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the trouble and expense, are published and compared with each other and with foreign contemporary history, we can arrive with any certainty at the truth or probability of past events, the existence or otherwise of some semi-mythic heroes, or truthful chronological arrangement.

For the coming history of Ireland we are thankful that preparations have been making. We have had Keating's history badly translated for three half centuries. He compiled it in the seventeenth century from MS. documents, some of which are unhappily not now in existence. Dr. O'Connor was enabled through the munificence of the Duke of Buckingham to get into print accompanied by a Latin translation, the "Annals of Tighernach," a Monk of Clonmacnois, in the eleventh century, and a portion of the "Annals of Ulster," but these books are nearly as inaccessible as the original MSS. "The Annals of the Four Masters" (the O'Clerys of Donegal Abbey, early part of the seventeenth century), edited by the late Dr. O'Donovan, have been issued in a costly style by the Firm of Hodges and Smith. For about a quarter of a century our Archæological and Celtic Societies have been publishing, with translations, papers of great value, and at last, though at the eleventh hour, Government has lent a hand in bringing before the public valuable materials for the future historian of Ireland. These consist of a portion of the ancient Irish code -the "Senchus Mhor," the "Chronicum Scotorum" edited by Mr. Hen

nessy, and the "Wars of the Gael with the Foreigners"* (with translation), edited by Rev. Dr. Todd. This, we trust, is only an earnest of what Government means to do. We hope to see in succession the "Annals of Tighernach," of "Lough Cé," of "Ulster," and others issued at the moderate price adopted.

The deeply read and zealous editor of the work just quoted below, would prefer to have been exercised on some of the others. We quote his own words.

"The editor cannot but regret that this tract, so full of the feelings of clanship,

should have been selected as the first specimen of an Irish chronicle, presented to the public under the sanction of the

Master of the Rolls. His own wish and

recommendation to his Honor was, that the purely historical chronicles, such as the

Annals of Tighernach, the Annals of Ulster,

or the Annals of Loch Cé, should have been first undertaken. The two former

compilations, it is true, had been already printed, although with bad translations and wretchedly erroneous topography; and a rule which at that time existed, prohibited the Master of the Rolls from publishing any work which, even in part, had been printed before. This rule has since been judiciously rescinded, and it is hoped that his series of the Chronicles of Ireland, especially the two just alluded to, which, it is not too much to say, are to the history of Ireland and of Scotland, what the Anglo-Saxon Chronicleis to that of England. The Annals of Loch Cé (pr. Kay) belong to a later period. They begin with the Battle of Clontarf, and continue the history, with some few gaps, to 1590."

will soon be induced to sanction a

Nothing can be more to the purpose

* "Cogadh Gaedhel pe Sallaibh.

The War of the Gacidhil with the Gaill; or the Invasions of Ireland by the Danes and other Norsemen." The Original Irish Text, edited with Translation and Introduction by James Henthorn Todd, D.D., A.B., M.R.I.A., F.S.A., Senior Fellow T.c.D. Published by the Authority of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, under the Direction of the Master of the Rolls. London: Longmans and Co.

† Tiernach O'Braoin, Abbot of Clonmacnois, died in 1088. The Annals that bear his name are continued to the fourteenth century. They exhibit great conscientiousness on the part of the writer who never gives way to Bardic enthusiasm. The other chief books are the "Annals of Inisfallen," probably begun by Maol Suthain O'Carroll, Secretary to Brian Borumha, the "Annals of Boyle," the "Annals of Ulster," compiled by Charles Maguire, a learned ecclesiastic at the Isle of Shanat in Lough Erne. His death occurred in 1498. The Annals begin at A.D. 444, and are continued to 1541. The "Annals of Loch Cé," compiled by Brian MacDermot, relate events from the battle of Clontarf to 1590. The "Annals of Connacht" include all that passed from 1224 to 1562. The "Annals of Clonmacnois" were translated from the Gaelic into English in 1627, by Connla Mac Egan; the original is not extant.

‡ The Annals of Ulster are given only to the year 1131. The Dublin MS. extends to 1503. The Chronicum Scotorum is not here mentioned, because it is already on the list of the Master of the Rolls, edited by Mr. W. M. Hennessy. - Note by Rev. Dr. Todd.

or better worthy of attention than the notice embraces two centuries, ending

sequel of this passage.

"Until these and other sources of history are made accessible, it is vain to expect any sober or trustworthy history of Ireland. The old romantic notions of a golden age, so attractive to some minds, must continue to prevail.

