The legend and shrine of Saint Triduana.

A familiar feature in the eye hospitals of the Mediterranean littoral is the statue or picture of St. Lucia of Syracuse, holding her eyes on a plate. This stylized portrayal dating back to the 12th century is based on the legend that " when pestered by a would-be suitor she performed an auto-evulsion of her eyes and sent them to him "-a literal translation into action of St. Matthew, chapter 18, verse 9. It might be added that while this legend is not given in the catholic encyclopaedia, and at least one student of St. Lucia's iconography regards it as a later accretion due to confusion with the Beata Lucia Casta of Jerez, it appears to be this story which has made her the patron saint of ophthalmology in that part of the world. It is interesting that the same legend, thoifgh very much less widely known, is recorded of a Scottish saint, and that there is evidence that her shrine still exists near Edinburgh. The literature of the legend is extremely exiguous, the sources of my information being Baring Gould (1872-89), Burnett (1908), and the present incumbent, the Rev. Robert Black Notman, B.D. According to the breviary of Aberdeen, the blessed and gracious virgin, Saint Triduan, was born at Colosse and landed in Scotland from Constantinople in the company of Saint Regulus or Rule about A.D. 337. These saints brought with them the relics of Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, an event for ever commemorated by St. Andrews on the coast of Fife. Subsequently (whilst living an eremitic life with other virgins at Rescoby in Forfarshire), as she was of illustrious birth, of an elegant form, and by nature of a pre-eminently virtuous disposition, Saint Triduan attracted the attentions of the local prince, Nectaneus or Nectan, who desired to marry her. She questioned the messenger sent to her by the Prince, and hearing that he was chiefly attracted by the transcendent beauty of her eyes, she replied, " What he asks of me he shall obtain "; and retiring into a secret place she plucked out her eyes, transfixed them on a wooden pin, and held them out to the messenger, saying, " Accept what your prince desires ". Thereafter she made her abode at Lestalryk, i.e. Restalrig in Lothian, some 2 miles from Edinburgh, where she devoted the rest of her life to fasting and prayer.