silent stars, the sun and moon, the hUls,
the forest trees, and springs of bubbling water,
were considered to be worthy of adoration, whUe
the song of birds, the dream of sleeping men, the
falling thunderbolt, and even the neighing of
horses were each beUeved to be some portent of
another world. Hence arose a regard for the
interpreters of dreams, enchanters, and the raisers
of storms.2 "All nature," says an eloquent
writer, " had a voice for the imaginative Teuton.
The skies, the woods, the spring, the well, the lake,
the hill were his books, his oracles, his divinities."
In the course of time man lost his fear when
1 Tacitus' " Germania," ch. ix. ; Grimm's " Deutsche
Mythologie," Einleitung, pp. 9-11.
" See Appendix to Kemble's "Saxons in England," i.
523-532.

HEATHENDOM. 45
he beheld the mighty powers of nature and the
working of her wondrous laws, and then he no
longer quailed before the howling wind and the
boisterous storm. He had grown strong. But
now that nature is under his feet, a new race of
divinities arises, the disposers and avengers and
subduers of nature, and then follows the period
when nature-worship is allied to a complicated
system of human divinities.
Giants were supposed to exist before these
gods were born, and lived, and died; and Odin,
Wuoten, or Woden, was the oldest of these new
divinities. We see his name in the fourth day of
the week, Wodnes-dceg, or Wednesday, and the
word Woden is found in so many names of places
in England ! that we know his worship must have
extended far, and have been current throughout
the island. We find upon the Continent traces of
his worship, and it is equally probable that he
had in England temples, images, and religious
! Kemble's " Saxons in England," i. 343. Wanborough,
formerly Wddnesbrorh, in Surrey ; Wanborough, in Wilt
shire ; Wednesbury, in Staffordshire ; Wisborow Hill, in
Essex ; Woodnesborough, in Kent and Wilts ; JVembury in
Devon ; Wanstrow ( Wodnestreow), in Somerset ; Wansdihe,
in Wiltshire ; Woden' Hill, on Bagshot Heath ; Wonston,
in Hampshire ; Wedneshough, in Lancashire ; Wansford, in
Northamptonshire ; Wanstead, in Essex ; are some of the
many places in which his name occurs. See Isaac Taylor's
" Words and Places," p. 218, 2nd ed.

46 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
ceremonies, and that he was the supreme god of the
Saxons in England, as he had been in Germany.
In time Woden became the father of a large
family, and his power was divided among a number
of gods and goddesses. These divinities sprang from
him, and they shared some portion of his greatness.
Thor or Thunor, the Thunderer, was the chief of
the gods in strength and might. At first he was not
generally worshipped in England,! but in the word
Thursday we see his name perpetuated. Thor was
an elemental deity, powerful in the storm as well
as in the fertilising rain ; his weapon was a hammer,
which seems to denote the crushing thunderbolt.
Besides Thor, the Thunderer, there were many
other divinities. Tiw,^ the Dark-god, the lord of
1 "We find traces of the worship of this deity in the
names of Thundersfield in Surrey, two places called
Thundersleigh in Essex and one in Hants, as well as
Thundridge in Herts, and Thunderhill in Surrey. ... In
some cases it is probable that the name may have been
derived from some Viking who bore the name of Thor.
The Anglo-Saxon names, however, are not liable to this
ambiguity, since it does not appear that any Anglo-Saxon
— more timid and more reverent than the Northman —
ever dared to assume the name of the dreaded Thimor." —
" Words and Places," p. 219. See Kemble's " Saxons in
England," i. p. 347.
2 Tiw gives us the name Tiwes-dceg = T\iesda,j. See
Kemble's "Saxons in England," i. p. 351. Tewesley, near
Wanborough, was anciently Tiwesledh; and, perhaps, the
Tiwingas, who gave their name to Tewing in Herts,
acknowledged this god as their founder.

HEATHENDOM. 47
battle, the giver of victory, the bravest of the
gods, was worshipped by our Anglo-Saxon fore
fathers. Freyr ! has many beautiful legends
connected with his name, and it was supposed
that he travelled through the land in a car with a
choir of fair and beautiful priestesses, and wherever
he went there was peace and plenty. Freyr was
the god of fertility, seedtime and harvest, and of
fruitfulness and marriage; and the beast sacred
to him was the boar. Baldr,^ whose myth is the
most beautiful in the whole compass of Northern
Mythology, was most probably worshipped in
England under the name of Pol or Pal.^ Baldr *
was the god of light and splendour, of grace and
! Freyr was probably worshipped in all parts of Europe,
and the " Edda " has a beautiful story of how he languished
for the charming Gerdr.
'^ Mr. Kemble says that there are a few places in which
the name of Balder can be traced. Thus, Baldersby in
Yorkshire, Baldeston in Lancashire, Balderesleah and
Baldheresbeorh in Wiltshire. Of these, the two first may
very likely have arisen from Danish or Norwegian influence,
while the last is altogether uncertain. See Edmund's
" Traces of History in Names of Places," p. 170.
^ There seem to be a few places in which the name of
this deity can be traced : Polebrodke, in Northamptonshire ;
Poleworth, in Warwickshire ; Polestead, in Surrey ; Polsden,
in Hampshire ; Polsdon, in Surrey. Kemble's " Saxons in
England," i. p. 367.
« Baldock (Herts) = "Baldr's Oak" ; Balderton (Notts) =
"Baldr's town''; Baldontoot (Oxford) = the teotha or
tything of Baldr.

48 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
manly beauty, and his worshippers believed that
he was "mild and eloquent, uttering just and
irrevocable decrees." Ssetere,! i^^ "placer and
disposer," gives his name to Sseteres-doeg, the
seventh day of the week.
From the gods we now turn to the goddesses,
but our actual knowledge of their worship in
England is very scanty.
The goddess Fricge, the spouse of Woden, who
was the guardian of ways and boundaries, gives
her name to the sixth day of the week. Little is
known of her worship in England, but on the
Continent it was supposed that she accompanied
Woden to battle, that she had the knowledge of
the future which she never revealed, and that she
lived in a beautiful palace in heaven. Fricge was
that venerable goddess who watched over the fair
springtime and the sprouting seed, with her
handmaidens — Fulla, " plenty " ; Hlin, " warmth " ;
and Gna, " the sweet and gentle breeze."
Bede mentions the goddesses Hreda, to whom
March was dedicated, and Eostre or Ostara. It
has been thought that Hreda was not that stern,
severe deity which some have supposed her to be,
but that she was a great and glorious goddess,
1 Some derive Satterthwaite (Camb.) = " Ssetere's Clear
ing," and Satterleigh in Devonshire, from the name of
this god. Edmund's, p. 278 ; Kemble, i. 372.

