m

pis,'

'

tectbhdR bReadiNctch QNNSO sis.

THE IRISH YERSION

OF THE

HISTORIA BRITONUM OF NENNIUS.

EDITED, WITH A TRANSLATION AND NOTES,

BY JAMES HENTHORN TODD, D.D., M. R. I. A.,

KKU.OW OK TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN, ETC.

THE INTKODl'CTION AND ADDITIONAL NOTES

BY THE HON. ALGERNON HERBERT.

DUBLIN: PRINTED FOR THE IRISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

MDCCCXLVIII.

EDITOR'S PREFACE.

Text of the following work is taken principally from a collation of three MSS., which are referred to in the Notes by the letters D., B., and L.

1. The first of these, denoted by D., is a miscella- neous volume, containing various tracts and frag- ments of the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries ; it was formerly in the possession of the celebrated anti- quaries, Duald Mac Firbis and Edward Lhwyd, whose autographs it possesses ; and it is now preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, Class H., Tab. 3. No. 17.

The volume contains a copy of the celebrated code of Brehon Laws called the Seanchus Mor", with a copious gloss of great value. This is followed by several other tracts and fragments of tracts on Brehon Law, of difl'erent dates, and by various scribes, some of whom have given their names.

After

a For an account of the Seanchus Mor, nity College, see Dr. Petrie's Essay on with several extracts from this very MS. Tarallill, in the Transactions of the lioyal of it, and from another copy also in Tri- Irish Academy, vol. xviii. pp. 71-80.

IRISH AECH. SOC. l6. b

VI

After the Law Tracts follow several miscellaneous pieces on his- torical and religious subjects, short anecdotes of Irish saints, poems, and historical romantic tales. Of these the most curious are : i . The tract called Seancrmp na jielec, or the History of the Cemeteries, containing an account of the most celebrated burial-places of the Pagan Irish ; 2. The History of the plebeian Tribes called Aitheach Tuatha, who were subjugated by King Tuathal Teach tmar, in the second century of the Christian era ; 3. A List of the ancient Tales or historical Eomances which were wont to be recited by the Bards at Entertainments, in presence of Kings and Chieftains ; 4. A List of the celebrated Women of Antiquity ; with many other tales, tracts, genealogies, and poems, of the greatest value for the illustration of Irish history, language, and topography.

The copy of the Leabhar Breathnach, or British Book, contained in this MS., occurs in p. 8o6b, and was probably written in the four- teenth, or early part of the fifteenth century.

This is the copy of the Irish version of the Britannia of Nennius, which has been made the basis of the text of the following work, and is denoted by D. in the notes. Its errors, however, have been corrected, as far as the Editor was able to correct them, by collation with the other MSS. to which he had access ; and such interpola- tions as occurred in the other MSS., when judged of any value, have been inserted in their proper places. All these deviations from the text of D. have been mentioned in the notes.

2. The second MS. (denoted by B.) is the copy of the Irish Nen- nius, which is contained in the Book of Ballymote, in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, written in the fourteenth century.

The

'-' Or rather column 806. The MS. is paged by Edward Lhwyd, each column, written some parts of it in double columns wherever columns occurred, being count- and some parts not : the whole has been ed for a page.

Vll

The order of the sections in this MS. differs considerably from that of D., and it also contains several interpolations. The Editor has numbered the sections in the printed text of the work, in order to enable him with greater facility to refer to them.

The order of the copy in the Book of Ballymote is as follows : It begins with the section Ego Nennius, marked sect. i. p. 25, infra. Then follows the chapter " On the Origin of the Cruithnians," which has been given in the Additional Notes, No. XX., p. xci. After which follow sections IL, in., and iv., as in the printed text.

After section iv. this MS. interpolates the prose account, sections xxvn. and xxvni , followed by the poem on the Origin and History of the Picts or Cruithnians, which has been published section xxx. p. 1 26, infra.

Then follow sections v. to xiv., inclusive, in the same order as in the text ; but after section xiv. is interpolated the Legend of St. Cairnech, which will be found in the Appendix, No. I., p. 178.

After this we have the history of the Saxon conquest, sect. xv. ; the miracles of St. German, sects, xvi., xvn. ; and the story of Ambrose Merlin and the Druids, sects, xvni., xix.; followed by the history of the wars of Gortimer (or Gortighern, as he is called in this copy), sects, xx. to xxiv., inclusive, in the same order as in the text.

At the end of this last section recording the battles of Arthur, and briefly noticing the conversion of the Saxons to Christianity, the copy of this work in the Book of Ballymote ends : and its comple- tion is notified by the words pmic Do'n bpeacnocop, which are literally "Finit to the Breathnochas," where the scribe evidently wrote Finit for Finis. It appears also from this note that the title then given to this book was " The Breathnochas," which would be equivalent to Britanismus, if we may be permitted to coin such a word.

^ 2 3. The

Vlll

3. The next authority which has been employed in the formation of the text is the copy of this work in the Book of Lecan, a MS. written in the year 1417°. To this copy is prefixed, but in a more recent hand, the title Leabctp bpearnach annpo pip, which has been adopted in the title page of the present volume, and which expresses what the Irish understood by the Latin titles, " Eulogiiun Britannia:," and " Historia Britonum."

This copy, which is denoted byL. in the notes, begins with sect, ii., Britannia insula, &c., p. 27, infra, omitting the list of British cities. Then follows the chapter on the origin of the Picts, which will be found in the Additional Notes, No. XX. p. xciii. Section in. is omitted altogether, and then follow sects, iv. to vin., inclusive. Sections ix. and x. are omitted in this place. Then comes the account of the adventures of the Gacdhil, sects, xi. to xv., inclusive'1, followed by another copy of the history of Roman and Saxon Britain, sects, v., vi., vii., vin., which is headed, Oo peancnp fojieacan anopo booeapca, " Of the history of Britain, here follows ;" but the title prefixed to sect, vin., in the former copy of this chapter, is omitted here.

Then follow sects, ix., x., with the title Oo galktlmb Gpenri amail moipeap Nerniup [sic] annpo, as in the text, p. 42. After which comes another copy of the history of the adventures of the Gaedhil, sects, xi.-xiv., with the title Oo imcheachccnb ^aeioeal anopo boof) ca ; but a portion of sect. xtv. is wanting after the words cujjpacnji leo lapoain raipechou, p. 72, line 9.

About

"• This date may be collected from the in section x., differs considerably in this

MS. itself. See also Mr. O'Donovan's note copy from that given above, p. 50. See

to the Annals of the Four Masters, at the Additional Notes, No. XX., p. xciv., where

year 1417. the more important variations are uo-

d The account of the sons of Cruithne, ticed.

IX

About ten leaves are here wanting in the Book of Lecan, which is now preserved in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, al- though it originally belonged to Trinity College6, where nine of the missing leaves were discovered by Mr. Curry, bound up with other MSS., (Class H. Tab. 2. No. 17). One leaf, however, which contained the continuation of sect. xvi. is lost, and the next page begins with the words ip in lo.ngeap pin cainig a ingean co h-Gngipc, p. 84, 1. 1 6, to the end of sect. xvn.

Then follows the account of Dun Ambrose and of the contest of Ambrose Merlin with the Druids, sects, xvm. xix.; then the Avars of Gortimer or Gortighern, sect. xx. to xxn., with the short account of St. Patrick, sect, xxin., and the remainder of the history of the Saxons from the death of Gortighern (sect, xxiv.) to their conver- sion to Christianity.

This was also regarded by the scribe who copied the Book of Lecan as the conclusion of the work, for he has written the word pinic at the end of sect. xxiv. But there follow immediately the tracts on the wonders of Britain, sect, xxv., and on the wonders of the isle of Man, sect. xxvi.

After this begins what seems to have been intended as a new edi- tion of the workf. It commences with the chapter Ego Nennim, sect, i., followed by the chapter on the origin of the Picts, which has been given in the Additional Notes, No. XX., p. xcv.

Then

" The Book of Lecan is entered among cey, and by him deposited in the Library of

the MSS. of Trinity College in the Cata- the Royal Irish Academy. See O'lJeilly,

logus Manuscriptorum Anglia; et Ilibcr- Trans. Iberno-Celtic Society, p. cxvii. ;

nise, published at Oxford, 1697 (No. 117, Mac Geoghegan, Hist. d'Irlande, torn. i.

p. 22), and still bears the Library marks, p. 39.

D. 19. It was carried off in the reign of f This new edition appears, from its con- James II. to Paris, but was restored to tents, to have had special reference to Piet- Ireland at the instance of General Vallan- ish history.

Then follows "Britannia imula" &c., sect.ii., with the list of cities, and sections in. iv., as far as the words TTVC lapech, p. 32, line 1 1.

Next we have the account of the origin of the Picts (sects, xxvu. to xxix., inclusive), with the title Oo Chpnichnechaib anop eo, Do ]iei]i na n-eolachK. Section xxix., containing the account of the man- ner in which the Picts, after their settlement in North Britain, ob- tained their women from the Milesians of Ireland, is peculiar to the Book of Lecan.

Then follows the poetical account of the Picts, sect, xxx., want- ing, however, the last two stanzas.

With this poem the second copy of the Irish Nennius in the Book of Lecan concludes.

4. A fragment of this Avork is also to be found in the remains of the Leabhar na h-U idhri, preserved in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy. It begins on the first page of the second leaf now remain- ing in that MS., with the words ace ceana ol pe, £c., p. 94, line 15, and concludes at the end of sect, xxiv., which in this MS. was also the termination of the work. This fragment is referred to in the notes, pp. 95-1 13, by the letter U. The Leabhar na h-Uidhri is a MS. of the twelfth century.

5. Another copy of the Leabhar Breathnach is to be found in the Book of lly-Many, or the Book of the O'Kellys, as it is called by O'Ecilly, a MS. of the early part of the fifteenth century, transcribed by Faclau Mac an Gabhan, whose death is recorded by the Four Masters at the year 1423. This MS. is not now accessible to Irish scholars in Dublin, and it has not been possible to consult it for the present work, although it is believed to be in existence in the pos- session of a private collector in England. In O'Reilly's time it be- longed to Sir William Bethain.

We

s See p. 1 20, note c.

XI

We learn from O'Reilly11, that at the commencement of this copy of the work there is or was " a memorandum," stating " that Nennius was the author, and that Giolla Caoimhghin translated it into Scotic."

Giolla Caoimhghin died about A. D. 1072, or shortly after, as lias been inferred from his chronological poem, beginning Qnnalaib anall uile, which brings down the series of events to that year.

If, therefore, he is to be taken as the original translator of Nen- niusS we may probably fix the middle of the eleventh century as the earliest period at which the " Ilistoria Britonum" appeared in an Irish version.

In its original form, the work, as we have seen, terminated at the end of sect. xxiv. ; and all that follows must be regarded as subse- quent interpolations, although, probably, added at the same period as the translation or edition, put forth by Giolla Caoimhghin.

The first of these additions contains the section on the Wonders of the Island of Britain, and that on the Wonders of the Isle of Man. This is also found added to some copies of the Latin of Nenniusk, with a chapter, omitted in all the Irish copies, on the Wonders of Ireland.

The tract on the history of the Picts (sects, xxvir.-xxix.), with the curious poem (sect, xxx.), now for the first time printed, is also to be regarded as an addition made to the original work. The Book of Ballymote, although it omits the Mirabilia, has preserved these sources of Pictish history, of which the prose portion was known to Pinkerton, through a very faulty transcript, and still more erro- neous

h Transactions of the Ibcrno-Celtic So- toria to an earlier author.- — See his re-

ciety, p. cxxii. marks, Introd. p. 21.

'Mr. Herbert, however, has shown k See Mr. Herbert's note '", pp. 113-

that there is some reason to attribute the 114. first attempt at a translation of the His-

Xll

neous translation, but the poem appears to have escaped his notice. Although the text is corrupt in many places, in both the MSS. that have been employed in editing it, yet it is hoped that its publication, even in the imperfect state in which we have it, will be regarded as a service of some value to the student of Scottish history.

The next interpolation or addition is an Irish version of the do- cument already known to the readers of Innes and Pinkerton, under the title of the " Chronicon Pictorum." This curious fragment occurs only in the manuscript D. ; but another copy of it has been given in the Additional Notes1, from a MS. in the Bodleian Library™ which preserves a considerable fragment of the Psalter of Cashel, and evi- dently contained formerly a copy of the Leabhar Breathnach, or Irish version of Nennius, of which the leaf containing the Pictish Chro- nicle is now the only remnant.

Next follows (sect. xxxm. p. 168), an abridged translation of the beginning of the history of the Venerable Bede. This document occurs also immediately after the Pictish Chronicle, in the Bodleian MS. It is of very little value, but as it appears to have been connected with the work, and to have been regarded as a part of it in the manuscript D , which has been principally followed, it was thought right to in- clude it in the present volume.

The Appendix contains some other documents of the same kind, not so immediately connected with the Leabhar Breathnach in any of the MSS., but tending to illustrate the history to which it relate?, and the traditions prevalent at the period when it was compiled. The first of these documents is the Legend of St. Cairnech, which,

as

1 No. XVIII. p. Ixxv. further remarks on it by Mr. O'Donovan,

m See an account of this MS., by the in his Introduction to the Book of Rights,

Editor, in the Proceedings of the Royal published by the Celtic Society, p. xxviii.

Irish Academy, vol. ii. p. 33; and some etseq.

Xlll

as we have seen, occurs only in the Book of Ballymote, having been interpolated in the copy of the Irish Nennius there preserved, imme- diately after the account of the final conquest of Britain by the Romans. It relates to the history of the sixth century, although it is evidently a compilation of a much later period.

The next document inserted in the Appendix is an account of the "Wonders of Ireland, chiefly from the Book of Ballymote. This tract is not without interest, as a curious collection of ancient fables and traditions, not very unlike the celebrated Otia imperialia of Ger- vase of Tilbury, and compiled probably about the same period. It proves, incidentally, that the stories of Irish wonders told by Giraldus Cambrensis, for which Lynch has so severely, and, as it now appears, so unjustly censured him, were not his own inventions, but copied, with some embellishments of his own, from the genuine traditions of the Irish people.

The poem of Maelmura of Fathain, on the history of the Milesian or Gadelian invasion of Ireland, is now published for the first time, and it was thought worth while to add to it the contemporaneous poem on the history of the Albanian Scots, known under the name of the " Duan Albanach," although this latter poem has already been published by Pinkerton, by Doctor O'Conor, and more recently by Mr. Skene, in the " Collectanea de Rebus Albanicis," edited by the lona Club.

Thus the present work will be found to contain three specimens of the bardic sources of British and Irish history, written, one of them in the ninth, and the others probably in the eleventh century, con- taining the traditions, as they were then currently received, of the origin of the Pictish and Milesian tribes, and the succession of the early kings of Scotland. Two of these poems are now published for the first time ; and the third is presented to the reader in, it is

IRISH AKCH. SOC. 1 6. C hoped

XIV

hoped, a very much more correct version than those which accom- panied the former publications of it.

In conclusion, the Editor has to acknowledge his very great obligations to Mr. O'Donovan and Mr. Curry, for the invaluable assistance they have afforded him throughout the following work. Without them he could not have executed it ; and to them he is indebted for the greater part of the historical and topographical information which is collected in the notes. For many valuable re- ferences to ancient Glossaries, and other MSS., containing philo- logical and historical illustrations of obscure or obsolete words and phrases, he is specially indebted to Mr. Curry.

The Editor has preserved the orthography of the original, with- out any attempt at correction, or even at uniformity ; and in the case of proper names, he has retained, even in the English transla- tion, the spelling of the Irish. This seemed necessary, in order to give the English reader a fair representation of the age to which the original belongs. Thus the Picts are called Cruithnians ; the Gaels, Gaedhil ; Ireland, Eri ; and Scotland, Alba".

The Notes marked (if.) have been contributed by Mr. Herbert. For those marked (T.) the Editor is responsible.

JAMES II. TODD.

TRINITY COLLEGE, April 8th, 1 848.

" In some few instances this rule, from inadvertence, has not been adhered to. — See, pp. 41, 43, 47, 53- 59-

CONTENTS.

Page.

INTRODUCTION 1

Liber Britannicus, 24

Of the Kings of the Romans 38

Of the Conquest of Ireland, as recorded by Nennius 42

Of the Adventures of Gaedal 52

Of the Conquest of the Saxons 74

Of the Miracles of German, 78

Of the Fortress of Ambrose [Merlin] and his Contest with the Druids, 90

Of the Warfare of Gortimer, 98

Of the Wonders of Britain, 112

Of the Wonders of Manann, 118

Of the Cruithnians, or Picts 120

Ancient historical Poem on the Origin of the Cruithnians 126

Of the Origin of the Cruithnians — the Irish Version of the Chronicon Pictorum, . .154

The History of Britain, abridged from Bede, 168

APPENDIX. No.

I. Of the Miracles of Cairnech, 178

II. Of the Wonders of Ireland, according to the Book of Glendaloch, 192

III. The Duan Eireannach ; an ancient historical Poem on the Milesian Invasion of Ire-

land, by Maelmura of Fathain, 220

IV. The Duan Albanach ; an ancient historical Poem on the History of the Kings of

Scotland 270

XVI

ADDITIONAL NOTES.

No. Page. I. Comparative View of the Names of the British Cities in the Irish and Latin

Nennius, iii

II. Etymology of the Name of Cruithnians v

III. The Isle of Man vi

IV. The first Colonization of Ireland under Partholan viii

V. The Firbolgian and Tuatha de Danann Colonies, ix

VI. The Scots, x

VII. Meaning of the Phrase " Seeds of Battle," xi

VIII. The Legend of King Lucius, xiii

IX. The Reign of Maximus xv

X. The Limits of Britanny, xvii

XI. Leatha or Letavia, xix

XII. Severus the Second xx

XIII. The Miracles of St. German, xxi

XIV. Auspication of Cities by human Sacrifices, xxiv

XV. Magh Ellite, or Campus Electi in the Region of Glewysing xxv

XVI. Gortigern, son of Guatal xxviii

XVII. The History of the Picts xxix

XVIII. Irish Documents illustrative of the legendary History of the Picts, viz. :

1. A Tract on the History of the Picts from the Book of Lecan, .... Ixv

2. The Story of the Wives given to the Picts by the Milesians of Ireland,

from the Book of Lecan, Ixxi

3. Story of the Battle of Ardleamhnacta, from the Book of Leinster, . Ixxiii

4. Irish Version of the Chronicon Pictorum, from a MS. in the Bodleian

Library, Ixxv

XIX. Macbeth, son of Finleg, Ixxviii

XX. Variations in the Section " On the Origin of the Cruithnians," as it occurs

in the Books of Ballymote and Lecan, xci

XXI. Additional Remarks on the Etymology of the Name Scoti, xev

XXII. Documents illustrative of the History of the Personages mentioned in the

Legend of St. Cairnech, ci

XXIII. Giraldus Cambrensis on the Picts and Scots, cxii

XXIV. Addenda et Corrigenda cx;v

INDEX, • . cxvii

INTRODUCTION.

)HE Irish MS. of which a translation is here given professes to be, and after a fashion is, translated from the Historia Britonum by Nennius. Little is known of that author (if not rather, editor), and, as usual, the less we know the more we are ob- liged to say; for knowledge soon tells its tale. That the Historia Britonum sometimes bears the name of Gildas, may be sufficiently accoxmted for by these circumstances: that the first genuine tractate of St. Gildas, concerning the Britons, was commonly called his Historia ; and that a fabulous history of the Britons was formerly extant under that name. But it can be further explained by the nature of that title, for name indeed it is not, but an Irish title, so liberally bestowed upon the religious and learned, that Dr. C. O'Conor said there were not less than 1000 persons adorned with it. Script. Rerum Hib. i, 198. Therefore, when AVC have shewn its original author to be closely connected with Ireland, we shall have removed any wonder at his being entitled Gildas. Its total dissimilitude to the works of St. Gildas of Ruiz is apparent; IRISH ARCH. soc. NO. 1 6. B arid

and it also differs in its contents*, and in some portion of its spirit, from that other fabulous history which is cited with admiration in Geoffrey of Monmouth by the name of Gildas. Its printed editions are by T. Gale, Oxon, 1691; by C. Bertram, jointly with St. Gildas, and a production given by him to the world under the name of Ri- cardus Corinaeus, Copenhagen, 1757, in the title, and 1758 in the colophon; by the same, with 1758 in the title, and without colophon, which edition I have never seen; by W. Gunn, B. D., London, 1819; and by Jos. Stevenson, London, 1838.

The Historia Britomnnb had two or more publishers in succession. That is to say, transcribers of it made more or less of change and addition ; and sometimes took no pains to inform the world that they were mere transcribers, and not the authors. The edition rendered into Irish is that by Nennius, styling himself a disciple of St. Elbod or Elbodug, and styling the priest Beulan his master. Some copies have a long Prologus, which declares that he published his work "in A. D. 858, being the twenty-fourth year of Mervyn, King of the Britons." Mervyn Vrych or the Speckled, King of Man in his own right, and of Wales in that of Essyllt his queen, reigned over the latter country from 818 to his death in 843. See Powell's Cambria,

pp.

a As to its contents, the matters cited Geoffrey, a free translator, or by his ori-

by Geoffrey were there related satis pro- jrinal. In i. cap. 17, the Welch copy

lire; therefore they were no casual para- called Tysilio omits the reference, p. 116.

graphs, missing out of our MSS. Galfrid. But in ii. cap. 17, it quotes Gildas by

lib. i. cap. 17, ii. cap. 17. And as to name, p. 139. Neither can we say with

its spirit, it evidently sought to magnify entire certainty in what language it was;

the Britons at the expense of the Romans, but probably in Latin,

from which temper our Historia is nearly ' The Archdeacon of Huntingdon in

exempt; iv. cap. 3. It is not cited by one place cites it as guu/am author, and

name in cap. 4, but the identity of the in another as Gildas Ilistoriographus.

sources is pretty obvious. I know not Henr. Hunt. p. 301-13, in Script, post

whether the references to Gildas are by Bedam., Franc. 1601.

pp. 24-8; Warrington, i, pp. 205-10; Brut y Tywysogion, pp. 47 5-8. He alone of that name was Rex Britonum; though Mervyn, third son of RodriMawr, held Powys from 873 to 87 f. The year 858 fell fif- teen years after his death ; which argument would prove the forgery of the Prologus, were it not for the ignorance, then so prevalent, of the current year of our Lord. It is, however, a mere swelling out and amplification of the shorter prologue, in a bombastic phraseology which Nennius did not employ, and it is not credible that both are genuine. But the shorter prologue, or Apologia, is to be received as genuine. It begins, as in the Irish version, " Ego Nennius Sancti Elbodi discipulus aliqua excerpta scribere curavi," &c.; but it is in- terpolated from the longer prologue, and otherwise altered, in that version. It is to be received, first, from the absence of internal evi- dence to its prejudice; secondly, from the absence of internal evi- dence. And I wonder that Mr. Stevenson should urge, for such, that it occurs not in MSS. anterior to the twelfth century; when from his own shewing we collect, that there exists only one MS. anterior to circiter 1150; one, not two, for the MS. of Marcus Anachoreta could not contain it, and is not strictly to the purpose. The document cannot suffer from the silence of MSS. that do not exist. Thirdly, there is no motive for the forgery. Great or even well-known names have been assumed, in order to give currency to fictions ; such as Orpheus, Berosus, Ovid, Tully, Ossian, and (if you please) Gildas. But Nennius was nobody at all, his name does not exist elsewhere, and no other works belong to him. What was to be gained by in- venting his name ? The fabricator of a work may invent an ideal author for it. But here we must suppose, that the genuine work of some other man was by forgery ascribed to a Nobody, to an unknown person, claiming no rank or distinction, and made to avow his modern

date.

c Brut y Ty wysog, p. 48 1 -2. Others give other years ; but the question is not relevant.

B2

date. The rejection of this document would therefore appear to me uncritical, and needlessly destructive of fact and document. Falsehood is most usually built upon a basis of truth; and the Apolo- gia or lesser prologue was the substratum upon which the larger one was erected. That fiction was, however, partly founded upon the contents of the book itself, which, in cap. xi. Gale, p. 1 4, Stevenson, purports to be published in A. D. 437 -(- 418 + 3 — 858; and in the same chapter makes mention, though irrelevantly to that date, of King Mervyn, and of the fourth year (not the twenty- fourth) of his reign. Such are the sources of the false Prologus.

