their mighty antlers. We know that bears were there too, for we still find their bones in caverns. Although both elks and bears became extinct very early, we have good reason to believe that they continued to live in the country for some time after its occupation by man.

Myriads of noisy sea-fowl circled and screamed and fished all round the coasts and swarmed on the cliffs, among them the strong and graceful sea-eagle; for the sea, as well as the lakes and rivers, teemed with fish. Vast flocks of cranes, wild geese, wild swans, and other fowl tenanted the lakes and marshes; the woods were alive with birds of various kinds; and hawks, kites, and golden eagles skimmed over the plains peering down for prey. The goshawks, or falcons, used in the old game of hawking, were found in great abundance; and those of Ulster were reckoned the best in the world; so that, like wolf-dogs, they were valued everywhere on the Continent, and were often sent as presents to kings. The country, from the earliest times, was noted for its abundance of honey, for bees, both wild and domestic, swarmed everywhere. But there were no snakes or toads. We have now plenty of frogs; but the first ever seen in Ireland, of which there is any record, was found near Waterford towards the close of the twelfth century. As the population of the country increased, the cultivated land increased in proportion. But until a late time, there were few inhabited districts that were not within view, or within easy reach, of unreclaimed waste lands-forest, or bog, or moorland: so that the people had much ado to protect their crops and flocks from the inroads of wild animals.

the prin

All round near the coast ran, then as now, cipal mountain ranges, with a great plain in the middle.

The air was soft and moist, perhaps even more moist than at present, on account of the great extent of forest. The cleared land was exceedingly fertile, and was well watered with springs, streamlets, and rivers, not only among the mountainous districts, but all over the central plain. Pasture lands were luxuriant and evergreen, inviting flocks and herds without limit. Some of the pleasing features of the country have been well pictured by Denis Florence M'Carthy in his poem of "The Bell Founder" :

"O Erin! thou broad-spreading valley, thou well-watered land of fresh streams,

When I gaze on thy hills greenly sloping, where the light of such loveliness beams,

When I rest on the rim of thy fountains, or stray where thy streams disembogue,

Then I think that the fairies have brought me to dwell in the bright Tirnanogue."

From the foregoing sketch it will be seen that Ireland, so far as it was brought under cultivation and pasture in those early days, was a land flowing with milk and honey, a pleasant, healthful, and fruitful land, well fitted to maintain a prosperous and contented people.

From Wilde's Catalogue.

EARNING of all kinds was held in great estimation by the ancient Irish, especially History, Poetry, and Romantic Tales. Most of their lore was written down in books; for after the time of St. Patrick everything that was considered worthy of being preserved was committed to writing, so that manuscripts gradually accumulated all through the country. But in the dark time of the Danish ravages, and during the troubled centuries that followed the Anglo-Norman invasion, the manuscript collections were gradually dispersed, and a large proportion lost or destroyed. Yet we have remaining-rescued from the general wrecka great body of manuscript literature. The two most important collections are those in Trinity College and in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, where there are manuscripts of various ages, from the sixth down to the present century. There are also many important manuscripts in the British Museum in London, and in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. Great numbers, too, are preserved in Continental libraries, where they were written, or to which they were brought from Ireland, by those Irish missionaries who frequented the Continent in early ages.

A favourite occupation of some of the monks of old was copying the Gospels or other portions of the Holy Scriptures, always in Latin, for the use of the inmates of monasteries or of other persons who could read and understand the language and many devoted their whole lives to this good work. Books of this kind are the oldest, as well as the most beautiful, we possess, many having been written from the sixth to the ninth century; and nearly all of them are richly ornamented and illuminated. For those accomplished and devoted old scribes thought no trouble too great to beautify the sacred writings. Some books of this kind are described at pages 13 and 14.

Before the invention of printing it was customary in Ireland for individuals, or families, or religious communities, to keep large manuscript books of miscellaneous literature. In these were written such literary pieces as were considered worthy of being preserved in writing-tales, poems, biographies, histories, annals, and so forth-all mixed up in one volume, and almost always copied from older books. In those days books, being all written by hand on vellum-a very expensive material—were scarce and dear. The only places where they were to be found were the libraries in monasteries, and in the houses of kings or chiefs, or of some learned men; and the value set on them may be estimated from the fact that one of them was sometimes accepted as ransom for a captive chief.

The oldest of all these books of miscellaneous literature is the Book of the Dun Cow, now in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. It was written-copied from older books-by Mailmurry Mac Kelleher, a learned scribe, who died in Clonmacnoise in the year 1106. As it now stands it consists of only 134 large vellum

pages, a mere fragment of the original work. It contains sixty-five pieces of various kinds, several of which are imperfect on account of missing leaves. There are a number of romantic tales in prose; and, besides other important pieces, a copy of the celebrated Amra or Elegy on St. Columkille, composed about the year 592, which no one can yet wholly understand, the language is so ancient and difficult. A specimen of this book will be found at page 39, farther on.

The Book of Leinster, which is kept in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, is the largest, though not the oldest, of all the ancient Irish manuscript volumes. It is an immense book of 410 vellum pages, written in or about the year 1160, containing nearly one thousand pieces of various kinds, some in prose, some in poetry, all about Ireland or Irish affairs. There are historical narratives, stories and descriptions of places in various parts of the country, genealogies of families, and romantic tales belonging to the old times of legend and tradition. Other old books are the Speckled Book of Mac Egan, almost as large as the Book of Leinster, consisting chiefly of religious pieces, the Book of Ballymote, the Book of Lecan [Leckan], and the Yellow Book of Lecan, which are all in Dublin, and contain a vast amount of ancient Irish lore. Much of the con

tents of these books has been published and translated : but by far the greatest part still remains locked up in the Irish language, waiting to be dealt with by the loving labour of Irish scholars.

The Irish chroniclers were very careful to record in their Annals remarkable occurrences of their own time, or past events as handed down to them by former chroniclers. The Annals are among the most important of the ancient manuscript writings for the study