388 
land, is Iran, the proper name of Per- 
sia;-and the Hibernians are descended 
from the Soathern, or Indo Scythians, 
and ‘the Cuéht of Scripture. (Preface, 
page xiv.) Beda, Lhwyd, and other an- 
tiquaries, have acknowledged that ‘ the 
Trish did inhabit Great Britain before 
the arrival of the Cimari, or Britons, 
Where, then (adds General: Vallancey), 
should we look for the history of the pri- 
mitive ijohabitants of Britain, but in 
Trish history?” (Preface, page 1.) 
The erection of Stone-henge (or Coir 
gaur, the Temple of the Sun,) 1s attri- 
buted by the Saxon Chronicle to the 
Irish, as the primitive imhabitants of Bri- 
tain, **So it is by the learned Bryant 
(says General V.), butneither knew that 
monuments of the same kind and name, 
but on a less scale, exist in Ireland.” 
(Preface, page vir.) The mythology of 
the Brahmins is minutely detailed in the 
history of Ireland, and the very names 
Budh, Menu, &c, found in ancient Irish 
manuscripts. (Preface, page ix.) 
The ingenious author quotes a multi- 
plicity of interesting passages from wri- 
ters of all countries (and some late Con- 
tivental works but little known in Eng- 
land), to prove that the first inhabitants 
of Britain were those old Erinians, or 
Trish, the Indo-Scythe, or ancient Per- 
sians, the earliest navigaters to the coast 
of the Euxine and Pontus, and thence to 
Europe; that they were the Phanices of 
Tyre, avho are said to have traded from 
Spain with the British islands, and that 
they had intercourse with the Carthagi- 
nian merchants, and taught them the 
way to Britain; “ that they brought with 
them the art of naviyation, and a know- 
ledge of the stars to guide them; the art 
of fasing and- working metals; of mak- 
ing glass, arithmetical figures, and Pe- 
Jasgian letters, together with an Ogham, 
or mysterious character; of all which 
monuments remain, and are, a!most 
daily, found, as the bogs are~ cleared 
away: that, like their Asiatic brethren, 
they made no stone byildings, the fire- 
tower excepted, which was copied from 
the most ancient Pagodas of India: that 
before Christianity was introduced, two 
jdolatrous religions prevailed, that of the 
nicieut Persians, and that of the Chal- 
deans; the Jatter introduced by the De- 
danite colony; but both worshipped the 
sun, moon, planets, and fire, and_at 
length coalesced into qne.” (Page 148.) 
The following. strong passage from Sir 
William Joves mentions the Sagor Chro- 
gicle (which, as before remarked, as- 
Primitive Inhabitanis of Britain. 
[June 4 
cribes the erection of Stene-henge to the 
Irish), and is quoted in page 141 of the 
General’s work :—“ And thus the Sax- 
on Chronicle, as I presume from goed 
authority, brings the first inhabitants of 
Britain trom Armenia; while alate very 
learned writer (Pinkerton) concludes, af- 
terall his laborious researches, that the 
Goths and Scythians came from Persia; 
and another (Vallancey) contends with 
great force, that both the Irish, and alsa 
the Britons, proceeded severally from the 
borders of the Caspian: a coincidence 
of conclusions from diftereut media, 
which could scarcely have happened if 
they were not grounded on solid princi~ 
ples.,—(Jones on the Persians, As. 
Res. I.) , 
The learned Dr. Hyde, of Oxford, 
describes (after Strabo) a TIvgaréia, or one 
of those ancient inclosed circles, with a 
Bwos (altar, or fire-place) in the céntre, 
wherem the Magi performed their reli- 
gious ceremonies. An intrenched tem-. 
ple of this kind still remains in Ireland ; 
itis a most extraordinary monument of 
antiquity, and in a perfect state, except 
that the altar has been thrown down. » 
(Page 40.) Its old name was Beal-agh, 
the tir or altar of Belus (or the sun) 5 it 
is now called the Giant’s Ring. <A plate 
accompanies the description of this tem- 
ple, which-I shall give in the words of 
Mr. Dubardieu, in his Statistical Survey 
of the County of Down :— 
‘* TEMPLE OF BEAL-AGH.” 
“The Cromlech in the Giaht’s Ring, 
near the church of Drumboe, on the sum-= 
mit of a hill between Lisburn and Belfast, 
deserves particular notice, from the cir- 
cumstance of its being placed in the cen- 
tre of one of the moststupendous works of 
antiquity this country can boast of. This 
altar differs tery much from the rest, 
consisting of a rude, incumbent stone, 
of seven feet, by six anda half, and 
supported by ranges of rude pillars, and. 
close to it some fixed stones, still remain- 
ing, of considerable size; the supporters 
are from two to three anda half feet 
high, the covering stoie formerly an in- 
clined plane. ‘The inclosure, in the cene - 
tre of which stands this altar, is cireular, 
one third of a mile in-circumference; the 
rampart which surrounds it, sloping on 
each side, instead of ending in a point, is 
sufficiently wide for two to ride abreast: 
the whole is so proportioned, that a per- 
son standing near the altar can only see 
the inclosure and rhe sky: in that situas 
tion, and alone, he cannot but feel a de- 
greg - 