The name, which Geoffrey, Archdeacon of Monmouth, writes Nennius, is Nynniaw or Nynyaw in all the Welch copies of the chronicles. But it is not a name, whereof the etymon or significancy appears. Those chronicles have a legend, that one Nennius was brother of Cassivellaunus, fought against Cresar, and took his sword from him, slew Labienus, but died himself of his wounds in fifteen days after. Galfrid. Monumet. iv. cap. 3-4; Brut Tysilio. &c., p. 173-6. To connect those statements with our historians would have exceeded all effrontery, but that of John Bale. That eenturiator maintains, that Nennius, brother of Cassivellaunus, wrote a beautiful history of the origin and progress of the Britons, which another Nennius, Abbot of Bangor, translated into Latin and continued. Cent. i, fol. 13, fol. 36, 7th ed. 1 1548. Mr. Gunn's observation, that Nennius is described by Geoffrey, i. cap. 1 7, iv., cap. 3 and 4, and by Tysilio, Coll. Cambr. pp. 30 and 75, as a British historian, was made inadvertently, being at variance with the fact. Gunn's Preface, p. 1 9. Geoffrey's au- thor makes no allusion to Nennius the historiographer; though he has borrowed things, either from the Historia, or from sources common to both. This name (written Ninnius and Ninius in some copies) is in all probability the same as that of Ninia, the Apostle of the South Picts, and founder of the Church of Candida Casa, so called by

William

William of Malmesbury, and Nynia by Alcuin and Beda. Vide Ussher, Brit. Eccles. p. 161, or ed. ii. p. 137. Ninianus has been his com- mon appellation among subsequent writers. He had a brother, St. Plebeias. Johan. Tinmuth, ap. Ussher addenda, p. 1059, or ed. ii. p. 506. Two kings were said in the Welch mythologies to have formerly reigned over part of South Wales, and to have been trans- formed into oxen for their sins. Their names were Nynniaw and Peibiaw. See Mabinogi of Kilhwch, p. 281; note, p. 351. Some genealogies of King Arthur include the name of this Nynniaw. From Nynniaw and Peibiaw, John of Tinmouth, or those to whom he was indebted, probably derived the idea of the brother saints Nynniaw and Plebiaw. St. Finnian of Maghbile was sent in his youth to a place in Britain called Magnum Monasterium, by John of Tinmouth, Rosnat, Alba, and Monasterium Albium, in Colgan. A. SS. i, pp. 438-9, and civitas qua? dicitur Candida in Colgan, ib. 634. Its ab- bot is styled Monennus, Monennius, Nennius, and Nennio. Colg. ib. Ussher, p. 954 or 494. But Finnian's instructor at Candida is called by his biographer, and in ancient hymns, Mugentius. Colg ib. 634. In the life of St. Eugenius he is called Nennio, qui Mancenus dicitur, de Rosnatensi monasterio. Colg. ib. p. 430. num. 4. Dr. Lanigan concluded that Mo-nennius or Nennio was no other than Ninia, the founder of Candida Casa, who was confounded with the existing abbot, by reason of its being called his monastery. See Lanigan' s Eccles. Hist, i, 437, ed. ii The address of Alcuin's epistle was, Ad FratresS. Ninianide Candida Cam. Besides the coincidence of can- dido, and alba, it might have been added that the Gaelic name Rosnat, promontory of learning, agrees with the Whithern or Whithorn, candidum cornu, of the Northumbrians. Of the various Irish saints named Ninnidh or Nainnidh, and sometimes Latinized into Neimius, I take no account, as they belong to another nation ; and it is un- certain if it be the same name, the more so as the Gaelic appellation

of

of St. Ninia is Ringcn or Ringan. Ussher, p. 66 1 ; Chalmers's Caledonia, i. 135. Nor do the Irish copies of the Historia seem to recognize the name of Nennius, as having a known equivalent; for they give it, Numnus, Nenmus, Nemnius, Neimnus, Nemonus, and Nenamnis. I do not know if the name in question hath any his- torical instances, besides those of the Apostle of the Picts and our historian.

His discipleship unto St. Elbod now demands consideration. The four chronicles annexed to that of the kings of Britain do not clearly define Elbod's date. He is said to have flourished in 755 and 770. Brut y Tywysog. p. 473^.391. Warrington fixes his appointment to the primacy of North Wales (seated at Bangor) about A. D. 762. The Bonedd y Saint, p. 42, says that he was son ofCowlwyd, and bishop [ofCaergybid orllolyhead] in 773. He died in 800, according to the Brut y Tywysog. p. 392, and John Brechva, p. 474; and in 809 according to the Brut y Saeson, p. 474; Brut y Tywysog. ibid. The Annals of St. David's, carried down to 1285, say, anno 770, Pascha mutatur apiul Britones einendante Elbodu homine Dei; and A. D. 811, Ettodu (sic) episcopus Venedotice obiit. Anglia Sacra, 1 1, p. 648. The date of 755 related to North Wales, and this of 770 perhaps relates to South Wales; another South- Welchman, leuan Brechva, quotes it. Elbodu (whence Elvodugus) is no doubt Elbod Ddu, i. e. Elbod the Black, meaning either swarthy or black- haired. Godwin, in his book de Prajsulibus, has not numbered him among the bishops of Bangor, which he might have done, lie seems, by these accounts, to have been in activity towards the middle of the eighth century, and to have departed this life in the first, or ninth, or at latest eleventh year of the ninth century. But the book

of

d H. Llwyd, in his Commentariolum, his birthplace, and erroneously described p. 85, note, observes that Caergybi was as his see.

of Nennius exhibits the date of A. D. 858, in its eleventh chapter, as being the third year of the existing cycle of nineteen years or forty- fifth cycle from the Nativity, and the actually current year. His professed acquaintance with the Roman annalists and chronographers, and with those of the Angli, which must include Beda himself, and his computation of it by the Paschal cycles, give to his statement of the annus Domini a credit, which is wanting to quotations of that sera by other editors of the Historia Britonum; and in the same sentence he correctly states, that St. Patrick visited Ireland in the twenty-third cycle6. Therefore I believe him not to have been far, if at all wrong; and to have written in the reign of Rodri Mawr. Nennius was also an author not far advanced in years, for his niagis- ter or teacher, Beulan, was not only living, but still actively influencing his conduct. Therefore there appears a disparity of date between Elbod and his disciple.

But I do not deduce from his words, that Nennius did learn un- der Elbod or Elbodu, or even that he was born when that person died. Mere individuals can have only personal disciples ; but founders of a rule, like Benedict, or of a doctrine, like Arius, arc' said to have disciples in those who espouse their systems. Now St. Elbod was the aiithor of the greatest revolution known in the Welch Church between the fifth and sixteenth centuries. By his in- fluence and authority the churches of Wales were first led into con- formity with the Latin communion ; and the celebrated Paschal schism, after 350 years of duration, began to be abandoned But

this

e I would not take his words (xxiii. jnration of the cycle, but rather as the fact

cycli decemnovennales usque ad adve/itum is. For if he had been as ignorant as the

S. Patricii in Hiberniam, et ipsi anni ef- other British chronologists, he would

ficiunt numerum 437 annoruni) so rigidly, probably have missed the true cycle, as that Patrick came in 437, at the ex-

8

this change (which, contrary to the order of events in Ireland, began in the north and was most resisted in the south) was not suddenly completed, nor without violent dissensions among the clergy and people; to which cause may be ascribed the various years in which this affair is said, either generally, or with distinction of north and south, to have been decided, viz.: 755, 768, 770, 777. Yet though " in A. D. 777, Easter was changed in South Wales" (Brut y Tywys. p. 474), that change was not as yet realized there in 802. See Ussher, Index Chronol. And the death of Elbod, in 809, is said to have been a signal for fresh disputes on the subject. Brut y Tywys. p. 475. Betweenf 842 and 847, it was still a topic of private discus- sion, though perhaps no longer of national contention. The memory of their old ritual was long cherished among the Welch; who er- roneously imagined that their discipline had been that of St. John and the Seven Churches of Asia, and therefore paid a peculiar honour to that apostle, and sometimes called their religious peculiari- ties the ordinance* of John. See Beda, Hist. Eccl. iii. cap. 25; Pro- bert's Triads, p. 79 ; Triodd Doethineb Beirdd, num. 219^1.314; Llewelyn Vardd, Cairn y Gadvan, v. 5, ab ult. In the spurious pro- logus, Ncnnius is made to entitle himself Dei t/ratid, S. Elbodi disci- pulus, and I think its writer understood Nennius as I do ; not meaning to thank God for giving him, personally, so learned a tutor; but to profess, that by God's grace he was reunited to the catholic communion of the west, which the Paschal differences had disturbed for several centuries. lie was not a disciple of John, but a disciple of Elbod. It is observable that Nennius (as distinct from Marcus) computes his own date by the decemnovennal or Latin cycle, as that

established

f Vita S. Johan. Chrysostomi, cit. Rice scene of those discussions, appears from Rees on Welch Saints, p. 66, note. That the date. For even lona had then con- Britain, not Ireland or Scotland, was the formed 130 years.

established in his country when he wrote ; and we verify thereby the fact, that he was an Elbodian.

It is commonly said, that Nennius was a monk or even abbot of Bangor is y Coed, studied under the celebrated Dunawd Gwr or Dionotus, and was one of those who escaped from the massacre of the monks by Ethelfrid, King of Northumbria, in 607. There is not a single date in any of the various copies of the Historia, which lays claim to an earlier century than the ninth. And the chief motive for revertino- to this obsolete idea is to observe, that the entire notion of his belonging to Bangor, and his title of Nennius Bannochorensis, was probably a mere delusion, founded upon his being a disciple of Elbod, who was styled Archbishop of Gwynedd, and was Bishop of Bangor Vawr in Arvon, a place remote from the abbey of Bangor is y Coed in Cheshire, or, more correctly speaking, in Flintshire. I have detected no indications of his town or province.

He had for instructor a priest by name Beular, or rather BeulanB, of whom a little more has been said than he merits. "I omitted (saith Nennius) the Saxonh genealogies, cum inutiles magistro meo, id est Beulario presbytero, visas sunt." Cap. 65. Some have called him Samuel Beulan ; but others will have it, that Beulan had, by his wife Lseta, a son Samuel, who wrote commentaries upon Nennius. Gale repeatedly speaks of this Samuel as an interpolator ; Mr. Ber- tram of Copenhagen becomes quite impassioned on the subject; while the oracles from Mr. Pinkerton's tripod pronounce that both Nen- nius and Samuel are equally vile. But neither father nor son have any historical existence, other than what the former owes to the

above

8 Peu llan, regio ecclesice, or regio culta. that, being then in existence, the Saxon h That omission is supplied in some genealogies were not received by him into MSS. at considerable length. We are pro- his compilation ; at least, they appear to bably not to understand that they were me to mention no person subsequent to composed subsequently to Nennius ; but the eighth century. IRISH ARCH. SOC. 1 6. * C

10

above text of Nennius, and both of them to notes in prose and verse appended to one or two of the MSS. The principal record of Sa- muel is in the following production, contained in a Cambridge MS. of about the beginning of the thirteenth century, marked Ff. i. 27, p. 20; which Mr. Stephenson (Pref. p. xxvi.) has printed in a form meant to be explanatory, but rather needing explanation. I believe I have restored them to the form in which the document exhibits them.

" Versus Nennini ad Samuelem filium magistri sui Beulani presbytcri, viri reli- giosi, ad quern historiam suam scripserat.

" Adjutor bcnignus caris doctor effabilis fonis',

.i. Samueli

" Gaudium honoris isti katholica lege magni, " Nos omnes precamur, qui ros sit tutus utatur.

.i. Beulani

" Xpiste1 tribuisti patri Samuelem, leta matre.

.i. mater .1. Samuel

" Ymnizat hajc semper tibi longoevus Ben servus tui. " Zona indue salutis istum pluribus annis".

" Versus ejusdem Nennii. " Fornifer qui digitis scripsit ex ordine trinis Incolumis obtalmis sitque omnibus membris. En vocatur Ben notis litteris nominis quini."

Then follows the false statement about the twenty -fourth year of Mervyn Vrych, extracted from the spurious Prologus. The initials of the words in the first three lines, from adjutor to utatur, go through the alphabet to U, and the initials of the last three lines go on to Z ; the change occurring at the sacred initial X. How to construe them ; what fornifer can mean ; what Benjj means, who is so called, and why ; and what the nomen t/uinum is ; are mysteries. The only thing plain from them is the origin of Samuel's mother Lceta, in verse 4;

Icetd

' Fonis for the Greek ^wvaif. thought he had closed the preceding one

' Sic. The p in Xpiste is the Greek with istum salu — Mr. Stevenson has

Klio. erroneously printed Amen, for annis. " This verse stands thus in the MS., >> Gualtherus in his Alexandreis lib. iv.

Zona indue salutisistum tis pluribus annis. says, " Successit Ben Num Moisi post

The tis begins a line, and the writer bella sepulto."

1 1

Icetd matre, his mother being glad! In spite of these obscure sayings it is not apparent to me, that Samuel, son of Beulan and Lceta, is a different person from Nennius himself. For the words added to cap. 3 in one of Gale's MSS., wherein Samuel's name occurs (and wherein alone it occurs, so far as I am made aware, with the exception of those verses) are these : " I, the Samuel, that is to say the child, of my master, that is to say of Beulan the priest, wrote it in this page, yet this genealogy was not written in any volume of Britain, but was in the

writing of writer." Gale, p. 119. Bertram, p. 187: "Samuel,

id est infans, magistri mei, id est Beulani presbyteri, in ista pagina scripsi," £c. Here we see, that Samuel is only a figurative phrase for one dedicated to divine studies from his tender years. " And the child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli." But there is an obvious delicacy in not saying " Eli mei" instead of " magistri mei," for the priest and kind patron of Samuel was a feeble and im- perfect character. The youth of Nennius, and his not having passed the inferior orders, may also be inferred from this passage; as well as from cap. 65. Therefore the writer of the verses could not mean Nennius, but might mean Beulan, by longamis Ben. If these things be so (and I see them no otherwise) we shall be quit" of Sa- muel Beulanus, Samuel Beulani filius, Samuel Britannus, &c. ; and Beulan himself remains, only known for his contempt of Saxon genealogy.

But another man besides Nennius, and before him, had published the Historia Britonum, Marcus the Anachoret. To him that His- toria is ascribed in the famous MS. of the tenth century, published by Mr. Gunn. It was penned in A. D. 946, being the fifth and last year of Edmund, King of England; pp. 45, 62, 80. The frequent

repetition

k See Bale, Cent. fol. 37, «., 38, a. Med. et. Inf. Latin, vi. p. 417, in Ximutel. Leland de Script. Brit, cap. 48. Fabricii Pitseus cit. ibid.

12

repetition of this date, and some changes in the catalogue of cities, shew the writer to have been an Englishman or Anglo-Saxon. Mr. Gunn, in his title page, says it was edited by Mark in the tenth cen- tury. But Mark flourished early in the ninth; and it is only his transcriber, who gives us his own date in the tenth. Marcus was a Briton born, and educated in Ireland, where he was for a long time a bishop, but he settled in France, where (for aught that appears) he ended his days. Heric of Auxerre (in a prose Life' of Germanus, which mentions an event of A. D. 873, but was certainly published before October, 877) reports, that he and divers other persons had formerly heard, from the lips of Marcus, a narrative concerning Ger- manus; which Heric retails, with as little variation1" from the same narrative in the Historia Britonum (Marcus, pp. 62-5 ; Nennius, cap. 30-4), as could be expected in such oral repetitions. Therefore the heading of the Petavian MS. derives potent confirmation, from the fact that Marcus could repeat the substance of it by heart. Mr. Stevenson's adverse supposition is not an absurd one, that the tran- scriber of A. D. 946, having read Hericus de Miraculis Germani, and seen there the substance of this story, thence inferred that Mar- cus wrote the Historia, and so asserted it. It may be replied that, if he did read Hericus he would have seen that he quoted no book, but only conversations; and that Marcus himself in those conversations,

referred

1 Heric also formed, out of the most natio JJritonum for the phrase, so strange

ancient Life of Germanus, by his coteni- to his ears, of regio Poicysorum. The

porary Constantius Monachus, a poem main discrepance is the expulsion of the

which entitles him to a high rank among tyrant, instead of the burning him with

modern Latin versifiers ; upon the strength fire from heaven. It is astonishing that

of which Mr. Stevenson has dubbed him Gale should annotate " Vide Ericum in

Constantius Hericus. Prsef. p. xiii. Vita Germani, quern hsec ex Nennio sump-

m Nothing is more natural, than for sisse constat," when the contrary is de-

Heric, after many years, to substitute clared in such very express terms.

'3

referred to no such historical work, but to the original sources of it. " The aforesaid bishop, whose probity whosoever hath experienced will by no means hesitate to believe his words, assured me, with the addition of an oath, that these things were contained in Catkolicis litteris in Britannia." But the words litterce Catholicce do not apply to such a compilation as this; but to the acta or gesta of their saints, which were preserved in particular churches

However, there are broader reasons to be considered, than the mere assertion of the MS. The Historia is the work of a Briton. None other is likely to have been in possession of so many British traditions; and the Irish, in particular, seem to have held" opposite traditions. Besides, he plainly signifies himself such, in a phrase which the Anglo-Saxon scribe cannot have introduced, where he quotes British legends " ex traditione nostrorum veterum" Marcus, p. 53. Yet the work of this British man is that of an Irish author, ad- dressing himself peculiarly to the Irish people, and exclusively Irish in the religious part of his feelings. This appears in his notices of Irish history; in his copious notice of St. Patrick; but chiefly and most demonstratively in the fifty-third page of Marcus0. There the epochs of Patrick, Bridget, and Columkille, the three patrons of all Ireland, are commemorated; whereas the whole work does not con- tain the name of David, Iltutus, Dubricius, or any British saint whatsoever. Nothing can be more certain than the author's close connexion with Ireland. This truth was appreciated, or perhaps was known, by those transcribers'5 who assigned the Historia to Gildas Hibernicus ; for its author, though not an Irishman, was really an Hibernian Gildas, or man of religion and learning, lint

all

n For they derived the Britons from ° Cap. n, Gale; 16, Stevenson. Britan Maol, son of Fergus Eed-side, son p See Casimir Oudin, Script. Eccl. ii. of Nemedius. p. 73.

14

all the premises are true of Marcus, who was natione BritcP, educatus vero in Hibernid, and had been an Irish bishop. For though Heric's words, " ejusdem gentis episcopus" are equivocal, the doubt is solved by those of the Ekkehards or Eccards of St. Gallenr: "Marcus Scot- tiaena episcopus Gallum tanquam compatriotam suum Roma rediens visitat." So that if we determine to reject Marcus, the alleged author of this production, it will only be to seek for some other man precisely corresponding in circumstances. Nennius, on the other hand, is neither recorded, nor doth he seem, to have had connexion with Ireland; he was not an Irish religionist, but an Elbodi discipulus; and he refers to the scripta Scotorum Anglorumque as to things equally foreign to himself.

We have now to compare the date of Marcus with that of the Historia. After mentioning Britannia man/a, Ileric proceeds to mention the holy old man Marcus, a bishop of the same nation, who was by birth a Briton, but was educated in Ireland, and, after a long exercise of episcopal sanctity, imposed upon himself a voluntary pilgrimage, and having so passed into France, and being invited by the munificence of the pious King Charles, spent an anachoretic life at the convent of Saints Medard and Sebastian; a remarkable philoso- pher in our days, and of peculiar sanctity. Eccard Junior explains to us that his pilgrimage was to Koine, and that on his return from thence he visited the Abbey of St. Gall. His sister's son, Moengal, accompanied him, whom they afterwards named Marcellus, as a di- minutive from Marcus. At the request of Grimaldus the Abbot of St. Gallon, and at the persuasion of his nephew, he consented to

tarry

'' Hericus do Mirac. Germ, ap Laliliu, nicaruiii, tom. i. p. 12. In Ekkehardi

Bilil. Manuscr. I, p. 555. Minimi Vita Notkeri, cap. 7, ibid. p. 230,

r Ekkehardus Junior decasibusMonast. tin-re are similar words. Sangallensis ap. Goldnsti Rerum Alaman-

'5

tarry there, which raised a mutiny among their servants, who desired to return home. But they pacified their retinue by distributing among them the bishop's money, mules, and horses. The com- mencement of this sojourn fell between A. D. 841 and the June of 872", such being the limits of Grimald's abbacy. After a time Marcellus was made master of the abbey school, and of the boys who were training up to the monastic life, including Notkerus, who was afterwards called Balbulus, in which situation he distinguished him- self in music and other sciences. But Marcus afterwards seceded to the abbey of St. Medard at Soissons. At the time, between 473 and 477, when Heric was Avriting this, Marcus was no more; for Labbe's reading, exercebat vitam, though changed by the Bollandists to e.cercet, is confirmed by " multis coram referre xolitm erat," by the phrase nostro tempore, and by the description of him as having then been " sanctus senex" But his entire sojourn at St. Gallon succeeded his sojourn at Rome. And his journey to Rome was undertaken " post longa pontificalis sanctitatis exercitia;" the commencement of which exercitia could not, canonically, have preceded the completion of his thirtieth year; but cannot, according to the laws of probability, be fixed to its earliest possible epoch. From all which circumstances, it is by no means improbable, that the birth of Marcus ascended into the eighth century.

Such

5 Ratpertus de Monast. S. Gallensi, pp. boy of fifteen when Marcellus took him 6-9, ibid. Notker the Lisper was placed in hand, the latter was master of the ab- under Marcellus, when a boy. But Not- bey school in 847. If Notker died at 85, ker died in 91 2, nimia fetate ingravescente, 84, 83, &c., we shall draw so much nearer and in senecta bond plenus dierum leato to 841, our chronological limit. But he fine deficiens, consoling himself with the could scarcely be appointed, before his reflection that " man's days at the most uncle and he had made some considerable are an hundred years." — Ecclus. xviii. 9. sojourn at the abbey. See Ekkehardi Therefore I place his birth at least eighty Minimi Vita Notkeri, cap. 32. years before, or in 832; and if he was a

i6

Such being the chronology of Marcus himself, we require the date of the book ascribed to him. Here it must be observed, that during and before the first half of the ninth century, the sera of Christ' was recently introduced and ill understood, among the British and Irish ; whereat we need not complain, seeing how imperfectly it was worked out by Beda himself. " The Christian aara (saith Mr. Carte) was not then, at its first coming into use, so well understood as it hath been since." Their use of the two Christian asras or years of redemp- tion, viz. the Nativity and the Passion, sometimes one, sometimes the other, and sometimes both, increased the confusion of their Dominical dates. But the plain root of the evil was, that they did not know, and could not tell, what year of our Lord the current year was. If the Christian sera were now of recent introduction, seldom mentioned, and not to be found in one book out of a thousand, few of us could tell what year thereof it is. It would be a fact of learned and not obvious attainment; and was more so to those whose learning was scanty. They knew how many years the reign- ing prince had reigned; but they did not know what year of Christ that was. So the English transcriber of Marcus gives us his date sufficiently, viz., the t/uintux Eadmundi regis Anylorum, but absurdly adds that it was A. D. P. 946 and A. D. N. 976 ; and twice again states, that it was 547 years after A. D. P. 447, which makes" A. D. N. 1024. Yet this imbecility does not affect the date, which is con- sistently given. Marcus nowhere gives an express date, that we can convert into the Annm Domini But we have his assertion that,

" from

1 Upon this subject see the learned pre- nexed to Moses Williams's edition of

lace to the Ogygia, and O'Conor in Script. Lhwyd's Commentariolum.

Rer. Hib. xi. p. 20. And, for specimens " According to his computation, which

of absurd anachronism in that a'ra, see allows only thirty years between the Na-

Gale's second appendix to Nenuius, p. 1 18, tivity and Passion, and the -dirte Cambro-Britannicse an-

17

" from the time when the Saxons came into Britain, unto the fourth year of King Mervyn, 428 years are computed;" being in truth about fifty-one years too many. Now the fourth year of Mervyn Vrych, or 822, was no epocha, cither in general or local history; and no motive can be conjectured for his computation stopping at that year of the reign, except that it was the then current year. We must, there- fore, dismiss entirely his miserable attempts at Christian chronology, and take the plain fact, that he was writing quarto Mermeni [Mervini, Nenn.] regis. p. 53. Therefore the book was in progress of composition in the year 822, which agrees sufficiently well with what we know of Marcus. It equally agrees with the datev of 820 ct deincqxf, assigned to Gildas Ilibernicus. The Historia seems to have been originally composed, whilst a certain Fernmael, son of Tudor, was Lord of Buellt and Guortigerniawn ; from which passage and others, I conjecture the author to have come from those parts of Wales, and to have had some acquaintance or connexion with that descendant of Vortigern. All copies agree that Fernmael was eleventh in descent from Pascent, youngest son of Vortigern. Therefore if we suppose Pascent's son, Briacat, to be born at the time of Vortigern's death, which Owen calls 481, and Blair 484, and we may call 480, then Ferumael's birth, at thirty years to the generation, will fall upon 780, and the forty-second year of his life will coincide with 822. There- fore this date, which our ignorance when Fernmael lived and died deprives of any direct utility, seems at least to be consistent with the quartus Mervini regis, or 822. It is remarkable, that while Nennius retains the assertion that Fernmael was actually reigning (regit rnodo) the text of Marcus exhibits regnavit. p. 78. Neunius, cap. 52. But that is the handy work of the scribe of 946, who was particularly tenacious of his own date, and would not have Fernmael for his

contemporary. * Cave de Script. Eccles. ii, p. 1 6, ed. 1 745.

IRISH ARCH. SOC. NO. 1 6. D

contemporary. The year 822 is, therefore, the lowest date of the original Historia. But it is also the highest, unless we are disposed to look for some other nameless Brito-IIibernian, anterior to Marcus, as a tortoise for the elephant. That such a one may have existed is, of course, possible; but perhaps criticism, having found exactly what it wants, will do better to acquiesce.

It results, that Marcus compiled this credulous book of British traditions, for the edification of the Irish, circ. A. D. 822; and one Nennius, a Briton of the Latin communion, republished it with addi- tions and changes, circ. A.I). 858. We should, however, keep in mind, that we have not the text of Marcus upon which Nennius worked, but a text which was tampered with about ninety years after Nen- nius wrote; and, therefore, the Marcian text of the Petavian MS. is not, in every trifling instance where they differ, the oldest of the two.

