Frreuson—On the Legend of Dathi. 169 
the practice of anchoritism appears to have spread into those places 
made desert by the irruptions of the barbarians ; and it will be conve- 
nient here, in reference to subsequent matter, to state that, in Helvetia 
especially, numerous recluses, including persons of noble birth, are 
recorded to have set up their hermitages, some in the wildernesses of 
the Jura,” some in Soleure,” and others among the ruins of the 
ancient Lausanum, whence the modern Lausanne takes what may be 
called its second origin.* Rhetia, however, with Coire, at the head 
of the Upper Rhine valley, for its western administrative centre, re- 
mained Roman till a later period in the same century ;% and this state 
of facts, although absolute certainty cannot be claimed for it, may jus- 
tify us in taking a first tentative step in search of any vestiges that 
may survive of Dathi’s progress, in that region. Another provisional ad- 
vance in the same direction, though not grounded on matter so ancient, 
may also be made on the authority of Duald Mac Firbis, who, writing 
in 1650, with such aids of literature and tradition as were then at the 
disposal of a professional Irish historian, himself the hereditary chro- 
nicler of the descendants of Dathi, in his narrative, has this statement : 
‘Dathi went with the men of Erin over the Ictian sea towards (dochum) 
Letha, until he reached the Alps.’’® Letha,” in this context, appears 
to mean Latium or Letha of Italy, at this time the common prey of the 
flowers, grateful as well to the eyes as smell, an abode fit for Honoratus, who first 
Sounded the monasteries, and had Maximus for his successor: Blessed Lupus, his 
brother Vincentius, and revered Capresis, and so many other holy old men, who 
dwelt in separate cells, have made the life of the Egyptian monks to flourish amongst 
us. This letter was written on the occasion of Eucherius’s return to the islands 
after visiting Honorat in the same year assigned to Dathi’s expedition, 428. Is 
Honorat the Saint Senior of the Irish Patrician tradition ? 
1° As Pontius ; of whom see Miller, vol. i. p. 245. 
% As Rumanus and Cupicinus, Burgundians of noble birth, idid., citing Greg. 
Turon. Vite Pat., c. 1. 
“4 As Protesius, a noble Venetian, ibid. 
> Et hactenus Rhetia et Romanorum nomen imperiumque fuit. Nam postea 
Alemanni inyaserunt qui circa Rhenum et Acronium sunt, et Romanos quidem ex- 
pulerunt, Rheetos vero intra suos montes rupesque concluserunt ; ita tamen ut pervios 
et prope subjectos haberent. [a.p. cccctrx] Unde per Rhetiam Alemannos vasta- 
bundos descendisse cecinit Sidonius Apollinaris: 
Conscenderat Alpes 
Rheetorumque jugo per longa silentia ductus 
Romano exierat populato trux Alemannus, 
Perque Cani dictos quandam de nomine campos 
In praedam centum noyvies diviserat hostes. 
(Guillimann, de reb Helvet. 4° Amiterni 1623, p. 420). 
The “‘ Cani dictos de nomine’’ are the Grisons. 
16 Hy Fiachrach, 18. 
“ Letha (a latitudine, Corm. Gloss.) seems to apply generally to the whole 
expanse of the Continent of Europe, but particularly to certain districts of it 
ascertained by the context. 
R. I. A, PROC., SER. II, VOL. II.—POL. LIT. AND ANTIQ. 4h! 
