^■- W' l»tl>>^) "^ r^ *S^.. ^'i«i»i.E.>y I.: > ■^f>. y -' •> ■ j^ V V C ° "^ '^ ^ V > ,A^^ -^^ ^^'' .^"_^:.^'9^ .-o- ^ ^'. .Av __ _ . _ . . ^ " » X '^A v^' ■^o v^^-^' "-. ^=^_ cP . #^ .K^^ ''^;^ x^"^ -. v^-' ■'■>< ^ .^'^- ..-^^ -^A V i.^ '-i^ ^'^^ Oo .0 o^ o ■o'^ .'' '"• '% >^ ^ ::;r?^^ "^^ v^^ = ". '^c >. * ^■'* ■0' **, PHCENICIAN IRELAND. AUCTORE DOCTORE JOACHIMO LAURENTIO '^VILLANUEVA, RF.Gir fllSP. ORDINIS CaROLI III. EQUITF, CONCHENSIS ECCLKST.T. CANO^JICO, RfGIO ECCLESIASTE, ET MAT HlTtNSIUM ACAOEMIARDM HISPAN^ ET HISTORIC SOCIO. TRANSLATED, AND ILLUSTRATED WITH NOTES, AN ADDITIONAL PLATE, AND PTOLOMEY'S MAP MADE MODERN, BY HENRY O'BRIEN, ESQ. A«B. t • AUTHOR OF THE "PRIZE ESSAY''' UPON THE "ROUND TOVVERs" OF IrELAXD. Multa renascentur quae jam cecidere, cadentque Quae uuac sunt in usu ! — Hor. LONDON: LONGMAN & Co. PATERNOSTER ROW ; JOSEPH jkoBINS, BRIDE COURT, FLEET STREET. D UBLIN: R. M. TIMMS, GRAFTON STREET ; M. KEENE & SON, COLLEGE GREEN ; AND, F. W. WAKEMAN, D'OLLIER STREET. 1833. ^ Y.^1^ tl ADVERTISEMENT. A great portion of this work, as well in print as manu- script, having been destroyed at the late conflagration of Mr. Hardy's printing office in Dublin, where it was being published, the translator was obliged to commence his labors anew, else the volume should long since have been given to the public. DEDICATION. TO THE MOST NOBLE THE MARQUIS OF THOMOND, &c. &c. &c. My lord marquis. Had I not had the honor of bearing the same name, and of deriving consanguinity and con- nection from that ancient stock, of which your Lord- ship is, at once, the deserving head and the distin- guished representative, yet — when about to launch into light a work, which purports to unfold the origin of Ireland's early colonization, and seeking for a pa- tron whose discriminating taste and personal ac- quirements, would add a charm to the advantages of station and of birth — my eye should instinctively direct itself toward ymi ; — for, where, in the un- broken catalogue of L'an's proud -born sons, could I find another name so intimate It/ interwoven with VI her halcyon splendors, as that of the benign patriarch of the house of Thomond ? But it is not alone^ my Lord, as occupying a princely post, in monarchical succession, among the Scythian* or later Irish — immortalised by the glories of Cean- chora and Clontarf — that this homage should be your due ; but as the direct descendant of the very principal and leader of that earlier and nobler , and, in every way more estimable and illustrious dynasty, the Tuatha Danaans, or true, Iranian, Milesian Irish — the incorporation of whom with the Scythians — after the latter, by conquest, had wrested from them the soil — gave rise to the compound of Scoto- Milesians ; which no one has heretofore been able to elucidate. These Tuatha Danaans, my Lord, whom your forefather, Brien, conducted into our '' sacred island/* were the expelled Budhists of Persia -neither Phoe- nicians nor Celts — whom the intolerance of the Brahmins and the persecution of the Rajas had thrown upon the ocean, over whose bosom wafted * Who came not from Scandinavia but the place which is now called Tartary. Vll to our genial shores, they did not only import with them all the culture of the east, with its accom- panying refinement and polished civilization — evidenced by those memorials of lunettes, anklets, fibulae, gold crowns, paterae, &c., with which our green valleys still abound— but raised the country to that pinnacle of literary and religious beatitude, which made it appear, to the fancies of distant and enraptured ^' bards," more the day dream of romance, than the sober outline of an actual locality. This, my Lord, will account, for the scepticism of Dio- dorus as to the " Hyperborean Isle ;" and, at the same time, for the vivid portraiture and enchanting delineation, in which the divine Orpheus sung of its happy inhabitants. After the establishment of this colony in our in- vigorating region, b. c. 1200, no one can know better than your Lordship's self, how that — in memory of \he\x former residence — they gave it the name of Iran * The word Bards^ emancipated from the mystification of etymological empyrics, is but a modification of Boreades, the name of our ancient Irish poetic divines — who, again, were so denominated, not less in reference to their geographical position than their elementary worship. Vlll — erroneously called Erin — which — signifying, as it does, the land of the faithful, or the sacred isle — shews the existence of this epithet before the reve- lation of Christianity. This original " Iran^' the early Greeks — who were Pelasgi, and allies of our Tuatha Danaans — commuted into lerne — a mere translation of the word, from, ieros, sacred ; and, neos, an island — which, again, the Latins, without, at all, knowing the meaning of the term,* transformed into Hibernia ; f but which, however, with soul-stirring triumph, means exactly the same thing, namely, " sacred island" — the initial H, being only the aspi- rate of the Greek, ieros, sacred ; neos, island re- * And yet the primeval sanctity of our isle was admitted by their writer Avienus, when he says cf it, '* sacrum sic insu- lani d'lxere prise i'* De Oris Maritirais. f This name, therefore, which has so much puzzled etymo- logists to analyse, has nothing on earth to do with Hiar, the west ; or, Iberin, extremes ; or Hehcr, or, lleremon ; or any other such on flandisli nonsense. What, then, becomes of the reveries of Mr. Ritson ? '* This country" (Ireland) says he, ** it appears was already inhabited by the Hiberni, or Hiberiones, of whose origin, any more than that of the Scots, nothing is known, but by conjecture, that the former were a colony from Britain." — Introduction to " Annals of the Caledonians, Picis, and Scots." — Never was such ignorance betrayed since the beginning of the IX maining unaltered, and the letter, h, only interposed for sound sake. So that, whether we consider it as, Irmi, lerne or Hibernia ; or under the mul- tiplied variations, which diverge, almost inter- minably, from those three originals, in the several languages which thei/ respectively represent — they will be found, each and all, to resolve themselves into this one, great, incontrovertible, position of — the '' Sacred Island." But it was not alone, my Lord, under this vague designation of sanctity, that your venerable fore- fathers identified themselves with our island ; but — lest there should be any misconception as to the species of worship whence that " sanctity" had ema- nated — they gave this scene of its exercise two other world. The word Hiberni, vulgarised Hiberiones, in English, Hibernians, is not the name of any particular people, but a des- criptive epithet, meaning " inhabitants of the sacred island" — our own Iran. — And the people whose character had obtained it this designation, had no connection whatever with Britain ! Equally in the dark was he as to the origin and era of the Scots, as, indeed, was every other writer up to this date^ May 15th, 1833, on the Ancient History of Scotland. But if Mr. Ritson was right in asserting that *' nothing was known" on those matters, he should have confined the dogma to his own resources — other resources now shew the reverse. names, viz., Phud Inis, and hils-na-Phuodha — which, at once, associate the "worship" with the profession of the worshippers — for, Phud Inis, is Budh Inis — Ph, or, F, being only the aspirate of, B, and commutable with it — that is, Budh Island : and Inis-na-Plmodha, is Inis-na Buodha, that is, the island of Budha. Your Lordship must also know, how that, to cele- brate the mysteries of their religious creed, they erected those temjdes, which still embellish our land- scape ; and which — mystified in their character, like their prototypes in the east, under the vague desig- nations of "Pillars" and ^' Round Towers" — have puzzled the antiquaries of all countries to develope, until I had the good fortune to pierce the cloud. And, yet, my Lord, will you not commisserate with me the degeneracy ? and say " how are the mighty fallen ? " when informed that the individual who has revived so many truths, immersed beneath the rubbish of three thousand years accumulation-^ and that when his researches did not apply alone to Ireland,* but took in the scope of the whole ancient * The formation as well as the date of this, the jyresent name of our island, I account for in a forthcoming note. XI world — has been defrauded of that prize for which his zeal had been enlisted^ and his young energies evoked ? while — ^from that system of '* jobbing' with which our country has been long accursed — he has seen the badge of his victory transferred to another, merely because that other was a member of the council of the deciding tribunal, who disregarded the crying fact, that the whole texture of their friend's essay must, inevitably, be untenable ! * However, my Lord, in the consciousness of your countenance I find my consolation ; and, soon as my ** Towers" appear, I doubt not, this wise (IJ '' tribu- nal" will reap the fruits, together, of their own discornfiture and of my revenge. In the mean time, my Lord, I have the honor to subscribe myself, With every feeling of respect, and affectionate consideration, your Lordship's most obliged, most faithful and most devoted, humble servant, HENRY O'BRIEN. * Of this I give, by anticipation^ the most startling and overwhelming proof, e?en in a note appended towards the end of the 33rd chapter of the present work. ^ o < S3 PTOLOMVS ancient >1LA.P of IRELAND. Amenclpd and Moderuizpcl. c^ sT *-^ Cu l^. TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. Should it be asked by any of my ^^ old associates," who, from college recollections, may be disposed to overvalue whatever capabilities I possess, why, wishing to court popularity as a waiter, I would not rather originate some theme of my own than make my labor subservient to the fame of another — to this I shall reply, that I am not so actuated by the desire of appearing an original, as to forego what I conceive to be a favourable opportunity of doing a practical good, by presenting to the great bulk of my country- men — and countrywomen also — who, in amiable devo- tion to the land of their forefathers, ever allied and connected with the purest virtues of the heart, yield not to the daughters of the once-celebrated Sparta, whilst in all those finer sensibilities* which constitute the charm of social life, and sublime the human * •' The ladies of Ireland," says Carr, an intelligent and highly respectable English writer," possess a peculiarly pleasing frankness of manners, and a vivacity in conversation, which render highly interesting all they do and all they say. In thi» B 11 TRANSLATORS PREFACE. species to a nearer relation to divinity, they stand proudly and pre-eminently beyond them — a faithful and, I trust, an acceptable transcript of the re- searches of an individual, who — in the genuine flow of an ennobling gratitude for the ordinary hos- pitality* which Ireland offers to every stranger — sat down in the vigor of a green old age — an old age as full of honor as it has been distinguished by useful- ness — when the crude notions of enthusiasm are naturally extinct, and the mind fixed upon the awful certainty of its near transit to another sphere, rejects the intrusions of Vanity and self-conceit, not less of worldly parade than literary hypothesisf — to open sweetness of deportment, ihe'libertine finds no encourage- ment, for their modesty must be the subject of remark and eulogy with every stranger." — Stranger in Ireland, p. 148. " The ladies of Ireland are generally elegantly, and fre- quently highly-educated ; and it is no unusual circumstance to hear a young lady enter with a critical knowledge into the merits of the most celebrated authors, with a diffidence which shows that she is moved by a thirst for knowledge, and not by vanity. A greater musical treat can scarcely be enjoyed, than to hear some of them perform their own Irish airs, which are singularly sweet, simple, and affecting. Those who have been present at a ball in Ireland, can best attest the spirit, good- humour, and elegance which prevail in it." — Stranger in Ire- land, p. 149„ * Sunt sane homines hospitalissimi, neque illis ullil in re magis gratificari potes, quam vel sponte ac voluntate eorum domos frequentare, vel illis invitatum condicere. Stan, de reb. in Hib. gest. lib. 1, p. 33. t Opinionum comraenta delet dies; naturae judicia con- firmat. — Cicero. TRANSLATORS PREFACE. HI remove the rubbish which overhung our antiquities, and exhibit before the eyes of an admiring world, the source of that maa^nificence which commanded the homage of this world before ; — anxious only to elicit truth, and in the laudable pursuit of this para- mount destination^ deeming no industry too great — no pains unrequited. Such being the spirit that influ- enced our author^ in the origin and prosecution of this his design, I should be ashamed of myself if I could allow any narrow feelings, of false delicacy or overweening self-importance, to interfere with my respect for such exemplary worth ; but chiefly, and more especially, when the fruits of such an impulse have been brought to bear upon a country which, whether its civil condition, or its literary character, be the topic of debate, never fails to enlist my keenest emotions, and to vibrate with interest to my inmost soul. — Hibernicus sum, Hibernici nihil a me alienum puto.* "Nature," says Gibbon, "has implanted in our breasts a lively impulse to extend the narrow span of our existence, by the knowledge of the events that have happened on the soil which we inhabit, of the * Breathes there the man with soul so dead, VYho never to himself hath said, Tkis is my own, my native land? Scott. *' Nescio qua natalc solum dulccdinc cunclos Tungit, et immemores non sinit esse sni." Ji 2 IV TRANSLATORS PREFACE. characters and actions of those men from whom our descent, as individuals or as a people, is probably derived. The same laudable emulation will prompt us to review and to enrich our common treasure of national glory ; and those who are best entitled to the esteem of posterity are the most inclined to celebrate the merits of their ancestors." But as utility, not celebrity, is my object, I shall forbear descanting upon my own merits in the under- taking, lest those who are ignorant of my motives, and of the frankness in which I habitually indulge, should suppose that any further explanation, in which self must be so prominent, would imply a certain tenacity inconsistent with this avowal.* To the critics, therefore, and to an enlightened public I consign the task, while I confine myself to a consi- deration of the original composition. The purport then of the author is to prove — by the analysis of names imposed in the days of Paganism and retained amongst us ^ till the present, and by * Nor, indeed, were the subject a less grateful one, would I consider the province of a translator so inconsiderable by any means, knowing well that it depends greatly upon the indivi- dual so to invigorate, at least, if not to mould, the materials as to make them appear his own ; and should my example in this instance encourage those endued with brighter qualifications, to undertake the translation of those Irish MSS. which lie moul- dering upon the shelves of our University, I shall rest satisfied with having done some good *' in my day," were it only that of pioneering to those who may reflect a lustre o*er the land- scape. translator's preface. V the similarity of worship cultivated in Ireland, before the introduction of Christianity, to that practised in Phoenicia at the same era of time — that a colony from the latter place must at one period, and that a very distant one, have visited our shores, and spread their dominion over the whole extent of the island.* It is true I may be here met by an objection, as to '' what possible advantage such inquiry could now promote, either as regards the issue of the discussion itself — the remoteness of the period, and the absence of intervening records opposing so many obstacles — or its effects, if successful, upon the literature, the commerce, or the politics of this country." With the lukewarm and apathetic, I doubt not, this ob- jection may carry much weight, as they want but little argument to countenance the heartlessness of their recreant degeneracy . '* What is it to us," they say, " who trod those ' green acres ' in ancient time — whoever they were, they have long since passed * Who fill the pages of history? Political and military leaders, who have lived for one end, to subdue and govern their fellow-beings. These occupy the fore-ground ; and the people — the human race — dwindle into insignificance, and are almost lost behind their masters. The principal and noblest object of history is, to record the vicissitudes of society, its spirit in dif- ferent ages, the causes which have determined its progress and decline, and especially the manifestation and growth of its highest attributes and interests of intelligence ; of the religious principle, of moral sentiment, of the elegant and useful arts, of the triumph of man over nature and himself. — Dr, Channing on Power and Greatness. VI TRANSLATORS PREFACE. away, and we are only interested as to the present occupancy. The analysis of names — suggested by caprice, or at best an allusion to some passing acci- dent, no longer valuable — may afford entertainment, perhaps, to etymologists, but none to us. To us it is sufficient that we can disport our exterior, and main- tain a seemly attitude during our transitory sojourn, among the butterflies* of the hour, while the book- worm and recluse may enjoy all the pleasures they can possibly extract by poring over the pages of time-worn manuscripts." " When we have made our love, and gamed our gaming, Drest, voted, shone, and may-be something more; With dandies dined ; heard senators declaiming ; Seen beauties brought to market by the score, Sad rakes to sadder husband's chastely taming ; There's little left but to be bored or bore ; Witness those * ci-devant jewies hommes' who stem The stream, nor leave the world which leaveth thera."t * Were a home tour considered as necessary to a finished education as a foreign one, our high-born youth might visit other countries possessed of the necessary accomplishment of being able to describe their own, in which too many of them are lamentably defective. The admirer of rural beauty in all its varied forms may be here fully gratified ; while the man who delights in antiquarian lore will, in Ireland, find numerous monuments connected with the annals of a nation whose his- tory, from the most remote period, has been so marked by vicissitudes, as to render them at this day, perhaps, the most singularly circumstanced people in Europe. — Fitzgerald. t Byron, TRANSLATORS PREFACE. VU If, in the sentiments here attributed to a certain class of my countrymen, I should be supposed to include only the '^ giddy" and the "gay/' I take leave at once to correct the misconception, and — though reluctant to censure — to enlarge the dimensions of my portrait. It is a melancholy reflection, that, while all nations on the globe feel a manifest elevation in tracing the particulars of their origin to the very minuteness of detail, the Irish alone should lie dor- mant in the cause, and — though once distinguished for the more than religious zeal with which they registered their histories, and preserved their genea- logies ; — a practice, which — originating in the same love of order and motives to regularity, that influ- enced the Israelites in the preservation of theirs, viz. to regulate the succession to the throne and other dignified posts, as well military as magisterial — no less elucidates our assertion, of the early civilization of the Scoto-Milesians, as the true Irish are empha- tically and properly designated, than it does their intercourse at one period* with that ancient people of God, from whom they adopted the practice, and whom they greatly surpassed in some improvements — yet. * The Cuthites, Scuthae, or Irish, were seated on the coast of the Red Sea when Moses passed through it. It is probable that after the loss of Pentapolis they united, under the name of Phoenicians, on the Red Sea, and these were they who gave protection to Moses after he had been refused a passage by the King of Edoni. — Vallanccy. Vlll TRANSLATORS PREFACE. alas ! do they now — seem to have lost, perhaps^ with the sense of their national independence, all sense, at the same time, of their hereditary honor, and ancestral nobleness ! * Look to China, and see how she delineates the progress of her empire through ages and ages of uninterrupted continua- * To our want of national feeling, and our tasteless and ignorant prejudices, may be attributed the danger from which we lately escaped of losing — what, perhaps, we have most reason, and deserved most to have lost — our unrivalled national music. Divided, as we have been, by the bigotry and unge- nerous policy of our rulers, aided by our own ancient super- stitions—deserted by our nobles — driven by our poverty, our misfortunes, and our wrongs, to the moping inanity of despair — our melodies would soon have shared the fate of our min- strels, if the genius and industry of two individuals had not averted such a catastrophe for ever. Moore, by uniting them to poetry " worthy of their tenderness, their energy, and their spirit," has raised the airs of his native country to a widely extended popularity ; and the natives of the old and the new world now respect the feelings, and pity the misfortunes, of the islanders, whose strange and artless stories can excite, by a power like magic, the strongest emotions of sadness or of joy. — Dublin Examiner. DEAR HARP OF MY COUNTRY. Bear Harp of my country ! in darkness I found thee, The cold chain of silence had hung o'er thee long. When proudly, my own Island Harp ! I unbound thee. And gave all thy chords to light, freedom, and song ! The warm lay of love and the light note of gladness Have wakened thy fondest, thy liveliest thrill ; But so oft hast thou echoed the deep sigh of sadness. That even in thy mirth it will steal from thee still. TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. ix tiori. Turn to Egypt, to Chaldea, and to Arcadia^ and do they not do the same ?* The houses of Austria and Ascot, single families, and much nearer home, trace up their origin to Noah himself. Yet all these pretensions, however exaggerated and in- consistent, and at variance with the cosmogeny given in Holy Writ, are, notwithstanding, listened to with something like attention, in deference, per- haps, to that ^' Amor Patriae," that ever pardonable vanity, which they irresistibly obtrude upon us.f Other nations, also, that may have controlled their fancies within more moderate bounds, and confined their ascensions to more tangible aeras, have yet Dear Harp of my country ! farewell to thy numbers, This sweet wreath of song is the last we shall twine ; Go, sleep with the sunshine of Fame on thy slumbers, Till touched by some hand less unworthy than mine. If the pulse of the patriot, soldier, or lover. Have throbbed at our lay, 'tis thy glory alone ; I was but as the wind, passing heedlessly over. And all the wild sweetness I waked was thy own. Moore's Irish Melodies. * The comparison of these names with that of Ireland will not appear so very preposterous, nor their juxta-position so very casual, when my •* Essay upon the Round Towers" shall have been read. t To trace nations to their origin is among the most curious and delightful of intellectual pursuits : it establishes important facts ; illustrates sacred records ; and, while it confirms all the great truths of political science, it tends to gratify a patriotic vanity ; for nations, like individuals, are proud of being de- scended from illustrious ancestors. — Whitly, translator's preface. been allowed some slight tincture of romance, and have improved the indulgence to the very " poetry " of aspiration. In no instance that I am aware of have those claims been disputed, if we but except the nations above adduced, nor can that properly be called an exception, as the facts and assertions are virtually ceded, when the effort is made to explain them by an accommodated system of chronology. But if Ireland — distracted, impoverished Ireland — should raise her puny voice, and breathe an allusion to her primitive consequence, the sound would be so dissonant from authorised reports* — set forth by in- terested or mercenary scribes, confirmed by repeti- tion and ingenious circulation, while all attempts at disproval were studiously suppressed — that the world would look amazed at her impudence in the assumption, and reject at once, and without a hear- ing, her prejudged claims ! Shame, however, upon that policy which could war with the literature of a country ! and double shame upon that country which could allow itself, under any circumstances, to be so * Peter Lombard, who was titular Archbishop of Armagh in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, states, in his Analecta, that the ** English governors endeavoured to destroy or carry away every monument of antiquity belonging to the Irish of which they could obtain possession ; and that a great number were shut up in the Tower of London, and consigned to forgetful- ness, which, if translated, would throw new and interesting light on religion and letters." TRANSLATOR S PREFACE. XI debased, as to have its records swept away, its lights stifled, and its monuments obliterated, except such as accident may have saved, or laborious industry decyphered, from the scanty materials of inscriptions and names, without a single clue to guide the histo- rian in his path, or a single star but the polar one of truth, to steer his course by, in the midnight of his despairing ! ** On turning,'' says Whitty, '' from the page of antiquity to the accounts of native annalists, we find the gloom which environs our inquiry pene- trated but by few gleams of brightness. The bigoted fury of her invaders, and the gothic policy of her rulers, have been busy with the historical documents of Ireland. The Dane and the Briton were alike hostile to the proofs of a former glory ; and what the Pagan spared the Christian sought to demolish.* Their relentless antipathy being so suc- cessful, perhaps the interest of truth would have suffered little had their baneful industry been greater. The records which survive are few, and of questionable authority. The information which is to be derived from them is confused and contra- * Booth, Analecta. p. 557, et seg. Lynch Cambr. Evers. pp. 4L-157. The Magnates Hiberniae, in their remonstrance to Pope John XXII. charge the English government, of the 13th century, with the destruction of their laws. (Hearne, Scoti- chron. vol. iii. p. 908.) This spirit prevailed even in the time of Cromwell. His soldiers had a particular antipathy to the harp. Lynch Cambr. Evers. p. 37. Xii TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. dictory. They establish no one fact of early Irish history in a satisfactory manner, and are much better calculated to perplex than to elucidate." From my soul I am puzzled to find a pallia- tive for such a system* — a system which, ere long,f must recoil with dismay before the triumphant blaze of innocence aggrieved — or if I must elicit some benefit from its heart-rending sorrows, it will be, in its affording some excuse for the culpable, and otherwise inexplicable, supinenessj that pervades all * Opus opinum casibus, atrox seditionibus, etiam in pace sevum. — Livy, t What is a Crisis? Our great Lexicographer has well defined it, as " the point in which the disease kills, or changes to the better : the decisive moment when sentence is passed." Precisely to this point has Ireland arrived; her disease — sometimes slowly and imperceptibly, but always steadily, pro- gressive — has of late advanced with overpowering rapidity ; and the fiat must speedily go forth which can issue but in one alternative — healthful renovation, or final dissolution. — Ckar- lotte Elizabeth. No one affects to deny the awful importance of this junc- ture : two parties, for ages and centuries divided by an impas- sable barrier, now start up in simultaneous opposition to each other ; and both to a government which would unite them on a basis as repugnant to the darling prejudices of the one, as it is subversive of the vital principle that animates the other. — Char- lotte Elizabeth. X The idle indifference which we evince for the knowledge and preservation of our antiquities, is surely, to say the least of it, but little creditable to our nationality or our taste. In no part of Great Britain, we may safely venture to assert. translator's preface. xiii classes of the Irish, as to the consideration of what they once were — a supineness which, I repeat, cannot else be accounted for, than by the successful opera- tion of that iniquitous policy,* by which they would at last seem habituated and reconciled to their de- gradation ! " In all, save form alone, how changed ! And who That marks the fire still sparkling in each eye — Who but would deem their bosoms burned anew With thy unquenched beam, lost Liberty !"t Let it not be supposed, however, that the sting of this impeachment is at all levelled against the present government, or even against those who have preceded them in the administration. No ; I can myself bear honourable testimony to the ready willingness with which they, and their august master, our gracious and most beloved sovereign, King William the would a similar feeling be found among the enlightened classes of society. — Dublin Examiner, 1816. It is extraordinary, how little interest the gentlemen of this county, and indeed of every other in Ireland, take in any pub- lication intended to promote the improvement of their country. Hely Button, Statist. Surv. Co. Clare, * We cannot, with Doctor Lynch and others, but lament the fatal policy of the English, who, until the reign of James the First, took all possible means to destroy our old writings, as they did those of Scotland, in the reign of Edward the First. They thought that the frequent perusal of such works kindled the natives to rebellion, from reminding them of the power and independence of their ancestors. — O'Connor Dissert, p. 139. t Byron. XIV TRANSLATOR S PREFACE. Fourth, encourage every pursuit that could supply the deficiency, or elucidate the purport, of our muti- lated annals. Nay more, I can affirm, that the taste — I had almost said the avidity, or rather the rage, as that is the more prevailing term — for Irish docu- ments, at this moment, in the British metropolis and in England altogether, exceeds any thing of the kind ever before v^itnessed ; and to such a pitch is it carried, that on every occasion upon which such docu- ments are advertised for sale in Ireland, the London booksellers send over agents to attend such sales ; and from the poverty of our community, and its decayed interest, at the same time, for all such research, I need not say, that, in almost every instance, the English are the purchasers. By the kind exertions of a literary friend,* who exhibits in his conduct an honorable contrast to the apathy of which I here complain, I have been furnished with an alphabetical catalogue of works that have lately produced, at the hands of Englishmen, in the city of Dublin, and at second hand, the respective sums affixed to each ; all considerably higher than the prices of publication. * Sir Charles Coote, Bart. This gentleman has, tluring- the course of a long life, paid particular attention to the literature of his own country. No work has ever been published upon the history, the antiquities, or the statistics thereof, of which he has not made it a point to procure a copy. The consequence is, that he now possesses the most authentic and best assorted Irish library of any in the kingdom. TRANSLATORS PREFACE. XV and incomparably more so than what a mere regard to value could have elicited. My charge^ therefore, cannot apply to the present government, or to the present race of Englishmen at all ; but to governments and races of an anterior date, who, in the fell work of spoliation, yielded not to the Ostmen or Danes,* — our ruthless foes, and the foes of all moral culture — whilst they surpassed them far, in the dexterous ingenuity, and masked insincerity, with which they effected their ravages.f These are the persons whom I would impugn ; and grievously concerned am I to add, that on the fair face of the land itself, sustained by its bounty, and invigorated by its atmosphere,X are to be found in- * The invaders of Ireland in the ninth century consisted of a mixed crew of Danes, Frisians, Norwegians, Swedes, and Livonians. The ancient Irish distinguished them into two septs from the colour of their hair ; one being called Fion-gail, or Fin-gal, the White Strangers, and the other Dubh-gail, the Black Strangers. Fingal is supposed to have been settled by the former, and Donegal by the latter. — McGregor. f Walsh thus pathetically laments the ruin of his country by the Danes and Ostmen ;— *' There was no monarch now, (the ninth century,) but the saddest interregnum ever any Christian or heathen enemies could wish ; no more king over his people, but that barbarous heathen Turgesius ; no more now the * Island of Saints.' " X The climate of Ireland, and the fertility of its soil, have been praised by all writers, as well friends as foes, who have at all alluded to the topic. Orosius says, " Ireland, though less extensive than Britain, is, from the temperature of its chmate, XVI TRANSLATORS PREFACE. dividuals, and they too not few, who, calling them- selves Irishmen, and affecting all the pride insepa- rable from the name, do yet — from some obliquity better supplied with useful resources." — L. 1, c. 2. Isidore states, "it is smaller than Britain, but more fertile from its situation."— Orig. L. 14, c. 6. The venerable Bede observes, that ** Ireland greatly surpasses Britain in the healthfulness and serenity of its air." — Hist. Ec. L. 1, c. 1. And Camden, '* Nature surely must have looked upon this zephyric kingdom v»^ith its most benignant eye." — Brit. p. 7*27. Whilst the vera- cious and impartial (?) Cambrensis himself adds, that, ** Of all climates Ireland is the most temperate ; neither Cancer's violent heat ever drives them to the shade, nor Capricorn's cold invites them to the hearth ; but from the softness and peculiar tem- perature of the atmosphere, all seasons are there genial and tepid." Again — "Neither infectious fogs, nor pestilential winds, nor noxious airs, are ever felt there ; so that the aid of doctors is seldom looked for, and sickness rarely appears ex- cept among the dying." — Top. Hib. Diet. I. 25, 27. Would that this last named writer had but done as much justice to its inhabitants ! "The climate is so salubrious,'' says Carr, " that we find by history those plagues which so much devastated England had rarely reached Ireland. The leaves seldom fall till Novem- ber ; from the almost constant motion of its atmosphere, and the balmy softness of it, Ireland has been for ages past called the * Land of Zephyrs;' it was also called, on account of the beauty of its verdure, * the Emerald Isle,' and the * Green Island in the West.' " — Stranger in Ireland, p. 129. To the great and peculiar extent of calcareous or limestone strata of which our island is composed, we may chiefly attri- bute the fertility of our soil, and the salubrity of our climate; and if we dared venture to fathom the intentions of an Almighty and beneficent providence, we would point to this geological TRANSLATOR S PREFACF: . XVll of intellect or perverseness of intention — think they amplify their importance by vilifying* their native soil ; — and — to bring their dastardly desertion to a still greater climax— only recognize respectability as imported from abroad !f peculiarity, as a single instance of his wisdom and ooodness, as, exposed as we are to the exhalations of the Atlantic, and the influence of westerly winds, onr soil would otherwise be unpro- ductive and our climate unliealthy- To the same cause is to he attributed much of the peculiarly romantic beauty of which we may justly boast; our waterfalls without number, our subter- ranean rivers, our natural bridges, our perpendicular sea cliffs, and, above all, our fairy caverns; all these are in almost every instance the result of this extensive calcareous formation, and are consequently found in no other country of the same extent, in equal variety, beauty, and abuiularjce. Most strange it is, that a laud so blessed and ornamented by the hand of pro- vidence should be so little appreciated and too often aban- doned by those to whom its fertility gives w^ealth, and to whom its beauty should give delight and happiness. — Dublin Penny Journal. * Why will the Protestants of Ireland permit this unfounded obloquy to rest on their beautiful country, ay, and too ojtenjoln in the aspersive cry^ when even a jilauce at their own homes might convince them, that the moral blight exhales not from the innocent bogs of poor Ireland. — Charlotte Elizabeth. ■\ Revelling in all the pleasures and delights of rich and royal Italy, smiling with the beauties of that sunny soil — whilst many of his poor tenantry were weeping from want, and shiver- ing from cold and hunger — the lord of the manor was patron- izing the fine arts, and collecting, at great expense, costly ornaments and other objects to adorn his mansion in England, when he should return satiated with the fascinations and volup- tuous attractions of the continent. — Viscount Glentworth, C XVlll TRANSLATORS PREFACE. ** Poor, paltry slaves I yet born midst noblest scenes — Why, Nature, waste thy wonders on such men ? * * * * it Not such were the fathers your annals can boast, Who conquered and died for the freedom you lost! Not such was your land in her earlier hour — The day-star of nations in wisdom and power !"* To their own reflections, however, and to the con- tempt and condemnation of an enlightened, an in- dignant public, I consign such renegades, whilst I return to the subject whence I have been thus forced to digress. How to account, then, for this new spirit amongst the English public, to cultivate an acquaintance with the antiquities of Ireland, which they had so long neglected and so long affected to despise — a spirit too, so insatiable, that it will not now confine itself to works of acknowledged merit and reputed vera- city, but extends even to those which should have been exploded as fictions or absurd exaggerations — I con- fess myself wholly unprepared. One thing, however, is evident, that they are at last become sensible of the injustice with which we have so long been treated, and, feeling their own judgment at the same time not fairly dealt with in the misrepresentations imposed upon them, they have — with the character- istic honesty for which "John Bull" is remarkable, if his prejudices and errors be but fairly removed, and * Byron. TRANSLATOR S PREFACE. XIX the spirit, at the same time, with which he resents every such insult offered to his understanding — re- solved, as much as possible, to atone for the past, by enabling themselves to judge as to the question at issue for the future. But while lending myself as the translator of Dr. Villanueva's book, from my wish to extend all dis- quisitions bearing upon my country's renown, I must observe that I am not at all insensible to certain, as I conceive, aberrations, in his literary views, besides those which I have taken the liberty altogether to erase. That the Phoenicians had been in Ireland he is quite right to maintain. But as to the share they had in the early splendor of the country — the nature of their sojourn — and who had preceded them — as it would not become me here to discuss, I shall, unshackled by the apprehension of being con- sidered selfish, refer the reader, who wishes to have the true history of ancient Ireland y?;r once laid be- fore his mind's eye, to my Essay upon the " Round Towers"* of that country, in which I promise him * Dr. Villanueva's error as to the origin and destination of those mysterious structures is one in which he may well con- sole himself by the number of fellow-sufferers vUio have before foundered upon the same sandbank. When Cambrensis, Val- iancy, Montraorenci, Dalton, Beaufort, Milner, in short all the writers, as well natives as foreigners, who have alluded to the topic for the last seven hundred — \ may say, fifteen hundred — years, have been at fault on this theme, it is not to be wondered at that this eminent philologist, should add another c2 XX TRANSLATORS PREFACE. he will find this long mystified question at length, and to a demonstration, irresistibly elucidated. If, however, I may be allowed a passing observa- tion, without anticipating the subject here, it would be to say that the Phoenicians were only the carriers of that very ancient and sacred tribe, designated em- phatically " Tuatha Dedanan," that is, the '' Deda- nite diviners," who planting themselves in Ireland, after their expulsion from the east,* raised the isle — unit to the number of the shipwrecked. But he can well spare this and a few other almost inevitable defalcations, which, like spots upon the sun's disc, only serve to make the general talent which pervades his treatise the more brilliantly prominent. As the reader may, perhaps, wish to see a specimen of this venerable old gentleman's epistolary style, I subjoin the copy of a note which he addressed to me on my expressing a wish to see him after a separation of six or seven weeks, during which 1 had secluded myself, to adjust my thoughts upon the ** Towers," — viz : — '^ J, L. Villanueva Henrico O^hhien salutem dicens, " O care amice ! Et quare tu, qui junior es, non dignaris ad me venire ? Vix 6 domo exeo, nam non bene valeo. Nihil- hominus, te adire curabo, si vires suppetant. Benevale, et ut soles, ama tuum amicum. "GJunii, 1832. J. L. Villanueva." * The rare and interesting tract on twelve religions, entitled **The Dabistan," and composed by a Mahomedan traveller, a native of Cashmere, named Mohsam, but distinguished by the assumed surname of Fani, or Perishable, begins with a wonder- fully curious chapter on the religion of Hushang, which was long- anterior to that of Zeratusht, but had continued to be se- cretly professed by many learned Persians, even to the author's time : and several of the most eminent of them dissenting, in translator's preface. xxi which they also denominated from their former place of abode — to that pinnacle of literary and religious reputation which made it o, focus of intellect in the old pagan world. Of this distinguished caste of people — who^, by the way, built the ^' Round Towers/' those standing records oi our primitive scientific culture, — the Phoe- nicians were only the transporters j yet had they the dexterity — by reason of their indispensible agency as navigators, and the power with which they com- manded the dominion of the seas- -to monopolize the whole credit of civilizing the human race, which was onli/ true in as far as they joined by their ship- ping the different quarters of the globe. Here, then, is the source of those egregious blun- ders, which all our historians have committed in reference to the Phoenicians, at once cut away; and another mistake emanating from this, and in the raany points, from the Gabrs, and persecuted by the ruling powers of their country, had retired to India ; where they com- piled a number of books, now extremely scarce, which Mohsam had perused, and with the writers of which, or with many of them, he had contracted an intimate friendship: from them he learned that a powerful monarchy had been established for ages in Iran, before the accession of Cayumers; that it was called the Mahnbadean dinasty, for a reason which will soon be mentioned ; and that many princes, of whom seven or eight only are named in the Dabistan, and among them Mohbul, or Maha Beli, had raised that empire to the zenith of human glory. If we can rely on this evidence, which to me appears unexceptionable t the Iranian monaichy must have been the oldest in the World. — Sir W. Jones. XXil TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. case of Ireland, more seductive in its overtures, is now, in consequence, easily obviated. It was too fashionable with the gentlemen who have preceded me in the drudgery of Irish antiqua- rian research, to flatter the self-love of the present Milesian natives — of whom I am proud to boast my- self one— by ascribing to their colony those high- flown scenes of primeval grandeur of which Ireland was undoubtedly at one time the theatre; and of which too, without being able adequately to grapple with the point, or to adduce any thing like substantial insight into either its date, nature, or promoters, those writers, had, notwithstanding, some superficial, in- definite and vague, conceptions. No position in history was ever more false. So far from the Mile- sians, who were a mixed Scythian colony, implicit followers of Zaoaster and not Spaniards,*(as the Dr. has himself admitted) being — as a nation — lovers of literature^ they cultivated, on the contrary, a pro- fession — that of arms — which affected to scorn it as an effeminate luxury. Nor was it until by an admixture * They merely touched at Spain on their way to Ireland from Scythia, keeping up, however, a friendly intercourse with the Spaniards after their arrival in Ireland, for the hospitable accommodation which they had experienced on their coasts. They retained their name, Scythi, Scoti, or Scythians^ until the eleventh century, when they resigned it to the Scots, a colony of their own from Ireland, and resumed, instead, one of the more ancient names of the country, viz. Ire, with the affix, landt making the compound ** Ireland/^ • *• TRANSLATORS PREFACE. XXIU with their learned predecessors in the occupation of the soil, and witnessing the charms of their refined pursuits — in which they were allowed still to indulge, though unaccompanied with those religious peculiari- ties for the celebration of which they had erected the ''Round Towers," and which the Milesians, upon their conquest, had cancelled and obliterated — it was not until then, I say, that the latter, fired by the moral ether which the lessons of their new slaves had in- spired, got infected with the sublimity of their en- nobling acquirements, and set themselves down, accordingly, to emulate their instructors. Having mentioned the subject of the ''Round Towers" of Ireland, as a rock upon which the anti- quaries of all countries have so miserably split — not less as to their " destination and uses,'' than the era of their erection — I may be excused if in the honest fervor of patriotic triumph, undamped by the chill-- ness of ill-requited success, I should proclaim that those several difficulties have at last been solved, and the history of those structures made as obvious to every capacity as if the whole catalogue of their de- tails had been graven upon their walls with the im- pressive incision of steel upon adamant. Low and contemptible have been the purposes which shallow speculators, or interested calumniators, have at- tempted to associate with those noble edifices ; but — the mist once dispelled — those Round Towers will stand forward as the proof — not only of that envied XXIV TRANSLATORS PREFACE. antiquity which our bards have so chaunted — but of the literary and religious taste which gave rise to those buildings, and of the grand and philosophic principle which guided the architect in giving them their pecidiar form. But to return, another objection remains yet to be disposed of before I relieve the reader's patience, per- haps already too much exhausted, and that is, the un- fitness of a foreigner for the performance of a task, in- volving, it would seem, a personal knowledge of the topography of the Island, the prejudices and habits, the character and genius of the various sects and denominations by whom the place is inhabited, with some interest in their fortune, or identity of feeling in their welfare. The compass of their views must be very limited indeed who think that to be master of those various requisites it could be necessary to pass a life on the theatre of debate. Without stop- ping, therefore, any farther to expose the lameness of this argument — who, let me ask, was the author of that composition, which, professing to be a history of Ireland, and its conquest (?)