First, as regards the chiefs, whether of tribes or septs, and their demesne lands, he writes:[285]-- '1. By the Irish custom of tanistry the chieftains of every country and the chief of every sept had no longer estate than for life in their chieferies, the inheritance whereof did rest in no man. And these chieferies, though they had some portions of land allotted unto them, did consist chiefly in cuttings and coscheries and other Irish exactions, whereby they did spoil and impoverish the people at their pleasure. And when their chieftains were dead their sons or next heirs did not succeed them, but their _tanists_, who were elective, and purchased their elections by show of hands.' «Division of holdings among tribesmen.» Next, as to tribesmen and their inferior tenancies:-- '2. And by the Irish custom of gavelkind the inferior tenancies were partible amongst all the males of the sept; and after partition made, if any one of the sept had died his portion was not divided among his sons, but the chief of the sept made a new partition of all the lands belonging to that sept, and gave every one his part according to his antiquity.' «The 'shuffling and changing' and frequent redistributions.» These two Irish customs (Sir John Davies continues) made all their possessions uncertain, being shuffled and changed and removed so often from one to another, by new elections and partitions, 'which uncertainty of estates hath been the true cause of desolation and barbarism in this land.' [p221] These were obviously the main features of an earlier stage of the tribal system than we have seen in Wales. It was the system which fitted easily into the artificial land divisions and clusters of homesteads. And this method of clustering homesteads, in its turn, not only facilitated, but even made possible those frequent redistributions which mark this early stage of the tribal system. The method of artificial clustering was apparently widely spread through Ireland, as we found it in the various divisions of Wales. «The system ancient» It also was ancient; for according to an early poem, supposed by Dr. Sullivan[286] to belong 'in substance though not in language to the sixth or seventh century,' Ireland was anciently divided into 184 'Tricha Céds' (30 hundreds [of cows]), each of which contained 30 _bailes_ (or townlands); 5,520 _bailes_ in all. The _baile_ or townland is thus described:-- 'A baile sustains 300 cows, Four full herds therein may roam. «and pastoral.» The poem describes the _bailes_ (or townlands) as divided into 4 quarters, _i.e._ a quarter for each of the 4 herds of 75 cows each. «Ballys and quarters.»