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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. n. DEC. 10,

roofing), they are as imaginary as im- material." For whom is this sentence meant ? Surely not for such of your readers as are archaeologists. Immaterial ! What can be more material ? It is the very essence of all reasoning about archaeological history that we should compare modes of building. We have no other clue to their affiliation. As to their being imaginary, I cannot think it possible that J. B. S. can have studied actual remains of early buildings in Ireland, or the splendid monographs of Petrie, Dunraven,and Stokes, or he would not call my contention imaginary. What I challenge him to do is to produce some Patrician or Columban chapels in Ireland, or any buildings of the date, at all like in architecture to Heysham church. I said that, so far as we know, the Irish mis- sionaries of the seventh century meaning especially the Northumbrian missionaries Aidan and his brethren built no stone chapels. This seems plain from Bede and other authorities. In answer to me, J. B. S. quotes a long passage from Ne well's 'History of the Welsh Church ' which has no reference whatever to the Irish missionaries of the seventh century, and which, except an obiter dictum, contains only one material passage, namely, a reference from the 'Book of Armagh.' This shows that St. Patrick occa- sionally built churches of sods or turves, because no wood was available. J. B. S. adds the characteristic commentary, "Stone churches were, therefore, probably as numer- ous as non-diocesan bishops in and subse- quent to St. Patrick's days."

3. J. B. S. in speaking of " Candida Casa " makes reference only to Innes's ' History of Galloway,' a perfectly worthless authority on such a matter. Bede and the 'Life of St. Ninian' would be to the point, but of what value is an opinion of Innes ? Then follow some extraordinary phrases. "It was re- served," we are told, "for the later 'Irish influence' that spread in ever-broadening waves of light from lona over Strathclyde to transplant from the parent country local methods, both liturgical and architectural." There is not a particle of evidence for all this so far as I know, or for postulating a Colum- ban or Irish influence in Strathclyde ; and if there were, what connexion has Patrick with lona ? Again, we are referred to " the incon- testable fact that the Goidhils clustered round Morecambe Bay from the earliest times." May I ask for a single shred of evidence of this ? It would no doubt be very interesting if it could be proved.

4. J. B. S. says Treen chapels are decidedly Patrician or Columban in their origin and

build. This is the very point to be proved. My contention is that they are completely unlike any buildings known to us having the slightest claim to be either Patrician or Columoan, while they are very like the little Welsh chapels and those of Cornwall dedi- cated to saints of the sixth or seventh century.

5. In this paragraph J. B. S. raises a per- sonal issue, which, however unpleasant, I have to face, namely, that of our relative authority. He forgets that an anony- mous writer has no authority whatever upon anything. Apart from this I have never seen his pseudonym mentioned in connexion with Norse questions. I can only claim for myself that I have written and signed with my name many papers on the Norsemen which have been quoted in books of very high authority both in England and Scandinavia, and which were based not upon nineteenth-century writers, but upon contemporary chronicles, and an examination of a vast number of archaeo- logical remains in England, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. I have never seen anywhere any Norse grave in the least like these exca- vations. They are absolutely different from all Norse modes of interment known to me. Perhaps J. B. S. will now state his claims to have an opinion on the subject, and also (what is better than any opinion of either of us) quote a single fact in support of his state- ment. It is not a question of opinion. There are thousands of Norse graves to appeal to.

6. Lastly, we know nothing positive about the route taken by St. Patrick on his visit or visits to Ireland. If we did there would be no controversy about it. All that I said at Heysham was that the existence of several dedications to Patrick in Lancashire and the Isle of Man, one of them being on the coast of Morecambe, made it very probable that he went by this route to Ireland. That view I maintain still ; I know of none so probable.

HENRY H. HOWORTH. 30, Collingham Place, Earl's Court, S.W.

"LIMERICK" (9 th S. ii. 408). A nonsense verse such as was written by Lear is wrong- fully so called, though the editor of the Cantab applied it to a nonsense verse of Kipling's the other day. The " Limerick " proper is a far from blameless production, though some " Limericks " achieve an enor- mous circulation verbally. It has been shown that the nonsense verse is older than Lear's ; how much older I am not prepared to say, but certain it is that a song has existed in Ireland for a very considerable time, the con-