[260] _Period_.--Accounts will be given later of the use of _aqua vitæ_, or whisky, after the English invasion. The English appear to have appreciated this drink, for we find, in 1585, that the Mayor of Waterford sent Lord Burleigh a "rundell of _aqua vitæ_;" and in another letter, in the State Paper Office, dated October 14, 1622, the Lord Justice Coke sends a "runlett of milde Irish _uskebach_," from his daughter Peggie (heaven save the mark!) to the "good Lady Coventry," because the said Peggie "was so much bound to her ladyship for her great goodness." However, the said Lord Justice strongly recommends the _uskebach_ to his lordship, assuring him that "if it please his lordship next his heart in the morning to drinke a little of this Irish _uskebach_, it will help to digest all raw humours, expell wynde, and keep his inward parte warm all the day after." A poor half-starved Irishman in the present century, could scarcely have brought forward more extenuating circumstances for his use of the favourite beverage; and he might have added that _he_ had nothing else to "keep him warm." [261] _Bricks_.--In an ancient life of St. Kevin of Glendalough, there is mention made of certain brick-cheeses, which the saint converted into real bricks, in punishment to a woman for telling a lie. [262] _King_.--Book of Rights, p. 15. [263] _Informs us_.--_Domestic Manners_, p. 43. [264] _Macaulay_.--_Lays of Ancient Rome_.--Horatius. [265] _Cambrensis_.--"Hinc accidit, ut Episcopi et Abbates, et Sancti in Hiberniâ viri cytharas circumferre et in eis modulando pié delectari consueverunt."--_Cam. Des._ p. 739. [266] _Observes_.--_Asiatic Researches_, vol. ix. p. 76. [267] _Asia_.--See Carl Eugen's valuable work on the _Music of Ancient Nations passim_. [268] _Country_.--_Erste Wanderung der ältesten Tonkunst_, von G.W. Fruh, Essen, 1831. In Conran's _National Music of Ireland_, he attributes this to the influence of ecclesiastical music. But an article by Mr. Darmey, in the _Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society_, takes a much more probable view. The Ambrosian chant, introduced about A.D. 600, could not have influenced national music which existed for centuries before that period. [269] _Shoes_.--The use of inauguration shoes appears to have been very ancient in Ireland. It will be remembered how early and how frequently the shoe is mentioned in Scripture in connexion with legal arrangements. It was obviously an important object in Eastern business transactions. [270] _Book of Rights_.--The great antiquity and perfect authenticity of this most valuable work, should be remembered. It is admitted that the original Book of Rights was compiled by St. Benignus, the disciple of St. Patrick. Dr. O'Donovan thinks there is every reason to believe that this work was in existence in the time of Cormac, the bishop-king of Cashel, A.D. 900. It is probable that the present Book of Rights was compiled about this period, from the more ancient volume of the same name.