a body of religious, who chiefly resided in Scotland, Ireland,
and some of the adjacent isles. The name has been also written _Keldees_
and _Kyldees_. Various etymons have been given of it. Two of these seem
to have superior claims to attention. It may be deduced either from
Irish _ceile_, or, _gille_, a servant, and _De_, _Dia_, God; or from
_cuil_, _ceal_, in Welsh _cel_, a sequestered corner, a retreat. The
latter seems to derive support from the established sense of _kil_,
retained in the names of so many places, which, in an early age, have
been consecrated to religion. It is more than probable that Christianity
had found its way into Scotland before the close of the second century;
and that it continued to be professed by a few scattered individuals
even before the arrival of Ninian, in the beginning of the fifth. But we
have no proof of the existence of any religious societies observing a
particular institute, till the year 563, when Columba landed in Hii, or
Iona; which, in honour of him, was afterward called _I-colum-kill_; that
is, the isle of Colum, or Columba, of the cells. He was born in Ireland,
A. D. 521; and, after founding many seminaries of religion there,
prompted by zeal for the propagation of Christianity, set sail for
Scotland with twelve companions. According to Bede, having converted the
northern Picts, he received from Brudi, their king, the island of Hii in
possession, for the purpose of erecting a monastery. Here he almost
constantly resided till the year 597, when he died. He made occasional
visits to the mainland, proceeding even as far as to Inverness: also to
Ireland, where he was held in high estimation. As he was himself much
devoted to the study of the Holy Scriptures, he taught his disciples to
confirm their doctrines by testimonies brought from this unpolluted
fountain, and declared that only to be the divine counsel which he found
there. His followers, faithful to his instructions, “would receive those
things only which are contained in the writings of the Prophets,
Evangelists, and Apostles, diligently observing the works of piety and
purity.” They lived, indeed, according to a certain institute, which, it
is said, was composed by their venerable instructer. But there was this
remarkable distinction between them and those societies properly called
monastic, that they were not associated expressly for the purpose of
observing this rule. While they seem to have reckoned something of this
kind necessary for the preservation of order, and for the attainment of
habits of diligence, their great design was, by the instruction of those
committed to their charge, to train them up for the work of the
ministry. Hence it has been justly observed, that the Culdean
fraternities may more properly be viewed as colleges than as
monasteries; as being in fact, the seminaries of the church both in
North Britain and in Ireland. There were also Culdees in Wales; and, for
many ages, the Christians of that country held the same doctrines, and
observed the same rites, with their Scottish and Irish brethren. The
presbyters not only acted as the ministers of religion to those in their
vicinity, but were still instructing others, and sending forth
missionaries whenever they had a call, or any prospect of success.
2. In each regular establishment of the Culdees, it would appear that
there were twelve brethren, with one who presided over them. Their
ecclesiastical government has been viewed as materially the same with
the Presbyterian. Their president, or abbot, was not a bishop, but a
presbyter; to whose authority, as we learn from Bede, even the bishops
of the district were subject. In their meetings, all matters were
settled by plurality of voices. The members of this council had the
general designation of _seniores_, or elders. To them, collectively,
belonged the trial of the gifts of those who had been educated in their
seminaries, when they were to be employed in the public ministry; from
them they received ordination and mission, and to them they were
amenable in the discharge of their office. Those whom they thus employed
are, by ancient writers, often denominated bishops. But that they
attached to this designation no dignity superior to that of presbyter,
appears incontrovertible from their being afterward called to account,
and sometimes censured by the fraternity. It has been asserted by the
friends of diocesan episcopacy, that a bishop _must_ always have resided
at Iona for the purpose of conferring ordination. But there is not the
slightest evidence of this. The contrary appears from all the records of
these early ages. We learn from the Saxon Chronicle, that “there was
always an abbot at Hii, but no bishop.” It is a singular fact, that
those who were first acknowledged as bishops in the northern parts of
England, and were indeed instrumental in the introduction of
Christianity there, were not only trained up at Iona, but received all
their authority from the council of seniors in that island. This was the
case with respect to Corman, the bishop of the Northumbrians, as well as
Aidan, Finan, and Colman, who succeeded each other in this mission. From
the testimony of Bede, it is evident that by means of Scottish
missionaries, or of those whom they had instructed and ordained, not
only the Northumbrians, but the Middle-Angles, the Mercians and
East-Saxons, all the way to the river Thames, that is, the inhabitants
of by far the greatest part of the country now called England, were
converted to Christianity; and for some time acknowledged subjection to
the ecclesiastical government of the Scots. The latter lost their
influence merely because their missionaries chose rather to give up
their charges than to submit to the prevailing influence of the church
of Rome, to which the Saxons of the west and of Kent had subjected
themselves.
