writing on the bark of trees they called og/niim, and souietimes 

 trees, /m^///(Z, and the present alphabet Iifri or letters. 



'• Connac Casil cona cliuru, 

 Leir Mumn, cor me)a ; 

 Tragaid im righ Ratlia Bicli, 

 Na Litri is na Feadiia. "' 

 Connac of Cashel with his companions 

 Munster is his, may he long enjoy ; 

 Around tlie King of Raith Bicli are cultivated 

 The Letters and the Treks. 



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

 alphabet and writings; but the '"trees" can only signify the 

 oghuim, letters, which were named after trees indigenous to the 

 country." — Prof. O'Curry. 



Page 1 6. 

 Orobus tuberosus {Corra mcille, ^PAlpin, and cainneal, 

 Armstrong) — Bitter vetch — and sometimes called " wild 

 liquorice" — seems to be the same naine as the French " aira- 

 mel," burnt sugar; and according to Webster, Latin, '• caiiiia 

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

 made from it, called cair/n or aiirm, seems to be the same as 

 the ^'■av/niii" 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 Ceile' De'," dating about the year 798, 

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

 Burgundian Library, Brussels. 



" Ropadh maith lem corm-lina mor, 

 Do righ na righ, 



R.opadh maith lem muinnter nimhe 

 Acca hoi tre bithe shir." 

 I should like a great lake of ale 

 For the King of kings ; 

 I should like the family of heaven 

 To be drinking it through lime 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 wlien they intend to have a drinking- 



