many favages. But both the Irish and Welsh were ever well verfed in the arts of mufic, poetry, government and war, and disdained any fecurity from fortifications, thinking it more glorious to decide their quarrels in the open field, than under any kind of cover. The Irish initiated their children in it very early; and Solinus, as quoted by Dean Swift, in one of his poems, fays, that the wives in Ireland, when delivered of a fon, gave the child its first food off the point of the husband's sword: "Puerpera, fi "quando marem edidit, primos cibos gladio imponit ma"riti, inque os parvuli fummo mucrone aufpicium ali" mentorum leviter infert, et gentilitiis votis optat, non “ aliter quam in bello, et inter arma, mortem oppetat.” Again, " præcipua viris gloria eft in armorum tutela."

In mufic, no nation was equal to Ireland; which is warranted from good authority: Polydore Virgil says, they were distinguished for their skill in mufic: "Hiberni "funt muficæ peritiffimi;" and the fame Giraldus, who called them favage, in one part of his work, fays, however, in another, "in muficis folum præ omni natione quam vi"dimus, incomparabiliter eft instructa gens hæc." Now, it is impoffible to suppose a people barbarous or savage, who were thus verfed in the arts of government, mufic and war; or that fuch a people should be illiterate till the time of St. Patrick. This, however, will be cleared up, in the courfe of this hiftory.

IGNORANCE of these languages, and their antiquity, would be fome apology for misrepresentations of this fort,

2

if prejudice and paffion were out of the cafe; but these illiberal attacks are too easily discovered by an impartial eye; and will be properly expofed, in the following sheets, by a clear view of facts and anecdotes, well authenticated, which throw them to the ground; and, if the affertions of both Cambrenfis and Cox, which were influenced by po-. litical dependencies, were laid open, together with their: reasons for endeavouring to flander a nation, it would appear, that those times were not exempt from corruption. But this is not my present business; and, indeed, fuch names, and the manner of their making a facrifice of truth to their own views, would only make so many blots upon honeft paper: we shall, therefore, quit what fuch angry writers have advanced through ignorance, or malice, and refer the reader to their confutation in the progress of this work. But with great regret I must take further notice, that it is too much the difpofition of some among us, to asperse, and set at nought, the natives of Ireland, Scotland and Wales; I mean those who speak the dialects of the Japhetan language to this day, which are the Gomerian and Magogian, or Scotish languages; and yet these are the only unmixed remains of the children of Japhet, upon the globe; and the KING of Great Britain, the only monarch upon earth who rules the remains of that original people, and who is himself descended from a most ancient race of Scythian kings, the offspring of that patriarch..

ANOTHER

ANOTHER indifcreet author, Mr. Innes, has taken great pains to prove there was neither learning nor letters, in' Ireland, before Patrick; but this, too, will, I flatter myself, appear a very futile affertion, before the following work is finished.

I HOLD it an indispensable duty, in pursuing this subject, to vindicate the honour of these remains of antiquity to the best of my power, fince I am happy in having sufficient materials before me, wherewith to do them ample justice; and, at the same time, to open several obfcure paffages concerning them, which throw light upon many hiftorical facts, as I go on, and which were probably mistaken, or totally neglected.

Of all the parts of science, none can be fo interesting as the knowledge of languages, whether we confider them as neceffary to the commercial, or political corréfpondence of nations, or as effential to the attainment of fciences in general, or as introductory to an acquaintance with the history, manners and customs of the inhabitants of every country. And, indeed, according to the present state of the languages of Europe, learning would be very fuperficial in any country, if the ftudent depended only upon his vernacular tongue; because that of every nation in this part of the globe has been fubject to many changes, and because they are all dependent upon fome original, however different from one another.

THE importance, therefore, of being verfed in the learned languages firft, is known to every one who has applied to

the study of any of the liberal profeffions; for, without that foundation, no scientific fuperstructure could ever be raised.

BUT the knowledge of the languages of other nations is of no less confequence; and a due inspection of their affinity would invite the curious to inquire into the reafons of fuch agreement between thofe and our own; and fuch an investigation would naturally lead us farther; it would certainly prompt us to look for the parents of these tongues, and climb to the original.

THIS was my pursuit, in the present work. I have endeavoured to trace the languages of Europe to their source; and think I have difcovered that which was previous to the Greek tongue, all over Afia Minor, Scythia and Greece. And this was the Japhetan, called afterwards the Pelafgian, and then the Gomerian and Magogian, or Scythian language; which is now to be found only in Ireland, the Highlands of Scotland, and Wales. And hence I count the Irish and Welsh to be sister-dialects of the Pelasgian language; which, I flatter myself, I have proved by fuch authorities,, as will be allowed by the learned reader to have due weight.

In the course of this research, feveral obfcure paffages in ancient history are cleared up, and others corrected: and many tranfactions rescued from oblivion, which will reflect the highest honour upon the ancient inhabitants af these islands, not only on account of the antiquity of their language, but also of the glorious deeds of their ancestors,

and:

and the learning of their antiquaries, poets and philofophers, who were the first instructors of mankind in the Western world, after the general deluge; and from whom the knowledge of the fciences has been tranfmitted to all Europe.

I HAVE been much affifted, in this bufinefs, by that excellent work, the Universal Hiftory: the authors have prevented a great deal of trouble, in making me acquainted with books I never perhaps might have seen; I give them the utmost credit for their quotations from fuch as I could not any way come at; because, in as many as I faw, I found their quotations very faithful; yet, as I have not wrote implicitly after any authors, I have ventured to differ from fome of theirs, as well as the opinions of seve+ ral others; but not without the proper regard to their fuperior learning and merit. Thus have. I differed from many more, alfo, because the connexions I have discovered between the ancient Irish records and Holy Writ; together with the Greek hiftorians, have warranted my diffent from feveral, in fome things and although Mr. Lloyd, in his Archeologia, has afforded me a great deal of matter towards my attempt upon this fubject; yet I could not avoid differing from him alfo, as to the original inhabitants of Ireland; becaufe, it will be seen the Britons did not give that island its first colonies. Meffrs. Lloyd, Harris, O Flaherty, and others, have led feveral modern writers to that opinion, which I am prevented affenting to from the course I have taken in tracing them out...

IN