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THE CELTIC REVIEW
T
THE
CELTIC REVIEW
// \
PUBLISHED QUARTERLY
Consulting Editor : PROFESSOR MACKINNON Acting Editor : MISS E. C. CARMICHAEL
VOLUME II JULY 1905 to APRIL 1906
EDINBURGH : NORMAN MACLEOD, 25 GEORGE IV. BRIDGE
LONDON : DAVID NUTT, 57-59 LONG ACRE, W.C.
DUBLIN : HODGES, FIGGIS & CO., LTD., 104 GRAFTON ST.
582305
Edinburgh : T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majsstjr
CONTENTS
A Gaelic Class in New Zealand, . An Fhideag Airgid (with music), . Anna Mhin (with music), . A Welsh Ballad (with music), Bardachd Irteach, . Child-Songs in the Island of
Youth (with music), Fearchur Leighich, L'Ankou, .... My Highland Baptism, ' Never was Piping so Sad,
And never was Piping so Gay,' . Notes :
Rev. D. S. Madennan, Amy Murray, Domhnull MacEacham, J. Glyn Davies,
Airiy Mv/rray, Captain Wtti. Morrison, Frances M. Gostling, William, Jolly,
E. C. Carmichael, .
Notes on the Study of Gaelic (with Leaving Certificate Examination Paper) — W. J, Watson ; Celt and Semite and the Determination of our Origins — Lionel 0. Radiguet, DD., LL.OO.V.; The Bagpipes in the Bible, .......
Notes on the Study of Gaelic— contiimed — First Year's Course — W. J. Watson ; The Distribution of British Ability — Louisa E. Farquhar- son ; An Undetected Norse Loan-Word— -Rev. Oeorge Henderson ; Fragments relating to the Saxon Invasion from an unknown Canter- bury chronicle — E. W. B. Nicholson ; The Highlanders' march to Fort George — A Prayer to the Archangels,
O, 's tu 's gura tu (with music). Reply— St. Mulvay,
Malcolm Macfarlane,
282 201 161 297 327
314
246 272
224
76
89
188
Notes on the Study of Gaelic — continued — Second Year's Course —
W. J. Watson ; The Ruin of Britannia— J'ames Simpson, . . 290
Notes on the Study of Gaelic — continued — Third Year's Course — W. J.
Watson, ....... 390
. 122
96
vi THE CELTIC REVIEW
PAGE
Reviews of Books :
Higher Grade Readings in G^aelic, ■with Outlines of Grammar {reviewed by Prof. Mackinnon) ; William Butler Yeats and the Irish Literary Revival (reviewed by Seathan MacDhonain) ; Uirsgeulan Gaidhealach (reviewed by M. M.) ; Ballads of a Country Boy (reviewed by Bev. M. N. Munro), . . . . . .84
Clan Donald (reviewed by * Creag an Fhithich ') ; Y Cymnxrodor (re- viewed by Prof. Mackinnon) ; The Mabinogion (reviewed by ^Eiddin ') ; Revue Celtique ; Leoithne Andeas ; An Bhoramha Laighean ; The Colloquy of the Two Sages ; Caledonian Medical Journal ; An Deo- Ghreine (reviewed by A. Macdonald); Guide to Gaelic Conversation and Pronunciation, . . , . . .180
Old-Irish Paradigms (reviewed by Bev. George Henderson) ; Deirdire, and the Lay of the Children of Uisne (reviewed by Alfred Nutt) ; The Place-Names of Elginshire (reviewed by C. M. i?.)> • • 286
James Macpherson : An Episode in Literature (revieived by G. H.) ; Religious Songs of Connacht (reviewed by M. N. M.) ; Manuel pour servir a I'^tude de 1' Antiquity Celtique (reviewed by H. H. Johnson) ; Faclair Gaidhlig (reviewed by W. J. W.) ; Celtae and Galli (reviewed by Alexander Macbain, LL.D.) ; The Scottish Historical Review ; Red Hugh ; Epochs of Irish History : Early Christian Ireland ; Woman of Seven Sorrows (reviewed by E. O'G.) ; Heroic Romances of Ireland ; Contribution a la Lexicographic et I'Etymologie celtiques (reviewed by H. E. J.\ . . . . . 380
Sea-Stories of lar-Connacht, . UTia ni Ogdin, . .123
Slan le Diura Chreagach Chiar
(with music), . . . DomhnuU MacEacham, . 59
Some Sutherland Names of Places, W. J. Watson, M.A., B.A., 232, 360 St. Sechnall's Hymn to St. Patrick, Fr. Atkinson, 8. J., . 242
The Butterfly's Wedding, 178
The Fionn Saga, . . . Rev. George Henderson,
M.A., B.Litt, Ph.D., 1, 135, 255, 351 The Glenmasan Manuscript (with
translation), . . . Professor Mackinnon,
20, 100, 202, 300 The Grey Wind, . . . Miss L. MManus, . .162
The Rev. Dr. Blair's MSS., , Rev. A. Maclean Sinclair, 153
'The Ruin of Britannia' (with
map), . . . . A. W. Wade-Evans, 46, 126
The Ruin of History, . . E. W. B. Nicholson, . 369
CONTENTS vii
PAGE
The Ruskins, . , . Alexander Garmichael, . 343
The Study of Highland Personal
Names, .... Alexander Macbain, LL.D., 60 Translations from Dafydd ab
Gwilym, .... Mrs. Cecil Popham, . 97
Variations of Gaelic Loan- Words, . Rev. C. M. Robertson, . 34
THE CELTIC REVIEW
JULY 15, 1905
THE FIONN SAGA
{Continued from vol. i. p. 366.) George Henderson, M.A., B.Litt., Ph.D.
THE CAMPBELL OF ISLAY RECENSION (continued)
The Origin of the Feinne
There was a great war between the Lochlanners (Scandi- navians) and the Irish about Scotland, and the tribute which the Scandinavians had laid upon Ireland and Scotland. The cess was hard to bear, and grievous to the Irish king.
They were great strong men, and they used to come in summer and harvest, eating and spoiling all that the people of these lands were storing up for another year, and so they had great great wars.
There was a king in Ireland, and he sent for his adviser (comhairliche). In these times they had no Parliament as now, but counsellors who were wise men. * I wish,' said the Irish king, *to find a way to drive back these Scandinavians.' * That,' said the counsellor, * will not grow in a day, but take wise counsel and it will grow in time. Gather,' said he, the counsellor who was wise, ' the biggest men and the biggest women that you can find, in all Ireland, marry them to each other, and the seventh generation will settle the matter if you marry the offspring of these picked men and women.
The counsel pleased the Irish king, whose name was not preserved, but as shown below, it probably was Art or another, the high king of Ireland.
So all Ireland was searched for big men and women, and a hundred of each were found and married.
VOL. II. A
2 THE CELTIC EEVIEW
The first race seemed to be too weak, so they married the biggest to each other without regard to kindred, only they did not marry brothers to sisters. The second race were not strong enough, so they chose the biggest and tried again.
The third race grew stronger, and the fourth stronger still. But when it came to the seventh generation, the men were so great and terrible, that they called them the Fiantaichean. They are called by some daoine Jiadhaich, * wild or terrible men.' They had yellow hair, as it is said in the lay of the Muileartach : —
Ftiath na arrachd cha d' t/ieid as Bho' n FfiMnn hluinn fhalt-bhuidhe.
Ghost nor bogle will not escape
From the beauteous yellow-haired Feinne.
* I never heard of a minister or priest among them ; they did nothing but hunt and fight' (W. Robertson of Tobermory).
There were 150 of that kind of people came to them from France and Spain and other realms. If they were strong, big, stout men, they took them under their flags, and the band was called ' An Fheinn.' They were in Ireland and all about these islands. Here in S. Uist are places which we call ' Sorrachd Choir e Fhinn.' Up yonder on the hillside are four great stones upon which they set their great kettle, and there are plenty of other places of the same kind.^
The standing stones which you may see in these islands we call Ord Mhaoraich or Ord Bhdrnaich, bait hammers or limpet hammers. People say that they used these to knock off* limpets and pound shells, as we use stones now ; but that I do not believe. They say that one of them threw one from the shore up to the hillside near the north end of South Uist, but that cannot be true. They were hunters only ; they went through moors and wastes with tents and booths to
* The square is made with four large flat stones on edge, the sides heing set N.S.E.W., five feet by three, inside the oblong. Near this monument are sereral fallen menhir, tall standing stones.
THE FIONN SAGA 3
sleep in, and they had great dogs. They killed deer and wild boars and lived upon them. When their great terrible stout warriors first came over to Alba from Ireland, the Scandinavians saw them and fled to their ships for fear. And that is the way in which the Feinn ^ (Fayne) began.
* I,' said William Robertson at Tobermory, 16th September 1870, 'was in a place in this Island of Mull, below Cille Chonain, where I was working at making a road. I took out a man's bones. The cist in which the man lay was made of stones, and the bones were left there. The smith who was with us was a big man. He tried on the jaw bone, and it came down over his head. The bones of the legs and arms were as long as my stick. I saw them with my eyes. A dozen of men were there and saw them. No horse ever had such bones. My hand open would go into the bone. The smith was big, but the jawbone came down over his whole head, below his chin. The teeth were in. I am quite sure that these were the bones of a man.'
Tor Nam Fian is the name of a hill above the place where I found the bones : the Fian's mound. From that I am sure that such men were. There is a little of Ohair Na Feinne the work of the Feinn there, if one might believe that they did it. A stone is there called an t-Ord Maoraich, ' the bait hammer.' It is as broad as this table. But some say that it is the limpet hammer which the Feinne used, but that cannot be true. The bones which I found prove that. The men could not have worked such a stone as that ; no, nor a man four times as big. They were strong men who guarded the realm. They were bred from big men and big women selected for the purpose. Their chief foes were ' Na Lochlannaich,' the people of Lochlann, but people came upon them from many other places, as we learn from the lays. There were twelve teaghlachs, families in Fionn's household, and twelve rooms to each household, and a man and five score about each
1 [' Fenians ' is the form Campbell uses, but this term is not free from danger of confusion with a movement of our own times.]
4 THE CELTIC REVIEW
fire (14,544). You might ask many, and few could tell where all are gone ; none ever knew where they went. No one has any knowledge of their death, except of those who were slain in the battles, such as Goll, Oscar, Diarmaid, and others. Fionn was never slain ; he is with the rest. Caoilte was not killed ; Gisein (Ossian) was the last of the Feinne, and he it was who told Padruig (St. Patrick) about the Feinne long afterwards. They all went away in one day, as it is said by Oisein to Padruig in the Lay of the Muileartach.
' Chunnacas sealladh nach fhacas riamh Bho Ms na Feinne ri aon latha : Rachadh thromh tholladh na sleagh Na corran thromh dhriom Osgair.'
That says that the Feinne all died in one day.
• A sight was seen that never was seen Since the death of the Feinne in one day : Through the spear wounds the quill-dressings ^ went Through the back of Osgar.'
They are/o gheasaibh under spells, undoubtedly. Did not a man see them in Dumbarton rock ? He put his hand to a bell and they rose on their elbows. He said, * It is not time,' and there he left them resting on their elbows.^
The Story of Cumal the Father of Fionn
Now the Feinne or Fian or Fiantaichean were all of one kindred and blood, and they did not know who was chief. So they sought amongst themselves for the man of the best head. Cumal was best at answering questions, and, as he had king's blood in his veins, they made him king of the Feinn. They came over here to Alba, and they drove out the Scandinavians, who fled to sea. When Alba was won, one said to the other, ' Let us go back to Ireland.'
But Cumal said, ' No. I say that if you reach Ireland
* [The point-dressings of the poisoned barbed arrow ; the word occurs in : —
' Eadar corran a gaine 's an smeoirn,
Mairi nighean Alasdair Riiaidh.'
' Many versions exist of this incident, which may be appropriately given later on.]
THE FIONN SAGA 5
the king would rather see you burned on a hill than face you. He could not keep you there. Better keep the realm you have won ; make your schemes and plans ; make a king of the best man, and let us stay where we are.' Now Cumal was best and biggest, and had the best head, and so they chose him to be Righ Na Feinne. They sent word (wrote a letter) to the King of Ireland, and told him that they meant to keep the realm. The king wished that no one had ever thought of them. He wrote a letter to the king of Lochlann, and he said : ' Come over and we will try if we cannot make some plan to get rid of Cumal and his warriors.' Cumal would let neither Irishman nor Scandinavian into Scotland, but himself only and his warriors.
There was a man in the Feinn whose name was Arc^ Dubh (i.e. Black-Black). He committed a grievous crime, and he was put out of the Feinn. He went to the king in Ireland and sought service. * What can you do ? ' said the Irish king. ' I can fight a hundred ' (literally, the battle of a hundred is on my hand), said the warrior, ' for the least man in the Feinn could fight a hundred, but I need food to match ' {i.e. in proportion). * I won't feed you,' said the king ; ' I cannot afford it.'
Then they held a long argument.
* Do you know any way of keeping yourself? ' ' I can fish,' said the black warrior.
' I,' said the king, * have the best river in all these realms, Eas Buadh (Assaroe, near Ballyshannon in Sligo) : go and get married and be there. Two- thirds of the fish you catch shall be mine. One-third shall be yours and wages to boot, and so you may keep yourself. Will you take that offer ? '
* I will take it,' said Arc Dubh, and so he was called the king's fisherman.
It is not told here, but elsewhere it is said that Arc Dubh was the fisher of Conn of the Hundred Fights.
^ \Cf. Hagen who slew Siegfried ; many reciters give the Gaelic form as Achda Dubh, among whom was Robertson, Tobermory, one of Campbell's seanachies, and Achda may be a folk-loan from Norse even if this character were not represented in their literature monuments.]
6 THE CELTIC REVIEW
When the Irish king got Cumal's letter he wrote to the king of Lochlann, and he came in a long ship (long fhad), the king and his son, to Ireland. The Irish king had his hands spread to meet and welcome him because of the Feinne. The two kings met and fell a-talking of the Feinne.
' They say that none in this world are like them,' said the Scandinavian king. ' I should like to see them.'
' I have one of them here,' said the Irish king, ' and he will soon come with fish.'
Now all these Feinne had secrets (diamhaireachd) that none could know but themselves. They were sworn not to reveal these secret powers. In the morning early came Arc Dubh to the palace before the Scandinavian king was up. As soon as he heard that the warrior had come he leaped up and came out half dressed. * Is this a Fiantaiche ? ' said he.
* That style and title is lost,' said the fisher ; ' perhaps it was my own fault, but I was in the Feinn once.'
' If all the rest are like you,' said the king, * they are a wonderful and a terrible people.'
* If you saw them,' said the fisher, 'you might well say that.'
* What tale can you tell of them ? ' said the king of Lochlann.
' I can tell this,' said the fisher. ' There is one amongst them, their king, who is called Cumal. If all there ever were or have come or that will come were to go against him, he would come out through them with his sword.'
* Will he be so till death comes to seek him ? ' said the king, * or can he be slain ? '
* I know how he can be slain,' said the fisher.
* Then tell me,' said the king.
* No/ said the fisher. ' I have sworn not to tell that secret.*
' If you will not tell,' said the king, ' I will slay you.' ' It is easier to tell than to die,' said Arc Dubh. ' Though I have sworn, I may break my oaths. His death is in his own sword, Mac a Luinne, and that will only slay him in the arms of his wife.'
THE FIONN SAGA 7
Then said the king, ' I have the most beautiful daughter that ever the sun shone upon, the very finest drop-of-blood that ever trod on ground. I will send for her, and Cumal shall marry her, and then we may find means to slay him here.'
* That you shall do,' said the king of Ireland. *Do you send your long ship for the girl, and I will invite (write to) Cumal, and we will make a wedding here and slay him.'
Then the traitor cherished a plan and told it to the king. So they wrote a treacherous letter to Cumal to come from Alba to Eirinn to a feast, and they sent a long ship to Loch- lann for the king's daughter. The king of Lochlann was there and his son was with him, and another son of his was there also, and there too was the king of Ireland in the palace, and Cumal came, and there was feasting and joy.
The thing was so that the long ship arrived, and there was great joy in the palace about the king's daughter, and a great ball.
But when Cumal, who was as it were a king in Scotland, saw the king's daughter, he fell in heavy love with her. They danced and feasted for four or five nights, and because Cumal was a grand, tall, handsome, stately man, the king's daughter fell in love with him.
Then the king of Lochlann said to Cumal : ' Will you marry my daughter this very night ? '
Cumal was willing and the king's daughter was overjoyed, and so they were married that very hour on the spot. Then all the company went to put the bride to bed, and they took the couple through seven doors and seven rooms and left them there. They went out and locked the seven doors as they went, but Arc Dubh was hid in the inner room under the floor, according to the scheme which he had made with the two kings. Cumal laid his sword on the board by the bedside. But when all was still the black traitor with his spear crept out from under the floor and took Mac A Luinn, the sword, from the table and laid it on Cumal's neck as he slept in the arms of his bride, and the weight of the sword, that never left a shred after a blow, took oli' the hero's head.
8 THE CELTIC REVIEW
His bride did not know it, but when she awoke and found her husband dead in her arms she took to sorrow and woe and heartbreaking. She cried * Murder ! ' and the traitor cried * Murder ! ' and the company opened all the seven doors and came in and found Cumal slain and his bride lamenting and beating her palms. But the traitor took Mac A Luinn, the sword, and since he had the sword, Bran, Cumal'a great hound, followed him. He went home to Eas Buadh to his wife, and there he stayed as the king's fisherman, and that is the way in which Cumal was slain by one of his own men, Arc Dubh, the black-haired traitor who was turned out of the Feinn for his crimes.
It is said Fionn's father was slain by his (Fionn's) grand- father, and so he was by the treacherous schemes of the kings of Lochlann and Eirinn.
It seems from old authorities that the place was in Munster of the Red Towers, or great red * Mowin ' (Dean of Lismore's Book, English 88, Gaelic 64, 65). Some of the slayers were of the Clanna Morna, and the first who struck a spear into Cumal was Garradh or Zarry Mac Morna. He told the tale to Fionn as a youth, at a hunting match in the days of Cuchulainn, in the presence of the character who speaks in the ballad. Garry says that Cumal oppressed his tribe, that he drove some to Scotland, some to Lochlann, some to White Greece. After sixteen years they came back to Eirinn, and there slew 1600 men in battle. They took their castles, and slew all that remained of the race of Cumal upon a hill. They surrounded a house in Munster where Cumal was. They all rushed in and struck spears into the body of Cumal, — Garry first. He says : —
16 * We made a rush that was not slow
To the house in which was Cumal ;
We made deep wounds each one
With our spears in the body of Cumal.
17 ' Although I was born At the time when Cumal was slain, .
THE FIONN SAGA 9
For these deeds we '11 then Avenge them.
We were a day (A day that we were).'
In Irish history the fight is called the Battle of Cnucha.^
* Fotha Gatha C»Mc/ia= The Cause of the Battle of Cnucha (Hennessey's Trans, from LU.).
When Cathair Mor, son of Fedelraith Fir-urglais, son of Cormac Gelta-gaith, whs in the kingship of Teamhair, and Conn Ced-chathach in Cenandos in (the) rigdonina's land ( = in the land of the King of the World), Cathair had a celebrated druid, to wit, Nuada, son of Achi, son of Dathi, son of Brocan, son of Fintan of Tuath-dathi in Brega. The druid was soliciting land in Laigen from Cathair ; for he knew that it was in Laigen his successorship would be.
Cathair gave him his choice of land. The land the druid chose was Almu.
She that was wife to Nuadha was Almu, daughter of Becan.
A dun was built by the druid then in Almu, and alamu was rubbed to its wall, until it was all white ; and perhaps it was from that (the name) 'Almu' was applied to it ; of which was said : —
' All-white is the dun of battle renown ; As if it had received the lime of Ireland From the alamu which he gave to the house ; Hence it is that " Almu " is applied to Almu.'
Nuada's wife, Almu, was entreating that her name might be given to the hill, and that request was granted to her, to wit, that her name should be upon the hill, for it was in it that she was buried afterwards : of which was said : —
* Aim — beautiful was the woman ! — Wife of Nuadha the great, son of Achi. She entreated — the division was just — That her name (should be) on the perfect hill.'
Nuadha had a distinguished son, to wit, Tadhg, son of Nuadhu. Rairiu, daughter of Dond-duma, was his wife. A celebrated druid, also, was Tadg.
Death came to Nuada ( = Nuada died), and he left his dun, as it was, to his son ; and it is Tadg that was druid to Cathair in the place of his father.
Rairiu bore a daughter to Tadhg, i.e. Murni Muncaim ( = Morneen of the fair neck), her name.
This maiden grew up in great beauty, so that the sons of the kings and mighty lorils of Ireland were wont to be courting her.
Cumall, son of Trenmor, king-warrior of Ireland, was then in the service of Cond ( = Boi dana cummal mac trenmoir rig fennid herend fri laimh cuind). He also, like every other person, was demanding the maiden. Nuada gave him a refusal, for he knew that it was on account of him (Cumall) he would have to leave Almu.
The same was mother to Cumall and to Cond's father, to wit, Fedelmid Kechtaide.
Cumall comes, however, and takes Murni by force, in elopement with him, since she had not been given to him. Tadg comes to Cond, and relates to him his profana- tion by Cumall, and he began to incite Cond and to reproach him.
10 THE CELTIC REVIEW
About 1760 Fletcher got a version of the same ballad which is in the Advocates' Library.
' Said Fionn to Garradh. ' Since I was not born at the time, how did you slay Cumal 1 '
Cumal was the father of Fionn.
' Said Garra.
1 ' It was Cumal who made our reproach, 'Twas he made our great hurting ; [Far into exile Cumal hath set us Out on the bounds of the [alien].
2
' A branch of us went to Albin, And a branch to the Black Lochlann {i.e. Denmark), And the third branch set out to Greece, On the bounds of the Unknown.
Oond despatches messengers to Cumall, and ordered him to leave Ireland or to restore his daughter to Tadg. Cumall said he would not give her ; but everything he would give and not the woman ( = he would give everything but not the woman). Cond sent his soldiers, and Urgrend, son of Lugaid Corr, king of Luagni, and Daire Dere, son of Eochaid, and his son Aed (who was afterwards called GoU), to attack Cumall. Cumall assembles his army against them, and the battle of Cnucha is fought between them, and Cumall is slain there, and a slaughter of his people is eflfected.
Cumall fell by GoU, son of Morna. Luchet wounded Goll in his eye, so that he destroyed his eye. And hence it is that the name 'GoU' attached to him ; whereof M'as said : —
' Aed was the name of Daire's son, Until Luchet of fame wounded him ; Since the heavy lance wounded him. Therefore, he has been called GolL'
GoU killed Luchet. It is for that reason, moreover, that a hereditary feud existed between the sons of Morna and Find.
Dairi had two names, to wit, Morna and Dairi.
Muirni went, after that, to Cond ; for her father rejected her, and did not let her (come) to him, because she was pregnant ; and he said to his people to burn her. And, nevertheless, he dared not compass her destruction against Cond
The girl was asking of Cond how she should act. Cond said : ' Go,' said he, ' to Fiacall, son of Concend, to Teuihair-Mairci, and let thy delivery be effected there' (for a sister to Cumall was Fiacall's wife, Bodball Bendron).
