FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   >>  
c; the Stone Cairn [_Leacht_] of Cellach, son of Maelcobha; the Stone Cairn [_Leacht_] of the steed of Cinaedh, son of Irgalach; the Prison [_Carcar_] of Liath-Macha; the 'Glen' of the Mata; the Pillar Stone of Buidi, the son of Muiredh, where his head is interred; the Stone of Benn; the Grave of Boinn, the wife of Nechtan; the 'Bed' of the daughter of Forann; the _Barc_ of Crimthann Nianar, in which he was interred; the Grave of Fedelmidh, the Lawgiver; the _Cumot_ of Cairbre Lifeachair; the _Fulacht_ of Fiachna Sraiphtine." These, of course, are only some of the most famous of the sepulchral monuments which existed in the Cemetery of the Brugh eight or nine centuries ago. Since that time, most of them have disappeared, their stones having been presumably built into castles, mansions, cottages and walls, while the bones of the queens and heroes have fertilised the soil of the neighbouring farms. But there still remain a few "standing-stones" and "moats" in the vicinity of the Brugh, all of which may be included in the above list. I have cited that list for the reason that modern antiquaries, or many of them, have assumed that _Sid in Broga_ and _Relec in Broga_ are synonymous terms, and that when a king or hero is recorded to have been buried "at Brugh," that means that he was buried _in_ the Brugh itself. In other words, that a place which was known as Fert-Patrick in or about the twelfth century, as also the "cashel" and the many hillocks, graves, and cairns mentioned in the list--not to speak of innumerable others--were all situated in the chamber which is shown in Plate XIX. It does not require a moment's reflection to convince one that this is an erroneous assumption. Nor is it warranted by the "History of the Cemeteries" itself, which always speaks of the burials having been "_at_ Brugh."[86] One other statement, however, must be referred to. In another verse of Dorban's poem, mentioned above, it is said that "the host of Meath" are buried "_ar lar in Broga tuathaig_." This is rendered by Petrie, "in the middle of the lordly Brugh." The translation is no doubt good; and it is open to any one to deduce therefrom that the chamber shown in the plan contained at one time the skeletons of the host of Meath. In that case, the "host" must have been very limited in number; and anyone who has crawled along the sixty-foot passage into the Brugh, and who adopts this view, must w
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   >>  



Top keywords:
buried
 
Leacht
 
chamber
 
stones
 

mentioned

 

interred

 

reflection

 

erroneous

 

assumption

 

convince


situated

 

cashel

 

hillocks

 

graves

 

century

 

twelfth

 

Patrick

 
cairns
 
require
 

innumerable


moment

 

therefrom

 
contained
 

skeletons

 

deduce

 

limited

 
passage
 

adopts

 

number

 
crawled

translation

 
statement
 

referred

 

burials

 
History
 

Cemeteries

 

speaks

 

Dorban

 

rendered

 

Petrie


middle

 
lordly
 
tuathaig
 

warranted

 

modern

 

Lawgiver

 

Cairbre

 

Lifeachair

 

Fedelmidh

 
Nianar