CHRIST IN CORNWALL? – (2) – APPENDICES
NO. 1. GlLDAS (560-600 A.D.)
“De Excidio” Section VI.(ex M.S.Cod. Cantab. Ed.Gale)
“Verus iIle Sol, non de firmamento temporali, sed de summa. etiam coelorum arce tempora cuncta excedente, universo orbi praefulgidum sui coruscum ostendens; tempore, ut scimus, summo Tiberii Caesaris … radios suos primum indulget.”
“He the true Sun … revealing his excellent brightness to the whole world … first bestows his rays (on this island), as we know, at the height of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.”
The translation of “tempore summo” may be disputed. In any case Gildas says it was during the reign of Tiberius, who died A.D.37. That he referred to Britain is defined in earlier words (“glaciali frigore insulae “), a truly Roman estimate of our climate.
I claim that it is more likely that Gildas meant that Christ came here himself, than that some disciples reached our shores before A.D.37. The traditional date of the arrival of Joseph of Arimathea with his twelve companions is A.D.63. My own surmise of an earlier visit with the Blessed Virgin could only be at the extreme end of Tiberius’ reign, when the emperor had retired into semi insane obscurity. I cannot believe that Gildas would have used the words “tempore summo” of such a period.
NO. 2. THE “ANCIENT BRITISH HISTORIAN”
William of Malmesbury, who plainly says he is shy of the legendary, is yet constrained to write thus:
After referring to the twelve disciples, said to have been sent to Britain by St Philip and St James, he goes on:
“Hoc autem ita se habere tum ex carta Beati Patricii, tum ex scriptis seniorurn cognoscimus. Quorum unus Britonum Historiographus, prout apud Sanctum Edmundum, itemque apud Sanctum Augustinum. Anglorum Apostolum vidimus, ita exorsus est.” – (Gale’s transcript. “Histories Britannicae” pp. 292, 293).
He goes on to quote, approximately, the words given below, from the “Visa Sancti Dunstani.”
William distinctly says here that this passage had already been quoted by St Edmund and St Augustine. This at least shows its great antiquity. I cannot actually trace St Augustine’s reference, but I would note a certain mysterious Vatican MS, mentioned by Cardinal Baronius as his authority for an assertion that Joseph of Arimathea was a companion of St Philip, Lazarus, etc., in their flight to Gaul in A.D.35, and later preached in Britain. Baronius’ actual words in the margin are “ex manuscripta Historia Angl. quae habetur in Bibl. Vaticana,” (Lansdown M.S.255.f.364. British Museum). Baronius was librarian of the Vatican.
Now we turn to the “Vita Sancti Dunstani.” Bishop Stubbs, Memorials of St Dunstan (1874), gives the following version of the passage by the anonymous writer called Saxon Priest “B”, which he says is probably the oldest and most accurate. He thinks the writer was perhaps a contemporary of St Dunstan.
NO. 3. TEXT
“Quem, (St Dunstan), pii parentes sacri baptismatis undis renatum Dunstanum vocaverunt. Crevit itaque puer et effectus est tam Deo quam hominibus earns, Erat autem quaedam regalis in confinio ejusdem praefati viri (King Athelstan) insula, antiquo vicinorum vocabulo Glastonia nuncupata, latis locorum dimensa sinibus, piscosis aquis stagneisque circumducta fluminibus, et plurimis humanae indigentiae apta usibus, atque sacris, quod maximum est, Dei dicata muneribus. In ea siquidem ipsius loca (sic) primi catholicae legis neophitae antiquam Deo dictante repperunt aecclesiam, nulla hominum arte(1) constructam, immo humano saluti coelitus paratam; quam postmodum ipse coelorum fabricator multis miraculorum gestis multisque misteriorum virtutibus(2) hanc(3) Sibi sanctaeque genetrici Suae(4) Mariae consecratarn fore demonstravit. Huic etiam aliud addiderunt opere(5) lapideo(6) oratorium quod Christo ejusque Sancto Petro Apostolo dedicaverunt”
The important footnote is (1), which shows that the version accepted by Bishop Stubbs did not have the words “ut ferunt ” in the text, and that “B”only had it in the margin. William of Malmesbury includes it in the Coli.Camb. MS.R.5.33.fol. 131a. Adam de Domerham here quotes a document called “Secretum domini,” and gives the identical passage as that in the Bodleian “Secretum abbatis,” with the same folio number (249b). There can be little doubt that this is the document which Ussher quotes from, and note that the date of this is certainly older than the “Secretum abbatis” (1311, 1374):
Since the second edition was issued, the controversy over the meanings of these two phrases was resumed in the columns of the Somerset County Herald, and in the issue of 19th April, 1947, under No. 4264, Abbot Horne quotes, with apparent approval, the comments of Dom. Aelred Watkin. I give the exact words of the latter’s pertinent summary in each case.
