IO IN CANTICVM HABACVм ie Habacuc in Martene anecd V 295, where Beda employs the Itala, elsewhere the Vulgate, though 5 occasionally he refers to the Itala cf h a 12 where he says of Ceolfrid: bibliothecam utriusque monasterii, quam Benedictus abbas magna coepit instantia, ipse non minori geminauit industria: ita ut tres pandectes nouae translationis ad unum uetustae translationis quem de Roma attulerat, ipse superadiungeret, quorum unum senex Romam rediens 10 secum inter alia pro munere sumpsit, duos utrique monasterio reliquit. The canticum was sung at lauds on Friday (cf K Werner Beda 181. Hody de libris bibl orig 408).

II TOBIAE Alcuin ep 197 (p 683 Jaffé) to Ricbod abp of Trier cir 802-803 omeliam sancti Leonis et tractatum beati Baede in Tobiam 15 deprecor ut ad horam praestes nobis.

15 VERBA DIERVM a Latin rendering of the Hebrew title of the books which we call Chronicles and which the LXX named wapaλeiπόμενα.

17 PARABOLAS 'comparisons.' The first word of the Vulgate 20 version of the book of Proverbs, used no doubt because by far the greater number of the Proverbs take the form of comparisons.

,, 21 OMELIARVM EVANGELII Alcuin in his dedication to Gisla of his commentary on St John (ep 158 end p 594): he has borrowed from Aug Ambr Greg: ex omeliis beati Bedae presbiteri multa adsu25 mens.

22 AVGVSTINI Seruatus Lupus (ed Baluze Par 1684) ep 76 p 118 to Hincmar: collectaneum Bedae in apostolum ex operibus Augustini ueritus sum dirigere propterea quod tantus est liber, ut nec sinu celari nec pera possit satis commode contineri. quanquam si 30 alterutrum fieret, formidanda esset obuia improborum rapacitas, quam profecto pulchritudo ipsius codicis accendisset, et ita forsitan et mihi et uobis perisset. proinde tuto uobis memoratum uolumen ipse commodaturus sum, cum primo, si deus uult, aliquo nos contigerit sospites conuenire. Hincmar had read the book when he wrote his second book against 35 Gottescalc c 1 (cf Baluze pp 405-406). Mabillon had two ancient MSS of the genuine work, which he intended to publish (Migne xc 87 88. cf below p 1941).

25 IN EPISTOLAS Alcuin ep 290 (p 876 to a pupil) de libris uero, quos rogasti, id est in epistolas apostolorum beati Baedae

398

BEDA'S WORKS.

[APP

tractatum, soror mea Gysla habet. dum illa remittet eum mihi, dirigam uobis.

P 172 28 add many copies of the creed and Lord's prayer in English which Beda had given to the ignorant clergy ep ad Ecgb 3.

P 173 2 FELICIS p 9 1 20. Greg Tur glor mart 1 104.

4 DE GRAECO cf pp 298 299.

5

6 CVDBERCT! pp 89. HEROICO METRO ET PLANO SERMONE v 18 (end) of Aldhelm: scripsit et de uirginitate librum eximium, quem in exemplum Sedulii geminato opere et uersibus hexametris et prosa composuit. Cf de sex aetatibus A D 701 (11 201 Stevenson). 10 Varin v (1) 174 175 maintains, apparently with reason, that the anonymous life of Cuthbert cannot have been known to Beda.

8 HISTORIAM ABBATVM PP 6-8.

14 QVA DIE Bonif ep 113 end (Jaffé) Bregowin abp of Canterbury to Lull: diem uero depositionis religiosae Christi famulae Buggan 15 celebramus. . . cuius etiam dies depositionis fuit vi kal Ianuarias. rogauit me obnixe, dum aduiueret, ut hoc uestrae beatitudini transmitterem. 16 MVNDVM VICERINT a phrase no doubt adopted from the Vulgate version of Christ's words John xvi 33.

