Physical Characteristics of the Ancient Irish

Ulster Archaeological Society

Physical Characteristics of the Ancient IrishAuthor(s): John O'DonovanSource: Ulster Journal of Archaeology, First Series, Vol. 6 (1858), pp. 191-202Published by: Ulster Archaeological SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20608873 .

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19!

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ANCIENT IRISH.

Br3 JOHN O'DONOVAN, LLD.,

IMEMBERI OF THE ROYAL ACADEIY BE SCIENCES OF BERLIN.

IT is now universally admitted by the learned, that the Gaeidltil-or ancient inhabitants of Ireland and of the Highlands of Scotland-and the Cymri or ancient Britons are the descendants of the Celto of Gaul, aen retain dlalects flowing fron the language of that people. But the invariable tradition of the Gaedhil themselves is that they came fromi Spain to Ireland; and it is highly pro bable that the Milesian Irish were a colony from Celtiberia.

The earliest wrter who mentions the Celtt is Eerodotus, who flourished about 413 years before Christ. HTo states that the Celtie and Cyaete dwelt in the remotest quarters of Europe, towards the setting sun, near the source of the Ister and the City (rather, mountain,) of ryrene; but the

most Copious and valuable account of them which has descended to us, is contained in Cresar's Commentaries on the Gallic war, written abot 44 years before the birth of Christ. In this work they are described as a niumerous and warlike people, who occupied nearly one-half of Gila or

France: their territories were bounded on the south by the river Galramna (now the Garonne; on the -north1 by the Sequnana (the Seine) and Matrona (the Aarne); on the east by Mount TSaa; and

on the west by the Atlantic ocean. A colony of the same people occupied a great part of the north of Spain, where they were called

Celtiberi. They hacl crossed t-he Pyrenees from Gaul, and settled at first on the river Theors (the

Ebro), from which they were called Celt-Iberi. These, who were probably the ancestors of the Celte or Gaedhil, or Milesians, of Ireland, are described as the most powerful and warlke of ell the tribes or nations of Spain.

In the first chapter of the first book of the Commentaies of the Gallie war, Coesar remarks that

the people called CeNtt in their own language, were styled Oall in the Roman or Latin tongue, but

nothing is to be found in the Commentaies to throw any ight upon this dfference of name. The

probability, however, is, that the Romans called them GaZli, i.e. cocks, rom their pomposity and courage, though some are of opinion that Galli was but the Romanized pronunciation of Celtte. At the present day the Welsh call the Irish and HighlanLders G%yJJsilt, md the two latter now style theemselves Gaoidlril or CeedM, suippressing the dit in the present pronunciation, as the English do thoei gie, thlough it is probable that they pronounced the d7e originaly, as the Welsh do at present.

VtL, VI. yr.



192

The identity of the race of the Celtm of Gaul with that of the ancient inhabitants of Britain and

Irelad has been argued from the same work, [lib. iii. c. 13,] where it is stated that the great school

of the Druids of Gaul was in Britain.a The next authority relied on in proof of this identity is

Tacitus, who, in his Life of Agricola, [c. xi.,] states that there is very little difference between the soil and climate, the religious worship, and dispositions of the inhabitants of Ireland and those of

Britain." Of the language of the Celtm of Gaul we have no undoubted specimen to shew its grammatical

construction; but there are various detached words of it preserved by the classical writers, which

afford strong ground for believing that it was a kindred tongue with the original dialects of the British islands. A curious list of the words so preserved was published at L4ia i 1736, by Joannes Augustinus Egenolf, who seems not to have known that they bore any affinity to the Welsh or Gaelic of the British isles. In this list I find aber, a harbour or mouth of a river; alp, a moun tain; arden, a wood; barr, loud singing or shouting; bardi, poets; baril, a barrel; baro or varo, a

soldier; bod, earth; bracche, femoralia; brenn or bryn, a helmet; brag or brag, a district; bron, the breast; bulga, a leather bag; cad, a battle; earn, a rock; celia, beer; eucullus, a Gallic cowl or

covering for the head, mentioned by Martial; derw, an oak; dunum, a city; yarn', rough, fierce;

glas, green; lena, a Gallic covering or shirt of linen, mentioned by Strabo; lag, light; maer, a

superintendant; mar, a horse; mor, the sea; pyr , beer; vargi, robbers.

