II
1. Memoir of Patrick, by Tírechán
The earliest extant document that gives an account of St. Patrick’s life is a memoir written in the second half of the seventh century by Tírechán, a bishop, who had been the alumnus or disciple of Bishop Ultan of Ardbraccan in Meath. He speaks of Ultan as no longer living,[273] so that his work was compiled after A.D. 657, the year of Ultan’s death.[274] The mention of the recent plague (mortalitates novissimae) suggests that Tírechán was engaged on his memoir soon after the disastrous years A.D. 664-668.[275] The presumption is that it was compiled in the late sixties or the seventies; and as there is a presumption that Muirchu’s biography (see below) was composed in the eighties or nineties, there is a presumption that Tírechán’s work is earlier than Muirchu’s. At all events, we may take it as highly probable that it was not later.
Tírechán was attached to some community in north Connaught, probably in Tirawley.[276] His memoir, which is incomplete,[277] is divided into two books, of which the first (after a preliminary summary of Patrick’s early life) deals with the saint’s work in Meath, the second mainly with his work in Connaught.
The first was probably compiled in Meath, the second certainly in Connaught.[278] The author wrote in the interests of the paruchia Patricii (diocese of Patrician communities), of which Armagh claimed to be the head. He speaks of attacks and encroachments made upon that paruchia, and asserts the theory that by divine donation almost the whole island belongs to it.[279] The object of his work is to set forth the circumstances of the foundations of communities of Patrician origin, and for this purpose he collected material. Much of it he may have collected “on the spot,” and he may have travelled to gather local traditions with a view to his work.[280] We know from his own statements that he had visited Armagh, Tara, Alofind, Saeoli, L. Selce, Baslick.[281] We know that he derived information not only from Bishop Ultan but from many seniores[282] whom he consulted, presumably, in different places.
But he used written sources as well as oral traditions.
1. For his prefatory account of Patrick’s early life he refers to a book in the possession of Bishop Ultan,[283] of which I have spoken above ([p. 229]). It is uncertain whether his reference to the Confession in another place (310₅, in scriptione sua) implies a first-hand acquaintance with that document; the reference might have been derived from the book of Ultan, which contained matter based on the Confession.
2. Certain passages in Tírechán are based on common sources with corresponding passages in Muirchu.[284] These sources were in Irish (see below, [p. 258]).
3. Two chronological passages imply written sources.[285]
4. Epigraphic source: inscribed stones near L. Selce.[286]
5. The confusion which I have traced in Tírechán (see [Appendix C, 13]) between different journeys of Patrick in Connaught can be most easily explained by assuming that he had some older written notes before him.
6. In the same paper in which I pointed out the use of Irish poetical sources by Muirchu (“Sources of the Early Patrician Documents,” E.H.R., July 1904) I showed that the story of the conversion of Loigaire’s daughters is a Latin reproduction of an Irish poetical source, the evidence being of the same nature as in the case of the Muirchu passages, namely, graphic indications in the Liber Armachanus, combined with the rhythmic, assonant, quasi-poetical character of the Latin. There is perhaps some room for doubt whether it was Latinised by Tírechán himself or by an intervener.
7. Written sources are implied by the author’s uncertainty as to numerals in three passages (302₃₀, 321₁, 300₂₇ [see next paragraph]).
The work of Tírechán stops abruptly, and is almost certainly incomplete—that is, it was left unfinished by the author.[287] But it has recently received a new accession by the convincing discovery of Dr. Gwynn that an isolated anonymous paragraph which precedes the Memoir in the Lib. Arm. (f. 9, rᵒ a, Patricius uenit—aeclessiae uestrae) is really part of the Memoir. Its place in the text can be approximately determined (it must come in f. 12, vᵒ 2, before the arrival at Selce). For proof and details I must refer to Dr. Gwynn’s Introduction to Book of Armagh, chap. iii. (and see above, [p. 229]).
The Memoir was put together without any regard to literary style. In this respect it contrasts with the Life by Muirchu, as also by the fact that Tírechán supplies a number of chronological indications, while Muirchu’s work furnishes no dates. In regard to contents, while the two works have a few incidents in common, Tírechán is mainly concerned with Patrick’s work in parts of Ireland, especially Connaught, on which Muirchu does not touch at all. It is also to be observed (a point first emphasised by Dr. Gwynn) that Tírechán assumes on the part of his readers familiarity with the general story of the saint’s life. For instance, he refers to the call of the children of Fochlad as a familiar fact. We infer that the outline of the Patrician story was current in north Ireland in the time of Tírechán.
Though Tírechán had little idea of literary form, he has endeavoured to string together his information as to Patrick’s activity in various places on a geographical thread. Critical examination shows (as I pointed out in a paper on Patrick’s Itinerary,[288] and show more fully in a separate note, [Appendix C, 13]) that he has thrown the events of several journeys into one circulus or circular journey (setting out from Tara and returning to Meath) through Meath, Connaught, and Ulster.[289] It may be noted that Tírechán conceives all the events related in his Memoir as having happened during the year or two immediately following Patrick’s arrival in Ireland, long before the foundation of Armagh;[290] and the fact that he makes Patrick, starting from Tara, return finito circulo to Loigaire and Conall seems to show that he conceived the bishop making his central quarters in Meath before he set up in Armagh.
An analysis, as well as criticism, of the Memoir will be found in Dr. Gwynn’s Introduction, c. iii.
Additions to Tírechán.—In the Lib. Arm. a few notices are appended to the Memoir of Tírechán (ff. 15 vᵒ 2, 16 rᵒ a). They are the subject of a minute and careful discussion in Dr. Gwynn’s Introduction, chap. vi. The first, on the three Petitions, was probably found in the MS. from which Ferdomnach copied the Memoir. It is separated by the word Dairenne, which has not been explained, from a number of notices which are probably (as Dr. Gwynn shows) due to Ferdomnach himself: (1) Patrick’s age and the periods of his life; (2) comparison with Moses; (3) the contest for his body and Colombcille’s discovery of his grave; (4) Patrick’s mission by Celestine; Palladius also called Patricius; (5) Patrick’s fourfold honour in Ireland; (6) a table of contents to “this breviarium” (I pointed out that this table refers not only to Tírechán’s Memoir, but also to Muirchu’s Life, Eng. Hist. Rev. April 1902, p. 237). Dr. Gwynn has shown in detail that these notes were suggested by passages in the preceding documents in the MS. (Muirchu and Tírechán), to which they may be regarded as editorial observations.
2. Additional Notices in the “Liber Armachanus”
These notices (ff. 16-19) are described by Ferdomnach as serotinis temporibus inuenta, and collected “by the diligence of the heirs”—that is, of Patrick’s successors at Armagh. First comes the foundation of the Church of Trim, in Latin, but with Irish names and phrases; then a few notices, chiefly of grants to Patrick in Connaught, Sligo, and Leitrim, also in Latin strewn with Irish forms; then the text suddenly changes into Irish (338₅), diversified here and there by a Latin sentence, describing ecclesiastical grants, and acts of Patrick, in Connaught and Leinster. Then the scribe concludes with this apology:—
Finiunt haec pauca per Scotticam imperfecte scripta, non quod ego non potuissem Romana condere lingua, sed quod uix in sua Scotia hae fabulae agnosci possunt. Sin autem alias per Latinam degestae fuissent, non tam incertus fuisset aliquis in eis quam imperitus quid legisset aut quam linguam sonasset pro habundantia Scotaicorum nominum non habentium qualitatem.