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"The authors of our popular histories were avowedly ignorant, with scarcely an

exception, of the ancient language of Ireland

-the language in which the real sources of Irish history are written. It was as if the authors of the history of Rome had been all ignorant of Latin, and the writers of our histories of Greece unable to read Greek. Even this would not, however, fully represent the real state of the case as regards Ireland. Livy and Tacitus, Herodotus and Thucydides, are printed books, and good translations of them exist. But the authorities of Irish history are still for the most part in manuscript, and unpublished, untranslated, and scattered in the public libraries in Dublin, Oxford, and London, as well as on the Continent of Europe. Hence our popular histories leave us completely in the dark, and often contain erroneous information. Wherever the Irish names of places or persons are concerned they are at fault. They are entirely silent on the genealogies, relationships, and laws of the clans and their chieftains-a subject so essential to the right understanding of Irish history."

The most popular of our histories is that translated from the Irish of the learned Dr. Geoffry Keating by Dermod O'Connor, and first published, Westminster, 1726. It was but indifferently done. Dr. Todd gives a decided preference to that lately executed by O'Mahony, and published in America. His Fenian aspirations and occupations prevented the full attention of the translator from being given to the book, and moreover his text was very imperfect. Dr. Todd gives his readers the pleasant information that two perfect copies of the original Irish, executed by John Torna O'Mulconry, a contemporary of Dr. Keating, are preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin.

THE MSS. OF OUR DANISH CHRONICLE.

with the battle of Clontarf, A.D. 1014. Of the two hundred pages devoted to the subject, the wars waged by Mahon of Thomond and his younger brother, Brian Borumha, occupy a hundred and fifty. The fact is accounted for by giving the authorship to Mac Liag, Brian's chief bard, or some other devoted filea or seanachie of his house, who survived the great day at Clon

tarf. The learned editor furnishes ample accounts of the MSS. used in the work, and we proceed to make use of them for the information of our readers. A very small portion of it, to wit, one leaf, folio size, closely written on both sides in double columns, is preserved in the Book of Leinster.* The contents of this leaf are given in the appendix.

The second MS., also defective, is preserved in the Library of Trinity College. We copy Dr. Todd's refer

ence to it.

"This copy was found about the year 1840, by the late eminent scholar, Mr. O'Curry, bound up in one of the Seabright MSS. formerly in the possession of the celebrated antiquary, Edward Lluyd. There is nothing except the appearance of the MS., and its hand-writing, to fix its age, but judging from these criteria, we cannot be far wrong in supposing it to have been written about the middle of the fourteenth century. It is imperfect both at the beginning and at the end. There are also some intervening defects arising from a loss of leaves."

The MS. in which the valuable fragment is preserved is marked H, 2, 17.

"The third MS. is a paper copy preserved in the Burgundian Library, Brussels, which has the advantage of being perfect. It is in the hand-writing of the eminent Irish scholar, Friar Michael O'Clery, by whom it was transcribed in the year 1635. This appears by the following note at the end. O'Daly, the poor Friar, Michael O'Clery,

""Out of the Book of Cueonnacht

wrote the copy from which this was written, in the Convent of the friars in Baile Tighe, Farannain (Multifarnham), in the month of March of this year 1628, and this (the present) copy was written by the same

The narrative in the work under Friar in the Convent of Dun-na-n Gall

1

* The Book of Leinster was written by Finn, Bishop of Kildare, for Hugh Mac Griffin, tutor of that antetype of Henry VIII., viz., Diarmuid Mac Murroch. It is a collection of narratives, tales, genealogies, and poems; some of these last attributed to Fionn Mac Cumhail and his son Oisin. The death of its compiler in 1160 is noticed in the Annals of the Four Masters, under the date A.D. 1160.

(Donegal) in the month of November of results obtained, with the ancient narrative, this year, 1635." is therefore the more valuable and curious."

The learned Friar copied or introduced into his history catalogues and poems not to be found in the Dublin MS., and there are passages in the last not to be found in the Brussels copy. The chronicle now printed is, of course, the more copious, as it contains everything to be found in either.

It was not till some time after the discovery of the Dublin MS., by Mr. O'Curry, as recorded, that the existence of the Brussels copy became known. Dr. Todd proceeded to that city in August, 1848, and copied all the portions not to be found in the one at home. Afterwards, as he observes

"Through the influence of the Earl of Clarendon, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, he obtained from the Belgian Government a loan of this and some other MSS., and in 1853, caused a complete copy of it to be made by Mr. O'Curry, for the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. These transcripts

have been carefully collated in forming the text of the present edition."

WHO WROTE THE CHRONICLE?

The authorship of the work is attributed to Muriertach Mac Liag, the chief bard of King Brian, but no sure conclusion can be come to on

this point. It is certain, however, that it is the production of a zealous Dalcassian, and that it was composed soon after the battle of Clontarf. We copy the curious circumstance which proves to certainty that the original compiler was contemporary with the concluding event of the narrative.

