NOTES TO O'CONNOR'S CHILD.

Verse 1. 1. 1.

Innisfail, the ancient name of Ireland.

Verse 2. 1. 9.

Kerne, the plural of Kern, an Irish foot soldier.

In this sense the word is used by Shakspeare.

Gainsford in his Glory's of England, says, "They

(the Irish) are desperate in revenge, and their kerne

think no man dead until his head be off."

Verse 3. 1. 12.

Shieling, a rude cabin or hut.

Verse 4. 1. 3.

In Erin's yellow vesture clad.

Yellow, dyed from saffron, was the favourite colour of the ancient Irish. When the Irish chieftains came to make terms with queen Elizabeth's lord lieutenant, we are told by sir John Davis, that they came to court in saffron-coloured uniforms.

Verse 4. 1. 16.

Morat, a drink made of the juice of mulberry

mixed with honey.

Verse 6. 1. 13 and 14.

Their tribe, they said, their high degree,

Was sung in Tara's psaltery.

The pride of the Irish in ancestry was so great,

that one of the O'Neals being told that Barrett of

Castlemone had been there only 400 years, he re

plied, that he hated the clown as if he had come there but yesterday.

Tara was the place of assemblage and feasting of the petty princes of Ireland. Very splendid and fabulous descriptions are given by the Irish historians of the pomp and luxury of those meetings. The psaltery of Tara was the grand national register of Ireland. The grand epoch of political eminence in the early history of the Irish is the reign of their

great and favourite monarch Ollam Fodlah, who reigned, according to Keating, about 950 years before the Christian era. Under him was instituted the great Fes at Tara, which it is pretended was a triennial convention of the states, or a parliament; the members of which were the Druids, and other learned men, who represented the people in that assembly. Very minute accounts are given by Irish annalists of the magnificence and order of these entertainments; from which, if credible, we might collect the earliest traces of heraldry that occur in history. To preserve order and regularity in the great number and variety of the members who met on such occasions, the Irish historians inform us that when the banquet was ready to be served up, the

shield-bearers of the princes, and other members of the convention, delivered in their shields and targets, which were readily distinguished by the coats of arms emblazoned upon them. These were arranged by the grand marshal and principal herald, and hung upon the walls on the right side of the table; and upon entering the apartments, each member took his seat under his respective shield or target, without the slightest disturbance. The concluding days of the meeting, it is allowed by the Irish antiquarians, were spent in very free excess of conviviality; but the first six, they say, were devoted to the examination and settlement of the annals of the kingdom. These were publicly rehearsed. When they had passed the approbation of the assembly, they were

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