*by Henry the Second, was, in reality, nothing more than a tissue of falsehood and abuse, concocted in the spirit of indi- * They were never conquered by any people until betrayed to Henry II, in 1172, who bestowed the sovereignty upon his son John : but yet the kings of England were never called only lords of Ireland till the title of '' king" was bestowed on Henry VIII. by the Irish states themselves in parliament. — Hale*. TRANSLATOR'S PREFACJE. XXV vidual * and national hatred, additionally inflamed by an engrossing vanity, f and a profligate disre- regard even to ordinary decency in its indulgence J — * This was against Aubin O'Molloy, a monk of the order of Citeaux, and abbot of Baltinglass, by whom he was defeated in a quarrel. t His anticipations of repute and literary immortality from the performa-nce, he thus pompously put forth in his preface : " Ore legarpopuli perque omna secula famA, Si quid habent veri vatum presagia vivara." But hear what '* Gratianus Lucius," the assumed name of John Lynch, Archdeacon of Tuam, 16G2, says of him — '* Li- bros suos plebeculae spurcitiis inquinavit, et vulgi najvis toti genti ab ipso adscriptis farcire constituit, sicut aranea virus e thymo, mel apis exsugit ; sic e pessimis quibus que quorumvis Hibernorum moribus fasciculum ille fecit, missa facieus quaj apud Hibernos praeclariora repererat. Sordes tamen istas ille pro gemmis habere visus est, quas eligens et excipiens tanquam elegantiora praisenti volumine digessit, instar suis cui magis volupe est sterquilinii volutabro quam inter suavissimos quos- que odores se versare." cap. 5. p. 41. Hear, also, what Ware, in his '* Antiquities," says of his imitators, ** Atqui nonpossum non mirari viros aliquos hujus sajculi, alioqui graves et doctos, fig- menta ea Geraldi mundo iterum pro veris obtrusisse." Wliat would he say, had he lived to see more modern scribblers, such as Dempster, Abercromby, Mackenzie, *^ et hoc (/enus omnCy^ unredeemed by any of the above qualifications, (graves et doctos,) but with iguoranrce corresponding to their dishonest audacity, appropriating our history to their own private use; and to that end, not only denying us those advantages which even our enemies before allowed us, but like the asp that borrows its venom from the viper, adopting hatred against Ire- land, as a legitimate inheritance, and calculating on impunity from its prostration and decay. X Having spent five years in composing this fine work, the five books of his pretended history of Ireland came forth. In xxvi translator's preface. under the sanction, I admit, and auspicies of a wily monarch, who wanted such an instrument to verify the misstatements of '^ barbarism and impiety" with which he had himself previously loaded the Irish, and by virtue of which he had extorted that bull from the pope * conferring on him a right (how generous !) raptures with this new production of his genius, and unable to conceal his vanity, he repairs to Oxford, where, in presence of learned doctors and the assembled people, he read, after the example of the Greeks, his *' Topography" during three succes- sive days, giving to each book an entire day. To render the comedy more solemn, he treated the whole town splendidly for three days : the first was appropriated to the populace — the second to the doctors, professors, and principal scholars of the University — and lastly, on the third day he regailed the other students, with the soldiers and citizens of the town, ** A noble and brilliant action," says the author himself, "whereby the ancient custom of the poets has been renewed in England ! ! ! *' UssheVf Syllog. ed. par, ep. 49, p. 84, 85. ** Than vanity there's nothing harder hearted ; For thoughtless of all sufferings unseen, Of all save those which touch upon the round Of the day's palpable doings, the vain man, And oftner still the volatile woman vain, Is busiest at heart with restless cares. Poor pains and paltry joys, that make within, Petty yet turbulent vicissitudes." * Adrian was himself an Englishman, and consequently the less indisposed to listen to this application. His Bull is given at full length by Cambrensis and by Bishop Burgess ; —see also Leland's History of Ireland, vol. i. 8. It granted the sove* reignty of Ireland to Henry, who was interested in its subjec- tion on account of the annoyance it afforded him, and the aid it sent his enemies, upon the condition of the payment of ** Peter's translator's preface. xxvii to the invasion of our country, and, thereby, for the first time,* A. D, 1156, subjecting us at once to the authority of a foreign Crown, and the spiritual sur- veillance of the Roman See and Pontiff? f — Who, I pence'* in Ireland, which had never before been paid there ; alledging the absurd claim, ** Hiberniara et oranes insula? qui- bus sol justitiae illuxit, et quee documeiita fidei Christianae acce- perunt ad jus B. Petri, non est dubium, pertinere." It then hypocritically exhorts hira to inculcate morality and to plant Christianity, as if we had it not in its splendour and purity already, in Ireland! *' Stude geutem illam bonis moiibus in- formare et ageis, tarn per te quam per alios quos ad hoc fide, verbo ac vit^ idoueos esse perspexeris, ut decoretur ibi Ecclesia, plantetur et crescat fidei Christianae religio." Alexander III. his successor, confirmed this Bull in 1173, and added insult to iniquity in representing the Irish as " barbarous," and " Chris- tiansonly in name." The Irish, it is true, spiritedly and nobly resented these intrusions to Vivian, Alexander's legate, at the synod of Waterford, held by Henry, 1177 ; but there it ended! * The Irish, who in the eighth century were known by the Dame of Scots, were the only divines who refused to dishonour their reason by submitting it implicitly to the dictates of autho' rity. Naturally subtle and sagacious, they applied their phi- losophy to the illustration of the truths and doctrines of religion, a method which was almost generally abhorred and exploded in all other nations. This subtlety and sagacity enabled them to comprehend with facility the dialectic art, and their profound knowledge of the Greek language contributed materially to the same end. This made them view with contempt the pitiful compendiums of theology extracted from the fathers, and which the unlearned ecclesiastics of otlier countries accepted as oracles, — Mosheim. t This ominous title — attached for more than a thousand years to the regal and imperial dignity from Numa, b. c. 789, to Gratiao, a. d. 375, who renounced its pagan oflfice and name« xxviii translator's preface. repeat, was the author of that imposture, every word of which its vile asserter, from compunction of con- science for the injustice rendered to an innocent and lieroic nation, was obhged subsequently to retract — though too late, alas ! to neutralize the poison which the baneful tenor of his combined subserviency to courtly favour and individual spite, — so opposite to the character of the true historian, — had but too successfully and extensively propagated ? Why, truly, it was a foreigner and a stranger — Gerald Barry — or Cambrensis, as he is generally called — from Cambria, the Latin for Wales,* his native as interfering with those of the high-priesl of our profession, Jesus Christ — but ill accords in its assumption of spiritual and temporal dominion, with the meek spirit of Christianity as- ori- ginally founded. ♦* My kingdom," says our Saviour, **is not of this world" — And when there arose a dispute among the apostles which should be accounted the greatest, he said, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and they that exercise authority over them are called benefactors," — euergetcs* benefactor, was a favourite title of the Macedo-Grecian kings of Syria and Egypt, as we sometimes denominate our sovereigns the "fountain of mercy and honour," — '* but it shall not be so with you." ,Tohn xviii. 36 ; Luke xxii. 95. Tt is not known which of the popes first assumed the title, but Boniface III. — who, A. D. 636, first arrogated to himself the unchristian one of " Uni- versal Bishop," which Gregory the Great, A. D. 590, had rejected with horror, calling himself in opposition thereto by the lowly designation of *♦ servant of the servants of God," seems the most \\ke\y.— Hales. * Ina, king of the West Saxons, married a second time, ** Gaula," daughter of Cadwalladar, the last king of the Biitons, and in her right inherited Cambria, thenceforward called by TRANSLATORS PREFACE. XXIX country — and yet his unfitness on that score was never questioned at the time, though possessing no other knowledge of the country than what could be gleaned from the sojourn of a few short months, during which he was domesticated at the castle as tutor to the king's son, where his sources of informa- tion were necessarily circumscribed — his ignorance of the native language being one great bar, aug- mented by the narrow limits of the English power within the island, amounting to no more than about one-third of its territorial extent — whilst even the scanty materials which such opportunities afforded were polluted and vitiated by the medium through which they passed, and the sinister influence which guided their expression ! But why dwell upon this instance of failure in a foreigner undertaking a province which he was not competent to discharge, when I should rather adduce those cases of splendid success in which foreigners have ventured as historians of other coun- tries, and won laurels in the attempt, as creditable to their labours, as they have been honourable to their subjects ? Merely to expose the illiberality, and her name " Wales," with Cornwall and tiie British crown. He was the first who was crowned king of the Anglo-Saxons and British conjointly, A. D. 1712 ; and the first measure of this wise prince, "by the advice and consent of all the bishops and chiefs, and the wise men and people of the whole kingdom," was, to unite the two nations by intermarriages as speedily as possible. XXX TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. make the action of their machinery, recoil upon those knaves themselves, who would uphold a princi- ple whilst it furthers their own objects — but no longer interested in the extension of the rule — scornfully reject it as an abortive bantling, though divested, perhaps, of the imbecility which disfigured their pre- cedent, nay, strengthened and adorned by the oppo- site graces. That I may not, however, altogether omit some instances of the description above adverted to, will it not suffice to mention the names of De Lome and Mills ; the former of whom, with a very superficial knowledge of the localities of England, has' given a dissertation on its constitution that has earned for him — from its natives not more than from the whole civilized world — as much honour as the sub- ject itself had excited admiration in the bosom of the author ; whilst the other, without ever having so much as set a foot in India, or within many thousand miles of its coast, has, notwithstanding, written a history of that country, the most comprehensive and satisfactory that has yet come from any pen. Coolly, therefore, and dispassionately to argue tlie point, I see no reason why a foreigner may not be as competent to enter the lists of literary adventure in the capacity of civil or local historian as any native — nay even more competent, if an unbiassed judgment, arising from a total disconnection with local preju- dices and parties, be considered a requisite ingredient for the exercise of such a trust. Or is literature with TRANSLATORS PREFACE. XXXI US alone, I would ask, such a corporate affair that none but the homeborn can intrude upon the mono- poly ? What will the sticklers for exclusion say, how- ever, when informed, that Dr.Villanueva in addition to the most varied and profound acquirements, embracing an intimacy with literature at large — has brought to the execution of this favourite subject an acquaintance with our island, obtained not more from the writings of the ancients to whom its existence was familiar, than by a long sojourn and joer^o/za/ residence amongst us, during which he has been occupied in digesting ma- terials for this work, and enriching his stores from our various libraries. But his principal and leading qualification, and what constitutes his peculiar fitness, in my mind, is his thorough mastership of the Hebrew language, of which the Phoenician was a dialect, and the affinity, of which with the Iberno- Celtic, or rather Iherno- Sanscrit, or ancient Irish, I may endeavour to elucidate in some future pages. This, then, is the lever with which, single-handed and unpreceded, he has encountered the difficulties of the Herculean combat ; and myself the venerable recesses of un- explored dates the basis of his plan, and the frag- ments of names and sacred inscriptions the fulcrum of his operations, he has removed that mountain of uncertainty and doubt which had so long obscured the horizon of our history, and — identified in spirit with the dignity of the cause — the cause as it is, of truth, of justice, and of letters — has triumphed in the XXXll TRANSLATORS PREFACE. enjoyment of literary renown acquired in the investi- gation of our long disputed ancestry. * * ** Cujus modi antiquitatis ne ipse quidem populusRomanus nominis sui testem proi'erre [)oterat autorem." — Ussher, — The value of this remark, emanating from so distinguished an autho- rity, 1 may be disposed hereafter to consider in a more appro- priate place. Meanwhile I feel that I cannot more happily conclude this discourse, than by extracting a sentiment from a very spirited publication, which has lately shot up in Dublin, and which— had it no other claims on public patronage than the chivalry it has evinced in embarking upon an ocean, where so many miscarriages have, in that department, occurred, and in thereby inviting into existence two similar periodicals which have since followed its example — should, I conceive, on this single score alone, receive countenance and encouragement from all enlightened Irishmen. The sentence I so admire, as in unison with my own feelings, is in a note, as follows : — The object of the writer of this article has been, to attack modern ecclesiastical corruptions under ancient names and forms ; he has therefore selected the historical riiat5?rials or systems that suited his subject best, without the slightest in- tention of making an insidious or sectarian attack upon any description of believers, detesting as he does, from his soul, all sorts of polemical controversy, and convinced as he is, that its melancholy effects are at this day perceptible in the slavery of his country, which religious, or rather /y7e%2o?^s differences, have caused, by dividing Irishmen against each other, who, if united, v*ould be invincible ! Irish Monthly Magazine. — May, 1832. TO THE MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY. Gentlemen, Impressed with a sense of deep obligation to your country, celebrated for hospitality as it most justly is — not less so on this score, than because of the more imme- diate, and to me delightfuly privilege of free access to the flourishing and magnificent libraries of your capital — a pri- vilege, I may add, which I value the more as deprived by adversity of my own little collection of manuscripts and books — I here respectfully tender to you, whose zeal for the elucidation of the " antiquities of Ireland" has been ever nobly conspicuous, this midnight effort of my pen, under- taken with a view to assist you in that task, and discharge, on my part, the offices, at once, of gratitude and of com- mendation. I might, indeed, give scope to my feelings in another form, and find materials, too, for the purpose, by drawing upon the fruits of a long literary life, no one moment of which, even when most disengaged, could be well called idle ; but, to your name, your reputation, and your assembly, foremost as they all stand in literary fame, I could conceive DO offering either more appropriate or more apposite, than this enterprising e?:cursion into the early periods of Trish D DEDICATION- history, to grope out, if happily to your satisfaction, from beneath the darkness of that beclouded age, the nations and the colonies whence you derive your origin. If, however, in the attempt, my success shall be found not adequate to my expectations, yet shall I console my- self with the hope that this little tract — on so interesting a topic as that of antiquity, which, as Quintilion well observed, whether local or universal, can never be too much studied, in regard to the incidents it may record, the characters it may develope, or the dates it may assign — may be found neither unwelcome nor unprofitable to the lovers of such pursuits ; and did I need any additional incitement to the luxury of this hope, I^would find it in that praise, which you, Gentlemen, who must have often felt the influence of praise yourselves, have, after a diligent perusal of this my work, been pleased to bestow upon my humble labors. I have now only to beg that you will accept ihe first fruits of that which you have before sanctioned with the high stamp of your approbation ; and, while taking leave of your body, with every feeling of regard, may I be permitted to enforce my prayer, that you will — in accordance with the spirit of your previous career — proceed laudably and cheer- fully, by your diligence and your research — as well in push- ing your own enquiries, as in patronising those of others— to exalt the standard of yonr academic institution, and encir- cle new wreaths on the renascent genius of lerne.* JoACHiMus Laurentius Villanueva. * For the satisfaction of the classical scholar I give the ori- ginal of this and next chapter in the appendix. — H. O'B. PHCENICIAN IRELAND. CHAP. I. Scope of the Work — Origin of first Inhabitants of Ireland uncertain — Way to trace it out — Difficulty of diving into early dates — Instance of this — Number and credibility of Irish historians — Foreign denominations of the old clans and localities of Ireland — Where to look for their etymology — The Author s acknowledgments as well to the more modern as the ancient writers upon Irish topics — Not always safe to follow them. The origin of the early inhabitants of Ireland is not only ancient but uncertain, and not easily recon- cileable to the exact rules of proof. But though we must not altogether reject what tradition records of them, still it strikes me that in our pursuit after truth, thfe more likely road for its attainment would be to trace out the origin of the names of the several septs and tribes which from time to time have visited those shores ; a course which, as in other instances, will be found, if I mistake not, in this too, most con- vincingly demonstrative of their lineage, their pro- geny, and the country whence they emigrated. I D 2 36 do not, however, mean to say that the conviction pi'oduced by such a search is in its nature so com- plete as that it may not even he superseded by other evidences; but this I assert, that it is not contemptuously to be trifled with by ignorance or guess-work, and that until something more authentic in the shape of argument be adduced it is entitled, at least, .to a respectful hearing. If we consider how difficult a thing it is, as Pliny* well observed, to clothe antiquity in a modern costume, to give fashion to novelty, splendor to decay, light to obscurity, beauty to deformity, and belief to doubt, the mere endeavor after the object, however short it may fall of success, must, from the nobleness of the intention, command respect for its author ; so shall it be my humble boast that having been blessed with the advantages of literary ease, I thought I could not employ it better than by embarking in some such design, conscious that whatever be my fortune, my motives at least will be appreciated, as purely wishing, amidst the crowd of contributors that press forward at the present day, to offer my mite also towards the general stock of the republic of letters. But as the remarks which I mean to submit respect- * Res ardua Tetustis novitatern dare, novis auctoritatem, ob- soletis nitorem, obscuris lucem, fastiditis gratiani, dubiis fidem ; eatim non assecutis voluisse, abunde pulchrum atqiie raagnifi- cum est. — Hist. Nat. Prc^f, 37 ing the geographical names of this island, are neither few in number^ nor inconsiderable in importance, involving, as they do, besides, an intimate acquaint- ance with the languages of the east and north, let it suffice for the present if, as a specimen, we but hint at the ancient names of our Irish clans, and the idol- atrous worship they indulged in, disregarding some sources of my own private conjectures, which, how- ever, I pledge myself shall be cheerfully supplied to any gentleman who may hereafter feel disposed to devote his patriotic pen to record the virtues and the heroism of this second Sparta. * In the mean time I flatter myself that I shall not be alto- gether v^thout reward in rendering those notes, of what value soever they be, interesting in their de- tails, as well to the admirers of what is amusing and light as to the more grave and austere student. It is greatly to be regretted that tho' no nation on the globe has been ever known to be more ob- servant of its antiquities,f nor niore studiously care- * Dr. Villanueva having consigned lo me those papers al- luded to in this sentence, the best use, I conceive, I can make of them is to bestow them upon the public in the shape of an appendix to the present volume. t This extraordinary regard which the Scoto-Milesians, like the Jews, paid to their history and the genealogy of their fami- lies, bespeaks a nation equally polished and educated. By a fundamental regulation of the state it was necessary to prove connection with the royal house of Milesius before you could either ascend the throne, assume the sovereignty of any of the provinces, or be appointed to any capacity, military or magis- 38 ful of every thing that could appertain to their chronology, the deeds of their ancestors, the boun- daries of their jurisdictions, and their laws, than this has been, there should still appear such a mist of darkness spread before our path when we would in- vestigate the origin of its primitive settlers. This obscurity is the more to be deplored from the cha- racter given by Camden of the Irish records, viz. that " compared to them the antiquity of all other nations appeared as novelty, and, as it were, the condition of incipient childhood."^ Deplore it, however, as we may, it has been occasioned, in no small degree, by the odd and outlandish designations given to the different tribes, as well as to many of the towns, cities, mountains, lakes, and rivers, w^hich- seem to have no affinity with the idiom of the natives, nay, to be utterly at variance with it ; so terial. The office of the antiquarians, instituted by Ollamli Fodla, as part of the triennial council of the celebrated Tara, and whose duty it was to watch over those genealogies and per- petuate the memory of their houses, was under the strictest control of scrutinizing commissioners appointed for that pur- pose, and the heaviest penalties were wont to be enforced against such as were found to prevaricate in the slightest par- ticular. He enacted, besides, that copies of all registries which upon such examination were found pure, should be inserted in the great registry called the *'Psalter of Tara;" and this practice and institution was continued and flourished up to the times of Christianity and long after. * Adeo et, proe illis, omnis omnium gentium antiquitas sit novitas et quod-ammodo infantia. — Camd. Brit.ed. Lotid.p.l2S. 39 much so, that Strabo's declaration* respecting the illiterately-barbarous and geographical terms of Spain's first inhabitants, and the places to which they alluded — which, by the way, proceeded from ignorance on his part of the languages they were derived from — has been repeated of the Irish, with literal precision, by OTlaherty,f a writer in other respects well-informed, and who has thrown no small light, too, upon the antiquities of his country. For instance, the names of our early progenitors, as enumerated by Ptolemy, he, forsooth, describes as no less outlandish in their sound than the names of the savages m some of the American fores ts,X He * Plura aiiteni Hispaniae populorum nomina apponere piget fugientem taediura injucundaj scriptionis : nisi forte aliciii volupe est audire Pletauros, Bardiietas, et Allotrigas et alia his deteriora obscurioraqtie nomina. — Grogr. lib. iii. These are Strabo's words ; but is it not strange that a writer who ac- knowledges the settlement of Phoenician colonists in Betica and Celtiberia, should not have recognized in these denomina- tions the Syriac sources whence they sprung? For the name, Pletauri, is compounded of the Phoenician words, pleich aur, meaning a host of inhabitants in the enjoyment of freedom; or of pleta ur, a host of inhabitants living in a valley. The name, Barduetce, is also Phoenician, from bardothe, residing in a wood or a grassy country. The Allotrigce were two Phoenician tribes established amongst the Celtiberi, whence their name alh-thri- iga, a divided people inhabiting an elevated country. But these and similar names of the ancient Spanish clans, ema- nating from Phoenician and Celtic sources, were any thing but agreeable to Grecian ears. t Ogyg, sen. Rer. Iber. Chron. p. 1, pag. IG. X In this rhodomantade of O'Flaherty he was much more 40 even adds, " We are no less ignorant, for the mosf part, of the import of the names Ausona,* or Ausoba, accurate than he intended, or, as the English say of our coun- trymen, *• he blundered himself into the right." Little did he know how near a connexion there existed between the two peo- ple whom he affected thus ridiculously to associate; and any one who attends to the position which I subjoin, independently of many others which could be brought in support of it, will admit the happiness of this unintentional coincidence. The Algankinese are the most influential and commanding people in the whole of North America. Their name in Irish indicates as much, viz. algan-kine, or kine-algan, a noble community^ corresponding to the Phoenician words al-gand-gens, which means the same tiling. The language of this people is the master language of the whole country, and what is truly re- markable, understood as Baron de Humboldt asserts, by all the Indian nations except two. What then are we to infer from this obvious affinity ? Why, undoubtedly, that a colony of that same peoplewho first inhabited Ireland, and assigned to its several lo- calities those characteristic names,which so disconcerted the har- mony of Mr. O' Flaherty's acoustic organs, had fixed themselves at an early date in what has been miscalled the ** new world." * Ausoba, or Ausona, is the ancient name of a river in the western region of Connaught near Nagnata or Gallina, mentioned by Ptolemy. Some think it to be the river Galvia [or rather the Suck] in Galway ; others Lough Corbes, [or rather Cor- rib]. The name is, however, almost universally supposed to mean '*a frith," from the old Britannic words, Auise aba, an ** eruption of water,'* or the old Irish words, Ause obba, of the same import, (Collect, de reb. Heb. iii. p. 284). To my mind both names appear Phoenician. Ausoba, from auz ob, means a narrow bay. Ausona, from aus-on, a resounding river, ricb in water. In that part of Spain called Farsaconeses, the Hes- pania Citerior of the Romans, in the canton of the Ilergetes, between Manresa and Gerunda, beside the river Sambroca^ there stood an ancient city called Ausona, or Ansa, whicb 41 Daurona,* lernus^f Isammum^J Laberus,§ Macoli- cum^ll Ovoca/'^ &c. ; and to crown all, "Even the few gave name to the people called Ausetani, Being destroyed by the Arabians, after their invasion of that country, and restored to its original level, it was called Vicus Ausonoe, and by the natives, Yich de Osona, now merely Vich. There is, also, in the canton of the Asturas, a chain of mountains called Ausona ; in Canta- bria we find Mount Ausa ; in Boetica the city of Osuna ; in the country of the Vacedi are the towns Ausejo and Ausines; in Cel- tiberia the valley of Auso ; and other names of this kind, of Phoe- nician birth, which borrow their names from the adjacent rivers. * Daurona is derived from the Phcenician words duron, a wealthy people. Spain had an old city in the canton of the Celtiberians called Duron, and the ruins of which are to be seen to this day. But the name of the river Duro in Spain, as well as of the river Dour in the county Cork (or rather county Kerry, called now, the Mang,) in Ireland, comes from the Celtic word deir^ a river. t lernus, (now Kenmare river,) either from the Pheenician lerairif pious, religious, or from the Greek lerjie, corrupted, as we shall shew in a subsequent chapter, from the Phoenician Jherin, and intimating Ireland. X Isaraniura, (now St. John's Foreland,) from isanim, ancient, or Izanim, armed people. § Laberiis, an ancient city in Ireland, recorded by Ptolemy, and called the capital of the Voluntii by Richard of Ciren- cester, (now Kildare,) was celebrated for the idolatrous super- stition of the Druids there pre-eminently cultivated. It is derived from the Phoenician words laliab era, a flame in a cave. Of the perpetual fire preserved by the sacrificing priests in the temples of their idols, or in caves, and here alluded to, we shall have occasion to speak more at large in the sequel. II Macolicum, (now Killmallock,) from macolim, the staffs or walking sticks of travellers ; as in Gen. xxxii. 10, ♦' For with my stalF I passed over this Jordan." Metaphorically applied to a nation on a journey. H Ovoca, the ancient name of a river and bay in the eastern 42 names/' he says, '' which may perhaps be understood' are in their meaning as vitiated and as corruptly perverted as the places themselves are decayed by time," Surely so distinguished a writer would not have so expressed himself had he but taken the trouble to compare such names with the source and origin whence they emanated. It may happen, indeed, in spite of us, and to our great detriment, I allow, that we may sometimes meet with obscure, nay, inexplicable, terms amongst the names given of old to some of our states, our cities, our rivers, or our mountains ; but this will be found, for the most part, to have occurred through the fault of historians and antiquarians mystifying words otherwise clear, and arbitrarily affixing to them whatever meaning may have been first sug- gested by either their caprice or their ignorance. How much more temperately, and at the same time more correctly, does that celebrated Irish historian, O'Connor, in his Rer. Iber. script, vet. 1, p. xlvi. seq. express himself on this head. '^ If we but com- pare," says he, '^ the Irish names handed down by Ptolemy, severally, with the British, and afterwards with the Spanish names which he has also preserved. section of Ireland, named by Ptolemy, and by some supposed to be the river Arklow, by others the Dublin Bay, is derived from the Phoenician voc, he emptied,' he evacuated ; whence the ^rabic obecy or abic, a water-conduit, a pipe whereby water is conveyed into a bath. 43 we must needs acknowledge that by far the greater part of them are Spanish, bearing reference to times of the most distant date, and as such accord with those accounts which we have heard respecting the very early landing of the Phoenicians in this ' holy island.' "* This erudite writer accordingly steered clear of the opinion of those who, pinning their faith upon some would-be antiquarians, affirm that almost all the names of our ancient tribes and colonists cor- respond with the genius of the native idiom, and must therefore be derived therefrom. Other critics, with more chastened taste, and no small degree of merit, derive them in part from the Celtic, in part from the Cambrian, in part, too, from the Cambrian and the old Teutonic ; but neither with these do I agree in all particulars, seeing that they would fain grub out from other sources, and no matter at what pains or cost, what I am convinced in my soul are derived from the spirit of the Phoenician language, and from that only. Bulletus T conceive one of those who have been thus led astray, being, as has been already observed by a gentlemanf profoundly conversant in the anti- quities of this country, evidently at much pains in his commentaries upon the "Celtic Tongue" to * For the origin of this name see Preface, or chap, xxxiv. sub. fin. + The Knglish translator of D. Mai let's work, ** De Sep,- tentrionalibus Anii(juit;tlil)ns," j»iefiice, piige 14. 44 wrest, if possible, from that sotirce, the names of most of our cities, towns, rivers, &c. Nor was- Lhuyd more successful in his collation of the Irish with the Cantabrian language, bearing, as they do, infinitely less analogy, one to the other, than the Irish and the Phoenician.* I pass over, without notice, the names of other writers, who have displayed a good deal of industry, and to very little profit, upon the geographical names of this island. The truth is these gentlemen, mth. all their learn- ing, have not sufficiently sifted the rubbish of -the Phoenician language, preserved and perpetuated in those names by the peasantry themselves, though knowing nothing, as we may suppose, of the authors of the contrivance ; and this observation I have had occasion to make before upon the geographical names of Spain, which, in my treatise upon the geo- graphy of that country, I have attempted to prove as emanating from the same source. And as it must be admitted on all hands that the marksman who aims at the object itself, however distant or elevated, is less likely to miss the line of direction, than he who would be content with grazing the circular superficies, therefore have I ventured to launch my vessel at once into the depths of the Phoenician fountains, there to explore, and mayhap with success. * See Essay on the Antiquity of the Irish Language, being a cullation of the Irish with the Punic. Dub. 1772. 45 the genuine and true solution of those complicated denominations. The neglect of this on the part of a writer* who has otherwise shewn consummate information on Irish affairs, leads him to suspect that the Phoenicians did only occasionally touch upon the Irish coasts for the purposes of commerce, both export and import ; and that in the course of time, Britain, by reason of its wealthy tinf mines,, holding out to them more commercial inducements, becanie, consequently, a more favorite rendezvous. Here he thinks it pro- bable that they built themselves temporary huts, in the capacity of purveyors for merchant's cargoes : and these abodes, he conceives, not to have lasted beyond the period of the third Punic war, when Car- thage J was destroyed, and Spain laid claim to by the Romans. * Vallancey, Collect, de Reb. Ibern. vol. iii. page 405, 406. t The abundance of this metal it was that gave rise to the name of Britain, being compounded of Bruit, ** tin," and Tan, ** country ;" corresponding to '' Cassiterides," the mercantile name given by the Phoenicians to both Ireland and England. X The Carthagenians were a colony of the Phoenicians, who, on accountof domestic dissensions, had quit their native home, and built themselves a new city, which they called Carthada, or Carthage, which means as much, in contradistinction to Tyre, their former residence. The precise time of its founda- tion is unknown ; yet writers seem to agree that it was about 869 years before the Christian era, or according to others, 72 or 93 years before the foundation of Rome. The wars which this people maintained against the Romans — and which oritjin- 46 In the mean time I would have it distinctly un- derstood that I do not deny but that some of those names may have been of Irish (that is of Iberno- Celtic) origin. Nay, I readily admit the fact. This only I maintain, that most of those which are supposed to be compounded of the languages of the ated altogether in the jealousy and ambition of the latter — have been celebrated all over the world for the unexampled instances they display of heroic valour, on the one hand, of cold selfish- ness and calculating design, on the other; and the awful lesson held out on both sides of the inconstancy of human affairs, and the transient tenure of human magnificence, For upwards of two hundred and. forty years, those two nations had beheld with secret distrust each other's power, till at length a pretext occurred for removing the mask, and the declaration of hos- tilities was the inevitable consequence of their inbred hatred. The two first Punic wars had passed away, and the combatants on both sides — kept in check by the vigilance of their mutual operations — had covered themselves with glory and military immortality; but in the third, the levelling maxim of Cato, who saw that the peace of Italy could never be secured so long as the capital of Africa had a being, gave a dreadful impetus to the Roman perfidy and dishonour. During sevtnteeu days Carthage was in flames, and the soldiers were permitted to redeem from the fire whatever possessions they could lay hold of. But whilst others battened in the wasteful riot of (he scene, the philosophic Scipio, struck with melancholy at the sight, was heard to repeat two verses from Homer, which contained a prophecy concerning the fall of Troy. Being asked by the historian Polybius to what he then applied his prediction, " To my country,'' replied Scipio, *' for her too I dread the vicissi- tude of human affairs, lest in her turn she may exhibit another flaming Carthage'' This event happened about (he year of Rome GOG. 47 Celts and Ancient Britons, are to be traced to a much higher quarter, namely, the language of the Phoenicians, who in the very earliest days, that is much about the time of the entrance of the Israelites into the land of Canaan, penetrated as far, in the first instance, as the coasts of Africa and Spain, and thence — their ambition increasing with the success of their enterprises — they extended their researches even to the Irish shores. This, then, is my grand posi- tion, to estabhsh which I shall enlist all the energies of my mind and zeal — this the prize* to which I shall emulously press forward, to point out the riches of these Phoenician springs, and support that descent they so irresistibly suggest to us ; that it may become manifest to the world that they who neglect this scrutiny into the earliest days of the Phoenicians, are not qualified as historians to dis- cover the true origin of the first inhabitants of Ire- land ; still less so to vindicate their opinions on those heads, or to refute and overturn those of their adver- saries. From what has been here said the reader may, per- haps, imagine that the Phoenicians were, in my view, the primogenial inhabitants of this country — that, in fact, '* Phoenicians *' and '^natives" were, as re- * Palmurium — By iliis word the author would soem to allude to the Gieek^/ioiw/a;, a palm-tree; whence some people derive Phoenicia, as abounding therein. 48 garded Ireland, perfectly synonymous and eon* vertible terms.* To this point, however, my present disquisition I shall not direct. I am well aware of ail that has been written by some ancient authors about the aborigines, or giants, and their sanguinary wars with the Partholani.f I know, also, what has been said, in more recent times, of the last arrival of theGadelians, or Milesians, from the coast of Iberia, or Spain. Without either subscribing to, or reject- ing, all that the most diligent searchers into Irish antiquities affirm, as to this country having been first colonized from the countries more adjacent to it, and that it was not until after a long lapse of years the Phoenicians, the Gadelians, and the Tar-^ * It is more than probable that Ireland remained desert and uninhabited from the creation to the deluge. No history, not even that of Moses, offers any thing which can lead us to sup- pose, that before the universal deluge, men had discovered the secret of passing from one country to another that was sepa- rated by water. The ark, which was constructed by order of God himself, and which served to preserve man on the watery element, is the first vessel of which we have any knowledge. — McGeogliegan. t There are some old collections of charters, with many other monuments in writing, of the church of Cluan-Mac- Noisk, in Latin *' Cluanensis," cited by O'Flaherty in the dedicatory epistle of his Ogygia, which fix the arrival of the first colonies in Ireland, under Partholan, in the year of the world 11)69, three hundred and twelve years after the deluge; this colony was followed by the Nemedians, the Fomorians, the Firbolgs, and the Tuatha de Danians. — McGeoyhegan» 49 tesiens had come hither. I have upon these and other such topics read over all the authorities, as well modern as ancient, that lay within my grasp ; and whilst in justice and candor I am bound to acknow- ledge myself indebted to their labors on many and important particulars that passed in review before me, still did I reserve to myself the privilege, as sacred as it is undeniable, of forming my conclusions unbiassed by any authority. The chief advantage which humble diligence and diffident sagacity can derive from the labors of able antecedent writers is this, that from their priority in point of time they may be considered as our torch-bearers through the thick and dis- couraging darkness of ages in the distance ; yet should we not so fix our eyes upon them, as they thus precede us in the way, as to omit all attention on our part to the safety of our own footsteps. Some of them often chalk out to themselves a road through which it would be any thing but safe to follow them, and I have accordingly, guarding against such a risk, thought proper in many in- stances to take an unbeaten track and a new line of journey. But inasmuch as no one hath before me ever attempted this career, I may be allowed, I trust, to hope that — if I shall inadvertently have omitted* any thing in those commentaries which may * " Where ancient coins?" We acknowledge we huvo E 50 seem within the pro\dnce of an etymologist's duty — and in so vast a medley of names it is impossible but that some such oversight will occur — it will be in- none. But you yourself tell us, that it was perhaps a thousand years before our era, that the Phoenicians traded to Britain and Ireland, (agreeing pretty nearly with the calculations of our native writers,) and you elsewhere say, that the Phoenicians did not coin money till six hundred years later. Do you ex- pect our Phosnician ancestors should have had coins GOO years before they had learned how to make them? You also say elsewhere, that '* had the Phoenicians settled in any part of Britain or Ireland, their usual splendour would have attended them ; a few Phoenician coins," you add, " may perhaps be found in Britain and Ireland, a circumstance naturally to be expected from their trading there, but had there been any settle- ments, there would have been ruins and numerous coins struck at the settlement, as at all those in Spain." To all this, it is only necessary to reply, that there are no remains of Phoenician cities now to be found in Spain, and that the Punic coins and inscriptions found there are clearly of Carthaginian origin, and consequently cannot claim a very remote antiquity. Had the Irish asserted a descent from the Carthaginians, the want of such inscriptions and coins would be conclusive against them ; but as the learned Lord Ross (then Sir L. Parsons,) observes, no writer of note has ever said so, and we refer the reader to that distinguished nobleman's *' Defence of the Ancient His- tory of Ireland," for conclusive arguments on that point. Mr. Pinkerton finally shouts, " Where is the least trace of ancient art or science in your whole island?" We respond, they are exhibited abundantly in the numerous antiquities of gold, silver, and bronze, dug up every day in all parts of Ireland, and similar to the most ancient remains of the Greeks, Egyptians, and Phoenicians. Our gold crowns, collars, bracelets, anklets — our brazen swords, spears, and domestic vessels — our cinerary urns — our cairns with sepulchral chambers, which are not to 51 dulgently overlooked by the learned amongst my readers — and by them it is mor^e likely to be so over- looked knowing by experience^ as they do, the diffi- culties and the accidents to which such pursuits are liable — than by those who, receiving their information by hearsay from others, cannot appreciate the trouble which its acquisition may have cost, but think it as obvious to every one as it proved in their own in- stance. The variety and obsoleteness of those names have obliged many a searcher into their origin, after a w^earisome and fruitless pursuit, to give it over in disgust : they have then contented them- selves, as they fain would their readers, with vague guesses, or obscure intimations of more obscure con- jectures. Often have they assigned to them a mean- ing not only different from the true one, but even opposite thereto, and such as must at once so appear from the actual condition and circumstances of the inhabitants, the locality of cities, and several other divisional and characteristic denominations. Not that I would detract in the least from the merit of those worthy men who have bestowed their pains — and laudably so bestowed them — in illustrating the geo- graphy of this my adopted country : — no — I com- be paralelled in the British islos — and hstly, in those Cyclopean works, agreeing identically with those in tlic ishmds, and on tfie shores of the Mediterranean, !iiiiversally attributed to the Phoenicians. These are the evidences of tiie early coloniza- tion of Ireland. -i)tt6/i>i Penny Journal, 52 mend their efforts — they have pioneered for me a path. If I shall appear to have surpassed them in any thing, for this I am indebted to that greater degree of care which the opportunities of my leisure have enabled me to bestow upon the valuable labors of the great men of antiquity. These I peruse with incessant delight — these I court with undiminishing assiduity, to see if from the overflow of their genius I may be able to imbibe a single drop to irrigate, with the vapour of their fructifying stream, the ste- rile plants of my shallow capacity. For I am not one of those who leave no engine untried, no stone un- turned, to detect little blemishes in every writer amongst the ancients, and who vilify and distort the very noblest discoveries — the very grandest pro- ductions of human ingenuity, — singly and solely, and without any other assignable cause, than because that their own petty souls cannot relish nor com- prehend the innate moral beauty of any thing that is laudable. S3 CHAP. II. Arrival of the Phoenicians together with the Iberians in Ire- land — Memorials of them in Fermoy — Leaba-Chaillde, its etymology — Origin of the words Peine and Penians — the Vascones. But to return to our subject. — To me it appears indisputable, as it is also the opinion of O'Connor, that those Phoenicians who had invaded Boetica, — and who in pursuance of, what seems to have been their original destination, the discovery of Mines,* had in conjunction with the Iberians or Celtiberians f pro- • Strabo tells us that they drew such quantities of gold and other commodities from this country as to make them pass a law declaring it death to discover its situation to strangers. The same was their motive for designating the British islands, Ireland and England, by tlie general name of Cassiterides, ex- pressive of their tin mines, withholding, however, their geo- graphical position for fear of intrusion upon their commerce. t The composition of (his name, Celtae and Iborus, might have been designed to distinguish the Celtes on that, from those on this, side the Pyrenees— i7»er in the old Celtic, signifying over^ as Gaul was divided into Cis and Trans Alpine, and Spain into Citerior and Ulterior. Lucan, however, would seem to imply that they were so denominated as a mixed gene- 54 ceeded thence onwards to Ireland, to work the iron and tin mines for which it was celebrated — were the earliest or amongst the earliest inhabitants of this island — at least the southern and western parts of it. I am convinced also, that the plain of Fermoy — called in the '' Annals of Innisfallen " the '' Plain of the Phoenicians" — was not so denominated without a just and good cause, seeing that in this district we meet with stone pillars erected after the Phoenician fashion, in plains and upon little hillocks, in great numbers, and of almost monstrous proportions. In this opinion, therefore, I unhesitatingly acquiesce, in'^preference to that of a writer already alluded to, who has asserted that there are no vestiges of either citadels or old temples to be found in Ireland at this day that could properly be attributed to the Phoenician era. Why, an exceedingly antique and truly wonderful monu- ment of this description, * though in ruins, is to be ration of Celtse and Iberi — *' profugique a gente vetusta Gal- lorum Celtae miscentes nomen Iberis." — Lib, 4. They were a brave and powerful people, and made strong head against the Romans and Carthaginians in their respective invasions — their country is now called Arragon. * 1 should be disposed to include amongst this class the small vaulted stone chambers called in Irish *' Teach Draoi,'* Druids house, some of which are to be seen on the coast of Kerry, at Cashil, at Dundrum, &c. evidently pertaining to a distant date, coeval, almost with the " round towers," but of a less noble — though still religious application. Nor should I omit to mention the sacraficial altars called *' Cromleach," that 55 seen in the village of Glanworth^ * barony of Fermoy, county of Cork, and province of Munster, consisting of two stone pillars, placed at right angles, in an oblong square. This laborious and stupendous piece of workmanship is deservedly ascribed to the Phoe- nicians, after their expulsion by Joshua, and was in- tended, no doubt, either for the worship of some idol, or to pepetuate the memory of some hero there interred. The Irish call this structure Leaba-chaillde, meaning thereby Callid's couch, for " leaba " in Irish signifies a couch or bed ; but who this Callid was, no one that I can discover, even soothsayer or prophet, hath ever asserted or dared to guess ; much less can it be ascertained from the interpretation of the populace who understand by the term the '' old hag's bed." In support however of this explanation, it is alledged that is, the flag of the Deity, being an immense flat stone, supported by pedestals, and sometimes, where the ground was sufficiently high, or where the weight of the incumbent stone rendered it too difficult to remove it, without any pedestals; nor the hypogae or antra Mithrse, being subterraneous vaults, of which the most astonishing yet discovered is that at " New Grange," corrupted from Grein-Uagh, i. e. cave of the sun or Mithras, in the county of Meath. This name is still preserved in Innis Mithra or Murra, otherwise " isle of sun," nine miles from Sligo, where is to be seen one of those clock greiiie, or clock mtiidhr, i. e. sun stones, being a conical pillar of stone placed on a pedestal surrounded by a wall to preserve it from profanation, and cor- responding to the 3Iakodce stone of the Gentoos, which is a corruption of the Irish words mah Dc, i. e. good God. * So called from the goodness of its soil. 56 all monuments similarly constructed are called the by Irish, Leapa na Feine, by which they conceive are meant the dormitaries or sleeping places of the Fe- nians, their celebrated militia of warriors. With all respect, however, to the distinguished in- dividuals who think thus^ and otherwise, I am inclined to imagine that Leaba-Chaillde is a Phoenician expres- sion, shghtly vitiated, and composed of the words lehab shallaid, a burned corpse, indicating the grave of some illustrious hero deceased and buried therein.