(1) Secretum Domini. “On account of the fact that it was copied out for the private use of the Lord Abbots of Glastonbury, (it) went by the name of Secretum Domini – a nick name implying that it was set apart for the use of the Lord Abbot.”
I should like confirmation of that word “fact.” As for the “nick name,” I ask any intelligent reader to judge for himself as to its suitability!
(2) Domus Dei. “The scribe attempting to find some Latin form for the word Domesday, invents the somewhat ridiculous Domus Dei, perhaps as a rather laboured witticism.”
“Curiouser and curiouser,” to quote Alice. “Ridiculous” “Laboured witticism “!
Surely for the poorest Latin scholar, both nickname and witticism verge perilously on the profane.
NO. 4. MELCHINUS
Melchinus or Melkinus (Celtic Maelgwyn?). He is most obscure in origin and date. John of Glastonbury, following Glastonbury tradition, says he was “before Merlin” while Pits (“De illustribus Britanniae scriptoribus” 1619), describes him as an “Avalonian,” and calls him a British bard, historian, and astronomer. He dates him with assurance as A.D.560. Leland (c. 1530), noted the document here quoted as a very treasured possession in the old Library of the Abbey. He calls it “a fragment of history written by Melchinus an Avalonian.” Apart from tradition, the language suggests great antiquity, and, whatever else we may call it, it does not sound in the least monastic. The passage is quoted, apart from John of Glastonbury, in the “Nova Legenda Angliae,” and the following translation is from the text as given. by Skeat (” Joseph of Arimathie,” P. 7071).
“The Isle of Avalon, hungry for the burial of the natives, once adorned, above all others in the world, by oracular circles (‘sperulis vaticinantibus’) of prophecy, will for the future also be furnished with worshippers of the Highest. Abbadare, mighty in judgment. noblest of natives, with one hundred and four knights (‘milibus’ for ‘militibus’) fell asleep there. Amid whom, Joseph of Marmor, named of ‘Armathia,’ found his perpetual rest. And he lies inside the forked line near the southern angle of the oratory erected there (of wattles prepared before), over (“super potentem adorandam virginem”) the powerful adorable virgin, by that circle of thirteen inhabiting the spot. Joseph forsooth, has with him in his sepulchre two cruets, white and silvery, filled with the blood and sweat of the prophet Jesus. When his sepulchre shall be found, it will be seen in future years complete and undamaged, and it will be open to the whole world. Thenceforth, neither dew nor rain shall ever fail those who inhabit this most noble island. Long before the judgment day in Josaphat, these things will be open and manifested to living people.”
I have always felt that this document, though quoted by sceptics like Dean Armitage Robinson, has never had the consideration it deserves. The language stamps it as far earlier than the Conquest and the phraseology as native or even Hebrew in origin.
NO. 5. ST DAVID’S VISION
St David’s Vision and William of Malmesbury. William of Malmesbury (12th century), who actually saw the old Wattle Church, is, by his own confession, very cautious in repeating unsubstantiated legends, yet he records, with no apparent suspicion, the following supposed vision of St David (“De Antiquitate,” Hearne, P.25). The translation here is by Mr.H.F.Scott Stokes, a sceptic on Glastonbury legends:-
“In what reverence the great David, Archbishop of the Mene-vesians, held the place is so well known, that it needs no report of mine to elucidate it. Through him a divine miracle corroborated the antiquity and sanctity of the Church. For, thinking to consecrate it, he came with seven Bishops, of whom he was the primate, to Glastonbury. But when all was ready for the ceremony, on the night before it was to take place (as he thought), he bade sleep welcome. And having relaxed all his senses to rest, he saw the Lord Jesus standing by, and courteously inquiring why he had come. He at once explained, but the Lord recalled him from his intention by saying that he himself had long ago dedicated the Church in honour of his Mother, and the sacrament ought not to be profaned by human repetition.”
NO.6. THE EALDE CHIRCHE
The following gives William of Malmesbury’s own description of the Wattle Church, with the feelings which it inspired in him:-
“Gesta Regum Anglorum,” L, 20. “In it the bodily relics of many saints are preserved, some of whom we shall note in due course; nor is there any space around the shrine which does not contain the ashes of the blessed. Indeed, the tesselated pavement of polished stone, yes, even the sides of the altar, and the very altar itself, both above and below, are piled with the crowded relics. In places also one may note in the pavement on either side stones carefully placed, in alternate triangles and squares, and sealed with lead, beneath which, if I believe some holy secret to be held, I am doing no harm to religion.”
