246 



the capital letters in the Book of Kells, commonly called " the Book 

 of Columbkill,"* which is still preserved among the MSS. of Trinity 

 College, Dublin, and of whose ornamented pages Doctor O'Conor fur- 

 nishes-f- a more detailed account. 



The spirit of peace, which, like a blessing, mingled with the pro- 

 gress of Christianity, leaves nothing in this period referrible to the art 

 military. J In naval affairs, however, there was a very interesting 

 improvement, though not less for pacific§ purposes ; something has 

 been already said as to the science of navigation ; the nature of the 

 shipping, however, requires some illustration. The humble corragh 

 certainly was not yet cast aside ; Tigernach mentions small corraghs 

 in 622, and Probus speaks of the " navi pellea,"ll and the " navem 

 unius pellis absque gubernaculo ;"** but there is a host of witnesses 

 to establish, that far superior art was employed where necessity re- 

 quired it ; and though Adamnan expressly says, that the vessel, in 

 which Saint Cormac undertook the hazardous voyage already alluded 

 to, was but a larger species of corragh, (" pelliceum tectum na- 



inde vitulum, hinc hominis faciem inde leonis, aliasque figuras pene infinitas. • • * * 

 Sin autem ***** ^j g^j-j jg arcana transpenetraveris, tarn delicatas et subtUes, tarn 

 artas et arctas, tam nodosas et vinculatim colligatas, tamque recentibus adhuc coloribus illus- 

 tratas, notare poteris infricaturas, ut vere haic omnia angelica potius quam humana diligentia 

 jam asseveraveiis esse composita. Hoec equidem quanto frequentius et diligentius intueor, 

 semper quasi novis bbstupeo semperque magis ac magis admirando conspicio." — Top. Hib. 

 Dist. c. 38. 



* " Cum picturis passim intersertis literisque quibusdam intertextis miri operis et antiqui- 

 tatis, qui liber Columbkill vulgo dicitur." — Archseol. p. 436. 



t O'Conor, Eer. Hib. Script, vol. 1. Nunc. Epist. p. 289. 



X Tigernach mentions a warrior in 609, with the epithet " of the lance or spear." And it 

 appears from Adamnan, that the Irish still retained the custom, noted by Solinus, of adorning 

 their swords and daggers with the polished teeth of animals. — See Mac-Pherson's Annals of 

 Commerce, vol. I. p. 223. 



§ Tigernach, however, mentions a sea-fight as in A. D. 719. 



II Vita S. Patricii, lib. 2. c. 11. *» Vita S. Patricii, lib. 2. c. 10. 



