1910-1911.] Griddle or Greidell Ine or Een. 283 



A token of pillar stones (cairte) ^ upon widowers, 

 To keep their burial-place of the dead. 

 Cnocs (mounds) upon distinguished foreigners, 

 And Murs'^ upon those who died of great plagues." 



The first battle of Magh Tuired was fought, according to 

 the mythological history of Ireland, about 1700 years before 

 the Incarnation; but, according to the 'Annals of the Four 

 Masters,' 1383 years before the Christian era, calculated 

 according to the Julian period. 



The poem of the " Fair of Carmen," which is found in the 

 ' Book of Leinster ' and partly in the ' Book of Ballymote,' 

 relates to the fair which in very ancient times was held every 

 third year at Carmen, now known as Wexford. This poem 

 places the rule of the Tuatha (or Clan) De Danann, the people 

 who were the victors at both the first and second battles of 

 Magh Tuired, as not earlier than the fifth or sixth century B.C. 



The differences in the dates of the occurrence of these 

 battles, as stated in these different sources of information, is 

 such that we can place little or no value upon any of them 

 for accuracy. However, the mentioning by so many in- 

 dependent writers of the battles of Magh Tuired makes it 

 almost certain that such events did happen long before the 

 Christian era ; also that the results were so important that a 

 great impression was made upon the minds of the Celtic 

 inhabitants of Ireland, who handed it down to their children 

 in song and story. 



Those legendary tales and poems of ancient Ireland are of 

 great value, as they tell of the deeds of mighty warriors and 

 their equipment, of victories and rejoicings, their deaths and 

 burials, and all the ceremonies attending these functions. 

 There is much existing evidence showing that the narrators 

 were dealing with fact, and not with fiction. 



^ Cairte — A pillar stone, as Cairte Faithaig, i.e., the pillar stone of Fathach, 

 the poet of the Firbolgs.— (" Tale of the First Battle of Magh Tuired.") Cairti 

 mark the graves of widows (widowers), to maintain their appropriate part of the 

 cemetery. Such a monument is called an Aisneis de Cairtib, i.e., a testimony 

 by pillar stones.— (" Dinsenchas of the Fair of Tailte.") 



'^ Murs. — These monuments are described as " ramparts upon such as die of 

 great plagues." — (" Dinsenchas of the Fair of Tailte.") Mur, a wall, a sepulchral 

 monument, a plague grave. — (O'Curry, vol. iii. p. 590.) 



