Cambria sacra : or, The history of the early Cambro-British Christians

Chapter I

Summary of the History op Religion in Britain, from the Introduction op Christianity, down to the Arrival op St. Germanus, as the Champion op Truth • against Pelagian ISM.

Britain described first by the pen of a Roman General — Customs and civilisation of the Britons — Bold horsemen — Religion represented by Druidism — Its organisation — The oak tree and the mistletoe — Duration of the Roman occupation — Its influence on the natives — Introduction of Christianity — Contrast between the military conqueror and the peaceful messenger of the Gospel — St. Peter and St. Paul, St. Joseph of Arimathea, Bran, Claudia, and Pomponia Griecina — Intercourse of nations created by the wide-spread Roman Empire a means in the hands of Divine Providence for the propagation of the Gospel — Second and third centuries — King Lucius — His family — Sends Ambassadors to Pope Eleutherius — His conversion, and that of his subjects — A Hierarchy established — The names of Churches built in Britain under Lucius — His death and burial in Gloucester — St. Mellon — First Bishop of Rouen — The first nine persecutions against the Church not carried out in Britain — Publication of the tenth persecution — Constantins puts his household to the test — St. Alban, the first British martyr — SS. Aaron and Julius, martyrs at Caerleon, on the river Usk — Constantins on his death-bed, at York, foretells better days for the Christians — Constantine Emperor — St. Helena — British Bishops assist at various Catholic Councils on the Continent — St. Ursula and her

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companions Martyra — Pelagius, or Morgan — Palladius in Ireland and Scotland — St. Patrick — St. Geimanus and Lupus • — A few observations on the fall of the Homan Empire.

CHAPTER II. The Cambro -Britons and the Papacy

The history of the British Church, confined to the western part of the island, from the days of Germanus down to St. Augustine — In the fifth and sixth centuries Britain, and Cambria in particular, produced a legion of saints, whose history is not generally known — Dubricius, Cadoc, Illtyd, and others at the head of this glorious epoch — A visit to Llandaff Cathedral — Its histoiy by the Verger — Wrong notions of the public at large respecting the early Cambrian Church — The Britons and the Papacy — Pope Eleutherius^ — British Bishops at the Council of Arles, in 314, at the end of which a Synodical Letter was sent to Pope Sylvester, requesting him, as he had universal jurisdiction, to extend the decrees of Arles to the whole Chinch— The first Bishops of LlandaflP gave an account of the state of their diocese to the Holy See — Councils of Brefi and Caerleon approved by Rome — Howell Dda, the Justinian of Wales, goes with his Code to Pope Anastasius — St. Kentigern lays his scruples concerning his consecration before St. Gregory — Pilgrimages to Rome frequent — St. Cadoc — Gildas’s present of a bell to the Pope — Extraordinary privileges granted to the Pope- by the Welsh laws — St. Augustine and the British Bishops — The British Church, although disobedient, never ceased to acknowledge the supremacy of Rome — A similar misunderstanding between St. Patrick and the Church in the South of Ireland — Wilfrid and Coleman — Urban, Bishop of LlandalF in the twelfth century, writes to Pope Calixtus II. that his See ever acknowledged the supremacy of Rome — Catholic Brittany converted to the Catholic faith by British bishops and monks — Unity of faith and religion an idle dream without the Papacy — As a citizen, the modern Briton respects authority ; as a Christian, he acknowledges none — The ancient Cambrian hdle and the Pope. (Page 50 to 90.)

CHAPTER III. The Holy Eucharist. — Confession

Belief of the Cambrians in the Holy Eucharist both as a Sacrament and as a Sacrifice — In their eyes the most exalted dignity on earth was that of the Priesthood — Gildas rebukes some of the clergy for not celebrating Mass often enough — The Britons and the Altar cannot be disconnected — St. Samson when leading the life of a hermit, joined his brethren every Sunday for the celebration of tlie Mass — St. Cadoc

CONTENTS.

vn.