Condla, Cond's servant, went wj^h her, to escort her, until she came to Fiacall's house, to Temhair-Mairci. Welcome was given to the girl there; and her arrival
THE FIONN SAGA 11
3 ' The first day that we were On the turf of Erin of blue blades, He slew of us and by our counting Seventeen hundred on one small plain.
4 ' There were slain of the tribe of Moma, Of our Fianna and of our Lords; And there he made a tower of our bones In witness of the Feinne.
5
' 'Twas he who made our hearts heavy, Our heads to be in the deepest glens.'
there was good. The girl was delivered afterwards, and bare a son ; and Denini was given as a name to him.
The boy is nursed by them, after that, until he was capable of committing plunder on every one who was an enemy to him. He tben proclaims battle or single combat against Tadg, or else the full eiric of his father to be given to him. Tadg said he would give him judgment therein. The judgment was given ; and this is the judgment that was given to him, to wit, that Almu, as it was, should be ceded to him for ever, and Tadg to leave it ( = and that Tadg should leave it). It was done so. Tadg abandoned Almu to Find, and came to Tuath-Dathi, to his own hereditary land ; and he abode in Cnoc-Rein, which is called Tulach-Taidg to-day ; for it is from him it has been called Tulach-Taidg from that time to this. So that hence was said this : —
' Find demands from Tadg of the towers For killing Cuniall the great. Battle, without respite, without delay, Or that he should obtain single combat Because Tadg was not able to sustain battle Against the high prince, He abandoned to him, it was for him enough, Almu altogether, as it stood.'
Find went afterwards to Almu and abode in it. And it is it that was his princit-al residence whilst he lived.
Find and Goll concluded peace after that ; and the eric of his father was given by the Clann-Morna to Find. And they lived peacefully until (a quarrel) occurred between them in Temhair-Luachra, regarding the Slanga-pig, when Banb-Sinno, son of Maeleiiaig, was slain, of which was said : —
* Afterwards they made peace — Find and Goll of mighty deeds — Until Banb-Sinna was slain, Regarding the pig in Temhair Luachra.'
12 THE CELTIC REVIEW
Then when they noticed Cumal coming home after slaying this number of the Clanna Morna, Garradh knew that Cumal was a lover of fair women. Garradh sent his sister out to meet Cumal before he should come where they were.
This gift was Cumal's, whenever he met with a woman that he fell asleep, and as soon as he fell in with her he fell asleep. Then one in a frenzy came out and cried with a loud shout : * If there be any alive of the tribe of Morna, let him avenge the nobles.'
*o*
* We made a rush that was not slow, And reached the house in which was Cumal, And made sore wounds each one With his spear in the body of Cumal.
* He would bellow as though a cow were there, ^ And he would roar as though a boar, And though it was not a king's son's honour, Cumal would kick like a garron.
8
' There thou hast, Fionn, Cumal's son, A little of a tale about thy father ; Without ill, without concealment, since then Without esteem, without honour.
• Then Fionn said :
9
' Though I was unborn in the time of Cumal of the keen blades, the deed that you did shamefully, I will avenge it in one day.
^ Other Tariants in Gaelic are : —
i. Dh' Eibheadh e mar mhuc, 's raoimhceadh e mar thorc s bhrammadh e
mar ghearran s a shleagh fhein ma fheaman. ii. Dh' Eibheadh e mar thorc bhramadh e mar ghearan s a shleagh fhein n»
fheaman. ill. Leumadh e ri failgheas agus bhramadh e mar ghearran agus a shleagh
fhein na fheaman.
THE FIONN SAGA 13
* Said Garradh : 10 ' Well wilt thou get that, thou man To brandish the spear for thy father. Put the kindred behind And raise the common blood-feud.' *
How Cumal was slain
A prose story written by a schoolmaster in Mull about 1800 is in the Advocates' Library.
It begins by stating that Ireland was divided into five divisions. It goes on with part of the story of the Battle of Muchdraim,^ which is not part of the Fenian story as I have learned it. He makes Cumal the smith's daughter, and then goes on with her, daughter and son, as in the true Fenian story. The son was taken by Luas Lurgann (nimble shanks), nighean muime is oide 'n High dhleasanich, sister of Cohan Saor. They v/ent to Coille Ultich. They made a bed in the middle of a great tree with a door to it, so that no one should know it. When he grew up she taught him to play at Clar-Tathlisc. She used to run races with him to the top of Beinn Eaduin. She ran behind and flogged him with blackthorn boughs. When he got but one blow at starting, he was taught that game. She taught him archery and
^ The scribe here evidently spelt Gaelic according to his own system, by ear. The man who dictated to him had only got fragments of the lay ; e.g., verses 9, 10 have ceased to be verse at all, and after verse 5 is a bit of prose. After a hundred years or thereabouts the only bit of the ballad that survives out in the Long Island is verse 7.
With this compare Dean's Book, p. 65 of Gaelic, 88 of English, and notes. There seems to be no doubt about the fact that several bits are written together in the Dean's Book, but£there is the story told in verse about 1520, 1760, and 1870.
Note. — According to note, page 89, Lismore Book, Cumal was killed at the battle of Cnucha. According to the ballad, pp. 75, 76, Zarri (or Garridh) tells Finn that he thrust the first dart into Cumal. Finn says that the news is rather too much to hear that Clanna Morna had slain his father. The other recites the evils done to his tribe by Cumal ; how he had driven one branch to Albain, one to Lochlann, one to Greece. There was a great fight when they came back after sixteen years, and after the battle they all rushed to the house where Cumal still was and thrust spears into his body. This does not at all disagree with my story.
2 [Battle of Moy Muchruime, a.d. 195, according to the Annals of the Four Masters ; the tale concerning it is translated in O'Grady's Silva Gadelica.]
14 THE CELTIC REVIEW
shinny. When taught she took him to the shinny match in the Royal Town, where he beat everybody. The king heard about An gille luideagach ban, the tattered fair lad, and went to see him with the muime and named him as in other versions. She cried his name : 's tusa sin Fionn.
After that he went off with the nurse and had but the legs when he got home.
Next day he went wandering and reached Eas Ruadh, where he met the fisher and begged a fish. The first was a salmon, a king's fish, and too good for him. So the tale goes on, as I have it, till the burnt finger gives him Jios an dd shaoghail as they say, the knowledge of the two worlds. He got to know that the fisher's name was Forca Dubha, and that he had slain his father, and that his father's sword was near him. He beheaded the fisher and reached the house of a smith (gohhin), his grandfather.^
Here the story goes ofi* to the sheep and the king's unjust decisions as in the story of the Battle of Muchdraim. Fionn got to be steward in the king's house.
' This is the Staffa version already translated. I do not accordingly expand Campbell's own condensed account, which in this section he meant to have done, but I add here several notes which he made on the back of several pages of his MSS. to the following eflfect : —
Fionn's wisdom tooth is mentioned in Lays, and is systematically ignored by people who wrote about Fenian matters as if they were grave history, e.g. the argu- ment in Kennedy's MSS. finished before 1783, at p. 131 says Fingal discovered the fact by his magic art, which he performed, as traditionally related, by getting one of his fingers into his mouth and chewing to a joint.
Chuir Fionn a mheur fui dheud fios Fhreagair each am fios a fhuair. i.e. Fionn put his finger under his knowledge tooth. The rest replied to the knowledge he found.
As to Fionn's revenge, Campbell notes farther on : — The first fiosachd, 'know- ledge,' that Fionn got when he burned his finger and put it under his tooth, was that this fisherman was Arc Dubh, the Fenian traitor, who slew Cuiual, his father ; that his father's hound Bran, the son of Buidheag, and his father's sword, mac » Luinn, that never left shred after stroke, were at the fisher's house, and that the fisher would kill him unless he slew the fisher unawares. So he ate up all the salmon him- self for he was tired and hungry,
.3rd December 1871, Dublin. — In the Book of Leinster, Fionn's wisdom tooth,
THE FIONN SAGA 15
Then Cairbre Ruadh and his people come in. They come to the King of Ulster, who joins with Fionn, who declares himself and is made King of Ireland.
Seachd Bliadhna fiched gu fior Bha Ludhadh mac Con 'na Eigh Gun bhas gun ghabhadh gun ghuin Fir, mna, na gille bha n Eirinn.
So this is really two stories run together, but so that I can easily distinguish them by the aid of current traditions alone.
Fionn' s Birth
When Cumal was slain the King of Lochlann came to Alba and took it and shared it with the King of Eirinn. They made slaves of the Feinn, and made them hunt for them, and they fell to poverty and great straits, because they had no leader after they had lost Cumal. The king's [messenger] went back to Ireland, and there they found that the king's daughter was to bear a child, so they sent for the
' Det fiss,' is mentioned in a poem which begins * Dam thrir taucatar ille ' (Fob 161 A 2).
At foot of p. 33 of his MS. he notes :— Cf. 1. The Volsung tale. 2. The wisdom of F., the swiftness of C, the cunning of Conan, and the sturdy strokes of Osgar were the public four that upheld the Feinn. But that was said long afterwards.
Fios Fhinn, luathas Chaoilte, fathach Chonain^ ag^is sar {hrath) bhuillean Osgair na Geithir coiteacheann a eumail a siias an Fheinn.
At foot of p. 37 he adds : — Robertson, Tobermory, said Cumal was killed by a fisherman. Fionn said to the fisherman : 'What death did Cumal meet ?' The fisher said : —
' Tharnadh e mar mhuc agus Eaibheadh e mar each,' etc.
' That will I do to you,' said Fionn, and he killed the fisher. That was his first exploit. He was very wise. He never went to battle that he did not know the result beforehand. I don't know how he got his wisdom. He was not so strong as many of his men. He was cunning and crafty.
According to a Macleod in South Uist he had no fuel, but Broileagaig bheartan iarain agus dual na dhaghan a ghoisne, which he explained to mean augur dust, and the hearts of feathers, and to be Irish Gaelic.
I wrote from ear, and do not know that I have written correctly. According to Robertson, Tobermory, September 16, 1870, Beart do iarne guaine agus gual a dhath- adh dhaoine. The reciter was eighty-six and devoid of teeth, so I could but guess at unknown words.
16 THE CELTIC EEVIEW
fisher to ask his counsel. ' Wretched creature/ said the King of Lochlann, ' I will kill her, or rather I will leave her here in Eirinn, for it is my own fault. If she has a son slay him, if she has a daughter let her live.*
* Do this,' said Arc Dubh, * swear twelve doctors and twelve midwives to watch her and wait upon her, and to tell when the child is born.'
That was his counsel to the king, and they took it. So. that was done. Twelve doctors and twelve midwives were got, and they were sworn, and all the household were sworn, for they feared that Cumal's son might do them harm if he lived and grew, so mighty was Cumal and so strong.
The king's daughter was left in the palace in Eirinn, and she fell to sorrowing and to woe. At the end of three- quarters and a year^ about noon, as it might be now, the king's daughter fell ill, and about the gloaming at six or eight a girl was born. All were well pleased, and word was sent to the King of Eirinn. The doctors fell to drinking and merry-making, and the midwives fell asleep. But about mid- night when all are asleep but one woman who was nursing a child by the fire, the king's daughter said —
' Is any one awake ? '
' I am awake,' said the bean-ghMn (knee-wife). ' What is it?'
' Come here,' said she softly.
The woman went to her, and she had a boy in her aims.
* I must wake the household,' said the midwife, whose name was Gumag.^
' Nay, nay,' said the king's daughter ; ' don't do that, take him from my sight, throw him to the great hounds. It were better so than to see his father's son slain. But stop,' said
* Gaelic idiom for a year and nine months.
2 Mor, nighean Taoic. — Fletcher's Collection ; it was the Clanna Morna w^ho wanted to slay the child. [Others say] : —
It was his grandmother who stole him away to a distant wood and hid him in a hollow alder (fearna) tree, and fed him with fat. When he got strong enough to follow her she gave him a sword, and ran races. At last he cut oflf a cheek of hers and then it was time to get him christened.
THE FIONN SAGA 17
she, * if you will keep him alive I will pay you, and perhaps he will pay you himself if he grows to be a man. This is the one who will handle the realm.'
' But I have sworn to tell the king,' said Gumag ; ' and how shall I nurse him, for I have no milk ? '
' Open the press,' said the king's daughter, ' and there you will find food for Cumal's son. Set your oaths aside.'
So the woman pitied the babe, and his mother, the king's daughter. She opened the press and found flesh in it. She took a knife and cut a great strip of fat meat. That she thrust into the babe's mouth. She wrapped him in some clothes that were in the room, and then she stole out in the dark and thrust the child into a hole at the end of a byre, there to live or die amongst the cattle. Then she stole back and took her child upon her knee, and sat by the fire and nursed it till dawn.
When the others awoke she said to the lady : * My head aches ; you have no more need of me now, I will go and rest.' She was head nurse.
' Awake one of the others,' said the lady, ' and go, but come in the morning and see me again.'
Out she went, and in the byre she found the child with the meat in his mouth alive and well. She tucked him under her cloak, and ofi she went before the day had dawned through the big town of the Irish king and half a mile on the road to the hut of her brother, whose name was Art.
She went to Dubh Lochan Moine near a black peat pool. But the brother was not there. He had gone to help some builders to finish a great castle that was outside the town in a forest. She walked five miles through the forest with the child under her cloak sucking the fat meat.
The castle was nearly finished, and all were asleep when she got there. She cried aloud : * Is Art awake ? Tell him one has business with him here.' Art knew his sister's voice and her speech, and out he came in haste with nothing on but his shirt and drawers.
' What is the matter ? ' said Art. VOL. II. B
18 THE CELTIC REVIEW
' I have done an ill deed,' said she, ' and the following is upon me ; take your axe and come with me to the black moss pool and help me to make a shelter there, and to hide.'
The Wright was an old man with a white head. When he heard what his sister said he put on his clothes as fast as he could and shouldered his axe and set off, while she fol- lowed with the child, sucking the fat meat under her cloak. (An am glomadh an laiha) in the gloaming of the day the Wright said : ' What have you under your cloak ? '
* That which belongs to me,' said she. ' Why should a man ask an old woman what she has under her cloak ? Though I had stolen something, my brother might help me in my need.'
Then they reached the place as the day broke, and the Wright soon made a shelter of sticks and beams, and a hut by the black peat pool. Then he stopped.
* Not another turn will I do,' said he, ' till I know what you have got under your cloak.' Then he cast down his axe, and looked and saw the child.
* That,' said he, ' is the son of Cumal ; I will do to him as will do to this stake before I go hence.'
* Stop,' said Gumag, * finish the bothy first for me.' ' It is done,' said Art.
* No,' said she, ' the doorway is not right.'
She thrust the child into some hole and got up and climbed on the wall of the hut.
' See,' said she, ' it wants a shaving off here. If you won't do it yourself hand me the axe and put your shoulder under the lintel.'
' I will slay that isean na beisde, whelp of the beast, Cumal,' said the wright, grumbling, and as he said it he stooped his head to go out of the hut. Then Gumag smote him with the axe, and chopped off his head.
' You are dead,' she said, ' and none shall know who killed you. You will tell no tales of me.'
Then she came down from the top of the bothy and
THE FIONN SACxA 19
dragged the body of Art to some hole, and then she buried her brother.
Then she made a bed of leaves and branches and laid the child on it, while he kept sucking at the fat meat, and when that was done she went back to the palace to seek clothes, and to see the lady.
' What has happened,' said the king's daughter, * and where is the child ? '
Then Gumag told all that had happened from first to last.
' Perhaps, poor woman, the lad will repay you himself for all that you have done, even though you have killed your brother for his sake, for his hand will rule the realm yet.' So said the king's daughter.
Now, that is the way in which Fionn's grandfather, the King of Lochlann, managed to slay Fionn's father, Cumal, and that is how Fionn was saved. I never heard his sister's name, but she came to be the mother of Diarmad O'Duibhne, as it is said in the lay of Diarmad : —
' S olc a chomhairle chinn agam Aona mhac mo pheathar a mharbhadh.'
' Evil was the counsel that grew within me To slay the only son of my sister.' ^
(as repeated in 1871 by W. Robertson, Tobermory, and fre- quently repeated by others elsewhere in 1860 and since. Not in Gillies, p. 287).
^ [According to this Duiben was a sister of Fionn, for Diarmad's descent is traced from his mother.]
{To he continued.)
20 THE CELTIC REVIEW
THE GLENMASAN MANUSCRIPT
Professor Mackinnon
GAELIC TEXT
' Do beirim-si brethir fir/ ar Bricne, ' gur bris Fergus triochat cath. B'anTi dib cath Inb(hir Tuaighe for) Niall Niam- hglonnach ^ mac Rosa ruaid car ... a n-dorchair Ruir . . . ruaid ferda an cathmihc?^, agus cai/i . . . eile Cairn Eolairg a n-dorchair Camalk'cAia an ban gaisgec?ac^, agus cath mor Cairn Eolairg du a u-dorchair Bolg mac Builg mic Eolairg agus Eolarg mac Edh . . . da chaogat, agus cath Inbir Loinne a torchair Finn mac Innadmair, rig Temra. Agus is e do bris cath Maistin ar clannaib Rosa co coitcenn ; agus cath Mullach dub Rosa for clannaib Rosa fos ; agus cath Mana for Conchobar agus for Ulltaib ; agus cath cepcha for clannaib Durtacht ait atorchair Eogan mac Durtacht ; agus cath Luachra for clannaib Degad ; agus cath Duine da Beann ; agus cath Boirche ; agus moran eile nach airmighter ann so do cathaib, gurab do derbadh na cath sin agus na tuarasdal ^ adubairt an senchaid na raind-se :
Golumn 29. ' Fo fer Fergus fichtib tor,
Do bris cath ar Conchobar ; Ni fhaca laoch lith n-gaili, Do roiset^ 6 Rugraide.
' Mo na gach mac mac Rosa ; Fo gach glac glac Fergusa ; Fochla do rigaib mac Rosa, Ag iogail airgid is 6ir.
^ The Martial Career of Conghal Cldringhneach (quoted here as Cc), recently pub- lished by the Irish Text Society (vol. v.), throws some light on this chapter in the early career of Fergus. Fergus attached himself to the party of Conghal in the year in which the former ' first took possession of his territory,' and shared in all his adven- tures until the latter was enthroned monarch of Ireland. Their people destroyed Dun da Beann, the seat of Niall Niamhghlonnach, in the absence of its lord, and took his wife Craobh, daughter of Durtacht, and sister of Eogan, prisoner. The lady, preferring death to captivity, threw herself into the Bann and was drowned. Afterwards they fought and slew Niall himself at Aonach Tuaighe, no doubt the Inb(er Tuaighe) of our MS. The name of the father of Finn, slain at Inver Loinne, is practically illegible. But there is enough to show that Innadmar, otherwise Findat-
THE GLENMASAN MANUSCRIPT 21
{Continued from vol. i. pp. 314, 315) ENGLISH TRANSLATION
I pledge my word, said Bricne, that Fergus fought and won thirty battles. One of these was the battle of Inver Tuagh against Niall Niamhglonnach (Bright-deeds), son of red Bos . . . where the manly prince and battle-warrior B. fell ; another was the battle of Carn Eolarg, where the amazon Camallichta fell. There were also the great battle of Carn Eolarg where Bolg son of Bolg son of Eolarg and Eolarg son of E. (and) two fifties (besides) fell : and the battle of Inver Loinne, where fell Finn, son of Innadmar, King of Tara. He it was who won the battle of Maistiu against the whole of the clans of Bos ; and the battle of MuUach dub (black-top) of Bos against the clans of Bos as well ; and the battle of Mana against Concho- bar and the Ultonians ; and a stubborn fight against the clans of Durtacht, where Eogan the son of Durtacht was killed ; and the battle of Luachra against the clans of Degad ; and the battle of the Fort of two Peaks ; and the battle of Boirche ; and many other battles not here enumerated, in proof of which battles and exploits (?) the historian composed these quatrains : —
' A mighty man Fergus of the many towers, Who conquered Conchobar in battle ; There has not been seen his equal in valour, That issued from Rugraide.
' Greater than any son the son of Ros ; Mightier than any hand that of Fergus ; A model to kings is the son of Ros, For acquiring silver and gold.
mar, monarch of Ireland in his day, and father of the reigning high king, Lughaidh Luaighne, is meant. Cath Boirche may be the battle fought against Boirche Casur- lach (Cc. 168, 172) after the return of Fergus and Conghal from Norway, The Mourne Mountains were of old called Beanna Boirche. Cath Mana was fought against Conchobar at a later period, no doubt after Fergus's revolt in consequence of the murder of the sons of Uisnech. The ' stubborn fight ' with Eogan son of Durtacht, where Eogan was slain, has already been described (v. supra, vol. i. p. 226). Cam Eolairg, or Carraig Eolairg, is said to have been in the neighbourhood of Derry. Maistiu is now MuUaghmast, co. Kildare. ^ Cf. O'Don. Supp. tuarastal.
22 THE CELTIC REVIEW
' Tri cet carpat do beir, Co n-armaib co n-ilsgiathaib, Co n-dei(g)-cealtaib . . . A tuarastlaib a oglach.
' Do berim da m-brethir fis (f), Agus ni ticfa tairis, Deich catha fichet . . . Gur bris Fergus a n-Eirinn.
* Cath Luachra for clannaib Degad, Sochaidi tuc f o mheabul ; Cath Maisdin for clannaib Rosa, Is cath mor Mullach dub Rosa.
' (Cath Boir)che an treas deroir ; Cath Inbir Loinne for Bre . . .
OS aird,
Agus cath Cairge Eolairg.
* . . . san . . . mac Ro . . . . cet irna derg-oir ;
Ni dar gnath,
Do mnaib amus is oglach.
* . . . ar enech ni ar a gruaidh, Do tisad fo era uaid;
ni dubairt go,
O'n lo . . . arm fen fo.'
Fo.
' Is briathar damsa,' ar Bricne, * nach b-fuil locht do . . . Fergus . . . acht gan rige n-Ulad aigi agus gan rigain a (din)gbaZa fos.' ' Is amlaid atu-sa, a Bricni/ ar Flidais, ' . . . for talmam oram acht gan oir(?) mo dingmala . . . agam.' 'Dar m-breithir am/ ar Bricne, *ni fhaca . . . cele hudh ferr ina do cele (Oilill) 'Finn.'' ' (Dim)ain, a Bricne,' ar Flidais, * ni gabthar uaidsi sin, oir tuca-sa grad de?'mar d'Fergus, agus ar imtec^^a (imgesa ?) nac^ b-f. . . . ortsa acht mana chuirer Fergus fo gesaib fa techt do m' breith-si leis o'n Gamanraid d'ais no dligi.'
Ba fergach Bricne de sin agus is ed adubairt : ' Mor am- rath an fhir d' a tucais an grad sin. Agus ni raibhe ben
THE GLENMASAN MANUSCRIPT 23
' He gives three hundred chariots, With weapons and many shields, With suitable accoutrements . . . In stipends to his warriors.
' I declare of certain knowledge. And will not boast of it, That Fergus won . . . Thirty battles in Ireland.
* The battle of Luachra over the clans of Degad, Multitudes he put to shame, The battle of Maisdiu over the clans of Ros, And the great battle of Mullach-dub-Ros.