* For lehab, in the Phoenician language, is a flame, whence zalehab, to burn, and shallaid is a corpse, or trunk of a dead body. Leopana too would seem to be derived from the Phoenician lepin or leponin, that is, swathings or liguments, or from leopin, linen or towels ; as much as to say, that, underneath was in- terred some Phoenician hero, and, according to the eastern custom, wrapt up in bandages. But what if it should appear that Feine was a name given not to any individual Phoenician, but in general to any chieftain or leader ? For in the Phoenician dialect fen or feineh, which means the gable or out- ward angle of a building, is applied metaphorically to the leader of a camp, the chiefs or captains, who are the strength of the people, as the corner stone or * In the Syriac version of the Gospel according to St. Mat- thew, (xiv. 12.) it is said of John the Baptist, wlio was put to death by Herod, *' his disciples took away his body, shailldah, and ^buried it." 57 gable is of a house.* Should this exposition be ad- mitted, — and I see no reason why it should not, — we need not then have recourse to Fenius the ancestor, according to an old Irish poemf of Breoganus who built Brigantia, now Braganza in Spain, and whose posterity are believed to have sailed thence into Ire- land, under the conduct and auspices of Heber and Heremon. I more incline to the opinion of those who would have the troops of the ancient Irish denomi- nated Fenians, not as though they were Phoenicians or descended from them, but because that they ex- hibited in their conduct the prowess and fortitude of the Ibero-Phoenicians, who had formerly settled in the country, and whose memory was preserved amongst the inhabitants by long and repeated traditions. For their soldiers, the Phoenii, who were equally called clannaj Baoisgene, or the sons of the Basgneans, that is the Vasconians, were never accounted of Phoeni- cian extraction, nor to have obtained that name from any leader called Baoisgenes, but from the Vasconse of Cantabria, whence we are informed that Milesius had emigrated to Ireland, of antient date, and with * So in Judges, xx. 2. ** and all the angles, (feinoth,) of the people met." And 1 Kings, xiv. 28. '* apply hither all the angles, gimoth of the people. t Coemanus in carmine : Canam hunadkus nan Goadhil. (Cano originem Gadeliorum ) X Clanna is an Irish word, signifying sons or decendants. So is baoisge also, and means a flash of light, and metapliori- cally a vain glorious, or boastful fellow. — See O'Connor. 58 an immense army.* Nor, indeed, should we omit noticing that those Fenii, that is, the celebrated old Irish militia, otherwise called feinne, might have been so denominated from the Irish word feine, sig- nifying a rustic or serf, as it is more than probable that this military corps were originally embodied from out of the class of the peasantry. To this point however, we shall again revert when speaking ex- pressly, and in detail, of the word Fene as one of the old clans of this country .f * See O'Connor, t The history of mankind would be one of the most pleasing studies in the universe, were it not often attended with the most humiliating, the most melancholy considerations. By studying human nature, we are led to consider in what manner we were formed by our all-wise Creator ; what we have made ourselves, in consequence of our disobedience to the divine law ; what we may be through Divine grace ; and then what we shall be in glory. Principles of this nature, should strike deep into our minds, when we consider the state of the heathen world, and, at the same time, reflect on the many blessings we enjoy. In vain do we pride ourselves in any of our endow- ments, in vain do we pretend to superior attainments; for if our affections are as much attached to earthly objects as those of the heathens, then we are much more inexcusable than they. We have all the truths of the gospel laid open to us, while they remain in a state of ignorance, worshipping the works of their own hands. Nay, worshipping even reptiles and insects, offering human sacrifices, shutting up their bowels of compassion, and trampling upon every moral obligation. This will naturally apply to what we are now going to relate, for the dignity of our holy religion never shines so bright, as when contrasted with heathen superstition, pagan idolatry, and every thing else that can dishonour our nature. — Ilurd. 59 CHAP. III. Ireland called by different names by the Phoenicians — Inis nabfiodha — Fiod Inis- -Criocaf rind — Ere — Fodhla,from the root of which latter term the Phoenicians called all Africa by the name of Phut— Banba — Fail—Elga, But my present design being to illustrate the names of the several localities of this country, as- serted already and maintained to have been of Phoeni- cian birth, I shall begin from its very first settlers, whose tribes it will be shewn have borrowed their names from that language ; and in this retrospective view the island itself claims our first regard, as known both to foreigners and to natives under va- rious appellatives. By the natives it was called Inis nab fiodha, by which they would intimate the ^' island of woods ;'* in which sense it was also called Inis fiod, the "island of timber " or trees, from fiod, timber, and inis, an island ; and again, crioca frindh, the final wood ; from croch, a boundary, and fridh, a wood.* It may have happened, indeed, that subsequent * I never saw one hundred contiguous acres in Ireland in which there were not evident signs that they were once wood, or, at least, very well wooded. Trees and the roots of trees, of 60 settlers, from ignorance of their true meaning, endea- voured to accommodate to the spiritof their own lan- guage these names and terms which they found ready to their hand, and sanctioned by the usage of their predecessors ; but as to their being originally Phoenician, that is indisputable and beyond the yos- sihility of doubt. Inis nab fiodha is compounded, as before observed, of the words, Inis, an island ; nab, of ; and fiod, a wood : Inis, again, is composed of the Phoenician words, In-is, meaning idolatrous inhabitants, of intrepidity and spirit — in or un being idolatry, and is, an inhabitant of manly spirit ; whilst the two latter words, nab-fiodah, are properly derived from the Phoenician naboa, an origin, and phiobd, those who dwelt in a vanquished land. So that Inis-nab-fiodah conveyed to the Phoenicians the following idea, viz. who dwelt originally in a van- quished land, or the posterity of those who sojourn- ed in a country which they took by conquest. the largest size, are dug up in all the bogs ; and in the culti- vated countries, the stumps of trees destroyed show that the destruction has not been of any ancient date : a vast number of Irish names for hills, mountains, valleys, and plains, have forests, woods, groves, or trees, for their signification. The greatest part of the kingdom now exhibits a naked, bleak, dreary view, for want of wood, which has been destroyed for a century past, with thoughtless prodigality, and still continues to be cut and wasted, as if it were not worth the preservation. — Young. 61 Fiod Inis, from the Phoenician words, fiot inis, that is,^idolatrous inhabitants who deprecate, for fiot means deprecation. Crioca frindh, from cri-ocal, cities, towns, or vil- lages abounding in victuals, provisions, or food ; and firin, the earth's produce — all which enunciate the productiveness of this country. I pass over to the vulgar, yet most ancient names given to Ireland, such as Ere Fodhla, and Banba, borrowed, as some historians aver, from three royal sisters, the last queens of the Tuatha Dedan, to which Fiech* the Scholiast adds two others. Fail and Elga. But it is not safe trusting to fabulous records wrapt up in darkness and unsubstantiated by proof ; more especially when we may otherwise account for the origin of these words by tracing them to the spi- rit of the Phoenician language — for Ere comes from araa or eree, a country, a climate, the inhabitants of one region. Fodhla from the words phut lah, or phot lah, a green land, which was formerly the proper appellation of Ireland, whence the Greeks used to call it smaragdon, the emerald,f from the * This was the celebrated convert and disciple of St. Patrick, afterwards promoted to the bishopric of Sletty, in the Queen's county, who flourished at the end of the fifth and beginning of the sixth century — distinguished by many literary productions, but best known by his poetical hymn, or panegyric upon his beloved instructor, the apostle of our forefathers. t "The Emerald" stone, in its purest state, is of a bright 62 greenness and luxuriant freshness of its soil, as ap- pears from the quotation '^ grandes viridi cum luce smaragdi." Unless you would rather suppose it to have been so denominated by the Phoenicians from its likeness to the country inhabited by Phut, the third son of Ham. Nor need we wonder if some of these should have so named this island, as they had formerly all Africa,* whose western parts, namely, and naturally polished surface, and of a pure and charming green, without any mixture of any other color : Fair as the glittering waters Thy emerald banks that lave. To me thy graceful daughters, Thy generous sons as brave. Oh ! there are hearts within thee Which know not shame or guile. And such proud homage win thee — My own green isle ! — Barton. * In ancient times, this country was considered as a third part of the terrestrial globe, and it may be properly called a peninsular ; for were it not for that small tract of laud running between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, it would actually be an island. It is remarkable, that in ancient times there were many christians here, ^vho had fair and flourishing churches, and here some of the most eminent christian fathers resided ; among these were Cyprian, bishop of Carthage ; Austin, bishop of Hippo ; and Tertullian, the famous apolo- gist. These African churches continued to flourish till about the middle of the seventh century, when the Arabians, under their caliphs, established Mahometanism in many parts, such as Egypt, Morocco, Algiers, &c. but at present, the greater number of the inhabitants are idolators. But here we find it impossible for us to inform the reader, from whence these 63 Mauritania Tingitana,* wherein lies Lybia, are to this day known by this name ; and the river that en- compasses those parts is still called Phuti, and the country all about Phutensis.f Banba would seem derived from the Phoenician words bana baha, cities built in an extensive region, or a country abounding in towns or cities. Fail from the Phoenician faila, or a husbandman, a serf, which comes from filah to plough, to harrow up the soil, whence also failhin, agriculture, tillage. Elga from the Phoenician helca, usage, privilege, designating probably the customs and ordinances of the primitive sages, which were the rule of conduct and the model of imitation to the Irish from the very beginning. modern idolaters derive their worship ; for it bears no manner of affinity to that of either the Greeks, Romans, or Egyptians; and there is so little of the ancient religion of the Ethiopians, Nigritians, &c. preserved in it, that it would prove a very dif- ficult task to trace from those remains the idolatry of their descendants. — Hurd. * So called from Tingis, now Tangier the capital, to distin- guish it from Numidia, which was called Mauritania Caesari- ensis after Claudius, who had reduced both kingdoms to the condition of Roman provinces. Mauritania is derived from Maur, i. e. a western, it being to the west of Carthage and Phoenicia. It is now the empire of Fez and Morocco. t Valeut. Schindl. Oderan. lex pent col. 1427. 64 CHAP. IV. Ogygia an ancient name for Ireland — Various opinions as to its etymology — Ogyges king of Thebes — Egypt called Ogygia — would seem a Phoenician name, relating to geography , or else indicating the bloody sacrifices of the Druids — Gia a valley of Jerusalem — Perpetual fire in Tophet — As also in the temple of Hercules at Gades, and in other idol temples — Origin of this rite — Sons burnt by their parents in honor of Moloch — Meaning of dragging children through fire — Customary with the ancients to offer human victims to idols. Plutarch and the old poets have given to Ireland the name of Ogygia^ to intimate thereby, as Camden and others after him have supposed, their thorough conviction of its extreme antiquity. This opinion they have formed, not more from the distant recesses of time which the Irish explore in their historical inves- tigations, than from the well known practice of the poets, giving — from Ogyges the most ancient king of Thebes — the name of Ogygia to any thing that is ancient. * Some would have Egypt on this account * More especially if such antiquity be involved in darkness and in doubt, as every thing relating to the origin of this king, the age in which he lived, and the duration of his reign, con- fessedly is. Ogygium id appellant poaetae, tanquam pervetus 65 called Ogygia, because that its inhabitants are re- corded to be the most ancient in the world, and the inventors, at the same time, of all or most of the sciences and arts which were subsequently borrowed and improved, to much advantage, by the several Asiatic and Grecian states.* For my part, though I would not altogether ex- plode the purport of this explanation, yet I should rather imagine Ogygia to be a Phoenician term, compounded of the words hog-igia, that is, " the sea girt isle," or hog-igiah, an inhabitant surrounded by the ocean. For the Phoenicians who had begun to frequent in distant voyages the uttermost part of either ocean, and who, as Strabo mentions, having proceeded even beyond the "pillarsf of Hercules," had circumnavigated the greater part of the habitable globe, finding the earth on every side encompassed by that w^atery expanse o'er whose bosom they were wafted to their enterprising destinations, very signi- ficantly gave the name of " hag" to tliat " watery ex- dixeris ab Ogyge vetustissimo. — Rhodoyomis, lib. 15, cap. 33. See Pint, lib de facia in orbe lunce. Slatyrius, an English {)oet, calls this island, Ogygia, in his " Pale Albione." * Cariib. Brit. fit. Hibernia. t Two lofty mountains named Calpe and Abyla, situate, one on the most southern extremity of Spain, t!ie other on the 0[)posite part of Africa, which Hercules is said to have erected, with the inscrij)tion of ne plus ultra, as if they had been the extreme points of the world. V 66 panse," intimating thereby the " sea circumference," not unhke what the Arabians designate it, " the circumambient sea." From hence arose the Greek word Ogen, the ancient name for the ocean amongst that people ; whence it is very probable, as many think, that Ireland was called Ogygia by Plutarch. It is worthy of note too, that hag, which is common as well to the Hebrews as the Phoenicians, occurs in scripture as a cosmographical term, used by Isaiah (xi. 22.) to express emphatically the circle of the earth, and by Solomon* to indicate the circle above the face of the abyss. f But the foregoing interpretation must not make us treat with contempt, nor fancy it a dream on the part of those who imagine that by the name of '^ Ogygia" allusion is made to the bloody victims which the Druids and other sacrificing priests, introduced by the Phoenicians into this country, used offer to their idols according to the Syriac custom in Ireland, no less than in Spain, and Gaul, and other nations of those denominated Gentiles. For in the Phoenician language, og-igiah means grief or sorrow for one burned, being compounded of og, he burned, and igiah, he made sorrowful. Whence the valley near Jerusalem wherein Tophet was situated, and in which fire was perpetually preserved for burning the * Proverbs viii. 27. f Bochart Geoff. i. 36. 61 oflPals and bones of the dead bodies therein sacrificed, — sons, by the way, whom their very parents used to immolate to the idol Moloch, dragging them with their own hands through two funeral pyles until death interfered in mercy to their excruciations — ^was called gia or gianon, from that horrifying abomination, By this too is confirmed the belief of the Phoenicians having made it a custom to preserve fire *^ inexfln^ guishahle" in the temples of their gods, as Silius as-f serts of the temple of Gades or Cades, which they had there erected and devoted to Hercules. * The " evil spirit," no cfoubt, the great enemy of the human species, and consequently the rival of Jehovah, in this the weakest quarter of the universal created scheme, had his priests also to preserve his fire in the temples of his idols, so as to appear not inferior to the people of Israel whom God had enjoined to feed the fire continually upon the altar. Flence the Greeks at Delphi and at Athens, used to preserve it both night and day ; and if ever, by any accident, it got extinguished, they used to light it again by the rays of the sun. The Pyrea of the Persians are also well known, in which they used not only to preserve the fire in an everlasting blaze, but even worship it as a divi- * Under this appellation was typified the sun, the twelve labors of the ** hero," being nothing more than a figurative repre- sentation of the annual course of that luminary through the twelve signs of the zodiac. — See Porp. Sch. lies. F 2 68 nity.* Strabo describes this pyratheia (xv) or fire- worship, as existing also in Capadocia.f The vestal virgins, never allowed the sacred fire to be ex- tinguished, it being a point of fearful and intense anxiety to the Romans, as they never failed to look upon its extinction as a sure presage of the overthrow of their city. This custom penetrated even to India, to the Brahmins themselves, who, we have the authority of Arumianus for saying, '^ used to guard the fire on hearths ever burning." But the superstition had its origin with the sacrificing priests of the Syrians, who were wont in honour of Moloch to drag their own children through heaps of fire. J This dragging amounted in some instances to an actual burning of children ; sometimes only to a scorching, produced by their being either conducted * Brison de regno Persarum. f This country — once so immersed in profligacy and vice as to share in the dishonor of the proverbial alliteration of the Greek, *' tria kappa kakista,^ the Cretans and the Cilicians being the other two of the trio, was notwithstanding, ennobled by being the birth place of Strabo, and of many martyrs and heroes, such as Gregory Nazoenzen, Gregory Nysson, and St. Basil, not forgetting the celebrated St. George, who had been a tribune of soldiers (colonel) under the emperor Dioclesian, and afterwards appointed patron of the order of the garter by Edward III, all of whom shed a lustre over the history of the place, and redeem its character though almost irreparable. \ Levit. xviii. 21. xx. 3, 4, 5. 69 or carried through a space betwixt two immense fires, by their comari or priests, or, according to their direction, by the parents themselves. Comar, or cumar, as also mar, meant, with the Chaldeans and Syrians, a gentile priest, a camillus, or minister of idols ; whence the Syriac word cumaruth, priesthood, and the rabinical cumari, a monk. But they were so denominated from the burning of victims, for with the people of the east camar means to burn. There are those, however, who think that the verb " to drag across," when used in this acceptation, is equivalent in import with the verb to ^^burn." Vossius is of opinion that when the scriptures make mention of this dragging, " burning" is not thereby implied, but merely " conducting" between two fires. Never- theless, he acknowledges that independently of this scorching, which prevailed in all families, no matter how affluent, or strangers to want, there was also a live-burning of their dearest pledges, and from the very flower of the people too, whereby, in the mad- ness of their superstition, they had cajoled themselves into a belief that their deities could be propitiated on occasions of great calami tes. That this was the opinion of the Phoenicians is evident from Porphyry.* We learn from Scripture, * The original name of this writer and philosopher, and greatest enemy, in both capacities, that Christianity ever ex- perienced, was Melek, which in the Syriac language signifies to ttiso^ that this worship had obtained throughout the land of Canaan* and Mediterranean Syria, which comprehended Phoenicia within its extensive boun- daries. For we read of the Israelites, in Psalm cv. being niixed with the Gentiles, and learning all their practices^ sacrificing, (izbechu) after their example^ their soiis and daughters to demons — that is to the graven images of Canaan. And respecting the Assyrians^ who were brought over to Samaria, the history of II. Kings, xvii, 31, records that those who were of Sepharvaim w^ere wont to burn their sons in honor of Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. J Quintus Curtius§ treats of the human ** King," changed afterwards by Longinus, his preceptor, to Porphyrius, from porphura, the Greek for purple, which kings lisually wore. He was a native of Tyre, and died, I believe, \\\ Sicily, A.D. 304. * The first city founded in this celebrated country, known by the several names of Phoenicia, Palestine, Canaan, Israel, and Judea, and one literally flowing with milk and honev, was Hebron. t This, the first great monarchy established on the earthy took its name from Ashur, the second son of Shem, who founded it about the year 341 after the flood. It is at present called Curdiston, i. e. the country of the Curdes, from the Curdo mountains. I Supposed, by Sir Isaac Newton, to have b6ert the Sephara bf Ptolemy, and both to correspond with Pantibibla, where Zesuthrus deposited the records which he wrote before the flood. Pantibibla from pan, all, and hiblori, a book, is the Greek translation of Sephara, which conies from Sphar, a book dir record. § The era of this historian, the romantic biographer of Alex- 71 victims offered by the Syrians. Diodorus Siculus,* (xx) and Tertullian,f (Advers. Gnost. c. vii.) record the same of their Carthaginian colonies, as does Por- phyry of the people of Rhodes ; J and says Paulas Fagius, in the Chaldee paraphrase of Leviticus^ " They used to dance in the interim whilst the boy was being burned in the blazing fire, striking their timbrels the while, to drown thereby the shrieks of ancler the Great, is not sufficiently determined — some making him cotemporavy witli Claudius ; others with Vespasian ; and others, again, with Augustus. * This was the writer of whom Vincent used to say, that ** Every word of his was a sentence, and every sentence a triumph over error." He was called Siculus, as being born at Argyra, in Sicily ; and flourished about 44 years B.C. f This eloquent writer was originally a Pagan, and after his conversion became Bishop of Carthage, his native place, A. D^ 196. He afterwards separated from the Catholic Church, and plunged into the errors of the Montonists. I This celebrated island, in the Carpathian sea, was so named from (Gesurat) Rhod, which in the Phoenician language means " snake," (island) corresponding to " Ophiusa,'' another name thereof, and which, in the Greek, signifies the very same thing — from ophis, a snake. Others derive it from rodon, a rose, for which, as well as snakes, the island was remarkable, and adduce, in confirmation, several Rhodian coins, exhibiting the sun, to which the island was sacred, on one side, and a rose on the other. But this was a mistake of the moderns not knowing the Phoenician origin of the word Rhod, and wresting it to the resemblance of their own rodon, corroborated somewhat by the accident of finding of a rose-bud of brass in laying the founda- tion of the ancient city of Lindus. The same objection, how- ever, equally applies to this, being only a little more antece* dent in point of time. 72 the imfortunate sufferer." He therefore, methinks. cannot be suspected of a wild-goose pursuit who, depending upon these authorities, conceives that, in the name of Ogygia, allusion is made either to the Syriac settlers in this country who came from that quarter of the land of Canaan, or to the Phoenician worshippers of Moloch, who, as we shall hereafter prove, introduced this custom of human sacrifices, along with other bloody ceremonies and practices, into their several colonies.* * The inhabitants of all nations in the universe believe in the necessity of an atonement for sin, before men can be justified by the Supreme Being, and although very unworthy notions have been formed concerning the existence of such an essential point in religion, yet it does not follow that the principle itself is false. Nay it rather proves the contrary, for there is some- thing in every man's conscience which points out to him that he has offended God, and that some attonement must be made, either by himself or by another. Now these heathens in India believe, that an attonement has been made for their sins, and they are to have the choice of enjoying the benefits of it, on two conditions : either they are to visit several holy cities at a Fast distance from each other, or secondly, they are declared to be absolved, in consequence of their repeating the names of their gods, twenty-four times every day. Such as visit the holy places, offer up a sacrifice ; and on the tail of the victim is written the name of the penitent, with the nature of his offence. This practice seems to have been universal in ancient times; it was so among the Greeks, the Romans, the Carthagenians and the Jews; and the prophet Isaiah alludes to it, when he says of Christ, "surely he hath born our griefs, and carried our sorrows." Isaiah liii. 4. — Hurd. 73 CHAP. V. The name Hibernia given to this island variously written by the Greeks and the Latins — Of Phoenician origin — Other names, Eri, Eire, Iris, Lug — The Irish called Erin, Erion, and Erigince — Ire Erion — Couri — Miluir — Guidhonod— All Phoenician names. But the most ancient name we meet with ever given to this island is Hibernia, the name by which Caesar, Pliny, Tacitus, Solinus, and others have designated it. Eustathius calls it Overnia and Ber- nia ; St. Patrick,* Hiberia and Hiberio. With the Greek writers it is louernia, louerne, and lerne, all derived from the Phoenician Iberin, meaning extre- mities, limits, or boundaries. From whence comes Iberne, the remotest habitation ; because, as Bo- chart, Geog. sacr. i. 39, well explains it, '' The an- * The family name of this venerable saint and celebrated apostle of the Irish was Siiccat, which, in Irish, signifies, ** prosperons in battle." Fie v\as afterwards named Magonins, when ordained deacon, and, finally, Patricius, when conse- crated a bishop. He was by birth a North Brilon, born A.D. 37*2, near the village of Nempthur, or Banavan, in Tabernia, now Dumbarton, and brought a captive, at an early age, into Ireland, in one of tliose predatory excursions which onr an- 74 cients knew nothing beyond Ireland towards the ocean except the vast sea." Whence he infers that the Phoe- nicians^ distinguished as they were for pushing their voyages to the remotest extremities of the globe, must have been thoroughly acquainted with the locality of this country. For I cannot at all bring myself to coincide in opinion with those, who imagine that this name had cestors indulged in after the withdrawal of the Romans from Britain. Piech thus alludes to these circumstances : — *' Patrick was born at Nempthur, As related in stories ; A youth of sixteen years, When carried into captivity — Succat was his name among his own tribes : Who his father was be it known — He was son of Calphurnius and Otide, Grandson of the Deacon Odesse." This Odesse is, by St. Patrick himself, called Potitus, as was Otide, otherwise called Conchessa, being sister to St. Martin, Bishop of Tours. — The clergy at this period had not been en- joined celibacy. He died on the 17th of March, A. D. 493, at the great age of 120 years, and was buried at Down, in the same tomb with St. Bridget and St. Columba, according to the Latin distich — ** In burgo Duno tumulo tumulantur in uno Brigida, Patricius, et Columba pius." Thus translated : ** In Down three saints one tomb do fill, Bridget, Patrick, and Columb Kill." His long disuse of the Latin language during a continued re- sidence of sixty years in this island, combined with the igno- rance of copyists, will account for the inaccuracy of the names ♦* Hiberia" and '* Hiberio." 75 originated from the Spanish Iberi, who had once sent hither a colony. No ; I should rather trace it even to the Irish word, lar, i. e. west, from its western position in reference to England ; a view in which I am sanctioned by Camden's approbation, on the ground that Spain had been called Hesperia from its western locality, and a certain promontory in Afi'ica the Hesperian Cape, from its locality in like manner.* Vallancey thinks that the Persians, who had at a very early period established them- selves in this island, gave it this name in allusion to the district of Iran in their native country.f Cam- den's view of the matter is still further supported by the inference drawn from the Greek idiom by Cor- mac McCuillinan, Bishop of Cashel, and King of Munster, in the beginning of the tenth century, J viz. that Hibernia may be considered a Greek compound, consisting of the two words, Hiberse and Nyos, the former of which signifies the tvest, and the latter an island ; whilst Bochart's explanation gains credence by the fact of the Phoenicians being really Iberin, or Oberin, that is, passers over the sea, in which ac- * From their proximity to the north in like manner, which in the Phoenician language is called garbaia, the following Spanish towns have been denominated :— Garbi, Garbin, Gar- belos, Garbayuela; as also Algarbi, a district now in the pos- session of Portugal. t Observation on the primitive inhabitants of Great Britain. X VaraeuR de Scrij)t. Ibernia, p. 6. 76 ceptation we meet with the expression in Psalm viii. 8, where it is said, '^ Who traverse (ober) the paths of the sea." The natives have indifferently called it Eri, or Eire, and not so correctly by the name of Erin ; whence perhaps the term Iris, which we find in Diodorus Siculus. To Eri and Eire we may also apply our previous conjectures on the etymology of Ere. This I prefer to the assertion of certain per- sons who would have this island called lerna and lerne, from the Greek Hieron, signifying '^ sacred."* I must not omit to add that from Eri, or Eire, the Irish have been called Erigenae,f or sons of Erin, a name by which John, the illustrious Irish historian J of the ninth century, is universally and emphatically denominated. Varceus de Scrip. Iber. i. 5. Another ancient name of Ireland, lu Erion, the learned generally take to imply^ ^^ the isle of the earth-born, or offspring of the very earth ;" for iu, au,§ and eu, meant '' water," or '' island ;" and these * Ogyg. 1,21. f From Era, earth, and Ginomai, to be born. X And Chaplain to Alfred the Great, who, in the preface to his translation of St. Gregory's Pastoral into the Saxon lan- guage, was not ashamed to acknowledge his gratitude to Ire- land, that had given him his education, and additionally im- proved it by the superintending assistance of this distinguished ecclesiastic. § Aa and ea, i. e. Eau, i. e. Aqua, signify water, and h may be here added, that the termination of names of places in a, 77 were sometimes written more fully, aug, or ag, like the Teutonic oege and odghe, from the Greek auge, splendor, an obvious property of water. Whence, also, another name. Lug, from luge, light. Era,* too, was used emphatically, to signify the land of ancient Greece, as Er was that of Britain. Where- fore the Irish at this day call themselves Erin, or Erion ; and from this Scotus obtained the name of Erigina, or of Eriniauch, compounded, as they state, of er, the earth, and geni, or eni, to be bom of In confirmation of this etymology, they tell us that that nation, before the arrival of the Brigantes or Phry- gians, had possession of Gaul, Spain, and Britain ; for to this day the Vascones and Cantabrians in a great degree make use of the ancient language of the Erii.f But the first men got the name, in the Greek and Latin languages respectively, of Autok- thones and Terrigenae, that is, '^ sons of the earth," and " earth-born," from the circumstance of their dwelling underground in caves, like rabbits ; J which aa, or ey, in the old Teutonic, signify places surrounded with water ; nor ought the word sea, itself, in this case to be forgotten. * It was in particular the name of a mountain in Messenia, the rendezvous of Aristomenes and his devoted band, where, after many marvellous feats of almost incredible heroism, — in which the women no less than the men had share, — he was at last betrayed and obliged to vacate his post. t Edward Lhuid's Archiologia. X Strabo says that the Scythians used lo seek refuge from the cold in caverns. Hence the name Troglodytes, from tro- glos, a cave. 78 gave occasion to Gildas to say, ^^From their little caverns crept forth the Irish like so many swarthy, sooty little worms."* This has led some to suppose that the Com-i, Miluir, and Guidhonod, as they are called, who are generally ascribed to a more ancient date, and who passed their lives in caves and forests, were no other than those self-same original Erii ; and wishing to derive these names from the Irish language, they say that Cour, in the singular num^ ber, means a giant, abbreviated from Cau ur, " a cave man," such as Cacus and the Cyclopsf are * Prorepsere e cavernulis suisfuscivermiculi Ibeini. — Guild. Dr. Smollet, in his ironical manner, calls the inhabitants of Lapland the fag end of the human creation, which illiberal and invidious expression seems to arise from not considering that these people have the same rational faculties as others, and only vrant the means to improve themselves, Novr under such circumstances let us seriously ask, v^'hether these people are the objects of laughter and ridicule? Are they not rather objects of pity, especially when we consider that our ancestors were once as ignorant as they, and probably more barbarous. Nay, barbarity is not so much as imputed to the Laplanders, even by those who take a savage pleasure in ridiculing them for what is not in their power to prevent. That they are slaves to superstition is not denied, but that superstition never leads to any thing of a cruel or barbarous nature. Secure in their simple huts, they live without giving offence to each other ; and if they have but little knowledge, they have but few sins to account for. — Hurd. t The Cyclops are represented to have had but one eye in the middle of their forehead, the origin of their name, from Kuklos, a circle, and Ops, an eye ; but in reality were so called from their custom of wearing small steel bucklers over tbejr 79 reported to have been ; Coures, meaning a giantess. Milur is a wild man, or a silvestrian, and there- fore a hunter, just as Milgi, is a hound. For with the Britons, Mil, meant a wild beast, as with the Greeks did Melon, cattle ; and to this they think that the Clanna Miledh of the Irish, from clann, or clain, an offspring, and miledh, a soldier or war- rior, bears reference. Guidhonod they conceive to arise from guidhon, a witch. But since the Phoenician language exhibits the origin of these names, I should, for my part, as- cribe them to that source in preference. For in- stance, lu Erion would appear derived from the Phoenician I-Erain, an inhabitable island, or one abounding in inhabitants. Lug, from log, which with the Arabians is logag, the deep, as much as to say, the island in the deep, or surrounded therewith. Erigena, which they would have a-kin to the Irish word Ereimane, or rather Erionnach, meaning Ire- land and Irishmen, I would venture to derive from the Phoenician word Erigain, foreigners ; and Erion- nach itself from Era-onag, that is, a land or country abounding in delicacies, for onag, in the Syriac faces, having- but a single aperture in the middle, which corre- sponded exactly with the form of an eye. This practice they had recourse to in their capacity of miners, or in their profession of archery, as we find a Scythian nation, too, who excelled in the same art, call themselves Arimaspi, from Ariraa, one, and spia, an eye, in allusion to the habit of closing one eye to take the better aim, by collecting the visual rays to one focus. 80 dialect, implies a delicacy or luxurious repast. The Couri were so from the Phoenician word curin, fishes, a metaphorical designation for expert and dexterous mariners ; or from cura, a fire-hearth, as if worshippers of fire. Miluyr, from the Phoenician Mila-ur, an assembly of fire-worshippers, or a mul- titude of inhabitants living in a valley, for ur signi- fies indifferently either one or the other, a fire or a valley. Guidhonod, from the words gui-donoth, a nation or people with leaders, gui,* meaning a na- tion, and don, he governed. Unless you would rather derive dhonad from donoth, that is, the chil- dren of Dan, that city of Phoenicia, at the foot of Mount Libanus, where its inhabitants had erected a graven image, and Jeroboam had raised the golden calf, as colonics, particularly from distant countries, generally retain the name of their parent or mother stock. Again, the name of Iris, by which this county is distinguished in Diodorus Siculus,f and from which * From Phoenician gui sprung the old Trish word ui, or Ay, signifying a tribe or clan. Ui is also the genitive case of the word ua, a son, oftspring, posterity, the plural of which is i. From hy, a tract, or district, many Irish localities have ob- tained their names : sucli as Hy- Anlan, Hy-Ara, Hy-Talgia, otherwise called Hi-Faillia, and primitively Hy-Bhealgia, meaning a barony of worshippers of Baal, and several others almost beyond reckoning. — See Collect, de Reb. Ibern, vol. iii. p. 362. t Diodor. Siciil. lib. v. 81 its inhabitants have been called Irenses, or Iri, although I admit it may be derived from the old Irish word Iris^ which signifies brass or copper, as it does, also, invention or investigation, as well as friend and friendly fellowship, and, finally, religion, law, era, and chronicle, yet it is more likely that Orpheus of Crotone, Aristotle, and other Greek writers who have used Iris as a name for Ire- land, have done so not from the language of the natives, which to them was unknown, but from the Hebrew word Iris, he possessed or obtained by in- heritance ; or from Irisa, possession by inheritance, which words, changing the s into t, the Phoenicians used to pronounce as Irith, and Iritha. From this name, variously inflected into Ire, Eri, and Eire, with the addition of the English word land, was formed the modern and now generally adopted name, Ireland. But Irlandia and Irlandi, as Latin for Ireland* and Irishmen, is evidently a barbarism. * The interest which I take in every thing that concerns Ireland, makes me often sigh for the additional misfortune which the general ignorance of its hislory produces, and has long since inspired me with a desire of remedying that evil. — ' Mac Geoghegan. While many who have left thee. Seem to forget thy name, Distance hath not bereft me Of its endearing claim : Afar from ihee sojourning, Whither I sigh or smile, I call thee still, *' Ma vournecn*' My own green isle I — Barton. G 82 CHAP. VI. Ancient inhabitants of Ireland — The Partholani — Various opinions as to the etimolocjij of this word — The aborigines or giants, why so called — TJieir bloody wars with the Partho- lani the first tribe of Phoenicians who landed on the coast of Ireland — Origin of their ancient name Formorogh — The Ne- methoe, when they seized upon I eland — Where they settled — Etymology of their name — Why called Momce or Nomce. Having put the reader in possession of the several names given to Ireland, I come in the next place to its ancient inhabitants, whose names I at once recog- nise as Phoenician, or, at least, deducible from that fountain. The first that present themselves are the Partholani, undoubtedly the very earliest people in this island, of v^hose colonies — w^hich are supposed to have preceded the arrival of the Belgians — we can- not at this day discover a single vestige any more than we can of the Nemethae. Some suppose that they were some of the aboriginal Britons, and that they arrived in Ireland much about the same time as the Nemethae, that is, as they say, in the sixth century before the birth of Christ. Others derive their name from the Irish words bhoeruys-lan-ui, as 83 much as to say, the shepherds or herdsmen beyond the great ocean, and therefore suppose that they must have been the first persons who introduced cattle into this island.* Others there are who think them so called from Partholanus, the son of Sera, of the race of Ja- phet, whom they assert to have first arrived in Ireland, having set out from Scythia, or as others say, from Graeco-Scythia, or iviygdonia, a mari- time district of Macedonia, about three hundred or more years after the deluge, Vv^ith his sons San- guin, Saban, and Ruturugus, their armies and colo- nies ; and they tell us furthermore that he put in at Inversgene in Kerry, and took up his residence in Ulster at Inis Samer in the river Erne, an island called from his castle, from whence also the river was called Samarius. f Some writers add that those colonists found before them on their arrival other inhabitants whose origin was not known, and who were therefore denominated by the Latins as abori- gines, by the Greeks as Giants ; intimating equally the natives of the soil, or the true born children of the country. With these gigantic aborigines they tell us that the Partholani waged an in- cessant and bloody course of warfare, and with such acrimony on both sides, that both were almost * See Collect, de Reb. I hern. vol. iii. p. 404. ■\ See O'Flaherty, cap. ii. p. 3. g2 84 extinguished under one general massacre. These, and other such things equally involved in fable, are told of the Partholani amidst the darkness of an unknown age. As I take it, the Partholani are the most an- cient, or, if you prefer, the primitive tribes of the Phcenicians who landed on the Irish coasts, and from them was given the name of Partulin to all such as had transported themselves from their native country. The Syriac word para, signifies to sprout or shoot — tulin, number or plurality, from tul, translation. But para tneans also he grew or en- creased, so that partulin would then mean a body of emigrants who encreased and multiplied. This race the ancient Irish poets and historians call Fomhoraigh, Formhoraice, and Formoragh ; by which word, they think, is meant pirates, or transma- rine robbers, infesting those coasts in prejudice to, and defiance of, the ancient colonies ; and they assert that they were decended from Ham or Midacritus * from Africa, with the exception of the first Formorii, to whom they assign neither other sect nor origin, f * Pliny (vii. v. 6.) tells us that Midacritus was the first who had imported lead from the island of Cassiterides. But later critics assure us that this was no other than Melicartus, or the Phoenician Hercules, mentioned in Sanchoniathon, to whom the Phcenicians ascribed so many voyages to the west. Mi- dacritus is in itself a Greek name, and we know that the Greeks were in total ignorance of the locality of the Cassiterides. — See Bochart. t O 'Flaherty, i. p. 9. 85 Some suppose them to have been Celts ; others, more correctly, Phoenicians, which the name itself would seem to indicate.* For, in their language, famori, means the lord of an extreme land, that is of an island, which they had supposed to be the utmost habitation of the globe, as we have observed conformably to the opinion of Bochart. The Ne- methae or Nemetii, were, as some say, the posterity of Nemethus,f who, they maintain, planted a second colony in Ireland thirty years after the death of Partholanus, when it had now become almost a desert and been overrun with forests. In his' time were built the fortifications of Rath Kinnech in Hy-Ni- ellan, in Lagenia, and Rath Kimbaith in Hy-Gem- nia, a district of Dalaradia, where the plains, being cleared from brushwood and trees, admitted the genial influence of the sun's irradiation J Some writers add, that on the arrival of the Boelgge on the * It is said, that Neivy or Nemedius, great grand nephew of Partholan, having learned by some means the disasters and tragical end of his relations in Ireland, and wishing, as heir of Partholan, to succeed him in the possession of that island, em- barked thirty-four transport vessels, carrying each thirty per- sons, without counting Macha, his wife, and his four sons, Starn, Janbaneal, Annin and Feargus, who followed his fortune in the expedition. Macha died after twelve years, and was in terred in the place since called from her name, Ardmach. — Mac Geoghegan. t SeeCollcct.de Reb. Ibern. vol, iii. p. 352. I O'Flaherty, p. iii. cap. (3. 86 coast of Heremonia, which is now the province of Leinster, several of the Nemethae retired backwards into the northern districts of the island. There are some who assign to the Nemethae a different origin, and would call them Momae or Nomae, deriving the same from the Celtic words Mou or Nou, land or country, and Mam or Mae, maternal, so that Nemethae would mean the original people, * or aboriginal inhabitants of Ireland. But expunging altogether the fables of the old poets, to me it appears incontrovertible that the name of Nemethae was given by the Phoenicians to their tribes, as equivalent with pleasant, cheerful, or agreeable. For in their language nemoth signifies all these, from the root, neem, delightful, amiable, respect- able. This tribe was furthermore called Momas by the Phoenicians, as having cemented their treaty by an oath,f (noma) which furthermore proves the veracity * Collect, de Reb. Ibern. vol. iii. p. 400. + The Ostiac takes his oath upon a bear's skin, spread upon the ground, whereon are laid a hatchet, a knife, and a piece of bread, which is tendered to him. Before he eats it, he declares all he knows relating to the matter in question, and confirms the truth of his evidence by this solemn imprecation ; *' May this bear tear me to pieces, this bit of bread choak me, this knife be my death, and this hatchet sever my head from my body, if I do not speak the truth." In dubious cases they pre- sent themselves before an idol, and pronounce the same oath with this additional circumstance, that he who takes the oath, cuts oft' a piece of the idol's nose with his knife, saying, " If I 87 and the fidelity of the people, nom signifying true, derived from naum, a discourse or language. forswear myself, may this knife cut off ray own nose in the same manner, &c." All those nations, who inhabited the land afterwards called Palestine, were descended from Canaan the son of Ham ; for although we find many subdivisions among them, under as many different names, yet the general one was that of Canaanites : and here it is necessary that we should an- swer a deistical objection made by Lord Bolingbroke, and some others, against a passage in the sacred scripture ; and this we the more readily comply with, because many weak, though otherwise well-meaning persons, have been led into an error by those designing men. In Genesis ix. we read of Noah having got drunk with the fruit of the vine, and that while he was in a state of intoxication in his tent. Ham, his youngest son, came in and beheld his na- kedness ; but Shem and Japhet went backwards and covered him. When Neah awoke, and found how different the beha- viour of his sons had been, he said (verse 35) *' Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." Now Canaan is no where mentioned as the aggressor; but there cannot remain the least doubt, but he was, at that time, along with his father, and like Ham, mocked at the aged pa- triarch ; a crime attended with many aggravated circumstances. But the deistical objection is this, '* It was inconsistent, say they, with the goodness of God, to inflict a curse on a nation in latter ages for the guilt of an ancestor. Now let every unpre- judiced reader attend to the passage, and then he will find that the whole was a prediction, and not an imjrrecation. Noah, by the spirit of prophecy, foreseeing that the descendants of his son Ham, would commit the grossest idolatries, oidy foretold what would happen to them in latter times. — Uurd. 88 CHAP. VII. The name of the Momonii supposed of Celtic origin — Various opinions on this head — Mumham a southern district of Ire- land — The meaning of Mammoii — Different names of the idol Ops — The Momonii tribes of the Phoenicians — Their name Phoenician — Origin of the word Mammanagh — Mammuna the sacrificing priest in the temples of the Phce- nicians — The Mammacocha of the Peruvians. I come now to the Momonii, the ancient inha- bitants of the province of Munster, divided, we may observe, according to their several settlements, into Desmond or southern Momonia, Thomond or north- ern Momonia, and Ormond eastern Momonia.