Note 9 — Chapter XIII

There are several passages omitted in the Book of Armagh, which are found in an ancient Brussels MS. of the eleventh century. These were probably omitted from the Book of Armagh because they were undecipherable. The Brussels MS. and others contain nearly as much again as it, and there are many proofs that this extra matter is not of later or spurious origin; thus Tirechan refers to Patrick's own records, "ut in scriptione sua affirmat," for evidence of a fact not mentioned in the "Confession" as given in the Book of Armagh, but which is supplied by the other MSS., namely, that Patrick paid the price of fifteen "souls of men," or slaves, for protection on his missionary journey across Ireland. The frequent occurrence of deest, et cetera, et reliqua, show that the Armagh copy of the "Confession" is nothing like a full one. The Brussels MS. formerly belonged to the Irish monastery of Würzburg.