312 Proceedinc/s of the Boijal Irish Academy. 



It divides the free population into four orders : civil, Latin-learned, Irish- 

 learned, and ecclesiastical. 



The civil order cod tains ten ruling grades : three of king, four of aire, three 

 of gentlemen. The honourprice of all these is reckoned in cumals. Then 

 follow seven grades corresponding roughly to the hoaire order of other tracts, 

 whose honourprice is reckoned in kine. Then nine grades of men without 

 property: who have no honourprice. Then seven grades of wisdom (ecim), 

 i.e. of Latin learning. Then seven grades of j^Zirf, men of Irish learning. Lastly, 

 there are the grades of churchmen, not enumerated, prohably because a 

 knowledge of them was taken for granted. _ 



"We need hardly doubt that, in the original form of this tract, the 

 classification was in groups of seven grades throughout. The list of ten 

 ruling grades has at its end three grades, idna, ansruth, and dae, which are 

 not found in other texts. The list of nine grades that have no honourprice 

 has at its end two grades, the robber and the beggai", which are not likely to 

 have had legal rank as freemen. Of interpolation of the original we have 

 some proof. The text begins by stating that there are twenty-six gi^a^i^ of 

 freemen, but this number is made out by mcludiug the grade of aire forgaill, 

 not found in the text except as a synonym, probably here also interpolated, 

 for aire ardd. 



The three grades of king are : triath, " sovereign," explained in verse to 

 mean the king of Ireland ; n rig, " king of kiags," to whom seven kings are 

 subordinate ; and rl ticaithe, " king of a tuath." 



Of the king of the second grade, it is said that he is entitled to a cunud 

 from each subordinate king who fails to attend his house of ale-feasting or his 

 (regular) assembly (ocnacJi) or his (occasional) convention {dail). 



The grades of ruling nobles are aire ardd, aire tiiise, aire desa, aire fine, 

 idna, ansruth, dae. The absence of aire forgaill and aire echta may be 

 noted. 



The seven grades whose honourprice was payable in kine are : dgflaithern, 

 lethflaitliem, flaithem, loaire, tdnaise hoaire, uaitne, seirthid. Flaithem may be 

 explained to mean " lordlike " (< vlati-samos) ; dg- means " perfect," leth, 

 '■' half." The three grades of flaithem, instead of landed vassels such as are 

 under a flaith, have tenants bound to the land, in number respectively three, 

 two, and one. The likeness to lords is therefore very slight. The seirthid or 

 " henchman " is a landless freeman who becomes a soldier or a guard. 



The description of the unpropertied grades does not much increase our 

 knowledge of the social structui'e. There is nothing in it to show that these 

 are really grades differing from each other in status, and we may rather 

 understand the list to state nine ways in which a freeborn man may become 