He adds four Latin hexameters (with several false quantities), evidently of his own composition, formally declaring the completion of his task, and asking his readers to pray for him.
The scribe’s explanation as to the language of his material is worthy of attention. It is clear that he had Irish material before him. Part of this material he translated into Latin, including the foundation of Trim, and the following notices up to 338₅; but at this point, coming to a passage in which there were so many irreducible Irish words that there seemed little use in translating the few that could be translated, he simply transcribed his original. And he continued to do this to the end, although the same consideration does not apply to all the remaining text, with the exception of one or two passages which he turned into Latin (340₂₋₁₀, 342₁₋₁₁).
The importance of this lies in the fact that it reflects light on Tírechán. The similarity in character between these notices and those which Tírechán has wrought into his Itinerary is unmistakable, and points to the conclusion that he made use of Irish material, resembling in form and style that which the Armagh scribe partly translated and partly transcribed. The scribe, in fact, performed, though more slavishly, a task similar to that of Tírechán.
The scribe’s own description of his additional material as serotinis temporibus inuenta, “discovered in late times,” naturally suggests a doubt whether these notices were not inuenta in a more pregnant sense than he intended to convey. We cannot control their antiquity, but their character is quite consistent with the supposition that they had escaped Tírechán when he was collecting local material, and had more recently been brought to the knowledge of Armagh, or collected by the care of the abbots. One passage (337₂₂) shows Armagh editing, and the whole collection is, like Tírechán’s Memoir, in the interest of the Paruchia Patricii. But it is wholly different in character from the Armagh (eighth century) fiction, the Liber Angueli, and we can hardly be mistaken in supposing that genuine local records are here transcribed or translated.
(1) The Trim narrative is evidently translated from an Irish document. It contains a list of the lay succession at Trim from Fergus, grandson of Loigaire, and the last name is Sechnassach, tenth in succession from Loigaire. This, Dr. Gwynn observes, points to the later part of the eighth century as the date of Sechnassach, so that “this record was written at (or up to) a date which was almost recent when Ferdomnach used it.” Probably the date of Sechnassach represents the time at which the record was obtained from Trim by an abbot of Armagh.
(2) The series of Connaught records and copies of grants begins a new leaf in the MS., and are evidently copied from a distinct batch of documents. An analysis of them will be found in Dr. Gwynn’s Introduction, chap. vi.
(3) The Leinster records also begin a new leaf, the second half column of the preceding page being left blank. It may be conjectured that these notices were communicated to Armagh by Bishop Aed of Slébte (cp. below, [p. 255]) towards the close of the seventh century. This is strongly suggested by the circumstance that a notice of Aed’s visit to Armagh immediately follows (346₂₁). The juxtaposition is almost irresistible. Dr. Gwynn (Introduction, chap, vi.) arrived independently at the same conclusion.
It would seem that after finishing his work the Armagh scribe gained access to a collection of Irish material describing St. Patrick’s acts. He did not undertake the task of transcribing or translating it, but simply indexed it. This long list of abbreviated memoranda, which he has appended in small script, consists of names of places and people, associated with acts of St. Patrick, not recorded in the preceding documents. The traditions which these headings represent—they are almost entirely in Irish—are for the most part found in the Vita Tripartita (see below, [p. 272]); and Dr. Gwynn, who has made a careful study of the material, has pointed out that it is disposed in groups corresponding more or less to geographical regions (see his Introduction, chap. vi.).
Probably, however, he did not index the whole of his document. It may be shown, I think, that the scribe had before him part of the same material which Tírechán used, and that the object was to note those parts of it which Tírechán had not incorporated in his Memoir. The ground for this conclusion is that he has, through inadvertence, inserted references to a few acts which are found in Tírechán. Thus the first two jottings[291] correspond to Tírechán 313₄ and 314₁₃₋₂₂. Dr. Gwynn, however, has made (ib.) the important suggestion that Ferdomnach simply transcribed memoranda which were left among the papers of the Abbot Torbach, under whose direction he undertook the task of copying and putting together the Patrician documents. If he completed the MS., as is probable, after his master’s death, he would feel bound to include the matter, collected by Torbach, as he found it, however obscure. This hypothesis seems very probable. If it is true, my view would still hold, with the substitution of Torbach for Ferdomnach.
An interesting proof of the antiquity of this material has been discovered by the acuteness of Dr. MacCarthy. Patrick’s dealings with the sons of Forat in Múscraige Tíre are described in Vit. Trip. 210, and indicated in Lib. Arm. f. 19 rᵒ b (351₃: Fuirg Muindech Mechar, f. Forat). Patrick is alleged to have given a lasting blessing to Mechar, who believed, whereas Fuirg, who did not believe in him, is “to be in misery till doom.” Dr. MacCarthy has pointed out that these prophecies are inconsistent with the history of the descendants of both brothers. The seed of Mechar did not survive. We learn this from the Genealogy of Múscraige Tíre (in Book of Ballymote, 141 b, and Book of Leinster, 323 f.; extracts in MacCarthy’s paper).[292] Dr. MacCarthy thinks that the extinction of the line is to be placed about the middle of the sixth century. On the other hand, the descendants of Fuirg prospered; they were a distinguished and important clan in the ninth and tenth centuries (see the evidence which Dr. MacCarthy has collected from the Annals, Note D.).
The inference is that the record of Patrick’s dealings with the sons of Forat had taken shape before the respective destinies of the posterities of Mechar and Fuirg could be foreseen.
3. Life of Patrick, by Muirchu
The first formal biography that we possess, perhaps the first formal biography that was written, was composed by Muirchu towards the end of the seventh century. Muirchu is designated as maccu Machtheni, son or descendant of Machthene. He refers to his father Coguitosus,[293] and there may be room for doubt whether a natural or spiritual father is meant. If the suggestion[294] that Coguitosus is a Latin rendering of Machthene (as connected with machtnaigim, “I consider with wonder”) is correct, Cogitosus was Muirchu’s father in the flesh.
There can be no doubt that Muirchu lived in North Laigin, and perhaps he may be specially associated with Co. Wicklow. The evidence is (1) his close association with Bishop Aed of Slébte (on the borders of Co. Carlow), to whom he dedicated his book, addressing him mi domine Aido, and from whom he derived material for it; (2) the existence of Kilmurchon “Church of Muirchu” in Co. Wicklow;[295] and, we may add (3), the connexion of Muirchu’s “father” Cogitosus with this part of Ireland, a connexion fairly to be inferred from his writing a Life of Brigit of Kildare.
The fact that Muirchu lived and wrote in the latter part of the seventh century is established by the date of his friend Bishop Aed’s death, which is recorded in the Annals as A.D. 700,[296] and by the circumstance that he as well as Aed attended the Synod known as “Adamnan’s,” which met shortly before that date (A.D. 697, Ann. Ult.).[297] As Muirchu’s book is dedicated to Aed (as still living), A.D. 699 is the lower limit for its composition.
Or perhaps more strictly for the composition of Book I. For Muirchu has divided his work into two Books. The ground of the division is not quite evident. One might have thought that Book I. would naturally have terminated with the episode of Loigaire, where the chronological order ceases. Now at the end of the Table of Contents to Book I. there occurs a notice (of which more will be said below) that Aed helped him; and it might be held that the distinction between Book I. and Book II. was based on the fact that he had Aed’s co-operation in Book I. and not in Book II. In that case Book I. might have been composed before, and Book II. after, Aed’s death.[298] If so, the Preface was written before Book II.
