Saint Baldred of Tyninghame

Balthere of Tyninghame (later Baldred) was a Northumbrian hermit and abbot, resident in East Lothian during the 8th century. According to Hovendeus the date of Baldred's death is given as 756. Symeon of Durham says "the twentieth year of King Eadberht of Northumbria" and Turgot of Durham "the seventeenth year of the episcopate of Cynulf", that is 756. As his feast is given as 6 March, by the modern calendar, this would be 6 March 757. Although the 8th-century date is now generally accepted, due to a passage in the 16th-century Aberdeen Breviary, he has, in the past, often been associated with the 6th-century saint, Kentigern. Baldred is commonly referred to as "the Apostle of the Lothians" and Simeon of Durham says that "the boundaries of his pastorate embraced the whole land which belongs to the monastery of Saint Balther, which is called Tyninghame - from Lammermuir to Inveresk, or, as it was called, Eskmouthe." His cult was certainly centred on the four churches of Auldhame, Whitekirk, Tyninghame and Prestonkirk, between East Linton and North Berwick in East Lothian. Baldred is believed to have founded a monastery at Tyninghame. However, at times, he preferred to retire from the spiritual government of the Lothian Britons and he selected the Bass Rock as the spot to build himself a small hermitage and associated chapel, although he also sometimes resided in 'St Baldred's Cave' on Seacliff Beach. Baldred is said to have lived in the diocese of Lindisfarne, and was therefore a Northumbrian, a not improbable association since, at that time, the Lothians were a part of the kingdom of Northumbria. However, most sources assert an Irish connection. He was probably born in Ireland before joining the Northumbrian mission. Hector Boece says he exercised his office in a district which then formed a part of Pictland.