page_title: Rùm
section_title: Early Christian period
hierarchical_section_title: Rùm / History / Early Christian period
caption_attribution_description: English: Stone at Bagh na h-Uamha inscribed with Cross. The stone was discovered on the beach head in 1977. It is believed to date from the 5th Century and is probably of Viking origin.
context_page_description: Rùm, a Scottish Gaelic name often anglicised to Rum, is one of the Small Isles of the Inner Hebrides, in the district of Lochaber, Scotland. For much of the 20th century the name became Rhum, a spelling invented by the former owner, Sir George Bullough, because he did not relish the idea of having the title "Laird of Rum".
  It is the largest of the Small Isles, and the 15th largest Scottish island, but is inhabited by only about thirty or so people, all of whom live in the hamlet of Kinloch on the east coast. The island has been inhabited since the 8th millennium BC and provides some of the earliest known evidence of human occupation in Scotland. The early Celtic and Norse settlers left only a few written accounts and artefacts. From the 12th to 13th centuries on, the island was held by various clans including the MacLeans of Coll. The population grew to over 400 by the late 18th century but was cleared of its indigenous population between 1826 and 1828. The island then became a sporting estate, the exotic Kinloch Castle being constructed by the Bulloughs in 1900. Rùm was purchased by the Nature Conservancy Council in 1957.
context_section_description: In the 6th and seventh century, Irish missionary activity led by Columba established a Christian presence in the region. Beccan of Rùm (previously a monk at Iona) may have lived on the island (at Papadil), for four decades from 632 AD, his death being recorded in the Annals of Ulster in 677. He is known to have been conservative on doctrinal matters and surviving examples of his poetry suggest a passionate personality. He wrote of Columba:
  In scores of curraghs with an army of wretches he crossed the long-haired sea.
  He crossed the wave-strewn wild region,
  Foam flecked, seal-filled, savage, bounding, seething, white-tipped, pleasing, doleful. 
  Simple stone pillars, over 4.5 feet tall, have been found at Kilmory and Bagh na h-Uamha ('bay of the cave'), and may date from this period. The latter pillar in particular is inscribed with a slim cross having strong similarities to a motif in the late 6th century Cathach of St. Columba. The other pillar – at Kilmory – is slimmer (being 9" wide, rather than 1'4"), but is inscribed with a more elaborate design, resembling a globus cruciger sat in a chalice; on the back is a simple Latin Cross.
caption: The inscribed pillar near Bagh na h-Uamha
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