HEATHENDOM. 49
and perhaps she was Fricge, Woden's wife, in
some form or other. It is, however, certain that
Hreda was a Saxon goddess, and that at stated
periods sacrifices were offered to her. Eostre or
Eastre, whose name must be etymologically con
nected with East, oriens, was the goddess of
brightness, splendour, and light, the goddess of the
morning beams, of the new awakening year, when
the sun first begins to recover power after the
gloom and darkness of winter.! The name of
this mild, gentle divinity is retained in the name
of the great festival of the Church which com
memorates the resurrection of our Lord and
Saviour. In the ancient poem of Beowulf we are made
acquainted with a monstrous fiend, named Grendel,
and his mother. They were gigantic, super
natural beings, who fed upon men, and could not
be wounded by earthly weapons. Grendel appears
to be one of those violent native deities ; and
Grimm identifies this monster with Loki, the
" calumniator and backbiter of the gods," the
"grand contriver of deceit and fraud," the evil-
bringer, and, in the end, the destroyer of the
gods.^ At first Loki was the friend and the
! Kemble's " Saxons in England," i. p. 375.
2 Mythologie, p. 222. 4

so AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
associate of the gods ; he was united to them in
the bond of brotherhood, and his power gave them
victory in many an encounter. But alas! like
Lucifer, he fell. Why the gods parted with Loki
ia anger we do not know ; but he pursued them
with never-ending malice, until at length he
caused the death of Baldr, the representative of
goodness. He was then bound, and cast beneath
the worlds, the poisonous snake hung over him,
distilling torturing venom, and it was only in the
twilight of the gods that he could break his chain.
Loki was believed to be fair and beautiful in
form, but evil in mind, and fuU of craft and
perfidy. The three beings which constituted his
offspring were, the first, Fenriswolf, the second,
Midgard's-worm, the third, Hel,! the ruler of the
cold and joyless underworld, where the warm
rays of the sun never penetrated, and where joy
and pleasure, song and feasting, were unknown.
The realm, of Hel was Hades, " the invisible under
world," — the world of shadows — far removed from
the glorious Valhalla, where Woden receives and
banquets the heroes who have fallen in battle, so
1 " The name," Isaac Taylor remarks, " seems to be con
fined to Yorkshire. It may possibly be present in the
names of Hdlifidd, Hellathyne, Helwith, two Henleys,
Healigh, and Helagh, all in Yorkshire." — " Words and
Places," p. 221, 2nd ed.

HEATHENDOM. 51
that they may ultimately aid him in the conflict
against the giant powers of darkness. Nastrond
was a place of torment and punishment, the abode
of the perjurer and the secret murderer, filled
with foulness and peopled with poisonous snakes,
full of gloom, darkness, and cold.
With the fall of Loki and the death of Baldr,
it has been observed that " the milder natural
religion'' of the Teutons grew more savage and
warlike ; the benign Allfadir, " the father of gods
and men," became the " god of battles," " the
terrible," " the father of slaughter." The Teuton
believed that the gods possessed like passions to his
own, but that they were high above him in power ;
he trusted that they would protect him, so long
as he honoured them and sacrificed victims upon
their altars, and that if he only performed his
duty in this present existence, Valhalla would be
his future home.
We have mentioned that our forefathers, in
the patriarchal period of their history, worshipped
the deity in the solemn silence of the forest and
in the consecrated grove ; but when they adored
more than one god, an elaborate ritual gradually
grew up among them, and in the age of which we
are speaking every settlement had a temple to
the gods.

52 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
These temples and their idols have long ago
disappeared, for shrine and image! were alike
made of wood; yet from the old Sagas we can
gather how they were constructed. The temple
consisted of two parts, which we may describe as
a nave and a shrine, surmounted by a wooden
palisade. The sanctuary or shrine was built
round and arched, and within, in a half-circle,
stood the idols on a raised platform, and before
them, in the middle of this half-circle, was the
altar. Upon it were placed the holy fire,
constantly fed and never extinguished, the blood-
bowl where the blood of the slaughtered victims
was caught, the blood-twig with which the
worshippers, as they stood in the outer court,
were sprinkled, and the holy ring upon which all
solemn oaths were sworn. All Teutonic races
sacrificed the horse, and they also offered to their
gods sheep, oxen, and swine. The blood was
caught in the blood-bowl, and with the blood-twig
it was sprinkled not only on the idols, but even
on the worshippers, to hallow them. The fat was
always reserved for anointing the images, while
the head of the slaughtered victim was offered to
! If the idols were not always made of wood, it is
probable that they were usually constructed of it, for " we
have no single extant example of a Teutonic idol." —
Maolear's " Conversion of the West, — the English," p. 15.

HEATHENDOM. 53
the gods, and the hides were hung on trees in the
sacred grove.
When the sacrifice was completed, fires were
lighted down the nave, and the caldrons, which
contained the flesh, were hung over them. Then
the worshippers gathered round the fires, and
when the feast was prepared they partook of the
broth and ate the meat. On the right of the
nave sat the chief of the settlement in his high
seat, and when he had blessed the repast, he
"bade the guests drink, in honour of the gods,
from cups of mead or beer. The first bowl, for
victory and strength, was drained to Woden ; the
second, to Freyr, for peace and a good harvest ; a
third, to Thor; and so on. The last cup was
drunk to the memory of friends and kinsmen
dead and gone." !
Human sacrifices were not common, although
they were allowed by Teutonic races. They were
offered at times of national calamity, " as sacrifices
of atonement,'' or as propitiatory sacrifices for
the dead. " Near every gathering-place of the
tribe," a spot closely connected with the temple,
" stood the stone of sacrifice, on which the backs
of these victims were crushed and broken, and the
! Maolear's " Conversion of the West, — the English,"
p. 17.

54 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
holy pool in which another kind of human
sacrifice was solemnly sunk." ! The victims for
these religious rites were usually slaves or
criminals. Such was a fragment of the system which
embodied the religious yearnings of our forefathers
before the days when they were taught the Gospel
of Christ from the lips of Celtic and Eoman
missionaries. " In no age," says Mr. Kemble,
"can man be without the great ideas of God,
of right, of power, of love, of wisdom ; but an
age that has not learned to feed upon abstractions,
must find the realisation of those ideas in the out
ward world, and in a few f amihar facts of human
nature. It strives to give an account of itself,
, and the results of its efforts is a paganism, always
earnest and imaginative, often cruel and capri
cious, as often gentle, affectionate and trusting —
for even in spite of cruelty and caprice the affec
tions will have their way, and trust will find a
home."! This Teutonic creed possessed an earnest
ness and depth which demands our careful study.
It had the hope of a future life, the belief in a
state of happiness or punishment after death, and
the Teuton shuddered when he thought of Nast-
! Dasent's " Norsemen in Iceland," p. 191 ; " Burnt Njal,"
1. xiii. 2 " The Saxons in England," i. 439.

HEATHENDOM. 55
rond.! We can dimly trace in this mythology
the aspiration of the worshipper after a deliverer
from the thraldom of death. Baldr, the god of
light and beauty, was imprisoned by Loki in the
shadowy realm of Hel, the goddess of the dead,
and even Woden failed to rescue him. Still, the
earnest-thinking Teuton believed that after the
" twilight of the gods," and the destruction of this
wicked world, Baldr would return in triumph, and
Allf adir's glorious kingdom would be again renewed.
" Then unsown
the swath shall flourish
all bale mend, and
'back came Baldr ;
with him Hodr dwell
in Hropter's palace,
shrines of gods
the great and holy.
* * *
there the just shall
joy for ever,
and in pleasure
pass the ages."^
! See notes to Canto ii. of Strong's translation of Tegner's
" Frithiof s Saga." Woden's sentence : —
Eiches perish.
Kinsmen perish,
Thou must perish too ;
This, I wot.
Shall perish not :
Doom to mortals due.
2 See Kemble's " Saxons in England," i. 411.

