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NOTES. ^§9in every family of the kingdom. So far respecting the Druidsunder the name of Magi,In treating of the Druids under the name of Ckaldees^ or as ithas been corruptly written Culdtes^ and by t!ie monks latinizedCuida'i, Keidcci, and Kelidccz, I am well aware ihct I have manydifSculties to contend with. Or.e party maintain that they werspresbyterian, and another that they were episcopalian. Theirorigin is totally unl^nown, and even the very name has alTordedscope for more than a dozen etymoiogieSj all equally plausible,and equally unsatisfactory. la this state of things, it willreadily be admitted, that the origin, name, and history of theCuldees, are involved in great obscurity. Pinkarton, (vol. 2,paj^e S72 and 273) asserts that they were all Irish, and consequentlythey must have received Christianity from St. Patrick orhis successors. But It h admitted, en all hands, that they werela^ Ecclesiastics^ a circurasfance which could not have happened,had ihey been regularly ordained by St, Patrick or his succescessors,and sent Xo convert Scotland. To whatever side wewe follow the common opinion respecting (beturn ourselves, ifCuldees, we find uncertainty and inconsistency. But if oncewe admit that the Druids were Culdees, every difiiculty vanishes,and the simple fact is, that St. Patrick availed himself of theaid of the Druids to convert Ireiand. That, in compliance withpopular prejudice, he sanctified and made use of as many of theirtemples, as suited his purpose. That these Druids were kept inthe subordinate station of lay ecclesiastics, and not admittedto the dignity of regular clergy. That by degrees they returnedto Scotland, from which they had been expelled by the Romans,and formed settlements to themselves independent of St. Patrickand his succsssors, and maintained themselves in these set He.ments till finally supplanted by the regular clergy about lh«middle of the 13lh century.In the register of the priory of St. Andrews, we have someimportant facts relative to the Culdees. " Ilabebantur taraen inEcclesia S'ti Andrea?, quota et quanta tunc erat, trtdecim perjucce^gionerai camalenj quos K^kdeQS appellant, qui secundum