THE CELTIC REVIEW
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THE
CELTIC REVIEW
PUBLISHED QUARTERLY
Consulting Editor: PROFESSOE MACKINNON
Editor: MRS. W. J. WATSON (MISS E. C. CARMICHAEL)
VOLUME VIII MAY 1912 TO MAY 1913
EDINBURGH: WILLIAM HODGE & CO., 12 BANK STREET.
LONDON : DAVID NUTT, 17 GRAPE STREET, NEW OXFORD STREET.
DUBLIN : HODGES, FIGGIS & CO., LTD., 104 GRAFTON STREET.
582309
Edinburgh : T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty
CONTENTS
FAOB
A Concise Old Irish Grammar and
Reader, .... Julius Pokorny, Ph.D.,
Alexander Carmichael, LL.D. Our Interpreter, .
An Comunn Gaidhealach,
An Old Inventory of the Laird of Coil's Writs,
Argyllshire Clans, .
Children's Rimes, .
( Vienna) f Kenneth Macleod,
. 267
. 112 95
Niall D. Campbell, . 97
Rev. A. Maclean Sinclair, 334
From the MSS. of the late Rev. Father Allan Mac- donald, . . .166
Credo's Lament for Cael,
. John M. Paterson,
295
Deirdre — The Highest Type of
Celtic Womanhood, . . Miss A. G. Macdonell, . 347
Dr. Haverfield and the Saxon
Advent in Britain, . . Alfred Anscombe, .
Ewen Maclachlan and Inverness
Royal Academy, . . . Evan M. Barron, .
251 22
From the Vision of Mac Conglinne, Versified by Alfred Percival
Graves, . . .49
Fulacht na Morrigna, Gildas and Arthur, .
. Professor Mackinnon, . 74 . A, 0, Anderson, M.A., . 149
vi THE CELTIC REVIEW
PAGE
Grannie's Baking, . . . Donald A. Mackenzie, . 234
MacBain's Etymological Dictionary, . . . .192
Marbhrann do Alasdair Macghille- mhicheil, Ughdar Carmina Gadelica, .... Alasdair Camshron, . 249
Notes, ....... 288, 365
Note on Musical Instruments in Gaelic Folk-Tales, . . Kenneth MacLeod, . 341
Reviews of Books :
An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language {reviewed by C. M. B.) ; Miss Tolmie's Collection of Gaelic Music : The English Folk-Lore Journal (reviewed by M. N. M.) ; Songs of the Irish Harpers {reviewed by M. N. M.) ; Monumenta Historica Celtica {reviewed by W. J. Watson) ; A Descriptive Catalogue of Gaelic Manu- scripts in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, and elsewhere in Scotland {reviewed by W. J. Watson) ; Grain Ghaidhealach le Donnchadh Macantsaoir {reviewed by W. J. Watson) ; The Book of Highland Verse : An English Anthology {reviewed by D.M.); Welsh Poetry, Old and New, in English Verse {reviewed by H. Idris Bell) ; Zeitschrift fiir Celtische Philologie ; The Revue Celtique {reviewed by W. J. Watson) ; The Spiritual Songs of Dugald Buchanan {reviewed by Don. Mackin- non) ; Teutontic Myth and Legend {reviewed by D. M^C. ) ; Sea Tangle {reviewed by M. N. Munro) ; Songs of the Mountain and the Burn ; Buile Suibhne : The Adventures of Suibhne Geilt ; The Poem- Book of the Gael : Translations from Irish Gaelic into English Prose and Verse ; The Celtic Annual : Year-Book of the Dundee Highland Society ; Gadelica : A Journal of Modern Irish Studies,
76, 189, 256, 356
The British Race and Kingdom in
Scotland, .... James Ferguson, K.G., 170, 193
The Clan Chattan, . . . Rev. A. Maclean Sinclair, 1
The Executioner of John the
Baptist, .... Professor Mackinn^n, . 168
CONTENTS vii
PA6B
The Gaelic Version of the Thebaid *
of Statius, . . . Profesac/r Mackinnon,
8, 100, 218, 296
The House of the Dwarfs, . . David MacRitchie, . 289
The Literature of the Scottish Gael, Rev. Donald Maclean, 51, 129
The Rev. George Henderson, M.A.,
Ph.D., B.Litt., . . . Professor Mackinnon, . 245
Topographical Varia— VI., . W. J. Watson, LL.D., . 235
Traditions of the Land of Lome and the Highland Ancestry of Robert Burns, . . . The Late Alexander
Carmichael, LL.D., . .314
THE CELTIC REVIEW
APKIL 1912
THE CLAN CHATTAN Rev. a. Maclean Sinclair
The Old Clan Chattan
GiLLECATTAN was bom sometime between 900 and 950 a.d. He was the son of Gallbrait, son of Diarmad the Lector. His successors in the hne of descent were as follows : Nectan, Seth, Snibhne, Muireach, Donald, Malcolm, Gil- christ, Perchar and Seth. Donald, son of Muireach, was born about the year 1120, and was known as an Caimhghille. Caimh stands for Caemh or Coimh, gentle, handsome, or else for camh, strong, powerful. Gille means a young man. Donald was probably both strong and handsome. He was chief of the Clan Chattan, and the progenitor of Clann a Chaimhghille, which would be known in English as the Clan Chewill or Clan Kevill. Donald had two sons, Gille- moluaig and Malcolm. Gillemoluaig and Seth, son of Malcolm, appear on record between 1224 and 1233. They were living in Badenoch, on lands which belonged to the Bishop of Moray. Seth, son of Ferchar, son of Gilchrist, son of Malcolm, had two sons, Ferchar and Leod. Ferchar, son of Seth, was succeeded by his son Seth, who died before the year 1338, and was buried at Dalnafert. Seth, son of Leod, had a son named Suibhne, and probably a son named John. Lachlan, son of Suibhne, was born about 1360, and was chief of the old Clan Chattan, or Clan Chewill, in VOL. viii. A
2 THE CELTIC EEVIEW
1385, the year about which the Skene Manuscript was written.
In 1390 we find Slurach and the whole Clan Chewill charged with taking part with Stewarts, Duncansons, and others in making a raid into the Braes of Angus, and slaying Sir Walter Ogilvy and sixty of his followers in a skirmish which took place. Sir Walter was sheriff of Angus, and was trying to drive the invaders away. Slurach is a misreading for Muirach. There never was such a name as Slurach.
Whilst Lachlan, son of Suibhne, was nominal chief of the clan Chewill in 1390, Muireach, who was probably a brother of Lachlan, was their fighting leader and their real chief. Lachlan married a daughter of Lord Lovat, and had by her Ferchar and Margaret. He died in 1407. Ferchar, his son, was born probably about 1390. Ferchar married a daughter of the laird of Innes, and had Duncan and other children. He died in 1417.
The Clan Vuirich
I. Muireach, the Slurach of 1396, was born about 1365. He was a man of ability and energy, and qualified for leading a clan in the rough days in which he lived. He was the progenitor of the Clan Vuirich, who are just the Clan Chewill under a new name.
n. Duncan, who was probably the second or third son of Muireach, studied for the Church, and was known as Duncan Person or Parson. He was unquestionably a man of ability and determination. He was with the Lord of the Isles in Lochaber, when the latter was attacked and defeated by James i. in 1429, and was taken prisoner. He was then chief of the Clan Chewill, and was probably the only lawful son of his father left alive. He was confined in Tantallon Castle in 1431, and had for companions Alexander, Lord of the Isles, Lachlan Bronnach Maclean of Duart, Torquil MacneiU of Gigha, and Terlach MacFerchar. Lachlan Bronnach' s father and Alexander of the Isles were
THE CLAN CHATTAN 3
first cousins. Torquil Macneill was by origin a Maclean, and was related to Lachlan Bronnach. Terlach MacFerchar was chieftain of the Macleans of Urquhart and was also related to Lachlan Bronnach. Duncan Parson was related to Terlach Mac Ferchar.
It may be regarded as certain that when Duncan Parson found himself in the position of chief of the Clan Chewill he ceased to act as priest. He took as his wife Isabel, daughter of Ferchar, son of Lachlan Mackintosh, the chief who died in 1407, and had by her two sons, Ewen Ban his successor and Bean of Brin, who appears on record in 1490.
in. Ewen Ban was born about 1430. He was married and had three sons, Kenneth, John and Gillies.