1 21 n.

17 18 HYMNORVM EPIGRAMMATVM p 13.

19 DE NATVRA RERVM P 16. DE TEMPORIBVS p 10. P 50

20

21 DE ORTHOGRAPHIA H Usener in Rhein Mus XXIV (1869) 110 cites the Paris MS 7530 (end of cent VIII) where the tract usually found without a name and therefore called by Putsch p 2775 'incerti de 25 orthographia' occurs f 290 vo 'incipit libellus Bede presbyteri de ortographia' (Keil gramm Lat IV p XLIII). The other collection (Putsch 2327 seq ascribed to 'Beda sacerdos') Usener has not found so entitled in any Ms.

23 TROPIS P 15. Halm rhetores latini (Leipz 1863 pp 609— 30 618) gives it from three MSS of cent IX.

24 add the letter to Ecgberct p 16, written 30 years after Aldfrid's death (p 309 51 Smith) ie after 705 (p 170 1 21), printed in Haddan-Stubbs III 314–326. paenitentiale Bedae ibid 326–334. epitome of Adamnan h e v 17 end. Alcuin (ep 234 Jaffé) to Arno abp 35 of Salzburg with a book (now MS 106 of Cologne cathedral library): est quoque in eo libello psalterium paruum, quod dicitur beati Bedae presbyteri psalterium, quem [sic] ille collegit per uersus dulces in laude dei et orationibus per singulos psalmos iuxta Hebraicam ueritatem.

5

TESTIMONIA]

EPISTLE OF CUTHBERT.

399

est quoque hymnus pulcherrimus de sex dierum opere et de sex aetatibus mundi... habet et hymnum quoque nobilissimum elegaico metro compositum de quadam regina Edildryde nomine. cf above p 14.

P 173 27 AD TE PERVENIRE p 17918.

P 174 1-9 these entries may have been added by Beda himself. They are in the same hand as the rest of the Ms.

,, 10-175 29 MHB 288 note b 'haec, quae a Grauio primo in lucem edita sunt Antwerpiae 1550, ope duorum codd MSS [256. 1089] 10 saec XII et XIV penes Dominum Thomam Phillipps baronettum . . . paulo accuratius repraesentamus. res fere Northanhymbrensium tractant et apud Simeonem Dunelmensem plerumque inueniuntur. conf et chron Sax et Flor Wigorn.' One copy in the Brit mus (MS add 10,949 15 cent) contains the same supplement. These three, and no others, are 15 specified by Sir T D Hardy as containing it. Portions of these entries are contained in some of the MSS which have been collated for this edition.

TESTIMONIA.

P 176 T D Hardy catalogue of materials relating to the history 20 of Great Britain. . . I (1) 455 456 names several MSS and editions of this letter, which differs grea.ly in different copies. By the kindness of the Rev S S Lewis and of Dr Idtensohn the librarian of St Gall, we are enabled to give it from the most ancient Ms known.

As the epistle of Cuthbert is found in only a few MSS, it seems 25 worth while to give a careful collation of the four copies which have been used for the present edition. The text is printed from MS. CCLV (compared with CCLIV) in the library at St Gallen which is believed to be a MS of the ninth century and C1 C2 C7 are three Cambridge MSS of which a description is given in Excursus ii.

30

P 176. C has the title. Incipit epistola de transitu uenerabilis bede presbiteri et Giruensis monachi. C7 has: De obitu uenerabilis Bede presbyteri to which C2 adds VII kl. iunii.

I collectori lectori C1 C2 C7. in deo aeternam in Christo C1 C7. 3 accepi suscepi C2.

4 deuotae om C1.

desiderabam desiderabat C1 (a slip of the scribe).

[TESTI

ac nostro magistro C2 C7 patre nostro ac

8 quam...ingenio quantum fruor ingenio C1 C2 C7.

