them, and bade them never to do so again. It made
the birds ashamed, and to show that they were sorry they brought him a
great lump of suet. He did not eat it, however, as they expected he
would, but used it to grease his shoes with, and it lasted a long time.

Now Cuthbert loved all these birds dearly, especially the unselfish
eider-duck who picks the down from her own breast to make a softer bed
for her little ones. He was kind to them and they had no fear of him.
But he dreaded lest after he was gone others should be less kind to his
pets. So to protect them he made a promise, and he bequeathed them a
legacy, the gift of _Saint Cuthbert's Peace_. He promised that no one
should harm or kill them on that island without being dreadfully
punished. And he gave them this Peace for ever and ever. So that
thenceforth ill befell whoever injured one of Saint Cuthbert's birds.
There are two stories to prove this, and they both happened long after
Cuthbert was gone from Farne.

Now Liveing was the servant of AElric, the hermit who next dwelt in
Cuthbert's cell. And one day while AElric was gone away to the mainland,
Liveing killed and ate one of the eider-ducks who still lived and built
their nests near the hut where the Saint had lived. Liveing knew the
promise of Saint Cuthbert's Peace, but he thought that no one would find
out his crime. For he scattered the bones and feathers over the cliff,
and saw them washed away by the waves. But after AElric, his master, came
back, he found a lump of bones and feathers rolled together and cast by
the tide upon the very steps of his chapel. For even the sea was
promised to Saint Cuthbert's Peace, and had to betray the guilty man.
So Liveing was discovered and punished.

And this is the second story. The birds themselves were bound by the
Peace to be kind to one another. The big birds were forbidden to hurt or
kill a little one. And this is what happened to a great hawk who flapped
over from the neighboring island of Lindisfarne and ate up the tame
sparrow which belonged to Bartholomew, another hermit who lived after
AElric at Farne. For Saint Cuthbert's power made the hawk fly for days
around and around the island, never able to get away, never able to
stop, though he was ready to drop with weariness and hunger. He would
have kept on flying until now, or until he fell into the sea and was
drowned, if at last the hermit had not taken pity upon him. Bartholomew
caught the tired hawk by