OBSERVATIONS ON THE KIRKMADRINE EPIGRAPHS. 247
I.
OBSERVATION CONJECTURED SAN S E KIRKMADKINONTH E EPIGRAPHS. By JOHN DOWDEST, D.D., F.S.A. (Sow.).
e ProceedingsTh f learneo d Societies have often, with much advantage to further research, recorde e resultth d f inquirieo s n i st whicye e ar h hut a very imperfect condition. On the obscure and difficult questions often raise archaeologicay b d l studies, even conjectures that have little positive evidenc thein ei r ventilatesuppore h y ma t d wit o discreditn h . e pageth f Proceedings,o n sI suc s thosa h f thio e s Society, factd an s speculations are brought under the notice of investigators in the same or similar field f researcho s d eventuallAn . y corrections commadee h o et , deficiencies supplied, over-statements toned down and modified, what is worthles guess-wore th n i s k dismissed, while wha solis i t d remainss i t I . with a sense that some such explanation is needed by way of apology that the following notes are submitted for consideration and criticism. I. The two inscribed stones found at Kirkmadrine, in the parish of Stoneykirk, "Wigtownshire, were e broughknowledgth e o t th t f o e learned world by Dr Arthur Mitchell.1 They are generally admitted to be, if not the very earliest, among the earliest of the inscribed Christian monuments of Great Britain. There has, so far as I am aware, been no one who disputes the judgment of Dr Joseph Anderson,2 when he de- clares them to be "the oldest inscribed Christian monuments in Scot- land." Plaster-cast f theso s e stones, procure e prompth y db t liberality of Sir James Simpson, may be found in the Museum of this Society. The stones have been pictured in Dr John Stuart's great work,8 and in r Andersen'D s Scotland Earlyn i Christian Times (second series . 254).p , 4 Putting aside from consideration in the present paper the form and character of the sacred monogram inclosed within a circle (which appears 1 Now Sir Arthur Mitchell, K.C.B. 2 Scotland Earlyn i Christian Times (second series). 91 . p , 3 Sculptured Stones of Scotland, vol. ii. plate Ixxi. 4 Also copied from Stuar Hiibner'n ti s Inscriptiones Britannia! Christianas,n i d an Smith and Cheetham's Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 1978, and (more accurately Dowden'n )i s Celtic Church Scotland,n i . 17 . p 8 24 PROCEEDING E SOCIETY , 18989 TH T F . O SMA ,
on both sides of one of the stones, and on one side of the other) and what is doubtless the remains of the formula A ET « at the top of the principal stone (though the character of these is of the highest im- portance in helping to determine the.approximate date of the monument}, w e inscriptio turth o nt n belo e ?nonograwth e principath n mo l stone (fig. 1). It is well cut, well preserved, and in all but one place (the end . of the fourth line, where the stone appears to have been broken or frayed away) leaveletteringe th doubo o n st t runI s a tfollow.s sa s :— HJ C I A C E N T SCIETPRAE CIPVISACER DOTE8IDE8 VIVENTIVS ETMAVORIVS fourte th f ho d line lettee en th , e Abees rth t thaha n s givei tV s na encroached on (it would seem) by the wearing away of the stone. Whether there was ever any letter in this line following what is repre- sented unable abovar s e 'ssayo ea et w ' . Certainl t woulyi d seem that the fifth and sixth lines were inscribed after the slab of stone had lost tha e e samb fourte th y t s truth ei ma f aeho t i portio d s edgeit An f no . suppliesculptore s lineTh wa , t .seemi s dme a , wito st hruda e stoney b , no means regularly dressed, and had to fit his inscription as best he could. The sense of the inscription (with the. exception of doubts raised by the four last letters of the fourth line), is perfectly obvious. I)r Stuart (followe othersy db fourte ) th supplie f ho d lettee en sth e r th 'T t a ' line, and reads as follows :— HIC IACENT SANCTI ET PRAE CIPVI SACER DOTES ID ES[T] VIVENTIVS ET MAVORIVS
250 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 9, 1898.
r AndersoD d Hiibneran n l reae lasth dt wor MAIOEIVSs da e doubth , t arising fro e ligatur me 'Ath th ' f wit eo e nexhth t letter,, thus fej. The only question I am disposed to raise as to the reading is with regard to the explanation of the last four letters of the fourth line. The introductio n suci ne sens th a d hplacest, f i 'tha n o ei f o e to s is,s i ' extraordinary entirelo s d an ,y contrar e usagth f Christiao eyo t n inscrip- tions, that nothinmose th t cogenghu t necessity would induco t e m e I accepmus . it tt leav o thoshavt o e wh e mad a speciae l studf o y early Christian epigraphy to say whether any- example of it can be found I wil d l an onl; y remark, that among hundred f earlso y Christian inscriptions tha I havt e read tracthero n f sucs eo e i unnatura n ha l con- struction. In a brief inscription like this, where the sense is perfectly obvious without these supposed words d wheran , e usagI ( think s i e ) wholly against their introduction I fee, l compellee th s a t rejeco dt es d i t true interpretation. The conjecture I have to offer is that IDES is the whole, or a part, sacerdotese th e prope oth f fo e r nam on burie f o e than di t place.f I
we think that, like th2 e other names, it should have a Latin form of termination in 'vS,' we might read ' IDES[VS],'assuming that the stone at the time when it was sculptured admitted of this addition ; but the assumption doewel e t seem s no l m o foundedt . addee b y d thama t commo' IdI a t s i ' n componen f Cymrio t c proper names. Thu fine sw d Idno, Idwal, Idwallon, Iddog, Iddew, Iddon, Idloes, Idcant, Idnerth.8 It is to the Eomano-British Church of "Wales and Cumbria that we naturally turn for illustrations of the name. For this reason, and also because of the apparently very early date of this monu- ment, it would probably be idle to look to Ireland for illustrations of the word; yet it may be worth mentioning that we find Id as the name of one of two brothers with whom St Patrick came in contact.4 We also
1 Inscriptiones Britannice Christianas. 2 This suggestion was made by the writer of the present paper in The Celtic Church in Scotland (1894), p. 16. See also Appendix iv. pp. 333-4. These (Idwa d Idnertan l h were British Bishops d otheran ) s wil foune b l n i d 3 Skene's Four Ancient Books of Wales. W. J. Rees, Gambro-British Saints. Rice Rees, Welsh Saints, and Brut-y-Tywysogion (Rolls Series). Whitley Stokes' editio e Tripartiteth f no Life t oPatrick,S f vol. . i94 . 4 OBSERVATIONS ON THE KIRKMADRINE EPIGRAPHS. 251
fin a Bishod f Ato p h Fada n Leinstei t r recorde t 14ta d he Julth n yi Martyrology of German (edited by Whitley Stokes for the "Henry Bradshaw Societ e finyw d" )d n Idnaewhosso An e eth ,. Id nam s ewa of Attarae e Felireth f n OEnguso i , (Stokes' edit. , clvi)p , ; while Ide (one of the variants of Ite) appears in Irish hagiology.1 We see, then, that Id is a frequent component of Celtic names, whether Cymric or Gaelic. As to Viventius, I think it is worth calling the attention of future investigator Gallicad ol n n entra a n n o i yt Martyrologys , publishey db Martene (Ampl. Collect., vi. 658 sq.), where we read "Febr., xiv. Cal. Mart., in Britanniis Faustini, Yiventise." Could there be a transcrip- tional error her f Viventiaeo r Yiventiefo i1 . SACERDOTES.II —The thre twor e(o ) ecclesiastic o whot s e mth monumen s erecte wa te describear d s beina d g " sanct t e prsecipui i sacerdotes.'' I have avoided translating saeerdotes by our English word priests, because this latter word—(naturally enough, as being etymologically only presbyter 'writ small')—suggests to us a rank and status among the clergy which, at all events in the Church during the period within which the Kirkmadrine stones must have been sculptured subordinats wa , e rand statuth bishop a an ko e t f so . There e dangeth s f i importino r g inte fourtth o r fiftho h centur ysensa f eo e worth d sacerdos whic s thewa hn comparatively d rarhighlan e y exceptional. Indeed, while in the later, mediaeval, period the word sacerdos s almosha t invariable referenc whoe on mo t e we- shoulw no d call a priest, in the fourth and fifth centuries sacerdos was applied with incomparably greater frequenc a bishop, o t d thatt i observedy an e b , , withou qualifyiny an t g epithet. t posses no d carefuy fulI knowo an d an s sl a e r Slw , o fa examina- e histor e change th commoth tio th f f o no yn i e n wore usagth df o e undertako t I ablw m sacerdos.no ea completdeaa o r et n i lNo y ewa t worde eveth Bu nreferencf a . o e witus suchistore o e t ehth th h f yo a familiar work as the Glossary of Du Cange (s.v. sacerdos) will suffice to put the student of the epigraphy and literary remains of the fourth, fifthsixtand ,h centurie guardhis .on s " Primi Formerlythe in - and ,
