889 



In each of the volumes of this Transcript, we find an advertisement 

 by the Chevaher O'Gorman, for whonv the copy was made, stating 

 that " the original of the first volume was the property of Charles 

 O'Conor, Esq. of Belanagare, and the original of the second, that of 

 the Right Honourable Colonel William Burton Conyingham, who lent 

 it to Chevalier O'Gorman, by whom it was duly returned to Colonel 

 Conyngham, but has been since mislaid." Thus far we can trace our 

 MS. as being the original from which the Chevalier's copy, now in our 

 possession, was transcribed, and its ownership to Colonel Burton Co- 

 nyingham, whose library passed, subsequently, into the hands of the 

 late Mr. Austin Cooper, at whose recent sale the work was acquired. 

 The Chevalier O'Gorman's advertisement is without date, but a certi- 

 ficate, in the hand-writing of Charles O'Conor, Esq., is perfixed, 

 stating that the transcript was made for the use of his friend, the Che- 

 valier O'Gorman, in his house at Belanagare: "This," he says, "I 

 testify in Dublin, May the 10th, 1781." Now it is remarkable, that, 

 from a letter written by the Chevalier O'Gorman to Charles O'Conor, 

 dated January 10, 1781, the same year, (published in the Testimonia 

 to the first volume of the Annals in the Rerum Hib. Scriptores,) we 

 learn that our MS. was, at that time, 'the property' of Charles 

 O'Conor. In this letter the Chevalier says, " I have seen Gorman" 

 (the Scribe) "this morning, I find he has copied but the first volume of 

 the Four Masters, which Colonel Burton told me you were pleased to 

 return to him. I expected he would not only have copied the second, 

 but also, the Annals of Connaught, both your property.^' From this 

 it appears certain that our MS. had belonged to Charles O'Conor, 

 previously to its being transferred to the possession of Colonel Conyng- 

 ham, but for what reason that transfer was made it is not for me to 

 conjecture. 



Let us now proceed a little earlier, and we shall find that Mr. 



VOL. XVI. 3 E 



