vague; and the traditions of five or six hundred years at such a period were not to be depended upon. That Bede and all the early English annalists, whose works we are comparing, always write about one Roman wall only is beyond doubt, and that wall is apparently no other than the one between the Firths of Forth and Clyde. A sufficient explanation of their ignorance of the wall in the north of England is furnished by Chalmers: "From the opinions of Dio and Herodian, it appears probable that only the wall of Antonine existed at the epoch of Severus' invasion; and that Hadrian's wall, being no longer necessary, had become ruinous." Whether this is the right reason or not for Bede's silence regarding the wall in the north of England, and it should be remembered that he spent most, if not all his life, at a great distance away from it, it is at least certain that on and after this Bede speaks only of one wall, that which he describes in this twelfth chapter. The city mentioned by Bede as situated in the midst of the eastern ocean, has been sometimes identified with Leith or Queensferry; and in the translation before us its situation is said not to be known. Dr Skene has identified it with Inchkeith, which exactly suits Bede's description; and it is quite possible there may have been a small town there at the time referred to. Besides the name of the island confirms this, for Inchkeith might easily be regarded as a corruption of Inis-Guidi, or the Island Guidi. Few names of that period have reached us with less change. 1 Caledonia, vol. i. p. 185, note. PALLADIUS' MISSION. In the thirteenth chapter of Book I. these words occur: "Palladius was sent by Celestinus, the Roman Pontiff, to the Scots that believed in Christ, to be their first bishop." This passage, although it rather favours our view of the subject at issue, for the Scots there mentioned ought to be taken for those spoken of in the twelfth chapter, appears to be an interpolation, at least in the form in which it is given in Bede's work. There is no evidence to show that the Romish Church was acknowledged by the Scots at this time, or that they had any bishops over them till the twelfth century. The notice of this event, as it appears in the Saxon Chronicle, is less objectionable. It reads thus: "430. This year Palladius, the bishop, was sent to the Scots by Pope Celestinus, that he might confirm their faith." Another manuscript has: "430. This year Patrick was sent by Pope Celestine to preach baptism to the Scots." Ethelwerd has: "Bishop Palladius is sent by the holy Pope Celestinus to preach the gospel of Christ to the Scots." This passage is varied and extended in such a way that it requires to be separately treated in speaking of the authors' works in which it appears. If it is to be accepted as a genuine record of an event that really took place, it is certain that it refers to the inhabitants of North Britain, for Henry of Huntingdon and Ordericus Vitallis both copy it without note or comment; and these authors lived when Scots is allowed by every writer to have been the name for the inhabitants of Scotland only, ག A WRONG RENDERING. The following sentence occurs in the fourteenth chapter: "The Irish robbers thereupon returned home, in order to come again soon after." As usual, this is copied into Huntingdon's work thus: "The Scots returned with shame to Ireland" (Hibernia). That this is a wrong rendering of the word, perhaps purposely done, is evident from the translation of the same passage as given in Bohn's translation of Gildas' work, thus: "The audacious invaders therefore return to their winter quarters, determined before long again to return and plunder." Marianus Scotus, a native of present Scotland, as has been already stated, in relating the actions of the Picts and Scots in the same expedition, says: "Scoti Revertunum Domum," instead of the word Hiberni, used by Gildas and Bede. Ordericus Vitallis follows Marianus, saying: "The Scots returned to their homes." Florence of Worcester has: The Scots retreated to their own country." And neither Ethelwerd nor Malmesbury say anything to support the translation in the Ecclesiastical History and Huntingdon's work. 1 ETHELFRITH'S BATTLE WITH EDAN. In the last chapter of Book I. of the Ecclesiastical History, it is said that Ethelfrith, king of the Northumrians, defeated" Ædan, king of the Scots that inhabit Britain." It would be unnecessary to notice this passage were it not fixed upon by some writers as showing that Bede added the words that inhabit Bri 1 Ireland not the Hibernia of the Ancients, p. 29. B tain," to distinguish these Scots from those who inhabited Ireland. Let us therefore see how it has been treated by his successors. Henry of Huntingdon, as usual, gives the passage in the same words. Florence of Worcester and William of Malmesbury, other two writers, not altogether above suspicion, refer to the battle, but leave out the words: "that inhabit Britain," after the Scots, The earliest extant manuscript of the Saxon Chronicle has only these words referring to the same battle: "603. This year there was a battle at Egesanstane." A later manuscript has: "603. This year Ethan, king of the Scots, fought against the Dalreods and against Ethelfrith, king of the Northumbrians, at Dægsanstane. Since then no king of the Scots has dared to lead an army against this nation." Ethelwerd takes no notice of this battle, although he closely follows the Saxon Chronicle in other instances, and copies the two preceding and the two following entries in it. This, taken along with Roger of Wendover's silence regarding this battle, is significant; the more so, as he speaks of Ethelfrith, the king of the Northumbrians, fighting a battle with the Britons at Caerlegion, in the same year in which the battle with the Scots is said to have taken place. In addition to these circumstances, the chapter in the Ecclesiastical History, in which the battle with Edan is described, repeats the word English three or four times, and this is not in favour of its being the work of Bede's hands. LAURENTIUS AND THE SCOTS. The fourth chapter of the Second Book of the Ecclesi astical History is entitled: "Laurentius and his bishops admonish the Scots to observe the unity of the Holy Church, particularly in the keeping of Easter; Melitus goes to Rome." It begins: "Laurentius succeeded Augustine in the bishopric, having been ordained thereto by the latter in his lifetime, lest, upon his death, the state of the Church, as yet unsettled, might begin to falter, if it should be destitute of a pastor. He (Laurentius) not only took care of the new church formed among the English, but endeavoured also to employ his pastoral solicitude among the ancient inhabitants of Britain, as also the Scots, who inhabit the island of Ireland, which is next to Britain. For when he understood that the course of life and profession of the Scots in their aforesaid country, as well as of the Britons in Britain, was not truly ecclesiastical," He and his fellow-bishops wrote to them— 66 The beginning of which epistle is as follows:-'To our most dear brothers, the lords, bishops, and abbats throughout all Scotland, Laurentius, Melitus, and Justus. We held both the Britons and Scots in great esteem for sanctity, believing that they had proceeded according to the custom of the universal Church; but coming acquainted with the errors of the Britons, we thought the Scots had been better; but we have been informed that the Scots in no way differ from the Britons.' It is almost needless to say that this is all given in Henry of Huntingdon's History, with the remarkable exception of the words: "who inhabit the island of Ireland, which is next to Britain." Why these words are omitted in his work, it is impossible to say, for they entirely alter the meaning of the whole passage. Appearing in a work written in the twelfth century, without the words quoted, or any reference to make the chapter apply to inhabitants of Ireland, it could only be |