Subj : January 29th - St. Walloch of Scotland, Bishop To : All From : rich Date : Thu Jan 28 2021 09:09:07 From: rich January 29th - St. Walloch of Scotland, Bishop Died c. 724. The higher reaches of the Don valley have been inhabited since Bronze Age times as far west as Corgarff. Lower down, an offshoot of the Don, the waters of the Buchat, have created a fine and fertile glen to the north of the ancient holy mountain of Strathdon--Ben Newe. Saint Walloch was a Celtic missionary whose principal church was at Logie-in-Mar amongst the pictish settlements of what became known as Cro-mar. Far to the north of Glenbuchat we see a solitary glimpse of the presence of the Celtic church at Kilvalauche, somewhere in the forest of Badeneoin, which is mentioned in a charter of 1507.(1) This name can hardly mean anything else than the church of St. Walloch. From the same document we learn that Culbalauche, St. Walloch's retreat, was in the neighbourhood. Prior to 1473 the Chapel of Glenbuchat was a dependancy of Logie-Mar, the link with St. Walloch thus being given the strongest argument conceivable in its favour. Incidentally, confirmation seems to be obtained from a statement (2) that St. Walloch, in addition to his other church foundations, at Dunmeth in Glass and at Balvenie, had a church site in Strathdon. We have no trustworthy guidance as to the date of St. Walloch's labours. The Aberdeen Breviary places him in the fifth century, while Camerarius fixes his death in the year 733. In the Breviary we are given an interesting account of St. Walloch's mode of life, coupled with a highly unflattering picture of the folk he strove to convert: "He preferred a poor little house, woven together of reeds and wattles, to a royal palace. In this he led a life of poverty and humility, on all sides shunning the dignities of the world, that he might achieve to himself a higher reward in heaven. But the race whom he preferred to convert to the faith of Christ, and whom actually by his preaching and exhortation he did convert, no one would hesitate to describe as fierce, untamed, void of decency of manners and virtue, and incapable of easily listening to the word of truth, and their conversation was rather that of the brutes that perish than of men." St. Walloch is said to have been among the last of the missionaries to be sent to the north-east from St. Ninian's centre at Whithorn (Candida Cassa). Though familiarly called "Walloch the foreigner", his origin and nationality are actually unknown. At his foundation at Logie-in-Mar there stands, at the gate and just outside the churchyard, a rough monolith about 5' 6" tall, known as Walloch's Stone. "Walloch's Fair" was a popular event in the district and was held on his Feast Day--29th January. One source (3) gives us a very different history saying that the saint whose name appears in a corrupted form as Wolok, latinised Volocus, is believed to be Faelchu, 13th abbot of Hy (Iona) from 716 till 724. He sprang from the race of Conall Gulban, the ancestor of the famous lineage of Cenel Conaill and several of the saints of Ireland including St. Columba himself. Born in 664, Faelchu was 73 when, on Saturday, 29th August, he was called to the chair once occupied by St. Columba. Indeed, it has been thought that Fedlimid, 14th abbot of Hy (722-?), was an assistant abbot appointed to take care of business because of Faelchu's great age. Walla Kirk (Walloch's Church), as the church of Dunmeth in Glass was called, stood in its burying-ground on the bank of the Deveron, but is now represented only by some mounds. It was held in superstitious regard even in post-reformation times for in 1648 the ministers of Strathbogie "ordanit to censure all superstitione at Wallak Kirk". About a 100 yards east of the church once flowed St. Wallach's Well. On its margin lay a stone with a hollow in it, into which pins were dropped by health-seekers as offerings to the saint. As the result of agricultural improvements the spring has been drained, and the water gushes out further down the bank, where the stone now lies unheeded. In the neighbourhood of the graveyard, where a foot-bridge spans the Deveron, is Wallach Pot, a pool in the river said to be about 14 feet deep. Fully a quarter of a mile further along the river bank is a long, trough-like hollow in the rock, known as St. Wallach's Bath. Sickly children used to be dipped in its water. Pieces of their clothing and also coins were thrown into the bath as offerings. If there is any truth in the tradition that St. Wallach's Hermitage stood on a neighbouring mound, he must, it is to be presumed, have arrived a number of years before he became abbot of Hy. 1 Registrum Magni Sigilli, 1424-1513, No. 3159. 2 David Camerarius, De Scotorum Fortitudine (1631) p.94 3 Mackinlay, Ancient Church Dedications in Scotland, (1914) p. 143 Saint Quote: To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them. --St. Thomas Aquinas Bible Quote: "Rebuke is more effective for a wise man Than a hundred blows on a fool."=C2 (Proverbs 17:10) <><><><> St. Fulgentius was so enamored of perfection that whatever he did towards it always seemed to him little, and he was always desiring to do better. St. Vincent de Paul every day saw more of his own faults, yet he continually applied anew all his zeal to amend and perfect himself. =C2 St. Ignatius constantly compared one day with another, and the gain on one day with the gain on another. Thus he advanced daily and entertained a constant desire of advancing still more, that he might reach the summit of perfection to which God called him. =C2 St. James the Apostle received great praise because he went on advancing daily in the divine service. --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .