A HARMONY OF THE FOUR LIVES OF SAINT CIARAN
To the incidents of Ciaran's life VG prefixes—
| I. | The Homiletic Introduction (VG I) |
not found in any of the Latin Lives.
A. Ciaran was born A.D. 515. The first section of his life, his Childhood and Boyhood, may have covered the first ten or twelve years of his life—say in round numbers 515-530. Fifteen incidents of this period are recorded, which are found in the Lives as under—
II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. | The origin and birth of Ciaran; the wizard's prophecies How Ciaran raised the steed of Oengus from death How Ciaran turned water into honey How Ciaran was delivered from a hound How Ciaran and his instructor conversed, though distant from one another Ciaran and the fox How Ciaran spoiled his mother's dye-stuff How Ciaran restored a calf which a wolf had devoured How Ciaran was delivered from robbers How Ciaran gave a gift of cattle How Ciaran gave a gift of a plough-coulter How Ciaran gave a gift of an ox How Ciaran gave the king's cauldron to beggars and was enslaved How Ciaran reproved his mother The breaking of the carriage-axle |
LA 1 2 3 6 4 — — 5 7 8 9 10 11 13 14 |
LB 1 2 3 9 — — — 8 — — — — — — — |
LC 1 2 3 4 — — — 5 6 — — — 7 9 10 |
VG 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 — — — 11 — — |
The boyhood legend probably consisted originally of the five incidents common to all, II-V, IX. It is noteworthy, however, that LB transfers V, IX, to a position after the second phase of the Life. This is possibly due to a misplaced leaf in the exemplar from which our copies of LB are derived. X-XIII, variants on the theme of XIV, are probably interpolations in LA, and VIII, a valuable fragment of folk-lore, is an interpolation in VG. VI and VII are conflations of two varieties of one incident, as is pointed out in the Annotations. These observations will show how complex is the criticism of the Ciaran tradition.
B. The second phase of the life is the Schooling of Ciaran at Clonard; perhaps about 530-535, still using round numbers. This part of the life is most fully told in VG; it is very fragmentary in all the Latin Lives. There are thirteen incidents—
XVII. XVIII. XIX. XX. XXI. XXII. XXIII. XXIV. XXV. XXVI. XXVII. XXVIII. XXIX. | How Ciaran went with his cow to the school of Findian The angels grind for Ciaran Ciaran and the king's daughter How Ciaran healed the lepers Ciaran and the stag The story of Ciaran's gospel The blessing of Ciaran's food The story of the mill and the bailiff's daughter The story of Cluain How Ciaran freed a woman from servitude How Ciaran freed another woman from servitude Anecdotes of Clonard The parting of Ciaran and Findian |
LA 15 16 17 — — 18 19 — — 20 21 — — |
LB 4 — — — — — — 6 — 5 — — — | LC
11 12 — — — — 8 — — — — — — |
VG 12 13 14 15 16 17 — 18 19 21 22 20 23 |
C. The third phase may be called the Wanderings of Ciaran. From Clonard he made his way to the monastery of Ninnedh on the island in Loch Erne now called Inismacsaint (it is to be noted that VG knows nothing of this visit). From Loch Erne he went to Aran, thence (after a visit to Saint Senan on Scattery Island) to his brother's monastery at Isel, a place not certainly identified. After this he removes to Inis Aingin, now Hare Island in Loch Ree, which is his last halting-place before reaching his goal at Clonmacnois. There are twelve incidents. The first forms incident 13 of LC, which then breaks off; this text therefore no longer requires a special column. The wander-years end with 548, the year of the saint's arrival at Clonmacnois.
XXX. XXXI. XXXII. XXXIII. XXXIV. XXXV. XXXVI. XXXVII. XXXVIII. XXXIX. XL. XLI. | The adventure of the robbers of Loch Erne How Ciaran floated a firebrand on the lake Ciaran in Aran How a prophecy was fulfilled How Ciaran visited Senan Ciaran in Isel The removal of the lake Ciaran departs from Isel Ciaran in Inis Aingin The coming of Oenna How Ciaran recovered his gospel How Ciaran went from Inis Aingin to Clonmacnois |
LA — — 22 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 |
LB 7 10 11 — 12 13 14 — 15 16 — 17 |
VG — — 24 25 26 28 29 30 31 32 32 34 |
The difference of opinion as to the setting of incident XXXIII is to be noted. Also noteworthy is the absence of any reference to a second visit to Senan, though such is postulated in the lives of the latter saint.
D. The fourth phase covers the time—according to all our texts a few months, according to other authorities some years—intervening between the foundation of Clonmacnois and the death of Ciaran. The traditions of LA and VG here run along the same lines; LB is curiously diverse. There are in all twelve incidents, namely—
XLII. XLIII. XLIV. XLV. XLVI. XLVII. XLVIII. XLIX. LII. L. LI. LIII. | The foundation of the church How Ciaran sent a cloak to Senan Ciaran and the wine The story of Crithir How an insult to Ciaran was averted How Ciaran was saved from shame How a man was saved from robbers The death of Ciaran The visit of Coemgen The earth of Ciaran's tomb delivers Colum Cille from a whirlpool The envy of the saints Panegyrics of Ciaran | LA
31 32 34 33 — — — 35 36 37 — 38 | LB
— — 18 — 19 20 21 22 — 23 — 24 | VG
35 27 36 37 — — — 38 39 — 40 41 |