IV. Kenneth, son of Ewen Ban, had two sons, Duncan and Donald.
V. Duncan, son of Kenneth, succeeded his father in Cluny.
VI. Andrew, son of Dimcan, was born about 1520. He appears on record as tenant in Cluny in 1591 and 1603.
vn. Ewen, son of Andrew, had two sons, Andrew and John of Nuide.
Andrew, son of Ewen, was born about 1575, and fought at the battle of Glenlivet in 1594. He appears on record as laird of Cluny in 1609. Ewen Og, son of Andrew, was born probably about 1610. He married Ann, daughter of Duncan Forbes of Culloden, in 1641. He joined Montrose in 1645 with three hundred men of his own kin, and distinguished himself as a brave and loyal warrior. He remained with Montrose whilst the war continued. He died in 1647, leaving two sons, Andrew and Duncan. His father sur- vived him about three years. Andrew, elder son of Ewen Og, succeeded his father in Cluny, and his grandfather in the chief ship of the clan Vuirich. He died in 1672, and was succeeded by his brother Duncan, who died without male issue in 1722.
VTTT. John of Nuide was married in 1613, and appears on record as a cautioner or surety in 1641.
4 THE CELTIC EEVIEW
IX. Donald, son of John, received a charter of Nuide in 1643.
X. Ewen, son of Donald, succeeded his father in Nuide. He married a daughter of Lachlan Macpherson of Kinrara.
XI. Lachlan, son of Ewen, succeeded his father in Nuide. He succeeded Duncan of Cluny, both in Cluny and the chief ship of the Macphersons in 1722. He married Jean, daughter of Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, and had by her Ewen his successor. He died in 1746.
xn. Ewen of Cluny joined Prince Charles in 1745. He was a strong and active man. He married a daughter of Lord Lovat, and had by her Duncan his heir. He succeeded in getting out of the land of King George and the Duke of Cumberland in 1755. He died at Dunkirk in 1756. Duncan, his successor, was born in 1750 in a kiln for drying grain, the Georgites having burnt his father's house.
Between 1450 and 1500 the descendants of Muireach, father of Duncan Parson, began to call themselves Macvurichs in Gaelic and Macphersons in English. On the roll of clans in 1594, we find the Clan Chattan, Clan Chewill, Clan Chamron, Macinphersons, Grants, and others. In 1645 the gallant Ewen Og made the Macphersons famous in Scotland as a fighting clan. Shortly afterwards the Mackevils, or the Clan Chewill, quietly passed out of sight. What became of them ? They just made Macphersons of themselves.
The New Clan Chattan
The new Clan Chattan or Mackintoshes are a branch of the old Clan Chattan. They are descended from Seth, son of Gilchrist, son of Aigcol, son of Ewen, great-grandson of Neil, a descendant of Gillecattan.
I. Seth, son of Gilchrist, was born about the year 1170. His descendants would be known in Gaelic as Clann Sheath
THE CLAN CHATTAN 5
or Sheagh, and in English as Clan Hay or Hah. Shaw as a Highland name has no connection in meaning with the English name Shaw ; it is simply an Anglicised form of Seth.
As it may seem impossible to those who cannot read Gaelic to get Hay or Hah out of Sheath or Sheagh, I may state that, so far as sound is concerned, sh and th in Gaelic are simply h, that ea is sounded like e in met, and that gJi is sounded almost like y in English.
n. Ferchar, son of Seth, was toiseach or seneschal of Baidenach, and appears on record as a witness in 1234. He had two sons, Seth and Gillemichael. Seth was suc- ceeded by his son Ferchar. Seth, son of Ferchar lived at Dalnafert, and died sometime before the year 1338.
in. Gillemichael, son of Ferchar, had two sons, Ferchar and William. Ferchar was killed about 1271. He left a son named Angus.
IV. William, second son of Gillemichael, was succeeded by his son Ferchar.
V. Ferchar, son of William, had William and other sons.
VI. William, son of Ferchar, succeeded his father as toiseach of Badenach. He had three sons, Ferchar, William, and Donald. Ferchar was molesting the bishop of Aberdeen in 1382, possibly by taking away some of the cattle and sheep on the bishop's lands, and, fortunately for those who take an interest in clan history, got his name put on record. He is described as Ferchar Mac Toschy or Ferchar, son of the Toiseach. He had a daughter who was married to Terlach Maclean in Glen Urquhart, eldest son of Hector Eeaganach of Lochbuie. Terlach and his wife had three children, Ferchar and two daughters. One of the daughters was married to Rory Macneil of Barra. The other daughter was the mother of Donald, first Maclean of Ardgour. Thus, then, the Macneils of Barra and the Macleans of Ardgour are both descended from the fiery Ferchar MacToschy. I often read in Skene's Celtic Scotland about Ferchar and his doings ; but I never knew until I
6 THE CELTIC REVIEW
was writing this article that I am one of his descendants. Such, however, must be the case, for I am certainly de- scended from Donald of Ardgour.
VII. William, second son of William, son of Ferchar, succeeded his father in the line of descent. He hand- fasted with Renilda, daughter of Donald Dubh MacEwan vie Donald vie Gillony, and had by her two sons, Angus and Donald. He married, first, Florence, daughter of the thane of Calder, and had by her Lachlan and Mora. He married, secondly, Margaret, daughter of Rory Mor Macleod of Lewis by a daughter of the Lord of the Isles, and had by her Malcolm Beg and four daughters.
VIII. Lachlan succeeded his father as chief of the Clan Hay or Macintoshes. He married Agnes, daughter of Eraser of Lovat, and had by her Ferchar and Margaret. He died in 1407. Ferchar was probably only seventeen or eighteen years of age when his father died. He married Egidia Innes, and had by her Duncan, Malcolm, Ferchar, and a daughter.
IX. Malcolm Beg, second son of William, son of William, was born about 1385. He was an able, energetic, and shrewd man. He was elected chief of the Macintoshes in 1409. He commanded the left wing of the army of the Lord of the Isles at the battle of Harlaw in 1411, the right wing being in charge of Hector Roy Maclean of Duart. He supported King James against the Lord of the Isles in 1429, and thus won the king's favour. He obtained a lease of the barony of Moy in 1437, and a heritable right to Rait and Geddes in 1442. He received a charter of a number of lands in Lochaber in 1443, and a charter of the baiUiary of Lochaber in 1447. He married Mora, daughter of Macdonald of Moydart, and by her had Duncan, Lachlan Badenach, Allan and Malcolm. He died in 1457.
X. Duncan, son of Malcolm Beg, married Florence, daughter of Alexander, Lord of the Isles, and had by her Ferchar his successor. He appears in a bond of friendship
THE CLAN CHATTAN
written in 1467 as Duncan Macintosh, chief and captain of the Clan Chattan. He died in 1496. He was not chief of all the Clan Chattan ; he was chief only of the Macin- toshes, or new Clan Chattan.
Correction
In an article published in this Review in July 1906, 1 held that the combatants on the North Inch of Perth in 1396 were the Clan Chattan and the Clan Cameron. I have given up that view, and have come to the conclusion that the combatants were the Clan Chewill and the Clan Heth. The chiefs of the Clan Chewill or Old Clan Chattan, had been captains of the Clan Chattan, and desired to remain captains ; whilst the chiefs of the Clan Heth, or New Clan Chattan, wanted to oust them and get the captaincy of the Clan Chattan for themselves. The object of the fight on the North Inch was, from the point of view of the combatants, to settle the dispute about the captaincy of the Clan Chattan. From the king's point of view, however, its object was to punish the Clan Chewill and the Clan Heth for their past raids, robberies, and slaughters, and to lead them to refrain for the future from molesting their fellow-men. In the raid made by the Clan Chewill and others into the Braes of Angus in 1390 there were sixty persons slain. In the fight on the North Inch of Perth in 1396 there were sixty persons present whose business it was to kill one another.
