The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-06-10
ST, MARGARET
 OF SCOTLAND

This is the festival day of St. Mar garet of Scotland, when Scot1a's sons and daughters honor the memory OF the revered queen who is said to nave been the most virtuous and plous Wo- man who ever sat upon throne Al though Margaret lived in the eleVenln e-a century, anecdotes regarding her are still treasured and told in the land or heather Her life story, as set forth by her confessor Turgot and others seems to afford sufficient reason Tor her subsequent canonization-
 She was the daughter of Prince Ed-' ward, who with his brother Edmund, was sent to the court of the King or Sweden by Canute, who gave orders that the princes be put to death Ihe Swedish monarch refused compliance with these instructions, and placed fhe royal youths under the care of King Solomon, of Hungary, by whom they were educated. Arrived at manhoods estate, Prince Edward married Aga tha, a German princess, by whom ne became the father of Margaret, Edgar Atheling and Christina The son at tempted to reclaim the English crown from William the Conqueror, but he was defeated, and, with his sister Margaret, had to fly from the king dom. They were shipwrecked on the coast of Scotland, and became the guests of King Malcolm Canmore, the
 
 a victim to the charms of the fair Margaret, and in the year 1070 they were married at the castle of Dun-f fermline.
 Margaret who was "A at the time of her marriage, speedily became a pop u1ar favorite, and the people applaud ed the good taste of their ruler. Queen Margaret was the mother of three kings of Scotland. for three of her, six sons, Edgar, Alexander and David, ascended the throne successively. She also had three daughters, the elder, Maud, becoming the bride of King Henry I. of England.
 Early in her career as a queen, Mar garet gained wide fame by her un- bounded generosity. Whenever she walked out she was besieged by crowds of distressed persons to who such prodigality that the king was fearful of becoming bankrupt To the Englishmen taken prisoners by Mall coIrn on his. cursions into the neigh boring country, Queen Margaret was an angel of mercy, and in many cases she secretly paid their ransoms out of her own funds
 She built churches, monasteries and hospitals all over Scotland. One of the anecdotes about Queen Margaret which appeals strongly to Scotchmen is that which relates to her practice
 
 feet of the poor Each morning she prepared a breakfast for nine little orphansi whom she fed herself, and each evening she manifested her Christian humility by washing the feet of six poor persons, afterwards entertaining a number of mendicants at dinner.
 In spite of these daily acts of hu- mility, Queen Margaret did not eschew the pleasures and glories incident to her position. On state occasions she was, clad in apparel of splendor and magnifcance heretofore unknown in Scotland, and at the royal table her meals were served on gold plate. Dur ing Lent she put aside her rich robes and wore simple, coarse garments, and ate but one scanty meal a day. Margaret's last days were cIouded by illness and grief. Her husband and her eldest son were slain on an expe- dition into England. Soon after re- ceiving the dread tidings she died, at the age of AT. Her canonization as a saint of the Catholic church took place in 1251, and her festival was celebrat- ed annually on the anniversary of her death. November Is, until the end of the seventeenth century, when Pope Innocent XII. ordered that it hence forth be observed the tenth of June. The head of St. Margaret is preserved by the Scot Jesuits, while the remainder of the body is in a chapel in Spain.