208 
most sumptuous kinds ; in instruments of music and other articles for 
amusement in the chamber ; in dogs, hawks, &c. for the diversions 
of the field; in ships, horses, military instruments, &c. &c. &c. 
All these were paid according to established rules, and in the pro= 
portions prescribed by the Leabhar na cceart, or book of rights ;* 
and no king or prince hada legal right to levy more. 
For the support of a chief or petty prince of a district, independ- 
ant of his own mensal lands, each Hath, village, or settlement of 
people, was obliged to contribute in proportion to the quantity of 
lands occupied by the Rath, and these proportions were regulated 
by law. The Raths were of different ranks, and their possessions 
various. ‘The laws respecting them are interesting and curious, but 
extracts from them here would too much extend this essay. 
Upon the subjects of gavelling and resumption of land, there is 
much interesting information to be collected from the ancient laws 
amongst the manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College. But, 
although the writer of this essay has had an extraordinary. indul- 
gence in his access to those manuscripts, and although he can never 
sufficiently express his sense of the obligations which he feels himself 
under to the board in general, for their kindness in admitting him 
to the privilege of the Library, or express his gratitude for the 
polite, indeed friendly, attention he has experienced in his visits to 
the Library from the Librarians of the College in particular, he has 
still to regret, that the strict rules of the College, with respect to their 
manuscripts, have prevented him from making that use of those va- 
luable documents which he would wish to have done, and which 
* Ancient copies of this Book are to be found in the Libraries of Trinity College, and the 
Royal Irish Academy. For a description of this Book, and an account of its contents, see 
“ Transactions of the Iberno-Celtic Society,” page 28. 