8 THE CELTIC REVIEW
THE GAELIC VERSION OF THE THEBAID OF STATIUS
Professor Mackinnon {Continued from page 335)
GAELIC TEXT
Cid tra acht ua fograch fraigthi ua firmainti re muirn acus re mor-mesci na milead ac ol is in ^ tig sin.^ Acus ba h-adbal re innisin eomrada ciuine cosnomacha na n-ingen n-Grecda n-gruad-solus ac ol acus (ac) aibnius is in tig sin. Acus ro bid gach bean builid brat-chorcar ac bibsugnd acus (ac) bansigud re h-ingenaib ailli Adraist and sin, comad ludaiti ^ ecla acus uruaman na fer cuanna coimithech^ sin orro. Acus is and sin tangadar reompo na h-ingena nua-glana narecha gle-gela gruad-corcra .t. Argia acus Deifilen. Acus co snigtis frasa dermara Foi. 5b 1. der dar aichtib na n-ingen ri met na naire in uair sin. Ua h-uruathmar acus ua h-emeltius acus ua imsnim acus ua h-urecla leosom caill a(n) n-oigi acus a n-ingenais do na feraib sin. Uair ni ra badar ar tuind talman in tan sin da ingin uad indruccu annat sin. Air is amlaid batar- sum cend-chaema cosmaile, sul-glasa saineamla, gruad- chorcra grib-glana, bel-chorcra banamla, det-gela dianim,^ lam-gela ^ ^ laichthecha, co sliastib semidib, co colpthaib cumaidib, co traigthib tanaidib, co salaib sar-chruindi.^ Cid tra acht gid fata ro beth "^ fer fiamach fir-glic ac mideam- ain na n-ingen sin, ni fhiter ca ® ragu do berad dib ar a caime acus ar a cosmaili.
Is ann sin imorro ua h-imcumang maigi acus tigi acus coillti ac gasradaib gusmara Grec ac idbairt acus ac onorugud baindsi na n-ingen sin Adraist. Acus o ra uatar-sium amlaid sin atchualatar buaidred acus bresmaidm is na
^ ~ ^ grianan glan-sholus in tigi sin. ^ lugaidi. ^ comthaidecha.
^ Eg. omits. 6 Eg. adds baintecha. ^"^ Eg. omits.
^ Eg. omits. 8 caidhi in.
THE THEBAID OF STATIUS
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Moreover ^ the walls of the firmament resounded with the shouts and the uproar of the warriors as they drank in that palace. A task to relate, it would be, the gentle rivalry of talk among the bright-cheeked Grecian maidens as they drank and made merry in that house. And sprightly purple-cloaked dames were caressing and sooth- ing 2 the beautiful daughters of Adrastus to calm their feelings of fear and timidity in the presence of their hand- some comrade husbands. Then came forward the fresh, bashful, white-skinned, red-cheeked maidens, Argia and Deiphele. Great showers of tears fell from the faces of these girls because of their great bashfulness in that hour. For the surrender of their virginity and maidenhood to these men was to them a cause of dread and hesitation and concern and fear. For there was not on earth's surface at that time two girls of purer mind than they. For they were with fair and shapely heads, glorious blue eyes, brilliant ^ red cheeks, red-lipped, womanly, faultless white teeth, soft white hands, slender thighs, shapely calves, thin feet, heels exquisitely rounded. So it was that however long an observant very acute man would be contemplating these girls, he would not know which of them to prefer for loveliness and beauty.
It was then indeed that the spirited nobles of Greece found their fields and houses and woods too contracted for sacrifices, and (otherwise) celebrating the marriages of the daughters of Adrastus. And while they were thus
1 Th., ii. 223.
^ The Gaelic words are rare, and the exact English equivalents more or less uncertain.
' Grih, ' quick, speedy.' The epithet may refer to quickly changing colour.
10 THE CELTIC REVIEW
feadaib acus is na fidnemedaib umpu. Acus ua comartha duba acus do-broin do na bandsib accu-sum sin ar toin.^ As a h-aithli sin imorro tangadar mna in tire acus in talman i tempull mor-glan Menerua. Uair is ed ua bes acosum in tan sin na h-ingena oga ra f aetitis ^ re fearaib, ro theasctais ^ ni da faltaib is in tempull sin Menerba i comartha genmaigecht. Acus o thangadar-som is in tempoU sin ro thoitestar fadb airm acus etig* Eoraip rig na h-Arcaide, adrochair ^ ri h-Adraist fecht riam remi sin, acus ro thoitsetar ® airm acus ilfhaobair ar cheana batar is in tempull sin, acus ro crithnaigseadar riu stoc fhog- raigthi dermar do-fholachta as gach aird d'a n-indsaigid. Ua derb-airdeada demnacha sin, acus ua figrad "^ fir-uilc. Acus ro impatar-sum am mach do cum in rig o t' chualatar na h-idna uruada sin. Acus nir indisetar do'n rig sin, acht ro uadar fen a crithugud comraid etarru fen.
Acus ro bai airrdi ^ urbada aili ann sin. Uair is amlaid ro bai [in] ingen^ Argia .t. ban-chele^^ Polinices mic Eidip, acus cumtach alaind orda im a bragait .i. muntorc alaind ingantach Hermione. Ua feochair fir-chruthach in fnthi sin ; ua h-aindsech ^^ acus ua h-urbadach in n-aiscid sin do cech oen ac a m-(b)id. Uair is e Ulchan uruadach, gaba imneadach ifrin, ro airic in gnim sin. Acus is di do rigni Ulcan in comdach n-orda sin .t. d' Ermione, d'ingin Mairt mic loib da ^^ dei in chatha acus Uenerech ^^ ban-dei na toili. Acus is ime tuc-sum sin di ^^ sin dar ulcaib ria. Uair ua h-i caem-chele Ulcan Uenir uan- cumachtach. Acus is tar cend Ulchain do roigne Mairt in n-ingin Ermione re Uenir. Conid immi sin da rigni Ulcan in set sir-(bli)uan son-shercach sin re silliud sechtair fair co neimh ^^ nathrach, co lingur loiscend, co Foi. 5b 2. salchar slama-tened acus saignen, co mongaib dub- glasa duaibsecha dracon, co leccaib lasamna loiscthecha
1 Eg. omits. 2 faidhfidis. ^ tescidhdis.
* eidigh. 5 itorcair. « thoitset.
• fidradh. § airgedlia. ^ Eg. omits. ^^ cele. 11 h-ainnsglennach. ^^ Eg. omits.
^2 Uener. w dise. " Ed. indistinct
THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 11
occupied they heard noises and crashing in the woods and sacred groves around. They afterwards regarded this as a sign of dool and great sorrow to these nuptials. After that, moreover, the women of the land and country went into the great holy temple of Minerva. For at that time it was a custom among them that young maidens when about to wed should cut off a lock of their hair in the temple of Minerva in token of chastity. Now when they went into the temple the forfeited ^ weapons and armour of Euippus King of Arcadia, who was slain by Adrastus a long time before, fell, and the other weapons and spears which were in the temple fell, and loud sounding, very large, hoarse trumpets from every side caused them to tremble. These were to them sure tokens of disaster and premonitions of woe. They turned out towards the King when they heard these ominous signs. But they did not inform the King of the matter, though they spoke of it in whispers to one another.
And 2 there were other omens of evil besides. For thus was the girl Argia, the wife of Polinices son of Oedipus, with a lovely ornament of gold around her neck, viz. the beautiful, wondrous necklace of Harmonia. Superb, very beautiful was that jewel (?) ; unlucky and disastrous was that gift to every one who owned it. For it was baleful Vulcan, the dread smith of hell, who wrought out this deed. And it was for Harmonia the daughter of Mars, son of Jove, the god of war, and of Venus, the goddess of desire, that Vulcan made this golden ornament. And it was for bringing evil to her that he gave it to her. For Venus the goddess was the beloved spouse of Vulcan. And it was behind Vulcan's back that Venus had Har- monia by Mars. Whence it was that Vulcan, because of the dishonouring of him, made this durable, love-pro- voking jewel, from the venom of a serpent, the slime (?) of a toad, the refuse of flakes of fire and thunderbolt, with
* fadb^ now faohh, ' spoil, booty ' : the arms and armour of the vanquished were frequently spoken of as fadh in Gaelic. * Th., ii. 265.
