A copy of his work is preserved in the Book of Ballymote, which was compiled in the year 1391.
There is certainly evidence enough to prove the fact of the _melee_, and that this was not a "legend invented from the tenth to the twelfth centuries." It is almost amusing to hear the criticisms of persons utterly ignorant of our literature, however well-educated in other respects.

If the treasures of ancient history which exist in Irish MSS.
existed in Sanscrit, or even in Greek or Latin, we should find scholars devoting their lives and best intellectual energies to understand and proclaim their value and importance, and warmly defending them against all impugners of their authenticity.
[62] _Island_ .-- The axe figured above is a remarkable weapon.

The copy is taken, by permission, from the collection of the Royal Irish Academy.
Sir W.Wilde describes the original thus in the Catalogue: "It is 3-1/8 inches in its longest diameter, and at its thickest part measures about half-an-inch.

It has been chipped all over with great care, and has a sharp edge all round.

This peculiar style of tool or weapon reached perfection in this specimen, which, whether used as a knife, arrow, spike, or axe, was an implement of singular beauty of design, and exhibits great skill in the manufacture." [63] _Fotharta_ .-- Now the barony of Forth, in Wexford.
[64] _Bede .-- Ecclesiastical History_, Bohn's edition, p.