BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF Henrg W. Sage 1891 RECORD REVELATIONS RESUMED. LETTER, TO THE RIGHT HOK. WILLIAM MONSELL, M.P., COLONEL FRANCIS P. DUNIE, M.P., AND COLONEL FITZ-STEPHEN FRENCH, M.P., ON STATEMENTS EBCBNTLT MADE IN PAELIAMENT, ON THE PUBLIC RECOHDS OF lEELAJSTD, AND ON THE "CALENDAES OE PATENT ANE» CLOSE EOLLS OP CHANCERY INIEBLAND," LATELY PUBLISHED BY AUTHOBITY OP THE TEEASUBY, UNDEE THE DIRECTION OF THE MASTEK OF THE EOLLS OF IRELAND. BY AN IRISH ARCHIVIST. ' NE SUTOE ULTEA CEEPIDAM. t<:>NDON : J. BUSSELL SMITH, 36, Soh^" iiiBUBLIN : W. B. KELLY, 8, Grafton Street.— EDINBUEGH : T. G. .'JiJiVENSdN, 22, South Frederick St. ,'; 1864. ': Price Half-ajCrown. R07al 8TO„Tmlform with the Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britatof Price 2s. 6d.j by Post, 2s. 8d. RECO RD REVELATI OJiS. A LETTER, TO THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OP HER MAJESTY'S TREASURY, ON THE PUBLIC EECOIIDS OF IRELAND, AND ON THE "CALENDAES OF PATENT AND CLOSE EOLLS OF CHANCERY IN IRELAND," BBOENTLY prBLISHES, BY THEIE LORDSHIPS' i0rHOBITT, UNDEB THE DIBECTION 0» THE MASTER OF THE BOLLS OF IRELASD. BY AN IRISH ARCHIVIST. OPINIONS OP TfiB PRESS. ~ " The greater part of the Public Records of Irflaod. as we are informed by the Irish Archivist, 'still remain midt-r (lie contml of clerks of the Dublin Four Courts, where, practically inaecessilile, they lie covered with filth, becoming obliterated from damp, and so lit'le known, even to their paid keepers, that at a recent enquiry — only one individual connected with these (rffices even professed to be capable of deciphering any writing anterior to the reign of Queen Anne.' This complaint is serious enough to merit prompt attention, especially when we remember that the Iiish archives, in addition to the historical interest, which they share with the English muniments, have a sj)ecial value in constituting the chief if not the only legal evidence as to the confirmed and continued pnssession of all the real property in Ireland, as well as of the origin, extent, and modifications of the Crown's hereditary revenues. The ' Irish Archivist' undertakes to show, and he certainly appears to show conclusively...! Iiat the Calendars [of Patent and Close Rolls of Chancery in Ireland, recently published 'by aulhority of the Treasury, under the direction of the Master of the Holls ol Ireland'] are, in a word, dishonest and disgraceful publications from betfinning to end, altogether unworthy of the authority under w liicli they appear, and a fraud upon the public, at whose expense they are issued. So many ot the Archivist's charges are fully proved by the qu itatinns made in his pamphlet, and he shows so good a case for the oihers, that an official examinatinn of the wliole aff dr is iea.souably demand- ed, and we trust, both on behalf of the pu'dic nurse, and of historical and legal literature, that it will not be withheld." — The ILondon^ Examiner, %0i June, 1863. "This pamphlet is in itself a most valuable contribntidii to the Aicbseological history of this cotmtry ; and is one of the most interes' ing productions it was ever our fortune to meet with. The work has, liowever, an important purpose, for it is a remonstrance agahist the neglect i^j the Government of the proper guardians of Irish history and antiquiiies— tiie Royal Irtsh Academy, and the 1 ri^h Archsao- logical Society. Without any previous communication with these bodies, or with recognised scholars, the edinng of Calendais of an inuionaiit class of the ancient public Records of Ireland h is beeu entnitteil to an official of the Dublin Law Courts, who says he performs his task at ' intervals suafched from the labours of official duties!' The | amphlet is a protesi on the part of Irish Archi- vists against th« two volumes of Calendars already published at gieat expense to the natiou It is an emphatic n tlaina'iou Huamsi these vuluuu's being con- sidered as the work of an Irish Ariliivist recognized by the learned societies of this kingdom. We claim public attention, for the fact, that the ancient Records of Ireland are lying scattered and unavailable, and that the recognised Archaeo- logists of this country have not been consulted as to their arrangiineut and pub- lication. In Englind, large sums are niy properly expended in arranging, translating, and printing the pub ic inuninients of that portion of the empire. The most able i-choidrs and, competent Atcliivists have been engaged, but.in Ire- land the Public Record.s liave been ireaietl as mere lumber, ad consigned to the care of 'Clerks in the Law Courts.'J^rjianient has liberally granted means of preserving and pnblisliiiig the K«^ll^^^^oor'Is. Is it too itudacious to ask that a portion of our own snrplus riM6/in Evening Mail, 12th " y, 1863. 98 Editorial Qualifications required in England. "Pray Mr. Puflf, how came Sir Christopher -Hatton never to 'ask that question before?" To which the author, "PufF," replies: " What— before the play began ? how the plague could he!" Me. F. Peel, Secretaey of the Treasury— in continuation : " The origin of all these complaints, however, was that, forgetting the maxim 'Ne sutor ultra crepidam,' the Editor had not confined himself to translating, transcribing and con- densing these ancient records, but had thought it necessary to write a preface to each of his two volumes, and to annotate them." . It must be well known that record publications are useless to the general inquirer, if not accompanied with reliable elu- cidations of obscure passages, and illustrated with accurate notices of the pecuhar diplomatic characteristics of the age and department to which such obsolete writings belong:— "Les dechiffrer at les transcrire," says a high French authority, " c'est bien quelque chose; mais c'est le fait d'un copiste a gages, c'est I'ouvrage de I'oeil et de la main: , les juger, et saisir dans toutes les parties le vrai et le faux, le certain et le douteux, le suspect et le legal, c'est le fait du litterateur, c'est I'operation du savoir et du jugement." The Master of the Rolls of England, adopting this cor- rect view, requires"'-' that each work edited for his series shall be accompanied with — (1.) An account of the manuscript from which the text has been taken. (2.) A brief notice of the era embraced in the work. (3.) A notice of the sources from which the facts and narratives are derived. * Sir J. Romilly's " General Directions for the guidance of Editors." Qnalificatio7is for a Government Editor in Ireland. 99 (4) A biography of the author (so far as authentic materials exist for compiling one). (5.) An estimate of his historical value. (6.) A general index of the names of persons and places. (7.) A glossary of all obscure words, whether Anglo-Saxon or Latin, French or English. This glossary is not to include words found in ordinary dictionaries. Deficiency in these acquirements amounts to an actual inability even to translate ancient writings with accuracy, as evinced by the Calendar translations of " a stone bul- lock-pen into a city of the dead, and of a flock of sheep into a wax candle;" also by numerous other equally ludi- crous mistranslations of Latin, French, and Old English words, specimens of which will be found in the section of the present publication entitled analysis of the text of the Calendars — reminding us of Montaigne's " homme qui entende le Latin de son patenostrfe, et de Francois un peu moins.""' Thus have the translation and publication of some of the most important records of Ireland been committed to an Editor, whose annotations and Prefaces are frankly deprecated by the Secretary of the Treasury as the pro- ductions of a cobbler, blundering beyond his last — unquali- fied to comply with the above reasonable rules of Sir John Romilly — and who, consequently, could not be en- trusted with any work in the English historical series. Mr. F. Peel, Seceetary of the Treasury — in continuation : " The Editor's explanation of this was that his object was to make his volumes as popular and acceptable as possible, borroiv- ing from other ivories for that purpose, but not borrowing from any author whose name loas not mentioned in some part of the preface. He did not receive payment for his preface." Passing over the absurdity of applying the term "popu- * Essais de Montaigne, liv. iii. chap, v. 100 Mis-statement of facts. lar" to a collection of dry records—" as dull as cata- logues"— the baselessness of this defence may at once be seen by recurring to the Calendars themselves, and inspecting the plagiarised passages printed in parallel columns from page 12 to page 41 of " Record Revela- tions," establishing beyond question my allegation, that the " prefaces to these two volumes, although purporting to be the result of original documentary researches are, in the main, abstracted verbatim, without acknowledg- ment, from previously published works." In seven-eighths of the Prefaces we find no indication whatever that they are mere transcripts of the labours of others, and at page xliv. of the first volume the Editor writes specifically as follows : " In the performance of this task, I have had to rely solely on my own resources, at intervals snatched from the labours of official duties."* * That the plagiarisms in the Calendars extend to the appropriation of even the most ordinary observations is illustrated by the above passage, borrowed from Hatchell's dedication to the late Sir Michael O'Loghlen, sometime Master of the Eolls of Ireland, where we read : " Such intervals as I could snatch from official duties have been sedulously employed in the compilation of a repertory to the Patent Eolls of Chancery.'' Abstract of the Patent and Miscel- laneous Rolls of Chancery inroUed during the reign of William IV. 1830, 1837 ; compiled from the original inrolments in the Rolls Office, by George Hatchell. Dublin : Thom, 1838. From the dedication of this work, which is not mentioned in any part of the Calendars, have also been transcribed, other passages, including the following, in the first page of the first volume. " Documents equally important, whether they be regarded as serving to illustrate our national history, or as the expositors of individual rights ; treasures of which it is difficult to decide whether they belong with a greater ' emphasis of interest' to the civilian or to the sage." Plagiarised writers unmentioned in Calendars. 101 Throughout the entire of the " Calendars" the names of Hardiman, Hatchell, Tresham, Lemon, O'Donovan and Harris, have been studiously omitted— not even once mentioned — although the specimens, already adduced, demonstrate that numerous pages have been reprinted verbatim from their works as the new and original compo- sition of the Editor — to an extent partly indicated by the following example : Plagiarisms in Prefaces and annotations from the dis- sertation on the Statute of Kilkenny, 1842, by James Hardiman, whose name or work is not mentioned in any part of the Calendars : Calendar — Vol. I., annotations put forward as new original researches, pages 113, 120, 549 ; — plagiarised from Hardiman, pages 133, 8 and 9. Calendar — Vol. II., portions of prefaces and annotations similarly given, pages xviii, xix, xxii, xxxvi, li, 169 ; — plagiarised from Hardiman, pp. xxv, 68, 95, xxi, 13. How completely readers will be misled who suppose that the " Prefaces" were written at the dates affixed to them in the " Calendars" is illustrated by the following specimen of the appropriations of Hardiman's observations Published in 1843, on the Brehon laws, which since that time have been collected, transcribed, and translated : HAEDIMAN, a.d. 1843. CALENDAR, a.d. 1862. " Although the Irish, ' from the "Although the Irish, 'from the verjbeginningof time,' had been beginning of time,' had been governed and regulated by the governed by the Brehon law, the code celebrated under the name particulars of that code are as of the ' Brehon law,' yet the little known at this period as if particulars of that Code are as it had never existed, little known, at the present day, as if it had never existed. Even * the laws of the Anglo-Irish Par- The laws of the Irish Parlia- liaments of the Pale, enacted ments of the Pale, enacted 102 Evidence of Mis-statements. since the arrival of the English in the twelfth century, are also almost wholly unknown. The few Acts passed previous to the seventeenth century, which appear in our Statute Book, bear but a very inadequate proportion to the number which still re- main wrapt in the mouldering parchments on which they have been originally recorded. It is not, therefore, boldness or pre- sumption to say, that those writers who have hitherto treated of the affairs of Ireland, were in a state of positive, though not invincible, ignorance of the sources from which only they could have drawn ' the most in- structive portions of their la- bours.' " — Statute of Kilkenny, 1843, pp. iii, iv. The name of Walter Harris does not occur in any part of the two volumes of the Calendars, in which the result of his researches among the Irish Records have been, after the lapse of more than a century, again placed before the public as new and original work, in the mode exemplified by the following extract : since the arrival of the Eng- lish, are almost wholly un- known. As I have already stated, the few Acts previous to the seventeenth century which appear in our Statute Book bear but a small proportion to the number which still remain wrapt in the mouldering parchments on which they had been origin- ally recorded. It is not, there- fore, presumption to say, that those who have hitherto affected to treat of the affairs of Ireland, were in a state of ignorance of the sources from which they could obtain the most instruc- tive portion of their labours.'' — Calendar, Vol. ii. p. xliii. HARRIS, A.D. 1747. "It is to be lamented, my Lord, that we have not a perfect chain of Eecords existing through all the several periods of the Eng- lish Government, occasioned partly by the decays of time, partly by the negligence of Officers, and the bad condition of repositories in ancient days, and partly by casualties from CALENDAR, a.d. 1861. "It is a source of regret that we have not aperfect series of records from the commencement in this country of the English Govern- meuD : occasioned by the decay of time ; by the negligence of officers ; by the insecurity in which they were kept ; and by casualties from fire In the reign of Edward II. almost all Names of Plagiarised writers suppressed in Calendars. 103 fire. Of accidents of this last kind, there is to be seen an ancient memorandum in Latin enrolled in the Chancerj Office, Anno 2. Edw. II. to this effect. Memorandum, that all the Rolls of the Chancery of Ireland, were in the time of Master Thomas Cantock, Chancellor of Ireland, to the 28th year of King Edward, Son to King Henry the III. destroyed by an accidental fire in the Abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary near Dublin, at the time wlien that Abbey was burnt down ; except two Rolls of the same year, which were delivered to Master Walter de Thornbury by the King's Writ. The two Rolls here mentioned to be preserved are, I think, yet remaining, and endorsed, Anti- quissimre literje Patentes, con- taining many useful matters... Yet this loss is in some measure supplied (I will not say perfectly) partly by Maurice Regan, part- ly by Giraldus Cambrensis, and the Abbot Benedict, three writers contemporary with the actions they relate, and by some manuscript annals in being ; but more amply by the Collec- tions made out of the Tower of London by Prynn and Rymer, and by Baluzius's edition of the decretal epistles of Pope Inno- cent the III. To which may be added, some pieces in the Manuscripts in- titled, Crede mihi, Alan's the early records of the kingdom perished ; which fact we find thus recorded on the Patent Rolls : — 'Be it remembered that all the Rolls of the Chan- cery of Ireland were, in the time of Master Thomas Cantock, Chancellor of Ireland, to the 28th year of King Edward, son to King Henry III., destroyed by an accidental fire, in the Abbey of the Blessed Virgin, near Dublin, at the time when the Abbey was burnt down, except two Rolls of the same year, which were delivered to Master Walter de Thornbury by the King's writ,' The two Rolls here mentioned, yet remain, and one, entitled 'AntiquissimK Literse, Patentes,' contains several interesting Char- ters and muniments of an historical nature. This loss is partly supplied by Cambrensis, Regan, and the Abbot Benedict, writers contem- porary with the actions they relate ;...but more amply by the collections from the To-wer Records, London, by Prynne, Rymer, and by Baluzius's edi- tion of the ' Decretal Epistles of Pope Innocent III. ;' To which may be added the ' Crede Mihi,' ' Alan's Registry,' the 'Black Book of Christ's 104 Analysis oj prevaricatory statements. Registry, and the Black Book Church.'" — Calendar, Vol.1, pp. of Christ Church." — Letter of xi, xii, xiii. W. Harris to Lord Chancellor Newport, Dublin : 1747. ^ In the " Calendars" we also look in vain for any refer- ence to F. S. Thomas, from whose " History of Public Departments," 1846, page 113, the opening passage of the fii'st volume has been appropriated, and portions of whose observations on the " Liber HiberniEe," 1852, have been transferred into pages xxv. and xxvi. of the same Calendar without mention of their author. " Indice non opus est nostris, nee vindice libris, Stat contra, dicitque tibi tua pagina — fur es 1 * Having thus exhibited the inaccuracy of the statement " that no writer had been borrowed from whose name was not mentioned in some part of the preface," I shall next unmask the evasion couched in the latter words — and here — " We roust speak by the card, or prevarication will undo us." Such a plea as the foregoing, in reality, resolves itself into this : A, with much labour, thought, and expense, having published a work in 1850 — B, a plagiary, repi'ints this work verbatim, in 1863, as his own original composi- tion — his defence being that he mentions in some part of the stolen book that a man named A once existed — but without any indication that his work had been filched ! Common sense and honesty revolt against a doctrine so monstrous and immoral — which, if tolerated would permit any one to reprint Lord Macaulay's or Hallam's works, as new and original compositions — provided an allusion be made in any part of them that there once lived men * M. V. Martialis Epigrammatum Lib. i. liv. Evideiices of prevarication. 105 named Macaulay and Hallam ! The following examples will show that this is no exaggerated or overdrawn view of the above attempt " To blunt the edge of lav, And, damu'd in equity — escape by flaw." From Sir William Betham's treatise on " Dignities." 1830, whole pages, as already shewn pages 17 — 20, have been transcribed verbatim into the Preface of the second volume of the Calendars, as the Editor's original compo- sition — but the only reference to Betham in the entire of the two volumes is as follows at page xxx, of vol. i. : " To tliese [Memoranda Eolls] an incomplete index, ■which was afterwards sold to Sir William Betham, was prepared by the late William Ljnch." The transfer of entire passages from Henry Joseph Monck Mason's " Essay on Parliaments" into the Cal- endars has been pointed out at page 12-13, and the plagiarisms from William Monck Mason will be found hereafter noted in the analysis of the text, — yet a careful scrutiny will shew that the following is the sole mention of the name of Mason in the two volumes : " Mr. Monk [sic] Mason informs us that the Mayor [of Waterford] made a bonfire of the Eolls and Records which lumbered the Tholsel in that city.'' Calendar, Vol. I. p. xiii. Erck's description of the Patent Rolls, his laborious schedules of Sir Walter Raleigh's Irish lands, and even his dedication to Lord Morpeth have been appropriated into these volumes, as exhibited by the parallel columns at page 37-41, — ^yet the solitary reference which the Calen- dars make to this plundered writer is as follows : 106 Evidences of prevarication. " The late John Caillard Erck had in contemplation the publication of a Calendar to the Patent Rolls of James I., and had proceeded as far as the seventh year of the reign of that king (forming a very valuable volume), when his death put an end to a work which he performed with creditable fidelity and talent.'' Vol. J. p. xxviii. Thus " paltering with us in a double sense," we are assured that if the works of Betham, H. J. Mason, W. M. Mason, and Erck have been used, their names are " mentioned in some part of the Prefaces I" The name of William Lynch does not appear in any part of the second volume of the Calendar in which, exclusive of the specimens already given pages. 14 to 17 — his work on "Feudal Dignities," 1830, has been plagiarised as follows: Calendar, pages xxvi, xxviii, xxxviii, xlv, xlvii, copied verbatim without acknowledgment from Lynch, pages 11, 110, 73, 51, 55, 128, 129. Pages xxxviii-ix. of the same volume of the Calendar are mainly composed of unacknowledged appropriations from page 59 of the " Case of Prescriptive Baronies," 1835, by Lynch, whose remarks on Lish Public Records in 1830, are, without any reference whatever to their author, boldly put forward in the following style, as embodying the views and results of the researches of the Editor of the Calendars, in 1862 ! LYNCH, A.D., 1830. CALENDAR, a.d. 1862. " The occasional introduction " The occasional introduc- of some detached, and generally tion of some detached, and unimportant instruments rela- generally unimportant instru- tive to Ireland into that work ments relative to Ireland into [Rymer's Foedera], is much to tlie Fcedera, is much to be be regretted, as it must tend to regretted, as it must tend to an an erroneous impression, that erroneous impression, that the the edition embraces all neces- edition embraces all necessary sary documents relating to that documents relating to that country, and may hereafter pre- country, and may hereafter pre- Record suggestions plagiarised from W. Lynch. 107 vent the publication of a regular series of State Records, or Acta Kegia, for Ireland. Such a col- lection would be of considerable importance, from the following reasons: — Some of the earliest and most authentic expositions or declarations that we now have of the ancient Common Law of England, are principally to be gathered from State Documents issued for Ireland; most of the public events, transactions, and negotiations in which the Eng- lish kings were engaged at home or with foreign powers, are detail- ed in writs and other records also transmitted to that country; and during the reigns of John and his immediate successors, the records bearing on Ireland dis- close many essential data as to the history of dignities and of public rights generally in both countries. Now, few of the records alluded to appear in this last edition of Kymer, and until they be published, we must lament the want of such valua- ble information. Laws and rights well known and observed former- ly in England were not recorded, unless under particular or per- haps accidental circumstances; but when such were transmitted for execution or observance to a distant kingdom, they were of necessity committed to writing, and preserved by registration for posterity : impressed with 8 vent the publication of a regu- lar series of State Records or Acta Eegia for Ireland. Such a collection would be of considera- ble importance, for the following reasons : — Some of the earliest and most authentic expositions or declarations that we now have of the ancient Common Law .of England, are principally to be gathered from State Documents issued for Ireland; most of the public events, transactions, and negotiations, in which the Eng- lish kings were engaged at home or with foreign powers, are de- tailed in writs and other records also transmitted to that country; and during the reigns of John and his immediate successors, the records bearing on Ireland disclose many essential data as to its history, and of public rights generally in both countries. Now, few of the records al- luded to appear in the last edition of Eymer, and until they are published, we must lament the want of such valuable infor- mation. Laws and rights well known and observed formerly in England were not recorded, un- less under particular or perhaps accidental circumstances; but when such were transmitted for execution or observance to a distant kingdom, they were, of necessity, committed to writing, and preserved by registration for posterity, therefore no inquiry 108 Eecord suggestions plagiarised from JV. Lynch. into the Baronial or Legislative History of England can be satis- factorily completed, without ex- amination of all the records re- lating to Ireland previous to the middle or end of the fourteenth century. this opinion, the author long since conceived that no enquiry into the Baronial or Legislative History of England could be satis- factorily completed, without strict examination of all records relat- ing to Ireland previous to the middle or end of the fourteenth century. Whenever the Acta Eegia for Ireland may be undertaken, it is sincerely hoped that Government will not permit it to be executed by a system of deputation, but that its execu- tion be entrusted to the most zealous and intelligent officers of the several record depart- ments, each of whom should have full credit for his individual labours; by this means, and by excluding all modern and er- roneous copies of records as authorities where originals could be found, with due attention to the orthography of proper names, such officers possessing the necessary qualifications, would have every desire to pro- duce a creditable public collec- tion." — View of Legal Institutions, 1830, p. 301. Rowley Lascelles is incidentally mentioned in the first volume of the Calendars as having been engaged in con- nection with the Irish Record Commission, — but, no refer- ence to him appears in the second volume, in which, as already shown at page 20, his elaborate catalogue of Patent Rolls, his ideas and observations have been repro- Whenever the Acta Eegia for Ireland may be under- taken, it is hoped its execution will be intrusted to intelligent officers conversant with the sub- ject of which they treat, and each of whom ^ould have full credit for his individual labours; by this means, and by exclud- ing all modern and erroneous copies of records as authorities, where originals could be found, with due attention to the ortho- graphy of proper names, such officers possessing the necessary qualifications, would have every motive to produce a creditable public collection." — Calendar Vol. ii. p. Ixxvi.