In this interesting dedicatory preface, written in a most turgid style, and partly modelled on the opening verses of St. Luke’s Gospel, Muirchu declares, or seems to declare, that he is venturing upon a novel experiment, which had been tried before (in Ireland) only by his father Cogitosus. It is of considerable importance to know on Muirchu’s authority that the Life of Brigit by Cogitosus[299] was a new departure in hagiography in Ireland. As Cogitosus must have written in the seventh century, it follows that before the seventh century hagiographical literature in Ireland must have differed materially in character from the works of Cogitosus and his son. One difference possibly was that the earlier writings, some of which Muirchu used (see below), consisted of acta and memorabilia, and were not regular biographies; but there are grounds, as will be shown, for inferring a more important difference, namely, that they were written in Irish.
Muirchu aspired to do for Patrick what his father had done for Brigit. But in venturing into what he calls the “deep and perilous sea of sacred story,” he may have been helped by Aed. From the lemma[300] which is found at the end of the Table of Contents to Book I., one might think that Aed has even more claim to be considered the author than Muirchu. Haec ... Muirchu ... dictante Aiduo ... conscripsit. Taken by itself, this might almost suggest that Muirchu’s share in the work was little more than that of a scribe. But such an inference is completely contradicted by the dedicatory preface, in which Muirchu takes upon himself the whole responsibility, though he acknowledges that he had undertaken the work in obedience to a wish of Aed.[301] If, then, the lemma has any good authority,—it may be doubted whether it is due to the author himself,[302]—we must interpret it to mean that Aed furnished Muirchu with some of the material. But it is possible that the note has no good authority, and merely expresses the misconception of a copyist.
Muirchu used written sources. He refers to them in his Preface in the phrase incertis auctoribus, which seems rather to imply that the documents were anonymous than that he was sceptical about their statements. In regard to the character of the sources, it is important to observe that there is a strongly marked contrast between the early portion of the biography up to Patrick’s arrival in Ireland and the rest of the book. The early portion is free from the mythical element; whereas the narrative of Patrick’s work in Ireland is characterised by its legendary setting. These two parts must therefore be carefully distinguished.
In the first part, the best of all authorities, the Confession, is followed (though not without errors in interpretation[303]) so far as it goes; then another source succeeds, dealing with Patrick’s studies on the Continent and his ordination, and including a notice of Palladius. It seems, however, not unlikely that for Muirchu these two sources may have been one; that he may not have used the Confession itself, but a document in which the Confession and the other source had been already condensed. In any case, that other source is marked by the absence of mythical elements and stamps itself as dependent on early and credible records.[304] Nor are other possible traces of this source entirely lacking. It may well be that it was also utilised by the author of the liber apud Ultanum which was consulted by Tírechán.
But when Muirchu’s story passes to Ireland it assumes a different complexion. We enter a world beset by legends. But here too Muirchu used written sources. A legendary narrative had been shaped and written down before his time. The evidence that he used written material here is as follows:—
(1) He refers to writings himself (295₁₆): miracula tanta quae alibi scripta sunt et quae ore fideli mundus celebrat. This seems to imply some stories that were known to him only by oral tradition.
(2) The accounts given by Muirchu and Tírechán of the destruction of the magician who was shot into the air depend on a common written source;[305] and their notices of the angel’s footsteps at Scirte point in the same direction.[306] A comparison of these passages suggests that they are independent translations of a common Irish original.
(3) I have shown[307] that the Lives which are known as Vita Secunda and Vita Quarta depend on a document (W), whose compiler probably used not only Muirchu but Muirchu’s source, which must have been written in Irish.
(4) This conclusion is confirmed by the evidence which I collected in a paper on “Sources of the Early Patrician Documents” (Eng. Hist. Review, July 1904). It is there shown that (a) the prophecy of the magicians (p. 274), and (b) the description of MacCuill’s character (p. 286) reproduce Irish poetical sources. The proof lies in the tabular (columnar) arrangement of these passages in the Liber Armachanus, combined with their rhythmic and assonant character. In that article I also pointed out that the Irish material used by Muirchu began with the account of Patrick’s ordination (if not at an earlier point), the proof being the form Amathorege for Amator of Auxerre. “Muirchu’s Amatorege represents Amathorig and betrays that his source was in Irish.” (On the form compare Zimmer, Nennius Vindicatus, p. 123 note).
The question arises whether part of the written material used by Muirchu, under Aed’s guidance, originated at Sletty (Slébte). There is nothing decisive on this point in the text of Muirchu; for the notice of Fíacc’s presence at Tara may have been inserted by him, from Sletty tradition, in a narrative which did not otherwise depend on Sletty tradition. That this was really the case seems to me to be shown by the fact that (as mentioned above) Tírechán used the same source as Muirchu for an incident in the Tara episode. This fact makes it difficult to suppose that Muirchu’s account of that episode was based on Sletty tradition derived from Fíacc. The legend naturally arose in the regions of Tara and Slane.
There is, however, another fact which must be considered. There is a presumption that the hymn Genair Patraicc, ascribed to Fíacc, was composed at Sletty, and this presumption is strengthened by the remarkable correspondence of the argument of the hymn with the argument of Muirchu’s biography. The hymn will be discussed below, and it will be pointed out that its author used either Muirchu or (part of) Muirchu’s material. In the latter case it would follow that this material existed at Sletty. But even then it need not have been derived from Fíacc or Sletty traditions contemporary with Patrick. Sletty might in the meantime have obtained copies of records existing at Armagh or elsewhere.
For these reasons I do not feel able to speak of a Sletty tradition with as much confidence as Dr. Gwynn. He traces this, or at least Leinster, tradition, not only in the narrative of Slane and Tara, but also in the Gallic portion.[308]
On the other hand, there can be no doubt that the Ulidian portions of Muirchu depend on a Ulidian or Down tradition. This has been set forth fully and lucidly by Dr. Gwynn. I think, however, that it must remain an open question whether Muirchu, as Dr. Gwynn is disposed to believe, visited Down and collected information on the spot. The local colouring might have been taken from a written source. In any case he used a written source (also used by Tírechán) for the Slemish episode.
For a full running analysis of Muirchu’s work I may refer to Dr. Gwynn’s Introduction (chaps, ii. and iii.); but I must indicate the remarkable construction of Book II., which he was the first to explain. The theme with which it opens is Patrick’s diligence in prayer (sect. 1), which is illustrated (sect. 2) by the story of the dead man and the cross, which leads to another story (sect. 3) told on the authority of the auriga of Patrick. Then the narrative passes to the circumstances connected with Patrick’s death and burial; after which there is a final section in which the author (with the words Iterum recurrat oratio) recurs to the initial subject, De diligentia orationis.[309] The sections which recount the saint’s death and burial form a separate unity within the framework, and there is external evidence which Dr. Gwynn has with great probability interpreted as showing that this narrative was a distinct document which Muirchu incorporated. The evidence consists in two numerals (ui and uiii) which occur in the MS. (fol. 8, rᵒ b), and must be explained as two of an original series of numbers which occurred in the exemplar which the scribe Ferdomnach had before him. These numbers could not have represented the numbers of the sections of the whole Book (as given in the Table of Contents), but they correspond exactly to the sections of the narrative of the death and burial. This will be best shown by a tabular arrangement.
