274 Proceedings of the Roijal Irish Academy. 



V 24. — 9. The seven grades of government (government in regard of 

 subject clientship) : care cUsso, aire echta, aire tuise, aire ardd, aire forgill, king, 

 and overking.'' 



V 26. — 10. The seven grades oifilicl, however: fochliic,viaccfuirmid, doss, 

 cano, cli, dnruth, ollum. 



V 30, V 40, V 42. — 11. Seven chattels of dire for an aire desso, and pro- 

 tection for three days, four meir's food-provision for him, and four cakes to 

 each man with their condiment and their seasoning. If it be true caindenn, 

 sixteen flakes to each cake, or four stalks of true caindenn to each cake ; or 

 honey, or fish, or curds ; or a salted joint with every twenty cakes. In like 

 measure even up to king.' 



V 42. — 12. Ten chattels, now, for an aire echta, and protection for five 

 days, and thirty cakes. 



V 44. — 13. Fifteen chattels for an aire titise, and protection for ten days, 

 and forty cakes for him. 



14. Twenty chattels for an aire ardd, and protection for fifteen days, and 

 sixty cakes. 



V 46. — 15. Thirty chattels for an aireforfjill, and a hundred laymen with 

 him, and a month's protection for him, and eighty cakes. 



•wealth enough to "buy franchise," free status was possible. In the term cWernemef/i, 

 doer means " inferior " relatively, not "unfree" absolutely. In O'Mulconry's Glossary, 

 much of the details s.v. Keined seems to be derived from the glosses on this or some 

 similar text : " Three superior nemid are enumerated here . . . the Church, filid, kings 

 and rulers . . . Four other nemid are enumerated herein . . . whitesmiths and black- 

 smiths . . . Wrights (soo?'ui'i) . . . musicians . . . cattle . . ." — the last because certain 

 cattle, especially milch-cows, were privileged from distraint. A freeman became "unfi'ee 

 by his lips " when he contracted to become a doerchele under a lord, but this contract 

 was revocable (II 312, seqq.). Deis, "authority," especially over clients, cell. 



The text up to this point forms a brief introduction to Irish jurisprudence in general, 

 passing by an easy transition, through the term nemeth, to an introduction to what the 

 jurists deemed the most important and what was in fact the most characteristic part of 

 Irish law, the law of status. 



1 "Overking": the text has ri ruireach, "kinf; of overkings." We should expect 

 ruiri, and the actual reading has probably arisen from some confusion of gloss with 

 text. 



^ '' Chattels," sSuit : the standard set, the chattel which is the normal unit of value in 

 the laws, was a samaisc, a young cow before her first calf. This was reckoned at half the 

 value of a milch-cow. In reckoning values of five chattels and upwards, every fifth 

 chattel was of the value of a mUch-cow. Seven chattels = three milch-cows. " Protection," 

 turthugiid, in C.G., snddud. ; a more general term is foessom, which also means adoption 

 (of a child) ; the power to protect strangers is meant, any off'ence against the protected 

 person becoming an offence against the protector. A better reading may be turthv^e, 

 cp. tuige, imthv.ge, f&rtga. "Four men" are this noble's lawful retinue on a visit of 

 hospitality, and his lawful company on sick maintenance, i.e., when he is maintained at 

 the expense of a person who has caused his wounding. Caindenn, a seasoning vegetable — 

 garlic, onion, or leek. "Joint," canimclvadim, lit. "bent bone," perhaps a "ham." 