But another edition or revisal of the llistoria succeeded that of Nennius; and its author has introduced his own date with precision, yet with an utter ignorance of the Christian icra. What more he introduced besides the date does not appear, but perhaps nothing of moment. It occurs in the enumeration of the six ages of the world, that precede the British history. "From the Passion of Christ 800 years have elapsed, but from his Incarnation 832, down to the thirtieth year of Anarawd, King of Mona, who now rules the region of Vene- dotia or Gwynedd"." In truth Anarawd or llonoratus, son of Rodri Mawr, reigned over Gwynedd from 876 to 913, and the thirtieth year of his reign was the year 906, and the same in which that scribe was writing; being just seventy-four years out of his reckon- ing. Brut y Tywys. p. 482-5. And as he republished with an in- terpolated

w " Wenedocioe rcgiouis, id est Guer- bridge manuscript, Ff. i. 27, it is Guer- tiiet," apud Gale, male. In the Cam- net.

19

terpolated date the Nennian edition, so (we have seen) did another person, in A. D. 946, send forth again the older Marcian edition.

It will strike every reader, that this work was peculiarly dealt with. It was treated as a sort of common land, upon which any goose might graze. Mere transcribers seem to have played the edi- tor, if not the author. The dates thrice introduced by the Petavian scribe are not annexed in the way of colophon, but are interwoven into the solid text, in complicated sentences, and with elaborate mis- calculation. Nennius himself no where states, that he was republish- in" with a limited amount of change and addition, the Historia of

o" o '

the Brito-Irish compiler. It seems to have been regarded as the album or common-place book of Britannia, to which any one might laudably add such passages as he knew of; and elucidate or obscure, according to his ability, what he found already there. It was no rule to expunge what the predecessors had stated, even when stating the contrary; from which cause inconsistencies disfigure the text. So Marcus having stated that St. Patrick went to Ireland in A. D. 405, Nennius has faithfully republished it; but almost in the next sentence of the same chapter he states, that there were twenty-three decemnovennal cycles unto St. Patrick's advent, in a true sense, I believe, but certainly in one utterly discordant with the previous text. In like manner, Fernmael, son of Tudor, continued to be living and reigning in 858, and in the thirtieth of Anarawd, or 906, and was not killed off till 946. This common-place book of Britain seems rather analogous to the histories about St. Patrick, which Tirechan has strung together under the name of Annotationes. The Historia Britonum merits such a title equally well, and the like of it is signified by its writers in their phrase of Experimenta, cap. i, 3, and 12, Gale; pp. 48, 53, Gunn. This state of the case tends to ab- solve Nennius from the charge of imposture in appropriating the labours of another; for the mode of proceeding with this book seems

D 2 to

20

to have been understood. In his Apology he speaks of his own work or publication, as being one, " quod multi doctores atque libra- rii scribere tentaverint," authors and transcribers classed together; and complains, that " ncscio quo pacto difficilius rcliquerint," each transcribing doctor leaving it less intelligible than he found it; which misfortune he ascribes to frequent wars and pestilences, instead of the more proximate cause, viz.: the accumulated blunders of ill- instructed men. He apologizes for presuming " post tantos haec tanta scribere," and he can scarcely apply the words " post tantos" gene- rally to the historians of Britain, for he had complained that there were next to none; but the "/<o?c tanta" is to be taken literally for the very book in hand. In his concluding chapter he mentions his omission (at Beulan's suggestion) to write the Saxon genealogies, seemingly of earlier date than his own, " nolui ea scribere," adding, " but I have written of the cities and remarkable things of Britain, as other writers wrote before me." The same observations apply to this passage. Lastly, when he says of a Trojan genealogy", "hscc genealogia non est scripta in aliquo volnnnw> Britannia?, sed in scriptione . . scrip- toris fait," he clearly means " in any previous copy or edition of this hook of Britain;' and in fact it is absent from the text of Marcus. The Irish version now published, is actually entitled, in the Books of Lecan and Hy-Many, " Leabhar Breathnach," i. e. Volumen Britanni- cum, or Book of Britain. The vast avidity with which Geoffrey of Monmouth was received by the world prevents our wondering that transcripts of this book had been multiplied within about thirty-six years, as seems to have been the case.

This condition of affairs offers a great excuse for our Irish trans- lator, if he be found to introduce many things illustrative of British history, that were not in any transcript of the Latin book from

which * Cod. Bened. in Gale, Var. Lect. p. 119.

21

which he professes to take his own, or as Nennius hath it, "in aliquo volumine Britannia." It were indeed more hard to excuse him, for o-ivin- expressly "as recorded by Nennius" certain details of Insr history which Nennius did not record, but for the great likelihood that the same thing happened in Ireland as in Britain, viz.: that tile- successive editorial transcribers of the Irish Nennius inserted words of their own. In which case, that false heading may not have been the work of any man who knew it to be false. There is some reason to think, that the Irish translation was made by a certain Guanach, and that the text, as now printed, was revised by a later hand. For after a translation of considerable closeness and fidelity from Nennius, it is written, " it was in this way that our noble elder Guanach de- duced the pedigree of the Britons, from the chronicles of the Romans.' Infra, p. 37. But a work, actually commencing with the words " Nemnius [Nennius] Elvodugi discipulus," could never mean to rob that author of his matter, and falsely ascribe it to a certain Guanach. is, therefore, apparent that Guanach was either the Irish translator, or an editor of the translation; and that this annotation proceeds from an editor of junior date and calling him his elder5'. The " chro- nicles of the Romans," employed by Guanach, are nothing more than the Latin copies of the Historia Britonum ; which is stated by Nen- nius himself (in the Irish translation, as well as in the original, of his Apologia) to be partly collected from the Annals of the Romans and the Chronicles of the Saints. The earliest MS. of the Irish Nennius, so far as is known to its editor, is of the twelfth century. But the

epoch

> According to O'Reilly (Irish writers, later. This would furnish increased evi-

p 120) there is a memorandum prefixed dcncc to the employment ,

to the copy of the Leabhar Breatlmacli, in and succession of hands.

the Book of Hy-Many, which says that Ily-Many has passed into the hands

Nennius was the author, and Giolla some private collector, and

Caoimhghin (who died in 1072) the trans- accessible.— (T.)

22

epoch of the translation does not seem to transpire from any internal evidence.

A. H.

P. S. — A partial elucidation of the very obscure verses in page i o is due to the kindness and ingenuity of the Rev. S. R. Maitland, who observes that the last line, if we read it " En vocatur Ben notis litteris nominis quinis" not qidn'i'-, will apply to the name Benlanus (though not to Beulanus), which spelling is mentioned in Fabricius, and that of Benlanius in Pitseus. For Benlanus, understanding (notis, i. e. subintellectis) the other five letters, lanus, will leave Ben ; or, by changing notis to motis, i. e. removed, tlie sense becomes more ex- plicit. Indeed the MS., which has Beulani plainly written in red ink, has another u written above in black ink, and the red u scored under with black; which shows that attention had been attracted to the first syllable of the name. Benllan signifies Caput Ecclesias. Mr. Maitland thinks that magni in the second line had its origin in magri, the contraction of magistri. And also that the inexplicable word fornifer should be formiter, i. e. " recte, secundum formam vel legem." Du Cange. Upon the whole, a more obscure and enigmatical com- position will scarcely be met vith.

A. H.

i 1

' It is written in the MS. qni ; and trinis, tnis.

bReadmach QNNSO sis.

Leabhan bReadwach QNNSO sis.

qua ejrceppca pcpipepe cupauai

Dipcipulup nli- .1. po oeichmjep

jo pa pjjpibaino apaile DO lamapca, -j me Nenam- mp Dip^ibail GluDaig, ^015 po oepmaio heap -\ aimeajna in

ceneoil

the chronicles of the holy Fathers [that is, Jerome, Eusebius, Isidore, Prosper, in- terpol. in some MSS.], and from the wri- tings of the Scots and Angles, and from the traditions of our own ancestors (ve- tcnnn); which thing (quod) many doctors and scribes have attempted to write, but have left more difficult ; I know not wherefore, unless it be on account of the frequent mortalities and continual disas- ters of war. I beg that every reader, who reads this book, will forgive me, that I have ventured to write such considerable things as these after such considerable per- sons, like a chattering bird, or like some incompetent judge (invalidits arbiter). I defer to him, who may know more in this branch of knowledge than I do." That

a Liber Brittanicus. — ^eabap ftpernac, " the British Book;" this title is given to the following work in the Books of Lccan and Hy-Many. The initial words, €r^o Nemniup Gloougi, are a fac-simile from the Book of Lecan — (7'.)

'' Ego Nennius, <J-c. Numnus, D., NVim- nus, B., Nemonus, D., a secimda manu. — (T.) The following are the true words of the Apologia Nennii : "I Nennius, a disciple of St. Elbod, have taken the pains to write certain extracts, which the dulness of the British nation had cast aside, because the doctors of the island Britannia had no skill, and did not place any commemoration in books. But I have collected all that I could find, as well out of the Annals of the Romans, as out of

LIBER BRITANNICUS3

GO Nemnius" Elvodugic discipulus, aliqua" excerp- tae scribere curavi, i. e. I have taken painsf to write certain fragments, and I am NenamnisE a disciple of Eludachh, because the folly and ignorance' of the nation of Britannia have given to oblivion the history and origin of its first people, so that they

veterum means ancients or ancestors, not aged men, appears from cap. 13, Gale and Bertram, 1 7 Stevenson. I conceive inva- lidus arbiter to mean a judge, acting with- out the limits of his jurisdiction (77.)

0 Ekodugi — Elodugi L. See the In- troductory Remarks, p. 6 (T.)

d Aliqua — dilia, D., for alia ; Irish scribes frequently write Latin words in conformity with the rule of Irish ortho- graphy called Caol le caol, agu^ leacan le learan ; of this we have another ex- ample here in the word cupauai for curavi. — (T.)

*Excerpta — Oipcepca, L., t)ipceppra,

are

f 7 have taken pains.— tDeicionijiupa, B., Oeichecoijepa, L., from Oeirioe, care, diligence. — (T.)

8 Nenamnis Nemnuy, B. The Book

of Lecan does not give the name in thi.s place (T.)

h Eludach, or Eludag. Gulooaj, B. Depabul aile pooaij, L. — (T.)

' Folly and ignorance — 6eap ajuf aenec, B., where aenec is probably for cunpeich or ameolac, ignorance. 6ap ajup ejna, the habit and knowledge, D. The Latin copies read " quae hebetude gentis Brit- tannias," &c. The reading in the text is from L._ (T.)

IRISH ARCH. SOC. NO. 1 6.

26

ceneoil bpeacaima peancapa -\ bunaoana na cecbame cona pilic [i popaicme] a pgpibanoaib nac a lebpaib. TTleppe imoppo, po comcinoilipa na pencapa puapapa in analcaib na T?oman, ap na cponicib na ppuiche noeb .1. Qppmoip -| Cipme -| Gapebn, in anal- caib Sajcan ~\ ^aeoil, -| ma puapap o cmnocol ap n-appa pein.

II. bpicoma inpola a bpicinia pilio Ipocon oicca epc .1. o bpican pacep imp bpecan, no acbepaio apaile gomao o'n ci ap bpucap no pacea .1. an ceo conpal po bai a l?omancaib. Qlbion imoppo po b'e ceo amm inbpi bpeacan. Ochc cet> mile cement) poc inopi bpeacan. Oa cet> mile cemino ma lecec. Ochc ppim-cach- paca .pp. inoce, -| ace anopo a n-anmant>a [DO peip eolach bpecan].

Caep

J Commemorated. — Q popmchmeach, L. Omitted in D. " Ncquc ullam coiu- memorationem in libris posuerunt.'' — (T.)

k Brought together Comchintol, L.,

Coimcinoiliup, B., " coacervavi." — (7'.)

1 Isidore. — Tho Irish always corrupted foreign names. Thus Isidore is GfUiDip, L., Cfpumip, B. Jerome is Cipene, L., Cipine, B. (the C having probably been aspirated to represent HieronymMs), Euse- bius is Gbpeuiup, L., Gupebiup, B. The readings of I) are given in the text. The Latin adds Prog])er, who is not mentioned in any of the Irish copies (7'.)

m Gaels — It is worthy of note that the La- tin word Scoti or Scotti, is uniformly trans- lated J)ae6il', Gadclii or Gaels, throughout this work, ^a*^1^ is the name by which the Irish and Highlanders of Scotland de- signate themselves to the present day. The Welch also call themselves Gwydhil, and their country Tir Gwydhil — (T.)

" Tradition The word nonocol is

here evidently used to represent the Latin " ex traditione veterum nostrorum." It signifies, conveyance, handing down from one to another, tradition ; the verb ciob- nacaim, to deliver, is in use in modern Irish. Q h-analcaib ^aeioel puapup o chionocol h-e inp n-appanoaib, L. Ocup inn puapup o rionacul ap n-appuca, B. -(T.)

0 Britonia insola. — This section is re- peated twice in L. first at the beginning, and again near the end ; the readings of the former of these copies will be denoted by L'. those of the second by L2. The second alone contains the list of cities. — (T.)

p A Britinia Omitted L1. ; a 6perone,

L2. ; a 6picone, B (T.)

q Dicta est. — t)acanca, 1)., the Irish equivalent word put instead of the Latin. —(T.)

1 Or some say .... named. — Omitted,

are not commemoratedj in writings nor in books. But I have brought together" the histories that I found in the Annals of the Romans, out of the chronicles of the learned saints, viz.: Isidore1, and Jerome, and Euscbius, in the Annals of the Saxons and Gaels™, and what I discovered from the tradition" of our own old men.

II. Britonia insola0 a Britinia" filio Isocon dicta estq, i. e. the island of Britain is named from Britan, or some say that it was from one Brutus it was namedr, i. e. the first consul5 that was of the Ro- mans; but Albion' was the first name of the island of Britain. Eight hundred thousand paces is the length" of the island of Britain. Two hundred thousand paces is its breadth. Eight and twenty principal caers [or cities] are in it; and these following7 are their names, ac-

cording to the learned of Britain" :—

B. L2. No uobepcuo apoile ip o 6picup po h-ammnijeat), L'. The name of Britain is here derived from Brutus the first Roman consul; but in another part of this work it is said to have been de- rived from Brutus, son of Silvius, son of

Ascanius, son of ./Eneas (2'.)

8 The first consul — First is omitted in all the Latin copies, and rightly. For L. Junius Brutus is not here alluded to ; and consul is said, in a general way, for a per- son of power and dignity. See Mr. Gunn's note vi. p. 94, &c. ; Du Cange in Consul and Consulatus; Galfrid. Monumet. i. cap. 13, x. cap. 4, &c. Marcus Anachoreta, p. 80. Tywysawg appears to be the British equi- valent; Bruttus Tywysawg o Ruvein; Hanes Grufudd ab Cynan, p. 584. The fable of Brute the Trojan was not devoid of a slight foundation in the Eoman tra-

Caer-Gortigeru.

ditions ; for Junius Brutus was descended from a Trojan who accompanied ^Eneas; but the name Junius, rather than the surname Brutus, was Trojan. See Dion. Hal. Ant. iv. cap. 68.— (//.)

' Albion — This name does not occur in any of the Latin editions. It is not of Latin origin, and has no reference to the Latin word albus ; nor is its origin and meaning known. It does not appear that the Greek geographers gave any explana- tion of their word 'Ahovtav. — (//.)

u Eight hundred the length. —

Omitted, B. L-. Cemeno omitted B. L1. L-. -(T.)

T These following — lp mo po pip, B. L*. (T.)

w According to the learned of Britain. — This clause occurs only in L2. B. adds here, cecup — (T.)

E 2

28

Caep ^opcigeprm. Caep ^purup. Caep TTlencepc. Caep Luill. Caep TTleDjuiD. Caep Colun. Caep ^upoipr. Caep Qbpog. Caep Capaooj. Caep bpur. Caep TTlacoo. Caep Cu- namo. Caep Oen. Caep Ipangm. Caep pheup. Caep Oon. Caep Lonmopepuipc. Caep ^pujan. Caep Sane. Caep Lejun. Caep ^niDiuo. Caep bpeacan. Caep Leipinoin. Caep penopa. Caep Opuichjolgoo. Caep Luicicoir. Caep Upnochc. Caep Gilimon.

III. Ipic imoa a cachpaca jenmoca pin, [oiapmeoe a para 1 a caipcel cumacca]. Ceichpi ceinela aiccpeabaio imp bpearari, .1. J5aeoil ~\ Cpuichnig -\ bpeacnaij ~\ Bahrain. Inopi 5ura I1ia aneap, Gbonia amap erappu -| 6ipe .1. TTlanaino, -] inopi Opcc pia acuaio. [Ctpcnaio h-6pe peac imp bpeacan piap oeap co

x Caer-Gortigern. — The names of the cities are given in B. thus : C. Guirthir- girnd. C. Gutais, C. Luaill, C. Meguaid, C. Colon, C. Gustint, C. Abroc, C. Cara- toc, C. Graat, C. Machuit, C. Ludain, C. Ceisi, C. Giraigon, C. Pheus, C. Miucip, C. Leoinarphuisc, C. Grucon, C. Sent, C. Leigion, C. Guent, C. Breatan, C. Lerion, C. Punsa, C. Gluteolcoit, C. Luitcoit, C. Urtaeh, C. Celhneno. The names, as given in LJ, are C. Gorthigearnd, C. Gutais, C. Luaill, C. Meaenaid, C. Cholou, C. Gustaint, C. Abrog, C. Charadoc, C. Graad, C. Macaid, C. Lugain, C. Cose, C. Girangon, C. Peus, C. Minchip, C. Lco- anaird puisc, C. Grugoin, C. Sent, C. Legion, C. Guhent, C. Bretan, C. Ler- gum, C. Pennsa, C. Druithecolcoit, Luite- oit, C. Urtocht, C. Ceilimon. Most of these variations are doubtless attributable to error or ignorance in the transcribers,

poca.

but they are worth preserving, as it is possible sometimes, even from a blunder, to obtain a clue to the true orthography — ( 7".) The twenty-eight caers do not occur till the close of the Latin Xennius ; but, in the corresponding place of the MS. of 945, from Marcus, the names of thirty-three cities occur, p. 46. As Nennius gives one name, Verulam, which is not in that copy, the latter must have given six which Nennius did not receive; but the confusion of texts pre- vents my saying which they were. Caer Gurcoc and Caer Teim (Thanie?) were two of them. Archbishop Ussher has commented upon this catalogue in his Primordia, pp. 59, 65, or 33-5 of edit. 2, (Works, vol. v. p. 82). The Irish trans- lator has, in some cases, left it difficult to identify his names ; and, on the other haud, many of the explanations by Llwyd,

29

Caer-Gortigern*. Caer-Grutus. Caer-Mencest. Caer-Luill. Caer- Medguid. Caer-Colun. Caer-Gusdirt. Caer-Abrog. Caer-Caradog. Caer-Brut. Caer-Machod. Caer-Lunaind. Caer-Oen. Caer-Irangin. Caer-Pheus. Caer-Loninoperuisc. Caer-Grugan. Caer-Sant. Caer- Legun. Caer-Gnidiud. CaerrBfeatan. Caer-Leiridoin. Caer-Pendsa. Caer-Druithgolgod. Caer-Luiticoit. Caer-Urnocht. Caer-Eilimon.

III. Numerous arey itscaers [or cities] besides these; innumerable its raths [or forts'] and its fortified castles2. Four races inhabit the island of Britain, viz.: the Gaels, the Cruithnachs1 [Plots'], the Britons, and the Saxons. The island Guta" is to the south of it; Aboniac, i. e. Manaind, is on the west between them and Eri [Ireland] ; and the islands of Orck are to the north of it. Eri extends beyond

the

is sometimes used to denote a mound or hill, and therefore may have signified also a fort of the ordinary kind. See I)u Cange, in voce — ( T.)

a The Cruitlmachs The well-known

Irish name for the Picts or ancient in- habitants of Scotland. Duald Mac Firbis considers the word as synonymous with the Latin Pictus. See Additional Xotus,

Camden, Ussher, and earlier authors, are

light and vague conjectures (77.) See

Additional Notes, No. I.

' Numerous are. — Ipic (or Ipao, B. L*.), a synthetic union of the assertive verb, if, it is, and iao or lac, they. See O'Dono- van's Irish Grammar, p. 161 — (T.)

z Innumerable castles. — This

clause is inserted from B. L2. L2. reads ocup po bo oiaipmichi a pacha, &c. The Latin reads: "In ea sunt viginti octo ci- vitates et innumerabilia promontoria, cum innumeris castellis ex lapidibus ct latere fabricatis." It is evident, therefore, that the Irish translator understood promon- toria to mean raths or forts ; for nothing was more common than to convert a pro- montory into a fort, by casting up an in- trenchment across the narrow neck that united it to the main land. The remains of many such are still to be seen in Ire- land. The word promontorium, however,

No. II.— (T.}

b Guta. —

— (T.) Guta is the Isle of Wight, in La- tin Vectis or Vecta, in Welch Gwyth. The Latin Nennius says, "Gueid vel Guith, quod Latine divortium dici potest." How- ever Ynys Gwyth is simply the Channel Island. " Three principal islands are united to Ynys Prydain, Ore, Manaw, and Gwyth." Triads, 3rd series, No. 67.— (//.)

0 Abonia. — 6bon Hlania, B. 6boniu, L. The Isle of Man — (T.) See Additional Notes, No. III.

3°

poca. benaio imoppo imp bperan peac h-Gpinn paep-cuaitt co

cian].

Oiaipmire [ono] a locha [ajup a ppoca.] Da ppim-ppurh inoci .1. Uamup i SabpainO; ip poppa-paioein peolaio lonja -] bapca inpi bpearan [co peoaib •) 50 mainib mope bpeacan uile].

17o linpac bpeacam in n-inpi uile ap cup t»ia clanaib, o muip n-lchc co muip n-Opc [-) po allaO -| aippoepcop.]

IV. lap n-t>ilmt> cpa Da panoao in ooman a cpi [it>ip rpi

maccu

d But the island north east.— This

passage is inserted from B. L. The verb benaio signifies to draw out, to prolong. O'Reilly (Diet. v. becmaim) quotes a pas- sage from the Leabhar Mac Partholain, in which the word is applied to drawing a sword. — (T.)

e And its rivers — Inserted from B. L. as is also the expletive particle bno, vero, autem — (T.)

f Sabraind — The Sabrina or Severn. King Locrine (saith the Galfridian Chron- icle) deserting his wife Gwenddolen, took a concubine, Estrildis, by whom he had a daughter, Sabrina. But Gwenddolen, levying war against her husband, slew him, and flung the two ladies into the river; the younger of whom bequeath- ed to it her name. Lib. ii. cap. 5. But Havren (the name of Sabrina and of the Severn) signifies « harlot ; and therefore cannot refer to the innocent daughter, but relates to Estrildis herself. This renders it probable (as Mr. Carte suspect-

cd) that the fable, in its existing shape, was composed in Armorica ; where the word havren does not seem to be known.

The real etymology of the Sabriana or Sabrina, Celtice Havren, is, no doubt, from hav, (Irish, parh or r-ariipa) summer; part of the adjoining country being called the Gwlad yr I lav, or Land of the Summer, Anglice Summersetshire. This passage of the Historia is taken from the words of Gildas in cap. I, in- cluding that melancholy word which is omitted in the Irish, " per qua; olim rates vehebantur," &c.—(H.)

8 Upon them Ip F°PPu-riDeln> B. lp

popo-paioe, L. " It is upon these very rivers." The emphatic pence in or poem, gives an additional force, " upon the self- fame rivers." The word is not be to found in the common dictionaries, but it is the ancient form of pean or pan. Poppa-pioein would be written, in the modern Irish language, oppa-pan. — (T.)

h With the jewels Britain. —

This clause is added from B. L. The word uile occurs only in L. The Latin copies read " per qua? olim rates vehebantur ad portandas divitias pro causa navigations. " -(T.)

31

the island of Britain far to the south-west. But the island of Britain extends beyond Eri far to the north-east11.

Innumerable are its lochs and its riverse. Two principal rivers are in it, viz. : Tamus and Sabraindf ; it is upon themg that the ships and barks of the island of Britain sail, with the jewels and wealth of the whole island of Britain11.

The Britons at first filled the whole island with their children, from the sea of Icht1 to the sea of Orck, both with glory and excel- lency'.

IV. Now after the deluge the world was divided" into three

parts ;

1 From the sea of Icht, Sfc. — Understand from tlio British channel, or sea of the Portus Iccius or Itius, to that of Orkney. " Dathi went afterwards, with the men of Erin, across Muir n-Icht (sea of Icht) to- wards Leatha (Britanny)," &c.. — Gene- alogies, fyc. of Ily-Fiachrach, p. 19. So in the Duan Albanach, verse 10, (Pinker- ton's Inquiry, ii. 321), "Britus tar mhuir n'Icht." Where Adamnan speaks of St. Germann's crossing the Sinus Vallicus (Channel of Gaul) to visit Britain, he gives a Latin equivalent. Vita Columb. ii. cap. 34. The Portus Iccius has been confounded with Calais and Boulogne; but is now conjectured to be the same as Vissent or Witsant, a neighbouring vil- lage. Some of the Latin copies have it, " from Totness to Caithness," but others have no termini assigned. — (H.)

J With glory and excellency. — This pas- sage is inserted from L (T.)

k Was divided. — Ro panoab, B. L. In the text oa or DO, as it is often spelt,

is used for po — (T.) This chapter is made up from chapters 13 and 14 of the old Latin editions, at pp. 53-4, of the Marcian. The three sons of Alanus are, Hisicion, Armenon, and Neugio or Neg- no. The former is probably Tuiscon, father of Mannus, from whom all the Germans derived themselves. Tacit. Germ, cap. 2. For he is said to be father of Francus and Alamannus ; for which latter our translator has improperly put Albaims. Armenon relates to Armenia; Negno or Neugio (here Negua), from whom he de- rives the Saxons, to I know not what. It is scarcely worth while to mention the Rugii. Cibidus or Cebidus (here Cebetus) to the Gepidffi. Walagothus (here Uile- gotus) either to the Balti or Amali (Vi- sigoths or Ostrogoths), but nothing indi- cates to which. In the genealogy from Alanus to Lamech, inclusively, the Latin copies give twenty names, and the Irish only sixteen ; but it is useless to supply such mere gibberish. — (//.)

