were reserved wholly for religious purposes, is a question of some importance. The British coins certainly exhibit figures and devices which might well bear a mythological interpretation; and a few little figures have been found in Ireland which are conjectured to represent Anu, the mother of the gods, or Beineid, the goddess of war; Eochaidh, the protector of horses and cattle, and other deities of the pagan Irish. To the images already noticed as being discovered in Ireland, the collection adds another example; it is of yellow bronze, two inches and three-eighths high,1and from its attitude was once seated upon some object. The only clothing is a short-sleeved garment, descending a little below the hips, and which may possibly be the dress termed cota by the Irish, and pais and phillibeg by the Britons and Gaels. It is but right to state that doubts have been expressed regarding the antiquity of this figure; doubts which probably arose from the fact that some person, through ignorance or wilfulness, has passed a file over the whole surface of the object, even filing the soles of the feet to produce shoe-heels. This image is of so unusual a character that we have selected it for representation in plate 20, fig. 3.

The introduction of Christianity into Ireland in the reign of Logiore, by St. Patrick, about the year 432, commenced a new era in the arts, as well as the religion of the country. The facile conversion, or rather passive reception of the gospel by the natives, forms a feature in Irish history almost unparalleled in the history of any other country. The favour shown to the new faith and its disciples, prompted many a neophyte to seek that peace and safety in Erin which was denied in other lands, and the welcome and hospitality exhibited to distressed and persecuted strangers were the means of luring to its shores men of learning, genius and piety, from distant regions. Through the agency of these foreign refugees a tinge of Byzantine taste was infused into the decorative arts of Ireland, and the bold, simple, and severe style which characterises the productions of the Bronze period, was soon lost in the elaborate ornamentation which followed in the wake of the

1 It may be well to mention that three varieties of bronze are found in Ireland; one, the ordinary bronze, another of a dark red colour, approaching to copper; and the third, of a yellow colour, much like brass.

Christian missionary. This revolution in taste was not, however, peculiar to Ireland, for it is observable throughout Europe, from the shores of the Baltic to those of the Seine.

We are fortunate in having a relic of the earliest ages of Christianity in the bronze cross (see woodcut annexed), which measures three inches and one-eighth high, and has engraved on the upper part of the perpendicular shaft two characters of the Babeloth, or most ancient Irish alphabet. The first letter is incomplete, but most probably intended for the 1, the lower one is the completely formed c, the two characters doubtlessly standing as the initials of Jesus Christus; for as the cross was as much a pagan as a Christian symbol, it became necessary, on the adoption of the new faith, to place this distinguishing mark upon the old emblem. This simple cross of bronze forms a strik

ing contrast to the richly wrought silver-gilt crucifix figured in the Journal, vi, 441, which may be regarded as of Irish workmanship of the thirteenth century.

In Scotland, but more especially in Ireland,' have been discovered numerous fibule which, from the great length of the acus, may not inappropriately be termed pinbrooches. From the remains with which they are generally associated, we are led to believe that they are of Scandinavian origin, and introduced into Scotland and Ireland by the Vikings or sea rovers in some of their piratical excursions. The collection furnishes an example of one of these pin brooches; it is of bronze, the acus being about four inches long, and the stout unadorned ring one inch in diameter. A specimen closely resem

1 Some interesting examples of Irish fibulæ are figured in the Journal, iii, 285, and v, 113, 118.

bling this one is engraved in the Journal (ii, 333), which was discovered near Pier-o-wall, Orkney.