| Sections of Book II. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| De Patr. delig. orationis | 1 | |||
| De mortuo ad se loquente | 2 | |||
| De inluminata dom. nocte, etc. | 3 | |||
| Sections of incorporated document. | ||||
| De eo quod anguelus, etc. | 4 | = | ||
| De rubo ardente, etc. | 5 | = | [ii] | |
| De quatuor Patr. petitionibus | 6 | = | [iii] | |
| De die mortis, etc. | 7 | = | [iiii] | |
| De termino contra noctem possito | } | 8 | = | |
| De caligine xii. noctium abstersa | } | |||
| [De sacrificio accepto] | 9 | = | ui | |
| De vigilis primae noctis, etc. | 10 | = | [uii] | |
| De consilio sepulturae, etc. | 11 | = | uiii | |
| De igne de sepulchro, etc. | 12 | = | [ix] | |
| De freto sussum surgente, etc. | 13 | = | [x] | |
| De felici seductione populorum | 14 | = | [xi] | |
| De diligentia orationis | 15 | |||
This incorporated document, however, with its signs of distinct numbering of its chapters, was composed (as the style testifies) by Muirchu himself; it was not a mere transcription. I therefore think that the sectional numberings did not belong to Muirchu’s source; but rather that this narrative was compiled first by Muirchu with the intention that it should form Book II. and that he numbered its sections accordingly; so that its opening words, Post uero miracula tanta, etc., were the transition from Book I. to Book II. Afterwards he changed his arrangement, by the introduction of the three chapters, which he made the beginning of Book II.; this altered the numbering of the chapters, and in transcribing his narrative of the death and burial he was obliged to leave out the numbers; but he transcribed two of them by inadvertence, and they were faithfully retranscribed by Ferdomnach.
In regard to the Tables of Contents, it might perhaps be suggested that they may have been added by an editor, and not drawn up by Muirchu himself. It is important to show that such a suggestion is untenable. A definite proof that Muirchu is responsible may be found in the last heading of the Table of Book I. There we read aduersum Coirthech regem Aloo, whereas in the text of the corresponding section, though the Irish form of the name Coroticus (MS. Corictic) occurs, he is not described as rex Aloo. Obviously the title is not due to an editor summarising the contents of the Latin text, but to Muirchu himself, who had before him an Irish document containing the legend of the metamorphosis of Coroticus. This is sufficient to establish Muirchu’s authorship for the Tables.
Muirchu belonged to that part of Ireland which had conformed to Roman usage since c. A.D. 634, and in this interest he took part in Adamnan’s Synod which brought about the conformity of the north. It would indeed be erroneous to suppose that these facts are required to explain the expression which he uses of the Roman see (caput omnium ecclesiarum totius mundi)—an expression which he might readily have used even if he had been an adherent of the Celtic celebration of Easter. But it may be asked whether the Life which Muirchu wrote at the wish of Aed had any tendency beyond its mere hagiographical interest. There is, I think, some reason for supposing that it had a particular motive. When Muirchu wrote, the church of Slébte had just been brought into close connexion with Armagh. The record stands thus in the Liber Armachanus (fol. 18, rᵒ b; p. 346 Rolls ed.), as translated by Stokes:—
Bishop Aed was in Slébte. He went to Armagh. He brought a bequest to Segéne of Armagh. Segéne gave another bequest to Aed, and Aed offered a bequest and his kin and his church to Patrick for ever.
We cannot hesitate to bring this visit of Aed to Armagh, and his dedication of Slébte to Patrick, into connexion with the Muirchu to undertake the biography. So much seems clear. It is another question what was the motive of policy which drew interest which he evinced in Patrick’s life, when he stimulated Aed so closely to Armagh; and it is yet another whether we can discover any reflexion of such a motive in Muirchu’s work. Segéne, the abbot of Armagh, died in A.D. 688,[310] so that Aed’s visit must have occurred before that date. During the penultimate decade of the century many must have been trying to prepare the way for bringing about uniformity between northern and southern Ireland, by inducing the north to accept the Roman usages which had, more than a generation ago, been accepted by the south. It is a reasonable conjecture that Aed, who took part in the Synod which afterwards brought about this result, was working towards it in his dealings with Armagh. And it certainly is not impossible that, in giving such a prominent place in his narrative to the legend of Patrick’s first Easter in Ireland, Muirchu was thinking of the Easter controversy.[311]
In any case, it is significant that just at the time, or just on the eve, of the reconciliation of north and south, an ecclesiastic of south Ireland, whose name is associated with that reconciliation, should have given to the world a Life of Patrick, which, if it had come down to us anonymously, we should assuredly suppose to have been written in the north, and perhaps guess to have emanated from Armagh. No mention is made of traditions connecting Patrick with south-eastern Ireland—with the country of Muirchu—though such traditions existed. The notice of Fíacc’s relics at Slébte is indeed a local touch, but one which could never have suggested a clew, since there is a precisely similar notice of Ercc’s relics at Slane. Muirchu was eclectic; he had much more material than he used; so he expressly tells us, pauca haec de multis sancti Patricii gestis. It is to be noticed that apart from the events connected with the celebration of the first Easter, and apart from a number of unlocalised miracles, the gesta of Patrick which Muirchu describes are entirely laid in Ulster—at Armagh and in Ulidia. The tradition of Daire was, of course, preserved at Armagh; and the legend of the appearance of the angel to Patrick before his death bears on the face of it its Armagh origin. It seems probable, therefore, that some of Muirchu’s written material was derived directly from Armagh; and we can hardly be charged with going beyond our data if we regard Muirchu’s biography as setting a seal upon the new relation which had been established between Slébte and St. Patrick’s church.
Muirchu’s Life had a marked influence on all subsequent Patrician biographies. It established a framework of narrative which later compilers adopted, fitting in material from other sources.
The text of Muirchu is preserved incompletely in A, the missing parts are supplied by a late MS. preserved at Brussels;[312] and later compilations (Vita Secunda, Vita Quarta, Probus) furnish help for criticising the text. See Bury, “The Tradition of Muirchu’s Text,” cit. supra.
(4) Hymn Genair Patraicc
An Irish hymn on the life of St. Patrick, generally known as the Hymn of Fíacc, or (from its first words) the hymn Genair Patraicc, is included in the collections of Irish hymns preserved in two MSS. of the eleventh (Trinity College, Dublin, E, 4, 2) and eleventh or twelfth (Library of Franciscan Convent, Dublin) century. The MSS. ascribe the authorship to the poet Fíacc, who lived in the time of Patrick and became bishop of Slébte (Muirchu, 283₃); but this ascription is clearly false, not only from philological considerations, since the language points to a date which could not be much anterior to A.D. 800, but also from the evidence of the first verse—
Patrick was born in Nemthur, this is what he narrates in stories,
and the 12th verse—
He read the Canon with Germanus, this is what writings narrate,
expressions which show that the sources of the author were written documents, and that he could not have been a contemporary. There is also in v. 44 a reference to an event which occurred in A.D. 561, the abandonment of Tara, but this (see below) was probably not part of the original poem.[313]
The hymn was acutely analysed by Professor Zimmer in his Keltische Studien, ii. 162 sqq.,[314] and more soberly and judiciously by Professor Atkinson in the Introduction to the Liber Hymnorum (ed. Bernard and Atkinson, vol. ii.), pp. xl. sqq. Professor Atkinson submits it to a careful criticism from the metrical side, dealing also with linguistic points and the literary construction, and his analysis leads to the same general conclusion as Professor Zimmer’s, namely, that the hymn has been largely interpolated, and that its original compass was very much smaller. I examined the work independently, from the literary side, and found that most of the stanzas which from this point of view arouse suspicion are those which Professor Atkinson, applying his objective metrical tests, branded as interpolations. It may be useful to give here the original uninterpolated hymn, as it emerges from these criticisms. It contained 15, instead of 34, stanzas.[315] I have adopted Professor Atkinson’s translation, but with some changes, using the new lights furnished in the version of Dr. Stokes and Professor Strachan.
