Voluntii inhabited Louth, with parts of Down, Meath, and Monaghan; in their territory was Vinderius the Newry. 5. The Blanii occupied parts of Dublin and Meath, and the towns Laberus Kells on Bubinda the Boyne and Eblana Dublin on Libnius the Liffey; N. E. of the latter is Lambay, a small island anciently called Limnus. 6. The Cauci were in parts of Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare, and Queen's County; amongst them was Rheba Rhehan Castle. 7. The Menapii dwelled in parts of Wicklow, Carlow, and Wexford; through their territory ran Oboca the Ovoca, and Modona the Slaney, at the mouth of which last was Menapia Wexford. 8. The Coriondi were cantoned in parts of Wexford, Kilkenny, and Tipperary, about Brigus the Barrow. 9. The Brigantes, in Waterford and Tipperary; and, Ina. The Vodiæ, in the E. parts of Cork; the Lee, running into rk Harbour, was called Dabrona. 11. The Iverni were in the S. part of erry; their city Ivernis or Iernis was probably Dunkerrin, on Ivernus Kenmare. 12. The Velabri, and, 13. The Luceni, dwelled in parts of Krry and Limerick; between them and into Dingle Bay ran Dur the Main: Regia Altera Limerick was in the territory of the Luceni. 14. The Concani were in Clare, where they possessed the city Mecolicum Meelick on the Shannon. 15. The Auteri dwelled in Galway; Galway Bay appears to have been called Ausoba. 16. The Nagnatæ were further N., in Mayo; their chief city Nagnata Urbs was probably Castlebar. 17. The Erdini occupied parts of Sligo, Leitrim, and Fermanagh; from them Erdinus received its name, which it still retains, though in a corrupted form, in Lough Erne: by Ravius seems to have been intended Donegal Bay.

47. Long before the Romans had made themselves masters of the Northern parts of Gaul, the Greek authors had placed the Islands of the Blessed at one 39 of the British Isles: and Posidonius (alluding probably to Ireland, the Insula Sacra), has assured us, that in the neighbourhood of Britain, Ceres and Proserpine were honoured with the same worship as at Samothrace 10. The tales and legends which the superstitious Romans heard on the shores of Britain and Gaul, induced them to seek, and of course to find, in the neighbourhood of the former country, certain desolate islands, the resort of demons, and the place where Saturn slept and was kept a perpetual prisoner under the care of Briareus". This tradition was so generally believed, that it was preserved long after Christianity had become the prevailing religion in Gaul, as is partly shown by the following extract from Procopius* who flourished towards the middle of the sixth century: "There are certain villages lying along part of the coast of Gaul, opposite to Britain, the inhabitants of which pay no tribute to the King of the Franks, from their having undertaken the singular employ

39 Diodor. Sic. II. 47.

40 Strabo, IV. 198.

4 Plutarch, περὶ τῶν ἐκλελοιπότων χρηστηρίων. 1. 746.

42

ment of carrying the souls of the dead over the sea, to the opposite islands. As soon as it is midnight, an invisible being knocks at the doors of those who have the regulating of the business, and commands them in a hollow voice to proceed with their duties. When they go to the shore, they perceive some strange vessels, but no signs of men; and yet they no sooner sit down to the oar, than the bark becomes so heavy that it is ready to sink, and the water rises to within two inches of the gunnel. A single hour is sufficient for them to reach the islands, though, in the ordinary way, it is a voyage of 24 hours. Then the vessel suddenly loses its burden, and scarcely touches the sea with its keel. During the whole course no visible being is observed, and it is only at the disembarcation that a voice is heard; viz. his who has the com mand of the voyagers, and faithfully announces the seve names and dignities of his new subjects to the invige Superior of the Islands."

CHAPTER VI.

ENGLA-LAND.