-lxxvii. Plagiarisms from Lascelles. 109 duced verbatim — as may be seen from the following fignres : Pages of Lascelles, " Supplement to the History of England," copied verbatim into Preface to Vol. 2 of the Calendars of Patent Rolls, without any mention of or reference to the author, throughout the entire volume : Page XX of Calendar. — Page of Lascelles. 17 xxi „ „ 32 xxvii „ „ 29 li „ „ 49 Ixx „ „ 21 The ten pages — Ixiii. to Ixxiii. purporting to be an original epitome of Anglo-Irish history during the period embraced in the second volume of the Calendar, including an account of the foundation of Trinity College, Dublin, are mainly copied verbatim from Lascelles page 38 to 45, in the following style, and the reader will observe that the points intended to be conveyed by the author, with regard to Queen Elizabeth and Archbishop Loftus, have been overlooked in the transfer : LASCELLES, a.d. 1830. CALENDAR, a.d. 1862. " Connected with these pro- " Connected with the proposed posed reforms, was the establish- reforms at this time, was the ment of an uniyersity, at this establishment of an university in time, in Ireland. An abortive Ireland. In the reign of Edward attempt had been made so III. two successive archbishops early as in 1311, by Leach, suggested a scheme for establish- Archbishop of Dublin. A second ing a university. The first was attempt had been made by his projected by John Leech, Arch- successor Bicknor, immediately bishop of Dublin, in 1311 ; and after the irruption of the Bruces Archbishop Bicknor, in the year from Scotland, in the time of 1320, founded, under the Papal Edw. II., when an university was sanction, an academical body, established, and with difficulty with full power to confer degrees, supported for the space of thirty and which with difficulty was eight years supportedfor the space of thirty- eight years An Irish Parliament had in' the An Irish Parliament had, in 110 Plagiarisms frovi Lascelles. year 1465, 1° of Ed. IV., passed a statute that an universitj should be established in the town of Drogheda.with the same liberties and privileges as were enjojed by Oxford. But this, like so many other acts of Irish, and, perhaps, of English legislation, was totally disregarded and forgotten in the tumult of Civil broils. In the parliament of 1569, Sir Henry Sydney had recom- mended to the lords of the coun- cil in England the re-establish- ment of the university, once erected in the church of St. Patrick — but nothing followed upon it. Finally, Sir John Perrot pro- jected two universities, to be erected in Dublin, out of the Cathedral of St. Patrick; which he recommended to be dissolved. But this scheme was strenu- ously opposed by Loftus, Arch- bishop of Dublin, who was par- ticularly interested in the livings of this church, by leases and estates which he had procured for himself and his kinsmen. On the recall and ruin of his rival Perrot, Loftus, to make some amends to the interests of learning and religion, fixed his eye upon part of the estate of the city of Dublin. The Monastery of All-Hal- lows had, at the dissolution of the religious houses, been vested in the mayor and citizens : to these Loftus made two fine the year 1465, 1° Edward IV., passed a statute that a univer- sity should be established in Drogheda, with the same liberties and privileges as were enjoyed by Oxford, but this, like similar [sic] Irish Acts was forgotten in the tumult of the period. In the parliament of 1569 Sir Henry Sidney had recommended to the Lords of the Council in England the re-establishment of the university once erected in the church of St. Patrick, but nothing followed on it. Finally, Sir John Perrot pro- jected two universities, to be erected in Dublin, out of the Cathedral of St. Patrick, which he recommended to be dissolved. But this scheme was opposed by Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin, who was interested in the livings of the church by leases which had been procured for himself and his kinsmen. On the recall of Perrot, Lof- tus, to make some amends to the interests of learning and reli- gion, fixed his eye upon part of the estate of the City of Dublin. The monastery of All-Hallows had, at the dissolution of the religious houses, been granted to the mayor and citizens : to these Loftus made two fine Chronological blunders in Calendars. Ill speeches, recommending to the citizens religion, charity, public spirit, and national liberality in the character of strangers, which, he trusted, would find a reception in their breasts. speeches : recommending to the citizens, religion, charity, public spirit, national liberality in the character of strangers, which, he trusted, would find a recep- tion in their breasts, since he could not conveniently spare room for them, at that time, in his own. They were prevailed on at once, to grant freely the Monastery, with its precincts. And the queen now granted all the parchment that was neces- sary, in the form of a royal Charter, which passed the seals December 29, 1591, graciously incorporating an university ; per- mitting it to take that or any other gifts it might obtain, not exceeding the annual value of £400. Loftus was made the first Pro- vost; Cecil Lord Burleigh, the first Chancellor; which last offi- cer, in future, was to be elected by the Fellows and Provost." — Liber Munerum Hibernice, Vol. i., page 42. The above extract contains two of the several remark- able discoveries brought to light in these " Calendars" with reference to the Kings of England. The hitherto received authorities lay down that Edward III. ascended the throne in 1327 and that Edward the Fourth became king in 1461, The " Calendars" however, as above, in- form us that Edward III, was king in 1311 and that Edward IV. began to reign in 1465 ! A further discovery in the " Calendars" relative to the reign of Edward IV. will be found hereafter noticed in the "Analysis of the text." The catalogue of plagiarisms in the Prefaces and anuo- The corporation generously and immediately granted the monas- tery, with its precincts and pos- sessions, and her Majesty granted a royal charter of incorporation on the 3rd of March, 1595, with licence to take that or any other gifts it might obtain not exceed- ina: the annual value of X400. Loftus was made the first Pro- vost ; Cecil, Lord Burleigh, the first Chancellor, which last officer it was provided should in future be elected by the Fellows and Provost." — Calendar, vol. ii. pp. Ixix. — Ixxiii. 112 Plagiarisms from B. T. Duhigg. tations might be much lengthened by numerous other instances— as that of B. T. Duhigg, whose name does not occur in any part of the second volume of the Calendars, in which whole pages of his " History of the King's Inns, Dublin," have been reproduced as the result of lengthened original research and consideration in the following mode : DUHIGG, A.D. 1S06. " Henry's reign was distin- guished by an uncommon acces- sion of property, which was as profusely distributed, as it had been profligately obtained The firmness of Henry's charac- ter in Ireland appears evident by the general and instant re- volt which threatened the dawn of a Minor's reign. Elective chiefs of Milesian race were seduced or awed by Henry to accept the descendible rank of nobility, whereby paternal feel- ings superseded family pride, and a power derived from Brehon law or native customs was wisely directed to its complete subver- sion. Such also was the progres- sive strength of that princi- ple, that the government of the young prince, aided by those interested nobles, quickly en- forced a general obedience. It also assumed a legal posi- tion, highly meriting notice in an history of this kind, and which partook alike of the policy and justice of English law. The Privy Council or Superior Courts CALENDAR, A.D. 1862. " The reign of Henry VIII. was distinguished by an uncommon accession of property, which was as profusely distributed as it had been unjustly obtained; yet the firmness of Henry's character in Ireland appears evident by the general and instant revolt which threatened the dawn of his suc- cessor's reign. Elective chiefs of Milesian race had been seduced or awed by Henry to accept the descendi- ble rank of nobility, whereby pa- ternal feelings superseded family pride, and a power derived from Brehon law or native customs was wisely directed to its com- plete subversion. Such, also, was the progressive strength of that principle, that the government of the young prince, aided by those interested nobles, quickly enforced a gene- ral obedience. It also assumed another posi- tion worthy of notice, and which partook alike of the policy and justice of English law; the Privy Council or ^Superior Courts Vast extent of Plagiarisms in Calendars. 113 encouraged the complaints, and redressed the grievances of de- pendant Irish septs. This sagacious system rent asunder the link of Milesian union, and enlisted, at no ex- pense, inveterate enemies to its continuance : persons ac- quainted with the habits, pre- judices, and language of the inferior classes, were thereby interested to exercise all such influence in exploding customs variant from, or hostile to, the Common Law Religious disputes did not, during this reign, enforce any material vari- ation from existing law, or much inflame the civil disorders of the country; but a new sovereign assumed the sceptre, whose per- sonal honour and presumed edu- cation clashed with Edward's religious creed." — " History of the King's Inns." — Dublin: 1806, pp. 40, 46-7. encouraged the complaints and redressed the grievances of de- pendant Irish septs. This sagacious system rent asunder the link of Milesian union, and enlisted, at no ex- pense, inveterate enemies to its continuance. Persons acquainted with the habits, prejudices, and language of the inferior classes, were thereby interested in exer- cising all their influence in ex- ploding customs opposed to the Common Law. Keligious disputes did not during his reign enforce any material deviation from existing law, or much inflame the civil disorders of the country ; but a new sove- reign assumed the sceptre, whose policy and prejudices clashed with Edward's religious creed." — Calendar, Vol, ii. p. lix, — Ix. Nothing short of reprinting in parallel columns seven- eighths of the Prefaces and annotations to the two volumes of " Calendars" could fully exhibit the extent of the piracies sought to be screened under the evasion of not having "borrowed from any author whose name is not mentioned in some parts of the preface." The plagiarisms in the text will be found hereaftei" noticed under a dis- tinct head — ^but the following is too characteristic to be omitted here: page xxxi. of the Preface of Calendar, vol. ii. contains a prominent editorial reference to " My Mss," for the following passage : " In the year 1520, the Mayor and Aldermen of Dublin being at 114 Value of Editorial MSS. dinner with the Earl of Surrey, Lord Deputy, news wag brought that O'Neil was coming with a great force to invade the Pale. Forth- with, the Deputy commanded the Mayor and citizens to set forth and resist O'Neil, which they did." The importance of the recondite information elicited from these editorial mss., for the illustration of the sub- jects treated of in the Calendars, will be appreciated when it is seen as follows that the foregoing is a mere incorrect transcript from a common book, printed in 1809 — the "Mss," with other errors, making the Earl of Surrey Deputy, instead of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland : " After whom came over Lord Lieutenant, Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, grandfather to the Duke of Norfolk, accompanied with 200 of the King's guard. While he sat at dinner in the Castle of Divelin, he heard news that O'Neale with a mighty army was even in the mouth of the borders ready to invade. Immediately men were levied by the Mayor, and the next morrow joining them to his band, the Lieutenant marched as far as the water of Slane." — Campion'' s History of Ireland, 8vo. Dublin: 1809, p. 160. The Secretary of the Treasury assured the House of Commons that these Prefaces were not paid for — probably on Shakespeare's principle that " Pirates may make cheap pennyworths of their pillage.'' * This would, indeed, appear to be a partial development of the fate predicted for plagiarists by Pierre Bayle, in his commentary on a passage in Jeremiah, chap. xvii. " As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not ; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.'' " Les Interpretes disent la-dessus, que |.la perdrix derobe les ceufs des autres oiseaux, et qu'elle les couve, mais que les petits qu'elle fait eclore ne la reconnoissent Henry VL part ii., act i., scene i. Attempt to evade public investigation. 115 point pour leur mere, et qu'ils la quittent, et vont trouver I'oiseau, qui avoit pondu ces oeufs. Voila le sort ordinaire des Ecrivains plagiaires. lis moissonnent ce qu'ils n'ont point seme, ils enlevent les enfans d'autrui, ils se font une famille d'usurpatiou ; mais ces enfans enlevez sont comme les autres richesses mal aquises, male parta male dilahuntur ; ils prennent les ailes, et s'enfuient cliez leur veritable pere. Un Auteur vole reclame son bien : et si la mort Ten empeclie, un fils, un parent, un ami, fait valoir ses droits. Un homme mSme, qui ne sera pas de ses amis lui rendra ce ,bon office, afin de se faire honneur, de la decouverte du vol, ou afin de couvrir de confusion le Plagiaire." Mb. F. Peel, Seceetart of the Teeastjet — in continuation — " As to the text of his loork, its most important part, the Editor's statement ivas satisfactory, and ivas corroborated by the deputy keeper of the Rolls, Mr. Beilly, ivhose testimony was unimpeachable. His Calendar ivas quite comidlete and ivithout any omissions." This statement not only utterly fails to satisfy those who have at all considered the points at issue but demonstrates how hopeless the case must have been officially consi- dered, when it was not deemed prudent to venture to sub- mit it to the open investigation of any competent, impar- tial and independent tribunal of scholars conversant with the subject. Instead of adopting the latter and only satisfactory course,"" the Public and the Treasury are called upon — with little respect for their common sense — to place * " So many of the Archivist's charges are fully proved by the quotations made in his pamphlet, and he shows so good a case for the others, that an official examination of the whole affair is rea- sonably demanded, and we trust, on behalf both of the public purse and of historical and legal literature, that it will not be withheld.'' The " Examiner,'' London, 6th June, 1863. 116 Evidence offered on completeness of Calendars. implicit reliance on statements made by the Editor of the impugned Calendars and another official of the Dublin Rolls Court — the actual source whence the questionable productions themselves emanated ! — who aver that the work entitled a " Calendar of Patent and Close Rolls" is " quite complete and without any omissions," although this allegation is, prima facie, contradicted by the simple fact that, as already observed, the volumes contain neither abstract nor notice of any Close Roll, every Roll calen- dared in them being headed " Patent Roll !" The declaration above quoted on the completeness of the " Calendars," to be accepted by the public, should have been accompanied with certificates from recognised archivists, stating that they had carefully collated all the Rolls with the Calendars ; but as the in- struments of which these volumes purport to be abstracts amount, as has been shown at page 69, to the enormous number ,of 5291, the execution of such an operation was mechanically and physically impracticable, in the in- terval between the appearance of the publication which first raised the question — and the movement in the House of Commons. The reader who has examined the details of the serious deficiencies and omissions in the Calendars already indi- cated, at page 62-64, will naturally desire to be informed on the qualifications which entitle the Deputy Keeper of the Rolls at Dublin to adjudicate in the above decisive manner on so serious a literary and historical question. The emphatic reference to this "unimpeachable testimony" led the House of Commons and the Treasury, no doubt, to conclude that this Deputy Keeper of the Rolls at Dublin was a profound historic investigator — a second Mabillou, or Pascual de Gayangos — entitled by his works to rank with those great Qualifications of the Deputy Keeper of the Rolls. 117 " Archivists, who flash the torch Of Truth along Time's mould'ring records. Illuminating all the fading past, Like golden letters on an ancient scroll."* But, after our previous strange " Record Kevelatious," the reader will scarcely be surprised to learn that this Deputy Keeper of the Rolls at Dublin, represented to the Treasury, and cited in the House of Commons, as an "unimpeachable" authority on ancient Patent and Close Rolls, is utterly unknown as a palseographer, has never published any historical or archivistic work, and, according to the solemn public testimony of his fellow officials is not qualified even to read the ancient muniments in his charge ! , These allegations are neither prevaricatory nor delusive, but rest, as the following extract shows, on no less an authority than that of the Editor of the Calen- dars— T^uhlicly corroborated by another official of the same DubUn Rolls Office : " Minutes of Evidence — Chancery OflSces, Ireland, Commission. Dublin, November, 15th, 1858. Present; Edward Litton, Esq., Senior Master in Chancery, Chairman, Henry Darley, Esq., and Wilmot Seton, Esq. THE rolls' office. James Morrin, Esq. [Editor of the Calendars], examined. Question 2G71. Is there any other person in the [KoUs] office could read those documents if you were not there ? Answer. JVo. There is no one there who Icnows the value of them, their use, or application. J. J. D. Latouche, Esq., examined. Question 2786, There is no other [except the Editor of the Calen- * Remonstrance addressed by Mrs. W. R. Wilde, translator of "Eritis sicut Deus," to D. F. M'Carthy, M.R.LA., on reading Lis Essay on the collation of the various editions and manuscripts of Memoires de la Cour D'Bspagne, sous le regue de Charles II., in the "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," — Vol. viii. 118 Value of testimony styled "unimpeachable." dars], in any way connected with your [Rolls] office who can read those old documents ? Answer. No other." " Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the duties of the officers and clerks of the Court of Chancery, Ireland, with minutes of evidence, &c., presented to both Houses of Parliament, by command of Her Majesty." — Dublin: Thorn, 1859, pp. 138, 142. Hence it is plain, that the unimpeachable authority adduced to the House of Commons and the Treasury in favour of the completeness of these " Calendars of Patent and Close Rolls" was in reality the testimony of an official of the Dublin Rolls Court, who, according to the above evidence of the Editor of the Calendars, could neither read those documents nor comprehend their "value, use, or application ;" and who thus would find himself, so far as the ancient Rolls are concerned, in the same position with " Touy Lumpkin" when the letter was put into his hand, which he considered a "damned cramp piece of penmanship as ever he saw in his life." — "I can read your print-hand very well," said the immortal Lumpkin, "but here there are such handles, and shanks, and dashes, that one can scarce tell the head from the tail. — It's very odd, I can read the outside of my letters, where my own name is, well enough ; but when I come to open it, it's all • — buzz ; a damned up and down hand, as if it was dis- guised in liquor — There's an M, and a T, and an S, but whether the next be an izzard or an R— confound me — I cannot tell!""' This case affords a remarkable illustration of the evil results of the system still maintained in Ireland — although exploded in England and Scotland — of essaying to com- bine the management of ancient records with the anomalous * "She stoops to conquer," by Oliver Goldsmith, Act IV. Results of present Record System in Ireland. 119 every day modern law business which necessarily engrosses the time and attention of the officials of the Dublin law Courts. On this point, the Deputy Keeper of the Rolls at Dublin, gave the following information in reply to question 2528 of the Chancery Commissioners, as to the peculiar duties performed by him in relation to the ancient records in his custody : " I have the general superintendence and charge of them, and I am responsible for their safe keeping. Every document issued from the office requires to have my signature, for no other person in the office is authorized to sign them. I have to administer oaths to any person requiring to make an affidavit in a cause petition matter...! have to inspect, verify, and pass all the accounts of the fees received in the office. I am responsible for the general management of the business of the office, and for giving of any information to solicitors with regard to practice, &c." JReport of Chancery Offices, Ireland, Commission, 1859, page 132. The vitality of a character sketched by Moliere is ludi- crously apparent from the entire of this transaction — when we remember that the Rolls Office, Dublin, having hither- to a virtual monopoly of the chief Irish muniments, has been represented to the public as the centre of archivistic knowledge in Ireland — and has been accepted as such by the uninitiated, who, under existing arrangements, are com- pelled to depend mainly upon the materials thence supplied on questions connected with title, pedigree, and property : " lis m'ont" says Sganarelle, " fait medecin malgre mes dents. Je ne m'etois jamais mele d'etre si savant que cela, et toutes mes etudes n'ont ete que jusqu'en sixieme. Je ne sais point sur quoi cette imagination leur est venue; mais, quand j'ai vu qu'a toute force ils vouloient que je fusse medecin, je me suis resolu de I'etre aux de- pens de qui il appartiendra. Cependant, vous ne sauriez croire comment I'erreur s'est repandue, et de quelle fafon chacun est endiable a me croire habile homme. On me 120 Serious Discrepancies in Official Statements. vient clierclier de tous les cotes ; et si les choses vont toujours de meme, je suis d'avis de m'en tenir toute ma vie a la medecine. Je trouve que c'est le metier le meilleur de tous ; car, soit qu'on fasse lien, on soit qu'on fasse mal, on est toujours paye de meme sorte. La inechante besogne ne retombe jamais sur notre dos, et nous taillons comme il nous plait sur Vetoffe oii jious travaillons. Uu cordounier, en faisant des souliers, ne sauroit gater un morceau de cuir qu'il n'en paie les pots casses ; mais ici Ton pent gater un homme sans qu'il en coute rien. Les bevues ne sont pour nous, et c'est toujours la faute de celui qui meurt !" Mr. F. Peel, Secketaet op the Teeastjrt, in continuation : — " The Record Commissioners appointed 50 years ago had gone through the first seven years of Henry VIII.' s reign; and this part of their work the Editor had, included in his men for the sake of completeness. He had, however, examined the records of those seven years with the same care as he had bestowed on those of other periods, and therefore had not been a mere copyer of the labours of the Record Commission." The first part of this statement is absolutely contradicted by the Editor of the Calendars, who, at page vii. of his first volume, declares, as follows, that the Patent Rolls of the first seven years of the reign of Henry VIII. have been lost — with the exception of that for his sixth year ! " During the first twenty years of •whose [Henry VIIL] reign there is but one roll (of the sixth) remaining." It is remarkable that no explanation was hazarded on the important fact disclosed in "Record Revelations" page 70 that all the rolls included in the present two volumes, were translated and calendared more than thirty years ago, under the superintendence of James Hardiman, for the Irish Record Commission, at the cost of the nation ! Evidence of Plagiarisms from Record Commission. 