56 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
Christianity met this mythology of the Teutonic
nations and taught those thinking peoples that
there was no dim hope of an ultimate restoration
of all things, but that it was an established truth ;
that the beautiful story of Baldr was only a myth,
and the conqueror of death was Jesus Christ, the
true " Light of the world," who had placed His
foot upon the grave, and had opened wide the
gates of heaven. Augustine was sent from the
" city on the seven hills," and Aidan from the sea-
washed rock of lona on the same sacred errand,
with the same holy Gospel of love ; and the
" tenderness, the sweetness, the earnestness, the
solemnity, the awfulness of the Christian faith
sunk into their hearts, diffused itself through
their life, allied itself by indestructible bonds with
what was dearest and what was highest ; with
their homes, their assemblies, their crowns, their
graves — all this is marked in their history, and
reveals itself in their literature." !
! Dean Church's " Influences of Christianity," p. 113.

CHAPTEE VII.
MISSION LABOUE.
To those who longed for retirement and loved
contemplation, Lindisfarne, like the sea-girt
lona, offered an inviting retreat. But the lives
of Aidan and his fellow-labourers were not spent
in seclusion, for it was only by unremitting
toil they could hope to sow the good seed; and
to their self-imposed task they applied themselves
with unwearied diligence. Hunger, cold, poverty,
vicissitudes of every sort were familiar to them.
Their journeys were performed on foot; their
fare was meagre; their garb humble. Though
often the guests of kings, they remained men of
lowly hearts and simple habits ; and, in the
pages of Bede and other early chroniclers, the
" golden deeds " of Aidan and his successors are
lovingly recorded.
Aidan laboured for sixteen years (from 634 to
651) among the sturdy race of dalesmen, fisher
men, and miners, who formed the population of
57

58 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
Northumbria.! With love and gentleness he
felt for the people committed to his charge, and
in simple words and homely thoughts he taught
his hearers the Divine Word. Oswald worked
with him, with all the zeal of an ardent soul,^
as Sigebert had laboured with Felix among the
East Anglians, and the Celtic language he had
learned at lona was of great use in interpreting
Aidan's missionary addresses. This was a sight
which Bede might indeed call " truly beautiful"
Aidan and his devoted followers wandered
from the Humber .to the Forth, teaching from
house to house. These missionary journeys were
usually performed on foot, and as the little band
pursued its way, the teacher and his disciples
meditated on texts of Holy Scripture, and recited
portions from the psalms ; or, perhaps, the solemn
woods re-echoed with the music of their voice j
and, perchance, a passing wanderer might hear
them sing some of those sacred hymns dear to
the monks of lona.
" From the far rising of the sun
To where his utmost course is run.
Sing we the Christ of virgin born.
With kingly praise His name adorn.
1 See " Cuthberht of Lindisfarne," chapter ii.
2 "Vita Oswini," Surtees Society, 1838; Bede, 'H. E.'
iii. 5.

MISSION LABOUR. 59
" Though from eternity His sway,
Our flesh He made His mean array ;
Redeeming thus from endless death
The race that owed to Him its breath." !
Whenever they met a wayfarer — rich or poor
— they spoke to him. If he were a follower of
Woden they endeavoured to win him to the
faith of Christ with gentle loving words, but if
he were a Christian they bade him God-speed
and encouraged him to be strong, and stand fast
in the faith.
As the work grew and prospered, the monastery
of Lindisfarne was enlarged, and willing helpers
came from lona to carry on the missionary labour
wherever Aidan bade them go. Then these brave,
self-sacrificing, noble-hearted men went forth,
strong in the Faith, and wandered over the bleak
moorland and through pathless forests, building
churches and founding schools where English
children were taught, on the land which Oswald
gave them.
Very literally needed these monks to pray that
" Christ would guide their feet into the way of
! A translation of " A solis orbus Cardine,'' by Canon
Macllwaine, may be found in the Lyra Hibernica Sacra, p.
13. The author, Sedulius, was a poet and theologian, and
flourished in the middle of the fifth century. He was an
accomplished scholar, and wrote not only poetical but also
prose works.

6o AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
peace" as they wandered through the gloomy
forest glade. Knights like Sintram might ride
through such forests trusting to God and their good
swords, but the monk, unarmed, and with no
compass to direct him, had to traverse its path
less solitudes of oak and alder, beech and pine,
where peasants dare not venture for fear that they
would never come back again. Nor shall we
overlook the fact that our forests then were the
haunts of wild and savage beasts, and still wilder
and more savage men — thieves and outlaws —
living in hollows of aged oaks and dank and
darksome caves. Woe to the man or maid who
chanced to fall within their fiendish power, for
hunger, rage, and lust were the only laws they
knew. Martyrdom is in truth the gate of eternal
bliss, but, nevertheless, were they brave who went
out to face it.
This was not all these monks had to fear, for
the terrors of an unseen world were around them,
and these were very real to the men of the seventh
century. They imagined that the spirits of the
streams and the trees hated them, and longed to
bring about their death, while the fair elf-maidens
sought to lure their souls from the path of duty.
Then as they walked on, reading their gospels and
reciting psalms, they fancied that Satan and all

MISSION LABOUR. 6 1
his devils lurked in the wild storm, and would
hurl the rotten branch, or the rock from the
towering crag, upon their defenceless heads.
Well might they pray that God would guide
them as He guided Abraham of old, and save
them, for they could not save themselves. " We
talk still, thank heaven, of heroes," says Charles
Kingsley, " and understand what that great word
should mean. But were not these poor monks
heroes ? Knights-errant of God, doing His work
as they best knew how. We have a purer Gospel
than they : we understand our Bibles better. But
if they had not so heroically discharged their
duty, should we in this day have inherited those
privileges which we now so happily enjoy ? It
was a wise old saw of our forefathers, 'Do not
speak ill of the bridge that carries you over.'
These men were pioneers of civilisation, and we
owe more to the monk-adventurers than perhaps
many of us are aware of."
What did the building of these churches, these
schools, and these monasteries mean, not five
hundred years, but more than twelve hundred
years ago ? It meant work — work for the busy
hands of industrious men ; it meant clearing away
the forest trees and underwood for an industrial
colony, where every member spent his life in

62 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
doing the utmost in his power for his fellow-men.
All talents were thrown into the common work,
and preaching to the heathen, doctoring the sick,
teaching in the schools, or carpentering, farming,
and gardening were all performed in the same
humble, lowly spirit, imbued with love to God and
love to fellow-man. "What Christianity and
civilisation they knew (and they knew more than
we are apt to believe) they taught freely ; and
therefore they were loved, and looked up to as
superior beings, as modern missionaries, whenever
they do their work even decently well, are looked
up to now." !
The zeal, self-sacrifice, and devotion of these
men must have sunk into the hearts of the
Northumbrian people, and have spoken as strongly
as actions could speak that their faith was of
heavenly origin. No wonder that the heathen
were attracted by these bold pioneers of Christian
civilisation, for the monks from lona were a united
brotherhood, and exhibited an energy of purpose
stronger and deeper than the followers of Woden
and Thor had ever seen before. In Aidan and this
band of missionary monks, " they first saw the
example of Hfe ruled by a great and serious pur
pose, which yet was not one of ambition or the
1 See " Monks and the Heathen."

