│Kinross │ 6,280│ 6,981│ 56│ 55│ │ │ │Persons on Board │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Ship in Scottish │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Waters │ │ 9,856│ │ 887│ │ 6│ ├───────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────┼───────┼──────┼──────┤ │ Total │4,025,647│4,472,103│210,677│202,700│43,738│28,106│ └───────────────────┴─────────┴─────────┴───────┴───────┴──────┴──────┘ In the census of 1901 the schedule restricts the entries in the Gaelic column to persons over three years of age. According to the previous census the number of persons under three years of age amounted to 7½ per cent of the whole population. This must be taken into account in order to institute a fair comparison between the returns of the Gaelic-speaking population in 1891 and 1901. CHAPTER II ST. PATRICK, THE PIONEER OF CELTIC WRITERS The historical Patrick—Authentic records—Earliest known Gaelic litterateur—Dates elusive—Birthplace—Autobiographical details of his youth—Taken captive—Escape—Obscure wanderings—Return home—The rôle of missionary in Ireland—Epoch-making career—Remarkable Patrician Dialogues—His own literary work—The “Confession”—“Epistle to Coroticus”—“Deer’s Cry”—Ireland’s oldest book—Three other antique compositions from the Book of Hymns—A curious prophecy—Personal character—Death. It is a characteristic of our age to doubt, if not to deny, the historical reality of many of the heroic figures that hover in the background of history. And such a doubt has extended even to St. Patrick, due largely to the fact that he is not mentioned by the early historians Prosper of Aquitaine (402–463) and Bede (673–735), both of whom attribute the conversion of Ireland to Palladius. But this seeming omission has been explained on the highly probable assumption that Patrick[10] was the Palladius of these writers; and against the merely negative inference there is the positive and almost overwhelming voice of history and tradition, which puts the essential features of Ireland’s apostle beyond all doubt.