Prologue. #

¹ Many regions indeed have I traversed, carefully investigating their ways of life, and the devotions of their clergy and laity. I have found every land venerating its own provincial saints with fitting and repeated praises. But when at length I came to the kingdom of the Scots, I found it very rich in the relics of saints, illustrious in its clergy, glorious in its princes. Nevertheless, in comparison with other kingdoms, it still lagged behind, slumbering in negligent sloth as regards the reverence for its saints. For truly when I noted in the wide domains of the saints the scant honour paid to their own, I took up my pen for the honour of the most holy confessor and bishop, Kentigern, who, in comparison with others, shines like the morning star among the stars; and just as Symeon, once a monk of Durham, wove together a history of his own Saint Cuthbert, so I, a cleric of S. Kentigern, at the request of Herbert, the venerable Bishop of Glasgow, have, as best I could, devoutly composed a kind of work from the material found in the little book of his virtues, and from what the faithful told me by word of mouth.

² Before proceeding, by the help of Christ, to describe the life and miracles of the most holy confessor and bishop Kentigern, it is fitting that I warn my readers at the outset to believe what is said, and to value the substance rather than the style, and if by chance any of it should seem to them roughly composed, let them remember that saying of the blessed Jerome, “It is much better to say true things roughly than to speak false things gracefully.” Let them remember also that the kingdom of God does not stand in the richness of eloquence, but in the blossoming of faith. Nor let them despise the telling of things useful in themselves and brought about with God’s help, on account of unfamiliar names, or words that are hard for hearers to understand, or local terms, where barbarism, as I think, has roughened the tongues of foreign tribes. But let all in common know this, that passing over for the sake of brevity many other things about the man of blessed memory which were worthy of being recollected, I shall write down a few out of the very many, to avoid wearying my readers. And every one will faithfully be able to observe this who will give his attention to his miracles, which still appear throughout Wales. To the arrangement of these instances, few as they are, which I now briefly attempt to weave together, I now set myself, with God’s help.

Chapter One: Of the Cause of the Conception of S. Kentigern. Of his Mother’s Constancy in Tribulation. #

¹ Since God, who is ever wonderful in His saints, works in marvellous ways, either by Himself or by them, whatever he disposes, we shall faithfully declare to the faithful certain of the things worked by the blessed Bishop Kentigern, as we have heard and know and understand. So a certain King Leudonus, a half-pagan man, from whom the province over which he ruled obtained the name of Leudonia in northern Britain, had a daughter under a stepmother, and the daughter’s name was Thaney. Now this girl, so far as her faith was concerned, being a Christian, after the teaching of the apostles was breathed into her ears, set herself most devoutly to learn what she could of the Christian rites. She constantly meditated upon the virginal honour and maternal blessedness of the most holy Virgin Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, and, turning it over in her mind, in her simplicity said, “O how glorious is the name of this honourable Virgin, and how gloriously is it praised by all people through the four quarters of the world; would that I could be made like her, both in her virginity and in her childbearing, for the honour and salvation of my nation in these northern parts.” Truly by daily repeating these words she weaned her mind from all evil desire, and for her honest devotion was found worthy to conceive, but in another way than she wished; for what she wished could not be. But on account of her presumptuous vanity and forward vainglory, she endured many and great sufferings. For she had for a suitor a most handsome young man, namely, Ewen, the son of Erwegende, sprung from a most noble stock of the Britons; yet neither by words, nor by gifts that expressed his love, could he in any way incline the mind of the young virgin to marry him (in the Gestes of the Histories he is called Ewen, son of King Ulien), and the more she resisted the more ardently did his love burn. Now, when the king, the girl’s father, after many kind words and gentle speeches, which he thought might incline her mind to the love of the young man, began to see that he was labouring to no purpose, he spoke harshly to her: “Either you shall be handed over to the care of a swineherd, or you will consent to marry this young man. Choose now which of the two you want.” The king indeed said this, imagining that the mind of the girl might in this way be led to the love of the young man. Now, when she had the choice given her, she preferred to be a lowly servant in a poor man’s house as a chaste virgin, rather than to live as a great lady in the royal tents as one who was not. She, therefore, by choosing the service of the swineherd incurred the king’s indignation and fierce anger. Now the swineherd showed every possible respect to the young woman in his charge; for he was a chaste man, and secretly a Christian; and in truth, day by day, in the fields and at home, he taught her what he had learned from Christian teachers; for he had learned in Scotland from blessed Servanus, a sacred teacher of the faith, the doctrine of the law of Christ. This Servanus, in the early church of the Scots, was the disciple of the venerable Palladius, the first bishop of the Scotti, who was sent in the year of the Incarnation 430, by Pope Celestine, as the first bishop to the Scots who believed. He found blessed Servanus in Scotland before him, a Christian man, and after that he had sufficiently trained him in ecclesiastical learning, he made him his suffragan for the instruction of those whom he could not himself reach. Now Ewen, the suitor of the maiden, seeing that the girl he revered was despised by her father on account of his love for her, was exceedingly sad at heart, for he loved her much. Therefore, adopting a secret plan, he secretly sent a woman to her to see whether by flattering words and persistent urging he could win from her, now in her misery, the love he had failed to win while she was comfortable. So coming very often to the girl, the woman would say, “Alas, that so illustrious a royal daughter should choose to undergo such vile service.” Now, when she found she could in no way, by these words and others like to them, excite love in response to his in the heart of the maid, she said to the young man, “It would be easier to turn stones into wood and wood into stones than to turn this virgin’s mind from the folly she has taken up.”