12 THE CELTIC EEVIEW
ar medon ann, comma (dh)ruited re daba, acus coma fiuchtugad fergi, acus coma grendugad galair do gach oen ac a m-bid. Acus is i cetna nech ar ar imir a h-airm(b)erta uruada u. Ermione, ban-chele chuanna Chathim mic Agenoir. Acus is le side ro cumdaiged in Teib ar tus, riam ar a soed in bean sin in nathraig n-granda n-geranaig aroen re Cathim mac Agenoir, co m-bitis aroen ac sir- fetgaire is na moigib cuana caithmecda. Acus as a h-aithli sin ro siacht in muntorc sin co Semile, ingin Cathim mic Agenoir. Acus is di sin tuc loib in grad n-dermar. Acus ni luaithi ranic in muntorc sin d'a h-indsaigid na thanic lunaind, ingean Shatuirn .i. bean loib, d'indsaigid na h-ingine ir-richt a mumi, acus is ed adrubairt re Semila : ' Cundig-siu,' ar si, ' comairle acus comriachtain rit is in delb i comraiceann re h-Iunaind.' Acus ro chuindig Samilia amlaid sin ar loib comriachtain ria. Acus ro comroic loib ria-si a richt saignen telctech tendtide amal da nid re h-Iunaind, cu ra loiscead fo chetoir Semile, uair nir fhaelastar-si delrud na diadachta do ben ria. Acus is tre bithin in muntorc sin ro loit loscend in n-ingen sin amar fhorglit na faibli guacha gentlidi sin. Acus indister CO roibi in cumdach comthnudach colach sin ac lochasta, mathair Polinices. Acus is tre na bithin sin ro ui si ace a mac uaden .t. ac Eidip co rue da mac do .t. Ethiocles acus Polinices. Et tuc Polinices ar sin h-e d'a ban-chele uadein .t. do Argia, da i ingin alaind Adraist. Ua dereoil acus ua dimicin re siair-si .t. Deifile,^ a cumdach brigach bannsi ac fegadh in muntuirc ingantaich orda sin. Et o t' chonnairc imorro Erifile caem-chele Amfiarus in ni sin tucasdair saint sir-chuindcheda ^ air co n-ar bh(fh)earrdi le a bethu 'n a ingnais. Acus tuc Argia disi in n-aiscid sin. Acus ro chuir si iar sin Ampiarus ar eigin do chum in chatha araon re h- Adraist acus re Polinices gus na sluagaibh acus gus na secht righaib do tabairt in chatha ind aghaidh na Tiabanda acus Eitiocles. Ro cuired iar toin in cath, acus ro meabhaid for Adraist acus for Polinices, acus ro marbad
* do. 2 Beifilen. 3 cungedha.
THE THEBAID OF STATIUS
13
the dark-grey hideous manes of dragons, with flaming, scorching jewels in the centre of it, so that it would be a presaging of sorrow and a kindling of wrath and a threaten- ing of disease to every one who possessed it. The first person who suffered from its destructive qualities was Harmonia, the winsome wife of Cadmus son of Agenor. He it was who founded Thebes, before his wife as well as himself was changed into a hideous, hissing serpent, when both were ever whistling among the fair, fruitful fields. Afterwards the necklace went to Semele, the daughter of Cadmus son of Agenor. It was she whom Jove greatly loved. No sooner did the necklace reach her than Juno, daughter of Saturn, and wife of Jove, went to the girl in the guise of her nurse, and spoke to Semele thus : ' Request him,' said she, ' to commune with you and approach you in the shape in which he approaches Juno.' And Semele made the request to Jove to visit her thus. And Jove embraced her in the guise of a hurling, fiery thunderbolt, as was his custom with Juno, and Semele was instantly burnt up, for she could not endure the touch of the divine brilliance. And it is because of that necklace that a toad wounded that girl, as the false, heathenish fables declare. And it is reported that Jocaste mother of Polinices possessed that contentious, sin-causing orna- ment. And it was because of it that she was (wife) to her own son Oedipus, and bore him two sons, Etiocles and Polinices. Polinices thereafter gave it to his own wife Argia, the beautiful daughter of Adrastus. Her sister Deiphile held her own rich bridal ornaments of little value and worth when she viewed that wonderful necklace of gold. And when Eriphyle the beloved wife of Ampiarus beheld it, such longing desire to possess it seized her that she preferred death than to be without it. Argia bestowed the gift upon her ; and she in turn sent Ampiarus per- force to the war with Adrastus and Polinices, together with the hosts and the seven kings, to wage war against the Thebans and Etiocles. The battle was afterwards fought,
14 THE CELTIC REVIEW
na secht righa ann acus Polinices. Acus ni taineic duine no bethadach as acht Atraist a aenar. Acus ro baidhedh Ampiarus. Almeon dno mac Aimpiarus ro marbh seic a mathair .t. Enifilie, ar as i fodera a athair do bhadhadh •t. Aimpiarus. Ro ghabh iar sin cuthach Almeon^ a h-aithli a mathair do marbadh do. Ro tothlaig iar Foi. 6ai. sin a bean for Almeon .t. Cailliore isidhe, in muntorc, ar ro ba doigh le co b-fuighbed se slainte da scara^Z an muntorc ris. Tugad disc h-e iar sin in muntorc acus ar aoi ^ ni moite ^ fuair-siom slainte. Taineic iar sin athair a mathar go h- Almeon .t. Pleigh, acus ro marbhustar Almeon .u mac a ingine a cinta a ingine, mathar Almeon fen. Ro tothlaig ben ^ Almeon .t. Calliore ar loip co ro coimededh a da mac bega di co tisadh dhibh dighailt a n-athar ren,^ acus soc a n-anmanna sidhe. Atrachtatar sidhe iar sin, acus ro tinolatar sidhe sluagh mor dermhair do cum Pleighe, acus ro fuagratar cath fair. Ro tinoil dno Pleighi a muinntir acus a mileda ar aoi. Ro cuinneigh Pleighe cairde bliadna for na macaibh gan cath do cur ris. Adrubratar-samh do bherdaois, da m-beith a chend-sam aca-samh ris in bliadain sin ar n-a buain da meidhe. Adubairt Pleighi nach tibrad a cend doibh da dheoin. Ro cuirsit iar sin cath go fichdo feochair f ergach leth for leth, acus ro marbadh sluagh dirim di-airmhe etorra ar aoi. Ro meabaid in cath for Pleighi. Acus ro siachtatar da mac Almeon chuige acus adubhratar ris : ' In tucus let,' ar siat, ' Almeon ? ' ' Ni tucas,' ar se, ' acus da m-beith agum ^ do beroinn.' Ro bensat iar sin maca Almeon a cend do Pleighi, acus tucsat ar dermhair for a muinntir (etir) macaibh (ocus) mnaibh. Tancatar iar sin d'a tigh, ar m-breith buadha acus coscair. Finit do seel an muinntuirc'
As a h-aithle sin imorro ro chuir Polinices ag cinn bliadna techtaire do chum a bhrathor .t. Eitiocles. Tit
1 Ed. has .1. Caillidire isidhe scraped out. ^ ^i^ 3 moidi.
* setid. ^ ioT fen, due to the influence of the preceding 'r' (?).
6 Eg. adds a trath sa, "^ Eg. adds ann sin.
THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 15
and Adrastus and Polinices were defeated, and the seven kings were slain, and Polinices as well. And neither man nor beast escaped save Adrastus only. And Ampiarus was overwhelmed. Further Alcmaeon son of Ampiarus slew his mother Eriphyle, she being the cause of his father Ampiarus's destruction. Then Alcmaeon went mad after he slew his mother. Thereafter his wife Callirrhoe requested Alcmaeon to give her the necklace, for she was certain that he would get well again if the necklace and he were parted. It was given to her thereafter, but he did not any the more regain health because of that. Then the father of his mother, Phegeus, came to Alcmaeon and slew his daughter's son, for the crime of his daughter, Alcmaeon' s own mother. Alcmaeon's wife Callirrhoe requested Jove to protect her two little boys, until they would be able to avenge their father's death. (Thus) their minds were at peace. ^ After- wards they arose and mustered a great host against Phegeus and challenged him to battle. Phegeus also gathered his people and warriors to oppose them. Phegeus asked the youths a year's respite from battle. They replied that this would be granted, provided that during that year they had possession of his head cut off his neck. Phegeus said that he would not willingly surrender his head to them. The battle was thereupon fought fiercely, viciously, wrathfully on either side, and a great, innumer- able host was slain in that fight. Phegeus was defeated. The two sons of Alcmaeon approached him and said : ' Have you brought,' said they, ' Alcmaeon ? ' 'I have not,' said he, ' but if I had him I would have brought him.' Thereupon the sons of Alcmaeon beheaded Phegeus, and made great slaughter of his people, upon boys and women. Thereafter they returned home with victory and triumph. Here ends the story of the necklace.
2 Afterwards Polinices, at the end of the year, sent Tydeus as ambassador to his brother Etiocles. The
^ The reading seems clear, but the meaning is not so. Sochty ' silence,' is common, but I have not met a verb soc, ^ Th., ii. 414.
