THIS story is connected with the
visit of St. Columba to St. Mungo. Some of the followers of the western
saint are stated to have laid hold of a fat wether belonging to the
Glasgow bishop’s flock, which they coveted and resolved to make their own.
The shepherd adjured them to desist, but they paid no heed to his appeals,
although he added that if they asked his master, he had no doubt that he
would bestow it on them. As the faithful shepherd continued to resist the
theft, he was knocked down, and one of the marauders, seizing the ram by
the horn, cut off its head, which, it is said, instantly petrified, and
stuck to his hand beyond the power of man to remove.
In this fix he was forced to go and make confession of
his sin to St. Mungo, from whom he not only obtained absolution and
relief, but even a gift of the coveted ram. The scene of this marvel was
afterwards known as the lands of Ramshorn, and on them St. David’s or the
Ramshorn Church now stands.