* The name of Momonians is agreed on all hands, as we have already said, to have been composed of the Celtic or Irish words mou-man or pou-man, a mother or maternal country. Mou, and pou were the same as magus and pagus, mais and pais ; f so that momon or mouman would signify the mother coun- try of the aborigines : this part of Ireland being chiefly inhabited by the Nemethae, who betook them- * Th. Burgo Ibern. Dominii append. Monastic 732. t Baxter, p. 100. 89 selves from the district of Bolgae into their own resi- dence in Leinster, about five hundred and fifty years, as they say, before the christian era. They add, that from the first annals of Ireland it was discovered that its southern regions were called Mumha, which they interpret, the settlement or habitation of the abori- gines, from whence its inhabitants were called Mum- hanii or Momonii, that is inhabitants of the country of the aborigines.* Others think Momonia is a corruption or con- tracted Celtic word Mammon, the ancient name of the province of Munster, signifying the country of the great mother ; as they derive Mama or Moma, the name of a cave or cavern between Elphin and Ab- bey-Boyle, from Mammoii, which, in the Celtic lan- guage, means the place of the shrine of the great mother. For tradition tells us that there existed there at one time a celebrated grot, consecrated to Ops, the great mother of antiquity, whither the Bel- gian chiefs used, upon occasions, resort to consult the shades of their departed heroes. This object of re- ligious resort was also known by the name of Sib- bol Ama, Anum, Anagh, Aonagh, and Mamman, whence the Bolgaj, who had settled in the southern parts of Ireland, and who principally worshipped the idol Mammon, called themselves Mammanagh, (Mam- monii) to distinguish themselves from the Crombrii, * Collect, vol. iii.306. 90 Crumbrii, or Crimbrii, on the western coast, who worshipped Fate ; and from the Belgoe who wor- shipped Bal, or Beal, or Baal, that is the sun or the element of fire.* To me it appears sufficiently probable that the Momonii were one of the Phoenician tribes who be- came possessed of this district to which they gave the name of Mamon, which in their language signi- fies riches or wealth, and by a very natural associ- ation called themselves Mamonii, that is the wealthy, the possessors of riches and abundance, intimating the superiority of their habitation above the other districts of this country, as well in artificial resources as in the luxuriancy of the soil. But if we furthermore compare the words Mamo- nia and Momonii, or Mammanagh with the supersti- tion of that nation, I doubt not but that we shall find them strictly conformable with Phoenician ex- traction; for ammun, in that language, means the image or likeness of a mother, ammana, a gift or of- fering, presented to a mother. Mammanagh, I con- ceive not derived from Mammon, but from Mam- muna, the name usually given by the Phoenicians to the superintending or sacrificing priest belonging to any of their chapels. And it is very likely that that whole tribe took their name from them, as the heads or presidents of their places of worship. I would * Collect, de Reb. Ibern. vol. iii. p. 31)8. 91 hint by the way, that the ancient Peruvians wor- shipped the sea as a deity, under the name of Mam- macocha, and paid similar homage and adoration to j*ivers and fountains as contributory to the great ele- ment.* But this name, though evidently bearing some analogy vaih Mamman and Mammanach, yet is of a different origin^ though Phoenician all the while, if I mistake not. For maim macha in that language means, encompassing waters, and metapho- rically, people applauding or clapping their hands. t Jas. Acosta Historia de las Indies, lib. v. c. 2. 4, from which and other authorities it is manifest that the ancient pagans worshipped the sea and all large collections of water. The book of wisdom, xiii. 2, is clear on the point. Beyer (Selden de Diis Syrii) states that the inhabitants of Mexico, Vir- ginia, and Bengal offered adoration to certain rivers and foun- tains; for the ancients imagined, according to Lipsius, that rivers and fountains were lesser divinities or genii. The Nile was worshiped with the most scrupulous veneration by the Egyptians. (See Plutarch and Athanasius.) For says Julius Firmicus, from the universal benefits of water they conceived it must be a god. Wherefore we find (he poets calling rivers sacred, (Hor. lib. i. od. 1. Juven. sat. iiii.^ as they did also fountains because of the presiding nymphs. Amongst the an- cient idolotrous Spaniards, it is plain from an inscription of Vasconius, published by Gurter, that fountains were considered divine. " We," (the Spaniards) said Senecti, (epist. 41) " ve- nerate the sources of great rivers, * * * the springs of warm waters are worshipped, and certain pools, &c.'* The Persians also, with the Scythians, Saxons, and other nations, as well east as west, conceived water to be sacred, as appears from Herodotus, (iv.) Strabo, (xvii.) Tacitus, and others. 92 in which sense we find macha occurs in the psalm xcvii. 9, the rivers will applaud, Machoc^ in the original, meaning, waters that brush or sweep away, as we often see waves do bodies upon the shore.* * The Peruvians, before their being governed by their Incas, worshipped a numberless multitude of Gods, or rather genii. There was no nation, family, city, street, or even house, but had its peculiar gods ; and that because they thought none but the god to whom they should immediately devote themselves, was able to assist them in time of need. They worshipped herbs, plants, flowers, trees, mountains, caves ; and in the pro- vince of Puerto Viego, emeralds, tygers, lyons, adders, ; and, not to tire the reader with an enumeration of the several objects they thought worthy of religious worship, every thing that ap- peared wonderful in their eyes, was thought worthy of adora- tion. 93 CHAP. VIII. The Crombrii Fate worshippers — Origin of the word Crom — Not indicating worship, but a nation that worships — Traces of it in Ireland — As also in several geographical names of Ireland — The Phoenician derivation of these words. But since we have made mention of the Irish Crombrii, we had best see to which nation they be- longed. Crom, or crum, or crim, amongst the an- cient Irish signified Providence or the Godhead, which would lead one to suppose these words were Irish, crom signifying God in that language. But if it savours of the place wherein this deity was worship- ped, which is not at all unlikely, then it takes its origin from the Phcenician, crom in that language signifying a shrubbery of trees. So that crombrii, crumbrii, or cimbrii would seem to mean crambri, foreigners, that is the Phoenicians, who paid worship to Providence or Fate* in this island. That under * Men, ever since the creation, have endeavoured to pry into the secrets of futurity : this desire is inherent in us, and has been by many philosophers adduced as one of the strongest proofs of the immortality of the soul, that, indignant at its con- finement, is ever attempting to release itself, and soar beyond 94 the name of foreigners the Phoenicians are meant, will appear from this circumstance, viz. that, in their present time and circumstances. Findinoj, however, all their efforts to discover them by the force of reason vain, they have mutually resorted to the aid of that blind god, chance ; and hence, omens from the flight of birds, from the entrails of sacri- fices, have arisen : of this last I propose now to write to you. When a choice between two equal things was to be made, the referring it to chance by the casting of lots would obviously present itself as a fair mode of decidino-, where the judgment was unequal to do so ; and we find, therefore, this among the most ancient usages recorded in the bible : thus Aaron cast lots for the scape-goat. The direction of these lots would, of course, be soon imputed to the divine pleasure of the Almighty observer and guider of all things, and it would then occur to the inquisitive that this mode might be adopted for looking into futurity. Accordingly we see that this superstitious practice was very quickly applied to such purposes, an instance of which is given in Esther, chap. iii. verse 7, where, when Haman de- sired to find out the most proper time to slay all the Jews, he ordered the pur to be cast, that is the lot, from day to day, and from month to month, and discovered that the thirteenth of the twelfth month was most favourable for his designs ; but he was deceived, and the event proved the vanity of relying upon such divination. This mode, however, was too simple for the generality of men, and the custom next adopted was the mixing together of a number of letters'm an urn, throwing them out, and examining the arrangement in which they might full; but as frequently no sense could be discovered from these, in lieu of letters whole words were adopted, and even here the answer was very often not to be understood. To obviate this, Cicero tells us that a variety of predictions were inscribed on pieces of wood, which were kept in a box, shaken, and one drawn out by a child ; he informs us how these were first dis- covered, but observes, " Tota res est inventio fallacis, avt ad 95 language, bri or bari signifies a foreigner. And the practice of consecrating groves to the worship of idols, is established by innumerable testimonies from the ancient heathen writers. Virgil in his ninth ^neid, introduces Cybele thus speaking of herself. ^' On a lofty mount I have a grove, a piny wood, by me beloved for many a year "* And Prudentius in the " Roman martyr," says, '^ shall I go to the piny grove of Cybele." qucBStum, aut ad superstitionem." ** The whole matter is, how- ever, fallacious every way." And in another place, in speaking of it, he says, " Quihus in rebus temeritas et casus, non ratio et consilium valentJ*^ ** Chance, not reason, presides over these things." This mode of divination is continually spoken of by the writers of that age ; thus, Lucretius, ** Nequicquam Divum numen, sortesque fatigant." " In vain they implore the Gods, and search the Zo^s." And Ovid, " Auxiliuni per sacras qgerere sortes." *' To seek for aid in the sacred lots.^^ And again, ** Mota Dea est, sortemque dedit." '*The goddess was moved, and granted a lot," Numberless other instances might be given of the frequency of the practice ; but, as the urn and heaven-descended mystical pieces of wood were not always at hand, another mode was in- vented throughout Greece and Italy which superseded their use. This was to take the words of some celebrated poet, as Homer, Euripides, or Virgil ; to open this book at hazard, and to re- ceive as an oracle the first passage that met the eye ; these were termed '* Sortes JJomerica," or *' Vigilance,'^ Among the He- brews too, there was a divination called Beth Cole. — Lim. Mag. * Pinea sylva mihi multos dilecta per aunos Lucus in arce fuit sumraa. - Virfjll. 96 But it may be asked, whence arose this cus- tom to the heathens of erecting altars to their de- ities in woods and groves. In imitation, no doubt, of Abraham, who, as we are told in Genesis, xxi. 33, planted a grove in Beersheba, and there invoked the name of the Lord.^ These groves consisted of oak plantations ; for it is said of Abraham,f Genesis xii. * Abraham planted a grove. In the first ages of the world, the worship of God was exceedingly simple ; there were no temples, an altar composed sometimes of a single stone, or sometimes of turf, was all that was necessary : on this fire was lighted, and the sacrifice offered. Any place was equally proper, as they knew that the object of their worship filled the heavens and the earth. In process of time, when fa- nnilies increased, and many sacrifices were to be offered, groves or shady places were chosen, where the worshippers might en- joy the protection of the shade, as a considerable time must be empoyed in offering many sacrifices. These groves becamc^f- terwards abused to impure and idolatrous purposes, and were therefore strictly forbidden. See Exod. xxxiv. 12; Deut. xii. 3; xvi. 2\.—Dr, A. Clarke. t Abraham, the father of the faithful, was called away from his native country, somewhat less than three hundred years after the deluge, which naturally leads us to inquire into the origin of idolatry. Abraham, as a wanderer and sojourner in a strange coimtry,had not been above ten years absent from Ur, of the Chaldeans, when a famine obliged him to go into Egypt, at that time a very flourishing monarchy. That Egypt should have had a regal government within three huntlred years after the deluge, has been objected to by many of our deistical writers; but when attentively considered, we cannot find any thing in it of an extraordinary nature. People in those early ages lived in the most frugal manner, and few of them died be- 97 6, 7, that he passed over the land to the place Sichem, all along to the oak, (alon) Moreh, where the Lord appeared unto him, and that he there erected an altar in consequence. ]Moses afterwards designates this place in the plural number, saying, (Deut. xi. 30,) " Beside (aloni) the oaks, Moreh." V/ith which also two other passages accord, one in Genesis, xxxv. 4. the other in Judges ix. 6. We also tind in Genesis xiii. 18, that Abraham dwelt in the oaks (aloni) of Mamre, in Hebron, and there built an altar to the Lord. Afterwards also in Genesis, xiv. 13, he says, " he dwelt beside the oaks of Mamre." All which passages the septuagint renders, peri ten drun, that is, about the oak. From hence the idolatrous Ca- naanites began to consecrate oaks to their own divinities, and to worship in groves of that wood. The Phoenicians subsequently introduced the custom into Asia, Egypt, Africa, and the continent of Eu- rope, with the British isles. Ovid, speaking of the oak, calls it ^' sacred to Jove." Virgil says ^^ it was accounted an oracle by the Grecians." And Homer says the same in Od. xix.* fore they had attained to years of maturity ; so that tliere is no reason for us to be surprised, when we find ihe children of Mizraim foundinfi a monarchy, in the fertile plains of Eifvpt, as soon as a sufficient number of tiie human species had been collected together. — Ilurd. * See W. Cook's encpiiry into the patriarchal religion, &c. 98 The vestiges of the word, crom, can he still traced in Ireland in many of the old names given to its several localities ; for instance, we find the actual word occurs as the name of an old village which belongs at this day partly to the county of Kildare, and partly to that of Dublin, in the province of Leinster. In Crom-artin, a little village near Ardee, in the same province ; in Crom-castle, a town in the county Limerick, province of Munster ; in Mount Crom-mal, or Crom-la, between Loughs Swylly and Foile, in the county Donegal, province of Ulster, where the river Lubar, called by the natives Bredagh, and the river Lavath — beside which, in the declivity of a mountain, is a very remarkable cave called Cluna — take their rise ; in Mount Crom-la-sliabh, now called the Hill of Allen ; in Crom-oge, a little town in the barony of Maryborough, Queen's County, and province of Leinster ; in the old town of Crom-chin, which was otherwise called Atha and Rathcrayhan, and Drum Druid, but now more gene- rally known by the name of Croghan, being situated in the barony of Boyle, county Roscommon, pro- vince of Connaught, and formerly the principal city in that province. The name of Croghan is supposed to have been given to it from the likeness of the adjacent mountain to a pitcher, which that word in Irish signifies ; and Crom-chin from a cave in that mountain which the Druids had dedicated to Fate. And, finally, we may trace its vestiges in 99 Crom-lin, or Crum-lin, a little town in the county Dublin, as well as a little village in the barony of Massareene, in the county of Antrim ; which name the Irish interpret as the chapel or shrine of Crom, w^here the idolators used to sacrifice to this deity. To this origin they also refer Crumlin Water, the name of a river in the same barony of Massareene, and same county of Antrim. But it being my opinion that the word Crom has reference not to worship,* but to a nation that "^ In giving an account of tlie religions of ancient nations, we must be directed by two guides; namely, sacred and profane history. The former gives us a general view of their abomina- tions; the latter lays open all that now can be known concern- ing their public and private rites and ceremonies. Phoenice, Tyre, and Carthage, were all peo[)led by the sons of Ham; they had the same form of religion, spoke the same language, encouraged the same arts and sciences, used the same instru- ments in war, and inflicted the same punishments upon crimi- nals. Thus their civil and religious history is so blended together, that we cannot illustrate the latter, without taking some notice of the former. The Phoenicians were a remnant of the ancient Canaanites, who were suffered by the Divine Being, to remain unextirpated, that they should bo a scourge upon the children of Israel, as often as they relapsed into idol- atry. In scripture they are often mentioned, as a warlike people, under the name of Philistines, for the word Phoenice is Greek. They inhabited that part of Asia adjoining to the Mediterranean sea, and worshipped an idol named Dagon, much in the same form as a mermaid is represented by the fa- bulous writers ; a human body from the navel upwards, and the lower part that of a fish. The figure itself was very expressive ; for it pointed out, not only their situation near the sea, but H 2 100 worships, I shall now detail my sentiments respecting the derivation of the geographical names just alluded to. Crom-artin, then, I would derive from the Phoe- nician words Crom-arithin, a shrubbery dedicated to Fate,* and surrounded with pools or rivers. likewise that they were connecterl, both with sea and land. Invaded in their continental territories by the neighbouring na- tions, they settled in an island near adjoining, which they called Tyre ; and there remained in possession of it till the time of Alexander the Great. As a trading people, they sent colonies into Africa : but most of these were comprehended under the name of Carthagenians ; and such regard had Tyre and Car- thage for each other, that when Cambyses resolved to make war upon the latter, the Phoenicians refused to accompany him ; alledging in excuse, that they could not fight against their brethren, which obliged that prince to lay aside his design. Nay, the Carthagenians sent an annual tribute to the Tyrians, part of which was for the support of the civil government, and part for the maintainance of the priests and religion. The religion of the Carthagenians, which was the same as that of the Tyrians, Phoenicians, Philistines, and Canaanites, was most horrid and barbarous ; and so regular were they in practising what will ever dishonour human nature, that Chris- tians, in attending to their duty, may take an example from them. Nothing of any moment was undertaken without con- sulting the gods, which they did by a variety of ridiculous rites and ceremonies. Hercules was the god in whom they placed most confidence, at least he was the same to them as Mars was to the Romans, so that he was invoked before they went upon any expedition ; and when they obtained a victory, sacri- fices and thanksgivings were ofi'ered to him. * According to the notions of the Indian heathens, the 101 Crom-mal, from Cram-mala, a congregation of people in a grove or shrubbery of the deity Fate. Crom-la, from Cram-lah, anxious worshippers of Fate in a grove. The word sHabh, at the end of the word Crom-la-sliabh^ bears allusion to a fountain of this mountain, or forest, contiguous to the shrine ; for sliaba in the Phoenician, is the pipe of a fountain through which the water flows. Crom-oge, from Crom-og, which means, people burning victims in the shrubbery of Fate. Crom-chin, from Crom-schin, people applauding in the grove of Fate. Crom-lin, from Cram-lun, people entertained or sojourning in the grove* of Fate ; or hospitality beside the shrine of this idol. god Bruma writes upon the forehead of every new-born child an account of all that shall happen to him in this world, and that it is not in the power of God or man to prevent these things from taking place. Thus we find that the doctrine of fatality has taken place in the most early ages, and even in the most barbarous nations. This system being entirely that which was embraced by the followers of Epicurus amongst the heathens, and theSadducees among the .Tews, we shall not say any thing concerning it, be- cause it is but a bold attempt to set aside the utility of public and private worship ; for if God does not take notice of the actions of men in this life, then the whole bounds of religion are removed ; there is no motive to duty ; there is nothing to restrain us as mortals from committing the most horrid, the most unnatural crimes. * As it was the universal practice ihe ancient heathen 102 CHAP. IX. Ops not the Apis of the Egyptians, but one of the names of Cybele— She was the Roman Vesta - Etymology of the word — • Variously called from the mountains v)here she was worshipped — Origin of the word Sibbol — Thence Cybele — Why called Ama, Mammon, Anagh, Aonagh, or Aona — Shabana. But, before we proceed any further, I would entreat the readers' indulgence for the few inci- dental observations, which I purpose to make, upon that celebrated idol of antiquity. Ops, which, an- cient writers assure us, the Momonians worshipped nations to worship their idols in groves, before temples were erected, it may be proper here to inquire, what gave rise to that notion ? It is a principle acquired by experience without reading, that in every act of devotion the mind should be fixed on the grand object of worship. Every one who has walked in a grove will acknowledge, that there was more than a com- mon reverential awe upon his mind, which must be owing to the small number of objects that presented themselves. We may jnstly call them the haunts of meditation ; but still it cannot be denied, that many abominable crimes were com- mitted in them : some parts near their altars were set apart for secret lewdness, and even for such unnatural practices as ought not to be related. — Hurd, 103 in a celebrated grotto ; — as well as upon the other names by which this deity was distinguished.* A learned gentleman, and a shrewd searcher into the Phoenician idolatry, suspected once that Ops was to the Phoenicians the same as Apis, not that which Tibullusf calls the Memphian Bull, J and which the Memphians consecrated to the moon, but that which the Heliopolites had consecrated to the sun.§ * See chap. vii. t Tibul. lib. iii. eleg. 7. X The most magnificent temples were erected for him ; he was adored by all ranks of people while living, and when he died (for he was a living Bull) all Egypt went into mourning for him. We are told by Pliny, that, during the reign of Ptolemy Lagus, the Bull Apis died of extreme old age, and such was the pompous manner in which he was interred, that the funeral expences amounted to a sum equal to that of twelve thousand pounds sterling. The next thing to be done, was to provide a successor for this god, and all Egypt was ransacked on purpose. He was to be distinguished by certain marks from all other animals of his own species ; particularly he was to have on his forehead a white mark, resembling a crescent ; on his back the figure of an eagle ; and on his tongue that of a beetle. As soon as an ox answering that description was found, mourning gave place to joy ; and nothing was to be heard of in Egypt but festivals and rejoicings. The new discovered god, or rather beast, was brought to Memphis, to take possession of his dignity, and there placed upon a throne, with a great number of ceremonies. Indeed, the Egyptians seem to have given such encouragement to superstition, that not content with worshipping the vilest of all reptiles, ihey actually paid divine honors to vegetables. § Voss. de orig. ct progress, idolat. 1. 29. 104 For the Phoenicians also worshipped the sun under the name of Baal, or Bel, by which, as the Assyrians and Babylonians, they understood, physically, the whole system of nature, as well terrestrial as celes- tial, and above all, the solar nature, as Servius tells us. They, accordingly, very appropriately gave to the sun the name of Belus, as the Moabites did that of Moloch. For as this latter appellation sig- nifies King, so does Baal, or Bel, signify Lord, as though the arbiter of all the blessings of nature. Wherefore, also, did they call him Bolatis, or Bolati. from the words Bol-ati, which means Baal,* or the Lord, who bestows.f But this Baal being distin- guished by various names, it hence happened that, in Scripture, the Israelites are blamed for serving Baals, in the plural number. This seems to have occurred in other countries also, for the Bolgae, a colony of the Phoenicians in Ireland, worshipped, as * But of all the gods of the Syrians and Canaanites, none were honored so much as Baal, who was no other than the Belus of the Chaldeans, and the Jupiter of the Greeks. It is probable the sun was worshipped under this name ; for Josiah* willing to make some atonement for the sins of his father Manasseh, in worshipping Baal and all the host of heaven, put to death the idolatrous priests that burnt incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. He likewise took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, and burnt the chariots of the sun with fire. — Hurd. t See Damascus in the life of Isidorus Photius. 105 we shall hereafter shew, the sun, or the principle of fire, as a deity, under various names. The name of Bolgse is compounded of the Phoenician words Bol- goi, meaning the nation that worships Bol, or Baal ; as Belgse is compounded of the \vords Bel-goi, amounting to the same. From whence the Bolgae and the Belgse were at first called by the Latins Bolgii and Belgii ; afterwards the Bolgian and the Belgian nations ; and finally, as we now call them, the Bolgas and the Belgae. From this cause it was that the writer, above alluded to, conceived Ops the same as Apis, which the Hieropolitans had conse- crated to the sun. Indeed I w^ould think this conjecture probable enough, were it not evident, from another source, that Ops was one of the names of Cybele, reputed by idolators as the daughter of Heaven and Earth, and designated as the Mother of the Gods, the Good Mother, and the Earth itself.* Wherefore * Pliny (11, 65.) affirms that the Gentiles worshipped the earth under the name of Mother^ and not only Mother but great Mother, because of its bountifulness. For this it was that they called her the eternal creator of men and gods, (Stat. Chebaid. viii. V. 304,) chief parent, and other such epithets; for having fallen away into idolatry from the religion of tlie patriarchs, who offered sacrifices to the true God through failh in the pro- mised Messiah, and having thus contaminated the original purity of the knowledge of the Godhead, they worshipped the elements, from which they conceived all things to have been realized, either as actual divinities or symbols of divinities, and 106 the Romans worshipped her under the name of Vesta, as bemg clothed in the beauty of her own manifold productions,* according as some imagine ;f though others would account for it otherwise. J Un- der this latter name she had two temples at Rome,§ one built by Romulus, the other by Numa Pom- pilius, in the mid space between the Capitoline and Palatine hills, both hills being surrounded by one wall. Her temples were always round, in allusion of course to the earth's form. Others would derive the name of Ops from the Egyptian word hop, a serpent ; others from the Hebrew apoe, a viper ; whence the Greek ophis, a snake, the root of which is poe, or phoe, to hiss. But this has nothing common, or in connection with the fables which mythology tells us of this divinity. They come more near the truth who say that Ops is a mountain of Phrygia, where this idol w^as wor- shipped, the name Ops, or Opes, implying a boun- amongst these, in a special manner, the earth, whence themselves originated, and into which all things again return in a state of decomposition. - (Plato. — Proclns.) Cybele was afterwards designated by various other names, many of which may still be traced upon ancient altars, and recorded by Plutarch, Pansanias, Gruler, Smelius, ^c. Camden mentions to have seen one of her altars in Biitain. * Quippe qua? rebus omnibus vestitur, t See Lud. Despre. on the Odes of Hor. lib. i. od. 2. X Cicero de Nat. Deo. i. n. 67. § Dionys. Hal. earn. lib. ii. 107 clary, as though it were the limit of some particular country ; as also they think that she was called Rhea, the name by which she was worshipped at Hierapolis, from a mountain called Rea, meaning he saw, or he observed, from its lofty position command- ing a sight of distant objects. She w^as called Din- dymena, from the mountain Dindemain, which means, olive groves in an eastern quarter ; and Bere- cynthia, from breschin, or bereschin, a fir or pine grove. But our decision on the word Sibbol, a name by which the Irish, as well as almost all other nations, designated and worshipped Ops, or Cybele, must be guided altogether by another principle For here I at once recognize the Syriac character as derived from sibola, an ear of corn, under which guise the Phoenicians used to w^orship the earth as the mother of all harvests, fruits, and vegetables. All nations, therefore, by one common consent, represented Cybele holding in her right hand some ears of corn.* * Vossius states that there was a£ Rome, in the house which belonged to Cardinal Caesius, a marble altar, on which stood a statue of Cybele, with a tower upon her head, and holding millet and ears of corn in her right hand. The inscription was, " To the Great Idean, Mother of the Gods." Many imagine that, in allusion to the same principle, she was called Rhea ; not from the mountain of that name, in Persia, but from the Phoenician reah, he yielded fodder ; whence rei, pasture : the metaphori- cal signification of reah is, he obtained dominion. She was called Idean from id or ida, power. \ 108 Whence the Greeks gave her the name of Cubele, and the Latins that of Cybele. She was called Ama from the Phoenician word, am, a mother, and Mammon, from mammon, riches, or wealth, as the bestower of all blessings. The name of Anagh, by which she was also dis- tinguished, may refer, if you please, to the groves wherein she was worshipped ; for Anagh means de- light, or to be delighted, of course, with such worship. But I would prefer deriving it from nahag, he ruled, or governed ; for, as the daughter of Earth and Heaven, and the mother, besides, of the gods. Ops may be well supposed invested with no ordinary share of authority, in directing the affairs of the world. The Isle of Annagh, which lies between the island of Achil and the coast of the county Mayo, in the province of Connaught, takes its name from this ; as does also a little town of the same name near Charleville, in the county Cork ; and Annagh- uan an island adjacent to the county Gal way, intimating, as it were, a people who worshipped Anagh : for the Phoenicians used, synechdocally, to call the inhabit- ants of any particular district by the generic name of "ben." Nor can I see any objection to the derivation of the names of these places from the giant Anac, the son of Arbas,* from whom the Phoenicians were * Joshua XV. 13, 14. Ben- Anac means literally the sons 109 called Anakin, or Ben-Anac, the sons or descendants of Anac, their principal or leading trihe, agreeably and corresponding to the Irish appellatives, Mac- Carthy, MacMahon,* O'Brien, O'Connel, the '' Mac" of giants or heroes, of the stock of which Anac was the first parent. Whence to this day, in the old Irish ballads, Feineagh means a champion, or heroic warrior. * At such time as Robert Vere, Earl of Oxford, was in the Barons warres against King Richard the Second, through the mallice of the Peeres, banished the realme and proscribed, he with his kinsman, Fitz-Ursula, fled into Ireland, where being prosecuted, and afterwards in England put to death, his kins- man there remaining behinde in Ireland rebelled, and, con- spiring with the Irish, did quite cast off both their English name and alleagiance, since which time they have so remained still, and have since beene counted meere Irish. The very like is also reported of the Mac-swines, Mac-mahones, and Mac- shehies of Mounster, how they likewise were aunciently Eng- lish, and old followers to the Earle of Desmond, untill the raigne of King Edward the Fourth ; at which time the Earle of Desmond that then was, called Thomas, being through false subornation (as they say) of the Queene for some offence by her against him conceived, brought to his death at Tredagh most unjustly, notwithstanding that he was a very good and sound subject to the King. Thereupon all his kinseraen of the Geraldines, which then was a mighty family in Mounster, in revenge of that huge wrong, rose into armes against the King, and utterly renounced and forsooke all obedience to the Crowne of England, to whom the said Mac-swines, Mac-sheliies, and Mac-mahones, being then servants and followers, did the like, and have ever sithence so continued. And with them (they say) all the people of Mounster went out, and many other of them, which were meere English, thenceforth joyned with the Irish against the King, and termed themselves very Irish, taking on them Irish habits and customes, which could never no and the '' O " prefixed to the latter, importing the same as the Ben in the former instance, viz. '' the sons of," or '' descended from." Aonagh, another name of Ops, was pronounced Aona by the ancient Irish, and by others called Shabana. And as dm'ing the celebration of her solemnities they always held a fair or markets beside her temple, it requires no great effort of imagination, as I should think, to derive this name from aon, wealth, or a place of public resort. Shabana evi- dently comes from shaban, abundance, which again is derived from shabaa, he abounded ; all obviously in keeping with mercantile views and attendance on the market-place. This is still more clearly proved by the name given to the first of November in their calendar, viz. Oidche Shambna, the day, or rather the night (Oidche signifies night) on which idola- trous ceremonies were usually celebrated.* The festival itself was called Tlachgo, which some refer to the rotundity of the earth, but I should prefer deriving it from the Phoenician tla agod, a gathering of yearling lambs, such being the usual victims on the occasion.f From Phoenicia therefore it was since be cleane vvyped away, but the contagion hath remained still among their posterityes. Of which sort (they say) be most of the surnames which end in an, as Heriian, Shinan, Mungan, &c. the which now account themselves natural Irish. — Spenser, * See Collect, de Reb. Ibern. p. 420. t Noah had taught his children the knowledge of the true Ill that the worship of Ops, under her various designa- tions as particularized above, was introduced into Ireland, to procure for her votaries that successful career as well in agriculture as in commerce, of w^hich she was supposed the bountiful superintendant. We may this day observe a vestige of her name in that of an old town in Lower Ormond, the capital, at one time, of the district anciently called Epg- anacht Aine Cliach, called Aonoch. It is now God; and that they were to trust in his mercy through the mediation of a Redeemer, who was to be revealed to them at a future period of time ; for the necessity of a mediator between God and man was a general notion from the beginning. But as no clear revelation was then made of this Divine person, the people began to choose mediators for themselves, from among the heavenly bodies, such as the sun, moon, and stars, whom they considered as in a middle state between God and men. This was the orijyin of all the idolatry in the heathen world ; and at first they worshipped those orbs themselves, but as they found that they were as often under the horizon as above it, they were at a loss how to address them in their absence. To remedy this, they had recourse to making images, which after their consecration they believed endowed with Divine power, and this was the origin of image worship. This religion first began among the Chaldeans, and it was to avoid being guilty of idolatry that Abraham left that country. In Persia, the first idolators were called Sabians, who adored the rising sun with the profoundest veneration. To that planet they consecrated a most magnificent chariot, to be drawn by horses of the greatest beauty and magnitude, on every solemn festi- val. The same ceremony was practised by many other heathens, who undoubtedly learned it from the Persians, and other eastern nations,- Hurd. 112 called Nainagh, or Nenagh, and is situated in the county Tipperary. I should observe that Aonoch, in Irish, signifies also a mountain or a leader. But Nenagh I would derive from the Irish words naoi- nach, an assemblage of people, rather than, as would others, from neonach, a player or buffoon. CHAP. X. The Iben, a people of Ireland — Spain not cognizant of the Iberi of Mount Caucasus — Iberia, a Phoenician word — Calpe, the extremity of the earth in the estimation of the Phoenicians — A promontory and city in Spain, actually the extremity of the earth's extension — This occupied by the an- cient Iberi — The sun setting in the river Iber — The Irish Iberi, a tribe of the Spanish Iberi — Where they settled — The district of Ibrickin, a vestige of them — Derivation of this word, as also of Ibercon — The idols, Sicuth and Kion. The Iberi, a people of Ireland, of whom Ptolemy makes mention, inhabited the coasts of the county of Kerry, in the province of Munster. Irish writers make mention of another people of this name, who had settled in the county of Derry, in Ulster, be- tween Lough Foyle and the river Ban.* But who * Eicharcl Cirenester, in his *' De Situ Britanniaj," chap. those Iberi were we must now betake ourselves to consider briefly. To suppose, then, that the Caucasian Iberi had gone into Spain, and given to that country the name of Iberia, I hesitate not to pronounce as nonsense the most absurd, though supported by the authority of Varro,* and sanctioned by the adoption of Apianf and Diodorus Siculus.J No ; the origin of Iberia must be sought from another source. § Eber, in the Hebrew, and Ebra or Ibra, in the Chaldee, signify a passing over, or any thing remote or far away ; their plurals, Ibrin or Ebrin, signify boundaries or limits : the Spaniards, therefore, were very naturally called Iberi, being, as the Phoenicians imagined, the very remotest inhabitants of the earth, and their city, Calpe, the furthermost spot in their opinion of the habitable globe. || Conformable to this is the character given by Possidonius to the temple of Hercules, in Gades or Cadiz, calling it " the bound- ary of the earth and sea."^ From the same reason the Jews would have Gaul and Spain to be the boundaries of their own land. The Zarphat and iii. says, from an old Roman geographer, " The ancients put it past doubt, that the Iberi took up their settlements in Ireland." * Varro ap Pliny, iii. 3. t Apian in Ibericis, p. 22(;. I Diod. Sic. V. 210. § Bochart. Geog. Sacr. iii. 7. II Strabo, lib. iii. H See Erasmus on " Pill. Her." iii. chap. 20. I 114 Sarphad mentioned by Obadiah, ver. 20. the Jews would have to be Gaul and Spain ; because the '^psalter" extends the empire of Christ even unto the boundaries of the earth, which Aben-ezra * says, are situated in the remote west. Finally, the Spaniards, themselves, have long since given the name of Finis Terras ,f or land's end, to the Nerian or Celtic promontory in Artabria. A city and district of the same country, in the district of Compostella, still preserves its name of land's end — Finisterre. Others suppose that the Spaniards were called Iberi, from the river Iber; just as Egypt got its name from the river Nile, which Homer designates — Egyptus. Iber, the name of the river, signifies in the Phoenician, rapidly flowing. J * Psalras Ixxi. 8. t Some Spaniards derive this name from the Celticjin-es-tere^ that is, a fair and fertile mountain. As they do, also, the names of the towns, Finestras, in the Celtiberi, and Fiiiestrat, in the Edetani, from the Celtic fin-es-tra, a village on a hill beside a river. I The river Iber rises in the district of the Cantabrians, hard by Juliobriga, and flows by the ancient Vetones and Vascones, dividing the Ilergates from the Editani. Avienus (in Oris Maritimis) mentions another Iberus, near the ocean, to the west of the former, being no more than a stream raid- way between Boetis and Anas, now called Rio Tinto, or de Aceche ; these are his words : — *' Iberus inde manat amnis, et locos Foecilndat unda. Plurimi ex ipso ferunt Dictos Iberos, non abillo flumine. Quod inquietos Vascones perlabitur. Nam quid-quid auini gentis hugus adjacet, Occiduum ad axem, Iberiam cognominant.'* 115 The more ancient Iberi had not possession of the whole of Spain, but only of that part of it confront- ing the Mediterranean, and extending from the Pyrenees to Calpe, and the pillars of Hercules, But though the Iberi were, properly speaking, the more remote,* yet the ancient geographical writers accounted the Spaniards, indiscriminately, as the most distant people ; which gave rise to the fiction, on the part of the poets, of the sun's setting not only in the ocean, but more particularly in the river Iber, thereby to mark out the extremity of the earth's extent.f The Iberia, therefore, of the ancient Irish took its name from the tribes of the Iberi of Spain, and consisted of that tract of country in the environs of Beerhaven, in the county of Cork ; the families of which people would seem to have been the original inhabitants of the county Kerry, and a part of the county Clare, in the same province, J where we still find the barony of Ibrickin, a proof of the * Hence we may infer, that the Boetic Iberi, of whom Avienus speaks, were more properly so called Iberi, for they were the most extreme in respect to Spain in general. t Bochart i. 35. Spain retains the traces of this name in the Iberic Mountains, which pass through the middle of the kingdom of Arragon, in Ibera, the name of an ancient city of the Ilercaones, which Livy designates as '* viost opulent," and in Iberura, a town of Cantabria. I The Poets tell us, that tliis district of Ireland, was ap. propriated to Heber, son of Milesius. See Seward. I 2 116 presence of the Iberi, who gave it that name. It is probable, too, that the descendants of the Spanish Iberi, who all originated from a Phoenician stock, were accounted kin, as the sons of Obab or Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses,* and from him called Kini. This would account for the appear- ance of this word, as the last syllable of Iberi-kin : and who is it that does not know the avidity of the Phoenicians to perpetuate their nobility, and the fondness of delight with which they dwelt upon every memorial of the glory of their ancestors ? Or, Kin might be equivalent with Kini, that is the Cinnaei, a people in the land of Canaan, who were also called the Cinnaean race.f And this would seem supported by the names of certain localities still preserved in this country ; for instance, that of Cinneich, the residence of Dermott Mac Carthy, J Esq. * Judges i. 16. t Judges iv. 11, 17. X A pathetic incident connected with the Mac Cartys has such claims on the feelings that I will not conclude this narra- tive of their fortunes without the mention of it. A considerable part of the forfeited estates of that family, in the county Cork, was held by Mr. S , about the middle of the last century. Walking one evening in his demesne, he observed a figure, apparently asleep, at the foot of an aged tree, and, on approach- ing the spot, found an old man extended on the ground, whose audible sobs proclaimed the severest affliction. Mr. S inquired the cause, and was answered — " Forgive me, sir; my grief is idle, but to mourn is a relief to the desolate heart and 117 near Bandon, in the county Cork ; that of Cineal Fearmaic, a district in old Thomond, in the county Clare; and that of Cineal-Eoghean, an ancient and extensive tract of the province of Ulster, comprising the present counties of Tyrone, Armagh, Donegal, and part of the county Derry. This latter inter- pretation may be applied, also, to several names of the old Irish tovv^ns beginning with Kin. To a Phoenician source must we also refer the origin of the word Ibercon, the name of a place in the county Kilkenny,* between the baronies of Ida and Igrim, being composed of the words Iberi-con, that is, the staunch, the firm Iberi. Nor is it unlikely that they consisted of those, who borrowed from the Phoenicians the worship of the idol Kiun or Kion, which we are told by the prophet Amos, v. 26., the humbled spirit. I am a Mac Carty, once the possessor of that castle, now in ruins, and of this ground ; — this tree was planted by my own hands, and 1 have returned to water its roots with my tears. To-morrow I sail for Spain, where I have long been an exile and an outlaw since the Revolution. I am an old man, and to-night, probably for the last time, bid farewell to the [place of my birth and the home of my forefathers.'* — Croft on Croker. * Canice, son of Laidec, a celebrated poet, was the founder and first abbot of the abbey of Aghavoe, where he died the fifth of the ides of October, in tlie year 599 or 600. The episcopal see was at length removed from Aghavoe to Kilkenny, or the cathedral (Kil) of Cannice (Kenny), called after this saint, to- wards the end of the twelfth century, by Felix O'Dulany, then bishop. — Mac Geoghegan. 118 Syrians worshipped in conjunction with their Idol Sicuth. The septuagint translation of the bible calls this idol, " Astron/' a star ; the vulgate renders it, ^^ the image of your idols, the star of your God."* The Hebrews think it to be Saturn, who was called Keuan by the Persians and Arabians ; and it is well known that the Phoenicians worshipped this deity under a variety of names and symbols. * V. 26. The Phcenicians were accustomed to carry about with them some small images, representing certain gods, in carved chariots ; the tabernacle of Moloch, above mentioned, seems to have been a machine of this kind. The first images or statues were made in honour of great men, who had per- formed extraordinary exploits ; and these being set up in par- ticular places, great veneration was paid to them, which, in the end, turned to religious adoration. It appears, from Pliny, that those statues were at first made of brick, such as that used in building the famous tower of Babel. As to the text itself, above alluded to, it should run thus: — ** But ye have borne the tabernacle of your god, (Moloch) ; and ye have also borne Chium, your likeness ; the star (Remphan) of your god, {the same Moloch.) The common translation insinuates, that Moloch and Remphan, or Chium, were different deities, whereas, according to that proposed, they were the same, since it makes Chium and Remphan the names of that star which the Arabians and Egyptians appropriated to the false deity, called by the Ammonites, &c. by way of eminence — Moloch, or King. 119 CHAP. XI. The Irish Brigantes, not the Breogani of a later date — neither Armenians, nor Phrygians. — Various names of Brigantia, in Spain — Pharos therein, by whom built — An oracle of Menistheus, in an observatory therein — The Irish BriganteSy a tribe of the Spanish Phoenicians — The Heneti — Why so called — Why the Briganters so called — Brigantium the re- sidence of the Irish — Vestiges of this name, as well in Ireland as in Spain. More celebrated than the Iberi far, in ancient Ireland^ was another people, called the Brigantes, who were either actually Phoenicians, or descended from the Phoenicians of Spain. O'Connor makes mention of Gagman's poem,* wherein it is said that Brioganus, the son of Brathus, in a right line from Fenius, one of their wise men, was the founder of Brigantia in Spain. And that his posterity had sailed from thence into Ireland, under the conduct Beginning thus, " Canam bunliadus n)on GaotlUil ;" that }, ** I sing of the origin of the Gadalians.' 120 of the two brothers, Heber* and Heremon.f The Spanish harbour, which the Greeks call Brugantia, by Ptolemy called Phlaouion Brigantion, and by the Romans, Flavia Brigantum, is supposed to have been so called after his name. Its modern name is Co- runa, and it is only forty-eight hours' voyage, straight a-head, with a fair south west wind, from any port on the coast of Ireland. CEticusJ still further tells us, that in the abovementioned town of Brigantia there is a watch-tower of prodigious height, called Pharos, and intended chiefly as a light-house for the direction of vessels lying out at sea.§ And Orosius,|| says that this had been built by the Tyrian Hercules, who, we know from Diodorus Siculus, had subdued Iberia, and all the countries thence to the going down of the sun, before he had crossed the Alps. Keating,^ nevertheless, asserts, that this tower was built by Breoganus the founder of the city, and that the first discovery he made therefrom, by the aid of a telescope, was the existence of this our island, to which he instantly transferred a colony of * Giraldus Cambrensis (Topog. Diet. iii. cap. vii.) in the following century, and Nennius in the ninth, have asserted the same. t Apud. Casaub. in Strab. t. 1. p. 206. note 3. t This was called the town of Augustus, in the time of Mela. § Adversus Gentes I. 17. Alias I. 2. II IV. H Psalter of Cormac. 