16 THE CELTIC REVIEW
ainm an techtaire. Acus adubhairt an techtaire fris in flaites do leigen d'a brathair. Ro ghabh ferg mor Eitiocles acus adubhairt (in) ni tairredh,^ ni leicfedh uadha, acus ni dhenadh cert na dligedh uime, acht muna rucadh iom- arcraidh t-sluaigh no catha uadha e. ' Acus nocha denaim-si ' ar se, * fich na f ormad um aird-cendas na Gregi uili tre charadrad an rig Adraist, acus leigid damsa bruigi cairrgeacha cumga na Teibi tonn-glaisi. Acus is iris limsa go rip'e m'athair Eidip, (acus) bid dai(t)rebachaib aigimsim,' ar se, ' .t. Pelops mor mac Tantail acus loif mac sona Saduirnn. Acus is misi,' ar se, ' ra clechtsad an t-oirecht-sa orra, acus ni h-ail leo,' ar se, * f o mamugadh ^ do choraid chundtabartach, acht beith ag aen rig dilis derr- scaitheach, uair each flaithius na ba feidil ni choiglend do chineadaib, (acus) nach faiceann tusa an t-adhuath acus in n-egla ^ ata ar m'oirecht-sa ar mo dul-sa dib ? Agus dno ni leigfed maithi na treb Tiabanda misi dib itir na rigi do thabairt dosum.'
Acht tra ni ro damastair do Thid a chloisteacht na eisteacht ris na baith-cheileabraib briathar sin Eitiocles. Is and sin imorro adubairt Titt : ' Do bera,' ar se, ' an flaithus uaid, acus gid tri mtiir adbal mora iaraind ro beidis ad timcheall ar n-a cumdach do Impion airigda. Foi. 6a 2. 4 Acus is cisidc * cet duine ^ ris ar ^ cumdaigead mur na Teibi ar tus. Acus ni denad sin (acht) a chruith cheol-bind choguasta do sheinm, acus ticdis croinn acus clocha ua cheol a chruiti-sim co teigdis ar an ® mur. Acus cid airm acus ilfhaebar acus teinti an talman, ni dad t'aincfed co robais "^ marbtha mugaigthi o'r n-armaib-ni. Acus biaid do mind rig a t'egmais araen re d' chenn. Acus is truaigi lem,' ar se, ' an digail do berthar ar na cethernaib croda cara donda do bera let is in chath ad t'(fh)arrad bodein. Uch tra,' ^ ar se Tid, ' bud adbal na h-air acus na h-esraigi ar slesaib sleibi ^ Chit^ron. Acus biaid tuili falcmar fala i sruith alaind Ismen do'n chomrac sin. Acus
^ ta,TTadh. ^ madmugw^. ' umegla. *~* Eg. omits.
^"^ sisir. ^ oen. '' rabhdais. ^ Eg. omits. ^ t-sleibi.
THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 17
ambassador said to Etiocles to give over the dominion to his brother.^ Etiocles became very angry. He said that he would not. He would not yield (the sovereignty), nor would he do right nor justice with respect to it, unless superior numbers or the fortune of war would snatch it from him. ' And I shall not,' said he, ' make quarrel nor dispute about the supreme rule of the whole of Greece, (in which you have interest) because of (your) alliance with King Adrastus, only leave to me the rocky, contracted confines of green-surfaced Thebes. Moreover my father, as I do not forget, is Oedipus, while you trace your origin to the great Pelops son of Tantalus, and to Jove the happy son of Saturn. Besides,' added he, ' the people have become accustomed to my rule, and they do not desire,' he continued, ' to displace me for a champion of uncertain ways ; they prefer to be under one devoted, distinguished monarch, for no dominion not under continuous rule escaped (the attacks of) other tribes. Do you not see the terror and fear of my people at (the thought of) my ceasing to rule them ? Moreover the chiefs of the Theban race will on no account suffer me to give over the sovereignty to him.'
2 But Tydeus could not endure to hear or listen to these wild ravings of Etiocles. So Tydeus then said : ' The dominion,' said he, ' will be taken from you, even though the three huge, vast iron walls which were built by the renowned Amphion surround you. It was he who first built the walls of Thebes originally. And all he had to do was to play his sweet, melodious, hollow lyre, and trees and stones followed the music of the lyre and took their place on the wall. Notwithstanding your weapons and many spears and stjrongholds, they shall not protect you, but you will be slain and destroyed by our arms. And you shall lose your crown as well as your head. And more do I lament,' added Tydeus,
^ The original text is largely compressed. 2 Th., ii. 452. VOL. VIII. B
18 THE CELTIC EEVIEW
ni h-ingnad lem,' ar se, ' each olc do dentai, uair ba ^ croda colach each ^ eineadh or' geineadbair. Acus ni fhuil do Tiabandaib uiH duine nach indtamlaigenn ^ d'a athair ar ule, acht mad Polinices. Is digeltar ortsa,* a Etiocles,' ar se, ' th'ule fein, can rigi na ^ bhadna-sa do thabairt duindi, uair nocha sirmid acht sin.'
Et ^ o ra labair Tid dana derrsgaidteaeh amlaid sin ar tairrseach an tigi rig,*^ tainig roime eo dian acus eo debil,^ amal tanig an tore tren ^ adbal allaid do chuir Dean d'innrad agus d'osubad ^^ erich na Calidone, ar ba ferg le can idbairt do denam di do lueht na Cailidoine, eo n-eirgid a guairi gairb-liath gaisideach amal fhidbaid os a eind, eo n-taidlidis saignena solusta as a fiaelaib cromad ^^ eruaid- gera im a leicenib lan-granna re glonn-beimnig ^^ a claideam no ^2 a clomair, an trath eo n-tuindsned ar a cheih h-e eo n-taehlad acus eo n-togluaiseadh cairgi troma thuinidi an talman acus fualascada fada na fidbaidi a h-eoehair-imhb srotha ^^ Achileus, an tan eo n-tuairgidis sealgaireda sir- luatha gasraigi Greg, eo n-fhagaib in tore sin Tailemon tar a h-eis, acus eo ra traseair an coraid eurata Ixion eo ra marb an miHd mor-ehalma Meliager ^^ ua deoig h-e. Acus is fa'n samla sin tanig an tren-fer ealma Cailidonda a h-oirecht thnuthach na Teibi, mar bad air fein do bertha era ma ^^ fhlaithus. Acus ua tindisnach toirbert ^^ an fhir sin is na sHgthib soineamlaib so-imtheachta. Acus do diubraich uadh ^'^ an fleisc n-ola-crainn ro bai 'n a laim a comartha sidha. Acus ro badar mna na Tiabanda seal ag sith-silleadh an gilla sin, acus do badar ag eadarguidi eacha h-uile do Thid. Acus do badar ag imragad uilc an a n-aigentaib da rig bodein .t. Etiocles.
Is and sin imorro ra bai an fer meblaeh mi-eomairleeh neimdeach naeimdigi .c Etiocles ag sgrudad an a menmain eindus do beradh imdeall aoigeaga ^^ m' an teehtairi togaidi
1 is. 2 in ^ innsamluigec?. * Ed. adds acus.
^ Eg. omits. ^ Eg. omits. ^ rigi sini. ^ dedhbel.
^ Eg. omits. ^^ do fhasugud. " croma. ^2-12 jjg omits.
i3^t-srotha. ^* Ed. Meiag^r. ^^ ma'n. ^^ tairberta.
^■^ Ed. indistinct. ^^ innell a6igedha.
THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 19
* the fate of the brave, loyal, valorous troops which you will bring to the battle by your side. Alas indeed,' continued Tydeus, ' terrible will be the slaughter and disasters on the slopes of Mount Cythaeron ! And the lovely stream of Ismen will run in torrents of blood after that conflict. Nor do I wonder,' continued Tydeus, 'at the many evils you have done, for cruel and wicked were the race from whom you have sprung. And there is not a single Theban, save Polinices alone, who does not equal his father in crime. And your own evil deeds will be avenged on you, Etiocles,' concluded Tydeus, ' since you refuse to yield this year's rule to us, seeing we ask nothing more.'
Now after the bold, distinguished Tydeus spoke thus on the doorstep of the palace, he went forward swiftly and speedily like the mighty, huge, wild boar which Diana sent to harry and lay waste the country of Calydon (she being wroth because the people of Calydon did not sacrifice to her), with his rough-grey hairy mane like a forest above his head, with his curved, hard, sharp tusks gleaming like lightning flashes in his hideous cheeks, and with his crunch- ing jaws, by which, when he squeezed them against each other, he could dig up and remove heavy boulders fixed in the earth and the tall brushwood of the forest on the banks of the river Achelous when the nimble huntsmen of the Grecian populace chased him. That boar laid Telamon on his back, and overthrew the heroic champion Ixion, but was at length killed by the very brave warrior Meleager. In this wise the brave, mighty man of Calydon left the stern assembly of Thebes, as though he himself had been refused the sovereignty. Impetuous was the journey of that man over the splendid, easily travelled roads. He threw away the olive wand which he carried as a symbol of peace. The women of Thebes were for a while gazing at that warrior, and invoking all manner of evil to Tydeus. They were also in their thoughts wishing evil to their own king, Etiocles.
