62 Mr. PETKIE'S Inquiry into the Origin and 



In like manner the same laws, in specifying the fines for cutting down the 

 fourth or lowest class of trees, called lopa peaoa, contain the following curious 

 reference to Fidhnemedh. 



",opa peaoa, paich, aiceano, opip, ppaech, eioeano, jilcach, ppm. Cupa a n-oipe each ae. 

 .1. rpi pcpipail mocib icip aichgin ocup oipe inncib pin, in ran ip a pio coimicheapa, ocup ni pil 

 ni 'na n-jablaib, &c. IDao a pionemeo beioe itnoppa .1111. pcpipail inoceib ap oipe, ocup oa 

 pcpipal ap aithgin, ocup a rpian ma n-gabla, ocupa peipeao ma cpaebaib." E. 3. 5. fol. 3, b, a. 



" The Losafeada, [shrubs] axe fern, furze, briar, heath, ivy, broom, thorn. A cura is the fine for 

 each, that is, three screpals for both restitution and fine, when in a common wood, and there is no fine 

 for their branches, &c. If they be in a Fidhnemedh, then shall four screpals be paid for fine, and 

 two screpals for restitution, a third [of a screpal] for their limbs, and a sixth for their branches." 



Again, in a note in the margin of the same law tract (fol. 3,a,b.) the following 

 reference is made to Fidhneimedh, which, like that just quoted, proves to a 

 demonstration that it meant sacred wood, not Round Tower. 



" t)ecbip cpamo a pio comaircepa, ocup can oecbip jjpaio ; oerbip jpam a pio neiriieo, ocup 

 cm oerbip cpamo. Smucc a pio neimeo no co m-bencap uile, ocup eneclilann mo o bencap." 



" There is a difference of tree in the common wood, and no difference of rank ; there is a difference 

 of rank in the Fidhneimedh, and no difference of tree. The restriction of the law is on the Fidhneimedh 

 until it be all cut down, and a fine for it when cut." 



Though not essentially necessary to my purpose, but as a matter which can- 

 not fail of being interesting to the general reader, I am induced to add here 

 a few examples of the application of this term to a pagan sanctuary, or grove, 

 in which there was an altar, or oracle, as it will go far towards proving that 

 the word is of pagan origin. The first passage is from an abridged prose trans- 

 lation of Virgil's account of the destruction of Troy, preserved in the Book of 

 Ballymote, and relates to the death of Polites and his father Priam by the spear 

 of Pyrrhus, at the altar of Jupiter, over which hung a very ancient laurel, em- 

 bracing the household gods in its shade. I here give the passage as it stands 



found explained on a loose sheet of paper in the handwriting of the celebrated Duald Mac Firbis, 

 inserted in a MS. in Trinity College, H. 2. 15. p. 208. This leaf is a fragment of Mac Firbis's first 

 draft of his Glossary of the Brehon Laws, of which several fragments are to be found scattered 

 among the College MSS. The phrase F' oepio ap oun is thus explained on this leaf: " FIDO 

 oepio ap oun .1. coill oee ap no a 5 an oun .1. pio mmeao," i. e. Fiodh defd on the Dun, i. e. the 

 sacred wood on or at the dun, i. e. a Fidh nimheadh. 