Chapter Two: How S. Kentigern was conceived. #

¹ On hearing this, the young man, being inflamed with the fire of a natural love in his heart, said, with many anxious sighs, “If only I could undo the knot of this girl’s virginity, perhaps after that she would consent to me.” The youth was beardless, and, dressed in women’s clothes, as if he were the maidservant of some country household, he came frequently to the girl as she fed the herds of swine in the fields. One day springing up from a hiding-place, he found her sitting alone without any companion, beside a little spring which flowed by the edge of a certain wood, where she often came to drink and to wash her hands. The young man tenderly addressed her, and coaxed her with his words, saying, “Greetings, virgin, royal daughter, fairest of girls, come with me, I beg you, dearest sister, for I have made a bundle of dry wood, and I have no one to lift it onto my shoulders. Come then, and help me, that God, the rewarder of all goodness, may make you happier in all your undertakings. Moreover, I believe that if you come with me without delay you will be for ever the more fortunate.” This the young man said, thinking that by a chaste embrace he might raise her from the care of swine to a royal palace, and make her, instead of the keeper of hogs, a lady over knights. The gentle girl, moved by the speech which came from the lips of the young man, who desired much to possess her, for in her innocence she believed every word, at once, in her simplicity, followed the youth — successful in his cunning — wherever he wished to go. And when they had arrived at a place that suited his purpose, at once the young man suddenly seized the girl as if in play, and in a moment violated her, while she resisted the violence with all her strength. The young man, rising at once, took her — whom he had thought a virgin — to be the swineherd’s concubine. And as his love accordingly cooled, he said to the girl, who was unable to speak for sobs and tears, “Do not weep, my sister, for I have not known you as a man usually knows a virgin. Am I not a woman like yourself? It is folly to cry over what was done in jest. Go in peace. It is your choice whether to weep or to keep silent.”

Chapter Three: Of the Simplicity of his Mother. #

¹ When therefore the young man retired, the virgin remained wretched and sorrowful, in doubt whether she was defiled or not; since she had heard from the youth, whom she took to be a woman, that she had not been touched as a virgin is touched by a man, and chiefly because the tokens of her sex were then beginning to appear in her as in every woman at the conception of a child, so that she could not discern the sure sign of defilement, although she had suffered from pain in the flesh. For at such times the membranes naturally relax, in virgins as in those bearing children, and so the means of defilement always lie nearer to hand. And because this was unknown to the young man, he went away deceived, leaving the scorn he had received at her hands turned back upon herself. Of this deed he therefore thought no more, until it was recalled to his memory a long time afterwards by S. Kentigern his son, as is written below. But the virgin, keeping to her first resolve, was unwilling to reveal to any one what had taken place, so that as the child grew in her womb, and yet the mother remained silent on the subject, it became in the end known to all that she was pregnant. And as she was in this condition, and moreover was ever calling on the name of Christ, her father ordered her to be stoned, according to the laws of her country, as a daughter who had prostituted herself, and broken the law of her fathers. For the law commanded at that time, that any noble woman caught in fornication was to be stoned to death; a slave-girl, with the sign of her wickedness branded on her face, was to be held in contempt by all.

Chapter Four: How she was freed from Death on the top of the Mountain. #

¹ The pregnant girl having therefore been handed over to the executioners, there arose a dispute among them who should throw the first stone at her; but because none of the officers presumed to cast one at one of the royal family, and yet dared not in any way neglect the judicial sentence, if such it might be called, they brought her to the top of a hill, which is called Kepduf, that, placed in a waggon and thrown down from the top of the hill, she might be consigned to a terrible death, and yet its agents would seem blameless. Now, when she stood in the presence of imminent death, and recognised by Divine inspiration the cause of her misfortune, raising her eyes and her hands to heaven she exclaimed and said, “O most holy Virgin Mary, because in my folly I desired what is impossible, namely, to be compared to you, ’the like of whom never has been and never will be,’ I acknowledge that this punishment, which has been predestined for me, is justly due. Now, therefore, with sighs and tears I implore you, pray to your Son, my Lord, that at least for the sake of the infant whom with undefiled mind, but overcome by the frailty of the flesh, I have conceived, He may in His mercy save me in the impending fall from the pains of death. For I believe, O most holy of the holy ones, my lady, queen not only mine, but most excelling queen over all, that whatever you demand from my Lord, your Son, the king of all, is at once granted without delay.” Then in full faith, and signed with the sign of the life-giving cross, since she had in no way yielded to lust, although being overcome by a man she conceived, so when violently cast down in the waggon from the top of the high mountain, she came down to its foot unhurt.

