350 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2>»<i S, V. 122., May 1. '58. 



Strabo states that the remotest island to the 

 north of Celtica (or Gaul) is lerne, beyond Bri- 

 tain, occupied by savages, and barely habitable 

 from cold (ii. 1. § 13. 17. ; ii. 5. § 8.). In another 

 place he says that the island of lerne lies to the 

 north of Britain, being long in proportion to its 

 width. Its inhabitants are more savage than those 

 of Britain ; they are cannibals, and they likewise 

 feed on grass ; they eat the bodies of their fathers 

 after death ; and in their relations with women 

 they set at nought the rules observed by civilised 

 nations. These latter accounts, however, he adds, 

 do not rest on authentic testimony (iv. 5. § 5.). 



Diodorus remarks that the tribes dwelling in 

 the north, in the vicinity of Scythia, are wholly 

 savage and uncivilised, and that some of them 

 are said to be cannibals, such as the Britons who 

 inhabit the country called Iris (v. 32.). 



The account of Mela is, thatlverna lies beyond 

 Britain ; that its climate is unfitted for ripening 

 grain, but so abundant in grass, not only of rapid 

 growth, but also of sweet taste, that cattle eat to 

 satiety in a small part of the day, and if they are 

 not driven from the pasture, burst from the excess 

 of food. Its inhabitants are uncivilised ; they 

 are ignorant of every virtue, and remarkably free 

 from humanity (iii. G.).* 



Pliny states that the island of Hibernia was 

 situated beyond Britain at a distance of thirty 

 miles from the coast of the Silures (iv. 30.). 



Tacitus, in his Life of Agricola (c.24.), describes 

 Hibernia as lying between Britain and Iberia, 

 and as exceeding the islands of the Mediterranean 

 in size. He says that, in its soil and climate, and 

 in the character and civilisation of the natives, it 

 differs little from Britain. Its harbours, and ap- 

 proaches were known by the reports of traders. 

 Tacitus adds that he had often heard Agricola 

 say that Hibernia might be subdued with one 

 legion and a fevr auxiliaries. In the Annals (xii. 

 32.) the same historian mentions the propraetor 

 P. Ostorius, in 50 B.C., approaching the sea which 

 divided Britain and Hibernia. 



The poet Juvenal, who wrote about the year 

 100 A.D., speaks of Ireland in connexion with 

 Britain and the Orkneys : — 



" . . . . Anna quidem ultra 

 Littora Jubernte promovimus, et modo captas 

 Orcadas, ac minima contentos nocte Britannos." 



ii. 159-Gl. 



The recent conquest of the Orkneys alludes to 

 the expedition of the Roman fleet round Britain 

 in the time of Agricola (Tac, Agric. 10.). 



In the Geography of Ptolemy, who lived about 

 the middle of the second century, the two Britan- 

 nic islands, Albion and Ivernia, are described at 



* The words " peiie par spatib, sed utiiusque a;quali 

 tractu litorutn oblonga," are corrupt. The meaning seems 

 to be similar to that expressed in Strabo, that the length 

 is equal to that of Britain, but not the width. 



length. A large number of towns, rivers, and 

 promontories belonging to the latter island are 

 specified by name (ii. 2.). The same form of this 

 name Qlovepula) recurs in the periplus of Mar- 

 cianus (c. 42.), and in Stephanus of Byzantium. 

 The form used by Juvenal, Juberna, Is similar. 



The account of Ireland given by the geographer 

 Solinus, who Is supposed to have lived about the 

 middle of the third century after Christ, is copious 

 and detailed. 



" Of the islands surrounding Britain (he says), Hi- 

 bernia is the nearest to it in size. The manners of its 

 inhabitants are rude and savage. Its pastures are so ex- 

 cellent, that unless the cattle are sometimes driven from 

 them, they are in danger of dying from repletion. The 

 island has no snakes, and few birds. The people are 

 inhospitable and warlike. When they are victorious, 

 they both drink and smear their faces with the blood of 

 the enemy. They know no distinction between right 

 and wrong. When a woman has produced a male child, 

 she places its first food on the point other husband's sword, 

 and thus introduces it gently into the mouth of the in- 

 fant. Prayers are offered up, on behalf of the family, that 

 he may meet his death in war. Those who study ornament 

 decorate the hilts of their swords with the teeth of marine 

 animals ; the chief glory of the men is in the brilliancy of 

 their arms. They do not possess bees ; and if a pebble or 

 some earth, brought from Hibernia, is thrown into a hive, 

 the bees will desert it. The sea between Britain is dis- 

 turbed and stormy during the whole j'ear, and can only 

 be navigated for a few days. The boats are of wicker, 

 covered with the hides of oxen ; whatever time the pas- 

 sage may occupy, the mariners abstain from food while 

 they are at sea. The width of the Strait is estimated at 

 120 miles." (c. 22.) 



For 120 Salmasius corrects twenty miles, com- 

 paring Pliny, who states the distance at thirty 

 miles. 



In the Orphic Argonautics, the speaking ship 

 warns the heroes to avoid the lernian islands, and 

 to steer for the Sacred Promontory (on the Lu- 

 sitanian coast), lest she should be carried out into 

 the Atlantic Sea ; and Ancseus, the pilot, obeys the 

 injunction (v. 1170 — 1190.). This poem may be 

 placed with Bernhardy (^Orundriss der Griechi- 

 scken Litteratur, vol. Ii. p. 267 — 272.), between the 

 second and fourth centuries after Christ. (Com- 

 pare Hermann, Oi'ph. p. 798.) There is no men- 

 tion of lerne or any of the Britannic islands in the 

 Argonautics of ApoUonius Rhodius. 



The Ora Maritima of Avienus (who appears to 

 have lived at the end of the fourth century), de- 

 scribes the sacred island inhabited by the Hiber- 

 nians, near the island of the Albiones, as separated 

 by two days' sail from the CEstrym.nian islands, 

 off the coast of Spain, where tin and lead were 

 found (v. 94—112.). 



Speaking of the exploits of the elder Theodo- 

 sius, in 367 a.d., Claudian, writing at the end of 

 the same century, says, — 



" Quid rigor seternus cjeli, quid sidera prosunt, 

 Ignotumque fretum ? maduerunt Saxone fuso 

 Orcades ; incaluit Pictonum sanguine Thule, 

 Scotorum tumulos flevit glacialis lerne." 



De IV. Cons. Hon. 30—33. 



