Of his contemporary, the compiler of the Book of Hymns, nothing seems to be known. His monument too has survived the ravages and vicissitudes of time, but without his name. A wonderful anthology it is, carrying us back, as in the case of the other, to the days of St Columba, and even further, to the period of St. Patrick. For here, in the _Liber Hymnorum_, we have the Gaelic hymns of Patrick, Colmán, Fiacc, Ultán, Broccán, Sanctáin, Dallan Forgaill, Máel-ísu, the prayers of Níníne and Adamnan; a Quatrain on the Apostles; besides a variety of beautiful Latin hymns with Gaelic glosses and prefaces. Among the more famous of the latter may be mentioned the “Te Deum,” the “Magnificat,” the “Gloria in Excelsis Deo,” and the “Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel,” so well known to worshippers throughout the ages since then; and the three Latin hymns of St. Columba—the “Altus,” “In te Christo,” and “Noli Pater.” Many of these occur only in the Book of Hymns, except when copied from it elsewhere, and may have been lost to posterity, but for the industry of the unknown gleaner now no more remembered. Maelmuiri and he, in all probability had made their collection before the close of the eleventh century; and fifty years later appeared the compiler,[39] who produced the Book of Leinster, containing no less than 187 romances in prose and poetry. After the Leabhar Na h’Uidhre this is reckoned the most important monument of Gaelic literature. The stories recorded relate to events which for the most part happened before the year 650, and their interest and variety may be inferred from the following category of subjects, into which they have been classified, namely: destructions of fortified places, cow-spoils, courtships, battles, cave-stories, voyagings, tragic deaths, feasts, sieges, adventures, elopements, slaughters, water-eruptions, expeditions, progresses, and visions. A book of old-time and abundant human incident is this middle-age document. In succession to these three master-gleaners there arose numerous other less famous ones in Ireland. But our special quest carries us over from this time to the land famed in later song and story as the home of the Gaelic tongue. And coming to Scotland three other monuments of Celtic industry and literary taste arise to view, covering the period extending from the fourteenth century to the Forty-five. They are the Book of the Dean of Lismore, the Fernaig MS., and the Book of Clanranald. These having been described in detail in Chapter VII., demand no more than a passing reference here. Happily, more is known of their authors than of the compilers of their famous precursors.