Pinkerton, in whose time Valancey and others carried their ideas of the ancient civilisation of the Celts beyond due bounds, attempts to counteract the influence of their writings by assertions equally bold, and more groundless than anything they had advanced. "The real Celtic," he

asserts, "is as remote from the Greek as the Rottentot from the Lapponie. The mythology of the Celtee resembled, in al probability, that of the Iottentots, or others of the rudest savages, as the

CelteGn anciently were, and are little better at present being incapable of making any progress in

society." Now, without wishing to indulge in any of that Celto-mania which characterises the writings of

the Irish and Welsh antiquaries of the last century, I may remark that PinkeTton has here calcu

lated too much on the thoughtlessness or ignorance of his readers, for neither he nor any one else knew or knows a word of the ancient history of the Celtw, except what is contained in the classical authors, and especially in the sixth book of Cxsar's Commentaries; from which it is clear that the Celtx of Gaul had made considerable progress in civilization; that they had an order of priests

\ * "

Disciplina in Britannia reperta atque inde in Gal liam translata esse existimatur ; et nunc qui diligentius earn rem cognoscere volunt, plerumque illo discendi causa proficiscuntur" b The name Celtce is here applied to the Irish by Pink erton. The earlier caluminatore knew nothing of the

word Celtce, as applied to the Irish. It was never applied to them before the 17th century. They never assumed

the name themselves, but always understood it tobe that of the ancient inhabitants of France.

" Scoti sumus*

nonGALLi."?"We are Gaels, not Galls. "?F#. Malachi . But as soon as the writers who wished to favour them had succeeded in making the literary public believe that the ancient |Irish were Celtce, then their enemies endea voured, withjall their might, to prove that their ancestors of Gaul were mere savages !



193

called Drutids, wNho believed ill and inculcated the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, and of the mietempsyclhosis; that they offered various sacrifices; that they worshipped Mercury as their favourite gocl, because thley believed that he wras the iniventor of all the arts, and the promoter of miiercantile affairs, and of the acquLisitioni of money; that next after ' ercLruy they wvorshipped Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, end linerva, of whom they had nearly the same notions as other nlations, viz. that Apollo cared diseases; that Minerva gave origin to worlks and arts; that Jupiter iuled the gods; that Mars presided over warxs and that they were wont to offer him whatever they toolk I warP

Ocsar says, on the other hand, of the Germans, that they had no Br-aidls to preside over religious affairs, and flat they paid no attention to sacrifices; that tley only worshipped thse gods whom they see with tleir own eyes, ancd by wliose power they are manifestly belnefited, such as the Sun, Fire, and the Mroon. In these passages, the true line of distinction between the Teutonic and Celtic races is drawn by this great Roman general and statesman, a distinction which nearly holds good to the present day, after the lapse of nineteen centuries, and the varied admixture of the two races.

As to wlhteter the Celtic race is capable of making any progress in society, it would tak-e more than mere assertion to decide the question. The anciont Irishl people (who were, in reality, the

Celts whom Pinlkerton had ill view) were the teachers of letters and religon to the Saxons in

Britain, md to va rious other Teutonic people, as we shall presently see; but this question has been tlately so well oonsidered by Dr. Pritchai.rd, acnd other distinguished meni of thle Celtic race, that I

dlo niot thinkl it anecessary to dwell upol the wild tlheories and prejudiced conclusions of this cham pion of tle Goths. I shall proceed to lay befor thertender certain facts rearding the ancient moral and physical coni(dition of the Gaeidhil, of wllich the writers on both sides-the Celto-maniac and

Anti-Celtic-have taken but slight notice. Many of the customs of the pagan Irish have unquestioniably been totally bliterated by

ChIristianity, as ean be directly proved; for example, no reference to cremation is found in any fhragment of ancient Irish history now known to exist; and still it is clear, from many u-nquestion dbly pagan sepultures recently examined, that the pagan Irish were wont to burn their dead, and cleposited the ashes illn urns of considerable beauLtty. The Celic of Gaul not only burned the chief

tain himseltf but also threw into the Bra such things as had been dear to him dtuing life, such as

havourite animals, aud, before Cresar's time, favourite slaves and faithful followers. One custom which prevailed amaong the Gauls in Cnsa's time was preserved in Ireland till the

reign of James IL, namely, that the son was not pulibly brought before the father till he was fit to

bearl arms.5l

* Caesar Comment lib. vi. c 14. d "In reliquia vitie institutis h?c fera ab reliquia

di erunt, quod suos liberos? nisi quum adoleve?nt, ut

munns militase sustiuere possunt? pal?m ad se adir? non

patiuntur ; filiumque puerili setate? in publico, in con spectu patv?s adsistere, turpe ductmt."?lib. vi?, c 18.



194

Another point of agreement between the Celta of Gaul and Gaedhil of Ireland is the belief of

both in the trasmigration of souls. Of this belief the most ancient traditional Irish stories fiunish many instances, as the legend of Fintan, the Methusalem of Irish tradition, who is said to have survived the deluge, and to have lived down to the sixth century, when he conversed with St. Finian of Movilla.

Another argument, on which I beg here to emphatically dwell, may fairly be deduced from the great stature of the Celtx of Gaul and Gaedhil of Ireland. In the 30th chapter of the second book

of the Commentaries, Cesar makes the following allusion to the great stature of the Aduatici, in comparison with the short stature of the Romans:

" And on the fint arriva of our army, they made frequent sallies from the town, and contended

in small battles with our men. Afterwards--having fortified themselves with a rampart twelve feet in height, and fifteen thousand feet in ambit, and with numerous castles-they kept within the town.

