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crime of murder, and on the manner in which the Eric was to be 
collected and distributed. 
By a law-tract, regulating the property, &c. in bees, we find, 
that there were certain crimes, the perpetrators of which no sanctu- 
ary could screen from justice. “ Acht seact neludaig do chuis in la * 
“ fornaidm nemed Dé na duine ————-———- taid cu fomdil agus 
** elodaig Fine ; fer airmderg; ben aslui a cain lanamna; acas ben 
« no fer aslui gairi a mathair no athair, inge madh nech n& duine 
« in neoch ma fo facebat duine oirngne di és fri imbi cdir do tintudh.” 
« There are seven fugitives in the law, which are not protected 
« by a Neimhid of either God or man.”~+————-————a lurking 
“ thief; deserters from a tribe ; a man with blood-red arms ;¢ a 
“ woman who flies from her matrimonial engagements ; a man or 
“a woman, who flies from the assistance § of a mother or father ; 
« the same of one who renders not justice after his theft; for no 
© Neimhidh of either God or man can afford protection to the man 
« who leaves behind him plunder unrestored.”|| 
By another law we find that a man guilty of certain crimes, 
n 
amongst which is included murder, was incapable of enjoying a 
superior rank in his tribe. Again, by another law, the Dergjine, or 
persons guilty of murder, were excluded from their portion of the tribal 
inheritance, because the tribe were obliged to pay for their crimes. 
From the quotations just now given it appears, that the crime of 
murder not ouly excluded a man from the enjoyment of all the 
* The word here written Ja is a contraction commonly used in ancient law tracts to represent 
the word Fenecuas, or old law; but, in the manuscript, the 7 has a short horizontal stroke 
drawn across it, which is a character not to be found in any fount of types hitherto cast. The 
reader is therefore requested to take notice, that, in these extracts, la is to be always understood to 
represent Fenechas. 
+ An ecclesiastical or lay noble. | { A murderer. § Who deserts a parent in necessity. 
|| This law is to be found in the Library of Trinity College, H. 34, in that of the Royal Irish 
Academy, and in the collection of the writer. 
