Mr, Petrie on the History and Antiquities of Tara Hill. 197 



And thus, even should its antiquity be questioned, this poem should still be 

 received as an authentic illustration of the customs of the Irish in remote times. 



SuiDiujao Ciji TTliDchuapca. Hicacpi The situation of Teach Midhchuarta. Each 



lap ca' I n-Diu amail bae la Conn Cec-ca- king who has it at this day does as was done in the 



rach, ocupcechn-Qipc, ocupCopinaic, ocup time of Conn of the Hundred Battles, and [when 



CaipppiCiphecaip, ocupcechCachaipTTlaip, it was] the house of Art, and of Cormac, and of 



ocup cech gac pij po pallna i Cempai j co Cairbre Liffeachair, and the house of Cathair Mor, 



HiaLl Naicclecli,' appulaeo po cpi, ocup po and the house of every king who ruled in Temur to 



giall h-Spiu' DO po rpi. Samlaio bae cech Niall of the Nine Hostages, who made a visitation 



^aejcipe niic Neill, lap cein, ipeo po piachc thrice, and to whom Ireland rendered hostages 



cpian C151 Copmaic* ccc. cpaijeo hi caij; thrice. The house of Laoghaire, the son of Niall, 



Caegaipe; ^.imoaijann; ;.pep ingacimoaij; [erected] long afterwards, was one-third of the 



/. aipeL eippib ; xx. pep in jac aipiul. liii. extent of the House of Cormac. Three hundred 

 cubacacheallac; ocupw'.cubaca poipoldp; . feet in the House of Laoghaire ; fifty imdas^ m 



ocup a:.r.r. cubac a aipoDi puap.° Fm. cpeoui' it; fifty men in each imrfa,* fifty aire/* out from 



' In an imperfect copy of this document in the same MS. — col. 810 — from which the text is here copied, — H. 2. 16, 

 col. 244, — this passage is better given thus : Suiglbeo C^hljl ITlrochuapca ac each pix lap aua I n-Dlu 

 umail po bui i copac. Ceach Cuino Cec-chacaich, ocup reach Qipc Oenpip, mic Cuino Cec- 

 chacaij, ocup ceach Copmaic, iiiic Qipc, ocup ceach Caipbpi Cipeachaip, ocup ceach each 

 pij;, po bui 1 Cempaich co Niall Moi-^iallach. Cfp aplaepeao cu po cpi, ocup po jiall 

 h-6ipiu DO cu po cpi. 



'Cech cac pi^ pa boi i Cemaip co Niall Noi-jiallac. — Book of Glendalough. 



' Vallancey lias printed this word hiu, having mistaken the contraction for h-Gpiu, Ireland ; but in H. 2. 10, the 

 word is written in full, which puts the true meaning beyond dispute. Vallancey has translated the passage in the fol- 

 lowing ridiculous manner, which is severely censured by Dr. Campbell, in his Strictures on the History of Ireland : 

 " The palace of Tamar was formerly the seat of Conn of the hundred battles ; it was the seat of Art and of Cairbre 

 Liffeachar, and of Cathar Mor, and of every king, who ruled in Tamar, to the time of Niall of the nine lowers, formed ot 

 constructed on three, for he had vowed to buildjthree towers." — Collect, vol. iii. p. 514. 



• In H. 2. 16, col. 810, this passage is given differently : TTIaD puiDljeo chijl Uempach la Copmac, ba 

 mo pom anna each. Ix. c. cpaijeo ip ino paic pe lino Chopmaic ; vii. c. cpaijeo a chech peipin. 

 i. e. If [we treat of] the situation of the house of Temur in the time of Cormac, it was larger than all. There were 

 nine hundred feet in the Rath in the time of Cormac, seven hundred feet in his own house. 



* This word is now used in the north of Ireland to signify a couch, or bed, and in a Gloss on the poem of Kineth 

 O'Hartigan, above given, the word aipel is explained by it; but it appears from the ground-plan in the Book of Glen- 

 dalough, and H. 2. 16, that the imdas were the apartments in which the different ranks sat at the banquet. 



8 Better thus in H. 2. 16, col. 810 : Ocup cpicha cubac a opoae in CI51. And thirty cubits the height of 

 the house. 



' Sechc cpeouma immon cech, ocup occ n-oopuip popp in paic. i. e. Seven tre-dumas around the 

 house, and eight doors on the Rath. — Book of Glendalough. This passage is given differently in the copy preserved in 

 H. 2. 16, col. 810 : viii. cpeouma imonn pac, ocup viii, n-ooippi popaib ; cpi I. comao cimceall 

 popp in pluag [**] caplac nopoa ano ; ocup I. leapcop pinopuine, ocup I. picel n-opoa popp 