32

maccu Nae] .1. Gopaip -| Qpppaic -] Qppia. Sem an n-Qpia. Cam an Qppjiaic. laperh an Ojiaip. Ipe cec peap Do pil lapech caimc [ap cup] in n-6opaip .1. Qlanuip co n-a cpi macaib .1. Ipacon -| [^ochup no] Qpmion ~\ Negua. Ceichpi meic 05 Ipacon .1. Ppan- cup, Pomanup, bpicup, Qlbanup. Ctpmon [umoppo] .u. meic laip, ^ocup, Uilejocup, Cebecup, bupganDup, Lon^obapDup. -Cpi meic Negua, Uanoalup, Sa^o, [boapup. Sa^o mac Nejua ip uaoa acaio Sa^rain]. bpicup, imoppo, ip uaD bpeacam, mac paiDein Ipacoin, [mic Qlani], mic pecliuip, mic Ogamain, mic Uai, mic buiob, mic Semoib, mic Qracc, mic Qoch, mic Qbaip, mic Roa, mic Qppa, mic lobaich, [mic loban], mic laperh, mic Nae, [mic Laimiach] Ip amlaio pin ac piaoap a peancapaib bpearan.

V. Innipoap imoppo a n-analcaib na Romanach. Cteniap mac Qnacip DO ciachcam lap co jail Cpai co h-6acail, i cnjapoaip

Lauina

1 Beticeen (ifNoe. — Inserted from

B. I,.— (?'.)

m At the beginning. — Inserted from L1. where the words are in a different order : Ceo peup chanic in n-Gopaip ap cup t>o pil lapeo. In B. the clause ap cup t>o pil lupeo is omitted. There are two copies of this section in L., both very corrupt. -(T.)

n Got/tus or Arm/on. — The words J^o- cluip no are inserted from L'. CIpmenon, B. Qpmen, L1. Qpmeon, L'-. — (T.)

0 Noic. — Umoppo, inserted from B. L1. IA— (T.)

P Burgantus — 6up^anoup, B. L'. L2. Pungandtus in D. is evidently an error of the scribe for Burgandtus. The Latin copies of Nennius ?v&&.Burgoandus (T.)

q Bnarus descended. This

clause is inserted from B. L1. LV Its omission in I), is an evident error of the scribe. — ( 7'.)

' He is the son of Isacon Saibem

is for pin or 6 pen, which signifies he. The insertions between brackets in the Irish text are from B. and L. loban, son of Japheth, occurs in B. L'. and L2., but Jobaith is omitted. In the Latin copies Semoib is called Simeon, and Mair is inserted between him and Aurthach, who is evidently the same as Athact (or Ethacht, B. L1. or Echtacht, L2) in the Irish copies, whose name is written Etka in some MSS. of the Latin. Between Asra, or Ezra, and lobaath, the Latin copies insert Izrau and Baath, which are most probably corrupt repetitions of Ezra and Jobaath. — (T.)

33

parts; between the three sons of Noe1, viz.: Eoraip, Affraic, and Asia. Sem was in Asia; Cam in Affraic; Jafeth in Eoraip. The first man of the race of Jafeth that came into Eoraip at the beginning"1 was Alanius, with his three sons; viz.: Isacon, Gothus or Armion", and Negua. Isacon had four sons, Francus, Romanus, Britus, Al- banus. Now0 Armion had five sons, Gotas, Uilegotas, Cebetus, Burgandus", Longobardus. Negua had three sons, Vandalus, Saxo, Boarus. It is from Saxo, son of Negua, that the Saxons are de- scended* ; but it is from Britus the Britons come. He is the son of Isaconr, the son of Alanius, the son of Fethuir, the son of Ogaman, the son of Tai, son of Boidhbh, son of Semoibh, son of Athacht, son of Aoth, son of Abar, son of Raa, son of Asra, son of lobaith, son of loban, son of Japeth, son of Noe, son of Laimiach. Thus it is re- corded in the histories of Britain8.

V. Furthermore' it is related in the Annals of the Romans", that Aenias the son of Anacis arrived in Italy after the destruction of Troy, and took to wife Lavina the daughter of Ladin, son of Pan, son

of

6 The histories of Britain. In the Latin, u Annals of the Romans The whole of

" Hanc peritiam [«/. genealogiam] inveni this and the next two chapters occur twice

ex traditione veterum, qui incolas in primo in the Book of Lecan ; the readings of the

fuerunt Brittanniae." — (T.) two copies shall be referred to as L1. and

1 Furthermore — Here we revert to the L2. In B. and L'. the reference to the

third chapter of Nennius, from which British histories is separated from the

chaps, v., vi., vii., above are translated. foregoing chapter, and united to this ; L2.

Essarc is Assaracus, and Airic or Airic- reads: Cib cpa uche ip amlaio peo uc-

tondus is Erichthonius. Britan exosus piaoup Sencup 6peacan a n-anoalaib nu

is that same son of Silvius (viz. Brutus), Roma. The reading of D., which is fol-

who, as the Druid had prophesied, would lowed in the text, agrees with the Latin

be " exosus omnibus hominibus." The copies, in which the history of ^Eneas is

account in Marcus, pp. 48, 50, is dif- begun thus : " In annalibus autern Ko-

ferent, and a more obscure composition — manorum sic scriptum est. ./Eneas post

(H.) Trojanum bellum," &c (T.)

IRISH ARCH. SOC. >7O. l6. F

34

Lauina injean Laom mic Puin mic PIC mic SaDuipnD -)c. lap mapbaD UuipnD ~\ lap n-ej Laoin in pig po gab Qemap piji LaoianDai, -] po cumDaigeD in cachpaig Qlbalonja la h-Qpcan mac Gemapa, -\ cujapoap peicig, "| pujjapoaip mac DO .1. Siluiup, [po cecoip].

Siluiup lapDain cugapoaip peicij, -| po ba coppach, -| aopec DO Qpcan bean a meic [DO beic coppach, i.] alachca, -| po paiD ceachca co [a] mac co po paiDiD a DpuiD Do cabaipc apDmepa ap a mnai co peapaD in po ba mac, no'n po ba h-in^ean po ceachc. Oo COID in DpuiD, i aobepc [lap ciaccian] in DpuiD pe h-Qpcan conao mac DO bai 'na bpoinD; -| aDbepc comao cpen, -] co muip- peao a achaip i a machaip, -j comao mipjneach la each. TTlapb cpa a machaip Dia bpeich. 17o h-ainmmgeaD pom .1. bpicip, -| po h-aileD lapoain.

VI. 6picup [om] mac Silui mic Qpcam mic Qeniapa mic Qnacip, mic Caipen, mic Gppcqic, mic Upoip, mic h-Qipic, mic knip, mic Oapoam, mic lob, mic SapDam, mic Ceil, mic polloip, mic c\opapcpeip, mic TTleppaim, mic Cairn, mic Mae, piln male-

Dicci piDenceip pacpem, mic Nae.

Tpop

T Shortly after Added from B.; L2. which is manifestly the true reading. In

reads (instead of pujapocip nmc DO .1. L'. and D., the word used to denote preg-

Siluiup), inoipceap cop b'l machuip Sell- nant is alucra, wliipli in B. is given as

biup po cheooip (T.) an explanation of coppac. — (T.)

w It iras told B. L'. and L9. read (in- y Druid. — Ncnnius says, cup. 3, " ut

stead of aopec) innipcep. — (T.) mitteret magum suum. — (T.)

x Was pregnant. — The words oo beic * After liis return. — Added from B. L1.

roppach, .1. are added from B. and L2. L'. — (T.)

The Latin copies read here " nunciatum a That it leas a son. — Cop bo mac po

est ^E«ea?, quod nurus sua gra%ada es- bai ma bpomo, L1. L8. Ro boi mac po

set;" but one of the MSS. collated by Mr. boi in a bpoin, B — (T.) Stevenson has Ascanio instead of JEnece, " Hated by all. — Nennius says, " et erit

in conformity with the Irish version ; exosus omnibus hominibus." — (T.)

35

of Pic, son of Saturn, &c. After having slain Turn, and after the death of Ladin the king, Aenias took the kingdom of Ladianda; and the city of Alba-longa was founded by Ascan, son of Aenias, and he married a wife, and she bare him a son, viz. Silvius, shortly afterv.

. Silvius afterwards married a wife, and she became pregnant, and it was toldw to Ascan that his son's wife was pregnant* ; and he sent a messenger to his son to say that he would send his Druidy to give an opinion on his wife, to know whether it was a son, or whether it was a daughter she was about to bring forth. The Druid went, and after his return2 the Druid said to Ascan, that it was a sona that was in her womb; and said that he would be powerful, and that he would kill his father and his mother, and that he would be hated by allb. In fact his mother died in giving him birth. He received a name, viz. Britus, and afterwards he was nursed0.

VI. Nowd Britus was the son of Silvius, son of Ascan, son of Aenias, son of Anacis, son of Caipen, 'son of Essarce, son of Tros, son of Airic, son of Idus, son of Dardain, son of Jove, son of Sardain, son of Ceil, son of Polloir, son of Zororastres, son of Mesraim, son of Cam (filii maledicti ridentis patrem), son of Noef.

Moreover,

c He was nursed. — The Latin is, " ct copies differ from each other and from tlu-

nutritus est filius, et vocatum cst nomen Latin. They agree, however, in tracing

ejus Bruto." — (T.) the pedigree to Cham or Ham, and not to

ANow — t)m inserted from L'. t)na, B. Japhet, as in the Latin copies. L1. gives

t)no, L2. — (T.) the pedigree thus, mic Oipoip, mic Gp-

e Son of Caipen, son of Essarc — These echconiup, mic t)apoain, mic loib, mic

two generations, inserted between An- Shabappn, mic Ceil, mic pulloip, mic

chises and Tros in all the Irish copies, do ^o^cp^o^^a^, mic TTleppaim, mic

not occur in the Latin. Essarc, is evi- Cairn epcono mic Naei (i.e. the accursed

dently Assarracus, and is written Qpapcc, son of Noe), mic 6aimiach. L2. thus:

B. Qpaipi5, L1. CIpaips, L2 — (T.) mic Chpoip, mic Gpeccoiniup, mic Dap-

f Son of Noe — In the remainder of the omn, mic loib, mic Shaouipn, mic pheil,

genealogy from Tros to Noah, the Irish mic phulloip, mic 9vopapoipcpeap, mi

F2

[imoppo] mac Ctipicconoup Da mac laip .1. Ilium -| Gpapcup; ip leip po cumOaigeo Ilium .1. Upoi; ip oo po ba mac Laimiooin, achaip Ppiaim. Qpapc imoppo achaip Capen, Caipen achaip Qnacip, Gnacip achaip Geniapa, Geniap achaip Gp- cain pen, achaip bpicain e;ropi .1. bpicain mip^nech. Ip amlaiD pin cu^apoaip ap penoip-ne uapal .1. 5uariach> geimlach bpeacan

a cpomcib na 17omanac.

VII.

TTIeappaun, rnic Cairn eapcoinct, po club im a achaip, .1. im Nae mac tai- miach (i. e. Cam the accursed, who laughed at his father, i. e. at Noe, son of Lamech.) B. gives it thus, mic Chopip, mic Gpeccom, mic t)apoam, mic loib, mic Sacmpb, mic pulloip, mic Sopap- cpep, mic nieppaim, mic Cam ejxoinci po bich imm [a] achaip, .1. im Noe, mic ^aimpiuch ypl. \Vliere the de- scription of Cam is the same as in L2. for bich is an evident error of the scribe for chib.

In D., instead of the clause describing the curse of Ham, which in the other copies is given in Irish, the same thing is given in Latin as in the text. The words mic Nae are repeated unnecessarily, and are therefore omitted in the translation. Mr. Stevenson mentions three MSS. of the Latin, which have a genealogy of Brutus and of Tros in the margin, and in which the genealogy of Brutus is made to end thus : " filii Jupiter de genere Cain [Cam?], filii maledicti videntis et riden- tis patrem Noe."

The Latin copies make Tros the son of Dardanus, son of Flise, son of Juvan, son

of Japhet. It will be seen, however, that the Irish version is more nearly authentic, for classical authorities make Tros the son of Erichthonius, son of Dardanus, son of Jupiter, son of Saturn, son of Cffilus. It would seem probable also that the text was corrupted by British transcribers, anxious, for the honour of their country, to deduce the ancestry of Brutus from the race of Japhet rather than from the ac- cursed Ham. Pallor, the father of Ceil (who is evidently Coe.ius) is probably a corruption derived from the genitive case ofTellus.— ('/'.)

8 Moreover Imoppo, added from B.,

L'.and IA_(7'.)

h Airic-tondiiSi i.e. Erichthonius; mac €rpecrami, B. ; mac Qipicconmp, L'. I,1, omits this name. — (T.)

' Asam/s, i.e. Assaracus; Qpaipic, L. Qpapc, B. Homer gives Tros three sons; (Iliad, v. 230).

'I'ouia $' 'Epix0o"'OC TtKiro TpwfffJii' UVIIKTIC Tpwof <V ait rp(?t' vatfitj a/ii'fiovii; IZfyivovrn, 'IXoe T', ' AaaapciKoe rt, k-ai dvTi'Osog ravvfin^lt-

D. reads corruptly Ham, both as the name of the son of Tros and of the city. B., L'., and L2. read Ilium in both places,

37

Moreover8, Tros, son of Airictondus", had two sons ; viz., Ilium [Ilus] and Asarcus'; it was by him [i e. by Ilus] was founded Ilium, i. e. Troyj; he had a son, Laimidoin, the father of Priam. As- sarc, moreover, teas the father of Capen, Capen was the father of Anacis, Anacis the father of Aeniask, Aenias the father of Ascan, the grandfather of Britan exosus, i e. of Britan the abhorred1. It was in this way that our noble elder Guanachm deduced the pedigree of the Britons, from the Chronicles of the Romans.

but IA instead of ir> leip po cumomgeo, reads n-il ip e po cumoaij. — (T.)

i Troy __ Cpop, H. Cpoi, B. L1. dpo- chachaip na Cpe, L2.— (T.)

k Aenias. — Homer makes ^Eneas give this genealogy thus :

TIXo£ f)' av T£Ki9' viov afivfiova Afiofi^ovra' AaofjLeSiitv d'apa TiQwvuv rtKtro, Hpiap.6v rt' AdjuTrov re, KXimoj/ ff, 'iKtraova r', o£ov "A-

Si Kcnrvv

up

\vrdp ip.' 'A

II. v.

, sq.- — '(

1 The abhorred. — Seun-uruip 6pin e,x- oppi in c-Qpccin pin, .1. 6piccm mipcnech, B., which may be translated thus: "the grandfather of Britus exosus, i. e. of Bri- tain the abhorred, was that Ascan." — (T.)

m Our noble elder Gnanach __ In B. andL. this reference to Guanach, and the Chro- nicles of the Romans, is written so as to re- late to what follows, not to what precedes ; but the words ip amlaio pin and the sense of the whole passage are inconsistent with this supposition, and therefore D. has been followed. Guanach is not mentioned in the Latin copies of Nennius ; and therefore, as well as from his being called " our noble

VII.

elder," we may perhaps conclude that he was an Irish historiographer ; but no such Irish writer is known, nor is the name Irish ; unless we suppose it to be the same as Cuan or Guana (in the genitive case Cuanach), which was a common name among the ancient Irish. An historio- grapher of this name is frequently cited in the Annals of Ulster ; thus "sic in libro Cuanach inveni," at A. D. 467, 468, 471, 475' 552' 6°°> 602, 628; or "sic est in libro Cuanach,1' A. D. 610; or " ut Cuana scripsit," A. D. 482, 489 ; " ut Cuana docet," A. D. 598 ; " secundum librum Cuanach," A. D. 543. As no reference to Cuana occurs in these annals after the year 628, Ware supposes the writer so named to have flourished about that date ; and Colgan doubtingly identifies him with S. Cuanna, Abbot of Lismoro; Ware's Writers, by Harris, p. 26; Colgan, Acta SS. ad 4 Feb., p. 251. All this, however, is simple conjecture; for we know no- thing of the writer quoted in the Annals of Ulster except his name, unless he be the same as the Cuana, who is called " Scriba Treoit," or of Drogheda, and

VII. lap n-il bliaDnaib laptmm, DO peip papDine in t)|ina6, Do pala DO bpicup beich 05 paigoeopachc a piaonaipi in pig .1. a achaip, co panig in c-paigeD uaDa a coll apach in pig, ~\ gop mapb in pig po cecoip ainnpin .1. a achaip pein, -\ co po h-inoapbat* pon [o'n] h-Gacail lapcoin pop inDpib mapa Uoppian, -] inDapbam <5pe'5 li-e apnah-mopib a g-cmaio Uuipnn Do mapbao DO Ctemap. Uanig a Ppancaib mpoain, [ocup] po cumDaigeD leip Uopinip, [-] nip puilngeao anopin h-e], ~] canig mpoain a n-inip bpeacan, copo gab a pigi, i copo h-ainnimgeD in imp [uab], ~\ 50 pop lin Dia clainD 1 Dia cineD pom. [Qgup conaD h-epin] copach a rpebe, Do peip na Roman.

t>e rai^ais RomaN [QNOSOJ.

VIII. lanup .1. Ian pig na n-GpepDa, ipe ceo pig [po gab] T?o- manchu, [agup] ip uao ammnigep mi enaip. SaDupnD lapoain. loib lapDain. DapDan mac loib lapDain. piccup mac loib [mp- Dain]. Punup [mac piccup] n. [bliaDan]. LaDin a mac .1. [bliabon]. Qemap a. in. Ctpcan a. .xixini. Siluiup in. cona po

mapb

whose death is recorded A. D. 738 (An- to be, 7 ni po an lap co po mapb, &c.,

i/als of Ulster), 739 (Tighernach). — (T.) "and he stopped not (was not restrained)

" His father For .1. a achaip, B. and until he had killed his father." — (71)

L'. read .1. Silui. IA adds after a achaip, q By Aenias. — L'. adds here, ajup i

.1. Silump.— (7'.) pean-chocac jpec ajup Cpoiann pein;

0 The temple Uollapach, the hollow and L2. adds, ocup ip e cocao jpec ocup

of the temple, in front of the ear — (T.) Cpoianoach co pin anuap.— (T.)

P Died — his oicn father. — The reading r Torinit. — Coip-inip, B. Cachaip .1.

here followed is that of B. D. reads Copmip, L*. The city of Tours is intended,

a^up ni apaenlop gop mapb in c-achaip — (7'.)

annpin. L1. reads ajup ni poenlup co po s He teas not suffered to remain there —

mapb a achaip annpin. And L2. ajup This clause is added from L1. and L'' — (T.)

nip aenlop cop mapb a achaip annpin. ( Here — Qn&po is added from B. and L1.

The meaning of all these readings seems — (71.) The first paragraph of this chap-

39

VII. After many years subsequently, according to the prophecy of the Druid, it happened to Britus to be shooting arrows in pre- sence of the king, i. e. his father", and an arrow from him pierced the temple0 of the king, and the king died immediately there, i. e. his own fatherp; and afterwards he was driven out of Italy, to the islands of the Torrian [Mediterranean] sea, and the Greeks expelled him out of the Islands in revenge for Turnn, who had been killed by Aeniasq. After this he came to France, and Torinisr was founded by him, and he was not suffered to remain there5, but came after- wards into the island of Britain, where he took possession of the kingdom, and the island was named from him, and became full of his children and his descendants. And thus was it first peopled, ac- cording to the Romans.

OF THE KINGS or THE ROMANS HERE'.

VIII. Janus, i. e. Jan, King of Eperda", was the first king that took possession of the Roman territory; and it is from him was named the month of January". Saturn after him. Joib [Jove] after him. Dardan, son of Joib, after him. Piccus, son of Joib, after him. Faunus, son of Piccus, reigned twenty years". Latin, his son, fifty years. Aenias, three years. Ascan thirty-four years. Silvius twelve,

until

ter, down to "son of Aenias," does not po jab, are inserted from B. L1. IA

appear totidem verbis in any part of the from L1. L4. — (T.)

original. The residue is gleaned from the w Twenty years. — L1. and L2. read qiicu

fourth, fifth, tenth, and twenty-eighth bliaoan, i. e. thirty years. The insertions

chapters of Nennius __ (H.) between brackets in this passage are

'"•Eperda. — Gppepoa, IA Hesperiawas from B., L1., and L2. Instead of Gemap

an ancient name of Italy. Hor. Od. lib. a. [i. e. annos] in. Qpcan a. ;cj:;ciiii. ; the

iii. 6, v. 7; lib. iv. 5, v. 38 — (T.) other copies read Cteniap m. bliaoan,

T January __ TTlic lanuaip, IA ; the Qpcan, ;cx;cini. Other variations in or-

other copies all read mi enaip. The words thography are not worth noting. — (T.)

mapb a mac, n. bpicup, [amail po paiopeamap]. Siluiup amtm gach pig o pom [ille], co ropachc l?omal mac poem T?ea Siluiae ingeme Numicaip, mic Ppoic Silun, mic Quencine Silun, mic Qp- annulipi Silun, mic Ggpaippae Silnn, mic Uibepne Silun mic Ql- bam Silun, mic Clpcain Silun, mic popcaime Silun ; bpachaip pice 1 bpicipoa mac Silun mic Gpcain mic Qeniapa me.

Popcomup a pijgi l?oman jrprprijc. bpicap a piji [inopi] bpeacan FFJC. bliaoam. popcomiop a bpachaip a pigi 17oman uc oijcimup. heile pagapc ba plaich mac n-lppachel, -j ip'na comaip pugao int) aipc ipm baipe, -\ cugao po ceDoip.

O 50 bail jjpiraip 50 gabail Cpuirhneach a n-mopib Opcc o. cccc. [bliaban] ; -| po gabpacap in cpian cuaipcgeapcach

mom

* As ice have said. — Added from B. L'. L2.— (T.)

' Of every king from that time. — In cec pi£, B. ; but the other MSS. all read jacli or cue juj. Ille is added from L* (T.)

* Numito-r, sonofProc Sylcius — Neim- ruip. Nuitiicuip, B. L1. L2. J'ror, for Procas; it will be observed that in the Irish form of the proper names the termi- nations as, es, us, are uniformly omitted. L1. reads PIC here, and L'-. P'cc, instead of Ppoic, which, however, is evidently the true reading. The list of the Silvii which follows appears to have been taken from the Chronicon of Eusebius, although with some variations and inaccuracies. The genealogy, as given by Eusebius, is as follows: Numitor, son of Procas Syl- vius, son of Aventinus Sylvius, son of Aremulus S., son of Agrippa S., son of Tiberinus S., sou of Carpentus S., son of

Capis S., son of Athys or Egyptius S., son of Alba S., son of .^Eneas S., son of Pos- thumus S., brother of Ascanius and son of jEneas. See also Dion. Hal. and Livy. Our Irish author has omitted three gene- rations between Tiberinus and Alba; and it is probable that Ascan Sylvius, whom he makes the son of Posthumus, is a mis- take of the scribe (although it occurs in all the MSS.) for JEneus. He also makes Sylvius Posthumus the grandson, instead of the brother, of Ascanius, for which there is no authority ; although Livy makes Posthumus the son, not the bro- ther, of Ascanius. — (T.)

11 Thirty-nine years. — Probably a mis- take for twenty-nine, which is the number of years assigned to the reign of Posthu- mus by the Chronicon of Eusebius. Lr. reads cpicha bliaoun aile, thirty other years, but omits the next clause contain-

until his son, viz., Britus, killed him, as we have saidx. Silvius was the name of every king from that time1 until the coming of Romul, himself the son of Kea Silvia, daughter of Numitor, son of Proc Silvius2, son of Aventine Silvius, son of Aramulus Silvius, son of Agrippa Silvius, son of Tibern Silvius, son of Alban Silvius, son of Ascan Silvius, son of Postam Silvius ; he and Britus were brothers, and they were the two sons of Silvius, son of Ascan, son of Aenias.

Postomus was sovereign of the Romans, thirty-nine years3'. Britus was sovereign of the island" of Britain thirty years. Postomios his brother, was sovereign of the Romans as we have said. Heli, the priest, was prince of the children of Israel0; and it was in his pre- sence the ark was taken into captivity", and was brought back soon after.

From the conquest of Britus to the conquest of thePicts in the islands of Orce, were nine hundred years, and they took the northern'

third

iug the length of the reign of Britus, so that there is reason to suspect that a line may have been overlooked by the scribe, and that the thirty other years really belonged to the omitted reign of Britus (T.)

* Island. — Inopi is added from B (T.)

c Children of Israel. — plaich mac n- ap& Ippael, B. plaich pop macaib h- Ippael, L1. lomap pn h-uapul pacapc pop macaib Ippael, L2 -(T.)

AInto captivity. — This clause relating to

the captivity of the ark is omitted in all the MSS. except D., but it occurs in the Latin : " quando rcgnabat Bruto in Brit- tannia, Heli sacerdos judicabat in Israel, et tune archa Testamenti ab alienigenis possidebatur ;" and these words seem taken from the Chronicon of Eusebius, where IRISH ARCH. SOC. NO. l6.

the capture of the ark is thus recorded : "Mortuo Heli saccrdote archa testamen- ti ab alienigenis possidetur." — (T.)

e Ore. — epcono, L'. Opcac, L-. Opc- cac, B.— (7'.)

f Northern. — -In the, Latin "in sinistrali plaga Britannia." Anciently the north was considered to be on the left hand side, and the south on the right, looking east, as the ancient Christians did in prayer. And the same language is still used in Irish, for cuaio is properly the left hand, as well as the north ; and beup signifies the right hand and the south. See Usshcr, Primordia, pp. 80, 1021 — (T.) Likewise in British go-gledd, quasi-sinistralis, the north ; and deheu-barth, pars dextra, the south.— (//.)

