was afterward called
Holy Island. Oswald was slain in battle while defending his castle
from the attacks of Penda, King of Mercia. Penda, the Pagan could not
obtain possession of the castle, though he slew its prince; for even
after his death, the people bravely defended the stronghold.

The kingdom became divided shortly after. The good Aidan died in the
year 651, and was succeeded by Finan, who built a cathedral on the
Island of Lindisfarne, whose walls were of oak, and whose roof was
thatched.

At this time, the cause of Christianity appears to have been served by
the piety and zeal of an illustrious lady, named St. Hilda, who founded
abbeys, and, according to her admirers, did many miraculous works.

In the year 664, the yellow plague, which every summer had committed
sad ravages among the people, raged so fearfully that it swept away
Tulda, who was then Bishop of Lindisfarne, and nearly all his flock.

About this time the great St. Cuthbert, who has made the Farne Islands
famous, was made Prior of Lindisfarne. He was born about the year 635,
and was one of the most illustrious of the saints of the middle ages.
In 651, he was watching his flock by night, as a shepherd boy, when,
according to his own story, he saw, above the heights of Lauderdale,
the heavens opened, and a company of angels descend and ascend, bearing
with them the soul of St. Aidan, the pious Bishop of Holy Island. He
resolved that he would become a monk, and he entered the monastery of
Melrose. St. Boisal was the Prior, and, when he died of the plague,
St. Cuthbert was chosen to take his place. He filled the office well,
and was most assiduous in his attention to, and care of his flock. He
visited all the villages and mountain hamlets that were in the
neighbourhood, teaching the people, and endeavouring by all means in
his power to win them back from Paganism to Christianity.

It was after a time of great activity, and possibly of over-work, that
he left Melrose, and became Provost of the monastery at Lindisfarne.
After labouring there for a time, he longed for a position of yet
greater solitariness, and he therefore resigned his office. It was
then that he went to the Farne Islands, which offered loneliness enough
to satisfy even the austere recluse. He built himself a cell or
hermitage with his own hands, using such rough materials of wood and
stone as the islands afforded.

So highly was he esteemed that he was not permitted to r