The rejection of Mount Miss as the scene of Patrick’s servitude involves the rejection of Miliucc as his master; for the passage in Tírechán makes it clear that Miliucc was really connected with that region (ascendit autem ad montem Miss Boonrigi quia nutriuit ibi filium Milcon Maccu-Buain, 329₂₈; the region was called from the name of Búan, Miliucc’s ancestor).
That the forest of Fochlad was not confined to north-western Mayo, the barony of Tirawley, but extended southward to Murrisk, is, I think, a probable conclusion from the passage in Tírechán, 310₃₋₁₂, where Crochan Aigli (Croagh Patrick) is closely connected with the Silua Fochlithi. It seems highly probable that Crochan Aigli, which has always been associated with Patrick in living tradition, is the mountain of the Confession. And in one document we have a distinct statement that this was so. It is remarkable that Probus, though he follows the narrative of Muirchu, nevertheless substitutes Crochan Aigli for Mount Miss (see above, [p. 274]). He must have had some motive for doing so; he must have had another tradition before him.
The question arises, what was the origin of the error (which evidently prevailed before the seventh century) that Patrick spent his captivity in north Dalaradia. Tírechán has a notice that a certain Gosactus (Guasacht),[382] whom Patrick ordained near Granard, was son of Miliucc (311), and his tomb was shown at Granard in later days, Vita Secunda, c. 15. This seems to bring Miliucc into touch with reality. He further states that Patrick, when a captive, had “nurtured Gosactus.” Our first idea would be that this was an inference from the Miliucc legend; but it seems just possible that it might account for the rise of the legend, in the way explained above, [p. 123 (cap. vi.)].
There are two ways in which an attempt might be made to reconcile the tradition of the captivity near Mount Miss with the passage in the Confession. (1) It might be held that Patrick changed masters, and served as a slave in both regions. But the passage in which he describes his captivity seems incompatible with such a conjecture. He says that he had been six years with the man from whom he escaped, and his narrative distinctly conveys the impression that he had been in the same place since his arrival in Ireland. (2) It might be suggested that he escaped from Antrim to a port in Mayo, near the wood of Fochlad, and thus became acquainted with that district, though he could not have been very long there (cp. White, Proc. of R.I.A. 1905, p. 224). But the words of the dream et adhuc[383] ambulas inter nos are not satisfied by this hypothesis. “We beg you to come and continue to walk amongst us”; this implies a previous sojourning far more protracted than the day or two spent at the port in waiting for the vessel to sail. It may be added that a flight from the west to an eastern port is what we should rather expect than a flight from the east coast to a western harbour.
5. Tentative Chronology from the Escape to the Consecration as Bishop
[The following discussion is founded on the working hypothesis (see [Excursus 3]) that Patrick was born c. A.D. 389, and carried captive c. A.D. 405.]
In the twenty years intervening between Patrick’s escape, c. A.D. 411-412, and his consecration as bishop, A.D. 432, we know that he visited Britain, that he was attached to the church of Auxerre and studied there, and that he sojourned for some time in the monastery of Lérins. But our data do not permit us to arrange this part of his life with certainty, and various reconstructions are possible. The two indications which we possess are:—
(1) His own statement that he was again in Britain, post paucos annos (after his escape), Confession, 364₁.
(2) His association with Bishop Amator of Auxerre, who probably ordained him deacon (the grounds of this probability will be shown in [Excursus 9]); the death of Amator probably happened in A.D. 418.
Our view will partly depend on the latitude we may feel justified in giving to the expression post paucos annos. It might be held that his ordination by Amator preceded his return to Britain; or it might be held that he was not ordained at Auxerre till after his visit to Britain, so that he would have returned to Gaul before A.D. 418. The second alternative seems the more probable,[384] and it agrees with the tradition (Muirchu) that he went to Auxerre to study after his visit to Britain. His choice of Auxerre, combined with the circumstance that it was a bishop of Auxerre who afterwards took a prominent part in helping the orthodox British against Pelagianism, suggests that relations of some intimacy were maintained between Auxerre and some of the British sees. When Patrick, in Britain, made up his mind as to the destination of his life, he would have gone to Auxerre with recommendations from his friends. It seems most likely that his connexion with Auxerre should have originated in this way.