Grace Darling | Page 9

the king, who loved him, became

his interpreter, and went with him on his missionary tours throughout
the kingdom. Oswald lived in Bamborough Castle, and Aidan selected,
as his residence, the Island of Lindisfarne, which was afterward called
Holy Island. Oswald was slain in battle while defending his castle from
the attacks of Penda, King of Mercia. Penda, the Pagan could not
obtain possession of the castle, though he slew its prince; for even after
his death, the people bravely defended the stronghold.
The kingdom became divided shortly after. The good Aidan died in the
year 651, and was succeeded by Finan, who built a cathedral on the
Island of Lindisfarne, whose walls were of oak, and whose roof was
thatched.
At this time, the cause of Christianity appears to have been served by
the piety and zeal of an illustrious lady, named St. Hilda, who founded
abbeys, and, according to her admirers, did many miraculous works.
In the year 664, the yellow plague, which every summer had committed
sad ravages among the people, raged so fearfully that it swept away
Tulda, who was then Bishop of Lindisfarne, and nearly all his flock.
About this time the great St. Cuthbert, who has made the Farne Islands
famous, was made Prior of Lindisfarne. He was born about the year
635, and was one of the most illustrious of the saints of the middle ages.
In 651, he was watching his flock by night, as a shepherd boy, when,
according to his own story, he saw, above the heights of Lauderdale,
the heavens opened, and a company of angels descend and ascend,
bearing with them the soul of St. Aidan, the pious Bishop of Holy
Island. He resolved that he would become a monk, and he entered the
monastery of Melrose. St. Boisal was the Prior, and, when he died of
the plague, St. Cuthbert was chosen to take his place. He filled the
office well, and was most assiduous in his attention to, and care of his
flock. He visited all the villages and mountain hamlets that were in the
neighbourhood, teaching the people, and endeavouring by all means in
his power to win them back from Paganism to Christianity.
It was after a time of great activity, and possibly of over-work, that he
left Melrose, and became Provost of the monastery at Lindisfarne.

After labouring there for a time, he longed for a position of yet greater
solitariness, and he therefore resigned his office. It was then that he
went to the Farne Islands, which offered loneliness enough to satisfy
even the austere recluse. He built himself a cell or hermitage with his
own hands, using such rough materials of wood and stone as the islands
afforded.
So highly was he esteemed that he was not permitted to remain in
obscurity for more than eight or nine years. He was needed to work in
the world still, and a deputation, consisting of Ecgfrid, King of
Northumbria, and many nobles and clergy, waited upon him in his
retirement and earnestly begged him to accept the Bishopric of Hexham.
Although he shrank from the irksome task, he was too good a man not
to yield to duty, though he did it reluctantly; but he so thirsted for
solitude, that Eata, the Bishop of Lindisfarne, exchanged with him. At
Easter, he was solemnly consecrated Bishop of Lindisfarne, at York, by
Thodore, Archbishop of Canterbury. He did not long continue in office.
His health failed, and he pined for the solitude of his beloved Farne
Island; and when he had been ten years in his bishopric, he again
resigned and sought the lonely rocks, which he did not leave until his
death. He died on the 20th of March, 687. He wished to be buried on
Farne Island, but had consented to have his remains taken to
Lindisfarne, after making the monks promise that, if ever the monastery
should be removed, his bones should be taken away also. His body was
placed in a coffin of stone, and he was buried near the high altar of the
Lindisfarne Cathedral.
Ten years later, the monks decided to enshrine the saint, and place him
above, instead of under the pavement. They opened the coffin, and
announced to the world that they had found the body "entire, flexible,
and succulent," and for eight hundred years it was supposed to remain
so.
Nearly two hundred years later, the circumstances which Cuthbert
would seem to have dimly foreseen occurred. Troublous times arose in
Northumbria. The nobles were at variance with each other, and two
rival kings ascended the throne. The wise saying, "a house that is

divided against itself cannot stand," was verified here. The wary
warlike Danes, seeing this, came trooping down upon the northern
district, and fierce and fearful battles