Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland, fyc. 343 



of little cost, should be used where stone and lime cement might be remote, 

 and consequently be obtained with cost and difficulty. And that such class of 

 structures was frequently, if not generally, of this material, can be proved from 

 a number of MS. authorities, from which I shall here select a few examples. 



In an ancient tract of Brehon Laws, preserved in the Library of Trinity 

 College, Dublin, H. 2, 16, and also in the Book of Ballymote, and which, 

 amongst other subjects, treats of the different stipends given to poets, and the 

 various artificers for their labours, the following curious entry is found, relative 

 to the payment of the ollamh saer, or chief builder, who was required to be 

 equally skilled in the art of building in stone and in wood, and of which the 

 highest examples of his combined arts of stone-masonry and carpentry were the 

 daimhliag and duirtheach. 



" mat) o,amh suao saem, sai^it) co pici sen IN a t>iRi, .1. mao 



ollarii oc a m-bia paioecc na paippi, .1. mopaijjcep peo 7 pici i n-a eineclamn. 60 ap picio 

 lao-pioe oo'n ollam paeip. OCUS CURCU^Cft) H11S t)O, .1. ml a Ian paepam bio 7 

 ponamoa, uaip cio cian o olijpeo in c-ollarii paip ni buo mo ma pin DO a oualjjup a pecham- 

 lachup, no paippi ilapoa no bee 051 ap neicliib epcamlaib, aoeieij lap in ujoap ni bu6 mo 

 DO na cuopoma pip in ollarh pile, no pip in ollarii m-bepla, no pip in pep legmo. Conio 

 e 1 ni DO poinoi in c-ujoap oa ppim-oan DO bee aici i poea, .1. cloch paippi 7 cpann paippi, 7 in 

 oapa oan ip uaiple oib DO bee aici i poea, .1. oamliag 7 oupcech. t)a ba oeg oppo pin, .1. 

 pe ba a ceccap oe, 7 a pechamlacc DO pegao ap na oariaib aile o pin amach, 7 cuopumup 

 a pepeo DO bean alloj caca oana oib, .1. a pepeo pein. Se ba ap ibpopace, 7 p6 ba ap 

 coicchijip 7 pe 1 ba ap muilleopace; bean cpi ba eprib pin pip na oa ba oej puil aici i poca, 

 conio ;cu. ba pin. Ceepi ba ap lonjaib, 7 1111. bapcaib, 7 nn.ba ap cupca ; bean oa ba epcib 

 pin pip na .;cu. ba pomaino, conio .pcun. ba. Cecpi ba ap cpano lepcpa, .1. lana, 7 opolmaca, 7 

 oabca oapach, 7 mm-lepraip oilcena, 7 oa ba ap puamaipecc; bo epcib pin pip na .;euii. buaib 

 pomaino conio pcuni. t)a ba ap rochpa, 7 DO ba ap caiplib, 7 DO ba ap clocanaiB ; bo epcib 

 pin pip in ;ruiit. m-buaib pomaino, conio ^vr. ni-ba. t)a ba ap pmoaijecc, 7 oa ba ap cpopa, 

 7 DO ba ap caippci; bo epcib pin pip na ;ci;c. m-buaib pomaino, conio^. bo. t)a ba ap chijib 

 plac, 7 oa ba ap pciacaib, 7 oa ba ap opoccib ; bo epctb pm pip in pichec bo pomaino, conio 

 bo ap pichec oo'n ollari) paip amail pin, cona m-bec pin uile aici o'elaonaib." Col. 930. 



"IF HE BE AN OLLAVE PROFESSOR OF TRADES, WHO IS ENTITLED TO 

 TWENTY COWS AS HIS PAY, i. e. if he be an ollave who possesses the mastership of trades, 

 it is ordained that twenty-one cows be his pay. These are twenty-one cows for the Ollave of 

 trades. AND A MONTH'S REFECTION TO HIM, that is, a month is his full allowance of 

 food and attendance, for although of old the Ollave tradesman was entitled to more than this, in 

 reward for the versatility of his ingenuity, or for his perfect knowledge of dissimilar arts, still the 

 author [of this law] refused to allow him more than the ollave in poetry, or the ollave in language, 