"It is stated in the account given of the battle of Clontarf, that the full tide in Dub

The result of Dr. Haughton's calculations communicated to the Royal Irish Academy in May, 1861, was this:

"The tide along the Clontarf shore, when not obstructed by embankments and walls, could not have differed many minutes, on the 23rd April, 1014, from 5 hours 30 minutes, A.M., the evening tide being full in at 5 hours 55 minutes, P.M."

"This proves that the author, if not himself an eye-witness, must have derived

his information from those who were. 'None

others,' as Dr. Haughton observes, 'could

have invented the fact, that the battle began at sunrise, and that the tide was then full in.' The importance of the time of tide became evident at the close of the day, when the returned tide prevented the escape of the Danes from the Clontarf shore to the north bank of the Liffey."

In the chronicle the author makes a distinction between races of the invaders, viz., the dark-haired Danes and the fair-haired Norwegians. The word Lochlann (lake land) is applicable to Norway with its numerous fiords, to which the ancient Irish writers applied the name of lochs. The epithet gormglasa (bluish green) was probably applied to the plate armour worn by some of them.

Of course, the circumstances in which the author found himself prevented him from displaying, in his treatment of the invaders and the invaded, that calm, impartial spirit so affected by some modern historians. If he was preceded by a Gaelic Hume, or Knight, or Macaulay, he evidently did not deign to cultivate the thoughtful style of the two former writers, and in aiming at the

lin Bay on the day of the battle, 23rd picturesque, word-painting manner of

April, 1014, coincided with sunrise, and that the returning tide at evening aided considerably in the defeat of the enemy.

"It occurred to the editor on considering this passage, that a criterion might be derived from it to test the truth of the narrative, and of the date assigned by the Irish to the battle of Clontarf. He therefore proposed to the Rev. Samuel Haughton, M.D., Fellow of Trinity College, and Professor of Geology in the University of Dublin, to solve for him this problem:-'What was the hour of high water at the shore of Clontarf in Dublin Bay on the 23rd of April, 1014?' The editor did not make known to Dr. Haughton the object he had in view in this question, and the coincidence of the

the other, he overstepped his limit. For a fine, richly-hued but harmonious picture, he presented an assortment of gaudy hues, strong lights, and deep shadows, with no quiet hues for the eye to repose on, the repetition of the same hues at intervals being the chief characteristic of his art. The copiousness of Gaelic epithets nearly synonymous, was a great temptation in the way of the old chroniclers or writers of historic romance, -a temptation they were unable to resist, except in few cases. There are certain beauties both in word and colour-painting, of which a sparing use gives pleasure to the eye of taste, but produces nausea when too frequently used. The hot glare proceeding from a burning house in one part of a picture, and the pale moon radiating cool blue light in another, produce a striking contrast, especially when the rest of the picture is in deep shade. But about thirty years since, a man with good eyes could not take his promenade wherever furniture-shops were grouped without having his sight blasted by this trick of colour.

STYLE AND SPIRIT OF THE WORK.

The following passage will furnish a fair specimen of the style of the chronicle, besides exhibiting the misery of a country divided into small kingdoms when a ferocious band of foreigners chose to make a lodgment in it.

"In a word, although there were an hundred hard-steeled iron heads on one

neck, and an hundred sharp, ready, cool, never-resting, brazen tongues in each head, and an hundred garrulous, loud, unceasing voices from each tongue, they could not recount, nor enumerate, nor tell what all the Gaedhil suffered in common, both men and women, laity and clergy, old and young, noble and ignoble, of hardship, and of injury, and oppression in every house from these valiant, foreign, purely pagan people. Even though great were this cruelty, and oppression, and tyranny-though numerous were the oft-victorious clans of the many-familied Erinn-though numerous their kings, and their royal chiefs, and their princes-though numerous their herocs, and champions, and their brave soldiers, their chiefs of valour and renown, and deeds of arms - yet not one of them was able to give relief, or alleviation, or deliverance from that oppression and tyranny, from the numbers, and the multitudes, and the cruelty, and the wrath of the brutal, ferocious, furious, untamed, implacable hordes by whom that oppression was inflicted, because of the excellence of their polished, ample, treble, heavy, trusty, glittering corselets, and their hard, strong, valiant swords, and their well-rivetted long spears, and their ready, brilliant arms of valour besides, and because of the great

ness of their achievements and of

deeds, their bravery and their valour, their strength, and their venom, and their ferocity, and because of the excess of their thirst and their hunger for the brave, fruit -ful, nobly-inhabited, full of cataracts, rivers, bays, pure, smooth-plained, sweet, grassy

land of Erinn."

Little can the mere English reader, who may look on much of this-as mere bombast, feel the charm which such substantives and epithets as the following had on the original hearers or readers of the work" Luireach, lainndearda, luchtmara, tredualach, trom, trebhraid, taitnemach" (Loricas, polished, ample, treble, &c.)

