of
life among our ancestors. For the present we must devote our attention
to the historical documents. These, again, may be divided into two
classes--the lost books and those which still remain. Of the former
class the principal are the CUILMENN, _i.e._, the great book written on
skins; the SALTAIR OF TARA; the BOOK OF THE UACHONGBHAIL (pron. "ooa
cong-wall"); the CIN DROMA SNECHTA; and the SALTAIR OF CASHEL. Besides
these, a host of works are lost, of lesser importance as far as we can
now judge, which, if preserved, might have thrown a flood of light not
only upon our annals, but also on the social, historical, and
ethnographic condition of other countries. The principal works which
have been preserved are: the ANNALS OF TIGHERNACH (pron. "Teernagh");
the ANNALS OF ULSTER; the ANNALS OF INIS MAC NERINN; the ANNALS OF
INNISFALLEN; the ANNALS OF BOYLE; the CHRONICUM SCOTORUM, so ably edited
by Mr. Hennessy; the world-famous ANNALS OF THE FOUR MASTERS; the BOOK
OF LEINSTER; the BOOK OF LAWS (the Brehon Laws), now edited by Dr. Todd,
and many books of genealogies and pedigrees.

For the present it must suffice to say, that these documents have been
examined by the ordinary rules of literary criticism, perhaps with more
than ordinary care, and that the result has been to place their
authenticity and their antiquity beyond cavil.

Let us see, then, what statements we can find which may throw light on
our early history, first in the fragments that remain of the lost books,
and then in those which are still preserved.

The CUILMENN is the first of the lost books which we mentioned. It is
thus referred to in the Book of Leinster:[2] "The _files_ [bards] of
Erinn were now called together by _Senchan Torpeist_ [about A.D. 580],
to know if they remembered the _Tain bo Chuailgne_ in full; and they
said that they knew of it but fragments only. Senchan then spoke to his
pupils to know which of them would go into the countries of _Letha_ to
learn the _Tain_ which the _Sai_ had taken 'eastwards' after the
_Cuilmenn_. Emine, the grandson of Ninine, and Muirgen, Senchan's own
son, set out to go to the East."

Here we have simply an indication of the existence of this ancient work,
and of the fact that in the earliest, if not in pre-Christian times,
Irish manuscripts travelled to the Continent with Irish scholars--Letha
being the name by which Italy, and especially what are now called the
Papal States, was then designated by Irish wr