writing on the bark of trees they called o^Jiuim, and sometimes 

 \.rcQs,, fea{i/ia^ and the present alphabet litri or letters. 



'• Cormac Casil cona cliuru, 

 Leir Mumii, cor mela ; 

 Tragaid im righ Ratha Bicli, 

 Na Liiri is na Fcadha.^'' 



Cormac of Cashel with his companions 

 Munster is his, may he long enjoy ; 

 Around the King of Raith Bicli are cultivated 

 The Letters and the Treks. 



The " letters " here signify, of course, our present Gaelic 

 alphabet and writings; but the "trees" ca.n only signify the 

 og/iuim, letters, which were named after trees indigenous to the 

 country." — Prof. O'Curry. 



Page 1 6. 

 Orobus tuberosus {Corra meiile, M'Alpin, and cairmeal^ 

 Armstrong) — Bitter vetch — and sometimes called "wild 

 liquorice" — seems to be the same name as the French '''■ cara- 

 7nel," burnt sugar; and according to Webster, Latin, "-^ caiina 

 inellis,^' or sugar-cane. The fermented liquor that was formerly 

 made from it, called cairm or aiirm, seems to be the same as 

 the ^^ courmi'' which Dioscorides says the old Britons drank. 

 The root was pounded and infused, and yeast added. It was 

 either drunk by itself, or mixed with their ale — a liquor held in 

 high estimation before the days of whisky ; hence, the word 

 '■'' ciiirm " signifies a feast. That their drinking gatherings cannot 

 have had the demoralising tendencies which might be expected, 

 is evident, as they were taken as typical of spiritual communion. 

 In the Litany of " Aengus Ce'ile' De," dating about the year 798, 

 we have a poem ascribed to St Brigid, now preserved in the 

 Burgundian Library, Brussels. 



" Ropadh maith lem corm-hna mor, 

 Do righ na righ, 



Ropadh maith lem muinnter nimhe 

 Acca hoi tre bithe shir." 



I should like a great lake of ale 



P'or the King of kings ; 



I should like the family of heaven 



To be drinking it through time eternal. 



To prevent the inebriating effects of ale, " the natives of Mull 

 are very careful to chew a piece of '' charmeV root, finding it 

 to be aromatic — especially when they intend to have a drinking- 



