even quarrelsome character of the race." He had the "perfervidum ingenium Scotorum." He was
manly, tall and handsome, incessantly active, and had a sonorous and far-reaching voice, rolling
forth the Psalms of David, every syllable distinctly uttered. He could discern the signs of the weather.
Adamnan ascribes to him an angelic countenance, a prophetic fore-knowledge and miracles as great
as those performed by Christ, such as changing water into wine for the celebration of the eucharist,
when no wine could be obtained, changing bitter fruit into sweet, drawing water from a rock,
calming the storm at sea, and curing many diseases. His biography instead of giving solid facts,
teems with fabulous legends, which are told with childlike credulity. O’Donnell’s biography goes
still further. Even the pastoral staff of Columba, left accidentally upon the shore of Iona, was
transported across the sea by his prayers to meet its disconsolate owner when he landed somewhere
in Ireland.^87
Columba died beside the altar in the church while engaged in his midnight devotions. Several
poems are ascribed to him—one in praise of the natural beauties of his chosen island, and a monastic
rule similar to that of St. Benedict; but the "regula ac praecepta" of Columba, of which Wilfrid
spoke at the synod of Whitby, probably mean discipline or observance rather than a written rule.^88
The church establishment of Columba at Iona belongs to the second or monastic period of
the Irish church, of which it formed an integral part. It consisted of one hundred and fifty persons
under the monastic rule. At the head of it stood a presbyter-abbot, who ruled over the whole province,
and even the bishops, although the episcopal function of ordination was recognized.^89 The monks
were a family of brethren living in common. They were divided into three classes: the seniors, who
attended to the religious services, instruction, and the transcribing of the Scriptures; the middle-aged,
who were the working brethren, devoted to agriculture, the tending of the cattle, and domestic labor;
and the youth, who were alumni under instruction. The dress consisted of a white tunica or under
garment, and a camilla or outer garment and hood made of wool. Their food was bread, milk, eggs,
fish, and on Sundays and festivals mutton or beef. The doctrinal views and ecclesiastical customs
as to the observance of Easter and the tonsure were the same as among the Britons and the Irish in
distinction from the Roman system introduced by Augustin among the Saxons.^90
The monastery of Iona, says Bede, held for a long time the pre-eminence over the monasteries
and churches of the Picts and Northern Scots. Columba’s successors, he adds, were distinguished
for their continency, their love of God, and strict attention to their rules of discipline, although they
followed "uncertain cycles in their computation of the great festival (Easter), because they were so
far away from the rest of the world, and had none to supply them with the synodical decrees on the
paschal observance; wherefore they only practised such works of piety and chastity as they could
learn from the prophetical, evangelical, and apostolical writings. This manner of keeping Easter
continued among them for a hundred and fifty years, till the year of our Lord’s incarnation 715."^91
(^87) Montalembert’s delineation of Columba’s character assumes, apparently, the truth of these biographies, and is more
eloquent than true. See Skene, II. 145.
(^88) On the regula Columbani, see Ebrard, 147 sqq.
(^89) Bede, H. E., III. 4; V. 9.
(^90) For a very full account of the economy and constitution of Iona, see Reeves, Introduction to Life of Saint Columba,
pp. c.-cxxxii.
(^91) H. E. III. 4.