Saturday 2 January 2016

A Legend of Saint Scothine

January 2 is the feast of Saint Scothin, an account of whose life can be found here. Below is a retelling of the most famous of the legends associated with him, by the Irish Anglican writer Maud Joynt:

LEGEND OF SAINT SCOTHINE

SCOTHINE, who dwelt at Tech Scothine, in Leinster, was a saint of great piety and of wondrous power;  for he could make the journey from Ireland to Rome in one day and return the next; moreover, he could walk dryshod on the sea. One day while he was walking on the sea he met Saint Barre of Cork, who was in a boat.

" How comes it that thou art walking on the sea?" asked Barre .

" 'Tis no sea, but a plain covered with clover," said Scothine, and, with that, he plucked a clover blossom and threw it to Saint Barre in the boat.

"But thou, how comes it that thy boat floats on a plain?"

Thereupon Barre dipped his hand into the water, drew out a salmon and threw it to Scothine; and that was all the answer he made.

Maud Joynt, The Golden Legends of the Gael, (Dublin, n.d.), Part II, 80.

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