CAUSES OF THE INVADERS' SUCCESS.

The editor, alluding to the defeats suffered by the Irish forces on many occasions, finds no great difficulty in accounting for them, and this without the slightest reflection on their innate courage or skill in the use of their arms.

"The whole body of the clan were summoned to decide upon the question of war or peace. Every petty chieftain of every minor tribe, if not every individual clansman, had a voice not only in this primary question, but also when the war was declared, in the questions arising upon subsequent military operations. The kings or chieftains were themselves chosen by the clan, although the choice was limited to those who possessed a sort of hereditary right, often complicated by a comparison of the personal merits of the rival claimants.

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"The army was a rope of sand. It consisted of a number of minor clans, each commanded by its own petty chieftain, receiving no pay, and bound by no oath of allegiance to the king or chief commander. Each clan no doubt adhered with unshaken fidelity to its own immediate chieftain, but he on the smallest offence could dismiss his followers to their homes even at the very eve of a decisive battle. These facts must be borne in mind if we would rightly understand the inherent weakness of warfare in ancient Ireland." . .

Thus many of the faults we choose to impute to our ancestors and their supposed natural propensities, should berather imputed to the circumstances in which they were placed than to themselves. A tribe could not reckon upon a continuance of peace with neighbours or strangers for a single week. A chief enjoying the strength, and courage, and wisdom of manhood, was essential to their well-being, almost to their existence. The heir apparent of the chief for the time might be a child or an incompetent youth. In this case it was but sound policy to elect during the chief's life his brother or other near relative to

assume the command immediately on his decease. This was done, the election being restricted to the Duine Uasals (gentlemen) of the tribe. The scrutiny might be distinguished on occasions by the usual disagreeables of an election, but it prevented the inconveniences of an interreg

num.

THE DANISH PROCEEDINGS BEFORE BRIAN'S TIME.

The mere Irish were never much benefited by the nominal capital of their country. The Norwegians getting it into their possession in 836 or 838, built a fortress there in 842, and the Danes after a preliminary visit in 851, returned for reinforcements, and their king, Olaf the White, was recognised as supreme chief of all the foreigners in Ireland in 856, and made Dublin his head quarters.

There was a comparative rest from foreign invasions for about forty years, but Ireland's troubles began to thicken in the early part of the tenth century. Crowds of foreigners assembled, and the brave King of Ireland, Nial of the Black Knee, collected all the forces he could from Meath and the North, and attacked their united strength at Kilmashogue in the mountains beyond Rathfarnham. But the foreigners much outnumbered the natives, and the heroic king with twelve petty princes perished in the battle.

The ferocious invaders did not confine their attentions to Dublin and the north; they ravaged the pleasant south country, and feelingly does the chronicler describe the hellish mischief they committed. Overcome by his subjects he sometimes even neglects his darling alliteration.

"They rent her (Erinn's) shrines, and her reliquaries, and her books. They demolished her beautiful, ornamented temples; for neither veneration, nor honour, nor mercy for Termonn,* nor protection for

church or for sanctuary, for God or for man, was felt by this furious, ferocious, pagan, ruthless, wrathful people. In short until the sand of the sea, or the grass of the field, or the stars of heaven be counted, it will not be easy to recount, or to enumerate, or to relate what the Gaedhil, all

without distinction, suffered from them... Alas, many and frequent were the bright and brilliant eyes that were suffused with tears, and dimmed with grief and despair at the separation of son from father, and daughter from mother, and brother from brother, and relatives from their race and from their tribe."

One of the most terrible of these southern descents was that made by Imar son of Imar (Ivar) and his three sons, Dubhceann, and CuAllaidh, and Aralt, Aralt, (Black Head, and Wild Dog (Wolf), and Harold). These worthies took possession of Limerick, and high and haughty were their proceedings.

"Such was the oppressiveness of the tribute and rent of the foreigners at large and generally, that there was a king from them over every territory, and a chief over every chieftainry, and an abbot over every church, and a steward over every village. and a soldier in every house, so that none of the men of Erinn had power to give the milk of his cow, nor so much as the clutch of eggs of one hen, in succour or in kindness to an aged man or to a friend, but was

forced to preserve them for the foreign steward, or bailiff, or soldier. And though there were but one milk-giving cow in the house, she durst not be milked for an infant of one night, nor for a sick person, but must be kept for the steward, or bailiff, or soldier of the foreigners. And however long he might be from the house, his share or his supply durst not be lessened. And

although there was in the house but one

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* Church lands having the privilege of sanctuary.

† However the people of the tenth century pronounced this word, modern scholars are content to sound it Mahoun.

An old Munster king Oilliol Oluim appointed in his will, that the descendants of his

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