Todd and Reeves, Martyrology of Donegal, 17 . 1 2 25 -PROCEEDING E SOCIETY , 18989 TH Y F .O SMA ,
tive Church," he tells us, " this name [sacerdos] was employed for bishop, as the writings (passim) of Cyprian, Augustine, &c., testify." Du Cange and his Benedictine editors give pertinent examples from the writings of Ambrose, Gregor f Tourso y , Fortunatu s Lif hi f Sfo ecn s(i Martin) , and fro e Theodosiamth n Code, whic e htranscribeb neet no d d here.1 The e workeditoth f f Pauliimo o rs f JSTolso a (Migne, Lat. Patrol., vol. Ixi. col o sayt . 596s , a " r Primi) fa goe o s ss Ecclesis sseeulis sacerdotis nomen episcopis solis tribui solitum "; and adds, " Mos iste paulatim fractus, et inde ad presbyteros vox passim delata." The question that e worth ds usewa I havdw t myseldurinese Ho , e fourtis fgth h century and down to the middle of the fifth?2 The answer to that question is, thae e ordinarworth th t df d genera o sacerdosan ye us l withie th n period referred to (and, indeed, for' many years later) is to signify a bishop thad an ,t onl comparativeln yi y rarhighld ean y exceptional cases is it applied to one of lower rank. Tn fact, so common was this use of sacerdos, that when dealing with writing o s lat a s thesLe a e f o e the Great (Bishop of Rome A.D. 440-461), the learned brothers Bal- lerini thin t i necessark war o yt wordse e reade th th n n i r, " Sacerdotis nomen non semper Episcopoo pr d nonnunquamse , etia o Presbytermpr o accipitur." 3 The mode of language which we are about to consider is the general languag e everydath f o e e period—thyth liff o e e languag f historicaeo l writing f epistolaro , y correspondence f monumentao , l inscriptionst I . would be quite foreign to our purpose to enter upon the technical theo- logical notions connected wit e saeerdotium,th h e th s treatea y b f o d professed-theologian e fourt th d fiftf an o hsh centuries. Thero n s i e question as to their using the term at times in a comprehensive sense; indeed, so comprehensive as to include not only the presbyterate, but also the diaconate. Thus we find Optatus of Milevis (in the second e fourtth half o hf century) asking, " Quid commemorem Diaconon i s tertio ? quid presbyteros in secundo sacerdotio institutes 1" (Contr. Donatist, . 35)i Greate . th Whilo , Le havwhose et w eS e writings s(a
1 Du Gange also illustrates the use of saeerdotium for the Episcopate, 2 I add a few illustrations from a later period. , LeonisS 3 Magni Opera, torn . colii . . 315. OBSERVATIONS ON THE KIRKMADRINE EPIGRAPHS. 253
we shall see) swarm with illustrations of sacerdos used with distinct and exclusive reference to bishops, censuring the practice of some bishops who, while they chose Sundaye ordinatioth r fo s f bishopso n , were content that presbyters and deacons " quolibet die dignitatem offlcii sacerdotalis accipere " (Epist. iv.).1 Other occasional passages showing the comprehensiv tere th m f questioe o coul th e t cited.e eus db Bu nI 2 t is—Whepu meee ne worw th t d sacerdos narrativn i e relations formn ,i s of address inscriptionsn i d an , , whas probablit s i t e meaning? Those who are familiar with the writings of Cyprian will recall numerous passages wher usee h e s sacerdos, sacerdoiium, d sacerdotalisan exactl e mediaevawritea th s yf a o r l period woul episcopus,e dus episco- patus, d episcopalis.an s weli And s la , known earlo n , y writes ha r insisted more firml r persistentlo y y than 'Cypria e differencth n o n n i e office, rank authoritd an , y betwee e episcopusnth and presbyter.a t Bu
write f suco r h early dat serviceablo s Cyprias ea t r purposno ou s ni r efo e 8 as author fourte liveo th r fiftn swh dhi o h centuries I turn. , therefore, firse ith nt place writero t , wero swh e contemporarie st Ninian S wit r hou , from whose time the Kirkmadrine stones cannot, at latest, be very far distant e stone possibly Th .ma s y belone timth f Mnianeo o gt : they cannot reasonably be assigned to a date much later than that of his death, if we are to give any value to the testimony afforded by the form of the symbols and the character of the lettering. 1. Sulpicius Severus wrote at the close of the fourth and beginning of the fifth century. I first thought of turning to his works because he was the biographer and friend of St Martin of Tours, whom St Ninian is said to have visited, and from whom, as we are told, he
Edit. Cacciari, torn. ii. p. 27. 2 Compare Augustine (De Civitate Dei, lib. xx. c. 10), when he argues that Apoc. xx. 6 refers to all Christians "non utiquede solis episcopis et preshyteris, qui proprie jam vocantur in ecolesia sacerdotes." 3 That thi Cyprian's si s usual modus loquendi t questioned no r thre o s i o e Tw . passages have been referred to (Epist. xl., Epist. xliii. 3, Epist. xx. 2, edit. Oxon.), which by some have been construed as making exceptions to his usual style. In one of these (Epist. xx. 2} it has been inferred that Cyprian attributes the sacerdotii vigor deacono t wels s a s presbyters a le inferencth t Bu e . l thesial n e cases seems due to a misinterpretation of the text. 254 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 9, 1898.
obtained masons for the construction of his church at Candida Casa.1 In the critical Vienna edition of Sulpicius (1866), the editor, C. Halm, notes five examples under the head " sacerdos = episcopus."2 Of these it may suffice to cite two passages. In the passage where St Martin is described as bursting into the palace at Treves to plead for the life of some officere courth f to s condemne deatho dt d consentinan , tako gt e part in the consecration of Felix as Bishop of Treves, we read " postridie Felicis episoopi ordinatio parabatur, sanctissimi sane vir t vere i e digni, qui meliore tempore sacerdos floret" (Dialog, . [iii.ii ] 13). Againe th , Spanis d Aquitaniaan h n bishop n synoi s d condemned Priscilliad an n his adherents, the two bishops Instantius and Salvianus, at Saragossa. The e readw n : "Instantiu t Salvianuse s , damnati judieio sacerdotum, Priscillianum, etiam laicum, sed principem malorum omnium, una secum Caesaraugustana synodo notatum, ad eonfirmandas vires suas episcopum in Abilensi oppido constituunt, rati nimirum, si hominem acrem et callidum sacerdotali auctoritate arniassent, tutiores fore esse" (Chron., ii. 47). 2. Rufinus, like Sulpicius, was a contemporary of Ninian. His translation (somewhat paraphrastic in its character) of the Ecclesiastical History e moder f th Eusebiuo n i n s worldsha , naturally enough, fallen into obscurity and neglect since the publication of the original Greek. n r admirablpurposa ou s i r e fo eh t e Bu witness e earl th diee H yn i d. years of the fifth century (A.D. 410 V). • We shall see later on that Eufinus uses on one occasion the peculiar expression " preecipuus sacerdos, "e pluralwhicth e n th s usei h)(i f o d
ecclesiastics commemorated at Kirkmadrine. But we have first( to observe that Rufinus' rendering of Eusebius abounds in passages where sacerdotes (withou epithety an t s usei ) f ecclesiasticdo s holdin rane gth k of bishops, or where sacerdotium is used for the ' sacred office' exer- cised by a bishop, and sacerdotalis for ' episcopal'; while, when he has occasion to refer to one who would now be called a priest, he uses, invariably (unles mistaken)m a sI wore th , d presbyter. examplew fe A s
1 Vita Niniani, co. ii. iii. (Historians of Scotland, vol. v. pp. 143, 144). 2 Chronica, . 31ii ; Ibid., 46; Ibid., 47; Dialogus, . 12ii ; Dialogus, iii. 31. OBSERVATION KIRKMADR1NE TH N O S E EPIGRAPHS5 25 .