121 Nor do we find any reply attempted to the serious question — why a defective and inaccurate work like the present Calendars, should have been preferred to that executed under so eminent a scholar as Hardiman, and why the public funds should have been expended to reproduce, in an imperfect and comparatively valueless mode, that which had been, at the cost of the nation, previously compiled in a superior and satisfactory manner — and even partly printed. The following specimens, and the subsequent references in the Analysis of the text, will enable the reader to judge of the reliance to be placed on the above statement, that the Editor of the Calendars did not copy the labours of the late Irish Record Commissioners — the opening page of whose Calendar of 1830 has already, at page 71, been shown to be identical with the corresponding por- tion of the Calendar of 1861 : EECORD REPORT, a.d. 1830. " Tlie Statutes at present ia print, previous to 10 th of Hen. VII. are only translations, the ori- ginals of which have never been published. They were selected by Sir Richard Bolton : and there is every reason to suppose that they were never corrected from the Roll, by subsequent editors, as we find that many of the errors which had crept into the edition by Sir Richard, are copied into later editions. One instance is remarkable : by the 8th Edw. IV. all the English Statutes ' concerning rapes' are adopted, but the words ' concerning rapes' being omitted in the print, the Act appears to adopt all the Statute Law of England, instead CALENDAR, a.d. 1862, " The printed Statutes of Ireland previous to the 10° of Henry VII., are only translations of the original Acts in Norman-French, which originals have never been published; and there is every reason to suppose the transla- tions have never been corrected with the originals ; of this the following is an amusing instance. By the 8° Edward IV., c. 70, it was enacted, that all the Eng- lish Statutes concerning rapes should be adopted in Ireland; but the words, de toutz maners dez rapes in the origi- nal, having been omitted in the translation, the printed Act appears to adopt all the Sta- tute law of England, instead 122 Evidence of Plagiarisms from Record Commission. of that part only that was • con- cerning rapes.' " — Eighteenth An- nual Beport respecting the Pub- lic Records of Ireland (1830) page 10. RECORD REPORT, 1810-15. " Liber Niger. Also a vellum folio, bound in -wood, and written in Court-hand ; contains near 500 pages closely written, with many illuminated capitals, about the year 1340. Its contents are very miscel- laneous ; Charters, Statutes ; Norman-French Poems, Leonine and other Latin verses ; Eegis- triesof Writs; Calendars, Chron- icles, Chronologies, Martyrolo- gies, Legends; Grants; Letters Historical and Empirical ; Mem- morandums; Lists of Tenants; a curious Treatise of Arithmetic, exhibiting the state of that science before the introduction of Arabic numerals; and sundry articles relating to the Antiqui- ties of Christ Church, one of which, published in the Monasti- con, relates, that its Vaults were built by the Danes and conse- crated by Saint Patrick, and that the Church was afterwards built and endowed by Sitric. Of these numerous articles, some of the most important are, Copies of Magna Charta, Charta de Foresta, Confirmatio Char- tarum, and the principal early English Statutes; some of which are considerably disguised by titles, commencements and con- of that part only which con- cerned rapes." — Calendar, Vol. ii. page li. CALENDAR, a.d. 186?. " The Black Boot is a vellum folio, bound in wood, and con- tains near 500 pages closely written, with many illuminated capitals, about the year 1340. Its contents are very miscel- laneous : Charters, Statutes ; Norman-French poems, Leonine, and other Latin verses; registries of Writs ; Calendars, Chronicles, Chronologies, martyrologies, le- gends ; grants ; letters histori- cal and empirical ; memoran- dums; lists of tepants ; a curious treatise of arithmetic, exhibiting the state of that science before the introduction of Arabic num- erals ; and sundry articles re- lating to the antiquities of Christ Church, one of which, published in the Monasticon, relates that its vaults were built by the Danes and consecrated by Saint Patrick, and that the Church was afterwards built and en- dowed by Sitric. Of these numerous articles, some of the most important are, copies of Magna Charta, Charta de Foresta, Confirmatio Char- tarum, and the Principal early English Statutes, some of which are considerably disguised by titles, commencements and con- Evidence of Plagiarisms from Record Commission. 12B elusions, differing from the cor- responding Acts published in the Statutes of the Realm. The above-mentioned Records likewise contain various articles relating to Tithes of Merchan- dise, and Tithe Fish of the Liffey, for which the Dean and Chapter obtained a Decree against the Corporation of Dub- lin; a dispute between the Clergj of the two Cathedrals, Christ Church and Saint Patrick's; some curious Lists of Prices ; and many other things illustra- tive of History and Antiquities, particularly those of Dublin and the Church." — Irish Record Re- ports, Vol. I. 1810-15, p. 307. EECORD REPORT, 1810-15. The Contents of the Bed Book, As it appears in beginning of said Book in a modern hand- writing. Mere scribbling ... A few indistinct Memoranda. Statutum Dublin, 11 Hen. 4 relative to Sheriffs and some Memoranda of little conse- quence. Stat. 2d. Westm' in part ... Sheriffs' Oath of Office ... Justice of Peace's do. Treasurer's do. Escheator's do. Proclamation Writ, for the Ob- servance of the Statute of 3 Eichd. 2. de Absentibus. Writ, ... 4 Richd 2. de absen- tibus 9 elusions, differing from the cor- responding Acts published in the Statutes of the Realm. It likewise contains various articles relating to tithes of merchandise, and tithe fish of the Liffey, for which the Deau and Chapter obtained a decree against the Corporation of Dub- lin; a dispute between the Clergy of the two Cathedrals, Christ Church and Saint Patrick's ; some curious lists of prices ; and many other things illustrative of history and antiquities, par- ticularly those of Dublin and the Church." — Calendar, Vol. II. p. xliv., xlv. CALENDAR, a.d. 1862. Red Book. This venerable re- cord is preserved in the Ex- chequer. The following is a short note of its contents : — Statutum Dublin, 11° Henry IV: Statutum Westmonaster' : Sheriffs oath of office ; Justice of the Peace, ditto : Treasurer's and Escheator's oath: Writ for the observance of the Statute, 3° Ric. IL De Absen- tibus ; Writ, 4° Ric, IL, de absentibus : 124 Evidence of Plagiarisms from Record Commission. "Writ, 7 Ed. 3. rel. to the Cus- toms ... ••■ ••• Articles of Grievances sent to the King ; with the King's Answer to each, temp. Ed. 3. Stat. 2d. Westmr in part ... Breve de pardonatione debitorum Dni Regis, 41 Ed. 3 ... Le Statut fait encontr' les Amirals, 13 Eich. 2. Do. Do. 15 Rich. 2. Le Statut encontr' Customers, &c, 13 Rich. 2. Some Latin verses and 4 causes, assigned quare Sancta Crux adoratur Ordinances of Kilkenny, 3 Ed. 2. The 4 first Chapters want- ing Ordinationes in Pari, Dublin, 13 Ed, 2. Le Serement des Collectours. Statutum in Pari. Dublin, 11 Hen. 4 Bone Estatut pour le Peuple (no date) and a drawing of the Exchequer. Statutes of Lincoln and York ; with a Writ for their Obser- vance. Averment encontr' protection, 10 Hen. 4 Stat. 1 Westmr. in part . . . An ancient Calendar, the 12 months complete. Some Sacred Writings. Latin verses ; Qui jurat super librum tria facit prime, &c. Allowances to the Master of the Mint in England. Pro operag' et Monetag' ; and a Memorandum. Writ, 7° Edward III., relative to customs : Articles of Grievances sent to the King, with the King's an- swer ; tempore Edward III. : Statute 2nd Westmonaster' : Breve de pardonatione debitorum Domini Regis, 41° Edward III.: Le Statut fair [sic] encontr' les Admiralx, 13° and 15° Richard n. : Le Statut encontr' customers, 13° Richard II. : Some Latin verses and four causes assigned quare sancta crux adoratur : Ordinances of Kilkenny, 3° Ed- ward II., the four first chapters wanting : Ordinationes in Pari. Dublin, 13° Edward II. : Le Serement des collectours : Statutum in Pari. Dublin, U" Henry IV. : Bone Estatut pour le Peuple, and a drawing of the Court of Exchequer : Statutes of Lincoln and York, with a writ for their obser- vance : Averment encontr' protection, 10° Henry IV.: An ancient calendar, the twelve months complete : Some Sacred writings: Latin verses ; Qui jurat super librum tria facet, [sic] prime, &c. : Allowances to the Master of the Mint in England, pro operag' et Monetag'; andaMemoran- The so-called "Text" of the Calendars. 125 22 Ed. 1. quod Wm. de dum Quod W. de Wymund- Wymundham misit 24 pecias ham misit 24 peoias cuneo- cuneorum ia Hibernia pro rum in Hibernia pro moneta moaeta ibidem facienda. ibidem facienda : Proclamation for decrying base Proclamation for decrying base money, 27 Ed. 3. money, 27° Edward III. : Oath of a Justice. Oath of a Justice : De juramento Vicecomitum et De juramento Vicocomitum and Ballivorum ; de juramento Ballivorum, and a writ of justiciariorum ; and a Writ of levari to the Sheriff of Dublin Levari to the Sheriff of Dub- for the King's debts, ii.° Ed- lin for the King's Debts (ii. ward I. ; &c. &c. Ed. I.). &c., &c. Calendar, vol. ii. page slviii. Irish Record Reports, Vol. i. 1810-15, pa^e 159-160. From the representations made to the Treasury — and promulgated in the House of Commons, on the authority of the Editor and the Deputy Keeper of the Rolls at Dublin, it might be supposed that the body or text of the Calendars excelled in accuracy and originality the pre- faces and annotations. To show, however, that such is far from being the fact, I shall now adduce evidence, in addition to that already laid before the Public, in cor- roboration of my allegation that " the Calendar or body of the work as here edited is, in general, unsatisfactory and defective for either historical or legal purposes" — classifying this analysis under the following heads : I. Plagiarisms : II. Patents entirely omitted : III. Documents calendared so imperfectly as to be MISLEADING AND VALUELESS : IV. Incorrect abstracts, false decipherments, and INACCURATE TRANSLATIONS OF ENTRIES ON THE RoLLS. In applying the term text to the body of the Calendar I merely adopt, for facility of reference, the name by which 126 Plagiarisms in Text of Calendars. that portion of the Calendars is referred to in the certificate from the Deputy Keeper of the Rolls, adduced in the House of Commons, hut .which is plainly an inaccurate designation for an English version from Latin origii]als. Here it may be observed that the Editors of Calendars, published under the sanction of the Treasury in England, are, as an essential matter, required to specify both the language and the length of each document described in their compilations. The " Calendars" before us, how- ever, so totally disregard this indispensable rule, thai no information whatever is to be found in their pages, as to the language of the originals from which they purport to have been taken — and, incredible as it may appear, the sole reference to such an important point is that, at page Ixxix. of the second volume, where, in defiance of all common sense, the Editor declares, that, in his translations, he has "preserved the ancient orthography !" Analysis of the Text of the Calendars. I. Enumeration of some of the plagiarisms in the text of Vols. i. and ii. Vol. i. pp. 195-6. Translation of Charter granted by Kichard II' to Galway, plagiarised from Hardiman's History of Galway, 1820, Appendix xviii. Vol. ii. pp. 4-10. Translation of Elizabeth's charter to Galway, plagiarised from idem. Appendix xvii Vol. i. p. 524. Translated abstract of Charter of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, plagiarised from Mason's History of that Cathedral, 1820, p. 158. Vol. ii. pp. 18-21. Orders for the better government of Conuaught, plagiarised from "Description of West Connaught," edited by J. Hardiman, for the Irish Archaeological Society, J846, pp. 303-305. Vol. ii. p. 21. Clauses enrolled, plagiarised from id. 306. Vol. ii. p. 137. Proceedings in Connaught, plagiarised from id. 299 Vol. ii. p. 138. Treaty between Sir J. Perrot and Lords of Thoraond plagiarised from id. 358, Vast Plagiarisms in Text of Calendars. 127 Vol. ii. pp. 146-151. Composition between Elizabeth and the Lords of Sligo, plagiarised from id. 340-346. Vol. ii. p. 147. Documenta relative to boundaries of Sligo, quoted from " original inquisition,'' plagiarised from id. 341. Vol. ii. pp. 60-62. Award relative to Dublin Tolboll, plagiarised from A. Smith, M.D., Miscellany of the Irish Archse- ological Society, 1846, p. 32. Vol. ii. pp. 62-64. Decree on same subject, plagiarised from id. 41. Vol. ii. pp. 512-51 i. Covenant between Mac Geoghegan and Fox — the Gaelic text and English translation hy the late John O'Donovan, reprinted without achnowledgment, from same Miscellany, p. 19J. Vol. ii. pp. 476-7. Composition relative to " Cess," a.d., 1586, reprinted verbatim without acknowledgment from " Desi- derata Curiosa Hibernioa," 1772, i. pp. 77-81. Vol. ii. pp. 324-7. Schedule of Sir W. Raleigh's lands, reprinted verbatim without acknowledgment from Erck's " Re- pository of Inrolments," 1846, pp. 81, 82, 169, 170. Vol. ii. p. 578. Proclamation, a.d. 1601, relative to coinage, pre- viously twice printed in Simon's " Essay on Coins," 1749 and 1810, pp. 90-94. Vol. ii. p. 325. Inquisition, a.d. 1603, at Waterford, relative to Sir W. Ealeigh's possessions, plagiarised from Calendar of Patent Rolls of James L, printed by A. Thorn, Dublin, p. 66. Vol. ii. p. 515. Customs of the Manor of Carlow, plagiarised from id. 58. Vol. ii. p. 630. Proclamation relative to Markets, plagiarised from id. 556. Vol. i. p. 78. Synopsis of Grants to Thomastown, plagiarised from Reports on Municipal Corporations in Ireland, 1835 p. 573. Vol. i. pp. 355-7. Synopsis of Grants to Drogheda, plagiarised from ib. 805-10. Vol. i. p. 423. Charter of Wexford, plagiarised from ib. 621. Vol. i. p. 523. Synopsis of Grants to CMan, plagiarised from ib. 451. Vol. i. p. 528. Id. to Naas, plagiarised from ib. 213. Vol. ii. pp. 86-7. Id. „ Kilmallock, plagiarised from ib. 69. Vol. ii. pp. 96-9. Id. ,, Youghal, plagiarised from ib. 105-106. Vol. ii. pp. 110-1?. Id. „ Ross, plagiarised from ib. 557-558. Vol. ii. pp. 180-2. Id. „ Kinsale, plagiarised from ib. 75-76. 128 Va.-tt Plagiarisvis in Te.rt of Calendau Vol. ii. p. 212. Grants to Clonmel, plagiarised from ib. 479. Vol. ii. pp. 306-10. Do. ,, 'Waterford, plagiarised from ib. 5"9-5S4. Vol. ii. pp. -455-6. Do. „ Athy, plagiarised from ib. 455-456. The mode in wbicli the text of these Volumes has been swelled by the above cited plagiarisms from Hardiman — whose name is not mentioned in any part of the Calendars is exemplified by tbe following specimen — HAEDIMAN, a.d. 1S16. It was not until late in tlie reign of Elizabeth that the province of Connaught was brought under subjection to the Crown and laws of England. The proceedings by which that event was achieved were com- menced by the Lord Deputy, Sir Henry Sydney, in a.d. 1575; and completed by a succeeding Deputy, Sir John Perrot, in a.d. 1585. The project was, to divide the province into shires; tljen to induce the lords and chieftains to receive sheriffs into those shires ; and, finally, to prevail on the chiefs themselves to surrender their Irish titles and tenures, and to receive back their possessions by patents from the Crown, to descend in heredi- tary succession according to the laws of England. In a despatch to the lords of the Council, a.d. 1576, Sir Henry Sidney writes, that he had 'prov- ed before them,' i.e. the lords and chieftains of Thomond, ' (lately annexed to the presidenty of •-^ounaught by the Name of the CALENDAR, a.d. Iftli. It was not until late in the reign of Elizabeth that the province of Connaught was brought under subjection to the Crown and Laws of England. The proceedings by which that event was achieved were com- menced by the Lord Deputy, Sir Henry Sidney, in 1575, and completed by Sir John Perrott, in 1585. The project was to divide the province into shires ; to induce the lords and chieftains to re- ceive sheriffs into those shires ; and finally to prevail on the chiefs themselves to surrender their Irish titles and tenures, and to receive back their posses- sions by patents from the Crown, to descend in hereditary succes- sion, according to the law of England. In a despatch to the Lords of the Council, in 1576, Sir Henry Sydney writes, that he had ' proved before them,' that is, the lords and chieftains of Tho- mond (lately annexed to the Presidency of Connaught by the Vast Plagiarisms in Text of Calendars. 129 county of Clare), the verie roote and origine of this rujne was the uncertaine graunte and un- stable possession of their landes, ■whereupon grewe their warres, I brought them to agree to sur- render all their landes, and take it of her Highnes agayne, and yeelde bothe rente and service.' — Chorographieal Description of West or H-Iar Gonnaught, 1846, p. 299. name of the county of Clare), ' the verre [sic] roote and origine of their ruine was the uncertain graunte and unstable possession of their lands, whereupon grew their wars, I brought them to agree to surrender all their lands, and take it of her High- ness againe, and yield both rent and service.' — Calendar, Vol. ii. p. 137. Not less sweeping are the appropriations above indicated of the work of the scholars who contributed to the Municipal Corporation Commission the synopses of char- ters or royal grants to towns in Ireland — the results of whose labours, published in 1835, extending over a series of documents from the twelfth to the end of the seventeenth century, have been reprinted, without acknowledgment, in the text of the Calendars, as the new and original re- searches of the Editor ! From the foregoing figures — without an inspection of the Calendars — the reader could scarcely realize the vast extent of these gigantic plagiarisms with which so many pages of the text are filled in the following style : REPORT, i.D.1835. The first mention we find made of Koss in ancient records is in a writ of Henry the Third, dated the 26th day of October, supposed in the fourteenth year of his reign, in which it was stated that the Citizens of Waterford, had shown to the King, that ships with merchan- dize frequently touched at the port of Ross " to his great ex- CALENDAR, a.d. 1862. In a writ of Henry the Third, dated 26th October, supposed in the fourteenth year of his reign, it is stated that the citizens of Waterford, had shown to the King, that ships with merchan- dize frequently touched at the port of Ross ' to his great ex- pense and damage, and to the extreme detriment of his city of Waterford :' 130 Vast Plagiarisms in Text of Calendars. pense and damage, and to the extreme detriment of his City of Waterford." Wherefore he commanded the Archbishop of Dublin, and Jus- ticiary of Ireland, not to permit any ship to touch at that port with merchandize, " to his ex- pense, and the damage of his city otherwise than, as ships were accustomed to touch there in the times of King John, his father, before war moved between him and his barons in England. (Rot. mem. 13, 14°, Edward II., m. 31. d.)"' There is also on record an inquisition had at Waterford, on the Saturday next, before the feast of St. Nicholas, in the 51st year of the reign of Henry III., in which there is a long detail of grievances connected with the trade and shipping, some of them of rather a violent description, alleged to have been committed by the Burgesses of Ross, in forcing Vessels from Waterford to Ross, to the dishonour of the King, and the prejudice of tJbe liberty of Lord Edward ; and concluding thus: and they (sci- licet the Jurors) say, that unless correction be applied to those transgressions, the town of Waterford will, in a short time, be seen deserted by men, so chat the Lord Edward may be de- prived of his revenue arising from the town: moreover, they say, that whereas Henry of Coven- Wherefore he commanded the Archbishop of Dublin, and Justiciary of Ireland, not to permit any ship to touch at that port with merchandize, 'to his expense, and the damage of his city, otherwise than as ships were accustomed to touch there in the times of King John, his father, before war moved between him and his barons in England (Rot. Mem. 13, 14," Edward II., m, 31, d.).' There is also on record an in- quisition had at Waterford, on Saturday next, before the feast of St. Nicholas, in the 51st year of the reign of Henry III., in which there is a long detail of grievances connected with the trade and shipping, some of them of rather a violent description, alleged to have been committed by the Burgesses of Ross, in forcing vessels from Waterford to Ross, to the dishonour of tlie King, and the prejudice of the liberty of Lord Edward; and concluding thus : and they (the Jurors) say, that unless correc- tion be applied to those trans- gressions, the town of Waterford will, in a short time, be seen deserted by men, so that the Lord Edward may be deprived of his revenue arising from the town : moreover, they say, that whereas Henry of Coventry, a Vast Plagiarisms in Text of Calendars. 131 try, a citizen of Waterford, came to Eoss with liis ship laden with salt, and sold there, a certain part of the same salt, the said Henry, because he sent his ship to Waterford with the residue of the salt, was attached by his body, and imprisoned by the Commonalty of Ross, until he paid a fine of £12, sterling The charter of incorporation of the borough, by Roger Bygot, formerly Earl of Norfolk, and Marshal of England, is still preserved on record (Rot. mem. 34, 35 Eliz. m. 5.). It contains a long list of privileges, several of which are directed against merchant strangers, and others, for the protection of the bur- gesses, against claims and op- pressions, which are now scarcely known even hy name. It acquit- ted the burgesses of toll, lastage, pontage, and passage, and of all other customs throughout his whole land and power. It mentions the Court of tho Hundred, as usual, in charters of that date, and enables the burgesses to elect provosts with- in their liberty, to be presented to him, if he should be in Ire- land, and if absent, to be pre- sented to his seneschal in the town of New Ross, as in the times of his predecessors was usual. The said earl further granted to the burgesses of Eoss common of his woods, outside his en- closures, and that they should citizen of Waterford, came to Ross with his ship laden with salt, and sold there, a certain part of the same salt; the said Henry, because he sent his ship to Waterford with the residue of the salt, was attached by his body, and imprisoned by the Commonalty of Eoss, until he paid a fine of £12. The charter of incorporation of the borough of Eoss, by Roger Bygot, formerly Earl of Norfolk, and Marshal of England, is pre- served on record (Rot. Mem, 3i, 35° Eliz. m. 5.). It contains a long list of privileges, several of which are directed against mer- chant strangers, and others, for the protection of the Burgesses, against claims and oppressions, which are now scarcely known even by name. It acquitted the Burgesses of toll, lastage, pont- age, and passage, and of all other customs throughout his whole land and dominion. It mentions the court of the hun- dred, as usual, in charters of that date, and enables the Bur- gesses to elect Provosts within their liberty, to be presented to him, if he should be in Ireland, and if absent, to be presented to his seneschal in the town of New Ross, as in the times of his predecessors was usual. The Earl further granted to the Burgesses common of his woods, outside his enclosures, and that they should hold their 132 Vast Plagiarisms in Text of Calendars. hold their burgages for' ever, with their appurtenances, for the appointed rent of 12d, annually to be paid half at Easter, and half at jNIichaelmas, and that no assize of victuals be made in the borough, unless bj the com- mon consideration of his bur- gesses. Edward the 3rd, in the forty-ninth year of his reign, granted to the Sovereign, Bai- liffs, and commonalty, certain customs for pavage and murage for 20 years. Richard II. ..in the first year of his reign. ..granted to the sovereign, provosts and commons ...towards the repairing of the said town, and the walls and port thereof, a certain capital rent of the said town, extending annually to ^4, then being in his hands for certain causes, to hold the same so long as it should happen to remain in his hands. Eichard II.. .in the thir- teenth year of his reign, inspec- ted the charter of Roger Bygot, and also certain liberties, usages, and customs, granted to the Burgesses of the town of Kil- kenny, by charters of Wra. Mariscal, Earl of Pembroke ; and after reciting them at great length, and that the Sovereign, Burgesses, and commons, of Ross, had prayed in parliament that as the said Earl of Norfolk had granted to them to be free throughout his whole land and power, and his lordship in Ire- burgages for ever with their appurtenances, for the appointed rent of 12d. annually, to be paid half at Easter, and half at Michaelmas, and that no assize of victuals be made in the borough, unless by the common consideration of his Burgesses. Edward the 3rd., in the forty- ninth year of his reign, granted to the Sovereign, Bailiffs, and Commonalty, certain customs for pavage and murage for 20 years. Richard the 2nd, in the first year of his reign, granted to the Sovereign and Commons, towards the repairing of the town, and the walls and port, a certain capital rent of the town, extend- ing annually to £A, then being in his hands for certain causes, to hold the same so long as it sh6uld happen to remain in his hands. The same King, in the thirteenth year of his reign, in- spected the charter of Roger Bygot, and also certain liberties, usages, and customs, granted to the Burgesses of the town of Kilkenny, by charters of Wm. Mariscall, Earl of Pembroke; and after reciting them at great length, and stating that the Sovereign, Burgesses, and Com- mons of Ross, had prayed in parliament that as the said Earl of Norfolk had granted to them to be free through- out hia entire land and do- minion, and his lordships in Ire- Vast Plagiarisms in Text of Calendars. 