(i

mDpi bnectccm ap egin o bpeacnaib, i aiccpeabaic ann cop unDiu.

^aeoil mpoain po jjabpac in panD cecna na Cpuichneach, -\ Do ponpac aencaij pe Cpuichnib a n-ajaio bpeacan.

Sa;rain po gabpac iapt>ain imp bpeacan a n-aimpip TTlap- ciain in pij. J^opcigeapnn [ona] ba pig bpeacan ann .1. Luchc rpi lonj cangacap ap in^eapniam nn Da bparliaip .1. Opp ~\ Qijeapc 50 po Dicuippeac bpeacnu in-nnlib na li-inDpi.

t>e

amair, iNt>isis

IX. Ceio peap DO gab GipinD .1. pappralon cum mile hoin- imbup .1. mile icip pipp -| mna, "| po popbpiclieap a 'n-6ipi na n-il mileaoaib, copap mapb a n-aen c-peachcmam DO cam, [a n-Dijail na pinjaili Do poinDi pop a pachcnp ajup pop a machaip].

NemeaD

8 Martian the king, i. e. .tin: emperor Marcinn, A.D. 450-457. The Latin rends " Regnante Gratiano secundo Equautio, Saxones a Guorthigirno suscepti sunt;" but some MSS. read, "Regnante Martiano secundo quando Saxones," &c. — (T.)

h The crew of three ships __ The story is thus told in the Latin, " Interea venerunt t.res ciula; a Germania exjiulsa: in exilio, in quibus erant Hors et Ilengist, qui et ipsi fratres erant."- — (T.)

1 Isli.iHil. — Na clipioch, L". The re- petition in the Book of Lecan ends here.

J The first man, ^r — See Additional Notes, No. IV.

k With a thousand men — Cfjup mile muille ppip, B. L. Keating quotes Nen-

nius, out of the Psalter of Casliel (whieh, very probably, contained a eopy of this work), as his authority for the number of Partholan's companions. After giving the names of Partholan's wife and three sons, he says that there came with him an army of a thousand men, mile DO plua£ i muille pit), DO peip Nenniup, umcul leu^rop a Ppulcuip Chaipil, "ac- cording to Nennius, as we read in the Psalter of Cashel." Mr. Dermot O'Conor, in his translation of this passage, has

tranformed Nennius into A'inus (T.)

1 They multiplied. — poipbpecipcup, B.

poipbpeuoup, L (?'.)

, m In one week — This event, as Keating tells us, from the Psalter of Cashel, took place 300 years after the arrival of Par-

43

third part of the island of Britain by force from the Britons, and they dwell there unto this day.

Afterwards the Gaels took the same division occupied by the Picts; and they made a treaty with the Picts against the Britains.

The Saxons afterwards took the island of Britain in the time of Marcian the Kingg. But Gortigearn was then King of Britain, i. e. the crew of three ships" came out of Germany under two brothers, viz., Ors and Aigeast, so that they drove the Britons into the borders of the island1.

OF THE CONQUEST OF Em, AS RECORDED BY NENNIUS.

IX. The first man1 that took Eri was Parrtalon, with a thou- sand menk, i. e. a thousand between men and women; and they mul- tiplied1 in Eri, into many thousands, until they died of a plague in one week™, in judgment for the murder that he committed on his father and on his mother".

Nemed

tliolan ; sec also the Annals of the Four Masters, who give A. M. 2820 as the date of this plague, and 2520 as the date of Par- tholan's arrival. Keating fixes the arrival of Partholan in the twenty-second year before the birth of Abraham, on the au- thority of an ancient poem, or 300 years after the Deluge. It never seems to have occurred to these ancient historians to ex- plain how all this minute knowledge about Partholan and his followers could have been preserved, if they had all perished in the plague. O'Flaherty (Ogygia, p. 65) places the birth of Abraham in A.M. 1949, and the arrival of Partholan in A. M. 1969, on the authority of the Annals of

G

Clonmacnois, and Giolla Coemhan's poem beginning Gpe apo, of which there is ii copy in the Leabhar Gabhala — (T.)

" In judgment I/is mother. — This

clause is added from L. The double par- ricide of Partholan is not mentioned in the Latin copies. Keating speaks of it thus: Gp i cmpumma b-cumijt; pupclia- lon a ii-Gpmn cpe map DO rhupb' pe a aruip, a^up a muraip, ag lappuio pi^e b'a b'puraip, 50 o-caimg ap ceiciob a pionjaile, 50 puimg Gipe, gonaD aipe pin Do cuip (Jiu plui£ ap a pliocc, pep mapbab nuoi mile pe h-aom peuccmum oiob, a m-6emn Goaip. " The cause why Partholan came into Eri was because

44

Nemeao ictpoain pop ^ab [pen in Gipmt>]. TTlac pamem ajiaile Ggnomain; po arcpeob a pil pe pe cian [in Gipint>], co n-t>eacat>ap co h-Gapbain, pop ceiceao [in cippa] na TThiipiDe .1. na pomopac. Uipi bullopurn .1. pipbols mpoain -] Uipi Qpmopum, .1. pip , -] Lhpi Oominioputn .1. Ppi Domnann, pil Nemio annpin. T?o jab in n-Gipino lapoain plebep Oeoputn .1. Uuara oe Oa-

nann

lie had killed his father and mother, in or- der to obtain the kingdom from his bro- ther, after which murder he departed, and came to Eri; but on this account God sent a plague on his race, by which were killed nine thousand men of them in one week, ut Ben Hedar;" now Howth. The Four Masters, ad A. M. 2820, place this event "at the old plain of Moynalta, on the Hillot'Edar," or Howth; — fop pen muij Gulca Gbaip ; and they add, that a monument in memory of it was erected at Tallaght, near Dublin, thence called Caiiileuchc mumcipe pupchalun, the Tamhleacht, or plague monument of the posterity of Partholan. — (T.)

0 Eri. — The words pen in 6ipniu are added from L. The arrival of Nemed is dated by the Four Masters, A. M. 2850; and by O'Flaherty (Ogygia, p. 65) A.M. 2029. 5Qk) when followed by a preposi- tion, has a neuter signification (7'.)

P In Eri — Added from B. L (T.)

11 The tribute.-— Added from B. L. For an account of the Irish traditions about the Nemedians, their contests with the Fomorians or mariners, and the op- pressive tribute imposed upon them, see

Keating's History of Ireland. O'Flaherty dates the flight of the Nemedians, A. M. 2245. 1"° Fomorians were "men of the sea," for so the name signifies, i. e. they were pirate*. Keating says : Ctp uipe oo yipci poihopui^ 6iob, .1. o na m-beir ujj oeunarh pojlu ap muip. Pomopai^, .1. po rmnpib. " For this reason they are called Fomorians, because they used to commit robbery on the sea. FotHor/ans, i. e. on the seas." — (T.)

r \ ii'i Hutttrrum Uipno, in D., is a

manifest error of the scribe for Uipi. D. is the only one of the three MSS. that gives the Latin names here. liuUum, in the Latinity of the middle ages, signified, according to Du Gauge, liacidum pas- tor is ; which suggests a derivation of the name Fir-Bolg, that the Editor has not seen noticed. Keating derives it from bolj;, a leathern bag, or pouch ; and others think that this colony were Belga\ See O'Brien's Diet, in voce bolg, and O'Fla- herty (Ogygia, p. 73), who fixes the date of the arrival of the Fir-Bolg, A. M. 2657. The Four Masters place this event under A. M. 3266.— (2'.) See Ad. Notes, No.V.

s Were the race of Nemed. — Viri Ar-

45

Nemed afterwards inhabited Eri°. He was the son of one Ag- noman; his race dwelt long in Erip until they went into Spain, flying from the tribute" imposed on them by the Muiridi, i. e. the Fomorians.

The Viri Bullorumr, i. e. the Firbolg, afterwards, and the Viri Armorum, i. e. the Fir-Gaileoin, and the Viri Dominiorum, i. e. the Fir Domnann: these were the race of Nemed8.

Afterwards the Plebes Deorum, i. e. the Tuatha De Danann', took

Ireland;

morum is a literal translation of Fir- Gaileoin, for jaiUian signifies a dart or spear. (See O'Brien in voce). The Fir- Domnann are supposed to be the same as the Damnonii or Dawnomi, and the fan- ciful derivation of their name given by Keating, is far less probable than that suggested by our author; although both are, most probably, wrong. Keating's ac- count of these tribes of the Fir-Bolg is as follows. After noticing the five leaders of the Fir-Bolg, he says: Gp Do na caoipiocnib pe 50 na b-poipnib j^aipriop pip 6ol£, pip Dhoviinann, ajup^aileom. pip ftolg, imoppo, o na boljaib leartnp DO biob aca pan n^peij, ag lomcop inpe, Da cop pop leacaib loma, jijo n- oeunoaoip moije mion-pgocacu po blar biob. pip tDliorhnann o na Doirhne Do coclaiDip an uip pe na h-iomchop o'pea- paib 6015. ^aileom tpa o na jaib po h-ainmm£ea6 IQD, DO b;u^ jjupab IQD Do BIOD a n-apm 05 copnarh caic an can DO biDip a^ Deunam a bpea&ma, ajup o na ^aib, no o na plea^aib pa h-uipm Doib, po h-ammntjiob IOD. " It was

these chieftains, with their followers, who were called the Fir-Bolg, Fir Dhomh- nann, and Gaileoin. Fir Bolg, from the leathern bags that they had with them in Greece, for carrying mould, to lay it on the flat-surfaced rocks, so as to convert them into flowery plains. Fir Dhomhnann, from the deep pits (doimhne) they used to dig to obtain the mould to be carried by the Fir-bolgs. And the Gaileoin were so called from their spears; because they used to be under arms to protect them all when they were performing their task; and it was from the spears (yaibh), or from the lances (sleayltaibk) which they used as arms, that they were so called." See also the Poem beginning Gpe apap na n-iop^al, by O'Mulconry of Cruaehain, in the Leabhar Gabhala (O'Clery's copy, Royal Irish Academy, p. 34), which was most probably Keating's authority — ( T.) 1 Plebes Deorum, i. c. Tuatha De Dan- aan The name Tuatha De Danann sig- nifies " the people of the Gods of Da- naan." Danann, daughter of Dalbaoit, (whose genealogy, in thirteen descents up

46

nann ip oib ]io babaji na pnim elaftnaig. Goon Luchcenup Qp- cipe;r. Cpeoenup pigalup. Oianup TTleioicup. Gaoan [ona] pilia eiup .1. muimi na piliD. ^oibnen pabep. Lug mac Giuhnega jiabatiap na h-uil-oana. Oagoa [mop] (mac Galaoan mic Deal- baich) in pig. Ogtna bpachaip in pig, ap e a panig licpi na Sgoc. I]1 iat> na pip peo po bpipear each mop pop na muipeaoaib .1. pop na pomoncaib, -\ cop raecpaoap pompa ina cop .1. Dun fio

oaingean

to Nemcd, is given by Keating), is fabled to have had three sons, Brian, luchar, and Ineharba, famous for their sorceries and necromantic power, who were there- fore called I)e Danann, or the Gods of Danann ; and from them the people who venerated them received the name of Tuatha De Danann. See Keating. O'Fla- herty dates the invasion of the Tuatha De Danann, A. M. 2737. The Four Masters, A. M. 3303. — (T.)

u Coi/iiten, fuber — In 15. and L. the trades or arts practised by these " chief men of science" of the Tuatha Ue Danann, are given in Irish, not in Latin as in the text; aud their names are also somewhat varied, tuccuno pnep. OpeDne ceupo. t)iuncecc liui£. Ccati, Dna, u h-m^eni piDe .1. bunne nu pileuo. ^oibneno ^olia, 15. 6uclipa in paep, ajup Cpeione in cecipo, "jup Oianceachc in IKII^, u^up6ut>anDariu a inpjean pin, .1. muime nu pileo, ajup ^oibneann in £obu. L. i. e. " Luchtan (or Luchra), the carpen- ter (or mechanic); Credne, the artist; Dianceacht, the leech (or physician) ; Etan (or Edaudana) teas his daughter,

\'v/.. the nurse of the poets; Goibnenn, the smith." These personages (with the exception of Etan " the nurse of poets") are all mentioned by Keating. Etan is thus noticed by O'Flaherty, " Eta- na poetria, filia Diankecht, filii Asaraci, tilii Nedii, Lugadii regis amita, et soror Armediu medico;, fuit mater Dalbocthii regis," &c — Oyyyia, iii. c. 14, p. 179. See also theLoabhar Gabhala (O'Clery's copy, K. I. A.) where she is thus mentioned, p. 45: 6(irccm bumeccep mi;en Oiuncbecc mic Gapcupjj 6pic, mic Neicc; and again, p. 49 : fcucun .1. an bampile, macaip Coipppi. CIipmeD an Bamliaij 01 in^in C>!ancechc laiopibe. — (7'.)

v \\~itli ichiiiti, i.e. who had a knowledge of all the arts — Occui po baou", B. U..np ip uici po buoap, L. This Lugh was Lugh Lainli-fhada, or the Long- handed, who instituted the games at Taillten, now Telltown, in East Meath. Keating makes him the son ofCian, son of Diancccht, &c. See also Leabhar Gabhala, p. 48 ; and O'Flaherty's Ogygia, part iii. ch. 13, p. i71.—(T.)

w Son of Deatliaet/i. — This short gene-

47

Ireland; it was of them were the chief men of science; as Luchtenus, artifex; Credenus, figulus; Dianus, medicus; also Eadon, his daugh- ter, viz. the nurse of the poets; Goibnen, faber". Lug, son of Eithne, with whomv were all the arts. Dagda the Great (son of Ealadan, son of Dealbaith") the king. Ogma, brother of the king; it was from him came the letters of the Scots*.

It was these men that defeated in a great battle7 the mariners, i. e. the Fomorians, so that they fled2 from them into their tower*, i. e.

a

alogy does not occur in L. or B. TTIop is added from L. The genealogy of these chieftains is thus given in the Leabhar Gabhala (p. 48): eochaib Ollacap, biap bo h-amm an Oajoa, mac Galacam, mic Oealbaoic, mic Nee, mic lonoaoi, ceirpe ficic&liaoan. " Eochaidh Ollathar, who had the name of the Dagda, son of Ealathan, son of Dealbaoth, son of Net, son of londaoi (reigned) fourscore years." Oealbuoic mac O^ma ^pianoinn, mic Galacam, mictDealbuoic, micNeicc, mic lonnom, oeic m-bliaoan. " Dealbaeth, son of Ogma Grianoinu, son of Ealatlian, son of Dealbaet, son of Ned, son of londai, (reigned) ten years. See also O'Flaherty, Ogyg. iii. c. 13, p. i79.—(T.)

x The letters of the Scots. — The ancient occult methods of writing were called Ogham. Ogma was surnamed ^piam-eijip, the resplendent poet, which O'Flaherty Latinizes into Ogma Griananus (Ogyg. iii. c. 14, p. 179) — (T.)

''Defeated in ayreat battle Lit. "broke

a great battle upon the mariners." In- stead of each mop, L. reads each tTluiji

Uuipeao, but the Irish traditions re- present the battle of Moy Tuireadh as having been fought between the Tuutha De Danann, and the Firbolg ; so that this reading is probably an error of some scribe. — (2'.)

z They fled. — Caecpac, H. Oiuec-- peao, B. Cheichpeuoap, L. — (T.)

a Into their tower, fyc. — -This is stated as of the Milesians by Nennius ; and the tower is said to have been of glass. The legends of glass towers, houses, ships, &c., are capable of two solutions : the one natural, and referring to a time when glass windows were a great rarity; and the other mystical, and analogous to Merlin's prison of air, whereof the walls, though invisible and transparent, were for ever impassable. See Roman de Mer- lin, cvvviii. On that principle, every magic circle described by a wand of power is a tower of glass; and a circle of triliths or of stones, though it be a half-open enclosure (a point harped upon in almost every combination of British words), is a perfect and inviolable structure. From the

48

pop muip. Co n-Deachaoaji pip Gpenn ma n-oajait) co imnp, copo cachaispeac ppiu co pop poppo oo glaepeac in muip uile ace luchc aen luinge, £op gabaoap in n-inip lapoain. No co- mau mn clann Neimio im peapgup leib-oeapg mac Neimm oo rojailpear; in cop, -jc.

X. Uainig mpoain Dam ocliraip, cona och[c] lonjaib, ip co po aircpeabpar a n-Gipinn, ~\ co po ^ab pariO mop De.

pp bolg imoppo po gabpac TTlanaino -) apaile innpi apceana, Qpa i Hi i l?achpa.

Clanoa ^aileoin, imoppo, mic Gapcail po jjabpac inopi ope .1.

Ipropech

Preidcleu Anmvvn (Spoils, or Herds, of the the north coast of Ireland now called Abyss) wo may cite this passage: "I Copinip, i. e. Tower Island, corrupted in- shall not win the multitude. [Under] a to Tory island. After the destruction of

the Foinorians, another body of pirates commanded by Move, son of Dela, with

veil [is] the leader of hosts. Through the enclosure of glass (caer wydyr) they discerned not the stature (or length,

a fleet of thirty (some copies of Keating

gicrltyrl) of Arthur. Threescore bards read sixty) ships from Africa, again oc-

(c-anwr) stood upon the wall. It was cupied the island, and were again attacked

difficult to parley with its sentinel." — 1\ by the Nemcdians; but the tide coming

29-32. The name of Bangor Wydrin or upon them unperceived during the battle,

Glaston, belongs to this notion of vitreous castles or sanctuaries, whatever be its true origin. — (//.)

b Closed upon them. — Cop ur-oib popcnb in muip, L. Cop pap pop siucluino in muip, B — (T.)

« £/»)>._6mpce, L.— (T.)

A Or according to others — The second account of this event is found only in U. and is more in accordance with the Irish traditions. See Keating, and the Leabhar Gabhala. The tower, called Conaing's Tower, from Conaing, son of Faobhar, is said to have been on the island on

the Nemedians were all drowned, except, the crew of one boat. Xennius, as has been said, attributes this exploit to the Milesians. It would seem as if two or three diU'erent stories had been confound- ed together in the accounts of it that now remain. See O'Flaherty, Ogygia, iii. c. 7, p. i"O. — ('/'.) Fergus Leithdearg •was one of the four sons of Nemed, and father of Britan, from whom the Irish deduced the name of Britain and the pedigree of St. Patrick — (//.)

e A company of eight Oarh ochraip,

so written in D. and L. B. reads t)a-

49

a very strong fortress on the sea. The men of Eri went against them to the sea, so that they fought with them until the sea closed" upon them all, except the crew of one ship0; and thus they \tlie Irish] took the island afterwards. Or, according to others'1, it was the de- scendants of Nemed, with Fergus Leith-dearg [the red sided], son of Nemed, that destroyed the tower, &c.

X. Afterwards came a company of eight6, with eight ships, and dwelt in Eri, and took possession of a great portion of it.

But the Eirbolg seized upon Mann, and certain islands in like manner, Ara, Hi, and Rachraf.

The children of Galeoing, also, the son of Ercal [Hercules], seized

the

riiocrop, as if it were intended for Da- mochtor, a proper name, as in the Latin copies; but the verb canjaoap, which is the third person plural, shews that in this MS. also the words meant a company of eight. L. and B. read only cona lon^eap or gona lonjip, with their ships, omitting ochc. Some of the Latin copies read Clam Hector, Clan Hoctor, and some mere- ly Hoctor; a word which in Irish signifies eight men. — (T.)

f Ara, Hi, and Rachra Qpa 7 Ha

7 Recca, B. Qpa 7 He 7 TCucca, L. The islands of Ara, Ha or Islay, and Kachlin or Rathlin, are intended. In the Latin we read " Builc autem cum suis tenuit Euboniam insulam, et alias circiter." Eubonia is the Isle of Man, and Builc is most probably a corruption of 6015 or F'P 6olj; (T.)

g The children of Galeoin, Sfc — That is to say the Fir-Galeoin before mentioned; being that tribe of the Firbolg who ob-

IRISH AECH. SOC. l6. H

tained Leinster. The original merely says, that Istoreth, son of Istorin, occu- pied Dalrieda, i.e. Argyle, Lorn, and their vicinage ; and has nothing about the Ork- neys. The translator, in this instance, has only heaped confusion. For the name of Agathirir, grandfather of Istorin, means Agathirsus, i. e. Pictus ; yet he is made a Ferbolg, arid distinguished from the race of Cruithnich or Picts, in which occurs another Istoreth. I suppose the name Istorinus of Nennius to be the Irish name Starn, which occurs in the brother of Partholan (Ogygia, part i. p. 4) and the father of Simon Brec (Keating, p. 37); and which has been derived from stair, history. See Wood's Primitive Inhabitants, pp. 14, 1 1 8. The name Ilistoreth of Nen- nius, transferred by our translator to the Picts, is quoted as son of Agnamhan, but Starn, father of Simon Brec, was grandson of Agnamhan, which has been interpreted Song. See Wood, ibid, p. 1 3. — (H.)

5°

Ipcoperh mac Ipcoipine mic digine mic Qgachipip po pjailpeac

apip a h-mt>pib Opcc .1. oo cuaio Cpuichne mac Inju mic Cuiche

mic paipce mic Ipcopech mic ajnamain mic buain mic TTlaip

mic paicheachc mic lauao mic lapech ; conat) po jab cuapceapc

mnp bpeacan, -| co pombpeac a pecc macu a peapann a peace

pannaib, -| ape amm cacha pip t>ib aca pop a peapann.

Seacc meic Cpuichmj .1. Pib, pioach, Poclam, popcpfnn,

Cac, Ce, Cipij. [Uc oi;ric Colam cilli

TTIoippeipeap Do Cpuichne claint* T?oint>pet> Qlbain a peaclir paint) Cair, Ce, Cipeach cecach clano, pib, piDach, pocla, poipcpeanD.]

Q^up co po jab Qenbeajan mac Caicc micCpuichm apDpije na

pecc pano. pinacca ba plair n-Gipenn ip in pe pin, [agup] po

jabpac giall Cpnichneacli.

Do cuaoap coicpeap imoppo, oo Cpuchancuachib a h-mt>pib

opcc 11 Son of Agathirir. — RipcoipenD mac

lliptopin, mic Qjom, mic Qgarluppi, B.

InipcoipeanD mac Iproipmi, mic G£-

numna, mic Qjjachaippi, L. The Latin

roads, " Istorith, Istorini tilius, tcnuit

Dalrieta cum suis." It will lie observed

that the Fir-Galeoin, who a little before

were supposed to have derived their name

from jalian, a spear, and who were there-

fore called v/ri armornm, are here derived

from Galian, the name of a man. These inconsistencies at least prove that the present work was compiled from various ancient sources, which were copied blindly by the compiler, without any attempt to make them hang together consistently — (T.)

' Again — Qpipioi, L. t)opioipi, B.-(7'.)

k Cmit/me. — Cruithne is here made to be a man's name ; his genealogy is thus given in L. : Cpuichne mac lnj;e, mic f,uchta, nnc Papchalon, mic Cfjjnon, mic 6uam, mic IDuip, mic phachecc, mic lauao, mic lachpech, mic Nae : in B. thus: Cpuichne mac Cinje, mic f,uccui, mic papcui, mic Plipcopech ; and it will be seen that in another part of 15. the genealogy is given in another form more nearly agreeing with L._ (21.)

' To his own jxyriion — Literally, " and it is the name of each man of them that is on his land." This clause is omitted in this place in B (T.)

m As Cdumbkittesaid. — This short poem

the islands of Ore, i. e. Istoreth, son of Istorine, son of Aigin, son of Agathirir11, were dispersed again' from the islands of Ore, and then came Cruithne", son of Inge, son of Luithe, son of Pairte, son of Istoreth, son of Agnaman, son of Buan, son of Mar, son of Fatheacht, son of Javad, son of Japheth ; so that he seized the northern part of the island of Britain, and his seven sons divided his territory into seven divisions, and each of them gave his name to his own portion1.

The seven sons of Cruithne are Fib, Fidach, Fotlaid, Fortrean, Cat, Ce, Cirig. As Columbcille saidm.

Seven of the children of Cruithne

Divided Alban into seven portions ;

Cait, Ce, Cireach of the hundred children,

Fib, Fidach, Fotla, Foirtreann.

And Aenbeagan", son of Cat, son of Cruithne, took the sovereignty of the seven divisions. Finacta0 was Prince of Eri at that time, andp took hostages of the Cruithnians.

