In early times, in Irish monastic libraries, books were kept in such satchels, which were suspended by straps from hooks in the wall. Thus it is related in an old legend that “on the night of Longaradh’s death all the book satchels in Ireland fell down.” [Illustration: SATCHEL OF THE BOOK OF ARMAGH.] Few of these ancient satchels have come down to us. When Dr. Reeves wrote, he knew of only one other, namely, that now in Dublin, in the Franciscan Monastery, whither it has come from the Monastery of St. Isidore in Rome. A third, however, much ruder, is in Corpus Christi College, Oxford, enclosing an Irish Missal (illustrated in Gilbert’s _Irish Historical MSS._); a fourth is described and illustrated by Miss Stokes in _Archæologia_, vol. xliii., No. xiv.; a fifth is at Milan, containing a Syro-hexaplar codex, and a full-size illustration of it is given in Dr. Ceriani’s reproduction of that codex. A similar satchel, containing an Ethiopic book, is in St. John’s College, Oxford. In Abyssinia, indeed, they are frequent; all the books in the Monastery of Suriani are so enclosed.[127] A figure of monks with their satchels, as represented on an ancient sculptured stone, is given in the _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, New Series, vol. iii., 1881. [Illustration: SHRINE OF BOOK OF DIMMA.] The _Annals_ record that in the year 937 a cover was made for the _Canon of Patrick_ by Donnchadh, son of Flann. This was doubtless a metal case. The satchel was clearly not made for it. We have seen that the ancient cases of the Books of Kells and Durrow were lost long since. Two such shrines (“cumdachs”) are in our Library--one enclosing the _Book of Dimma_, the other the _Book of Mulling_ or _Moling_. These books are named from their scribes, who, according to the _Annals_, lived in the seventh century. Both these are copies of the Gospels; both, however, contain also a _Missa Infirmorum_ of later date.[128] The case of the _Book of Dimma_ is of silver, beautifully wrought with Celtic tracery. It bears an inscription which runs as follows:--“Tatheus O’Kearbuill beideev meipsum deauravit, dominus domnaldus O Cuanain converbius ultimo meipsum restauravit, Tomas Ceard dachorig in mindsa.” Thady O’Carroll Boy was Prince of Ely in the middle of the twelfth century; Donald O’Cuanain was Bishop of Killaloe from 1230 to 1260. The ends of the case are obviously more ancient, apparently much more ancient, than the sides. It will be observed that the inscription says nothing about the original maker of the case. This book, long kept in the monastery at Roscrea, disappeared at the dissolution of the monasteries, and is said to have been found again in 1789 by boys hunting rabbits in Devil’s Bit Mountains in Tipperary. The boys tore off part of the silver plate, and picked out some of the lapis lazuli.[129] The MS. was purchased from Sir W. Betham by the College for £200.