133 land, as tho burgesses, of Banna, Kilkenny, or Wexford, or any other burgesses of Leinster were, granted the same liberties, usages, and customs, to the sovereign, burgesses, and com- mons of Ross, their heirs and successors, as he had confirmed to the burgesses of Kilkenny. Richard II., by letters patent ...in the eighteenth year of his reign, granted to the Sovereign and commons. ..his custom, ■within the said town, called the " Coket," for 10 years, to be applied and expended in the emendation, fortification, and reparation of the walls of the said town. Henry IV.... inspected and con- firmed the charter of 13 Richard II. Henry IV. also extended the murage and pavage grant of Richard II. to 20 years. ..and afterwards granted to the sove- reign and Commonalty. ..the privilege of selling all kinds of victuals, (fee, to the Irish ene- mies, as well in time of peace as of war; in the ninth year of his reign he inspected and confirmed his own previous charter of the 1st April, 1 Henry IV. andfurther in the following year granted to them the privilege of trading with hides and all manner of other merchandises (corn and skins of martens excepted), to Spain, France, and Brittany; and a similar grant is recorded (Kot. land as the Burgesses of Banna, Kilkenny, or Wexford, or any other Burgesses of Leinster were, granted the same liberties, usages, and customs, to the Sovereign and Commons of Ross, their heirs and successors, as he had confirmed to the Bur- gesses of Kilkenny. The same King, by patent, in the eighteenth year of his reign, granted to the Corporation, his custom, within the town, called the ' Coket,' for 10 years, to be applied and expended in the emendation, fortification, and reparation of the walls of the town. Henry the Fourth inspected and confirmed the charter of 13° Richard II. He also extended the mu. rage and pavage grant of Richard II. to 20 years, and afterwards granted to the Sove- reign and Commonalty, the privilege of selling all kinds of victuals to the Irish enemies, as well in time of peace as of war. la the ninth year of his reign he inspected and confirmed his previous charter ofthe 1st April, 1° Henry IV., and in the following year granted to them the privilege of trading with hides and all man- ner of other merchandises (corn and skins of martens excepted), to Spain, France, and Brittany ; and a similar grant is recorded (Rot. Pat. 10° Henry IV., a, 159 134 Vast Plagiarisms in Text of Calendars. Pat. 10° Henry IV., a 159 d.) By charter dated 20th January, 1 Henry V., the King inspected and confirmed the charter of 9 Henry IV., with the addition of the following privileges : that the Sovereign should take cognizance of all personal pleas and pleas for lands, rents, and services within the franchises ; that he should be escheator, coroner, searcher, justice of the peace, justice of labourers, and clerk of the market. Tiiat all suits of the inhabitants, or questions arising within the town be tried before the Sovereign. The Sovereign, Bailiflfs, and Commons, to have all fines and forfeitures for offences against the Crown, as well as for other offences, forfei- tures, waifs, and strays, chattels of felons and fugitives, escapes of felons, amercements, and forfeitures of meat, bread, beer, and other victuals ; also the custom of the cocket, without accounting to the King's officers; that the town should enjoy all the rights and liberties of Water- ford, both by sea and land, and that it might have power to treat with the Irish enemies. This charterwas inspected and confirmed by a Parliament held at Westminster, 22nd March, 20° Henry Vl/ Edward IV., in the ninth year of his reign, in- spected and confirmed the fore- going, and also granted an ex- tension to New Ross, of all the d.). By Charter dated 20th January, 1° Henry V., the King inspected and confirmed the charter of 9° Henry IV., with the addition of the followinsr privileges; that the Sovereign should take cognizance of all personal pleas and pleas for lands, rents, and services, within the franchises; that he should be escheator, coroner, searcher, justice of the peace, justice of labourers, and clerk of tlie market. That all suits of the inhabitants, or questions arising within the town be tried before the Sovereign. Tlie Sovereign, Bailiffs, and Commons, to have all fines and forfeiture for of- fences against the Crown, as well for other offences, forfeiture?, waifs, strays, chattels of felons and fugitives, escapes of felons, amercements, and forfeitures of meat, bread, beer, and other victuals ; also, the custom of the cocket, without accounting to the King's officers ; that the town should enjoy all the rights and liberties of Waterford, both by sea and land, and that it might have power to treat with the Irish enemies. This charter was inspected and confirmed by a parliament held at Westminster, 22nd March, 20° Henry VI. Edward the Fourth, in the ninth year of his reign, inspected and confirmed the foregoing, and also granted an extension to New Eoss, of all Vast Plagiarisms in Text of Calendars. 135 the privileges of Waterford, by land and water. By cliarter of 18th February, l" Henry VIII. the Kiug inspected and confirmed the charters of 28th February, 1° Richard II.; and lOth Janu- ary, 9° Henry IV.; the inspexi- mus of 6 Noyember, 28° Henry VI.; and the grant of 17th July, 1° Kichard II. This was again inspected, and confirmed, by charter of 16th April, 2° Edward VI.; (Rot. mem., 34° Eliz.m. 4, d.) Calendar, Vol. ii. pp. 110-12. privileges of Waterford, by land and water. By charter of 18th February, 1 Henry VIIL, the King inspect- ed and confirmed the charters of 28th February, 1 Richard II., and 10th January, 9 Henry IV.; the inspeximus of 6 November, 28th Henry VI.; and the grant of I7th July, 1 Richard II. This was again inspected and confirmed by charter of 16th April, 2 Edward VI. (Rot. mem., 34° Eliz. m, 4, d.) — " Beportfrom Commissioners,'' 1835, Vol. viii. pp. 557-9. — Corporations Ireland, Appendix; Parts i. and ii. — Session 19 February, 10 Septr. 1835. The late William E. Hudson was one of the Municipal Corporation Commissioners, and those acquainted with his munificence and zeal in essaying to promote literature in Ireland, will feel indignant at the attempted appropriation of his labours and suppression of his name in the pages of the " Calendars," Worse, however, is the plagiarism above italicised of portion of the labours of the late John O'Donovan, in Gaelic and English ! Within six months from the decease of this laborious and disinterested Celtic scholar, his literary remains — the chief property of his orphans — were thus filched and placed before the world as new productions in the pages of the " Calendars," in no portion of which is there either reference to or mention of the honoured name of John O' Donovan, to whom the archaic Gaelic literature of Ireland owes a debt so profound, that Ben Jonson's lines to Camden may with truth be applied to his labours which, in that department, have 136 The Eighth Co)nmandmetit. eminentlj' conduced to advance the reputation of* native Irish learning : — " Most reverend head, lo whom we owe All that we are in arts, all that we know — ; (How nothing's that !) to whom our country owes The great renown, and name wherewith she goes ! What name, what skill, what faith hadst thou in tilings ! What sight in searching the most antique springs ! What weight and what authority in thy speech! Men scarce could make that doubt, but thou couldst teach, Many of thine this better could than I ; But for their powers, accept my piety." To enable the Public to complete their estimate of the plagiaristic character of the Calendars it only remains to exhibit the light in which honest men in England view such violations of the Eighth Commandment — and on this point one of the foremost of English writers, in our own day, has delivered judgment as follows — after long and costly expe- rience of the many evils resulting from literary chicane: " Polite circumambient phrases water villany and folly, and keep them alive to all eternity. Calling smooth, subtle rascality by a rough and true name, blights it in one year, fifty, or a hundred. — It is a fatal, though almost universal error, to assume that there are vital distinctions between the literary pirate and the Newgate thief. There is not one vital distinction of any sort between them. True, many of the latter are mere snatchers ; but so are many copyright thieves: true, the indirect pirate invests some little labour ; but so do all the higher class of Newgate thieves : in fact, they invest not only as much labour as the adapting, abridging, or kidnapping pirate, but also capital, which the scribbling pirate never invests. . . A gang of thieves once travelled up and down in the Manchester mail for two years, and paid the Government several hundred pounds. Here was honest labour far beyond any literary Omissions in the Text of Calendars. 137 pirate's. Yet when at last they succeeded iu robbing the mail of ten thousand pounds, it was not accounted to them for righteousness. Yet, they had a much stronger case than the [Uterary] pirate... prejudice and partiahty apart.""* Analysis of the text of the Calendars — continued. ii. — Patents Entirely Omitted. The list already given, at page 62, of a portion of the important patents which, although passed under the great seal, are entirely omitted in the Calendars, sufficiently demonstrates, that in researches connected with history, title, pedigree, or property, these volumes are entirely misleading. As a complete catalogue of these omitted Patents would occupy an extent nearly equal to that of the so-called " Calendars," it will suffice to mention here the following specimens of the numerous similar grants unnoticed in these volumes which have been oficially cer- tified as "quite complete and without any omissions:" 1540 To Kobert Dillon, in consideration of £380 7s. 3d., the Crown's reversion in the fee simple of the possessions of the religious house of St. Peter's, Newtown, Co Meath ; 22 July^ 32 Henry VIII. 1541 To Thomas Eustace, lord of Kilcullen, the dignity of Viscount Baltinglass, also the possession of the abbey or monastery of Baltinglass, and twenty-four specially named grand denominations of land ; 30 June, 33 Henry VIII. 1542 To Sir A. St. Leger, Knight, the possessions of the monas- tery of St. Mary's of Trim, together with fourteen town- lands specially named, and six rectories in the County of Meath; 14 November, 34 Henry VIII. 1544 To William Brabazon, the site of the Monastery of St. Thomas' Court, near Dublin, with its possessions, tithes and manorial rights specially described; 31 March, 35 Henry, VIII. * "The Eighth Commandment," bj Charles Reade : Loudon, 1860. 138 Omissions in the Text of Calendars. 1555 To Sir Henry Sydney, Knight, the offices of Treasurer at wars, Receiver General, and Vice Treasurer of Ireland; 27 April, 2 and 3, Philip and Mary. 1563 To Oliver Grace, the religious house of St. John's, near Nenagh, Co Tipperary, with divers specially described lands and tithes; 28 September, 5 Elizabeth. 1563 To Thomas Earl of Ormond, the Monastery of Holy Cross, Co Tipperary, and various specially described lands in Tipperary, Kilkenny, Carlow and Kildare ; 20 October, 5 Elizabeth. A further commentary on the veracity of the official allegation that the Calendars are " quite, complete and without any omissions," is furnished by the following figures referring to one class of documents — Patents granted' by Queen Elizabeth of lands forfeited in the Desmond wars, conveying acres, English measure... ... ... 574,628 Of above Patents four only either entered in, or referred to, by the " Calendars" — conveying acres, English measure ... 55,900 Grants of " Desmond" lands consequently omitted from Calendars to the extent of ... 518,728 acres. These omitted Patents, embracing over jive hundred thousand acres, constitute the title deeds of some of the present chief proprietors in Cork, Kerry, Waterford and Limerick ! Among the omitted documents of another class are some of pre-eminent interest for illustrating the biographies of mdividuals of world-wide reputation, whom circumstances brought into connection with Ireland. Of these I may adduce the instance of Edmund Spenser — " Call'd from Faery-land, To struggle through dark ways."* * Wordsworth. Omissions respecting the Poet Spenser. 139 These so styled " Calendars of Rolls of Chancery in Ireland," contain, however, no entry either of Spenser's appointment to an office in the Irish Chancery Court, of the records of which they are certified to be faithful reperto- ries — " quite complete and without any omissions !" Nei- ther do they mention the grants made to Spenser, including that of Kilcolman, where he composed part of the " Faerie Queen," and from his house at which, on 27th December, 1592, he addressed his " Colin Clout's come home again," to the " Shepherd of the Ocean," Sir Walter Raleigh. These omissions may be supplied as follows : 1580 Edmund Spenser appointed Eegister or Clerk of the Chan- cery of Ireland, for the faculties. Patent 22 March, 1580. 1581 Grant, without fine, to Edmund Spenser, of a lease of the site ambite, circuit and precinct, of the late house of Eriars, called New Abbey, in the County of Kildare, and all houses and buildings within said site, 3 small gardens, one orchard, one park containing 5 acres, and cue water mill within said site, with their appurtenances ; also one old waste town, village or hamlet, to same adjoining, containing 12 acres of land, with all cottages, lands, tenements or other hereditaments whatsoever to same incident or appertaining. To hold for 21 years from date hereof; at a Kent of £3 Irish per annum : — cove- nanting to pay and bear all proxies, sinodals, stipends of curates, pensions, rents, services and all other charges, as well ordinary as extraordinary ; not to alien nor dispose of the premises without license from the Lord Deputy, except to one of the English nation both by father and mother, or born within the English Pale; not to take exac- tions called ' coyne and livery ' nor to allow others to do so ; 24th August, 24 Elizabeth, 1581 Grant, in consideration of twenty shillings fine, of a lease to Edmund Spenser, of the site, ambite and precinct, of the late House of Eriars of Enniscorthy, County of Wexford, and all houses and buildings near the said site ; one water mill by the said site ; one orchard there and 6 10 140 Omissions respecting the Poet Spenser. acres of land in the East side of the said late Friary or house, parcels of the possessions of the said late house of Friars, with their appurtenances in the County of Wexford. The Manor of Enniscorthy, one ruinous castle, 6 messuages, 240 acres of arable land, and 20 acres of pasture, in the town of Enniscorthy; one old weir there, 120 acres of arable land and 20 acres of pasture, in the town of Garrane ; 180 acres of arable and 50 acres of pasture in the town and fields of Kilkevane, one old castle, 6 messua- ges and 20 acres arable land in the town of Loughwertie, and 120 acres arable land and 30 acres pasture in the town of Barrickrodin and Ballinaparke ; and the customs of boards, timber, laths, boats bearing victuals and of lodges during the fair there, articles to be sold there, and fishings, with their appurtenances, belonging to the manor of Enniscorthy ; with all other messuages, «fec. to said Friary and manor belonging — woods and underwoods excepted. To hold for 21 years from idate. A.t an annual rent of £13. 6. 4 ; Covenanting to find and keep an able horseman of the English nation for defence of the Realm ; 6th Decem- ber, 24 Elizabeth. 1591 Grant to Edmund Spenser of the manor and castle of Kilcolman, with other lands, containing 3,028 acres, in the barony of Fermoy, Co Cork, also chief rents forfeited by the late Lord of Thetmore, and the late traitor, Sir John of Desmond ; Patent 26th October, 1591. The serious disservice done to English literary history by the imperfect mode in which the Calendars have been put forth is strongly illustrated by the foregoing omissions in connection with so eminent a writer, who " threw the soul of harmony into English verse, and made it more warmly, tenderly, and magnificently descriptive than it ever was before, or, with a few exceptions, than it has ever been since." From the discreditable and chaotic state of the Irish Public Records, previous writers, including the latest and most laborious investigators""" of Spenser's history * " Athenae Cantabrigienses," by C. H. Cooper, F. S. A., and T. Cooper, F. S. A. Cambridge : 1861. Vol. ii. page 258. Disservice to English Literature. 141 appear to have had no acquahitance with the grant made to him, as above noticed, of Kilcullen Abbey, in 1581 ; while, no doubt, from the same cause, the editors of " Athenae Cantabrigienses" fell into the error of setting down the rent which he paid for Enniscorthy, at ^300. 6s. 4d., instead of £13. 6s. 4d. Among various other omissions of this class in these Calendars, one may be noticed of high interest, as supply- ing a long missing link in connection with Spenser and the English authors of Shakespeare's time. Great obscu- rity has hitherto involved the history of an English writer named Lodovico, Lodwick, or Lewis Bryskett, an intimate friend of Spenser, who, in reply to his entreaties for the completion of the " Eaerie Queen," addressed him a sonnet: — " But Lodwick, this of grace to me aread ; Do ye not think the accomplishment of it, Sufficient worke for one man's simple head, All were it, as the rest, but rudely writ. How then should I, without another wit. Think ever to endure so tedious toyle ?" * Bryskett is now recognized as author of the poem of Sir Philip Sydney's death, entitled the " Mourning Muse of Thestylis," long supposed to have been written by Spenser; and much regret has naturally been felt that we should know so little of a poet of such high merit, j Bryskett's early connection with Spenser is, however, explained by some official documents which show that he acted as Clerk of the Privy Council of Ireland, so early as 1571, and that he was appointed to the newly created * " Amoretti and Epithalamion, written by Edmunde Spenser.'' London; 1611. t Poetical Decameron by J. P. Collier. London : 1820. i. 98-99. 142 Omissions respecting Lodovico Bryskett. office of Register of the Chancery in Ireland, for the facul- ties, by Patent dated 11th April, 1577, likewise omitted from these so-called Calendars of the Chancery records ! Lord Grey of Wilton, Deputy of Ireland, with whom Spenser came over, as Secretary, also patronized Bryskett, who was appointed Clerk of the Council in Munster, after his situation in the Chancery Court had been transferred to the author of the " Faerie Queen," as above noticed, in 1580. Malone, the Shakespeare Commentator, considered that Bryskett's "Discourse of Civil Life" was written between 1584 and 1586, during his tenure of the Munster Clerkship, his appointment to which does not appear in these Calendars, although they record that he surrendered it to Richard Boyle in 1600, In concluding this second section I have to observe that no justification can be ofifered for the omission of the vast number of important grants unnoticed in these volumes, which purport to be not only " Calendars of the Patent and Close Rolls of Chancery of Ireland," but also to supply such chasms as may exist in these documents by the introduction of extraneous matter, to the enormous extent exhibited under the head of " Plagiarisms in the text." ' Analysis of the text of the Calendars — continued. iii. Of Documents Calendared so imperfectly as to be misleading and valueless. Having already demonstrated, page 64 — 66, that the grants of officer and of pardoiis have been calendared in these volumes in a mode which renders them unserviceable in either historical or legal inquiries, we have now to con- sider the grants of lands. Documents connected with property, pedigree and title, will naturally b'! regarded by many as of higher import- Documents imperfectly Calendared. 143 ance than such literary and historical curiosities as ancient State Papers and Correspondence, and I shall now proceed to show, that the grants of lands have been calendared in these volumes in a style which would not be tolerated in the Calendars of State Papers and Letters, published under the Treasury in England. On these points we find the following excellent passages in the instructions issued by the Master of the Rolls in England to the editors of the Calendars of State Papers : " The greater number of the readers who -will consult and value these works can have little or no opportunity of visiting the Record Office, in which these papers are deposited. The means for consult- ing the originals must necessarily be limited when readers live at a distance from the metropolis ; still more if they are residents of Scotland, Ireland, distant colonies, or foreign states. Even when such an opportunity does exist, the difficulty of mastering the origi- nal hands in which these papers are written will deter many readers from consulting them. Above all, their great variety and number must present formidable obstacles to literary inquirers, however able, sanguine, and energetic, when the information con- tained in them is not made accessible by satisfactory Calendars. The Master of the RuUs [in England] considers that, without superseding the necessity of consulting the originals, every editor ought to frame his Calendar in such a manner that it shall present, in as condensed a form as possible, a correct index of the contents of the papers described in it. He considers that the entries should be 80 minute as to enable the reader to discover not only the gene- ral contents of the originals, but also what iliey do not contain. If tlje information be not sufficiently precise, if facts, and if names be omitted or concealed under a vague and general description, the feader will be often misled, he will assume that where the abstracts are silent as to information to be found in the documents, such in- formation does not exist ; or, he will have to examine every origi- pal in detail, and thus one great purpose will have been lost for which these calendars have been compiled." The " Calendars" under consideration will, however, be found to embody not only all the defects against which editors are above warned,. but also a variety of errors which 144 Grants of lands imperfectly Calendared. could scarcely have been anticipated in the work of any compiler presumed to be even proximately competent for his task. In some cases the " Calendars" name the lands of which grants are entered on the Patent Rolls, but omit to men- tion the counties in which they were situated ; to vary the blundering, we find in other instances the names of the lands not given, but those set down of the counties in which they lay. , The following are specimens of both classes of these imperfect entries: " Grant to John Keatinge of lands in the Queen's County; To be held by him and his heirs male of the Castle of Maryborough, bv military service. — March, 16, 5". Elizabeth. — Calendar, Vol. I. p. 483. " Grant to Hugh M'Dermott O'Dempsie, of Loghyn, of lands in the Queen's County ; To be held by him and his heirs male of the Castle of Maryborough, by military service. — March 30, 5°. Elizabeth. — ib. ib. " Grant to Sir Denis O'Grada, knight, in consideration of his submission, of the manors and lordships of Kylluchulybege, Kjillu- chulymore, Seanboycronayn, Kyllokenuudy, Clony, Kj'llchomvrjnan Enock, M'Prochayne, and a moiety of Kiltula, which he and his ancestors had intruded upon ; To hold to him and his heirs male ' in capite,' by the service of one knight's fee. Jan. 5, 35°. Hen. Y 111. — Calendar, ib. p. 104. " Grant to William Eustace of the manor of Castlemarten and of the lands of Brenogstowne, Carnalvey, Roestowne, Morestowne- Cornelscourte, Millotstowne, Baltrasney, Coverstowne Uske, Brow- nestowne, Milton, Loghbratoke, Martenstowne, Little Bole, Kil- cullen, Tippenan, Clongoeswood, Upper Baron, Harrestowne, Silliotehill, Surdalstowne, and certain messuages and lands in Kilcoke, called Birminghams Land."... Nov. 6. 34 Elizabeth, ib. Vol. a. p. 339. In other cases neither lands nor Counties are named, as in the following instance : " Patent Eolls, 17° Elizabeth, 1574. Examples of lands omitted in Calendars. 145 Grant to the Earl of Ormond of several lands lying in several counties. Feb. 25, 17".''