' The battle of Boirche, the third I mention ; The battle of Inver Loinne over Bre . . .;
And the battle of Rock Eolarg.
. (thirty) hundred irnas of red gold ;
To the wives of mercenaries and warriors,
* . . on his face nor on his cheek,
(No one) would have refusal from him ;
he never spoke falsely. From the day (he became) a warrior.' Mighty.
' I give my word,' said Bricne, ' that Fergus lacks in nothing save that he is not king of Ulster, and that he has not a queen worthy of him.' ' I am in similar plight, Bricne/ said Flidais, ' (I lack nothing) on earth except a suitable husband' (?). 'By my word now/ replied Bricne, * I never met a more excellent spouse than (Oilill) the Fair, your husband.' * You speak foolishly, Bricne,' said Flidais, ' and I will not hear such language from you. For I love Fergus greatly, and when you depart (I ask nothing of you) save to put Fergus under prohibitions as to his coming to carry me away from the Gamhanraidh of consent or compulsion (?).'
Bricne was wroth when he heard this, and said : ' Sad is the evil fate of the man to whom you have given your love. For he never had a wife but eventually hated him. And he
24 THE CELTIC REVIEW
«^Y riamh aigi nach tibrao^ misgus do. Agus ni fuair ben a ding-
* bala, acht cuidiugadh Medba re med a lathra ferrda. Agus
red eile fos aidhblighes a anagh .i. tri coinnle gaisgid Gaidel do marbadh ar a comairce an Emain Macha. Agus ar na Tighibh nochar eirigh grian tar uillinn laoc(h)muir re rige. Agus a rigan,' ar Bricne, ' do siresa an domun o cathair Murni Molfai^re^ a tuaisc^Vt an domuin co ruigi so, agus ni fhaca eturru sin fer budh ferr ina Oilill Finn.'
' Dimain duitsi sin, a Bricni,' ar Flidais, ' agus ni gabthar sin uaid. Agus do gebair roighni shed Erenn do cinn mo comarli-si do denam, a Bricni. Agus oirdeochad-sa d'Fergus mar do ghena, oir do chuala-sa go fuilid fir Eirenn ac dul ar aon sluaiged ar cend tana bo Cuailgni an Ulltaib. Agus tiged-san d'iarradh faighdhe ech agus airm agus eididh ar an n-Gamannraid, agus rachad-sa leis. Agus gid tri deich cet do deig feraib tig-se, ro-d-bia ainder a dingbala da gach ain fer aca. Agus berad-sa an m-boin maeil as ferr full an Eirinn ; agus da roised mh' airgeda lim agus an Mael Flidaise, berad as an galad ^ fir Eirenn gacha sechtmad aidche.' Agus cuma do bi 'g a radh, agus atbert an laid t-surgi '-si :
* A Bricni, eirigh uaim ar n-uair And sa rod go Cruachain cruaidh Cuir naoi n-gesa * for mac Roigh
\ Mana ti let achetoir,
'^ *Gid tri deich cet ro-d-fai ille,
Fergus liareid . . . rugraide (?) Ro-d-fia ainder gac(h) fer dib, Agus faeifed . •. . le a rig (?)
* Dd ria lim mo bo 's mo tain, Biathf . . . le Flidais Gid ar sluaiget beid coidche, Gacha sechtmad n-oidche.
* V. supra, vol. i. p. 14. Later in the MS. Fergus refers to his adventures in Uardha (the cold land), where this catkair was situated. A detailed account of this expedition is given in Cc. p. 112 et seq.
2 The same phrase occurs later. I have not seen the word galad elsewhere. But the meaning is evidently as I have ventured to render it.
THE GLENMASAN MANUSCRIPT 25
has not had a spouse worthy of him, only the society of Meave because of his vigorous manhood. And besides there is another matter which affects his honour, the three torches of valour of the Gael have been slain in Emain Macha while under his safeguard. And during his reign the sun of pros- perity did not shine upon the (subject) princes. Further, O queen, I have travelled the world from the city of Muirn Mol- faig in the north to here, and in all my journeyings I have not seen a better man than Oilill the Fair,' added Bricne.
' Idle talk, Bricne, which I do not believe,' said Flidais. ' But you shall have your choice of the treasures of Ireland in return for carrying out my instructions, Bricne. I shall direct Fergus how to proceed, for I have heard that the men of Ire- land are to go as one host to Ulster to carry away the cows of Cuailgne. Let him come for a subsidy of horses, weapons, and armour from the Gamhanraidh, and I shall go with him. And although three thousand stout men of you should come, a suitable wife will be provided for every man of them. And I shall bring with me my hummel cow, the best in Ireland. And if my herds and the Maol Flidais accompany me, they will amply supply the men of Ireland every seventh night.' And as she spoke she recited this love- song : —
' Bricne, leave me forthwith, And betake thee to sterile Cruachan ; Lay nine prohibitions on the son of Eoicb, If he comes not instantly with you.
' Though three thousand should come thither, With Fergus (1) A wife for each man of them Shall wed with her lord (?)
' If I bring my cow and herds, Flidais shall feed the hosts Every seventh night, Should the campaign last for ever.
' Literally * courting lay.' In modern S.G. oran gaoil, ' love-song,' ■would be the phrase used.
* In his report to Fergus (infra), Bricne mentions one or two of the nine taboos that Flidais laid upon him.
26 THE CELTIC REVIEW
' An aos o thair, aidble main, A fik<fa (?) a samain (1) Dingebad dib, t61aib gal, Dithisd is . . .
' A ingen as m6r an gnim, Do bere do laim ... . . . rig . . . calma, Do treigen ar rid . . .
' Is e sin mo ceile c6ir. An f er re n-abar ^ mac Roigh, A ben dingmala de, Nochar . . . nge, a Bricne. '
A Bricne.
Is ann sin do ghluais Bricne as an baile a mach(?) agus ni rue OUam o banntracht riam edail . . ., ocus rainic roime go dunadh Atha Fen. Agus o d'conncatar lucht an baile h-e, do eirghedar uile 'n a agaid, agus do fersad fir-cain failte fris, agus do toirbretar poga imdha do, agus do fiafraigedh de nar buidech do Flidais e. Adubairt Bricne gur buidech. Agus do bi an adaig sin an dunadh Atha Fen. Agus do eirigh co moch ar na marach agus do iarr a (th.)idl\ictha agus a elm^a leis. Agus do seoladh tre caogait oglach leis .i. fer in gach carpat finndruine da raib aigi, agus ba tanas de sluagh lan- m6ir a linmarecht. Agus tinmais celeabrad do maithib Oilella Finn agus do fen. Agus do innis d' Oilill co ticfa Fergus d'a agallaim, agus d'iarraidh faigdhe ech agus eididh ar an n-Gamannraid.
Is si so sligi do deochatar .i. tar cend Conlocha agus tar sal Srotha Deirg agus a crich Breis mic Ealathan re raiter tir Fiachrach Mide, agus tar traig Ruis air gid ris a raiter traig Eothaile, agus tar Srath nan Druad ris a raiter Srath an Fherain, agus a magh Coraind ingine Fail mic Fidhga ris in abartar Clar mic Aire an Choraind clann Uaine, agus laim re maolan cinn t-Seinnsleibi ris in abartar Ceis caom alainn Coraind, agus tar Sruth Fainglinn ris in abartar BuiU.
^ The usual phrases are re n-abrar, ris a n-ahartar, re rditer, ris a raiter. But this form also occurs in this MS. and elsewhere. Cf. Cc, p. 30 n., et aliis.
THE GLENMASAN MANUSCRIPT 27
* The folks of the East have vast wealth, Their poets
I shall protect you, floods of valour Two ....
' Lady, you have taken upon you A great undertaking. To forsake your brave king For a
• He is my rightful spouse. The man called son of Roich, His worthy wife I shall be, (And do thou depart), Bricne.'
Bricne
Bricne thereupon left the stead, and never did OUamh carry away (such) wealth from women before. He proceeded to the fort of Ath Fen. When the people saw him they all went forth to meet him. They gave him a warm welcome, kissed him often, and asked whether he was not well pleased with Flidais. Bricne said he was. He stayed that night in the palace of Ath Fen. He rose early on the morrow and asked for his presents and treasures. Thrice fifty warriors were sent with him, one in each chariot of white bronze which he possessed, and their number had the appearance of a large host. He bade farewell to Oilill the Fair and to his chiefs. And he told Oilill that Fergus would come to have parley with him, and to seek aid in horses and armour from the Gamhanraidh.
This is the road on which they travelled : — past the end of Dog-loch and the heel of Bed-stream into the territory of Breas son of Ealathan, (now) called the land of Fiachra in Meath, and across the silver strand of Bos (now) called the Strand of Eothal, and over the Strath of the Druids (now) called the Strath of Feran, and into the plain of Corand, daughter of Fal son of Fidhga, (now) called the Plain of the son of Aire of Corand of the clans Uaine, and by the little round (or bare) of the head of Old Hill, (now) called the dear beautiful Ceis of Corand, and across the Stream of Fanglen (sloping-glen), (now) called Buill.
28 THE CELTIC REVIEW
Is ann sin do impodset teglach Oilella uatha, agus tanic Bricne roime go Cruachain. Agus adconncadar an imirce adbal mor ellmha da n-indsaige, agus ba li-ingnad mor leo uile sin. Ocus do t-shailedar gur b' 6 Cet no Conadar mac Cecht agus crechi a h-Ulltaib aca bai and. Tanic Bricne roime a Cruachain a nonn, agus do feradh failti fris, agus do fiafraigedh de ciiich na crecha mora do hi aige. ' Ni h-ed am,' ar Bricne, 'fail agam acht m'edail-si o'n Gamanraid sin .i. 0 Oilill Finn agus o na maithib ar chena.'
* Cindus tech tech Oilella Finn ? ' ar Medb re Bricni. ' Is se tech as ferr gus a ranag-sa riam h-e. Agus fos ni f haca tech bad commaith ris,' ar Bricne, ' o'n lo do t-sires an doman ar aon re Fergus.' Agus ba fergach Medb de sin .i. fa tech sa doman do chur tar a tech fein. ' Do neimdK^is,^ a Bricni,' bar Medb, ' imarbaidh do cur a m' cenn.' ' Ni cuirim-si on imarbaid a t' chenn,' ar Bricne. ' Acht aon ni : as e tech Oilella Finn tech as li'a ollamain agus anrath ^ agus obloir ^ agus eistrecht * mna agus macaim agus mindaeine ; ^ curaidh agus coraidh*^ agus cath-milidh agus cliath bernadha catha? Agus fledi feraind agus b'y'wgaidh bailtead.^ Oir ataid an urdail- si do churaidhibh comanmannaib ann .i. tri cet Ferdiad im Ferdiadh mac Damhain, agus tri cet Fraech im Fraech mac Fidaigh, agus tri cet Goll im Goll Oilech agus Ada, agus tri cet Gamuin im Gamuin na Sidgaile, agus tri cet Duban im Duban mac an gamna, agus tri cet Dartadh im Dartadh na
^ I have not met with this compound elsewhere. But it is evidently dligim with the negative neb-, neph-, nem-, neamh-, S.G. neo-, prefixed. The Dictionaries, Highland Society's (H.S.D.), for example, give the adjective neo-dhligheach, 'unlawful,' but not the verb.
2 anrath, older anruth, the name of the bard next in rank to the ollam or rig-hard who was the highest (Jr. T., iii. (1), p. 5). After the convention of Drnim Ceta (575 A.D.) the retinue (deir) of the anruth was reduced to twelve. Bricne, usually described as ollamh, is, in this manuscript, also spoken of as anrath.
3 obloir, * a jester,' now in S.G. and I.G. amhlair, ' fool,' ' boor,' ' blockhead.'
* eistrecht : the exact meaning of the word is uncertain. In The Laws, vol. i. p. 138, essrechta maccru, ' toys of children,' include camana, ' hurley ' or ' shinty ' sticks ; liathroiti, ' balls ' ; and luboca, ' hoops.' Perhaps here the word may be translated 'playthings.' Immediately below, the context would suggest 'dwarfs' as the better rendering of the word.
* min-daeine : ' little folks,' ' children,' as distinct from macaim, ' youths,'
THE GLENMASAN MANUSCRIPT 29
At this point Oilill's people turned back, and Bricne pro- ceeded to Cruachan. And when the vast cavalcade was seen approaching them, all wondered greatly thereat. They thought it was Get or Conodhar son of Gecht with plunder from Ulster. When Bricne arrived at Cruachan, he was welcomed, and people asked what this great booty was which he brought with him. ' None other,' said Bricne, ' than my presents from the Gamhanraidh, from Oilill the Fair and the nobles generally.'
* What sort of house is the house of Oilill the Fair 1 ' asked Meave of Bricne. ' The best I ever visited,' said Bricne. ' And besides,' added he, ' I have not seen one to equal it, since I went to travel the globe along with Fergus.' Meave was wroth because any house in the world was named as superior to her own. ' You ought not to provoke me to a quarrel, Bricne,' said Meave. ' I do not,' said Bricne. * And yet, in Oilill Finn's palace are to be found the greatest number of oUamhs and poets and jesters and women's play- things and boys and children ; champions and warriors and battle-soldiers and valiant troops ; country banquets, and town hospitallers. For this number of champions of like names are there, viz., Ferdia son of Daman with three hundred Ferdias in his train ; Fraoch son of Fidach with three hundred Fraochs ; three hundred Golls with Goll Oilech and Ada ; three hundred Gamans with Gaman of Sidgal ; three
'boys.' Of. S.G. meanbh-chrodh, 'sheep,' 'goats,' ia contrast with crodh, 'cows,' ' cattle.'
" coraidh, preserved in I.G. as coraidhe (Din.) ; marked long (coraidh) in Dr. Kuno Meyer's Contributions to Irish Lexicograj'hy (K. M.). Here and elsewhere in this MS. the vowel is evidently short, suggestive of similar root with mraidh, if not indeed the same word with change of vowel.
^ cliath bernadha catha : an uncommon phrase. Cf. w chliath-bern chdt LL. 61 a 22 (K. M.). Cliath, 'hurdle,' ' wattle,' is applied to men in close battle array ; be{a)rn is ' gap,' ' breach,' The exact force of the phrase is doubtful, perhaps ' picked men to pierce the enemy's lines,' or ' to defend a pass,' ' fit to stand in battle's gap ' (O'Gr. Cat., p. 408).
* fledi feraind agus briLgaidh bailtead : cf. infra (p. 32), the corresponding phrase, m' istada agus m' adbara fleda a muigh, used by Meave to magnify the resources of her own district. Baile is of the dental declension still — pi. bailte{an). But I have not met the form bailtead (gen. pi.) elsewhere.
30 THE CELTIC REVIEW
hundred Dubans with Duban son of Gaman ; three hundred Dibeirge, agus tri cet Fosgamuin fa tri Fosgamnaib Irrais, agus tri cet Breislend fa shecht m-Breislendaib Bhrefne. Agus do berim-si do m' breithir, a Meadb, go fuilid an urdail sin eile ann nocha d' inann anmanda doib.' Ba baidh le Meidb, acht ger fuath le an Gamanraid, an moladh sin do tabairt ar a h-oclachaib fein. Agus do gab Bricne ac tabairt tesmolta tige Oilella Finn os aird, agus adbert in laid : —
Column 32. ' Lod-sa cuairt a Cruachain Aei,
Indeosat daeib, ar don caei : F6 an ^aith ranag ann gan f ois ; Fo an ceile d' an comadhus.
V
* Ranac go Dun Atha Fen, Turchanas ^ ann ilar sgel, Go h-Oilill Finn farms cath, Go mac rig nan Domnannach.
* Mo gach sluag sluag an duine Aille a fir, aobdha a mine ; Failed tri cet fa ocht and
Do curadhaib comanmannaibh.
* Tri cet Ferdiad ann re h-dgh Ima Ferdiad mac Damain ; Tri cet Fraech fuiled a stigh Far aon re Fraech mac Fidaigh.
' Tri cet Gamuin, gleo n-gaile, Fa Gamuin na Sidgaile ; Tri cet Duban, dreimne glac, Fa Duban in a deg mac.
* Tri cet Fosgamuin, radh f huis. Fa tri Fosgamnaibh Irmis ; Tri cet Goll go n-grinne n-ga, Fa Gold Oilech is Ada.
' Tri cet Dartadh doib mails, Fd Dartadh na Dibeirge ; Tri cet Breislenn, baigh imne, Fa t-secht Breslennaibh Brefni.
^ tair-chanim and ter-chanim, ' I prophesy,' are common forms ; tin-cantain and tin- chetal in the sense of ' repetition,' * incantation,' are also met with. Here this com- pound of canim evidently means simply to ' tell ' or ' repeat,'
THE GLENMASAN MANUSCRIPT 31
Dartads with Dartad of Diberg ; three hundred Fosgamuins with the three Fosgamuins of Erris ; and three hundred Breslenns with the seven Breslenns of Brefne. And I declare on my honour, Meave. that there are as many again of different names.' Although Meave hated the Gamhanraidh, it pleased her to hear her own warriors' praises. And Bricne continued his laudation of the palace of Oilill the Fair, and recited the lay : —
* I fared forth on a visit from Cruachan Ai, I declare to you, on a certain road ;
Goodly the prince whose palace I quickly reached, Goodly his worthy spouse.
' I arrived at the castle of the ford of wagons, I told many a tale there. At Oilill the Fair's, warrior of Erris, Son of the king of the Domnanns.
* Taller than all others the people of that castle. Handsomer its men, pleasanter their disposition : Three hundred eight times told are there
Of champions of like names.
' Three hundred valorous Ferdiads are there With Ferdiad son of Daman ; Three hundred Fraochs abide there With Fraoch son of Fidach.
' Three hundred Gamans, bold in strife, With Garaan of Sidgal ; Three hundred Dubans, of merciless grip, With Duban, that goodly youth.
' Three hundred Fosgamuins, a truthful statement, With the three Fosgamuins of Erris ; Three hundred Golls with polished spears, With Goll Oilech and Ada,
' Three hundred Dartads , a loyal band. Around Dartad of Diberg ; Three hundred Breslenns, of like devotion, With the seven Breslenns of Brefne.
32 THE CELTIC REVIEW
' Mo gac(h) gair cloistecht re n-gair,
Lucht a teglaig go trom-grain ; Full a coimlin eile ann Nocha d' inann a anmann.
* Ni f haca an Eirinn, rddh fois, Tegduis maith mar a tegduis, Tec(h) Oilella co n-imat n-ga Tec(h) linmar gus a lod-sa.'
liod-sa.
'Is fir duitsi gurab maith tech Oilella Finn,' ar Meadb, ' agus gid edh as ferr mo tec(h)-sa go mor ana se. Is ferr gaisged mo laoch agus mo lath n-gaile. Is lia mh' urradha ^ agus mo deoraid. Is lia mo macaim agus mo bandtracht. Is Ha mo t-sheoid agus mo maeine. Is lia mo chruid agus mo c(h)etra. Is uaisli mo m(h)iledha agus as mo a feidm. Is lia mh' aos ciuil agus oirfide agus eladha. Is lia m' ollamain agus m' obloire agus mh' eistrechta.^ Is lia mo mogaid agus m' echlachsi urlair.* Is lia mo banntracht agus mo bancuire. Is ferr m' istada. ^ agus m' adbara fleo?a a muigh, genmotha ri-t(h)ech na Cruachna. Uair ni uil an Eirinn tech t-sam- laiges na cudromaighes ris ar a med agus ar a caime agus ar a cumdach ; ar imad a urrsgair ^ agus a imdadh agus a f huin- neog ; ar imad a oir agus a indmais agus a leg logmar.
1 grain in the old and modern usage carries the idea of ' horror,' ' disgust.' But in this MS. the word is frequently used where such an idea cannot be intended. Cf. infra, among many instances, Do sgail do gnim is do grdin, applied to Fergus, where the idea conveyed must be complimentary. Cf. (7c., p. 14, uruath agus grain Righ fair, rendered, ' the fearfulness and majesty of a king are his.' In this particular passage g could stand for gan, * without,' as well as for go, ' with,' and yield equally good idiom. But to characterise a household as not in a special degree abominable would surely be very faint praise.
2 mo, ' my,' before vowels frequently, as here, becomes not m' but mh. So in the old language th^ athir for f athair, ' thy father.' Urradh, ' man of substance,' ' guarantor,' as opposed to deoraid, ' dependent,' ' pilgrim,' ' weakling.' Later urradha are linked with ^taisli and ard-fhlaithi. Cf. S.G. urra, urras, urrainn, etc.
3 V. supra, p. 28, note 4.
, ^
\.
THE GLENMASAN MANUSCRIPT 33
* Louder than all shouts the shout Of this household, of majestic mien ; There are as many others again Whose tribe names are different.
' I have not seen in Ireland, I say it deliberately, A household to compare with this, The palace of Oilill with its many spears, The populous palace to which I fared.'
I fared.
* You are right in your praise of the palace of Oilill the Fair/ said Meave ; * nevertheless mine is much the superior of the two. The valour of my heroes and champions is greater. My chiefs and my dependents are more numerous. Greater in number are my youths and women-folk ; my jewels and treasures; my cows and cattle. My soldiers are nobler born and more valiant. My musicians, artists, and scientists are more numerous. So are my oUamhs and jesters and dwarfs ; my slaves and my little children ; my women-folk and female attendants. My resources and material for banquets are superior, apart from the (grandeur of the) palace of Cruachan. For there is not in (all) Ireland a mansion that equals or compares with it in size and beauty and adornment ; in the number of its courts and rooms and windows ; in the amount of its gold and treasure and precious stones.
* echlach, ' messenger,' is common, but «. urlair, ' floor messenger,' is not so. Finn's counsel to MacLugach (Ag. 1. 586) has the line : —
JDd trian do mhlne re mn&ibh is re h-echlachuib urlair,
which is translated : * Two-thirds of thy gentleness be shown to women and to creepers on the floor' (i.e. children). In our passage, where the term is coupled with mogaid, ' slaves,' the meaning may be, ' little ones who fetched and carried within the palace.'
* istada : a rather uncom?non word, preserved pwhaps in I.G. iosta, 'apartment,' ' inn ' (Din.). Of old the wort! meant ' wealth ' and the place where treasure was kept ; i.flatha, 'sway and severance of a chief.' Cf. Ir. T., iii. (1), p. 280. V. supra, p. 29, note 8.
* Cf. aurscor, * area,' ' yard,' O'Donovan's Supplement to O'Reilly's Dictionary (O'D. Sup.).
(To be continued.)
