Legendary fictions of the Irish Celts

328 Fictions of the Irish Celts.
body, and did not cease to pray till the breath of life
entered it again. All the band present vowed on the spot
to embrace the faith preached by Patrick, and Macaldus
besought the imposition of some most rigorous penance
upon himself. Patrick conducted him to the Boyne, and
taking a chain from a boat lying by the bank, he ilung it
round him, secured the ends by a padlock, and threw the
key into the river. He then made him get into the boat,
and trust his course to Providence. " Loose not your
chain," said he, " till the key which now lies at the
bottom of this river is found and delivered to you.
Strive to maintain (with God's help) a spirit of true
sorrow ; pray without ceasing." He then unmoored the
hide-covered canoe ; it drifted down the river, out by
the old seaport of Colpa, and so into the open sea.
In twenty hours it was lying by a little harbour in Man,
and those who assembled wondered much at the robust
form of the navigator, his dejected appearance, and the
chain that bound his body. On making inquiry for the
abode of a Christian priest, he found that the bishop of
the island lived near. He went to his house, told him
his former life and present condition, and besought instruction.
This was freely given, and the man's conver-
sion found to be sincere. Feeling a strong vocation for
the clerical office, he studied unremittingly, and at last
came the eve of the day on which he was to receive holy
orders. On that evening the cook, suddenly entering the
room in which the bishop and postulant m ere conferring,
cried out, " Behold, O my master, what I have taken
from the belly of a fish just brought in." Macaldus
catching sight of the key in the cook's hand, at once recognised
it as the one with which St. Patrick had secured
his chain. It was at once applied to its proper use, and
he had the happiness of being ordained next day, unencumbered
by spiritual or material bonds. At the death
of his kind patron and instructor, he was raised to the
dignity of Bishop of Man.