MISSION LABOUR. 63
excitement of war : a life of dehberate and steady
industry, of hard and uncomplaining labour ; a life
as full of activity in peace, of stout and brave
work, as a warrior's was wont to be in the camp,
on the march, in the battle. It was in these men,
and the Christianity which they taught and which
inspired and governed them, that our forefathers
first saw exemplified the sense of human responsi
bility; first learned the nobleness of a ruled and
disciplined life ; first enlarged their thoughts of
the end of existence, first were taught the dignity
and sacredness of honest toil. The great axioms
of modern life passed silently from the special
homes of religion to those of civil employment;
from the cloisters and the cells of men, who, when
they were not engaged in worship, were engaged
in field-work or book -work."!
These Christian colonisers who drained the
marshland, tilled the heath, and cleared the
forest, gave to the Northumbrian a new law of
Hfe, new habits, and new society. Christianity
entered into the social life of the people, and the
Thane found that he was not the sole ruler of
his homestead ; for it told him that it was unlaw
ful for a follower of Christ to act with cruelty
to his serf, or put away his wife. It taught him,
1 Dean Church's " Influence of Christianity," p. 127.

64 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
also, that he was not so much as ruler of himself, for
it forbade him to think of revenge, and it plainly
declared that drunkenness and gluttony were sins.
The Teuton felt the innovation in every
prominent event which marked the various
changes from the cradle to the grave. No longer
was the babe dragged through the earth for
Hertha, and no longer was the warrior's body
consumed on the funeral pyre, and laid like that
of Beowulf under a mound on a windy headland.
It has been happily remarked, that these
monastic establishments, each liberally endowed
with land, and each engaged in tilling the soU
without, and cultivating peaceful arts within,
were, in fact, little islands of civihsation dotted
about in the wide sea of Teutonic barbarism.!
Laborare est orare was the monastic motto, and
where the monks settled in the woodlands by
the rivers, waste land was reclaimed, forests were
cut down, and the wolf and the beaver were
driven away. In this rough and barbaric Eng
land these men performed a great and noble
work, not only as teachers and preachers, but as
civilisers and colonisers.
On the other hand, we are bound to acknow
ledge that the conversion of the Teuton was
1 Grant Allen's " Anglo-Saxon Britain," p. 103.

MISSION LABOUR. 65
imperfect. It is comparatively easy to fling
down an image, but it is hard to sweep away
time-honoured superstitions from the minds of
men. The worship of Woden, Thor, Fricge, Tiw,
Pol, and Saetere might be overcome, but it was
long before the new faith could extirpate the
Easter, May-day, and Midsummer fires, rubbing
the sacred flame, running through the embers,
and throwing flowers upon the fire. The Mid-
Winter and the Autumn feasts were still
celebrated; and when the boar's head was a
portion of the Christmas fare, the new converts
would recall that the wild boar was sacrificed to
Fricge, while the sheaf, decked gay with flowers,
was still an emblem of the Teuton god of the
harvest-home, and the ploughman, as he ploughed
and drove the first furrow, still sang to Mother
Earth, "although the prayer, though christened
as it were by the new faith, remained in substance
a cry to the earth goddess of the old."! These
and a thousand like superstitions long lingered
in the minds of our forefathers.
Heathenism was woven into the very life and
thoughts of the people, and the old well-worship,
tree-worship, and stone-worship, belief in elves,
magic, and soothsayers, and even efficacy of
1 Green's "Conquest of England," p. 10.

66 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
sacrificing to idols, long retained a power over
the lower classes of the people.
It was not so much a settled poHcy of the
missionary, as the spirit of the age, which ex
changed heathen ceremonies for Christian rites.
Heathen festivals were disguised in a Christian
garb, and the name of a Teutonic goddess is
mentioned every time we speak of the joyous
festival of Easter, and the days of the week are
still called after the gods of the Teuton races.
Many of these new rites were looked upon by
the heathen as a mere exchange ; thus, " the
remembrance-cup, once drank at the banquet
in honour of Thor and Woden, was substituted
for a similar salutation of the apostles; and, in
place of the image of Freyr, they caused the staff
of some saint to be carried round the corn-fields, to
drive away the field-mice and the caterpillars." !
Still there is much to be thankful for, and a
Church which produced men like Eata, Cedd, and
Chad, was neither barren nor unfruitful. This
has been truly called the golden age of saintliness,
such as England would never see again, and we look
back with longing eyes on the generous devotion
and the glorious missionary zeal of those Celtic days.
! Maclear's "Conversion of the West,— the Enghsh,"
p. 178.

CHAPTEE VIIL
OSWALD THE SAINT.
Aidan was not often a guest at the royal table,
but when he was invited he always brought with
him one or two of his attendant clergy, and
after taking " a little refreshment, he would make
haste to go out, in order to read with his brethren,
or to pray,"! fQj. j^g j^g^^ <c^ church and a bed
chamber " not far from the " royal city " of
Bamborough.2 Bede tells us, however, that one
Easter Day Aidan sat by the king as he feasted in
his royal hall, and " a silver dish of royal dainties
was set before them on the board. They were
just about to stretch out their hands ^ to bless the
bread," when a thane entered, " whose charge it
was to relieve the poor, and informed Oswald
that a great crowd of poor folk, assembled from
1 Bede, ' H. E.,' iii. 5.
2 Bede, ' H. E.,' iii. 17.
3 Professor Bright says that this implies that the king
was to join with the bishop in this benediction.
67

68 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
all the country-side, were sitting in the street
begging alms from the king." Without even
tasting the meat, Oswald bade the attendant
carry it to the poor, and break the vessel into
pieces, and divide it for their benefit. Aidan
seized the royal hand and blessed it, saying, " May
this hand never grow old." ! The beggar for one
instant participated, says Sharon Turner, in the
enjoyments of a king, and rank was, in that fierce
and proud day, admonished to look with com
passion on the misery which surrounds it.^
How often do we find in history that failure
follows success, and a period of conquest is suc
ceeded by defeat. This circumstance was noticed
in the opening chapter, where reference was made
to the battle of Hatfield, and now once more is
presented this sad realisation of the law of
missions. Oswald had one relentless foe, whose long
reign is a succession of battles against the Cross.
1 Bede says (' H. E.' iii. 6) that the hand was kept in a
silver casket in St. Peter's Church, at Bamborough, and
remained there in his days, undeoayed ; Simeon of Durham
("Dim. Ecc." i. 2) declares that Swardebrand, a monk of
that church, who had "recently" died, said that he had
often seen this white hand undeoayed. Nennius called
this king "Oswald Llanigwyn, the "white," or, perhaps,
the "fair, hand."
2 Sharon Turner's " Anglo-Saxons," i. 364.

