Editing Ninian (section)

==Background==
The Southern Picts, for whom Ninian is held to be the apostle, were the Picts south of the mountains known as the [[Mounth]], which cross Scotland north of the Firths of [[Firth of Clyde|Clyde]] and [[Firth of Forth|Forth]]. That they had once been Christian is known from a 5th-century mention of them by [[Saint Patrick]] in his ''Letter to Coroticus'', where he refers to them as '[[Apostasy|apostate]] Picts'.<ref>{{Citation
|last=Todd
|first=James Henthorn
|author-link=James Henthorn Todd
|year=1864
|contribution=The Epistle on Coroticus
|contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=um44AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA384
|title=St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland
|publisher=Hodges, Smith, & Co.
|location=Dublin
|page=384
}}</ref> Patrick could not have been referring to the Northern Picts who were converted by [[Columba|Saint Columba]] in the 6th century because they were not yet Christian, and thus could not be called 'apostate'. Northumbria had established a bishopric among the Southern Picts at [[Abercorn]] in 681, under [[Trumwine of Abercorn|Bishop Trumwine]]. This effort was abandoned shortly after the Picts defeated the Northumbrians at the [[Battle of Dun Nechtain]] in 685.

Christianity had flourished in Galloway in the 6th century.<ref>{{Citation
|last=Maxwell
|first=Herbert Eustace
|year=1887
|title=Studies in the Topography of Galloway
|publisher=David Douglas
|publication-date=1887
|location=Edinburgh
|page=21
|url=https://archive.org/details/studiesintopogra00maxwiala
}} – Excavations at the predecessor building of [[Whithorn Priory]], and at [[Saint Ninian's Cave]], had discovered [[Celtic cross]]es from this period. [[Old English language|Old English]] [[rune]]s found on them are later additions.</ref> By the time of [[Bede]]'s account in 731, the Northumbrians had enjoyed an unbroken relationship with Galloway for a century or longer, beginning with the Northumbrian predecessor state of [[Bernicia]]. The full nature of the relationship is uncertain. Also at this time, Northumbria was establishing bishoprics in its sphere of influence, to be subordinate to the Northumbrian [[Archbishop of York]]. One such bishopric was established at [[Whithorn]] in 731, and Bede's account serves to support the legitimacy of the new Northumbrian bishopric. The Bernician name ''hwit ærn'' is [[Old English language|Old English]] for the [[Latin]] ''candida casa'', or 'white house' in modern English, and it has survived as the modern name of Whithorn.

There is as yet no unchallenged connection of the historical record to the person who was Bede's Ninian. However, the unlikelihood that the reputable historian Bede invented Ninian without some basis in the historical record, combined with an increased knowledge of Ireland's early saints and Whithorn's early Christian connections, has led to serious scholarly efforts to find Bede's basis. [[James Henthorn Todd]], in his 1855 publication of the ''Leabhar Imuinn'' (The Book of Hymns of the Ancient Church of Ireland), suggested that it was [[Finnian of Moville]],<ref>{{Citation
|year=1855
|editor-last=Todd
|editor-first=James Henthorn
|editor-link=James Henthorn Todd
|contribution=Note B: St. Finnian of Maghbile
|contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m0EEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA98
|title=Leabhar Imuinn (The Book of Hymns of the Ancient Church of Ireland)
|publisher=The Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society
|publication-date=1855
|location=Dublin
|pages=98–108
}}</ref> and that view has gained traction among modern scholars.<ref>{{citation | last = Yorke | first = Barbara | author-link = Barbara Yorke | title = The Conversion of Britain: Religion, Politics and Society in Britain, 600–800 | place = Harlow | publisher = Pearson Education Limited | year = 2007 | series = Religion, Politics and Society in Britain (ed. Keith Robbins) |page=113 |isbn = 978-0-582-77292-2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10881305/Not-a-saint-but-a-spelling-mistake.html|title=Not a saint but a spelling mistake|author=Christopher Howse|work=[[Daily Telegraph]]|date=6 June 2014|access-date=9 June 2014}}</ref>