He was one of the twelve disciples who accompanied St. Columba to Scotland. He was probably born in the north of Ireland, and spent some years under St. Columba's rule. Miracles are said to have been wrought at his tomb. 16--St. Finan, Abbot, A.D. (about) 575. This saint, surnamed "The Leper," from the disease with which he was afflicted, is mentioned in Irish calendars on the 16th of this month. Although the dedications to St. Finan in Scotland are many, and devotion to him must therefore have been widespread, it is difficult to assign a cause for it. Some have thought that he was at some time at Iona, but the authentic particulars of his life which are now extant are so few that it is impossible to determine. To him is attributed the evangelisation of part of Argyllshire, in the district which still bears {44} the name of Glen-Finan. The ancient burial-place of the district is on _Eilean Finan_, an island in Loch Shiel, where he is said to have lived, and where is preserved one of the few ancient bronze bells which still exist in Scot land; it is called by the saint's name. A fair was formerly held there annually, and was called "St. Finan's Fair." Other dedications to this saint are at Kilfinan in the same county Kilfinan, near Invergarry, and Mochrum in Wigtonshire. "St. Finzean's Fair" (a manner of denoting Finyan), formerly held at Perth, is supposed to have been in honour of the festival of this saint. St. Charmaig, A.D. (about) 640. This was a saint much honoured among the Hebrides. He is patron of the church of Keills, Argyllshire. At Ellanmore, in that county, there are the remains of a chapel, named after him, Kilmacharmaig, and in a recess is a recumbent figure thought to be a representation of the saint. Kirkcormaig, in the parish of Kelton, Kirkcudbright, possibly refers to this saint. {45} St. Boniface or Curitan, Bishop, 8th century. An ancient legend, which modern historians have shown to be a fanciful distortion of facts, relates that this saint, an Israelite, came from Rome to Britain, and that after converting Nectan, King of the Picts, and his people to Christianity, he consecrated 150 bishops, ordained 1000 priests, founded 150 churches, and baptised 36,000 persons. The real facts of the case seem to be that this saint is identical with Curitan, an Irish saint, who laboured in Scotland to bring about the Roman observance of Easter. The testimony of St. Bede that King Nectan in the year 710 adopted the Roman computation, and the fact that St. Boniface was zealous in founding churches in honour of St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, thus identifying himself with special devotion to Rome, seem to give weight to the supposition. This saint became a bishop, and the cathedral of the diocese of Ross, which replaced the primitive building raised by him at Rosemarkie (now Fortrose) and dedicated to St. Peter, was subsequently named in his honour. A fair was formerly held there annually on his feast-day. {46}