Llancarvan killed by the Saxons whilst celebrating Mass — St. Wineft’ed slain on the threshold of a church whilst the Holy Sacrifice was being celebrated — Welsh Princes on their knees before the Altar — The Altar of Sacrifice stripped and the Church closed — Its effect upon the people — The Judges, on their appointment, required to take the. oath during Mass — A woman bringing a suit as to the paternity of a child has to swear before the Blessed Sacrament — The informer taken to the church by a priest, and there cautioned against peijiu-y — The Indian’s respect for the Catholic Altar — Legal punishment of sacrilege — Communion at the hour of death a general custom amongst the Welsh — Geraint and St. Teiio — The priest, whilst travelling to a sick call, cannot by law be a trespasser — To be deprived of Communion considered a great punishment — According to the Code of Howell Dda, a child is to go to Confession at seven years of age — A bishop, by privilege, the confessor of a king — Maelgon’s instructions to his soldiers concerning St. Cadoc, his confessor — Unreasonable objections against this admirable . institution of our Lord — Eevival of Confession in the Church of England in our days.

CHAPTER IVv

Piety to the Dead.

Piety to the dead a saci’ed and general custom in Britain — The Welsh anxious to be buried by the walls of a church or a monastery — The devotion for the dead exemplified in Brittany, which received its customs from Britain — St. Cadoc made pilgrimages for the souls of his departed relations — Prayers for the dead constantly mentioned in Charters — The Kings of Glamorgan very particular on this point — The miu'derer praying at the grave of his victim — Charter of Gwereck, Duke of Brittany, to St. Ninnoc, a Welsh nun — Piety to the faithful departed an act of gratitude and justice — Piety to the departed reflected in the Celtic tales — St. Augustine, the great African Bishop, in his book entitled “ Confessions,” requests the reader to pray for his relations — The writer makes a similar request.

CHAPTER V. Saints Honoured and Invoked in the British Church

Doctrine of the Council of Trent on the subject — The lives of saints written and read for public edification — Beautiful and original sentiments emanating from the pen of the Biogi’apher of St. David, in concluding the life of that saint — The names of saints bestowed on towns, villages, valleys, and mountains, both in the land of their birth and that of their labours — Pilgrimages to churches dedicated to saints — Custom of

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CONTENTS.

settling differences at their tombs — King Arthur, at the battle of Badon, invokes the blessed Virgin — Popular tales convey the same custom — The names of Saints invariably mentioned in Charters — Pope Honorious IT., in his rescript to Urban, Bishop of Llandaff, uses the same form of expression — St. Gunstan, patron of Armorican mariners, in his youth a poor sailor boy, invoked by the mariner — The confidence of our forefathers in the intercession of saints was often a deduction from miracles witnessed in their lifetime — Ancient British Hymns to St. Curig and St. Julitta, republished by the Welsh MSS. Society — A double hope is entertained by the writer that in course of time the Festivals of the British Saints will be revived in our Missal and Breviary, and that converts to the Church, in their acts of donation for religious purposes, will again make use of the old phraseology, so touching and Catholic. (Page 147 to 170.)

CHAPTER VI. Monastic Life

Christian perfection consists in the love of God and of our neighbour — The practice of the Evangelical Counsels pointed out by our Lord as the surest road to arrive at that love — Religious communities in the Church from the earliest ages of Christianity, in the East and West — Monasticism in Britain, and especially in Cambria — Monasteries numerous — The

cloister finds recruits in every class of society — Number of monks in three princely families of South Wales in the fifth century, as an illustration of public opinion in those days — Numerical strength of some monasteries in Wales — Some enter the cloister when young, others in their old age — St. Ninnoc — Her family and birth — Her intended marriage — Stratagem she used to obtain the consent of her parents to become a nun — Her departure for Brittany — Tewdrig, King of Glamorgan, becomes a hermit at Tintern — The Cambrians force him out of his cell to lead them to battle against the Saxons — His death — St. Suliau — Runs away from home — His sjieech to his father’s messengers — trials from his sister-in-law for refusing to marry her — Legend of St. Efflam and Honora — Like St. Alexius, Efilam leaves his wife on the night of their marriage — Honora follows her husband to Brittany, and there becomes a nun — St. Pateru, a mere boy, wishes to follow his father to the cloister — Sent to Cardiganshire — The family of Hocl, the first Armorican King, enter religion whilst residing in Cambria — ’I’lie hermit and the Cenobite — Diary of the various exercises in a cloister — Continual public prayem iu the great British

CONTENTS.

IX monasteries — Extraordinary devotion in Lent — Revival of Monasticism in Britain — It cannot be uprooted.