ma yremarkede b b ey given.ma passingn t i I , 1 , thae interpretatioth t n of the Greek by Kufinus is often so loose and inexact that a reference to the original text of Eusebius is in many cases not helpful; but of sense th f Kufinueo s there nee 11e db 0 doubt. (a) Describing the joy of the Christians when liberty was given by Constantine for the exercise of their religion, Rufinus writes, " Congre- gabant in uiiuin aacerdotes," etc. (lib . cap.ix . 10).2 (i) Concerning the opinion (springing up in Arabia) that the soul died with the body, but would rise again with the body at the resurrec- tion, we read as follows :—" Ad quern morbum ab ecclesia depellendum cum ingens episcoporum concilium conveiiisset, iterum Origenes rogatur
omnibub a s interesse t facere , e sermonem. Cumque coram omni sacer- dotum concilia disputaret," etc. (lib. vi. cap. 27).3 (c) A passage where sacerdos is very .clearly distinguished from pres- byter s founi n Rufinusi d ' translatio e epistl th a Counci f f o no e f o l Antioch condemning Paul of Samosata: "Dionysio et Maximo et omnibus, qui per universum orbem sunt, sac.erdotibus et coepiscopis una cum presbyteris et diaconis," etc. (lib. vii. cap. 26).4 e titl f (d)chapteTh o e s , "i boo 9 , Emimeratir v. k b Commodsu o o sacerdotum," where the corresponding Greek is Ot Kara K6/j.oSov (m 1 The references are to the Bale edition of Eusebii PampJiili . . . Opera (1549). ''• This correspond e passagth o t s n e libGreei e . th cap x .f o k .3 text, where w e have fififTK^TTtav eVi Tavrb crvvyXvfftis. 3 Of. Greek, lib. vi. 37, where no words occur corresponding either to episcopo- rum or sacerdotum, the text simply reading cruyKpo-rriSciffrjs oi> OlKOVlJ.eVT]V4 TTttffl &U\\tlTOUpyo'lS T)IJ.S)V tlTttTKdffOlS Kal TTp^O j3y TepOLS Kal SlaK^OlS K,T.\. 6 25 PROCEEDING E SOCIUTYTH F O S , 'MA , 1898Y9 . Asiam supererat adhuc et' florebat ex apostoloram discipulis Polycarpus Smyrnorum ecclesi* 'episeopus, t e Papia s similitei1 apud Hierapolim sacerdotium geren s. 35) "(c . e adjectiv(/Th ) ' sacerdotalise s usei ' d wit a similah r reference. Zephirinus, Bishop of Borne, is said to have died, "octo annis sacerdotali functus officio " (lib. vi. c. 16). It may be added that Kufinus, in the two additional and original Books, whic appendee hh tlio dt e nine Book f Eusebiusso ' Ecclesiastical History, employs language of the same kind. (g) Thus " Liberius ... urbn i . e Rom r idepe am tempus sacerdotio fungebatur" . (lib22)c . x . And, again, " Cuin quadragesimt e o sexto anno sacerdotii Athanasiusui s quievisset," etc3). . c. (Jib xi. . (ft) Relating the well-known story of the election of St Ambrose to the bishopric of Milan, Eufinus tells how a sudden cry arose among the people, " Ambrosium episcopura posttilantes, d declarinan " g that there would be no peace or unity "nisi Ambrosius sibi daretur sacerdos" (lib. , c 11)t I . woul .eas• xi e o multiplt yb d y examples t thesbu , e will suffic shoo t e manne wth f Rufinuso r I canno. t profess tha I thav e read the whole of Rufinus with minutely close attention, but I am able to say that I have not noticed a single example of sacerdos being applied to anyone but a bishop. So far I ,hav e dealt with writerfourte e clos th begind th f f eo an h so - ing of the fifth century. I now come down later; for, though I see no reason why the Kirkmadrine stones should not have been inscribed durin e Roma e th tim th gf o en occupatione wel b o leav t y l ema t i , a margin. e writingTh 1 . abounf I Pop so o eLe illustrationn i d e th f so use of sacerdos as applied to bishops. In fact, sacerdos seems in his e ordinarwritingth e b o yst ter f mcourteso y applie persono t d s holding episcopal rank, though episcopus is used when strict formality is re- quired. Thus, in Epistle I.2 (A.D. 440 or 446?), complaining to the African 1 Indeed, the margin should be wide if Hiibner's remark be accepted : " Literarum forma saeculo quiuto sextove videtur convenire." - The numbering of the Epistles follows Cacciari's edition, St Lebnis Magni Opera Omnia (Romae lorn3 , . 1753 1755). OBSERVATION KIRKMADEINE TH X O S E EPIGBAPHS7 25 . bishops (per Caesariensem Mauritaniam) of unfit or unqualified persons who were too often raised to the episcopate, Leo writes : " Cum in ordinationibus sacerdotum quaedam apud vos illicite usurpata crebrior ad nos comraeantium sermo perferret; ratio pietatis exegit," etc., and he goes on to say that he entrusts the matter " Fratri et Consacerdoti nostro Potentio."l Similarly, in the same Epistle, after alleging the Apostle's rule, , inte"ut r alias electionis regulas s Episaopusi , ordinetur, quern unius uxoris virum f uiss t essau ee constiterit, e addsh " , " tarn sacra semper habita ista praecepti t oetiau e muliermd e sacerdotis elegendi eadem intelligeretur servanda conditio. n I othe" r words t onlno , y should the bishop to be elected be "the husband of one wife" (i.e., should not have marrie dsecona d time) t tha wifs ,bu hi t e shoul t havdno e been a widow when he married her. Later on, in the same Epistle, he objecte greath o tt s multiplicatio f bishopno n Iforti s h Africat i s a , lessene dignitase th d sacerdotalis, d forbidan s their being appointeo t d every little villag quibuslibetn e(i castettis), adding that wher people eth e were few in number " presbyterorum cur a sufficiat." This illustration is particularly interesting, as it brings out the distinction between the e presbyter.saeerdosth d an t I woul e eas b do citt y e several other illustrations froe samth m e Epistle d indeedAn . , throughoue th t Epistles, so frequent is the use of saeerdos as applied to bishops, that the warning of Peter and Jerome Ballerini already referred to (p. 252) meano n y b s s unnecessaryi . To go through St Leo's epistles would be wearisome; but a few further examples illustrative of Leo's general manner may be referred to. (1) In A.D. 449 Leo desired that the Emperor Theodosius would conven n (Ecumenicaa e l Counci n Italyi l , and n ,referenci o thet e , Eutychian controversy t o statomni"u e n um i , ahi essurge n eo d jubeatis, in quo fuerunt ante omne judicium donee major ex toto Orbe Sacerdotum numerus congregetur." 2 Againe Nicenth f o , e decrees i t si said " quse a totius mundi sunt sacerdotibus constituta " (Epist. xli.). (2) The occupants of metropolitical sees are " metropolitan! sacerdotes " 1 PotentiuMauritaniae oe fth on s swa n bishops. e correspondinTh 2 g passag e Greeth n ei k translatio s i ecun s &i> e« irayros TOU tcdTpov ptifav aptSpbs ffvvax^ftjl T®V eTTij/c^Trwr, VOL. XXXII. K 258 , PKOCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 9, 1898. (Epist. x.). (3) A provincial synod is " synodus provincialium sa'cer- dotum" (Epist. vi.) ; compare " sacerdotes vestrse provincial" (Epist. x.). (4) Flavian, Archbishop of Constantinople,'lately deceased.'is "sacerdos ad ecclesiam, cui bene praefuit" (Epist. Ix. ); whil writinge eth f threso e former archbishop f Alexandrio s e referre ar a"s a beata o dt e memoriae, Athanasii, Theophili, et Cyrilli, Alexandriae sacerdotum scripta " (Epist. xe.) Again, in a passage where there is every motive for exalting the positio 'dignitd an n d f beeFlaviano yha no donwh , o deatt e y b h Dioscorus, Leo describes the latter as one who " in sanguine innocentis . et catholici sacerdotis pollutas jampridem .... manus ititinxit" (Epist. xcv.). Hilarius succeede s Bishoa o f dRomLe po e (A.D. 461—467). Eleven epistles of his have been preserved.1 In these the same usage is observable e well-knowTh . n ecclesiastical rule that there should not. s expressei e s injunction se hi bishopo e by tw edb on f so , "nsimuo edu l in una ecclesia sacerdotes " . (Epist.Bishop4) . ii s consecrated without e consene metropolitath th f o t f Tarragono n whoo a(t writese mh e )ar " sacerdotes ordinati prater notitiam atque consensum tuee dilectionis " (Epist. iii.). s worti t I h notingwaye th