Mr. Petrie on the History and Antiquities of Tara HilL 211 



In the larthar, or back of the house. 



41. Wannaipe : — mael ooib. Distributors (or dividers) : — a mael for them. 



42. Dailemain : — mael ooib. Cupbearers : — a mael for them. 



43. Rechraipe : — mael ooib. Herdsmen : — a mael for them. 



At the left side of the door. 



44. Ooppaipe pig : — ocupopoinn ooib. The king's doorkeepers : — and chines for them. 



At the right side of the door. 



45 Dpuichpij:" — opomanna Doib. The king's fools: — backs for them. 



In the central division of the house. 



Cene. Fire.'" 



Dabac. Vat. 



Cainnel. Candle. 



Cocapn. Lamp, 



h-eplapcaich." Common Hall. 



Oopup. Door. 



It will be seen from the occasional disagreement in the arrangement of the 

 preceding tables, that they are not copied from the same original; and the infe- 

 rence is unavoidable, that both are only attempts of the old scribes to shew the 

 arrangements of the Dining-hall, at Tara, as derived from bardic traditions, and 

 their knowledge of the customs still prevalent among the Irish kings and great lords 

 in their own times. That these ancient customs were indeed preserved to the 

 times of the writers of the poems, has been already shewn from the statement of 

 the poet Cuan O'Lochain ; and it can scarcely be doubted that they were perpe- 

 tuated, though on a limited scale, in the household of every chief, not only in 

 Ireland, but also in the Highlands of Scotland, as late even as the sixteenth 

 century. Of this fact a curious evidence is given by Martin, in his Description 

 of the Western Islands of Scotland, p. 109. After stating that " their antient 

 leagues of friendship were ratify'd by drinking a drop of each other's blood, which 

 was commonly drawn out of the little finger," and that "this was religiously 



'» " t)puc .1. Oinrhtc, quasi t)ipac .i. cin pioc paip fna cmcaiB." — Cormac's Glossary. 

 *" Three fire-places are marked in the second ground-plan. 



^' This word is not found in any dictionary, or MS. glossary j but it appears obviously to be a compound of the words 

 Gplap, or Uplaji, a floor, or hall, and caic, the genitive of cac, the whole, the people or commonalty. 



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