56 Mr. Petrie on the History and Antiquities of Tar a Hill. 



That the hymn or psalm thus distinctly named as the composition of Patrick 

 is the identical one which will now be presented to the reader, will appear suffi- 

 ciently obvious from the ancient preface prefixed to it, in which its origin is 

 accounted for in nearly the same words. The MS. from which it has been 

 taken is the celebrated Liber Hymnorum, preserved in the Library of Trinity 

 College, Dublin, a manuscript which, in the opinion of Archbishop Ussher, as 

 expressed in a letter to Vossius, was in his time a thousand years old. — See 

 Epist. ad Vossium, in Dissert, de Symbolis Antiq. For the satisfaction of the 

 learned, an interlineary Latin translation is given, as it would be impossible to 

 retain the sense in the original order of words in an English one ; and, as the 

 orthography of the words generally varies from that of more modern productions, 

 and as many of the words themselves have been long obsolete, authorities for 

 their explanations will be appended in notes. The characters used in the text 

 will give a good general idea of those in the MS., and the ornamented capital is 

 a, facsimile of the original one. It is only necessary to add here, that this hymn 

 is in that ancient dialect of the Irish called Bearla Peine, in which the Brehon 

 Laws and the oldest tracts in the language are written. 



Hymn of St. Patrick. 



Paqiaicc do pone inn immun po. In " Patrick composed this hymn. In the time 



aiiTifeipCoejaipe tneicNeiloo pijneo. pac of Loegaire, the son of Nial, it was composed. 



a oenma h. oia oioen co na manchaib ap The cause of its composition was to protect him- 



naimoib in baip po bacap m ecapnio ap na self with his monks against the enemies unto 



cleipcheib. Ocup ip luipech hippe inpo death, who were in ambush against the clergy, 



ppi himoejail cuipp ocup anma ap oemnaib And this is a religious armour to protect the body 



coup Dulnib ocup oualchib. Cecil ouine and soul against demons, and men, and vices. 



nop geba cech oia co n-mnichem leip i n-oia Every person who sings it every day with all his 



ni chaipippec tiemna ppi a jnuip. 6id oicm attention on God, shall not have demons appearing 



DO op cech neim ocup popmac. 610 comna to his face. It will be a protection to him against 



DO ppi Dianbap. 6m lupech Dia anmain lap every poison and envy. It will be a safeguard to 



n-a ^cpechr. paqiaicc po chan po in can him against sudden death. It will be an armour 



DO paca na hecapnaioi ap a chinn o f,oe- to his soul after his death. Patrick sang this at 



jaipe, na DijpeoDO pilao chpeiome coCem- the time that the snares were set for him by 



pai5 ; coniD annpin ac cheppa piaoLuchc na Loegaire, that he might not come to propagate 



n-ecapnaoe comcipaije alca, ocup lapnoe 1 the faith to Temur ; so that it appeared to those 



n-a n-DiaiD .1. benen. Ocup pech piaoa a lying in ambush, that they were wild deer, and a 



haintn. fawn after them, that is Benen. And Fethjiadha 



is its name." 



