P. 31.—Port to which Patrick escaped. He mentions the distance himself: _ducenta milia passus_ (_Conf._ 361₃₃). Wicklow would suit either theory of the place of captivity. Of course the distance must not be pressed too closely, but it is to be remembered that Patrick wrote when he had fuller knowledge of the geography than he can have had at the time of his escape. The reason for conjecturing Wicklow is that it seems to have been a port where foreign ships might be looked for; both Palladius and Patrick landed there. Muirchu calls it _portum apud nos clarum_ (275₁₂). P. 32.—Suck their breasts: _sugere mammellas eorum_, _Conf._ 362₁₈. I conjecture that the origin of this remarkable phrase, which clearly means to enter into a close intimacy, was a primitive ceremony of adoption. Among some peoples, when a child is adopted, a rite of mock-birth is performed; for instance, the child is placed under the dress of the adoptive mother, and creeps out. For the custom of mock-suckling see Frazer’s _Golden Bough_,² vol. iii. p. 380, _note_. The make-believe suckling is analogous to, and has the same emblematic meaning as, a make-believe parturition; and it will be admitted that this explanation satisfies perfectly the present context: “I declined to let myself be adopted by them.” It is not necessary to infer that a literal adoption was proposed to Patrick by any of the crew; the expression is merely figurative for a close and abiding intimacy (just as we use colloquially the phrase “to be adopted”). It has been thought that the expression is taken from the Vulgate rendering of Isaiah lx. 16: _suges lac gentium et mamilla regum lactaberis_. Even if it were so, the point of the phrase would not be explained, but Mr. White has shown on other grounds the improbability of such a reference. There are no other vestiges of the use of the Vulgate in Patrick’s citations from the O.T., whereas there is unmistakable evidence of his use of an Old-Latin version (see White, _Proc. of R.I.A._ 1905, p. 231, and the note on the passage). P. 34.—They came to the habitations of men: _Conf._ 363₃₁,₃₄ _ad homines_. This is certainly the right reading, and stood in the MS. used by Muirchu (495₃₂). The _Cod. Arm._ gives _omnes_, which is unsuitable in the context.