The Pictish King Brude was succeeded by King Gartnaid, who fixed his royal seat at Abernethy, in Perthshire. There he is said to have built a monastery (580-590) and dedicated it to St. Bridget, to whom, as we have seen, an earlier church had been dedicated in the same locality. St. Cainnech is said to have established himself in a “desert” at Kilrimont (St. Andrews),[27] thus indicating the early foundation of these well-known religious sites. The Cumbrian Church was also founded about this time at Glasgow by St. Kentigern, a friend of Columba’s. St. Columba died in 597, and, after his death, Iona was acknowledged as the head of all the churches and monasteries which had been established in Scotland. But the influence of this Church soon spread beyond the boundaries of that kingdom. Oswald, son of Aidilfrid, having been driven from Northumbria, found refuge in Iona, and there acquired a knowledge of religion and literature. Having regained his throne, he sent, in 635, to Iona for monks to introduce the Christian faith amongst his people. St. Aidan was the first of these missionaries sent, and, with the king’s consent, he fixed his monastery on the island of Lindisfarne. He also founded monasteries at Old Melrose and Coldingham, then within the bounds of Northumbria. It was to the Columban Church thus established that the Angles between the Humber and the Forth owed their permanent conversion to Christianity. After a time St. Aidan was succeeded by St. Cuthbert, who continued and extended this pious work. But after being twelve years in charge of Lindisfarne, St. Cuthbert retired, like so many of the same monastic school, to a “desert” or hermitage, situated on the solitary island of Farne, more distant from the mainland than Lindisfarne. Here he erected his hermit’s cell, the account of which, given by Bede,[28] is most interesting, as it so fully explains the nature of such structures. The enclosure was circular, and about 4 or 5 perches in diameter. Externally the wall was about the height of a man, but in the interior somewhat higher, owing to the soil and rock having been excavated. The wall was composed of massive unwrought stones and turf. The enclosure contained a dwelling-place divided into two parts, one being an oratory and the other a room suitable for common uses. The roof was formed of rough beams and thatched with straw. At the landing-place outside the enclosure a large house was erected to give shelter to the monks when they visited the hermit. Although called for a time to the Bishopric of Lindisfarne, St. Cuthbert again retired to his hermitage, and there expired A.D. 687.