y , b tha, fine a w Viventiutd s amone gth bishop f Gauso whoo lt m Epistl f Hilariuo . exi s addressedsi datee Th s. will scarcely allow us to identify him with the Viventius (or Viventio- lus) who was Bishop of Lyons as late, at. least, as A.D. 517, nor, of course, wit e Gallicath h ne thre th Bisho f eo e p on Viventius s wa o wh , authors of the first Book of the Life of St Cfesarius of Aries, who died A.D. 542e finW d . thus that probably three bishop f Gauso l bore eth name which appear Kirkmadrine th n si e epigraph Kirkmadrine th f I . e stone is not to be connected with the period of Ninian, may it not be connected wit e mission th he Bishopth f o s s Germanu d Lupusan s , from Gaul, whose labour d influencean s e knoww s a ,, mad deeea - pim pressio e Britisth n o nh .Churc e fiftth h f o hcentury ? Nothing more, however s suggestei , d here than thae name th wels t wa l known ..among e ecclesiasticth f Gaulso . A particularly valuable and happy example, of probably about the 1 Migne's Lett. Patrol., torn. Iviii. OBSERVATION SKIBKMADKINE OTH N E EPIGBAPHS9 25 . same date, wil foune b l dt HilaryS i nLifea f o f Arieso (who died A.D. 440), writte n unknowa y nb n 'disciple'of his. Speakin f Hilary'o g s appointmen e bishopricth o t t e authoth , r writes :—" Elfectus nomine sacerdos i jampridequ m erat virtutum decoratus insiguibus." (Migne, Lat. Patrol, vol. 50 [2], col. 1228.) Of tlie few well authenticated facts concerning religion in Britain durin fifte gth h century muse w , t visito tGermanusS coun tw f so e th t , Bisho f Auxerrepo Britaino t , counteraco t , e spreath t f Pelagianismdo . e firs Th tA.Dn i visis . 429wa t , when Germanu accompanies swa t S y db Lupus, Bishop of Troyes; the second was in A.D. 447, when he was accompanie Severusy db , Bisho f Trevespo . Some forty years aftee th r deat f Germanuho s (who die A.Dn di . 448) writte s s Lifehi wa , Cony nb - stantius, a presbyter of Lyons. Now, in this Life we find, in the case firse bishopso oth ft tw visit e th , taking their e narrativplacth n ei s ea the "beatissimi sacerdotes," and again, as the "apostolici sacerdotes." Similarly, in the account of the second visit, Germanus. and Severus appeae "sacerdotesth s a r e "beatissimth r "o i sacerdotes."1 . It would be natural to consult any British literature of the period; e onlbuth ty British writings than probablca t e assigneb ye th o t d period within whic e Klrkmadiinth h e stones must have been erected, or at all events only shortly after, are the now generally accepted writings of St Patrick. The sense of sacerdos in these writings is doubtful, thoug e worth h s patien e i sensd th f eo t that prevailet a d the time in contemporary literature abroad. Indeed, I may go further e familiaanthay ar thosd o sa t t o ewh r wit e theologicath h l notionf o s the period, at least the second of the two passages about to be cited is more readily understood when we take sacerdos as equivalent to epis- s worti t i hcopus.t observinBu g that withie th linee firsw nth f fe o ts Confession we find the three words diaconus, presbyter, and sacerdos. The writer, in the well-known passage, says :—" Patrem habui Calpor- num diaconum filium quendam [al. quondam] Potiti, filii Odissi presby- teri qui fuit [in] vico Bannavem Tuberniae "; and then he tells how he, with many thousands, was carried into captivity into Ireland, " quia a passagee 1Th s wil foune b l n Haddai d Stubbsd an n " Councils Ecclesiasticald an Documents relating to Great Britain and Ireland, vol. i. pp. 16-19. 260 , PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 9, 1898. o recessimusDe t e praecept, a eius non custodiuimus t sacerdulibuse , nostri n oboedienteno s s [al. inobedientes] fuimus qui nostram salutem admonebant" (Whitley Stokea' Tripartite Lifef Patrick,o etc., vol. ii . p. 357). . The other example is in St Patrick's Epistle to the Christian Subjects of Goroticus (ibid., p. 376), where he describes Coroticus as one "qui Deum non veretur, nee sacerdotes ipsius, quos elegit, et indulsit illis summam divinam sublimem potestatem ' quos ligarent super terrain ligatos celis.' n essi t en e thiI "s place observede alsob y , ima t , some twenty lines higher up the page, a presbyter is mentioned as the bearer of a letter sent by Patrick. But what is of real importance is the notion current in ancient times that " binding and loosing " (as the theologians spoke) properly belonged e episcopus,onlth o yt som m thoughi e y times-delegatee poweb hth s wa r d to the presbyter. Thus Pacianus, Bishop of Barcelona, a contemporary Ninianr thirs oou fhi dn i ,epistle , use e expressioth s n " datam episcopis potestate t mquau e ligassen terrin i t s ligata essen coelis,n i t " etc.;1 while the practice of the Church may be illustrated by the canons of the secon third dan d Council f Carthagso e forbidding presbyter reconcilo t s e penitents, eve privaten ni , without the permissio e bishopth f o n , " nisi absente episcopo et necessitate cogente," and in no case whatever in the public servic e Church th e exacf eo Th t. dat f theseo e African Councils ia littls e uncertain e placeb t y thebu d,ma y aboue e th clos th tf o e fourth century. An enactment of a like spirit is that of the Council of Orange in Gaul (A.D. 441), where Hilary of Aries presided, when the bishops agreed to allow presbyters to reconcile heretics, " in mortis discrimine positos, e bishoth f "i p were absent.2 From thes othed ean r passages it may be inferred as probable that St Patrick (at least in the second passage) uses sacerdos e sensth en i then most common, i.e.,s a equivalent to episcopus. But even the first passage (cited from the Confession), where neglec f obedienceo t theio t r sacerdotes s imputei s da the offence for which the Britons were allowed to be punished by the 1 Cite Morinuy db s (Commentarius historians de disdplina n administrationei sacramenti Poenitentiae, . libalse 6) . ocapi § .Se . . 5 iv § . 2 Concil. Arattsic., i. cap. 1. OBSERVATION THN O SE KIRKMADR1NE EPIGRAPHS1 26 . harrying of the Irish (were we to judge only by the then generally prevailing meanin e worth f do g sacerdos s meanina g episcopus), gives very good sense. If this view be accepted, we have the testimony of Patrick that in North Britain, in his boyhood, there were sacerdotes with episcopal authority. If this were so in the neighbourhood of Alcluith (Dunbarton) e regio th t alskno w n no ni o no y w thae wh , w t as Wigtownshire ? Different minds will form different estimate e valuth f f whao eo s t s beeha n her e eprobabl th sai f o d e sens f sacerdos o ee writingth n i s e purposth t r PatrickoS contenm fn fo hana i e d I f di an thes t, e two passages are regarded as making neither one way nor the other. f Sacerdos.— o e latere Th us When e reace w sixte closth th hf h o e century we are sensible of a considerable change in the ordinary modus loquendi. contrase Th t betwee writinge nth s of Gregor e Greayth d an t Leo the Great in this respect is sensibly felt. Indeed, in Britain, by the middle of the sixth century, if Haddan and Stubbs are right in assign- ing the First Epistle of Gildas to a date not later than A.D. 550,1 the words sacerdos, sacerdotalis, d sacerdotiuman seem used sometimest a , least, wit a hcomprehensiv e referenc o bott e h presbyter d bishopsan s . It appears to be so where the writer refers to the " sacerdotalis episco- patus vel presbyterii sedes, s clearli d line "w whero an 2ys fe s a latere( ) he in effect identifies " episcopatus officium vel presbyterii" with " sacerdotia." Yet, elsewhere, with obviously a special reference to bishops, in his invective he exclaims, " 0 inimici Dei et non sacerdotes, veterani malorum et non pontifices, traditores et non sanctorum Aposto- lorum successores. e ambiguitth I "suspecs 3 wa t yi t already attaching to the word that induced Gildas in his Second Epistle to use the phrase " summi sacerdotes" when he wished to be precise.4 But, as is well known, these epistle se vie are th f othe wo n ,i r competent authoritieso t , be assigned to a date half a century or more later than the date adopted by Hadda Stubbsd nan . latt o eves ewritea Bu n ni s Beda r e ther e manar e y passages where Hadden and Stubbs' Councils, etc., vol. i. p. 44. 