was written, 1477; and to-morrow will be Lammas Night. And in
Baile-in-Miónín, in the house of O'Troightigh, this was written by
Domhnall Albanach O'Troightigh; et Deo gratias Jesu.




THE PROEME OF JOCELIN.

It has been, from ancient times, the object and the design of most
writers to perpetuate, with a pen worthy of their virtues, the lives of
holy men, that the fervor of sanctity so deserving our veneration might
not be buried in oblivion, but rather that it might shine before all as
in a glass, to the end that posterity might imitate its brightness--as
was commanded from above, that in the breast-plate of the chief priest
the names of the twelve patriarchs, the sons of Israel, should be
engraven on twelve precious stones, so that by the sight thereof the
faithful might be moved to imitate the acts of the holy fathers; for it
is most fitting that of those in whose titles we glory, in whose
praises we delight, by whose patronage we are protected, we should
endeavor to conform to the manners, and be confirmed by the examples;
but since the dearth of literature has so much increased, and the
slothfulness to learning so much abounded, very many, fools and
ignorant persons, have ofttimes, lest they should perish from the
memory of the faithful, written the lives of the saints, certainly with
a pious intent, but in a most unhandsome style. Wherefore, in reading
the lives and acts of the saints composed in a rude manner or barbarous
dialect, disgust is often excited, and not seldom tardiness of belief.
And hence it is that the life of the most glorious priest Patrick, the
patron and apostle of Ireland, so illustrious in signs and miracles,