VOL. II. c
34 THE CELTIC KEVIEW
VARIATIONS OF GAELIC LOAN-WORDS Charles M. Robertson
The Gaelic language, both in its literary form, and especially in its spoken dialects, possesses many illustrations of the truth that words taken from other languages conform, at best, only irregularly and uncertainly to the phonetic laws of the borrowing language. A borrowed word may on occasion conform in every particular to the laws in accord- ance with which the changes undergone by the native words of the adopting language have proceeded, but it is quite as likely to disregard and violate those laws. It may also appear in two or more different forms, and may conform to some phonetic law in one of the forms and violate it in another, or it may both observe and violate the law within the compass of the same form. The law of aspiration, for ex- ample, in Gaelic phonetics is that a single consonant standing originally between vowels has been aspirated. This happens to be observed in saighead, from Latin sagitta, where the single g is aspirated and the double t, though reduced to d, is not. So with the middle consonants in saoghal from saeculum, sabhal from stabulum, umhal from humilis, uibhir, Irish uim- hir, early Irish numir from numerus. So also aoradh for adhradh from adoratio, iomhaigh from imago, and so on. In nollaig for nothlaig, Early Irish notlaic from natalicia, t has been aspirated and c, though standing alone, has not. So trionaid, Old Irish trindoit from trinitatem. It may be observed in passing that there has been somewhat of a tend- ency to preserve the last or stem consonant, case endings being dropped, and to slur, aspirate or drop middle consonants, and that in modern spelling in such cases final tenues are very generally replaced by the corresponding mediae. Examples not bearing upon our immediate purpose need not be multiplied as the words intended to be dealt with in their various forms
VARIATIONS OF GAELIC LOAN-WORDS 35
provide a sufficiency of instances, but one may be noticed here. Patricius is found in modern Gaelic in four different forms. In PMruig t and c are unaspirated but reduced to the corres- ponding mediae. In Pkruig for Pathruig t has been aspirated and lost and c made into g. Para, a curtailed form of the last, is used with a defining term following which carries the accent, and thus accounts for the shortening of the first vowel, as Para M6r, Big Peter or Patrick ; Para Piobaire, Peter the Piper. In Arran, etc., the form is PMair, both in common use and in names like Kilpatrick, ' Cill-Phadair.' The name has been confused in popular use with Peter and is usually so Englished. Peadair as a personal Gaelic name is hardly, if at all, known out of print.
Native words themselves, it is true, sometimes appear in more than one guise, but in their case differences of form exemplify with precision the laws and changes to which borrowed words run counter or conform at random. Piuthar, sister, for example is found in Irish as siur and in Early Irish as both siur and fiur, and in all its forms has come from a single original form svesor, from which have come also Sanskrit sv^sar, Russian sestra, Latin soror for sosor, and English sister. Till, return, appears also as pill, and in Irish as fill, and our Scottish fill, fold, may well be the same ; the root is svelni, turn round, which has also given us the word seal, a while. The same root has given another group of variations in the case of its derivative seillean, a bee. This word is
|
seillean |
in literature. |
|
teillean |
,, east Perthshire and in Lewis. |
|
seinnlean |
„ Kincardine on Oykel. |
|
» |
„ Sutherlandshire, Creich. |
|
seinnlear |
Rogart. |
|
tainnleag |
„ „ Helmsdale. |
|
tuinnleag |
„ „ Reay Country |
Nn is not pronounced, being assimilated to /, in those
36 THE CELTIC REVIEW
forms in which it is written, but it has left its mark in a nasaHsation and lengthening of the preceding vowels and a doubling of I, as seillean, tailleag with ei and ai as a diphthong and long. In the Reay country form ui, as in many other instances in Sutherland e.g. uidh, ruighe, etc., has the sound of Gaelic i only, but u is necessary in spelling to show that t is sounded broad. The Rogart form merely shows the character- istic change of n to r in the vicinity of other liquids in Suther- landshire Gaelic. All those seeming vagaries in respect to initial letter really exemplify the known fact that when a root began with sv, the Gaelic word derived from it may begin with 5, with t, with /, or with p.
Variations of other but still native kinds are exemplified by the word for nettle which appears as neanntag, eanntag, ionntag, feanntag, and deanntag, and by that for a bat, ialtag, ioltag, eitleog, dialtag, mioltag, ealtag leathraich (Arran), dial tag anmoch (Perth), dealtag anmoch (Badenoch), and miol- tag leathair (Irish). Variations such as those, though they are extreme cases, do not violate but exemplify the phonetic laws of the language, and once a word is known to be native the limit of its variations is determined by those laws.
The vagaries of borrowed words, on the other hand, have an uncertainty about them that keeps the inquirer ever on the outlook for strange and unexpected forms. Those forms are so numerous in some cases as to recall the proverb, * Tha uiread de ainmean air ris an naosg,' (he has as many aliases as the snipe), and one of the many names of that bird is a case in point. Budagoc or budagochd is sometimes heard as budra- gochd, budag, and in Mull even as gudabochd. The word is from the English ' woodcock,' and though sometimes used rightly as designating that bird, is often misapplied to the snipe. The Gaelic equivalent to ' Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper,' etc., is : —
* Gob fad air a' bhudagochd 'S am budagochd gun ghob.'
The English * warning,' in which also w becomes 6, appears
VARIATIONS OF GAELIC LOAN-WORDS 37
in Gaelic in different districts as barnaig, bairneigeadh, bar- dainn, bardaig, bairlinn, or bairleigeadh. ' Gardener ' is gairnlear, gairnear, and gairlear, as well as gairneilear. The familiar * gooseberry ' is in Gaelic grbiseid, in East Perthshire groiseag, but in West Ross crobhsag, and in East Ross crobhr- sag. The two first forms are based, of course, on the Scottish which appears variously as grozet, grozer and grozel, and comes from French grose, groseille. The English gooseberry is for grooseberry and also comes from the French grose. German has krausbeere and krauselbeere. Crobhsag, though it is not directly, may be remotely connected with groiseid, grozet, and groseille.
Diversities of form are not confined to such modern borrow- ings as those, but are found in the older loan-words from Latin. The extent to which variations, though of a subordinate kind, may go, is well shown so far as number is concerned, in the case of the Latin manicula, a sleeve. This word appears in Gaelic in the following forms : —
muinchill muilcheann muinichill muilicheann
muinchille muilchinn muinicheal muilichinn
muincheall muilchill muinicheall muinle
moilcheann in Sutherland, muilchceann ,, West Ross-shire, muilchear ,, East Perthshire, muille „ Arran.
The word is munchille in Early Irish, and metathesis and substitution of one liquid for another account for nearly all the forms. The middle i in some of the forms is merely the parasitic vowel heard in pronunciation between the preceding liquid and ch. Muinle and muille arise from the elision or silencing of slender ch that is characteristic of the Gaelic of Arran, Islay, etc. The c which stands between two vowels in the Latin word was aspirated in Gaelic and is lost altogether in the Arran form. In the next case c, though
38 THE CELTIC REVIEW
it did not stand between two vowels, was aspirated in the more usual form of the word. The Latin axilla — in Irish ascall, oscul, and ocsal, Middle Irish ochsal — is best known in Gaelic as achlais, but it also appears as asgall, in Arran asgaill, in Perthshire aslaic, or better, aslaig, and in diction- aries as aslaich and asgnail. Sasunn, Irish Sagsona, in Arran Sasgunn, England, from Saxon may be compared in passing.
Some of the oldest Latin loans ultimately associated with the early church show two or more substantially different forms. * Officium,' which is not purely ecclesiastical, is in Gaelic oifig, with minor variations such as ofaig in Argyle, Sutherland, Lewis, etc., and afaig in Arran. A widely used, though rarely written, form of the word is ofhaich, with a derivative ofhaichear, an officer. Duncan Ban Macintyre has the latter written oighichearan, officers, in his ' Song to the Argyleshire Regiment.' Tigh-ofhaich, * office,' is used for an outhouse. The special ecclesiastical meaning of officium, a formulary of devotion, etc., is recalled in one usage. ' Cha'n eil ofhaich ann,' There is nothing in it, literally, there is not an office in it, is said in Atholl of, for example, a dis- appointing book, and suggests a time when no value was set upon any books but those of devotion and religious exercise. If offic-ium had been a native word /", being double, would not aspirate, and c, being single, would, but both are aspirated in ofhaich and both unaspirated in oifig, etc. In ' apostolus,' Old Irish apstal, Gaelic abstol, p has remained unaspirated, perhaps in this case because pushed up against st, but in another form of the word it has been not only aspirated but lost entirely. In North Inverness and East Ross this word has become ostal, in Sutherland astal, and resembles the Manx form ostyl, older austyl. The Gaels, it would appear, were also under the necessity of borrowing the word infer- num from Latin, but, whatever inference may be drawn from the fact, they were not content with having it one way, but must needs have it in two ways — ifrinn and iutharn. Ifrinn, Irish ifrionn, is the Old Irish ifurnn with a little
VAEIATIONS OF GAELIC LOAN-WORDS 39
shifting of letters. The Manx is iurin, which would very- well represent the Perthshire pronunciation of iutharn. Diabolus appears as diabhol, which is appropriated to religious use, and diall, which is profane. The former is perhaps to be regarded as a purely literary form, and the latter as the form of common speech.
The diversities of many borrowed words centre round the letter jp. This consonant seems to have been at all times a troublesome one to the Gaels, as to the Celts in general, and with its peculiarities and laws is of the first importance in Gaelic phonetics. In loan-words it often takes the place of, or is replaced by, h or f. An initial b is often made into p :
* blanket ' is in Gaelic plangaid, and Biobull, English ' Bible,' Latin 'Biblia,' is sometimes written and is usually pronounced Piobull. A medial or final p on the other hand occasionally becomes h, as in 5b from Norse ' hop.' The interchange of p and / is found in several instances. ' Flower ' and * flour,' which are the same etymologically, both appear in Gaelic as flur and also as plur, with diminutives for the former mean- ing fliiran, fluirein, pluran and pliiirean. The same change ofy* into p is seen in plod, a fleet, raft, etc., from Norse
* floti,' while the allied Norse flj6ta has given fleodradb, floating, and fleodruinn, a buoy ; and in punntainn and funntainn, benumbment by cold, from Scottish fundy, funny, to become stifl" with cold. The converse is found in feodar and peodar, from * pewter,' and also in flebdar and plebdar, whether these come from the same word or from
* spelter.' Flodach, lukewarm, and plod, scald, have both been referred to Scottish * plot,' to scald. Fireas in North Inverness and pireas in West Boss and in Sutherland apparently come from and mean 'appearance.' The Latin plecto has given fleachdail, flowing in ringlets, and in West Ross pleachd, a roll of wool ready for spinning. Gaelic fiidar and Irish pudar, from ' powder,' may be noted. FeocuUan, a pole-cat, may be heard in East Perth as pbcullan. The Norse hjalm, helm, has given failm, falmadair, and palmair.
40 THE CELTIC REVIEW
P, when aspirated ^^, sounds y) and/*, when aspirated y^, is silent, and often is lost. By a combination of those two processes we have in one instance p in different forms appear- ing as p and as/", and disappearing altogether. ' Peacock ' is found in Gaelic as peucag, peuchdag, feucag, eucag, euchdag. The way the word has been dealt with in the language is interesting in several ways. Peabh-eun, pea-choileach or peubh-choileach, and pea-chearc or peubh-chearc, in which the specific ' pea ' has been separated from the subjoined terms indicative of gender, do not call for remark except that peabh and peubh suggest a direct borrowing by Gaehc from the Latin pavo, a peacock, from which the English * pea ' has come through Anglo-Saxon *pawa.' For the rest all the forms in Gaelic have been taken from ' peacock,' to the utter exclusion of the more homely hen. Not only so, but owing to the similarity in sound of the termination to the Gaelic feminine diminutive suffix -ag, the word has changed both its gender and its denotation. Peucag or peuchdag is, indeed, said by some authorities to be masculine and feminine, but by others it is set down as feminine only, and by all it is translated peahen, never peacock. The other forms are un- hesitatingly dealt with as feminine. Popularly the word is feminine, so much so that when the male bird is meant coil- each-peucaig is not infrequently used. With the change of gender the word readily lent itself to employment by bards and wooers as a poetic metaphor and an endearing term. Extensive use of the word as a term of endearment, when it is usually preceded by mo, my, thus : M' f heucag, meaning etymologically My peacock, and sounded M' eucag, or, in some dialects, M' euchdag, accounts both for the loss of the initial consonant and for a seeming change of signification in the case of the decapitated forms. So completely was the connec- tion of eucag or euchdag with feucag and peucag forgotten that Gaelic lexicographers have recorded them with no other signification but * a charmer, a fair or lovely female,' and our foremost authority on etymology has explained euchdag as * featsome one ' from euchd. The identification of euchdag
VARIATIONS OF GAELIC LOAN-WORDS 41
with peucag is easily confirmed. The existence of the form eucag is against a connection with euchd. The renderings given for peahen are eucag, feucag, peucag, etc., and for pea- chick, isean na h- eucaig, and ' a beautiful woman ' is given as one of the meanings of peucag. The hold that the word has taken of the language is shown further by the adjectives feucagach, peucagach, peuchdagach, peacock -like, beautiful as a peacock, abounding in peacocks, and peucach, gaudy, showy, and may justly be regarded as an index of the susceptibility of the Gael to the impressions of resplen- dent hues.
Two more words fall to be noticed as having p and f. The first, biilas, is from Scottish bools, a pot-hook, or rather a separable pot-handle with a joint in the middle ; pulas is given in dictionaries as a dialectic form. The other, feursann, a warble, a tumour in the hide of cattle, containing the larvae of a fly, is, notwithstanding the difference of meaning, clearly the Scottish fersie, English farcy, farcin, a disease of horses.
|
biilas |
in literature. |
feursann |
in literature. |
|
piilas buthal buthals |
dialectic, in Arran. „ East Perthshire. |
feirseag peurtanan fiartanan |
,, Arran. ,, Strathspey. ,, N. Inverness. |
|
bulsg builisg |
„ Strathspey. „ Skye. |
f Curtain ean fiarslanan |
„ Reay Country, ,, Lochcarron. |
|
piilais |
„ South Sutherland. |
fiaslanan |
„ Gairloch. |
|
folais |
,, Reay Country. |
feursnan |
„ Skye. |
All the dialectic forms of feursann, except the Arran one, are plurals.
In one instance j9 and ^ are found in two different groups of forms of the same word, but both represent an original h. Pronnasg, brimstone, comes from the Scottish brunstane. This ^vord is derived from brun or bren, the old Scottish form of burn, and means burning-stone or fire-stone. The Norse ' brennisteinn,' and the English brimstone, old bremstone,
42 THE CELTIC EEVIEW
brenston, are similarly derived. In Gaelic it appears
as
pronnasg id literature.
pronastal „ M^Eachen's Dictionary.
pronnastair „ Arran.
proinistear, proinstear „ Perth.
pronnastail „ Badenoch.
pronnstail „ Strathspey.
prunnastal in Skye, Edinbane.
prunaistean „ „ Glendale.
pronastan „ „ Sleat, and in Lewis.
grumastal „ Torridon.
grunnastal ,, Gairloch and Lochbroom.
grunastal „ Sutherland, Helmsdale.
grunnastan „ ,, Reay Country.
grunnasdan ,, MacLeod and De war's Dictionary.
gronnustal „ vocabulary in Gaelic Bible, 1st edit.
In the one group of forms there is the ordinary change of b to p. In the other group the substitution of g for the original h is analogous to the long-standing substitution of c for^.
In early loans from Latin p was often replaced in Gaelic by c. Cailleach, an old wife, a nun, comes from the Latin pallium ; Caisg, the Passover, Easter, from pascha ; clbimh, wool, down, from pluma, and cuithe, a pit, a snow-wreath, etc., from puteus. The Latin presbyter appears in Old Irish both as prebiter and as crubthir. Patricius gave our Paruig and PMruig, Old Irish Patrice, but it also gave Cothraige, one of the names by which St. Patrick was known, and which was neither more nor less than a Gaelicised form of Pathruig. In modern Gaelic there are a few instances of the correspondence of c to p. Padhal, a ewer, invites comparison with the obsolete cadhal, a basin, and clod, from English clod, with plod, from Scottish plod, ploud, a green sod ; while cartan, which means a crab in Irish, is explained as a Gaelicised form of Gaelic and Scottish partan. Prh,mh, a word of obscure
VARIATIONS OF GAELIC LOAN-WORDS 43
derivation, is rendered a slumber, a doze, but requires the word for sleep expressed or understood, as pramh-chadail. It is also rendered grief, dejection, gloom, when the phrase is fo phrh,mh, under a cloud, under heaviness of mind. The meaning would seem to be something like darkening, obscura- tion, of the use of teimheal, darkness, to mean a swoon. The different forms in which the word appears, preamh or preumh (likefreumh) in Atholl, and cnamh and cnaimh — cnamh- chadail — in West Ross suggest borrowing. Cape Wrath, which derives its name from the Norse hvarf, a turning, a shelter, appearing in English as wharf, is found in Gaelic in two forms. Generally it is Am Parbh, the turning or angle, but in Lewis Gaelic it is called An Carbh. Here the Norse hv, | which in other place-names is met with as ch and as f, has become c in Lewis and 'p in the rest of Gael- dom, just as Indo-European qu became c in Gaelic and p in Welsh.
Two Latin loans show the change oi p to c, and also appear in a variety of forms in modern Gaelic.^
Purpura, purple, appears in four guises.
Cor cur, Old Irish corcur ; here p has in both cases been changed into c.
Curpur, a form used in Lewis ; here only initial p has been changed to c.
Purpur, Middle Irish purpuir ; p has been kept in both positions.
Purpaidh, used in Lewis, Sutherland, etc., an adjective, influenced by the Gaelic adjectival suffix idh, as in diadhaidh.
Pulpitum, a pulpit, appears in six or seven forms.
Cuhaid ; p has become c initially and h medially ; t, though standing alone between vowels, has not been aspirated, but has sunk to d ; the vowel u has become long, filling the blank left by the disappearance of I.
Ciihaidh, the form used in East Ross-shire and in * Sutherlandshire ; d or t — ciibaith ? — has been aspirated.
^ Latin plecto has given not only pleachd and fleachdail, as noticed above, but also cleachd, a ringlet, fillet of wool ; Early Irish clechtaim, I plait.
44 THE CELTIC REVIEW
Cuhainn, the form found in Lewis ; final slender d is changed into nn. So Sabaid, Sabbath, in Lewis is Skboinn and Saboinnd.
Pulpaid, used in Tiree, and found in Shaw's Dictionary ; jp remains in both positions, I is retained, and consequently u is not lengthened.
Puhaid, found in Kintyre and in Strathspey : p medially is 6, I is gone, and u lengthened. A similar loss of I, but without a lengthening of the preceding vowel, is found in the Lowland Scottish form poopit.
Biibaid, a dialectic form given by Dr. MacBain under ciibaid ; p in both positions has become h.
Pumpaid, a form heard in Arran; it has come from pulpaid, which was doubtless Shaw's native Arran pronuncia- tion at the time he wrote, not by change of I to m, but by loss of I through the form piibaid, with intrusive m as in tombaca, from tobacco. This same intrusion of a liquid is seen in buntata, from potato, and in plang, from plack.
In the case of both those words it is clear that there has been reborrowing. Purpura was first borrowed as corcur in early times, and then borrowed again as purpur at some later period. Purpaidh is based of course on purpur. What the relation of curpur is to corcur and to purpur it is hard to say ; it may be based on neither, and may have been taken independently from purpura. Its agreement in foim with cubaid in having initial p changed into o, but not medial p, is in any case noteworthy. Ciibaidh and cubainn go with cubaid. Pulpaid and the remaining forms have been borrowed independently and quite possibly not from Latin pulpitum, but from English pulpit.
The change of p to c in loans from Latin is as old as the age of St. Patrick, and is attributed to British, that is, Welsh influence. The first missionaries to Ireland, it is maintained, went from Wales, and spoke the old Welsh or British lan- guage. In that language p often corresponds to c in Irish, as in Welsh penn, Gaelic ceann, head; W. plant, Gael, clann, Old Irish eland, children ; Old W. map, Gael, mac,
VAEIATIONS OF GAELIC LOAN-WORDS 45
son. When Welsh met Irish this correspondence of Irish c to Welsh p was noticed; and as Latin, according to the theory, was first introduced to Irish speakers by Welshmen, it was supposed that the proper way to adapt Latin words to Irish use when they contained the letter jp was to change that consonant into c. Examples like curpur and ciibaid, in which the change is only partly carried out, and others, like Parbh and Carbh, together with the analogous pronnastail and grunnastal, would, however, suggest rather that the change was not made deliberately, but took place naturally, and that it was the result of a native tendency of the language and not of extraneous influence or analogy. The theory of Welsh in- fluence claims support from certain other peculiarities. One is the substitution of a Gaelic s for a Latin jT, as in Gaelic srian, from Latin frdnum. Here again Gaelic has s in certain cases, where Welsh has f; and on the theory in question it was supposed that it ought to have s also where Latin hadyi One of the instances may be noticed. The Latin furnus, an oven, has given Gaelic sorn, a flue, vent ; Early Irish sornn ; Welsh ffwrn ; Cornish forn. By a roundabout way through French fornaise, and English furnace, this same Latin word has reached Gaelic as fuirneis, foirneis, and iiirneis, a furnace; Irish uirneis, fuirneis ; Middle Irish forneis. The principal difference of form in this case is analogous to that found in the cases of capella and cathedra, which have come into Gaelic direct from Latin respectively as caibeal and cathair, and roundabout through French and English as seipeal and seidhir, or seithir. The same word, that is to say, has been borrowed twice, first, straight from the original Latin, and then, after transmission through two intervening languages.
46 THE CELTIC REVIEW
'THE RUIN OF BRITANNIA'
A CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS A RESTATEMENT OF EARLY SAXO-WELSH HISTORY
A. W. Wade -Evans
[This paper attempts to show that the supposed homogeneous work attributed to Gildas before 547, really comprises two distinct books ; the first called 'Ezcidium Britanniae,' which includes chapters 1 to 26, and which was composed about 700 ; the second, from chapter 27 to the end, being the genuine 'Epistola Gildse' written by Gildas before 502.]
Part I. Chronological Argument.
Any one who desires to make original research into early- Welsh history is bound to take as a fundamental document the chronicle which is now known as Annales Camhrice, and especially the oldest of the three extant MSS. thereof, viz., that printed in Y Cymmrodor, vol. ix.
Now the reader must understand that the chronicler did not date events in our way ; in other words, he did not compute from our a.d. 1. The Annales show that the ecclesiastics of ancient Wales were wont to take as their year 1 (which I will hereafter call Annus i) some important event in their own history ; and the important event from which the Annales Camhrice compute appears to be St. Ger- manus's 2nd Advent to Britannia, which it fixes in the year which would be in our reckoning a.d. 445. In other words, Annus i is 445, Annus ii is 446, Annus lxxii is 516, Annus cccLXiii is 807, and so on. Now supposing that a compiler had before him several chronicles, and supposing that in one case the Annus i was 445 (St. Germanus's 2nd Advent), and in a second case that Annus i was 429 (St. Germanus's 1st Advent), and in a third case Annus I was 400 (Stilicho's consulship), and in a fourth case Annus i was 449 (Bede's date of Invitation) ; and supposing also that he neglected this important fact, the result of course would be disastrous. If, for example, his own Annus i was 445, and he had an event
*THE RUIN OF BRITANNIA' 47
before him placed opposite Annus cxxvi computing from 429, he would insert it as Annus cxxvi computing from 445, that is to say, he would insert as having occurred in 570 what took place in 554. This is precisely what the compiler of the Annates has done. He has inserted events as having happened in the era of 445 which really occurred, some in the era of 400, some in that of 429, some in that of 433 (St. Patrick as Bishop in Ireland), some in 449, and so on ; and all this to such an extent that almost every single item in the first two centuries or so of his chronicle is demonstrably miscomputed, a7id this is a chief cause of the chaotic state of early Welsh history.