The hostile incursions and partial conquest of the Danes and Norwegians at the close of the eighth and during the two following centuries, form a distinct era in the art-history of Ireland, for to them may be assigned the introduction of arms and implements of iron. The earliest swords, spears, etc., of this metal hitherto discovered in the country, so closely resemble those met with in Scandinavia, that we must attribute their manufacture to the men of Lochlin, as these fierce northern marauders were collectively called by the native bards and chroniclers. And to them also was Ireland indebted for her first stamped money. The political troubles that these invaders brought upon the country, and the domestic feuds which followed their subjugation, had naturally a baneful influence upon the arts; but they were still cultivated with considerable success, and there yet remains many a fibula, cross, reliquary, and book-cover, to attest the skill of the sculptor, goldsmith, and jeweller. We have here a fine polished crystal, of an oval form, set in silver, which would appear to have been employed in the adornment of the cover of a book, though it is stated to be from a shrine once belonging to St. Patrick. The craft of the lapidary and worker in precious metals was frequently exercised in ornamenting the covers of the Gospels, Psalms, and other sacred writings, which had belonged to the early saints of Ireland; and these gorgeously bound volumes were preserved in shrines, or cases of wood, covered with metal plates richly wrought with elaborate designs, and set with polished crystals and gems: as examples of such cases, we may mention the Caah or Cathach, containing the Psalter of St. Columba; the Domnach Airgid, in which the Gospel used by St. Patrick is deposited; the Leabhar Dhimma, the Meeshac Cearnachan, etc.

From the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion in the reign of Henry II, the peculiar characteristics of Irish art seem to have gradually given way, so that after this period it is no easy matter to decide whether many of the articles discovered in the island be of native or foreign manufacture. We have endeavoured up to this point to make

1 As examples of foreign articles found in Ireland, we may refer to the Sara

our specimens illustrative of distinct and well marked epochs; but those of a later period are so few in number, that we may speak of them more according to their original uses than to their relative ages.

Among the more interesting of the specimens which remain to be described, are the two bosses from the sides of bridle-bits delineated in plate 20; both these bosses are of bronze. The centre of fig. 4 is wrought with a large fleur-de-lis, and from the way in which it is treated, as also from the marginal decorations, it would appear to belong to the fifteenth century. The other boss (fig. 5) which was discovered in county Dublin, is of a freer and less massy design than the first specimen; it is the work of the sixteenth century, and bears a considerable resemblance to the bosses upon a bit of the time of Elizabeth engraved in Skelton's Meyrick, plate cxxx, fig. 2.3

Here are also two frames of bronze buckles of neat design, which seem referrible to the sixteenth century.

We have now to notice a sword-grip of iron, inlaid with gold: a rich and beautiful example of the art called agemina by the Italians. The design consists of four compartments, formed by waved lines, each space being filled with birds, cornucopiæ, flowers, etc. This most elegant specimen is of the time of Elizabeth, and was found on the site of the famous battle of the Boyne.

The next specimens in point of date are two brass shellguards of swords, bearing mythological subjects in relief; they are both the work of the seventeenth century, and good examples of their kind.

A pair of compasses, with curiously bowed stems, three inches and three-quarters long, and an escutcheon from the lock of a coffer, the keyhole being surmounted by a royal crown, and having the lion and unicorn for supporters; both specimens are of brass, and both productions of the seventeenth century, close our catalogue of this most curious and interesting collection.

Although the specimens we have been considering are but few in number, they are yet of value as types marking

cenic stirrup given in the Journal, i, 46; and the Chinese seals, in i, 43, and ix, 93.

We may here mention, that in the Journal (viii, 55) is engraved a very fine spur of the fifteenth century, found at Wexford.

the development and progress of civilization in Ireland. First we see the rude implements of stone, resembling in many respects the productions of modern savages; then the arms, etc., of bronze, equalling in construction and finish the handiwork of the Egyptian, Greek, or Roman artificer; then follow the relics of the Christian period, introducing us to new modes of thought, and to a new style of art. Each specimen is a link in the chain of Ireland's history: the stone implements attest her primeval barbarism,-the brazen relics proclaim the skill of her ancient craftsmen. And though the glory of Tara has passed away, though the voice of the Ollam-re-dan is no longer heard within its once stately halls, and its ruined walls no longer reecho the melodious strains of the harps of the Orfidigh, and chief and Brehon no longer gather round the royal seat, these enduring relics of the past bear witness that Ireland was not, as some would have us believe, ever barbarous until the holy Patrick bore the Gospel to her shores, or Dermod, king of Leinster, invoked the aid of Strongbow and his mail-clad followers. These relics are the foot-prints of her early colonizers, the medals of her ancient civilization, her ancient greatness.