265 



before the fifteenth century. This is proved by the fact, that there 

 are in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, as well as in the hands 

 of private persons, Irish manuscripts, in which the date of their writing 

 is given, from 1487 to 1518, and in many of which the u is substi- 

 tuted for bh and mh, whilst in those of an earlier date, that letter is 

 not found so used ; and in the very earliest manuscripts, it is but very 

 seldom that any of the consonants are at all dotted or aspirated. It 

 is also to be observed that in those Gaelic manuscripts where u is 

 used as a substitute for bh or tnh, the u has always a point or dot 

 placed over it to mark the sound of a consonant which it there takes, 

 and to distinguish between that and its simple sound as a vowel. 



Doctor Smith is also in error when he confounds the name Muir- 

 chius with that of Muireadhach. He says, " the death of a Mure- 

 dachas, prior of lona, is marked by the diligent and learned Colgan 

 under the year 777." He then tells us that the letter rf, by the rules 

 of Gaelic orthography, " is quiescent," and he adds, " so that actu- 

 ally the sound of Muredachus is much the same as that of Muir- 

 chius." This it not only erroneous but uncandid and unfair. The 

 Doctor, for the honour of his native country, wishes us to believe that 

 the manuscript was Scotch, and not Irish ; he therefore seizes upon 

 Muredachus, Abbot of lona, whose death is mentioned by Colgan, 

 and wishes us to believe that he was the Muircius mentioned in the 

 manuscript. But even if this were so, the manuscript could not be" 

 said to be Scotch, for lona was an Irish establishment, and from its 

 foundation until its dissolution, its abbots were Irishmen, with one 

 solitary exception ; so that even if it were written in lona, it must be 

 considered an Irish manuscript. But the manuscript carries with it 

 positive proofs that it was Irish. One of those proofs is to be found 

 in what the learned Doctor calls " The critical exposition prefixed to 

 the Tain." The Doctor's translation of the article may be found in 