Hymn Genair Patraicc
1. Patrick was born in Nemthur, this is what he narrates in stories;
A youth of sixteen years, when he was brought under tears.
2. [Sucat his name, it was said; what his father was, were worth knowing;
Son of Calpurn, son of Potid, grandson of deacon Odisse.]
3. He was six years in bondage; men’s good cheer he shared not.
Many were they whom he served, Cothraige (servant) of four households.
4. Said Victor to Milchu’s bondsman, that he should go over the waves:
He struck his foot on the stone, its trace remains, it fades not.
5. (The angel) sent him across all Britain—great God, it was a marvel of a course!
So that he left him with Germanus in the south, in the southern part of Letha.
6. In the isles of the Tyrrhene Sea he fasted, in them he computed,
He read the Canon with Germanus, that is what writings narrate.
7. A help to Ireland was Patrick’s coming, which was expected;
Far away was heard the sound of the call of the children of Fochlad wood.
8. His druids from Loigaire hid not Patrick’s coming;
The prophecy was fulfilled of the prince of which they spoke.
9. Hymns and Apocalypse, the Three Fifties, he used to sing them;
He preached, baptized, prayed; from God’s praise he ceased not.
10. Patrick preached to the Scots, he suffered great labour widely.
That around him they may come to Judgement, every one whom he brought to life.[316]
11. When Patrick was ailing, he longed to go to Armagh:
An angel went to meet him on the road at mid-day.
12. He said, “(Leave thy) dignity to Armagh, to Christ give thanks;
To heaven thou shalt soon go: thy prayers have been granted thee.”
13. (Patrick) set a boundary against night that no light might be wasted with him:
Up to the end of a year there was light; that was a long day of peace!
14. Patrick’s soul from his body after labours was severed;
God’s angels on the first night kept watch thereon unceasingly.
15. Patrick, without sign of pride, much good he meditated;
To be in the service of Mary’s son, it was a pious fortune to which he was born.
It has been supposed that the author of the hymn made use of Muirchu’s Life. This was suggested by Loofs (Ant. Britonum Scotorumque Ecclesiae, 42 sqq.), and seems plausible not only on account of the resemblances, but also because Muirchu was connected with Aed of Slébte, and the attribution of the hymn to Fíacc of Slébte suggests that it was composed there. But there are some statements which are not found in Muirchu (I have indicated them by italics in the foregoing text), so that Muirchu’s Life cannot, in any case, have been the only source. There is no reason why the author might not have used some of the documents which supplied Muirchu himself with information.[317] If so, the hymn would be an independent testimony for that lost material (whereas if it is based on Muirchu it has no historical importance whatever, except in so far as the few statements not found in Muirchu might depend on an older source than any that we possess). In support of this view it may be urged that, if the writer’s main source was Muirchu, it is strange that he has not embodied any of the portions of Muirchu which rest on Ulidian tradition. This circumstance suggests that he used the documents on which the other parts of Muirchu’s Life were based. It is perhaps significant that the statements concerning Cothraige in 3 and the Tyrrhene islands in 6 are found in Tírechán, in connexion with the fact that one source of Muirchu had also been used by Tírechán.
[It may be noted that, in the interpolated stanza 26, the hymn, which is to be a lorica (lurech) to every one, is not the Hymn of Secundinus, as has been generally held, but, as Professor Atkinson has pointed out (Lib. Hymn. ii. xliv.) the “lorica” of Patrick.]
The most recent editions of the Hymn with the glosses are that of Atkinson (Liber Hymnorum, i. 96 sqq.; English version in ii. 31 sqq.), and that of Stokes and Strachan (Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus, ii. 307 sqq.), who date the hymn about A.D. 800.
5. Early Acts in Irish
It has appeared in the foregoing pages that an analysis of Tírechán, Muirchu, and the Additional Notices discloses the existence of an early Patrician literature in Irish, of which a writer in the seventh century could avail himself; and it may be useful to emphasise this important conclusion by stating it under a distinct heading.
The Preface to Muirchu’s Life is weighty in this connexion. The novel movement of which he designates his father Cogitosus and himself as pioneers was the writing of hagiography (narratio sancta) in Latin. Hagiography already existed in Ireland; he implies, and refers to, written documents; and analysis shows that he used Irish documents. Thus before the seventh century the hagiographical literature which entertained the pious in Ireland was composed in their own language; and it was not till the age of Cogitosus and Tírechán that a new departure was made, and men began to write Latin works on Irish saints. But the demand for Irish Lives, for the mass of the folk who could not understand Latin, continued; and the Vita Tripartita (see below) may be regarded as a descendant from the early Irish acta.
Some of these acta, such as the account of the episode of Slane and Tara, may have had wide circulation in different kingdoms; and there may have been different versions. Others may have had only local circulation, such as the Ulidian stories garnered by Muirchu, and the Connaught traditions collected by Tírechán. Besides, many communities which ascribed their foundation to Patrick seem to have preserved written records of grants, which, whether genuine or not, were old and drafted in Irish.
The Acts of Patrick which circulated in the sixth century supplied the public with what they liked—miraculous legends in a historical setting. But the legends which Muirchu derived from this source differ strikingly from the ordinary apparatus of the hagiographer—from the miracles, for instance, so colourless and monotonous which Adamnan has strung together in his wearisome Life of Columba. The Patrician legends, to which I refer, were worked up in the cells of ecclesiastics; but the arguments of the stories, which they moulded, were created by popular imagination, and suggested by the motives of “folklore.” Such, for instance, is the story of the first Easter, inspired by a transference of Beltane customs to Easter Eve. Such are the Ulidian stories associated with the salt marshes at Lake Strangford. Such, we may conjecture, is the story of the ogre MacCuill, who tempts Patrick, is converted, and then, sent to drift in a boat of skin, without oar or helm, reaches the Isle of Man, of which he becomes bishop. Some old legend, connecting Man with the coast of Dalaradia, seems here to have been hooked on to Patrick; and perhaps MacCuill, of Cyclopean type, may be the mythical MacCuill, “son of hazel,” husband of Banba. But in any case we may take it that the name of a mythical ogre, familiar in the folklore of the regions of Lake Strangford, supplied popular imagination with a motif for a story of Patrick’s power.
But historical tradition was also present, determining and contributing. The Ulidian legends were determined by the memory of Patrick’s actual and close association with Ulidia; the legend of his appearance at Tara, by the memory of an actual visit; the whole story of his relations with Loigaire, by Loigaire’s loyalty to paganism. And we can detect genuine details, handed down by tradition, and embedded, like metallic particles, in the myth. Such is the notice of the presence of the poet Dubthach at Tara, when Patrick was there. It has all the appearance of being a true historical tradition, like the incident of Simon of Cyrene in the story of the Crucifixion of Jesus.
The character as well as the language of the hagiographical stories, which were doubtless read aloud in the pulpit, was determined by the needs of the public for which they were intended. The excellent remarks of Professor W. Meyer, in the introduction to Die Legende des h. Albanus (1904), apply here. The chief object in these compositions was to produce “a strong impression” on the faithful (ein starker Eindruck auf die Glaubensgenossen). “Die Legenden wurden christliche Unterhaltungsliteratur. Solche Literatur schmiegt sich dem Empfinden des Volkes an und das Volk schafft selbst dabei mit. Die glänzenden Gedanken und die glänzende Darstellung der Caecilialegende entspricht der feinen Kultur Roms im 5. Jahrhundert; die phrasenhafte oder die unbeholfene Darstellung, mit welcher die so verschiedenen Freunde Fortunat und Gregor von Tours platte Kleinigkeiten umhüllen, entspricht ihrer Zeit, wo der Massstab des Schönen gänzlich fehlte” (p. 5).
