re ap. Wharton_, tom. i. p. 766.

[205] Godwin Cat. of Bish. 525.

[206] _Chambre ap. Wharton_, tom. i. p. 766.

[207] It is marked A, ii. 16, and described in the old MS. catalogue
as _De manus Bedae_, ii. fol. _Baptizatus_.

[208] The attractive words "_Est vetus Liber_" often occur.

[209] From a volume of Thomas Aquinas, the following is transcribed:
"Lib. Sti. Cuthberti de Dunelm, ex procuratione fratis Roberti de
Graystane quem qui aliena verit maledictionem Sanctorum Mariae,
Oswaldi, Cuthberti et Benedicti incurrat." See _Surtee
publications_, vol. i. p. 35, where other instances are given.

[210] Surtee publ. vol. i. p. 85.

[211] He wrote The Chronicle of Durham Monastery in 1130.

[212] His book on the Rights and Privileges of Durham Church is in
the Cottonian Library, marked _Vitellius_, A, 9.

[213] Lawrence was elected prior in 1149, "a man of singular
prudence and learning, as the many books he writ manifest."
_Dugdale's Monast._ vol. 1. p. 230.

[214] Wrote the Life and Miracles of St. Cuthbert, the original book
is in the Durham Library.

CHAPTER VI.

_Croyland Monastery.--Its Library increased by
Egebric.--Destroyed by Fire.--Peterborough.--Destroyed by the
Danes.--Benedict and his books.--Anecdotes of
Collectors.--Catalogue of the Library of the Abbey of
Peterborough.--Leicester Library, etc._

The low marshy fens of Lincolnshire are particularly rich in monastic
remains; but none prove so attractive to the antiquary as the ruins of
the splendid abbey of Croyland. The pen of Ingulphus has made the affairs
of that old monastery familiar to us; he has told us of its prospering
and its misfortunes, and we may learn moreover from the pages of the monk
how many wise and virtuous men, of Saxon and Norman days, were connected
with this ancient fabric, receiving education there, or devoting their
lives to piety within its walls. It was here that Guthlac, a Saxon
warrior, disgusted with the world, sought solitude and repose; and for
ten long years he led a hermit's life in that damp and marshy fen; in
prayer and fasting, working miracles, and leading hearts to God, he spent
his lonely days, all which was rewarded by a happy and peaceful death,
and a sanctifying of his corporeal remains--for many wondrous miracles
were wrought by those holy relics.

Croyland abbey was founded on the site of Guthlac's hermitage