Now  it  came  to  pass  whilst  Finnian  was  at  Noendrura,
under  the  care  of  St.  Mochae,  that  "  ships  "  came  from  Britain
into  Strangford  Lough,  and  cast  anchor  in  front  of  the  island.
On  board  these  vessels  was  a  certain  bishop  called  ITennio,
who,  with  several  of  his  disciples,  had  come  from  the  famous
monastery  called  Candida  Casa,  on  the  opposite  shores  of
Galloway,  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  religious  family  of  Noendrum.
We  know  from  the  lives  of  our  early  saints  that  this  was  no
imusual  occurrence.  In  those  early  days  religious  men  were
inspired  with  a  spirit  of  spiritual  enterprise,  and  several  of
them  made  it  a  point  to  visit  the  most  renowned  saints  both
in  Ireland  and  Britain,  in  order  to  benefit  by  their  instruction
and  example.
As  we  have  seen,  Candida  Casa,  or  the  "White  House,
was  a  stone  church  built  on  the  extremity  of  a  promontory
in  Galloway,  about  the  year  a.d.  397,  by  the  great  St.  Ninian,
the  first  apostle  of  the  Northern  Britons,  at  least  after
the  departure  of  the  Romans.  It  is  true  Christianity  had
been  previously  known  in  the  district,  for  St.  Patrick  himself
was  in  all  probability  a  native  of  the  valley  of  the  Clyde,
and  was   a   captive   in   Ireland   about   the   very    time  that


ST.  FINNIAN  OF  MOVILLB.  247

St.  Ninian  first  came  to  Galloway.  But  after  the  with-
drawal of  the  Boman  troops  from  the  northern  province  the
district  was  overrun  by  the  Picts  and  Soots,  so  that  the
remnants  of  the  faithful  were  almost  all  driven  out  from  the
Lowlands  of  Scotland.
