ecutioner on those who had been condemned to suffer death by the judgment of the regal court. Being greatly dissatisfied, and leading a life contrary to his inclination, in grief and sorrow, and among his enemies, he hoped for the mercy of God to release him by death, but he at length obtained his liberty. Having performed penance suitable to his state, he left the country altogether, and being mindful of his misfortunes, embraced the life of a sailor, when suffering shipwreck he landed on the isle of Bardsey; a place, which according to the British custom, was called the Rome of Britain, on account of the dangerous passage by sea to it, and its distance, being situated at the extremity of the kingdom, and for its sanctity and dignity, because there were buried therein the bodies of twenty thousand holy confessors and martyrs; it was surrounded on all sides by the sea, having a lofty promontory on the eastern side, its western coast was plain and fertile with a sweet flowing fountain; it was partly maritime and abounded with dolphins; was completely free from serpents and frogs, and no one died therein in the life time of a brother who was older than himself.1

are informed that Rothericke O'Conghir, prince of Connaught, was made king and monarch of Ireland in 1166-Camden's Britannia, Annals of Ireland, p. 150,-but Elgar must have lived during some other reign, for according to the account given at the end of this section, some of his remains were removed from Bardsey, where he had been buried, to Llandaff, in the year 1120. 1 This island is situated at the end of the promontory of Lleyn, Carnarvonshire, from which it is separated by a strait called Bardsey Race, three miles wide. It is two miles and a half in length, and a mile and a half in breadth, and the tract is a very fertile plain, and well cultivated, and productive of every thing which the neighbouring main land affords. There was formerly an Abbey at the place, which was considered to have been built by the fugitive monks of Bangor, when St. Dubricius resided there. It was dedicated to St. Mary, and continued to flourish till the general dissolution at the Reformation. There are only some small portions of it now remaining; the Abbot's house is a large stone building, inhabited by several

When he had a knowledge of the fertility, and especially of the sanctity of the place, he commended the sailors to Christ, and resolved to lead the life of a hermit, and being uninstructed from his having been brought up without education, he daily reaped improvement. Having spent the space of seven years with a religious community of brethren, and sometimes in solitude, led a holy, glorious, and chaste life, with scant food, slight clothing, and an emaciated countenance; he, in the following seven years, when all North Wales was desolated, dwelt in his hermitage, and had nothing for his maintenance, except the support which he received, through the providence of God, from the fish of the sea, and what the eagles, or, as we may say, angels, brought to him.

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On a certain day, the Teacher Caradog came to see whether he were alive or dead; and, to his joy, finding him living, said to him, "O beloved! who has maintained thee, being so "completely separated from all mankind? no one, I am certain, from our country, which is desolated, and for a long "time estranged from thee through want of communication "by sea." These, and other enquiries having been made, the good man, who was the most learned of all Wales, being skilled in the knowledge of both kinds of law, ancient and modern, descended from a noble family, and eminent in secular learning; with bended knees before the holy person, and with sighs, and the shedding of tears, strongly intreated

of the natives; not far from it is a singular chapel, or oratory, being a long arched edifice, with an insulated stone altar near the east end; in this place one of the inhabitants reads prayers, all other clerical offices are performed on the main land, at Aberdaron. The British name Ynys Enlli, or the Island of the current, it obtained from the violence of the current which rages between it and the main land; and the English name it probably received from the Saxons, on account of its being a favourite retreat of the Bards, who retired there, preferring solitude to the company of invading foreigners.-Pennant's Tour in North Wales, Vol. II. p. 380–384.

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him to give him an account of his life, which was unknown to man, and known only to God. Having been prevailed on at length by intreaty, he related to him the particulars of his solitary life, as to his lord and master. "Now, "dearly beloved Father, I will make known to thee the "mercy that has been shewn to me, not on account of my very inconsiderable merit, but through the bounty and "goodness of God, who has always given comfort to me; "holy Spirits, assuming to themselves, with divine concur"rence, the likeness of corporeal substance, according to the "belief supported by Scripture, which testifies that a Spirit "hath not flesh and bones,1 do constantly day and night ad"minister to me, as one poor and infirm, and suffering "shipwreck; through whose care I know not the want of joy "and prosperity, nor the presence of penury and poverty: "they always declare to me what is true, and always pro"mise what is right, describing to me the present life to be "as a flower of the field, and the future as the odour of "balm, comforting me that I might not faint in the way, "who having vanquished the enemy, should be rewarded "with a heavenly crown. Although separated from me "when they meet together, I know them, by our frequent "intercourse with each other, to be Dubricius, Archbishop "of Western Britain,2 Daniel, Bishop of the Church of Ban"gor, St. Padarn,3 and many others, whose bodies are buried "in this island. One of them told me on a certain time,

1 Luke xxiv. 39.

* The name by which Wales, and more particularly the southern part of it, was then called.