6. Vita Secunda (V₂) and Vita Quarta (V₄)
The two anonymous Lives, most conveniently distinguished by their order in the Trias Thaumaturga of Colgan, who first published them,[318] are closely related, and taken together have considerable importance for the criticism of Muirchu’s Life. A full comparison between the two documents will be found in my paper on the “Tradition of Muirchu’s Text” (Hermathena, 1902, 186 sqq.). Both follow the order of Muirchu up to the end of the Tara episode, and at this point our text of V₂ stops abruptly. There is a close parallelism throughout. V₄ is rather more prolix, and has some notices which are not in V₂; but V₂ has also notices which are not in V₄, and has some Irish sentences which do not appear, or appear in a Latin equivalent, in V₄.[319] In the parts dependent on Muirchu, V₂ is closer to Muirchu. The comparison shows that neither document depends on the other, but both on a common source which I have designated W, the tenor of which can be, almost mechanically, reconstructed. It can then be shown that W was not simply a MS. of Muirchu, but “a document which was sometimes a free paraphrase, sometimes a close copy” of Muirchu (but derived from a MS. of Muirchu of different lineage from that contained in the Lib. Arm.). But it must have been something more. For there are a number of passages in V₂ and V₄ which are not in Muirchu, and “the close parallelism between V₂ and V₄ throughout, and not merely in the Muirchu portions, makes it practically certain that, in the other portions too, they were both following” the same source, namely W. Thus W was a compilation based on Muirchu and some other source (or sources).
The antiquity of this source is proved by the following facts: (1) Cothraige, the Goidelic form of Patricius, appears in an older form with initial q (Quadriga, Quotirche), which points to a document older than the seventh century (since Tírechán has initial c); (2) this Goidelic name, not Patricius, appears in the part of W which related Patrick’s dealings with Miliucc; (3) the name Succet takes the place of “Quadriga” where his sister Lupita recognises him, as it is the name by which she would have known him: such traits of verisimilitude are not likely to have been introduced by late compilers. It is probable that this source was in Irish. This would account for the Irish bits in W preserved in V₂. And the Irish source, from which W supplemented Muirchu, probably resembled (being based on the same material) the Irish source which Muirchu used for his Life. In this connexion it is to be observed that W and Muirchu give variant renderings of the prophecy of the Druids, pointing to variant versions of the Irish original.
As for the latter part of V₄, where V₂ fails us, it seems probable that W was also a source, though there may have been other sources (cp. Bury, Tradition, etc., p. 195).[320]
7. Vita Tripartita
A Life of Patrick written in Irish (but largely interspersed with Latin passages and clauses) is extant. A Latin translation of it was published by Colgan, who named it the Vita Tripartita because it is divided into three parts. This translation represents a different text from that preserved in the two existing MSS. from which Dr. Stokes published the editio princeps of the Irish text (Rolls Series, 1887). This edition can hardly claim to be critical, as no attempt whatever is made to establish the mutual relations of the MSS.[321] It is clear, even on a superficial examination, that the two extant MSS. imply an archetype representing a tradition different from the text which Colgan followed.
A study of the language of the Life, which is full of “Middle-Irish” forms, led Dr. Stokes to conclude that it was compiled in the eleventh century (Introd. pp. lxiv sqq.). The text contains several references to events of the ninth century (ib. p. lxiii); and Joseph, bishop of Armagh, who is mentioned at the end of Part III. (p. 266), is evidently identified rightly by Stokes with the bishop who died A.D. 936.[322] But this passage has further significance. The writer, having enumerated the members of Patrick’s household, says: “and that is the number that should be in Joseph’s company.” It is a clear inference that he was a contemporary of Joseph, and that this appendix (found in the Egerton MS. and in Colgan’s version) was written in the first half of the tenth century. This consideration suggests that, if the linguistic forms prove that the Life could not have assumed its present shape before A.D. 1000, then the work of the eleventh-century compiler was practically confined to “modernising” an older compilation and substituting new for ancient forms. In its older shape the Life existed in the time of Bishop Joseph, when the enumeration of Patrick’s household was appended. But there is nothing to show that the Life as a whole was not put together at an earlier period. The references to events and persons of the ninth century may be significant. There is one passage which especially suggests the second half of the ninth century. “Quod probavimus: Connacán son of Colman came into the land with a host” (p. 174). Connacán’s death fell in A.D. 855; he was killed in Ulster.[323] The expression quod probavimus, instead of “which was fulfilled,” suggests that the event was within the recollection of the writer. This, taken along with the reference to Cenngecán, king of Cashel (ob. 897), may raise a presumption that the Life took shape in the latter part of the ninth century. It may, of course, be argued by those who would ascribe greater antiquity to the work that these references were posterior insertions, not due to the original compiler. I am inclined to think, however, that this involves an unnecessary multiplication of hypotheses. The material used by the compiler was older than the ninth century, but there is no positive indication to suggest that the compilation was older.
The tendency of the work is strongly marked. Like Tírechán’s Memoir, it is intended to support the claims of Armagh. Dr. M’Carthy even describes it as, in its present form, “rather a plea for the privileges of the primatial See than a eulogy of the apostle of Ireland.”[324]
It is to be observed, indeed, that the tendency is entirely absent from Part I. This, however, would hardly justify us in assuming a different authorship or date for the composition of Part I.; inasmuch as the subject matter of this part (Patrick’s childhood, youth, arrival in Ireland, and the Tara legend) did not offer opportunities for urging the Armagh claims. It may also be observed that all the references to events later than A.D. 800 occur in Parts II. and III.
The last paragraphs of Part I. (pp. 60-62), which are omitted in the Rawlinson MS., have clearly been inserted here from the end of Part III. (pp. 256-8). The motive of this repetition is, doubtless, supplied by a remark of Dr. M’Carthy: “That upon the recurrence of his festival a sketch of the life and labours of St. Patrick should be delivered in the churches of Ireland would be a procedure in mere conformity with ecclesiastical usage.” The Tripartite Life was practically used as material for sermons, though we may not feel warranted to go so far as to say that it represents sermons reduced to literary form. The particular paragraphs in question were added to Part I. as a “wind-up” for pulpit purposes. There is a similar but shorter wind-up to Part II.
Among these added paragraphs (p. 60 = p. 256) occurs a bibliographical notice:—
“These are the miracles which the elders of Ireland declared and connected with a thread of narration. Colombcille, son of Fedlimid, first declared Patrick’s miracles and composed them. Then Ultan, son of Conchobar’s descendant; Adamnan, grandson of Tinne; Eleran of the wisdom; Ciarán of Belach Duin; Bishop Ermedach of Clochar; Colman Uamach;[325] presbyter Collait of Druim Roilgech” (trans. Stokes).
Of these works we know nothing, though we may suspect that “Ultan” may refer either to the memoir of Tírechán (cp. the lemma in the Lib. Arm.) or to the book which Ultan lent to Tírechán. Observe that no mention is made of Muirchu’s Life. But Muirchu was certainly a source of the Tripartite. If, therefore, this list represents the works which were used in the compilation, the compiler did not use Muirchu’s Life directly, but some later work in which it had been wholly or partly incorporated. This agrees with a conclusion which I had entertained on other grounds, namely, that the compiler used W (the common source of V₂ and V₄) in which the Muirchu narrative had been incorporated with non-Muirchu material. The inference would be that the author of W is to be sought in the list. For instance, Ciarán of Belach Duin, who died A.D. 775,[326] would suit chronologically.
