O'Ekili.y— (9/(/ CliurchcH of Dalkoij Toini and Inland. 20-5 



of Dalkey was dcclicated, the choice would lie between ^t. liega (1), 

 venerated at Dunbar already referred to, whose festival is on tlio 

 Srd Septemler, according to Smith and. "Wace's "Dictionary of 

 Christian Biography " ; or on the 7th September, according to the 

 notice of the " Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography." 



Or on the 22nd November, according to Allan Butler (under the 

 name of St. Bees). 



Or St. Begga (2) mentioned already, whose festival would be on 

 the 31st October (old style or new style not stated). 



Or St. Becga or Begga, d. of Gabhran, Y., whose festival is on 

 the 10th February. 



Or St. Begghe, Duchess of Brabant, daughter of Pepin le Vieux, 

 Mayor of the palace of Austrasia, who died in 692 or 698. She was 

 the mother of Pepin, called '■'■ Seristal" After the death, of her 

 husband she consecrated herself to the service of God, and founded in 

 680 the monastery of Andenne ("Art de verifier les dates"). It is 

 further said of this saint, that to her is attributed the foundation of 

 the " Beguines,'''' an order of uncloistered nuns still existing in a 

 modified form in Ghent, Belgium. No date is mentioned for her 

 festival. 



In a question involving so much uncertainty it is allowable to 

 offer a suggestion with a view to helping to clear it up. It is that 

 the name Bee, Beg, or Bega may have had. a titular or collective 

 signification, and have been attached to the heads of a certain female 

 Order ; or as a name for the whole Order, as in the case of the 

 ^^ Beguines'" just mentioned; or as in the case of the " Clairettes," 

 the name given to the Bernardines (Littre, "Dictionnaire de la L. Pr."), 

 wherein the termination seems to be a diminutive of the same 

 character as the "net" in "Begnet." This view would be to some 

 extent supported by the fact that in Old and Middle Age French the 

 word "Bee" was used with regard to women, as mentioned by 

 Littre in his dictionary, under that word. Thus he says : §4°, 

 "Minois" : 



" Un si en valet avait pour femme 

 Un petit bee, assez mignon." 



La Fontaine, " Pate." 



" Tu voudrais me deplaire, A moi, Crispin, a moi, que tu nommais 

 tojours ' Ton Bee,' ton petit bee ? " (Hauteroche, " jS'obles de Province," 

 iv. 4). 



The word " minois " is given by the same "Dictionary" as 