121 his subjects, that is the Brigantes, the same who in the Irish annals are called Sliocht Briogan, that is, the stock or the progeny of this leader. Straboj* alluding to the origin of this observa- tory, says, — " In this place is the oracle of Menes- theus, and the tower of Capio, built upon a rock, surrounded by the sea, a prodigy of art, like the Pha- ros ; and it is so contrived, that the rays of light falling thereon are refracted and reflected in every direction, as if issuing out of so many chinks, exhibiting all the beauty and the ruddiness of the sun or moon, when either rising or setting, and seen through the me- dium of a transparent and a dry cloud.'* The harbour of Menestheus is mentioned by him in the same passage, as it is also by Ptolemy ; Menestheus, himself, having been the leader of the Athenians at the time of the Trojan war, and the person who, as w^e read in the commentaries of the Grecians, on his return from Illium to Athens, had been expelled thence by the descendants of Theseus, and betaken himself forthwith to Spain.f * Hisce in locis, Oraculum Menesthei est, et Capionis tur- ns saxo imposita, quod mari cingitur, opus mirabile, Phari instar, quibus infractos radios visus, veluti in fistulas quasdam diffundi, et raajorem verA quantitatem fingere, quemadmodiini cum solem lunamve orientem aut occidentem per aridam, te- nuemque nubera intuemurj rubere putamus." i. 3. t See Casaub. in Strab. O'Connor. 122 Baxter,* however, is of opinion, that the Brigantes were a people of ancient Phrygia and Armenia,f who passed over into Thrace, and made themselves masters, in the very earliest days, and by natural occupation, of almost the entire of Europe ; they were also, he conceives, called Heneti, from hen, which, in the two countries abovementioned, is equi- valent with ancient, or antique. But the Brigantes being evidently Phoenicians, or, at least, a stock of the Phoenician Iberi, I should think it more pro- bable, that they got the name of Heneti, in after times, from the depravity of their moral conduct, the word eneth, in the Phoenician language, signi- fying scandalous or depraved. And from thence, perhaps, comes the Spanish word, bergante, which signifies the same. It may, it is true, admit of another derivation, and infinitely more to their credit, namely, that of being expert at the management of the spear, for heneth, in the Syriac and Hebrew, * Gloss. Antiq. Brit. p. 48. f Armenia is a very extensive country, and generally divided into the greater and lesser, but taking both together, they are bounded in the following manner. It has Georgia on the north; on the south mount Taurus, which divides it from Mesopotamia, on the west the river Euphrates, and on the east the Cas- pian mountains. Georgia has the Caspian sea on the east, the Euxine sea on the west, on the north Circassia, and, on the south, part of Armenia. The river Cur, or Cyrus, so called from the emperor of that name, runs through it, dividing it into two equal parts. 123 signifies a spear. Another exposition may also be adduced, from the custom of embalming the bodies of their dead, which the Jews, as w^ell as Syrians, had borrowed from the people of Egypt.* In support of this latter exposition we shall state, that henet or hanat, in the Syro-Chaldaic language, signifies to embalm, the ingredients in which process we may, en passant, observe to have been myrrh, aloes, cedar oil, salt, wax, pitch, and rosin, invented with a view to the preservation of their dead, in a state of sweet- ness and indecomposition, in their appropriate recep- tacles. With this ceremony was the body of our blessed Saviour interred, with aromatic spices, which, Josephus tells us, corresponded with the form of the Jewish sepulture. It is not at all improbable, there- fore, that these Phoenician tribes were called Eneti, * When any of the Egyptians died, the whole family quitted the place of their abode; and during sixty or seventy days, according to the rank or quality of the deceased, abstained from all the comforts of life, excepting such as were necessary to support nature. They embalmed the bodies, and many persons were employed in performing this ceremony. The brains were drawn through the nostrils by an instrument, and the intestines were emptied by cutting a hole in the abdomen, or belly, with a sharp stone ; after which, the cavities were filled up with perfumes, and the finest odoriforous spices ; but the person who made the incision in the body for this purpose, and who was commonly a slave, was obliged to run away im- mediately after, or the people present would stone him to death. 124 that is the embahners,* from having introduced this custom into Ireland^ as they did, also, into Spain. * A question may here naturally be asked, Why do the heathens in the East Indies, in conformity with the practice of the Romans, burn the bodies of the dead ? There have been several conjectures concerning the origin of this barbarous practice, as first, many of the eastern nations adored the tire, and therefore they considered it as an acceptable piece of de- votion, to offer up the dead bodies of their relations to it. Secondly, their pride might induce the most celebrated heroes, and the most beautiful women, to desire to conceal from the world, what poor helpless creatures they were while alive. Thirdly, they beheld many indignities offered to the dead, and they were willing, nay desirous that nothing of that nature should happen to their relations. Lastly, they might do it in order to prevent a contagious distemper, which often takes place from the noxious smell of dead bodies. Whether any, or all of these conjectures may be founded in truth, we leave the reader to judge, but, certain it is, the practice itself, is contrary to natural religion, as well as to Divine revelation. Natural religion points out, that as man was formed out of the earth, so at death his body should be consigned to it. *' Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return." Divine revelation teaches us, that as Christ laid down his head in the grave, so the bodies of those who are his faithful followers, should be deposited in the earth ; to rest till that awful period, when he shall come to judge the world in righteousness. Let us pity heathens, who have none of those consolations, which our holy religion holds out to us ; let us daily pray for their con- version ; let us not be afraid to lay down our heads in the silent grave ; let us not reflect much on the indignities that may be offered to our bodies after death ; for our Divine Re- deemer has gone before us, he has made the grave sweet unto us, and by his almighty power, he will raise us up at the last day.— //iwrd. 125 Baxter, however, thinks that the Brigantes or Heneti, as they may indiiferently be called, having, as we have said, passed over into Thrace, got the name of Bruges, Briges, or Friges, from the cold- ness of that climate, and these names got afterwards inflected, according to the several Teutonic and Britannic dialects, into Brigantes, Frixi, Frigones, Frisii, Friscones, Brisones, Britones, and Britanni. Whence he infers, and gives himself credit for the discovery, that the Brigantes of Ireland were the Gauls and the foreigners, who in the older times were denominated the Erii * or Scots ;f and that this was a name common to the Britons, nay, to all the Gauls, before the arrival of the Belg^ from Germany. This distinguished writer adds, that the original Brigantes on being expelled their own territories, * Baxter's Gloss. Antiq. Brit. p. 119. t Two kindes of Scots were indeed (as you may gather out of Buchanan) the one Irin, or Irish Scots, the other Albin- Scots; for those Scots are Scythians, arrived (as I said) in the north parts of Ireland, where some of them after passed into the next coast of Albine, now called Scotland, which (after much trouble) they possessed, and of themselves named Scot- land ; but in process of time (as it is commonly scene) the dominion of the part prevaileth in the whole, for the Irish Scots putting away the name of Scots, were called only Irish, and the Albine Scots, leaving the name of Albine, were called only Scots. Therefore it commeth thence that of some writers, Ireland is called Scotia-major, and that which now is called Scotland, Scotia- minor. — Spenser. 126 ^ came in quest of a new settlement to this island, and that the Ceangi, a people of the Dumnonian Belgas, called by the Irish Scoto-Brigantes, For- Bolg, or Belgian-men, followed them in the pursuit of similar adventures. But it being admitted on all hands, as we have said, that the Brigantes were a people of the Phoeni- cians, who landed in Ireland, from the coast of Gallacia, or France ; they could not possibly have been so named from the cold of that climate, which we all know to be very temperate, not to say warm. Neither were they so called from Briganus, the son of Brethus, who belongs more to the day-dreams of story-tellers, than to the rigid accuracy of historical truth. No ; Bregan or Breogan, I consider a Phoeni- cian term, from brekin,* which signifies, bringing offerings to an idol or performing the ceremony of genuflection before it, which again comes from, brie, * The conversion of the letter k ov c into g is easy and fre- quent. Bracca, a city of Lusitania, is pronounced Braga, by the Spaniards; Malaca, the emporium of Bcetica, Malaga; Lucus, a city of Galliecia, Lugo ; Astorica, Astorga ; the river Sicoris, Segre, and so on. From the Latin secare, they say segar ; from pacare, pagar ; from decollare, degollar ; from vacare, vagar ; from jocari, jugar; from joco, juego; from caeco, ciego ; from cato, gato; from lacus, lago, &c. A similar permutation of the same letter occurs in various words in all languages : so that it is not at all to be wondered at, that by the change of c or k into g, these people got from Breckin, the name of Braga, Breage, or Briganges. 127 that is, he bent the knee, the attitude at once of adoration, prayer, and thanksgiving. It also means to offer presents to an idol, by which we are to understand the phrase of blessing (brie) an idol, as it occurs in scripture. From brekin, therefore, they being the most superstitious of all the Phoenicians, they were at first called Breghan, then Bregan or Breogan, whence, afterwards, the Greeks called them Brigantoi, and the Latins, Brigantes, according to the genius of their respective tongues. Nor are there wanting persons who would maintain, that the Spanish Brigantes were called Brigantoi by the Greeks, from the words purgos ajithos, a florid tower, the name by which the Farus, in Brigantia, in Spain, was formerly designated. But the Spanish Brigantes, they should recollect, were not Greeks, but Phoenicians. Ptolemy places the Irish Brigantes in the south- western quarters of this island, as a kin to those who were distinguished under that name in Britain, living about the sacred promontory, leron, just opposite Wales : adjacent to them, on the west, lay the Vodii, and behind those, the Itterni, or Ivernii ; in the west, still behind the promontory of Notium, lay the Vallabori, to whom Drosius joins the Luceni. From these the Nagnatae, Erdini, and Venicnii, stretched towards the north : but in the extreme northern point of the island lay the Robogdii, by the promontory of this name. On the west, the 128 1 Voluntii, the Eblani or Blanii, near the city Eblana, now Dublin, the Cauci and the Manapii, between whom, and the Brigantes. lay the Coriondi. These several people Ptolomy has handed down, as existing in this country ; but we find not the Scots included amongst them, and this has led Cellarius * to suspect, that they were subsequent to those people, at least under this name, in point of occupancy. The opinion of modern f geographers is, that they inhabited the eastern districts, now called Catherlaghensis, Miden- sis, and Waterford ; and that from them a part of the district of Media is called, as well in the Irish annals as in some old writings respecting Saint Patrick, Magh-breg, or the plain of the Brigantes, a name it holds to the present day. This our Brigantia then, the modern Waterford, was situated opposite to Brigantia in Spain. In it not only does the river Brigas, now the Barrow, but also the barony of Bargy in the soutli-west of Ire- land, seem to savour strongly of the Brigantine name. Bruighan-da-darg, a district in the county Meath ; Brigown, Brigowne or Brighghobban, formerly a city but now a little village in the barony of Condons, county Cork, all savour of the same, though some would suppose the last mentioned had * Geog. Antiq. ii. 4. t See O'Connor. 129 been called after St. Abban,* the reputed founder thereof. To these we may add Briggo, a village in the barony of Ardes, county Down ; Bright, a town in the barony of Licale ; Briggs, a series of rocks and cliffs projecting into the sea at Carrickfergus ; Breoghain, an old district in the county Waterford; * Though we have seen in the first part, that there were Christians in Ireland in the first century, and lono- before the mission of St. Patrick ; that, independent of Corinac-Ulfada, monarch of this island in the third century, whom his piety and religion had rendered odious to the Pagans, several had left their native country on hearing oi the Christian name, and that having become perfect in the knovvleJge of tlie evangelical doctrine, and the discipline of the Criurch, some had preached the gospel in the different Pagan countries in Europe ; others, filled with zeal for the salvation of their fellow-citizens, had successfully expounded to them the word of God; still the nation was not yet considered as converted ; this grace was reserved for the reign of Laogare, and the pontificate of Saint Celestine I. This great pope, seeing the pious inclinations of those i-eople, and the success of private missionaries amongst them, thought of sending them an apostle invested with full authority, to complete a work so happily begun. The number of histories, which have been composed on the life of St. Patrick, has, in a great measure, tended to darken the know- ledge we should have of the truth of what concerns him. According to Usher, and ancient monuments in the libraries of Oxford and Cambridge, there were sixty-three or sixty-six. However, we must confine ourselves to the most genuine, and those which appear the most authentic, and least liable to contradiction; which are, the confession of St. Patrick, his letter to Corotic, and his life, written by some of his disciples. — Mac Genghcfjnu. 130 the river Braghan, and the town of Brick-river. But chiefly, and above all, we may recognise the Brigantine lineage in the names of those illustrious leaders who swayed the destinies of this kingdom in the days of its former glory, namely the Hy-Brea- ghan or the O'Breaghan, subsequently altered into O'Brien and O' Brian, as Seeward,* no mean au- thority, has before observed.f In Spain, too, we find memorials of the existence of those ancient people in the name, for instance, of the town and country of Brigantinos, near the port of Flavia Brigantium, the modern Corunna ; in that of Brigantes, a river of the Edetani ; in that of Ber- gatiano, a town of the Vetones ; in that of Berganzo, a city of Cantabria; and that of innumerable other towns, such as Berga, Bergo, Bergara, Bergezo, Bergedo, &c. But as to whether or not the Bergitani, a very ancient people on the east of the Lacetani, by the river Iber, could lay claim to this origin, is what I could not positively take upon myself to de- termine. Amongst the Pannonians there was also a place called Brigantium, which Aurelius calls Victor Ber- gentium. To this we should also refer the lake called Brigantium Lacus, now Lago di Costanza ; so that upon the whole, we see the nation of the Brigantes * See Topog. Article Breogliain. t Hy, signifies ** of," tantamount to " O.' 131 were the most numerous of any since the creation of man^ laying claim to all Europe as their proper country.* * See Baxter, p. 60. Strange, that from one extremity of the world to the other, even the most unenlighted nations should believe the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, and yet many of those who have been brought up under the joyful sound of the gospel should deny it. This will rise in con- demnation against them, and they will be convicted at the tribunal of the great Judge of all the earth, for trampling upon knowledge. We are surprised still more, that there should be none but learned men in the world so abandoned, but learning without grace, and the fear of God becomes a real curse instead of an useful blessing. — Hurd. k2 132 CHAP. XII. The Scots were Scythians, a people of northern Asia — Their condition and morality — Blended with the Phcenicians — Their various incursions — Passed over into Spain — Become friends of the Romans — Their remarkable victories — Land- ing in Ireland from Spain — Where they settled — When called Scots — Whether this name can import Woodland folks — Whether the Scythians were so called from their adroitness in flinging the javelin — Scytha and Saca, both Phoenician names. * As Cellarius * is of opinion that it was not until after the days of Ptolemy that the Scots f had effected a landing in Ireland, or that, at least, they were not recognised there under this distinctive name, we cannot, I imagine, consistently with the plan we have proposed to ourselves, let this oppor- * Loco laudato. f Whether they at their first comming into the la'ud, or afterwards by trading with other nations which had letters, learned them of them, or devised them amongst themselves, is very doubtful; but that they had letters aunciently, is nothing doubtfull, for the Saxons of England are said to have their letters, and learning, and learned men from the Irish, and that also appeareth by the likenesse of the character, for the Saxon character is the same with the Irish. — Spenser. 133 tunity pass, without some disquisition respecting the origin of this people, and their arrival in this country. Nennius, in his little treatise called Capi- tula,* or little notes, has proved to demonstration, that they were originally Scythians, who, as the old Irish annalsf still farther inform us, had started from Egypt in the tenth year of Darius, King of the Persians. Here, however, there was an obvious mistake as to the place of their birth, for the Scy- thians were not Egyptians, but Asiatics, the most celebrated, and widely extended people too, in the northern regions of that country, described by Horace, J the immortal poet of the Augustan age, " as wanderers and fond of living in the opeii plains." They built no houses, they had no fixed abode, spreading themselves abroad over the bosom of the surface, and taking up a temporary residence for themselves and their families, whom they carried with them in carts, wherever and long as ever their convenience and inclination afforded. Hence they were called Amaxohioi and Amaxoforetoi, that is, as Sallust renders it, " whose waggons were their abodes." The Scythians, says Trogus Justinus,§ have no * Cap. ix. et x. t Contin. Anna!. Tigeruach. ex eod. Dub., written in the fifteenth century, folio iv. vol. 1. X Carminum I. ode xxxv. and Carminum III. ode xxiv. ^ Lib. ii. 134 boundaries amongst themselves, neither do they till the ground, nor build themselves house or habita- tion, being alone occupied in feeding their flocks and herds, and in wandering incessantly through the uncultivated deserts. Their wives and children they carry with them in carts, covered over with a canopy as a shelter from the weather, and thus answering all the purposes of a house. They cul- tivate Justice more by inclination and by habit, than by the obligations of law. Gold or silver they do not covet. They live on milk and honey. The use of wool and of clothes is to them unknown, being dressed only in the skins of wild beasts. This course of abstinence and habitual restraint, extended its influence even unto the heart itself, elevating the tone of their moral character, and eradicating every extraneous and artificial desire."* Hence in Homerf * I will begin then to count their customes in the same order that I counted their nations, and first with the Scythian or Scottish manners. Of the which there is one use, amongst them, to keepe their cattle, and to live themselves the most part of the yeare in boolies, pasturing upon the niuuntaine, and waste wilde places ; and removing still to fresh land, as they have depastured the former. The which appeareth piaine to be the manner of the Scythians, as you may read in Glaus Magnus, and lo. Bohemus, and yet is used amongst all the Tartarians and the people about the Caspian Sea, which are naturally Scythians, to live in heards as they call them, being the very same, that the Irish boolies are, driving their cattle continually with them, and feeding onely on their milke and white meats. — Spenser. t Iliad v. 135 we find them called, Dikaiotatoi Anthropoi, ^* the most just of men." Strabo,* Herodotus,f Virgil, J and others, have made mention of their name, and equally honourable. Three things worthy of record are noticed by Justin § respecting them — their an- tiquity — their military valour || — and their having t iv. I Georg. iii. ^ Lib. xxi. II The Scoti or Milesian Irish, like their kinsfolk the Scy- thians, when rushing to battle, made use of the war cry, Farragh, Farragh. *' Here is another proof that they bee Scythes or Scots, for in all their incounters they use one very common word, crying Ferragh, Ferragh, which is a Scottish word, to wit, the name of one of the first Kings of Scotland, called Feragus, or Fergus, which fought against the Pictes, as you may reade in Buchanan, de rebus Scoticis : but as others write, it was long before that, the name of their chiefs Captaincj under whom they fought against the Africans, the which was then so fortunate unto them, that ever sithence they have used to call upon his name in their battailes. Some, who (I remember) have upon the same word Ferragh, made a very blunt conjecture, as namely, Mr. Stanihurst, who though he be the same countrey man borne, that should search more neerly into the secret of these things ; yet hath strayed from the truth all the heavens wyde, (as they say,) for he thereupon groundeth a very grosse imagination, that the Irish should de- scend from the Egyptians which came into that Island, first under the leading of one Scota, the daughter of Pharaoh, whereupon they use (saith he) in all their battailes to call upon the name of Pharaoh, crying Ferragh, Ferragh.'' — Spenser. It will soon be made manifest, that Mr. Spenser, himself, '* hath strayed from the truth all the heavens wyde,"" as to the origin of this war-cry. 136 founded the kingdom of the Parthians. To these we may add^ the fame of the Amazons^ a tribe of female warriors, who sprung up from their race^ whose exploits have been blazoned in every age and in every climate, and accompanied besides with such characteristics of romance, as to make some imagine the whole had been a fiction. In short, they were a nation indefatigable from the pursuits of labor and of war^ possessed of incalculable strength of body, desiring to procure nothing which they might fear to Ir se, and seeking nothing, when victors, but pure glory."* That the Scythians were incorporated with the Phoenicians, and had both together overran the whole of Palestine, is proved by the circumstance of their occupation of the city of Bethsan, which they called Scythopolis, after themselves — it is further proved by the name of Bambyx or Hierapolis, the modern Aleppo as some suppose, which they gave the city of Magog,f so called from the son of Japhetjj of that name, from whom the Scythians were descended, or in memory of its founder, who was supposed to have been the son of Magog, and to have come from the land of Magog into Syria. § * See more on this head in Bochart Geog. Sac. iii. 19. t Pliny V. 28. t Bochart iii. 13. § Bochart attempts to prove that Magog was the same as Prometheus, And we know that Deucalion, the son of Pro- 137 Strabo* says^ that they had extended the limits of their empire from thence all along to Armenia and Cappadocia, calling Saca, a district in Armenia* Sacasene^ after their own name. We read, also, of a settlement of the Scythians in Ti'ogus, along side of the Thermodon, But what Thermodon means, we must still doubt, as it occurs in Plutarch as a river in Scythia ; in Philostratus, as the boundary of the Scythian empire. From thence they advanced into Cimmeria, driving out the natives wherever metheus, a Scythian, is said to iiave been, according to Lucian, the founder of the city of Magog, in Syria, and the erector therein of a temple to the ** Syrian Goddess." The name — ** Magog," says Valiancy, signifies pine tree, agreeably to the Asiatic custom. We have a beautiful allegory of this kind in the annals of Inuisfallen, A. D. 1314, composed extempore by Turlough O'Brien, on the death of his favorite chief Donogh O'Dea: Truagh an teidhm, taining thier, rug bas borb Taoisseach teann dainedh dhamh, Donncha Don ; Tome is cial, cru mo chuirp Craobh dom cheill an teidhm uach. Dire is the loss, alas ! of late Upon the western shore ! By ruthless death, and murth'ring fate, A valiant chief's no more? Ah ! w^oe is me : my soundest sense And kindred friend so true ! My wood has lost a tow'ring branch, My Donoh, dear, in you! Translated by 0^ Flaherty, * De fluviis. 138 they went, thence to Caucasus and the Palus Maeotis, to the Tanais on the northern ocean, as appears from the testimony of Herod* and Diodorus Sicu- lus.f From thence they sailed over into Spain, as Varro, and from him Pliny, bear testimony, which accounts for the mention made in Silius Italicus,J of the Scythas or Sac« in Spain.§ Horace,|| speak- ing of the Cantabrians, who had been subdued by Agrippa, says, '* The Cantabrians, that ancient enemy on the Spanish coast, subdued at last by a long disputed victory, are subservient : the Scythians now meditate to quit their plains with their bows slackened." And they did actually quit them, first laying down their arms in submission to the Roman authorities. Such, says Seutonius,^ was the reputa- tion for virtue and moderation established by Au- gustus, all over the world, that the Indians and Scythians, who were not known of otherwise than by rumor or hearsay, were induced, of their own accord, to court his alliance, and that of the Roman people, by an authorised deputation to Rome, for the purpose which occasions Horace** in his saecular * De vita ApoUon. vii. 11, t ii. X iii. 3. § iii. 3(30. II Carrain. lib. iii. Ode 8, 1[ 111 Octavios, cap. xxii. ** Carm. Soee. v. 65. 139 poem, to observe : " Now the Scythians, lately so proud, court our answer." Yes, they voluntarily sought after the friendship, the injunctions, and the laws of the Romans, which, as Justin * observes, was the more wonderful, inasmuch, ^' they only heard of, not felt, their power. "f Nay, when the empire of Asia was thrice threatened by invasion, the Scythians stood untouched, or unconquered in their native independence, compelling Darius, King of the Per- sians to retire with disgrace, making Cyrus and his whole army the victims of their revenge, and cutting to pieces the forces of Zopyrion, and himself, too, at * Ibidem, cap. 3. f All Spaine was first conquered by" the Romans, and filled with colonies from them, which were still increased, and the native Spaniard still cut off. Afterwards the Carthaginians in all the long Punick Warres (having spoiled all Spaine, and in the end subdued it wholly unto themselves) did, as it is likely, root out all that were afiected to the Romans. And lastly the Romans having againe recovered that countrey, and heate out Hannibal, did doubtlesse cut off all that favoured the Carthaginians, so that betwixt them both, to and fro, there was scarce a native Spaniard left, but all inhabited of Romans. All which tempests of troubles being over-blowne, there long after arose a new storme, more dreadful then all the former, which over-ran all Spaine, and made an infinite confusion of all things ; that was, the comraing downe of the Gothes, the Hunnes, and the Vandals: and, lastly, all the nations of Scythia, which, like a mountaine flood, did over-How all Spaine, and quite drowned and washt away whatsoever reliques there was left of the land-bred people, yea, and of all the Romans too. — Spenser. 140 their head, though supported by all the spirit which the consciousness of being general to Alexander the Great, must necessarily have inspired. That the Scythians, having now concluded a treaty with the Romans, proceeded from Spain to Ireland, is the received opinion of the historians of this island. Accordingly we find in an old hymn,* in honour of St. Columba, this expression, " that the Celtiberian Scythian had nothing equal to Columba." They first put in at the south, and took up their residence, finally, towards the north. Baxter f de- clares, that their posterity are, at this day, the occupiers of Valentia, and we have the authority of Ammianus Marcellinus and Zosimus for stating, that, whilst only an Irish colony, they were the confederates of the ancient Saxons, and successful ones they proved, in checking the encroachments of the Roman power. O'Flaherty, conceiving he had discovered the time of the arrival of the Scots from Spain, in an old Irish poemj of the ninth century, ascribes that event to the 3698th year of the Julian period, which ac- cording to Scaliger, would be the fifth of the reign * Servatur ill Bobiens. Amiphonar. an. 1200, ap. — O'Connor. t p.2ll. I The poem of Euchad O'FIoin, beginning with these words: " List ye learned." — It may be seen in the Dublin Library. O'Connor has published a fragment of it, which designated, under an allegorical veil, the year of the Scots or Scythians' arrival in Ireland. 141 of Solomon.* Others, tracing the matter still farther backjf assert, that when the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea, the survivors expelled from their body a Scythian of high birth who had lived amongst them, lest the facilities of his situation should foster his ambition to usurp dominion over them, whereupon he betook, instantly, himself, with his whole family, to Spain, where he lived for many years ; and his progeny, after him, being multiplied beyond the accommodation which the place could aflPord, proceeded from thence unto Ireland. But all the memorials of the Scots, says Tigernachus, up to the period of Alexander the Great, are vague and uncertain. Be it so ; yet still I cannot admit — Baxter's J assertion to the contrary notwithstanding — that, before the eighth century, there was no such place known in Britain as Scotia, the name by which Ireland is designated by the venerable Bede, as well as by the monk Ravennas. " Ireland," says Bede, '^is the proper country of the Scots, who, quitting it, added themselves as the third nation to the Picts and Britons in Britannia. Jas. Usher,§ also, a very distinguished writer, has furthermore proved, that the Romans called this island, Scotia. Gibbon, too, assents to this fact in his preface to his * O'Flaherty Ogyg. Prol. p. 34. f Walsingham's Hypodig. X p. 211 § Priniordia 142 history of the Roman empire. But it was not in Ireland that the Scythians were first distinguished by the name of Scots ; for Saint Jerom* introduces Por- phyry^ saying, that *^ neither did Britain, that fertile province in tyrants, nor the Scotic nations, and all the barbarous provinces round about, know any thing of Moses and the prophets ;" which makes O'Connor to conclude, that the Scotic nations then lay beyond the pale of the British isle. Nay, Baxter him- self affirms, that Scotia was so called by the Romans from the Scoti. Orosius,f a presbyter of Tarracona, who flourished in the beginning of the fifth century, says, that, in his own time, Ireland was inhabited by the nations of the Scoti ; J and St. Isidorus tells us, that " Ireland and Scotia are the same, being called Scotia, as inhabited by the Scots." " Hence, in after times," says Ludovicus Molina, " arose the * Epist. ad Elesiphontem. t Histor. lib. ii. X The most celebrated geographers agree, that ancient Europe was possessed by four grand classes of men, viz. the Celtes, who extended themselves from the Bosphorus Cimrao- rinus on the Euxine, to the Cimbric Chersonese of Denmark and the Rhine, dispersing themselves over western Europe and her isles ; the Scythians, who came from Persia, and spread from thence to the Euxine, and almost over all Europe, speaking the Gothic, and its kindred dialects, the Teutonic, the Trisic, Belgic, &c. ; the Iberi or Mauii, who came from Africa, and peopled Spain and Aquitain, and their language survives in the Cantabric or Basque x and the Sarmatae, whose language was the Sclavonic, and whose appearance in Europe was later than the others. — 3Iac Gregor, 143 origin of the Iberi in Ireland, who retained, as their characteristic, the very ancient name of Scythians or Scots, from whom the Spanish promontory, now called Finisterrae, or land's-end, was formerly desig- nated Scythicum or Celticum. These people removed themselves to Ireland from Spain, as Orosius informs us." Now, Baxter, inquiring into the etymology of the word Scots,* says, that the Britons, called them Isgwydhwyr, which, in the old scriptural style, is equivalent to Scoituir, or woodland men. The modern name, Guydhal, is the same as Brigantine, or woodland Gaul. For the Irish are, undoubtedly, a mingled race, consisting, as he says, on the one hand, of the Erii or barbarous natives ; on the other hand, of the Scots and Brigantes ; and, thirdly, of the Guydhali or woodland Gauls : and from this he accounts for the circumstance of their being so often designated by the British writers under the compound name of Scoto-Brigantes. Others, again, would look still higher for the origin of the Scythian name, and think it derived from their dexterity in darting the javehn, scutten, in the German language, signifying persons expert * Eginhard, secretary to Charlemagne, or, according to some, his son-in-law, in his annals on the year 812, informs us that the naval forces of the Normans landed in Ireland, the island of the Scots, and having given them battle, in which they were defeated, that those barbarians who escaped, shame- fully took flight, and returned to their country, ^MacGeoghegan. 144 in this art ; just as a portion of the Scythians were called Arimaspi,* that is, who close one eye, or use but one^f which, we all know% is the practice of those who aspire to any eminence in the science of shooting. It strikes me as more likely, not to say indubitable, that the Scythians were so called by the Phoenicians from the moment of their first incorporation with them, occupying, as they did, a great part of Syria ; and that they did so call them, from the fact of having noticed their roving propensity driving them on as adventurers, through hill, through dale, through desert, and through forest. The word Scythian, then, I would derive from shitin, wdiich, in the Phoenician language, signifies traversers, wanderers, or rovers, and is itself derived from shit, to go, surround, run about, or digress ; or, from shitah, to expand or dilate, either in allusion to their straggling, or the successful ardor with w^hich they extended their sway, striking terror into their foes by the very name of their princes, and laying low at their feet the most numerous armies. Saca or Sa- casene too, a district of Armenia, called after them, would seem referable to the same source ; sacac, in in that language, signifying to run about or walk, as sacah, does a roof or covering. Perhaps, if we would regard the justice of the nation, we may suppose them so designated from zaca, praiseworthy or just, or * Derived from Arima, one, and Spia, an eye. ^. f Tlie better to collect the visual rays toward one focus. 145 zaki, blameless, irreproachable ; all which attributes we find briefly enumerated by Chaerilus, in his work called the'^Diabasis of Xerxes," saying, "The pastoral Sacae, a Scythian race, Asiatics who tilled the land, colonists belonging to the roving nation of the No- mades, a people who practised justice." The word zaca, also, means to overcome or conquer, which agrees well with the warlike character of the Scythians.* * Their short bowes, and little quivers with short bearded arrowes, are very Scythian as you may reade in the same Olaus. And the same sort both of bowes, quivers, and arrowes, are at this day to bee seene commonly amongst the Northerne Irish- Scots, whose Scottish bowes are not past three quarters of a yard long, with a string of wreathed hempe slackely bent, and whose arrowes are not much above halfe an ell long, tipped with Steele heads, made like common broad arrow heades, but much more sharpe and slender, that they enter into a man or horse most cruelly, notwithstanding that they are shot forth weakely. — Spenser. I have heard some great warriours say, that, in all the services which they had seene abroad in forraigne countreyes, they never saw a more comely man then the Irish man, nor that conieth on more bravely in his charge ; neither is his manner of mounting unseemely, though hee lacke stirruppes, but more ready then with stirruppes ; for, in his getting up, his horse is still going, whereby hee gayneth way. And there- fore it was called so in scoriie, as it were a stay to get up, being derived of the old English word sty, which is, to get up, or mounte. — Spenser. In fact, they were a tribe of that people whom Yirgil (from the Punic records) designates as ** Numdac infreni." 146 CHAP. XIII. The Irish Sihtri a tribe of the Phoenicians — Whether so called because wearing breeches — Origin of the Spanish word Saraguelles — Not all the Phoenicians of Ireland called Silures — This word implying the condition of their race, or their superstition — From them the island Silura so called — Whether there be only one such or several — Derivation of the word Cassiteris — Islands of that name in the Spanish sea — Why called Cica by the ancients. To the Phoenician Iberi belong also the people of the Silures, who had fixed their residence in the British isles, and of whom Tacitus thus speaks : — ^^ Their faces are colored, their hair for the most part twisted, and seem to encourage the belief that the ancient Iberi, who lay opposite to Spain, had crossed over and seized themselves of these settle- ments."* The Iberi alluded to are of course, says * This he speaketh touching the Silures which inhabited that part of South Wales, which now we call Herefordshire, Rad- norshire, Brecknockshire, Monmouthshire, and Glamorgan- shire. And although the like reason may be given for that part of Ireland which lyeth next unto Spaine, yet in Tacitus we find no such inference. Buchanan, indeed, upon the con- 147 Bochart^ those of Tartasus, who were a colony of the Phoenicians, for these alone possessed either the spirit or the skill requisite for navigation, and the transplanting of colonies into distant countries. And as there will be an effort, no doubt, to scoop the origin of the word Silures from the vowels of the Phoenician language, the learned, says he, well know that the inhabitants of the British isles, as well as the Gauls, were accustomed to wear breeches. jecture of Tacitus, hath these words. *' Verisimile autem non est Hispanos relicta k tergo Hibernia, terra propiore, & coeli Sc soli mitioris, in Albiuni prirailrn descendisse, sed primCini in Hiberniam appulisse, atque inde in Britannia colonos missos." Which was observed unto me by the most learned Bishop of Meth, Dr. Anth. Martin, upon conference with his lordship about this point. One passage in Tacitus touching Ireland (in the same booke) I may not heere omit, although it be extra oleas. '* Quinto expeditionuni anno (saith he) nave prim^ transgressus, ignotas ad tempus gentes, crebris simul ac pros- peris praeli is domuit, eamque partem Britannia quai Hiberniam aspicit, copiis instruxit, in spem magis quam ob formidinem. Siquidem Hibernia medio inter Britanniam aque Hispaniam, sita, & Gallico quocjue mari opportuna valentissimam imperij partem magnis invicem usibus miscuerit. Spatiuin ejus si Britannia comparetur, angustius, nostri maris insulas superat. Solum coelumque & ingenia, cultusq ; hominum hiiut multilm h. Britannia diH'erunt, rneliiis aditus portusq ; per commercia <& negotiatorea cogniti. Agricola expulsum seditione domestica unum ex regulis gentis exceperat, ac specie amicitai in occa- sionem retinebat. Sajpe ex eo audivi Legione una & modicis auxilijs debellari, obtinerique Hiberniam posse. Idque ad- versCis Britanniam profuturum, si Tlomana ubique arma, . :333. 154 tenii sounds like that language too, derc-tenar mean- ing in it a rocky road, and derc-tenin a road on which men, or beasts of burden, carry provisions or other merchandise. The Lucanii, or Luceni, are to be found also in Ptolemy as an ancient people in this island, of whom Orosius also makes mention. Richard Cirencester says, that their settlement lay in the county Kerry, near the bay of Dingle.* The name is supposed to be compounded of the two Irish words lugh-aneigh, meaning the inhabitants of a district adjoining a lake, or sea, what you would call, says Baxter, mari- gene, or sea-born. This gentleman imagines that these were originally a colony of the Dumnonian Belgae, and that they gave their name to the pro- vince of Lugenia, or Leinster, which certainly does sound very like the land of the Lugeni, and in after times had advanced farther into the interior, into Momonia, or the province of Munster. Seward,f and others more modern, J suppose that they were the Lugadii, who, according to the old Irish writers, inhabited the south-western coasts, extending from * This remote town in the province of Mun^>ter was once of considerable importiince. The Spaniards held a direct inter- course with the place, and built many private residences there, besides the parish church, &c. Queen Elizabeth granted to it a charter in 1585. t Seward, Topogr. Ibern. A pp. II. p. 8. t Vid. Collect, de Reb. Ibern. loc. laud. p. 381. 155 Waterford harbour along to the mouth of the river Shannon. The name of Lugadii to the natives was equivalent with sliocht lugach macithy, that is, a maritime race of dwellers by the water. Yet, sliocht, may perhaps be of Phoenician root, coming from shHc, a neighbour ; in this sense, too, we shall find ourselves at home, for slioght, in Irish,* signifies alliance or kindred. But Baxter, descanting upon the origin of the word Lacanii, or Luceni, says, aug, by the old Britons, was understood for the liquor of water, and thus for the sea, whilst geni, or eni, meant descent. * It is well known that in Munster and Connaught, in the western parts of Ulster, and the south of Leinster, this ancient dialect is spoken most extensively; and although many of the native Irish are sufficiently acquainted with the English tongue to use it for the purpose of daily traffic, and mere busi- ness, yet it is in their beloved Celtic that they think, through that they feel, and by that they communicate to each other the deep purposes of present revenge, and future triumph. It is no random assertion, but an authenticated fact, that among the most abject poor, who cut turf on the bogs, or break stones for the roads of those districts, the proudest legends of their country's former glory, and the prowess of her native chiefs, couched in language the most exciting that can be conceived, are frequently repeated ; together with the wild prophetic rhymes of gifted bards, handed down orally from father to child, predicting the re-appearance of that sun which they con- ceive to have set beneath the dark night of English usurpation. Those who have studied the Irish language concur in pronoun- cing it to be most richly and powerfully expressive, highly figurative. — Charlotte Elizabeth. 156 or to be descended. Hence he infers that the Saxon pirates were called by the Britons Lhoegyr, corruptly for Luguir^ or seamen, and from this, he says, comes the modern name of Anglia or England ; Ihuch, in Britain, signifying at this day a lake, as loch does in Ireland. If one may indulge conjecture in a matter not very clear, I should think myself near the true ex- traction of this name by deriving it from lucus, a grove, which we know those were in the habit of resorting to, nay, of worshipping. In this case we may seek for the origin of slioght in the Phoenician slocah, or sliocah, which signifies divinity. But this I do not like, for the people called Luceni, or Lu- canii, existed before the time of the Romans, which would make it incongruous to take as a parallel in- stance the name of the Spanish city, Lucus, now Lugo, in the country of the Gallaici, which must be acknowledged to be designated from those religious haunts. Therefore, as well as Lucene, the name of a Phoenician town in Boetia, I should suppose it comes from lushen, or leshen, a word of very various significations, all of which, however, spontaneously apply to this people. First it is a people or nation ; secondly a difference of language or dialect, which we know to prevail amongst the several tribes of Syria. The Ephratagi, for instance, could not arti- culate the double letter, sh, instead of which they would pronounce it in its single form, s, which may 157 have proceeded either from the air or local influence. Thus we find that when, in Judges xii. they were obliged to say shibboleth, a river, they could only call it sibboleth. The Boetians of my country, also, pronounce z instead of s, calling it zabana instead of sabana. The Gallacians, too, differ from the other provinces of Spain, not in pronunciation alone, but in many other peculiarities of language. The same may be observed by every one in the idiom of his native country. But to return. It means, in the third place, a flame of fire, which would seem at once to point us to the practice of their worshipping this element in their sacred groves, a practice, I may add, which the Chaldagans, the Persians, the Medes, and other nations of Asia, shared in common with the Phoenicians, who offered sacrifice to fire after the custom of the Persians,* at first only worshipping it * When the Persians drew near to their consecrated fires in their divine service, they always approached them from the west side, because by that means their faces being turned to those as well as the rising sun, they could direct their worship towards both at the same time. * * The priests are obliged to watch day and night to maintain and repair the con- secrated fire. But it is absolutely necessary that it be re- kindled after the purest manner that can possibly be devised ; for which purpose they frequently make use of a steel and flint, or two hard sticks, which, by continual friction, will in time take fire. Sometimes, likewise, they kindle it by the light- ning which darts down from heaven on any combustible matter ; and sometimes again by those ignes fatni which fre- quently arise in marshy grounds; or else by common lire, in 158 as a type or symbol of the Deity, but so, however, that gradually, and at last, this commemoration, and, as such, innocent adoration, degenerated and sunk into actual and downright worship of the element itself.* This superstition they imported into Ireland, as they did into Spain, and their other colonies. But as this people had established their settle- ment in the country by the promontory of Notium, I should not think it at all unlikely that they derived their name from that very fact, for lushen, or leshen, in the Syriac, is a cape, or oblong and mountainous tongue of land jutting out into the sea. The name of the Lugadii would seem to be equi- valent with that of allies, for luahin, in the Phoeni- cian, implies association or union. Or they might have got this name from luch, or lach, meaning sturdy youths, valiant warriors, in conformity with lucadin, the stormers of towns ; whence evidently is derived laochd, the Irish designation for an armed soldiery, as well as lugh, active, and luch, a captive in battle. We find, besides, that laga, which signi- fies renown, or pre-eminent distinction, was an usual adjunct to the names of many of the leading families case it is pure and undetiled, or with such as the Banians make use of to kindle the funeral piles. Cut they have one other method still, as noble as it is pure ; and that is, by collecting the rays of the sun into the focus of a burning-glass. — Hard. * Theodoret. Hist. Eccl. V. 38. S. Isidor. Hispal. Orig. XIV. 3. Cons. Voss. De Orig. et Progr. Idolol. II. 64. 159 of this island, as Lughaidh-laigha, Mac moglia nuadhat. 'Richardson makes mention of a cele- brated tribe of the Arabians, called Legah, or Lukah, that never acknowledged the dominion of a tyrant, or bent with abject and hmniliating prostration to the inhmiian attitude of slavery. Nor would the conjecture be altogether without ground if, after all our peregrination and excursive research for the origin of the name of this people, we would at last turn home, and look for it in the Irish word lughadh, meaning the interposition of an oath,* and which would indicate their compactness as a social body ; or in lughad, scantiness, as if they were but few ; or, finally, in luchd, a tribe or assemblage. * According to the annals of Ulster, cited by Ware, the usual oath of Laogare IT., King of Ireland, in the time of St. Patrick, was by the sun and wind. The Scythians swore by the wind, and sometimes by a scymeter or cutlas, in use among the Persians, upon which was engraven the image of Mars. — Mac Geogheyan. 