3. Their doctrines were not less unpalatable than their mode of
government to the friends of the church of Rome. In England, in a very
early period, the adherents of the Popish missionary Augustine were
viewed by the delegates from Iona in the light of heretics. They
accordingly refused to hold communion with them. Matters were carried so
high in support of the Roman authority in the synod of Stroneschalch,
now Whitby, in England, A. D. 662, that Colman, the Scottish bishop of
Lindisfarne, left his bishopric, and with his adherents returned to
Scotland. Thus, as Bede informs us, “the Catholic institution daily
increasing, all the Scots who resided among the Angles, either conformed
to them or returned to their own country.” It was decreed in the council
of Cealhythe, A. D. 816, that no Scottish priest should be allowed to
perform any duty of his function in England. But in Scotland the Culdean
doctrine had taken deeper root; and, although equally offensive to the
votaries of Rome, kept its ground for several centuries. The Popish
writers themselves celebrate the piety, the purity, the humility, and
even the learning, of the Culdees; but while they were displeased with
the simplicity, or what they deemed the barbarism, of their worship,
they charged them with various deviations from the faith of the Catholic
church. It was not the least of these, that they did not observe Easter
at the proper time. They did not acknowledge auricular confession; they
rejected penance and authoritative absolution; they made no use of
chrism in baptism; confirmation was unknown; they opposed the doctrine
of the real presence; they withstood the idolatrous worship of saints
and angels, dedicating all their churches to the Holy Trinity; they
denied the doctrine of works of supererogation; they were enemies to the
celibacy of the clergy, themselves living in the married state. One
sweeping charge brought against them is, that they preferred their own
opinions to “the statutes of the holy fathers.”
4. The Scots, having received the Christian faith by the labours of the
Culdees, long withstood the errors and usurpations of Rome. It was not
till the twelfth century that their influence began to decline. The
difference between the lower classes of society in England and those of
the same description in Scotland, both with respect to religious
knowledge and moral conduct, is generally considered to be very
striking. Some writers, whose attention has been arrested by this
singular circumstance, and who could not be influenced by local
attachments, have ascribed the disparity to the relative influence,
however remote it may seem, of the doctrine and example of the Culdees.
Notwithstanding their great disinterestedness and diligence in
propagating the Gospel in England, these good men, it has been remarked,
within thirty years after the commencement of their mission, were
obliged to give way to the adherents of Rome; whereas the Scots, it is
certainly known, enjoyed the benefit of their labours for more than
seven centuries, and seem to have still retained their predilection for
the doctrines and modes which they so early received.
and some of the adjacent isles. The name has been also written _Keldees_
and _Kyldees_. Various etymons have been given of it. Two of these seem
to have superior claims to attention. It may be deduced either from
Irish _ceile_, or, _gille_, a servant, and _De_, _Dia_, God; or from
_cuil_, _ceal_, in Welsh _cel_, a sequestered corner, a retreat. The
latter seems to derive support from the established sense of _kil_,
retained in the names of so many places, which, in an early age, have
been consecrated to religion. It is more than probable that Christianity
had found its way into Scotland before the close of the second century;
and that it continued to be professed by a few scattered individuals
even before the arrival of Ninian, in the beginning of the fifth. But we
have no proof of the existence of any religious societies observing a
particular institute, till the year 563, when Columba landed in Hii, or
Iona; which, in honour of him, was afterward called _I-colum-kill_; that
is, the isle of Colum, or Columba, of the cells. He was born in Ireland,
A. D. 521; and, after founding many seminaries of religion there,
prompted by zeal for the propagation of Christianity, set sail for
Scotland with twelve companions. According to Bede, having converted the
northern Picts, he received from Brudi, their king, the island of Hii in
possession, for the purpose of erecting a monastery. Here he almost
constantly resided till the year 597, when he died. He made occasional
visits to the mainland, proceeding even as far as to Inverness: also to
Ireland, where he was held in high estimation. As he was himself much
devoted to the study of the Holy Scriptures, he taught his disciples to
confirm their doctrines by testimonies brought from this unpolluted
fountain, and declared that only to be the divine counsel which he found
there. His followers, faithful to his instructions, “would receive those
things only which are contained in the writings of the Prophets,
Evangelists, and Apostles, diligently observing the works of piety and
purity.” They lived, indeed, according to a certain institute, which, it
is said, was composed by their venerable instructer. But there was this
remarkable distinction between them and those societies properly called
monastic, that they were not associated expressly for the purpose of
observing this rule. While they seem to have reckoned something of this
kind necessary for the preservation of order, and for the attainment of
habits of diligence, their great design was, by the instruction of those
committed to their charge, to train them up for the work of the
ministry. Hence it has been justly observed, that the Culdean
fraternities may more properly be viewed as colleges than as
monasteries; as being in fact, the seminaries of the church both in
North Britain and in Ireland. There were also Culdees in Wales; and, for
many ages, the Christians of that country held the same doctrines, and
observed the same rites, with their Scottish and Irish brethren. The
presbyters not only acted as the ministers of religion to those in their
vicinity, but were still instructing others, and sending forth
missionaries whenever they had a call, or any prospect of success.
