337 



his son, according to the Annals of Inisfallen, ad ann. 1014, the 

 clergy sang hymns and canticles for the souls of the departed heroes.* 

 In 1022 the obsequies of King Malachy were celebrated with like 

 respect by bishops and priests, ("qui sacrijiciis, hymnis, canticis et psal- 

 modi4 ejus exequias solemniter celebr^runt,") Giraldus mentions the 

 bishops, &c. as carrying harps, and delighting in sacred melodies ;-f* 

 while he speaks of the general musical talent of the country with such 

 raptures, and at the same time such criticism and taste, as would be 

 prejudiced by translation ; yet even this eulogy he could not but 

 qualify with a censure, and accordingly he invidiously alleges, that 

 it is in them a solitary gift of genius.."]: 



Polydore Vergil, an Italian, who flourished partly in the fifteenth 

 and partly in the sixteenth centuries, while he accuses, the Irish of 



* " Duodecem noctibus vigilavere, custodientes corpora, legentes psalmos et preces cum 

 pluribus hymnis et canticis pro animabus eoricm." 



f " Episcopi et abbates et sancti in Hibernia viri citharas circumferre, et in eis modulando 

 pie deiectari, consueverint." 



X " In musicis instrumentis, ***** prse omni natione quam vidimus, incom- 

 porabiliter est instructa [gens Hibemica;] non enim in his, sicut in Britannicis (quibus assu- 

 eti sumus) instrumentis, tarda et morosa est modulatio, verum velox et praesens, suavis tamen 

 et jucnnda sonoritas. Mirum quod in tanto tam prajcipiti digitorum rapacitate musica serva- 

 tur proportio, et arte per omnia indemni inter crispatos modules, organaque multipliciter intri- 

 cata tam suavi velocitate, tam dispari paritate, tam discordi concordia, consona redditur, et 

 completur melodia, seu diatesseron seu diapente chordae concrepent. Semper tamen ab 

 molli incipiunt et in idem redeunt, ut cuncta sub jucundae sonoritatis dulcedine compleantnr. 

 Tam subtiliter modules intrant et exeunt, sicque sub obtuso grossioris chorda^ sonitu, gracilium 

 tinnitus licentius ludunt, latentius delectant, lasciviusque demulcent, ut pars artis maxima 

 videat artem velare. • • • • • Notandnm vero quod Scotia et Gwallia, haec propaga- 

 tionis, ilia commeationis et affinitatis gratia, Hiberniam in modulis aemula imitari nituntur dis- 

 ciplin£L. • » • » * Multorum autem opinione hodie Scotia non tantum magistram 

 equiparavit Hiberniam, verum etiam in musica peritii longe praevalet et praecellet." We 

 could not willingly suppress the eulogy of Scotland, which the latter member of the sentence 

 contains. — Top. Hib. Dist. 3. c. 11. 



VOL. XVI. XX 