Before proceeding further, I will give three examples out of the many in order to make this all-important point quite clear : —
(a) It is universally admitted that St. Patrick died in 461. I make this statement on the strength of Dr. White's words,^ which are as follows : * The only date in St. Patrick's history about which there is ever likely to be a general agree- ment amongst scholars is the year in which he died.' After a reference to Professor Bury's investigations, he sums up : — 'This would make a.d. 461 the year of St. Patrick's death.' Now the Annates CamhricB place it opposite Annus xiii, which in the era of 445 gives a wrong date, viz., 445 + 12 = 457 ; but which in the era of 449 gives the right date, viz., 449 + 12 = 461. Therefore this event was extracted from a chronicle which computed from 449.
(6) The date of the death of Cadwaladr, King of Gwynedd, has perplexed chroniclers and historians for centuries. We know from Nennius that he died in a pestilence during the reign of Oswy, King of Northumbria, that is between 642 and 670, and also that a great pestilence commenced in 664. It began, according to Bede, on the southern coast, and passed northwards into Northumbria and westwards into Ireland. The Annates, however, place both the pestilence and the king's death opposite Annus ccxxxviii, which in
1 White's Latin Writings of St. Patrick (1905), p. 230.
48 THE CELTIC EEYIEW
the era of 445 is 445 + 237 = a.d. 682. Notice what Bh^^s and Jones say in The Welsh People (127): 'The Brut puts [the death of Cadwaladr] as taking place in 68], but the writer uses language which shows that for some reason he confounded Cadwaladr with Cead walla, King of Wessex, who did die in that year [Ceadwalla died really in 689]. If, from the few data we have to rely on, the matter is traced out, there can be no doubt that the year 681 is too late, and that in all probability it was in or very near to 664 Cadwaladr died.' The learned authors are undoubtedly right, although no explanation is given of the dates 681 and 682 of the Brut and Annates respectively. Now Annus ccxxxviii in the true era of the Invitation is 428 + 237 = A.D. 665.'
(c) Opposite Annus clxxxvi the Annates place this dark entry — 'Guidgar comes and returns not' which Annus makes 445 + 185 = 630. It obviously refers to some early well-known settlement whose best remembered leader was • Guidgar.' The only known settlement of the kind of which we are reminded is that of Wihtgar and Stuf in the Isle of Wight in 514. A well-known place in the island called Wihtgaraburh was said to be called after Wihtgar, from whom also Alfred claimed descent through his mother. Wihtgar was no doubt regarded as the eponymous hero of Wight. But if ' Guidgar ' came in 514, how was it placed in 630 1 Two mistakes were made. A scribe had before him the date 'a.d. dcxiv,' i.e. 514. The first mistake was to read DC as 600 instead of 500 (that being once a common way of writing 500). Having thus obtained the number 614, he proceeded to compute in the era of St. Germanus's 1st Advent, viz. 429. In other words, if 429 is made the Annus I, then 614 will be 614-428, which is Annus clxxxvi as
1 As the Brut is undoubtedly based in its early events on the Annales, the pestilence of 664 was probably in an original text placed opposite Annus ccxxxvii, i.e. 445 + 236 = 681 and 428 + 236 = 664. Cadwaladr probably died in the year following that in which the plague commenced, for we must allow some time for it to have spread from the South to North Wales. This would explain the difference between the two chronicles.
'THE RUIN OF BRITANNIA' 49
above. Afterwards a second scribe, neglecting the era, in- serted it without change in his own era of 445, so that the event was thrown 116 years out of its true date! Now I trust we may proceed.
1. The death of Maelgwn Gwynedd, whom Gildas rebukes in his Epistola, is placed opposite Annus cm, which makes 445 + 102 = A. D. 547. But now that we have seen good cause to doubt the accuracy of the early computations of the Annales, let us approach the matter from another side. Please compare the following genuine pedigrees : —
Cunedda Wledig. Cunedda Wledig.
Einion. Ceredig.
Cadwallon Llawhir. Cedig.
Maelgwn (alleged date of Sant.
death, 547 ; true date, St. David (born Annus xiv
502). =in era o£ Annales, 456;
Rhun. in Bedan era of Invitation,
Beli. 449 + 13 = 462).
lacob (died 613).
Cadfan.
Cadwallon (died 633).
Cadwaladr (died 665).
The second of the above pedigrees proves that the birth of Cunedda has to be thrown back at least to the year 390. For if St. David was born in 462, his father must have been at least eighteen years old at the time, and so with Cedig when Sant was born. Hence Cunedda's birth at very latest cannot be after 390. But Cunedda's eldest son (who himself had a son) died before Cunedda left the north, so that his birth has to be assumed sometime about 370. Now notice in the first pedigree how crowded are the names between Maelgwn's supposed death in 547 and lacob's death in 613, whereas how extended are the names between Maelgwn and Cunedda. These pedigrees, when carefully compared, prove conclusively that 547 is far too late for Maelgwn's death, and that therefore Annus cm is to be computed in some much
VOL. II. D
50 THE CELTIC REVIEW
earlier era. Now fortunately the true era is not dijBScult to discover. If the first 110 years of the Annates (MS. A.) are carefully read, it will be noticed that eight ecclesiastical events are recorded and three military ones, which are as follows : —
Annus Lxxii Victory of * Badon ' won by Arthur. Annus xciii Arthur's death at Camlan. Annus cm Death of Maelgwn Gwynedd.
Moreover, in the Calculi prefixed to the Annates two military events are distinctly computed from the consulship of StiHcho in 400. These are the words : —
'Item a Stillicione usque ad Ualentinianum filium Placide et regnum Guorthigirni, uiginti octo anni. Et a regno Guorthigirni usque ad discordiam Guitolini et Ambrosii anni sunt duodecim.'
'From Stillicho to Valentinianus and Vortigern's reign are 28 years ; and from Vortigern's reign to the battle between Guitolinus and Ambrosius are 1 2 years.'
Now, by computing the victory at ' Badon ' in the era of Stilicho, we get 400 + 71=a.d. 471, which date is cor- roborated by the famous interpolation in the Excidium Britannice which computes ' Badon ' as the Annus XLiv with one month gone [from Vortigern's Invitation], i.e. 428 + 43 = 471. Again, as the annalistic year in the fifth century commenced on September 1 with the indiction, ' Badon ' was won in October 470 of our reckoning, which is the fact under- lying Geoffrey of Monmouth's absurd statement that Arthur slew with his own hand 470 men. Arthur fell at Camlan twenty-two years after ' Badon ' i.e. 492, or Annus xciii in the era of Stilicho. Maelgwn's death occurred ten years after Camlan, ^.e. 502, or Annus cm in the era of Stilicho. This calculation from * Badon ' to Maelgwn's death is made in a document which deserves greater attention than has hitherto been paid to it, viz., the tract called 0 oes Gwrtheyrn compiled in John's reign, and inserted in the Bed Book of Hergest. \
'THE RUIN OF BRITANNIA' 51
Now, as Maelgwn was alive when St. Gildas wrote Lis rebuke, the Epistola Gildce was written before Maelgwn's death in Annus cm a Stihchione consule, i.e. a.d. 502.
2. The CaZcwZi prefixed to the Annates also contain the fol- lowing : — ' et in quarto anno regni sui Saxones ad Brittanniam venerunt, Felice et Tauro consulibus, quadringentesimo [vicesimo octavo] anno ab Incarnatione Domini nostri, and in the 4th year of Vortigem's reign the Saxons came to Britannia, Felix and Taurus being consuls, in the year of the Incarnation 428.'
How then is it that Bede places this event in 449 ?
In 532 Dionysius invented his system of Christian Chron- ology which we use to this day. After a while this system was criticised as follows : — If (it was argued) our Lord was born in a.d. i, then the day of the Crucifixion must be Nisan 15 and March 25, and a Friday, and the moon fifteen days old, and all in the year a.d. 34. But as a matter of fact it is not so, whereas these conditions are found in a.d. 12. Therefore, argued the critics, a.d. 12 according to Dionysius, must be a.d. 34 according to the truth of the Gospel. Consequently they introduced a new system of chronology, which they called that of Gospel Verity, against the system of Dionysius. Now we find that in Northumbria, in the middle of the seventh century, Vortigern's Invitation was fixed at 450, and this computation is quite right if we only remember that it is according to Gospel Verity. In other words, the date 450 is based on the date 428, because 428 according to Dionysius = 450 according to Gospel Verity. Bede's first mistake therefore was due to a con- fusion of the formulae secundum Dionysium and secundum Evangelicam Veritatem. His second mistake (or at least that of one of his originals) is equally interesting. He says that the Invitation took place in the first year of Marcian, viz. in 449 ; but the first year of Marcian is 450. Why then did he say 449 ? There was a method of dating an event as having happened when so many years were com- pletedf which method Bede neglected. The Invitation
52 THE CELTIC REVIEW
indeed was made when 449 years of our Lord according to Gospel Verity, were completed, which means 450. If the Welsh University came into existence when 1893 years of our Lord were completed, it signifies the year 1894.
Now if Dionysius invented his system in 532 a criticism of it was not possible till after that date. But the system of Dionysius was not introduced into Britain until St. Augustine brought it in 597, and therefore a criticism of it would be meaningless in Britain till after that date. In other words, the computation, according to Gospel Verity, was not possible in Britain till after 597. But the Excidium Britannice (said to have been written by St. Gildas who died in 554) com- putes the date of the Invitation, according to Gospel Verity, and therefore it could not have been written by Gildas nor before 597. For the Excidium places the Invitation after the third consulship of Ae tins in 446 [and in 450].
Part II. Nationality of Author.
3. We have seen that St. Gildas wrote the Epistola before 502, the year of Maelgwn's death. The Epistola was ad- dressed to the civil and ecclesiastical rulers of Britannia, so that we have here an opportunity of ascertaining what was meant by Britannia in Britain in 500. Gildas rebukes the five leading princes by name in the following order : —
Const an tine of Damnonia or ' Devon.'
Aurelius Caninus.
Vortiporius of Demetia (Pembrokeshire 4- West Carmar- thenshire).
Cuneglas or Cynlas.
Maglocunus or Maelgwn Gwjnaedd (N.W. Wales) ' superior to almost all the kings of Britannia.'
As our author begins with Damnonia and ends with Gwynedd, and refers to Demetia midway, we are justified in locating Aurelius Caninus between ' Devon ' and Carmarthen,
'THE RUIN OF BRITANNIA' 53
and Cynlas in Mid or North Wales. The latter is almost certainly Maelgwn's cousin, as shown in this pedigree : —
Cunedda
.1.
Einion
Cadwallon Owen Dantgwyn
Maelgwn Gwynedd Cynlas
and Hhfs is possibly right in locating the arx or stronghold of Cynlas at Dineirth (receptaculum ursi) near Llandudno. With regard to Aurelius Caninus (between Carmarthen and ' Devon' ), compare the ' Roman' touch of Aurelius with the Ambrosius Aurelianus of 428, who is known from Nennius (c 41) to have been a native of Campus Elleti or Electi in the region called Glywyssing, between the river Usk and the river Llwchwr in S.E. Wales, and who is described as the last of the Romani in Britannia by the Eoccidium. The two were pro- bably members of the same family, ruling somewhere due E. of Carmarthen and ' Devon.' In later times the eastern boundary of Demetia was roughly between Carmarthen town and Llandyssul. Add to this the fact that the Tombstone of this very Vortipore, whom Gildas addresses, was found a few years ago well within this boundary, near Haverfordwest, and we are led to conclude that even in 500 Demetia could not have been much more than it was in later times. Moreover, the patria known later as Ystrad Tywi, between Demetia and the river Neath, had been penetrated by the family of Cunedda, who expelled the Scotti from Kidwelly and Gower. East of this, barbarian reguli of the families of Vortigern, Brychan, and Glywys held from N. to S. as far as the lower Usk. We must therefore locate Aurelius Caninus between the river Usk and Poole Harbour. The determination of these boundaries must be settled in the future. The one point to lay stress on now is this, that the three rivers called Avon (Tewkesbury, Bristol, and Dorset) almost certainly represent
54 THE CELTIC REVIEW
Britannic boundaries of the fifth and sixth centuries, Avon being the Britannic word for ' river.' In other words, the Dorsetshire Avon was probably the S.E. boundary of Britannia till some point on the Tewkesbury Avon in the north. Beyond this northwards, of course, were the Angles and Frisians. These together with the ' Brittones ' constituted the three nations who (as Procopius writing in 553-4 informs us) held the Boman province of Britannia in such great numbers that they over- flowed yearly into Gaul.^ If we assume the Bristol Avon to have been the eastern boundary of Damnonia, then Aurelius Caninus must be given the patria of the three Avons, which was Romania par excellence. Without therefore determining at present the eastern boundary of Britannia, we are at once able to realise what was meant by that name in the year 500. But the Excidium tells us that for a hundred and fifty years from the Invitation of Vortigern the Saxons only made plundering raids into Britannia, that is from 428 to 577, in which last year occurred the crushing defeat at Deorham, when the Saxons acquired the three caers of Gloucester, Bath, and Cirencester, and thereby split Britannia into two fragments. Therefore the Britannia of St. Gildas in 500 was identical with that of Vortigern in 428. Be it remembered that 428 was as critical a date with the Roman Britanni as 1066 in English history, or 1536 in later Welsh history, because 428 is the year in which a king in Britannia joined the Saxon kindreds against the Roman Britanni. This king was the regulus of a little patria beyond Builth in Radnorshire, called after his name, viz. Gwrtheyrnion or * Vortigernia.' He was not a Romanus, and probably not a Brython. The tradition is as follows : — ' Guorthigirnus regnavit in Brittannia et dum ipse regnabat, urgebatur a metu Pictorum Scottorumque et a Romanico impetu necnon et a timore Ambrosii — Vortigern reigned in Britannia, and while he reigned he was in dread
1 One must distinguish betw^eea Britannia as known to geographers and as known to officials of the Empire and as known to natives of the fifth century. In like manner Picti would have meant to Roman officials the people beyond the Wall, whether they were Picti properly so called or otherwise ; and so with the terms Scotti and Britanni. This is undoubtedly one great source of later confusion.
'THE RUIN OF BRITANNIA' 55
of Picts, Scots, and Roman aggression, and especially was he in fear of Ambrosius.' In other words, Picts from Scotland, that is the Cymry under Cunedda, and Scots from Ireland were pressing on his little patria beyond Builth.^ Romani also were threatening him, and especially Ambrosius of S.E. Wales. All this occurred from 425, when he began to reign. Driven by necessity, he invited to his assistance the Saxon kindreds who dwelt beyond the Avons on either side of the lower Thames. Romania naturally resented this barbaric alhance and the independence of Vortigern, and execrated his memory accordingly. These traditions passing into the Church, whose stronghold lay in Romania, were accepted by later times without criticism.
Now if Britannia signified Wales + Cornish Peninsula as early as 425 and as late as 577, whatever genuine traditions underlie the Britannia of the Excidium Britannice, from the moment it depends on native accounts, must refer to it ; and this is precisely the case when the early chapters based on continental writings are finished, and the invasions of Picts, Scots, and Saxons, based on native traditions, are commenced, as I have shown in my previous paper.
4. Inasmuch as the author of the Excidium is a Roman Britannus, whose patriotism is kindled by the memory of Ambrosius ; and inasmuch as he refers familiarly to the topo- graphy of S.E. Wales (not to mention his reference to the Britanni of Armorica in a manner impossible to a Cymro or a Scottus, or a follower of Vortigern), it is clear he is a native either of S.E. Wales or of the Britannic territory between the Severn Sea and Poole Harbour. In other words, he is not St. Gildas ap Caw o Priten, who was neither a Roman Britannus nor a native of Romania at all. St. Gildas was the son of Caw o Priten, i.e. Caw of Pictland or Southern Scotland, a regulus * beyond the mountain Bannawc ' in Arecluta, which means ' on or opposite Clyde.' This Caw is also called Caw of Twrcelyn, which is a small commote or patria in Anglesey. People have often wondered why he was
* Vortigern was probably the head of a confederacy of reguli.
56 THE CELTIC EEVIEW
called by this name. The reason, however, will be found in the Vita S. Cadoci, where the twelfth century compiler has edited an important historical tradition almost out of recogni- tion. In § 22 of the Vita he recounts a journey of St. Cadoc into Albania or Scotland where, in digging near a monastery or llan which he had founded, he discovered the collarbone of ' an old hero of immense size.' This hero or giant is made to return from hell, and, when questioned by St. Cadoc, replies, ' I reigned formerly for many years beyond the mountain Bannawc. It chanced that by the devil's instiga- tion / and all my raiders came to these coasts for plunder and devastation. The king who reigned over the country pursued with his troops. A battle was fought and I and my army slain.' When asked who he was, he replied, ' Caw of Prydyn or Cawr [i.e. giant].' Caw is then converted, and the ' reguli Albanorum,' or kings of the Scots, give him twenty-four villse or trevs. This extraordinary story is based on an account of St. Cadoc' s journey amongst the Scotti — not of Albania or Scotland, but of Anglesey. Near Amlwch, in the old com- mote of Twrcelyn, is the extinct monastery of Cadog called Llangadog, the only one ascribed to him in the island. The twenty-four villae are so many trevs in the commote of Twrcelyn, which the invader. Caw o Priten from Arecluta, was granted by his allies, the Scotti of Anglesey. In other words. Caw, father of St. Gildas, was one of those very Picti who came over the sea from the north in the fifth century, against whom the author of the Excidium rails so bitterly. If St. Gildas ab Caw had written the following from chapter 19 of the Excidium : — [The Picts and Scots are] alike in one and the same thirst for bloodshed, in a preference also for cover- ing their villainous faces with hair rather than their naked- ness of body with decent clothing — if, I say, St. Gildas the son of the Pictish raider who settled in Twrcelyn in Anglesey, had written this, he would have been attacking his own kin, his own father's ^m^7^a who were wont to cover their faces with hair rather than their nakedness of body with clothing. Surely there is no lack of patriotism in the Excidium, but
'THE RUIN OF BRITANNIA' 57
it is the patriotism of another patria, nay, of a patria which re- garded that of Gildas as its bitterest foe. Note, moreover, the entire absence of all this in the genuine Epistola of St. Gildas, how in fact he makes us feel that Maelgwn Gwynedd, not- withstanding all his sins, was indeed the Island Dragon whom God had made chief over almost all the princes of Britannia even as He had made him taller in the stature of his person. No one can mistake the genuine affection of this monk for the head of the great Cymric house of Cunedda. He harks back with patriotic pride to the days of Maelgwn's young manhood, surrounded by gallant soldiers whose faces were like those of young lions. He is shocked that a king like this, so un- doubtedly brave and splendid in his towering height, should have committed such crimes against Christ. There is too great a gulf between Gildas the Cymro to whom Latin was the lingua Romana and the Britannus of Romania to whom the Cymry were barbarians and Latin lingua nostra, for us to confound them.
5. Moreover, if the author of the Excidium had been Gildas ab Caw writing before 502, he could not possibly have made such a mistake as that in which he tells us that the Walls of Antonine and Hadrian were built after 388, and also the nine forts of the Saxon shore. For let it be remembered that the Roman occupation of Southern Britain was mainly military and that the bulk of the Roman Army was stationed for centuries on the Welsh border and in the north about this very wall of stone which would be known to every child from Cape Wrath to Land's End. Gildas, a native of Southern Scotland, writing before 502 of events of most significant import which were perfectly familiar to his father and grandfather who were actually on the spot, could not possibly have stated that Hadrian's Wall was built after the final withdrawal of the Roman legions by means of public and private subscriptions and between cities which perhaps had been located there through fear of enemies. This last sentence in itself betrays the late date of the work,
6. Nor could St. Gildas before 502 have made the sugges-
58 THE CELTIC REVIEW
tion which the Excidium does in chapters 11 and 12, where it is assumed that the merthyr place names of South Wales are so called after supposed Diocletian martyrs. It is true that there are strong reasons for believing that St. Alban was an actual martyr in our sense of the word, of Britannic Romania. But inasmuch as these merthyrs (martyria), such as Merthyr Tydvil, etc., are all connected with localities where Irish influences are known to have prevailed and especially with the Irish family of Brychan of Brycheiniog or Brecon [shire], and inasmuch as the Irish are known to have used the word martyres in the sense of rehcs over which they were wont to build shrines which they called * Houses of Relics,' it is practically certain that the merthyrs of South Wales are not built in honour of martyrs but are little shrines erected over the relics of saints. Now, as Brychan was the great-grandfather of St. David who was born in Annus xiv which in the Bedan era of the Invitation is 462, we are justified in dating the merthyr place names of South Wales, called mostly after Brychan's children and grandchildren, in the fifth century. As Irish influences de- cayed in Wales, this use of the word martyrium or merthyr decayed also. By the close of the seventh century the origin of these names was forgotten, especially amongst the Britanni living between the river Usk and Poole Harbour, so that the suggestion of the Excidium was quite natural in its own period and place, the word martyrium being taken in its Latin sense of a church ascribed to a martyr.
(To he continued.)
SLlN LE DitjRA CHREAGACH CHIAR 59 SLAN LE DltlRA CHREAGACH CHIAR
DOMHNULL MacEaCHARN
Glbus C. Fonn — ' The Scottish Emigrant's Farewell.'
.d I d:-.n|s:-.d' | dVt:yid':-.8 | s :Ls|d':-.s | Ls:d\n |n .r:-.|
4=!5
w=n
1*5:
^^
it==itii«
1^
^=^-
O, sli'in le Diiir-a chreag-ach, chiar ; B'e m'aighear's m'iarrtas riamh bhi'd thaice,
.8 I d:-.n|s:-.d' I dU:iJ Id't-.-^f I PKf:sJ|s:-.d I nj:U, |r.d:-.
.^j]jJ.Jt:;5fe:jiJ3.to
:*it
A' seafg na h-6ild-e air an t-sliabh ; 'S au Ian - daiiuh chiar an riasg na glaice ;
.*s |n':-.r'|f'.ni':r'.d' I l:d'|s:-.n I f .s:l .t |d':-.s I l.s:d'.n|n .r :-.
l3 ged nach tfeid mi'n diugh'nandfeigh, 'Snachlean mi ceum na h-ftild' 'sna creachainn,
.8 d:-.n| s:-.d' | 1 :d' | f':-.n' | r^d, :tJ,J s ;4^r' | n':-.r' I r' .d'
|
-y^ — ^J^-^^r--f^-^-i-~fr~-f^-r-r^ |
|
V ^ JJ ^' "^ ^— i^-L ^ ^^—^-^ |
'S trie thog mi fonn air lorgan fheidh, Le m 'gliunn - a gleist' fo sg^ith mo bhreacain.
0, sUn le Diura chreagach, chiar,
B'e m'aighear's m'iarrtas riamh bhi'd
thaice, A' sealg na h-eUde air an t-sliabb, 'S an lan-dainih chiar an riasg na glaice ; Is ged nach teid mi'n diugh 'n an deigh, 'S nach lean mi ceum na h-eild' 's na
creachainn, 'S trie thog mi fonn air lorg an fheidh, Le m'ghunna gleist' fo sgeithmo bhreacain.