NO. 7. THE BRETON LEGEND
I append in full the legend current in Brittany, connecting St Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin, with that land. While it is obvious that the Bretons themselves locate the scene of the legend in their own country, it is at least possible that it was transplanted from Cornwall, with many of their place names, at the time of the great migration. The district with which the legend is connected is called “Cornuaille.” The version which I append is my own translation of an extract from Anatole leBraz’ “Sainte Anne de la Palude” in “Un Pays des Pardons.”
The writer tells how he was struck by the likeness of a poor peasant woman to the figure of St Anne, before which she had been praying.
“Do you know,” I said, “that St Anne and you look like sisters?”
“I am, like her, a grandmother,” she replied, “and, like me, thank God, she is a Breton.”
“St Anne a Breton? Are you quite sure about that, my worthy woman?”
She turned her dreamy eyes on me, and answered in a pitying tone:
“How easy to see that you are from the town! The townsfolk are ignorant; they despise us country folk, because we cannot read their books. But they! What would they know of their land, if we were not there to tell them? Oh yes, St Anne was a Breton. Go to the Chateau de Moellien and they will show you the room she inhabited, in the days when she was Queen of that country. For a Queen she was; nay, she was even “Duchesse,” a far more beautiful title. They blessed her in the streets, because of her goodness and her boundless pity for the humble and unhappy. Her husband, in turn, passed for a very hard man. He was jealous of his wife, and did not want her to bear children. When he discovered that she was with child, he flew into a violent passion, and drove her out like a beggar, in the middle of the night, in the depth of winter, half naked, into the icy storm. A piteous wanderer, she walked blindly on. In the bay of Trefentec, under this dune, a barque of light rode placidly, though the sea was rough, and at the stern stood an angel in white, his wings spread out like sails. ‘Embark,’ said the angel, ‘that we may take care of you; for the time is short.’ ‘Whither would you take me?’ she asked, and he replied, ‘The wind will direct us; the will of God is in the wind.’
“They passed along the coast of Judaea, and landed in the port of Jerusalem. Some days later Anne gave birth to a daughter, destined by God to be the Virgin. She brought her up piously, taught her letters in a book of Psalms, and made her wise in body and spirit; meet to become the mother of Jesus. He rtask ended, as she felt herself growing old, she prayed Heaven, saying, ‘ I am pining for my Bretons. If only, ere I die, I may see again my parish, and the beach, so sweet to my eyes, of ‘la Palude in Plounevez Porzay!’ Her prayer was answered. The barque of light returned to take her, with the same angel at the helm, only now he was robed in black, to show the saint of her widowhood, for the Seigneur de Moellien had died meanwhile. The castle folk, gathered on the shore, received their chatelaine with transports of joy, but she immediately hushed them. ‘Go,’ she commanded, ‘and distribute all my goods among the poor.’ She was resolved to end her earthly days in penitence. Henceforth she lived here, under this barren dune, in one perpetual orison. The light of her eyes radiated far over the waters like a moonbeam. On stormy nights she was the saviour of the fishers. With one gesture she calmed the sea, and drove the clouds back to bed, like a flock of sheep to the fold.
“Jesus, her grandson, undertook for her sake the voyage to Basse Bretagne. Before he was to climb Calvary, he went to ask her blessing, accompanied by the disciples Peter and John. Their parting was a bitter one. Anne wept tears of blood, and Jesus tried in vain to console her. At last he said to her, ‘Think, grandmere, of your Bretons. Speak, and in thy name I will grant them whatever they ask.’
“The saint checked her tears. ‘Ah! then,’ she cried, ‘May a Church be dedicated here to me, and as far as its steeple shall be seen, as far as its bells shall be heard, may all sickness be healed, and every soul, living or dead, find peace!’ … “There, my gentleman is the true history of Anne of la Palude, in Plounevez Porzay. There it is, just as I had it from my mother, who had it from hers, at a time when families transmitted piously, from memory to memory, the things of the past.”
These simple words of the Breton peasant woman sum up the whole case for the credibility of oral tradition. Allowing for all possible embellishments in the course of time, the fundamental basis of the tradition dates back to those far off ages when, in the beautiful words of the original “les familIes se transmettaient pieusement de memoire en memoire les choses du passe.”
Distributed by: ARTHUR JAMES; The Drift, Evesham
(1) arte ut fenint, ins. B. in marg.
(2) misteriorum birtutibus virtutum misteriis. B.
(3) hanc om. B.
(4) Suae Dei. B.
(5) opere operes. A.
(6) lapideo lapideos. A.