CHAPTER VII. The Saints and Supernatural Events

The saints endowed with supernatural power in the East as well as in the West — Difference of opinion as to the authenticity of this or that particular miracle — St. Dubricius is favoured in a vision with the designs of Almighty God on St. Samson — Visions of St. Patrick in relation to Ireland — Tugdual commanded by an angel to cross over to Brittany — The same command given to St. Samson — Apparition of the dove as a mark of the presence of the Holy Ghost — The angel at the hour of death — Vision of St. Keyna — Death of Panins Aurelianus — St. David warned of the exact day of his death — St. Kentigern sees the soul of David taken up to heaven — Prophecy of St. Kentigern concerning the Anglo-Saxon race — Advice of St. Gildas for the obtaining of the gift of prophecy to the Bards of Britain — The saints cured various infii-mities, enumerated in the hymn to St. Armel — Privatus’ wife and daughter cured by St. Samson — St. Maglorious’ reply to a Breton Prince — The miracles of St. Ninianus, in Scotland — The saints in connection with wild beasts and the dragon — The saints and the devil — St. Gunstan and the devil — Sacred Wells — Sacred sjn'ings spoken of in Holy Writ and in early traditions — St. Meen — St. Teilo’s well — St. Wiuefride’s well.

Chapter VIII

A FEW Orservations on the Services. Rendered to Society BY THE Early British Monks.

Unfairness of modern opinion in reference to Religious Orders — Spiritual and corporeal works of mercy — Superiority of the former over the latter- -Missionary works of the Cambro- British monks — St. Patrick and St. Brieiic disturbed even in the cloister by their zeal for the salvation of souls — The voyage undertaken by St. Malo in search of the Fortunate Islands, in order to convert their inhabitants to the faith of Christ — Pedrog’s journey, for the same purpose, to far-distant India — St. Cadoc’s travels to Scotland and Brittany — St. Maglorius in his old age wavers between the solitary and the active life — Bishops, in the early Celtic Churches, generally chosen from monasteries — Provisions by which monasteries secured attention to the spiritual welfare of the districts surrounding their houses — Poetry and numbers made use of

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CONTENTS;

by British missionaries in the instruction of the people — Example of this system of teaching by numbers — The monastery a place of refuge in time of distress — Extraordinary privileges granted to St. David by his countrymen — Minute description of the same in the “ Liber Landavensis ” — St. ^leen, the prince, and the j)risoner — Light-houses built and maintained by monks — All necessaries of material life produced within the monastery — Perfection and energy of monastic farming operations. (P^ige 262 to 288.)

CHAPTER IX. Dubricius, First Bishop of Llandaff

Dubricius at the head of a great period in the history of Britain — His birth — State of Britain at the time — Dubricius consecrated Archbishop of Llandaff by St. Germanus- Antiquity of Llandaff — Generosity of the Cambrians to religion — King Meurig, of Glamorgan — A few remarks on the leading characteristics of British Charters — Promulgation of the Charter of Meurig — Procession along the banks of the rivers Taff and Ely — Work of Dubricius in South Wales — Education his speciality — In his days a great number of women entered the cloister — Solemnity of taking the veil— Dubricius transfers his See to Caerleon — Coronation of King Arthur in that city by the Archbishop — Speech of Dubricius at the battle of Badon — The Council of Brefi — Dies at Bardsey Island — The relics of St. Dubricius removed from Bardsey Island to Llandaff — The writer’s appeal to the public for help to build a church between the rivers Taff and Ely.

Chapter X

St. Teieo, Second Bishop of Llandaff.

How the biographer commences the Life of St. Teilo — His birth and education — Teilo, David, and Padern at Ty-gwyn ar Taf — Trial of their virtue — Pilgrimage to Jerusalem — Teilo elected to the See of Llandaff — The yellow plague — Emigration to Brittany — On his way through Cornwall, Teilo receives the confession of Geraint, a Prince of the province — Remains in Armorica for seven years, during the greater part of which time ho leads the life of a religious —Returns to Llandaff.^ — Fulfils a promise made to Geraint, by visiting Cornwall and preparing him for death. — Teilo reorganises his diocese — During a battle ho prays, like Moses, that his countrymen may obtain a victory — Miracles performed by St. Teilo — His death at an advanced age — Dispute about his place of burial —

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XI

The name of Teilo given to localities both in Wales and Brittany — “The Liber Landavensis” called “The Book of Teilo.” (Page 324 to 350.)

