Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 14.djvu/120

 with the legend accepted by Rhygyfarch and Giraldus that the saint's age was one hundred and forty-seven years. Evidently the natal year given by the thirteenth-century scribe has been calculated backwards (with an error of four years) from the documentary date of David's death, and is consequently, if anything, a confirmation of its genuineness rather than a ground for suspicion.

It may therefore be said that all the evidence worth considering goes to show that David died in 601. The only other facts respecting him which can be regarded as tolerably certain are that he was bishop (not archbishop) of Menevia, and that he presided at two synods of the Welsh church, the earlier of them being held at Brefi (now Llanddewi Brefi), and the other (in 569) at a place whose Welsh name is translated into Latin as Lucus Victoriæ. The genuine acts of these two councils, which have nothing to do with Pelagianism, but relate merely to the ecclesiastical penalties to be imposed for certain offences, are given in Haddan and Stubbs's ‘Councils,’ i. 117, 118.

The legendary history of the saint is much more extensive. According to Rhygyfarch, his birth was predicted by an angel to St. Patrick, who, on his return to Britain from Rome, had proposed to take up his abode in a place called Vallis Rosina, apparently near to Menevia. The angel appeared to him and commanded him to undertake the conversion of Ireland, adding that the spot which he had chosen for his dwelling was destined not for him but for one who should be born thirty years later. It seems likely that this prediction, as originally circulated, had reference to some other person than St. David, and that the desire to make it apply to this saint was the motive which led to the ascription to him of a fabulous length of life. Like many other Welsh saints [see ], David is said to have been a grandson of Ceredig, king of the region called after his name, Cardigan. David's father was called Sanctus or Sant (in later documents corruptly Xantus and Sandde), a name apparently evolved from the title mabsant (patron saint), which admits of being mistranslated ‘the son of Sant.’ His mother was, according to Rhygyfarch, a nun, who had been ravished by Sant, and who, after the birth of her son, spent her life in prayer and self-mortification in expiation of her involuntary fault. Her name, Nonna or Nonnita, is obviously the Low-Latin word nonna, a nun. It is curious to observe that Giraldus, whose life of David is founded upon that of Rhygyfarch, has carefully suppressed all mention of David's mother having been a nun. Nonna is said in the ‘Genealogies of the Saints’ to have been a daughter of Gynyr of Caergawch, chieftain of Pebidiog (western Pembrokeshire), who, like Ceredig, though in a less degree, was celebrated as the ancestor of many saints. The whole pedigree of David may safely be dismissed as fictitious, and there is really not the slightest evidence that he was related to the Cunedda family at all. It is even possible that the patron saint of Wales was not himself of Welsh birth, for his traditional title of Deverur, which Giraldus renders ‘vir aquaticus,’ and supposes to refer to the saint's abstemious habits, may be plausibly explained as meaning ‘the man of Deira.’

The place where David received his earliest education is called by Rhygyfarch Vetus Rubus, a translation, apparently, of the common Welsh name Henllwyn, though Giraldus identifies it with Vetus Menevia (Henfynyw in Cardiganshire), on the ground of a fancied etymological connection between Menevia and the Irish word muni (muin), which he considers equivalent to rubus. Afterwards David became a pupil of a certain Paulinus, who had enjoyed the instructions of St. Germanus. The editors of the ‘Acta Sanctorum’ identify this Paulinus with St. Paul, archbishop of Leon in Brittany. It is quite possible that he is really the person referred to, though in that case the story of his having been David's teacher must be a mere fiction. In the existing copy of Rhygyfarch's work Paulinus is said to have lived ‘in a certain island;’ the abridgment of Rhygyfarch, printed by the Bollandists from a Utrecht manuscript, calls the island Dilamgerbendi. The manuscript itself, however, is said to read Minindi Lanergbendi (Llanerchbeudy?). Giraldus strangely supposes that the Isle of Wight is meant, and the life published by Colgan ingeniously corrects this into ‘Witland’—i.e. Whiteland in Carmarthenshire. While living with Paulinus David began to work miracles, and after completing his education he journeyed through Wales, preaching the gospel and founding monasteries. In the list of his foundations occur the celebrated names of Glastonbury, Leominster, Repton, Crowland, Bath, and Raglan, though probably the mention of the first five places arises from misreadings of Welsh names. After some years David betook himself with his chosen disciples to the place which the angel had foretold should be his abode, and there he established a monastery. The curious story of the persecution he underwent from a Gaelic chief named Baia or Boia (who, with his wicked wife, came to a violent end as the reward for their ill-treatment of the saint) looks as if it might have some historical foundation; but David's alleged pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and his