21 . Ibid.,75 . p 3 Ibid, . 104p . 4 Ibid., . 111p . 2 26 PROCEEDING E SOCIETY , 18989 TH Y F O S. MA , sacerdos uses i d exclusivel f bishopsyo . These passagee founb y d ma s . Plummer'collecteC r M n di s scholarly editio f Bede'no s Ecclesiastical History (Oxford, 1896), wher e Anglo-Saxoth e n version give somn si e cases the.sense as 'biscope,' 'biscopa.'1 III. PRAEC1PUI SACERDOTi;S.—Th& epithet prcecipuus is un- common as associated with sacerdos. I have as yet been successful in finding onlo instancetw y n additioi s o tht n e Kirkmadrine epigraph. (1) The expression occurs in the Sacramentarium Leonianum, printed in the first volume of Muratori's Liturgia Romana Vetus (Venetiis, 1748). e SacramentarTh y whic e Greatth ho ,bear Le Bisho e namt S th s f f eo po Borne r purpose(440-461)ou r fo e sufficientlb s y ma , y describea s a d collectio e variablth f no e e maspart th festivalr f fo ss o othed an s r holy days in the Church at Rome. Many of the prayers, etc., may in their origi e considerablb n y earlier than Leo d som e ,certainlan ar e y later; but we need not hesitate to accept the opinion that the work represents substantiall service e Churcyth th n t ei Roma h e abou time th f thite o s 'Pope. n thiI 2s Sacramentar e givear ne w ypart f seveo s r eigho n t different masses for the festival of St Xystus (Natale Sancti Xysti), Bishop of Rome, who suffered martyrdom on 6th August 258. The •passages in these masses, so far as they are pertinent to the question before us, may be transcribed. (a) "Vere dignum. Quoniam inter iimumeras toto mundo martyrum palmas, quibus Urbis hujus praecipue coronatus est ambitus, etiam hunc nobis venerabilem diem beati Xysti Sacerdotis t Martyrie i sanguinstu e consecrasti Per," etc. (&) •' Vere dignum. Natalem diem sancti Martyris et Sacerdotis tui Xysti debita festivitate recolentes, qui Apostolici Pontificatus dignus in sua aetate successor," etc. (c) "Vere dignum. Qui sancto Martyri tuo Xysto, ac praecipuo Sacerdoti, non solum passionis triumphum, sed ut etiam subjectis sihi ministris ecclesiae proficerct, contulisti," etc. 1 'Vol. ii. p. 55. 2 So far as the argument of this paper is concerned, it is not affected by assigning Leonine th e Sacramentar whola lates a y a o et r date with I'Abbe Duchesne (Origines du Culle-Chrstien, chap. v.). ... . ; OBSERVATION E KIKKMADRINTH N O S E EPIGRAPHS3 26 . (cl) " Vere dignum. Qui sanctum Xystum, Sedis Apostolicae Sacer- dotem, hodierna die felici martyrio coronasti," etc. (e) "Vere dignum. Tibi enim festiva solemnitas agitur, tibi dies sacrata celebratur a sanctqu , i Xysti Praesulis Apostolici natalitia praelibantes," etc. (/) " Vere dignum. Adest enim nobis sancti Saeerdotis et Martyris tui, Xysti, desiderata festivitas," etc. ((j) "Vere dignum. Cognoscimus enim, Domine, tuae pietatis effectus, quibus nos adeo gloriosi Saeerdotis et Martyris tui, Xysti, semper honor- anda solemnia," etc.1 It will be observed that in not one of these passages is Xystus rej ferred to as episcopus. In one (e) he is Praesul Apostolicus. In the other six he is Sacerdos, with or without a qualifying adjective or phrase. Here, then have w , e Sacerdos useRomaa f do n Bishop. When I first began to investigate this subject I was inclined to think that praecipuus s usewa d somewha s summus, a e samy th wa en f i o t which.as an epithet of. sacerdos (when the reference is to a bishop) example e foundb d y thae expressioan th ;ma ts n praecipuus sacerdos forme da kin f officiado l designation. Bat, seein verw ho yg numerous are the examples of the use of sacerdos (without any epithet) as applied to a bishop, in writings of the fourth and fifth centuries, I hesitate. I would only that sa s yyeta , , instancy I t amawaran no . f o ee where praecipuus sacerdos whoe s on usei e kno m f w o d wo havt e been only a presbyter. . Before leaving the testimony of the Leonine Sacramentary, it may be worth while to note another example in the same collection of the use of sacerdos for a bishop. It will be found in the services for 23rd November (ix. Kal. Dec.) e Festiva th ,t ClementS f o l , reputee b o t d (afte t PeterS r firste certainld )th an , y amon e earlies bishope gth th f o t s of Eome. Among the several liturgical forms assigned to this day we find Clemens sacerdos et martyr occurring three times; sacerdos egrecjius et martyr insignis once ; martyr et pontifex once.2 Therdoubo n s ei e speculation t th tha n i t e theologianth f e so th f o s 1 Muratori, Liturg. Bom. Vet., torn , colli. , . 389-392. 2 Ibid., torn, i., coll. 459, 460, 461. 4 26 PKOCEEDING E SOCIETYTH 9 Y ,F O 1898SMA , . fourth and fifth centuries .we find the view that a measure, though not the fulness, of the sacerdotium, or of the gratia sacerdotalis, was bestowed upo e clerg nth wero ywh e designated presbyters. Indeeds a , already observed (se . 252)ep e finw ,d passage n ecclesiasticai s l writers where eve deaconna regardes i sharins da e sacerdotium. th n gi 1 Again, the Laws of Theodosius and Valentinian (circ. A.D. 430) speak of priests as secundi sacerdotes, and Leo the Great speaks of them as'secundi ordinis sacerdotes. t still Bu ordinarn i , y language, when t sac&rdosthuno ss wa qualified presumptioe th , thas ni bishoa t s pintended i perhaps wa t I s . something in the same way as we in common parlance use the word 'officer' when speaking of a military man. If we said that A. B. is 'an officer of the 1st Dragoon Guards,' or 'an officer in the Royal Artillery,' we should be commonly understood to mean a commissioned officer, although the number of non-commissioned officers is in each case far larger than that of the commissioned officers. (2) Ttje second example I have found of praecipuus sacerdos is from Kufinus' translation of Ensebius (Jib. vii. c. 24). The expression being so rare e wholth , e transcribed.chaptee h y ma r 2 "Tune Dionysius de Alexandria rogatus venire ad concilium et senectutis impediment t incommoditate o e corporis inhibetur r epispe : - tolam tamen praesentem se reddit, et quid fidei ac venerationis erga Christum teneret, exposuit. Caeteri vero ecclesiarum pastores diversis e locis et urhibus, velut adversum latronem quendam Christi gregibus insidiautem, conveniunt Antiochiam. In quibus insignes et caeteris praecellentes erant Firmilianus a Caesarea Cappadociae, Gregorius et Athenadorus fratres, Ponti proviiiciae sacerdotes, Helenus Sardensis ecclesiae episcopus, et Nicomas ab Iconic, et Hierosolymorum praecipuus sacerdos Hymenaeus t vicinae , e huic urbis Caesareae Theoctecnusd Se . t Maximue s Bostrensis episcopus dignus eorum consortio coliaerebat. Multi vero alii, quos longum est enarrare per singulos. Sed et presby- teri quam plurimi et diaconi ad supra dictam urbem causa compescendi, imo delendi novi hujus dogmatis convenerunt." 1 Jerome, too, speak Diaeonate th f so tertiuss ea sacerdotii ordo (Epist. xvi., edit. Vallarsii). See also Epistles liii, and xxii. italice Th 2 soriginale areth course f n o ,i t .no , OBSERVATIONS ON THE KIKKMADKINE EPIGKAPHS. 