TOWARDS the close of the third century the immense structure of the Roman power, long shaken to its centre, had already separated into two divisions, the eastern empire being then ruled by Valerius, the western, including Italy, Germany, Iberia, Gaul, and Britain, by Honorius. Constantine had transferred the seat of government from Rome to Byzantium, and in the old capital of victory, no longer the fortress of barbaric power, Christianity, throned amid the ruins of paganism, began to shed its mild glories over all the surrounding nations, oriental and occidental, who had hitherto ranged within the circuit of Roman dominion. As yet, however, its beneficent influence was chiefly manifested in the capital of the decaying empirewhich, indeed, even in its epoch of supreme potency, was but one of cities— and though here and there a ray fell and fixedly illumined some solitary spot in the wild, primæval world of Druidism, several of the outlying nations, west and north, having, from the above causes, been enabled to throw aside the salutary bonds of the Roman system, martial, judicial, and civil, in which they had hitherto been inducted towards the frontiers of cizilisation, were already advancing, like a tumultuous ocean, to overwhelm, with their innumerable hordes, the last European stronghold of the once dominant gens togati. From her position, tota divisa orbe, it was but natural that the revulsion referred to at this epoch should be chiefly exhibited in Britian, whose eastern and northern coasts had long been sub

ject to the inroads of the wild sea rovers of Scandinavia—a region imperfectly defined by ancient geographers, but whose maritime portion included the coast population of the Baltic-of Norway, Sweeden, Denmark, and its isles, which latter contained the fiercest of those Cymbric tribes, whom, in the latter years of the Republic, Marius conquered, and who, long before, had established settlements in East Anglia, Wales, Anglesea, &c., and there is reason to believe throughout the north of Scotland, whose Gaelic dialect, even at the current period, displays, after the great changes which both the Danish and Celtic languages have undergone during the lapse of centuries, an intermixtural trace of the former tongne, which constitutes its distinctive difference. Several years before the British tribes south of the Tweed had invited the aid of the Romans, as a protection against the incursions of the still more barbarous inhabitants of the northern district of the island—under Trajan and Severus, two great walls, one of turf, the second of stone, had been erected from sea to sea, to arrest their incursions, and a chain of Roman forts, extending round the British coasts, was continued across the north of the country; but, at the close of the third century, despite the military talents and prowess of Stillico, the famous general of Honorious, two causes combined to terminate the Roman power in Britain: first, the attacks of hordes of Picts* and Scotsthe name by which the Scandinavian pirates were then known, which led to the abandonment of the Roman chain of stations along the west coast; and, secondly, the wide-spread spirit of rebellion which the Britons manifested toward their southern invaders. It was about this period, (A.D.396,) that Niall, the third last pagan king of Ireland-known in history as Niall of the Nine Hostages, from his retaining nine princes, some Irish, some Scotch, as the security of the treaty he had formed with the peoples, native and North Anglian, whom he had subdued-being appealed to by the Britons, fitted out an immense expedition, which involved two objects-the one, the liberation of the Britons from the Roman yoke; the other, the settlement of the tribe of the Dalaradiat- a warlike race inhabiting one of the northern districts of his Irish dominions in Scotland, with, doubtless, the political object of making them serve as a garrison.

*The word Pict is rather an uncertain historic nomenclature; it was applied to all the piratical races of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark in the fourth and fifth centuries, and by the Romans to the Irish. Druidism, though varying in character, extended not only throughout Gaul, Spain, Germany, but over Denmark, Norway, Sweden, in all which countries the temple circles, cromlechs, &c., are familiar objects.

Though a similarity still exists between the language of Sweden and the dialect of Scotland, it was much stronger formerly, and this resemblance was the chief cause which induced Everinus, the first bishop of Upsala, to undertake a mission to Scotland, (in 1026,) with the object of Christianizing its people. Many words, now obsolete in Sweden, are still current in Scotland.-Cox's Travels in Russia, Sweden, and Denmark.

† Dal-Araidhe-descendants or tribes of Araidh-Fiacha Araidhe, who was King of Ulster in the third century. Bede alludes to the expedition of Niall into Britain, and his settlement of the Dalaradian tribe in the north of the island, whose descendants, he says, still in his time occupied that region.

THE MUSTER.

It is the dawn of a midsummer day, in the year 396, and as the sun rises, its splendour, streaming along an estuary in the north-eastern coast of Uladh,* illumines the tent-covered uplands of the northern shore, where several thousand men of the Dalaradia tribe, and a host of others, have collected to embark in the great expedition against the Romans in Britain, which king Niall has organized. Drawn close to the shore, and extending for upwards of a mile, lie the larger vessels of the fleet which is to convey them-long black vessels of oak and pine, high in the poop and stern, with many benches of oars, and tall masts, with square sails formed of hide; while the surface of the waters, even to the opposite shore of the lough, swarms with rude craft of smaller, though considerable size, sculls and laoidheongs, formed chiefly of wicker-work, covered with leather, in which, precarious as they appear, the coast populations of the northern lands have for many ages performed long voyages, and braved the dangers of the fiercest storms and wildest tumult of the waters. Hundreds of figures are busily occupied in storing the larger ships with provisions-some bearing sacks of corn, some, heaps of slaughtered cattle, casks of fresh water, jars of mead, skins of red ale; others in conveying the armory of the expedition from the encampment-sheafs of spears, piles of small oblong shields, armfuls of long iron swords, helmets and breastplates of brasst-and storing them in the holds and on the decks. The air rings, far and near, with the clamour of voices, the sunny water is lashed into foam from the cars of innumerable skiffs, careering hither and thither.

Fronting a harbour which indents the coast, where stand the few earthenbuilt cabins of a fishing village, a large wooden house has been erected for the chieftains and the king, who has arrived hither from Dundealgan‡ some weeks before, during which interval he has been marshalling the great Dalaradian tribe, whom he intends to lead against the Romans of North Britain, and, if victorious, establish them in that locality. From the hills and uplands along the shore the smoke of innumerable fires, great and small, rise in the fresh, blue, sunny air, the while the tribes are preparing their morning meal of sheep and ox flesh, before descending to their ships-a wild and fiercely joyous gathering of men, differing in aspect and garb. There, outnumbering the other peoples collected, are seen the Dalaradians, who are a tall, yellow-haired, and blue-eyed race, whose aspect testifies to the origin of the people, who, ages back, sailing from Celtic Jutland, colonized North Britain, and passed thence to the north of Eriun.

* Antrim.

+ The Irish Celts were early acquainted with the arts of working in metalarts which they are believed to have derived from the Tuatha de Danaans, a tribe whose original seat has given rise to much controversy. Some suppose them to have been Phonecians, but it is much more probable they were Iberian Celts, who had learned the arts of smelting and working metals from the Phonecians and who came to Ireland from the mining regions of the Pyrenees.

Dundalk

Over their woollen shirts and tunics glitter their brazen armour, on their heads their brazen helmets, both of which, highly polished, flash blindingly in the sunlight. Each is accoutred with a long, green, brass-pointed spear, long knives rest in the belt, at the left side, and at the right hangs the long, heavy, straight, two-handed brazen sword, for hewing and thrusting. Amidst the multitude of warriors and slaves by whom they are surrounded, the three great races by whom Erinn has been successively colonized, are easily distinguishable. Those fair-skined and brown-haired men, whose aspect and demeanour, glorious and gay, indicates generosity, daring, intrepidity, and gallantry,-who are distinguished by the richness of their apparel and profusion of ornaments-golden neck torques, rings, and breast chains are the descendants of the Milesians. Those large fair-haired figures, many of whom wear the dress of bards and Druids, respectively, known by their mantles of green and white, are the representatives of the Tuatha De Danaans; while the gathering of black-haired, rude and debased looking slaves, who, in their sheep-skin dresses, are seen, some attending on the warriors, some chattering noisily in groups, are the Fir Domhnanns,* who though more numerous, have for centuries existed, partly in a state of serfage, under the superior tribes north and south, and partly lived under their own kings and chieftains in Connacht, whither the masses of their people have been forced to retire before the waves of later colonizations. There, too, are seen many from the tribes of the Aith-each and Fenne-men, rent payers

*Geography is probably a better guide to the history of the early colonizations of the British isles than tradition. Cæsar's account of the different peoples of Britain verifies this view.

