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FROM ENGLISH CHRONICLERS 53<br />
Acca l <strong>in</strong> that of Hexham ;<br />
Pechthelm 2 <strong>in</strong> that which is<br />
called Whithorn, and which, through <strong>in</strong>crease of the ranks<br />
of the faithful, has recently been raised to the see of an<br />
episcopate, and has him as its first bishop. 3<br />
At <strong>this</strong> time the race of the Picts also both has a treaty<br />
of peace with the nation of the Angles, 4 and rejoices to parti-<br />
cipate with the universal church <strong>in</strong> catholic peace and truth.<br />
The Scots who dwell <strong>in</strong> Brita<strong>in</strong> are content with their<br />
own territories, and plan no snares or deceits aga<strong>in</strong>st the<br />
nation of the Angles.<br />
The Britons, although for the most part they oppose the<br />
nation of the Angles with the hatred natural to them, and<br />
less rightfully with their evil customs the appo<strong>in</strong>ted Easter<br />
XXX, ibid., ii, 107) of Melrose (S. of D., H.D.E., i, 39. Cf. Bede, H.E., V,<br />
12; i, 310.)<br />
Ethelwald caused a sculptured stone cross to be erected and <strong>in</strong>scribed<br />
to Cuthbert's memory ; S. of D., u.s. He died <strong>in</strong> 740. Cont<strong>in</strong>. of Bede's<br />
H.E., i, 363.<br />
He wrote (with bishop Edfrid and the anchorite Bilfrid) part of the precious<br />
volume of gospels lost <strong>in</strong> a storm at sea by the bearers of St. Cuthbert's<br />
body, ca. 880, and miraculously recovered at low tide at Whithorn, S. of D.,<br />
<strong>in</strong> the<br />
H.D.E., i, 64-68. This is believed to be the Durham Book preserved<br />
British Museum, Cottonian MS. Nero. D. iv.<br />
1<br />
Cf. R. of H., D.H.E., <strong>in</strong> Ra<strong>in</strong>e's Hexh., i, 35, s.a. 732 :<br />
"<br />
But by what<br />
pressure of necessity [Acca] was driven [from his see], or whither he went, I<br />
have not found written. T<strong>here</strong> are however some who say that at <strong>this</strong><br />
time he <strong>in</strong>augurated and prepared the episcopal see <strong>in</strong> Whithorn." Cf. Bede,<br />
H.E., Cont<strong>in</strong>., i, 361, s.a. 731, which is probably the correct date. But his<br />
expulsion is placed <strong>in</strong> 732 by S. of D., H.R., ii, 30 ; cf. W. of M., G.P., 225 ;<br />
and <strong>in</strong> 733 by A.S.C., MSS. D, E, F ; Fl. of W., i, 53.<br />
"<br />
R. of H., u.s., 34 : As some th<strong>in</strong>k, he lived for eight years afterwards."<br />
His death is placed <strong>in</strong> 737 by A.S.C., MSS. D, E, F.<br />
2 Pechthelm had been a monk and deacon of Aldhelm, bishop of Sherborne<br />
; Bede, H.E., V, 18 ; i, 320. Cf. W. of M., G.P., 257. He testified<br />
to miracles wrought, at Hsedde's tomb ; Bede, ibid. ; and is named as Bede's<br />
authority for a vision, H.E., V, 13 ; i, 311-313.<br />
3 "<br />
W. of M., G.P., 257: [Pechthelm's] successors were Frithwald,<br />
Pechtw<strong>in</strong>, Ethelbert, Baldulf. And beyond these I f<strong>in</strong>d no more anyw<strong>here</strong> ;<br />
for the bishopric soon failed, s<strong>in</strong>ce it was, as I have said," [ibid., 256 ; supra,<br />
s.a. 565, note,] " the farthest shore of the Angles, and open to the raid<strong>in</strong>gs<br />
of the Scots and Picts."<br />
Whithorn is spoken of as be<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> England ; cf. supra, s.a. 547, note.<br />
"<br />
Cf. Fl. of W., i, 279-280 : The k<strong>in</strong>gs of the Northumbrians ruled over<br />
the whole district which is beyond the river Humber. T<strong>here</strong> were <strong>in</strong> <strong>this</strong><br />
district the archbishop of York, the bishops of Hexham, of Ripon, of L<strong>in</strong>disfarne<br />
and of Whithorn. . . . [Cf. W. of M., G.R., i,<br />
"<br />
101.]<br />
And the archbishop of York had all the bishops beyond the Humber<br />
subject to his control : the bishops of Ripon, of Hexham, of L<strong>in</strong>disfarne ;<br />
him of Candida Casa, which is now called Whithorn ;<br />
and all the bishops of<br />
<strong>Scotland</strong> and the Orkneys, even as the archbishop of Canterbury has the<br />
bishops of Ireland and the Welsh." Cf. W. of M., G.R., ii, 352-353, 350.<br />
4 Yet <strong>in</strong> his letter to Egbert of York (written <strong>in</strong> November, 734,) Bede<br />
speaks of danger " from barbarians," " from the <strong>in</strong>cursion of barbarians."<br />
i, 414, 415.