160 CHAP. XV. The Voluntii—In what part of Ireland settled — Various opinions as to the etymology of this name — As also of the names Ull, Ullah, and Thuath — Conjecture with respect to their origin being Phoenician — Country of the Blanii — Eb- lana the ancient name for Dublin — Derivation of this name — JSbelinum, an ancient city of Spain — The toivn of B lane — Origin of both names. The Voluntii or Bol until mentioned by Ptolemy, were an ancient people in Ireland^ situated on the east of the Luceni, who took up their quarters in a tract of the county Down, which Baxter thinks is so called at the present day, by corruption, for the land of the Voluntii ; aS;, also, that the Britons had called them Boluntii, as if from Bol or Yol-unte, that is the farther head-land or Vennicnium. Others think it a degenerated term, from UU-an- teigh, which they- explain by the inhabitants of the county of Ull. But teigh, in Irish, means a house or shelter. Ull is, indeed, a district in this island, mentioned by Ptolemy, and called by the Irish 161 writers who have touched upon this point, Ullagh, and also Ullad. This word some would derive from Thuat-all-adh, a northern section of the county of Ull, which formerly was the modern province of Ulster, but was afterwards circumscribed to the single county of Down. Our old poems and chro- nicles call the inhabitants of this tract, Tuath de Donans,and understand thereby the northern people,* of intrepid bravery ; for tuath, in Irish, means not only a people, but the north: and dan, brave, intrepid. To my mind Boluntii is a name of Pha3nician ex- traction, derived very probably from the quality of the ground ; in that language, bolun means a glebe or gleby land, as it does, also, fruit and the shoots of palm trees : or, with still more appearance of probability, we may derive it from the superstitious worship of that nation, bolinthis or belinthis meaning the immolation of he-goats to the idols of Baal, and bohntir, his augurs or soothsayers. Akin to this is the gentile Spanish name of Bolontii or Bolonii, in- habitants of the old city of Bolona, built by the Phoenicians in the straits of Gibraltar, by the pillars of Hercules. But Ull, too, savors very strongly of the Phoenician tongue, in which it literally signifies fortitude, whence el, brave, powerful, and also an idol in * Vid. Collect, (le Rel). Ibern. vol. iii. p. 424, 42^* M 162 Isaiah. * With this acceptation agrees the name of Ullagh, for olagh in the Syriac means an idol as olaha does a goddess, by which name the Phoenici- ans chose to designate Diana of the Ephesians, as appears from the Syriac version of the Acts 'of the Apostles.f I would not, indeed, deny but that the origin of tuath, may be essentially Irish ; but it is worthy of remark, that the word thohath, conveyed to the Phoenician mind the idea of a low ground, or skirt of a country, which is in perfect keeping with the situation of the province of Ulster, where the Voluntii settled, being encompassed almost on all sides by the sea. J On the borders of the Boluntii, in the eastern section of Ireland, the Blanii or Eblanii — whose name is supposed to be composed of the Irish words, ebb or aobb, a region or tract, and lean, a harbour, bearing evident allusion to their propinquity to the sea§ — had formed their establishment. The universal opinion of the learned goes to prove that from them the city of Dublin, the metropolis of this once flourishing and imperial kingdom, hath obtained in Ptolemy the name of Eblanum, which gave rise to * Isai. xliv. 10. '* Quis formavit Deuni, et sculptile for- mavit ad nihil utile ?" t Act. Apostol. xix. 37. I Vid. Seward. Topogr. Ibern. V. Ulster. § Collect, de Reb. Ibern. ibid, p. 342. 163 that of Eblinii or Ebhleaneigh, generally rendered inhabitants by the water-side.* Of these we find mention made by the ancient chronologers of Ire- land, amongst the population of the county Dublin ; though others would place them in the county Limerick, and derive the name from ebhluin, a mediterranean region, or one widely separated from the sea.f He will not be far astray, who thinks that both Blanii and Eblani are Celtic terms, seeing that in that language we meet with the word ebelin, in the sense of a people or habitation alongside a river. I incline, however, to the belief, that they are of Phoenician birth, derived from eblin, uncultivated wilds, or hebelin, idols, from which in a former treatise I have taken upon myself to deduce Ebeli- num, the name of an ancient city in Celtiberia, in Spain, on the ruins of which it is supposed that the town of Ayerbe is now erected. From the same source would I derive the name of Blanes, another Spanish town amongst the Ilergetes on the coast of the Mediterranean, called by Nubiensis in his geo- graphical work, Eblanessa, although some would fliin have it of Grecian root, from balanos, an oak; or planes, a wanderer ;J whilst others, again, would * V. Burg, Ibern. Dominic, p. 185, 187. t Collect, de Ileb. Iberii. ibid. I Wlien the daring adventurer, or one of the children of want, seeks, in a foreign land, tliat fortune which is denied him M 2 164 ascribe it to the Celtic words— blaen-ess, meaning a promontory in the water. CHAP. XVL The Erdinii — Where settled— Whether the same as the Ernai — Etymology of the word — Vestiges of them in some of the Irish towns — Similar geographical names in Spain — The Venicnii conterminous with the Erdinii — The promontory of Venicniuzn called after them, not they from the promontory-^ Conjecture upon the origin of this word as Phoenician — why the Spanish promontories Juno's and Gora, called Celtic, and Scythic. The Erdinii, an ancient people of Ireland, situated according to Ptolemy, on the north of the promon- tory of Robogdium, in the southern section of the counties of Donegal and Fermanagh, are called Hardinii, in the writings of Richard Cirencester. at home, and braves perils by land and by sea, for a bit of bread, he is cheered by the hope that he may be enabled, one day, to return to home and country with the fruit of his hard and hazardous toil, to spin out the remnant of life's thread in the land of his nativity, and to pillow his head in the lap of his native earth. — Viscount Glcntworth. — Arliss's Mag. Sep. 1832. 165 Their name some would deduce from the Irish ex- pressions, eir dunedh, that is, a mountainous people, or inhabitants of mountains, in the west ; and think them the same as the nation which the Irish anti- quarians call Ernai, that is a western people, or rather the primitive aboriginal natives of the soil, for Erin used for Erie, is Ireland, as Erionnach is an Irishman. I should prefer, however, to consider them a haughty, arrogant and overbearing tribe of the Phoenicians, who obtained this name from erdin or eradin, w^hich signifies, Hectors, from rod, he domi- neered or bore haughty sway. This nation appears formerly to have inhabited several districts of Spain, which to this day retain their vestiges ; for instance, Ardines and Ardon, amongst the Astures ; Ardanue, Ardanui, and Ardanas, in Celtiberias ; Ardanaz, in Cantabria, and Ardon and Ardona, in Gallacia. From thence, too, it is very probable, that the town of Ardinan, at the mouth of the river Ban, in the province of Ulster, whither they had first introduced their colonies, hath derived its name, as well as Ardicnice, a village of the same : Ardoyne, a little town in the county Wicklow, and Erinach, another town in Ulster, celebrated from its spring well, de- dicated to St. Fionan; beside which was erected in the beginning of the twelfth century, a monastery, called by the old name of Carrig, from the immense cliff' adjacent ; for carraic, in Irish, is a rock, from 166 the Phoenician carric, fortified. Perhaps to the same origin belongs Artane, the name of a very delightful village in Leinster, although it might have been derived from Araa-tanar, stony or flinty ground, corresponding with the Irish arteine or ar- tine, of the same signification. Conterminous with the Erdinii were the Venicnii or Benicnii, ancient residents of Ireland, noticed also by Ptolemy, situated by the promontory of Venicnium, on the western coast of the county Donegal, the Ergal of the ancients. Some imagine that they were so called from this same promontory alluded to in the last chapter, which Camden thinks equivalent with the English words, ram's head ; Venictium being, by the authority of Baxter, dege- nerated from Vendne-cniu, which, in the old dialect of the Brigantes, indicates the head of a young ram ; cniu, to a British ear, conveying the idea of the young of almost every animal, in the plural number. It strikes me, however, as more like the truth, that they did not take their name from the promon- tory, but that the promontory, on the contrary, was denominated from them ; as that which we now call Cape Finisterre, on the Cantabrian coast, w^as called Scythic and Celtic, from those respective nations ; and that which the Arabians in after times called Taraf-al-garr, signifying a perilous extremity or point, the modern Trafalgar, lying on the maritime 167 coast of Boetica, between Calpe and the straits of Gibraltar, was called by the Greeks the promontory of Juno, their favorite deity ; and as the modern Cabo de Gata was called by the Phoenician settlers upon the Mediterranean coast of Spain, the Cape of Gora ; for gor, in the Syriac, intimates a stranger or foreigner taking up his abode in another place than where ^he was born, a sojourner ; whence the Greek georos, a neighbour, a tiller. As to the people themselves, whether Venicnii or or Benicnii, they appear to me to have been a tribe of the Phoenicians, and to have got this name from Kini, which imports, of a Cinnaean stock, or from the land of Canaan : benikini consequently implying a tribe from such a stock. Nor is it at all unlikely but that there might have been an additional motive for this name, suggested by the frankness of those people's demeanor and the purity of their moral character,* for, in this language, beni-enin means * Such appear to be the general principles and outlines of the popular faith, not only among the Greeks, but among all other primitive nations, not favored by the lights of Revela- tion : for though the superiority and subsequent universality of the Greek language, and the more exalted genius and refined taste of the early Greek poets, have preserved the knowledge of their sacred mythology more entire ; we find traces of the same simple principles and fanciful superstructures from the shores of the Baltic to the banks of the Ganges : and there can be little doubt that the voluminous poetical cosmogonies still extant among the Hindoos, and the tragnienls preserved of 168 I upright and righteous dwellers^ whether of town or country, from kian or kina, just and true, in which sense we meet it in the Syriac version of the gospel according to St. Matthew : — and Joseph, her hus- band, was (kina) a just man. As to beni, it is a term applied not only to sons, but to the residents of any particular place, which by a very natural association may be considered as their mother, being there born or educated. Thus in Ezekiel, xvi. 28, the people of Assyria are called beni,, or the sons, of Assur ; and in Jeremiah, ii. 10, the Memphians are called Veni, or the sons, of Noph. The word is, also, referred to the condition or morals of the persons alluded to, as in the third chapter of the Acts, and 25th verse, the Israelites with whom God had con- cluded a covenant by the form of circumcision, are styled the sons of the prophets and of the testament, and in other passages throughout the sacred volume and elsewhere, the wicked are designated as the sons those of the Scandinavians, may afford us very competent ideas of the style and subjects of those ponderous compilations in verse, which constituted the mystic lore of the ancient priests of Persia, Germany, Spain, Gaul, and Britain ; and which in the two latter countries were so extensive, that the education of a druid sometimes required twenty years. From the specimens above mentioned, we may, nevertheless, easily console our- selves for the loss of all of them as poetical compositions, whatever might have been their value in other respects.— Kiiigkt. 169 of wickedness ;* the unjust, as the sons of injustice ; and warriors, by the expressive circumlocution of sons of strength, or hearts of oak. * All we shall here add is, that those who have been the most irreligious in this world, formed their notions upon the inequality of rewards and punishments. AVere all the wicked to suffer just punishments in this life, and all the virtuous to be rewarded, what occasion would there be for a future judgment? In many cases God has shewn himself to be at the head of divine providence, but not in all ; to convince men, that how- ever hardened they may be in wickedness while in this world, yet there may be a time, or a period, when the mask of hypocrisy will be laid aside ; nay, it will be stripped off, and the daring sinner will stand as a culprit at the bar of infinite justice. On the other hand, the oppressed virtuous man should rest satisfied in this, that God will be his friend at the last day, notwithstanding all the sufl'erings he may have been subjected to in this world ; for it is an established maxim both in natural and revealed religion, that the upright judge of the universe, will not deceive his creatures. — Hurd, 170 CHAP. XVII. The Caucii — Various opinions as to their exact settlement — Others of the same name amongst the Germans — Whether they derived this name from their stature — Ancient inscription of the Cumbri —Interpretation thereof — Their name Phoeni- cian or Celtic — Cauca an ancient city of Spain — The ancient Menapii, where settled — Menappia the modern Waterford — Various opinions on the origin of their name — Whether they were Phoenicians — Customs of idolaters to call themselves and their people after their deities and the worship of them — • Aphrodisia, Portus Veneris, and Artemisia, ancient cities of Spain — The Isles of Momce — Evolenum — Coulan. Ptolemy makes mention of another ancient people of this island, the Caucii, whose residence he defines as on the east of the Cape Robogdimn. Cirencester places them in the county Dublin, between the sand- banks of the river LifFey and the northern sections of the county Wicklow. Others assert that they had settled in the mountainous districts situated between the rivers Barrow and Nore, called in the old Irish dialect Hy Breoghain Gabhran, which they translate an elevated country between forks.* There were also, amongst the ancient Germans, two distinct people of this name, distinguished as * Collect, de Reb. Ibeiii. loc. laud. p. 305. 171 the greater and the lesser, of whom the former, we are told by Ptolemy, inhabited that part of the country between the Elb and the Wesser ; the latter from the Wesser all along to the Emse. We find, too, that the ancient Spaniards could boast of their Caucii, in the district of the Vaccei, whose princi- pal city was Cauca, placed by Antoninus as sixteen days' journey, or on the sixteenth station on the road from Emerita to Caesar Augusta. Some suppose that they had obtained this name from their extraordinary stature ; for cauc in the old British, and coc in the Brigantine, and hauch, or hoch, in the German, all imply one and the same thing, namely, lofty, or high. Hence, Baxter con- jectures, had been borrowed the inscription found amongst the ancient Cumbri, the Ceangi of the Brigantes, " To the god Cocis," which is supposed to have been executed in fulfilment of a vow to the genius of the river, at this day called Coque in the country of the Otonidae. But is it not possible that those Caucii may have been Celts,* cau, in their language, signifying a river ? This, however, I do not like, as I think it more likely that they were one of the tribes of the Phoe- nicians who had landed in Ireland from Spain ; whose name, like that of the Spanish city Cauca, I conceive borrowed from the temperature of the * The name of geilt, ceilt, or keilt, which signifies terror, a wikl man or woman, a sylvcstrous person ; and hence I ^hiuk the name, Celt. — Vallancey. 172 climate in which they had fixed themselves. This opinion I form from observing in the Phoenician language that cauzz, or coz, signifies the summer season^ from which cauzzi, a summer residence ; and with this corresponds cauc^ or coc, old age, infirmity, or a country adapted from the mildness of its air to renovate the energies, at least allay the irritation, of the aged and enfeebled.* The Manapii, or Menapii, were also an ancient people of Ireland, on its eastern coast, being a por- tion of the Brigantes Coriondi, in the city of Mana- pia, or Waterford, as Camden thinks, in which he is supported by the authority of Baxter. Others would have it that they were the inhabitants of the county Wicklow, the chief town of which bearing the same name, the Euobenum of Probus, they maintain to have been the ancient Manapia. They further state that they had taken up their settlement between the mountains and the sea, in that part of the country now called Coulan, Cuolan, or Crioch Cuolan, which means, says Seward, a close and con- fined tract, or as others prefer a corn country. Many persons derive the name of those people from the old British words, Mene-ui-pou, a narrow region, with which Coulan above mentioned almost corresponds. Others think that they took their name from the city of Manapia, which they say is com- pounded of the British words, Mant-ab, signifying the mouth of the water. Regio senibus apta. 173 But to my ear their name sounds the certainty of their Phoenician descent. I had formerly supposed that it had been derived from Mana-pip, a double portion or part of some tribe or nation ; but as the Syrians had a custom of denominating themselves and their people from their idols, and their super- stitious worship of them, I am more disposed now to think they were so called from Mani-apiin, which means, adorning with branches or flowers a multi- tude of idols, or singly, that of Mercury, which Mani also signifies, and whom the Phoenicians wor- shipped as the god of calculation. That this custom prevailed also amongst the ancient Greeks and Ro- mans, we have numerous proofs in the geographi- cal names of Spain. Thus, from Afrodite, the Greek name for Venus, and Afrodisios, which means belonging to Venus, Timoeus and Silenus have given the name of Afrodisia to the ancient city of Gades in Boetica, which was contiguous to the site of the present city of Cadiz. From her also the Romans gave the name of Portus Veneris, or the harbour of Venus,* to that maritime city of the Ilergetes, which Who would not sigh ai at tan Cuthereian !' That hath a memory, or that had a heart ? Alas ! her star must fade like that of Dian ; Ray fades on ray, as years on years depart. Anacreon only had the soul to tie an Unwithering myrtle round the blunted dart Of Eros : but though thou hast played us many tricks, Still we respect thee, ** Alma Venus Genetrix !" Byron. 174 is at this day corruptly called Porvendres. From Artemis, Diana, the Greeks gave the name of Arte- misian, or the temple of Diana, to -that city of the Contestani which the Romans afterwards, and from the same cause, adapted to their own language as Dianium; and which now, from that decay to which names as well as things must submit, is called Denia. The Monapia of Pliny, called Menavia by Orosius, seems to me to have been inhabited by the people called Manapii : I mean that island in the Irish sea almost midway between England and Ireland, of an oblong form, extending from north to south — it is called by Ptolemy, Monseoida. This and another island lying more to the south, and wider in its dimensions, situated in the bay of the Ordovices, from whom it is separated only by a narrow strait, are both designated by the common appellation of Monoe. The more southern one abounded in a hardy popu- lation, which it hesitated not to strengthen by open- ing an asylum to all deserters, without regard to the cause. After its capture by the Angli, it got from them the name of Anglesey, that is, the isle of the Angli, or EngHsh. Mona is a term of Phoenician superstition, from mon, an idol or image. Moneoida would seem compounded of mon, and of oid, a festival, intimating a festival held in honor of an idol ; and Monoceda of mon, and chedad, which signifies bent or stooping, the attitude of reverence in the presence of their idols. Evolenum, which is ^ 175 supposed to have been the city of Menapia, I would derive from hebelin, idols ; and Coulan from coulin, sounds, thunders*; elsewhere called Beth-col,* that is. * A divination called the Bath-col, which was the taking as a prediction the first words they heard any body pronounce ; and as superstitions have ever been contagious, we find some- thing similar to this in the Grecian records ; for when Socrates was in prison, a person there happened tu quote from Homer the following line : — " In three days, I, Phthiae, shall visit thy shores." Socrates immediately said to ^schinus — " From this I learn I shall die in three days !" [He formed this opinion from the double sense of the word '* Phthice/^ it beino; in Greek not only the name of a place, but also signifies death.] Conformably to this prediction, Socrates was put to death three days after." All these various modes have descended to our times. The first Christians, in adopting them, rejected searching into pro- fane writers, and looked for these, as they termed them, divine ordinances, in the Scripture. They termed them the ^' sortes sanctormn, *'dLnd even attempted to justify the practice from the authority of Proverbs, chap. xli. verse 33 — "The lot is cast into the lap, but the disposing thereof is of tlie Lord ;" and again, of this text — '* Search, and ye shall find ;" but at the same time, they omitted to pay due attention to such verses as these — ** Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God ;" and (Dent, chap, xxiii. verse 10,^ " There shall not be found among you any that useth divination, &c., for all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord ;" and their sentence (according to Leviticus, chap. xx. verse 27,) was to be stoned to death. When Heraclins in his war against Cosroes, wished to learn in what place he should take up his winter quarters, he purified his army for three days, opened the Gospels, and found '* Albania?" A thousand other instances might be given to prove its prevalency ; and many learned divines have seriously argued in its favour, in many grave and ponderous folio 176 the daughter of voice, intimating not a real or solid voice, but the echo thereof, more particularly the volumes! ! Nor is it less amusing, in our days, to remember the Council of Agda, at which were assembled all the chief dignitaries of the Church ; and all the learned men of that age thought it worth their while to take the matter into their serious consideration, and after discussing, with due solemnity all the pros and cons of the question, they, in the year cOG, condemned the practice as superstitious, heretical, and abomi- nable, and denounced the severest ecclesiastical vengeance on all who should resort to it ! ! ! The Viryilian Lots, in the mean time, did not languish, though the '* holy " ones so much flourished ; there were still found many admirers of the Classics, who preferred consulting Virgil to Scripture, not the less so, perhaps, from the then generally received opinion, of Virgil's having been a great conjurer. In the reign of Charles the First, when implicit credence was placed in lots, anagramSf &c., we meet with several accounts of this divination having been had recourse to. Howell, in his entertaining Letters, frequently mentions it ; and Cowley, writing of the Scotch Treaty, makes use of the following curious words : — *' The Scotch will moderate something of the rigour of their demands ; the mutual necessity of an accord is vissible ; the King is persuaded of it, and to tell you the truth, (which I take to be an argument above all the rest,) Virgil has told the same thing to that purpose." Charles the First himself and Lord Falkland being in the Bodleian Library, were shewn a magnificently bound Virgil^ and the latter, to amuse the King, proposed that they should try to discover in the '* Virgilian Lots " their future fortunes. They did so, and met with passages equally ominous to each. Nor has, this superstition been confined to Europe, or the borders of the Mediterranean ; it is equally to be met with in Arabia and Persia, for Credula mens hominis, et erect ce fabulis aures." ** The mind of man is every where equally credulous, and the ears equally open in all parts of the world to receive fables." Superstitious practices are therefore never lost, but. 177 representation of the reverberated voice in the oracles. where the slightest intercourse exists, the first thing bartered for are these. We need not then be surprised to find that a pre- cisely similar custom prevails in the east, where this sortelege is termed '' tufal." Hafiz is the chief poet whom they consult; so great is the veneration the Persians entertain for hira, that they have given him the title of *' divine;'' and on every re- markable occasion, his Book of Odes is opened for oracular information. When Hafiz himself died, several of the Ulemas violently objected to granting hira the usual rites of sepulture, on account of the licentiousness of his poetry ; but at length, after much dispute, it was agreed that the matter should be decided by the words of Hafiz himself. For this purpose, his diruan (or collection of poems) was brought, and being opened at random, the first that presented itself was read; it proved to be the following : — Turn not thy steps from Hafiz mournful grave, Him plunged in sin shall heavenly mercy save ! Of course every funereal honour was immediately ordered to be paid him ; he was buried at the favourite mosella, and a mag- nificent tomb was raised over his almost adored remains, shadowed, as Captain Franklin tells us, by the poet's beloved cypresses ; in this a remarkable fine copy of his Odes was continually placed. When the great Nadir Shah and his officers were passing by this tomb, near Shiraz, they were shewn the copy of the poet's works, and one of the company opening it, the first passage that met their eyes was the follow- ing, which they, of course, immediately applied to the con- queror : — '* It is but just that thou shouldst receive a tribute from all fair youths, since thou art the sovereign of all the beauties in the universe ; thy two piercing eyes have thrown Khater (Scythia) and Khaten (Tartary) into confusion ; India and China pay homage to thy curled locks; thy graceful mouth gave the streams of life to Kheyr ; thy sugared lip ren- ders the sweet reeds of Mirr ( Egypt) contemptible." N 178 CHAP. XVIII. The Auteri a people of Ireland — Various opinions respecting their proper country — Muriagh, whence so called — Various opinions likewise as to the derivation of the name Auteri — Whether they ivere Phoenicians — Coronaan epithet of Tyre — The Autetani a people of Spain — The Dannance a people of Ireland — Where settled — Whether from the Danes —River Dee — Conjecture on the origin of the name Dannance — Dan a city of the Phoenicians — Ardes — Ardea. The Auteri, emphatically designated as the real native ancient Irish, were situated at the mouth of the river Erin, in the farthest extremity of the pro- vince of Munster. Ptolemy, in alluding to them, calls them at one time, Auteiroi, at another, Auteroi, and places them in certain parts of the country then known by the name of Naquatia or Connatia. Others think they inhabited those districts which correspond with the present counties of Gal way. Mayo, and Roscommon in the province of Connaught, being that old and extensive tract often called Muriah or Hy-Moruisge, which they interpret by the region of sea water, and which is still preserved without much 179 alteration in Morisk, the name of a barony as well a sa little town in the county Mayo,* and in Murrach a village of the barony of Carbery in the county of Cork. But Muriah would seem naturally to be de- duced from the Phoenician Moriaga, which means, habitations or houses systematically arranged, from whence it is probable that the Irish Murighin, that is, families took its rise, and the Spanish Amoraga, a gentile appellative. Baxterf is of opinion that the Auteri were so called by the Brygantes after they and the Belgae had taken possession of the greater part of Ireland to their colonies, — that they were the Erigenae or real offspring of the Irish soil — and that they were driven at first by the Brigantes from Britain, who after- wards, in this country, followed up their pursuit till they made them take shelter in its remotest extre- mity. Wishing then to account for the origin of their name, the same author adds, " Er in British is land, from the Greek era ; from this the native Irish were named Erion or Erii by the Brigantes, and the island itself Iris, that is, the isle of Erii, by the Greeks. And seeing that ot, or aut, means to the Britons a coast or shore, what should hinder our considering, aut erion being so called, as the coast of the Erii, or the ancient autokthonos, or land of the * Collect, lie Reb. Iberii. vol. III. p. 285. t Baxter, loc. lautl. p. 30, 31. N 2 180 natives." He finally observes that tlie Cantabri, the Vascones, and the Irish used in a great measure the dialect of the Irish aborigines, interspersed with many terms from the Phoenician, Celtic, and Bry- gantine languages ; and this interspersion may be accounted for by the fact, which some maintain, of the Trigones and Brigantes having had possession of either Spain, long before the days of the Punic wars. O'Flaherty* differs from this opinion, and asserts that the name of Auteri was forcibly twisted out of the term ath-en-ria or ath-na-rig, that is, the king's ford. But Ptolemy having declared his belief that Autera, an ancient city in Ireland, was the capital of the Auteri residing therein, many have been thereby induced to interpret the word as meaning a village or state by the waters of the west, compounded, as it were, of the Celtic aubh or aith, water, and eireigh, a western people. For the Auteri had inhabited near the sea coast. I, however, would venture to guess that the Au- teri, or ancient Irish, were the primitive Phoenicians who had discovered this island, and that they had obtained or assumed this name from that spirit of enterprising research which, in this as in other in- stances, had been so signally rewarded. I would, therefore, agreeably to this view, derive the name from, thar, he explored ; or from aatarin, adven- OTlahert. Ogygia. [>. 10, 17. 181 turers, deserters^ or people departing — as they did from Spain to fix themselves here. It may also have borne reference to a number of families of this colony ; for aatharin, in the Syriac, denotes^ a great muster of nations^ whilst it does also the wealthy, and who can say but that by this name they would indicate the treasures they had acquired from the mines of this country, or the exportation of its commodities and the produce of its soil, to the most distant quarters of the then known world. Or what if they chose this name from autereh, or aature, a crown ? This, we know, was an epithet given of old to Tyre, the capital of Phoenicia, as in Isaiah xxiii. 8, it is said, '' Tyre formerly crowned," as it may well be called from the splendor of its buildings, the strength of its citadels and fortifications, and abundance of its riches, " whose merchants were princes, and whose factors were the renowned of the earth." With the Hebrews and Syrians also, autereh, or crown, was equivalent with honor or delight. We meet fre- quently in the scriptures " the crown of old men" for their children's children ; '' the crown of glory in the hand of the Lord," &c. which perhaps gave rise to the custom amongst some ancient states to wear a crown on either their head, their neck, or their right hand. That the christians of the primitive church wore crowns on their hand is evident from Tertullian's book '' on the soldier's crown." These Auteri may have been a tribe of the Ante- 182 rani or Autetani of Spain, of whom Ptolemy makes mention, and whom we now call the Ausetani. But it is to me beyond question that the Spanish Autri- gones, who had settled on the confines of the Can- tabri and the Barduli, were a part and parcel of the self same Phoenician colony ; for the name Antri- gones is obviously perverted from Auterigones, in- cluding in its formation the two Phoenician terms Autereh-goin, crowned nations, or atharin-goin, ex- ploring nations — goin, in the Syriac, as goim in the Hebrew, meaning tribes, nations, or families. The Danannse, or Dananni were also an ancient colony in Ireland, who, as some writers declare, had fixed their residence in the northern quarters of the island. Tradition tells us that they had originally inhabited the cities of Falia, Goria, Finnia, and Muria in North Germany, and spoke the language too of that country ; but an immense number of Irish an- tiquarians, as O'Flaherty observes, have irrefragably proved, at least put upon record, that they were in- habitants of the northern parts of Britain, more especially of those places that went then by the names of Dobar and Indobar.* In this section of the * The ascription which would make those people either Ger- man or British, notwithstanding the vagaries of ivould-be anti- quarians, even though backed by O'Flaherty, is egregiously erroneous, as I shall show elsewhere. ** The colony of the Tuatha de Danains, [thus called from three of their chiefs, named Brien, luchor, and Jucorba, — who were High Mayi, or diviners, 183 sister isle, Camden tells us, lies the river Dee, which makes O'Flaherty suspect that the name of Tuath- Dee — intimating a people residing by that river — was thereby occasioned. He does not dare, however, to trace any affinity between the name Danann and that of the Danes, it being notorious that it was not until after the introduction of Christianity and the salutary doctrines which its professors had enforced, this scourge of the human species, and of the latin nations in particular, had burst forth from the ob- scurity of their previous existence, bringing death and dismay in their desolating career, ravaging the abodes of sanctity and religion, and obliterating every vestige of previous civilizalion.* as the word Tuatha signifies, —brothers, and children of Danan, daughter of Dealboith, of the race of Nemedius,] was in posses- sion of Ireland, according to the Psalter of Cashel, for the space of one hundred and ninety seven years, governed by seven kings successively, namely, Nuagha Airgiodlamh, Breas, Lugha- Lamh-Fada, in Latin, " Longimanus," Dagha, Delvioth, Fiagha, and the three sons of Kearmada, namely, Eathur, Teahur and Keahur ; who reigned alternately, a year eachy for thirty years. Those three brothers were married to three, sisters ; they took surnames from the different idols which they worshipped. Eathur, who had married Banba, was called Maccuill, from a certain kind of wood which he adored Teahur espoused Fodhia, and worshipped the plough ; he was called Mac-Keaght. Keahur, husband of Eire, displayed better taste than his brothers, as he took the sun for his divi- nity, and was thence named Mac-Greine, that ^is to say, the son of the sun. — Mac Geoghegan. * Danann autem non audet Danorum nomini affine dicere ; 184 1 I, too^ would not be positive, in furtherance of my own theory, in claiming those people as of Phoeni- cian birth, though my pretensions to the claim may not seem altogether groundless when I recollect that in that language are to be found the words danihain, sig- nifying illustrious, generous, noble, or rather Danin for Danani or Danita,the inhabitants of the city of Dan,* at the foot of Mount Lebanus, the boundary, towards the north, of the ten Israelish tribes, and still more celebrated as the spot where the Phoenicians wor- shipped the graven image given them by Micha, and where Jeroboam had erected the golden calf. I wave these pretensions, however, on the probability that the Aradians, or natives of the island of Arad, friends and allies of the Phoenicians, had given their names as the very sound implies, to those towns in Ireland called Ard, Ardes, Arde, &c. on the probability also that the Aramseans, or natives of Aramoea gave rise to the name of the Irish Aremorice, as will appear more fully in the sequel. cAm non nisi saeculis Christianis Danorum noraen cum eorum irruptionibus Latinis gentibus innotuerit. * Afterwards called by the Greeks, paneas, caesarea panea?, and Cjcsarea Pliilippi ; but by the barbarians Belina. 185 CHAP. XIX. The Damnii, ancient inhabitants of the county of Down — whether so called from the river Davon — Or from Dunum — conjectures upon the origin of the name as Phcenician — Dam- iana a city of Spain — The Damnonii whence so called — ivhere they settled — The Curiondi celebrated seamen — Inhabitants of Wexford — Various opinions as to the etymology of the name — Curucoe, ships made of bark — Used by the Spaniards — Whether the Curiondi were Phcenicians — Whether descended fromCaurium or Cauria, cities of Spahi. The Damnii, an ancient people of Ireland, to be found in Ptolemy, had fixed their settlement in the present county Down, in the province of Ulster, Some people suppose they had derived this name from the Brigantine term Davon, or Daun, a bay or river. Daunii, Dunin, &c. coming from which, sig- nify the country of lakes or rivers. In this sense it corresponds to the Irish denomination of a tract or portions of a country, Magh Gennuisg. Seeing, how- ever, that in some copies of Ptolemy, they are styled Damnonioi, there be some who suspect that the Damnii, of whom he makes mention, were so called from Dunum, now Downpatrick. In the Celtic Ian- 186 guage, dun is precisely the same thing as berga, the common name for a place of abode, and the Teutonic berg, meaning a fortress upon a hill, or a hill sur- rounded by a fortress. These have been borrowed from the Arabic and old Phoenician in which we meet with the word barg, a tower, and barga, a villa. Hence was derived Barca, the name of a town amongst the Vetones in Spain ; Barceo, another amongst the Vaccei; Barch, amongst the Edetani ; Bargos, amongst the Carpet ani ; Bargo, Bargota, Barjas, Bergua, Berga, Berge, Begos, Borge, Bur- gas, and other names of this kind to be met with in almost every canton of that Peninsula. In this list I should not have omitted Bergio, an ancient fortified town of the Lacetani, designated by Livy by the denomination of ^^ the long to"\Mi," w^hich it afterwards changed for that of Celsona ; its modern name is Solsona. I should myself suppose that the Irish Damnii were a tribe of Spanish Phoenicians, descended from the Damnii, or Damniani, who built the ancient city of the Edetani, called Damiana, the name by which Ptolemy also notices it. And, though some Spanish writers would derive the term from the Celtic words da-min, a habitation beside a mountain or river, it strikes me as more probable that it originated from its Phoenician inhabitants, and in allusion to the worship which they paid their idols, damain, or damon, signifying in their language, idols or images. 187 Or, perhaps, the name belongs to geography, and comes from dumain, the descendants of Dumali, a city of Syria, or Dimona which was one of the lot of Judah, or from a city of Arabia of the same name, and called after Dumah, the son of Ismael, of which latter it is said in Isaiah, " the burden of Dumah," rendered by the septuagint Idumea ; and the Phoe- nicians, we may observe, never forgot the Arabian cities from whence they had emigrated into Syria. To the same source would I refer the name of the Damnonii, or Damhnonii, who according to the ancient* writers upon Irish topics, originally occupied the lands of Cornwall and Devonshire, laying to- wards the extreme west of England, just opposite our shores ; they subsequently took possession of the ancient Hy-Moruisge^ or Morisk, an extensive district in the west of Ireland, being the present county of Mayo, in the province of Connaught. Others, on the contrary, think this name derived from the Celtic, or Cambrico-Britannic word, Dyvneint or Duvnon, meaning depth of water, Duvnonii, * For their dear sakes I love thee, Ma vourneen, though unseen ; Bright be the sky above thee. Thy shamrock ever green ; May evil ne*er distress thee, Nor darken nor defile, But heaven for ever bless thee — My own green isle ! Barton. 188 Dabhnoiiii, or Damhnonii, therefore, would express to them a people settled beside the deep water or the sea. O'Flaherty asserts that they were called Fir-Dom- nan, equivalent to, the men or the clan of Domnan ; and that several places in Ireland have been named from them, for instance, Inver-Domnan, where they first put in on their landing from Britain, afterwards called Invermor,* and at present Arklow, being a river and seaport town in the county of Wicklow, and the capital of a barony of the same name. The Coriondi or Curiondi, a tribe of the Irish Brigantes, were celebrated sailors and lived almost continually and professionally upon the water. Ptolemy, in his writings, has made mention of them, and it is generally admitted that their settlements lay in the present county of Wexford, in the province of Leinster. There is a tradition very prevalent amongst the inhabitants of the county, that their * Avoiimore, which name signifying the gjreat winding stream, corresponds most happily with its character, the banks conti- nually forming the finest waving lines, eithei covered with close coppice woods or with scattered oak and ash of considerable growth — the ground in some places smooth meadow and pas- ture, in others rising in romantic clifts and craggy precipices. At Avondale, the Avoumore meeting with the Avon beg, or little Avon, the united streams assume the nameof Ovoca, and passing by Shelton, it empties itself, through a bridge of nine, teen arches, into the sea at Arklow,- whence it keeps its stream distinctly marked from the sea for near half a mile from the shore. — Fruscr. I 189 chiefs were the Mac-Mooroghs, or O'Moroghs, who in the old records of Ireland are called the Leinster kings. Certain families, of their party, we find had separated from the general corps, and established themselves in the adjoining county of Carlo w, in a place then called Hy-Cabha-nagh, being a district of the barony of Idrone. The opinion most received is, that the name of Coriondi consists of the Irish words corcach, vessels, and ondiu, a wave. In this light it may fairly be rendered as equivalent with, navigators. The ancient Irish used besides to call them Corthagh, that is " the rowers," and their habitation or locality Hy-Moragh, that is, the maritime country. Some, however, on the authority of Camden, would take another road, though aiming at the same sense, and maintain that they were inhabitants of Corcagia or Cork, and the founders of that city, in Irish Corcugh, being the capital of all Munster, and next to Dublin the most considerable city in the kingdom, for extent, for commerce, and its concomitant wealth. Seeing then that the barky vessels or canoes of the ancient Bri- tons were called curucse,* they think it very probable that the town of Cork was so called, as you would say " the dockyard," or naval store, and its inhabi- tants, coriondi, that is, navigators, from those curucae or bark boats. Others would derive their name * Cvriica scMi Cvrrach. trat iiiivis coriacoa jhmii' lotuiKla, 190 from corion-cliu, which, for ought I know to the contrary, may signify a sea hide. Certainly the vitile navigium, ut ait Plinius (IV. 16.) corio circumsutum. Pelasgos item et Etruscos, Britannorum etScotorum more,navi- biisex corio et vimine usos fuisse, auctor est Dempterus (Etru- rise Regal. III. 80.) " Res, inquit Festus Avienus {Orce Mariti- moe lib. I.) ad miraciilum — Navigio junctis semper aptant pelli- bus — Corisque vastum saepe percurrentsaiura." Lydii, aitlsi- dorus Hispan. {Orig. XIX. 1.) primam navem fabricaverunt, pelagique incerta petentes, pervium mare usibus humaiiis fece- runt." (V. Praes. Carol. Vallancey in n. XII. Collect, de Reb. Ihern. p. CXVIII.) Talibus Silures navigasse ad Cassiteridem insulara, scribit Plinius : quin et Cantabros et reliquos boreales Hispanos diphfherinois ploiois fuisse usos usque ad Brutum, ex Strabone(ItI.) constat : imo et Babylouios ipsos ex Herodoto (V. Baxter, loc. laud.) Inde hodie Carraca vocatur Hispanis quaedam species onerariae navis : et situs construendis navibus aptus juxta Gaditanum emporium. Hanc navem carabum etiam appellatam, testis est Isidorus in etymologicis. Quee vox ducta videtur a Phoen. carab, adiit, advenit, quod de iter facientibus dicitur ; vel a carab aravit : nam iter navis in mari similis est sulcis, qui fiunt arando. Carraca autem, seu currucak Phoen, carrac, circumdedit, ligavit, velavit, involvit ; quod apprime navibus congruit corio circumsutis. It is not unworthy of no- tice that this description of boat was quite common round the en- tire coast of Ireland not long since, the very look of them would be sufficient to appal the bravest seaman from embarking his pre- cious person in so small and frail a vessel, where in calm weather you can, in ten fathom water, see every particle through her bot- tom on that of the sea, as distinctly as you can discern an object through a window ; instances have been known where acci- dentally putting a foot between two ribs which it had gone through, the person was obliged to keep the leg protruded in that position until the land was made. ** Where in leathern hairy boat, 0*er threatening waves bold mortals float," 191 Britons, to this very day, call hides by the name of cruyn, from the Greek, krous, to which the Latin corium, also, has reference. But we have the clearest evidence, in the very con- struction of the name itself, that this was a Phoeni- cian nation, and the accounts given of them by the Irish historians, if but diligently perused, would be sufficient to confirm us in this conviction. For, from the skill they evinced in the building of vessels, and the vast number and variety of them that they contrived to employ, from the adventuring trader and the daring man of war, down to the cumbrous lugger and the volatile skiff, plying them constantly on the water, in one form or the other, they were very appropriately, though metaphorically, charac- terised as curin or fishes,* which we find still applied, and for the same causes, to the Britons of this day. * The Inland Fisheries of Ireland have never been made available to their practical extent, although they contribute alike to the luxuries of the rich and the comforts of the poor. It is not a merely local or a partial improvement that we re- commend; the benefit is not confined to a spot or district here and there ; the advantages we suggest are as extensive as the rivers are many which beautify, refresh, and fertilize every county in Ireland. — And shall man, impious man, to whom the all-providing word of God gave power, when he said ** Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that hath lifcy and let man have dominion over them ;" — shall man, by a devastating waste, counteract the beneficent design of iiis Creator, and even destroy, in its very source, that gracious abundance intended to feed millions ! 192 I Nor must it be put down as a dream, and that of a sick man too, if I express my belief that they were Phoenicians who had proceeded from Caurium, an ancient city in Spain on the borders of Lusitania, now called coria, or from a city of Boetica, called Cauria Siarum, now Coria del Rio ; for the Phoenicians in- habited them both, and both are derived from cauria or coria, which in their language signifies a city, a villa, or a camp. Hence arose the name of many of the cities in the department of the tribe of Judah ; Cariathiarim, meaning the city of woods ; Cariath- sepher, the city of letters ; Cariath Arbe, that of the Patriarch Enoch, as well as of several towns in different parts of Spain, such as Corias, Coristancas, Lacoriana, &:c. &c. Thus Coriondi, or Curiondi, quasi Corin, would express the descendants of the above mentioned cities of Cauria, or Caurium ; or quasi Caurionin, the robust and substantial people of those places ; on, importing strength, fortitude, and worldly opulence. 