Show C 1 ti r me 40 00 0 ale N 1 r at A elf by ELMO SCOTT SCOT T W WATSON A drawing by ray walters ARCH 17 is a day for the wearing of tile the green f rand and of the sham shamrock rp k a day to honor the patron saint of ire fr lano because it was on a march 17 more 1400 sears ago that he died it th Is a day which Is celebrated by every true son of the sod but how acin many of them realize that in so doing they are honoring the me memory mory of a man who was not born an irishman e even en though be whine became the patron saint of that country in facts fact it if what seems to be the most reliable tradition is true st patrick was a scotchman and as such lie he Is entitled to the veneration not only of the irish but of the scotch ns as well more than that he may well fell be remembered by all christian christiana 0 whatever their nationality tio tiona bality lity for A it was he who brought about the triumph of christianity over paganism away back in tile the days when the phrase tile the wild irish was truer than it has ever been since there are several versions of the story of st patricks parentage anil and birthplace 6 but afi athe strongest evidence as to tile the litter latter points to a spot galled called kilpatrick patricks celt near dumbarton on the river clyde in scotland he was a celt there Is no do douba P kind K ind and he himself in his confessions cin sessions urs fes ibris haift old us that he be was born among alie the and therefore aino among aig tire the latin speaking people who had bad been converted to 0 o christianity ills fathers name was a De De curlon culon and town counselor in a roman town which Is thought to have beedon been on the coast of wales probably a colony from tile the opposite trish irish consi coast alii since e there was fre i a across C the narrow 0 sea between them two bodies of land both trips and warlike expeditions it was during one of the laefer about A D that patrick then a boy of sixteen was taken prisoner by the high king of Ir ireland chali who had his stronghold at tara from which beset out on mady many raid s against i t neigh neighboring libring tribes later patrick was told sold to a petty king named hill chu who governed the district around SIer mountain in north antrim king r set et patrick to herding awine on the cold slope of the mountain often the boy spent his nights jn in prayer and it Is said that during one of oc these vigils he had bad a adreain arc am in which III s a to mcall call to him ai gys gy after six years of captivity inspired bj his drenzo he escaped and made 6 ills yay way across ireland to the eat baet coast where he dieb bardo d a ship iship which took him to some port legaul in ln gaul probably bordeaux for forthe abe next few years he lived on nn an Is land island off the coast near cannes and there attended tile the school of Ilon Honora oratus tug learning to read latin and studying religion later he returned to britain n where lie he was warmly welcomed by his fits relatives h a had a second dream which inspired in him a desire to lead a mission to ireland in order to prepare himself tor for his expedition to Tre ireland landi patrick went back to gaul andhor and for a time made ills his nt fit An manierre Ani erre was ordained by bishop amator ind and in the year patrick wits was consecrated bishop by germanus who approved of his mission to ireland in that same year patrick arrived off the 06 coast of wicklow with h a shipload of missionaries both men and women the party was waa driven from the bhore when they attempted to land so they turned their ship north and dis embarked at a place called saul in down from there they went in chariots and on foot to the hill of slane near terra which was the sent seat of king or lae dalre from whom the modern n OL carys are descended the son of king niall who wast walthen wa ben reigning in math it was about easter time when the druids druies held their principal feasts feasta of the lie year on oa the order of the king all of the house fires on the island were extin then the druid prients lighted the bel rire fire on tara hile from this see dal i re of bel blessed by the gods the people were to take blazing brands branda with which to ret rekindle indle the fires on their hearths heart hs and it was a great sin for anyone to kindle their fires except in this manner in defiance of this tradition patrick gathered a heap of brasna brosna or rough fuel on the ebert of slane hill appo site turn tara and while the druid priests loot looted looked ed on angrily anikey lighted ills his fire before the like druids druies tord bed started theirs immediately there were riotous scenes and patrick was commanded to appear before tile the king and explain his aaa sacrilegious ri act arriving before the king patrick was surprised to find that monarch hospitable and witling willing to listen to the stranger El rt ranger although the druid priests demanded hla his punishment the king listened to Pat patricks explanation of the new religion and al though lie he 1 did not embrace it himself he gave permission lo io the stranger to preach to the people one of patricks first converts con verts was the kings daughter fedela and it Is in that connic connection tion that the symbol of the shamrock enters enter th the estory story of st patrick while striving to explain to the princess and her companions the trinity of god god the father god the son so and god the holy ghost and seeing that they did not understand he su suddenly looked down and saw the ab shamrock amrock ethl which ch brows grows in such profusion nil all over rr ireland eland stooping down do wn he picked up the tiny plant and held it up three thice leaves on one stem tho the perfect trinity this ahta simple en em biam blera helped bring understanding to the she became a convert to the new faith up and down ireland st patrick went baptizing converts establishing churches and leaving his assistants to carry on the work in which the simple symbol of the rh shamrock amrock had its part parl gradually it became the sy symbol abot ot of ireland the nation as well as the re legious symbol of in that land the triumph of st patrick over the pagan drulis druids Is believed to have I 1 I 1 given rise to the legend that it was st patrick who drove the snakes out of ireland the snakes being the symbol sym for the superstitions of the druid paganism bringing christianity to ireland was note not however st SL patricks only service to that country and to humanity ile he introduced many progressive ideas in this papan pagan count country counter rr ile he brought with him bim the latin tongue and latin book ue lie also brought another roman art that of building stone houses and as he went through ireland he built not only churches of enduring stone but schools of stone also here latin reading and writing were taught along with the irish language and these schools grew and became famous the students of these school wo inherited the tradition of a rich epic and lyric native literature took to tile the study of languages of latin greek and hebrew and when a wave of invasion by the angles the saxons 1 the lombards bombards Lom bards the goths goehs vandals mcd huns swept over western europe grid and all but wiped out learning and clas clan steal culture it was from there schools in ireland that there dame came a return wave which helped restore it so not only the irish but the whole world owes something to the roan man who died on march 17 and whose memory Is recalled each year when march 17 comes round again |