The earliest colonizers of Ireland were the Fir Dommain, or Firbolgs-a wave of the first Celtic migration, which, occupying the western districts of the continent of Europe, passed thence to Britain, and from Britain to Ireland, during the epoch now classified by antiquaries as the stone period-that before the primitive Celts had acquired the knowledge of metals. According to the MS. tract quoted by O'Curry-and which he states to be the oldest historic MS. in existence the Firbolgs-whose numbers were by no means considerable, as they were localized in the eastern provinces of the island, and unacquainted with the western-ruled in Erinn for thirty-six years, when they became aware that another people were settled in Erinn-namely, the Tuatha de Danaans. The document describes the king of the Firbolgs sending a champion to the Danaans in Connaught, his meeting with the champion sent by the latter, their understanding the language in which they addressed each other, the rude weapons possessed by the Firbolgs, the high finish of those borne by the Danaans, &c., and the battle which eventually took place in the neighbourhood of Cong, in Mayo, in which the Firbolgs were worsted. It is evident from this that the Danaans were a Celtic Iberian tribe, who crossed from Spain to the south-west of Erinnthat their number was likewise inconsiderable, and confined to the district where they landed and occupied, and that they imported a superior civilization to that possessed by the Firbolgs. The MS. referred to alludes to the pillars and graves, cromlechs, which are still to be seen in the neighbourhood of the battle field. Indeed, all those monuments, termed Druidical, belong to the stone epoch-Stonehenge, Carnak, and those of lesser size, scattered through the west of ancient Scandinavia, Sweeden, Denmark, and the north of France. There is no direct evidence, however, to show that those immense, colossal structures, called Druidical temples, were originated by the Druids for purposes of worship. They may, with equal plausibility, be supposed to have been burial places of the chiefs of the

and farmers, who hold the middle rank between the upper classes, princes, druids, chieftains, scals (champions), bards, judges, and the slaves, who are very numerous in Ireland at this period, and of different races, some belonging to the conquered tribes of the island, while others have been taken captives in the raids, voyages, expeditions, and wars of the great chieftains.

The morning feast over, the Dalaradian tribe, marshalled at the call of a trumpet, marched toward an elevated mound, where king Niall stood, surrounded by his officers, captains, bards, Druids, and historians, who were to accompany him on the expedition. Ranged around the green throne, and while the sun glittered on their fierce faces, their stalworth frames, and shining armour, and the air rang with the tumult of their voices, Niall, conspicuous for his lofty figure and splendid armour, motioning silence, spoke as follows:

"Champions -the day has arrived when our preparations for attacking the Romans in Britain are complete a day anxiously expected by my brave and noble Dalaradians, who disdain to rust in sloth, preferring a life of war and glorious deeds to the dull life of peace, however prosperous. In our previous expeditions, whether against the most courageous peoples of this island or Britain, our swords have reaped down the enemy like grass, and we have reurned crowned with victory and laden with plunder. Our greatest glory however is yet to be achieved that of expelling the invader, whose rule has so long debased, whose tributes have so long impoverished the neighbouring peoples, who speak our language and worship our gods. Nor is the time unpropitious. Already these Romans, terrified by our expeditions, and those of the other sea kings of the eastern lands, have abandoned their forts and garrisons along the opposite coasts, and retreated to their cities, where they live plunged in luxury amid the riches wrung from the conquered. There you must attack them, there you will exchange blood for gold. Our prophets declare their doom; the fire-eyed god of our warrior people points his sword to their cities and army, and destines them to destruction. This is the most powerful expedition any king of Erinn has ever marshalled— let, then, your courage which has ever proved resistless, swell to the proportions of an enterprise so mighty. Lo! the wind fills our sails,—in the distance the trumpet of victory invites us; march, then, and embark.”

A tempest of cheers rising from the shining ranks of the Dalaradians and other warlike tribes, the yellow-mantled people, and dark-tuniced slaves,

primitive Celtic race. That mankind, in certain states of barbarism, have displayed their most gigantic energies for such purposes, is testified by the pyramids of Hindostan and Egypt. Cæsar, speaking of the Druids, merely says, that they had their habitations in thick woods. In the description given by Lucan of the sacred Druidical grove at Marseilles, which was cut down by Cæsar's orders, there is no mention of a temple similar to Carnak, &c. The institution, however, evidently sprung up at a period posterior to the first savage colonization of Europe by the Celts, and it may be surmised that afterwards the Druids, finding such structures, utilized them as places of worship, of assembly, judgment, &c. The best idea that can be formed of the Dalaradians of Erinn and the Scotch races, in the first century, is to be gathered from the "Agricola" of Tacitus.