Now five menq of the . northern Cruithnians, i. e. five brothers of

their

is inserted from L. and from B. (where it plaich n-Gpenn, &c., as in the text, with occurs in another place). B. in this place only some trivial variations. — (T.) agrees almost exactly with D. Immediately n Aenleagan. Onbecan, L. B. — (T.) after the genealogy of Cruithne, L. adds : Ip ° Finacta. — This must be Finacta, son h-e achaip Cpuichnecli ajup cec blia- of Ollam Fodla, who became king of Ire- bam ippijje. SeachcmeicCpuidine mopo land on the death of his father, A.M. 3276 . i . PI&, cijuppmach, ujup Pocla, ajup according to O'Flaherty; 3923 according Popcpeann, Caic, ajjup Ce, ajup Cipic, to the Four Masters; and 3112 according ur oi;cic, &c., as in the text. After Co- to Keating. — (T.)

lumbkille's verses follows, Co po point)- P And. — Ctjup, added from L — (T.)

peac i pecc pannaib in peupann, ajjup ip i Five men. — Coiccap, D. Coijeap, B.

e ainm each pip fiib pil pop a peapuno, Coicpeap, which is the reading of L.,

uc epc pib, Ce, Caic, Jc. ;ciii pi con shews the true etymology of this class of

jobpao Oib poppo, ajjup gabaip Onbe- personal numerals. See O'Donovan's Irish

can mac Caic tnic Cpuichne aipbpiji net Grammar, p. 125. — (T.) peccpenn pin. Then follows pinoaccapa

Hz

52

opcc .1. cuic bpachpi achap Cpuirne co Ppancaib 50 po cuinDaij- peao cachaip ann .1. picccarup no Inpiccup, o na pinncaib ainm- nijeap ; ~\ co cangaoap oopip Docum na h-innpi .1. oocum na h-Gpenn, co pabaoap pe cian arm, 50 pap oicuippeac 5aeD1^ caP Tnuip t»o cum a m-bpachap.

Clanna Liaramnnic Gapcail po^abpau peapann Oieimcopum -|

co[a] macaiba bpearnaib.

t>e nncechcai6 ^aeDeac. QNNSO sis. XI. IS amlam peo nnoppo arpiaoaic na h-eolam na n-gaeoeal

imceachca

u Sons of Lialkan — This is a literal version of Nennius : " Filii autem Lie- than obtinuerunt in regione Demetorum, et in aliis regionibus, i. e. Guir et Cet- gueli, donee expulsi sunt a Cuneda, et a filiis ejus, ab omnibus Britannicis re- gionibus."— (7'.) The names, Liathan and Ereal, variously disfigured in the Latin, are, perhaps, corrected here. On the other hand the names of Denetia or Dyved, i. e. Pembrokeshire, Gwyr or Gower, in Glamorgan, and Cydweli or Kidwelly, in Caermarthen, as well as that of king Cynedda, are further corrupted. See Humph. Llwyd Commentariolum, p. 100. — (//.)

v Dieimptorum and Gxer and Guigelk. — t)iemcopum ojup Cuhep ajup Cujeilli, L. TDiamcopuo ojup <5ueP a5ur 5U~ jelll, B._ (7'.)

w Cohenda — Cuanna, L. Cuanoa, B. -(T.)

x Expelled. — Innapb, H. Inbapbapcap, B. Innapbpaoap, L. — (T.)

y As follows — So much of this Gadelian

r Pictatm or Inpictus — Or perhaps we should translate, " Pictatus or the Pic- tus." L. reads piccabip, and B. picra- uip, without the second name. The city of Augustoritum, or Poictiers, capital of Pictavia, or Poictou, in France, is evi- dently the city meant. The fable is in- vented to suit the similitude of names. Keating, ([noting the authority of the Psalter of Cashel, makes the Cruithneans a people of Thrace, and supposes them to have founded Pictavium in the course of their migrations, before their arrival in the British isles. See Keating, at the reign of Heremon. — (7".)

5 From the pick-axes. — Instead of o na pinnraib ammnigeaji, B. and L. read simply a h-amm. — (T.)

c To their brethren. — The substance of this section, with some additional matter (the length of the reigns, for example, of the sons of Cruithne, and the cities where they reigned), is given in another copy, near the beginning of this Tract, in both B. and L.— (T.)

53

their father Cruithne, went from the islands of Ore, to the Franks, and founded a city there, viz., Pictatus or Inpictusr, so called from the pick-axes5 ; and they came again to this island, i. e. to Eri, where they were for a long time, until the Gaedil drove them across the sea to their brethren'.

The sons of Liathan", son of Ercal, seized the country Dieimpto- rum, and Guer, and Guigellev, until Cohenda™ and his sons expelled" them out of Britain.

OF THE ADVENTURES OF XI. The learned of the Gaels2

or Milesian story, as belongs to Nennius, is culled from his ninth and seventh chap- ters. The Altars of the Philistines are the Aree Philffinorum, between Leptis Magna and Barce,

" Qua celebre invicti nomen posuere Pliilseni," two Carthaginian brothers, whose patrio- tic self-devotion is recorded in many writers, especially in Sallust's Jugurtha, p. 126. Delphin. 1674. The Lacus Sa- linarum (here Salmara) must signify the salt-marshes near the Syrtis Major, called in maps Salinas Immense ; and not the lake anciently called Salinas Nubonenses in the Mauritania Sitifensis ; for other- wise the Gaels would be retrograding east- wards to Rusicada. The city of Rusicada (here Ruiseagda;) was near the modern Stora, to the west of Bona, and had a Donatist bishop Victor, and a Catholic bishop Faustinian. See Optatus a Dupin, p. 14, p. 369. Antwerp. The Montes Azarae (here Mount lasdaire) are the

GAEDEL, AS FOLLOWS*. give the following account of the

adventures

Mons Aurasius, stretching S.W. of Rusi- cada. The River Malva is now the Enza, at or near the division of the Algerian and Maroquin states. The Mediterranean Sea is the Mare Terrenum, or Land Sea, of Marcus, pp. 52 and 49, and of Tire- chan in his Annot. p. xix. Wherever (as in Nennius, cap. ix. Galfrid. Monumet. i, c. 12, and in the Lives of St. Patrick) the Tyrrhenum cequor is spoken of by writers of these islands, it is a corruption of Terrenum, and means the Terranean or Medi-Terranean. It is worthy of obser- vation, that learning, neither inaccurate nor very common, has found its way into this geography of the Historia Britonum. It has been copied, in an ignorant man- ner, by the Archdeacon of Monmouth, or by the original author whom he ren- dered. Galfrid. Monumet. i, cap. 1 1, 12. — (H.)

*The learned of the Gaels.—" Sic mihi peritissimi Scottorum nunciaverunt. —

54

imceachca a n-appaiDe coipeac. Ro bai apaile peap poceanolach pop loingeap i n-Gigipc, lap na h-mtmpba a piji Sgeichia, in n- inbam cangaDap meic Ippachel cpe TTluip RuaiD, -] po baiDeao popanD cona pluaj. In pliiag cepna ap $an baoat), po h-innapbpac a h-Gigipc in loingpec [poicenelach] UD, ap ba clmmain pium Do popant) t»o baioeao ann .1. popann Cfncpip.

T?o apcnaoap mpum in SjeicheagDai co na clann ip a n-Qpppaij, co h-alcopaib na peilipDinach co cuinb Salmapa, •] eicip na l?uip- eagoaib -] pliab lapDaipe, -] cap ppuch mbailb cpep in pec muipiOe co colamnaib Gpcail cap muncinn ^amiooin coh-6appain; 1 po aiccpeabaio [in Gppain] lapDam, co cangaDap meic TTlileao Gappame co h-6ijnnD co cpichaic cuile, co rpicha lanamain each cul, a cino Da bliaDan ap mile lap m-baoao popainD [im muip puait)].

Re;r haucem eopum meppup epc .1. po baioeaD in pig .1. Oonn 05

ci5

Quando venerunt per mare Eubrum filii Israel," &c — Nennim. See Additional Notes, No. VI. Two copies of this sec- tion are to be found in different parts of the Book of Lecan — (T.)

* Noble — Soiceneluch added from B. L'. L2.— (T.)

b i. e. Forann Cincris. — These words occur only in D. In the Chronicon of Eusebius we read, " Iste est Pharao Chen- cres qui contradixit per Mosen Deo, atque mari rubro obrutus est." — (T.)

c The wells of Salmara. — Sctlmapum, B. L1. Salmapmm, L2. In the Latin " per lacum Salinarum, or "Palmaruin," as some MSS. of Nennius read erro- neously.— (T.)

d The Ruiscaijdtv. — Na T?uprect>u, L'. na Roipcicoa, L'-. nu Ropcicoa, B. In all the Irish copies this word seems given in a plural form as the name of a people. The Latin reads, " ad Rusicadam." — (T.)

e Mount lasdaire Slebe 6apraip, L2.

Slebe Qj-cape, B. L1. The Latin reads, " Montes Azariai ;" but some copies read " Syria?," and Gale's edition reads Ararat. -(T.)

f The River Mlall D. reads cap pliab

mbalb i. ppur, where the words i. fpuc, are manifestly the correction of pliab, and introduced by the ignorance of the copyist into the text. B. and L*. read ppuch niaille. L'. reads j-pucli ITIuilb. The Latin is " per flumeu Mai vain." — (T.)

55

adventures of their ancient chiefs. There was a certain nobleman in exile in Egypt, after he had been banished out of the kingdom of Scythia, at the time when the children of Israel passed through the Red Sea, and Forann [ Pharoali] , with his host, was drowned. The army that escaped without being drowned, banished out of Egypt the aforesaid noblea exile, because he was the son-in-law of the Forann that was drowned there ; i. e. Forann Cincris5.

Afterwards the Scythians went, with their children, into Africa, to the altars of the Philistines, to the wells of Salmarac, and between the Ruiseagdaed, and Mount lasdaire6, and across the River Mbalbf, through the Mediterranean Seag to the pillars of Hercules, beyond the sea of Gadidon" to Spain ; and they dwelt in Spain' afterwards, until the sons of Miled (Milesius) of Spain" came to Eri, with thirty boats, with thirty couples in each boat, at the end of a thousand and two years after Forann was drowned in the Red Sea1.

Rex autem eorum mersus est, i. e. the king, viz., Donn, was

drowned

B The Mediterranean Sea.— Sec mui- though he refers to this passage, lias

pioe, literally semita marina, the sea path entirely misunderstood it. (T.)

or way, which must here signify the Me- i InSpain.— Addedfrom B.L1. L" (T.)

diterranean. The Latin is " transierunt k mied Of Spain.— -This occurs in uno-

per maritima." — (T.) ther part of the Latin copies, " Et postea

h The sea of Gadidon. — This is not venerunt tres filii cujusdam militis Ilis-

mentioned in the Latin. ITluincino C(c- panias" (ITlileaD Cappame, where the

eoan, B. (the aspirated 5 omitted.) mum- proper name, Miled or Milesius, appears

cino 5aiD1DonDa> L. The word mum- to stand for miles), " cum triginta ciulis

cino or mumcinn, signifies the top or apud illos, et cum triginta conjugibus in

surface ; the level plain (here of the sea). unaquaque ciula." The word cuil or

In the Leabhar Gabhala (p. 3), it is ex- cul, (cubed, L.) is evidently cognate with

plained in a gloss by uaccap, surface. the Anglo-Saxon ceol, a long boat, the

Op mumcinn [.i. uaccap] mapa maip root of our present English word keel.

Caipp ; " Over the surface of the Caspian See Du Cange v. Ceola, Ciula. — (T.)

Sea." O'Reilly, in his Dictionary, al- ' In the Red Sea. — Added from L. L).

56

cij Duint>. <Cpi banoe in n-inbcnO pin a plaiciup Gpenn, polla, •] banba, -| Sine, copo moiDeaOap cpi cacha poppo pe macaib TTIileab. Copo gabaoap meic TTlileao pigi lapoain.

Concenpio magna pacca epr .1. po pap copnam [mop] ecep Da mac IDileat) imon pige co po pibipcap a m-bpeicham lac .1. Gmaip- gein [glun jeal mac TTlileD, •]] ba piliO eipioen t>na; -| ip e in pib Oo poinoe .1. painD Gpenn a n-oo, -] pogab Gbep [in leach] reap, -] 6ipemon [pa leach] cuaig; -\ [po] aiccpeabaio a clanna an n-mopi [peo cup anoiu.]

XII. bpeacam cpa po gabpacap in n-inpi peo ip in cpeap

aimpeap

reads lap m-aoao for tap m-baoao, omit- ting the eclipsed initial letter, a very com- mon omission in that MS — (T.)

m Tigh-Duinn, — Heber Donn, one of the eight commanders of the Milesians, was shipwrecked at Teach Duinn, i. e. the House of Donn, in Kerry. Ogygia iii. cap. 1 6, p. 182. This is the name still given by the peasantry of the neighbour- hood to one of the three islands commonly called the Bull, the Cow, and the Calf, oft' Dursey island, at the south entrance of Kenmare Bay. Keating speaks of Teach Duinn as being near sand banks, Ctp an po bairoib 100 ajj na Duihacaib, pe paicciop Ceac t)umn, i n-iaprap ITIuman, ajup ip o t)honn, mac TDileuD, DO bacab ann, jaipriop Ceac tDhuinn oe. " The place where they were drowned was at the sand banks which is called Donn's House, in the west of Munster ; and it is from Donn, son of Milesius, who was drowned there, that they are called

Donn's House." He also cites the fol- lowing verses from a poem by Eochy O'Flynn :

tDonn, ip 6ile, ip 6uan a bean, t)il, ip Qipeac, mac PDileaa, 6uap, &peap, ip &uuijne 50 m-bloib, tDo bacub uj nu t)uriiucoiB.

'* Donn, ami Uile, and Buan his wife, Pil, and Aireac, son of Milead, liuas anil Ureas, and Huaighne renowned, Were drowned at the sand banks." — (T.)

" Ihree goddesses That is to say, three

princesses of the Tuatha De Danann, for that tribe were called the Gods. They were the wives of the three grandsons of the Daghda (77.)

0 Folia, Banba, and Eire. — Porto, B. L'. L2. Her name is commonly spelt Fobla. See the story in Keating (T.)

P The kingdom — Cpi pi^i pope, L., i. e. the three kingdoms of Fodhla, Banba, and Eri. T?ije poppo pope, B. The Latin

57

drowned at Tigh-Duinn™. Three goddesses" at that time held the sovereignty of Eri, namely, Folia, and Banba, and Eire0, until three battles were gained over them by the sons of Milead, so that the sons of Milead afterwards took the kingdom15.

Contentio magnaq facta est, i. e. there grew upr a great dispute be- tween the two sons of Milead, concerning the kingdom, until their Brehon5 pacified them, viz. Amergin of the white knee, son of Milead ; and he was their poet'. And this is the peace which he made", viz., to divide Eri into two parts, and EberT took the northern half, He- rimon the southern half, and their descendants inhabit this island to the present day.

XII. Now the Britons took possession of this island" in the third

words, or abbreviations for them, et, vero, sed, post, often occur in Irish MSS., but they were always read by their Irish equi- valents, just as we read the contraction " &" and, although it is really an abbre- viated mode of writing the letters et. — (T).

q Contentio magna, fyc. — The Latin words at the beginning of this paragraph appear to intimate that our Irish com- piler was copying from some Latin ori- ginal. They occur only in D. There is nothing corresponding in the Latin copies of Nennius. — (T.)

' Grew up Ro dp, D. B. for po pap,

omitting the aspirated initial. Cop pop cocao mop, L2. Copnam mop, B. L1. — (T.)

s Their Brehon. — D. reads co po pioaij- peac a m-bpeichimain, " until their Bre- hons pacified them :" but this, being in- consistent with what follows, is an evident mistake, and the reading of L'. L2. and B.

IRISH ARCH. SOC. NO. 1 6.

age

has therefore been followed. The words inserted between brackets after Amergin's name in the Irish text, are added from

L1. and L* (T.)

f Their poet. — The word pileb implied much more than a poet. See O'Flaherty, Ogyg. iii. c. 1 6. p. 1 83, who says, " Amer- ginus sub fratribus suis supremus vates fuit. Quo nomine (Filedh, quasi Philo- sopho) non poeta; tantum, sed etiam aliis scientiis apprime versati audiebant." — (T.) u He made. — Instead of the words ujup ip e in pib DO point>e (which are inserted from L1.) D. reads ip pe m, leaving the sense imperfect. B. reads tigup ip e in pi6. L1. reads ipe in pich. — (T.)

v Eber. — ©mibep, D. The insertions between brackets in the text are from L'-'. D. reads clcmn instead of clanria. In inopi cup anbiu, B. In inopi peo cup aniu, L2. In n-mpi co pi6, L1. — (T.) w This island. — Here our Author, trans-

aimpeap in Domain. 1pm ceacpamao aimpeap in Domain imoppo po gabpac ^aeDil Gpinn ; ip in aimpip cenna po gabpacap Cpu- ichnig cuapceapc inDpi bpeacan; ip in cpeipeO aimpeap imoppo cangaDap Dal-piaDa co po gabpac painD na Cpuicneach, -| ip an ampip pin po gabpac Sa;cain a paino a bpeacnaib.

lap n-il aimpeapaib cpa po gabpac ftomam apD plachup in Do- main, n no paeDreac ceachcaipe co h-imp bpeacan Do cuingiD

* I I I I '

giall i eicipe, amail cugpac ap jac cip [n-aile]. Do cuaoap imoppo na ceachca [co] DimDach jan jiall; po peapgaiDeao in pig imoppo .1. lull Cepaip pe bpeacnu, -\ camg co be. cuile co h-mDbeap ppo- cha Camaip. beallinop imoppo ba pig bpeacan in n-mbaiD pin. Do cuaiD imoppo Dolabeallup aip conpul pig bpeacan a com- Dail luil [Ceapaip], -| po ceapgDa milm in pig ; ipm ampip pin po bpip Donino i anpao a longa, -| Do pachcuip in pig gan cop-

lating a British authority, probably Nen- nius, uses the words this island, to sig- nify Britain. Nennius (cap. 10,) says, " Brittones venerunt in tertia a;tate mundi ad Brittanniam. Scotti autem in quarta obtinuerunt Hibernian!." The six ages of the world are given in the various editions of the Historia (and with some difference in Taliesin's Divregwawd, p. 96), but are omitted by this transla- tor. The third age was from Abraham to David, the fourth was from David to Daniel ; and the sixth is from John Baptist to Doomsday. Some anachronisms of Nen- nius are corrected in this passage. — (//.)

* Age, XIep, L2. dip, B. L1.— (T.)

• y Sixth age. — In ceipeo aimpip, D. in pepeao aip, L'. in pepeao ampip, L1. — (T.)

'• The Romans — Here we pass to the fourteenth chapter of Nennius, " Romani autem dum acceperunt dominium totius mundi, ad Britannos miserunt legates," &c._(7'.)

a Other.— n-aile added from L'. L*.— (T.)

b Displeased — tDimjach, D. Co oim- oach, L'. L'-. ^o 01 mooch, B. — (T.)

c Sixty ships. — Co pel ciule, D. Vj:. cu- baile, L". l,r. ciuile, B. L'. "Tune

Julius Ca;snr iratus est valde,

et venit ad Brittaniam, cum sexaginta ciulis, et tenuit in ostium Tamesis," &c. — Nennius.— (T.)

d Tames. — B. reads 50 h-inbep ipora- mep, which is evidently a mistake for ppora Camep. — (T.)

* Procoiisul. — Qip conpain, D., an evi-

59

age of the world. But it was in the fourth age* of the world that the Gaels seized upon Eri. In the same age the Cruithnians took the northern quarter of the island of Britain. But it was in the sixth age7 that the Dalriada came, and took the district of the Cruithnians, and it was at that time also that the Saxons took their portion of the island from the Britons.

But after many ages the Romans2 took the sovereignty of the world, and they sent an ambassador to the island of Britain, to de- mand hostages and pledges, such as they had taken from every other* country. The ambassadors, however, went away displeasedb without hostages ; and the king, viz., Julius Cassar, was enraged witli the Britons, and came with sixty ships0 to the mouth of the river Tames". Now Bellinus was king of the island of Britain at that time. And Dolabellus, pro-consul6 of the King of Britain, went to meet Julius Ca;sarf, and the soldiers of the king were cut down ; in the mean time8 tempestuous weather and storm broke his ships, and

the

dent mistake. Spoonful, B. L1. Gpo- though he was clearly dead, being father

chonpot, IA This last reading would to Cassivellaunus.— Galfrid. iii. cap. 20.

signify chief consul ; but the Latin calls But Beli Maur was a sort of patron hero

Dolobellus " proconsul regi Brittanico." to Britannia, which was called his island.

Some take " Dolobellum" in the Latin Taliesin, Dirge of Pendragon, p. 73. Per-

to be the name of a town, an interpreta- haps the passage may be restored in this

tion which has the authority of Geoffrey manner, which brings into play both the

of Monmouth ; it will be seen, however, apud and the contra: " pugnabat apud

that our Irish author considered it as Dolo["n] contra [Cassi]bell[anjum, qui

the name of a man — (T.) Nennius has erat proconsul regi Britannico, qui et

contra Dolobellum, and Marcus, apud ipse rex Belinus vocabatur, et filius erat

Dolobellum. Camden quotes it, ad Dole Minocani." — (H.)

bellum, " a battle at Deal ;" but neither f Ccesar. — Added from L2. — (T.)

states where he found it, nor how the g In the mean time. — TJo cepccu rnilib

rest is to be construed. In this passage p'j ip mo amup pin, B. 12o ceapjoa

of the Historia, Beli Maur ap Manogan mile, D. 12o cecoa milij mo pij in

is represented as still king of Britain ; n-oamup pin L'. Ro cepcaoan milij

12

6o

5iip t>m cip. Uanij imoppo apip a cinn rpi m-bliaoan co rpi .c. long cop in -infcbeap cetma ; po puiOigipoap imoppo Oolobel- lup beapa mpaino in n-acha na h-abann apa cmo in carha, co ropcpanap na mileao pomanach cpep in n-enjnam neamaicpioe pin .1. epep na jpainib cacha.

Co po cineoilio o luil, -] co capoao each ip in peapann t>ia- nab amm dnuannpum, co pemam poime in car pin -] 50 po jab piji na h-int>pi .un. m-bliarma. pel. pe gem Cpipc, ab inicio mumt>i ii. jirj7.ii.

XIII. linl ona in ceo pij Roman po gab imp bpearan po map-

bao

in pij iy a n-inbao pin, Lr. Cepcra is the old form of the passive participle,

Notes, No. VII. Cethilou, Cetilou, Ca- thiloii, Cathelcu, Cechilou, Cethilo, Cethi-

ra being the termination, which in the locium, for in all these forms it is found

modern Irish is 06 — (T.)

h Without victory Can jiall, without

hostages. L-.— (T.)

' Three hundred. — -Cpichao, D. Cpi . c. L. ccc, B. " Cum magno oxercitu, tre- centisque ciulis." — Nennius.—(T.)

•i Seeds of battle. — This passage is very obscure, and the Irish text in all the MSS. corrupt. The Latin (Stevenson's text) is as follows : " Et ibi inicrunt bellum, et, multi cecidernnt dc equis et militilms snis, quia supradictus proconsul posuerat sudes ferreas et semen bellicosum, id est,

in the MSS. of Nennius, seems to have been a British word, identical in signifi- tion with semen bellicosum. Cpep in n-ai cenatcpioe,IA "Through invisible know- ledge," translating ars inv/sibilis. B. is altogether corrupt, cpep in n-aj ner mac pioi. L1. reads cpi pin n-aj neatn- aicpioe. D. has najpioe, where n is probably a contraction for neam. — (T.)

"Seeds of battle" is literally rendered from " semen bellicosum." " Dictus pro- consul posuerat sudes ferreas et semen bellicosum, qua' calcitramenta, id est

"on.

Cetilou, in vada fluminis, quod discrimen cethilocium [cethilou, cethiloii, cethil

magnum fuit militibus Romanorum, et eathilou, cechilou, catheleu] in vada flu-

ars invisibilis." Here it would seem that minis, etc." The only clue to this mangled

the 5pana carha of the Irish is an at- British is the Latin translation of it,

tempt to translate semen bettimsiim, which which shows that caltrops, or the like

was probably a name given to the spikes thereof, were called the seed of battle,

or caltrops cast or sown in the river for the and consequently that cad or cat, battle,

annoyance of the enemy. See Additional is the beginning of this word, and perhaps

6i

the king was driven back without victory" to his country. He came again, however, at the end of three years, with three hundred' ships, to the same bay ; but Dolobellus put spikes of iron in the ford- ing place of the river, in preparation for the battle, so that the Roman soldiers fell by this invisible stratagem, i. e., by the seeds of battlej.

Notwithstanding, a rally was made" by Julius, and battle was given in the land which is called Tinnandrum1, so that he broke™ that battle before him, and took the sovereignty of the island, forty- seven years before the birth of Christ, ab initio mundi 5035".

XIII. Now Julius, the first king of the Romans, who took the

island

fieu, sowing, its termination. Catheu is too short, and gives up the I in which all readings agree. Catol-keu is exactly " se- men bellicosum." It is a strange criti- cism that, with the Latin actually given, passes it over unnoticed, and invents things alien to it! See Owen Pughe's MS., apud Gunn's Nennius, p. 127. Ro- berts' Tysilio, p. 78 — (//.)

k A rally was made. — Co n-oeapnao a cmol, L1.— (T.)

1 Tinnandrum. — Cjimuabann, Ls. Cpi- nouano, B. " Gestum est bellum tertio juxta locum qui dicitur Trinovantuin." Nennius. Copo no Cpmouonnpum, L1., where copo seems a mere mistake — (T.)

For Tinandrum read Trinovantum (the Troynovant of Geoffrey), by which name London is denoted. I believe that name had its origin in a mistranslation of Oro- sius, " Trinobantum [gen. pl.J firmissima civitas .... Csesari se dedidit." vi. cap. 9.