3 Of St. Dyfrig, or Dubricius, and St. Padarn, several particulars are mentioned in the course of this work. Daniel is the same as Deiniol Wyn, son of Dynawd Fyr, by Dwywe, daughter of Gwallog ap Llenog; he assisted his father in the establishment of Bangor Iscoed; and founded another monastery in Carnarvonshire, called Bangor Deiniol and Bangor Fawr, of which he was Abbot; soon afterwards, this place was raised by Maelgwn

"Go to-morrow to the cave of the confessor Greit; and "when there, fatigued by the journey, and intent on prayer, "lie down, and God will give thee, wherewith in those days "thou mayest sustain thy body; and thus on every third day "in the morning, God will give thee a fish from the rock, "although it be apart from the sea, and elevated many paces "above it. The fish which was sent me in this manner, at "length became tiresome, and the taste disagreeable, and "my appetite failing, owing to the meagre and aquatic na"ture of its daily food, it was taken away, and I received "nothing in consequence of the complaint which I made."

"Another time, I was told, Go to the harbour, and thou "wilt have a sea-fish of great size, wherewith thou mayest “be maintained;' and I pierced, with a small knife, the side "of the fish I found, which feeling the wound, leaped, and "precipitated itself into the sea, completely escaping out "of my hands; and reflecting on my hasty and hostile act, "I repented having inflicted the wound, and returned un"provided to my residence. And after some time, my "appetite inciting me, I sought for aid as usual; on the "following night the holy persons appeared, and said, 'O "thou incredulous person! Why wert thou so hasty? "what God has sent to thee, he will not take away; what "he has taken from thee to-day, he will restore to-morrow. "Go to the same place, and there thou wilt find the said "fish dead, and also the knife.' And it was so."

"Another time, when hunger was pressing me, the ac"customed persons said, 'Go thy usual road,' and I went, "and found a large white stag, and I said, What need have "I of so much food, and of which I have not been accus

Gwynedd to the rank of a Bishop's See, of which Deiniol was the first Bishop; he flourished about the middle of the sixth century, and was buried in the Isle of Bardsey.-Professor Rees' Essay on the Welsh Saints, p. 258.

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"tomed to partake? I returned to the oratory, and as usual,

they said to their servant, "The Lord will give thee nothing "else for food this time, besides what thou hast found to-day,' "and returning to the harbour, I found the stag again, which "was food for me for some considerable time. Sometimes the "eagles administered to me, by divine appointment, of the "fishes of the sea in the usual manner, and as was necessary, "with likewise some herbs, and water, and small sea-fish." These and many other particulars having been related, the Teacher Caradog hastened to the harbour, and said to his brother, "O pious! O beloved! Leave the solitude, that "thou mayest be comforted, and restored to thy former state, "and thou shalt receive from me for some time the comforts "of food, and clothing." Having heard these words, he hastened to the oratory, and having received an answer from the holy persons, said, "O Father, I have not so much li"berty, nor rashness, as to follow thee any more in this life! Depart, Brother, with great speed, while the wind is fa"vourable, on giving to thee my small blessing, and receiv"ing from thee thy large one." After these things, he led his life, present to the Lord, and unknown to man; and having prepared a grave for himself in the oratory, he lay down close by it, and expired. While the body was yet warm, some sailors came to the place, and buried what they found there ready for sepulture.

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On Friday, the 7th of May, in the year One thousand one hundred and twenty, being leap year, his teeth were removed from the island, on the same day that the relics of St. Dubricius were translated to Llandaff, by Urban the

1 As Elgar received information in his Oratory from the holy spirits, in an oracular manner, the building had the designation of Oracle, and it is here, and elsewhere in the Latin original, so called by Elgar.