78 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



antiquity of it is elucidated and commented on, and it may be gathered 

 therefrom that certain parts of it were of high antiquity, "such as 

 the first judgment respecting distress," by Sean, son of Aighe, who is 

 supposed to have flourished about 100 b.c. It is reasonable to assume 

 that the matters forming the subjects of the laws were themselves still 

 more ancient, and that the mills referred to therein were of this class, 

 and, consequently, it may be inferred that water-mills of the style to 

 which the "eight parts" already mentioned may be considered as 

 belonging were already ancient in Ireland 100 b.c. This inference 

 would certainly be in harmony with the details contained in Messrs. 

 Bennett & Elton's " History of CommilKng," vol. ii. (1899), " Water- 

 mills and Wind-mills." 



They examine and discuss the references to be found in the classical 

 authors with reference to water-mills, including the epigram of Anti- 

 pater of Thessalonica (to whom tliey assigned a date of 85 b.c, while 

 Smith, in his " Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography," places 

 him between 10 b.c. and 38 a.d. ; and Hafer in the " jSTouvelle 

 Biographic generale " indicates merely that he lived under Augustus 

 and Tiberius, «.e. between 63 b.c. and 37 a.d. They state (p. 5), "The 

 extended researches of modern times have, perhaps, brought us into 

 closer view of actual facts ; the sum and substance of these, as will be 

 shown, establishing water-milling as of Greek origin, at a period only 

 shortly preceding the birth of Christ." At p. 6 they describe the Greek 

 mill, horizontal type, and cite the epigram of Antipater as the earliest 

 known allusion thereto. They give two translations thereof, one by 

 Tennant, in verse, as follows : — 



" Te maids, who toiled so faithful at the mill. 



Now cease your work and from those toils be still. 

 Sleep now till dawn, and let the birds with glee, 

 Sing to the ruddy mom, on bush and tree. 

 For what your hands performed so long and true, 

 Ceres has charged the water-nymphs to do." 



" The epigram is to be taken as recording the invention of water- 

 milling about 85 B.C." 



They also examine and discuss the mention made by Strabo as to 

 the water-mill having existed at Cabira in the time of Mithridates of 

 Pontus, and called by him " hudraletes" without further description, 

 and which word is agreed on by commentators to indicate a water-mill. 

 [They add as a note, " In some Latin translations of Strabo this word 

 is stated to be omitted, as in that of Jansen" (Amsterdam, 1652, ii.,196).] 



