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ilhe Antiquities
“the Horfe is thin, cut in Pieces and boiled; :5! Bath is prepafcd Of the
“ Broth for the new Monarch, in which he feats himfelf, and he and us
“ Sub'e&s in a Circle round him eat up the Meat. Th1S‘pd0nea: he dTmlf3.
“ of the fame Broth wherein he was bathed, Wltlwut U5“gh3“YbV‘gr“1-‘31r
“ Hand, but laps it up with his-lV.I0utl1.‘ ‘ The Ceremofly E,“ B“ Cgouf‘. ll,“
“ nilhed his Kingdom and Dominion is confirmed to -him. I ut Ch -"lulu:
of this ‘filthy Fable will ‘belt. appear by .glVlhg a. candid Re eition 0 I:
Ceremonies ufed at the Initiation of the Kings or Tzrconuel, whic .iy.crti‘pe'1'r9rlmC E
in this Manner. 5‘ When any Perfon was to be invelled with tie d I1)tC 11).
(E O,D,,,W[, L C. to be C,-gated King of the Territory, the‘Nobility an (pop! e
“ aifembicd themfelves on the Summit of a certain Hill, when (1)1160 til;
:6 Principal of the Nobility ardfe, and. performing the ufual Comp Cl11C[I;[S.()'
“ Salutation, prefented the new King with a Wand perfectly WllltC. and V rant,‘
“ and upon the delivery of it ufed this Form of Words.‘ ”.Rt’t‘t.’t’l’Ic, O lung,
“ the aujhitiotts Badge of your Authority, and remetnher to zmztezte 171 your Con-
“ dull the flroitnefs and whttettefs of this lVtmd, that nezther Mtzlzce to ,yottr.ILne-,
“ mies, nor Afeffion to your Friends, may [tend your Mznd from iwalltmg in the
“ exalt Paths of :7‘ujliee. . Enter therefore upon your. rtghtful Goverttnzetzt xwzth
“ rzi.[Dit7'0ll5 Omens, and fafebi take upon you the Etyigns and Ornaments of thts
“ Sate.” To this may be added the large Stone placed on the Iifcent to the
Church of Cztfhel, whereon (according to Tradition) every new King ‘Mutt:
jlcr was antiently, according to Cuftom, folemnly proclaimed] lmuft not omit
to mention here that uncouth Ceremony antiently made ufe of in the Election
of O-Neil, by rafting zi Shoe over the Head of the Perfotz elemd; But enough and too
much of thefe barbarous and rude Cultoms; [all I‘ would infer from’ them
is, that if thefe petty Kings of [mail Provinces were initiated into‘ their
refpective Governments by the Ceremonies before-mentioned, then the fu-5
preme Monarch of all Ireland muft have been inaugurated by Tome (and pro-‘
bably) more auguft Solemnities -, or elfe we mul‘: againltmall RglgwoL,Logic‘l;
deny in the Genzts what We admit in the Species. It is faid‘ by Heller Bo-'
etius (u) “ that the Kings of Scotland from the Time of Fergus, their firth '
“King, to the Reign of Aehoizts, who died in 819, wore a plain Crown of
‘f Gold, Militaris Valli fornzd, in the Form of a military Palifade.”
Improbable Conie6ture that in this Praftice they imitated their Anceitors, the
Ifijh Kings, Fergus being of that Race : This Conjecture receives forne Strengtli‘
from the Golden Crown (at), which in the Year i692 was dug out of a Bog
on the Top of a Hill ca1ledBtzrti:mely, or the Dwt'l’s-hit, in the County of
Tfhoerary, which was luppofed to have been a Crown belonging to fame pro;
Vlncial King: It weighed about five Ounces, the Border and the Head were‘
raifcd in Chafework in the Form reprefented in Plate 1. N“. 2. and feems to’
car a refemblance to the clofe Crown of the Eaftern Empire, which was com-'
Poled of the Helmet and Diadem (y). It is not uiireafonable to fufpect that
this Crown is of great Antiquity, and that it belonged to fome Irifh King;
Rho reigned before the planting of Chriltianity in Ireland; becaufe it is de-'
Pitute of any Ornament of the Crofs, which was the ufual Enlign of Chriftiari
f““C‘3S, at lealt from the Time of Conjfmitine the Great. It fell into the Hands
‘:6 091? Mr. 7ofe;>h Comerford, who carried it to France, where it IS fuppofed td
threnain among his Defcendents.- The royal Ornament for the Head both of
W Pr0yincial.Kings and Qieens, and of the fupreme Monarch of Ireland,
35 antientl
perhaps it was fo called from theWord Adhin, which fignifics Plates as being com-.'
P0lCd of feveral Foldings or Ribs of that Metal. It was afteiwards applied
,i',i I‘; erC31g1<>‘17J6 Senfe to lignify the Reliques of the Saints; ‘and in procefs of
forthe we ord flhon and.Corozn,, a Cro.wn,.came to be promifcuoufly ufed om
ier. It is related in the Irzjh Hiftories, that eight Years before the Birth
of
yd Lib. 1. & 10",
VOL. m (5) Kat. Pref.
(3 Scld. tit. Hompm. nah. s. 17: rest
y called Anon, pronounced in one Syllable !Ifn,- and was of Gold; I
It is 116 3