Mr. Petrie on the History and Antiquities of Tara Hill. 77 



vv 



Ocup pepfa DO, not pepfana in c-pen- 

 chupa, ocup Deipmbipeclic aip : 



Caojaipe, Gopcc, Dcnpe oup, 

 Paqiaic, 6inen, Caipnech coip, 

 Rop, t)uBchach, pepjup co peib 

 Noi pailje pin Sencuip moip. 



In can do brorp inonbup ann, ip ann do 

 niD he, ocup in can ba h-epbaouch pep Dib, 

 i|-ann do niolp na poicechca. 



Ocupcuccuioaoenum, paiqiic do caio- 

 echc 1 n-6ipinD do plao baichipi ocup 

 cpejDme .i. ipmomao bliaoain plaichiupa 

 Ceocoipi, ocup ij-ifl cechpuma bliaouin 

 plaichiupa taojuipe mic Neill, pi Gpenn. 



Ip e lin innipcep pacpaic do cecc a 

 n-©ipinn oechnebup, ap cpi picciB, no oech- 

 nebup ap pichic, jup catpnjippec a opuaioe 

 DO taojuipe Pacpaic do ciachcain a 

 n-6ipinn, ocup ip aiTiluiopo caiprijeppec : 



CiucpaiD Uailjmn, oap moip mepjinn, 



CI cpoinn cpoimcinn, a cinn coillcinn, 



(I miapa i n-oipcliep a ciji 



Q D^puic uile amen, amen.' 



And its author, the nine persons of the Sen- 

 chus, according to this quotation : 

 Laoghuire, Core, Daire the sturdy, 

 Patrick, Binen, Cairnech the just, 

 Ros, Dubhthach, Fergus with goodness. 

 The nine props these of the Senchus Mor. 

 When these nine met together they compiled 

 it, (the Senchus,) and when one of them was de- 

 ficient, they made a subdivision of the work. 



And the cause of its compilation was the com- 

 ing of Patrick into Ireland to propagate baptism 

 and faith in the ninth y«ar of the reign of The- 

 odosius, and in the fourth year of the reign of 

 Laoghuire, son of Niall, King of Ireland. 



The number Patrick is said to have brought 

 to Ireland is seventy, or thirty ; and his Druids 

 foretold to Laoghaire, the coming of Patrick to 

 Ireland in this form : 



Tailgins shall come across the stormy sea, 

 With their crooked headed sticks, their shorn heads; 

 Their utensils shall be in the east of their houses. 

 And all shall say Amen, Amen. 



• Whether this very ancient verse was really composed by the Dmids of Laoghaire or not, it may be stated as a 

 curious fact in support of its antiquity, that it is translated into Latin by Probus in his Life of St. Patrick, written in the 

 tenth century, and by Mocutenius, who wrote in the sixth or seventh, and that both these writers state that the words of 

 this little verse are obscure in consequence of the idiom of the language. Probus writes : " His, et aliis verbis magi illi 

 concitaverunt t4m Regem, qu^m omnem populum in odium S. Patricii Episcopi : et prophetando prsecinebant in modum 

 cantici lyrico modo compositi, ante adventum sancti viri duobus aut tiibus annis decantantes de eo. Haec sunt autem 

 verba cantici secundikm lingus illius idioma in latinum translata, non tamen manifesta : Adveniet artis caput, cum suo 

 ligno prsEcurvi capitis : ex eo oronis domus erit capite perforata, incantabit nef^s ex sui mensi ; ex anteriore parte domui 

 iu» respondebit ei sua familia tota ; fiat, fiat. Quod nostris verbis potest manifestius exprimi : Adveniet totius artis 

 magister cum signo suae cracis j et quod omne cor hotninum compungitur : et de altari Sacramentorum convertet animai 

 ad Christum : et omnis populus Christianoram respondebit ; amen. Quando erunt haec omnia, tunc regnum nostrum 

 gentile non stabit. Quod sic totum posted completum est. Eversis enim in adventu Patricii idolorum culturis, fides 

 Christi omnia nostra loca ad adventum sanctissimi Spiritus replevit." — (Trias Thaum. p. 49, col. I.) 



And Mocutenius, after mentioning the prophecy of the Druids, thus alludes to the obscurity of the Irish verse : 

 ^' Haec autem sunt versiculi verba pro linguae idiomo non tam manifesta. Adveniet Asciciput cum suo ligno curvi capite : 

 ex sua domu capite perforato incantabit nefas a sua mensa; ex anteriore parte domus suae respondebit ei sua familia tota ; 

 fiat, fiat. Quod nostris verbis potest manifestius exprimi. Quando haec omnia fiant, regnum nostrum quod est gentile 

 iion stabit : quod sic potest ea [recte postea] evenerat. Eversis enim in adventu Patricii idulorum culturis, fides Christi 

 Catholica nostra replevit omnia." — Book of Armagh, fol. 2, p. b, col. 1. It is also given ia the Tripartite, and by Jocelin, 

 who attempts an explanation of it 



