". . . The pure Culdees
Were Albyn's earliest priests of God,
Ere yet an island of her seas
By foot of Saxon monk was trod,
Long ere her churchmen by bigotry
Were barred from holy wedlock's tie.
'Twas then that Aodh, famed afar,
In Iona preached the word with power.
And Reullura, beauty's star,
Was the partner of his bower."
In one of his Irish Melodies, Moore gives the legend of St. Senanus and the lady
who sought shelter on the island, but was repulsed: -
"O, haste and leave this sacred isle,
Unholy bark, ere morning smile;
For on thy deck, though dark it be,
A female form I see;
And I have sworn this sainted sod
Shall ne'er by woman's foot be trod."
In these respects and in others the Culdees departed from the established rules
of the Romish Church, and consequently were deemed heretical. The consequence
was that as the power of the latter advanced that of the Culdees was enfeebled. It was
not however till the thirteenth century that the communities of the Culdees were
suppressed and the members dispersed. They still continued to labor as individuals,
and resisted the inroads of Papal usurpation as they best might till the light of the
Reformation dawned on the world.
Iona, from its position in the western seas, was exposed to the assaults of the
Norwegian and Danish rovers by whom those seas were infested, and by them it was
repeatedly pillaged, its dwellings burned, and its peaceful inhabitants put to the sword.
These unfavorable circumstances led to its gradual decline, which was expedited by the
subversion of the Culdees throughout Scotland. Under the reign of Popery the island
became the seat of a nunnery, the ruins of which are still seen. At the Reformation, the
nuns were allowed to remain, living in community, when the abbey was dismantled.
Iona is now chiefly resorted to by travellers on account of the numerous
ecclesiastical and sepulchral remains which are found upon it. The principal of these are
the Cathedral or Abbey Church, and the Chapel of the Nunnery. Besides these remains
of ecclesiastical antiquity, there are some of an earlier date, and pointing to the
existence on the island of forms of worship and belief different from those of Christianity.
These are the circular Cairns which are found in various parts, and which seem to have
been of Druidical origin. It is in reference to all these remains of ancient religion that
Johnson exclaims, "That man is little to be envied whose patriotism would not gain force
upon the plains of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer amid the ruins of
Iona."
In the Lord of the Isles, Scott beautifully contrasts the church on Iona with the
cave of Staffa, opposite -
"Nature herself, it seemed, would raise
A minster to her Maker's praise!
Not for a meaner use ascend
Her columns, or her arches bend;
Nor of a theme less solemn tells
That mighty surge that ebbs and swells,
And still between each awful pause,
From the high vault an answer draws,
In varied tone, prolonged and high,
That mocks the organ's melody;
Nor doth its entrance front in vain
To old Iona's holy fane,
That Nature's voice might seem to say,
Well hast thou done, frail child of clay
Thy humble powers that stately shrine
Tasked high and hard - but witness mine.
Proverbial Expressions
No. 1. Page 60.
Materiem superabat opus. - Ovid.
The workmanship surpassed the material.
No. 2. Page 60.
Facies non omnibus una,
Nec diversa tamen, qualem decet esse sororum. - Ovid.
Their faces were not all alike,
nor yet unlike, but such as those of sisters ought to be.
No. 3. Page 63.
Medio tutissimus ibis. - Ovid.
You will go most safely in the middle.
No. 4. Page 67.
Hic situs est Phaeton, currus auriga paterni,
Quem si non tenuit, magnis tamen excidit ausis. - Ovid.
Here lies Phaeton, the driver of his father's chariot,
which if he failed to manage, yet he fell in a great undertaking.
No. 5. Page 171.
Imponere Pelio Ossam. - Virgil.
To pile Ossa upon Pelion.
No 6. Page 311.
Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. - Virgil.
I fear the Greeks even when they offer gifts.
No. 7. Page 373.
Non tali auxilio nec defensoribus istis
Tempus eget. - Virgil.
Not such aid nor such defenders does the time require.
No. 8. Page 331.
Incidit in Scyllam, cupiens vitare Charybdim.
He runs on Scylla, wishing to avoid Charybdis.
No. 9. Page 346.
Sequitur patrem, non passibus aequis. - Virgil.
He follows his father with unequal steps.
No. 10. Page 349.
Monstrum horrendum, informe, ingens, cui lumen ademptum. - Virgil.
A horrible monster, misshapen, vast, whose only eye had been put out.
No. 11. Page 350.
Tantaene animis coelestibus irae? - Virgil.
In heavenly minds can such resentments dwell?
No. 12. Page 352.
Haud ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco. - Virgil.
Not unacquainted with distress, I have learned to succor the unfortunate.
No. 13. Page 352.
Tros, Tyriusve mihi nullo discrimine agetur. - Virgil.
Whether Trojan or Tyrian shall make no difference to me.
No. 14. Page 355.
Facilis descensus Averni;
Noctes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis;
Sed revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad auras,
Hoc opus, hic labor est. - Virgil.
The descent of Avernus is easy;
the gate of Pluto stands open night and day;
but to retrace one's steps and return to the upper air,
- that is the toil, that the difficulty.
No. 15. Page 355.
Uno avulso non deficit alter. - Virgil.
When one is torn away another succeeds.
No. 16. Page 355.
Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito. - Virgil.
Yield thou not to adversity, but press on the more bravely.
No. 17. Page 376.
Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum. - Virgil.
Then struck the hoofs of the steeds on the ground with a four-footed
trampling.
No. 18. Page 380.
Sternitur infelix alieno vulnere, coelumque
Adspicit et moriens dulces reminiscitur Argos. - Virgil.
He falls, unhappy, by a wound intended for another;
looks up to the skies, and dying remembers sweet Argos.
Age of Fable or Beauties of Mythology Page 45