2. In each regular establishment of the Culdees, it would appear that
there were twelve brethren, with one who presided over them. Their
ecclesiastical government has been viewed as materially the same with
the Presbyterian. Their president, or abbot, was not a bishop, but a
presbyter; to whose authority, as we learn from Bede, even the bishops
of the district were subject. In their meetings, all matters were
settled by plurality of voices. The members of this council had the
general designation of _seniores_, or elders. To them, collectively,
belonged the trial of the gifts of those who had been educated in their
seminaries, when they were to be employed in the public ministry; from
them they received ordination and mission, and to them they were
amenable in the discharge of their office. Those whom they thus employed
are, by ancient writers, often denominated bishops. But that they
attached to this designation no dignity superior to that of presbyter,
appears incontrovertible from their being afterward called to account,
and sometimes censured by the fraternity. It has been asserted by the
friends of diocesan episcopacy, that a bishop _must_ always have resided
at Iona for the purpose of conferring ordination. But there is not the
slightest evidence of this. The contrary appears from all the records of
these early ages. We learn from the Saxon Chronicle, that “there was
always an abbot at Hii, but no bishop.” It is a singular fact, that
those who were first acknowledged as bishops in the northern parts of
England, and were indeed instrumental in the introduction of
Christianity there, were not only trained up at Iona, but received all
their authority from the council of seniors in that island. This was the
case with respect to Corman, the bishop of the Northumbrians, as well as
Aidan, Finan, and Colman, who succeeded each other in this mission. From
the testimony of Bede, it is evident that by means of Scottish
missionaries, or of those whom they had instructed and ordained, not
only the Northumbrians, but the Middle-Angles, the Mercians and
East-Saxons, all the way to the river Thames, that is, the inhabitants
of by far the greatest part of the country now called England, were
converted to Christianity; and for some time acknowledged subjection to
the ecclesiastical government of the Scots. The latter lost their
influence merely because their missionaries chose rather to give up
their charges than to submit to the prevailing influence of the church
of Rome, to which the Saxons of the west and of Kent had subjected
themselves.
3. Their doctrines were not less unpalatable than their mode of
government to the friends of the church of Rome. In England, in a very
early period, the adherents of the Popish missionary Augustine were
viewed by the delegates from Iona in the light of heretics. They
accordingly refused to hold communion with them. Matters were carried so
high in support of the Roman authority in the synod of Stroneschalch,
now Whitby, in England, A. D. 662, that Colman, the Scottish bishop of
Lindisfarne, left his bishopric, and with his adherents returned to
Scotland. Thus, as Bede informs us, “the Catholic institution daily
increasing, all the Scots who resided among the Angles, either conformed
to them or returned to their own country.” It was decreed in the council
of Cealhythe, A. D. 816, that no Scottish priest should be allowed to
perform any duty of his function in England. But in Scotland the Culdean
doctrine had taken deeper root; and, although equally offensive to the
votaries of Rome, kept its ground for several centuries. The Popish
writers themselves celebrate the piety, the purity, the humility, and
even the learning, of the Culdees; but while they were displeased with
the simplicity, or what they deemed the barbarism, of their worship,
they charged them with various deviations from the faith of the Catholic
church. It was not the least of these, that they did not observe Easter
at the proper time. They did not acknowledge auricular confession; they
rejected penance and authoritative absolution; they made no use of
chrism in baptism; confirmation was unknown; they opposed the doctrine
of the real presence; they withstood the idolatrous worship of saints
and angels, dedicating all their churches to the Holy Trinity; they
denied the doctrine of works of supererogation; they were enemies to the
celibacy of the clergy, themselves living in the married state. One
sweeping charge brought against them is, that they preferred their own
opinions to “the statutes of the holy fathers.”
4. The Scots, having received the Christian faith by the labours of the
Culdees, long withstood the errors and usurpations of Rome. It was not
till the twelfth century that their influence began to decline. The
difference between the lower classes of society in England and those of
the same description in Scotland, both with respect to religious
knowledge and moral conduct, is generally considered to be very
striking. Some writers, whose attention has been arrested by this
singular circumstance, and who could not be influenced by local
attachments, have ascribed the disparity to the relative influence,
however remote it may seem, of the doctrine and example of the Culdees.
Notwithstanding their great disinterestedness and diligence in
propagating the Gospel in England, these good men, it has been remarked,
within thirty years after the commencement of their mission, were
obliged to give way to the adherents of Rome; whereas the Scots, it is
certainly known, enjoyed the benefit of their labours for more than
seven centuries, and seem to have still retained their predilection for
the doctrines and modes which they so early received.