Csesar died B. C. 45, not 47, as stated ; the statement immediately following in cap. xiii., concerning A. D. 47, has arisen out of the former by some unaccountable confusion. In Marcus, forty -seven years after Christ are made the duration of Claudius' reign (-?/.)

m He broke, i. e. he won the battle. — Co po meabaio, L1. Co po maio, L-'. ^u po aemiD, B. which last reading is evidently corrupt (T.)

n Ab initio mundi, <fyc. — This date is omitted in L2. u. m. ;cx;cu.a chiopach Do- main co pin in n-airnpip pin, L'. U.^^ru. bliaoan o copac oomam, B. " Et acce- pit Julius imperium Brittanica; gentis quadraginta septem annis ante nativita- tem Christi, ab initio autem mundi quin- que millia ducentorum quindecim." — Stevenson's Nennius. In D. the reading- is u. ^jctu. as in the text, where ii. is for urn.— (T.)

62

bao ina h-aipecc h-pem, -| ip na h-amoip po h-ainmnigp eaD Pomain mi luil a cmt> .un. m-bliaona pi. lap n-gein Cpipc.

.11. CluiD in pig eanaipoe po gab imp bpeacan, [a cino cheach- pacao bliaDan agup a ceachaip lap n-gen Cpipc], -\ DO pao ap mop ap bpeacnaib, -] painig imp Opcc lap cop dip a munncipe, -| lap mop Die a muinnnpe tapmroipeach Dianao amm Caipebeallunup ; cpi bliaDna Deg •] .uff. mfp a pige, co n-epbailc im TTlagnanna h-i LongbapDaib ag Dola Do TCoim [a] h-imp [bpeacan].

lap .uff. m-bliaDna. jcl. ap ceD o gem Cpipc, po paipeac in pig -] in papa .1. Galicuhepiup ppuiche uaiDib co n-ebiplib co Cuciup co pig bpearan, co po baipDicea in pig, co pigaib bpeacan ap- ceana.

.iff. Suapeip in cpeap pig cainig a m-bpecnaib; ip leip Do po-

nao

0 In his own senate. — In a oipechc pein, Ll. O na aipeaccaiB pen, L2., " by his own senators." The word Qipeacc, or Oipeacc, signifies an assembly. It was the common name given to the assemblies of the people in Ireland at which the na- tive Brehons administered justice ; and it would seem that it is in this sense our author applies it to the Roman senate. In Anglo-Irish documents of the period of Hen. III. to Eliz., it was commonly anglicised Eriott, and Iraghte : as in the letter of J. Alen to the Royal Commis- sioners (1537), "And in any wyse some ordre to be taken immedyately for the buildeing of the castell hall, where the lawe is kept ; for yf the same be not buyldeid, the majestic and estimation of the lawe shalle perryshe, the justices be- ing then enforceid to minister the lawes

upon hylles, as it were Brehons or wylde Irishemen, in ther Eriottes." — State Papers, ii. p. 501. See also Battle of Magh Rath, p. 92, note e. — (T.)

p Forty and four years. — This clause is added from B. L1. L2. The Latin reads forty-eight. " Secundus post hunc Claudius imperator venit, et in Britannia impe- ravit, annis quadragiuta octo post adven- tum Christi, et stragem et bellum fecit magnum," &c. B. L'. and L*. read CUno in pij canair-ce ramie, (instead of po jabe) i. e. " the second king that came to Britain."— (T.)

q He brought. — t)o par, B. L1. t)o paoao, L2.— (T.)

1 His people, — Q milecm, L'. a-mbio- bao, his enemies, IA a maire ajup a rnileaa, his chieftains and his soldiers,

63

island of Britain, was killed in his own senate0 ; and it was in his honor that the Romans gave the month of July its name, at the end of seven and forty years after the birth of Christ.

ii. Cluid [Claudius] was the second king that took possession of Britain, at the end of forty and four yearsp after the birth of Christ, and he brought*1 a great slaughter upon the Britons, and he pene- trated to the islands of Ore, after causing a slaughter of his people, and after a great loss of his people" by the chieftain whose name was Cassibellaunus. He reigned thirteen years and seven months', when he died in Magnantia' of the Longobards, as he was going to Rome from the island of Britain".

After one hundred and forty-seven years" from the birth of Christ, the Emperor and the Pope, viz., Eleutherius," sent clerks from them with letters to Lucius King of Britain, in order that the king might be baptized, and the other kings of Britain in like manner.

iii. Severus1 was the third king that came to Britain ; and it was

by

5 Seven months. — Cpi bliaona oec DO w Eleutherius. — Gulechepiup, B. Gu-

ajup occ mir, B. Ls. The Latin also lecpiur, L1. 6elecepiup, L2. The Latin

reads, " regnavit autem annis tredecim, reads, " missa legatione ab imperatoribus

mensibus octo." — (T.) Rornanorum, et a papa Romano Eucha-

1 Magnantia, — For Magnantia it is Ma- risto." Mr. Stevenson mentions a MS., gantia in Nennius, and in Marcus, Mogun- in the margin of which is added by the tin, which are Latin modes of writing original scribe, " Mentitur, quia primus Mentz. — Nennius, cap. 17. This erro- annus Evaristi fuit A. D. 79, primus neous statement arises from a miscon- vero annus Eleutherii, quern debuit no- struction of the words of Eutropius, vii. minasse, fuit A. D. 161." The Irish trans- cap. 1 3. " Post hunc Claudius fuit, pa- lator, therefore, seems to have corrected

truus Caligula, Drusi qui apud Mogun- this mistake of the original (T.) For

tiacum monumentum habet nlius." — (77.) some remarks on the legend of King Lu-

u Britain — Added from L1. L2 — (T.) cius, see Additional Notes, No. VIII.

v Forty-seven years. — The Latin reads x Severus. — Sebepiup, Ls. Seuepup,

" Post centum et sexaginta annos. — (T.) L'. B. — (T.)

64

mo clao Sa;ran a n-agaiD na m-bapbapoa .1. Cpuichneachu Da ap .c. ceimenn ma pao, -| ape ainm in clam pin la bpeac-

.m.

r achu ^uaul ; ~\ po popconjaip clao aile Do Denam in n-ajaiD £>ae- Deal -| Cpmchneach .1. ClaD na muice, -] Do pochaippin [mppin] la bpeacan co n-a copeachuib.

.1111. Capaupiup lapDain canij co cpoDu Do Dijail Seuip ap bpeacnaib co copcaip pij bpeacan leip, -| co po jab aeoju pij uitne cap Dioen in pij .1. in c-impep ; conao po mapb QUeccup copaiD Romanac, -\ co po jab [pioe] pije mpcain ppia pe [ciana].

.u. ConDpancinup mac Coripcancin moip mic Qilina po jab imp bpeacan, -] aobac, ~\ po acnacbc a Caippejinc .1. Tllinancia .1.

ainm

" Guaul. — The wall of Severus, from Tinmouth to the Solway, is stated by Nennius, after Orosius, to be 132 miles long ; but the distance given by Sparti- anus, in his Life of Hadrian, who first drew that line of defence, viz., 80 miles, is nearer to the truth. Camden, Britt. ii. 189, Gibson. That which is here men- tioned, 2130 paces, is absurd and unac- countable. In Arabic numbers, we might have supposed the translator to have read 213 passuum, without the millia (213 being a transposition of Orosius'' 132), and to have lengthened that extremely

minute extent by addition of the cipher. But as he employs a mixture of Roman numerals and words, "two M. xxx. and C." we are in a manner cut off from that solution.

The second wall ascribed to Severus by the translator, and called by him Cladh na Muice, must be the line of Agricola and Antoninus Pius, which Severus did

not restore, but Theodosius afterwards did. Perhaps he was led into this inter- polation by mistaking propterea for prce- terea.

The MSS. of Nennius confound the wall of Severus with that of Antoninus, both in their original description of it, and in their assertion that Carausius re- paired it ; fcr the latter, if true of any wall, relates to that of Antonine, cap. xix. The fable of the violent death of Severus is given at large in Galfrid. Monurnet. 5, cap. 2.— (//.)

1 Cludk JKI >tn/ice, i.e. the pig's ditch, or the " swine's dike". It is remarkable that a very similar fosse and rampart, in the counties of Down and Armagh, which formed the ancient boundary between the territories of Oriel and Uladh or Ulidia, is called by the native Irish,

or the black the Anglo-Irish,

the Dane's cast." See an account of it

" Gleann na muice pig's glen ; and by

65

by him was made the Saxon ditch against the barbarians, i. e. the Cruithnians, 2 1 30 paces long, and the name of that ditch among the Britons was GUAUI/. And he commanded another ditch to be made against the Gaels and the Cruithnians, i. e. Cladh na muice2, and he was afterwards3 killed by the Britons, with his chieftains.

iv. Carausius afterwards came bravelyb to avenge Severus on the Britons, so that the King of Britain fell by him, and he assumed the royal robes in spite of the king, i. e. of the emperor ; so that Alectus, the Roman champion, killed him, and he himself0 [viz. Alectus'] seized the kingdom afterwards11 for a longe time.

v. Constantinus, sonf of Constantine the Great, son of Helena, took the island of Britain, and died, and was buried at Caersegeint, i. e. Minantia, another name for that city ; and letters on the grave- stone

in Stuart's Armagh, App. iii. p. 585, and Circuit of Muircheartach, p. 31. There is a village called Swine's Dike, on the line of the Roman wall of Antoninus, which runs from the Frith of Clyde to the Frith of Forth. Horsley (Britannia Eo- mana, p. 172), speaking of this wall, says : "After it has crossed a brook, it leaves the parks and passes by a village called Langton, which stands about three chains south from it, and next by another village called Swine's Dike, where the track of the ditch is clearly discernible." — (T.)

a Afterwards.— Added from IA L2. B. -(T).

b Bravely — Co copacc, D. Co co- paca, L'. (5° cupaca, B. The Latin reads, "in Brittaniam venit tyrannide." —(T.)

c He himself. — Added from B (T.)

IRISH ARCH. SOC. l6. ]

d Afterwards — Clparmle, B. lappn,

L'. p. [for posted], L2 (T.)

e Long. — Ciana, added from B — (T.) f Constantinus, son, Sfc — It should be " Constantius, father," &c., as in Gale's edition. The tomb of Constantius is said to have been discovered at Caer Segeint, close to the modern Caernarvon, in 1283. The discovery of a tomb in that year is consistent with there having been a more ancient tradition to the same purpose. But Constantius did really die at York,

the " Caer Ebrauc alio nomine Bri-

gantum" of Gale's Nennius, and beyond reasonable doubt was buried there ; not at Caer Segeint, as in Marcus and the translation. "Obiit in Britannia Eboraci," Eutrop. 10, cap. i. Brigantum is the translator's Minantia, and Marcus's Mi- manton. — (II.)

66

ainm aile Do cachpaig pin ; -\ pallpijiD licpi [i cloich] in at»nacail a airnn, -| poppajaib epi pi la ip in n-pairce op in carpaij pin, cona pil pochc ip in cachpaij pin.

.ui. TT]ai;rim ano peipeao impep DO jab bpeacam. [Ipnaaimpip pin po] cmDcpnab conpaileachc 05 Romnncaib, -| nip cojpaD Ce- papi pop pij eile o pin amach. Ip a na aimpip TTlnpcimin pobai an r -appeal uapaipminDeac .1. naemTTlapcam; [ooJ5ailha la Uleicpip Dobooen].

.un. TTla^imain po jab piji bpeacan, ~\ puj [ploga] bpeacam a l?omanncaib co copcaip laip 5panian in c-impep, -\ po jab pein piji na h-6oppa ; -] [m] po leij uao na pluaij pug leip oocum a m-bari i a mac nach a peapann, ace DO paD peapanna imoa Doib [o clia in loch pil immullach Sleibe loib] co Canacuic buDeap -] piap co Duma OichiDen air a puil in chpop apjna, -| ip IOD pin

[bpeacam

pauper in ea habitaret unquam : et vooa- tur alio nomine Minmanton [_al, Miman- tum]."— (T.)

' Maxim. — See Add. Notes, No. IX. J He teas ofGmdofUlexix — This clause is added from L2., it is not in the Latin. In the text, (which is from D.), St. Martin is called appeal, an apostle, a word which in Irish often signifies no more than a prelate ; in the other MSS. he is merely

8 Point out his name. — poillpjio licpi f-uippi ainm in piji; pin i cloich in aona- cuil, B. L'. and IA omit puipjn. The Latin reads, " Sepulcrum illius monstra- tur juxta urbem qua; vocatur Cair Sege- int : ut literse, qua; sunt in lapide tumuli, ostendunt."— (T.)

h He left three seeds. — L'. and D. read pop ajctib [for pa^aib] cpi pila. D. adds ip in carpaij pin n-amce, and L', ipu n-airce [for n-pairce, the green or open space of a village, which is, no doubt, the correct reading] op in carpaij. B. reads Pop a cleib rpi pila ip in n-ai6ci uup in cacpaij ; and Le reads, popaclib 7 cpi pila ip in aiochi uap in cachpaio pin. The Latin is " Et ipse seminavit tria se- mina, id est, auri, argenti, ffirisque, in pavimento supradicta; civitatis, ut nullus

called eappo^, a bishop. 6ooen is the old form of the emphatic pronoun pein, he himself ; it occurs in ancient MSS. in various forms, uoben, bofiein, paoein, pooein, from which, by aspirating, and then omitting the D, comes the modern form Feln- We find it also in the forms paoepin, and buoepin. See O'Donovan's Irish Grammar, p. 130 — (T.) The words

67

stone point out his name8, and he left three seeds" in the green of that city, so that there is not a poor man in that city.

vi. Maxim1 was the sixth emperor that took Britain. It was at that time that the consulship was begun among the Romans, and no king was called Caasar from thenceforth. It was in the time of Maxim that the noble venerable prelate St. Martin flourished ; he was of Gaul of Ulexisj.

vii. Maximian took the kingdom of Britain, and he led the armies* of Britain against the Romans, so that Gratian, the emperor, fell by him, and he himself took the empire of Europe ; and he did not suffer the armies he had brought with him to go back to their wives and their children, nor to their lands, but gave them many lands, from the place where there is the lake on the top of Mount Jove1, to Canacuicm on the south, and westward to the Mound Ochiden", a place where there is a celebrated cross0, and these are the Britons of

Letha,

"Gaul of Ulexis" are evidently corrupt. The name of the river Ligeris upon which, or that of Luguge or Liguge (Locociagum) at which Martin at different times sojourn- ed, may be latent. If any one prefers to see here the name of Ulysses, he must have recourse to the verses of Claudian,

u Est locus extremum pandit qua Gallia littus Oceani prajtentus aquis, ubi fertur Ulysses Sanguine libato populum movisse silentem."

In Rufin. 1, 123 — (J7.)

" The armies. — Added from Ll. L2. The Latin reads, " Et ipse perrexit cum om- nibus militibus Brittonum a Brittannia, et occidit Gratianum regem Romanorum, et imperium tenuit totius Europe." — (T.)

1 From the place Mount Jove. —

Added from L1. L2. B. The Latin reads

" a stagno quod est super verticeni mou- tis Jovis, usque ad civitatem qiue vocatur Cantguic." — (T.) See additional Notes, No. X.

m Canactiic Canchuic, L1. L'. Can-

cuic, B.— (T.)

n The Mound Ochiden — " Usque ad Cu- mulum occidentalem, id est, Cruc Ochi- dient." This passage settles the signifi- cation of the word burha, which enters into the composition of many topogra- phical names in Ireland, and which O'Brien, and after him O'Reilly, explain, " a place of gaming." Its true meaning is a mound, a tumulus. The word Cruc is ex- plained by Davies, lippus, tumulus — (T.)

° Cross. — D. reads inoeichnop apjna, which is evidently corrupt ; the reading Kz

68

[bjieccccnn Lefa] ~| capapraip reap oojjpep, -| ip aipe pin jio gabapoaip eachcap-cineaoa ripe t>peacan, -] po mapbcha 6pea- cain a n-imlib a peapaino.

^paoian imoppo, cono bpachaip .1. Ualer.rmien a compiji .ui. bliaona ; ip n-ampip po bai in c-eppoc uapal i TTleoolen popceollatD ria cachlasoa .1. Qmbpop.

Ualanennnen i Ueochap a complarup oclic m-bliaona , ip na li-aimpip po nr.eolam in pearab i Con] rar.cm .1. I. ap rpi ccc. i>o ppucib DO Dicup ipip niaicciooin .1. oiulcao in Spipio naem ; -\ ip 'na amipip po bai Cipine uapal pagapc i m-6eichil [luoa] in r-eioipceapcai^ carlilajlia.

^paoian ceana map oubpamap -\ Ualencen li-i piji co po pigao niajrmien o na mileaoaib a n-inip bpeacan, -| co n-oeacliaio rap inuip a Ppancaib, -| co po popuaplaijiD in pi^ J5pait>ian cpe bpach

magipopeach

adopted is from L'. L1. und li. Then; is no authority in the Latin for this men- tion of a cross, unless we suppose the word cruc to have been in some way confounded with crux. See Mr. O'Donovan's note, Hy Fiaehrach, p. 413. — (7'.)

i' The Britons (if Letha. — Added from L'. L'. B. L2. reads, 6peurain lefan. The Latin is "Hi sunt Hrittones Arnio- riei." — (T.) See additional Notes, No. XI.

q Prelate D. reads eappol, perhaps

for eapjrol, apostle. Gppoc, bisl/o]/, is the reading of L'., L2., and B. D. also reads Qmpop, omitting the b. The Latin is " et AmbrosiusMediolanensis episcopus clarus habebatur in Catholicorum dog- mate."— (T.)

r Macedon, ffc — The second (Ecumeni- cal Council of Constantinople is here cor-

rectly stated to have had especial refe- rence to the opinions of Macedonius, who denied the personality of the Holy Ghost. But the Latin copies do not make men- tion of that heresiarch (//.)

5 Judah — Added from L-. Ceuchr ceapcaij, 1). This notice of St. Jerome is taken almost verbatim from Prosper's Chronicon, ad. A. I). 386 (T.)

1 Ax ice have said. — Dojjpurnap, D., an evident error of the scribe. The reading followed is that of L'., L2., and B. — (T.)

u Went — Neachubap [for n-oeachu- oup], D. The reading of B., L'., L*., has been followed. — (7T.)

v Set at liberty — puaplcngeao, L'. pop- baiplij;e&, L!. popunipli^eao, B.— (T.)

w Master of tlte soldiers — All the Irish copies make Parassis the pranomen of

69

Lethap, and they remained in the south ever since, and it was for this reason that foreign tribes occupied the lands of the Britons, and that the Britons were slaughtered on the borders of their land.

But Gratian, with his brother Valentinian, reigned conjointly six years. It was in his time lived the noble prelate' in Milan, a teacher of Catholicity, viz. Ambrose.

Valentiuian and Theothas [Theodosius] were in joint sovereignty eight years. It was in their time was assembled the synod in Con- stantinople of three hundred and fifty clerks, to banish the heresy of Macedonr, viz., the denying the Holy Ghost. And it was in their time the noble priest Cirine [Ilieronymus] nourished at Bethlehem Judahs, the catholic interpreter.

The same Gratian, as we have said', and Valentinian, reigned until Maximen \J\faximus\ was made king by the soldiers in the island of Britain, and went" across the sea to France ; and the king, Gratian, was set at libertyv by the treacherous counsel of the master™ of the

soldiers

this magister militum : the Latin, as lio triumphalis et trabeate Merobaudes,

printed by Bertram, reads Parasius, as recordetur interitum; quorum alter, etc.,

an agnomen of Gratianus; and Mr. Ste- alteri manibus satellitum Britannomm

phenson gives it thus: " Gratianus Parisiis, gula domi fracta, et inusta foemiiiea; mor-

Meroblaudis magistri rnilitum proditione, tis infamia, ut scilicet maluisse vir ferri

superatus est, et f'ugiens Lugduni captus amantissimus videretur laqueo perire,

atque occisus est." But the Irish makes quamgladio." — Drepanius Pacatlts Paneg.

Meroblaudes treacherous towards Maxi- Tkeodosii, cap. 28. It seems to have been

mus, not towards Gratian, which appears an affair like Piehegru's and Captain

to have been the historical fact (?'.) Wright's, and may have happened as Paea-

Parassis is a corruption of Parisiis, at tus intimates. But the character of Maxi-

Paris. Merobaudes magister militum mus was not vile, and cannot be e^ti-

was faithful to Gratian, and is said to mated from the rhetoric of Pacatus. The

have therefore suffered death at the words of Nennius, imputing treachery to

hands of Maximus. " Quod si cui ille the faithful Merobaudes, are copied from

pro cseteris sceleribus suis minus crudelis those in the Chronicle of Prosper Aqui-

fuisse videtur, vestrum is, vestrum, Ba- tane, page 637, ap. Koncalli Latinorum

7o

na miliD .1. papappip TTleapoblaoip ; co po ceich in pis co CujDon, co po gabao ann, ~| co po mapbaD.

TTla^imen -| a mac Uiccop a compel. TTlapcam a Uopmip in n-mbaiD pin. lHajcimen imoppo po paobaijpo leip na conpalu o ecju pigoa .1. la Ualencinen 1 la Ueochap ip in cpeap lice on cachaip Gi^ilia, i po camnaigeD o cinn ip in Ing pin. Do pochaip imoppo a mac .1. Uiccop h-i Ppancaib lap in comic oianaD amm Qpjuba. O cup Domain u. m. DC. jcc., [co pin, DO peip each cpoimce pin.]

XIV. 18 amlaiD pin inbipiD apDpanca na bpeacan .1 na. uff. n-aipopija Do TComancaib pop bpeacan. QcbeapaiD imoppo 17o- manaio ip nonb'up uaiDiB pop t>peacnaib .1. in c-ochcmaD in Seuep canaipi, acbach 05 Dul DO l?oim a h-mip bpeacan. Conpcancm .;cui. bliaona i pi^i innpi bpeacan co n-epbailc. Nai m-bbaona cpa ap cccc. DO bpeacnaib pon cip Romanac. 17o h-mnapbpac

cpa

Chronica. But that of Prosper Tiro, p. 679, correctly gives it, not "Merobaudis mayistri militum proditione superatus," hut "Mero/miH/emagistro." In his preface, p. xvii., xviii., Koncalli expresses himself sceptically upon the text of Prosper, but not upon the fact of Merobaudes's inno- cence.— (//.)

x Lugdon. — c-uoon, D. ^o^son, L!. The reading of L'. B. has been followed — (T).

> Stone. — if in cpep bliaoam luj on cuchcup, L*. if in rpeap Uij on cu- cliaip, D. The reading of L'. and B. has been followed as most in accordance with the Latin, which is " Post multum inter- vallum temporis a Valentiniano et Theo- dosio Consulibus, in tertio ab Aquileia lapide spoliatus indumentis regalibus sis- titur, et capite damnatur." This is taken

word for word from Prosper's Chronicle. See note a infra — (T.)

1 His head vas cut off. — Lit. " he was separated from his head;" po oichecmoao, L'. po Diclieunca, L1. po oicheunnu6, B., all different spellings of the same word, he was beheaded. — (T.)

1 Aryuba — Qp5ubup,L'. Gpjobop ,L*. Qpjubap, B. The Latin reads, " Ab Argobaste comite interfectus est." The authority is Prosper's Chronicon, where the fact is thus recorded, " Maximus Tyrannus a Valentiniano et Theodosio imperatoribus in tertio ab Aquileia lapide spoliatus indumentis regiis sis- titur, et capite damnatur. Cujus filius Victor eodem anno ab Arbogaste est interfectus in Gallia." Ad A. D., 389. — (T.)

71

soldiers, Parassis Merobladis ; and the king fled to Lugdonx, and was taken there and put to death.

Maximen and his son Victor reigned jointly. Martin was at Torinis at that time. But Maximen was stripped of his royal robes by the consuls, i. e. by Valentinen and Theothas, at the third stoney from the city Eigilia [Aguileia], and his head was cut offz in that place. His son Victor also fell in France by the hand of the count whose name was Arguba"; from the creation of the world are 5690'' years, to this event, according to all the chronicles.

XIV. It is thus the elders of the Britons have recorded their his- tory, viz., that there were seven Roman emperors0 who had dominion over Britain. But the Romans say that there were nine of them over the Britons : that is to say, that the eighth was Severus the second", who died as he was going to Rome from the island of Britain. The ninth was Constantine, who was sixteen years in the kingdom of the island of Britain when he died. Four hundred and nine years6 were

the

b 5690 im. DC. pp., D. u. mile, occc.,

B. The reading of L'. and L2. has been followed, as being in accordance with seve- ral MSS. of the Latin. The words in pa- rentheses which follow are added from IA -(T.)

0 Seven Roman emperors, etc. — It should be observed that this Historia, as well as the Galfridian Chronicles, is framed upon the plan of dissembling the island's per- manent subjection and provincial cha- racter, and of representing those Roman emperors who visited it as the only ones who ruled it. By this means the Britons of the fifth century appear as the conti- nuing possessors of an ancient monarchy, which seven (or nine) Roman intrusions

had chequered and interrupted, not as revolters against a long-established domi- nion. I believe Constans to be the last emperor, not depreciated by the epithet of

" tyranrius," who was in Britannia

(H.)

d Severus the second.— See additional notes, No. XII.

e Four hundred and nine years. — li. und L2. read three hundred. D. reads Nui m-bliciona cpa ap cpi cccc., where the word cpi is a manifest blunder. The reading of L'. has been followed, as it coincides with the Latin "Hucusque reg- naverunt Roman! apud Brittones quad- ringentis et novem annis." — (T.)

72

cpa bpeacnaij lapoam neapc l?omanach -| ni capDpaD cfp na cam Doib, i po mapbpac na h-uile caipeachu Pomancu po baoaji a n-inip bpeacan.

