Chapter VII: Ciaran and the Fox (vg)

_Parallels._--There are endless tales of how saints pressed wild animals into their service; indeed the first monastic establishment of Ciaran's elder namesake, Ciaran of Saigir, consisted of wild animals only: a boar, a badger, a wolf, and a stag (VSH, i, 219; _Silua Gadelica_, i, p. 1 ff.). Moling also kept a number of wild and tame animals round his monastery--among them a fox, which, as in the tale before us, attempted to eat a book (VSH, ii, 201); otherwise, however, the stories differ. Aed rescued a stag from hunters, and used its horns as a book-rest (VSH, ii, 296); Coemgen similarly rescued a boar (VSH, i, 244). So, in Wales, Saint Brynach caused stags to draw his carriage, and committed his cow to the charge of a wolf (_Cambro-British Saints_, pp. 10, 296). Saint Illtyd tamed a stag which he had rescued from hunters (_ibid._, pp. 164, 473).

_Herding of Cattle._--There is abundant evidence from the Lives of the saints that the herding of the cattle while pasturing was an important duty of the children of the household. There was no little risk in this, owing to the prevalence of wolves.

_Reading the Psalms._--The Psalms seem to have been the first subject of instruction given to young students; LB, 4, indicates that Ciaran's lessons with Iustus did not go beyond the mere rudiments of learning. There is in the National Museum, Dublin, a tablet-book containing six leaves of wax-covered wood, on which are traced a number of the Psalms in the Vulgate version; this was most likely a lesson-book such as is here described. The story evidently grew up around an actual specimen, that bore injuries, explained as being the tooth-marks of the fox.

_Versions of the Tale._--It would appear that this story was originally an account of how Ciaran and his distant tutor could communicate, quite independent of incident VI. It has become awkwardly combined with VI into a conflate narrative, as is shown by the silence about the fox in LA. According to the one story, they used their supernatural "wireless telephone." According to the other, the fox trotted back and forth with the book. In the conflate version, it would appear that Iustus dictated Psalms to Ciaran by "telephone," Ciaran then wrote them on his tablets, and the fox waited till he was finished and then carried them for correction to Iustus. (As is observed in the footnote _in loc_, p. 73, we must read "Iustus" for "Ciaran" in the passage describing the proceedings of the fox).

_The Homiletic Pendant._--The unexpected homiletic turn given to this story in VG may perhaps find its explanation in facts now lost to us; the passage reads like a side-thrust at some actual person or persons. It may possibly refer to the act of sacrilege committed by Toirdelbach ó Briain, in 1073, who carried away from Clonmacnois the head of Conchobar ó Maeil-Shechlainn; but being attacked by a mysterious disease--imparted to him, it was said, by a mouse which issued from the head and ran up under his garment--he was obliged to return it, with two gold rings by way of compensation. He did not recover from the disease, however, but died in 1086 (_Annals of Four Masters_).