336 Mr. PETEIE'S Inquiry into the Origin and 



translation of the Irish word bearnan, which was unquestionably applied to a 

 gapped, or broken, bell ; and he should also have known that, as St. Bernard 

 tells, and as the whole stream of our ancient ecclesiastical history proves, the 

 use of the pallium was unknown in Ireland till the middle of the twelfth cen- 

 tury. St. Bernard's words are : " Metropoliticae sedideerat adhuc et defuerat ab 

 initio pallii usus." Vita Malachicp, cap. 10. 



Sir William Betham, indeed, tells us that the word pallium, by which the 

 word poolire in the original is rendered, " is applied to the veil, as taken by a 

 female, and means nothing more here than a cloak, not a pall, as now under- 

 stood." But where is the authority to show that a cloak, which was not a pall, 

 should be necessary to a bishop, as well as a crozier and bell? or does he wish 

 us to suppose that the cloak was intended as a veil for Fiach's wife ? 



The prevalence of the use of these leather cases amongst the ecclesiastics 

 in Ireland anciently, may be inferred from the following passage in the ancient 

 life of St. Columbkille, preserved in the Leabhar Breac, in the Library of the 

 Academy, fol. 16, b, b. 



" Oip ba bep oopum cpoppa, 7 polcupe, 7 ciaja lebep 7 aiome eclaptacoa DO oenum, uc 



" ?enaip .ccc. cpoppa buaoach, 

 Noioppao .ccc. cippaic DO ba oian, 

 .C. polaipe an, anaehach. 

 ta .c. bachall, la .c. ciaj." 



" For it was a habit with him to make crosses and polaires, and book satchels, and ecclesiastical 

 implements, ut dixit \_poeta~\ : 



" He blessed three hundred miraculous crosses, 

 He blessed three hundred wells which were constant, 

 One hundred polaires noble, one-coloured, 

 With one hundred croziers, with one hundred satchels." 



It will be seen from the preceding passage, moreover, that in addition to the 

 polaire, or leather case for containing reliquaries or sacred books, the ancient 

 Irish ecclesiastics used bags or satchels, known by the name tiag, for the ordi- 

 nary carriage of books; and it would appear, from several passages in the most 

 ancient lives of the Irish saints, that such satchels were also of leather, as in the 

 following legend, which constitutes the eighth chapter of the second book of 

 the Life of St. Columba, by Adamnan : 