CHAPTER XI. Saint Oudoceus, Third Bishop of Llandafp

St. Oudoceus a Breton by birth — On the death of St. Teilo he is elected by the people as his successor in the See of Llandaff — His administration — Councils held under his Episcopacy— State of the country — Oudoceus and the three Chieftains — Measures taken by Oudoceus before pronouncing sentence of excommunication — Meurig resists for two years — Morgan submits at once — Gwardnaeth sent to Brittany — Oudoceus undertakes a journey to Rome — Towards the end of his dayp he retires into solitude — Comparison between him arid St. Ambrose of Milan. (Page 351 to 375.)

Chapter XII

St. Cadoc, Founder op Llancarvan.

Family of St. Cadoc — Baptised and educated by Tathai, at Caer-went — Contrast between the monastery and the home of the chieftain — Cadoc departs from home — The Swine-herd and Cadoc — The uncle and the nephew — Foundation of Llancarvan Monastery — Travels of Cadoc — Induces his father and mother to leave the world — Cadoc and the princes — Maelgwyu and the Abbot — King Arthur and Cadoc — Life of the founder of Llancarvan during Lent — ^Leaves Llancarvan — Departing advice to his brethren — His death — Cadoc as a Fabulist — The man who killed his greyhound — The old woman and the yam, a lesson- on unity amongst brethren — The Cambrian maiden who allowed herself to be painted — Religion painted to suit interests and prejudices — A visit to Llancarvan in 1878.

Chapter XIII

St. Illtyd the Knight.

Illtyd a name held in veneration by the Celtic traditions — Birth and early life — Came over to Britain as a soldier — Casual meeting of Cadoc and Illtyd at Llancarvan — The latter resolves to leave the world — The step rendered difficult by the fact that he was married — His wife consents to his dedicating himself to the religious life — Illtyd a hermit — Protects a stag against Merchion and his huntsmen — Impression made by the hermit on the Cambrian chieftain, who grants a large tract of land to the recluse — Dubricius and Illtyd — Antiquity of Lantwit-Major — University of Illtyd in that locality becomes the greatest seat of learning in Britain — The system of educa-

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tion at Lantwit made manual labour obligatoiy — Illtyd visited by bis wife, Trynihid — -Refuses .to see the lady — Persecutions from the agents of his benefactor, Merchiou — Illtyd secretly leaves his brethren — His retreat being discovered, he is forced to come back to Lantwit — The latter end of his life veiled in obscurity. (Piige 417 to 445.)'

Chapter XIV

St. David, the Patron op Wales.

David the popular name in Cambria — King Arthur and David contemporaries — Birth of the saint attended by extraordinary phenomena — Foretold to St. Patrick in a vision — David at Lantwit-Major — His mother retires to a convent in Brittany — David restores sight to his old Principal — Pilgrimage to Jerusalem — St. David at Glastonbury — Restores the first church built in Britain — Burial of King Arthur in that locality — Monastic life of David — The rule of St. David — The Council of Brefi — David absent in the beginning — On his \Vay to Brefi restores to life a youth, who becomes his acolyte during the Council — St. Dubricius resigns — David chosen to be his successor — Puts into canonical form the decrees of Brefi — Another Council at Caerleon — Both sent to Rome for approval — Spirit of that legislation reflected in the subsequent customs of Wales ^ — The Archiepiscopal See removed from Caerleon to St- David — The Patron of Wales and miraculous wells — His death — Great confidence of his countrymen in his powerful intercession in heaven — The three first days of March kept holy in Wales — The finest church in the Pi’incipality erected to the memory of David. (Page 446 to 479.)

Chapter XV

St. Samson, Archbishop of D6l, Brittany.

Samson’s parents twice before the altar, once on their marriage day, after, on their taking the monastic habit — Samson a child of prayer — Educ.ation entrusted to Illtyd, who projihecied his future career — Strong faith of Samson — Power of the sign of the Cross — Embraces religious life — Father and mother at first rather reluctant — His exemplary life — Hatred borne to Samson by two nephews of Illtyd — His residence at Barry Island, near Cardiff — Visits his sick father — The result of this visit — The entrance of father, mother, uncle, and aunt into the cloister — Becomes Abbot of the convent at Barry Island — Visit to Ireland — Retires into solitude — Ordered by a Synod to give up this kind of life — Consecrated Bishop — Circumstances connected with the event — Samson’s dcjiarture for Brittany — Delayed in his voyage— A Pagan feast and the Missionary — Leaves his father, Amon, beliind — ^Meeting of Privatus and Samson on the shores of Brittany — Samson and

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xiii

the Frank King — Dol and Tours — Episcopal work of Samson — His death — Heavenly melody heard at his funeral — Resume of his wonderful career — Extraordinary supernatural assistance he received from his guardian angel. (Page 480 to 516.)