Chapter Five: Of the Miracles that appeared in the Rock. #

¹ Now the pregnant young woman, chaste and simple, finding herself saved from this terrible danger, and believing that she had been made fruitful by an angel of the Lord, as she had previously desired, gave thanks to God, saying, “From the ends of the earth have I called to You, O Lord; when my spirit was in anguish from peril, and You heard me from Your holy hill. Therefore I will not fear the thousands of people who surround me, for You have helped me and comforted me.” So fully then, as is thus shown, was her heart fixed in the constancy of faith, and so entirely was she proved by virtuous action, that to her might be referred what is said in the scripture, “Who shall find a brave woman,” etc. In the aforementioned miraculous fall, other miracles came to be worked to the praise of God. For when the waggon with the pregnant woman was cast down backwards by the hands of the executioners from the mountain, at once turning round as it ran down the mountain, its pole became fixed in the earth, and when this was drawn out a most clear spring at once began to gush forth, which has not ceased to flow till the present day. Moreover the ruts of the two wheels in the hard flint still present a great miracle to the onlookers. O wonder greatly to be admired, because such soft wood could dent the hard stone like melted wax! Now those who stood by, when they saw these miracles, said that the pregnant girl deserved life and reverence rather than a sentence of death.

Chapter Six: How she was left alone in the Sea. #

¹ Now the king was again greatly stirred up against her by those who administered his law, who attributed this miracle to the trickery of the magic art, and, in order that he might not appear to put his love for his daughter before the justice of his kingdom, said, “If she is worthy of life, let her be given over to the sea, and then her God will free her from peril of death if He so wills.” They brought her therefore to the firth, which is about three miles from Kepduf, to the mouth of a river which is called Aberlessic, that is the Mouth of Stench, for at that time there was such a quantity of fish caught there that it was a burden for men to carry off the multitude of fish cast from the boats upon the sand, and so great putrefaction arose from the fish which were left on the shore, where the sand was bound together with blood, that a detestable smell used to drive away quickly those who approached the place. She then was accompanied to the sea-shore by many men and women weeping bitterly. Some said, “O what a dreadful judgment is this awarded by a father to his child! What has the king’s daughter done that she should undergo such deadly ills as these! It is cruelty to exact punishment twice for the same crime. Let the judge who makes no distinction perish; he is entirely cruel.” And as she was consigned to the waters, the voice of all who bewailed her was heard saying, “May the Lord Who delivered you from death upon land also free you from peril in the waters!” And as the innocent woman consigned to death heard the voices of those who bemoaned her, she began to cry to the Lord, saying, “Judge them, O Lord, who hurt me; fight against those who fight against me. Take up arms and shield and come to my help.”

Chapter Seven: How her Father perished, cut off by Divine vengeance. #

¹ Meanwhile the king counted his daughter’s death as nothing, unless the swineherd perished in the same way. He therefore pursued him, who fled in haste. When he saw he could in no way escape the king, he turned aside a little out of the way into a marshy place in hopes of saving his life. And when even there he found he could get no safe retreat, snatching up a javelin he transfixed the king, hurling it at him from behind by means of a thong. But the friends of the king, in the place where he fell, erected in his memory a great royal stone, with a smaller carved stone placed on top, which remains to this day at a distance of about a mile to the south of Mount Dumpelder. O how earnestly the sentence of the just judge should be proclaimed to all, in that what the king, without investigating the truth, had hastily inflicted on the innocent, he himself received in his own person!

² Meanwhile, the mother of the blessed child, who even now within her womb was guiding her by divine inspiration, was put into a coracle, that is, a boat made of hides, and carried out into deep water beyond the Isle of May. And as that pregnant girl departed from the shore all the fish of that same coast attended her in procession as their mistress, and after the day of her departure the catch of fish there ceased. And the river-mouth, so prolific in fish as mentioned above, because it received the child unjustly condemned, remains unproductive to the present day; but the fish who followed her remain where she was abandoned. From that time until now the fish are found there in such great abundance, that from every shore of the sea, from England, Scotland, and even from Belgium and France, very many fishermen come for the sake of fishing, all of whom the Isle of May conveniently accommodates in her ports. But the mother of the blessed child was left alone in the middle of the sea. She most devoutly committed the pure conscience, which she maintained, to God who made the heaven and the earth and all that is in it, Who keeps truth and executes judgment for those who suffer injuries. And when the morning dawned she was in safety cast on the sand at Collenros, which, according to sailors’ computation, is thirty miles distant from the Isle of May in Scotland; but she suffered grievously from the pangs of labour.

