450 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



whatever that was. Por it is involved, in mystery ; there are no less 

 than four different stories of the circumstances of his disappearance 

 from this world's stage. 



1. That, denounced hy S. Germanus. he fled to Caer Gortigern, 

 with his wives and all his friends ; that S. Germanus followed him, 

 and ohtained hv his prayers the destruction of the fortress by fire from 

 heaven. (" Hist. Brit."). 



2. That Aurelius Amhrosius besieged him in his fortress, and 

 destroyed it and all who were in it by fire. (" Brut "). 



3. That, simultaneously with the descent of fire from heaven, the 

 earth opened and swallowed up all the inmates of the fortress. (" Hist. 

 Brit."). 



4. That he soueht safetv bv flight, and died in obscurity of a 

 broken heart. (" Hist, Brit!"). 



Thus the first three agree that his fortress was destroyed by fire : 

 the third was evidently a conjecture to account for the fact, " that no 

 bones, nor remains, of him or of those who were with him in the for- 

 tress, were ever found ;" and the following has appeared to me the 

 most probable account of these affairs : — 



That, besieged by Aurelius, whom S. Germanus accompanied, he- 

 effected his escape, after having set fire to his fortress, and ended his 

 days in some foreign land. 



That he should haTe fled to Ireland and died there is by no means 

 improbable ; for more than one of the bards records, to his disparage- 

 ment, his friendship for, and confederacy with, the Scots of Ireland, 

 Anglesey, and North Britain. And when his son Pascent, after his 

 death, was defeated in his first struggle with Aurelius, he fled to 

 Ireland, and returned to renew it with the aid of an Irish king, who 

 is called Gillomorius, and his forces. I am not aware that this name 

 occurs in the Irish annals ; but it is a genuine Celtic name, and ap- 

 pears in one of the Ogham inscriptions at Burnham : — 



mv\v]i ren^c(i) 5itl&rmi]\]u\. 



And now it is not a little remarkable that the name of the setter up 

 of this monument should be one which occurs in the story of the ex- 

 pedition of Pascent and Gillamorius. A Saxon, named Eopa T in the 

 "Brut," and one who was so conversant with the British language that 

 he could pass himself off for a native physician, made an offer to them 

 to take off Aurelius by poison, and succeeded in effecting his purpose. 



In the genealogy the name Pascent twice occurs : — 



1 . As that of the son of Yortigern, born late in the fourth century, 

 and slain in battle, a. v. 450. 



2. As that of Yortigern' s ninth descendant, born about the middle 

 of the seventh century. 



See note [g] added in press. 



