The Life of Saint Columba, Apostle of Scotland

								

where the Saint breathed his last upon the altar steps.
But perhaps the most interesting of all the Columban relics are the
three manuscripts which are said to have been written by the Saint's
own hand. That Columbcille was an indefatigable scribe we know from the
witness of many of his contemporaries, and one of the greatest of
modern authorities (Mr. Westwood) sees no reason for setting aside the
tradition that the "Book of Kells" and the "Book of Durrow" are both
mainly, if not altogether, Columba's work. The "Book of Durrow,"
indeed, bears an inscription stating that it was written by "Columba
the scribe in the space of twelve days," while the "Book of Kells" has
always borne the title of the "Great Gospel of Columbcille." To the
objection that a busy man like Columba would not have had leisure to
execute the exquisitely minute decorations which are the astonishment
of all admirers of Celtic art, it can be urged that many old
manuscripts which still exist in an unfinished condition bear witness
to the fact that it was customary for the initial letters and
ornamental parts of the manuscript to be sketched roughly in, and
finished by another hand. This is especially to be noted in the "Book
of Kells," the decorative work of which is certainly of a later date.
Both the "Book of Durrow" and the "Book of Kells" are to be seen in the
Library of Trinity College, Dublin.
The third manuscript, the famous Psalter which gave Columbcille to
Scotland and which is preserved in the Royal Irish Academy, fell, after
the battle of Cuil Dreimhne, into the hands of the O'Donnells,
Columba's own clan, who treasured it as their most precious possession.
It was called the "Cathach" or "Battler," and if borne into battle by
"one of pure heart and of clean hands" was believed to ensure them the
victory over their enemies. It is the least ornamental of the three,
and bears traces of the haste with which it was executed. The existence
of these pages, written with laborious care by the hand which has long
since mouldered into dust, makes a living link across the centuries
with Columbcille the Beloved, the great Apostle of Scotland.

CONTENTS
CHAP.



   I. CHILD OF THE MOUNTAIN AND THE LAKE


II. THE SCHOOLING OF A SAINT


III. DERRY AND DURROW


IV. THE COW AND THE CALF



   V. A BITTER PENANCE


VI. THE ISLE IN THE WESTERN SEAS


VII. THE APOSTLE OF SCOTLAND
VIII. THE CONVENTION OF DRUM-CEATT


IX. FOR CHRIST AND HIS LOVE



   X. THE GIFT OF VISION


XI. THE LIGHT ETERNAL

CHAPTER I
CHILD OF THE MOUNTAIN AND THE LAKE
FOURTEEN hundred years ago, in the sweet days of autumn, when the woods
of Gartan are clothed in crimson and gold, and the still waters of
Lough Veagh reflect the deep blue of the skies above, Eithne, the wife
of Fedhlimidh, Prince of Tir-Connell, had a strange dream. It seemed to
her that an angel of God stood beside her, bearing in his hands a veil
scattered all over with the Bowers of Paradise, and that, spreading it