Chapter XVI

St. Paulus Aurelianus, or Paul de Leon.

Early tendency of young Aurelianus to ascetiscism — Leaves Lautwit-Major, with the consent of Illtyd, at sixteen— The British saints models of temperance — Beginning of missionary life — First appearance of the angel bidding Paul to leave his country — His arrival at Ouessant, an island off the coast of France — Stx-ange ideas about this island in Pagan times — Landing on the shores of Armorica — Aurelianus and the wild beasts— Arrival of the British colonists at Batz — A local Prince becomes their benefactor — The people want Paul to be consecrated Bishop — Stratagem resorted to on the occasion — Paul at the court of the Frank King — Return to Armorica — Episcopal career- — The Bishop and the hermit — Paul and Tanguy, guilty of the murder of a beloved sister — The uncle and his nephew, Jovin — Paulus Aurelianus in his old age — His death — Contention concerning the place of his burial — Occismor, the cradle of the British race in Armorica, forgotten — Replaced by the small town of St. Paul de Leon — Beautiful cathedral erected to his memory — Chapel built in the locality by Maiy Stuart, Queen of Scotland, in thanksgiving for her safety from a storm. (Eage 517 to 568.)

Chapter XVII

St. Gildas the Historian.

Early Life — Surnamedthe “Aquarius,” or “ Water Drinker,” by the students of Lantwit-Major — Visits Ireland — Missionary life throughout Britain — Gildas sails across to Brittany — Gildas and the Lady Triphinia — Various monasteries built by Gildas — Warned by an angel of the day of his death — Orders his body to be thrown into the sea — Gildas as a writer — Motives which induced him to take the pen — Some extracts from his writings — Constantine rebuked — Maelgwyn — Certain resemblance between St. Jerome and Gildas as writers — Britain as described by Gildas — Although not more corrupt than other nations of the period, still deserved the severe I'eproaches of the saint — A priest’s duty not to connive at the cilmes of nations or individuals. ' (Pt'ge 559 to 584.)

PKEE ACE.

On Thursday, the 17th of Arigust, 1876, I visited Llaudewi Brefi, Cardiganshire, with the deteimination of not passing Lialiaewi through that county without making a pilgrimage to the valley within which had been held the most important ecclesiastical Council ever assembled in Cambria.

After walking eight or nine miles from Lampeter, along the river Teifi, under a tropical sun, I reached the village about mid-day.* Vehicles standing at the doors of public-houses, a number of people strolling about in holiday dress, whilst others pic-nic’d on the banks of the stream, now nearly dried up, indicated that some festivity was being held. I was informed that the annual meeting of the members of the Church of England, hoiioured by the presence of the neighbouring Protestant clergy, was the cause of this unusual weekday gathering. The Church people mustered in fair strength, and, as far as I could judge from those whom I addressed,

Welsh was the language of the district, for many could neither speak nor understand any other.

I proceeded, in the first instance, to examine as closely as possible the spot on which the Church stands ; for the legend, as told in the “ Lives of the Cambro-British Saints,” distinctly states that the ground on which the sacred temple was afterwards built had I’isen under the feet of St. David, so as to form an improvised platfonn, from which he could address the thousands eager to listen to his eloquent teaching.

• Thoro Is a railway station about a mile from Llamlowi Brell.

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The place itself seemed o testify the truth of the legend. I saw before mo a mound of earth, rising gradually to a height of twenty or twenty-five feet, comprising an area of about an acre, on the summit of which stands the church, having the tower in the centre, as usually found in Cambrian ecclesiastical buildings.

After looking into the church, half of which has been neatly restored, I sat down amongst the graves, to survey the neighbouring mountains. With the aid of a powerful field-glass, I examined a picturesque gorge, which is also spoken of in the Welsh legends as having been cleft by Divine power. Some of the peasantry made a free use of the glass, and pronounced it to be the most ingenious invention ever made. No doubt it was to them a novelty.

