AUTHORS differ about the time of his reign, and the continuance of his people upon the island; but all agree, that a plague swept him, and the greatest part of his fubjects, away; and that, thirty years after this desolation, one Nemedius, with a number of followers, landed and fettled in Ireland, from the fame parts. He was of the fame family, but there is a difference between the old hiftorians concerning the degree of confanguinity; fome making him a defcendant of Scara, from his fon Tait, ftill in the line from Magog, for all agree that all the original fettlers in Ireland were defcended from Magog; and others affirming, that Nemedius was one of the grandfons of Partholanus, whofe father, Adhla, ftaid in Greece, and therefore did not attend Partholanus in his expedition; be this as it will, Nemedius is univerfally faid to have fucceeded Partholanus. He was the fon of Adnamhain, fon of Paim, son of Tait, son of Scara. He is faid to have begun his voyage in the Euxine Sea, with a fleet of ships, attended by four of his sons, and a number of people, and came to place called Aigin,. in the North, from whence he arrived in Ireland, and settled there, built houses, and set about cutting down woods and improving the land, and flourished extreamly. But in the midst of this increafing and profperous ftate, they were invaded by a great colony from Africa, called Fomboraice, who forced themselves upon the Nemedians, and being fupplied with other forces from time to time, at length grew too powerful, and brought the Nemedians into fubjection, who conquered them in the three first battles; but were themfelves beaten in a fourth conflict, and. and became tributary to thefe Africans, though they made another glorious push for their liberty, without fuccefs, afterwards. Nemedius broke his heart, and as foon as his three grandfons could find an opportunity, they gathered as many of their friends as they could, and quitted the island. Simon Breac was the first of these three generals; and he failed to Greece, with his people, where he found no favourable reception; yet they increased into multitudes, and were becoming very powerful, when the Greeks, growing jealous least they should attempt any outrage against the government, endeavoured to oppress them and keep them down; by imposing upon them the most fervile employments, which they were forced to fubmit to, for fome confiderable time; but, at length, not being able to brook such severe treatment, they came to a refolution to shake off this flavery, and quit the country. Accordingly, they kept their design a fecret, till things were ripe for a revolt; when they fuddenly feized a great number of the Grecian fhips, and, with five thousand that followed them, fet fail and arrived in Ireland; and these were called the Firbolgs. THE fecond general was Jobbath, another grandson of Nemedius, who failed away, with his people, to the Northern parts of Europe, and feveral hiftorians and antiquaries derive the Tuatha de Danans from him. The third was Breotan Maol, another grandfon of Nemedius, and he landed in the Northern parts of Scotland, and there fettled, where they dwelt even till the Picts went from Ireland, and fettled among them, in the time of Heremon, the fon of king Milefius. THE THE famous bishop, Charles Mac Cuillenan, in the Pfalter of Cafbel, informs us that the Britons defcended originally, or were fo called, from this Briotan Maol, and several other most ancient manuscripts give the same account; one of them says: The brave Nemedian train, "Under Briotan, launch into the main; "A prince, whom all the ancient annals trace "As the great founder of the British race." Another poet and antiquary makes the fame declaration; thus: "The warlike Welch the great Briotan claim, "To be the founder of the British name." This, in our opinion, seems to be the true fource of the word Britannia, whatever may have been faid by different authors of its having been derived of Brutus, or Braatanac, faid to be a Phænician expreffion. Camden afferts the fame in these words: Britannia dicta eft a quodam qui· vocabatur Britanus.. THAT this Briotan, or Britan, may have been the origin of the name of this island, I can readily affent to; but not that he was the father of the British race; because he was a Magogian by defcent, and none but Gomerians first peopled this British island: nor Ireland, but the iffue of Magog. And, indeed, there are many things which are ftrenuoufly afferted by feveral authors, regarding ancient history, which the records of Ireland are capable of clearing up, many of which I hope to throw fome light upon. I muft 4 I must again lament, that fo few men of genius, who have great talents for promoting hiftorical knowledge, underftand that noble language in which they are wrote; or, that fome means were not devised to facilitate the study of them, for the benefit of poets, as well as historians, of our own times. However, thus did the poor remains of the Nemedians, who lived under the tyranny of their African mafters in Ireland, endure the greatest oppreffion, till the arrival of the Firbolgs, who were the defcendants of Simon Breac, mentioned before; and this was about two hundred and fixteen or feventeen years after the death of Nemedius; which is recorded by a very ancient poet, as a confirmation of what is mentioned by the Pfalters, and other records, of this fact. "Seventeen above two hundred years had pass'd, Ir will be entertaining, in this place, to fhew whence they derived the name Firbolg; and, at the fame time, give a sufficient reason for their revolt from Greece, to avoid a most cruel flavery they underwent there. It muft be obferved, that, although these people went under this name in general, they had three denominations from the business they were employed in; for the Grecians, at that time, were carrying on feveral great works, fome of which were the finking a great number of wells and canals, for public, as well as private ufe, and the improving and cultivating the land upon the hills, with the earth dug out of thefe thefe wells and canals. They had each a feparate part to do in this bufinefs; thofe who were the diggers, were called Firdhomhnoins, from fir a man, and dhomhnoin a deep place. Those who carried away the earth to the hills, were called Firbolgs, from fir a man, and bolg a fack, or bag, in which they carried it away; and such as were the guards who defended them at their work, were called Firgailiains, from fir, and gailiain a spear, which was the weapon they used to be armed with; thus they were named, from their employments, and it is now the custom of the Irish to give names to one another from their business, their form, the colour of their hair, or any other accidental circumftance attending them, befides the proper family-name, defcended to them from their ancestors. These Firbolgs were the first whose chiefs were properly called kings; and it is with the five leaders that brought them out of Greece, the chronology of the kings of Ireland begins. THE next invaders of Ireland were the Tuatha de Danans, defcended from one of the grandsons of Nemedius; who had migrated, as was faid before, northwards, from the tyranny of the African race, and then went eastward and settled, some among the Affyrians, and fome among the Achaians, where they became versed in all the arts of forcery; which probably was brought thither from the Egyptians. From these countries they wandered back again to the North, and fettled in Denmark and Norway, where they were kindly received, and much admired for their great knowledge and learning. The Danes gave them towns to live in, where they erected feminaries, or |