193 CHAP. XX. The Fomhoraice, or sea robbers ravaged Ireland — They were Phoenicians — Analogy of this Irish name with the Phoenician — -Vestiges thereof in certain Spanish towns — Superstitious name of the Forcrabii inhabitants of Ireland^ why so called — The Vellabori a people of Ireland — Conjecture on the origin of this name — Cape of Notium— The Uterni — Their prin- cipal city Uverni or Rufina — Whether these names be of Phoenician descent. The Fomhoraice, or Formaragh,* of whom the old poems of our island make mention, were a people who plundered its southern coast, long as the Neme- * Plutarch, in his life of Seitorius, tells us that this cele- brated commander determined to make the Atlantic Isle (that is Ireland) a place of retreat and residence from the persecu- tion of his enemies. In another work, entitled " De facie in orbe Lunae," he describes this " Atlantic isle" to be opposite the Celtse, and but four days sail from Britain. The Irish legions in Gaul, were called Fine Gall, those in Albany, Fine Albau. *' We may very well suppose," says O'llalloran, '• that the Fine Fomharaigh, or African legions, so often met with in the old Irish manuscripts, meant no other than the Irish cohorts ill that service." O 194 thae held possession of it. They are supposed to have been a body of Phoenician traders, who visited the British isles, about four hundred years before the Christian era, and obtained this name from the occu- pation of prowling sea robbers ; fomhor and fomhorac in Irish, signify a pirate, as they do a giant also. These words, however, have originally their root in the Phoenician, where we find fom-horac meaning fu- gitives and disturbers of the earth, v/Lich well accords with the description given by ancient historians of those rapacious intruders into the British islands. Perhaps they were some of the first Phoenicians who flying before the face of the people of Israel, trans- ported themselves from Syria, whose footsteps are still preserved in the names of those towns in Spain, situated amongst the Gallaici Lucani, Formarigo, and Formaran : in that of Famorca, amongst the Edetani, and that of Formanes amongst the Astures. The Forcrabii, or Fir-na-crabii, were ancient set- tlers in that part of the country called Hy-Magh- neigh, embracing in its dimensions the present county of Monaghan, with a part of what was anciently called Oirgail, and under the command of the Ma- honies, or Mac-Mahons. The name of this tribe would appear suggested from some superstitious con- sideration, as it is evidently composed of the Irish words j^rc- crahhath, true religion ; or if you prefer the Phoenician words, frin, fruit ; or farin, bullocks ; and crabin, oblations or sacrifices, which latter word 195 is itself derived from corban, importing any thing offered to God or to idols. The name of Oirgael too, or Orgiel, which some call Oircael, and interpret by the eastern cael — being an extensive district, consisting of the present counties of Louth, Mo- naghan, and Armagh, and formerly ruled over by its own petty sovereigns — savors very strongly of Phoe- nician superstition. For, or, in that language, is fire ; and gael, or gail, delight, exultation, from the root ghil, which expresses that gladness of the mind that betrays itself by the gestures of the body ; and their combined import would appear to refer to the joy of that nation in the days sacred to the worship of fire. The Vellabori, an ancient Irish tribe, to be met with also in Ptolemy, were stationed in Munster, be- side the promontory of Notium. There are who think this name derived from the British words vel- aber, or bel-aber, the source of a frith.* What would the learned suppose of its being of Phoenician de- scent, and compounded of the words bali-bira,an anci- ent temple ? which, yet, I confess I do not incline to so * Baxtero (loc. laud. p. 23G.) vitiosa sunt iiomina oucliboroi. et OucUeboroi, quje in quibnsdam Ptolema^i exc^niplaribus le- guntur, 8i vero haec grnuina scriptura est, siispicarer fuisse Ibero Phceniccs, oiiundos ex campo Abel seu Obel, quae erat magna Syriai planities (Judic. xi.33.) viii^is consita, ubi Jeplite devicit Ammonitas : quiqu(j cA de causa Obel-Ibcri appellati sunt. o 2 196 strongly as to the idea of its bearing reference to the victims offered in sacrifice to Baal — whether as actu- ally burned or only dragged through — in which view of the matter I would suppose its ingredients to be bel- aborin — which means^ dragging across before Baal — from abar, the verb, which expresses this ceremony, the nature of which was to conduct or drag the vic- tim — and that too a human being, and generally a boy — between two pyres, or series of fires, until he was burned to death. In reference to this monstrous and unrighteous practice it is that we are to under- stand the passage in 11. Kings, xvi. 3, where talking of Achaz it is said, " he hath devoted his son, bearing him over admidst the fire." But we have descanted upon this more diffusely in the early part of this work, and will dwell upon it still more when we come to treat of the idolatry of the Phoenicians in Ireland. The promontory of Notium seems to have got its name from the woods and forests in which it abounded ; for Notiin, in the Phoenician, from which it is manifestly derived, signifies plants, or planta- tions. The Vellabori would seem to have left traces of their name in that of Ballibur, a town in the county Kilkenny, province of Leinster ; in that of Bally- burris, a village in the county of Carlow, same pro- vince. In Spain too, from whence this people may perhaps have originated, the mind instinctively asso- ciates their name with that of Ballobar, a town in 197 Celtiberia, and that of Belabarce, a river in the district of the Cantabrians. The Uterni^ a people mentioned by Ptolemy* as living on the borders of the Irish Brigantes, above the Vodiae, were stationed in the southern quarter of the county Kerry, and the western quarter of the county Cork which adjoins it, in the province of Munster. Their chief city, as mentioned also by this distinguished geographer, was Uverni, situated on the sea-coast, and called, Insovenach, by the natives, though Cirencester would call it Rufina, a name, it is supposed, vitiated in its formation from ruadh eanagh, which is generally translated, the habitation of the progeny of the waters. The exact site of this * This great Alexandrian geographer, who lived in the reign of Antoninus Pius, about the year of Christ 130, enumerates several illustrious cities existing in bis time in Ireland ; and it is manifest they must have existed a long time before, else he would not have heard of them, for he never himself visited those shores — viz. — 1. Nagnata, an illustrious maritime city (polis episemos) on the western coast. 2. Manapia, a maritime city on the eastern side. 3. Eblana, a maritime city, on the eastern side. 4. Rhigia, an inland city 13 60 ^ 5. Baiba, an inland city 12 59^ I 6. Laberos, an inland city 13 59 ^ 7. Makolikon, an inland city llh 58 ^ 8. Another Rhigia, an inland city... 11 59 J 9. Dounon, an inland city 12 J 58 J \ 10. luernis, an inland city 11 58 ~ ms 1 city is now unknown, though some think it likely to liave been either the present town of Bantry or that of Kenmare. Many identify the Uterni with the I bernii of Cirencester ; others deduce their names from the Irish words Ubh-ernii, that is, a more western people. But, perhaps, it is the Phoenician utrin, or atrin, explorers, called also thirin, that best accords with the elevated ground on which they had settled. It also signifies, leaders ; or persons dis- charging convoy. Whence, too, they would seem to have been called Ibernii, from the Spanish Iberi, who were their conductors, unless you prefer that they had got their name from their physical power and strength, for Iberin, in the Phoenician, signifies brave or valiant. This would seem to gain countenance by the name of their principal city, Rufina, coming from rufiin, giants ; as also by that of Insovenach, composed, as it is, of the Phoenician words izzab- anac, or the post where the giants stood together, namely, the race of Anac, the son of Arba, from whom the flower of the Phoenicians, as well in birth as prowess, boasted of having derived their origin. As to Uverni, by which in common with the two names just elucidated, this same city was indiscriminately called, it would seem to be, merely a geographical term, referring to locality, for uberin, in the Phoeni- cian, expresses boundaries, extremities, or sides. 199 CHAP. XXI. The NagnatcB inhabitants of Connaught — The islands of Arran — Sligo, why so called — Whether the Nagnatce were Phcenicians — The valley of Aran amongst the Ilergeti in Spain — Arana, Aranaz, villages and tracts of land in Spain — Promontory of Robogd — Its etymology — The Heremonii, what tract of Ireland they inhabited — Origin of their name — Whether they were the AramtBi — Footsteps of this nation in Ireland and in Spain — Etymology of the tribes into which they were divided. The Nagnatae,* mentioned by Ptolemy as an ancient people of Ireland, are called by him, in some of his writings, by the name of Naguatae. Baxter agrees with Camden in thinking, that their residence lay in Connaught, that is, in the western section of the island. This was a large and spacious line of country, lying on the north of the Luceni, * Nagnata, a remarkable city on the sea coast, of which no traces now remain, lay, it is supposed, northward of the Ausoba. It must have been once a flourishing- place, as we find that with the prefix ** Cuon," signifying in Irish, a port, or harbour, it gave name to the whole province of Con-naught. 200 in the extreme south of the island of Robogdium, by the promontory of this name. The name of Connaught is supposed to have been abbreviated from Cuan-na-guactic, that is, the port of the little islands, namely, those which from the natives, Erion or Erii are called, at this day, Arran, for le- rion. Cuan, Baxter tells us, signifies a harbour in the Irish, as in the language of the modern Gauls, or the French, — coin, means a corner ; and congl, in the British, means the same. Vict, also, or vact, or guact, as it is otherwise expressed, is a little island ; na, being nothing more than the mark of the genitive case in the old language of the Brigan- tes, as well as that of the Irish. Others account for the composition of Nagnatae, by the Irish words, Na-gae-taegh, meaning an abode near the sea, and affirm that our ancient historians had called them, Slioght gae, that is, a race or pro- geny settled beside the sea ; from which latter words combined, comes the modern name of Sligo I should rather think, however, that the name of this people was Phoenician, and borrowed from that of the chief or leader of their body ; for in that language I perceive, that nagud, means a prince or chieftain, to whom the people look up, and to whose decision they appeal in all matters of dispute or litigation ; this word in the plural, makes nagudin. Nor would it be straining our fancy at all too far, if we would suppose them to have been so designated 201 from the quality of our lovely isle, which threw open to the delighted vision of those hold ad- venturers — at the moment, perhaps, when long estrangement from home and country was whisper- ing despair — the genial richness of its prolific bosom.* In support of this conjecture I would observe, that nagad, means a spacious country, a generous soil; nagab-natah, means the same, with the additional consideration of aridity or dryness ; which comports well with the nature of the western districts, in which those people had taken up their residence. Nacha-natah, means the inhabitants of a country such as we have just described. Nor do I agree with Baxter in his etymology of the islands of Arran or Aran, as they appear to me to have been so named by the Phoenicians, as a great many of the Irish mountains have been, from their abounding in trees, which they call Aran,f and to * Nee absonum est sic appellatos ^ regionis alienae qualitate, quaj eis novas sedes obtulit. + It has also, in a peculiar degree, the property of preserv- ing bodies committed to the grave. Of this property, Giraldus Cambrensis took notice five hundred years ago — the following are his words as translated by Stanihurst — ** There is in the west of Connau^ht, an island placed in the sea, called Aren, to which St. Brendon had often recourse. The dead bodies neede not be graveled, for the ayre is so pure that the contagion of any carrion may not infect it, there may the son see his father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather, &c. &c. This island is enemy to mice, for none is brought thijLher, for either it leapeth into the sea, or else being stayed it dyeth presently." 202 which sonobar, in the Arabic, meaning a pine tree or pinaster, exactly answers. Unless you would choose to adhere to the exposition of the Spaniards — known, as we must admit they are, for accuracy in such points — who think that the name of the valley of Aran, which lies in the county of Urgellum, and under the jurisdiction formerly of the Ilergetes, being watered with rivers and numberless fountains, had been given it by the Phoenicians from its simi- litude to Mesopotamia, which they called Haran. The valley of Arana, which belongs to the Canta- brians, is submitted to the same test of the reader's decision, as are also various other tracts in the Spanish peninsula of like name, such as Aranaz, Aranache, Aranda, Aranga. The promontory of Robogh is supposed to have given its name to the Robogdi, who were an ancient people in this island, inhabiting parts of the several counties of Antrim, Londonderry, and Tyrone, in the province of Ulster. Ptolemy represents them as facing the Voluntioi. Camden thinks Robogd to be synonymous with Fair-fore-land, being a shewy and imposing cape ; * for in the old dialects of the Bri- gantes, re, ri, and ro, are indifferently used for rae, or ragh, before ; and vog-diu means a wave,' so that * On the water it forms one of those ever varying and pecu- liar novelties of view, which in this northern region give sin- gular pleasure. 203 Robogd, in his estimation, would express this local position, before the waves of the sea. But. as I take it, the promontory was named after the people living beside it, not the people after the promontory ; from the Phoenician words rabh-gad, a multiplicity of associates : or rob-gad, tumultuous allies, plun- derers, invaders. The Heremonii or Hermonii, who were classified according to their respective tribes of the Falgii, the Elii, the Caelenii, and the Morii, were inha- bitants of the eastern and central division, comprising the whole of the present province of Leinster. The fabulous story is, that they were the descendants of Heremon, who was the son of Milesius, from Spain. There is also another vulgar belief, that they were so denominated from residing in the west, the very name, it is supposed, signifying a western tract. But if it be at all of Irish extraction, it were better to derive it from armuinn, exiles ; but even this, I do not approve of. I shall, therefore, deduce the appellation from the Phoenician ermin, naked, un- clothed ; or ermon, a chesnut-tree, in which the hills of that district abounded. But what if I should assert that they were Phoeni- cians, from the vicinity of mount Hermon, which projects over Pameas ? For this celebrated mountain of Syria was so high, and so cold, that it was capped with snow in the midst of summer ; which made the natives take flight from its cheerless horrors, and 204 n repair to the more attractive and congenial air of Tyre. Or from Hermonin, a small mountain be- tween Tabor and Hermon, at the other side of the Jordan ? whose inhabitants, also, are called by geographers, Hermonii, or Hermonitae. But if we may indulge conjecture, I would add, that the Irish Heremonii may have been so called as being essentially a tribe of the Phoenicians. For the Syrians were called Aramaei or Aremin, from Aram, a region of Asia Minor, whose maritime in- habitants, were Phoenicians, and their principal cities. Tyre and Sidon. Now this region obtained its name, not from Aram, the son of Camuel, of the family of Nachor, (mentioned in Genesis, xxii. 21, 23.) ; but from Aram, the fifth son of Sem, with whom the inhabitants of that coast ever plumed themselves as being connected. Accordingly, we know that Shur — that is — minus a syllable — Ashur, or Assyria, and Syria itself, which was confounded therewith— was called by them by the name of Aram. Hence, too, the Syrians living on the con- tinent of the land of Canaan, and the Phoenicians bordering on the sea coast, would fain affect the distinctive designation of Arameans. The Greeks used to call them Syrians, but they used to call themselves Aramaeans, as affirmed by Josephus and Strabo. The custom of the Old Testament, too, is to put Aram for Syria, and Arami, for Syrian — Arami and Armai, also, signified to the ancients, 205 idolaters, because that the first worshippers of idols, recorded by the scriptures, were Syrians, as Thare, the father of Abraham ; as Laban, and Na- haman, were of that country. Add that the gods of Syria, (as in Judges, x. 6,) were called Elhei Aram, meaning emphatically, the goddess of Syria — by which name Juno was worshipped in the east, and had a temple dedicated to her in Hierapolis, a city of that country. Nay, the Syriac language itself, was called Arimith, from this very source, as in Esdras, iv. 7, and in IL Kings, xviii. 26, where it is said, " We pray thee that thou speak to us, thy servants, (arimith,) in the Syriac tongue, and not speak to us, (ihudaith,) in the Jewish." Ireland seems still to retain some vestiges of this people in the name of Armoy, a small town in the county Antrim ; in that of Arman or Ardman, a village in the barony of Ballaghkeen, in the county Wexford. As does Spain, also, in the name of Armian, a town of the Astures ; and in that of Armona, a mountain between the Pyrenees, in the district of the Aragonians. That the Heremonii were Aremin or Syrians, you will be more apt to admit, if you but observe that the names of the tribes into which they were dis- tributed are Phoenician. Falgii, the first, from falg or flag, signifies a division; Elii, the second, from elin, strangers, also eminent, surpassing; or from aeli, a sacrificing priest, derived from ela, a holo- 206 n caust, or whole burnt offerings : elil, also in the Syriac and Chaldaic, signifies idols^ as it does also illustrious ; Caelenii, the third, the ancient inhabitants of the tract called Caelan, in the county of Wicklow, conveyed to the Phoenicians the idea of cloked, from calaen, a cloak or outer garment.* Nor is it at all improbable but that these were a tribe of the Babylonians, consisting of those who, after the cap- tivity were mixed with the Syrians, for Caleneh * Doe you thinke that the mantle commeth from the Scy- thians ? I would surely think otherwise, for by that which I have read, it appeareth that most nations of the world aunciently used the mantle. For the lewes used it, as you may read of Elyas mantle, &c. The Chaldees also used it, as yee may read in Diodorus. The Egyptians likewise used it, as yee may read in Herodotus, and may be gathered by the description of Berenice, in the Greeke Commentary upon Callimachus. The Greekes also used it aunciently, as appeareth by Venus mantle lyned with starrs, though afterwards they changed the form thereof into their cloakes, called Pallia, as some of the Irish also use. And the auncient Latines and Romans used it, as you may read in Virgil, who was a very great antiquary : That Evander, when JEneas came to him at his feast, did eiitertaine and feast him, sitting on the ground, and lying on mantles. Insomuch as he useih the very word mantile for a mantle. << Humi mantiiia sterniint." So that it seemeth that the mantle was a generall habite to most nations, and not proper to tlie Scythians onely. — Spenser. [" Humi mantiiia sternunt."] Evander's enter- tainment of JEneas, is set out in the 8 booke of Virgil's ^neis, but there we have no such word as mantile. In his entertain- ment by Dido we have it, hut in another sence. iEneid lib. 1. i 207 was a name given to the city of Babylon. The Morii, in fine, were so called from being professionally masters and instructors of others, this being the literal and exact meaning of Mori, or its plural Morin.* CHAP. XXII. The Fomorii subdued Ireland— They vjere Punic or Iberi merchants — Why so called— Whether the same as the Fom- horaice — The Firbolg or Bolgce — Various opinions on the etymology of this name — Whether it savors of superstition — Some roots of Irish names — The Gallionii, a nation of the Bolgce — Their name Phoenician. The Fomorii, or Fomoriani, whom some consider the Aborigines of Ireland, who were celebrated for their predatory attacks upon all its colonies, are lam pater iEneas, & jam Troiana iuventus Conveniunt, stratoque super discumbitur ostro, Dant famuli manibus lyniphas, Cerereinque canistris Expediunt, tonsisq, ferunt maiitilia villis," Sir James Ware. * A family in Ireland still retains this name. 208 agreed on all hands to have reduced it to submis- sion, with the confederated assistance of the Dannani. Authors disagree as to the period of their arrival. Some suppose that they had been established amongst us before the time of the second importation of the Belgse, and that they consisted of Punic or Iberic merchants, who had frequently and from immemorial time visited the coasts : they would, therefore, in accordance with this view, interpret the word as seafarers, or mariners, from its similitude to the Irish fomhor, or fomhorac, a pirate. But to my mind it is differently composed, and comes from the Phoenician expressions, fom-or, implying a foot shaking the earth before fire,* as much as to say. * These consecrated fires are at present much in vogue amongst the Gaures, and preserved vt'ith so much care and precaution, that they are called idolaters, and the worshippers of fire, though without the least grounds to support the un- generous accusation. For they pay no adoration to the material fire, although they make use of that element in the celebration of their divine service. It is the deity alone whom they adore in the presence of the fire, as the true symbol of the Divine Majesty. Though fire, according to the Gaures, is the purest of all tl'.e elements, yet they look upon it only as one of God's most perfect creatures, and it is, as they imagine, his favourite habitation. When they pray, they neither make their addresses to Mithra, nor the sun, nor the fire, but God alone ; many in- stances whereof are produced by the learned Dr. Hide from whence we may very readily infer, that the imputations of idolatry are as rash and groundless in Asia as they are in Europe. 209 dancers in honor, and revellers in honor, of this element ; for we have it on historical faith, that the sacrificial feasts of the Phoenicians, and of all nations also, terminated generally in drunkenness, with las- civious dances and plays. But if the Fomorii be the same as the Fomhoraice, or Formoragh, of whom our old ballads make mention, and who are also supposed to have been pirates or sea-robbers, it being indisputably manifest that the latter were a colony of the Pceni, or Phoenicians, I should con- ceive the name originated from frima-arac, a scissure of fugitives. This is the origin of Formariz, the name of a town in Spain, amongst the Zamorenses ; and of Formiche, the name of two small towns amongst the Celtiberians. Perhaps, too, we may recognize a vestige of those people in the name of Fermoy, a very handsome town in the county Cork, which some think to be an abbreviation for Fear- magh, or Fear-magh-feine, a man living in a sacred level. The Firbolg or Bolgae,* had established themselves * The Firbolgs or Belgians, to the number of five thousand men, commanded by five chiefs, either by the defeat or deser- tion of the Fomorians, took possession of the island. Those five leaders were Slaingey, llughruighe or llory, Gann, Gannan, and Sengan, all brothers, and children of Dela, of the race of the Nemedians. They divided the island into five parts or provinces, which cave birth to the pentaichy, which lasted with little interruption till t!ie twelfth centiiry. Slaiiigey, P 210 in the neighbourhood of the harbours of Wexford and A.rklow, in the east of Ireland. Frequent mention of them occurs in our ancient poems and annals ; and the received opinion is, that they came from Britain. They are called also Siol m Bolgae, and Slioght m Bealidh. They were distinguished into three nations, Firbolgse, Firdomnan, and Fir- galion, which are generally interpreted, clan Bolus, clan Domnan, and clan Galion : of the two last we shall speak under the head of the Domnanii and Galionii. On the origin of the name Bolgae the learned are far from agreeing in their opinions. Some think that by clan Bolus are meant the Belgas of Britain, who having passed over from Belgium, or the lower Germany, spread themselves over the counties of Somerset, Wilton, and the interior of Haver ford ; and that the British language which they made use of in Ireland, was eloquently and expressively desig- nated Belgaid, intimating it to be a Belgic idiom. governor of lieiiister, was the chief of the pentarchy, and monarch of the whole island. These people were known by three different names, viz., Gallenians, Damnonians, and Belgians; but the last was the general name of the whole colcny ; their dominion lasted about eighty years under nine kings, who were, Slaingey, Rory, Gann, Geanan, Sengan, Fiacha, Rionall, Fiobgin, and Eogha, who married Tailta, daughter of a Spanish prince, who gave nam(; to the place of her burial, still called Tailton, in Meatli. — Mac Gcoghegan. 211 Others would have them called Bolgae, from bolg, a quiver, as excelling in archery ; others from the Irish word bol, a poet or sage, as eminent in those several characters. They come nearer to the truth who think the name to be connected with superstition, and derived from the worship which they paid their gods. For Bel, in the language of the Celts, the Germans, and all the northern nations, stood for Sol or Apollo, the sun ;* and was indiscriminately called Bal, Beal, and Sol, intimating his dominion as lord of the world. This they received from the Phoenicians, the authors of such superstition, who in the infancy of their false zeal, scrupled not to offer human sacrifices to * " Let us adore," says the Gayatri, or holiest text of the Vedas, as translated by Sir William Jones, " the supremacy of that divine Sun, the godhead, who illuminates all, who recreates all, from whom all proceed, to whom all must return, whom we invoke to direct our understanding aright in our progress towards his holy seat. What the sun and light are to this visible world, that are the supreme good and truth to the intellectual and invisible universe, and as our coporeal eyes have a distinct perception of objects enlightened by the sun, thus our souls acquire certain knowledge by meditating on the light of truth which emanates from the Being of beings ; that is the light by which alone our minds can be directed in the path to beatitude. Without hand or foot he runs rapidly and grasps firmly; without eyes he sees, without ears he hears all ; he knows whatever can be known ; but there is none who knows him. Him the wise call, the great supreme pervading Spirit." p2 212 1 their Baal, though he afterwards condescended to acquiesce in the substitution of brute immolation.* Hence, the first of May is called in Irish, La Beal teine, that is, the day of the fire of Beal. Several of the Irish mountains, too, retain the name of Cnoc greine, that is the mountain of the sun; and in many of them are to be seen the frame-work of the altars, and the delapidated ruins of the temples of those Gentile idolaters. The old Irish name for year, was Beal-aine, now Bliadhain, meaning, liter- ally, the circle of Beal, that is the period of the sun's annual revolution ; all which terms they bor- rowed from the rites and religious ordinances of the Phoenicians. From their bal, too, which signifies power or wisdom, is derived our bale, of the same import, and balg, a man of letters. Moreover, we may refer to the worship paid by those tribes to Sol or Beal, the above mentioned names of Siol m Bolga, and Slioght m Bealidh ; for in the Phoenician tongue, slil means a cymbal or timbrel, and shiol, fire. The Gallionii or Gallaenii, or clan Gallion, a tribe of the Fir-Belgae or Bolgse^ who settled in Ireland, are supposed to have taken ^ Ilumaiiis saoriHciis priiis cultus, postea belluinis. — The Spaniards would seem to have reversed the case in their worship of Mars, for Strabo tells us, that '* Omnes, qui in montibus degunt Marti caprum immolant, praetereaque captivos et equos." 213 their name from Gallena, a city of the Atti'ebatii, who bordered upon the Belgae in Britain. From them Lagenia,* which was formerly considered the fifth province of Ireland, was called Coiged Galian. It is to me, too, as clear as conviction can make it, that they themselves were so designated, from the Phoenician name gallein, which means, departing or transported to another country, more properly applied to voluntary emigrants. Unless, perhaps, the name may have been derived from their idolatrous ritual ; for the Phoenicians used to give the name of gaelin, to heaps of stones huddled up together, on which they sacrificed their victims. From hence numberless Spanish towns, such as Galinda, Galin- do, Galinday, Galindush, Galinsoga, Gallinar, Gal- liner, Gallinera, &c. &c. would appear to have been denominated. We would appear, also, to have amongst us some vestiges of the clan Galhon or Gallionii, in Gallian, the name of that tract of country encompassing the greatest part of Kildare, Carlow^ and the Queen's counties ; in Gallen, the name of a barony in the * In Lagcnid statuit Regis et RegincB comitatus Thomas RatclifFe, Sussexiae comes, Iberniai prorex, anno 15oG, reg- nantibus Philippo et Maria. Indeque capitale Regis comitatus oppidum Phillippi Biirgus', Regince verc> comitatus Maria: Burgus vocantur. Wicklow in Lagenia, patrum memoria co- mitatus jus induit. (V. OTIahert. loc. laud. p. 27. Burg Ibern. Dominic.) 214 county Mayo : in Gallen Hills, the name of a town in the county Tyrone ; in Gallion Point, the southern point of the harbor of Castle-haven, in the county Cork. CHAP. XXHI. The People called Miledh, supposed to have lyeen Milesians — The Milesians, fable of the Spanish prince — Miledh and Milesians why so called — Miletum a colony of the Phoeni- cians — Cities built by the Milesians — Vestiges of the Miled still in this Country. The people called Miledh, and so frequently alluded to in the ancient poetry of Ireland, are sup- posed by the more modern antiquarians to have be- longed to the Milesians. These latter again, it is believed, were the posterity of the Carthagenians, who sailed from Spain, under the conduct, say they, of Heber* and Heremon, the two sons of Milesius, the * Heber, after this first advantage, having refreshed his troops, advanced into the country to make further discoveries, in hopes of meeting some of the colony, that were scattered by the storm some time before, and after a long and fatiguing march, arrived at Invear-Colpa, where he found Heremon with 215 king of Spain, and settled in Ireland with a host of followers. In the poetical histories of the Druids, we have it upon record that this island was inhabited by the Miledh Slioght Fene.and the Miledh Espaine ; which first names have been interpreted to us by later times, as equivalent to Milesius the Phoenician. The learned of our day, however, think that Miledh is a perverted abbreviation from ^NI Bealedh, meaning the worshippers of Beal, and figuratively, the noble Druids, Fene, too, they say, means wise, so that Miledh Fene, to them, would represent the wise and his division, by whom he was informed of the disasters that had befallen his brothers Aireagh and Colpa, who had perished on that coast. The brothers now uniting their forces, formed their plans of operation for a campaign. They determined to go in quest of the enemy, who, according to the reports of their scouts, was not far off. They began their march, and after a few days came up with the three princes of the Tuatha de Danains, in the plains of Tailton, with a formidable army ready to meet them. The action began, and this battle, which was to decide the fate of both parties was for a long time doubtful, the troops on both sides making extraordinary efforts ; the latter to defend their patrimony against the invaders, who wished to wrest it from them ; the former, less to revenge the death of their countryman, than to obtain the possession of an island which had been destined for them, according to the prophecy of the druids. At length the three princes of the Tuatha de Danains, together with their principal officers, having fallen, the army was put into disorder, and the rout became so general, that more were killed in the pursuit than on the field of battle. That day, so fatal to the Tuatha de Danains, decided the em- pire of the island in favour of the Milesians. — 3Jac Gcoyhegan. 216 noble Druids, and Miledh Slioglit Fene, a wise and a generous offspring. In like manner would some writers make Miledh Easpainne, the son of Golam, un- der whose guidance and auspices the Iberi established themselves in the south of Ireland, to be equal in import with Milesius the Spaniard ; though others asserting that easpainne, espaine, or hespin, stood in the old Celtic for a bare, arid, and barren coun- try, understood by the words, miledh espainne mac golam, noble, from the barren mountany country of Gael. But it being an acknowledged fact that the Miledh, or Milesians, whichever you choose to call them, were a Phoenician race, who put into this country from the coast of Spain, I, for one, would derive their name, not from Milesius king of Spain — who has no existence in the records of that kingdom" other than what the fictions of the poets invest him with — but from some one of the Phoenicians who had sailed over into Spain from Miletum, which was one of their very earliest colonies.* The Phoenicians, we know. * Greek history informs us that Miletum in Ionia was first colonised by Phoenicians from Crete — that this colony was at- tacked by the Persians and transplanted into Persia — that the Phoenicians and Milesians joined with the Persians against the Ionian s, at the battle of Mycale, and that they were made slaves by the Persians, but kindly treated by Alexander— and in the time of Psamiticus a colony of Milesians settled in Greece. The Sacai joined the Persians at the battle of 217 after their taking possession of Miletum, disseminated themselves in tribes in every direction. These are the Milesians who pursued the Thessalonians from Caria, and who took up their residence, in the first instance, on the coast of Anatolia. To them is at- tributed the origin of the cities of Trebezon,* Hera- clea, or Penderaclea^f Sinope, J &c. After the ship- wreck of Pylades and Orestes, near the^' temple of Diana at Taurus, the Milesians visited the Crimasa, and laid the foundations of the cities of Theodosia or Kafa,§ Chersonesus, and Ohera on the Dnieper. They also, besides other cities, built that of Odessus, or Barna, on the western shore of the black sea. But their principal one seems to have been Appollonia, or Sizeapolis,|l which was exceedingly fortified, and con- Marathon, and broke the centre of the Athenians. The Liber Lucanes, an ancient Irish MS., informs us that one colony of the Milesians arrived in Ireland in the last year of Camboath (Cambyses) son of Ciras (Cyrus). — It then describes the divi- sions of Alexander's empire among his generals, and says, another colony arrived in Ireland in that year wherein Alex- ander defeated Daire, i. e. Darius. — Vallancey. * Trebezon k thrap eshan, fumus ex igne procedens ante idolum. Heraclea, Herculi dicata. t Penderaclea, kpeneh, facies. Est facies sen simulachrum Herculis. I Sinope k zinip, thiara, vitta, insigne capitis ornamentura. § Kafttf k Kafaz, saltavit, saliit; vel k Cafa, incurvavit, inclinavit, flexit corpus, genua, quod prosternentes se faciunt : utrumque denotat cultum idololatricum. II Sizeopolis k Phocn. ziz, frons arboris, arbor :"plur. ziziii: 218 structed partly in the peninsula and partly in the little island of Pontus, where the celebrated statue of Apollo— which Lucullus afterwards brought to Rome — was worshipped with all solemnity. Pieces of money, stamped at Appollonia by the Milesians, bore the impression of Apollo's head, with this motto, ^' Dorionos,"* that is, the bountiful. Miledh, therefore, is not the name of a particular race, but of the city of Miletum ; nor is Milesian a proper or individual name, but a gentile or na- tional one. For the Milesii were the inhabitants of Miletum, and any thing appertaining or belonging thereto was called Milesian. Thus we read of Thales the Milesian ; Anaximander, Anaximenes, Hecateus, the Milesians ; so also we find Milesi- ourgos to signify any thing done by Milesian art — as Milesian tapestry — Milesian wool, which was cele- brated all over the world. But the name of the city of Miletum itself would appear to have been given it by the Phoenicians, from milet to escape or be liberated, which accords with the history of the first tribes of the Caananites, who had fled before the face of Joshua and the Isra- quasi disceres, urbs in arboreto vel neraore : vel vl ziz, flos : urbs florida. Odesus a Odesa, fructus. Barna a bariity advena, peregrinus. * John Edward Alexander's Travels to the seat of War in the Eastf through Russia and the Crimea, T. 1. p. 2ii3. 219 elites. We should observe, also, that Miletum was otherwise called Anactoria, from Anach, a descen- dant of Anak, of whom many of the Phoenicians used to boast as the founder of their family. Ireland would seem to retain still some traces of the name Miledh in that of Malahide, a town in the barony of Coolock, in the county Dublin, just beside a fort called the court of Mai abide, and in that of Malahidert, a village in the same county, &c. Let us now pass over to other names connected with this. Espaine, Hespin, or Spania, is a word not of Celtic but of Hebraic and Syriac extraction, being derived from Span, or Sapan, a rabbit. Hence the name of Spania as abounding in them ; and this is the epithet by which Catullus distinguished that part of Spain at present called Celtiberia * But the Phoenicians very deservedly extended the name to the country at large, seeing the multitude of those * We have the greatest authority from the aticient chronicles of Ireland to believe that there was a strict friendship and cor- respondence by navigation and traffic between the Spaniards and Irish, from the time that Eochard the son of Eire, the last king of the Firbolgs in Ireland, was married to Tailte, the daughter of Maghmore, king of Spain, so that the people of the two nations were well acquainted with one another long before Brah, the son of Breagar, was born. And this account is suf- ficient to destroy the credit of that idle fancy that Ith and the family of Briogan first discovered the country of Ireland, with an optical instrument, from the top of the tower of Brigantia. Keating. 220 animals so overwhelmingly immense that they seemed to venture even to dispute its possession with man himself; nor did trees, roots, plants, and vegeta- bles alone give way, before their dense and desolating myriads, but the castellated dome was not safe from their attack, and whole towns have been overturned by their undermining. Most ancient writers, there- fore, impressed with this fact, treat of the rabbit as if it were an animal peculiar to Spain. Hence we may see how little weight is to be attached to the reveries of those who maintain that, as Lusitania was so named from lusus, play, so was Spain from Pan the Arcadian, one of Bacchus's associates. For His- pania, the Latin for Spain, some of the ancients wrote Espaine, and now frequently Spania, which Vossius and Bochart confirm by the testimony of Paul the apostle, Theophilus, Eusebius,^Epiphanius, and others. Nay more, Eulogius, has in more places than one, written Ecclesia Spanioe, (that is the church of Spain) which Ambrosius Morus erroneously and unjustifiably transcribed into Ecclesia Hispanise. Hence the color black is called spanus by Nonus, and Spanicum argentum, for Hispanicum, (that is Spanish silver) occurs in Athanasius Bibliotheca, in his life of the Pontiffs. Sliog, as we have said, is a Phoenician name, indicating a certain^ species of superstition. It remains that we say something about Fene, or Peine, Fane, Fine, or Fion, an ancient Irish clan. 221 of whom frequent mention occurs in the ancient chronicles and ballads of this island. Some would look for the etymology of these names in the Irish fine, which signifies a tribe or nation ; others in feine, the celebrated ancient militia of our country ; others lastly, would expect to find it in feine, a steward or husbandman. There are those too to whom those words denote a standard, or ensign, or whatever is erected in an elevated and conspicuous position ; and, when connected with sacred matters, the officiating high priest or sacrificer ; a learned man ; a Druidical temple ; as the Romans gave the name of fana to the shrines wherein they worshipped their idols. They, however, come nearer to the truth who con- ceive that by these words is indicated some one of the ancient colonies of the Phoenicians, who settled in Ireland. For it is an admitted and established opinion, that the Phoenician name was invented by the Greek in imitation of the Hebrew form of ex- pression, phene-anak, that is, the sons of Anak, or Anaceans. Anak, as we have said, was a giant, and the son of Arba, whence comes Anakim, in the plu- ral, giants ; and being the founder of that race , the Greeks thought that the inhabitants of all Syria had derived their origin from him. Indeed, it were more correct to say Bene-anak, but the Greek always soften the Hebrew letter B (beth) in this manner, as we find Josephus writing sopho instead of soba, a region of Syria. It is no wonder, therefore, that 999 Bene-anak, Phoenices, and Punici, or Poeni, should all stand for the same thing, the Phoenicians. In former times Beanak^ or Phianak, was used as an abbreviation for Ben anak, and from the name thus abbreviated, the African Phoenicians* were called Poeni, and those of Iberia, Fene, retaining in either case only the first member of the name, Fene-anak. But that the Phoenicians affected the name of Bene-Anak, or sons of the Anaceans, and would have them themselves so designated, you may infer from the fact of their calling the city of Carthage, built by them, Chadre Anak, that is the seat of the Ana- caeans, as you may see in the Paenulus of Plautus ; * It appears, that like some of the rest of the Pagan Afri- cans, they \7orship a being, who, according to their imagina- tions, can neither do them any good nor any evil. And which is still more remarkable, they worship another being inferior to this, whom they believe can do them much injury, unless his anger is appeased. This being- they imagine frequently appears to them under the most tremendous form, somewhat resembling the ancient satyrs of the Greeks; and when they are asked how they can believe in such absurdities, so inconsistent with the divine attributes ; their answer is to the following import : " We follow the traditions of our ancestors, whose first parents having sinned against the grand captain, they fell into such a neglect of his worship, that they knew nothing of him, nor how to make their addresses to him." This may serve to shew, that however ignorant they may be in other respects, yet in this dark tradition they have some faint notion of the fall of man, which indeed is acknowledged by all the world, except some letter learned men among ourselves. 223 and, as we have observed in a preceding part of this chapter, their calling Miletum, a colony of theirs, Anactoria, from Anacte, that is, a descendant of the great Anak. For, although, but few of the Phoeni- cians had really owed their origin to the family of the Anaceans — as Bochart has before observed — yet the celebrity of the race had charms for many to make them wish and lay claim to it as their parent stock. Besides, in all nations, it is handed down as a pre- sumptive usage, that they select their name from the elite of their nobility ; and amongst the Canaanites no family could compete with this either, in personal valor or the collateral influence of a splendid name. They were superhuman in strength, and so gigantic in stature that, compared to them, the Israelites ap- peared like so many locusts.* * Pepin the Short, perceiving himself the object of contempt amongst a particular set of his courtiers, who on account of his figure, which was both thick and low, entertained but a mean idea of his personal abilities, invited them, by way of amusement, to see a fair battle between a bull and a lion. As soon as he observed that the latter had got the mastery over the former, and was ready to devour him, *' Now, gentlemen," says he, " who amongst you all has courage enough to inter- pose between these bloody combatants? Who of you all dare rescue the bull, and kill the lion ?" Not one of the numerous spectators would venture to undertake so dai)gerous an enter- prise ; whereupon the king instantly leaped into the area, drew his sabre, and at one blow severed the lion's head from his shoulders. Returning without the least emotion or concern to 224 CHAP. XXIV. The Clan Cuilean, a people of Ireland, where settled — Called also Hy-namor — Etymology of these names — The Deasii in what part of Ireland they settled -Their leader — Whence named — The Dareni, inhabitants of Voluntia — City of Derry, why so called — Whether the Dareani derive their name from the Greeks or the Phoenicians — The Gadeliani, whether from Gadela — Whether it be a Phoenician name. To the list of the ancient inhabitants of this coun- try we are to add the name also of the people called Clan Cuilean, who resided in a part of the county Clare, on the banks of the river Shannon, comprising all that tract formerly known by the name of Tho- mond. Clain, in Irish,* signifying sprung from or his seat, he gave those who had entertained but a mean opinion of him, to understand, in a jocular way, that though David was low in stature, yet he demoHshed the great Goliah ; and that though Alexander was but a little man, he performed more heroic actions than all his tallest officers and commanders put together. * What Erin calls in her sublime Old Erse or Irish, or it may be Punic; — (The Antiquarians who can settle time, Which settles all things, Roman, Greek or Runic, 225 genitive, the name of this people is generally ren- dered the growth or harvest of wheat near the water. They w'ere also called Hy na mor, W'hich sounds to the natives as the maritime region. But, in my opinion, clan cuilean^ is a name compounded of the Phoenician words, clain culain, that is, the summoned together from different or mixed nations, intimating their composition to be diversified and motley. Or, may be, of Clanu Culain, that is, the summoned Ba- bylonians, for the Chaldeans, who had accompanied the Isaraelites on their return into Syria from their captivity, attached themselves afterwards to the Phoenicians in their maritime expeditions, as well as in transplanting their colonies ; and, in the Chaldee language, Clanu and Calnah meant Babylon. Hy na mor, also, is a Phoenician name from, inamor, a variegated or party-coloured people in a sea-girt province. The Deassii, the Decies, formerly Deassies, an an- cient people of Ireland inhabited the southern sec- tion of the county Meath, and the northern bank of the rivers LifFey and Rye, which whole line of coun- try was very appropriately designated by the name Swear that Pat's language sprung from the same clime With Hannibal, and wears the 'Jyrian tunic Of Dido's alphabet ; and this is rational As any other notion, and not national :) — Byron. Q 226 of Ean, or Magh Ean, that is, the region of waters. Their leader is supposed to have been named Mag- ean, or Ean-gus, afterwards abridged to CEngus, which is usually interpreted prince of the region of Ean. A tribe of this nation was afterwards trans- ported to the county Waterford. This region is at present divided into two baronies, namely, Decies within Drum, bounded on the east and south by the Atlantic ocean, and on the west by the black water ; whilst, Decies witJwut Drum, bounds it on the north, and is itself the other part of this tract. The name of Deassies, or Deassii, is supposed to be derived from the Irish word deas, southern, and to indicate a southern people. This is not impro- bable. I would venture to guess, however, that they were a Phoenician tribe, so called from deassin, or deassain, or rather deazzin, that is, exulting ; from duaz, which means, he exulted with joy, to which daizz, joy, corresponds ; and there is no one who is not aware of the dancing and rioting of idol- ators during their sacrificial feasts.