When the mantlets were advanced and a mound constructed, they saw a tower being erected at a

distance, they began first to mock from the wall, and to upbraid the IRomans by speeches: saying,

to what purpose was such a machine set up, at such a distance. With what hands, or with what

force, did they expect to bring forward a turret of such a bulk to the walls, especially as they were

menL of such small stature (for our short stature is a matter of derision to most Gaulish men, in

comparison with the magnitude of their own bodies."}) e

These were the Aduatici, who were Belge; but the observation in parentheses alludes to the

great stature of the Gauls in general. That the ancient Gaedhil or Scoti of Ireland were remarkable

for their great stature, vigour, and valour, we have various authorities to prove.

The first important notice of the valour of the inhabitants of lerne, or Ireland, is found in the

poet Claudian, who describes the succes of Stilicho in repelling them. " By him," says this poet,

speaking in the person of Britannia, " was I protected when the Scot moved all lerne against me,

and the sea foamed with hostile oarn."I From another of this poet's eulogies it appears that the fame of that Roman legioh, which had guarded the frontier of Britain against the invading

Scots and Picts, procured for it the distinction of being one of thos summoned to the banner of

Stilicho, when the Goths threatened Rome: "Venit et extremis legio prutenta Britannis,

Quse Scoto dat fraona truci, ferroque notatas Perlegit exanimes Picto moriente figura'." g

The Scot here referred to by Claudian was no other than the celebrated Irish monarch. Dathi. who.

e**Ac, primo adveutu exercit?s nostri crebras exoppido excursiones faciebant, parvulisque praeliis cum nostris contendebant : postea vallo pedum xii in circuitu xv

millium, crebrisque castellis cirummuniti oppido sese continebant. Ubi vineis actis aggere exstructo turrim, procul constitui viderunt, prim?m irridere ex muro, at que increpitare vocibus, quo tanta machinatio ab tanto spatio institueretur ? quibusnam manibus aut quibus viribus, prsesertim homines tantulse staturse (nam plerisque hominibus Gall is, prse magnitudine corporum

suorum, brevitas nostra contemptui est) tanti oneris turrim in muros collocare confiderent?"

f ** Totam cum Scotus lernen Movit, et infesto spumavit r?mige Tethys."

s*'There arrived also the legion spread over the further most Britons,

Which bridles the ferocious Scot, and examines on the dying Pict

The hideous figures punctured by the steel"



195

according to the Irish annals, suacceeded NiaR of the Nine lostages on the throne of Tara in the year 406, and was slain in Gaul in the year 429.

A very remarkable reference is made to the great stature of two Scotic ecclesiastics residilg at Rome about the year 387, by St. Jerome, in his -Dezonstratio qZoc @kristus siqt. eus. The one was

C(elestius, a follower of the heresiareh Pelagius, and the other Albin-us his disciple. Ee calls the one c Seotoron pultib us prwgravratus," ad tlhe other, CC Albinun, cauein grandem et corpulentuin, et gui cclaeibus s2qqig possait sevre i'agin deutibus. Rabet enim progeniem Seotizfer gentis de Britauno rum vicinUat."

Some have thought that by CC Scotorumn zltibtus," i.e., Scottie stirabout, St. Jerome meant the Pelagian heresy; blut prtegravatus evidently applies to his corpuleney. It is much more reasonable to believe that he alluded to the national food of the Scoti, which remains the national diet to this

day among the Scots of North 3ritain, and had been much used and valued by the Sco of Ireland

until the potato supplanted it, to the great multiplication but deterioration of the race. -Bnt pm grahatus is evidently applied to describe the corpulency of a huge debater, C who could argue better

with xicKs than sraroasns,"-qui calcibus magis possit sxvire quam DurMTVs-who could kick

better than he could argue with his teeth. The figure is not very correct, but it is good enough for an old gentleman who -was flogged by an angel for reading Cicero, and who saw the Scoti or

Attacoti in Gallia cat the thig,hs and nates of boys, and the breasts of girls.

Passing over some fabulous accounts of the gigantic stature of the ancient Irish, quoted by Ussher

anid others,' we find the following most important and interesting description of the stature and. personal appearance of thle ancient Irish race at the period of t-he 3English invasion, before they had received any aclmixture of Saxon or Norman blood. Giraldus Cambrensis, who came over to Ire

h " Over-fatted with Scottish stirabout; and the other Albinus, a huge and corpulent dog, and one better qua lilied to argue with kicks than words, for he derives his origin from the Scotic nation in the neighbourhood of Britain,"

"In the year 1157, it is stated in the Annals of Clon macnoise and of the Four Masters, that the bead of Eoohy Mac Luchta, who was king of North Munster in the first century, was, this year, taken out of the earth, at Fin corey. It was of such wonderful bigness that it might be compared to a large cauldron. The largest goose might easily pass through the two hol^s of his eyes, and through the hole of the spinal marrow.?In the oldest lives of the Irish Apostle, St. Patrick, it is said that he resuscitated a giant, Glas Mac Cas, who was 120 feet high!