O, slan le d'bheanntan corracb, ard', Gach cnoc is earn is airidh fhasgach ; Is ann fo'n sgath bu mhiann learn tamh, Gu'n teid gu brath fo'n chiar mo thasgadh ;
0, soraidh leis gach srath is raon, Gach coire fraoich, is caochan blasda ; B'e fion an fhuarain cuach mo ghaoil, An iocshlaint shaor, — gach braon dhi 'nasgaidh.
Do choilltean dliith, 's an iir-mhios MhMgh Bu chubhraidh 'm fas fo sgkil a bharraich, 'S a'ghrian a'siighadh this nam blath A mhosgad nadur trath an Earraich ; 0, 's truagh nach d'fhuair mi fios 'na
thrath, Nach robh e'n dan domh ait ed' fhaicinn, A choisinn cliii is muirn a'bhaird. Mar rinn an fait 's an d'fh^a: mi'mbreacan.
60 THE CELTIC REVIEW
THE STUDY OF HIGHLAND PERSONAL NAMES Alexander Macbain, LL.D.
In the first number of the Celtic Review Mr. Watson dealt in a thoroughly scientific spirit with the ' Study of Highland Place Names,' and I have felt ever since that in the interests of ethnologic study the parallel subject of * Personal Names' should be considered. The more immediate reason for my undertaking this task comes from some remarks in Sheriff Ferguson's excellent articles in the last two numbers of the Review upon the * Celtic Element in Lowland Scotland.' He has expressed the wish that for ethnological purposes as much were done for the personal names as for the place names of modern Scotland. A good deal has been done since Professor Mac- kinnon set the example in his Scotsman articles on the ' Place Names and Personal Names of Argyle' in 1887-8. Nor has the subject of ' Personal Names ' been eschewed by Highland writers, especially the clan historians ; but the subject is narrower in its limits and less objective than place names, which, representing in large measure in words the physical features of the country, invite the fancy of the amateur philologist. To him Donald appears to be undoubtedly Donn-shuil or ' Brown-eyed,' and Maclaverty is still from Fear-labhartach or ' spokesman,' or, better yet, as in the latest clan history, from Fear Labhairt-an-righ, ' King's Speaker ' ; while heads are sapiently shaken over the too manifest explanation of Macrae as Mac-ratha, ' Son of Grace.' And yet the etymologies recognised by Celtic scholars for these names have been published in systematic and accessible form within the last ten years. We do not read one another's works or articles, so that it may be quoted as true of us what the poet says :
' Running with lampless hands, No man takes light of his brother till blind at the goal he stands.*
The importance of the interpretation and history of personal
STUDY OF HIGHLAND PERSONAL NAMES 61
names in the cases of ethnology and genealogy has been always recognised, but the Lowland writers who dealt with Highland subjects always fought shy of the subject ; and indeed until a generation ago little good could be expected or received from the interpretations offered. Philology as a science is quite recent, and its application to personal names is still more recent. But now it is helping to solve some troublesome historic problems. As an instance, the vexed question of Pictish origins has got — or is getting — its quietus from a study of the place and personal names of Pictavia. After consideration of these elements of the Pictish problem, with one or two further facts, Dr. Whitley Stokes sums up the results in these sufficiently restrained terms : — ' The foregoing list of names and words contains much that is still obscure ; but on the whole it shows that Pictish, as far as regards its vocabulary, is an Indo-European and especially Celtic speech. Its phonetics, so far as we can ascertain them, resemble those of Welsh rather than of Irish.' So Pictish, according to Dr. Stokes and other leading Celtists, was not Gaelic ; it was a Brittonic language. Modern Celtic scholarship merely restores our confidence in the old chronicles of Scotland after the douche of scepticism thrown on them by Pinkerton and Skene.
On smaller points, too, light is reflected. The names Macbeth and MacHeth puzzled Skene and his contempor- aries ; Dr. Skene regarded Beth as a personal name and refused to follow Robertson in elucidating the history of the MacHeths by acknowledging that Beth Comes was a tran- scriber's blunder. Yet such is the case. The ' shape-shift- ing ' name of Eth, Ed, Head, Heth, Mac-Heth, Mac-Eghe comes after all — as it dawned on Mr. Lang — from Aed or Aodh, ' fire,' and is still found in the names of Mackay, Mackie, and Magee — in Sutherland, Galloway, and Ireland. And Macbeth proves to be no Pictish name either, as one eminent Celtic scholar thought and seems still to think. He regarded Macbeth as the enigmatic Karl Hundason of the Orkney saga, and jumped to the conclusion that Hundason
62 THE CELTIC REVIEW
or Dog-son was a translation of Mac-beth ; therefore heth meant ' dog,' and it was Pictish, for no Aryan language has such a name for ' dog.' Although he knows of Maol-beathadh (servant-of-life), and he might know of Cu-beathadh (dog-of- life) — he is still unrepentant, though the early annals swarm with names such as these — abstract and material nouns going along with cu, mac, maol, and others. A study, therefore, of the formation, meaning, and history of Gaelic personal names is necessary for the ethnologist and historian of early Scotland.
Present-day personal names of the Highlands show specimens from all the strata — so to speak — of Gadelic history since Gadelic and its mother Celtic became indepen- dent languages. Donald or Domhnall, when restored to the pristine fulness of its form as Dumno-valos, is full brother to the princely name of Dumno-rix, the name of Caesar's patriotic foe, and both have much the same proud meaning — 'world-ruler,' 'world-king.' They represent, too, the Indo-European character of old Celtic names, which were formed from two stems welded together, as we see. The name Fergus — Ver-gustus or * super-choice ' — is common to Old Breton, Welsh, Pictish, and Gadelic, and indeed may thus be claimed as belonging to the period when all these languages were as yet one and undivided. A later stage is shown by a name like Cu-chulinn — * Dog of Culann ' ; the Gaels here seem to have adopted in Ireland the style of name-giving which belonged to the pre-Celtic inhabitants. The formula is no longer two welded stems, but the first element denotes servant, devotee, or son of some god or beast or object or idea, while the second element denoting this is, of course, in the genitive case. Hence come Macbeth and Macrae — * Son of Life, son of Grace ' ; and Mac-na-cearda, * craftsman ' (Sinclair from Tinkler) ; and hence, too, the numerous names with maol and gille prefixed to saints' names and otherwise, in the old annals, and still partially preserved : Maol-colum or Malcolm and Gillie-calum, for instance. Biblical names do not appear, curiously enough.
STUDY OF HIGHLAND PEESONAL NAMES 63
earlier than the other foreign names which began to be adopted after the Norse invasions — in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Scotland was more exposed to foreign influences than Ireland, and the names in the Book of Deer {ci7'c. 1100) contain nearly twenty per cent, of non- Celtic elements, while the corresponding entries of practically the same date in the Book of Kells in Ireland show only some twelve per cent. The Norman period coincident with the reigns of the im- mediate descendants of Ceannmor brought in a new system in state and church government, and also a new nomen- clature ; surnames began, and the old Gadelic Christian names gave way to such royal names as Alexander and William, or to such a favourite baptismal name as John — from John the Baptist. At the present time nearly forty per cent, of our Highland population bear one or other of these three names, but Donald holds the second place to John in the list of all Christian names. Of the individual ' Christian ' names in actual use only thirty per cent, are Gaelic names like Angus, Donald, or Duncan, and only thirty-seven per cent, of the population bear such Gaelic Christian names at all. The oldest Highland surnames Macdougall and Mac- donald, which go back to the thirteenth century — to DugaU son of Somerled and to Donald Mor son of Beginald, son of Somerled. Donald's ^or?a^ is about 1250 and Dougall's about 1200. The rival Campbells, however, press hard on these dates, for the first recorded is Gillespie Cambell (1266), whom the genealogies represent as son of Dugall Cambel or ' wrye-mouth,' fifth in descent from Duibhne, from whom the family has the name O'Duibhne. Surnames were rare in the Highlands till the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when the younger and minor clans escaped the tutelage of the Island lords and the 'lieutenancies' of Huntly and Argyll. Individuals were designated by a string of ancestors, ending usually with name of the croft or farm occupied, such as : — John MacHamish vie Aonas vie Allister Reoch in Ballachroan (1679). After the '45 matters rapidly changed; movements and expeditions to the Lowlands necessitated surnames ; and
64 THE CELTIC REVIEW
these were adopted either from the clan to which the in- dividual really belonged or to which he attached himself, or from the name of the district or place of his origin. It has been a common thing for the smaller septs to sink their real surname in the bigger tribal or clan name. Thus Rob Donn was really a Calder from the Oikel district, his family having in the eighteenth century registers the aliases of Mackay or Calder or Eckel ; but the poet is now claimed as a ' real ' Mackay. As in other parts of the kingdom, Highland sur- names may be derived from other than patronymics. Epithets or Nicknames, such as Dow and Bane, form a large class ; so do place names, such as Murray and Geddes, and names from rank, profession, or trade, have their clans and septs — Mac- kintosh (thane's son), Macpherson (the parson), and Macin- tyre (carpenter). As to the * Celticity ' of Highland surnames, the mac names account for close on half the population ; but such a name as McAlister is only half Gaelic by etymology and forty per cent, of our mac patronymics are of this hybrid kind. On the other hand many English surnames, such as Brown, Morrison, Livingston, and Lindsay (Brehon's son, Mac-gillemhoire, Macleay and Maclintock), represent Gaelic originals, though in a census enumeration they must be reckoned English. The Celticity of the individual surnames in use amounts to sixty per cent, of the whole, while, as already stated, the Celticity of the Christian names is less than half that amount. The Celticity of the population as denoted by their surnames can only be guessed at roughly ; it is about eighty per cent.
The Gaels by language are an Aryan or Indo-European people, and the parent people had a unique system of name- giving which the descendant nations have always preserved and presented. The Aryan name in full was a compound of two stems : Sanskrit D^va-dattas, ' God-given ' ; Greek Dio- genes, ' God's-bairn ' ; Slavonic Vladimir, ' famed-in-rule ' (Gaehc, jiaih-mor by roots) ; and Teutonic Os-wald, ' ruler from the Anses or Gods.' Then in Celtic we have — Gaulish Devo-gnata, ' God's-bairn,' Argio-talus, ' silver-brow,' which
STUDY OF HIGHLAND PERSONAL NAMES 65
Pictish reverses in Tal-org and Talargan ; Pictish Morcunn, now Morgan, Welsh Morgan, Old Breton Morcant, a Celtic Mori - cantos, * sea-bright ' ; Ancient Welsh Maglo-cunus (Gildas, 550 a.d.), now Maelgwn, older Welsh Mailcun, Pictish Mailchon, * high chief * ; Pictish Congust, Old Welsh Cingust, Celtic Cuno-gustus, * high choice ' ; Pictish Uven or Euganan, Welsh Ywein or Owein, Gaelic Ebghan or Eogan, ' well-born.' These ' double-barrelled ' names characteristic of the Indo-European nations are usually epithets, drawn from the strenuous and warhke aspects of life — such as Alexander or Veremund, ' defender of men,' and William or Wilhelm, * helm of resolution.' Animal names may form one of the elements, the wolf and the bear being prominent. Religion and kin naturally enter largely into the compounds ; indeed, some nations, like the Greeks and Teutons, made the name show descent from either father or grandfather — such as Dmo-krates, son of Dino-klea, or among the English lists of kings, Ethel-wvM (838-58), father o^ Ethel-hoXdi, Ethel-hert, and Ethel-red. As a consequence of this genealogical practice, the meanings of these double- stemmed names are not always consistent, especially among the Teutons. The first element should qualify the second, but we meet with Theo-doros, ' Gift from God,' which is right, beside Doro-theos, which should mean ' Gift-god,' which is not so good, and is due to reasons of family descent. The Greeks were on the whole careful that the elements had a fair sense when combined ; not so the Teutons, where we meet with names that mean * Peace-war, War-peace, Peace- spear' (Fredegunde, Hildfrid, Fredegar). In fact, matters went so far that there were practically two lists of these stems, one for the first element of the compound, and the other for the second element. As the Teutonic names show the extreme development of this practice, the following short lists have been drawn up from Teuton names with the double purpose of showing how the system worked, and of giving the meaning of the most important Teutonic names borrowed into Gaelic. The first list, therefore, contains the element that
VOL. II. E
66
THE CELTIC REVIEW
usually antecedes in the double-barrelled name, and second list gives the element that generally comes last :-
the
Gud, god, god.
Os, As, An, gods, Anses.
Rogn, regin, gods, counsel.
Thor, god Thor.
Hug, hu, thought.
Ercan, archi, pure.
Her, har, army,
Sig, victory.
Ead, dd, possessions.
Uodal, ul, patrimony.
Heim, hen, home.
Wil, will.
Ethel, al, noble.
Hrod, rod, ro, famed.
Hlod, hid, famous.
frid, /red, urd, peace. mund, protection. win, friend. red, counsel. hert, bright. ward, warden. Tcetill, kell, kettle. helm, helmet. ric, rich, ruler. leif, Idf, heritage. trygg, trie, true. wald, old, wielder. bald, bold. wulf, olf, wolf. bern, burn, bear.
Our best known names will be found by combining these elements : God-fred, * God's peace,' becomes in Gaelic Goraidh, older Gofraidh, whence the patronymic M'Gorry. The name is still common among the Macdonalds. An-laf, ' heir of the Anses,' gives the name Olave, Gaelic Amhlaibh, whence the sept name Mac-aulay. Regin-ald, ' Gods' ruler,' is known in Gaelic as Raonull, English Ronald ; M'Ranald, M'Crindle, Clan-ranald. Reynold is the best English form. The god Thor gives many names : Thor-mund gives G. Tormod, or, in some dialects, Tormailt (cf. iarmailt £rom. firmamentum), and is Englished as Norman or ' North-man,' simply because of the like sound. Thor-ketill or Thor-kell, ' Thor's sacred vessel,' gives the names M'Corquodal and M'Corkle, as well as the Christian name Torcail or Torquil. Of a similar origin and force is Askell, ' kettle of the Anses,' found in M'Askill. Hugh means ' thought,' and does duty now for the old Gaelic name of Aodh, which latterly became a mere grunt (Y M' Ay of Strathnaver) and sadly required the strengthening it got from the diminutive of Hugh, namely Hucheon or G. Huis- dean, which properly in Gaelic ought to be Aoidhean or * little Aodh ' — still found in the Skye name of Macquien,
STUDY OF HIGHLAND PERSONAL NAMES 67
sometimes wrongly rendered as Macqueen. The Clann Huis- dean of Sleat are now the leading branch of the Macdonalds, and, in the person of Lord Macdonald,lay claim to the chiefship. The name Arcen-bald or Archibald, ' pure and brave,' is the favourite translation of Gaelic Gilleasbuig or Gillespie, 'bishop's serf,' though the connection is not clear either by form or mean- ing. Harold or Herald appears now only in the Gaelic sur- name of M'Raild ; and the elements of the name are reversed in Walter, whence Watt, and the old northern (Moray and Black Isle) sept of M'Watt, M'Wattie, and Watson. The M' Watties were also a sept of the Buchanans. The name Sigfrid or Sigurd appears now only in the obscure Skye sept name of M'Siridh, who, of course, like all minor septs, try to hide themselves as Macdonalds and sometimes as Mackinnons. Sigtry gg or Sitric gives the Galwegian name of M'Kittrick or M'Ketterick. Edward is in G. confused with the famous Norse name lomhar or Iver, Norse Ivarr or Ingvarr, ' youth,' which gives M'lver, M'Eur, M'Cure — the latter two names in Galloway. Ul-rick or ' patrimonially rich ' was in Gallo- way and Carrick confused with the old Gaelic name of Ualgarg, ' high temper,' appearing as Ulgric, the name of one of the leaders of the wild Galwegians in 1138 at the Battle of the Standard. This name was brought north by the Kennedys of Lochaber, who are known in Gaelic as M'Ualraig or M'Uaraig. Henry means ' home-ruler,' and in Gaelic becomes Eanraig, whence M'Kendrick and Henderson. M' William is still a sept name. Bobert means 'gloriously bright ' (Hrod-bert) and gives G. Bob, and sept names like M'Bobbie and M'Bobin. The name Lud-wig, * famed warrior,' now Lewis, is a favourite among the Grants, and among them — and elsewhere — translates the Gaelic Maol-domhnaich, ' servus dominicus,' on principles none too clear. The southern M'Burney is all that remains of the common Norse name Bjarni or Bear, represented in Gaelic by M'Mhathain or Matheson of English.
These Indo-European double-stemmed names also under- went a process of compression ; ' pet ' forms were developed.
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wherein the second element suffered condensation, or was entirely dropped, leaving a diminutive in its stead, or even leaving no trace of its former existence at all. Ordinary ' pet ' forms are Maggie for Margarita and Biddy for Bridget. In Greek Demo-sthas stood for Demo-sthenes ; and in Old German Sicco acted as ' pet ' form for Sige-rich, Sig-bert, and, indeed, for all names beginning with sig. So Hugo was a diminutive for Hubert and such names ; and even the simple Hugh, without diminutive suffix, was and is used. The strengthening of the g of sig to cc shows that there was a second part — that the name was a compound. Similarly in Old Gaelic the adjective find, now Jlonn, white, ended in d, and this was hardened to t where a name like Find-barr or Find-chath (fair-head, fair- warrior) was curtailed with the diminutives -an or -6c, resulting in Fintan, Fintoc, now Fionn- dan, Fionndag, whence M'Gille-Fhionndaig or M'Lintock — St. Findan's devotee. And, further, the adjective ^own itself was used as the final pet name. The diminutives in Gaelic were mainly -an, -6c, and -e, with other side forms in -ine, -ene, -in, and combinations like -6c-dn {-ucdn -agan, as in Fionnlagan from Fionnlugh-oc-an or Maol-agan ' shaveling,' whence Milli- gan). The English diminutive in -ie or -y appears in Norse and German as i — Gunni (now Gaelic Guinne, Clan Gunn), for Gunn-arr or Gunnbjorn (war-bear), and German Willi for Wilhelm, our Willie. In the case of adjectives, the pet name may be the adjective simply : as Norse Ljotr or Ljot, ' ugly,' perhaps for Ljot-ulf, ' ugly wolf,' from which comes the Gaelic Lebd, MacLebid. In old Gaelic, adjectives of colour especially were used as names, such as duhh in Mac- duff and the king's name of Duff, Latinised as Niger or Nigellus. The favourite name Aed or Aodh simply means ' fire ' and is declined as a t^-stem ; it is also a diminutive, with fuller forms, Aedan or Aodhan ; Aed-uc-an or Aodhagan, whence comes the Irish name of Egan.
As in the case of Teutonic names, Gaelic names may be presented in two lists, the first of which forms the first element in the double-stemmed name, the second list con-
STUDY OF HIGHLAND PERSONAL NAMES 69
taining elements usually terminal. In the following lists, the old names, with unaspirated medial consonants, are in italics : —
Aed, Aodh, • fire.' Aen, aon, ' one, unique.' Ail, 'rock.' Cath, 'battle.' Car, 'dear.' Cell, 'war.' Comh-, com-, * with.' Con-, 'high.' Domn-y Domhn-, ' world.' Dun-, 'strong.' Each, 'horse.' Eo-, 'good.' Fad, Faol, ' wolf.' Fer-, 'super, man.' Find, Fionn, 'whyte.' Flaith-, 'dominion.' Lug, god 'Luga, winner.' Muir, 'sea.' Niall, ' champion.' So-, SU-, 'good.'
-aed.
-all (=valO'S), 'wielding.' -barr, 'head.' -beartach, 'powerful.' -bhne, 'being, going.' -car, 'dear.' -cath, ' warrior ' -ceartach, 'director.' -cobar, ' help.' -donn, 'lord, brown.' -gart, 'head.' -gal, 'valour.' -gel, 'white.' -gan, -guin, 'kin.' -giis, 'choice.' •lug, lach, 'winner.' -laech, lagh, 'hero.' -n, -raigh, 'king.' -thach, '-ious.' -tighearn, 'lord.'
From aodh terminal, we have Cin-aed, * fire-sprung,' the well-known name of Kenneth, now ousted in Gaelic by Cainnech or Coinneach, 'fair one,' whence the clan name Mackenzie ; Irish M'Kenna and Galwegian M'Kinnie are from Cion-aodh or Kenneth. Aon-ghus or Angus means ' unique choice ' ; hence M'Innes, M'Ainsh, and M'Nish. Allan comes from two sources — Old Gaelic Ailene or Ailin {ail, ' rock '), the name of the old earls of Lennox, or from Norman Alan, an Allemann or German (all and man), to which we may compare Norman, Dugall or Dubh-ghall (Black foreigner or Dane), Fingal (Norse-man), Frank, etc. Cath gives Cathal (""* Catu-valo-s), whence M'Kail, Call ; Fer-char is for * very dear,' whence M'Erchar, Farquharson ; Cellach, * warlike,' gives the surname Kelly and M'Kelly, and after being borrowed by the Norse as Kjalakr it becomes M'Killaig. Com-gan, * Con-genial,' was a famous saint, and M'Gille-
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chomhghain became M'Cowan and Cowan. Con-chobhar denotes ' high help,' and is the famous name Connor. There is a sept of M'Conchers still in Lorn. Domhn-all, as already- said, means ' world-lord,' and Domhnaghart appears in the sept name Clann 'Ille-Dhonaghart at Benderloch, who claim to be Macdonalds in ' English.' The name Duncan is in Celtic Duno-catus, * strong warrior' or 'burgher,' whence M'Connachie and Clan Duncan or Eobertson. Each, ' horse,' gives Each - thighearn, * horse -lord,' whence M'Echern, M'Kechnie ; and Eachdhonn, * horse-lord,' is the old form of Eachunn, which is Englished as Hector (Greek, 'holder') ; it gives the sept name of M'Echan. Eoghan or Ewen practically means the same as Latin Eugenius, ' well-born,' whence M'Ewen. Faolan denotes ' little wolf,' and in the compound Gill'Fhaolain or Gillfillan, gives M'Lellan, and, further, M'Killigan (M'Gill'Fhaolagain). Fergus is * super- choice,' and gives M'Kerras and Fergus-son. Fionn or Fionndan is a diminutive for St. Find-barr, and we have the sept names of M'Lennan (GiU'Fhinnein), M'Lintock, and M'Clinton. Fingon or Finguine, * Fair-bairn,' gives the sur- name Mackinnon. The Scotch name Finlay is a late form — Finnlaech, ' fair hero ' — for the old name Find-lug ; Lulach seems for Lug-laech, ' Luga's hero,' and anyway still remains in the sept name M'Lullich (M'Lulli in fourteenth century). Fionnaghal is a female name denoting 'fair shoulder,' rendered into EngHsh rather curiously as Flora. The name M'La(ve)rty has already been referred to ; it comes from Flaithbheartach, 'dominion-holding.* The sea gives several names: Mur- chadh, ' sea -warrior,' ''^ Mori- catus ; Muircheartach, 'sea- director,' whence M'Urardaigh, M'Kirdie, M'Mu(r)trie, and Irish Moriarty ; perhaps Muireach or Muireadhach ('" Mori- taco-s ?), though this is explained as denoting ' lord,' rauire being a shorter form meaning 'steward.' Hence Murdoch, M'Vurich, Currie ; but Murcheson is from Murchadh. Muriel, the female name, comes from * Mori-gela, ' sea- white.' Niall, with gus added thereto, gives Niallghus, which appears in the form of M'Neilage, from M'Nelis, as
STUDY OF HIGHLAND PERSONAL NAMES 71
M'Fetridge comes from MTetrus, and M* Cambridge from M'Ambrose. Ruadhraigh is for * red prince,' whence M'Rory ; but there is no connection between this name initially and the Teutonic Roderick, 'famed prince.' Mac-queen comes from Suibhue, ' good- going,' the opposing name being Duibhne.
