The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-11-17

events. understood the Irish speech Sir
Owain served Gilbert as an interpreter
and. strange to say, became thorough
ly converted man He related to Gilbert
the facts which led to this great change.
They were facts to make the good monks
hair curl, if. indeed, he was not bald
which is very likely. Sin Owain declared
that he had visited the lever world and
related what he had seen in the way of
, pGrsatoriai punishment. When told that
ne mad been dreaming, he repealed the
statement boldly, and declared that it
was no dream, but terrible reality
Far IN the northwest of ireland, in tue
unjust OF long stretch of e6reary seen
cry is Tough Derg,, and in thir lake is
an lslet which formerly contained a
cavern In that cavern. Sir Owain
Gilbert, ON his return to England. re-
lated Sir Owain's story to Henry, a nnoLl-
OF Saltary In HuntingdonshireE and Hen
~ wrote out the narrative in detail he
traylng not the slightest DOUBT of its
literal truthfulness. Moreover a circum-
stantial account of this descent is given
IN IN the history, or annals of Roger of
was continued by Matthew Paris. and
bears his name. The date assigned is
1853. Doubtless the entry was made in
the annals not long after that occur
renee OF The experiences of the knight.
The case Is. therefore, not to be ciaSsrd
with the traditions handed down orally
through long periods. There is written
record Of it, almost from it's beginning
Those who reject the supernatural in the
singular story find it difficult to believe
that the latter was mere invention.
Knowing how vivid often. are the dreams
or fever, and how powerful, often, ara
the lashingS of remorSe. upon convicted
soul. 1t Is easy to believe In strange
subjective experience which came to the
knight in the midst of the gloomy o@y-
ern.
The story is intensely realistic 1t was
hailed by the people of Europe as new
revelation of the greatest Importance
more interest than we would manifest
today in an account of an authentic dis
covefy of the north pole The story
was translated into many languages. and
Europe. 1t seems evident from a study
of Dante that he had it before him when
he wrote of purgatory and hell. The
fierce winds, the fortunes of heat and cold,
the venomous serpents-all the horrors
of Dante are found in it. Sir Owain's
experience was held TO be supernatural.
and was attributed generally to the
agency of st. Pat, lex, the patron saint
of Ireland, who had been dead for about
seven centuries.
Calde-on chose the theme for one OF
the greatest of his dramas. Disregarding
the discrepancy of time. he made st.
Patrick and Sir Owain (whom he calls
Enio) contemporaneous otherwise ne
seeks to follow with great care the re-
fact generally known. but it is a fact.
nevertheless. that We have the IRE or
st. Patrick. written by his own han:l.
with careful details of the incidents or
his youth. when he was a slave in Ire
land These incidents and the expert
ences of EMO" are woyen together in
grand spectacular drama. which offers
a study of absorbing interest to Catholic
and Protestant alike, from its relation
to history and literature Calderon be-
lievea implicitly in the truth Of the
scenes which he depicted. and probably
Dante also felt that he had the basis
of substantial fact for his delineationS,
though he made himself the observer in
his narrative. 1t is difficult for us now
to realize the Importance which was at
tached TO the story of Sir Owain when it
was accepted almost universally as lit
eraI. objective fact.
For 700 years the shrine in Tough Derg
had been visited annually by multitudes
of pilgrims. in spite of vigorous efforts
made by the government at different
times to break up the piigrmages. fhe
cave and shrine on Saints island were
destroyed more than two centuries ago
and the shrine is now in the neighbor-
ing isIet known as Station island. Sell
dom. indeed has the folk lore OF any
country exerted so strong an influence
upon the religious belief of the world
as the story of Sir Owain,s descent,
which will live in literature and art
through all coming time