In the Annals of Clmmacno?e, it is recorded that Muirchert?ich More Mac Erca, monarch of Ireland in the sixth century, was fifteen feet high !

Entries of this description are, however, only records of the credulity of our ancestors. Nearly in a similar light I view all our poetical stories about the stature and unmatched valour of the heroes of the Red Branch

in Ulster, in the first century ; and of Finn Mac Cum haill and his heroes, towards the middle of the third. Traditions of this nature exist among all ancient nations ; but they prove nothing but the tendency in the human mind to exaggeration, and the respect which men have had, at all times, for great stature and valour.

Stories of this kind are found in the histories of every country in the world, even the most civilised, and coming down to a comparatively recent period. "In the year 1501 (as we are gravely informed), a country

man digging deep into the earth, near Rome, discovered a tomb of stone, wherein lay a body, so tall, that, being placed erect, it overtopped the walls of that city, and was as entire as if newly buried, having a very large wound on the breast, and a lamp burning at the head, which could neither be extinguished by wind nor water; so that they were forced to perforate the bottom of the lamp, and by that means put out the flame. This was said to be the body of Pallas, slain by Turnus, the fol lowing verses being inscribed on the outside of the sepulchre:? " Filius Evandri Pallas, quern lancea Turni

Militis occidit more suo jeuset hie."



196

land first about te year 1183; and again in 1185, as tuitor to Joh1n, EaErl of Morton, afterw1ards king of EIlgland, wrote a series of chapters oni the topography,l hiistory, mianlners ant customsllls of the Irish. In his oplographia Ililb5ernim (Dist. i., c. xix.), where he treats i -Do foris earnqgeae naturis," he says that all the animnrls of Ircland were smaller thian those che had seenI elsewherel, anci that man alonie r-etained his m?tqjesty of stature.J

Again, fi the same work (Dist. iii., o. x), where lie treats " De G'enti stius naturd meoritnso . et cZtt6," lie states that the Irish knew notlhinig of artificial nuLrsing, bhut thSat tlheiy nevertheless grew

up by nature into most beauitiful, tall, symmentrical, and strong persons, of well-formod and well colouLred fatcesk

The only Irishman whiose person ho describes in particular is Dermiiot M:ac Molfrrouigh, king of Leinster; and th-is, coLplecl witlh his general dlescription of the Irish as a race, is Sidicienlt to Satisfy

any man that tlhc Gaedhil of Ireland, in the 12ti coentury, were ats tall as tlhe Ccltm of Gaul were

in CGmsar's time. Gi raeldus says that DCrsuiciiLs was a mutan " of gnrand stature, of very large, b)ody, a

man bold and wLrlike. From hiis continual shouting iii war his voice was hoarse; ie hLad raither

be feared tlani loved by all; lo was an opprestsovr of thi nobles, an exalter of th,e luTnubli," &

We find no other partictlair reference to tlhe statire' or physical capabilities of thio ancient Irish race till tie reign of Richiard IT., A.D. 1399, when the iexenthi in deseaot from11 this Deroet (Art, son of Art, son of Muxtoglh, son of Afaurice, son of Mllrtoglh, son of Donieoll, soni of Doninell

Kavanagh, son of the DerTinot above menltioneod by Giraldus) is thus described by tlhe tatutlhor of thie Ifitsoir-&da Boy d'-Angterre, Richard",'1 who was hilmself a'nl eyo-witnlss of the Scene:

Among the gentlemen, I was one th* t went with theo EarJl of Gloucester to See Mae Murroutgh, his hehaviour, estate, and forces, &c. Fronm a mouintain3, between two woods, not far f-rom c lth see, we saw Mac Murrougl desecnlding, accompanied by multitudes of the Irish, and1 miounted upon at horse without a saddle, wlich cost lim, it was reported, 400 cows. lIis horse was fair, and, in his descent from the hiUl to us, ran as swilt, es aniy steg, hare, or tlho swiftest beast I lhave evrer hecci.

In his righl1t hatn lie oere a loiig spear, whieh, when near the spot where lie was to meet ti etu'l,

j "Ht ?iutem brovitcr oomplectar: omnium anima lium fferarumque, et avium corpora hic q\uim alibi suo in genere minora repcries : solis homii?bu? suam reti nen tibus mnjestatom," k ** Non in cunabulis aptantttr. Non fasoi?s alligan tur, non freguentibus in balueis te?era membra vel foventur vel artis juvamhie componimtur, &c S?d sola natura, quos edidit artus, prtetcr artis cnjuslibet admi nicula pro sui arbitrio et componit et disponit. Tanquiim it? qu? probans quid per se valent fingere, nan cessat et figurare quousque in robur porloctum, pulchorriniis et proe?ris corporibns, et coloratissimis vultibus hommes istos proveliat et producat." 1 "jurat autem Dermic?us w'r statum grandis et cor pore peramplo : vir b^llicosus et audax in $ente su? : ex crebro contmuoque belli clam ore voce raucison?, Timeri

a cimctis quara diligi malens ,* nobilium oppressor, hu milium erector, infcstus suis, exosus alienis,

' &,o.?IIib.