The material of Tírechán appears almost entirely in Parts II. and III. But there are considerations which suggest that it was not derived merely from Tírechán, but from the older written material from which Tírechán himself selected the memoranda which he has recorded. The compiler certainly used Tírechán’s memoir, which was accessible to him if he wrote at Armagh; but he has added supplements which produce the impression of having belonged to the original records and not of being later interpolations. (Cp., for example, the account of the altar in Sliab Húa-n-Ailella, p. 94, and of the inscriptions at Selce, p. 106.) It would, perhaps, be impossible to prove this directly, but there is another fact connected with the sources of the Life which enables us to establish the probability indirectly.
The Life contains a great number of notices of acts of Patrick in various parts of Ireland which are not recorded by Tírechán, but which are closely similar in character and style to the acts which he records. Now we know that this material existed in the eighth century. For in the Additional Notices in the Liber Armachanus (ff. 18 vᵒ b, 19 rᵒ), as we have already seen (above, p. 254), we find the greater part of it indicated by a series of memorial words (names of men and places), most of which (not all) are explained in the Tripartite Life, Parts II. and III.
The Tripartite Life, therefore, contains a considerable body of ancient material, homogeneous with the material which Tírechán worked into his memoir, and not to be found elsewhere. We have a means for controlling it in the collection of jottings in the Liber Armachanus, and an attempt to discriminate later accretions might be successful within certain limits.
For an analysis of the Tripartite Life in connexion with the jottings, see Dr. Gwynn’s Introduction, chap, vi., with Appendix.
8. Vita Tertia
An anonymous Life of Patrick, dating perhaps from the ninth century, is preserved in MSS. representing two different recensions, which I have investigated and attempted to reconstruct in “A Life of St. Patrick” (Transactions of R.I.A. xxxii. C, Part iii.) 1903. A corrupt text, with large accretions at beginning and end, was published by Colgan in the Trias Thaum. as his “Tertia Vita,” and this designation may be conveniently retained. The Life was written in Ireland by an Irishman, but the archetype of our MSS. was written in West Britain, as is shown by Brythonic (Welsh or Cornish) interpolations. One interpolation, which has led to vain speculation, must be noticed here. The passage in c. 21, alleging a visit of Patrick to Martin, can be shown to have been intruded into the context (which otherwise depends on Muirchu) and caused confusion in the sense. The interpolator states that an angel told Martin to go to the insula Tamarensis; modern biographers have supposed that the command was given to Patrick, though it can hardly be held that there is any ambiguity in the Latin, and have conjectured many things about the mysterious island. The island is St. Nicholas at the mouth of the Tamar in Plymouth Sound, as Mr. C. J. Bates discerned. St. Martin was popular in south-west Britain; and this interpolation enables us to connect the archetype specially with south-west Britain. From it was derived a lost Glastonbury copy which is the parent of two of our existing MSS., which contain an interpolation claiming Glastonbury as Patrick’s burial-place.
The author of the Life used the Confession, Muirchu, Tírechán; but he also incorporated a number of stories and incidents not found in any of the documents in the Liber Armachanus. Some of these stories are also found in the Vita Tripartita or the Vita Quarta, but others are not found elsewhere (see my enumeration, op. cit. 221-2).
[The Vita Patricii, in the Sanctilogium of John of Tinmouth (see Text in Horstman’s Nova Legenda Anglie, vol. ii.) is an abridgment of the Vita Tertia; cp. Bury, op. cit. 223-4.]
9. Life by Probus
A Life of St. Patrick, published in the Basel edition of Bede’s works 1563, and reprinted by Colgan as the Vita Quinta, has for author a certain Probus, who compiled the work at the request of a certain Paulinus (Ecce habes, frater Pauline, a me humili Probo, etc. ii. 41). Of Probus we know nothing otherwise. Colgan (p. 219) conjectures that he is to be identified with Cœnachair of Slane, whose death by the Northmen is noticed in the Annals of the Four Masters, sub a. 948. Paulinus, he suggests (p. 64), may be the Mael Póil who is described in the same chronicle as bishop, anchorite, scribe, and abbot of Indedhnen (near Slane), sub a. 920, where his obit is noticed. If these conjectures were right the date of the Life would be prior to 920. But the conjectures have no basis, the identification of Probus resting merely on the possibility that this name might have been chosen as a Latin equivalent of Cœnachair. There is internal evidence that the author was Irish (see Colgan’s note, p. 61), but the only indication of date is the prophecy that Patrick should baptize Scotiam atque Britaniam, Angliam et Normanniam caeterasque gentes insulanorum (i. 10). Colgan supposes that Gallic Normandy is meant, and if so the Life could hardly be much earlier than the middle of the tenth century.
Probus made use of Muirchu’s Life, but reconstructed certain parts of it, introducing matter from other sources. Thus he adopts the two captivities in Ireland from Muirchu, but while he identifies the first with the captivity of the Confession, he connects Miliucc with the second. His story of the second captivity is that Patrick’s parents and family were in Armorica when it was devastated by the sons of Rethmitus (read Sethmiti) king of Britain. Patrick, his brother Ructi, and a sister were carried captive to Ireland, where Patrick served Miliucc. [Ructi was married by another chief to his sister. This incident is obviously the same as Miliucc’s attempt to marry Patrick to his sister, as recounted in the W document (V₂ and V₄); so it may be inferred that Ructi is an error for Sucti, and that Sucat-Patrick has been split by Probus or his source into two brothers.] But Miliucc’s abode is placed near Mount Egli (instead of Mount Miss). On escaping Patrick is taken to Gaul by a man who sells him there into slavery,[327] but at “Trajectus” he is redeemed by Christians.
The story of the fictitious second captivity is thus composed of (1) matter derived from the true story of the first captivity, as told in Muirchu and the Confession; (2) the Armoric legend; (3) the story of the marriage of the brother and sister; and (4) the escape to Gaul, with the mention of two towns: Venit cum Gallis ad Brotgalum, inde Trajectum. Brotgalum, Colgan suggests, is meant to represent Burdigalam, Bordeaux (cp. [Appendix C, 6]).
After this Patrick goes through a number of experiences before he comes to sit at the feet of Germanus; or, in other words, Probus, before he resumes the narrative of Muirchu, interjects material derived from other sources. Patrick goes
(1) to St. Martin of Tours, who tonsures him;
(2) to the plebs Dei, who are barefooted hermits;
(3) to an “island between mountains and sea” where a great beast infested a fountain;
(4) to St. Senior, bishop, in monte Hermon in dextro latere maris Oceani et vallata est civitas eius septem muris; this bishop ordained Patrick in sacerdotem, and he read with him for a long time; here Patrick heard in a vision the voice of children summoning him to Ireland; then he went with nine men, and held converse with the Lord, who made him three promises;
(5) to Ireland, where he is unsuccessful;
(6) to Rome; whence having received the apostolic blessing reversus est itinere quo venerat illuc (c. 20).
At this point the narrative of Muirchu is resumed most awkwardly. The author might have made Patrick visit Germanus on his way back through Gaul, but, instead, he proceeds: transnavigato vero mari Britannico, following Muirchu literally, without any attempt to make the extraneous matter fit in speciously to Muirchu’s story.
Some of these incidents are also found in the Vita Tertia, namely, the visit to Martin, the visit to Rome, and the visit to Mons Arnon; besides which the visit to a hermit who gives Patrick the staff of Jesus is recorded.