— Calendar, Vol. I. p. 555. Even the entries which purport to be full abstracts of enrohnents will, when tested, be, for the most part, found to omit important lands and other hereditaments enumera- ted on the original roll. Of the defective entries of grants of land the following are specimens — the portions italicized being totally omitted in the Calendars : ABSTRACT OP GRANT AS PRINTED IN THE CALENDARS. " Grant to Robert S. Leger and his heirs, of the manor of Kill ; in the countj of Kildare, parcel of the possessions of the late monastery of Thomas Court, near Dublin, for a fine of £61. 2s. 6d. ; To hold to him and the heirs male of his bodj, with reversion to the Crown, to be held in capite by the 40th part of one knight's fee, at the yearly rent of 13s. 4d. Jan. 5, 37°."— FoL i. p. 119. CORRECT ABSTRACT OF GRANT AS ON THE BOLL, [The Italics denote the omissions in the so-called Calendars.] Grant from the King to Robert Sentleger, Esq., in consideration of his services, and of the sura of two hundred and sixty one pounds two shillings and six-pence Irish, of the entire lordship or manor of Kyll, with all the rights and members thereof; all the 6 messuages, 11 cottages, 9tif of land, and all the free rents, ivorh, and customs in ihe town of Kyll ; a small castle, 60 acres arable and 7 acres meadow, in the town of Artewell : 5 messuages, a castle, 100 acres arable, 4 acres meadow, and the entire common within the town of Arteston, otherwise Arthurston, otherwise Artoreston ; in Nycholston, 66 acres; a messuage or castle, 12 acres arable, and 18 acres arable, in the fields called Arlerslande ; in Ballybrogge, 2Q0 acres of pasture and moor ; the rent of 2s out of Baronsraghe, otherwise Baronrathe ; in Alestoune, otherwise Alenestown, 10 acres arable and 4 acres wood, and all other heredita- ments in the aforesaid towtis, being the estate of the late monastery of Thomas-court, near Dublin, andall which were extended \_surveyed\ to the clear yearly value of £13 14s lO^d sterl., (except 40s chief rent issuing out of the lands and tenements of Thomas Talbot, of Dardieston, now lately called Geffries land, and the tithes, alterages, and oblations of all the premises.) To hold to him and his heirs /or ever, ' in eapite,' by one fortieth part of one knight's fee, and the rent of 13s. Sdsterling, payable yearly at the feast of St. Michael. — 5 Jan. 37th Henry 7I1I. 146 Examples of lands omitted in Calendars. ABSTRACT OF GRANT AS PRINTED IN CALENDARS. " Grant to John Travers, of the manor of Rathmore, in Leinster, with the castle and mill there; and 120 acres of land in Rathnekyll, or Rathorkyll, 100 acres in Monefyne, 200 acres iu Bovestown, 60 acres in Knokkenynge, and 100 acres in Butlerstown, parcel of the said manor, with other lands in Leinster ; to hold to him and the heirs male of his body, with reversion to the Crown ; To be held •in capite' by knight's service at a rent of 10 marks. — Signed Stanyhurst." No date. Vol. i. page 116. CORRECT ABSTRACT OF GRANT AS ON THE ROLL. [The Italics denote the omissions la the so-called Calendars.] Grant from the King to John Travers, one of the Ushers of Ms chamber, in consideration of services, and especially in the wars of Ireland: The entire manor of Rathmore, otherwise Samore in Lein- ster, with all its rights and members, and the castle and water-mill there ; in Rathnekyll, otherwise Rathtorkyll, 120 acres arable; in Monefyne, otherwise Monfyne, 100 acres arable ; in Broneston, otherwise Boyestone, 200 acres; in Knockenynge 60 acres; in Butler's Courte 100 acres; all other lands, &o, belonging to the said manor in Rathmore, PhilUpestown, Eddestowne, otherwise Eddeston, Bally las, ColensMll, or Colbushill, otherwise Clonshyll, Bally cane, other- wise Plowland, Tyrhill or Tyrrtyll, Skeyocks, Old Ponchestowne, Russells- towne, Humfrayestoune, otherwise Umfreyston and ToUagheferrys or Tollaghferreis : — Meath, Dublin, and Kildare Cos. In Heyneston, the site of the castle and all the 80 acres, the estate of Sir James Fitz-Gerald, Knight, lately attainted ; in Agrett and Little Newton, the estate of the same, 100 acres; in Batoole the site of the castle, and 80 acres; in Bassallaghe, and Ballyodde, otherwise Ballytyltas, 100 acres; the 3 fortresses and castles near the mountains of Balore, otherwise Ballygore, and Commenstown, with 250 acres arable ; in said Ballygore 60 acres arable ; in Commenstown 60 acres arable ; the castle and fortress, 9 messuages, 40 acres arable, and 60 acres underwood, pasture and moor in Hollywood; in Whytston, or Whitteston, 28 acres arable, and 20 acres pasture, the estate of the said Sir James Fitz-Gerald ; 4 messuages and 13 cottages, 207 acres arable, meadow and pasture, with the Orange, in Carrickbreynan, otherwise Monketon ; the chief messuage, 3 turrets, all the orchards and inclosures, containing 5 acres pasture, with 120 acres arable, 6 acres meadow, and 2 cottages in said Monketon; a messuage, 80 acres arable, 20 acres pasture, and 1 acre meadow, in Newton: the estate of the late monastery of the B. V. Mary, near Examples of lands omitted in Calendars. 147 Dublin, Duhlin Co. — A messuage and 60 acres arable, pasture and hog in Oorndle's Court, the estate of the late abbey of Lassemolen, Carlow Co. — the Grange called Muckgrange or Muchegrange, with the castle, messuage and demesne lands of Grange, 174 acres arable ; the little Grange ivith a messuage, 2 cottages, and 120 acres arable; — the entire manor of Graungeforthe with the chief messuage and castle, 30 acres arable, 2 acres meadow, and 4 acres pasture, and the tithes of said manor being collected in Lyltelton, Balli/gory, Glenocke, JRathveon, and Clyncloghe ; 4 messuages, 2 cottages, a watermill, and 120 acres arable in Gylton ; the estate of the late abbey of Baltinglas : — with power to hold courts leet or views of frankpledge, and assize of bread, wine and beer, of all the inhabitants or others within the premises : all which were of the clear yearly value of £99 18 8 Irish, — to hold to him and the heirs male of his body, remainder to the crown, by one twentieth part of one KnighVs fee. — Rent 10 marks YingWih, payable at Michaelmas. — 20 Jun. 37th. ABSTRACT OF GRANT AS PRINTED IN THE CALENDARS. " Grant to Sir Osborne Itchingham, Knight, and the heirs male of his body, of the monastery of Donbrody, the grange of Donbrody, three fishing weirs, mills, and tithes, the customs of the town of Coule, and all the possessions of the dissolved monastery, in the county of Wexford; to hold in capite by knight's service, that is, by the 40th part of a knight's fee, at a rent of £3 10s 6i. — Octr. 4, 37°.''— Henry VIIL, Vol. i. p. 118. COERECT ABSTEACT OF GEANT AS ON THE EOLL. [The Italics denote the omissions in the so-called Calendars.] Grant from the King to Sir Osburne Itchyngham, Knight. The site and circuit of the late monastery of Donbrodi; all the Grange of Donbrodi ; the 20 acres of arable, meadow, and pasture of the demesne lands of the said grange, with the tithes thereof, 4 messuages and 60 acres arable, pasture, and wood, with the customs thereof ; tlie 3 fishing- weirs, the water-mill, and all the tithes of the town of Dunbrodi ; a messuage and 60 acres arable, pasture, and moor in the town and parish of Couile, with the tithes and customs thereof ; in the towns and parishes of Shilbe- Jean and Ballyvadre, 120 acres, with the customs and tithes ; in the toicn andparish of Batayleston, 120 acres; in the town and parish of Clounarde, 60 acres ; in the town and parish of Kilhryde, 60 acres ; in the parish and town of Duncanan, 80 acres, with the fishing stream and customs ; in the parish and town of Clonsharragh, 60 acres, with the customs and tithes of said town ; in the parish and town of Ballygowyn, 148 Consequences to purchasers of Irish lands. 180 acres; in the parish and town of Newbridge, 20 acres, with the customs and tithes of the town of Newhridge ; in Ballyhake, 9 tene- ments and 8 cottages, with the customs and tithes offish of said town ; in the parish and town of Kilheale, 60 acres, with the customs and tithes thereof ; in the parish and town of Bammi/''s grange, 120 acres, with the customs and tithes ; in Boderamsbusse and Rathrowe, 60 acres, ivith the customs and tithes of said towns ; in the parish and town of Roweston, 40 acres, with the customs and tithes of said town ; in the parish and town of Ballynroye, in Conaght, 60 acres, waste ; all other messuages, lands, dec, whatever belonging to the Crown, now waste, within the parishes and towns of Ballydoman Calaghton, Newe Haggard, Knockansowne, and Polmolowhe; in the parish and town of Kylmdhowe, 30 acres, and the tithes of that town ; 3 messuages in Waterford, all of the clear yearly value of £35 is 8d Irish, the estate of the said monastery of Dunhrodi. — To hold to him and the heirs male of his body, ' in capite,' by the service of one fortieth part of one knight's fee, and the rent of £3 10s Qd by the name of one tenth part. — 4 Oct. 37th. Henry viii. The preceding examples are from a single year of one reign — and similar specimens might be adduced to the extent of several hundred pages, exhibiting the imperfect and valueless form in which the grants of lands have been calendared in these volumes,— which, nevertheless, have been offi,cially certified to be " quite complete and without any omissions !" Such omissions may entail serious pecuniary losses to individuals, since legal investigators, accepting these volumes as faithful official indices to the Rolls, will be misled into concluding lands to have clear titles, although, in reality, subject to heavy reversionary claims, the entries of which on the Rolls are at present inaccessible to the public, in consequence of the defective mode in which the so-called " Calendars" have been compiled. These omissions and inaccuracies in connection with grants of lands are also gravely prejudicial to the Choro- grapher, the local historian, and the local proprietor. The Calendars totally ignore the admirably scientific Land entries blundered in Calendars. 149 system, initiated by Sir Thomas A. Larcom in the Ord- nance Survey, of tabulating chronologically the various documentary and colloquial forms of the name of each townland in Ireland, the valuable results of which appear on the Ordnance Maps, and in the recently published elaborate Index of nearly one thousand pages, enumerat- ing separately and precisely the names, areas, counties, baronies, parishes, and other details of upwards of 62,000 Irish townlands and towns."''" In competent hands one section of the Calendars of Ango-Irish Records might have been made the comple- ment of this important national work — but, instead of accuracy and precision in connection with the land entries, the volumes before us present a chaotic combination of errors, defects, and omissions, which, but for the present exposition, might have led the world to conclude that the science and intelligence of Ireland had suddenly retro- graded with giant strides. Analysis of the text of the Calendars — continued. iv. Of incorrect abstracts, inaccurate decipherments, and false translations of Documents on the Rolls. To exemplify the first of these classes we need not * " General Alphabetical Index to the townlands and towns, parishes, and baronies of Ireland, showing the number of the sheet of the Ordnance Survey Maps, in -which they appear ; the areas of the townlands, parishes, and baronies ; the county, barony, parish, and poor law union, in which the townlands are situated ; and the volume and page of the townland census of 1851, which contains the population and number of houses in 1841 and 1851, and the poor law valuation of 1851." Dublin : Thorn, 1861. See also a valuable paper by Sir T. A. Larcom, prefixed to the Irish Belief Corres- pondence, in the Board of Works Series, 1847, on the "Territorial divisions of Ireland." Further information on this subject will be found in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy — Vol. vii. p. 473; and Vol. viii. p. 39. 150 Blunders relative to St. Patrick's Cathedral. travel beyond the documents detailed in the Calendars connected with the well known Cathedral of St. Patrick, Dublin. At page 152 of the first volume of the Calendar we find the following entry : " King's letter relating to the Cathedral of St. Patrick, in the city of Dublin ; observing that the Church was surrendered to his Majesty by virtue of a Commmission directed to Sir Anthony Scutleger, Knight, the Lord Deputie, and others; and directing that the Commissioners should survey the yearly value of the manors, lands, and impropriations belonging to the Cathedral, and the rents and charges arising thereout, to ascertain what portioa belonged to the Dean, residennaries [sic] and ministers, and how the same was used and employed ; instructing the Commissioners to make an inventory of the plate, ornaments, and jewels, of the Cathedral | and so much thereof as should be considered convenient for the furniture of the Cathedral, should be delivered to the Dean and Chapter, another portion to be appropriated to the use of the parish church, and the remainder to be delivered to Sir William Brabazou, the Vice-Treasurer, to be kept for his Majesty until his pleasure be known ; assigning to the Dean, Prebendaries, Fellowes, and other ministers of the Cathedral, such pensions as in their dis- cretion should be thought reasonable, and directing that the officers and servants should have their wages ; and for the augmenta- tion of Divine Service in the Cathedral, his Highness directs six priests and eleven children, choristers to be added — ^^each of the priests to be paid an annuity of ten marks, and each of the children choristers four marks yearly out of the Exchequer. No date.''' The original of the foregoing document, described in the Calendars as of " no date," was attached to the letters patent of Edward VI., addressed to the Commissioners, dated at Westminster 24th of March in the first year of his reign, and specially referred to as connected with that instrument, in the following words : " omnia et singula, qnse in articulis et instructionibus, proesentibus annexa, exprimuntur et specificantur." According to the Calendars, as above quoted, the Com- missioners were instructed to hand over portion of the Two children deciphered into eleven ! 151 plate, ornaments, and jewels of the dissolved Cathedral of St. Patrick, to its Dean and chapter — then not in legal existence ! The following extract from the original document — of which the entry in the Calendar purports to he an abstract — will show that the Commissioners were specially directed to transfer a portion of the valuables referred to— not to St. Patrick's Cathedral, but to Christ's Church : " And that our said Comyssioners shall make out true and perfitt inventori of all the plate, ornamentis, and jewellis of the said Cathedrall Churche, [of St. Patrick] the daje of the said sur- rendyr taken thereof, to gyve for us and in our name to the Cathe- drall Churche called Christes Churche, wj-thia our seid citie of Dublin, suche and so moohe of the seid plate, jewellis and orna- mentis as to ther dyscretjone shall be thoght mete and convenient, for the better furniture of the same Cathedrall Churche to be delivered of our gjfte, to the Deane and Chapter of the said Churche, by bjU indeutid betwene them and our seid Comis- sioners.''* The Calendar, as above cited, further incorrectly repre- sents " his Highness" to have ordered that the staff of the suppressed Cathedral of St. Patrick should be increased by the addition of six priests and eleven " children cho- risters;" but the following passage from the original in- strument shows that the augmentation was to be made to Christ's Church, not to Patrick's — and that the number of the children was ttvo, not eleven ! " And, moreover, we will that, for the better augmentatione and mayntenance of divine service to be kepte in the seid Cathedrale Churche, called Cristes Churche, in our citie of Dublin, our seid Comyssioners shall encrease the ministers of the seid Cathedrale Churche by the nomber of six priests and two children correstours. * History of St. Patrick's Cathedral by "W. M. Mason, 1820, page 152. 152 A Kildare Rectory deciphered into a Dublin Church! more than be nowe in the same at this present ; appojntinge to every one of the said pristis one annuitye or pencion of ten markys sterlinge, and to every one of said children queresters four markys sterlinge, for ther sufficiente livinges, yerelye, to be payd to them out of our receypte or our seid Eschequier." * The version given (Calendar, vol. i. p. 331) of the charter from Philip and Mary to St. Patrick's, represents the Church of St. Audoen to have been conferred upon the Precentor of the Cathedral, whereas the original document, as is -well known, assigned it to the Treasurer, by whose successor in office it is still held ! Among other ludicrous errors in the version of this charter may be mentioned one by which the Calendar metamorphoses the rectory of Ardry, containing 496 acres, in the county of Kildare, into the church of St. Andrew in Dublin ! As a final link in the concatenation of errors in the documents connected even with an institution so well known as St. Patrick's, as given in these volumes, I may notice that the trauslation of the charter of the restitution of the cathedral (vol. i., page 525) totally omits the impor- tant clauses contained in the original enrolment, relative to the division of the parish of Swords, on which was founded the college of Minor Canons and Choristers ! In further exemplification of the subjects embraced under the present section, I shall examine the mode in which these Calendars present to the public the contents of another class of documents — namely, the municipal Charters, the value and importance of which, in tracing the progress of the liberties of the people, and the civilization of former ages, has been ably shown in the works of Guizot, Angus- tin Thierry, and other writers of eminence, both in France and England. Several of these documents are entered on the Patent Rolls of Chancery, and among other matters * History of St. Patrick's, by Mason, page 153. Calendar decipherments of Charters. 153 tliey enumerate the commodities in ordinary use, at the time of their execution, on which customs or tolls were levied, when brought to market in the towns to which the charters were granted— thus furnishing illustrations of the history of commerce and social progress. The following extract from page 210 of vol. ii. of the Calendars will afford a specimen of the mode in which these charters have been deciphered and translated from the Patent Rolls, in cases where material was not plagiariseable from the labours of the Municipal Corporation Commissioners, already noticed :— " Charter of Clonmel :— Edward the Fourth, grants to the provost, bailiffs, and good men of Clonmel, license to take the following tolls from goods and merchandize coming to the town for sale, Tiz. — For every bolt of Isinglass, id ; For every piece of cloth of fljs (or flegs), Id.; For every head of yarn, Id. ; For all kinds of haberdashery of the value of Is., id ; For everj frail of batter, ^A. ; For every seal of the value of 5s., Id.; For every load of hay, Id. ; For 100 lamb felts, Jd.; For 100 wool felts, 2d.; To be collected and received for ten years, for the purpose of en- closing the town ;... Witness James le Botiller, Earl of Ormond, at Eoss, 12 July, in the 38th year of the reign of Edward the Fourth." We are above specifically assured that this Charter was granted in the 38th year of Edward IV.— rather a novel fact in English history, since, according to the usually received accounts, that monarch died in the 23rd year of his reign, a.d., 1483 ! Here, in the first place, we have an error of 119 years, as the Charter itself was really granted in the year 1364, in the reign of Edward the Third, while James, Earl of Ormond, was Lord Deputy of Ireland, in which 164 Aylsham, in Norfolk, deciphered into isinglass ! capacity his attestation was attached to the document. The first entry in the above extract will surprise those who now learn, on the authority of the Calendars, that isinglass was sold on market days in Clonmel, County of Tippe- rary, by the bolt, in the middle of the fourteenth cen- tury ! The entry, however, on the Roll is—" de quolibet bolte de Eyleshani," meaning for every bolte or piece of stuff styled Eylesham, or Aylesham, from the town of that name in Norfolk, where these materials were extensively manufactured in the fourteenth century, when they were well known as Ayleshams or Eyleshams,— as worsted acquired its name from the village of Worsted in the same county.''-' The term " bolte," still applied in Norfolk to a measure of 28 ells, appears in various Anglo-Irish Charters of the fourteenth century, in connection with Aylesham stufiPs, then common articles of trade j as in the pontage grant from Edward II., a.d., 1310, to Robert De Caunteton, which specifies the toll to be taken — " de quocunque bolte de Aylesham, cujuscnmque coloris" — of every bolte of Aylesham, irrespective of colour. John Florio, in 1611, explaining the Italian word "rotolo," mentions that it was a kind of measure of linen cloth, " as " he adds, " we say a bolt of holland cloth." * The name of this town is diversely spelled in old English records — Ajl-iham, Aillesbam, Ailsham, Aylesham, and Eylesham. " Ailesham, forum non infrequens" — Britannia Caradeni, London: 1607, page 349 ; Holland's English Version, London 1637, page 478; Gough's edition, London : 1789 ii, page 110; and Fuller's "Worthies'' — London: 1811, ii, 125. Enactments for suppressing frauds in the manufactures of Norfolk form the subject of the tenth chap, of the Statute 20 Henry VI. a.d. 1442, which recites that worsted " fuist ascun temps beau marchandise, et graunderaent desire et aime en les parties de pardela." See also chaps. 1 and 2 of the Statute of 7 Edward IV. a.d. 1467. Ludicrous Mistranslations in Text of Calendars. 155 The entry in the Calendar of "pieces of fly s" is, in the original, pieces of cloth from Flegg in Norfolk— articles also frequently mentioned in Anglo Irish documents of the fourteenth century, when the freemen of Lynn were ex- empted from certain municipal customs in the Anglo Irish towns with which they traded. The passage which the Calendar translates, " for every head of yarn," is on the roll, " de quolibet capite syn- donis," meaning for every piece of the material styled " sindone," a kind of lawn, or fine linen, so well known in former times in England, that the enactment styled " Compositio de ponderibus," specified that the "Chefe de Sindon,"— the Anglo Norman equivalent of " Caput Sindonis" — should contain ten ells. * In the fourteenth century, the time of the grant to Clon- mel, now under notice, the Prior of the Order St. of John, in England, was bound to furnish caps annually to the Barons and officers of the Exchequer, for winter and summer; those for the latter season, as we learn from the Brother- hood's treasury accounts (Reprise de Thesauraria), were directed to be lined with " sindone," or fine linen — " pil- liola lineata de sindone." A glance at the old drawing of the Exchequer, in the manuscript known as the " Red Book" of the Exchequer of Ireland,! will show the eccen- * " Chefe de fustian constat ex xiv. ulnis ; chefe de sindone con- tinet decern ulnas.'' — " Assisa sen compositio de ponderibus et mensuris." See also the enrolment, " De confirmatione pro bur- gensibus de Drogheda — per ipsum Regem et consilium suum in par- liamento — teste Rege apiid Westmonasterium xxv. die Februarii.'' — Unpublished English Patent Roll " de anno regni Regis Henrici sexti quinto." (1426-7) p. 2. m. 11. + See page 123. The following anecdote relative to this MS. illus- trates the escapes through which some of the most valuable Anglo Irish muniments have suivived notwithstauding the carelessness of 11 156 The Red Book oj the Exchequer of Ireland. trie appearance which the barons of that court would have presented, if in addition to their quaint grotesque attire, their heads were, according to these Calendars, declied with yarn ! Some inquirers into the progress of textile manufactures have considered " sindon," or "cindon," cognate with the "cindal,". or " cendal," medisevally referred to so often, as in the poem on the Siege of Carlaverlock, a.d., 1300: — "■ La ont meinte riche garnement Erode sur cendeaus et samis." The same poet mentions that Henry, Earl of Lincoln, " Baniere ot de un cendall saffrin." The " chef de cendale" is mentioned in an Anglo-Irish murage grant of a.d. 1316, which class of documents if accurately deciphered from the Patent Rolls might have furnished important information on such points to English and French investigators. I may here add, that the Calendar version of the Clonmel Charter, among its other defects, totally omits a curious entry which the original contains, showing that the " Grains of Paradise," applied their keepers. Sir Walter Scott, during his visit to Dublin, in 1825, requested permission to inspect the "Red Book of the Exchequer,'' which he supposed to be jealously preserved in the custody of the then Chief Remembrancer of the Exchequer, Anthony Richard Blake, who, according to law, was its official guardian. The volume, however, could not be found, and after repeated searches and inquiries, in all quarters, it was concluded to have been lost, till a washerwoman happening to hear sometliing of the matter, recollected to have seeu an old book, in strange writing, lying at the bottom of a discarded wig-box, amidst a heap of lumber, in one of the garrets of Mr. Blake's residence, and there, on examination, the precious manuscript was found I Thanks to the present learne"d and enlightened Chief Baron Pigot, tlie Red Book of the Exchequer of Ireland is now duly cared for. Avoir-d^i-pois translated into haberdashery. ' 167 on the Continent to dyeing, were likewise articles of com- merce in Ireland, in the middle ages. The entry translated in the Calendars, as above, " For all kinds of haberdashery," is in the original " de omnibus generibus de averio-ponderis"— meaning "For all kinds of avoir-du-pois or dn-peis"— a designation applied of old to valuable goods weighed for tolls by the pound, in a smaller balance than the coarser goods, passed, in larger quantities, through the "Tron" or King's beam. This term was commonly used in England, as in the enactment of Edward II., a.d. 1311, styled " Les noveles ordinances faites a Londres, Ian du regno Nostre Segineur Rei Edward, fitz le Rey Edward quynt ;" which recites : " Ensement novels custumees sent leuees et aunciens enhancees, com sur leynes, draps, vins, avoir-de-pois et autres choses, par quel les Marchants viegnent le plus I'element.""'