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Ruins of St. Colm's Abbey. Continued from page 3. [Quotation]

"This Monastery stands on an [island] called AEmonia, in the Frith of Forth, and commonly denominated Inch Colm; i.e. the Island of Columba. About the year 1123 King Alexander the first having some business of state which obliged him to cross over at the Queensferry, was overtaken by a terrible tempest, blowing from the South West, this obliged the sailors to make for this island of AEmonia, which they reached with the greatest risque and difficulty: here they found a poor hermit, who lived a religious life, according to the rules of St. Columba, and performed service in a small chapel, supporting himself by the milk of one Cow, and the shellfish he picked up on the shore; nevertheless, out of these small means, he entertained the King and his retinue for three days, the time which they were confined here by the wind. During the storm and whilst at sea in the greatest danger, the King made a vow, that if Saint Columba would bring him safe to that island, he would then found a Monastery to his honor, and which should be an asylum and relief to navigators; he was moreover farther moved to this foundation by having from his childhood entertained a particular veneration and honor for that Saint, derived from his parents, who were long married without issue, until imploring the aid of Saint Columba, their request was most graciously granted. " Grose's Antiquities. page 299.

[Quotation]
" Alexander I [First] erected, in 1123, a religious house, in one of the islets of the Forth which he gratefully dedicated to St. Columba, to whose intercession, says the legend he owed his safety from Shipwreck." Chambers' Caledonia page 176

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