B a y o p M a r t
y r s *
his difciples j was interred there, but (as the Irijh pretend) J
after-times tranilated to Down; where, according to the epitaph]
his remains were depofited with thofe o f St. Bridget and St. Batri I
Hi tres in Duno tumulo tumulantur in uno;
Brigida, Pat r id us, atque Columba pius.
But this is totally denied by the Scots; who affirm, that tJ
contrary is ihewn in a life of the faint, extracted out of the popel
library, and tranflated out of the Latin into Erfe, by father CiI
o horan; which decides, in favor o f Jona, the momentous difj
pute *.
After the death of St. Columba, the ifland received the name on
Y-columb-cill, or, the ifle of the cell of Columba. In procefs ofl
time the illand itfelf was perfonified, and by a common blunder id
early times converted into a faint, and worlhipped under the titla
o f St. Columb-killa.
The religious continued unmolefted during two centuries: butl
in the year 807 were attacked by the Danes, who with their ufuall
barbarity put part of the monks to the fword, and obliged the!
remainder, with their abbot Cellach, to feek fafety by flying from]
their rage.. The monaftery remained depopulated for feven years¡1
but on the retreat of the Danes received a new order, being then]
peopled by Cluniacs, who continued there till the diflolutionj
when the revenues were united to the fee o f Argyle.
Took boat and landed on the fpot called the Bay of Martyrs*
the place where the bodies of thofe who were to be interred in
* M. S. in Advoc. Libr. 1693.
this
•this holy ground, were received, during the period o f fuperftition.
| .
Walked about a quarter of a mile to the South, in order to fix
'on a convenient fpot for pitching a rude tent, formed of oars and
fails as our day refidenee, during oqr ftay on the ifland.
i Obferve a little beyond, an oblong inclofure, bounded by a
ftone dike, called Clachnan Druinach, and fuppofed to have been
the burial place of the Druids, for bones o f various fizes are
[Found there. I have no doubt but that Druidifm was the original
[religion of this place-, yet I fuppofe this to have been rather the
[common cemetery of the people of the town, which lies almoft
[clofe to the Bay of Martyrs. . • : : ^
Having fettled the bufinefs o f our tent, return through the
[town, confifting at prefent of about fifty houfes, moftly very
] mean, thatched with ftraw o f bear pulled up by the roots, and
[bound tight on the roof with ropes made o f heath. Some o f
[ the houfes that lie a little beyond the reft feemed to have been
better conftru&ed than the others, and to have beeti the manfions
[ of the inhabitants when the place was in a flourilhing ftate, but
at prefent are in a very ruinous condition.
Vifit every place in the order that they lay from the village.
I The firft was the ruin of the nunnery, filled with canoneflfes of
St. Augufiine, and confecrated to St. Oran. They were permitted
! to live in community for a confiderable time after the reforma-
| tion, and wore a white gown; and above it a ratchet o f fine
! linnen*.
• Keith, z io .
O o The
«
mi
ijfi
T ow n .
NuNNgRYl
I t i