-' In a poem, among the British Museum MSS., con- jectured to have been written by Friar Michael of Kildare, about the same date with the Charter of Olonmel we read : — " Hail be je marchaas, with your great packes. Of draperie, avoir de peise, and yor wol sackes." The " Vision of Piers Ploughman," represents " Cou- vetousness," saying: — "I learned among Lumbardes And Jewes a lesson, To weye pens with a peis, An pare the hevyeste." At the foot of the above Calendar entry relative to * " Cumque de prsfatis mercatoribus, nouulli eorum alias exer- cere soleant mercandisas, ut de Averio-ponderis, et de aliis rebus suh- ilibus." — Carta Ed. I. imo, Feb., anno regni xxxi, apud Windesore. 158 Kitchen-ware translated into batter/ " every frail of batter," we find a note that a frail means " a basket made of rushes," apparently an unsuitable mode of conveying fluid batter, which Dr. Johnson, in his Dictionary defines as " a mixture of several ingredients beaten together with some liquor, so called from being so much beaten." The Calendar however disregards such trifling incongruities : " Nous autres grands medecins nous connoissons d'abord les choses. Un ignorant auroit gte embarasse et vous eut ete dire : O'est ceci, O'est cela: mais moi — Je touche au bout du premi er coup !" The original of the Calendars " frail of batter," is " de quolibet fraiello de bateria;" or for every basket of kitchen ware ! Bateria is a Latin form of " batterie de Cuisine," vasa coguinaria, which term, according to the French Academy, was applied to " les utensiles qui servent a la cuisine, qui sont ordinairement de cuivre battu." Thus Huet wrote, "quelque cruches et quelques pots de terre etoient toute leur batterie de cuisine." Other Irish municipal records, of the same age with that of Clonmel, now under consideration, also mention " Bateria ;" as the murage grant to Thomastown, on the Patent Roll of 49 Edwd. Ill, a.d 1374, and that to Jer- point, of the succeeding year, both of which specify the tolls to be taken of " bateria aeris vel cupri, operati, vel non operati" — kitchen ware of brass or copper, wrought or un wrought.""" * "Batrie," is mentioned in Irish municipal writings of the seven- teenth century, in the above sense, explained as follows, by Antoine Furetiere, in 1690 : "Batterie de cuisine: Terme coUectif, qui se dit de tous les utenoiles servants a la cuisine, qui sont de cuivre, ou de fer, comme les marmittes, chauderons, tourtieres, &c." Saddles translated into Seals ! 159 The entry, above quoted from the Calendar, relative to " every seal" coming to Clonmel for sale will interest those who agree with Menestrier, that : " On pent tirer de grands secours des sceaux plus que de tous les autres monuments, parce qu'ils sont attaches a des actes authentiques." In the original roll the words are " de qualibet sella," or for every saddle, sella being a low Latinization of the French selle. Cambrensis, writing of the Irish in the twelfth century, observed " sellis equitando non utuntur." A French Chronicler of Richard II., remarked that Mac Murragh rode "sans sele;" and the Statute of Kilkenny, in 1367, decreed penalties against any Englishman who rode other- wise than on a saddle (selej in English fashion. The early Statutes of England, as those of labourers, a.d. 1349, and of Edward IV., 1463, Cap. 10. reier to sellers, celers or saddlers, and their work, " selles, estrivens ou ascune henieise regardant as sellers," — saddles, stirrups, or any harness, pertaining to saddlers." The latter frater- nity are introduced as follows in the old French poem, on the voluntary , building of the walls of Ross by the tradesmen and other inhabitants of that town : "Le Mardi proohein suant apers, I vont taillurs e parmters, Tenturers, fulrurs et celers, Bele gent sunt de lur mesters." " Tuesday came, coat makers, tailors. Fullers, cloth dyers, and sellers ; Eight good hands these jolly blades Were they counted at their trades.'' The French Selle became Anglicised Sell, which form is frequently used by Spenser and Fairfax, as in the lat- ter's " Godfrey of BuUoign," Sook iii. 160 Basket of Malt translated into load of hay ! " They met — and low in dust was Guardo laid, 'Twixt either army, from his sell down cast." The "every load of hay" of the Calendars is in the original " de quolibet crannoco brasise" meaning for eacli crannock, or Irish wicker measure of malt. — "Brasia" or " Braseum" — malt, is a word familiar to students of early English accounts, as forming part of the subject of various ancient enactments relative to bakers and brewers."' In the concluding entries, above quoted, the Calendars metamorphose Lambfells and woolfells into Lamb felts and Y(oo\ felts ! Wool-fells, meaning sheep-skins with the wool on them, form the subject of several enactments in England in the fourteenth century, as in the Charter granted in 1303 by Edward I. to foreign Merchants, called, " Carta Merca- toria," in which we read "de pellibus lanitis," which Hakluyt translated "fells with the wool on them;" and the ordinances of the staple—" De Stapula tenenda in certo loco ordinatio," 13 Edward II. a.d, 1320, &c. were * See " Statutum de pistoribus et braciatoribus" which details the " Assisa servitie secundum venditionem bladi de quo fit 6raswm... Brasiator non accrescat plus in galena, nisi per vi denarios aocrescentes in quarterio brasie." Secunda pars Veterum Statu- torum, London : 1556, fol. 24 a. The malts used of old in England, for making the two classes of beer ("cerevisia melior et secunda'') were the "Braseum frumenti — wheat malt; braseum ordei — barley malt ; braseum avenarum — oat malt ; and braseum drageti — dredge malt, described by Bishop Kennett as ' malt made of oats mixed with barley malt, of which, adds the Bishop, they make an excellent fresh, quick sort of drink used in Staffordshire.' Mr. A. Way_ an accomplished English antiquary, mentions that in the thirteenth century, the grains chiefly cultivated in England, as appears bj the accounts of the Bailiff of the Royal Manor of ■L oiough. Rot. Pip. 1 Ed. I. were whea:t, berecorn, dragg, or a mixture of vetches and oat,-, beans and pease." Sheep-skins translated into felt. 161 addressed by the Kings—" Collectoribus custumse lanarum et pellium lanutarum," to their " collectors of customs for wool and woollen fells.""" Skeltoii in the fifteenth century, in his " gostly medy- tacyon uppon a dedman's hed, that was sent to hym from an honorable jenty 11 woman," apostrophised " His gastly jaw, gaspyng asjde, Nakjd of livde, neyther flesh uov fell." In another poem Skelton translates the line. " Et cute sub placida tabida SKpe dolent." — "And under the/«Z^ oft festered is the sore.''t The full absurdity of the change made by the Calendars from fell to felt, will be appreciated by applying it to Macbeth's soliloquy : "I have almost forgot the taste of fears : The time has been, my senses would have cooled To hear a night-shriek ; and my fell of hair Would, at a dismal treatise rouse, and stir, As life were in't.'' To complete the analysis of the " Text" of the Calendars a • " The principal navigations, voyages, trafiSques and discoveries of the English Nation," London ; 1599, vol. i. 137. See also Sir P. Palgrave's Ancient Kalendars and inventories of the Treasury of H.M. Exchequer, 1836. The " Ordinacio Stapularum,'' 27 Edward III. A.D. 1353, and the Statute of 12 Edward IV. caps 4 and 5 specify " peaulx lanutz et peaulx'' — wool-fells and fells. f The Poetical Works of John Skelton by Rev. A. Dyce, London 1843, i, 18, 26. See also "King Lear," act v. scene 3; aud "As you like it/' act 3, scene 2. Ben Jonson in his " Character Principis,'' observed that a " prince is the pastor of his people," adding that " he ought to sheer not to flay his sheep ; to take their fleeces, not their /eZk'' — " Explorata,'' London: 1641, 162 A new Bishop created by Calendars ! few more specimens may be adduced of the other numerous shiillar translations and decipherments. The ordinary Anglo Saxon law terms — wardewyte, harasoken, stephinge, blodwite, fith withe, hengwyte, and flemenfreme, are at page 32 of vol. ii, deciphered werdpein, hanerpein, hlodurte, Jicturtc, hengurte and flemenesurte .'"" At page 426 of Vol. I., we read at the close of a deed relating to Kenlig, in Ossory, witnesses " the Lord Ollor Bishop." This prelate, " translated" by the Calendars into the ranks of the Irish Hierarchy, was never before heard of — the name so deciphered being, in the original, " Domino Episcopo Ossoriensi," meaning — the Lord Bishop of Ossory, in whose diocese, Kenlis, to which the document relates, is situate ! In the same volume page 115, Saints Cuan and Brogau are deciphered into Koam and Borgam ; and at page 606, Cuan, whose name still lives in Wexford, is further tortured into K^eoam. Iregan, or Ui Riagain, the territory of an important family in the Queen's County, represented by Colonel Francis P. Dunne, M.P., is (i. 373,) deciphered into " Tryegan." Thomas Leverous, an eminent Bishop of Kildare, is set down (i. 396) as " Thomas Dar." The ingenious reader may perhaps be able to decide upon the meanings, to be assigned to such entries as the following, appended to documents calendared in the first volume, pages 189, 270, 291: * " Levia quidem hasc, et parvi forte, si per se spectentur mo- menti. Sed ex elementis constant, ex principiis oriuntur omnia : et ex judicii consuetudine in rebus minutis adhibita, pendet scepissime, in maximis, vera atque accurata scientia.^' " Homeri Ilias, in usum Prin- cipis, Gulielmi Augusti, Ducis de Cumberland, Eegio jussu, edidit Samuel Clarke, S. T. P., editio quarta-decima," Londini, 1806,— prjefatio. Imprests deciphered into Priests ! 163 "Jenico, Viscount of G.— Oliver, P.B. of Louth.— B.B. Upper Oserie.— Edward, Meath.— P. Barnewall, Lord of T.— R. P. Lord of Dunsany.— John P. Lord of Kjllene.— T. if. B. of Slaiie.— W. B. N." The Nunnery of " Le Hogges" is converted (i. 485) into " The Abbey or monastery of the Hoggs," reminding us of the line in the alUterative poem, — " Pugna porcorum, per P. Porcium, poetam:" " Per pia porcorum petiraus penetralia posthac.''* The obsolete ecclesiastical exaction called " Mary Gal- lons," considered of sufficient importance to be noticed in Parliament in 1640, is facetiously metamorphosed by the Calendars (ii. 514 and 669) into " Merry Gallons !" Page 454, vol. i., notices a document of a.d., 1560, with the following title, " An abstract of all wages and enter- tainments remaining due to the Queen's Army and Garri- son in Ireland, with a defalcation of the priests, and of the victuals and munition delivered." This defalcation of the priests, in the reign of Elizabeth, gravely set down in the Calendars, is, in the original, "defalcations of imprests," a common'head for a class of accounts in old English reve- nue returns ! It would be superfluous to prolong these citations, and I shall close this section with mentioning, that, at page 267 of vol. ii., the Calendar transforms Saint Nuan, of the Barony of Boyle, in the county of Roscommon, into Nogan, a name applied in Ireland to a wooden milk vessel ! And in the translation of a Charter of Cashel, at page 238, of the same volume, the Calendar declares that the old English word " thewe" signifies " Saxon bond- men," whereas, it means a ducking-stool, the engine of cor- * "Lusus ingenii," curavit D. C. Seybold, Argentorati : 1793. 164 A stool translated into Saxon bondmen ! rectiou formerly used in towns for tke punishment of com- mon scolds !""' The foregoing specimens— with the previous list of mis- translations — including those of a Bullock-pen into a " City of the Dead," and of a flock of sheep into " a wax candle," will be admitted to constitute a series of trans- mutations unparalleled since the fifteen books of Ovid's Metamorphoses were given to the world. Having thus scanned every section of the text of the " Calendars," the results of this morbid anatomy may be summarized as follows : Results of Analysis of the text of the Calendaes. I.^That a large portion of the " Text," purporting to be the result of original research, is composed of plagiarisms from printed books; and that no conclusive evidence has been adduced to show that the remainder of the so-called "Text" has not been abstracted from the Calendar of the same Patent Rolls, formerly prepared at the public expense under the Irish Record Commission. See pages 70, 71, 120. II. That the grants of titles and ofices given, in these volumes are defective and valueless, as they omit the im- portant clauses of the patents. See page 64. * " A post was fixed in a pond, upon the former was placed a transverse beam, turning on a swivel with a chair at one end of it. In this the scolding woman was placed, and the end turned to the pond, and let down into the water."— Encyclopedia of Antiquities, by Rev. T. D. Fosbroke. London, 1825, i. 261. Brand's. Observa- tions on Popular Antiquities, edited by Sir H. Ellis. London, 1842, iii. 53. Blackstone's Commentaries, edited by E. M. Kerr, 1862, iv. 18. See also " Digest of the Laws of England,'' by Chief Baron Comyns, 1781 ; and papers by Mr. Carrington, iu the Arch- aological Journal; xv. (1858) 76, and in the first number of the " Wiltshire Archseological Society's Magazine." Summary of analysis of Text of Calendars. 165 III. That the grants o^ pardons a.?, here published, are defective and useless, because the Calendars, for the most part, do not specify the causes or offences for which the pardons were granted. See pages 66, 67. IV. That the grants of lands, as here'given, are defec- tive, misleading and may be prejudicial to the Public, be- cause, in the majority of cases, the Calendars do not men- tion all the lands granted, and seldom specify the counties or localities of those enumerated. See pages 142 — 149. V. That the Charters, royal letters, ecclesiastical and municipal documents on the Patent Rolls, as presented in these volumes, are defective aad unreliable, because the Calendar-versions omit various important portions of them, give incorrect decipherments of some, and inaccurate translations of others. See pages 149 — 164. VI. That the Calendars are seriously defective, because they omit to notice a large number of important patents and grants, and the places in the text which should have been occupied by them, have been filled with unacktiow- ledged reprints of common books already accessible to the public and irrelevant in Calendars of Patent Rolls. See pages 126 — 142. Thus, these Calendars have not only failed to fulfil any one of the objects for which works of this class are exe- cuted; but also, as defective and inaccurate abstracts of ori- ginal records, they may, in the words of a late English Paleographer, prove "equally dangerous to truth, property, and to liberty itself." We shall now revert to the proceedings in the House of Commons : Me. Geobgb defended the Editor of the Calendars from the charge of incompetence ivhich had been brought against him. He adduced the testimony of the Master of the Rolls fire- 166 Official Letters in praise of Calendars. landj, Mr, Breivster, Mr. Fitzgibbon, and others, as to the pro- priety of the selection of the Editor, and the high character of his jyublication. Mb. T. O'Hagax, Attorney General of Ireland, also bore testimony to the Editor's merits. He was, perhaps, the very best man in all Ireland who could have been selected for the particular task assigned to him. There had been gross misrepresentation in regard to him; but his vindication icas complete and absolute. Mr. George, Member for Wexford, being totally unknown as an archivist, or historic investigator, may be presumed to have based his testimony to " the high character of the publication" on such evidence as that found in the pages of the now notorious "Letters I'eceived with reference to the Calendars of Patent and Close Rolls," which have been withdrawn from circulation, with little regard for the amusement of the public, at whose expense they were printed " for Her Majesty's Stationery Office." Thus, the "Dublin Evening Mail" tells us that— " To authenticate and give weight to these ponderous tomes, the Stationery Office also printed a ' Selection from Letters' from the Lord Chancellor, the Master of the Rolls ; the ex-Attorney General ; a Master in Chancery ; the Ulster King-at-Arms, Sir J. B. Burke ; and others, a copy of which is now before us. To say that these letters are in the highest degree laudatory of the editor, and in particular of his prefaces, would be to give but a faint idea of their import and wording, for they abound in such epithets as ' interest- ing and instructive,' an ' invaluable contribution,' ' a great boon ;' and one critic [G. Fitzgibbon, Queen's Counsel and Master in Chan- cery], goes so far as to tell the ' Clerk of enrolments' that 'itia well known no other living person can read records as you can ;' although, in another passage in the same letter, he writes, ' I wisli that this opinion should be founded on some knowledge of the book, and on a careful inspection of its contents !' Finally, one of the eminent authorities who have contributed to this ' puff book,' even goes so far as to tell his friend, the author, that ' until your book appeared every one was obliged to avail himself of your antiquarian lore;' but he adds, 'I hope you may not find that your labours for Official "Puff direct" of Calendars. 167 the public benefit will have the effect of taking the bread out of your own mouth.' " Puffing, according to Sheridan's "Critic," is of various sorts — " the principal are the puff direct, the puff prelimi- nary, the puff collateral, the puff collusive, and the puff oblique, or puff by implication ; these all," we are told, " assume, as circumstances require, the various forms of Letter to the Editor — Impartial Critique, &c." Of the class placed first in this category it would be difficult to find a bolder specimen than the following, in which the official " puff direct," addressed to the Editor, avers that these Calendars have been composed from illegible records ! " From the Master of the Common Pleas. " Common Pleas [Dublin], 17th June, 1861. " Allow me to thank you for the copy of your valuable work founded on the documents in the hitherto inaccessible Rolls OflBce. Although your labours have been of an onerous kind, it must be a satisfaction to you to have rescued from oblivion the illegible [!] but interesting records of our past history ; and, hoping you will receive a suitable recompense, I am, yours faithfully, « J. G. Btjbke." Selection from Letters received in reference to the Calendar of Patent Bolls. Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office, page 8. " And do you think," asked the cynical " Sneer," "there are any who are influenced by this" puff direct? " O Lud, yes sir," exclaimed "Puff/' "the number of those who undergo the fatigue of judging for themselves is very small indeed !" The qualifications of the authors of these " Letters" to pi'onounce authoritatively on archivistic questions, already noticed at page 76, may be further illustrated by citing another evidence of the want of knowledge even of the simplest ancient law terms, publicly exhibited by the 168 Qualifications of patronis of Calendars. writer of the most elaborate of the epistles adduced by Mr. George in favor of the "high character" of the " Calendars." In the recent case tried in the Dnblin Court of Common Pleas, of the Municipal Corporation of Dublin, against the Right Honorable Sidney Herbert, for an animal rent of ten pounds, claimed by the City out of his holding called Bagot-rath, Mr. Sergeant Fitzgibbon, now Master in Chancery, counsel for the defendant, and author of a lengthy letter, quoted at page 74, eulogising the " Cal- endars," maintained, in opposition to all arguments, that the term "land-gable," known by every antiquarian smat- terer to signify a tax or rent issuing out of land, or a quit rent, should be read " long cable," that " it means a cable across the LifFej^ which the defendant's ancestors had the privilege of having, and that it was for the cable the payment was made to the Sheriffs !" The following extract from the Report of the second trial in this case, will instruct those interested in such points : 3Ir. Mac Donogh, Q.O. — " In the grant of Prince John, he grants by the service of ' langable,' and the meaning of this, as we learn from the other documents, is a tax or rent issuing out of laud, similar to what we now call 'ground rent'... A legal document, written in 1735, demonstrates that the land-gable payment was out of ' Bagot-rath.' " Sergeant Fitzgibbon. — You are assuming it all along as ' land gable ;' it is ' lortg cable.' The Gliief Justice. — The answer [of the Corporation] is, We paid it [the rent] to the sheriffs and not to the Corporation, and for what we don't know, the meaning of — something about a ' long cable' that was across the river in some place or another. — And really that was a very curious sore of thing ; I never heard the expression before, and I can give you no information or assistance to it."... This endorsement upon the receipt 130 years old, is relied upon as evidence of that : ' the Sheriffs of Dublin receipt for the year, land- gable money of Bagot-rath, for 1735.' Archivistic Oracles of Irish Bar. 169 Sergeant Fitzgihhon. — It is not 'gable.' Chief Justice. No ; this is ' long cable' and therefore it is for the jury to say whether this long cable of Bagot-rath means something connected with a cable belonging to Bagot-rath — ' land-gable' it is here.''* Thus the immortal " Sganarelle" reappears in a sphere different from that in which he was originally placed : Geronte. Ou ne pent pas mieux raisonner, sans doute. II ti'y a qu'une seule chose qui m'a choque ; c'est Vendroit du foie et du cceur. H me semble que vous les placez aulrement quHls ne sont ; que le coeur est du cote gauche et le foie du cote droit. Sganakelle. Oui, cela eloit autrefois ainsi j mais nous avons change tout cela, et nous faisons mainlenant la medecine d'une methode toute nouvelle. Geronte. C'est oe que je ne savois pas, et je vous demande pardon de mon ignorance. Sganarelle. 11 n'y a point de mal; et vous n'etes pas oblige d'etre aussi habile que nous !'' The Attorney General of Ireland, having publicly * Eeports of the trials in the case of the Corporation of the City of Dublin, versus the Right Hon. Sidney Herbert, 1859, 1861 : pp. 73, 75„ 89, 91. It appears, however doubtful, to whom the originality of the above remarkable theory of the cable is due, since the author of the letter, cited at page 166, avers that •• every one [of the Bar] was obliged to avail himself of the antiquarian lore'' of the Archivistic oracles of the Rolls Office, Dublin. " In truth," continues Mr. Brewster, " the public was dependent almost exclusively on you for assis- tance in all inquiries necessary for the- elucidation of ancient titles, and the ascertainment of rights created at remote periods ; but you have now given to all of us the means of finding out for our- selves much that no one but so accomplished an antiquary as yourself had any knowledge of' — Letter from the Right Hon. Abraham Brewster, Q.C. to the Editor of the Calendars, at page 5 of " Selec- tion from letters received in reference to the Calendar of Patent Rolls. Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office." 