Chapter Eight: The Birth of S. Kentigern. #

¹ But she, tortured with continual pain and with her cheeks suffused with tears, prayed, saying, “Lord Jesus, Almighty Father, Whose hands have made the sea and the dry land, and at Whose nod all the elements exist, Who have caused me, though adjudged to death both on land and on sea, to land here in safety, do not let me now perish, for I know, I know assuredly, that for a short time impunity fosters vice and promotes boldness in sinning, while the correction of faults nourishes virtue and shows the ways of righteousness. And so I implore You, O kind Father, that the punishment which I have twice already suffered may avail towards the remission of all my sins; and if anything remain in me for which You mean to take vengeance, at least spare the innocent offspring which You have willed should be formed within my womb, that in the ends of the earth Your salvation may, through it, be greatly increased, as I desired before it was conceived. For it is I who have sinned; it has truly done nothing amiss.” As she lay on the ground earnestly praying, suddenly a heap of ashes, which the day before had been gathered together by some shepherds close to the shore, was struck by a gust of the north wind, which scattered around her the sparks that lay hidden within them. When therefore she had found the fire, the pregnant young woman, as best she could, dragged herself at once to the place indicated by God, and, in her desperate need, with anxious groans, she made a little heap with the wood which had been collected the day before by the same shepherds to prepare the fire. Having lighted the fire, she brought forth a son, whose birthplace was as humble as that of his conception, “For there was no room for him in the inn.” O poverty, praiseworthy in the King, which repeated in his follower enriched him also. After she had brought forth her son, and a long sorrow seemed near, it happened that some herdsmen came to the spot, and when they found the girl having the boy, and bursting forth in sighs and tears and sobs, moved with compassion, some of them made up the fire, others gave her of the food they had brought with them; but others went straight to blessed Servanus, who at that time was teaching the Christian law to his clerks, saying together, “My Lord, we have found such and such.” To whom the saint said, “A dia cur fir sin,” which in Latin means “O utinam si sic esset!” And the youths replied, “Yes, father, it is a true tale, and no fable which we tell; and so we beg you, my Lord, come and see, that your desire may without delay be satisfied.” And he also, when he had learnt the order of the events, rejoiced with great joy, and said, “Thanks be to God, for he shall be my dear one.” For as the child was being born, when he was in his oratory after morning lauds, he had heard on high the Gloria in Excelsis solemnly sung. He remembered, therefore, the joy of the angels and the visit of the shepherds to Bethlehem, to the child Christ and His mother Mary, seeing that in some respect the birth of the servant had a similarity to that of the Lord, in the chant of the angels, and the visit of the shepherds, in the solitude of the place. Triumphantly, with his clerics, with a loud voice he sang the hymns of praise, Te Deum Laudamus and Gloria in Excelsis. “Come, therefore, dear brothers, since thoughts cannot be governed by human control, and often dwell on what distresses us as well as on what pleases us, I think, in the opinion of all the faithful, men should be urged not to presume to think that the conception of this blessed child has contracted the stain of fornication. For it seems to me that the meeting of his father and mother surpasses lawful marriage in sanctity: seeing that it was the intention of the father to win the virgin’s mind to marriage with himself, while the devotion of the mother prompted her to avoid the company of men by preserving her virginity. From the agreement of both there proceeds, in others’ cases, a betrothal; in their meeting, lawful love abounded, and virginal devotion was not destroyed: although the mother suffered injury in the flesh in conceiving, she did not lose her virginal devotion. Truly virginity is not lacking when the integrity of holy devotion abides. Even in law she who does not consent to her defiler is not counted defiled, but is regarded as a virgin. For when any servant of Christ suffers injury in the flesh, she does not lose the reward of virginity, but it is counted to her as its reward, as Lucy said to Paschatius: ‘If you have me violated against my will, my chastity is doubled so far as reward is concerned.’ And as the petition of the virgin could not be fulfilled without the male sex, in this way did the conception of the blessed Kentigern take place. Therefore is this conception to be considered as holy, which was the means granted by God to her prayer. That union which the Lord predestined to happen is not to be counted as sin; for was it not fitting that the Lord should show, in the course of events attending the birth, how much He loved the virgin’s vow by adopting her son? Be praise, therefore, to Him alone who governs the world, who has, among others, blessed our country Britain with such a patron.”