90 Mr. DowNES on the Norse Geography of Ancient Ireland. 



at the battle of Clontarf. One article of this traffic may have been butter ; and it is 

 possible that Smerwick Harbour may have been in some way connected with a trade 

 in this commodity.* The following curious tradition, to the sequel of which I shall 

 have occasion to advert hereafter, shows at least, that on one of their homeward 

 voyages from Ireland the Northmen had butter on board, either as an article of 

 traffic, or diet. The sea-rover Leif, son of Hrodmar (who must not be con- 

 founded with the more celebrated Leif, son to Erick the Red), while ravaging 

 the shores of Ireland, came to a large subterraneous house, lighted only by the 

 gleaming of a sword, held by a man who had taken refuge within, but was slain 

 by the Northman, who was thenceforward called Hjbrleif, or " Sword-Leif," 

 from the weapon, which was of great value. After continuing his devastations 

 along a great extent of coast, Leif at length sailed for Norway, conveying, with 

 other booty, ten or twelve Irish slaves, among whom one, named Duvthak, had 

 the pre-eminence. In the following spring Leif sailed for Iceland with his slaves, 

 accompanied by his foster-brother Ingolf, each in his own ship. The latter, on ap- 

 proaching the shore, flung overboard, according to usage, the columnar posts of 

 the chief seat in his paternal mansion (which usually ended atop in the sculptured 

 head of some deity, generally that of Thor) ; and at the spot where they were 



• In an interesting paper on the Antiquities of the Church of Kilmelchedor, read before the 

 Academy on the 11th of April, 1842, my derivation of Smerwick, from a word signifying butter, 

 was treated as an absurdity, and the commission of it imputed to the Danish antiquaries, who, as I 

 have stated in the text, are quite silent on the subject. The charge was grounded on the state of Smer- 

 wick Harbour, which was asserted to be so dangerous that no vessel could safely ride in it for many 

 hours, even in the calmest weather. That this is a correct representation of its present state I en- 

 tertain no doubt ; but what says Dr. Smith, who wrote many centuries after the district was visited 

 by the Northmen ? " Beyond these is the haven of Smerewick, which lies up from N. to S., and is 

 exposed to N. and W. winds. The whole is deep and good holding ground, the bottom being 

 actually a turf bog, which vessels have pulled up with their anchors, which shews that it was once 

 dry land: there is no danger in sailing into this place." — The Antient and Present State of 

 the Counlxj of Kerry, p. 360. 



In the same paper another derivation of the name Smerwick was proposed, from the Irish pin-up 

 (which is cognate both with the Icelandic smjor and the English smear), the inlet in question hav- 

 ing a tendency to spread its waters over the adjacent shores. But, conceding for the sake of ar- 

 gument that the first syllable of the name is the Irish pmdup, I would ask, whether the poverty 

 of the ancient language of Ireland was such, as to render it necessary to send to Iceland for the se- 

 cond syllable, expressive of so familiar an idea as harbour, or bay ? 



