rtained with certainty. Indeed, it is
impossible to say who were the real pioneers of the Gospel within the
realm itself. The probability is that in the first instance it was the
beneficent work of the Romans in whose legions were to be found many
sincere Christians, many faithful soldiers of the Cross. From the
"saints of Caesar's household"--not a mere picturesque dream--mayhap the
Gospel found its way to the coasts of Britain, the greatest boon that
could be conferred on a nation. An unvarying Peeblesshire tradition, for
example, avers that among the first to witness for Christ and His truth
by the banks of the Tweed and its tributaries were Roman soldiers from
the great military station at Hall Lyne, and out of whose quiet
fellowship-meetings in the recesses of the Manor, sprang the church of
that valley, one of the oldest in the county, and dedicated to Saint
Gordian, either the Emperor of that name, or what is more likely,
"Gordian the well-beloved," Deputy of Gaul, who suffered martyrdom about
the year 362. Be that as it may, it is at any rate certain that long
before the departure of the Romans from Britain, Christianity had made
considerable headway in the island. St. Ninian's is the earliest
definite name which has come down to us, about the end of the 4th and
beginning of the 5th century. His labours were confined chiefly to the
Galloway side of the Border, where the remains of his Candida Casa, or
White House, may still be seen at Whithorn on the shores of Wigtown Bay.
It is more than possible that some of Ninian's missionaries, or a rumour
of his work and teaching at all events, had passed beyond the Solway to
the Clyde and Tweed watersheds. But, on the other hand, the difficulties
following the departure of the Romans in the constant incursions from
the Continent and the terrible internecine struggles of the time, would
be sufficient to extinguish whatever light had faintly begun to shine.
And it is not until well on in the 6th century that the darkness begins
to grow less dense. Such names as Augustine, Paulinus, Columba,
Kentigern or Mungo, Aidan and Cuthbert, come upon the scene, with each
of whom seems to rest, as it were, the hope of the Church of Christ in
Britain. In the year 597 Augustine arrived in Kent with forty monks in
his train. The incident, apocryphal perhaps, which led to his mission,
is at least interesting. The story has been told again and again, but it
will bear repeating. Aella, King of