1. IN the decline of the Roman empire, Britain was exposed to the attacks not only of the Picts and Scots, but of the Saxons and other kindred tribes from the shores of the Baltic. Their first settlements were probably on the N. E. coast, the North of England, and South of Scotland; subsequently the Jutes erected the first kingdom in Kent, the Saxons and Angles founded others, until about the middle of the fifth century seven kingdoms were spread along the Eastern and Southern coasts, the original inhabitants having retired before the invaders into the mountainous districts of Cumberland and Wales, and into Cornwall, while some passed over into Brittany, already probably the abode of kindred tribes. In the beginning of the ninth century Egbert united under his command all the Saxon kingdoms, and from that time they have been known as Engla-Land, or the land of the Angles, in Latin Anglia. The Angli had possessed themselves of the larger portion of the Island; viz. Northanhumbria, Myrcia, and East Anglia; the Saxons had only East, South, and West Saxony, and the Jutes only Kent and the Isle of Wight.

2. England, or Engla-Land, was divided into eight kingdoms, of which the two northernmost uniting, it formed a sevenfold government, hence called the Heptarchy (from irà septem, and aρxù imperium). Of these seven kingdoms, there were three in the South, three in the centre, and one in the North, of England;

Wealon or Wales, the retreat of such Britons as would not yield to their merciless invaders, was never subject to the Saxons. The three Southern kingdoms were, Cantwara Rice,' SuthSeaxna Rice, and West-Seaxna Rice, which together corresponded with the ancient Roman province of Britannia Prima. The three central kingdoms were, Myrcna Rice, East-Seaxna Rice, and the kingdom of the East-Englas; these three comprehended the ancient Roman province of Flavia Cæsariensis. The Northern kingdom was called Northanhumbra Rice, and contained, not only the Northern part of England, but the Southern part of Scotland, between the Vallum Antonini and the Cheviot Hills: it corresponded with the two Roman provinces Maxima Cæsariensis and Valentia. The country inhabited by the Scoti was named Scotland, and the people themselves were termed Scottas, though the latter appellation was likewise applied to the Northern Irish; the roving, plundering Picti, were called Peohtas or Pyhtas. Ireland was known to them under its old appellation, Hibernia or Ybernia; and Eblana or Dublin changed its name but little in that of Difelin. They called France Franc-land, and sometimes France.

3. The amount of territory included in the several kingdoms of the Heptarchy, as well as that occupied by the ancient Britons and the Picts, during the dominion of the Saxons, may be seen in the following table:

4. The Britons had been Christians; the Saxons were Pagans, but converted by the labours of Augustine and his successors (from A. D. 596). The Island was again invaded by Pagan hordes from the Baltic, now under the name of Danes, probably the people spoken of as Danciones by Ptolemy; they established themselves in the territories of the Angles and elsewhere, but their progess was stopped by Alfred.

5. When Alfred became sole monarch of England, he divided it into counties, in order to check the outrages of his people, who,

1 Rice signifies kingdom in the Anglo-Saxon tongue, being derived from the

under the pretence of acting against the Danes, committed all kinds of robbery: he likewise sub-divided the counties into Hundreds and Tythings, and ordained, that every man should live within some Hundred and Tything.

6. The name County is derived from the Latin word Comes, as having been under the government of a Count; it is now generally used in the same sense with Shire, which comes from the Saxon word Scyre, signifying a division. Hundreds derived their name, either from each one of them being obliged to find a hundred sureties of the king's peace, or a hundred able men of war; others, however, rather suppose them to have been so called, because originally composed of a hundred families. In some parts of the kingdom they are called Wapentakes, and for this reason when a person received the government of a Wapentach, all the Elders came before him on an appointed day, and when he alighted from his horse they all rose up, he set up his lance, which all present touched with theirs, and thus, by a contact of arms, they all bound themselves to each other in a public league of peace :hence the name, from wepun arms, and tac to touch. There were also other jurisdictions superior to a Wapentach, called Thrihingas or Trithings, each of which was the third part of a province: but, in some parts of England these Trithings were called Lathes, and in others again Rapes. The several divisions of Hundreds, Wapentakes, Lathes, and Rapes, are still in use as Sub-divisions of the English counties, although a few of them are portioned off into Wards and Divisions: the word Trithing is likewise maintained to the present day, under the corrupted form of Riding in Yorkshire, which is divided into three parts, viz: the East Riding, the North Riding, and the West Riding. At the first division of the English counties, there were only 32; but, when William the 1st took a survey of the kingdom, they were 36: there are

now 40.