Hxpuff , lib. i, c. vi. "i The writer of the Histoire du May d'Angleterre,

liiekard, give? an account in French metro of the four or five last months of Kitihord It's reign. Of this very curious tract there exist two MSS.?unu of which is in tho

British Museum, and the other in the library at Lambeth Palace. A translation of that portion of the story which relates to Ireland was made by Sir G Gorge Oarew, Pre sident of Munster in the latter part of the reign of

Elizabeth, and published by Harria in his IHberniea, pp. 4s) to 58. But the entire narrative has been recently translated, and published in tho twentieth volume of tho

Archa'ohgia, by the Rev. J, Webb,



197

he east fro, hirn with muchl dexterity. [Here see the appearance thath e made exactlypourtrayed.n] Th crowrd that followed him then remained behind, whie he advanced to meet the earl; near a small brook. He was tall of stature, well composed, strona anld active; his couintenance fierce and cruel."

"Entre deun bois assex loing de la mer M equemore ia montigne ovaler Vy, et dirloiz, que pars ne s-cay inombrer Y ot foison.

Un cheval ot sans sele tne arxon

Qui ltii avoit cotoste, cc disoit on,

Quatreces raches taut estoit bel et bon.

Deuls deun fit is lassemnblee faite

Pres dun ruissel. La se mairntin Ntacquemore: asselz bel

Gratis homs estoit, a marveillea ysnel

A Yons duci sembloit fort fier et fel, Et homs de fait."--ArehwoZogia, vol, x:s., p. 40.

Speaking of his men, he writes that Mac Murrough's army consisted of 3000 stout men, such as,

it appeared to him, the English marvelled to behold,

" They assailed us often both in the va and rear, casting their darts with such might, as no

habergeon, or coat of mail, were of suffieient proof to resist their force, their darts piereing them through both sides. Our foragers, that strayed from their fellows, were often miudered [killed]

by the Irish; for tlley were so nimble and swift of foot, that, like unto stags, they ran over mon tains and -alleys, whereby we received great aninoyance and damage."

A general description of the vig,our and fleetness of the Irish in the same reign is given by the French chronicler, Froissart, who received his information firom an English gentleman, named

Henry Castide, who had been marrned to arl Irshwoman, and who was appointed by.Richard II.,

onl hlis fist visit to Ireland in 1394, to instruct the Irish kings and ocieftains in the dress, cere

monies, and ma:nner of behaviour, which would be required of them at court. From his dictation Froissart wlites :

"But I shewe you byeanse ye should knowe the rntlr . Ireland is one of the ell sountreis of the world to make warrae upon, or to bring under subjection, for it is closed strongely and wydely

with high forests and great waters and maxesshes and places [un] inhabytable; it is hard to entre to do them of the country anie domage. . . .For a man of arms beyng never so well horsed, and ron as fast as he can, the Yrissh men wyll ryn afote as faste as he, and overtake h, yea,

and leap up upon his horse behynde him, and drawe hym from his horse."-Fro$ssars, lohne's translation.

Henry Castid7e, from whose dictation Froissart wrote the above nassage. had been himself taken ? The figure of Mac Murrongh, which is given in the MS. in the British Museum, is engraved as a vignette in

the third volume of this Journal, p. 55.



los

prisoner in a skinli 1in ILeinster, by attirish chiftlluin, whose dbgiter lie niarried, and with

wlhom he lived for many years ill tlh coluntry. ioe was wlil acquaated witlh the, Irish langLuaage,

and was, ftherefore, emplo0yed by KiCi-ng Rihtatrd to instruct th' naLtive cheftains,) as alretdly lnc n

tioned. The mnanner of h1is captuto is tlus described by thlio French cihroniler:_

"I cha 0 6tha21t in this purstuit m horsoe took fright, told ran away with imei, in spite of tl my

efforts, inlto thle midst of ithe elnlmy. Mfy 'friendS could niever overtikeel ; and in passHing throug

the Irish, one of them, ly a great fTat of aglity, leaped on the back of my hre,1 and held iniP lt

wit;i botli b lthis at11rms,Ibt dlidl i11c no hlarm witla 1 o"1r0 o r "kiliBe. socilllod 1k11nif 1..l n m juiced

to have miad ne Ic hi prisoner, utiiid ewrrie( iuie to lhis hoise, whtich wvas strmig, and hi tt IANIWI stir

roulndedL withi wsood, palisadcs, tor(l stagnanlt water. Tell gentlemnat wlho lhtad taken 1 wits called

3rin Casteret a very handsouie mantti-. I hlax o frcqel ntlyw indqlit qris after him tilman 11hea' thlat lie is still alive, buLit iry old. This riant2i CL asteret kept itue w:ith him samen years, atn1d. g'aM c o 1uis

dauighlte in matirriage, by whomn I havo two giris."-hiss,rts,J'ohmso trans-lation.

