St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne (634-687) protector of the eider ducks
A
hundred kilometre walk, known as St Cuthbert's Way, connects Melrose
Abbey in southern Scotland through the Borders country to the Holy
Island at Lindisfarne in north-east England.
A native of the Lammermuir Hills
Cuthbert was a native of the Lammermuir Hills, between Lothian and the Scottish Borders.
He was familiar with the monks Eata (abbot) and Boisil (prior)
of the monastery of Melrose, but he spent some years as a soldier
fighting for the kingdom of Deira against the kingdom of
Mercia until one day he rode into the monastery on horseback with spear
in hand to became a monk (651).
Ripon
His fame for piety, diligence, and
obedience quickly grew.
When Alchfrith, king of Deira, founded a new
monastery at Ripon, he brought Eata from Melrose as prior and Cuthbert
went with him as his guest-master.
After some time, Roman usage was
being imposed in place of Celtic practice at Ripon through the influence
of St Wilfrid, so in 661 Cuthbert and the monks, who followed the
Celtic tradition, returned to Melrose.
In Scotland
While back in Melrose,
Cuthbert travelled doing missionary work among the people from Berwick
to Galloway and had a reputation for working miracles. Illness struck
the monastery in 664.
Both Boisil and Cuthbert suffered from the plague.
Boisil died. Cuthbert recovered and became prior at Melrose in his
place.
Prior at Lindisfarne
After the Synod of Whitby,
Cuthbert reluctantly accepted the Roman customs, and his old abbot,
Eata, now at Lindisfarne, called on him to become his prior and
introduce the Roman customs at Lindisfarne.
This was a thankless task,
but Cuthbert's patient and loving nature disarmed the opposition and
successfully completed the change over.
Hermit's life and care for the wild life
In
676 Cuthbert resigned as prior and became a hermit on Inner Farne.
At
first he received visitors and washed their feet, but later he confined
himself to his cell and opened the window only to give his blessing.
While on the Farne Islands, he instituted special laws to protect the
eider ducks and other seabirds nesting on the islands; these may have
been the first bird protection laws anywhere in the world. Consequently,
eider ducks are often called cuddy ducks (Cuthbert's ducks) in modern
Northumbrian dialects.
Bishop of Lindisfarne
In 684, Cuthbert was
elected bishop of Lindisfarne, and was consecrated at York by Archbishop
Theodore of Canterbury and six bishops, on 26th March 685.
After two
years, however, he returned to his cell on Inner Farne Island (two miles
from Bamburgh, Northumberland), where he eventually died.
He was buried
at Lindisfarne.