Martin, who died in 397. Bede () Bede says that Ninian (whose name he only renders in the ablative case Nynia) was a Briton who had been instructed in Rome; that he made his church of stone, which was unusual among the Britons; that his episcopal see was named after Saint Martin of Tours; that he preached to and converted the southern Picts; that his base was in a place called "Ad Candidam Casam", which was in the province of the Bernicians; and that he was buried there, along with many other saints. Aelred () Leaving aside the stories regarding miracles, in the Vita Sancti Niniani Aelred includes the following incidental information regarding Saint Ninian: that his father was a Christian king; that he was consecrated a bishop in Rome and that he met Saint Martin in Tours; that Saint Martin sent masons with him on his homeward journey, at his request; that these masons built a church of stone, situated on the shore, and that on learning of Saint Martin's death, Ninian dedicated the church to him; that a certain rich and powerful "King Tuduvallus" was converted by him; that he died after having converted the Picts and returned home, being buried in a stone sarcophagus near the altar of his church; and that he had once travelled with his brother, named "Plebia". Aelred said that in addition to finding information about Ninian in Bede, he took much additional information for his Life of S. Ninian from a source written in a "barbarous language"; there is no further information about this text. Aelred wrote his Life of S. Ninian sometime after spending ten years at the Scottish court and thus had close connections both to the Scottish royal family and to Fergus of Galloway (who would resurrect the Bishopric of Galloway), all of whom would have been pleased to have a manuscript with such a glowing description of a Galwegian and Scottish saint. His work is what Thomas Heffernan refers to as a "sacred biography", probably intended for a politically ambitious audience. Ussher (1639) Ussher wrote that Ninian left Candida Casa for Cluayn-coner in Ireland, and eventually died in Ireland; that his mother was a Spanish princess; that his father wished to regain him after having assented to his training for an ecclesiastical state; that a bell comes from heaven to call together his disciples; that a wooden church