The next eurionu reference to the m arlike vligolur mid courtage of thlet anclienlt Irisl 1is -fouind ill a

letter written to Kina letry Y.U I. by thec Lord Deputty St. LTeoger, from, uinynoolth, on i the (qt1 o0lf

April, 16543. In this letter, St. Leg geroes onl to sHtiate thalt he ul'Ld heard it reoofrt thlloit " lis Aa

jestie was aboit to go to watr with France or Scotland, tand retvquests to ktoIo1( w his Majesty's pleasure if

he shold raiso a body of native Irish soldiers to attend haI in t1he illyastilo of France ;" and l10

then proceeds as follows B3ut in case yo Majestio will use their seryieaC lnto Frmttnel lc your lig 'lines mus t thwn he at

some charges withi them.; or yt ys ot n11 their e1 a it)sslit c to take Clitt joulirlniey Withoult your i lpoe; for t-lhor ys 110 lhorsemanii of th1is lanme but lie bathell his hors and hnis two boy es, tuld two

hUaekoneys, or on1e hackency ond two ehieffe horso, at 'the lesto, who e wa es mnust be tteoordingi' ta d of theoniselfes they have no ryches to ffurnysho thlie stte. A.nd, assutrely, I tinik thattfor ther ffeate of warlre, whIie".1be ys for liglit scoores, tber at' nio proporor horsemen in, Clhristen grotund, 10r n or

liarldie, nior yet ultit caln better indure ltirdeness. I 1 tbinike your Majetie may well 11ha've of them.

fyve hundred, tand( leave your ?EFigHliso Pain well firysshed. And tas to thier footenten they hlave one sort whchiello he Larlnessed ini tlnaylc and bassenetts, lhtavuig every' of them his weapo otled a

Sptarr, nioche liketh)e ioaxe of the Towre, 101t(1 they be named (tdIhoglaisse; anl 'for the to r part tlier boyi bhetare for thiemill thlir dtarts a1 puce, whichlle dartes they lthrow vr they come to the lih de attipe theso ; sort oe ;ion be those thaitit (doo not light1fly abandon the 'ifel4de, bWt by t he brint to the daths. Trheo ethor sorte cidlidi kterne atr nakeI vi en , baitt, oTIely theilr s1hor-ts aln'Id snmalW cttos; a id

iiany tynes wlian they come to the by ker, blt bare natlyd sating thehr irX to hyde eor proties; aicl ilose htave diat(ee mii shiorto howes

- wbielhi sorte of pead& 1e hotbihef h ady Ad

elJ1yver to srcrhe woddes or mora snst, in the wLhch they be httrdo to be aettem. And if your Ma estie will convert them. t Morespikes and hand-gorines T tbinlke thie) wolde in tlat fbt V, witlh



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small instrLctions, doo your IEighnes great service; 5or as for gonners ther be no better in no land then they be, for the nomber they have, whiche be more t:han. I wolde wishe they had, onles yt

wer to serve yoiur Majestie. And also these two sortes of people be of suche hardeneess that ther ys no man that ever I sawe that wi3 or can endu:re the paynes and eviiU ifare that they will sus

tayne; for in the sommer, when come ys nere rype, they seke none other meate in tyme of nede, but to scorke or swyll the eares of wheat, and eate the same, and water to ther drinke; and with this they passe ther lyves; and at all tymes they cate such meate as Sew other could lyve with.

And in case your pleasure be, to have them in readynes to serve your Majestie in any these sortes, yt may then please the same, as well to sigaifLe your pleasure therein, as also what wages I shall

trayne them unto. And so, having knowledge of your pleasue therein, I shall endeavour myselfe, according nay most bouncden duetie, to accompliehe the same. The sooner I shall have knowledge of youLr pleasure ia that behaffe, the better I shal be hable to perform it.

From your Majestie's castell of ML aynothe, the 6th ol April, 1543.

ANToxY BSENTLEGEn.

[See Stats Papers, vol. iii., p. 3, p. 444. London, 1834.]

In the February following, this lord deputy was recalled to give the Mung an account of his administration of affairs in Irelaand; and Sir AWiliam Brabazon was sworn lord justice in s stead.

HSle sent the king one thousand native Irish troops to Ccalis, Under the coimmand of three Anglo Irish Captains, Poer, Butler, and SkuLrloek, the two former beinig nephews of the Earl of Ormond.

