^ SMITH MONK. 35.^ 



pursue this and other crafts : ' We command that every 

 priest, to increase knowledge, diligently learn some handi- 

 craft.' ' 



The famed St Dunstan, the most proficient man of his 

 age, and who lived in the loth century, among his other 

 accomplishments, was a cunning worker in metals, and 

 particularly iron. 



Glastonbury Abbey, where Arthur, the last of the British 

 kings, had been buried, was, on the admission of the 

 future abbot, principally filled by Celts or Scots from 

 Ireland, who were at that time the most learned men. 

 This abbey was famous throughout all the land for the 

 ability of its monks, and a British population dwelt in the 

 surrounding country. The usual austerities of a monastic 

 life did not suffice for Dunstan in his earlier years, but, 

 like a Druid, he gave himself up to a solitary existence, 

 practising his skill in secret. He built a kind of Wayland 

 Smith's cave by the side of the sacred edifice, in which he 

 enclosed himself. This cell or hole was only 5 feet in 

 length and ih in width, and it barely rose 4 feet above the 

 ground. The earth was excavated just enough to enable 

 him to stand upright, though he could never lie down. His 

 biographer (Osberne) was so puzzled with this strange re- 

 treat that he knew not what to call it. Cells were commonly 

 dug in an eminence or raised from the earth, but this was 

 the earth itself excavated. Its only wall was its door, which 

 covered the whole, and in this was a small aperture to admit 

 light and air. In this sepulchre he abode, denying himself 

 rest as well as needful food, fasting to the point of starva- 

 tion, and constantly working at his forge when not engaged 



' JFUkbis. Ibid. p. 83. 