* The barony of * Although it is difficult to discover any relation between dancing and religion, yet among the Pagans it constantly made a part of their worship of the gods. It was usual to dance round the altars and statues; and there was at Rome, an order of priests, called the Salii ; they were dedicated to the service of Mars, and they danced on particular days, through the streets, in honour of their god, and had their name from that very ceremony. Indeed, religious dancing was so much the 227 Deece, in the county Meath, which Seward tells us was formerly called Decies, or Desies, as ^vell as another barony of the same name, Decies, or Desies, in the county Waterford, are vestiges in this country of the once existence there of the Deessii. In Spain too, the Phoenicians would seem to have had a tribe of this name, I mean the inhabitants of the old Can- tabrian city of Decium, which is surrounded by the river Aturia. Baxter is of opinion that the Dareni, or Darnii, taste of the Pagans, that the poets made the gods dance along with the graces, the muses, and virtues. When the Jews kept the feast of the golden calf, they sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play, which means to dance, and undoubtedly, they learned this in Egygt. Arnobius, an ancient Christian writer, asked the Pagans, if their Gods were pleased with the tinkling of braes, and rattling of cymbals, or with the sound of drums and musical instruments. The idolaters in other parts of the world, even to this day, have the same esteem for this custom, and the greatest part of the worship they pay to their deities consists in dancing. On the whole it appears, that dancing was first practised by the heathens in their temples, as a part of their religious worship, to point out their gratitude to their gods, either for general, or particular favors; nor have the Christians been altogether free from this custom. The Christians of St. Thomas, dance in honor of that saint, before which they cross themselves, and sing a hymn. The men dance in ono apartment, and the women in another, but both observe the greatest decency. At present, however, there are but few Roman Catholics who pay much regard to this ceremony, and in all probability it will soon fall into disrespect and cease to be practised. — Hurd. r.2 228 the ancient inhabitants of Voluntia, mentioned by Ptolemy, gave its name to the city of Deny ; as also to Dairmach, which is interpreted the oaken city, called also Armach, that is, the lofty city, now Ar- magh. He furthermore thinks that they themselves were so designated, as if descendants of the oak, seeing that Ptolemy names them Darinoi, or Darnii, for dar, in the British, is an oak ; and eni, or geni, to be born. But I submit it to the learned to deter- mine whether it be not from the Phoenician darin, meaning foreigners, soujourners ; or darin, villas, habitations. From the Dareni, or Darnii, I should imagine that the island of Darinis, in the Black- water, in the mouth of the bay of Youghal, in the county Cork, took its name. After the introduc- tion of Christianity, this was called Molana, from St. Molanfid, who founded a convent therein, in the sixth century. You will pronounce the same judg- ment on another island of the same name, near the city of Wexford, where St. Nemham erected a mo- nastery, in the middle of the seventh century. Spain has an old town called Dapnius, on the banks of the river Muga, in the country of the Ilergetes, whose inhabitants, like the Irish, are named Darnii, in the ancient chronicles of the kingdom. The Gadeliani, an old Irish tribe, are commonly supposed to have derived their name from Gadelas, an ancient progenitor of the Milesians. Whether this Gadelas be a character of the real history of this 229 country, or only like Milesius, the reputed prince of Spain, an imaginary fiction for the songs of the poets, I leave to the decision of more competent judges. I cannot, however, but express my perfect disregard to what Geraldus tells us of the Irish being called Gaidheli from some grandson of Phenius, who was distinguished as a linguist. My dissent from his opinion I choose to couch in this strong phrase, not- withstanding his being backed therein by Nennius, Malmura, Eochodius, and other writers of the ninth century, and countenanced by the approbation of the more modern O'Connor. But what if Gadelas, or Gadhelus was some con- spicuous and honorable individual, belonging to some tribe of the Phoenicians,f whose descendants were after him called Gadeliani ? F©r gadel, in their language means, great, illustrious ; and gadelin, emi- nent, superior men. Hence, also, the inhabitants of two ancient cities, but now only petty towns, of the * lu fine, there are no names or dogmata of the Phoeni- cians recorded by either Greek or Latin authors that are not to be found or explained in the ancient Irish, a strong collateral proof that the Phoenicians of the old Greeks were not Cana- anites or Tyrians, but that mixed body of Persians, that is, Scythians, Medes, &c. whom Sallust informs you, from the best authority, the Punic annals, composed the Gaetulians and Nuraidians of Africa, the first settlement of the Phoenicians in that country ; and the same people that Varro, Pliny, and Jus- tin bring from thence to Spain, conformable to the ancient his- tory of Ireland.— Fa//ancfy. 230 name of Gadella, in the district of the Astures and Edetani, in Spain, were called Gadelin, or Godeli- ani ; for I am satisfied that those cities had obtained this name as expressive of their magnitude and their magnificence. CHAP. XXV. The Degades, settlers in Ireland — In what part — Whether a body of fishermen — The Tuat de Doinan arrive in this country — Whence come — Whether a tribe of the Caledo- nians — Why called Ulleigh — Origin of their name — The Caledonians of Brigantine origin — The Irish Cangani, why so called. The Degades, an ancient people of Ireland, are supposed by some to have been a colony of the Lein- ster* Scoti, who settled in the western quarter of the county Kerry, some years before the advent of Christ. The name is supposed to have been made up of the Irish words, de ga deas, implying a situa- * Leighan, an axe or spear, it being with such weapons the Leinster people fought. — The country was thence called Lein- ster, from leighan, as above, and ter, a territory. 231 tion at the south of the sea. To me, however, it seems to express a colony of Phoenician fishermen ; for degah, in that language, is fish, collectively ; deg, to fish ; dughioth, fishing cots or wherries made of rushes ; deg^ a fisherman, and adesa, profit, emolu- ment ; so that Degades ^vould appear a name abbre- viated for deg-adesa, or expressive of fishermen who acquired their support from the profits of that pur- suit. The Tuatha de Danaan,* or Danans, usually ren- t In my work upon the ** Round Towers," it is proved to a demonstration, that these (who by the way had nothing to do with Britain) were the real authors q/*/re/awd's ancient ce- lebrity. They arrived here about 1200 years before Christ, under the conduct of three brothers, Brien, Juchorba, and Ju- chor, and immediately gave battle to the Firbolgs, commanded by Eogha their king, at Moyturey near lake Masg, in the ter- ritory of Partrigia otherwise Partry, in the county of Mayo. The latter lost in one day the battle and possession of the island, and were so reduced as to seek an asylum in the islands of the north. Nuagha, the Tuatha Danaan general, having lost a hand in the action, had one made of silver, whence he attained the name of Airgiodlamh, which signifies silver hand. This narrative had been long supposed a day dream of fiction, which legendary chroniclers had of old trumped up. The hour, how- ever, has arrived for the restoration of truth ; and I rejoice that I am the Jirst person to announce to my countrymen that this relic, or silver hand, is still extant. It was exhibited to the ^'Society of Antiquaries," a short time ago, who, of course, knew nothing about it. The moment I saw it I exulted in the con' Jirmation of our ancient history ; and did not hesitate, at once* intimating to the Gentleman who had the kindness to gain me 232 1 dered the northern race^ were an ancient colony in this country, situated behind the Fir-Bolgoe ; they are supposed to have originated from Britain^ and to have been a tribe of the Caledonians, who emigrated over from Mull-Galloway, or Cantire, full an hundred years before the Christian aera. The old Irish poets seem to know nothing of the chieftains of the first colony of the Caledonians, or Danani as they call them ; but they are diffuse on the subject of their ar- rival, which happened only a few years before the birth of ^Christ. These were accustomed to style themselves Ulleigh, which some would interpret as worshippers of the sun, for in the Celtic dialect, ull is the same as sol, or beal, which is the sun. Ac- cordingly, their country was called Ulladh or Ullin, and these names still represent to the native, the pro- vince of Ulster. All that tract of country also, im- mediately encompassing the present county of Down was called Ulla informer times. Other relics of this name may be traced in Ullard, a village in the barony of Gowran county of Kilkenny ; and in Ulloe, a little town in the barony of Coonagh, in the county Limerick. access to their museum, that it was the long missing arm of Nuaf^ha Airgiodlamh. I now give the inscription, which is in old Irish characters, tor which I am indebted to the gentle- man above alluded to, whose name — T. Crofton Cioker — perhaps, I may be pardoned if 1 publish. 233 But as some will have Ulleigh and Ulladh to be Celtic names borrowed from their custom of worship- ping the sun^ so, perhaps, the name Tuath de Doinan may have originated from the form of that worship, which we know the Phoenicians offered to their idols, prostrate and silent before their banquets. For tuath donian, in that language, means those who meditate in silence and fasting. Nor yet would I reject the conjecture, nor deny the fact, of tuath being an Irish geographical term signifying the due north. The Caledonians were so named from Caledonia, at this day called Scotland, after the Scoto Brigan- tine Irish, and formerly Valentia by the Romans, after the name of their emperor Valentinian. They were of Brigantine extraction, and their constant allies, or rather vassals, in their several wars. The name of Caledonian is supposed to have been de- rived from the woods which they inhabited, being called in the British, Kelydhon, or Colydhon, and the woods themselves, coit kelydhon. Nor, indeed, were the foreign Brigantines called Keloi on any other ac- count than that of their living in the woods, as the ancients generally did, nor were the Caletes, a peo- ple of the Attrebates, so denominated for any other reason. In the'Scoto-brigantine dialect of the present day, coil, means a wood. In the Greek too, kalon, means the same, as did, cala, in the ancient Roman ; whence 234 are derived caliga, a wooden shoe ; and calones, hewers of timber. I suspect, however, that the Caledonians were Phoenicians, who were expert in astrology ; or, per- haps, Chaldeans, associates of the Phoenicians ; for Ghaledain, or Chaldein signifies both, and that, there- fore, Caledonia was named after them, and not vice versa. The Cngaanii, or Ganganii, an" ancient people of Ireland, mentioned by Ptolemy, were settled in the western section of the county Clare, in what is at present called the barony of Burrin, on the south of the bay of Galway. Baxter takes them to be de- scendants of the Ceangi, or shepherds of the Dam- nii, who dwelt in a district called, from the summer exposure, and the habitual recumbency of shepherds, Somersseten, or, sestival sitters. Tacitus calls them Cangi. But as from the singular, cang, is formed the Latin ceangus, so from^'the plural ceangon, do they also form, canganus. Many persons believe that every individual state had its own^Ceangi, who were a co- lony of minors, or of youthfulj shepherds, passing their lives in mountains, in villages, in marshes, or in fens, as suited the interests'of their^pastoral occupa- tion. Of these, Trogus Justinus says, '' they transfer their flocks now to summer, now to winter lawns. As formerly, the ancient Romans had amongst the Calabrians and Lucanians, so now have the Spaniards 235 also amongst the Cantabrians and other states, dis- tinct pastures for their flocks, as well in summer as in winter." The advocates of this opinion derive the word ceangus from the British ceang, or cang, a branch, in the same manner, and with the same figu- rative licence, as '^youths" in Greek are styled " branches of Mars." Others think it compounded of cean gan, and interpret it, the external promon- tory. Whence Canganii, to them, will express a peo- ple residing beside such promontory ; as Burrin, or Bhurrin, the ancient seat of those Canganii, means an external region. There are those who flatter themselves that they have discovered the etymology of this name in the Hebrew chanoc, or chanic, ver- nal ; and, finally, others who think them called Ceangi, from the god Ceangus, the tutelary genius of the Cumbri. In a matter so perplexed, and as yet so undecided, I would venture to guess that the Canganii, or Cangani, were a people of the Canta- brians in Hespania Tarraconensis, who were a colony of the Massagetae, or else a tribe of Phoenician agri- culturists,* and that their name is composed of the words can-gannin, a society of gardeners, from gan, a garden, applicable as well to trees as to herbs ; * Omnium rerum ex quibus aliquid acquintur, nihil est agri- culture melius, nihil uberius, nihil dulcius, nihil homine libero dignius. — Cicero-dc-Offic* l,c. 42. 236 or from gan-ganin, the Ganganii, who excelled in that department.* * But they say, that the modern critics have despised and rejected those chimeras of antiquity to which the Scoto-Mile- sians aspire, as well as the authorities they produce to support them. It is evident that those critics should not be believed in respect to the monuments of that people : they were unac- quainted with the language in which they were written ; it was altogether impossible for them to know it. There are but few even among the natives capable of decyphering their ancient writings: it is by a particular study only, of the abreviations, punctuations, and of the ancient characters of that language, and the Oghum, that they can attain to it. The old Scotic lan- guage, which was spoken two (or rather three) thousand years ago, and which is made use of in their monuments, was entirely different from what is now, and has been spoken, within the last few centuries ; and has become a jargon by the adoption of many Latin, English, and French words. Are these not dif- ficulties, which are impossible for a stranger to surmount, who attempts to write the history of that country ? If the primi' live Irish language be scarcely known by the bulk of the na- tion itself, what knowledge can an Englishman have of it? — Mac Geoghegan, Yet for the antiquities of the written chronicles of Ireland, give me leave to say something, not to justifie them, but to shew that some of them might say truth. For where you say the Irish have alwayes bin without letters, you are therein much deceived ; for it is certaine, that Ireland hath had the use of letters very anciently, and long before England. — Spenser, 237 CHAP. XXVI. The Aremorici, what nation they were — Whether the Alo- brites — Where they settled-^ Whether Aramceans or Phoe- nicians — The Alobrites and Morini, why so called — The Aradii, inhabitants of the island of Arad— Skilled in naval matters — Allies of the Phoenicians — Colonies of them in Spain and Ireland — The Armeri called Cardanum by the Phoenicians — Vestiges of their residence in Ireland as well as Spain, The Aremorici, in Irish, Armhorac, or Armho- raice, are supposed to have been transmarine Britons, namely, the ancient Belgae, that is the Alo- brites, or remains of Belgic Britannia, who were driven out by the Franks, or Sicambri, into Celtic Gaul. They are generally considered as refugees of the Belgae, vf\io settled in the British islands, having come thither at the season of the Saxon war. The Aremorican tract, or line of country they inhabited, is by some writers accounted the Saxon shore of the Gauls, otherwise called Celtic Gaul, Neustria, and Britannia in the Marshes ; Caesar, however, and Pliny call it, Aquitania of the Vascons. 238 Baxter thinks that they were called Aremorici, from armor, or arvor, a shore ; as the Morini, who were the Vallonic Flandri, were called, he says, from the Celtic words, mor-eni, as if, marigenae, or sea- born. With all respect, however, to so high an authority, I would venture to guess that this was one of the Phoenician tribes who arrived in this island, and passed over from it afterwards into Bel- gium and Gaul. From them it is probable that the ancient city of Ardmore, in the barony of Decies, county Waterford, hath derived its name ; as also the promontory of Ardmore on the east of the Youghal harbor ; and Armoy, a town of the barony of Carey, in the county Antrim : just as the Phoe- nicians who inhabited the district of Aram in Asia Major were indiscriminately called Aramaeans, Syrians, and Phoenicians, and, by a junction of the two last, Syro-Phoenicians. Whence in the Syriac version of the Bible, the Syro-Phoenician woman, mentioned in the seventh chapter, and twenty-sixth verse of St. Mark, is said to have been *^ from Phoe- nicia of Syria." And Josephus declares that the Aramaeans were called Syrians by the Greeks. Strabo also asserts that some take the Syrians for the Arimi, whom they now call Arami. The Irish name Armorhac, therefore, would appear to consist of the Phoenician words Arami- arac, that is, a people, or nation, from the district of Aram, namely, from Shur, that is Syria, or Phoenicia. 239 For, arac, means a state, or nation, and Arami an Aramoean, or Syrian, a native of Phoenicia; it like- wise signifies an idolator ; for the first worshippers of idols recorded in the sacred Scriptures were, as we have above observed, Syrians. Alobrith seems an Irish name, signifying a por- tion of an ancient stock or tribe ; for, all, in Irish, means extraction, or lineage ; allod, antiquity ; and brith, a part or fraction of any thing. This I con- ceive more rational, than to say that they had been called Alobrites as equivalent to Galo-Britones, which is Baxter's opinion. Nor is it more unlikely if we would suppose it a Phoenician name denoting a tribe who had concluded a treaty by the obligation of an oath; for, alah, in that language, is an oath and, brith, a league or compact, any thing about which many deliberate and ultimately agree. What if we should consider this Alobrith to be an abridgement from Baalbrith,* or berith, that is, the * Baal-Berith, or lord of the covenant, was an idol wor- shipped by the Sechemite, and many of the idolatrous Israel- ites erected altars to him. To him human sacrifices were offered ; and it was common to appeal to him as a witness and judge in all matters of controversy ; and, especially, when pro- mises, covenants, engagements, or treaties of peace were entered into. In the most early ages of the world, the Pagans made their altars of earth or turf, and they were, for the most part, in groves or on hills, and besides offering up sacrifices to the gods, they were used for several other purposes. All alliances with foreign princes were ratified on the altars, that 210 Lord of the Compact ; namely, tlie idol with whom the children of Israel had concluded a treaty, after the manner of the Phoenicians, and in whose honor the Phoenicians had erected a temple in Gebal, a mountain and city at the foot of Mount Libanus, whence the circumjacent country hath obtained the name of Gebalene. This temple was restored in the time of Alexander the Great, and consecrated, by some despicable enthusiasts of the Pagan priesthood, " To Olympian Jove, the patron of hospitality." For few things are better known than that the Alobrites, as well as the other nations of Gaul, of Belgae, and of Britannia, had embraced the idolatry and the rites of the Phoenicians. It is very probable, also, that the Morini were those whom the ancient Irish called Morintinneach, high-spirited ; or the Phoenicians, Marin, lords, or Morin, teachers. Unless, perhaps, they may have been inhabitants of the land of Jerusalem, and so denominated from Mount Moriah, which is situated the gods might be witness of the faithful performance of them ; of this we have many instances both in ancient history and poetry. Thus, Hamilcar made his son Hannibal lay his hand on the altar, and swear he would never make peace with the Komans ; and thus a poet says : — *' I touch the sacred altars, touch the flames. And all those pow'rs attest, and all their names : Whatever chance befal on either side, No term of time this union shall divide." 241 by the side of Mount Sion. We liave already hinted, above, that the Phoenicians, like the other nations of antiquity, made it an established rule, that whenever they emigrated into foreign countries they should, through national affection, and a wish to perpetuate the remembrance of the present stock, transfer to their tribes and families the names of the cities or provinces, mountains or rivers, that were associated vdth their childhood ; a fact which we could prove by innumerable examples in the con- duct, as well of the Phoenicians themselves, as of the Celts, the Greeks, nay, of the Romans and the Arabians in Spain, and recently in the conduct of the Spaniards themselves, in North and South America. But it may suffice to adduce the instance of the Aradii," ancient inhabitants of Ireland, who made several voyages and maritime excursions, in com- pany with the Phoenicians. These were originally inhabitants of the island of Arad, on the coast of Phenice, at the mouth of the river Eleutherus, and with part of the adjoining continent, such as Antar- adus, Marathus, Laodicea, the principal city of the island, and which bore the same name, Strabo says had been built by some Sydonian exiles, and that the Aradians contributed much to the advancement of naval science. We must not wonder, therefore, when, on allusion to this, we read in Ezekiel's pro- phecy, that rowers from Arad and Sidon liad held 242 possession of Tyre ; nor when^ in a subsequent verse of the same chapter, we find that, in the vigor of their bravery, they with all their forces had mounted upon its walls, and nobly fought in its defence. And not only Tyre but Tripolis, the most illustrious city of Phenice, consisted, as Pliny tells us, partly of Aradians, and partly of Tyrians and Sidonians. That from this island the Aradians, in conjunction with the Phoenicians, had sailed over into Spain, and there built the town of Arades amongst the Astures, Aradilli amongst the Vaccei, and Aradueniga amongst the Carpetani, all called after their own name, is to me certain as demonstration can make it. Ardisa also, formerly a city, now a small town of Celtiberia ; Ardisalsdo and Ardisana, villages in the country of the Astures ; Ardaiz, amongst the Canta- brians, and others of that kind in various quarters of Spain, seem to me indisputably as colonies of the Aradians. It is the opinion of a certain very learned person, that the river of Araduey also, amongst the Palentines, was called after them ; although others think the name derived from the Greek, ardeuo, to moisten. , Again, that from Spain, still in company with the Phoenicians, the Aradians had shifted across to our coast, and there established a permanent colony, we may be assured, I think, from the names of the old districts of Ard and Arad Cliach, which comprise a 243 great part of the county Tipperary ; as well as of the tract of Ardes in the county Down ; and the citadel of Ardea in the county Kerry.* I pass over the names of other towns, beginning, like the Spanish, from the Vvord Ard, and still used popularly and vernacularly as their current designations in the Irish geography. That a tribe of the Armenians, also, along with the Phoenicians, had arrived in this country, may be inferred from the names of Cany Rock, a town on the sea coast of the barony of Balruddery, in the county Dublin ; of Knordoe, a town in the county Gal way ; of Cahirdonel, a village in the county Kerry, where are to be seen the ruins of an old cir- cular fortress, almost impregnably fortified, and con- * Id the name of this county we discover the commercial nation by whom it was first inhabited ; for Cearagh, its Irish name, is derived from cear, a merchant; whence comes, ciara- ban, a company of merchants, equivalent to the eastern, cara- van, of the same signification. " O, native, (Kerry!) O, my mother isle! How shouldst thou prove aught else but dear and holy To me, who from thy lakes and mountain-hills. Thy clouds, thy quiet dales, thy rocks and seas, Have drunk in all my intellectual life, All sweet sensations, all ennobling thoughts, All adoration of the God in nature. All lovely and all honourable things, Whatever makes this mortal spirit feel The joy and greatness of its future being." R 2 244 structed of stones truly wonderful in size ; of Cahir- dowgan and Cahirdriny, which were camps or forts, in the county Cork ; and of Cardangan, a small town in the county Tipperary. For Armenia was called by the Phoenicians Cardu ; and an Armenian, Cardanun; whence Ptolemy calls the lofty mountains of this country Gordoi ; and Quintus Curtius, Cordei. That this Cardanian or Armenian people had seized themselves of Spain also, in conjunction with the Phoenicians, we have proof clearer than the moonlight, in numberless names of places in that country; for instance, Cardena, the name of a river of the Vaccei ; Cardenu, or Cardenus, a river of the Ilergetes, flowing into the Rubricatum, now the Llobregat ; Cardenas, a town of Cantabria ; Carden- chosa, a little village of Boetica ; Cardona, a very ancient city of the Ilergetes ; with the towns of Cardenosa, Cardenete, Cardena, Cardenueta, &c. in different parts of the kingdom. 245 CHAP. XXVII. The Attacoti, inhabitants of Ireland — Whether they were the Silures — Whether an ancient or modern people — Whether descended from Cuthah, a city of the Persians — Vestiges of the Cutheans in Ireland, and in Spain. The Attacoti,* mentioned by St. Jerom as ancient inhabitants of Ireland, gave their name to the country, or rather province, of Attacottia, which the * Gibbon has given a very strange perversion to a sentence in St. .Terom respecting the Attacotti, which runs thus : *' Et quum per sylvas porcorum greges et armcntorum pecudumque reperiunt, pastorum nates et ferminarum papillas solere abscin- dere, et has solas ciborum delicias arbitrari," — which the historian thus translates, '* They curiously selected the most delicate and brawny parts of both males and females, which they prepared for their horrid repasts.'* But he was misled by the word pastorum, which is not the genitive plural of pastor, a shepherd, but of pastus, meaning well-fed ; and thus the sentence should be : *' When the Attacotti, wandering through the woods, meet with flocks and herds of black cattle, sheep, and pigs, they are in the habit of cutting ott' the rumps of the fat or well-fed he beasts, and the udders of the she ones ; and consider these as the only delicate parts of the animals." That 246 Emperor Constantine, from his own name, after- wards called FlaviaCaesariensis. But as this people are not to be met with in Ptolemy's commentaries, Baxter has been induced to believe that the Silures, together with their dependants, the Demeti and Cornavii, and the Cangani, who were their vassals, again, had obtained this designation at a later period of the Roman empire. For what does Attacotti mean, he says, but, dwelling in the woods ? For At-a-coit, written loosely, means, in the woods. This he con- firms by some verse from Condelia, called Prydydh Maus, or the great poet ; whence he conjectures that the Irish Attacotti were named from the syno- nymous term Argoet, and Argoetnys, meaning men beside woods ; or, as the old Leomarchus would take it, Guyr Argoet. The condition of the country, which this custom, barbarous and savage as it is, was frequent amongst the ancients is evident, from that text of scripture, which says : — Neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the Jield. Mr. Bruce, the traveller, threw light upon this command, by stating that this practice exists in Abyssinia, where pieces of flesh are cut out of the animals alive and eaten ; the creature being kept alive for further use. This statement was long con- sidered as a traveller's exaggeration, but it has subsequently been found to be true. The prohibition might have a two-fold object, first, to prevent the imitation of the cruel practices of the heathen ; and, secondly, to prevent the light treatment of blood, when the blood which was the life of the beast was shed in the sacrifices, being emblematical of the blood of the covenant. — See Dr. A. Clarke, The Attacotti, however, were not Irish at all, but a canton of England. 247 every one must be aware from the poem of Higdenus, to have been woody and uncultivated, even so late as the Norman times, agrees well with this conjec- ture, to which we must add Ammianus Marcellinus's testimony to the effect, that the Attacoti, assisted by the Saxons, the Scots, and the Picts, had ravaged and laid waste the Roman province. I imagine, however, that their nation was more ancient; and would be disposed to refer their arrival in this country to the times of the Phoenicians, whom it is more than probable the Chutaei had accompanied in their maritime excursions. The Chutaei or Chuti were natives qf the country of Persis, called Cuth, who after the dispersion of the ten tribes were carried off from Chuthah and the other cities of that empire, into Phoenice, by Salamansar, King of As- syria; and they and their posterity were, for the most part, so called, because the greater number of them were from the city Chuthah. Being intermixed with the Phoenicians, they introduced into their cities the worship of the idol Nergel, which many suppose to have been, tharingol, that is, a dunghill cock, which they had perched upon a pole in the air, as the herald of the dawn. The word Attacotti, therefore, conveys to my ear the same idea as Atha-Chuthi did to the Phoenicians, and that is, the arrival of the Cutheans ; or as Athar-Cuthi, a place or country where the Chutaeans reside ; or as Chutaei scouts. 248 in keeping with the character of the people, which Zosimus designates as a warlike nation. From the Attacotti would seem to have been de- rived Annacotty, the name of a town in the county Limerick ; for Anna, in the Phoenician, lianna, means delightful, acceptable. This name, if we suppose it composed of the words Hanna-Chuttai, will mean, a place acceptable to the Phoenician Chutheans ; or if we suppose its component parts to have been Anakia-Chuti, it will then mean the offspring of the Phoenician Chutheans. Or, perhaps, it bears refer- ence to the idol Ana-Meloch, which the Phoenicians borrowed from the Chuthaeans and other Assyrians, in which case you may render it by, the oracle of Moloch ; — aonah or onah, being, an answer. On these points, however, let every one judge as he thinks fit. I volunteer my guesses, principally to elicit those of others. Before any such appear, perhaps the curious in antiquarian lore may recognise other vestiges of the Cuthaeans in the name, Cot's Rock, now Castlemary, in the county Cork, where is to be seen an immense stone altar, supported by three others. Inis Cathay, too, now Inis Scattery,* an island at the mouth of the * Scattery island is about three miles from the shore, and contains about one hundred and eighty acres of choice laud : a pnory was founded here, by St. Seunan, in the sixth century. It is recorded in St. Sennan's life, that during his residence in 249 river Shannon, where there is still standing, in toler- able preservation, one of the Round Towers in which this country abounds, may seem a vestige of Cuthsean occupancy ; so may Cath, also the name of a rock on the coast of the county Cork ; as well as Cotton, an extensive district in the county Down; and Cot- land, a small town in the county Kildare. That the Phoenicians too, who had originally landed in Spain, had been Chuthaeans, appears to be indicated by the name of Cotinussa, by which, as Festus Avienus and Pliny inform us, the island of Gades was once known ; by the names of the towns of Cuthar in Bcetica; Cutanda and Cotanda in Cel- this island, which was then called Inis Cathay, a ship arrived there, bringing fifty noonks, Romans by birth, who were drawn into Ireland by the desire of a more holy life and a knowledge of the scriptures. This island, called also Inisgatha or Inisga, the island in the sea, situated in the mouth of the Shannon, one of the most convenient harbors for the Danish and Norwegian invaders, who generally came north about round Scotland, was for a long time a bone of contention between them and the Irish ; and from the multitude of those round forts, said to be thrown up by the Danes — though in reality they were erected long before their inroads — in the adjoining parishes in the west of Clare — it is likely that the Danes was strong in this quarter. From the Annals of Munster, Act 55, p. 542, we learn that in the year 975, Brien the " Great," King of Munster, at the liead of twelve hundred Dalgais troops, assisted by Doinnhall, King of Toanhuein, recovered the island of Iniscatteiy from the Danes, by defeating Tomhar, the Norman, and his two sons, Amblaib and Duibheann. Eight hundred of the Danes, who fled thither for safety some time before, were slain in this battle. 250 tiberia; Cotar and Cotillo in Cantabria ; Cutian, (two of same name) inGallacia; and Cutialla, an immense rock of the Pyrenees. To these you may add the names of various villas and villages in different quarters of that country, such as Goto, Cueto, Cotanes, Cotarones, Cotovad, Cotolino, Cotorillo, &c. &c. CHAP. XXVIIL The Druids, Magicians and Soothsayers — 'Whence named — The introducers of human immolation and human divination amongst the people of the West. It is admitted on all hands that the soothsayers and magicians, and as such — conformably to ancient custom, ^ — the magistrates of the ancient Britons and Gauls, had been called Druids in the British language.* We have the authority of Pliny for * Of all the ancient heathen systems of religion, the Druid- ical comes nearest to that of the Carthagenians ; but then it will be naturally asked, how, or in what manner did the ancient Britons become acquainted with the religion of a people, who, 251 stating, that these had transmitted the science of the Magi, or the art of Magic, to the Chaldeans and Persians. Undoubtedly Orphaeus,* who was one of their number, taught music and theology to the Greeks .f The Gauls and the inhabitants of the British isles, had, as Caesar and Tacitus inform us, their own Druids. With both nations did the custom of sacrificing human victims to their idols prevail, which Cicero and others record of the Gauls, as Pliny does of the Britons ; and perhaps it would not in point of locality, were situated at avast distance from them? To a thinking person, this would afford much instruction, be- cause it will serve to convince him, that the account of the dispersion of Noah's children, as related in Genesis x. is genuine ; and that all idolatry originated from the mistaken notions which men embraced, after their dispersion on the face of the earth, when they vainly attempted to build the Tower of Babel. Lastly, the Carthagenians, or Phoenicians, carried on a very extensive commerce with the natives of Britain ; a circumstance which could not easily have taken place in those barbarous ages, unless their rehgions, manners, and customs had nearly resembled each other. That they did so, we have many evidences remaining in Britain, particularly in Devon- shire and Cornwall ; and to support this assertion, we have the testimony of the best Greek and Roman historians. * We should observe that the ancient name for a harp, in Irish, is Orpheam, an evident derivation from this great musi- cian's name. t Whilst their first taught creed, the mystic or philosophical religion of an earlier age, came to them directly from India itself. And of this, Herodotus himself is the authority we choose to quote, who admits that the Grecian divinities were partly Egyptian and partly Pelasgic. be straining commentary too far if we would take the observation of Horace, where he calls the '' Britons savage to strangers," as allusive to the same ; for some persons suppose that they were in the habit of immolating strangers, which it is well known the inhabitants of the county of Taurus had practised without reserve. The Concani too, who were a part of the Cantabrians, as we have said above, residing in Hispania Tarraconensis, and a colony of the Massagetae, had some things in common with the Sarmatians^ Thracians, and Scy- thians, as far as regards cruelty and beastly pro- pensities. The word Druid some would derive from the Celtico-Germanic, deruidhon, which means exceeding wise ; for, der, or, dre, in Celtic, is the same as, deur or, door, in the German Celto-Scythic; as are their compounds Druides and Deurwitten. Others choose to derive it from druis, which, both in the Celtic and German, is equivalent to trowis or truvis, that is, a teacher of truth and faith. Others from the British and German, dru, faith ; by some called tru ; whence too, God was called by the antient Germans, Drutin or Trudin, as you may see in the gospel of Othfridus ; Drudin, therefore, may signify either, divine or faith- ful; either term being applicable to the priesthood. Others from the old British word, drus, a dagmoii or magician ; or the Saxon dry, an enchanter, whilst others, in fine, would derive it from the Greek, drus^ 253 an oak, and that solely because of Pliny's remark, that "^ they make choice of oak groves, neither do they celebrate any sacred rites without that tree, so much so that they may seem to have been thence denominated by a Greek derivation."* What Lucan says of them would seem to bear upon this, viz. '' deep groves, in remote uncultivated forests." Whence the Greeks, by an old taunt, used to call them, Saronides, from the worship of old oaks, which that word originall} and properly signified. They who hold out for the Celtic etymology say, that this explanation would be satisfactory enough, if the Gauls had received the Druids from the Massilienses, and they from the Phocenses. But the Druids were unknown to the Greeks, so that we must look altogether for their origin in the Celtic, especially as it is supposed, on the authority of Caesar and Tacitus, that the Gauls had borrowed them from the British isles. Every one will doubtless judge for himself. To my ear the word sounds of a Syro-Chaldaic, or Phoenician descent, yet could I not dare to specify * In the Irish annals, Magh, a Magian priest, is sometimes put for Draoi, a Druid. The Druidical religion was at first ex- tremely simple ; but such is the corruption of human nature, that it was soon debased by abominable rites and ceremonies, in ihe same manner as was practised by the Canaanites, the Carthagenians, and by all the heathens in the other parts of the world. 254 its precise signification. In the Phoenician language, dor-ida means a progeny of wise men or benefactors, or of such as have the charge of the people ; dor-id, a powerful generation ; dra-id, powerful lords ; dru- sin^ teachers and instructors, from the singular drus or dras ; each and all of which would admirably ac- cord with the established and well known literature of the Irish Druids,* as well as their power and influence amongst barbarous nations^ sunk in vice and devoted to the worship of idols. Drur or dreur, also, in that language, means exemption from work or ser- vitude ; freedom from debt or demand, &c. And we know that Caesar has declared of the Druids, " that they do not pay tribute in common with others, having exemption from war, as well as immunity from every other demand." I am not so vain, how- ever, as to think that I have altogether in this particular hit upon the truth. Mankind are liable * The Scoto-Milesians, free and independent, lived within themselves, and were separated by their insular situation, from the rest of the world ; whilst the Britons were slaves, trampled upon by a foreign power, and often harassed by the Picts and Scots. The Scoto-Milesians held a superiority over them in €very thing : they made war upon them in their o\yn country ; they carried away prisoners ; and in tine were a lettered people, which cannot be said of the Britons. Shall it be then pretended, that, because there were not in the time of Gildas, any historical monuments among the Britons, the neighbouring nations must have been also without any ? The inferencee cannot appear to be a just one.— Mac Geoghegan, 255 to err in these matters, but I am greatly deceived, if I am not far less distant from the truth than they who, in the fondness of their zeal, would boast of their success in extracting this and other names from the Celtic language, or that of the old Britons and Germans.* That from the Druids, as well as from the other sacrificial forms of the Phoenicians and other nations, was introduced into Spain and Gaul, and the British islands, the barbarous custom of human immolation, called anthropothysia, together with * Tartars, who, in Isbrand's account of them, are called Daores, and who are a branch of the Orientals, assemble themselves together at midnight, both men and women, in some commodious place, where one of them falls prostrate on the ground, and remains stretched out at his full length, whilst, the whole cabal make a hideous outcry to the doleful sound of a drum, made on purpose for the celebration of that particular ceremony. At the expiration of two hours, or thereabouts, the person thus extended, rises as it were in an ecstasy, and com- municates his visions to the whole assembly. He is perfectly apprized during his trance, of what misfortunes will befall this man, and what undertakings that man will engage in with success. Each word he utters is listened to with the utmost attention, and is deemed as sacred as that of an oracle. All their religious worship, however, does not absolutely consist in this ; for they have their particular sacrifices as well as others. There is a small mountain on the frontiers of China, which is looked upon as holy ground, and the eastern Tartars imagine their journies will prove unsuccessful, if, as they pass by, they neglect to consecrate some part of their apparel to this sacred mountain. 256 that of liuman divination, called anthropomanteia, is a question that no one can contravene. Diodorus Siculus speaking of them says, " Whenever they deliberate upon matters of importance, they observe a wonderful and almost incredible custom : for they sacrifice a man, and from some old established ob- servation upon matters, affect to know the future by the circumstances of his fall, whether it be from some accident, or the laceration of his limbs, or the flow of his blood.'* Tacitus, too, says, " the Druids held it lawful to offer upon the altars the blood of their captives, and dive into futurity by the fibres of human victims."* This custom the Spaniards observed. * When the lights, after being just taken out, were found still panting, it was looked upon to be so happy an omen, that all other presages were considered as indifferent or of no con- sequence ; because, said they, this alone sufficed to make them propitious, how unhappy soever they might be. After they had taken out the harslet, they blew up the bladder with their breath, then tied it up at the end, or squeezed it close with their hands, observing at the same time how the passages, through which the air enters into the lungs, and the small veins which are generaly found there, were swelled ; because the more they were inflated, the more the omen was propitious. They also observed several other particulars, which it would be a difficult matter for us to relate. They looked upon it as an ill omen, if while they were rip- ping up the beast's side, it rose up and escaped out of the hands of those who held it down, and they also looked upon it as ill boding, if the bladder, which generally joins to the harslet, happened to break, and had thereby prevented the taking it out entire ; or if the lights were torn, or the heart putritied, and so on. 257 having borrowed it, no doubt, from them or some others of the Phoenician priesthood. '' The Lusitani," says Strabo, ^' study immolation, and inspect the en- trails of their victims before they have been cut out : they also examine the veins of the sides, and pretend to divination by touching. Nay, they prophesy also from the entrails of their captives, first covering them over with thick cloths : when thus, from be- neath, a pulsation can be distinguished, the soothsayer instantly predicts from the body of the slain. They cut off the right hands of the prisoners of war, and consecrate them to the gods." The same Diodorus Siculus says, that the Druids had a custom '' of offering no sacrifice without a philosopher to officiate : for they thought that sacred rites should be performed only by men conscious of the divine nature, and as such in a near relation to the gods."* They attended also at the sacrifices * Some of their priests were extremely ingenious, and made amulets, or rings of glass, variegated in the most curious manner, of which many are still to be seen. They were worn as we do rings on the finger ; and having been consecrated by one of the Druids, they were considered as charms, or pre- servatives against witchcraft, or all the machinations of evil spirits. From what remains of these amulets, or rings, they seem to have been extremely beautiful, composed of blue, red, and green, intermixed with white spots ; all of which contained something emblematical, either of the life of the persons who wore them, or of the state to which they were supposed t Moloch was represented with the face of a calf, having his hands stretched out ready to receive any- thing offered by the bystanders ; it was a concave image, with seven distinct compartments ; one they used to open for offering flour, another for turtles, the third for a sheep, the fourth for a ram, the fifth for a calf, the sixth for an ox, but whoever affected to be so exceedingly religious as to sacrifice a son for him, as a mark of special approbation, they would open the seventh.* Under the symbol of this idol the * The Rabbins say it was made of brass, the body resembling that of a man, and the head that of a calf, with a royal diadem, and the arms extended. They add, that when children were to be offered to him, they heated the statue, and put the mise- rable victim between his arms, where it was soon consumed by the violence of the flame. From the whole of this we may learn, that human sacrifices were the most acceptable at the altars of Moloch ; which, undoubtedly, made our great poet Milton rank him among the infernal deities, as one of the fallen angels ; and as one who was to be a curse to the idolatrous world, " First Moloch, horrid kiDg, besmeared with blood Of human sacrifices, and parents' tears ; Though, for the noise of drums and timbrels loud, } Their children's cries unheard, that passed thro' fire To his grim idol," 279 Phoenicians used to worship the sun and Saturn, namely, that large star in the firmament which they used to call Melee, king of all the rest. They who think Saturn to have been the Moloch of the Phoenicians, seem to gain countenance in the idea from the practice of sacrificing children to Mo- loch ; which they, in common with the Carthaginians observed ; whilst we know from the Greek and Latin writers that victims used also to be sacrificed to Saturn. But the scriptures inform us, in divers places, that the Syrians had unnaturally burned their own seed, their own sons and daughters, in honor of this deity. This abominable sacrifice of the idol, then, consisted in dragging children through the fire, and by the hands of their parents in honor of him. That this was a Phoenician custom is evident from Philastrius, and Porphyry, and Eusebius too, as I have already shewn when treating on the subject of the Druids. It obtained particularly in the land of Canaan and the Mediterranean Syria, in which Phoe- nicia was comprehended ; and the author of the book of wisdom, as well as Jeremy and Ezekiel, seem severally to allude to the prevalence of the practice in Syria of immolating their children. Whence the valley of Gia, or of the sons of Hinnon, in the out- lets of the city of Jerusalem, obtained its name from the wailings or lamentations of boys whilst burning before the idols. 280 It appears too, from the testimony of the ancientf^y that these impious rites had travelled from Syria into Africa and Spain ; Pliny informs us, that the Her- cules of the Carthaginians, like Moloch, was usually appeased by human sacrifices ; whence to me it is clear as demonstration that human victims had been im- molated to Hercules in the celebrated temple of Ga- des, built by the Phoenicians ; and where, as Diodorus Siculus mentions, splendid sacrifices were wont to he solemnised after the Phoenician form ; for the Phoe- nicians, who — w^e are assured by St. Athanasius, Cyril, Eusebius, Minutius Felix, and others, were wont to sacrifice their sons and daughters to their deities — made it an invariable rule to carry with them their peculiar rites with the worship of their idols to their several colonies. Of the Carthaginians, who were a colony of the Syrians, Ennius says, they practised " that custom of sacrificing their little children to the Gods." Fescenius Festus relates that the Car- thaginians were wont to immolate human victims to Saturn.* They who had no children, used to buy them from the poor to offer them in sacrifice, as Plutarch informs us. * Diodorus relates an instance of this more than savage bar- barity, which is sufficient to fill any mind with horror. He tells us, that when Agathocles was going to besiege Carthage, the people, seeing the extremity to which they were reduced, imputed all their misfortunes to the anger of their god Saturn, because that, instead of oft'ering up to him children nobly b«rn. 281 I should wish — in my zeal for the fair character of Ireland, — I could have access to proofs, whereby to shew that its early inhabitants, — on accepting from the Phoenicians, like the Spaniards, the worship of Moloch, Astarte, and Baal, as also of Hercules, — had nobly rejected, — at least one, the most unhallowed, the most unnatural feature in their superstition, — human immolation. In the absence of such proofs, and bound by the responsibility of a faithful histo- rian, I am painfully obliged to refer my readers to the authority of Ledwich, who, in the footsteps of Keating, Baxter, Jurieu, and Vallancey, asserts that on the festivals of Ops, or Astarte, and Baal, when the heads of the people were assembled together on the eve of the first day of November,* whatever criminals had been convicted by the Druids on Mount Usneach, on the first day of May preceding, and sentenced to he had been fraudently put off with the children of slaves and foreigners. That a sufficient atonement should be made for this crime, — as the infatuated people considered it,— two hundred children of the best families in Carthage were sacrificed ; and no less than three hundred of the citizens voluntarily sacrificed themselves, that is, they went into the fire without compulsion. * A prince, on Saman's day, (1st of November,) should light his lamps and welcome his guests with clapping of hands; procure comfortable seats ; the cup-bearers should be respect- able, and active in distribution of meat and drink; let there be moderation of music ; short stories ; a welcoming countenance ; failte for the learned ; pleasant conversations,