A curious list of these men is preserved in the State Paper Office, London. The praises bestowed on the daring valour of this Irish wcops at the siege of Boulogne is scarcely

credible. Holingsied writes that they were very serviceable to the king at the siegye of Boulogne, andl didl much mischief; for being light of foot, they would often range twenty or thirty miles into the country, and as they returned, woild burn and spoil wherever they. caine. "They had a pretty

trick to get a pmey; which was to tie a bull to a stake, and set fire about him, and as the fire

scorched him, the bull woulld bellow, ald thereupon all the cattle within hearing, of him woiud flock that way, and so were taken. These Irishmen would never give quiter; and therefore,

whensoever the Xrenchmen took any of them, they gelded them, and otherwise tormented them exceedingly. After the surrender of B3uoign, a large Frenchman, on the other side of the haven braved and defied the English army; whereupon one Nicholas did swim over the river, and cut off

the Frenchman's head, and brought it back over the river in his mouth, for which bold action he was bountifully rewarded."-[See Hfiollinyshed's Chronick, . 103; aind Cot's EThernia Anglicana, p. 277.] At these and other wild feats of courage performed by the Irish keme, the French, astonished, sent an ambassador to inquire of King Henry, I" whether he had brought with him men or der-ils."-[lbid.]

YvL. VI. 2B



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The next notice of the personal appearance of the ancient Irish is found in a History of Ireland, written in the year 1567, by the celebrated Jesuit, Edmund Campion, who writes in his Historie

of Ireland, (chap. vi.):-" Cleare men they are of skinn and hue, but of themselves careless and

bestiall. Their women are well-favoured, clear-coloured, fair-handed, bigge and large, suffered from their infancie to grow at will, nothing curious of their feature and proportion of body." And again:--" Their ladies are trimmed rather with maMa jewells then with garish apparell; it is counted a beauty in them to be tall, round, and fat."-[Ibid.]

The next writer who noticeis the stature of the native Irish is the poet Spenser, who, in his View

of the State of Ireland, written in the year 1596, has the following remark upon the Irish horse man :-"I have heard some great warriours say, that in all the semices which they had seene abroade in foreigne countreyes, they never saw a more comely man than the Irish man, nor that cometh on

more bravely to his charge; neither is his manner of mounting unseemly, though he lacke stir ruppes, but more ready than with stirruppes, for in his getting up his horse is still going.-[Dub. Ed. p. 116.] Again, "Yet sure they are very valiaunt and hardie, for the most part great indurers of colde, labours, hunger, and all hardnesse; very active and strong of hand; very swift of foot; very vigilant and circumspect in their enterprises, very present in perils, very great scorners of

death."-[P. 119,]

The next author who mentions this subject is Fynes Moryson, who was secretary to the Lord IIountoy, 1599-1603. Speaking of the smallness of the Irish cattle, he writes in his -Description of the State of Ireland:--" By this abundance of cattle, the Irish have a frequent though somewhat poor traffick for their hides, the cattle being in general very little (small), and only the men and the

greyhounds are of great tature." Re remarks more than once that the Irish were firmer on foot, andrhad a stronger push of the spear than either the English or Spaniards.

The next writer who notices the stature aund characteristics of the native Irish is John Dymoke, who wrote about the year 1599. His words are:-"The people are ofnatuevain-glorious, francke, irefull, goode horsemen, able to endure great paynes, delighted in warr; great hospitallitye; of religion for the most parte Fapists; great gluttons, and of a sensuall and vitious lyfe; deep dis

semblers, secret in displeasure, of a crewel revenginge minde, and irreconsiliable. Of witt they are quicke and capable; kinde-hearted where they take, and of exceedinge love towardes their

foster-brethren. Of complexion they are cleare and well-favored, both men and weomen; tall and

corpulent bodies, and of themselves careless and bestiall. "-[See Tracts relating to Ireland, printed for the Irish Areological Society, vol. ii. p. 6.]

These historical passages can never be obliterated, but must remain as evidences of the great stature and valour of the native Irish race as long as this world shall last.

I could adduce various instances of individual Irishmen of the Gaelic race who have been des

cribed by their contemporaries as of gigantic frame, such as Florence MacCarthy, who was born in



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1554, and who is described by Sir George Carew as taller by the head and shouilderls than his fel. lowo,rs; and Morgan WKavanagh, governor of Prague in 1766, described by contemporary writers as the la, est mIan in Europe; some of whose relatives are still extant in Germany, and were described by Protb'ssor Neimann, of Vienna, in 1844, as the tallest men in Germany: they are the descendants of JBrian n-stroioe' Kavanagh, who was the largest man in King Tames the II.'s army. BigMagraatl, wNhose skeleton is preserved in tlhe anatomical museullm of Tlinity College, Duablin; and John O'Neill of Dlanville, in the county of Down, who is described by Dr. Stuart, in his lTistory of Armaght, as 1 a man most remarkable for prodigious strength, majestic form7 prineely deportment,

affable maimers, and unibounded benevolence."-[pp. 130, 630.] 1 shall conclude by a few quotations more from persons who are still Eving or recently dead.