20
THE CELTIC REVIEW
sin .t. ma Thid. Acus is e ni do roine-sim ^ an fer dichoin- dircleach diumusach sin .u fer ^ da chuingeadhaib calma catha acus do ogaib talchara tairisi do thoga acus do thinol ^ acus a chur ar cind urtharrsna Tid ar sligid nach seithenadh,^ acus a marbad doib. Acus ba feramail an fer cos ar cuir- eadh an coimlin curad sin do chomlann. Acus tangadar an ceithern sin ar casanaib conairi na coillteag n-driseach n-deilgneach n-diamar dluith.^ Acus fuaradar inad fiamach farairia in glind dorcha do-imthechta itir da 'to\. 6b 1. sliab arda aimreigi, co fidnemeadaib fermara f asaig. Acus do bai carrag ard aduathmar, acus is innti sidhi ro bai an torathar tedmannach dar bo comainm Spinx. Acus is e an torathar na thaighlegh acus no thimchillead na moigi fa coimnesa di o roscaib ro-granna ruamanta. Acus each duine adchidh acus tigead is in sHgid sin ro (f)iarfhaigead sin^ cesta doib. Acus gach duine nach tabradh fregar furri ro sinead-si a doidi duaib- secha dub-glasa, acus a h-ingne urnochta aithgera, acus a fiacla goinideacha ^ a cend each duine,^ co sluigeadh acus co sir-chagnadh dar a craes salach sleimredach, no CO tainig an fer og ainindeach Eidip acus co ra marbastar an torathar sin. Acus ni lamdais cetra caithmeaghda ^ dul d'ingeltradh feoir an muigi sin, na coin na eathaidi cromad dar craebaib na cailleadh sin os cind in ^ adbaid sin. Et tangadar muinntir Etiocleis co tai taithneach CO ruigi in inad sin, acus ra badar ag urnaigi Tid diumsaig do dalaigh.
^"^ liidder diarmi.
2 Eg. adds o'n fer dimsach dicomairlech sin. ^ sechenudh.
* n-dluith. ^ Eg. omits. ^ gdtnedacha.
^ Eg. adds acus. ® caithmeacha. ^ na h-
THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 21
^ Now that dishonourable, virulent, inimical man of evil counsel, Etiocles, was pondering in his mind by what scheme he could accomplish the death of that excellent ambassador Tydeus. And what he did was to select a proud, evil-minded man, one of his brave battle champions, who would select and take with him stout, loyal warriors, and to send him to waylay Tydeus upon a path which he could not avoid, and have him slain by these. Manly was the leader with whom the band of champions was sent to the conflict. These troops proceeded by tracks of road through secret, close thickets of thorn and bramble. And they found an eerie place for their watch in a dark, impassable glen between two high, rough hills, with sacred groves, grassy and waste. And there was a great, frowning rock in which (at one time) lived the pestiferous monster named Sphinx. This monster used to survey and compass the neighbouring plains with his very ugly, red eyes. And he used to ask a question of every man whom he saw coming that way. And whoso- ever would not answer the question, he would reach forth his dreadful, dark-grey hands, and his bare, very sharp nails, and his pointed teeth, and seize him by the head, and swallow and gnaw at him in his foul, slavering mouth, until the young and vehement Oedipus came and slew that monster. Hungry quadrupeds dared not pasture these plains, nor could birds or birds of prey alight on the branches of the trees over that dwelling. Etiocles' s people came silently, warily to that place and were awaiting the haughty Tydeus to encounter him.
1 Th., ii. 482.
22
THE CELTIC REVIEW
EWEN MACLACHLAN AND INVERNESS ACADEMY
THE STORY OF A FAMOUS HIGHLAND CONTROVERSY
Evan M. Barron
In December 1819 the Classical master in the Royal Academy of Inverness, or, as he was called, the teacher of the Greek and Latin Classes, resigned his position on his appointment as minister of Dores. His name was Alexander Campbell, and he had been for sixteen years a teacher in the Academy, first as teacher of English, and latterly as teacher of Greek and Latin. Like so many other dominies of his day he was a divinity student, and when, in 1781, he was appointed Classical teacher it was expressly stated in the Minutes that he had got the appointment as he had ' now given the Directors reason to expect that he will give up his views to the Church.' This requires some explana- tion. Divinity students were in many ways admirable teachers, but they suffered from one great drawback in the eyes of their employers — they might at any moment throw up the teaching profession for the Church. However pleas- ing that might be to the parson-teacher himself, it was manifestly apt to be exceedingly inconvenient to his em- ployers and his pupils, and it is not surprising to find more than once in the Minutes of the Academy objections to such teachers strongly stated.
In passing, I may say that Campbell had been appointed English Master in 1804, and was a Master of Arts of King's College. He came to Inverness Academy from Fortrose, where he had been teacher of the Grammar School. Before we leave him it may be of interest to refer briefly to his after career. On 30th November 1822 he was presented to Croy by Lord Cawdor, who was also patron of Dores. For some reason there was strong opposition in Croy to his settlement, and when the new minister and a party of his friends pro- ceeded on the last Sunday of February 1823 to the church
EWEN MAOLACHLAN and INVERNESS ACADEMY 23
of Croy they were met by a crowd of parishioners, who posted themselves behind the churchyard wall, and greeted them with volleys of stones and divots. ' After a short but sharp conflict,' according to a contemporary account, the minister and his friends retired to the village of Torna- grain. ' There they not only rallied but actually turned upon the too rash advance guard of the enemy, and made prisoners of two women and three men.' These prisoners and several others were afterwards tried before the Circuit Court at Inverness, but the first trial fell through owing to no fewer than twenty-two of the jurymen being challenged, two by the Crown agent and twenty by counsel for the defence. Two months later, however, four men and one woman were brought to trial before the High Court of Justiciary, when three of the men and the woman were found guilty. But before sentence was passed Mr. Campbell intervened, and presented a petition to the Court praying that as lenient a punishment as possible might be inflicted, as the prisoners had been betrayed into error and the bad spirit was rapidly subsiding in the parish. In consequence light sentences were passed, one of the prisoners being sentenced to one month's imprisonment, and the others to two months in the jail of Inverness. It is satisfactory to know that a few weeks later Mr. Campbell was duly inducted to his charge in, as a contemporary account has it, ' the presence of a very respectable congregation.' He had taken the precaution, nevertheless, of being attended by the sheriff and his officers, but, we are told, ' there was no occasion for their interference, no interruption having been offered to the solemn services of the day.' That was in 1823, and Mr. Campbell died minister of the parish thirty years later, in 1853, in the seventy-fourth year of his age, after a long and successful ministry.
Mr. Campbell had been a very successful teacher. In the session ending December 1819 there were one hundred and twenty-five pupils in regular attendance in the Latin Class, which, in his letter of resignation, he says was more
THE CELTIC EEVIEW
than double the number when he first entered the Academy. In the newspaper correspondence to which the appointment of his successor shortly afterwards gave rise, it is stated, and it is not contradicted, that his class was the largest Latin class in any school north of Aberdeen. His success he attributed, to a large degree, to his assistant, John Clark, ' than whom none could show more zeal, more temper, or more regularity. In fact he uniformly acted as if the whole responsibility rested upon himself, and I cannot better discharge my grateful sense of his able assistance, or leave a more valuable legacy to my beloved pupils, whom I must now leave with affectionate regret, than by recommending Mr. Clark as my successor, who I know will be found in no ordinary way to combine the rare faculty of tempering firmness with familiarity, and modesty with a thorough knowledge of his duty.'
Clark had been for ten years employed in the Academy, as assistant in the Latin Class and teacher of drawing, and had himself been educated in the school. He had therefore a certain claim to the consideration of the Directors, which was greatly strengthened by Mr. Campbell's strong recom- mendation. Clark had, however, some years before become suspect to Macintosh of Raigmore, a noted figure in Inver- ness in the first half of the last century, and a man to whom the Academy owes a great deal, although on several occasions his impetuous nature led him into actions which were not altogether to the benefit of the institution for whose fame he was so jealous. But Raigmore was incap- able of malice, and he would probably not have opposed Clark's appointment as Campbell's successor had not Mac- donell of Glengarry appeared on the scene with a candi- date of his own in the person of Ewen Maclachlan, the most famous Celtic scholar of his day, and a man of profound learning and great attainments.
