Mr. Hardy on the Wolf in Scotland. 273 



tion ; and -when the work was resumed, took the station of 

 its victim, and faithfully discharged its duties ! This prac- 

 tice it continued till the work was completed, when it return- 

 ed not again. It had resumed its native haunts * But 

 Scotland was too narrow a sphere for feats such as these. 

 They were a common property of saintship, and like tricks of 

 legerdemain could he re-produced on any stage. "In an 

 island in the lake of Orta, in the Grisons, at the spot where 

 now stands a seminary for young ecclesiastics, of old lived, as 

 they say, St. Julius : — his blessed influence extended not only 

 to men, hut to beasts also ; primitive peace was established 

 between the herbivorous and carnivorous animals, and every 

 thing went off admirably. Whenever a wolf, of ill-regulated 

 appetites, threw himself upon a labouring ox and devoured 

 it, the indignant saint reproved the animal, who immediately 

 allowed himself to be put under the yoke and thenceforth 

 performed the work of his victim." f So potent was St. 

 Francis of Assise, the seraphic doctor, that wolves repaired to 

 the confessional.J 



The vast natural forests of Teviotdale, of which there are 

 now few remains, in early ages harboured a sanguinary 

 horde of wolves. This we learn from a legend transmitted in 

 the Book of Reginald, a Durham monk, on the miracles of 

 St. Cuthbert. Reginald wrote about the close of the 12th 

 century, and the circumstances of the story he had from 

 Dolfin, rector of Cavers, one of his cotemporaries. There was 

 a poor widow in the parish of Cavers, whose livelihood de- 

 pended upon a small stock of sheep. Unable, like the wealthy 

 proprietors of the district, to hire a shepherd, she committed 

 her all to the guardianship of St. Cuthbert. In this she 

 acted not unwisely ; for, while the wolves were constantly 

 making inroads on the neighbouring flocks, her sheep, though 

 without a keeper, always returned safe home. Once, how- 

 ever, a band of hungry wolves, prowling in quest of prey, 

 encountered this shepherdless flock, and saw their helpless 

 condition. Seven of the number detached themselves from 

 the rest, and ran to attack them ; but the sheep betook them- 

 selves to flight. There was at that time a chapel at Slitrith 

 (Slitrig) dedicated to St. Cuthbert ; which, though roofless, 

 was of great repute for the miracles the power of its patron 



* Proprimn Sanctorum, f. xxvli. v. apud Breviarium Aberdonense. Dalyell's 

 Darker Superstitions of Scotland, p. 271. 



t News of the Churches, Oct. 1, 1856, p. 265. 

 % Speculum Vitse Sancti Francisci. 