OSWALD THE SAINT. 69
Penda was the rallying-point of heathenism,
which, prisoned as it was to the central districts
of the country, fought desperately for life.
Oswald was involved in a war with this ferocious,
daring monarch and " the South-Humbrians," and
he had succeeded in wresting the district of
Lindsey from the Mercian, when the forces of the
Christian king met their pagan foes on the 5 th
of August, A.D. 642. The decisive battle was
fought at a place called Macerfield. The precise
locahty is unknown. Makerfield, near Warring
ton, and Mirfield, in Yorkshire, have been
suggested ; but it is now generally agreed it was
in the neighbom-hood of Oswestry,! j^ Shropshire,
that the hosts met on that fatal morn.^
In reading of Macerfield we naturally think of
Hatfield, where a Christian king was slain and
heathenism became victorious. On Macerfield
Oswald fell, "hemmed in by armed foes," and
his last breath was a prayer for his soldiers,
" Lord, have mercy on their souls." The ferocious
Mercian king cut off the head, hands, and arms of
1 " Id est Oswaldi arborem," Giraldus. Itin. Camb. ii. 12.
In Welsh, Cross-Oswald.
2 "The field of Mesafield was whitened with the bones
of the saints." This is, doubtless, the fragment of a ballad
found in later chronicles. — Hen. Hunt. i. 3 ; Mon. H. B.
p. 721.

70 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
his noble victim and exposed them on wooden
stakes;! but the next year they were rescued
and taken to Northumbria. The hands were
placed in a silver box, and kept in the Church
of St. Peter's, on the rock of Bamborough.2 The
head was carried to Lindisfarne, where it was
interred by Aidan, and we can imagine with what
depth of sorrow it would be received by the bishop
and his followers. It remained at Lindisfarne
until 875, when the monks took it away in the
coffin of St. Cuthbert.*
We can imagine how the tidings would bring
sorrow to every Christian heart in England ; how
the East Anglian would tremble when he heard
that the slayer of Sigebert and Egric was again
victorious ; how the widow of Edwin, in her min
ster at Lyminge, and Paulinus, safe at Eochester,
would think of Hatfield ; and, far and wide, priest
and convert would tremble for their newly built
churches and mission-stations. Well might they
ask if this heathen tempest was to spread from the
1 Bede, ' H. E.' iii. 12.
2 Bede, ' H. B.' iii. 6 ; Sim. Dunelm, on a, 774 ; Mon. H.
B. p. 664.
^ The common representation of St. Cuthbert was holding
the head of St. Oswald in his hand. Malmesb. Qest. Pontif.
I. iii. fin. p. 275, says that when (in 1104) the tomb of St-
Cuthbert was opened in Durham Cathedral, " the head of
Oswald, king and martyr, was found between his arms."

OSWALD 7 HE SAINT. 71
Solway to the Channel, and uproot the Christian
faith. " If such questions," says Professor Bright,
" might be a trial to faith in many a south-country
church settlement, what must the blow have been
to Christians in Bernicia and Deira ? " !
Can we wonder that men should think the spot
of ground where this hero fell was " greener and
fairer" than the surrounding land, and that its
soil was sacred dust ; that wondrous virtue came
from out his tomb;^ and even the splinter of
the stake to which his head had been attached
possessed a miraculous power.* When we con
sider the issue for which he struggled, we may
say with a foreign historian of England, that as
" his life was distinguished at once by activity and
by a spirit of fervid Christian beneficence, so his
Christian merits and his martyrdom rendered him
a hero of the Christian world."*
A cross began and a cross ended his reign.
After all, says one of the Bishops of Durham,
was the cross of suffering at Oswestry so unfit
1 See Bright's "Chapters on Early Church History,"
p. 155.
2 Bede, ' H. E,' iii. 12.
3 This anecdote was told by WiUibrord, who had put the
splinter into water, which he gave to a plague-stricken
scholar. * Lappenberg, i. 161.

72 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
a sequel to the cross of self-dedication of Heaven
Field ? The day of his earthly death was the day
of his heavenly birth. " Year by year, as the sea
sons recurred, the monks of Hexham repaired to
the scene of his first battle, there with solemn
services to celebrate the anniversary of his last.
Thus Oswald's earliest cross was linked with his
latest." !
! " Leaders of the Northern Church," by Bishop Light-
foot, p. 29.

CHAPTEE IX.
AIDAN ON FAENE ISLAND.
AiDAN occasionally sought rest from the active life
at Lindisfarne, and the long mission journeys, and
his " retreat," Bede tells us, was on one of the Fame
group. The particular islet he selected for his
temporary abode is known as the House Island ;
it is little more than two miles distant from the
royal rock of Bamborough, and six from Lindis
farne. The author of the "Life of St. Bartholomew"
describes the island as "a circle of solid rock,
the top of which is thinly strewn over with a
layer of barren soil. On its south side it is separ
ated from the shore by a channel of about two
miles in breadth; to the east and west a belt
of rock protects it from the fury of the sea;
while on the north it is open to the whole force
of the waves, in the midst of which it lies hke the
broken and defenceless hull of a shipwrecked
73

74 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
vessel. Sometimes, when the tide rises higher
than usual, and the wild storms of that rugged
coast come to its aid, the waves make an inroad
on the land, and the salt foam is blown over
the whole island, wetting the shivering inhabi
tant to the skin, and penetrating the crevices of
his habitation."
To see Fame as it was in the seventh century,
we must sweep away the tall red lighthouse, with
its long reach of white-washed wall, and the three
smaller houses which accommodate the lighthouse-
keepers and their stores. The little chapel, though
it is many hundred years old, was built long after
Aidan's time, and Prior CasteU's Tower is only a
work of the fifteenth century.
The view from the island is interesting and
extensive. To the west and north stretches the
barren coast of Northumberland; but distance
lends enchantment to the view, softening the
rugged outline of the sand-hills, while golden
furze and green waving bent serve by their
varied tints to mellow and adorn the landscape.
Southward lies the little fishing village of North
Sunderland, and a low ridge of rocks crowned with
the historic ruins of Dunstanborough Castle. If
tradition affirms truly, this was once a British
stronghold, and would have been a conspicuous

AIDAN ON FARNE ISLAND. 75
feature in the scene in Aidan's day ; but no legend
of " Sir Guy the Seeker " then invested it with
poetic interest, for the Norman fortress was
erected at a later date. Far away in the distance,
beyond the green slopes of Monkhouse, rise the
rounded summits of the Cheviot range; while,
as the eye follows the indentation of the coast,
the proud embattled pile of Bamborough, like " a
watching spirit over these stormy and perilous
seas," comes into view. Beyond the gray mass of
rock and masonry are the Kyloe Hills, which look
down on the valley of the Till; while six good
miles away the long low isle of Lindisfarne breaks
the sea-line.
When the wind howled round the desolate
rock, and flying foam was hurled across the
strand, when the thunder pealed, and the light
ning flashed, and the scream of the wildfowl
mingled with the angry gusts, Aidan would look
over the stormy waters and say with the great
founder of his sect : —
" Delightful would it be to me . . .
On the pinnacle of a rock.
That I might often see
The face of ocean ;
That I might see its heaving waves
When they chant music to the Father,
Upon the world's course ;

76 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
That I might see the level sparkling sands ;
That I might hear the song of the wonderful
birds,
Source of happiness ;
That I might hear the thunder of the crowding
waves
Upon the rocks ;
That I might hear the roar by the side of the
church
Of the surrounding sea ;
That I might see its noble flocks
Over the watery ocean ;
That I might see the sea-monsters.
Greatest of all wonders ;
That I might see its ebb and flood
In their career.
*****
That contrition might come upon my heart ;
That I might bewail my evUs all.
Though it were difficult to compute them ;
That I might bless the Lord
Who conserves all ;
Heaven with its countless bright orders,
Land, strand, and flood ;
At times kneeling to beloved heaven,
At times psahn-singing.
At times plucking dulse from the rocks.
At times fishing,
At times giving food to the poor.
At times in a carcair."
*****
With the death of the hero Oswald, the two
kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira were shaken

