R E L A N D. 



Mr. Piiikerton is of opinion tt-.at Ireland was early dif- 

 covorod by tlie Plmiiicians. " On tlie iiril dawn of hillory," 

 f jy s lie, " ai;d v\ hen llic north-wcit of Europe was as obfcure 

 to t'.K' Greeks, as the idands on the north-eail of Siberia 

 were recently to us, it would feeni that Ireland conllitiited 

 one of the Cafliterides. The poems afcribcd to Orpheus de- 

 ferve no credit, but it appears that the idand was known to 

 the Greeks by the name of Juveona, about two centuries 

 before the birth of Chri'.l. When Csfar made his expedition 

 into Britain, he defcribes Hibernia as being about half the 

 fize of the iGand wluch he had explored ; and while the Ro- 

 mans maintained their conquefts in the latter region, Ireland 

 continued, of courfe, to be well known to them, and Pto- 

 lemy has given a map of the ifland, which is fuperior, in ac- 

 curacy, to that which repreients Scotland. Towards the 

 decline of the weftei'n empire, as the country had become 

 more and more known, and had been peopled with various 

 tribes, the Romans difcovcred that the ruling people in Ire- 

 Iind were the Scot! ; and thenceforth the country began to 

 be called Scotia, an a,ppellation retained by the monalUc 

 writers till the eleventh century, when the name Scotia 

 having paficd to modern Scotland, the ancient name of Hi- 

 bernia began to re-affume its iionours. It is fuppofed that 

 this name, and the Gothic denomination Ireland, are mere 

 r.iodiiications of the native term £rin, implying the country 

 of the weft." 



" It is probable," fays the fame writer, whofc attention 

 to the fiibject of antiqsities gives great weiglit to his opi- 

 Kion, •' that the original population of Ireland palled from 

 Gaul, and was afterwards mcreafcd by their brethren the 

 Guydil from England. About the time that the HclgiE 

 feized on the fouth of England, it ap))ears that kindred 

 G;)thic tribes paifed to the foath of Ireland. Thefc are the 

 Pirbolg of the Irifli traditions ; and appear to have been the 

 fame people whom the Romans denominated Scoti, after 

 they had emerged to their notice by not only extending their 

 coiiquells to the north and eail in Ireland, but had begun to 

 make maritime excurfions a^ainll the Roman provinces in 

 Britain. But Irela.id had been fo much crowded with Cel- 

 tic tribes, expelled from the continent and Britain by the pro- 

 grefs of the German Goths, that the Belgx almo.'f loll their 

 native fpeecli and dillinft character ; and from intermarriage, 

 &c. became little diilinguifhablc from the original popula- 

 tion, except by fuperior ferocity, for whic'.i the Scoti, or 

 thofe who affecled a defcent from the Gothic colonics, were 

 remarkable ; while the original Gael Lem to have been an 

 innocuous people." Such is Mr. Pinkcrton's account of 

 the early (late of Ireland, but as very different ones have 

 been given rcfpcfting this, and as it llill continues to be a 

 fuhject of controverfy, it will be proper to give a brief ab- 

 ilract of the principal opinions, and the autliority on which 



thev reft. The celebrated Edmund Spcnfer, in his " View 

 of the State of Ireland," fjppofcs it to have been firft peopled 

 by the Scythians, from whom the name Scotia was de- 

 rived. Thefe fettled in Ulfter, and a colony from thcui 

 went to Scotland. Another nation came out of Spain to 

 the weft part of Ireland, and finding it wafte, or weakly in- 

 habited, pofteired it. Thefe he fuppofed to have been 

 . Gauls, who had learned letters in Spain, where they were 

 introduced by the Phoenicians, and brought them to Ire- 

 land, where it is certain they were known at a very early 

 period. From the Scythians, Spenfer fuppofes the Irifli to 

 have derived, ift, the cuftom of keeping their cattle, and 

 living themfelves, for the moll part of the year, in loo/ies or 

 hordes, paduring upon the mountains and waile wild places ; 

 and removing llili lo frefti land, as tliey had depallured the 

 former. This cuflom, which fecnis to have continued lo 

 Spenfer's time, was rery injurious. The boolies were re- 

 ceptacles for outlaws and loofe people, who there evaded 

 juftice ; and thofe who lived in them grew inore barbarous, 

 and lived more liccutioudy than they could in towns, ufing 

 what manners they lifted, and praclifing what mifchiefs and 

 vilianics they would either againft the government, or private 

 individuals. Another Scythian cuftom was the wearing of 

 mantles, and long glibbes, which is a thick curled bufti of 

 hair, hanging down over their eyes, and monftroudy dif- 

 guifing them. Thefe mantles Spenfer defcribes as conve- 

 nient for outlaws, rebels, and thieves. As the paflage is 

 curious, and the work lefs known than it ought to be, the 

 infertion of it may afford fome entertainment to the reader. 

 " Firft the outlaw being for his many crimes aud villanies ba- 

 nifhed from the townes and houfes of honeft men, and wan- 

 dering in wafte places, far from danger of law, maketh his 

 mantle his houfe, and under it covereth himfelfe from the 

 wrath of heaven, from the offence of the earth, and from the 

 fight of men. When it raineth, it is his pent-houfe ; when it 

 bloweth, it is his tent ; when it frcezeth, it is his tabernacle. 

 In fommer he can wear it loofe ; in winter he can wrap it 

 clofe ; at all times he can ufe it ; never heavy, never cuni- 

 berfomc. Like wife for a rebell it is as ferviceable. For in 

 his warre that he makctli (if at leaft; it deferve the name of 

 warre) when he ftill flyctli from his foe, and lurketh in the 

 thick woods a:id llraite pafFages, waiting for advantages, it 

 is his bed, yea, and almoil his houfliold ttufl'. For the wood 

 is his l-.oufc againit all weathers, and his mantle is his couch 

 to ileep in. Therein he wrappeth himfelfe round, and 

 coucheth himfelfe llrongly againft the gnats, which in that 

 country doe more annoy the naked rebclls, wbilft they keepe 

 the woods, and doc mo»-e (harply wound the.m than all their 

 enemies fwords, or fpears, which can feldome come nigh 

 them ; yea, and oftentimes their mantle fervcth them, when 

 they are neare driven, being wrapped about their left arme, 

 inftead of a target, for it is hard to cut thorough with a 

 fw ord, befides it is light to beare, light to throw away, and 

 being (as they connnonly are) naked, it is to them all in 

 all. Laftly, for a thiefe it is fo hanJfomc, as it may fecm 

 it was firft invented for him, for under it he may cleanly con- 

 vey any fit pillage that commeth handfom!y in his way, and 

 when he gocth abr;';ad in the night in free-booting, it is his 

 beft and fureil friend ; for lying, as they often doe, two or 

 three nights together abroad to watch for their booty, with 

 that they can prettily fhroud themfelves under a bufti, or a 

 bank fide, till they may conveniently doc their errand ; and 

 when all is over, he can, in his mantle, paffe thorough any 

 town or company, being clofe hooded over his head, as he 

 ufeth, from knowledge of any to whom he is indangered. 

 Befides this, he, or any man els that is difpofed to mifehicle 

 or villaiiy, may under his mantle goc privily armed without 

 3 F 2 ■ lufpicion 