A feature of Gaelic names is the frequency of animal names. Professor Zimmer explains these names as the first portion of the ordinary double-stemmed name ; in fact, the animal name is a reduced or pet form. This may be, but there are several cases where the name has been directly assumed from the animal. ' The Fox ' was the official title of The O'Caharny, Prince of Teffia, for some three hundred years, even as late as 1526, when M'Eochagan and 'The Fox ' made a contract in Gaelic, which is still extant. The dog was first favourite ; Bran-chu (raven-dog), Faol-chu (wolf- dog), Mil-chu (greyhound) ; then the mastiff or Madadh gave the names Maddeth and Madan or Modan. St. Catan, or 'little cat,' gave the name Gille-catan as the eponymus of Clan Chattan ; Mac-Mahon means ' son of the bear ' ; Math- ghamhaim (bear) was a favourite name, just as Bjorn was among the Norse. The wolf was known as Sitheach, whence M'lthich, M'lthichean (M'Keith, M'Kichan), and Shaw ; another name for the wolf was Mac-tire, * son of the soil ' ; while Faolan, really a diminutive of Faol-chu, has already been noticed. The famed poet Ossian gets his name from the diminutive of os, ' a deer ' ; and the borrowed Columha gave the saint's name first, and from it come Galium and Malcolm. M'Culloch no doubt means ' son ot the boar ' ; and pig names are common — M'Crain, Banbiin, Orcan, M'Turk (Galwegian). The Gaelic name Cailean, which appears in English as Colin, is really a native name denoting 'whelp.' A Scottish king bore the name in the form of Culen, which is the usual form of the word cuilean ; the Irish shows coiledn ; the root is so far cul, and Cailean must be a dialect form, such as we have in the case of dUiil, *a plain,' which appears in its proper root form as dul.
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with a genitive dalach (cf. lathach, *mud,' old Irish loth, root lut).
A certain class of names in Old Gaelic depart in a remarkable manner from the Indo-European system of double-stemmed names, and ' pet,' or reduced forms of the same. This consists in a name where two nouns are brought together, the one of which governs the second in the genitive. The heroic name Cu-chulinn is a good example ; the name means * Culann's hound.' Other names are Mog-neit, ' slave of Neit,' the war goddess ; Nia-Corb, * champion of Corb ' ; and Fer-Corb, 'Corb's man.' These names remind us of some Bible names : Obed-Edom, * servant of the god Edom ' ; Gabriel, 'hero of El (God)'; Absalom, 'father of peace.' Professor Rh^s is probably right in explaining these com- binations as due to the influence of the previous non-Celtic population. Under Christianity the system came into great vogue ; the saints took the place of the old Gadelic deities and totems. The term mug, ' slave/ was replaced by mael or maol, * bald,' that is, ' tonsured one ' or * devotee ' of the saint mentioned. Thus Mail-Patraic means ' devotee of St. Patrick' — under the saint's charge or born on his day, or some other connection. In Scotland gille (servant) was after a time a greater favourite than maol ; and Tnaol itself got confused with 9ndl, 'prince.' For instance, Mail-duin, now Muldoon, is really ' prince of the fort,' not * slave of the fort.' Besides maol and gille, other initial terms were cu (as Cu- mara, * dog of the sea,' whence Mac-namara) ; tiiac, * son ' ; fer, 'man'; and der, 'daughter.' The governed nouns may be persons, places, abstract ideas, and material nouns. Thus, cu : Cu-Corb, Cu-Ulad, * Ulster's hound ' ; Cu-Breatan (Britons'), Cu-sleibhe (dog- of- the -hill), Cu-cuimhne (memory's dog), Cu-catha (battle), Cu-sithe (peace), and Cu-diiiligh (keen-ness ?), which last three appear in the old Maclean genealogy, and Cu-duiligh or Conduiligh is still known as a Maclean name — the Maclean pipers, known as Rankins, being Clan Duly. Max^ shows much the same sequences : Mac-Talla, ' echo ' (son of the rock) ; Mac-na-braiche, ' son of
STUDY OF HIGHLAND PERSONAL NAMES 73
the malt ' (whisky) ; Mac-na-maoile, * son of the baldness,' a side form for Mac-Millan (Mac-na-mil). Macbeth and Macrae we have discussed, Columba's grandfather is called by Adamnan Filius Navis, which is Mac-luing (Galwegian M'Lung) or Mac-naue. Mac-coise, * footman,' gives M'Cosh, M'Lave is Englished as * hand '; and, doubtless, the Galwegian M'Lurg is for * footman.'
Maol is used similarly, though its chief use is with saints' names : Maoldiiin (* fort,' confused with mal), Maol- rubha (* promontory,' not * peace,' as it is usually explained) ; Maol-umha (bronze) ; Maol-snechte (snow) ; Maol-bethadh (life), Maol-onfhaidh (storm) — Millony of the Cameron genea- logies. With adjectives it is doubtless mdl, * prince,' that is originally meant : Maol-odhar, Maol-dubh (but there was a Scotch St. Duff), Maol-mordha (great). The word gille is confined to saints' names, though we meet with Gill'onfhaidh beside Maol-onfhaidh and the unique Gille-bhr^tha, * servant of doom,' doubtless for Maol-bratha (M'Gillivray). One or two interesting saints' names may be noticed. Maol-Brighde and Gille-Brighde are * St. Bridget's devotee.' These names have a diminutive or pet form in n : Bridein, whence M'Bride. Similarly Macbeth or Maol-beth has Beathan or Bean, whence M'Bean ; Gille-maol, * bald lad ' has Maolan, whence M'Millan ; Gille-naomh has Naomhan or Niven ; Gille-glas has Glaisean, whence M'Glashan. Adamnan's name appears in Gilleownan (1427), but the sept name M'Lagan shows an interesting double diminutive form of the name as Adhamh- agan, Gill'A'agan. The saints present their names often in diminutive form with terminal -6c or -og, and prefixed mo, my. St. Ernan appears as Mo-ern-oc or Mernoc, as in Gille- mhernog, M'Gillemhearnaig, which is Englished as Graham — being originally a sept name in the Graham country. Maclehose appears to be from St. Thomas. Gille is widely used with adjectives : Gille- riabhach (brindled) — M'llwrath ; Gille-odhar, M'lU'uidhir (dun), that is, M'Lure ; and M'Ghille- dhuibh (black) becomes M'Gillewie.
An extraordinary development of this name system occurs
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with the adjectives duhh and donn (dun). They are used in much the same way as maol, especially with local names or nouns. Thus— Dubh-dothra ' Black of Dodder ' (738) ; Dubh- droma ' Black of the ridge ' ; Dubh-da-locha, ' B. of two lochs/ and there is a number of names made with da (two) prefixed. With abstract nouns we have Dubh-sithe, ' Black of peace,' which degenerates into Du-sith, Duffie, and M'Phee. The adjective donn, dun, also means, 'lord' in the old lan- guage (^"*dun-no-s, root dun, strong), but its use with genitives may not arise from its meaning of * lord.* We have Donn- boo, brown or lord of cows ; Donn-cuan (harbours) ; and Donn-sleibhe (of hill), whence Donleavy, and Gaelic Mac- Dhunleibh or M'An-lei, which becomes Mac-leay, and is Englished as Livingstone.
Surnames from personal names are either in patronymic form, as M'Cormick, son of Cormac (Corb-mac, 'charioteer'), or in genitive regimen Iain Dhughaill — John Dugald's (like English John Williams), or with an adjective form of the patronymic, as Iain DomhnuUach, John Macdonald. The surnames Donald, Duncan, and Donaldson are English in form and creation ; but Tyre for M'Intyre and Clean for Maclean (Gill'Sheathain or John's Gille) are from Gaelic Taor and Cle'an, forms already * reduced ' in the original language. Patronymics from official or trade names are common in Gaelic ; Iain Taillear and Iain Mac-an-Tkilleir stand side by side in Gaelic, but the English in this case is only Taylor, for the word is a borrowed one. Gow (Smith) is commoner than M'Gown in the English form. Dewar (pilgrim) has still the side forms of M'Indedir, M'George (Galloway), and M'Lebra or M'Lure (Mac-Gille-dheoradha). Most of these professional and trade names have long ago been translated into English. A common name in the Black Book of Tay- mouth is M'In-esker or ' Fisher's son,' but it is now known only as Fisher. The greatest source of surnames next to patronymics is place names. Nearly every prominent High- land place name has been so utilised. Urquhart, Brodie, Buchanan, Murray, Sutherland, Drummond, Dallas, Logan,
STUDY OF HIGHLAND PERSONAL NAMES 75
and others claim to be clans. Surnames from Gaelic epithets are fairly common. The two great clans of Campbell and Cameron derive their names from 'crooked' mouths and noses ; this admits of little doubt. But in the case of the Camerons it is equally undoubted that the place names Cameron or Cambrun gave rise to the Lowland Camerons and the De Cambruns of the fourteenth century. Other Gaelic epithets giving English forms are Bain (fair), Begg (little), Moir (big — for vowels compare Baird and Caird), Keir (dun), Duff or Dow (black), Glass (grey), Garrow (rough). Gait (Lowland), and others.
It is not until the facts and principles of Gaelic and Irish personal nomenclature are mastered that investigation can be extended into the old Celtic districts between the Solway and the Clyde. Galloway still, according to Mr. Dudgeon (* Macs in Galloway '), has twenty per cent, of its names beginning with Mac ; and Celtic names are strongly in evidence in the early charters and other historical docu- ments. Irish influence is shown in the old A' {i.e. O') forms in A'Carson, A'Cultan, A'Costduff, A'Hannay, A'Shenan (found in Kin tyre beside O'Senog), A'Sloan (Sluaghadhan), A'Sloss, possibly also Agnew (O'Gnimh), and Adair (O'Daire, and M'Dair, Galloway, 1622). The British of Strathclyde have left many evidences of their fonner existence in place names, and we have, in regard to personal names, their equivalent of Gaelic gilla with saint names in Gos-patrick, Guostuff or Cos-duff", Quos-cuthbert, Cos-oswald, and Cos- mungo (Welsh gvms - Gaelic gille). While Ulgric has been claimed as Teutonic Ulric, a mistake on the other side is made in claiming Uchtred as Gaelic (Ochtraigh). It is Teutonic, as forms like Uctebrand and Hutting or Ucting show. Owing to the disappearance of Gaelic in the seven- teenth century Galloway personal names present the same difficulties as the place names.
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' NEVER WAS PIPING SO SAD, AND NEVER WAS PIPING SO GAY'
E. C. Carmichael
The ' people of peace ' have ever been held to be gifted with music. When their green hillocks are open, music and song may be heard so sweet and alluring that the incautious mortal, unable to resist their charm, goes into the bower to join in the merriment and remains a half willing if some- times unwitting prisoner, till some accident or a friend releases him. Then he finds that he has been a year and a day, seven, nine, or even twenty years in the fairy knoll, while he thought 'twas but an hour or a night, so. beguiling were the music and the dance and the little folks them- selves ! Many instruments the fairies have too — pipes and harps and other wind and stringed instruments, and all so greatly superior to those of human make that a fairy instru- ment is a coveted treasure among the people of earth. But not many of these have been bestowed on the children of men, and the few seem all to have been given by the women of faery. Here are some stories of fairy pipes which I have heard in the Hebrides, and now translate from Gaelic.
The famous Maccrimmons, pipers to the Macleods of Macleod, owed their renown in music to a fairy. When the Macleod of the day returned from one of the Crusades, he brought with him from Cremona a servant who, quite accord- ing to Highland usage, became known by the name of his home. Cremon married in Skye, and when his son was old enough he sent him to the school or college of music at Boreraig, in Glendale, to learn pipe music. This school was celebrated throughout Alban and Erin and Sasunn and the divisions of Europe, and had many pupils, especially for the bagpipes. Cremon wished his son to be a good piper, that he might obtain the honourable position of piper to Macleod of Macleod, for musicians were highly esteemed among the ancient Gaels, and the oflSice of musician to a great chief was
•NEVER WAS PIPING SO SAD' 77
one of much honour and dignity, conferring on its holder many valued privileges and possessions.
But ' Mac Cremmain/ or MacCrimmon, as he was called — the son of Cremon — had no aptitude for the Highland pipes, they were foreign to his race and nature, and his fellow-pupils held rather aloof from the strange lad whose ways were more of his father's land than of his mother's. So the lad was sorrowful and miserable, and he often went out with his sorrow and his misery to the lee of a green knoll at a little distance from the college, to brood and to wish that he could play the pipes like his fellow-students.
One day the * Piobaire mor ' — great Piper, as the head of the college was called — got an invitation to the marriage of a great Chief, and he was asked to bring some of his pupils to help to entertain the guests. There was much excitement in the college, and much speculating and rivalry among the lads as to who would be thought worthy to go. When the ' Piobaire mor ' announced his choice of pupils, MacCrimmon's name was not among them, and though he had not really expected to be among those chosen, he was heavy and sad with disappointment. After the others had set out for the Chie f dun MacCrimmon could not longer restrain his feelings, and he threw himself down in his lonely haunt on the green hillock and wept the tears — the bitter tears — of disappointed hope. While he was dead to all around, he was startled by the sound of a voice asking why he grieved so greatly. Looking up he saw a woman, small indeed, but of beautiful face and form, dressed in a soft green gown, gazing at him with pity shining in her eyes, and peace and love in her face. He knew she was one of the * sithe ' or fairies, and he was afraid. But she looked at him so tenderly and spoke to him so kindly that he poured out before her all his heart's heavy sorrow. He told her that he could not master the bagpipes, and that he played so badly that he had not been taken to the wedding, that the other pupils were not friendly, and that he was altogether miserable. The kind little fairy put her slender hand on the lad's dark
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head and comforted him, and she told him he would play better than any of the other students some day. She then gave him a chanter, the like of which had never been seen before by mortal eyes. She bold him that the possessor of that chanter would carry with him * Buaidh na Piobaireachd ' — the championship of piping. But should a word ever be said in disparagement of the chanter she would instantly take it back, with all the skill it conferred. Then the lovely green-robed fairy disappeared as mysteriously as she had come, leaving the lad too much lost in surprise to think of thanking her.
MacCrimmon hurried back to the college, put the chanter in the pipes and blew it. To his delight he found he could play, and not merely the tunes he had tried so un- successfully to learn but tunes he had never tried before, and even new tunes that no one had ever heard ; and he could play them, too, better than any one he had ever listened to — better than the ' Piobaire mor ' himself ! His happi- ness was now as great as his grief had been before, and he could hardly sleep or eat, he only wished to play his wonder- ful chanter night and day. When his teacher and fellow- pupils returned after a few weeks' absence — for the festivities connected with the marriage of a great Chief were somewhat prolonged — they could scarcely believe their eyes and ears. The stupid foreign lad who could not play when they left, could now play better than the great Piper of the famous college of Boreraig ! Quick questions were asked and the lad told his tale. All knew of the music of the ' sithean ' or fairy bower, and all knew that he to whom a ' sithe ' gave the gift of music was indeed endowed beyond all hope of rivalry. The wonderful chanter was examined and commented upon, but no one could make out of what material it was made. It did not seem to be made of metal, of wood, or of stone.
Those who had formerly jeered at MacCrimmon now envied him and vainly tried to imitate his playing. But it was useless. MacCrimmon could make his pipe move the hearts of his hearers so that they had no will but as it
'NEVER WAS PIPING SO SAD' 79
Impelled them. Did he play ' Geantraighe ' they danced and sang for joy and pure happiness of mind and body. Did he play ' Suaintraighe ' they slumbered peacefully and with a happy smile dreamt of their dear ones and of pleasant days with their comrades. Did he play * Gultraighe ' a wild passionate longing and a great sorrowful lamenting came into every heart. Never was such music heard before. From far and near people came to hear it and to wonder at it, and MacCrimmon's music played with their souls as the north wind plays with the leaves of the birch tree on the brown mountain side.
MacCrimmon became piper to Macleod of Macleod, and his son, and his son's sons succeeded him for many genera- tions, and the fairy chanter descended as the most valued possession of the family. Their fame was known wherever music was loved. The coUege at Boreraig, where the first Maccrimmon had been so backward a learner, was under their teaching, and people came from Erin and from Sasunn and from all the divisions of Europe to learn music in Skye.
Before students were considered fit to leave the college — and the several courses lasted from four to ten years — they had to be able to play one hundred and ninety-nine tunes, some of them very intricate, besides exercises, and to be masters of theory and composition. It is said that in later days the Maccrimmons gave diplomas to successful graduates. These diplomas had on them pictures of Dun vegan Castle, of the galley of Macleod, and of various musical instruments, a seal, and the name of the holder, with the dates of entrance to and departure from the college.^ Two of the Macintyres of South Uist, hereditary musicians to Clanranald, were among the last students at this school — about the beginning of ' the '45.' Four cows are said to have been paid for their education there.
A Skye tradition says that it was practically the last of the Maccrimmon pipers who composed the beautiful and
* A family of the name of Robertson in Inverness — whether town or county I do not know — is said to possess one of these certificates.
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pathetic * cumha ' or lament known by his name, and that it has a double prophetic meaning in that it was a lament for himself, for he foresaw that he would be one of the many to give up life in the ill-fortuned Stuart wars, and also for the fairy's gift. This Maccrimmon was the only man killed at the Moy Kout, and after his death his son inherited the chanter and the office. On one occasion Macleod of Dun- vegan and Macleod of Raasay were returning in the Dun- vegan galley after visiting the chief of Abercrossain, now Applecross. Maccrimmon, as usual, was with his master and was asked to * seid suas ' — blow up. He sat on the prow, the piper's seat, and began playing. But the wind was so strong and the sea so rough in the Sound, that his fingers kept slipping off the chanter with the rolling of the galley. At last it got so bad that MacCrimmon threw down his pipes in anger, and began abusing the chanter because he could not keep his fingers on it. While he was speaking the chanter gave a leap over the side of the vessel into the sea. Mac- Crimmon remembered, too late, the command handed down by his fathers, for the chanter had gone as the fairy giver had said, so many generations before, that it would. And with the chanter went the championship of piping ; and the home of the Maccrimmons is desolate, and their hereditary office unfilled. The set of pipes, called ' an oiseach ' (oinseach '?) with which the fairy chanter was used, is carefully kept at Dunvegan. Will the green-robed lady ever relent and return the chanter, and with it the championship of piping 1 — though indeed there are now no Maccrimmons in Skye to hold them. Another legend is somewhat different. There Avas on a time a great gathering of pipers to be at Dunvegan, and there was no piper better than another far or near, on mainland or island, who did not take the road for the Dun. When the day came, there surely was the multitude of people — Mac- leods and strangers. It happened that Macleod of Dunvegan had a herd boy who was very wild to see the heros of the drones and to hear them for himself, and he asked Macleod if he might stay at home that day. ' Thou little rascal that
'NEVER WAS PIPING SO SAD' 81
thou art/ said Macleod, ' thy work is tending the cattle ; and good as piping is, it cannot keep the bulls from fighting, nor the calves from falling into the ditches. Away, boy, and do not return here till the black herdsman night brings thyself and the cattle home together.' The lad went away downcast and disappointed, and drove the cattle to the shieling. He sat down on a fairy knoll and put the black chanter of the pipes in his mouth. But he had a scarf round his neck and his emotion was so great that his breath came in sudden jumps and leaps, and the chanter was but a bad stepmother to the pipes. At last he threw it away and hid his head in a heather tuft for fear the dogs and the calves would see and mock at him. He had hardly put his head down when the ' sithean ' opened and the pretty little lady of melody came out. She put her white hand on the boy's head, ' Bonnie lad,' she said, * what has put against thee, and what harm has the black chanter of the pipe done thee ? * He told her every- thing as it was, and how he himself wished things were. The lovely fairy then gave him his choice of three championships — the championship of sailing, so that his boat of spotted yew would cut a slender oaten straw, so good her steering, and that her keel would scrape as with sharp knives the limpets from the tops of the hidden rocks ; or the championship of battle, so that the raven of the Dun would be satiated with the blood of his enemies every day on which the sun rose or darkness lay ; or the championship of piping, so that he would bring the birds from the trees and that he would give peace and relief to wounded men and pain-worn women. The boy did not doubt nor delay in deciding which was better, the championships of sailing or of fighting, but without a word backward or forward he chose the championship of piping. Then the beautiful little fairy said, 'Thou hast thy wish from this time,' and she went back into the bower, and the knoll was as it had been before. The boy stared at the place where she had been, but there was nothing to see — only soft green grass and flowers. He took up his pipes and played. But there was the wonderful thing ! The music that was VOL. II. r
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there ! He had never known that there could be such music. And as he played the cattle and the dogs, and the deer of the hill, and the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the earth came round him to listen. After he had played for a long time he thought he would go away back to Dun vegan, for he felt he must tell everybody about the wonderful fairy and show them the gift she had given him. It was there the great piping was, on the green sward, and the many pipers from all places, and it was there the people were, gentle and simple in their crowds listening to them. When Macleod saw the herd lad with his pipes under his arm listening with the others he was angry, and he asked him why he had left the cattle and come to the castle when he had given him fast orders to stay at the shieling. The lad answered that he could not keep away from the piping any longer, and that he felt sure he could play as well as the best piper there. Macleod laughed at the boy's presumption, but to punish him, told him to blow up, adding that if he failed to make good his boast he would get a hard thrashing. The boy blew up, and he played, and that was the playing and that was the music ! At first the other pipers laughed, then they stared, then a great silence fell over them. When he had finished they all admitted that the herd lad had indeed ' buaidh na piobaireachd ' the championship of piping, and they eagerly crowded round him with questions. He told his tale, and then all said that he to whom the fairy queen of melody gave her gifts was indeed a musician, and they piped no more that day, for they said, 'This young lad shames us all.' The lad was taken from herding the cattle and made piper to Macleod of Dunvegan, and a good farm with its share of cattle and horses and sheep and goats was given to him and to his heirs so long as they should continue pipers to Dunvegan and follow its chief in war and in peace.
