204 Mr. PETRIE'S Inquiry into the Origin and 



" . . . . apud Byzantinos a Patriarcha in sede Sopliiaiia, 'in 

 soprii, coronabantur Imperatores aliqua ex iis corollis, quse supra sacram mensam pendebant, quse 

 peracta solennitate in suum remittebatur locum, ut pluribus narrat Constantinus Porphyrogeni- 

 tus . . . cujus ritus originem Constantino Magno adscribit." Constantinopolis Christiana, 1. iii. 43. 



St. Paulinus describes a crown suspended over the tomb of Martin of Tours, 

 and the same usage is also noticed by St. Gregory of Tours (1. i. c. 2). We can be 

 at no loss, therefore, to account for the introduction of the custom into Ireland, 

 as the pilgrimages of the Irish to that tomb are noticed by Jonas, a disciple 

 of Columbanus, and in the Annals of the Benedictines, by Mabillon (1. i. p. 293). 

 The linen cloths or veils (linteamenta), which screened the sanctuary, &c., form 

 another feature in this description, which to me rather indicates its authenticity 

 than the contrary, such veils having been suspended in all the ancient churches, 

 and this as early as the fourth century. See Ciampini, 1. ii. pi. 26 ; see also 

 Anastatius in Bibliotheca Patrum, torn. xii. Durandus writes : 



" Velum, in ecclesia triplex suspenditur, primum quod sacra operit alterum quod sacrarium a 

 clero dividit tertium quod clerum a populo secernit." Durandus, lib. i. Eation. c. 3, n. 35. 



The Rev. Mr. Gunn, a writer of much learning, while commenting on the 

 preceding passage of Durandus, writes thus : 



" During the office of the ambo, the veil ' quod sacra operit' and which was suspended 

 across the sanctuary, ' quod clerum a populo secernit,' was closed. This mass being over, the ca- 

 techumeni retired, and the missa fidelium or the service of the altar succeeded. ' The sacrifice is 

 brought forth ; and when Christ the Lamb of God is offered, when you hear this signal given, let 

 us all join in common prayer ; when you see the veils withdrawn, then think you see Heaven 

 opened, and angels descending from above.' (Chrysostom. Homil. 3. in Ephes. Bingham, b. 8, c. 6, 

 sec. 8.)" Inquiry into the Origin and Influence of Gothic Architecture, p. 141. 



Indeed, there is no more reason to doubt that such veils were usual in all 

 the ancient Irish churches of distinction, which consisted of nave and chancel, 

 than that chancelled partitions were used, of the existence of which we have 

 the following evidence in Cormac's Glossary, under the wordcaincell, a chancel: 



" Camcell, a cancella, .1. cliar: cpann-cdmjel, .1. cpann-cliac inpin, .1. cliar, if in cpann 

 icip laechcub 7 cleipciB po copiiiailep pom boi pial cempuill c-Solaman; up ip cliar a amm, 

 con pocpoib clap ; urioe oicicup cpocaingel, .1. cpo-cliac." 



" Caincell, a cancella, i. e. a latticed partition (a chancel) : crann-chaingel, i. e. a wooden parti- 

 tion, i. e. a latticed partition, the division between the laity and clergy after the similitude of the 

 veil of Solomon's temple ; for it, with its partition of boards, is named cliath ; unde dicitur cro- 

 chaingel, i. e. a latticed division." 



