round the neck, and hung at the breast: they may be seen on the Etrufcan Tages, and many ftatues of their Augurs, which Gori and Dempfter have very good naturedly turned into Gods and Goddeffes. On the external plate is a small loop, into which was fixed a flender golden wire, on which perched the Augur's favourite bird: The Hibernian Druids fixed on the Wren, an English word derived from drean, i. e. Draoi-èn, the Druids bird; it was also named Draolèn, i. e. Draoi-ol-èn, the fpeaking bird of the Druid. Toithèn is another name, fignifying the bird of Toth or Thoth. The Druids represented this as the king of all birds, hence he was called by the vulgar Breas-en, king bird; Righbeag, little king; Ri-eitile, flying king; and lastly, Briocht-èn, the bird of witchcraft. The fuperftitious respect shewn to this little bird, gave offence to our first christian miffionaries, and by their commands, he is still hunted and killed by the peasants on Christmas day, and on the following (St. Stephen's day) he is carried about, hung by the leg, in the center of two hoops, crofling each other at right angles, and a procellion made in every village, of men, women and children, finging an Irish catch, importing him to be the king of all birds ;hence the name of this bird in all the European languages, Greek póxia, bacines. Trochilus, Bafileus; Rex avium, Senator; Latin, Regulus; French, Roytelet, Berichot; but why this nation call him boeuf de Dieu, I cannot conjecture.Welsh, Bren, king; Teutonic, Koning vogel, king bird; Dutch, Konije, little king.

FIG. 8.

FIG. 8.-BOIL-REAN N.

Solid rings of brafs: they are found fingle and double they paffed as money in the Brittannic Ilands. Cæfar makes mention of iron rings and pieces of brafs, ufed by the Britons as money. In Irish, they are called Boillreann, to diftinguish them from other rings. Boill, round, circular, a ring; and reann, bargain, fale, covenant: from boill, probably the Latin obolus; which Plutarch, from affinity to a Greek word, thinks to have fignified rods, and that the first money was in that shape. Some of these may poffibly have had the value engraved on them, 8 biliona Chaldee, figura vel fculptura annuli. The Greeks had alfo ring-money. Annuli iis pe

נרתיק

cuniæ facculi & cibi obfignati. There is a paffage in Ruth, chap. iv. ver. 7. gives room to think the ring was ufed by the Jews as a covenant: the words in the English are, " Now this was the manner in former times in Ifrael concerning redeeming, and concerning changing, for to confirm all things: a man plucked off his narthik, and gave it to his neighbour, and this was a teftimony in Ifrael: and therefore the kinfman faid unto Boaz, buy it for thee, fo he drew off his narthik :" the vulgate have tranflated it Shoe; Drufius fhews the word is Chaldee, not Hebrew, and implies a cafe; fo he tranflates it a Glove, and Arias leaves you in doubt what he means by vagina.

* Gronovius Thef. Græc. Antiq. Vol. 6. page 169.

In

נרתיק

In Irish, Nuirt is an amulet worn on the finger or arm, a ring. Ollamh-nuirt, an amulet or bracelet given by the Ollamh, to be worn as a charm. Sphæra folis eft Narthik, fays Buxtorf, in his Chaldee Lexicon. Quando egreditur fol è Narthik fua.t it there fignifies the horizon. That the Jews used rings and amulets for this purpose is plain from Hottinger. Sunt nempe Amuleta, Talifmæ & alia id genus, quibus Oriens ita fcatet,-plerique enim tales nummi in fcriphone habent. Nummus facer eft & Ecclefiafticus, vel politicus & civilis, vel kabbalifticus, vel denique magicus & fuperftitiofus.—alii ferrum adhibebant, ftannum, orichalcum, conchylia, lapides, offa demortuorum. In like manner, rings, amulets, bracelets, and even household ftuff, was ordained to pass for money in small occurrences, by the Brehon-laws of the antient Irish. ‡

FIG. 9. 10.

Are drawings of a medal of brass lately found in a bog at Allenftown in the county of Meath: the drawings are the size of the original: there is a fquare hole pierced through in the middle, seemingly to fit it on fome other apparatus. On the face Fig.

10,

is an infcription in old Syriac characters; the bottom line feems to be compofed of Olaph (capital) & Olaph (med.) Cquoph, Lomad, Tau. On the reverse fig. 9. appear to be Aftronomical characters. I take it to be a Talisman, and can give no further explanation.

+ Joma, fol. 54. Collectanea, Vol. I

ASHMOLEAN

OXFORD

MUSEUM

Plate

Plate XIV. was engraved and worked off, when another medal or talifnien, was put into my hands by the Rev. Mr. Archdall. It is of brafs, and in fize, exactly the fame as that represented at fig. 9. and 10. in the 14th Plate. This was alfo found in our bogs. The infcription on one fide, is the fame as that at fig. 9, which I believe to be aftronomical characters. The infcription on the other face, is in two lines as in fig 10, aud that over the fquare hole is the fame, which I read P U R, i. e. Sors: but the inscription under the fquare hole, is totally different, from that under the fquare hole of fig. 10. The letters may be found in the various Syriac alphabets of Claude Duret, and Dr. Barnards tables, but they do not all exist in any one alphabet. The infcription on this face is exactly delineated in the following figure; an explanation is earnestly entreated from the learned.

FIG. XI.

A fingle medal with an oriental infcription, being found in any part of Ireland, would not have established its currency: one piece of that kind might have been dropped from the pocket of a curious perfon; but, when a fecond is produced, fimi

lar