Glengarry and Raigmore had this in common — ^they were both of an impulsive nature, and were always eager to take up a cause and see it through with all the energy and fire
EWEN MACLACHLAN and INVERNESS ACADEMY 25
of which they were capable. Glengarry, however, was not by any means a popular man in the Highlands, for though he was kind and generous when his will was not crossed, he was of an exceedingly overbearing nature, and had a most exalted idea of his own importance as a Highland chief. He could not brook opposition of any sort, and as he was constantly under the delusion that he was actuated by the highest motives, and those who differed from him by the lowest, he was not an easy man for ordinary mortals to get on with. He had, too, a passion for dressing and living as he imagined the Highland chiefs of old dressed and lived, and being a Highland chief, he could in consequence command a certain following who were prepared to look with kindness on his vagaries. Every Highlander knows how he used to appear in public in full Highland dress, accompanied by his ' tail ' of retainers clothed and armed in the ancient Highland fashion.
He had, too, an extraordinary fondness for posing. In 1815 he founded a society, the name of which is sufficient to raise a smile nowadays, the ' Society of True Highlanders,' of which, needless to say. Glengarry himself was President. This society existed for some years, and was famous for its annual gatherings at Inverlochy, when Glengarry and various members of his clan, as well as a number of other Highland gentlemen, appeared in all the glory of the ancient Highland dress, and gave themselves over for several days to amuse- ments conducted in what they fondly believed was the ancient Highland manner. On one of these occasions we read that the ancient Caledonian Hunt was revived, and for three days the ' True Highlanders ' hunted the deer in the old style. Full reports of the proceedings, couched in the most flowery language, appeared in the Inverness Journal, and in these Glengarry appears almost as a demigod to whom the rest of the ' True Highlanders ' loved to do reverence. There is little doubt that these reports were either written by himself or by some one in his immediate circle under his direction — probably by one of his ' Tail ' with his tongue
26
THE CELTIC EEVIEW
in his cheek the while. It is little wonder that his perform- ances made him the laughing-stock of Scotland, and caused considerable annoyance to Highlanders who had a dislike to seeing their country and their people made publicly a subject for the laughter of fools.
Two incidents of a widely different character show what manner of man he was. In 1798 at a military ball in Inverness he approached Miss Forbes of Culloden — after- wards Mrs. Duff of Muirtown — and reminded her that she had promised him the last country dance. She had no recollection of such a promise, and told him she was engaged for it to Ranald Macdonald. Glengarry took himself away, but in a little returned and informed the lady that Ranald Macdonald — yielding to I know not what persuasion or threats — had given up the dance to him. Miss Forbes naturally resented this discourteous treatment and replied that she would dance with neither of them. Glengarry refused to take her answer as final, and tried to argue with her, whereupon a grandson of Flora Macdonald, Lieutenant Macleod of the 42nd, who was sitting by Miss Forbes, remarked, ' Why do you tease the lady ? Can't you allow her to choose for herself ? ' Whereupon Glengarry trans- ferred his attentions to Macleod. Later in the evening, in the messroom of the 79th, high words passed between Glengarry and Macleod over the matter, and the gallant chief eventually struck Macleod, who was quite a youth, over the head with his cane and kicked him. Macleod promptly drew his dirk, but before he could retaliate they were separated. A challenge of course followed, and a day or two later they met on the beach between Fort George and Ardersier. Glengarry had offered to apologise, but Macleod refused to accept an apology unless the chief gave up the cane with which he had struck him, to be used as Macleod should think proper. At the first fire Macleod fell, and a few days later died. Glengarry had to stand his trial in Edinburgh for murder, and only the skill and eloquence of his counsel, Harry Erskine, saved him. As it was, the jury
EWEN MACLACHLAN and INVEENESS ACADEMY 27
added a rider to their verdict highly disapproving of his conduct at the beginning of the affair, and going on, ' It was fortunate for him that the duel did not take place as soon as was intended, before an attempt was made to apologise, as in that case it was highly probable that they would have returned a very different verdict.'
What the man to whom Glengarry owed his acquittal, Harry Erskine, thought of him may be judged by the fact that he refused to accept an invitation to a great dinner given by the chief's friends in honour of his acquittal, on the ground, in the words of his biographer, that ' his admiration of the part played by his client in the late tragedy was not sufficiently strong to admit of his being present.'
The other episode occurred at Inverness, when Glengarry appeared at the Michaelmas Head Court in 1819, and on the roll of freeholders being made up rose and read a protest against the designation of Ranald George Macdonald of Clanranald, on the ground that the gentleman had no lands or charters that entitled him to be designated ' of Clan- ranald,' his true and legitimate title being ' of Moidart ' or Captain of Clanranald. ' To prove this averment' (I quote from a contemporary report), ' Glengarry entered into a genealogical history of the family of Moidart, explained the etymology of the word clan, and concluded with an accom- paniment of some animated remarks that he would consider it personal to himself if any gentleman should henceforward mention Mr. Macdonald otherwise than as Captain of Clan- ranald.' The meeting, we are told, rejected the contention as incompetent, whereupon Glengarry announced his inten- tion of bringing the question before the Court of Session, and thence, if necessary, to the House of Peers. ' The accom- paniment of some animated remarks ' must have added some much-needed zest to the doings of the Michaelmas Head Court.
Sir Walter Scott is said to have modelled Fergus M'lvor, in Waverley, on Glengarry, and whether that be so or not, he certainly knew him well and counted him among his friends.
28
THE CELTIC REVIEW
His estimate of him is therefore worth quoting. In his diary, printed in Lockhart's Life, Sir Walter thus refers to him under date 14th February 1826. ' I had a call from Glengarry yesterday, as kind and as friendly as usual. This gentleman is a kind of Quixote in our age, having retained, in their full extent, the whole feelings of clanship and chieftainship, elsewhere so long abandoned. He seems to have lived a centiury too late, and to exist, in a state of complete law and order, like a Glengarry of old, whose will was law to his sept. Warm-hearted, generous, friendly, he is beloved by those who know him, and his efforts are un- ceasing to show kindness to those of his clan who are dis- posed fully to admit his pretensions. To dispute them is to incur his resentment, which has sometimes broken out in acts of violence which have brought him into collision with the law. To me he is a treasure, as being full of information as to the history of his own clan, and the manners and customs of the Highlanders in general. Strong, active, and muscular, he follows the chase of the deer for days and nights together, sleeping in his plaid when darkness overtakes him. The number of his singular exploits would fill a volume ; for, as his pretensions are high, and not always willingly yielded to, he is every now and then giving rise to some rumour. He is, on many of these occasions, as much sinned against as simiing ; for men, knowing his temper, sometimes provoke him, conscious that Glengarry, from his character for violence, will always be put in the wrong by the public'
Again, in a letter written in June 1830, in a reference to his greyhounds, he remarks, ' One of them I had from poor Glengarry, who, with all wild and fierce points of his char- acter, had a kind, honest, and warm heart.'
I have dwelt at such length on Glengarry as a knowledge of his character and of the estimation in which he was held is necessary to a clear understanding of the controversy which raged round the appointment of Campbell's successor in the Greek and Latin class of Inverness Royal Academy. Now, among his other foibles. Glengarry loved to pose as a
EWEN MACLACHLAN and INVERNESS ACADEMY 29
patron of learning. To Ewen Maclachlan he had extended great kindness, and indeed had made possible his scholastic career. Maclachlan was born in 1775 in Lochaber, received his early education from the parish minister, and when only fifteen years of age became tutor in the family of Cameron of Clunes, where he remained, save for an interval of two years, until he was twenty-one. In 1796 he was introduced to Glengarry, and that chief not only ever afterwards continued his warm friend, but learning that he was ex- ceedingly anxious to proceed to King's College, Aberdeen, gave him such pecuniary assistance that he was able to fulfil his desire. It is said that Maclachlan travelled to Aberdeen in the Highland dress, and that when after the bursary competition he was awaiting the results with his fellow competitors in the quadrangle he was made the subject of many gibes on account of his uncouth appearance, gibes which, however, speedily gave place to envy when it was announced that Maclachlan was first bursar. He had a distinguished University career, and soon became assistant Librarian in King's College and assistant teacher of the Grammar School of Old Aberdeen, of which latter he was appointed headmaster in 1818, though, owing to his chief's continual ill-health, he had been in reality headmaster for sixteen years prior to that date. During these years he produced a great deal of first-rate literary work, including a translation of the Iliad into Gaelic, and he soon came to be recognised as the foremost Celtic scholar of his day, and one of the most erudite classical scholars in Scotland. He never forgot the gratitude he owed to Glengarry, and, we are told, was that chief's champion in the genealogical battles in which his soul delighted, and was also Gaelic secretary to Glengarry's pet society, the ' Society of True Highlanders.' His connection with Glengarry it will thus be seen was very close and intimate. In other fields of learning he gained distinction. His most lasting fame rests upon his editorship of the Highland Society's Dictionary, showing wide scholarship not only in Gaelic but in cognate
80 THE CELTIC REVIEW
languages. He is in the very front rank of Gaelic poets, and his poems, which won him great popularity in his own day, are still widely read and greatly admired. Such was the man whom Glengarry proposed as successor to Mr. Campbell in the Greek and Latin classes in the Inverness Royal Academy.