265 e correspondinTh g passage Greeth n ki e wil e founb l n lib.i d vii. (end of cap. 27 and beginning of cap. 28). But Eufinus' rendering, or paraphrase, is so loose and inexact that it need only be observed that Eusebius usee generath s l word Troi/xeVes, followee personath y b d l name d tiran es e namevariouth f o s s episcopal sees. Lik s parahi e - phraser e addh , s presbyters d deacons an a separat n i e sentences i t I . plain that Eufinus, according to his common practice, uses saeerdos. and episeopus indifferently addede b e Greeky th , ma n ther I t i , .nothins ei g correspondin praecipuus,o t g which seem o havt s e been addede ith n sense of distinguished, exalted, eminent. I am not disposed to urge that ther s necessarilewa distinctly yan y official sense attachine th o t g epithet ; e sambutth et a , time f i saeerdos,, e perioth t a d whee th n Kirkmadriiie stones were erected, was with a very wide generality used for bishop, and (comparatively) rarely for a presbyter, the addition of such an epithet as praecipuus would tend towards fixing the sense in which saeerdos would have been then understood. earlye th w ChristianHo . IV epigraphs f Britaino d Gaulan bearn o the question of the sense of SAGERDOTES.—One naturally inquires for illustrations of the use of saaerdos on the early inscribed stones of Britain. On turning to Hiibner's Inscriptiones Britanniae Ghristianae it is disappointin findo gt addition i ,e Kirkmadrinth o t n e stoneon t bu , example of the use of this word (No. 42); nor does the word in this case appea epitaphn a pars a r f t Llantheto tA . y church Brecknockn i , - shire, ther s builei t intwale o th ston a l e bearin e wordsgth extremeln ,i y rude characters, Gurdan (or, as Hiibiier conjectures it should be read, Giurdan) saeerdos. s impossibli t I o dra t einferency wan e from this.1 It may, however, be observed that we find some examples of the use of Presbyter as MKEACIVS PER HIC IACIT (No. 145). See also No. 197. f BPISCOPVo e us a ston e n t o Sa eLlanafanfawr Th n i Brecknock, - 1 It has been pointed out that there appears the name of Gurvan (with the variants Gurven, Gwruwen, Gurnuen) e amonon ,e bishopth g f Menevio s t (S a David's)s beeha no assignewh , e beginninsomy th b d o e nintt e th f hgo century. But there is nothing but a certain similarity in the names to identify him with the person who is recorded on the stone. See the Bishop of Oxford's Rerjislrum Sacrum Anglicanum (2nd edition), p. 217, and the authorities referred to in Smith and Wace's Diet, of Chr. Biogr., s.v, Gurnuen. 266 PROCEEDING E SOCIETY , 18989 TH Y F .O SMA , shire. (No "purposer intereso n .ou f 37)r o fo s f ti ,i Westwoo , s righi d t in assigning it to a date as late as the thirteenth or fourteenth century.1 Slant'e L s Inscriptions Chretiennes dea Gaulel anterieures VIIIm c siede s mori s etranscribe ha fruitful e H . d five inscriptions eacn i , f ho e which, according to his judgment, sacerdos is used for a hishop. One of these inscriptions (No a monumen. n 242o s i ) t erecte Cyrily b d , four- teenth Bisho f Treveo p s (who died about A.D. e memor458)th o t , f yo two of his predecessors in that see, Eucharius and Valerius, who, it should be observed, like the sacerdotes at Kirkmadrine, were buried unde stone.e on r 2 Another exampl bishopo tw f eo s tomburiee on bn di will be found further on. e FAVSTVTh S DEVOTO COEDE SACERDOS (No. 595 )s i regardey b d French scholars3 as the bishop of that name, who was a signatory e seconoth f d counci f Macoo l n A.Dni . 585. t S Eemigiu• r Remedius)(o s , Archbisho f Rheimso p , know s thea n ; 'Apostle of the Franks,' who died A.D. 530 (?), is referred to in the epigraph (No. 651), in which occurs the line:— ECCE SACEEDOTIS SACEI MICAT ALBA EEMEDI Possibly (as I think) more near the date of the Kirkmadrine stone e inscriptioth s i a sarcophagu nf o (No d in-thli w .e 509no sth e n )o museu t mAriesa , whic s thae takei h b f Concordius o to t n ; Bishof po Aries signator,a firse th tt ycouncia f Valenceo l , A.D . epigrape 374Th . h is followed by the monogram with alpha and omega, and the not in- frequent symbol of two doves, one on each side.4 n anotheI r epigraph e fin(No w a certaid ) .22 n Viveutiolus,5r "Vi 1 Lapidariwn Walllae,. 72 . p 2 " Membra Sacerdotum quae ornat locus iste duorum," etc. authoritiese th r Blante 3Fo L e .se , 4 The inscription runs through seven hexameter lines. The name CONCOHDIUS occurs,, followed by— ..'... QVI TENERIS PKIMVM MINISTRUM FVLSI ASNIN I T S POST ETIAM LECTVS CAELESTI LEGE SACEHDOS TBIOINTA ET GEMIKOS BEOIM VIX BEDDIDIT ATfSOS etc. r' 5 Her diminutiva s ei name th f eeo Viventius, which appear Kirkmadrine th n so e stone. OBSERVATIONS OX THE KIKKMADRINE EPIGRAPHS. 267 potens meritis nosterque sacerdus " (sic), whom Le Blant would identify with Viventiolus, Bisho f Lyonspo conveneo wh , dcouncia t Lyona l n si A.D. 517. Again, Sacerdos appears on the monument (No. 21) of Kusticus, an- other Bishop of Lyons (? oirc. A.D. 493-498), who is buried in the same tomb with another whose name is obliterated. Towards the close of the inscription they are styled ANTESTES (sic) SVMMI FAKES MERITIS. Again (No. 25), on the tomb of St Nicetius (Nizier), Bishop of Lyons (eirc. A.D. 552-573), we read, BCCB SACERDOTVM TENVIT QVI IVRA. SACEEDVS. It may be added that sacerdotium seems used in the cognate sense of episcopate or episcopal office (No. 3) on the tomb of St Tetricus, Bishop of Langres, who died A.D. 572. e Blant'L s collection record a considerabls e numbe f epigrapho r s frotombe th m f presbyter o s s wher' PRESBYTE e th e ' PKESBITE Rr 'o R' is either written in fall (as in No. 60 and No. 371), or given in the contracted form 'PER.' (Nos. 389, 489 ' PUB. r o ) '; (No. 373) r 'PRBB.o ; ' (No. 377); or 'pass.' (No. 375). In one case (No. 88) Le Blant con- siders smerdos to signify a priest; but apparently for no other reason tha bees n thaha n e unablth identifo et propee yth r nam e' Hermer ' with any known inscriptionbishope e datthers th i clu th y f r eo o e an et no ; . admittew l historicano al s y i b d t i ls inquirerA . V s a sr thatfa o s , relate ecclesiasticale th o dt ordere ministryth f so Christiae th , n Church in the Britain of early times did not differ from the rule of the rest of Western Christendom e questioth , e discusseb nn a beforca n i ds u e purely historica d antiquariaan l n spirit. Prom positive documentary evidence we know but little of the condition of Christianity in the northern part of the Roman occupation; but there is not the slightest reason to suppose that it differed materially, as regards the system of organisation, fro me souther th tha f o t n provinces o sooneN s . wa r Christianity tolerated by Constantine than as early as A.D. 314 we find three British bishops amon e signatoriegth .thf so e counci f Aries.o l 1 signaturee Th mose th tn i sauthenti c list are "Eborius Episcopn civitate sd e 1 Eboracensi, provincia Britannia ; Restitutus , Episcopus de civitate Londinensi, provincia snprnscripta; Adelfius Episcopu e civitatd s e Colonia Londinensium; 8 26 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE , 18939 TH Y F O S.MA , Stillingfleet (Antiquities e Britishof'th Churches, 5 sq.)s 7 ha . pp shown good reaso r supposinfo n g that only certain bishops s reprea , - sentative f theio s r brethren, were summoned from each civil province o attent d ecclesiastical councils hela distanc t da e from their homes.1 t finno d o thad e t W British bishops were presene Councith t a f t o l have w et Sardic ?)7 expresbu , 33 r ao s(A.D 4 testimon33 . y that Britain e countrieth f o wae s son whos e bishops wrote acceptin e decisiogth f no that Counci opposition i l Arians.e th o nt 2 ]S Te finexw t d Hilar f Poictierso y , the n exilna n Phrygiaei , writing r 359o (A.D 8 episcopas )a lette 35 hi . o t r l brethre n Gaulni , expressing the hope that they and their brethren, " provinciarum Britanniarum episcopi," would come to an approaching council in a conciliatory spirit. The have ne testimonw eth f Sulpiciuyo s Severus (Chron., ) tha41 . t ii when the emperor offered to pay the expenses of bishops attending the Council of Ariminum (Rimini), to accept of his offer seemed unbecoming (indecens) e bishopth o t f Aquitaine so , Gaul d Britainan , . Yet threef o Britise th h bishops accounn ,o f tlieio t r poverty, accepte e emperor'th d s offer, preferring to profit from the public purse than to be burdensome o theit r d brethrenmadha a ecollectioo wh , n theio n r behalfa n I . word fine e bishopw th ,d f Britaiso provincee nsense th (i.e.,th f en o i s of Roman Britain) a recognised factor in the general church-life of Christendom e hav W materiao en . r judginfo l f theigo r numbersf O . their place f residenco s e know e w nothing beyond what appearn i s connection wit subscriptioe hth e Councith o n t f e Ariesbegino lth n i ,- e t centuryi seemth nint f o gsBu .difficul o doubt t t that, wite th h imperial decree n favoui s f Christianityo r , wherever Roman influence was felt, through either its civil or its military system, there the recog- nised churc wouly hda systede th rapidl f mo y spreade . th Thert no s ei exinde Sacerdos presbyter, Arminius diaconus." Some think that Adelfius was from Lincoln (Lindensium), erroe th r bein gscribee thath f r froo t o , m Caerleon-upon-Usk (Legionensium). A. W. Haddan considers the latter the more probable. See Smith and Cheetham, D.C.A., s.v., Aries, Councils of. Stubbs concurs (Councils, etc., vol. i. 7). 