Series 3 > Charters of the Abbey of Inchcolm

INTRODUCTION
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intervals during his missionary work. St. Colm, who was
a Briton, like Kentigern and Llolan, was an abbot whose
monastic family would not be far away from his Retreat.
Two Brito-Celtic communities were in the vicinity of
Inchcolm, one at Culross and the other associated with
the Isle of May.
The hermit whom King Alexander found at the island
cell was one of the Cele De, observing the rule, not of
St. Columba, but of St. Colm and the Brito-Celtic Church,
the rule which is mentioned by Queen Margaret in con¬
nection with St. Andrews. Moreover, in Dr. Scott’s
words, ‘ the narrative of the founding of the Roman
priory has the evidence of truth. It was a simple super¬
stitious attempt to honour St. Colm, the supposed spiritual
protector of that part of the Forth.’ The incident (c. 1336)
related by Bower of the English raid on the Forth and the
ill-luck which the raiders ascribed to ‘ Sanct Quhalme ’
is illuminating. For this was not a pun, as the historian
imagined, but an attempt to articulate ‘ Sanct Cholm,’
the popular name of the island’s saint which preserved
his true identity.
The ‘ Columba-fmdmz ’ emanated originally from the
Iro-Roman foundation of Kenneth McAlpin at Dunkeld,
from the year 840 onward. It was particularly strong in
the time of David i.; and, ecclesiastically, it was used to
justify the intrusion of Iro-Roman or Scoto-Roman clerics
into the properties and fabrics of the Brito-Celtic Church.
The solitary of the Inchcolm cell would remain there after
the Roman priory arose and would have a Cele De suc¬
cessor. ‘ The Scoto-Roman clergy,’ says Dr. Scott,
‘ would wish to justify their presence alongside him by
framing the suggestion that Colm had been St. Columba
(Columcille).’ Thus the island and church of St. Colm
became known as the island and church of St. Columba.