One from Sir Richard M,usgrave, who, dlescribing the family of O'Dowda in Lower Connaught, says, in his Jbo[zoirs of the d(/Jorent J?ebellioas in lrealand,-" This family counted twenty-four castles on their extensive estate,i many of which are still in existence, and they have a burying place appro priated to them in the abbey of Moyne, where may be seen the gigantic bones of some of them who

have been renmarkable for their great stature, as one of them having exceeded seven fcet in height." The late 0'Driscoll (William, son of Denis, son of Florence), who died at Stoke, near Plymouth,

an the year 1851, is clescribed by his son William Henry, the present O'Driscoll, as a magiificent

specimen of the old Milesian Irislh race:-' 'mighty of limb and strong of sinew, very tall, and broad in proportion; of noble countenance, and in pitch of body like a giant."

Richlard Donovani, Esq., Clerk of the Crown for the County of Cork, describes the characteristics of the last two fainous O'Driscolls of the County of Cork, in a letter to myself, written in 1849, as follows:

" Tlhe late Alexander O'Driscoll, Esq., 31., of Norton Cottage, Skibbereen, was the son of Timiiothly ODriscoll, who was, in appetarance, far beyond the ordinary run of men, being remarkably handsome, tall, and athletic, appearing lilc the soL of a giant. This Timothy was, no doubt, of

alicient rospectablo descent, but notlhing seems to have been known in the co try of his pedigree. lie acquired considerable property, as a midcle man, and was a magistrate of no ordinary capacity. lie was a jovial companion, had a good head, and -was a kind of sense-carrier to several of his aris

tocratic neighbours, wlho had no time for anything but drinking and huoting. His son, Alexander, succeeded to a considerable propertv in land and ythes. This Alexander may be considered as the

last celebrated man of the O'Driscolls, in the O'Diiscoll tcrritory. He was a remarkably fine-look ing nman-he looked, in fact like a prince: hunted well; rode well; drank well; his hospitality

was botmunless to all. Being, in politics, a higlh conservative, his popularity lay with the aristocracy, wh1o repaid him for his hospitality by giving h;im all those posts of bonor which gentr-y sigh for,

anid which cost notihing. I-e was of overbearing disposition; despised all popular institutions; was severe to the peasantry, and no favourite with the Roman Catholic clergy, although a Roman



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Catholic himself. His end was most melancholy, In tle Summer Assizes of 1849, he served on the CouLnty Grancl Jury, although his embarrassments were notorious; and, instead of proceeding homewards., after the duties of a grand juror were over, he remained in the city of Cork, and was

arrested by a wine merchant. THe applied f?or his discharge on the score of being on duLty as a grand juror; but the applieation was refused, and hie was colfined in the city gaol. The clholera then prevailing very severely, he was seized witlh it and clied."

Another very remarkable man of the old Irish race, wvhose sons, Nichlolas, Michrael, and Williamn, lremembcr, was Mr.William Gaifrey, alias O'Gamhna, of Gleumore, in the barony of Ida, County Kilkenny. He stood six feet four inchls in height, and was robust, stronig, anti athletic in proportion. He was so dexterous a swimm-er that it wrvlas believed he could " walk on the water "

from Noew Ross to Waterford. He commanded a party of eighty thousand rebels, in 1798, at Ballyverneen Kill, when Mlajor-Gener-al Jaclkson defended the town of Nlew IRoss. Mr. Gaffney was executed, ancl his bocly thlrown into a pit with soveral other bodies. But th11e nurse-fenlder ald

mid-wife of the district, comimonly called "Maiy of the Riig," who was ieh lattached to hlii andc

his family, came at nighlt, alone, by the light of the moon, and opeingii- the pit, threwl) u all theo

bodies on thle bank, and examining them one by one, recognised that of Mlr. Gaffncy by its vast

proportions and noble featares. She returnedl tie othe8r caLrcasses, which w ero covered with fro1esht lime, to the pit, and carried tho body of Mr. Gaffacy to the churchJ:-yard of Cilbricle, where shle.) buried it in the tomrb of his ancestors; exhibitinlg a specimie of female heroism which l hlutarch would have handed down to immortality.

IRISH BARDISM IN 1561.

Thomas Smyth -was, doubtless, iclenitical wvith tho Slheriff of Dublin of the samle naime iiL 15767,

and Mayor in 159 1. This surname is so comimnoni, being now eqouivfalent to no namoe tl D, that it

is vague to suggest tiat he was nearly related t;o Thomnas, natitural son of Sir Thomas Smyth, or

Smith, who, in 1572, formed a colony at "1 Smith's Cast'e," in thle0 Ards (county of Down); and

the present writer has already suggested [JAurncd, vol. ii. 219,] that this Dublin dirggist was

brother of the notorious John, called "1 Bottle-Smrniih," for his attempt to assassinte Shane Dymas

by means of a bottle of poisoned &-ink. One of this family had his haud stricken off, probably min



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Physical Characteristics of the Ancient Irish