1 This subjec s discussei t d with abilit Colliery b y , Eccl. Hist, f Groato Britain (Lathbury'a edit), vol. i. pp. 59, 60. 2 Athanasius. 1 , Apol.,. Ar . c OBSERVATION E KIRKMADRISTH N O S E EPIGRAPHS9 26 . slightest evidence for supposing that the northern province as far as the vallum of Antonine was not at least nominally Christian before the close e fourtoth f h t possescenturyno e generad th r sdi tha o , t i t l church organisation of the time. There is nothing in either Bede's short notes, or eve Ailred'n ni s incomparably less valuable Life, that would leas u d to think that Ninian settled himsel t Candida f a heathea n i Cas s a na land. That plac s onl s headquartersewa y hi e militarth d an y, basif o s operation missionars speako t hi o r s , fo , y expeditions amon Southere gth n Picts north of the vallum who were then heathens. The chronology of the life of St Patrick is (within certain limits) full of disputable points; but we cannot be far wrong if we say that, either toward e fourte closth sth f eo h centur t lonno gr yo afte e beginninth r g of the fifth, Patrick was carried off, with other captives, by the heathen Irish. He tells us of several thousands (tot millia hominuiii) being e samth carrie t ea timef dof , becaus f theieo r faults,—" becaus were ew e disobedien r sacerdotes." f ou i Bannave o t w t No m Taberniae b o t s i e placed on the estuary of the Clyde (whether on the northern or southern shore need not here be discussed), we have evidence of the existence of a very large Christian population in that quarter. At the same time we find Ninian settle bishoa s da t Candida p a Casa. Ther s nothingi e t i , , improbablseemme o se t existenc th n a ei successio f o e f bishopo n n i s Wigtownshire. Ailred's Life of Ninian has little historical value ; but assuree beforh d ha s tha u se h t him d followe,an d closely t onlno , y Bede' t sNinianS account.e liff th o a booe t n , o kbarbariobu , (a.l. larbaricu) scrvptus. According to his account, on Ninian's return to his nativ s ereceive landwa e h , d wit n enthusiastiha c welcome from people evidently Christians. A great multitude of people went out to meet him; ther greas amony ewa jo t e praisgth allf Chrisd eo ,an t sounden do all sides, for they held him for a prophet (cap. ii.). And Ninian is then described as labouring, in the first instance, at the correction of errors doctrinen i s amon e Christiagth n people placeth f e.o Ther nothins ei g improbable in the supposition that before Ninian's arrival there may have bee n ecclesiasticaa n l settlemen e placknoww th no t ea s ta n Kirkmadrine; or it may be that that settlement was made under Ninian's direction. Nor, taking the word parocMa in its common 0 27 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE , 18989 TH Y F . O SMA , meaning during the fourth and fifth centuries (and indeed much later), as equivalent to a district supervised by a bishop,—not what we now mean by a ' parish,'—there is nothing incredible in the state- ment, " cepit deinde sacer pontifex ordinare, presbiteros, consecrare episcopos, ceterasque ecclesiasticorum graduum distribuere dignitates, totam terram per certas parrochias dividere." On the contrary, after his trainin visis Romt ghi Martin.oa o t d ean f Tours woule ,h d most naturally extend, if he did not introduce, ecclesiastical arrangements which he had found everywhere among the churches of the continent. The darkness of succeeding centurie s destroyeha s y othean d r positive evidencef i , such ever existed, and the- inroads of the paganism and strife of the early Saxou period swept away almost all traces of the ecclesiastical organisatio f earlieno r clays. e monastiTh c a bishover s y wa pcommo n e featurancienth f o et Christianity of Ireland, and of the Irish settlements in Scotland and elsewhere. Whether the monastic bishop (subject to the abbot) was a feature of the Welsh and ancient British Church is more open to dispute. On the one hand, there is the weighty authority of Haddan. and Stubbs (Councils, etc. . ,143i ) that "Thertimy o tracan en t s a ei in that country (Wales) of any system resembling the Irish and Scotch (namely f governmeno , abbotsy b t , with bishop s subordinata s e officers, discharging episcopal functions, but without jurisdiction), or, indeed, of any other system whatever than that of a diocesan episcopate." The opposite vie ws takeni d supportean , d with considerablee th force y b , latest writer on the history of the ancient Church in Wales,—Mr J. W. Willis Bund (The Celtic Church f o Wales, 0 sq.). 189722 . pp I, t may be that the evidence for a bishop in the ancient British Church being subjece abbomonastera th f o o t t very no s 'yi considerable , but there seems much .more to be said in favour of the view that British bishops were frequently themselve e headth sf o monasteries a ( s syste e remarkedmb y .whichma t i ,, coexiste n Irelani d d soman . d eof Irise th h missions, together wit e Columbath h n systee bishoth f mo p performing episcopal offices in subjection to the abbot). In fact, there is no question that the practice was common, the only point for doubt being whether such bishops always enjoye diocesanjurisdictionda . The. OBSERVATION KIBKMADBINE TH N O S E EPIGBAPHS1 27 . extraordinarily large numbe bishopf ro Iris e th hn s i Churc parallea s hha l e anciensomn i th f eo t Welsh records. Thuse synoth t f Llanddeda o , - wibref t David),i S e Life(referre f bees o th find e ha n i w s a pointe,o dt d out by Mr Bund, one hundred and eighteen bishops. " The number of bishops is far too large to be consistent with any idea of (an exclusively) diocesan episcopacy, or to be capable of any other explanation than that of a monastic episcopacy. The most reasonable explanation is, that most of the early churches, both in Ireland and Wales, were monastic, if t actuallno y monasteries; that each monaster a bisho d ys ha parp a f o t e establishment.th " (The Celtic Church f Wales,o . 235.p ) Now f ii t, fele b t difficul assene o suppositiot tth o t t f somno e rude divisio thif no s south-western region into districts under episcopal supervisiony ma e w , yet suppose that a monastic establishment was existent at Kirkmadrine, with a bishop at its head. But whether we lean to the notion of a quasi-diocesan arrangement, or to that of a monastery with an episcopal head, the evidence that has been exhibited in this paper will, it is thought, satisfy the student that the praecipui sacenlotes of Kirkmadrine possessed the ecclesiastical grade of bishops. The stone itself, of great antiquity, commemorates two or (as I think) three deceased praecipui sacerdotes. f thesI e ecclesiastics succeedee don another, it would push back the lifetime of the earliest of these, presumably y severab , l years. Examples'i e BlanL n t (se . e266p ) show that in the ancient Church of Gaul, the burial of successive bishops in one tomb, and under one monument, was not unknown. I am inclined to believe that in the case before us we have another s jusexampli e t practiceti th possiblt f eo Bu . e that these praecipui sacerdotes were contemporaries. Mr Bund (p. 238) shows some reason for supposing that groups f bishopo e plac on en i s(wel l know Irisn ni h t whollrecordsno s y wa )unknow anciene th n ni t British Church. Before concluding this paper, I would call attention to the fact that in a list of heads of the British Church who are said to have conferred with Augustin f Canterbureo y (cm;. 