xxi " NATIONALITIES " & POLITICS 257 



Ego + Brithilin Fontanensis episcopus. 



Ego + Alpharus dux domine mei Sanct Marie. 1 



You will find this charter printed in Dugdale's 

 Monasticon, vol. i. p. 43 (Ed. 1817). 



Then as to rowing King Edgar on the Dee : 



" On making his annual sea voyage round the island 

 King Edgar found, on his arrival at Chester, eight 

 sub-kings awaiting him, in obedience to the commands 

 they had received, who swore to be faithful to him, and 

 to be his fellow- workers by sea and land." (Lappenburg, 

 History of England under A.S. Kings. Thorpe's trans- 

 lation, vol. i. p. 125.) 



The same story is given in the Chronicon de Melros, 

 but I have not a copy to refer to here. Maccus is therein 

 called the " King of many islands." 



The " eight " was manned as follows : 



Kenneth of Scotland. 



Malcolm of Cumbria. 



Maccus of Man and the Hebrides. 



Dyfnwall of Strach Clyde. 



Sif erth ] 



Jago \oi Wales. 



Howell J 



Inchill of Westmoreland. 



I believe the story to be utterly without foundation, 

 but, even as a fabrication, it probably deals with co- 

 temporary potentates. — Yours very truly, 



Herbert Eustace Maxwell. 



I think both you and the Duke of Argyll tend to 

 minimize the Celtic predominance of blood in Ireland. 

 You find thousands of natives bearing English (Teutonic) 

 names without, I believe, a drop of English blood in 

 them. This arose in great measure from the statutes 

 passed from time to time obliging the Irish to assume 

 English names, e.g. Jionac Shinnach, now Fox (a 

 translation of Jionac) ; Fai>ce (Faithchy, Fahy), now 

 Green ; Coi3]?ice (Coigriche), now L'Estrange ; Bonnan, 

 now Brown ; cia]?, now Black, etc., etc. But the 

 more purely Celtic we admit them to be, the more 

 hopeless would be any attempt to give them self-govern- 



1 We, of course, would write these feminine genitive endings " ae," 

 but why " mei " — not agreeing in gender ? 



VOL. I S 



