254 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



The following examples of the confusion of case-inflexions in Latin 

 inscriptions of western Britain and of the immediately post-Eoman period, 

 the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries, are taken from the paper by Sir John 

 Ehys forming vol. xviii of " Y Cymmrodor." Rhys endeavours to construe 

 most of these instances as correct Latin in concord. His explanations vary ; 

 the phenomenon, however, is the saine from Selkirkshire to Devonshire, and, 

 in my opinion, admits only of one explanation, namely, that the loss of case- 

 inflexions in the vernacular Celtic speech of Britain led to a corresponding 

 failure to observe the case-inflexions of Latin, which continued to be the 

 traditional language of culture in the same regions. So far as I have 

 observed, no such confusion is found in the Latin of early Irish writings or 

 inscriptions. The Celtic of Ireland, unlike that of Britain, preserved its 

 system of case- inflexion. 



P. 5. Hie memoriae et belli insiguisimi principes Nudi Dumnogeni hie 

 iaeent in tuniulo duo filii Liberalis. {Rede Nudus[et] Dumnogenus. Nudus, 

 treated as an 0-steni, properly has the stem Nudont.) 



P. 12. Culidori iacit et Oruuite mulier secundi. {R. Culidovus, Oruuita, 

 secunda.) 



P. 15. Brohomagli iam ic iacit et uxor eius Caune. {R. probably Cauna.) 



P. 18. Nonnita Erciliui Eicati tris fill Ercilinci. 



P. 21. Barrivendi filius Vendubari hie iacit. 



P. 34. Evali fill Denovi Cuniovende mater eius. {R. Cuniovenda ) 



P. 41. Cantiori hie iacit Venedotis cive fuit consobrino Magli magistrati 

 (five wrong inflexion's). 



P. 49. Catacus hie iacit filius Tegernacus. {R. Tegernaci. Ehys pro- 

 poses to regard the word as an adjective.) 



P. 50. Evolenggi fill Litogeni hie iacit. 



P. 51. [Cojnbelini posuit hanc crucem. 



P. 55. . . . nicei filius . . . ic iacit securi in hoe tuniulo. 



P. 59. Latini ic iacit filius Ma[qui Ia]ri. 



P. 61. Andagelli iacit fili Caveti. 



P. 61. Hie iacit Cantusus pater Paulinus. 



P. 65. Urustagni ic iacit Cunomori filius. 



mean " son of Machthene " but member of a sept claiming Machthene for its eponymous 

 ancestor. The name of this sept should have been Dal Machtheni or Corcu Machcheni, 

 but it is not on record. If Cogitosus is based on Maclithene, it is not the personal 

 name of Muirchu's father, but rather a latinization of the surname. It may correspond 

 to "(Ultan episcopus) Conchoburnensis " = Ultiu moccu Conchobuir of the sept Conclio- 

 buirne or Ddl Conchobuir. Muirchu (floruit 693-695) is the latest instance known to me 

 of the u.se of the surname-formula in moccu, which seems to have become obsolete about 

 his time. 