9 a e C1 C2 C7. desiderasse desiderare C1.

10 poposcisse poposcere C7 poscere C1.

infirmitate...dolore infirmitate maxima, creberrimi haneli

tus sine dolore tamen C1 C2 C7.

5

15

VII id mai vii kal iunii C2 C7 septimo kl. iunii C1.

17

18

fuit erat C1 C2 C7.

psalmorum cantu psalmodia C1.

prout potuit se om C1 C2 C7.

letus in oracionibus in letitia C1 C2 C7.

19 deo ducere studebat peruigil ducebat C1 C2 C7.

20-24 itemque...referre euigilans autem statim

[incepta C1] repetiuit et expansis manibus deo gracias agere non desiit 20 [cessauit C'] C C2 C7.

Compare the last hours of Boisil (uita Cuthb 8): Cuthbert having 25 recovered from the plague, Boisil assured him that he would not again be struck by it: 'simulque moneo ut, quia me mors uicina praestolatur, discere a me aliquid quamdiu docere ualeam non omittas. non enim plus quam septem dies sunt, quibus mihi ad docendum sanitas corporis et linguae suppetat uirtus.' respondit Cud- 30 berctus nihil haesitans de ueritate dictorum illius: et quid, rogo, optimum mihi est legere, quod tamen una ualeam consummare septimana?' at ille Iohannem' inquit 'euangelistam. est autem mihi codex habens quaterniones septem, quas singulis diebus singulas possumus domino adiuuante legendo et quantum opus est inter nos conferendo percurrere.' 35 factum est ut dixerat. quam ideo lectionem tam citissime complere ualebant, quia solam in ea fidei quae per dilectionem operatur, non autem quaestionum profunda tractabant. So Charles the Great (Theganus uita Ludouici in Migne CVI 409 410") spent the last year of his life in prayer and almsgiving and in the correction of books, as the four 40

MONIA]

DATE OF BEDA'S DEATH.

401

gospels by the Greek and Syriac. The day before his death he received the communion. At the last moment he made the sign of the cross on his forehead and breast and other parts of the body. nouissime autem colligens pedes suos, extendens bracchia et manus super corpus, clausit 5 oculos suos, psallens hunc uersum leniter: 'in manus tuas, domine, commendo spiritum meum.'

15

6 PATRE p 182 122. MAGISTRO p 181 1 20. p 182 18. p 184 1 16 and 26.

15 AD DIEM ASCENSIONIS DOMINICAE, ID EST VII ID MAT cf p 18517. the 9th of May was Ascension day in 720 and again in 799, but in no intermediate year. In 735, the traditional year of Beda's death, Ascension day fell on the 26th of May, ie VII kal Iun (p 204 1 18). In the calendar Beda's day is 27 May, which was Ascension day in 751. 20 The date VII id mai is found in no MS but the St Gallen, and as the date of that is of the ninth century, it cannot be, as at first sight suggested itself, that the date of the death is confused with that of the translation. This latter is entered in the calendars (see Nicolas chron of history) under vi id maii. But this event was long after the date 25 when our MS was written, having occurred some time between 10211041 A D. The great difficulty of settling the question of the year of Beda's death lies (1) in the uncertainty whether in Cuthbert's letter the British or Roman Easter is to be the foundation of our calculations. Considering however Beda's own attachment to the orthodox time of 30 observing that feast, we need not perhaps hesitate to conclude that his friends would be of the same mind. But (2) we are told that he died 'quarta feria” (p 178 1 17) i e on Wednesday, Ascension Eve “ad vesperum" (p 1791 10). Now our Saxon ancestors seem to have reckoned festivals from the first vespers (see the authorities cited p 406 n 19). 35 If that be so, they would call the time of his death Ascension day, though we should call it Ascension-eve. Does then VII id mai or VII kal iunii (whichever date we take as the correct one) and which is called diem ascensionis dominicae refer to the true Ascension