AIDAN ON FARNE ISLAND. 77
apart. Oswiu, the younger brother of Oswald,
succeeded to the sovereignty of Bernicia, and
married Eanfleda, a daughter of King Edwin.
This prince failed to establish his rule over Deira,
which country acknowledged the claims of Oswin,
son of the unhappy Osric, whose courtesy and
affable disposition soon won the hearts of his
people and attracted strangers to his service.!
Oswin had no other choice, and was forced to
content himself with this arrangement, for the
ever ruthless, energetic Penda penetrated north
ward beyond the Tyne, as if he were determined
with one dire blow to break Northumbrian inde
pendence for ever.
One fair morning when Aidan was on the
rocky isle of Fame, this fierce, ruthless, grim
invader, now more than sixty years of age, with
a host of Mercians as bloodthirsty as himself,
appeared before the citadel of Bamborough. This
dauntless warrior-victor of Hatfield and Macer
field, and slayer of Edwin and Oswald, en
deavoured to take the royal fortress by storm,
but the impregnable rock defied all his efforts.
So his army scoured the country, tore down the
wooden huts of the neighbouring hamlets, and
piled the beams and rafters, wattle and thatch,
1 Bede, 'H.E.' iii. 14.

78 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND,
in a huge semicircle round the walls of the castle,
which were probably mere stockades of timber.
When the wind blew from the south-west the
mass was fired, and high rose the smoke and
flame. Two miles out in the ocean, Aidan stood on the
islet of Fame, and saw the leaping flame and
clouds of curling smoke rise high above the
fortress-wall, darkening the sky. Eaising his
hands in an agony of prayer, and looking up to
heaven, he exclaimed in horror, " See, Lord, what
harm Penda is doing ! " Suddenly the wind
veered, and, blowing from the opposite quarter,
beat back the flames on the assailants who were
feeding them. Bamborough was saved ! and the
heathen host withdrew from assailing a strong
hold which seemed to be divinely protected.!
' Bede, ' H. E.' iii. 16.

CHAPTEE X.
OSWIN AND OSWIU.
Bede dwells with an especial love on King
Oswin's character, and the portrait he gives us
is certainly one of his best. This fair young king
comes before us like another Oswald ; open-handed
and generous hearted; he won the love of his
people by " the royal dignity of his mind, his
countenance, and his conduct." No wonder that
men of noble birth from many a province should
flock together to become " thanes " in the royal
hall of the tall and handsome king of Deira.
Aidan loved this prince whose character in so
many points recalled to him the likeness of his
beloved Oswald. Bede tells us the following
story, which is truly characteristic of both Aidan
and Oswin.
Aidan was accustomed to travel through his
extensive diocese on foot ; but Oswin knew that
the good bishop had to traverse rough paths, cross
79

8o AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
bleak and wild moors, and encounter swollen
streams and roaring torrents, so he gave him a
horse " fit for a king " to ride upon. Soon after
wards a poor man asked alms of Aidan as he rode
on his way, and the bishop at once dismounted
and with impulsive generosity give him the horse,
with all its fine trappings. The king was vexed
with the slight that was put upon his favour, and
one day, when Aidan was about to dine with him,
he said, " What did you mean, lord bishop, by giv
ing away the horse that was to be all your own ?
Had not I many other horses of less value, or
other things that would have served as alms-
gifts ? " With Celtic quickness Aidan rejoined,
" What say you, 0 King ? Is that son of a mare
worth more in your eyes than that son of God ? "
On entering the hall Aidan took his seat, but
Oswin, who was fresh from the chase, stood by
the fire surrounded by his thanes. For a time he
was lost in thought, then suddenly ungirding his
sword, he gave it to one of the thanes who stood
near him, and threw himself at'^ the feet of Aidan
and entreated him not to be angry. "Never
again will I say a word about this, or judge as to
what or how much of our money you bestow on
sons of God." Aidan at once rose and lifted up
the sensitive prince, telling him that he was not

OSWIN AND OSWIU.

angry, and that all would be well if he would only
partake of his dinner and no longer trouble him
self about the matter. Oswin at once obeyed,
and his face lighted up with a smile. Then
Aidan began to be sad, and the tears fell
from his eyes. The priest who accompanied
Aidan was a Scot, and he asked the bishop in
Gaelic, so that no one might understand, what
was distressing him. " The matter is," replied
Aidan, "that I am sure the king will not live
long. I never until now saw a king humble (or
perhaps, so humble).! It is impressed upon me
that he will soon be hurried out of this life ; for
this people does not deserve to have such a ruler."
This story appears to be genuine, and the quick
repartee of the Irishman shows us the true earnest
ness of the Christian soul It has been well said
that the secret of Aidan's power reveals itself in
this rejoinder. He treated all men, even the
lowliest, not only with sympathy as brothers, but
with reverence as sons of God.^
The prophecy was fulfilled. Deira did lose
Oswin. Both Oswin and Oswiu were Christians,
yet occasions for jealousy sprang up between them.

! " Nimquam enim ante haec vidi hiunilem regem," or
" tam humiiem."
2 Lightfoot's " Leaders of the Northern Church," p. 46.
6

82 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
and at last the smouldering fire broke out into the
fierce flame of open war between Deira and
Bernicia. However, before the two hosts met on
the field of battle, Oswin discovered that the
King of Bernicia had more auxiliaries than he
could gather together, so he determined not to
cause unnecessary bloodshed, and broke up his
army at Wilfaresdun, a hill about twelve miles
north-west of Catterick. Attended by one faith
ful thane, named Tondhere, he " turned aside "
and sought refuge in the house of Hunwald, one
of his nobles,! whom he believed was friendly to
him; "but, alas, it was far otherwise." His place
of retreat was betrayed to Oswiu, who sent his
" reeve," ^ Ethelwin, to put him to death, with the
faithful Tondhere. Thus died the " blameless
king " at Gilhng, on the 20th of August, A.D. 651.
This was the one great crime of Oswiu's life,
and the deed has left a stain on his otherwise fair
fame. Bede tells us, however, that he was
stricken with remorse, and at the request of his
wife Eanfleda, a daughter of King Edwin, and
therefore a kinswoman of the murdered monarch,
granted to Trumhere,* a Northumbrian priest,
! " Comitis," a " gesith " ; so Alfred renders.
2 " Praefectum suum," see Kemble, ii. 169. The Legend of
St. Oswin calls Ethelwin the steward of Oswiu's household.
5 Trumhere was akin to Oswin in blood.

OSWIN AND OSWIU. 83
land! Jqj. g^ convent, to be built on the spot
of the murder, in respect for the memory of
Oswin, and as an atonement for the guilt of his
murderer.^ The body of the unfortunate king was buried
in the chapel of St. Mary at Tynemouth, and now
the ruins of the Norman monastery,* on its rocky
height overlooking the ocean, remind us of a time
when " the peace of St. Oswin gave security to all
who came within a mile of his tomb." *
1 Bede, ' H. E.' iii. 24.
2 Milman, ii. 243.
^ After the destruction of the Saxon monastery the bones
of St. Oswin were discovered in 1065 (Florence), and a
Benedictine monastery was founded soon afterwards.
¦1 Gibson, i. 34.

