6—Blessed Alexander, Monk, A.D. 1229.
In the account given of St. Matilda (April 11) allusion was made to her brother Alexander, who, concealing his royal origin, entered the Cistercian monastery of Foigni, in the diocese of Laon, France. He died some years before his holy sister on May 4th, 1229. His feast is celebrated by his Order on this day. A fair was formerly held in his honour at Keith, in Banffshire.
9—St. Oswald, King and Martyr, A.D. 642.
This illustrious King was the son of a pagan. Ethelfrid, King of Northumbria. He was compelled on the death of his father to seek safety in the north, and took refuge with his two brothers at Iona, where all three received baptism. Eanfrid, the eldest, obtained the throne of Northumbria, but relapsed into paganism. He met with a violent death at the hands of the British prince, Cadwalla, and Oswald succeeded him as king. Cadwalla was defeated near Hexham by Oswald's inferior army, the Christian prince having previously erected a large wooden cross on the field of {115} battle, before which he knelt in prayer for the success of his arms, and promised, with the consent of his soldiers, that all would embrace Christianity should God grant them the victory.
On ascending the throne Oswald procured a missionary for his people from Iona in the person of Aidan, who became eventually the first Bishop of Lindisfarne. The saintly King did not disdain to act as interpreter to his people of the instructions given by Aidan in the Celtic tongue. Oswald reigned but eight years, yet they were years of blessing for the nation The King led the way in the practice of the Christian virtues, especially of charity to the poor. It was on the occasion of the distribution to a hungry multitude at the palace gates of the food prepared for the King's repast, and the division of the costly silver dish itself amongst the poverty-stricken people, that St. Aidan, who was about to join the King at a banquet, cried out enthusiastically as he seized Oswald's right hand, "May this hand never corrupt!" The utterance was prophetic, as the sequel will show. {116}
The saintly King met his death on the field of battle, when resisting the invasion of his dominions by Penda, the pagan king of Mercia. His dying words were a prayer for the souls of all who had fallen in the battle. Many miracles were wrought by his intercession and by the use of particles of the cross he had erected. His right hand and arm, in accordance with St. Aidan's prophecy, remained in corrupt till the time of the Venerable Bede, who tells us that they were honoured in the Church of St. Peter at Bamborough. His head was taken to the monastery of Lindisfarne; it was eventually deposited in St. Cuthbert's shrine and was carried with the remains of that saint to Durham Minster.
Many monasteries and churches both in England and Scotland bore the name of St. Oswald. Those in Northumbria and Cumbria can scarcely be termed Scottish in these days, but Kirkoswald near Maybole and Carluke in Lanarkshire possessed respectively a church and chapel dedicated to the holy King. His death occurred on August 5th, but his feast has been transferred to this day. Devotion to St. {117} Oswald flourished greatly in Ireland as well as in Scotland and England, and extended to the Continent.
St. Angus.
At Balquhidder, in Perthshire, there is a local tradition regarding a saint of this name. He is said to have been a disciple of St. Columba, and to have preached the Faith in that neighbourhood. His name is preserved in the Clach Aenais (Stone of Angus), a slab bearing a representation of a priest holding a chalice. This stone formerly stood within the old church at Balquhidder, and it was the custom to stand or kneel upon it during the solemnization of a baptism or marriage. As this rite seemed to Presbyterian authorities to savour of superstition, the stone was removed to the churchyard about a century ago. Near the church are the foundations of the "Chapel of Angus." A hillock hard by is pointed out as the spot where the saint preached, and it still bears his name.
"Angus Fair" was formerly held at King's House, in the parish of Balquhidder, on the Wednesday after the second Tuesday in August. {118}