Mr. Petrie on the History and Antiquities of Tara Hill. 153 



or palace, and hence he conjectures, that Teamhuir simply means any conspicu- 

 ous place. The same etymology is given in the Latin language in all the 

 copies of the Dinnseanchus. 



Cuan O'Lochain also, though he repeats the legend of the origin of the 

 name Tea-rrvar from queen Tea, asserts that Teamhuir signifies any flat-topped 

 hill on which there is a fortified residence. This mode of accounting by fabulous 

 personifications for ancient names of places — as Britain from Brute, Scotia 

 from Scota, Denmark from Dan, Rome from Romulus, Brabant from Brabo, 

 France from Francus — has been a general practice among all ancient nations; and 

 seeing that, in the present instance, the probability of such a derivation was more 

 than doubted by the learned among the ancient Irish themselves, it would be 

 extremely puerile now to consider It as of any value. Indeed, the probability is 

 much stronger that the Milesian queen owes her name and even her very 

 existence to Temur than Temur its to her. Nor would it be difficult to adduce 

 many evidences to support this hypothesis, if this were the place to do so. But, 

 though such would necessarily lead to an inquiry inconsistent with the limits of 

 this memoir, namely, the origin and age of the Scotlc or Milesian colony in Ire- 

 land, a few remarks will not be inconsistent with its present object. Those 

 who are familiar with the learned and ingenious arguments of Innes, in support 

 of his hypothesis that the Scots were a northern or Teutonic colony, who could 

 not have come into Ireland much sooner than the first century, will be surprised 

 to find in the references in the ancient poem of O'Lochain, and the prose 

 prefixed to it, given among these documents, evidences which would support this 

 hypothesis, and thus settle the long disputed era and origin of the Milesian 

 colony. According to these authorities, the supposed queen Tea, the daughter 

 of Lughaidh Mac Ith, who was the uncle of Mileslus, was also the wife both of 

 Heremon and of Gede Ollgothach. It would appear, however, from Irish his- 

 tory, that Gede and Heremon were only different names for the one person, or 

 at least, that the names of three of their children were the same. Now it is a 

 singular fact, that the Plctish authorities make this Gede the eighth of the 

 Plctlsh kings, and the son of Crulthne, or Cathluan, who was the progenitor of 

 the Plcts, as the Irish make Heremon the son of Mileslus, who was the proge- 

 nitor of the Scots. But the Irish authorities make Gede also king of the Irish 

 and Scottish Picts, but the son of Ollamh Fodhla. For example :— 



VOL. XVIII. M 