170 Statements hij the Attorney General of Ireland. declared, in the presence of some of the most eminent scholars of Ireland, that he was totally unacquainted with Archseological subjects,*^ may be presumed to have been also guided by this same " Selection from letters," backed by the solemn certificate of the Deputy Keeper of the Rolls at Dublin, who according to the evidence of the Editor of the Calendars, cited at page 117, can neither read the ancient documents in his charge, nor " compre- hend their meaning, use, or application !" When we reflect on the varied literary, historical, and legal interests involved in the different sections of Calen- dars of Patent and Close Rolls of Chancery in Ireland, and remember, that each inquirer, in his own department, must feel seriously aggrieved by the incompetency which per- vades every portion of these volumes, the Public cannot but be suprised that a lawyer, holding the offices of Attorney General and Commissioner of National Education in Ire- land, should seek "to^make one mighty Dunciad of the land," by pronouncing such a libel upon the scholars of his country, as that above reported in the " Times," which represents him to have declared, before the House of Commons, that the Editor of these Calendars was " the very best man in all Ireland, who could have been selected for the particular task assigned to him !" Another ver- sion, published in the Dublin papers of 18 July, 1863, reports this Attorney General to have said : — " As he believed tliat the Editor of the Calendars had been personally wronged, he wished to bear his testimony to his high * "Mr. Thomas O'llagan, Q. C, said he was not an archcBologist Jiimself, but in his professional capacity, he had an opportunity of see- ing some of the most valuable materials for Irish history, crumbling away under the dome of the Four Courts [Dublin.]'' — Report of Excursion of Ethnological Section of British Association, Dublin : 1859. Record system sought be to imposed on Public. 171 qualifications for the work he had performed. There had been no real property trial in Ireland for many years in the elucidation of which his assistance had not been sought by one side or the other. That gentleman was called upon to edit the Patent Rolls of Ireland, and he had translated and digested them, and had done the tvork well." These declarations must be construed to signify that violations of the law of literary property, wholesale appro- priations from the labours of others, decipherments of English towns into isinglass, translations of bullock-pens into " cities of the dead," and of " ducking-stools" into " Saxon bondmen," are the literary works, and the mode of deciding questions of " real property" sought to be imposed upon the Public by a Commissioner of National Education, and some Government law officers in Ireland ! No stronger evidence of utter want of knowledge in this department could be given than the precipitate mode in which the opinions above referred to, have been delivered on a work, to comprehend which in its various sec- tions would have required the devotion of years to the study of languages, mediseval brachygraphy, philology, history, palaeography, obsolete laws and usages.* Thus, thatleariied English Archivist, Thomas Madox,in address- * To the oracular and cff-hand opinions placed before the public by those who have testified to the "high character" of these Calen- dars a forcible contrast is furnished by an anecdote related of two of the most profound Archivists of France, by the Abbe L'Advocat, "Docteur, Bibliothecaire et Professeur de la chaire d'Orleans, en Sorbonne," a.d. 1760: "On raconte sur la modestie P. Mabillou le trait suivant: un etranger curieux de s'iustruire de I'ancienne histoire de France, aiant ete consulter M. du Cange, celui ci I'envoya au P. Mabillon. On vous trompe, quand on vous addresse a moi, dit I'humble Bene- dictin a I'et^nger: ' allez voir M. du Cange.' ' C'est lui meme qui m'envole a vous,' dit I'etranger. 'II est mon maitre,' repliqua Dom Mabillon: si cependant vous m'honorez de vos visites, je vous communiquerai le pen que je sais.' '' Mr. Savage, in his excellent 12 172 Laborious nature of Archivistic studies. ing John, Lord Somers, observed, with truth, of a work of this class : " When a man, though a native of this island, cometh fresh to peruse a system of antiquities, or a piece of ancient history of the same island, he is like one newly landed in a strange country ; he findeth himself in another climate ; he observeth many things strange, and uncouth in laws, customs, and manners." The difficulties, in connection with such works, are further, to some extent, indicated by the following passages in a I'eport made by M. Pardesuss, on behalf of a Government Commission of French Archivists : "Pent etre ne s'est-on pas fait un assez juste id6e du travail dont il s'agit. Les documens connus sous les noms de Cliartes, Diplo- mes. Privileges, &c, sont ecrits en Latin ou en vieux Frangais, ou dans I'un des dialectes des anciennes provinces. De ces troia idiomes, le Latin est sans doute celui que des bachellers cs-lettres seront le plus capables de comprendre; mais qu'on ne s'y trompo pas. Le Latin des 9% 10°, et 11° sifieles, surtout le Latin des chartes et des diplomes, n'a rien de comraun que le uora aveo le Latin de Ci- ceron et de Tite Live. La traduction en est quelquefois plus difficile ; ...Les difficultes ne sont point moins grandes, si Ton suppose que lea documens seront en vieux Fran9ais ou en dialectes des anciennes provinces. L'dtude et I'intelligence de ces idiomes n'ont jamais fait, ni pu faire I'objet des travaux classiques par lesquels on parvient au baccalaureat-^s-lettres. Les eleves seront transport's dans un monde nouveau ; il ne leur suffira pas d'avoir appris a lire edition of Sheil's " Sketches," has chronicled a rebuke administered bj an Irish Chemist and Mathematician of high eminence to pretentious assumption in another department of science : " Upon one occasion, in a revenue case, a grave medical witness was for- mally giving the result of bis observations upon a certain deposit of chemical substances. ' In fact, Doctor Apjohn,' interrupted the Baron [Leslie Poster], ' the substance was only mud.' — 'Perhaps,' replied the witness drilj, < Your Lordship would favour the jury with the definition of mud.' " Sketches Legal and Political, by the Right Hon. R. L. Shell, Edited by M. W. Savage. Vol. i. p. 190. London: 1855. Illustrations of " Ne sutor ultra crepidam." 173 et a dechiflfrer : ils auront encore besoin d'apprendre h, traduire, et aux termes de I'art." The commendations of this work did not, however, emanate solely from legal authorities, as appears from the following letter addressed to the Editor of the Calendars, from the so-called " Record Tower," which has not yet been deodorized with the Public from the notoriety, which, as shown at page 85, it acquired, in other days, from the manufacture of pedigrees, and the interpolation of docu- ments : •' From Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster King at Arms, Eecord Tower, Dublin Castle, 8th November, 1861. A thousand thanks for your admirable ' Calendar of the Patent and Close Rolls.' It is a great boon to me, indeed an invaluable contribution to my stores. How kindly you refer to ' Ulster,' in your most interesting preface. You will be glad to hear we have secured for this office the Repertory and Indices to the Plea and Pipe Rolls. Ever yours, J. Bernard Burke, Ulster." " Selection from Letters received in reference to the Calendar of Patent Bolls. Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office," page 7. Here again become apparent the perils consequent on disregarding the maxim, " ne sutor ultra crepidam." Venturing into the unfamiliar department of Archivisra, the principal Herald of Ireland proclaims himself the admirer of a production affording ample scope to those who deride pedigree labours, for — reversing the well-known case of the " two single gentlemen rolled into one" — the system of the Calendar is, as already shown, pages 44 and 151, to divide one nobleman into two, and to multiply two children into eleven ! Some future Editor of W. M. Thackeray's works will, no doubt, adduce this circumstance as a commentary on the remarkable pedigree in which that writer detailed the branches of a family which, commencing with " Thomas Muggins," retrograded to " David Gam de Mogyns," dis- 174 Treasury interference demanded. tinguished in the battle of Agincourt, and from him to the Welsh chieftain, " Hogyn Mogyn, of the hundred beeves," the rival of Caractacus, for the hand of Boadicea, all chronicled on a genealogical tree in the possession of " the present baronet," Sir Alured Mogyns Smyth de Mogyns, — beginning with Shem, and stated by a legend of many thousand years date to have been drawn on papyrus, by a grandson of the Patriarch himself !"' I have already, at page 76-79, mentioned the light in which it perhaps may be just to view the " Letters" by which some eminent legal functionaries inconsiderately placed themselves before the public as "practitioners in the art of pufSng," and which were thus used to give character and importance to the Calendars. If, howevei-, the report of Mr, George's remarks in the House of Com- mons be correct, in representing that some of the Judges and chief Government Law Officers in Ireland approve of and eulogise'Jbreaches of the law of copyright, combined with the system of garbling records developed in these Calendars, the Public will expect the Treasury at once to remove all these muniments beyond the further influence of a control, which, in cases of real property, title, or pedi- gree, must certainly entail serious and complicated injus- tice on many of her Majesty's subjects ; " Tons les jours," says a French writer, " on produit en justice des titres qui sont les fondements de la fortune et de I'etat des citoyens : I'integrite ne permet pas de prononcer preclpi- tamment, ni de hasarder un jugement qui, faute d'etre eclaire, fait le malheur d'une famille, en ruinant sa for- tune L'art diplomatique donne des lumieres suffi- • See Extract from " Fluke's Peerage," quoted by Mr. Thackeray, in his "Book of Snobs.'' London, 1848, chap. VII., "On some respectable snobs.'' General Public importance of subject. 175 santes pour distiuguer le vrai du faux— mais le debrouil- lement d'anciens actes et monumens exige la plus grand sagacite, le discernement le plus fin." The question at present under consideration cannot be set at rest with the facilities which the Parliamentary con- stitution of Great Britain affords for the disposal of poli- tical and ephemeral topics. The integrity and proper publication of the Irish Public Records possess a per- manent interest for the numbers studious of British history throughout the world ; and although the influence of departments and of parties may for a time be brought into action to retard proper arrangements in connection with them, the opinions of scholars conversant with the subject, placed permanently on record among the learned bodies of the world, as essayed in these pages, must have its due weight upon the public mind and eventually over- come the opposition and obstacles which everywhere — hut pre-eminently in Ireland — impede the progress of truth and justice. The independent portion of the press has regarded this transaction in its true light — thus the London "Examiner" points out that the interests of the public require that the entire of the circumstances should be made the subject of a regular official examination. The views taken of it by impartial journals in Ireland are exhibited in the following extract from the " Ulster Observer," of Belfast, which characterises the whole affair as an attempt to foist upon the public a " compound of brazen ignorance and unblush- ing piracy— given to the world, under high sanction and authority, as the result of laborious investigation and diligent research :" " It might at once be presumed that for such a task the most competent and reliable agency would have been procured — that, following the example of France and England, the services of emi- 176 Opinions of the Press. nent archivists and distinguished palaeologists would have been obtained ; and that, at least, the two eminent bodies who have con- ferred so much honour upon Ireland — the Irish Archseological Society and the Rojal Irish Academy, would have been consulted on a matter in which they were so capable of giving valuable informa- tion, and upon which they could throw so much useful light. These considerations were, however, discarded, and the task of editing this important work — a work which required for its due performance the erudition of a scholar, and the patience and re- search of a student — was entrusted to a clerk in one of the Dublin law courts ; and under his auspices we have published, at the public expense, two useless volumes of gross plagiarism and inaccurate information. " It would be difficult to find a parallel for the Calendars in wholesale plagiarism — diiBcult to find a rival for them in ignorance, difficult to find an approximation to them in error. The robbery is of the most sweeping kind ; the mistakes are of the most catholic order, and trench with equal indifference on the hallowed precincts of history, chronology, biography, and philology. " These are not idle statements unsubstantiated by evidence. The writer [of ' Record Revelations'] proves every assertion in detail, and the instances of plagiarism which he adduces are so numerous, so deliberate, and so flagrant, that it is a mystery how even a Clerk of the Dublin Law Courts could have the audacity to perpetrate them. Amongst the writers whose labours have been so unblushingly appropriated we find the names of the living and the dead." "Ireland has every reason to be proud of her archseologists, she has every reason to respect and reverence the men who devoted their great talents and their invaluable labours to the disentomb- ment of the past, and to the rescuing from oblivion the memorials which bygone generations left of our country's career; and she owes it to her own character, as well as to their fame, not- to permit this sorry jumble of ignorance and conceit to take its stand amongst the treasured monuments of her scholarly lore. Not the least singular feature about the Calendars is the approbation which they have received from high legal authorities in the land. The time has passed, when the ancient statutes were studied by the devotees of the law, and the ancient records scanned by the occu- pants of the legal tribunals. That peculiar book-labour, charac- terised as philosophioo-legal application, has disappeared from Inns Puhlic Opinion on these Transactions. 177 and Chambers. We have manj pert pleaders — few deep thinkers ; we have many legal sophists — few legal reasoners ; and still fewer, if any, of them are endowed with the acquirements which would render them an authority upon such a subject as Mr. Morrin'a unintelligible Calendars. Hence it is that we cannot be much surprised if, in his honest ignorance, the honest and highminded Master of the Rolls has^ given his imprimatur to the confused rubbish which is supposed to be published under his direction. That Lord Chancellor Brady has imitated him, and approved of the work, will surprise nobody ; that Sir J. Bernard Burke, the Ulster King of Arms, has chimed in with their Lordships will surprise nobody ; and that even such ornaments of the bar as Messrs. Fitzgibbon and Whiteside should swell the chorus of approbation is in no way wonderful. This formidable coalition of backers which the Plagiarist has secured only makes public interference more imperative, and it is high time that the Press should expose the fraud, and endeavour to wipe away what, if tolerated with im- punity, must prove a public disgrace." " These," writes the " Cork Reporter," " are most dis- graceful disclosures, and may well be termed Revelations, that will, we are sure, create no small amount of public disgust and indignation." The remarks on "gross misrepresentations" with refer- ence to the Calendars have been received at their due value by the public, which accepts the term " absolute," used by the Attorney- General in reference to the vindica- tion, already shown to be unfounded and prevaricatory — in the same sense as that in which " Hamlet" applied it to the equivocating grave-digger : ' How absolute the knave is, We must speak by the card, or prevarication will undo us !" The unverifiable assertions of an Attorney- General, and Commissioner of National Education, advocating the dis- graceful system exhibited in these pages, will fail to lower the true Archivists of Ireland in the eyes of a Public, which knows, that the great works of the Royal Irish 178 Attorney General contradicted by Editor of Calendars. Academy and the Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society, which have gained for Irish Archaeologists and Archivists a recognized position, second only to that held by the great hereditary masters of these sciences in France, have been the fruits of voluntary labour, performed without either direct or indirect remuneration or reward, beyond the satisfaction which the disinterested and learned authors, by whom they were executed, derived from the perform- ance of what they conscientiously considered to be their duty to the primary historic literature of their country. With a truly high instinct, these eminent scholars, " un- stained by gold or fee," have ever shrunk from parading before the public the great sacrifices of time and mental labour thus made by them ; and which could not have been supplied by any extent of mercenary work or pretentious assumption. Mr. T. 0' Hag an, Attorney-General of Ireland — in continuation : "He had himself found the records in the Bolls-office under the Editor of the Calendars, in the most excellent condition, and wholly available to the public. The arrangement in that respect could not be improved." That an Attorney- General should receive attention, on his visit to a Dublin Law Office, might naturally be expected ', but it appears difficult to account, even in a non- archseologist, for that mental obtuseness, which declares documents to be " fully available," to which the Public possess neither indices nor inventories ! The perilous consequences of venturing " beyond one's last," are forcibly exemplified in this instance, since the allegations of the Attorney- General are flatly denied by the evidence publicly given as follows by the Editor of the Calendars himself, and printed at page 139 of the Chan- cery Commissioners Report already cited : Evidence of incorrect Official statements. 179 " The business connected with ancient^ records is comparatively neglected in this country [Ireland]. Parties come to the [Rolls] Office frequently in relation to historical inquiries, but we have not time to attend to them." Not less contradictory of the declarations of the Attorney General, are the following passages in the Prefaces to the " Calendars;" the Editor of which is above described as having the records in the Rolls Office, "under him :" " Numbers of which [the ancient Anglo Irish public records] containing important historic materials are now mouldering to decay ; while the unindexed and unclassified condition of those in better preservation, renders their contents almost unavailable to literary inves- tigators. These observations apply more especially to the Statutes and enactments of the early Anglo Irish Parliaments." Calendar, Vol. i, page vii. " But the want of calendars or repertories to our records has been severely felt. The Public, uninstructed, come to the offices, in the feeble hope of getting some information from records likely to assist them, and have wholly to rely on the activity or talent of the officer in charge for success." — ib. ib. page xxix. Again of another class of records in the Rolls Office, Dublin, we read at page ii. of the second volume of the Calendars : " Very few of these were then, or at all, as they should have been, copied on the Roll; and they remain to this day uncalendared, and to the public almost wholly unknoivn." Thus, an Attorney General of Ireland, and Commissioner of National Education, unmindful of the ancient proverb cited by the Secretary of the Treasury, has, by venturing to pronounce on subjects with which he is avowedly unac- quainted, pledged himself before the world to assertions totally contradicted by the officer whom he eulogised, as well as by the imprimatur of the Master of the Rolls — the official guardian of the muniments referred to ! It requires no further evidence to demonstrate the accuracy of my assertions as to the fact of the muniments 180 Statement Inj Colonel French, M.V. in the Rolls Office, Dublin, being practically unavailable to the public, who there, according to the above evidence of the officer who has the "rolls under him," must find themselves situated similarly to the famed " London Lyckpenny:" — " SEtita tl)e EoIIg 31 gat from tjencf, SSefore tjje clarfees of tj^e ffifiauncerge, TOfjers mang IE faunti earntng of pence, 33ut none at all once regartieiJ me."* The " pleasures of imagination," flowing from the at- tractive picture presented to the House of Commons by the creative fancy of the Attorney General of Ireland, with regard to the arrangements of the records in the Rolls Office, Dublin, which, in his words, " could not be improved," have, however, been further dissipated by the disclosure of another complication of this extraordinary concatenation of blunders, subsequently brought to light, as follows, on the last day of the Parliamentary Session : House of Cojimons, London, July 28, 1863. Calendar op Chancery Eolls. Colonel Fbench asked the Secretary of the Treasury whether it was proposed to continue the recently issued Calendars of Irish Chancery records by the repiMication of the Patent Eolls of James I. He had learned, with surprise, that the work to which he alluded was actually in course of being reprinted at the public ex- pense, by direction of the Master of the Rolls of Ireland, under the authority of the Treasury, in continuation of the two volumes of Calendars of Patent and Close Rolls of Chancery in Ireland, the circumstances connected with which had lately been brought under * Ballad written by John Lydgate in the reign of Henry VI. To complete the analogy, it may be added that the above cited Chancery Commission Report mentions that the majority of the scrivenery clerks employed in the modern business of the court, receive no payment beyond " three half-pence or two pence a folio" for what they write. Report, page 133. Further Record Revelations. 181 the notice of the House by his Right Hon. Friend, Mr. Monaell, Member for Limerick. The Calendar of Patent Rolls of James I. had been printed under the late Record Commission in a large folio volume of 596 pages, bearing the following imprint, " Dublin ; printed by Alexander Thom, for Her Majesty's Stationery OfBce." And it had been alleged that a great portion of this edition was still lying unused in the Rolls and other Government offices in Dublin. A second edition of part of this Calendar, in octavo size, and on a diiferent plan, had been published in 1846 by the late Mr. Erck — to print the same work a tJiird time would be an unnecessary expenditure of the public funds. Being himself conversant with these books, which might be seen in the public libraries of Dublin, he could speak definitely on them ; and he trusted that the Treasury -would, without delay, direct an inquiry into the subject, as a rumour was in circu- lation, which appeared almost incredible, that the printing of this third edition of the Calendar had been authorized, under the suppo- sition, that it had never been printed before. He regretted that the Royal Irish Academy, or the Irish Archaeological Society had not been consulted on this subject, as some members of these bodies were specially conversant with such matters. Mr. F. Peel, Secretary of the Tbbasukt, said he would make inquiries into the subject. These statements, based on well known public facts, may no doubt be found verified documentarily in the Par- liamentary Records of the expenditure of the Chancery 'and Stationery Offices. The Calendar thus printed for the third time may, with safety, be relegated to the same ob- scurity, whither the "elegant epistles" have been, as already noticed, despatched, to hide them from the gaze of an injured Public, which sees in this series of blun- ders a further development of the mental perversity- depicted by Swift : " All human race would fain be wits, And millions miss for one that hits. "What reason can there be assign'd — For this perverseness in the mind ? 182 The Master of the Rolls of Ireland. Brutes find out where their talents lie : A bear will not attempt to fly; A founder'd horse will long debate, Before he tries a five-barr'd gate ; A dog by instinct turns aside, Who sees the ditch too deep and wide. But man we find the only creature Who, led by Folly, combats Nature ; Who, when she loudly cries, Forbear, With obstinacy fixes there ; And, where his genius least inclines, Absurdly bends his whole designs." Perhaps the most severe practical commentary on the proverb cited by the Secretary of the Treasury is afforded by that feature of the present complication which placed the Master of the Rolls of Ireland before the Public — " nuUius addictus jurare in verba Magistri," in a position totally antagonistic to that assumed by him when in the " Chatterton Case" he prohibited judicially the publication of a photograph, depicting the "marvellous boy who perished in his pride," on the ground, that to appropriate even an idea was an encroachment on the rights of the original artist. The latter decision was in accordance with the views of Lord Lyndhurst, himself a painter's son, of whom the author of " Never too late to mend," writes as follows — commenting on a case where justifica- tion was sought by pleas curiously analogous to the equivo- cations under which, as shown at page 104, it has been attempted to screen the violations of copyright in the "Calendars:" " Puny judges are always for baffling the honest intellectual labourer. Great judges, from Mansfield and Blackstone downwards, are always for protecting him. They sympathize with brains, because they have got them. In Boosey v. D'Almaine, a clear case of adaptation, Lord Lyndhiirst on piracy of mental property. 