The ancient ceremonies obferved in interring the great were thus. When the corpfe was laid in its vault, or appointed burialplace, the Druids performed all the folemn rites prescribed by their religion: the chief Senachie or antiquarian, then recited aloud the pedigree of the deceased, till he came to its first source. The Ard- Fhileadh, or chief poet, in a fpecies of poetry called Caoine, or lamentations, used only on fuch occafious, proclaimed his virtues, his bravery, his hofpitality, and how well he fupported the honour of his race; this was fucceeded by a great cry, when every one paffing by the grave, threw a ftone over it, hence the old saying, of having performed all duties to a departed friend-Do rineadh a Loi, agas a Leacht-i. e. they recited his apotheofis, and raised his monument. This custom the early Greeks borrowed from our ancestors; but their fucceffors forgetting the original inftitution, instead of rendering to the deceased the praises juftly due to them, often deified them; and from them the Romans borrowed the fame moft abfurd and most difgraceful custom. That all the Scythic tribes detested this most infamous and unmanly adulation, we are furnished with a striking example in king Attila, king of the Huns. Marullus, a Calabrian poet, waited on him with a copy of verfes; but as foon as the prince understood that he derived his pedigree from the gods, he would have killed him, but for the respect due to his order. The reader will plainly fee, that this cuftom in Ireland was established for the wifeft and best of purposes. At these funerals all the family and friends of the deceased attended: it was deemed an indifpenfable duty; and it is ftill obferved by the remains of old families, but wifely omitted by many of our modern ones. The praises of the deceased were the strongest incitements to virtue, courage, and hospitality in their furvivors. Bb 2 As 3965 As Ælian remarks, "Celta hymnorum fuorum argumentum "faciunt viros qui in præliis fortiter pugnantes, occubuerunt." Connor, king of Ulfter, of whom fo much as been faid, was the fon of Fatchna, the fon of Cais, fon to Ruighridhe the Great, of the house of Ir. Pursuing the Conacians commanded by Ceat, with too much impetuofity, he received a violent fracture on the skull by a ball, darted from a Cran-Tubal, or fling, and of which wound he recovered by the operation of the trepan, performed by his chief furgeon, Fighnin, called Feathach, or the Skillful. This is not the only teftimony our history bears, of the eminence of our ancient physicians and furgeons. In the bloody battle of Criona, fought in the beginning of the third century, Teige, the fon of Cein, the fon of Oilioll, of the houfe of Heber, being deeply wounded, and the barbs of some spears lodged in different parts of his body, producing exquisite pain, he fent to Munster for the celebrated furgeon Finighn, called Feath-glic, or the Learned and Dextrous, who with his three Daltadh, or eléves, foon relieved him, by removing these ex-. traneous bodies *. It appears, that phyfic, like the other learned profeffions, was hereditary in families; and that the most celebrated of this body attended the army. So much fuperior in knowledge to the rest of their brethren, were thefe military furgeons deemed, that to this day, to exprefs an incurable, we fay "Ni thogfiodh leagha na bhfionn, e!-the physicians of the royal militia would not raise him !” Eiderfgeoil, after violent ftruggles, was by all parties proclaimed monarch of Ireland. He was the fon of O'Hiar, called in the Leabhar-Lecan, king of Munfter, the fon of the exiled Deaghadh, of the line of Heremon. He was a prince of great Leabhar-Lecan, lib. iii. talents, talents, and of a very enterprizing difpofition. Early in life he lead a felect body of troops into Ulfter, in revenge for the expulfion of his ancestors from thence, by the houfe of Ir. In marching through Meath, he met with the beautiful Meafbuchuail, the daughter of Eaffa, daughter to the then reigning monarch Eochaidh, by whom he had his fon Conaire. This prince fell by the fword of his fucceffor. Nuadha-Neacht, a defcendant of Criomthan-Cofgrach, of the line of Heremon, did not long enjoy the monarchy, his army being defeated, and himself slain in the battle of Cliach, by the fon of his predeceffor, in the fixth month of his reign. Leabhar-Lecan, lib. iii. O'Flaherty, &c. 3970 BOOK BOOK V. С Н А Р. I. Antiquity of chivalry in Europe-utility of Irish history in fuch enquiry-five equeftrian orders in Ireland-knights, a particular order in the state-their education and elevated fentimentsCæfar and Paufanias juftified, and the customs of knighthood, in fubfequent times, on the continent explained. AVING fo frequently mentioned the knights of ancient HA & foufrios no to more Ireland, the curious reader will, no doubt, wish to be more fully informed of the nature of this order of men, fo celebrated in our history. He will be the more defirous of this information, as most modern writers make the infiitution of chivalry in Europe of a much later date: fome deriving it from the Moors of Granada, others from the Croifades; but all agreeing that it must have originated after the destruction of the Roman empire. Yet Cæfar * affures us, that the second order amongst the Gauls, were the Equites, or knights; and fure a better authority there cannot be. Livy, in his history, in more places than one, mentions them; defcribes the dress of one or two of them, and particularly notes the Torques, or gold breaft-plate, pendulous *Commentar. lib. vi. from from the neck. Paufanias * defcribes them and their chariots; and he tells us, that they were called Trimarkifian, from their chariots being drawn by three horses; for, fays he, "the name "of a horse amongst the Gauls, is known to be Markan." Καὶ τὸ ὄνομα ἴσω τὶς ΜΑΡΚΑΝ ὃν ὕπο τῶν ΚΕΛΤΩΝ. Unfortunately for letters, the early hiftories of the Gauls and Britons, and indeed of every other nation fubdued by the Romans, are loft; these last fhewing themselves every where, as much the enemies of science as of the liberties of mankind. Therefore, deftitute of proper guides, later writers, fuppose the origin of chivalry in Europe to have commenced at, or very near the time, in which they first find any mention of it by Celtic writers! For it is a point agreed on †, that they took not their rife from the knights of ancient Rome. Ireland, however, being free from any attempt of the Romans, preserved her ancient history; and it is the more valuable, as it plainly appears to be the ONLY key to the laws and cuftoms of the ancient Celtæ, as handed down to us by Greek and Roman writers. So extremely ancient has the inftitution of chivalry been amongst us, that we scarce know where to trace its origin. We find our ancestors had it in Greece; and the Curetes, or knights amongst the first reformers of Greece, are mentioned with particular honour, and fuch is to this day, the name of a knight in Irish. Probably it originated in Egypt, from whence they brought it firft to Crete. Certain it is, that from the foundation of the Milefian monarchy, this order of men have been particularly attended to, and their rank, their drefs, and their infignia determined. There were five equeftrian orders in Ireland the first was the Niagh-Nase, or knights of the Golden Collar; and this order was peculiar to the blood royal, as without it, no prince could * In Phocic. Selden's Titles of Honour. prefume |