7. CANTWARA RICE was bounded on the N. by East-Seaxna Rice, on the W. by Suth-Seaxna Rice, and on the two other sides it was washed by the sea. It was founded by the famous Hengist, and corresponded with the modern county of Kent; the people were called Cant-ware or Kentish-Men. Its metropolis was Cantwaraburh Canterbury on the Stour, in which was the famous Mynster built by St. Augustine or Austin, whom Gregory the Great sent over to Britain, to convert the Saxons: Ethelbert gave it with

2 Tacitus, in his history of our blue-eyed ancestors (in tanto hominum numero, idem omnibus--truces et coerulei oculi, &c.), seems to describe a Hundred-Court very exactly: Eliguntur in iisdem conciliis et principes, qui jura per pagos vicosque reddunt. C'enteni singulis ex plebe comites, consilium simul et auctoritas, adsunt.

De Mor. Germ. 12.

He, however, leaves the derivation of the term Hundred in doubt; for he likewise says, in alluding to their mode of warfare, In universum æstimanti, plus penes peditem roboris: eoque mixti præliantur, apta et congruente ad equestrem pugnam velocitate peditum, quos ex omni juventute delectos ante aciem locant. Definitur et numerus: centeni ex singulis pagis sunt: idque ipsum inter suos vocantur, et quod primo numerus fuit, jam nomen et honor est. Id. c. 6.

the royalty to Austin, upon his being consecrated Archbishop of the English nation, when he here fixed his own and his successor's residence.

8. We may likewise mention Hrofceaster, now called Rochester, at the mouth of the Medawæge or Medway; Raculf Reculver, and Reptacester Richborough, at the mouths of the Stour, and which were known to the Romans by the names of Regulbium and Rutupiæ; Dofre Dover; Andredesceaster Newenden, in Andredesleag or the Wealds of Kent, both of which carry with them evident traces of the Roman Anderida. The last mentioned place was remarkable from the remnant of the Britons having been there massacred, without distinction of age or sex, under the direction of Ælla and Cissa.

9. SUTH-SEAXNA RICE, or the kingdom of the South-Saxons, was bounded on the E. by Cantwara Rice, on the N. by EastSeaxna Rice, on the W. by West-Seaxna Rice, and on the S. by the sea it contained the two counties of Surrey and Sussex, which the Saxons knew by the names of Suthrige and SuthSeaxe. Its chief city was Cisseceaster Chichester, not far from the coast of the English Channel, and so called after Cissa, the second king of the South-Saxons.

10. We may likewise mention Peuenesea Pevensey, and Hæstingas Hastings, on the sea-coast near the borders of Kent; at the former of these William the 1st effected an undisturbed landing, A.D. 1066, and at Hastings, only a few days afterwards, the famous battle was fought between him and Harold, in which the latter monarch lost his life, and the Normans obtained possession of the kingdom. Guildford, on the Bradan or Wey, in Surrey, was called Gyldeford; and below it, close upon the borders of Sussex, was Aclea Ockley, where Ethelwolf made a great slaughter of the Danes. Upon the Southern banks of the Temese or Thames, were Cingestun Kingston, which derived its name from the Saxon kings Ethelstan, Edwin, and Ethelred, having been crowned here, Lambhy the Lambeth, and Suthwere Southwark, the Southern part of our great Metropolis.

11. WEST-SEAXNA RICE (or Wessex, as it is sometimes called), touched to the E. on Suth-Seaxna Ricc, to the N. upon Myrena Rice and the Bristol Channel, and to the S. upon the English Channel; it was founded by Cerdic, but did not arrive at its full extent for many years afterwards. It contained the seven counties of Southampton, Berks, Wilts, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, the last of which was not added to it till a late period of its history.

12. In Hamtunscyre or Hampshire, the two chief cities were Wintanceaster (or Ceaster) Winchester, the metropolis of the West Saxons, and Hamtun (or Suth-Hamptun, as it was latterly called), Southampton; they were both situated on the Itchin, the former near its source, and the latter at its junction with the sea.

F