Cuddy

BY THE SAME AUTHOR FICTION The Perfect Golden Circle Male Tears The Offing These Darkening Days The Gallows Pole Turning Blue Beastings Pig Iron Richard NON-FICTION Under the Rock POETRY Heathcliff Adrift For David Atkinson and Anna Barker. And Cliff, canine co-pilot. Contents Cover Half-title Page By the Same Author Dedication Page Title Page Contents Introduction Prologue Inner Farne. ad 687. Book I: Saint Cuddy Dunholme. AD 995. Book II: The Mason’s Mark Duresme. AD 1346. Interlude: The Stone Speaks The nave. AD 1650. Book III: The Corpse in The Cathedral Dunelm. AD 1827. Book IV: Daft Lad Durham. AD 2019. Sources Notes & Acknowledgements A Note on the Author Copyright Page Introduction Prologue Inner Farne. AD 687. Book I: Saint Cuddy Dunholme. AD 995. Book II: The Mason’s Mark Duresme. AD 1346. Interlude: The Stone Speaks The nave. AD 1650. Book III: The Corpse in The Cathedral Dunelm. AD 1827. Book IV: Daft Lad Durham. AD 2019. Sources Notes & Acknowledgements A Note on the Author i ii v iii vii viii ix x 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 155 156 157 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 185 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 269 270 271 272 273 Introduction Cuthbert was born circa 634 in Dunbar in the Kingdom of Northumbria (now in Scotland). After experiencing a vision while working as a shepherd he entered the monastery in Melrose aged seventeen and became prior there in 661. He soon became widely known for his humble character, piety, love of the Prologue Inner Farne. AD 687. March 20th. A Sunday. A rheumy slit glued shut. My eye. A gate against eternity. I open it. All is as was; stone, sea and sky pouring in. The other stays locked lest the eternal world be rent asunder, torn in two, split down the middle like