22 



of associates/'* " Sure it is," says Pedro Mexlaj-f " that in the 

 days of Gurgwintius or Gurguntius, king of Britain, the chief 

 go\ernor of Bayon, with four brethren Spaniards, two of which are 

 said to be Hiberus and Heremon, not the sons, as some think, of 

 Gathelus, but some other perhaps that were descended of him, who 

 understanding that divers of the western isles Avere empty of inhabi- 

 tants, assembhng a great company of men, women, and children, 

 embarked with the same in sixty great vessels, and proceeded to Ire- 

 land." Padre Pineda, J Juan de Ferreras,^ Sebastian de Cobaruvias,|| 

 Florianus del Campo, D'Altereti, in his Spanish Antiquities, and 

 many others, are credibly stated to throw further illustration on this 

 part of the Irish annals ; but these works have not been accessible 

 for more special reference. 



Nennius confirms these, adding, after tire account which has been 

 given of the Scythian and his family, and their sojourn in Spain, the 

 following words: "and afterwards they came to Ireland, 1002 years 

 after the destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea, and they 

 came to the regions of Dali-ieta, at the time when Brutus ruled the 

 Romans, and introduced the consulates."** Ortelius gives his tes- 

 timony to the same effect ; and M. De la Roche adds a philological 



* " Hiberniain item insulam ab Ibro duce Hispano nominatam ferunt, qui primus 

 magnS. hominum congregata multitudine, earn occupavit." — Franc. Taraph. Bariconen de 

 orig. ac reb. gest. Reg. Hispanioe, Antw. 1553. 



f Hist. Imp., as translated in Time's Store-House, Lond. 1619. 

 " t Eceles, 1. 27. c. 12. § Hist. Gen. d'Espagne. v. 1. p. 9. 



II Tesora de la Lingua Castellana. 



•* " Et postea venerunt ad Hiberniam post mille duobus annis post mersionem 

 ^gyptiorum in mari Rubro, et venerunt ad regiones Daliieta tempore quo regnabat Brutus, a 

 quo consules esse cceperunt." — Hist. Britt. c. 9. Innes contends, that this "Dalrieta" is a 

 distinct settlement from the one, " ad Hiberniam," but the context, as well as the passages 

 from the annals of Tigernach and from Bede, cited post, period 1. sec. 1., refute the objection. 



