3o9 



The general character attributed to the people of Ireland, while 

 the recentness of the English invasion rendered it politic to decry 

 them, cannot be much relied on ; hence little faith should be given 

 to Giraldus when he calls the Irish " gens inhospita, gens ex bestiis 

 solum et bestialiter vivens, gens a primo pastoralis vitae vivendi modo 

 non recedens ;"* " gens spurcissima, gens vitiis involutissima ;"-f" 

 " gens adultera, gens incerta, gens illegitime nata et copulata, gens 

 exlex, &c. ;"J the very cast of the epithets so used betrays rancour 

 and malevolence. Neither is his contemporary, William of Newburg, 

 to be believed when he says " populos habet (Hibernia) moribus in- 

 cultos et barbaros, legum et disciplinaj fere ignaros, in agriculturam 

 desides et ideo lacte magis quam pane viventes."§ Froissart praises 

 only the agility of the Irish, " ils congnoissent leur pais et sont tres 

 appertes gens : et n epeut homme d'armes monte a cheval si fort 

 courir (tant soit bien monte) qu'ils ne I'attaingnent et saillent de terre 

 sur un cheval, et embrassent un homme par derniere, et le tirent jus; 

 cor se sont trop fortes gens de bras; parquoy celui qui est tenus d'eux, 

 ne se peut defFendre."|| Torfaeus** gives a curious little narrative of 

 such a race actually tried and won by an Irish pedestrian. Stanihurst 

 praises the hospitality of the natives, ■f-f- and Peter Lombard, an anti- 

 quary of the same age, who had studied under the celebrated Camden 

 at Westminster School, more elaborately describes their character. :|;j: 



* Top. Hib. Dist. 3. c. 10. f Id. c. 19. 



; Id. c. 35. § De Reb. Angl. lib. 2. c. 26. ad init. 



II Froissart, vol. iv. c. 63. ** Hist. Norveg. part 3. lib. 8. c. 10. 



■ff " Sunt sane homines hospitalissimi, neque illis uUa in re magis gratificari potes, quam 

 vel sponte ac voluntate eorum domes frequentare vel illis invitatum condicere." — Stanihurst, 

 De Reb. Hib. p. 33. 



XX " Quod ad studia spectat, mechanicis operis et artibus non sunt multum dediti, et in iis 

 parum etiam sunt industrii et periti ; ubi tamen ad eas applicati tantisper assuefiant, donee 

 earum sentiant commoda, et emolumenta evadunt, laboriosi satis atque diligentes. Musicd 