183 the defence was, 1st, that defendant ' had not taken the whole of each air'; and 2nd, that ' what he had taken he adapted to dancing only. And that some degree of art had is needed for the purpose of so adapting, and that but a small part of the merit belongs to the original composer.' ",Iu this case. Lord Lyndhurst delivered a famous judg- ment. He would not allow either that a considerable and recognizable part of a melody could be taken without piracy, or that adaptation of the composer's invention in any way was lawful. Amongst other things, he laid down that the original air requires genius for its construction ; but a mere mechanic [" sutor ultra crepidam"] in music can make the adaptation. In conclusion he gave the adaptation swindle its coup de grace thus : Substantially, the piracy is where the appropriated music, though adapted to a different purpose from that of the original, may still be recognized by the ear. The adding variations makes no difference in the principle. Thus," adds Mr. Reade, " Lord Lyndhurst interpreted the law loyally, and, in so doing, secured the Musical Composer against those who reap where they have not sown, more firmly than preced- ing judges had secured the literary inventor, but I think not more so than this great judge would have protected the literary inventor in pari casu.""' The extraordinary circumstances connected with the production of the so-called "Calendars" of a small portion of the Rolls, signally demonstrate how difficult it would be to predict the full extent to which the public might be pre- judiced by the continuance of a system of ignoring those * " The Eighth Commandment," London : 1860, in which a legal question, "rich in native lead," has been treated in a brilliant style, exemplifying the truth of the line of La Fontaine : " Tout est fin diamant aux mains d' un habile homme." 184 Disclosures relative to projected Record Repositorij. conversant with these subjects. That such a course was contemplated must be inferred from statements made in the House of Commons, (pp. 95-6) that a Public Record Office is actually in course of construction at Dublin. This building appears to have been designed in the same spirit, and by the same authorities, with the notorious Calendars — since neither the Royal Irish Academy, the Irish Archseological and Celtic Society, nor any one of the recognized Archivists of Ireland, was consulted either upon its construction, or with reference to the documents proposed to be deposited within its walls. Such a proceed- ing has excited serious apprehension in the public mind, as presaging a perverse attempt to persevere in a system which has already produced first fruits so mischievous as the chaotic Calendars of Patent Rolls, and which but for a timely public protest, in these pages, might have been as severely prejudicial to property, as to the character of the historic literature of the Empire. The Council of the Irish Archseological and Celtic So- ciety, by its action at this juncture, has added another to its many recognized merits. These eminent noblemen and scholars have presented to the Treasury a memorial, which will be found in the Appendix, advocating the con- centrating and calendaring of all the scattered Public Records of Ireland, and dwelling, with emphasis, on the necessity of providing that the execution of such arrange- ments should be entrusted to scholars of tried ability and known skill in this department of learning, so as to insure the fullest possible advantage to the public. The projected exclusion of the intelligence most service- able to the Public in Record business in Ireland may be contrasted with the system by which France attained to the summit of archivistic science, and, on this point, we Government treatment of Archivists in France. 185 are enlightened as follows by a writer bearing the high literary name of ChampoUion : " Honorer publiquement et recompenser par des graces royales le concours des collaborateurs a cette ceuvre immense, ce mojen toujours puissant en France, ne fut point oubli6 alors. Le Roi accorda des lettres de noblesse, des cordons, des exemptions de droits pecuniares, des preferences a des emplois vacants fondees sur le seul concours a ces travaux ; c'est ainsi qu'on sut pourvoir a tous lesbesoins, a tousles desirs, orfeer comrae par enchantement, et faire grandir h, vue d'oeil, une des plus vastes et des plus diffioiles entre- prises litteraires, inspiree par I'honneur de la France, protegee par la munificence royale, dirigee par des miiiistres eolaires et secondfes par le concours de tous les hommes iiistruits d'uue 6poque litte- raiie a jamais m6morables pour la France. " Telles furent les principales mesures ordonnees par I'ancien gouTernement de la France pour assurer la conservation, mettre en ordre et faire recounaltre les Archives nationales, afin de faoiliter aussi les utiles recberches des savants frangais qui s'etaieiit deja illustres dans cette branche des connalssances humaines." On these points our Government might further, with profit, study the example of the France of to-day, where, under the Minister of Public Instruction, a series of archivistic publications has been produced in our own time, worthy of the era of Mabillon and Du Cange. Not satis- fied with even so great and splendid a national collection of historic woi'ks, France has recently commenced the publication of the archives of her Departments, which, it is calculated, will extend to a thousand volumes. That the appreciation of the public value of the labours of true archivists has not diminished in France, is evi- denced by the following Government notification in the official Gazette of the 21st of August, 1862, which pub- hshed the Emperor's approval of the plan submitted to him, by the Minister of the Interior, for the publication of the French departmental records : 186 Real points of importance at issue. "Par decret Imperial en date du 6 aout, rendu sur la proposition du Ministre de I'Interieur, out et& promus ou nommes dans I'ordre imperial de la Legion d'bonueur : " Au grade d'officier ; M. Eugene de Stadler, Inspecteur General des Arcliives de- partmentales ; services exceptionnels dans I'organization deVLvceniaire des Archives deparlmeniales. Au grade de Chevalier: M. Aime Cliampollion-Figeac, Chef de Bureau des Archives depart- mentales, auteur d'ouvrages sur Vhistoire de France.'''* The case of the so-called " Calendars of Irish Chancery Rolls," here analysed, involves considerations of greater import and extent than the amount of the public funds already misspent on those worthless and misleading pro- ductions. In such a public matter, all considerations must be discarded in connection with the personality of an Editor, and with the unenviable position of some well-intentioned individuals, misled, as we have seen, into commending a work, with the details of which the engrossing nature of their legal duties must always prevent those of their pro- fessional class from becoming conversant. The entire affair resolves itself practically into the narrow question — whether the Public Records of Ireland shall be still subjected to be garbled and capriciously manipulated by law clerks, and pedigree agents, with results prejudicial to the Community, costly to the Reve- nue, and discreditable to the Country, or whether they shall — as in all other civilized nations — be committed to the management of Archivists of recognized capacity, whose labours would be advantageous at home, aud re- dound abroad to the honour of the Empire. * " Le Moniteur Uuiversel— Journal Offioiel de 1' Empire Fraa- 5ais," Numero 233 ; 21 Aout, 18G2. Financial Injustice toivards Irish Records. 187 It is unnecessary here to repeat that which has been ah-eady detailed at p. 89, with reference to the steps most proper to be taken for effectively carrying out so important an object. Regarding the question from a public financial point of view, it will be seen from the official figures in the Appendix, that although since 1835 the Imperial Parlia- ment has granted the aggregate sum of £631,544 for record and archivistic purposes in London and Edinburgh, there has been no special allocation in this department, for simi- lar arrangements connected with the Anglo-Irish Records in Ireland, with the exception of the cost of the so- called " Calendars of Patent Rolls" and £15,000 voted for a Public Record Office, to be erected at Dublin, under the extraordinary circumstances already noticed at page 184. Discarding narrow ideas and local prejudices, we should essay to take a wide and extensive view of this question — affecting not only the titles, properties, pedigrees, and lands of large numbers, but also absolutely involving the perfection of the history of Great Britain, which cannot be properly written until all the materials for the annals of both islands have been placed within the grasp of the Im- perial historian. "And if any man," writes Bacon, "perhaps should think it may refresh the memory of former discords, he may satisfy himself with the verse — ' olim hsec meminisse juvabit:' " for, the case being now altered, it is matter of comfort and gratulation to remem- ber former troubles."" To which I may add, that a solid and permanent public good would result from the pubhcation, in their integrity, of the original documents, in the presence of which should rapidly fade away those romances, styled "Irish Histories," by which Ireland has been, and must * " To the Lord Chancellor, touching the history of Britain." 13 188 Conclusion. continue to be, historically mistaught and deluded, until confronted with the facts, still slumbering in her obscure record repositories. You, Gentlemen, having endeavoured in Parliament to ameliorate the present extraordinary position of the Irish Records, a continuance of your exertions, will, it is to be hoped, effect the abohtion of a system which, but for the disclosures in these pages, could scai'cely have been imagined to exist, at the present day, in connection with any portion of the Archives of the United Kingdom : " He," says John Selden, "that pulls down the first brick, does the main work, afterwards 'tis easy to pull down the wall." I therefore trust that I shall not have again to raise my voice on this subject, and that we shall soon witness the attainment of the main object of my publica- tion ; namely, the establishment of arrangements, to secure from accident, and render accessible to all classes of in- quirers, the invaluable, though now obscure and ill-treated. Public Records of Ireland. I have the honour to remain. Gentlemen, Your Obedient Servant, An Irish Archivist. (189) APPENDIX. I, Hansard's Report of the official allegations made in the House of Commons, 16th July, 1863, by way of reply to the facts put forward in " Record Revelations." [The folio-wing version, coincides substantially with that given in the preceding pages from the " Tiw«,"»fec.] " Mr. [F.] Peel expressed his regret that the two volumes relat- ing to the Irish records, which had been published by Mr. Morrin, should have been executed in such a manner as to call forth the pamphlet [^Secord BeBelations'] to which his hon. Friend [Mr. Mon- sell] had referred, and to lead to the subject being brought before that House. The object of Mr. Morrin's publication was to give to the public in a concise form the principal contents of the Chancery records ia Ireland; and Mr. Morrin was selected as editor by the Treasury, upon the recommendation of the Master of the Rolls. Mr. Morrin was well known for his skill and experience in this particular branch of knowledge ; he had devoted his whole life to the study of Irish records, and was eminent in his skill for deci- phering ancient documents, notwithstanding the obsolete language and abbreviated forms in which these documents might be written. * The Master of the Rolls was therefore justified in making this selection of Mr. Morrin ; and if that gentleman had confined him- self to the translation of the ancient Irish records, and had not writ- ten the prefaccsf — if he had not forgotten the maxim, Ne siitor — there * See editorial statement (page 126) that the orthography of the original obsolete languages has been preserved in the translations into English ! also specimens of " Calendar " decipherments and tran- slations, including those of Aylsham, in Norfolk, into isinglass ; avoir- du-pois into haberdasheiy; and a stool into Saxon bond-inen ! Section iv. of " Analysis of text " 149, 164. t That prefaces and annotations are specicdly required from Editors, in England, of Records, under the Treasury, see page 98. 190 Hansard's Parliamentary Report. would have been nothing for his right hon. Friend to bring before the House. But Mr. Morrin had thought it necessary to wriie a preface to each of tJie two volumes, and also to annotate them, and it was these prefaces and notes wliich had given rise to all the trouble and annoyance which had reached its climax by the subject being mentioned to that House. The pamphlet [Record Eevdations'] which had been referred to was transmitted by the Treasury to the Master of the Rolls, in order that he might call upon Mr. Morrin to refute the charges brought against him. It appeared from his reply, that, as regarded the prefaces, of the extracts talcen without achiowledgment one was from a work in which the passage extracted had been written by himself for its author some years ago. He admitted, that in order to make the work as popular as possible, he had borrowed from other authors, hut he had not borrowed from any author whose name at least was not mentioned at sovie part or other of tJie prefaces* With regard to the text, Mr. Morrin's explanation was quite satisfac- tory, and his statement was confirmed hy the Deputy Keeper of the Jtolh, whose testimony was unimpeachalle ;t and this was the only part of the work for which he had received any remuneration — for the Treasury had refused to pay for the prefaces, they being no part of the work engaged for. Mr. Morrin's statement was that the whole of the text had been prepared hy himself, independently of tlie work of any other persons i^ that he had never seen the calendar said to have been prepared by the Eecord Commission twenty years ago, and had never met with any person who had seen it. § • See analysis and disproval of this statement, with evidences of the suppression of the names and the appropriation of the labours of various writers, pages, 100, 113, 128, 135. t See observations at page 115, on efforts to evade public inves- tigation by the production of statements from the Dublin Eolls Office, whence the impugned Calendars were issued ; also evidence of Editor of Calendars, cited at page 117, that the Deputy Keeper of the Eolls, at Dublin, above referred to as an "unimpeachable " authority, is unqualified even to read the Eolls, from which the Calendars purport to have been translated I i See enumeration and specimens of some of the vast plagiarisms in the Text of the Calendars, pages, 126, 137. § See page 69-70 for official details of the compilation of this Hansard's Parliamentary Report. 191 With regard to the portion said to have been actually printed by the Record Commission, Mr. Morrin stated that it only came down to the end of the first seven* years of Henry VIIL, that this por- tion was included in his volumes in order to make them more com- plete; but that he had examined that portion of the records with the same care which he had given to the remainder of his work. In reply to the Hlore general suggestion of his right hon. Friend, he could only say, a Eecord Office was now in course of erection in Dublin, and when this was completed the question of publication of the Records would receive further consideration. Mr. George said, it was a matter greatly to be deprecated that any epithet attributing incompetency to Mr. Morrin should have been used by the right hon. Gentleman, for he thought it was sin- gularly inapplicable to that gentleman. He did not believe it was possible to find a person better qualified for the work for which Mr. Morrin was selected by the Master of the Rolls than that gentleman ; and he also believed he had had but one object in view — namely, that of carrying out most faithfully the intention of the Government. Lawyers of the greatest eminence in Ireland had always looked to Mr. Morrin for assistance,i and that gentleman had received letters from the Master of the Rolls in Ireland, the Master of the Rolls in Eng- land, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and many other learned per- sons, expressing opinions that his work had been faithfully performed, and that it would he very useful to antiquaries, to historians, and to lawyers. He (Mr. George) would conclude by saying that he was sorry an attack had been made upon Mr. Morrin in that House upon such slender grounds. Me. O'Hagan (Attorney General for Ireland) said, that as he believed that Mr. Morrin had been personally wronged, he wished Calendar, extending to 17412 pages, under the late Irish Record Commission, at the public expense. For specimens of plagiarisms in new Calendars from Record Commission, see pages 121, 125, 127. * Contradicted in tbe " Calendars," which state that these documents have been lost, with the exception of one Roll ! See page 120. t See pages 168-9 on the Archivistic Oracles of the Irish Bar ; in cases of real property, and the translation of a ground-rent into a long cable, on a recent trial! also the decipherment of a Kildare Rectory, of 496 acres, into a Dublin Church ! and the series of blunders in " Calendars," in versions of documents connected with the property of the Cathedral of St. Patrick, Dublin, pages 147, &c. Observations on the " Letters," above referred to, will be found at pages, 73, l66, 167, 173, 176. 192 Hansard's Parliamentary Report. to bear his testimony to hia high qualifications for the work he had undertaken. There had been no real property trial in Ireland for many years in the elucidation of which his assistance had not been sought hy one side or the other. It was perfectly true that Mr. Morrin did not hold in the literary world the high position of Dr. Todd, Dr. Hussell, and others, but it was a great mistake to suppose that those gentlemen possessed the necessary requirements for a special work like that which Mr. Mor- rin had been called upon to execute. He had himself found the records in the Rolls Office under Mr. Morrin in the most excellent con- dition, and wholly available to the public* The arrangement in that respect could not be improved. But there were other legal records in a most disgraceful condition. A sum of money had therefore been estimated last year for the purposes of a Record Office, which had been already begun. f It would be amply sufficient to meet all the exigencies of the legal records in the mean time, and would be con- structed so as to admit of expansion as circumstances might re- quire." Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, third series, commencing with the accession of William IV; 2G° and '2,1° Victoria, 1863; Vol. CLXXII. comprising the period from the first day of July, 1863, to the twenty eighth day of July, 1863, London : 1863, pages 877, 8, 9. * These statements are totally contradicted by the Editor of the " Calendars," who, according to the Attorney General of Ireland, has the rolls under him ! See page 178-9. t See page 184. 193 APPENDIX. n. MEMOEIAL FEOM THE IRISH ARCH^OLOGICAL AND CELTIC SOCIETY. to the eight hono0eable the loeds commissioners of hes majesty's TEEASUET. the mesioeial of the undersigned, the pbesident, vice-presidents, and council of the leish auch^ological and celtic sociexy, Shetveth, That Memorialists bave, since tlie year 1841, been engaged in efforts to promote a correct knowledge of the historic documents and memorials of Ireland, bj the publication of many historical ■works, the value, accuracy, and importance of which have been recognized by the highest and most learned authorities in Great Britain and abroad. That the extension of true historical knowledge is much impeded by the present state of the Public Records of Ireland, which lie dispersed in various offices and depositories at Dublin, some of ■which are difficult of access, some defectively arranged, and others insufficiently provided with calendars and books of reference. That, in the present state of imperfect arrangement, the safety of said Public Records depends, in a great measure, on the integrity and vigilance of those in charge of them, who, for the most part, are engaged in duties connected with other business of a different character. That in addition to their historical importance, said Public Re- cords are of high legal value in connexion with the revenues and Rights of the Crown and the Public. That Parliament having, of late years, sanctioned the expenditure of large sums of money for the concentration, arrangement, and calendaring of the Public Records of Great Britain, and for the erection of a suitable building at London for their reception. Memorialists beg to call your Lordships' attention to the impor- tance of adopting similar measures with regard to the Public Re- cords of Ireland. That Memorialists, therefore, pray that your Lordships will take into consideration the propriety of concentrating all the scattered Public Records of Ireland into cue general Public Repository at 194 Memorial from Irish ArchcBological ami Celtic Society. Dublin, where the^ may be classified and calendared, and placed under such arrangements as may conduce to tlio public benefit and convenience, so that, as in the Public Record Office at London, and in the General Registry House at Edinburgh, legal and liistorical inquirers may obtain the fullest assistance in the production and use of the records they require. That your Memorialists further pray that the execution of any measures taken by your Lordships, witli reference to the concentra- tion, arrangement and calendaring of the Public Records of Ireland, may be entrusted to scholars of tried ability and known skill in this department of learning, so as to insure the fullest possible advan- tages to the Public. And your memorialists will over pray. Lbinstbr. Wxa-^xmhnis of tljt Sotidg : KlLDARE. Ddnbaven. Taldot de Mai.aiiidh. ClIAS. W. RUSSKT,, D.D., f'resident of Maynooth College. dLamcil of t^j Somf g ; Chahms Grates, D.D. President of the Royul Irish Academy. J. IT. Tonn, D.D. F.T.C.D. Ex-President Koyal Irish Academy. GEOrtOK Pethie, LLD., Vice President of the Koyal Irish Academy. W. R. Wilde, Vice President of the Royal Irish Academy. William Reeves, D.D. M.It.I.A. AQurLLA Smith, M.D. M.R.I.A. W. II. IlAIlDINGK, M.lt.LA. James Graves, A. M. M.E.I.A. John C. O'Callagjian. J. T. GiLTiKBT, M.R.I.A. Honorary Secretary of the Society ; Lihrurian ol the Uoyal Iribh Acadc-i/iy. 19S APPENDIX. m. Parliamentary Money Grants for Record ^purposes. LONDON AND EDINBUEGH. Sums voted by the Imperial Parliament Record Buildings and Salaries of Record Loudon and Edinburgh. [from the "appeopeiation acts."] for Public Officers in A.D. ISiJy— ' 1839— to A.D. 1854. 1839 .. 2 and 3 Victoria, Cap. 89 ... 10,000 1840 .. 3 and 4 (( «< 112 ... 10,000 1841 ... 4 and 5 (C ci 53 ... 5,169 1842 .. . 5 and 6 cc tc 121 ... 11,817 1843 .. . 6 and 7 i* a 99 ... 11,775 1844 .. . 7 and 8 it (6 104 ... 13.467 1845 .. . 8 and 9 (( i( 130 ... 13,400 1846 .. 9 and 10 et it 116 ... 12,628 1847 .. ,. 10 and 11 a tc 107 ... 12,812 1848 .. . 11 and 12 « ti 126 ... 14,023 1849 .. . 12 and 13 <( 6i 98 ... 12,822 1850 ., .. 13 and 14 t{ (< 147 ... 30,000 1850 .. u it it ti CC ... 12,678 1851 . .'. 14 and 15 tt tt 101 ... 7,000 (( (( ■ 21,009 it tt (t ti tt (t • •• 200 1859 . ... 22 and 23 it ti 55 • •• 9.498 1860 . ... 23 and 24 tt ing and publication of the Irish Records.! It asserts that the Irish Records hare hitherto been under incompetent management, and it maintains that the Cal- endars recently published, by authority of the Treasury, under the direction of the Master of the Bolls of Ireland, are full of the f^ossest errors, and that the Prefaces to them are ' mainly composed of unacknowledged appropriations ver- batim from printed books.' These assertions are supported by instances in detail, columns of parallel passages, &c. The author, who is evidently a learned man, and a man zealous for accuracy in historical matters, lashes several men of public eminence in Ireland, by the way. People who have an interest in I Records, or who like hard hitting, will find much curious and racy matter in the \ ' Letter.' "—The Reader [tonrfon], 2nd Mai/, 1863. For a timely exposure of brazen ignorance and unblushing piracy, we are " ited to this able and learned production, which holds up to merited contempt deserved censure, the literary fraud, which, under high sanction and irity, has been given to the world, as the result of laborious investigation aiid int research." — Ulsier Observer, Belfast. ', hese are most disgraceful disolosnres, and may well be termed Sevelatiom, rill, we are sure, create no small amount of public disgust and indignatio^. opie were, not at all aware of the shameful state in which the Publi(; ds of this kingdom were kept, the writer of ' Record Revelations' deserves iblic thabkB for the exposi which he has published on the subject."— -Cori Reporter, 6th May, 1863. f , LONDON: \4 J. RUSSELL SMITH, 36, Soho Square.— DUBLIN: W. B, KELLY, 8, Grafton Street—EDINBURGH: T. G. STEVENSON, 22, South Frederick Street. - f; *-^i