Bellingham Middle School visit St Aidan's Thorneyburn

Thursday 8th November 2012

Year 6 from Bellingham Middle School
come upon King Oswin giving St Aidan a horse  --  before Aidan gave it away to a beggar.  

St Aidan              and the beggar

The king's groom prepares the horse

After hearing of St Aidan's kindness
Year 6 enter the church of
St Aidan at Thorneyburn

and explore the churchyard

finding local surnames on the
memorial stones

Back to school

     In case you wonder, this is an important example of the generosity of  Aidan whose reaction to an earlier missionary's complaints that the Northumbrians were unresponsive to the Gospel was "You must be gentle, brother".  When Aidan came to Northumberland, he showed them the love of Jesus in practical ways.  King Oswin was offended that Aidan gave away his gift; but Aidan commented that the horse was not as precious as the beggar who was "a child of God".
     In a poetic bit of improvisation, our Greenhaugh School beggar said "Have you got anything you could give me" and our young Aidan replied "Yes, of course: you can have my horse!"