197 



correct observation on such subjects, induced me to hesitate 

 as to the accuracy of my own conclusions, but did not con- 

 vince me of the correctness of theirs. I have since consi- 

 dered the subject more at leisure, and am now convinced 

 that neither of the opinions expressed at our last meeting 

 was correct. 



" But before I enter upon the question of the meaning of 

 the name, I shall say a few words on the probable period of 

 the erection of the monument itself, and of the people con- 

 cerned in its construction. 



" The circumstances and manner of its formation, as well 

 as the urns of unburned clay, the small ^i«^ knife, and other 

 considerations, convince me that the work was not constructed 

 by the Celtic Irish, — I mean the people whose language is now 

 called Irish, and spoken among us, — but by a previous people 

 who inhabited the island at the first arrival of the Celts, and 

 were known by the name of Firbolgs, or Belgce. The shells 

 which were found suggest a meaning for this name of that 

 people, which is, I believe, quite new, at least it is so to me. 

 The name of Firbolg has generally been rendered p^^ccP' « 

 man, bolj, of a hag, pouch, or sack, and also bolj, a boat or 

 vessel made of the skins of animals, a coracle; but boUoj is 

 also a shell, and a round shell, it is also a skull, or hone of the 

 head, intimating a similarity between the two things ; the 

 neriicB found in this sepulchre are exactly of this character, 

 and seem to indicate that these people were called, by their 

 Celtic conquerors, peap bolloj^from the circumstance of their 

 wearing an abundance of those shells by way of ornament. 

 They also called them bpic oaoipe painted (or parti-coloured) 

 men, for the reason that they stained their bodies; hence 

 the name Britain, given to both the islands inhabited by 

 these people. Their descendants, who by retiring to the 

 north of Britain, were preserved from the annihilation which 

 those of the south suffered from the Celts, were called Picts, 

 or painted men, by the Romans. It may be, that while 



