CHRONICLES OF CORNISH SAINTS, III.— S. CONSTANTINE. 83 



"of Mordred grievously vexed, for so myclie as they claymed 

 ''the lande by the ryghte or tytle of theyr father. So that 

 "betwene hym and them were foughten many and sundry 

 "bataylles." At length the rebels were completely vanquished, 

 and became fugitives. One of them fled to Winchester, and took 

 refuge there in the Church of S. Amphibalus, but was butchered 

 by Constantine himself before the altar, whilst the other escaped 

 to London, was captured in a monastery, and immediately put to 

 death. It was for these sacrilegious crimes that Gildas vehemently 

 denounced him in his well-known Epistle, accusing him of murder, 

 perjury, and adultery, and designating him a tyrannical whelp of 

 the unclean lioness of Damnonia.* It has been supposed that, in 

 consequence of this denunciation Constantine was brought to a 

 due sense of his wickedness, and that, filled with remorse, he 

 abandoned his kingdom and "withdrew into private life. The 

 Aberdeen Breviary, however, which contains a Collect and Lessons 

 for his Feast-day, March 11th, informs us that his retirement was 

 caused by the untimely death of his wife,t who was a daughter of 

 the King of lesser Britain ; whilst the "■ Buik of the Chronicles 

 of Scotland " gives the following more explicit account : — 



" Quhen he saw the greit calamitie 



And seruitude tha Britis war in brocht, 



He traistit weill the greit falsheid tha wrocht 



In the defrauding of the King Modreid, 



Quhilk richteous was till Uter to succeid ; 



Into his mynd thairfoir he dred so soir, 



That was the cans that tha war puneist foir, ' ' 



Within himself richt havelie he huir, 



So wranguslie he tuke on him sic cuir, 



In the defrauding of the richteous air. 



Thairfoir his ladie, plesant and preclair, 



The quhilk he louit ouir all erthlie thing, 



And sonis als quhilk after him suld ring, 



The hand of God departit hes him fro, 



* " Immundse leffinse Damnonise tyrannicus catuhis Constantinus." 



I " Constantinus, paterni regis Cornubiffi filius, regis Britannise minoris 

 filiam duxit in uxorem, ged ecce ! sinistrante fortuna moritur regina ; de 

 cujus mortis dolore cum rex consolari noluerit, filio suo regnum et ipsius 

 regimen consultius commisit et tradidit." 



Breviarium Aberdonense, folio Ixvii, 



