22 HISTORY OF THE SHORT-HORNS. 



" In regard to the curious old monkish legend, of finding a peace- 

 ful rest here at last for the bones of St. Cuthbert, the patron Saint of 

 Durham Cathedral, it is of such length, and so variously told, that it 

 would exhaust your patience to follow it up in all its twistings and 

 turnings. I will therefore give you the substance of it, condensed 

 from what I am informed is the most reliable account : 



" Know, then, that the mighty St. Cuthbert, famed for royal de- 

 scent, and many and great virtues, died so long ago as the 2oth of 

 the calend of March, Anno Domini, 687, and was buried in Holy 

 Island, a meet place indeed for so worthy and sanctified a man. 

 Here his body rested in peace for the space of two centuries, when 

 Bishop Eardulphus, and the Abbot Eadred, fearing that it would be 

 disturbed in the terrible devastations which the Danes and other 

 ruthless pagans began to commit in the neighborhood, exhumed the 

 remains, and carried them, for re-interment, to Cuneagestre, sit- 

 uated a few miles from Dunholme, (now Durham,) where they 

 remained one hundred and thirteen years, till the dreadful pagan war 

 had nearly ended. Bishop Aldwinus then removed the holy body of 

 St. Cuthbert to Ripon, in Yorkshire, to lay it by the side of another 

 famous holy body, namely, that of St. Winfred, who was buried in 

 the renowned Cathedral of that place. But after four months from 

 this time, the Danish forays having entirely ceased, it was determined 

 to carry St. Cuthbert back to Cuneagestre, and re-inter him where he 

 had remained so peacefully before for upwards of a century. In 

 bearing him thither, all at once, at a place called Wardenlawe, Bishop 

 Aldwinus and his monks were stayed in their progress, and with all 

 their force could not remove the body any farther, for it seemed fas- 

 tened to the ground. At this strange and unforeseen accident, they 

 were greatly astonished, and their hearts deeply exercised; where- 

 upon they fasted and prayed three whole days with great devotion, 

 to know by revelation from God, what to do with the holy body. At 

 the end of this time it was revealed to Eadmer, one of the most 

 virtuous of the monkish brotherhood, that St. Cuthbert should be 

 carried to Dunholme, where he was to be received as his final resting 

 place. But now came the great difficulty, for not one of the monks 

 knew where Dunholme lay. Yet trusting to Providence to indicate 

 it to them in some way, they took up the body again, and with con- 

 fiding hearts proceeded on their journey. Presently they overheard 

 a woman calling to another whom she met, that her cow had strayed 

 away and was lost, and asked if she had seen her. * Yes,' was the 

 reply, 'just beyond, in Dunholme.' This was a happy and heavenly 



