There is as yet no unchallenged connection of the historical record to the person who was Bede's Ninian. However, the unlikelihood that the reputable historian Bede invented Ninian without some basis in the historical record, combined with an increased knowledge of Ireland's early saints and Whithorn's early Christian connections, has led to serious scholarly efforts to find Bede's basis. James Henthorn Todd, in his 1855 publication of the "Leabhar Imuinn" (The Book of Hymns of the Ancient Church of Ireland), suggested that it was Finnian of Moville, and that view has gained traction among modern scholars.