Whilst thus occupied, I was accosted by the vicar, who kindly offered to become my guide, and directed my attention to the Stafi’ of St. David, as a stone of some height planted before the door of the church is called. But when I drew his attention to the fact that the mound whereon we stood tallied exactly, in its formation, with the statement in the legend which asserts that it rose miraculously under the feet of St. David, the reverend gentleman remained silent.

Indeed, it is difficult to call in question that the power of God is displayed at suitable times, and unwise to ridicule the faith of our forefathers, who deemed it a duty they owed to truth to hand down to posterity accounts of miraculous events.

I presented my card to the vicar, and in the course of the day observed that I had become an object of interest, which I attributed to the following circumstance : —

Several lectures on the first three Bishops of Llaudaff and on S3. Cadoc and llltyd had been reported by the Western Mail, and read in Cardiganshire as well as in the southern counties of Wales.

The memory of ancient Welsh bishops and monks being revived in a Catholic church, and their lives set forth before a Catholic congregation as models for imitation, and that by a Catholic priest, had sharpened public curiosity and attracted

Preface

XVll attention to the lectures ; so, when it was pei’ceived that the name on the card corresponded with that of the lecturer on the WelsR saints, in St. Peter’s Church, Cardiff, the discovery, instead of estranging the reverend gentlemen from me, had the effect of drawing us closer together.

In the evening I took tea in the Board-school, and, amongst other queries from some of the gentlemen, I noted the following : —

“ Was I a Jesuit I ”

“ What could be my purpose in I’eviving the ecclesiastical history of Wales 1 ” etc., etc.

“ Had I the honour to be a member of a society formed ad hoc f ”

“ Who supplied the funds 1 ” etc., etc.

To the first question, I replied that I trusted I was a disciple of Christ, but felt bound to state distinctly that I had not the honour of being a member of that great society, so worthy of praise, yet so much misunderstood and abused.

On the second point, T frankly informed my inquisitors that in studying the religion of ancient Cambria, the object I had in view was my own edification and that of my fellow-men. Breton by birth, the history of Cambria offered me particular attractions. We were first cousins. For years our forefathers had stood together in politics and in religion. In the battle-field they fought side by side, and in the church they worshipped together round the same altar. The Catholic faith had been planted on the shores of Brittany by Welsh bishops, priests, and monks, and this the Bretons never forgot.

I was happy to certify by personal observation, that the old Celtic tongue, spoken by Dubricius, Paulinus, and David at the Council of Brefi, was still, after so many centuries, the language of Welshmen; but I begged to express my heartfelt regret that the same old tongue from the lips of their present spiritual teachers no longer instilled the same one and unchanging faith. In my tour through Wales, I saw temples opposed to temples, creeds to creeds, and found religioiis dissension eveiywhere. Not a hamlet but was under the bane

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PREl'ACE.

Love of the Cambrians for the history of their

aneestors.

of two or three different religious, sometimes even more. (General assent.) The grocer and the baker were dogmatising against the minister of the Church of England — (assent) — and they themselves are divided on ritualism, on the relations of Church and State, and other serious subjects.

1 had remarked that intelligent Welshmen throughout the country bewailed the total disorganisation of the city of God in the land, and yearned for the future day which would sweep away religious anarchy and once more bring back peace and union to Welsh homes. For myself, I fully shared this feeling, and prayed to Almighty God to restore to a nation which had lost it, unity of faith. Influenced by this wish, I had resolved on disinterring the ancient Cambrian saints from their graves, in the hope that the history of their saintly lives, and of the religion they had taught, might help the work of restoring the faith in Cambria.

There are very few people on earth more anxious to study the records of their ancestors than Welshmen, or who listen with a deeper interest to the recital of the teachings or doings of their forefathers.

In the prospectus of the great Eisteddfod held at Wrexham, in 1876, amongst the subjects on which papers were invited I find the following, so characteristic of the Welsh mind : —

“Best compilation of historical facts connected with the early British Church ; —

“ I, A compilation of the best evidences of proof of the existence of a Christian Church in Britain within the first century after its invasion by the Romans, during their stay, and at the time when Augustine with his fellow-missionaries arrived in Britain, in 597.