Gcpachc imo|ipo po ceDoip neapc Cpuicneach i ^o606^ ^ap ^poino bpeacan -] pop innapbpac cop in n-abainD Dianao [amm] dn. Oo cuaoap lapoain ceachca bpeacan i Romancaib co nftuba 1 co coppi moip, co pocaib pop a ceanDaib i co peacaib imDaib [leo], na po DiglaDip poppo [na coipij Romanchu po] mapbao Doib. Cugpacap leo mpDain coipeachou -] conpalnu Pomancu -| caipn-

co na luja DO geboaip in mam l?omanach ciama cpom. Do pochaoap lapoain na mileaoa Romancu -] po h-opoaijrea pigu pop imp bpeacan, -\ DO cooap na ploig lapDain Dia njib. 17o gab peapg i cop pi u bpeacnn ap cpuma in cfpa -] in mama Romanaij leo, co po mapbpac na coipeachu po baoap acu a n-mip bpeacan Don Dapa cup. Cu n-epuchc acu neapc Cpuich- neacli -] ^aeDel cap bpeacnn DopiDaip cop bo cpuma ma in cam Pornan, apoaig a n-Dicup [uile] ap a peapann po b'ail Do Cpuic- eancuac "| Do ^aeioilaib.

Do cuanap lapoain bpeacnaig co rpnn^ -j co Deapramach [in nipeacc na Pomanach], ap amlaio ac piacap a n-t>ul [~| a] n-Dpo- manna pompu ap imnriipe, -| cairnj poclipaioe mop leo .1. pluag Di- aipnnclie Do T?omancaib, [•]] po gabcha cpa pigi -\ coipeac popo

mpDain.

f But afterwards .... Roman poicer — there beiiij; a defect of perhaps two leaves L2. omits this clause, which leaves the in the MS — (T.) sense imperfect (T.) k Put to i/c/ttli !>// t/tcm. — L'. and B2.

g Name. — Added from L'., L2., B. The omit ooib, and read po mupbpuc (active) name of the river is given Din in L'., and "whom they put to death." — (71) Inci in B. L'-. and I), read Cm — (T.) ' Promised. — L1. mjelpuo. — (7*.)

h Along with them — The word leo is m Than. — li. L'. unou. — (T.) added from B., L2 — (7'.) n Uecaitse — L1. and B. Uuip ip e

1 Chiefs of the Romans Added from (7'.)

L'., L2., and B. Here IA abruptly stops, ° To the Roman Senate — Added from

73

the Britons under Roman tribute. But afterwards the Britons drove out the Roman powerf, and did not pay them tax or tribute, and they killed all the Roman chiefs that were in the island of Britain.

Immediately, however, the power of the Cruitlmians and of the Gaels advanced in the heart of Britain, and they drove them to the river whose names is Tin \Tyne\. There went afterwards ambassa- dors from the Britons to the Romans with mourning and great grief, with sods on their heads, and with many costly presents along with them", to pray them not to take vengeance on them for the chiefs of the Romans' who were put to death by them". Afterwards Roman chiefs and consuls came back with them, and they promised' that they would not the less willingly receive the Roman yoke, however heavy it might be.

Afterwards the Roman knights came, and were appointed princes and kings over the island of Britain, and the army then returned home. Anger and grief seized the Britons from the weight of the Roman yoke and oppression upon them, so that they put to death the chieftains that were with them in the island of Britain, the second time. Hence the power of the Cruitlmians and Gaels in- creased again over the Britons, so that it became heavier than1" the Roman tribute, because0 their total expulsion out of their lands was the object aimed at by the northern Cruitlmians and Gaels.

After this the Britons went in sorrow and in tears to the Roman senate0, and thus we are told they went with their backs foremost for shame ; and a great multitude returned with them, i. e. an innumerable army of Romans, and sovereignty and chieftainry was assumed1' over

them

L1. and B — (T.) require coipi^euche, stcay, not caipeuc,

f And sovereignty and chieflainry was as- a chieftain; but if \ve read jug c'ftup

sumed over them. — djup added from B. ccnpeac, the passage will signify "a

L'. ; piji 7 caipis D. ; pig 7 caipich, L'.; king and governor was set over them." —

coipeach, B. Riji, kingdom, would (T.)

IRISH ARCH. SOC. l6. L

74

lapoain. ba cpom cpa le bpeacnu lapoain in cip Romanac, cop mapbpac a piga ~| a caipiju in cpeap peachc.

Uangaoap mpoain plaici Roman cap muip cop pemaiD each ?>imop pompo pop bpeacnu, gop Oijailpfc anaip [a n-oaine] poppo, -| cop lomaipspfc imp bpeacan im a h-op -\ \m ah-aipgeao, co puj- pac leo a ppol -] a pipig -| a pina -] a leapoaip oip -| aipgio, co noeachaoap co m-buait> -| copcaip t>ia cij.

t>e sasatais sacsan [poDeascaj QNNSO.

XV. Oo pain cpa lappin each pampaice -| lap mapbat) na roipeachtiu Romanoucu ba cpi la bpeacnu lap cocaichim t>oib pon cip Romanach cccc.c°r quaopagincinouem annop. ^opci- gepno mac ^uDail t>o ^abail aipDpiji bpeacan ~\ co copcpomfa h-e o uaman Cpuchneachu ~\ ^aeoel "] o nipc Qmpop pig ppane 1 bpeacan leaca.

Uangubap

que, et ad vindicandum, veniebant, et spoliata Brittannia auro argentoque, cum a-re et omni prcciosa veste, et melle, cum magno triumpho revertebantur." For " ad vindicandum," some MSS. read, " ad vindictam propinquorum," which seems to have; been the reading adopted by the Irish translator.

Immediately after this section, B. has a long interpolation, containing the Le- gend of St. Carnech, which will be found in the Append ix. — (T.)

u Here foUoics. — pooeapca, added from B. This word is often written buoupcu, and more commonly, in modern Irish, peapoa ; it signifies hereafter, hencf/ur- v-ard. — (T.)

v Three times by the Britons. — 6a cpi,

'' Gained Lit. " broke a very great

battle before them upon the Britons." L'. reads po nioio. B. pomno. — (T.)

r Of their jii'iijiln. — Added from B. and L'.-(7'.)

5 Silk. — All the copies here read a pip i^ (ijjup u pmu, but these words both sig- nify silk, ppij 01- pipic being the corrupt. Latin, and poci the corresponding Irish word, added, perhaps, originally as an ex- planation of the other (?'•)

c With victor//. — L'. reads to m-bua- oaib, with victories; and 15. omits "vic- tory and triumph," and reads only ujup co n-oeachuoup oia caij, "and so they returned home." This paragraph is a translation of the following in Nennius : '• Romani autem ad imperium auxilium-

75

them afterwards. But again the Roman tribute became oppressive to the Britons, so that they slew their kings and chieftains the third time.

Afterwards there came Roman chieftains across the sea, and gainedq a very great victory over the Britons, so that they vindica- ted the honour of their peopler upon them, and they plundered the island of Britain of its gold, and of its silver, and took from it its satin, and its silk5, and its vessels of gold and silver, so that they returned home with victory' and triumph.

HERE FOLLOWS" or THE CONQUEST OF THE SAXONS.

XV. Now it came to pass after the aforesaid battle, and after the slaughter of the Roman chieftains three times by the Britons", after they had been four hundred and forty-nine years" under the Roman tribute, that Gortigern, son of Gudal, took the chief sove- reignty of Britain, and he was oppressed by the fear of the Cruithnians and Gaels, and by the power of Ambrose, King of France* and Leta- vian Britain.

There

D. boo rhpi, L1. for pa cpi, three times. Vortigern ; but Aurelius is not elsewhere

B. reads comba pi &pecan, "that there described as having any sovereignty in

was a king of Britain." — (71.) Gaul. The Latin has merely " necnon

w Four hundred and forty-nine years et a timore Ambrosii." But even those

ix bliaoan .;rl. ap .cccc. L. B. reads VE words are so inconsistent with what fol-

m-bliaona .;cl. ap .ccc., and the same lows, as to make them suspicious, though

variation between three hundred and four all copies are agreed in them. For there

hundred, is to be found in the Latin co- are two schemes concerning Ambrose, one

pies of Nennius. — (T.) identifying him with Merlin, and another

* King of France, etc. — Aurelius Am- making them distinct persons. But Nen-

brosius, with his brother, Uthyr Pendra- nius adopts the former (which is the bar-

gon, are said to have taken refuge in die) scheme, and accordingly introduces

Britanny, and to have sailed from thence the prophet Ambrose in the form of a

to Totness, when they declared against young boy, at a period subsequent to that

L2

76

Uarrguoap cpi cuile ap in 5ealimain -1- CP1 bapca pop moapba i pabatmp na l>o bpacaip .1. Opp ~[ Gngipc o puilic Sajtrain ; ipe peo imoppa a njjeinealac .1. Opp -] Gngipc t>a mac ^ueccilip, rnic ^uigce, m\c 5uec^ca1> mic 5uca> Inic £>°Oen, mic Ppealaib, nnc P]ieooilb, mic pinoe, mic ppeann, mic polcball, mic ^5aeca> rnic Uanle, nnc Sa^i, mic Neag.

bpirap mac Olonn o caic bpeacain in Ceacha, mic 6olonn,

mic

in which Vortigern is said to be in dread of a more extensive subsidiary treaty, or

of him as a warrior. Therefore, there is we must discredit the statement, interpolation in all the transcripts, unless In point of fact, the statement has no

we conclude the author not to have known other authority than what it derives from

what he was talking about. — (//.)

an involved sentence of Gildas, which, as

•v Three ciulce. — The word cftiula, or pointed in the editions (Mr. Stevenson's

cyida, seems to be the same as keel in included), has no grammar or meaning ;

English, German kiel, Swedish kol, Ice- but which reads thus, with a long paren-

landic kioll or kiolr, Anglo-Saxon cfi'le. thesis : " Turn erumpens grex catulorum

They were the boats used by the Ger- de cubili leaMia- barbaria1 tribus nt lin-

mans. Mr. Turner supposes each t-) have carried one hundred men ; and Layamon

gua ejus e.xprimitur cyidig nostra lingua loiuj'us [navibus, interpolated I believe, the

asserts their number to have been such, kiul of the low Dutch being the lloug of "threo hundred cnihten." History Anglo- the Britisli language. If navibus be not Sax. i. 245. Layamon, eit. ibid. Nen- nius, however, hud previously, in cap. xi. (vii. Gale) described a chiula as carry-

(as I suppose) a simple interpolation, it, should have run thus, ' Latina vero, navi- bus'J, secundis veils, secundo omine atigu-

ing but sixty persons. The three boats riisque (quibus vatieinabatur certo apud could evidently bring over no force, capa- eum pra;sagio, quod ter centum annis We of influencing the fortunes of Britan- terram, cni proras librabat, insideret, cen- tum vero quinquaginta, hoe est dimidio temporis, sajpius quoque vastaret) evectns

nia, whose shores and northern frontiers were continually assailed, and of whose

petty princes, sometimes called kings, primum in orientali parte insulae, jubente

the number must probably have, exceeded infausto tyranno, terribiles infixit ungues,

that. Therefore, we must either under- quasi pro patria pugnaturus, sed earn cer-

stand that the arrival of the three cyuls tius impugnaturus." — Cap. 23. If this

was a mere personal introduction of Hen- sentence contains the statement in ques-

gist to Vortigern, and so became the basis tion, that statement exists ; but if it be

77

There came three ciula3y out of Germany (i.e. three barks) into exile, in which were the two brothers, Ors and Engistz, from whom are the Saxons ; this is their genealogy, viz. : Ors and Engist icere the two sons of Guectilis, the son of Guigte, son of Guecta, son of Guta, son of Boden, son of Frealaif, son of Fredolf, son of Finn, son of Freann, son of Folcbhall, son of Gaeta, son of Vanli, son of Saxi, son of Neag".

Britas, son of Olori, from whom are the Britons of Leatha", was

the

riot expressed in this sentence, it hath no real existence, however many may have repeated it. The inflated phrase, " ter- ribiles infixit ungues," seems to speak of some effective force, rather than of a tri- ning retinue ; and, therefore, a doubt may exist, whether de cubili is governed by qrex, or whether we should not punctuate it "grex catulorum, de cubili leamaj bar- barife Iribus" (nom. case), a tribe. The less elegant arrangement of words is a minor objection, in a work of such obscure and rugged Latinity, and in a sentence which actually appears to have undergone some alteration. If this be not so, that first arrival of Hengist was merely a diplomatic, not a military, affair — (11.)

1 Engist — ©'JIT' L1. 1). reads f^igipc and 6igipc, throughout, which is evi- dently a transcriber's blunder — (T.)

a Neag This genealogy is given in B.,

with no variation except in the spelling of some of the names, thus : — Ors and Engist, Guechtiles, Guigte, Guecta, Gutta, Uoden, Freolap, Freodulb, Finn, Frend, Folc- bhall, Getta, Vanli, Saxan, Negua. In

L1. it is given thus : Hors and Eigis, Guectilis, Guiti, Guitechtai, Gutai, Uoden, Frelab, Reaulb, Finn, Freann, Bolcal], Gota, Uanli, Saxi, Negua. In the Latin copies, Frend, Vanli, Saxan, and Negua are omitted, and after Geta is added, " qiii fuit ut aiunt filius Dei. Non ipse est Deus Beorum, Amen, Deus exercituuni, sed unus est ab idolis eorum, qua? ipsi ct<- lebant."— (T.)

b Britas, son of Olon, from whont <//•<• the Britons of Leatha. — These won!- an omitted in L1. and B., and the genealogy here given to Britas follows on as a con- tinuation of the genealogy of Or* and Engist ; the names are given thus in B. : Alan, Fethur, Ogaman, Tho, Bodhb, Se- inobh, Etacht, Aoth, Abir, Ivaa, Erra, Joban, Jonan, Jafetli, Noe. In L1. they are given thus : Alan, Fetur, Ogaman, Dai, Bodb, Semoth, Etacht, Athacht, Abir, Kaa, Esra, Joban, Jonan, Jal'elli. See the genealogy of Britus already given sec. IV, supra, where, besides some varia- tions of spelling, Isacon is inserted be- tween Alawn and Britus. — (T.) Alawn,

78

mic peinuip, mic O^amam, mic Cai, no "Ceo, mic 6oib, mic Sem- boib, mic Qcheacr, mic Qoch, mic Cfbaip, mic 17aa, mic Gappa, mic loban, mic lonan, mic lapech, mic Nae.

^oipci^epmi cpa po sabapDaip h-i pio [a Roman] neapcCpuich- neac, -\ t>o paD Ooib inn imp DianaD ainim Ueinerh, T?oinn imoppo amm bpeacnach. 5liaDmn ~\ aeclll'c ] r]5e T?omori an inbaio pin. O gem Cpipr imoppo .1. ccc.^lun. annop, -] in aimpip in pig pin .1. ^opcijepno, rainij 5eaPman iaem Do ppoicepc a n-imp bpeacan, [ajup DO pigni Oia peapca ajup mipbaile im6a ap in clepec pin in imp bpecan], -| po ic pochaioe -] oop pug po baichip -] cpeiDim.

t>e peaRcai6 ^eaRmaiw QNM so sis.

XVI. lap ciachcam Do ^eapman in n-inip bpearan Do cuaiD no nunao in copaD DianaD amm berili t>o ppoceapc Do. Uapap-

Daip

thore written Alnnius, and here Olou or Eolonn, was a famous name among the Ar- morican Britons, though less used among those of the island. — (//.)

c Son of Eolonn. — This is an erroneous repetition, Olou and Eolonn are obviously the same — ( T.)

d Now Gortiyern, etc. — The Latin has nothing about Vortigern governing the Picts. But the Galfridian chronicle re- presents him as indebted to Pictish mer- cenaries for his crown, vi. cap. 7. Whence Gale conjectured him to have been ge- nere Pictus, p. 129.— (H.) The words a Roman, are added from B — (2T.)

e Roinn Printed also Ruoihin, Eui-

chun, Ruoichin, Euithina, etc., etc. Mr. J. Lewis supposes that Thanet was called

Inis Kuochim, from the town of Ruoeh, now Rich, <>r Richborough. — History of Tenet, p. 2. — (//.) B. reads, Cenec and TJohm. L'. Cenenech and T?opn. The Latin (Stevenson's text), is " et tradidit eis insulam, (jua; in lingua eoruin vocatur Tanet, Brittanico serinone Ruoihin." — The verl), paouim, bears a remarkable resemblance to the Latin, trado, which it is here used to translate. But the Irish puo, pac, to y/'ce, is a simple root,

and trrulu a compound of trans and do

(T.)

' Gnttlian and Acquit. — ^pacion ajjup Gqmc, B. 5Pulolan usup Bijech, L'. Gratianus (the first emperor of the name) and Equitius were consuls, A. D. 374. See Baron, (in anno) n. i. But the true read-

79

the son of Eolonnc, son of Feithiver, son of Ogaman, son of Tai, or Teo, son of Bob, son of Sembob, son of Athacht, son of Aoth, son of Abar, son of Raa, son of Eassa, son of Joban, son of Jonan, son of Jafeth, son of Noe.

Now Gortigernd held in peace, under the Romans, the govern- ment of the Cruithnians, and he gave up to them [i. e. to the Saxons], the island whose name is Teineth \Tlianef\, but Roinne is its British name. Gradian and Aequitf were in the sovereignty of the Romans at that time. But it was from the birth of Christ, three hundred and forty-seven years ; and it was in the time of that king, viz., of Gor- tigern, that Saint German came to preach in the island of Britain, and God wrought8 miracles and many wonders by this ecclesiastic in the island of Britain, and he healed many, and brought them under baptism and faith".

OF THE MlliACLES OF GERMAN HERE.

XVI. After the arrival of German in the island of Britain, he went to the fortress of the warrior whose name was Benli'1. to preach

to

ing of the Latin is Gratiano Secuudo, or g God wrought island of Jiritnin.

Gratiano Secuudo ^Equantio. See Gain's —This clause is added from L1. and B. Edit. c. 28, with the var. Leet., and Addi- The mission of St. German to Britain tional Notes, No. XII. In this manner the was undertaken for the purpose of check- anachronism is mitigated by 33 years. In ing the. Pelagian heresy, and is recorded the date which follows, L'. reads, peachc by Prosper in his Chronicle, under the mbliaonu ,;rl. ap. ccc., but B. reads, pecc year 430. — (T.) See Additional Notes, m-bliaona .ccl. ap .ccc., where .ccl. is No. XIII.

an evident mistake for .pel. Mr. Steven- h Faith. — For po bairhip ajjup cpei-

son, in the text of his edition of Nennius, oim, L1. reads po baichip baipDi DO

reads 447, and mentions in the note that gpep, where baipDi seems redundant ;

the MSS. read variously, 337, 448, 400, DO gpep signifies, always, for ever — (T.)

and 347 (T.) ' Benli.— Geinoli, D — (T.)

8o

Daip ^eapman co na ppuichib in n-oopup in DunaiD ; DO com in Doippiji cop in pi$ im camjjen in cleipig, po paiD in pig co na luiji Dia m-bech na cleipig co cenD m-bliaDna in n-Dopap in Dunaig ni coppio apoeach. Uainig in ooippeoip cop in ppea^pa pin Do cum ^eapmam. Uainig ^capman o'n Dopap aniach epoch peapcaip, 1 ni piDip conaip no paga. Uanij aen DO mojaDaib in pij ap in caichpis amac, -| po raiphip a piaonaipi 5eapmain, -| pop pug leip DO cum a boirhe co cam agup co pailio, ~\ ni poibe 0151 DO cpoD ace aen bo co na laej, ~\ po mapb in laej, -\ beapb, -] Do paD Do na cleipcib. Cfgup po paiD ^eapman na po hpipoip a cnama ; agup ap na maipeach cpa po maip in laej a piaDnaipi a machap.

Do COID 5ePman °° Dopup na cairpac lap na rhaipeac DO h-eapnaiDi agallaim in pig. Ip ann pin carn^ peap i n-a pich, -] pe Ian DO allap o cino co I)onD, ~\ po caipinD Do ^eapman ; acbeapc

^eapman

J At lite door of the fortress — 1 n-oopup ttn oume, B. in nopup in Diinuio, D., omit- ting the eclipsed D in the word n-oopup. t3un, which signifies a fort or fortress, and which occurs in the composition of so many topographical names in Ireland, is inflected oume, and also ounaio or ounai^, in the genitive ; this latter form occurs in D. throughout, and has been retained in the text. B. adopts the form ouine. This word seems cognate with the English ton, or tou~n, and with the Welsh Din, Dinas (T.)

k The kitty said with an oath B. omits

the clause, po paio in pij cona luiji oia m-bech na cleipij, to the manifest loss of the sense. — (T.)

1 To German. — Docum in 5ePrnaln ceona, B. " To the same [or the afore-

said] German." — (?'•)

m Came away — B. reads Cuinic pep- cup nonu pen, agup nip peopabap cio no pujaoaip ; which is more close to the Latin, " Dies declinabat ad vesperum, et nox appropinquabat, et nescierunt quo irent.'— ('/'.)

n One (if the servants, etc. — The word mo^, serfux, is generally used to denote a labouring man, a slave, a hewer of wood and drawn- of water, one of the lowest class ('/'.)

0 Out of the fortress — CIp in curpuij dtnucli. The Latin is, "e medio urbis." The Irish word caraip, which is here used to translate the Latin urbs, is employed in ancient MSS. to denote a stone fort. It afterwards was applied to a walled town, as Limerick, Waterford, Ac., and is now

8t

to him. German stopped with his clerics at the door of the fortress'. The porter went to the king with the message of the clergyman ; the king said, with an oath", that if the clergy were to remain until the end of a year at the door of the fort, they should not come in. The porter came with this answer to German1. German came away"1 from the door in the evening, and did not know what road he should go. But one of the servants" of the king came out of the fortress0, and bowed downp before German, and brought him with him to his cabin kindly and cheerfully*1. And he had no cattle1 but one cow with her calf, and he killed the calf, and boiled it, and gave it to the cler- gymen. And German ordered that its bones should not be broken ; and on the morrow the calf was alive8 in the presence of its dam.

On the next day German repaired to the door of the fortress to pray an interview' with the king. And then there came a man

running

lib) means joyfully, cheerfully. The Latin is benigne, which is more nearly rendered by co cam — (2'.)

r He had no cuttle. — Ni po bui accu DI cpuo, B. The Latin is " Et ille nihil habebat de omnibus geiieribus jumento- rum." The word cpu6 or cpob here- used, signifying cattle, is the origin of the word Cro, Croo, or Croy, in our old laws, denoting a fine, mulct, or satisfaction for murder, manslaughter, or other crimes, such fines having anciently been paid in cattle. See Du Cange in voce CRO ; Jamicson's Scottish Dictionary in voce; and Ware's Irish Antiquities, by Har-

used to denote a city, as distinguished from baile, a town, or baile mop, a large tmcn. — (T.)

p Bowed down — po caipbip in D., and po piece in B., to translate the Latin, " inclinavit se." The verb cuipbip, to prostrate, or bow down the body, is now obsolete, and is not explained in any of the Dictionaries; but piece, to kneel, or, as now written by the moderns, pleucc or pleucc, is still in use — (T.)

q Brought him cheerfully — Rop

pug in D., and poo puc, in B. are only varied spelling of the same words, and signify " he brought." In modern Irish, oo cuj. D. reads co cam puipeach. B. reads co pailib, which has been sub- stituted in the text for puipeach. Co pailio (in modern orthography 50 paoi-

IRISH AECH. SOC. 1 6. M

5 Was alive — Ro bai in laej beo, B. -(T.)

c An interview. — Gcallmai, B. — (T.)

82

in cpeiDi in naem cpinnoio. CpeiDim oppe ; pon baipD J5eapman •] DO jiac poic Do, -] po paio pip, eipig, anopa acbela, acaic aingil Oe ag c' upnaioe ; -] Do [com] paeligipin n-Dun, ~\ po mapbaD lap in pig ; Daig ba bep leip in pig mapbaD each oume Dia mumn- cip no coirceao pe copgabail gpeme DC Deanam obpe in Ouine.

T?o caic Jleapman in la co h-aiDci a n-Dopup in OunaiD, co co- pacc an mog ceDna. Cfc bertpc ^eapman pip, pomna, pomna na poib neac DOD muinDcip ip in Dim po anochc. UugapDaip po cea- Doip in nonbup mac Do [bai occa] pa Dun call, ~\ pug in cleipeach leip Dia cig [oopipi], -| DO ponpac inle ppichaipe. Co canig ceme Oe DO mm po ceDoip ip in rt-oun cop loipc [lucr na cacpac] ecep rnnaib -| pipu, mill Duini ap peipg De ~| ^epniam ; ~) ip pap cop aniu.

lap na maipeach imoppo, po baipDiD in mog ur co n-a macaib 1 co luchr in cipe apceana, po beanDachc ^eapm«n [e] co n-a clainD. Caiceal a ainm, -| baD pig [e], -] baDap piga a meic cpe

bpechip

" From head to foot. — O h-ino, D. In modern Irish the orthography would lx-, o ceann 50 bonn. — (T.)

v Knelt. — Slecc, B. Sec note ''. D. reads caipmo, whicli is perhaps a form of the old verb caipbip used before, un- less there be some error of the MS. The Latin is " inclinavit," and B. reads po r-lecr in both places — (T.)

w / believe.- — D. reads here Cpeic DO, corruptly, and omits in before nuern Cpi- noic : the text is corrected from B. 15. reads olpe.— (T.)

x Said unto him — Qcbepc ppip, B.

y He went into the fortress. — D. omits the essential word coio. B. reads t)o coib padib