Macaustkr— *Tetnair Breg : Remains and Traditions of Tar a. 233 



us to its practical value. Though its writer had his head tilled with theso 

 frivolities, he was at least familiar with I he topography of Temair. Even it 

 we had not the evidence (such as it is) offered by the preface to l.he work in 

 question, that it was actually compiled at Temair, we might have inferred 

 this from the general accuracy of its descriptions of the several structures, 

 and also from the fact that Temair occupies the Hist place among the 

 localities of which it treats. The author wrote of Temair with Temair 

 actually under his eyes, and, what is more important, under the eyes of his 

 hearers, readers, and critics; and therefore, whatever we may think of his 

 philology, there is the best of reasons for trusting his topography. 



Petrie made use of the aceouut of Temair contained in this document, 

 as of the poems interspersed through its prose. All of these materials are 

 printed at length and translated in 'Vara. But since his time more satis- 

 factory editions, both of the prose and of the verse texts, have been issued — 

 of the prose by Whitley Stokes,' and of the verse by Mr. Gwynn. 2 



In the topographical description in Section 2 of the present study, the 

 different sites are taken in the order in which they are enumerated in the 

 prose text. For brevity this is referred to throughout by the abbreviation 

 PD, with the number of the paragraph in Stokes's edition (thus, PD 20). 

 The verse texts are referred to under the symbol VD, with the number of 

 the poem in Gwynn's edition and the number of the Hue of the poem; thus, 

 VD ii 20 means line 20 of poem no. ii. Of the five poems in VD, nos. i and 

 ii are entirely historical, and contain nothing of topographical importance; 

 no. iii is purely topographical, and contains a full list of structures, 

 though with very scanty details regarding them ; no. iv is partly historical 

 partly topographical, but relates to one building only {Tech Midchuarta) ; 

 and no. v contains nothing but a metrical list of fortresses;' &c, which is of 

 no service for our present purpose, ami need not again he mentioned. 

 Though I have used the printed editions for convenience of reference, I have 

 not neglected the mss. on which they are based. . Gwynn's edition of VD 

 gives variant readings, but Stokes's edition of PD does not profess to be 

 more than a transcript from one MS. (that at llennes), and only a few 

 variants are noted. 1 have carefully collated the liennes text of the Temair 



1 The Reuues Dind-shenchas in Remie celtique, xv : bhe portion relating to Temair will 

 be found on pp. 277-289. 



2 R.I. A. Todd Lecture Series, vol. viii, pp. 2-45, 57-79. 



3 This poem seems to have been written during the usurpation of Brian Bdroma by a 

 supporter of the legitimate King Mael-Shechlainn : see lines 7."> 7<i. It indicates thai 

 there was still some sort of royal residence at Temair at that late date, in spite of the 

 familiar tale of its abandonment after the curse of Kuadan. (See also .1 ;, nals of I '-'• ''. 

 a.d. 1124, for the fall of a house in Temair on the king at that date.) 



L 38*] 



