Mr. Petrie on the History and Antiquities of Tara Hill. 195 



in succeeding ages. The statement respecting the hundred and fifty drinking 

 vessels of carbuncle, gold, and silver, and the seven brazen lamps, or candelabra, 

 will be received with still greater incredulity. Yet even this statement will not 

 be regarded as wholly fabulous by those who have seen the magnificent gold 

 ornaments, now in the possession of the Academy, which were found within a 

 few yards of this very spot, or the brazen vessels of more exquisite workman- 

 ship, and probably of higher antiquity, often found in Ireland, and of which 

 there is a beautiful specimen in the Belfast Museum. Golden vessels have been 

 frequently found in Ireland ; and a passage in the Annotations of Tirechan, in 

 the Book of Armagh, fol. 17, h, i, affords an interesting evidence of their 

 existence anterior to the introduction of Christianity. In adducing this passage 

 it will be proper to state, that it has been copied (as indeed all the extracts 

 hitherto given from that most valuable work have been) from the original MS., 

 which has been most kindly placed in the hands of the writer by its proprietor, 

 the Rev. Francis Brownlow. The passage runs as follows : — 



Dippojjel* Cummen ocup 6pedian Cummin and Brethan purchased Oc^^er m-^- 



Ochcep n-Qchio co n-a peilb, icep pio ocup chid with its appurtenances, both wood and plain, 



maj ocup lenu, co n-a lliup ocup a Hub- and meadow, with its fort and its garden. Half of 



jopc. OjDilep Din Du Chummin lech in this wood, and house, and dun, was mortmain to 



Doppi po, in Doim, in ouiniu, con piccacap a Cummin, for which they paid [from] their treasure, 



peuic ppie .1. in. unjai apjaic, ocup cpann viz. three ounces of silver, and a bar of silver, and 



apjic, ocup muince. Hi. n-unjae co n-opoch a collar, three ounces of the base gold of the old 



oip pen-mepib penaipocib, lojf leich un- dishes of seniors, the equivalent of half an ounce 



jae Di muccib, ocup I05 leich unjae oi in hogs, and the equivalent of half an ounce in 



cfiaipib. sheep. 



As to the cups of carbuncle, if the account be taken literally, it must of course 

 be set down as romance ; but the word capmogal, derived apparently from the 

 Latin, is applied loosely by the ancient Irish to any shining stone of a red 

 colour, such as the garnet, a production of the country ; and the authentic annals 

 record many gifts from Irish princes to the monasteries at an early period, of 

 cups adorned with gems. 



* Oippojjel, he purchased, is found in many Irish deeds and charters, variously written DUppojeL, Do 

 poijel, DOppogel, DO puaijel, and even do puacaiU. It is explained in O'Clery's Glossary by the modern 

 words ceanac, no do ceanai j, i. e. a purchase, or he purchased. 



t 60^, now written luac, occurs frequently in the charters in the Book of Kells, in the sense of price, value, &e. 



252 



