Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-25
MADE RELIGION A REALITY
Originated Thanks After Meals and
the Grace Cup.
ROYAL IN WISDOM AND VIRTUE
In Her Palace Five Kings Were
Born and Near Her Tomb the
Famous Sleep.
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Written for The Star and the Chicago Record
Herald


After the death of Macbeth. of whom
wrote the other day. Malcolm Ill. the
elder son of King Duncan, who was muir
dered by Macbeth, was placed upon the
throne of Scotland. He fed from Mac
beths castle the day after his father S
assassination, and for time was at the
English court in London Afterward he
went TO his Uncle Syward, Thane OF
Northumberland, and was there trained
in the knightly accomplishments Of that
time He could not read or write. but
could speak three languages, Gaelic
| Latin and Saxon. He became strong and
brave. wise in council, furious in battle
and in other respects was fit person 10
occupy the Scottish throne. According
to Robert Chambers he came Of line OF
kings dating back 600 years from Fergus,
who began to reign in $50 B. e.
| Romance of Margaret of Hungary.
While Malcolm Canmore was at the
| height of his power and influence Princess
| Margaret Of Hungary fled to Scotland
with her brother, Prince Ethelred, to ex-
| cape William the Conqueror. This was
| in 1869. She was helpless fugitive
| Her father, Edward heir to the English
throne who had been driven into exile years
before, and found an Asylum at Buoa-
pest had married the Hungarian princess
| Agatha by whom he had two daughters,
Margaret and Christian, and one son,
Ethelred. The family returned to Eng
land after the coronation of EDWARD the
ConfeSsor who was her uncle, Where
Margaret had the advantage of an educa-
ton by Dr. Lanfranc, one OF the most
learned and accomplished men or mis-
time The father having died when the
Norman invasion occurred, Ethelred. who
was heir presumptive to the throne, was
obliged to flee. taking his sisters with him.
He hurried northward to Scotland, and
landed on the northern shore of the Firth
of Forth near Edinburgh, at place now
called Queens Ferry, which will soon be-
come the center of a great naval station
costing the British government more than
$50, 900, 600.
King Malcolm received the fugitives
cordially promised them his protection
and placed one of his castles at their dis
posal. Margaret was then twenty-five
years old. He was forty-seven, a widower
with two sons by his first wife, lngibiorg.
daughter of Thorfinn. King of the Orkney
Islands. It has been claimed by several
writer's that Malcolm had previously seen
Margaret in London and had fallen In
love with her there, which Is said to
have been the reason Prince Ethelred
hurried his sister to Scotland. but whether
that is true or not the king very soon
offered the Christian princess from Hun
gary share of his throne. She accepted
and they were married with great state
the day after Easter, April D, lO'O. Inc
ceremony was performed with great pomp
md solemnity by the Bishop of ST
came down to kiss her hand. Then as the
old song runs:
The Saxon Rose forgot her woes
When guild King Maleolms dsrlin'; vt,
The rare auld toon. the fair guild toon.
fa{l
The auld gray toon, the BAUD gray toon,
Dunfarlin toon forever.
Malcolm Suspected His Queen.
Malcolm was a sort Of semi-savage
Prince Arthur or Alfred the Great, but
Margaret soon civilized him, and after
one episode the course Of true love always
ran smooth A mischievous knight whs
pered to King Malcolm that his beautiful
Young queen was holding secret meetings
with a lover in the glen which Mr.. Carne-
gle has now bought and given to the peo-
pie of Dunfermline for a mark. The
husband watched and saw that she went
there every day. slipping quietly away
from the court. and her movements were
certainly suspicious. So he followed her
one day as she slipped unattended silently
through the underbrush of the ravfne and
entered a cave, where a few minutes
later he saw her kneeling before a cruel
fix upon a little altar she had erected
with her own hands and heard her pray
ing for the salvation of his soul and the
peace and prosperity Of his kingdom. So
he built her the biggest church in SCOT
land.
Queen Margarets cave was afterward
fitted up as a shrine and may be visited
today under the shadow of the great oaks
where she used to sit beside her royal
husband, upon a fallen trunk, and read
him the gospels from Bible. which was
found few years ago and identified be
cause of certain missing pages which
have been priced for centuries and fire.
ouently described. The original may now
be seen in the Bodlean Library in Ok
ford.
Origin Of "The Grace Cup"
Queen Margaret was canonized by Pope
Innocent " In the year 1245. because OF
her piety. her good works and the influ-
ence she exerted to harmonic the service
and observances of the old Celtic Church
with those Of the Church Of Rome. She
rectified the date for the commencement
of Lent and other anniversaries in the
English calendar. and introduced the
Easter celebrations into England and
Scotland She revised the marriage laws
to conform with those of Rome, and Sc
cured the recognition of the pope's pro-
hibited DEGREES. She originated the Gus
tom of returning thanks after meals; and.
although the mobiles who dined at the
act of worship, she induced them to re-
main by offering cups of the choicest
wine at the conclusion of the chaplain's
prayer. And that was the origin of 1.-THE
grace cup after meals She organized
many charities, and a royal needlework
society was in practical operation under
her patronage in Dunfermlne eight CEN
turtles ago. She induced the mobiles and
the ladies of the court who had been in
different to religion to accept conflrma-
ton and converted the pagan mobiles to
Christianity. She made religion a reality
in Scotland and her life was a living SER
mon of faith and works. She built
churches wherever they were needed and
founded quite as many monasteries as had
already been founded by ST. COLUMBIA.
She probably did more than any other
person to promote civilization and Chris
tianity in Scotland.
A Queen as Well as a Saint.
At the same time Queen Margaret was
equally Jealous in promoting the power
and influence of her husband, the king.
and the splendor of his court. She de-
veloped civilization that had never been
known before. She was eXacting as to the
etiquette and conduct of the mobiles and
the ladies in waiting. She increased
the number of attendants upon the
person of the king. She brought from
the continent decorations. furniture and
other appurtenances of royalty; she in