Macalister — Temair Breg : Remains and Tradition* oj Tara. 260 



The Leinster plan shows in the central aisle of the building the following, 

 in order from the end door inwards : a Idchet, which may be either a light or 

 a fire, 1 more probably the former; a ks or haunch, which a daul (waiter) is 

 carving — the childish sketch of the waiter is not without interest for the study 

 of costume ; a bir bruinnes or cooking-spit of Gargantuan dimensions, a lassar 

 or fire, and at the inner end the dabach (cauldron), beside which are the 

 dailemain or stewards. The Lecan plan is, as usual, more business-like. It 

 shows in order from the door inwards a locarn (lantern), cainnd (candelabra), 

 dabach (cauldron), and three hearths, marked tenc, one after the other. Behind 

 the third hearth is the open space for the table attendants. 



We may here recall Keating's interesting account of the banqueting 

 halls. 2 He describes them as being long and narrow, with tables along the 

 side walls, and hooks on the walls above the tables. A marshal (bollstrire) 

 took the shields of those who were to partake of the feast, and under the 

 direction of what we may call a recorder (sencha) he hung each on the hook 

 above the owner's proper place. The feasters were then admitted, and each 

 found his own seat, marked with his shield. If it be objected that this 

 smacks too much of mediaeval chivalry, with its heraldic shields, we may 

 fairly call to mind the Gaulish shields wrought with distinctive figures of 

 animals (Diodorus Siculus, v, 30), comparing the famous Witham shield now 

 in the British Museum, which has had the figure of a boar riveted on to it. 

 Keating's statement may well rest upon ancient authority. 



It now becomes our tnsk to fit this plan to the actual remains on the 

 ground. For this purpose it has to be re-drawn in proper proportion. The 

 result will be seen on Plate IX. For reasons that have now been sufficiently 

 set forth, the Lecan plan is adopted as the basis of the drawing. The names 

 of the several professions are placed in the pews belonging to them in English ; 

 for the Irish names and for the joints belonging to them, reference may be 

 made to Tara, p. 205 et seqq. 



On looking at this plan, the first thing that strikes us is the position of 

 the king's pew. We might have expected it to be in some more conspicuous 

 place— say at the very head of the hall, or in the exact middle. It occurred 

 to me that this offered a very good test of the trustworthiness of the plan. 

 If the fourth pew was suitable for the king, there ought to be some traceable 

 reason for this suitability. Accordingly, 1 took an opportunity of visiting 

 Temair to examine this question on the spot. The first point to settle was 

 the orientation of the plan. The modern convention of placing the north at 

 the top of the plan or a map did not bind mediaeval cartographers. It would 



1 Loichet .i. caiwnell no srutrall no lasair — O'Davoren. 

 - History, I. T. S. editiou, ii, p. 250. 



[87-] 



