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II.—An Account of St Columbd's Abbey, Inchcolm. Accompanied with Plans, ^c.1 (Plates IV.-VL) By THOMAS ARNOLD, Esq., Architect, M.R.LB.A, Lond. [Communicated January 11, 1869, with an Introductory Note.] NEAR the northern shores of the Firth of Forth, and within sight of Edin- burgh, lies the island anciently known as Emona, and in later times as Inchcolm, the island of St Columba. It is of very small extent, scarcely over half a mile in length, and 400 feet in width at its broadest part. The tide of commerce and busy life which ebbs and flows around has left the little inch in a solitude as profound as if it gemmed the bosom of some Highland loch, a solitude which impresses itself deeply on the stranger who comes to gaze on its ruined, deserted, and forgotten Abbey. Few even of those who visit the island from the beautiful village of Aberdour, close to it, know anything of its history, and as few out of sight of the island know of its existence at all. But although now little known beyond the shores of the Forth, Inchcolm formerly held a high place in the veneration of the Scottish people as the cradle of the religious life of the surrounding districts, and was second only to lona as a holy isle in whose sacred soil it was the desire of many generations to be buried. It numbered amongst its abbots men of high position and learning. Noble benefactors enriched it with broad lands and rich gifts, and its history and remains, like the strata of some old mountain, bear the marks of every great wave of life which has passed over our country.
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