Saint Blane

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Saint Blane
Born	unknown, Bute
Died	590
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Feast	10 August
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Saint Blane (Old Irish Bláán) was a Bishop and Confessor in Scotland, born on the island of Bute, date unknown; died 590. His feast is kept on 10 August. He was a nephew of St. Cathan, and was educated in Ireland under Sts. Comgall and Kenneth; he became a monk, went to Scotland, and eventually was bishop among the Picts. Several miracles are related of him, among them the restoration of a dead boy to life.

The Aberdeen Breviary gives these and other details of the saint's life, which are rejected however, by the Bollandists. There can be no doubt that devotion to St. Blane was, from early times, popular in Scotland. His monastery became the site of the Cathedral of Dunblane. There was a church of St. Blane in Dumfries and another at Kilblane. His name is recorded on the Scottish landscape at Strathblane in the central lowlands from Loch Lomond to Dunblane. The year of the saint's death is variously given as 446, 590, and 1000: 446 (Alban Butler, Lives of the Saints) is evidently incorrect; the date 1000, found in Adam King, Kalendar of Scottish Saints (Paris, 1588), in Dempster, Menologium Scotorum (Bonn, 1622), and in the "Acta SS.", seems to have crept in by confusing St. Kenneth, whose disciple Blane was, with Kenneth the King of Scotland about 1000. The highest authorities say the saint died 590. The ruins of his church at Kingarth, Bute, where his remains were buried, are still standing and form an object of great interest to antiquarians; the bell of his monastery is preserved at Dunblane.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.

[edit] Spelling

The Scottish spelling is Blane, the Irish spelling is Blaine, sometimes spelt Blain.

[edit] People

• Sir Gilbert Blane British, found a preventative for scurvy. Seamen were given lime juice as a preventative for scurvy and this gave them the nickname of "Limejuicers".
• Sally Blane American actress
• David Blaine