Now the author of the Vita Tertia and Probus undertook the same problem of working these incidents into the main thread of the Muirchu story, and they solved it in different ways. Probus solved it by a single interpolation, grouping all the new matter together and finding a place for it before the sojourn with Germanus. In the Vita Tertia there are three distinct interpolations arranged as follows:—
(Muirchu) Reads with Germanus.
(Interp.) Sojourns with Martin.
(Muirchu) Germanus sends Segitius with him to Rome.
(Interp.) Visits a hermit in quodam loco and receives staff of Jesus.
(Muirchu) Is ordained bishop by Amator.
(Interp.) Visits Rome, and goes thence ad montem Arnon when he salutes the Lord.
It is difficult to say which of the arrangements is the more unskilful. The same matter is found in a more expanded and “advanced” form in the Tripartite Life, where the arrangement is as follows (Rolls ed. p. 25 sqq.):—
(1) Patrick reads with Germanus; (2) is tonsured by Martin; (3) visits a cave, in the Tyrrhenian sea, “between mountain and sea,” where there were three other Patricks, and a beast infested a fountain; (4) Victor bids him go to Ireland, and Germanus sends Segitius with him; (5) Patrick goes to sea, with nine, and visits an island, where he found a young married couple who had lived there since the time of Christ; and (6) goes thence to Mount Hermon, near the island, where the Lord gives him the staff of Jesus and grants him three requests; (7) goes to Rome.
In these three documents we have the same matter differently combined, variously modified and augmented. Probus presents it in a more advanced stage than the Vita Tertia, the Tripartite in a more advanced stage than Probus. The matter, however, is not homogeneous. The visit to Pope Celestine at Rome has no legendary superstructure, and is found in the W document (V₂ and V₄) which does not contain any of the other incidents. The rest of the common material depends on three motives: (1) the association of Patrick with Martin; (2) the staff of Jesus; (3) converse with the Lord. The Vita Tertia presents these motives in their simplest form: (1) it is not stated that Patrick was tonsured by Martin; (2) the staff of Jesus is received from a hermit, not from the Lord; (3) there is no account of the conversation, we are simply told salutavit Dominum ut Moyses. The Tripartite Life brings the second and third motives into the same setting.
In this legendary material the only thing which, for our purpose, requires investigation is the description of the place in or near which Patrick saluted the Lord. In the Vita Tertia it is designated: montem Amon ar mair Lethe supra petram maris Tyrreni in civitate quae vocatur Capua, where the Irish words, ar mair Lethe are equivalent to super mare Latinum, that is, super mare Tyrrhenum. Probus has in monte Hermon in dextro latere maris Oceani et vallata est civitas septem muris. The Tripartite has hisliab Hermóin, “to mount Hermon.”
What was the name of the mountain? The MSS. of the Vita Tertia give Arnon, Probus and Trip. Hermon. As the form Hermon may well have had a scriptural motive, we might suppose that the original name was Arnon. But the description in the Vita Tertia points in another direction. Supra petram maris Tyrrheni is clearly intended to represent the Irish words preceding. But why petram? It points to montem ar maen ar mair Lethe. And so, in view of Hermon, Hermóin in the other sources, it looks as if Arnon is a corruption of Armóin or Armain, which the writer took to mean the Irish ar maen = supra petram.[328]
The account in Probus of Patrick’s visit to this place deserves attention. The city on the mountain is the seat of a bishop, who ordains Patrick priest. While he is there he hears the voices of children in a vision, and the angel bids him go to Ireland. Now here we have happening in the city of the bishop on Mount Hermon exactly what, according to the narrative of Muirchu (271-2), happened at Auxerre, the city of Germanus.
The conclusion is strongly suggested that the sanctus senior episcopus of Mount Hermon is simply a double of Germanus. In the transference of Germanus from Auxerre to the shores of the Mediterranean we have a step in the Tripartite Life where he instructs Patrick in the Aralanensis insula (p. 26 Rolls ed.). That, however, is a conscious combination of known sources; but, if the bishop of Mount Hermon masks Germanus, we have the Germanus episode coming down to us through a different channel of tradition.
Is it possible that this channel was British? There is a place, Llanarman in Wales, which means the church of Germanus. “Pen-arman” would mean the mountain of Germanus; and it is worth considering whether the presumable mons Armain of Vita Tertia, and mons Hermon of Probus, may not be explained as the “mountain of Germanus,” being derived from a British source.
The rest of the work of Probus is based, entirely or almost entirely, on Muirchu and Tírechán.
10. Notice of Patrick in the Historia Brittonum
It is unnecessary to discuss here the complicated question of the gradual evolution of the Historia Brittonum through successive recensions. In its oldest form it seems to have been mainly founded on a lost legendary Life of Germanus of Auxerre, in which the British chief Vortigern played a prominent part. This, the oldest form to which we can get back, though there may have been a still older text behind it, can be fixed to the year 679, and there can be no doubt that it contained the Arthurian chapter (c. 56).[329] In the course of the following century a recension of this, with some additions, was executed, and we possess it in an incomplete form in a MS. preserved at Chartres. Then towards the year 800 the work was rehandled and considerable additions were made to it by Nennius, a native of Wales. All our MSS., except that of Chartres, are derived from the compilation of Nennius, but represent different recensions.
Among the other additions which Nennius, pupil of Elbodug, Bishop of Bangor,[330] made to the Historia Brittonum, was a sketch of the life of St. Patrick (caps. 50-55). It is to be observed that in another interpolation concerning the migrations of the Scotti (c. 15) Nennius refers to oral information which he received from Irish scholars (sic mihi peritissimi Scottorum nuntiauerunt), and it is possible that for the Patrician section also he may have received help from the same source. (1) The account of the mission of Palladius, the ordination of Patrick, and his departure for Ireland, is derived directly from Muirchu, but with some additions.[331] (2) The description of Patrick’s experience on “Cruachan Eile” seems not to be derived directly from Tírechán, but to depend on another source, in which the words ut uideret fructum sui laboris occurred (Hist. Britt. 197₁₈, Tírechán, 323₅), and some other expressions common to both. The date of the fifth year of Loigaire (196₆) might have been, but need not have been, taken from Tírechán. (3) The three petitions of Patrick (197) are identical with and correspond verbally to those which are added in the Liber Armachanus to the incomplete text of Tírechán (331); and the four points of comparison with Moses (198) are also found in the same order among these Additions to Tírechán (332).
The dates in c. 55 do not correspond to the dates in the Additions to Tírechán. The statement that he was ordained in his twenty-fifth year seems to stand alone. But the period of eighty-five years assigned to his preaching in Ireland has arisen, we may surmise, from a confusion of numerals (lxxii. and lxxxu.).
It is unnecessary to deal here with the notices of Patrick in the Chronicles of Marianus Scotus (ob. A.D. 1083: text in Pertz, M.G.H., V., and Migne, P. L. 107, but these are superseded by MacCarthy’s Codex Palatino-Vaticanus, No. 830, 1892 [Todd Lecture Series III.], to which I may refer for a discussion of the dates). Nor need I speak of Jocelin’s biography (twelfth cent.) since it is founded on sources which we possess, and the only value which it may have for Patrician researches is that a minute examination might conceivably show that Jocelin used different recensions of some of our documents. For the purpose of the present biography, such pieces as the Homily on St. Patrick in the Lebar Brecc (printed by Stokes in Vit. Trip. vol. ii.), or the prefaces to the Hymns of Sechnall and Fíacc, do not demand particular notice.