601) e foune ,th b whic n o di t s hi lolo MSS. (143, 548) e fin,w d representatives froo placemtw s which have never been identified excep entirely b t y unsupported conjecture, viz., Wig and Morganwig. Where all is left to guess-work, perhaps 2 27 PEOCEEDING SOCIETYE , 18939 TH Y F O .SMA , anothe hintere b gues y d sma r whicat fo , hI mus t freely admit nothing is to be said except the .resemblance of the form Wig with the same element in our word Wigtown. There has been, perhaps too great a tendency among antiquarians .to limit their consideratio dealinn ni g wit e ancienth h t British Churco t h e confineth f modero s n Wales, whil knoe ew w tha t i extendet d along the eastern seaboard of Britain, at one time as far as the northern boundar e kingdoth f o y f mCumbriao t thiBu s . guess o whict , o n h weigh s attachedi t e ,allowe b mus t no o detractt d t fro e generamth l argumen f thio t s paper, whic t doehi t affectsno . I have to thank Dr Anderson for his kindly supplying the description e stonoth f e which appeare followinth n i s g appendix I woul d an d; also expres obligationy sm e Eevth ,o st Willia . mJ Lowrie f Stoneyo , - kirk, for the assistance he afforded me in. procuring the photograph, whic s beehha n reproduced r othefo d r an ,informatio e presenth o t ts na condition of the stones. APPENDIX. By JOSEPH ANDEKSON, LL.D, stoneo tw e s showforegoine Th th n ni g reproductio photograpa f o n h by Mr M'Harrie on p. 249 are now fixed against the west wall of the old arid disused church of Kirkmadrine, which has been recently restored and roofed. A porchlike structure added at the west end contains the stones, whic e visiblar h e throug n iroa e bar nth f h o sgate . This i s better than their former positio s gateposta n e entrancth e th n i s o t e burying ground s propose t whewa bu , t i nplaco t d e them undee th r protection of the Ancient Monuments Act, provision might have been mad r theifo e r future preservation under complete cover, protected alike from the "deteriorating influences of weather and from possibility of injury. The narroe yar w oblong slab f indurateso d schist e largeth , r measuring abou fee6 t inche9 t n lengthi s , wit n almosa h t uniform e widtth n i h upper par f 1o t6 inches, but widening considerably toward lowee th s r OBSERVATIONS ON THE KIRKMADRINE EPIGRAPHS. 273 part, the thickness throughout being about 4 inches. One edge is rounde f water-worni s da e otheth , r straigh t apparentlbu t y undressed. The surface is also undressed, but smooth and apparently natural. The smaller stone, whic longes hi d thinnean r r tha e otherth n s alsi , o more irregular on both edges, one of which is much straighter than the other and more rounded f i water-worn s a , e surfacTh . s apparentli e y un- dressed, but smooth and tolerably level. The total length of the ston abous e i greates th feet7 d t an ,t widt inches4 1 he thicknes Th . s scarcely exceeds 2f inches. Both monuments have holes drillen i d them in consequence of heir old use as gateposts. No. 1 has on the front an incised inscription and a cross within a circle. On the back it has a cross within a circle but no inscription. 4 inchefrone 1 circle th s i n diametertTh i n s eo e crosTh s. withit ni is equal armed, the arms reaching almost to the circumference of the circle and expanding slightly towards the extremities. The upper limb of the cross formerly showed the loop of the monogram attached to the top, as the cross on the front of the other stone shows it, but a flake has been detached from thi e stons th par t somf a eo t e comparatively recent date, so that it is no longer clearly perceptible. Above the circle and between it and the sloping top of the stone, is a single line of inscrip- tion showin e formulth g Ke A aloweT Th w. e rOmeg th par s f o tawa distinctly visible when the cast of the stone was made in 1861, but the stone has now scaled off in that part, the fracture carrying with it also the vertical stroke of the letter T in the word ET, which was ligatured e prolongeth o t e lettedth middlf ro Br . eba Belo e circlwth e come e maith s e ninscriptio th par f o linex t si sn ni extending across the face of the stone from side to side. The letters are majuscules, normal in form, carefully spaced, and clearly cut, but t divideno d into words. They averag a heighe f 1\o t - inchesin d an , cludin e fivth ge spaces betweex line e si inscriptio th se th n n covera s vertical space of 16 inches. In the first line the last two letters of the word IACENT are ligatured. InJJie second line the word SANCTI is represente e threth y edb letters sci wit e mar th hf contractio o k n over them. In the fifth line the NT ligature is repeated, and in the sixth linwore s ligaturei eth T e samdE th e en i de parth manne th f o tn i s a r VOL. xxxii. s 274 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 9, 1898. inscription abov e circleeth , arid thertripla s i ee ligatur e MAth r Vr o efo e lasth MA t f worde o Ithre Th e. last line e shortear s r tha e firsth n t three, on account of a vertical break in the stone which has removed a splinter froe righmth t sid f ahoueo inche2 t widtn i s h extending, from th'e top of the fourth line downwards, to a point considerably helow the. last line , surfacee wherevidens i th t o I t t rune i t . t sou tha t this break was there whe e inscriptionth loweo thes a s carved tw .r nwa rfa lineo s , s are concerned e break t clead th Bu ,f en o rwhic . o t e spaces har a o s d •ipossibls i t et the thano e brea nth td extendi k d upward tho st e level e fourtth f o h t i doep lin s to a se lowee th nowoth fr r fo , curvf o e the final s in that line runs into the break, while those in the two lines under it are set back so as to clear it. If the fourth line did extend over the part now broken away there was room for one or even two additional letters; but this raises questions more likely to be decided on epigraphic tha mereln no y circumstantial evidence. No. 2 has at the top a cross formed from the monogram, within a circle of 9 inches diameter, and below it an inscription in three lines. The letters are more rudely carved, and the peculiarity of the inscription is, that it consists merely of two names coupled by the conjunction ET, withou furthey an t r specificatio r precedino n g formula thao s , t appeari t s as if it had been intended to be read on with 'No. I. Thero distinctivn s i e e e featurepigraphth n i e e f eitheo yth f o r inscriptions which could warran a vert y close approximatio o theit n r date. In Gau e rangth l f tho e e monogram combined wit formule hth a A ET w does not extend beyond the fifth and the first half of the sixth centuries. Heree monogra fore th th ,f m o mpeculiars i e e looth th t , pa top of the cross being a modification of the Bornan E and not of the Greek Eho. This mus e regardeb t indicatins da ga secondar y stagf eo developmene th e cruciforth f o t m symbolBlane L d t an ,state s thae th t cross s distinguishea , d fro e monogramth m placee commencementh t da t of the epigraph, does not appear in Gaul before the commencement of the sixth century. In the circumstances, I think that it would be hazardous to assign to these stones a date earlier than somewhere in the second half of the fifth century.