The hereditary musicians to the Macdonalds of Clanranald were Macintyres, and they too, got a gift of music from a fairy. This is how it was. A son of the musician — for the Macintyres were musicians before they got the fairy gift — had
'NEVER WAS PIPING SO SAD' 83
a sweetheart of the little people. She was a very beautiful lady with a skin like the fair breast of the kittiwake and cheeks like the wild red rose by the mountain stream. Her eyes were of the deep blue of the juniper-berry, and her long hair was the colour of soft, pale, unwrought gold, that glim- mered in the sun and fell about her like golden mist. Her voice was like sweet mellow music. The gown she had was of soft trailing stuff of the pure colour of the green sea when it lies over white sand, and as she walked it was like the moving light on a sloping field of long, green grass when the low wind blows over it and the sun's brightness is gently veiled. ' Her steps were the music of song,' and her fingers were so deft and quick that she could prepare a fleece of wool, pick it, and card it, and spin it, and dye it, and weave it into a big tartan plaid all in an hour by the sun ; and her head and mind were so clever that she knew even what was happening far off. One evening when the fairy and young Macintyre were walking on the green flowery machair near to the farm of Smearclaid in South Uist that his father held as Clanranald's musician, she told him that strangers from Erin over the sea were coming to his father's house to hear if the Macintyres were indeed as good musicians as was reported. ' But,' the fairy said, * I will give you this reed, and you must go home and put it in your father's pipes and play to the strangers. Then they shall see that report said not enough of the music of the Macintyres.' For the pretty little lady was jealous for the fame of her lover's family.
The young man did as she told him. He went home, and there, sure enough, were the strangers being hospitably entertained with food and drink after their journey from far lands. After they had eaten, and while they were resting, the lad said to his father that he would now take the pipes and amuse the strangers who had come home to them from over the waves. * You play ! ' said the father ; * you could never play anything in your life — you will just cause us to be laughed at.' The youug man however prepared the pipes and put in the fairy reed, and he played the music that
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astonished every one. His family listened with surprise and delight, and the strangers were without speech. They had never heard or dreamt of such nobly sweet music — music which spoke to their souls and told them good and great things that they had never felt before in the world. It seemed not of earth, so sweet and strange it was. And the lad did it so simply — he just blew as usual, and he moved his fingers with no more trouble than any one else, yet he played fast, loud, joyful music, and slow, solemn, sorrowful music. It was like the music of ' Tir nan Og ' — the Land of the Ever-young.
After he stopped playing his listeners sat silent for a long space, for they could not speak. But when the spell left them and the strangers' speech came back, they whispered to each other that none dared compete against that, and that they themselves must not touch the pipes. So, as it was the mannerly custom among the Gaels to invite strangers to show their skill, they soon took leave of Macintyre and his family, for it was considered rude to refuse to play when asked. After they had, with much pretended hurry, bid good health be with their entertainers, they hastened to their coracle and sailed away out of that, saying to each other, ' If that is what the lad does who, they say, cannot play, what can the old man's music be ? ' and they returned no more to South Uist, for they themselves were known musicians — but they had no fairy reed or chanter !
BOOK REVIEWS
Higher Grade Readings in Gaelic, with Outlines of Gi-ammar. Edited by Alexander Macbain, LL.D. Northern Counties Publishing Office, Inverness: 1905. Is. 6d. net.
Boys and girls in Highland schools speak Gaelic fluently, in pronounced dialect form for the most part. How best to utilise this acquirement of theirs in order to further their mental training and general culture is a vital question in the education of these children. Hitherto it has been practically ignored. But the Scottish Education Department has, by a recent Minute, offered a Leaving Certificate in Gaelic, and Dr. Macbain, a foremost Gaelic
BOOK REVIEWS 85
scholar and an experienced teacher of eminence, has printed this booklet for the use of pupils qualifying for this certificate.
To meet the case of such pupils fully, it will be found that not one but two books are required. First and foremost there is urgently needed an outline of Gaelic Grammar, such as is provided here, but with a graduated course of exercises for translation and retranslation, with examples here and there showing how such exercises ought to be done, especially in the rendering of idioms and figures of speech. Such a volume would usefully provide in an appendix specimens of such examination papers in Gaelic as have hitherto appeared. A separate volume would be required for general reading. The Eeading Book should contain carefully selected specimens in prose and verse from the best modern Gaelic authors, with a short note giving the principal facts in each author's life, and a sentence indicating the special feature of his genius. Meanwhile, aspirants for the Gaelic Leaving Certificate will find Dr. Macbain's little volume most valu- able. For a first edition it is very accurately printed. Of the section on Grammar it may be said that it would be difficult to pack into twenty -six pages of print a greater amount of sound and accurate knowledge of the Grammar of Scottish Gaelic than is found here. There is, considering the space, nothing left out that ought to be in, and hardly anything in that were better out. In the tables of sounds both the mediae {b, d, g,) and the tenms (p, t, c,) are equated with the English tenues (p, t, c). This is somewhat confusing. It is the case, as our caricaturists have noted, that Highlanders and Welshmen, when speaking English, are apt to sound the mediae with a force half-way between the mediae and tenues. But in speaking their own tongue they differentiate their i's and ^'s, d's and t's, g's and c's as successfully as Englishmen. In actual practice, however, a confusion in the equation of sounds in a grammatical treatise does no harm. Highland boys and girls acquire their knowledge of Gaelic sounds elsewhere. The grouping of Nouns in the various declensions is the most scientific hitherto printed. But it will always be a question whether the Scheme of Declension favoured by the philologist is the best suited for the schoolboy. The old-fashioned Five Declensions of Latin Grammar, having no philo- logical basis, will maintain their place in our grammars for beginners for some time to come. It is somewhat difficult to see how Dr. Macbain could give in the Verb such a form as Dm mi air bhith a' bualadh. The selections for Reading and Kecitation are chosen, it need hardly be said, with judg- ment. They are all of high literary excellence, and that is the chief thing to be aimed at. But it must be said that they lack variety. This is especially the case in prose. All the selections are from one author — Dr. Macleod. Now, while it will be at once admitted that no educated man of our time has written Scottish Gaelic prose with such charm as Dr. Macleod, it still remains true that there are several other writers of conspicuous merit, and that, to be truly educative, the reading of Gaelic-speaking boys and girls should not be restricted to one author, however excellent. And
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even in verse, most readers will miss extracts from such well-known poets as Mary Macleod, Alexander Macdonald, Duncan M'lntyre, and Rob Donn. The mode of writing followed will, as a whole, commend itself to all Gaelic scholars. The traditional orthography is adhered to except upon cause shown. Such words as d^idh and d4igh, Sirich, Sirigh, and 6iridh, with several others, are distinguished, and the correct form used in the proper place. Many apostrophes are removed, and a still greater number could be dispensed with. An apostrophe properly represents a suppressed letter. We speak in groups of words which we weld into one continuous sound, and in consequence we shall always have a good many apostrophes. In many cases it is a matter of indifference which vowel is suppressed. The utmost one can do is to endeavour to be somewhat uniform : e.g. raise 'm aonar, mis' an nochd. In some cases the clashing sounds are of different quality, and then the stronger survives : e.g. do an tigh becomes do'n tigh, ' to the house,' or d'an tigh, ' to their house,' the o of the preposition being stronger than the a of the article, but weaker than the a of the possessive pronoun. Our Gaelic writers have, unfortunately, extended the scope of the apostrophe. They have made it to stand not merely for a suppressed letter, but occasionally for suppressed words, such as a the possessive pro- noun, a the so-called relative, ag of the present participle, and do of the infinitive. In such cases the practice ought to be in Gaelic as in other languages to use the apostrophe only when ambiguity may arise. Thus one writes 'atliair, 'his father,' to distinguish from athair, *a father,' but no apostrophe is needed in the case of athair-san and athair fhein, the em- phatic forms sufficing to prevent ambiguity. The aspiration of a word does away with the need for an apostrophe in the same way : TJia fhuil dearg, ' his blood is red,' Similarly, when the g of ag is suppressed we write a' : a' toirt da, 'giving him.' But when ag is suppressed the apostrophe is not required : Tha rni toirt da, * I am giving him.' Two words, cJm'n or cha n-, gu'n or gu n-. Dr. Macbain has treated in strange fashion, — he writes chan, gun. Our ancestors who fixed our Gaelic orthography found certain fluctuating sounds which they attached by a hyphen to the succeeding, although they formed an essential part of the preceding, word : an t-athair, ar n-eun, gu h-ard. Irish scholars wrote also, consistently, cha n-bl, gu n-iarr ; but, somehow, our Scottish authorities wrote cJia'n ol, gu'n iarr. The late Dr. Clerk and some others sought to remove this anomaly, but unfortunately they placed the hyphen upon the wrong side of the nasal, and wrote cha-n hi, gu-n iarr. Now comes Dr. Macbain and writes the only other possible variant — chan hi, gun iarr, without hyphen or apostrophe. Surely in this case it were better to let even ill alone, unless one was pre- pared to write such forms as ant athair for an t-athair, am aran for ar n-aran, nah ebin for na h-ebin, guh ard for gii h-ard. One might also suggest that in a subsequent edition such double forms as toir and tabhair, hhi and hhith, with others, should be differentiated in actual use : An toir thu leat e ? Cha tabJiair. 'S eudar dlwmh bhi falbh ; faodaidh sin a bhith. So also agus and is,
BOOK REVIEWS 87
which are not only different words, but of different construction. Dia- lectal words and forms are more difficult to handle. When illustrating dialect, local sounds and forms cannot be too closely reproduced ; in writing verse, the ring of the line must be preserved at all hazards; while in presenting the various stages of the language historically for the benefit of advanced students, the varying practice of different writers must needs be reproduced to a large extent. But when one writes the language for the use of boys and girls, one ought surely to write even local diction and idiom in the established orthography. We in Scotland write cas and clack instead of the older cos and clock for the very good reason that we pronounce the words invariably with the a sound instead of that of o. When we differ among ourselves the matter is not so clear. But surely when the historic sound or form is still in use, respect for the past ought to give it the pre- ference. If you insist on writing : Tkoir sin dha na k-eick, because do has become dka in your local usage, I have an equal right to reply in my dialect : Na do'air, korrdsa. But between us we would thus make the Gaelic page repellent, unintelligible, and Gaelic literature impossible. Could we not agree, when writing plain prose, to reproduce our local sounds and forms in historical literary form when tkese are still in living use among us ? If we could bring ourselves to do so, we would have a fairly uniform standard to go by, and we would hope to attract rather than repel our few readers. By following such a rule one would write maitk not 7natk, fatJiair not d'atkair, duit not dut, fallan not fallain, gnotkach not gnothaich, and scores of other such forms which appear in Gaelic books otherwise well written, and, from their contents, deserving of study. Don. Mackinnon.
William Butler Yeats and tke Irisk Literary Revival. By Horatio Sheafe Krans. London : Heinemann. Is. M. net.
Mr. Krans's book on the Irish Literary Revival has little interest for students of the movement. It is mainly taken up with an analysis of Mr. Yeats's poetry and philosophy, and deals only in a slight, and not always well-informed, way with the Irish Literary Movement as a whole. Whatever may be said of Mr. Krans's knowledge of Mr. Yeats's work, his book, which professes to deal with the Avhole literary movement, shows an amazing want of knowledge. Mr. Krans is an American, and manifests the worst faults of American literary appreciation. It is hard to take his rather fulsome praise of Mr. Yeats seriously. We feel sure that Mr. Yeats himself would be the first to resent an attempt to place him on a pedestal which he has never shown a desire to occupy. Mr. Yeats's poetry is in need of no boom. Genuine lovers of poetry recognise him as a leading poet, if not the leading poet of the day. But that is quite a different thing from being head and front and mainstay of the Irish Literary Revival. Mr. Yeats's best work is in his English verse, verse that has in it much of Mr. Yeats's Celtic spirit and charm. He has attempted, not in vain, to repro-
88 THE CELTIC REVIEW
duce the spirit of the art of Ireland in English. But the Irish Literary Revival aims at more than this. It hopes to take up the tradition of Irish literature at the point where it had almost flickered out, revive a literature in the Irish language rich with the inspiration of the new time, voicing the hope of a national life full of promise. This must be the work of other hands than Mr. Yeats. But towards its realisation he has done much. He has directed attention to the great sources of Irish poetry and romance. He has, especially in the last number of Samhain, laid down excellent rules for the guidance of workers in the purely Irish field of poetry and the drama. In reaction against the modern theatre of com- merce he has been mainly instrumental in establishing in Dublin a theatre where literary drama flourishes. Better than all, he has given the Irish poets and dramatists the example of his own highly finished work.
Both the Irish Literary Movement and Mr. Yeats are worthier of better treatment than they have received at the hands of Mr. Krans. Is there no one who will give us an adequate book on the subject which is of interest not to Celts only, but to all lovers of literature throughout the world 1 Seathan MacDhonain.
Uirsgeulan Gaidhealach. Stirling : Eneas Mackay. 6d.
Uirsgeulan Gaidhealach is a choice little book containing four Gaelic stories. Three authors are represented in the little collection of modern tales. We have already an indication of their merit in the fact that they won prizes at the M6d, and they are now published in this form under the imprimatur of the Comunn Gaidhealach. It is a modest be- ginning in what should prove a fruitful and a useful line of work, and it is to be hoped that the Comunn ^vill receive such encouragement in it as will warrant it in undertaking the issuing of works of even larger compass.
There is a story of two Highland cailleachs who were, on one occasion, passing some criticisms on a sermon they had just heard, and this is how one of them put it. ' The sermon had three faults : (1) It was read ; (2) it was not well read ; and (3) it was not worth reading.' If this story is reversed it will apply to the brochure under review. It has three excel- lencies: (1) It is all written in Gaelic; (2) it is well written; and (3) it was well worth being written.
Of course it is possible to point to an occasional slip in diction or idiom. Thoir f uan geal dhachaidh as a' nead glan is a little mixed. If the expression, 'chaidh na beannachdan 's na guidheachan matha fhagail air gach taobh,' were used in Skye or in the Outer Isles, or in many other parts of the Highlands, it would convey a very different idea from that intended by this writer. In those parts guidheachan means profane swearing.
Such points, however, are neither numerous nor serious, nor do they by any means detract aught from the general excellence of the book. We hope to hear that the first edition is exhausted, and a second in demand, by the time the M6d meets in the autumn. M. M.
BOOK REVIEWS 89
Ballads of a Country Boy. By Seumas McManus. Dublin : Gill and Son. Is. &d.
One of the leaders of young Ireland said, ' Come and let us make national songs to warm the hearts of our people,' and truly to-day Ireland is a nest of singing birds. This neat little volume of poems gives fresh justification to the statement. There is achievement and genuine promise in the Country Boy's work. The ballads are, however, of unequal merit, and there is sometimes a lack of artistic finish which perhaps shows that some of them may be juvenile. Though the poems can hardly be said to strike a new note, they are full of Celtic atmosphere and genuine feeling. There is no affectation, all is simple and sincere, as befits the Country Boy. There is also the cry of the city dweller for nature, for the heath-clad hills of Ireland, and a yearning, touched with exquisite regret for the fresh young days that are past.
Perhaps Mr. McManus is most universally successful in his love-songs. Yet humour and pathos are not awanting. ' Father Phil ' and the poem describing the old schoolmaster are gems in their way, and ' The Mountain Waterfall ' is a fine piece of descriptive work that reminds one of ' Coire Cheathaich.' Many of the ballads are full of rousing patriotic enthusiasm and of that love which all her true children feel for Eire. From one such poem come the following lines : —
' There's not a little bell that blows in Ireland's dewy glens. There 's not a sagan waves a spear above her many fens, There 's not a tiny blade of grass on all her thousand hills But this fond breast with tender love to overflowing fills. 0, Ireland for your holy sake I '11 joyful bear all pain. To your high cause I '11 consecrate my heart, my hand, my brain.'
Beautiful as some of Mr. McManus's poems are, however, his reputation will probably continue to rest on his prose work, which has many keen admirers. M. N. Munro.
[A number of Beviews are held over.']
NOTES
Notes on the Study of Gaelic
INTRODUCTORY
These Notes, attempted at the suggestion of the Editor of the Celtic Beview, are intended to help in some degree those who possess a conversa- tional knowledge of the Gaelic language, and desire to speak and write it with accuracy. There are, it is believed, many such. Gaelic is still vernacular in most parts of our Highland counties, and there are abundant indications that the Scottish Gael are awakening to a consciousness of the loss they would sustain by the death of their language. In the meantime
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teacher and pupil have to face difficulties not only in the matter of suitable text-books, but also in the lack of any definite tradition. In the teaching of Latin or English every one knows fairly well what course to follow. New and improved methods, it is true, are being adopted, to the saving of time and effort ; but after all the old tradition has produced good scholars, and may do so still. The case of Gaelic is different. Here there can hardly be said to be any via trita : each goes his own way according to his lights. If the study of Gaelic goes on, as we hope it will, we may expect in the course of some years to see an evolution of method which, with suitable text-books, will at once facilitate the labours of teacher and pupil, and raise the standard of the work. Just at present it ought to be useful to outline a plan of study such as might be sufficient to cover the ground of the leaving certifi- cate in Gaelic. It need hardly be said that the scheme is tentative, and subject to improvement in the light of further experience. The style and scope of the papers set for the certificate will necessarily exert a powerful influence ; so far we know these only in a general way.
In an introductory paper such as this, it is pertinent to ask what are the objects to be attained by a study of Gaelic. What is the good of it 1 By this is not meant its immediate utility from a commercial point of view, a test which, strictly applied, would, I fear, make short work of most of the subjects in our ordinary school curriculum, but rather whether it serves any serious purpose of educational value or of practical importance. Something may be urged on both these sides. So long as Gaelic is vernacular, we shall require ministers and schoolmasters with a scholarly knowledge of the language. This surely need not be insisted on, and there is at the present moment a very real need of both. From an educational point of view, it must be admitted that in Gaelic we in Scotland possess an instrument of culture which has never been properly utilised, because we have not been taught its value. Others — Germans, Frenchmen, and Englishmen — have found the study of Gaelic to be the * open sesame ' to the understanding of certain facts and conditions of primitive Aryan civilisation. Mr. Alfred Nutt's study of Cuchulainn, the Irish Achilles,^ may be cited in illustration. The ' sea-divided Gael,' Scottish and Irish, possess an inheritance, traditional and linguistic, closely akin to that of the Greeks and Eomans, yet difi'erent and complementary. The key to all this is a knowledge of the language. Coming to more recent things, we may say that a knowledge of Gaelic is essential to the right understanding of the history of Scotland. Scotland, most of it, was Gaelic speaking up to the time of the Keformation. Its church and its institutions were thoroughly Celtic up to Malcolm Canmore. Scotland north of the Grampians was opened to Saxon influence only after the rising of 1745. The Highland boy who reads Latin should know that Calgacus is Calgach, that Dumnorix is Kigh an Domhain, and that Caractacus is, etymologically, the ancestor of MacCarthy. Our Duncans and Donalds
1 David Nutt. 6d.
NOTES 91
should have added respect for their name and race from learning that they represent the old Gaulish Dunocatos, Fort-warrior, and Dumnovalos, World- chief. Modern Scottish Gaelic literature, from the Dean of Lismore down- wards, even including the forgeries of Macpherson — which after all are not wholly forgeries — is valuable both on account of its form and of its matter. It possesses qualities of its own, distinctively Celtic, which have been frequently insisted on, and come as a revelation to the less imaginative, but still appreciative Teuton. In point of form, no language, not even excepting ancient Greek and modern French, is richer in idiomatic and felicitous terms of expression. Shrewd, racy, and pungent, with proverb or apothegm to illustrate and enliven every turn, Gaelic is an ideal language for narrative or argument. DiflPering toto caelo from English in its idiom and its manner of thinking, it affords a discipline in translation closely analogous to that given by Latin. Above all, it is our own tongue.
In all teaching of language, and certainly not least in the case of Gaelic, the first essential is correct pronunciation. Clearness and distinctness of enunciation must be insisted on from the beginning and right through. For this, a necessary preliminary is a thorough drill in the sounds of the Gaelic alphabet, vowels and consonants. It is unnecessary at this stage to go into details ; we shall see hereafter how essential this is for the sake of spelling. Once the values of vowels and consonants are understood, Gaelic spelling loses most of its terrors, and indeed is seen to be highly serviceable and very fairly consistent in representing the spoken word.
Spelling, writing, and dictation should be practised from the start. It is a sound principle that we should enlist the services of the ear, the eye, the hand, and the tongue, and exercise in the written forms of words should not be deferred to a late stage.
With regard to grammar, it sometimes seems to be implied that it should be left over for the advanced stages. This may be partly true of a language such as English, which has practically lost its inflections, and therefore can hardly be said to have a grammar. It would certainly be a serious error to teach an inflected language like Gaelic on such a principle. In Gaelic one is brought up against grammatical facts from the very first, and these have to be understood and put in practice. What is of import- ance, however, is that the learner should not be burdened with facts of grammar for which he has no immediate use. Grammar is after all not an end in itself, and it should be introduced regularly, gradually, tactfully, with care that the pupil is not at any one time introduced to more gram- matical facts than can be fully exemplified in composition. Strictly speak- ing, of course, matters should be so arranged that the grammar arises naturally and consecutively from the reading, both being combined with practice in speaking and in writing. This is a counsel of perfection.
In the notes which follow I shall attempt to outline a first year's course suitable to children of thirteen to fourteen, as a basis of two hours per week, or eighty lessons in the school year. W. J. Watson.
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The paper set for the Leaving Certificate Examination (Gaelic, 29th June, 2-5 p.m.) is printed here by permission of the Controller of H.M. Stationery Office.
I. Translate into English the following extract : —
Long irihor nan Eilthireach.^
"N am measg chunnaic mi aon long mhor a thug barr orra air fad ; bha iomadh bata beag a' gabhail d' a h-ionnsuidh, agus thug mi fainear gu robh iad a' deanamh deas gu a cur fa sgaoil. Bha duine leinn as gann a thog a cheann fad an latha, 's a bha a nis ag amharc gu geur air an luing. ' An aithne dhuit,' thuirt mi ris, ' ciod i an long mhor so ? ' ' Mo thruaighe ! ' ars' esan, ' 's ann domh as aithne ; is duilich learn gu bheil barrachd 's a b' aill learn de m' luchd-eolais innte ; innte tha mo bhraithrean is moran de m' chairdean a' dol thairis air imrich f hada do America mu Thuath ; agus is bochd nach robh agamsa na bbeireadh air falbh mi cuideachd.' Tharruing sinn a nunn d' an ionnsuidh ; oir tha mi ag aideachadh gu robh toil agam na daoine so fhaicinn a bha an diugh a' dol a ghabhail an cead deireannach a dh' Albainn, air t6ir duthcha far am faigheadh iad dachaidh dhaibh fh^in 's d' an teaghlaichean. Cha'n 'eil e comasach a thoirt air aon duine nach robh 's an lathair an sealladh a chunnaic mi a thuigsinn. Cha tig an latha a th^id e as mo chuimhne. Bha iad an so eadar bheag agus mhor, o'n naoidhean nach robh ach seachdain a dh' aois gus an seann duine liath a bha tri fichead bliadhna 's a deich.
II. Translate into English one of the following : —
(a) Badan fraoich.
Ceud failt' ort fhein, a bhadain fhraoich,
Bho thir nan aonach ard. An tir a dh' araich iomadh laoch,
Ge sgaoilt' an diugh an al ; Tha snuadh mo dhiithcha air do ghruaidh,
Seasaidh tu fuachd is blaths : 'S e mheudaich dhomh cho mor do luach
Gu'n d' fhuair mi thu bho'n Bhard.
{h) Ealadhna^ Dhonnachaidh BMin, am Bard.
Dheanainn duit ceann ^ is crann * 's an Earrach
An am chur ghearran an eill ;