A distorted version of Giraldus Cambrensis, Topographia Hibernica, Distinctio II c.xv, which describes a dispute between the men of Britain and Ireland (no kings, and indeed no Scots, are said to have been involved) as to which country Man belonged to, decided on the grounds that since poisonous snakes survived being brought to the Isle, it should be allotted to Britain, where the same applied. Giraldi Cambrensis Opera V, ed. J.F. Dimock (Rolls Series, 1867), 97.