CHAPTEE XI.
CONCLUSION.
Aidan survived Oswin! ^^jy ^ short time, and
it is certain that the tragedy had some effect in
shortening his life. He had always been on
good terms with Oswiu, and had obtained for him
the hand of Edwin's daughter,^ who was then in
Kent; he had induced Edwin's grand-niece — the
famous Hilda — to settle in Northumbria, and in
649 she became the superior of the nunnery at
Heruteu,* near the mouth of the Tees, on the site
of the modern town of Hartlepool, from whence
the Abbess Heiu retired to another nunnery at
Tadcaster.* ! Oswin was succeeded by his son Adelwald, on whose
death, in 655, the twin-kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira
were united under one sceptre.
2 See Bede, ' H. E.' iii. 15, 21.
' See Bede, ' H. E.' iii. 24. The cemetery of this nunnery
was discovered in 1833, under a field.
* Heiu was the first Northumbrian woman to receive the
monastic habit from Aidan's own hand. Heiu's nunnery
84

CONCLUSION 8 s
Soon, however, earthly joy and earthly sorrow
were to cease for Aidan, and twelve days after
the death of Oswin he went to his rest. He was
staying at the king's country house, near Bam
borough, whence he had so often gone forth on
his missionary journeys. Here he was seized
with an attack of illness, which came on so
suddenly that a tent was hastily stretched
against the western wall of the little timber
church, and there, lying upon the ground, his
head resting upon a log which served as a
buttress to the church, he breathed his last
on the 31st of August 651.! The day is fitly
designated in the calendars as " Aidan's Eest,"
Quies Aidani; and it was indeed a peaceful
ending to a laborious life spent in the Master's
service. A youth,^ who was afterwards to become a
famous Bishop of Lindisfame, and who so well
deserved the name of Saint, was at this time a
shepherd watching his flocks by day on the green
slopes above the Leader, and folding them at
nightfall under the Eildon Hills. No marvel
was probably at Healaugh, about three miles north of
Tadcaster. 1 Bede, 'H.E.' iii. IV.
2 See "Life and Times of Cuthberht of Lindisfarne,"
p. 60.

86 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
that, roaming over the solitary moors and
through the wild forests which then covered
the land, his nightly slumber should be disturbed
by strange dreams and visions. On the last day
of August 651, the sunset had faded into
twilight, and the twiUght had deepened into
night. Darkness, like a pall, swathed the
hillside, and, wearied with their toils, the
shepherds slept peacefully. Cuthbert kept
vigil alone, when he thought he saw a dazzling
radiance shine suddenly out of the darkness,
and in the midst of the streaming light a choir
of angels descended to the earth, and, lo ! they
were bearing away a soul! Qf exceeding bright
ness to the heavenly country. The next day
the news came to Lammermoor that Aidan, the
saint of Lindisfarne, had entered into his rest.
The vision of the "passing of Aidan" made a
deep impression on the youthful shepherd, whose
tireless career of devotion, toil, and prayer
powerfully influenced the hfe of that eventful
age.^ A few years later Penda came again, and
ruthlessly destroyed both church and village,
1 " As in a globe of fire." Anon. Vit. Cuthb.
2 Bede, Vit. Cuthb., cap. iv. ; Simon Dunelm. de Eccles.
Dunelm. cap. iii. ; Vita Cuthb., Bede, op. min., p. 262.

CONCLUSION. 87
yet neither that fierce fire, nor another which
happened soon afterwards, could bum the post
upon which the head of the dying Aidan had
rested. Therefore it was placed inside the church
as a holy thing, and splinters of it, like those of
the cross of Heaven Field, healed many folk of
their diseases, "a tale," it has been remarked,
" at which we may look in two different humours.
We may pass it by with a sneer, and a hypothesis,
which will probably be true, that the post was of
old heart-of-oak, which is burned with extreme
difficulty ; or we may pause a moment in rever
ence before the noble figure of the good old man,
ending a hfe of unselfish toil without a roof
beneath which to lay his head; penniless and
comfortless in this world, but sure of his reward
in the world to come." !
Aidan's body was taken to Lindisfarne, and
interred in the ocean-washed God's acre. But it
did not long remain there, for when the struggle
arose between the Celtic and Eoman parties in the
Church, Colman, the third Bishop of Lindisfarne,
would not acknowledge Eomish customs, and
withdrew to Scotland, taking among his treasures
some of Aidan's bones, and ordering the remainder
! Kingsley's " Hermits," p. 291.

88 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
to be buried in the sacristy at Lindisfarne.! Thus
it appears that some of the bones of St. Aidan lie
interred among the unknown graves of lona.
When we visit the ancient church in the little
village which now occupies the site of the " burgh
of Queen Bebba," we assuredly stand upon the
ground where Aidan breathed his last; and we
love to think of the noble life of the great
Northumbrian missionary — the Apostle of
England. Aidan was a true man of God, and one
who well deserved the name of Saint. He was
self-sacrificing, gentle, and brave ; a shining light
in the Church, a converter of souls, a true model
of Christian excellence. Bede, who was born
twenty-three years after Aidan's death, takes an
evident pleasure in telling us how Aidan lived
and worked in Northumbria, although he cannot
help speaking against some of his usages, for the
Celtic Church still retained some peculiar customs
different from those of the Eomish Church, to
which Bede belonged.^ The matters in dispute
were, however, trivial in themselves; but the
real issue was the alternative of allegiance to
Eome or allegiance to lona.
! Bede, ' H. E.' iii. 26.
2 Chief among these were the date of celebrating Easter,
and the method of cutting the tonsure in a crescent
instead of a circle.

CONCLUSION. 89

" A man," he begins, " of the utmost gentleness,
piety, and moderation ; " ! and in subsequent
passages he further observes that he was ever
earnest in promoting peace and charity, purity and
humility, and that he was superior to anger and
avarice, and despised pride and vainglory. Few
in history are more conspicuous for their entire
unworldhness ; few have taught with greater
devotion, or been more full of tenderness for all
sufferers, or have more sternly reproved powerful
offenders.^ Aidan " took pains," says Bede, " to
fulfil diligently the works of faith, piety, and love,
according to the usual manner of all holy men," *
and, in a word, he " omitted not one of all the
duties prescribed in the evangelical, apostolical,
or prophetical Scriptures, but performed them to
the utmost of his power." *
Few of those men, whom the world has
reverenced as saints, have proved themselves to
be more self-denying than Aidan, for we read
that when the king and nobles heaped gifts upon
him, he gave them away to the poor, or spent the
money in ransoming slaves.
The Italian monks who came to England with
^ Bede, 'H. E.' iii. 3.
2 Comp. Bede, 'H. E.' iii. 5, 17.
3 Bede, 'H. E.' iii. 25.
1 Bede, ' H. E.' iii. 17.

go AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
Augustine were men of foreign speech and
manners, and they attempted to Christianise
whole kingdoms en hloc by converting their rulers.
But the Pictish and Irish preachers were men of
more Britannic feeUngs, and they went to work
with true missionary earnestness to convert the
people of Northumbria, man by man, in their own
homes. The name of Aidan deserves to be held in loving
remembrance. His faithfulness to the call of
duty was conspicuous among the band of devoted
ones who, in that remote day, held their lives
cheap if they could carry the Cross among the
heathen, and speak the glad tidings which should
be " to all people." " By their fruits ye shall
know them," is the touchstone by which all
character must be tried; and whether we look
through the calendar of saints, or among the less
pretentious record of the " cloud of witnesses," we
shall find few more worthy of our regard than the
Apostle of England. He wandered over our hills
and moors, and preached the blessed Gospel of
Him who said, " Take up thy cross and follow
Me." He, and his brave band of monks, battled
with heathenism by confronting it with a life of
purity, holiness, and self-denial ; and he was one
of those who had to prove, as Charles Kingsley

CONCLUSION. 91
wrote, that man is no mere mortal animal, but an
immortal soul, and his flesh is meant to serve the
spirit, and that pleasure is not the end and aim of
his existence. This he did, not by arguing and
writing about it, but by the only way questions
can be settled — by experiment.
The great and lasting result of Aidan's labour
was the missionary fervour which his zeal
created. Was it not from the lips of Scoto-
Irish missionaries that the German races outside
the Empire, beyond the Danube and the Ehine,
first heard the story of the Cross ? The Vosges
country and the lands of the Upper Ehine, the
Upper Ehone, and the Upper Danube, were won
to Christianity through the zeal of the Celtic
Church of Ireland, and it was chiefly through
the energy and burning fervour of Northumbrian
men that mid-Europe received the Gospel in the
eighth century. It has been hinted that even
the great Boniface was born so near the border
land of Wessex and West Wales, that he may
well have owed to the Celts of Cornwall his
earnest desire to make known the Evangel to
distant lands.!
! See " Keltic Church and English Christianity," by Eev.
William Dawson, M.A., Transactions of Eoyal Hist. Soc,
New Series, vol. i. part iv.

92 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
From Lindisfarne, the lona of Eastern Britain,
a brave band of Christian missionaries penetrated
into heathen Mercia. The Celtic monk Fursey
co-operated with Bishop Felix in East Anglia.
Cedd came from Mercia into Essex, and when
he resolved to set up his " Bishopstool " in the
little church near Ludgate, it was from Lindisfarne
that he sought consecration.
In the middle of the seventh century, this great
Celtic mission, which had sprung from Aidan's
labour, seemed as if it would shortly enfold the
whole of England. In fact, roughly speaking,
the valley of the Thames divided the Latin and
Celtic Churches. But an Italian mission, com
posed of men broader in view than Augustine
and his followers, was sent to England ; and then
these two great Churches worked side by side,
until the famous synod on Whitby Cliff, a.d. 664,
adopted the Latin custom,! and those who clave
to Celtic Christianity returned to lona with
Colman of Lindisfarne.^ " What heart," writes
Montalembert, " is so cold as not to understand,
to sympathise, and to journey with him, along
the Northumbrian coast and over the Scottish

1 Bede, ' H. E.' iii. 25.
2 Colman was the third Bishop of Lindisfarne ; Finian
succeeded Aidan.

CONCLUSION. 93
mountains, where, bearing homeward the bones
of his father (Aidan), the proud but vanquished
spirit returned to his northern mists, and buried
in the sacred isle of lona his defeat and his un
conquerable fidelity to the traditions of his race."
This same accomphshed writer of the Eoman
Communion tells us, however, of the wonderful
success of the Celtic mission in England. " From
the cloisters of Lindisfarne," writes Montalembert,
" and from the heart of those districts in which
the popularity of ascetic pontiffs such as Aidan,
and martyr kings such as Oswald and Oswin,
took day by day a deeper root, Northumbrian
Christianity spread over the southern kingdoms.
AYhat is distinctly visible is the influence of
Celtic priests and missionaries everywhere re
placing and seconding Eoman missionaries, and
reaching districts which their predecessors had
never been able to enter. The stream of the
Divine Word thus extended itself from north to
south, and its slow but certain course reached in
succession aU the people of the Heptarchy."
And again, at the close of the chapter of which
these are the opening words, he writes : " Of the
eight kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Confederation,
that of Kent alone was exclusively won and
retained by the Eoman monks, whose first attempt

94 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
among the East Saxons and Northumbrians ended
in failure. In Wessex and in East Anglia the
Saxons of the West and the Angles of the East
were converted by the combined action of Con
tinental missionaries and Celtic monks. As to
the two Northumbrian kingdoms, and those of
Essex and Mercia, which comprehended in them
selves more than two-thirds of the territory
occupied by the German conquerors, these four
countries owed their final conversion exclusively
to the peaceful invasion of the Celtic monks;
who not only rivalled the zeal of the Eoman
monks, but who, the first obstacles once sur
mounted, showed much more perseverance and
gained much more success." Sussex still remained
heathen, although it was the immediate neighbour
of the Eoman missionaries in Kent. " The con
queror of this last stronghold of heathendom,"
says Bishop Lightfoot, " though an ardent champion
of the Eoman cause, was a Northumbrian by birth.
Wilfrid had been a pupil of Aidan, and his
missionary inspiration was drawn from Lindis
farne." May we not claim for Aidan the first
place in the evangelisation of our race ?
"Augustine was the apostle of Kent, but Aidan
was the Apostle of England." !
! Lightfoot's " Leaders of the Northern Church,'' p. 9.

CONCLUSION. 95

To Oswald belongs the supreme honour of
having discovered the missionary power of the
Celtic Church. He rose above the national
antipathy which the German conquerors had
for the hated Celtic race, and his name will be
for ever treasured for having placed the conversion
of his people in the hands of the monks of lona.
This wonderful Celtic Church, with its simplicity,
its devotion, and its burning love for Christ, has
completely disappeared; but the labours of
Columba, Columban, Gall, and Aidan have
endured the stress of time and change. Their
success was simply marvellous, and they exercised
a peculiar fascination over the child-like minds
of the haK-savage people they came to teach.
Their human sympathy and tenderness touched
the impressionable hearts of these untutored
tribes. Their homes were with the poor and
the wretched, and they comforted them with the
story of the Cross and the Passion of the Crucified
and His blessed work of redemption among men.
These Celtic missionaries desired neither land nor
gold, and only asked for the hearts of the people.
King and chieftain, thane and serf were captured
by the Celtic fervour and passionate enthusiasm
of these devoted, earnest, self-sacrificing men.
" In the long roll of great churchmen, many

96 AIDAN, THE APOSTLE OF ENGLAND.
 y 
names occur to us — names such as Boniface,
Alcuin, Dunstan, Anselm, Bernard, Francis,
Dominic — which in different lands have played
a more or less noble part in the world's history,
and shown themselves in various ways ' lovers
of men,' none since the Celtic men of God seem
to have possessed in equal degree that key to
human hearts which Columba, Aidan, and their
disciples used to such good purpose and such
wonderful effect."! The Celtic period was, in a
spiritual aspect, the most attractive, the most
glorious, and the most splendid in the annals of
the Church of England.
! Spence's " History of the Church of England," vol. i.
p. 144.

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