As soon as Campbell's letter of resignation had been read to the meeting of Directors on 8th December 1819, Glengarry produced a letter from Dr. Skene Ogilvie, Aber- deen, to Ewen Maclachlan, expressing a high opinion of the latter' s qualifications and abilities, recommending him to the Directors as eminently qualified to fill the vacancy in the Academy occasioned by Mr. Campbell's resignation, and making mention of an enclosure, the nature of which is not divulged. The Minute of the Meeting records that ' the letter was returned to Glengarry with a recommendation to present it at the Meeting to be afterwards appointed for the purpose of making the election.' Now, to understand the acute controversy which followed it is important to bear in mind this letter. It is dated 30th September 1819, and Campbell's resignation was not in the hands of the Directors until the 8th of December following. He had, however, been presented to Dores in August, and the probability of a vacancy in the Academy was therefore known.
The question at once arises. What was the enclosure referred to in Dr. Ogilvie' s letter ? To my mind there is not the least doubt that it was a letter from Glengarry to Maclachlan advising him of the coming vacancy, and suggesting that he should come forward. From the course which events afterwards took it is, I think, clear that had Glengarry not interfered Clark would have received the appointment, but, as it was, the vacancy was advertised and other candidates entered the field.
Glengarry was determined to secure the appointment for Maclachlan, and this determination, together with the methods by which he sought to accomplish his end, created a very strong feeling against Maclachlan. As I have already
EWEN MACLACHLAN and INVERNESS ACADEMY 31
remarked, Glengarry was obsessed with the idea of his own importance as a Highland chief, and simply conld not tolerate opposition of any kind, with the result that Mac- lachlan suffered from the vehemence by which his cause was advanced.
Now, at that time and for many years afterwards the government of the Academy was in the hands of a body of Directors consisting of the provost, four bailies, and Dean of Guild of the burgh of Inverness for the time being, the Moderator of the Presbytery of Inverness for the time being, and five other persons annually appointed by the Commissioners of Supply for the County of Inverness, together with such other persons or person as had subscribed or should subscribe ' the sum of £50 of lawful money of Great Britain for the purposes of the said Institution, and the heirs-male, of lawful age, of such persons as should subscribe and pay to the extent of £100 of like lawful money or upwards.' As a rule the affairs of the Academy were managed by the Directors resident in the neighbourhood, but at a meeting held on 23rd February 1820 Glengarry showed what his intentions were by producing three gentle- men who subscribed £50 each and so became Directors. One of these was his factor, and another a member of his own clan. WiUiam Falconer of Lentron, who had already subscribed £10, 10s. to the Academy, and whose children were being educated there, also appeared and paid a further £39, 10s., in order to qualify as a Director. He was opposed to Glengarry. The date of the payments is somewhat important, as charges were freely bandied about by both sides during the contest, which extended over ten weeks, that the other party were manufacturing Directors in order that they might secure the return of their nominee; but I think it is quite plain from the record of the meeting of 23rd February that Glen- garry was the original and prime offender in this respect. Indeed, a writer in the Courier some weeks later alleged that Glengarry had spent several hundred pounds in the manu-
32 THE CELTIC KEVIEW
f acture of Directors, and that I think is almost certainly true. Those methods naturally did nothing to encourage those Directors who disliked Glengarry to vote for his nominee, however deserving that nominee might be.
Meanwhile, Glengarry was making use of his friend Raigmore's paper, the Inverness Journal, to make known to the public Maclachlan's merits, and during the months of February, March, and April a very lively correspondence took place in its columns, and in the columns of the Courier,
Early in February Clark addressed the following letter
to Glengarry : —
^Inverness, ith February 1820. ' Sir, — Although I have not the honour of being known to you, I trust you will pardon the trouble I give in addressing you, as a Director of the Inverness Academy, and soliciting your patronage in supporting my claims upon the Latin class, about to become vacant.
* That you should feel so much interested in your friend Mr. Maclachlan is much to be admired ; but when you shall have learnt my claims I doubt not but a sense of pubHc justice will prevail in your mind over the feehng of private friendship.
' I have served upwards of ten years in my present humble situation for a mere existence. I have served faithfully, and to the acknowledged satisfaction of my constituents.
' Should I now be disappointed, my prospects are blasted for ever, as I have no others under heaven. My predecessor received the situation without soUcitation, and I have given as much satisfaction as any of them. May I, then, humbly entreat that you will have no hand in eternally blasting the prospects of so humble an individual as I am. — ^I have the honour of being, etc.,
(signed) 'John Clark, Jun.
* To Col. Macdonnell of Glengarry.' To which Glengarry replied : —
'Glengarry House, 19/A Feb. 1820.
* Sir, — ^Your letter dated the 4th inst. found me at Moy Hall, the day, I think, before I left it, which was the 8th curt. I confess it surprised me, not as coming from a person unknown to me even by sight, but from the nature of your pretensions, founded so gravely upon false data. You allege to me " private friendship " as the
EWEN MACLACHLAN and INVERNESS ACADEMY 33
groundwork to which Mr. Maclachlan founded his claim to my support. But in that you are perfectly mistaken, and no less so in your idea that I would support any man but the best quahfied, whoever that may be, upon fair and impartial trial before competent judges, and if, before such a tribunal, you, or any other, can outstrip Maclachlan, you may rest assured whoever does so shall have my vote, and the support of every independent Director who enters into the real interest of the Academy and of the public.
' Your past services should certainly be considered by those who experienced them, but neither they nor I have any right to sacrifice the future good of the Northern public for such personal considera- tions, however interesting to you as an individual. — I am, etc.,
(signed) ' A. Macdonell.
* To Mr. John Oark, jun.'
Soon after the vacancy was advertised Clark withdrew his application, on the groimd apparently that as regards mere scholarship he would have no chance of success in what was known in those days as a comparative trial ; that is to say, candidates appeared either before the Directors or before certain scholars of repute nominated by them, and underwent an examination. And that such a trial would take place on this occasion was now evident, for several other candidates had come forward, among them the master of the school of Crieff, A. N. Carmichael. He had exceedingly good testimonials, and as the section of the Directors who were opposed to Glengarry transferred their support on Clark's withdrawal to him, it soon became clear that the appointment lay between Maclachlan and Carmichael. Carmichael was, of course, quite unknown in the north of Scotland, while Maclachlan was one of the best known Highlanders of his day, and as the appointment was in the hands of a large and scattered body of Directors it was accordingly necessary for Carmichael to take some means of making his claims known to them. In the Courier, therefore, of 23rd March he inserted an advertisement in the form of an election address to the Directors of the Inverness Royal Academy. At this distance of time it seems a strange proceeding, but in those days it excited no surprise. On the
VOL. VIII. c
34 THE CELTIC EEVIEW
contrary it seemed a wise and reasonable thing to do. The address was as follows : —
To THE Directors
OF
The KoYAii Academy of Inverness
' Gentlemen, — In consequence of the advertisement of your Chairman, Thomas Gilzean, Esq., I beg leave to offer myself as a Candidate for the office of teacher of the Greek and Latin Class, in the Academy of Inverness, which is about to be vacated by the appointment of Mr. Campbell to the church of Dores. My claims to your favourable notice I have taken the liberty of stating, in a general way, to those gentlemen whose addresses I have been able to procure. As it is but too probable, however, that I have not succeeded in obtaining the names of all the Directors, I take this public method of announcing my intention to appear as a candidate ; and of assuring those gentlemen to whom I have not addressed letters on this subject, that such an omission has not arisen from negligence or disrespect, but from my ignorance of their respective designations. The distance at which I live from Inverness is very considerable, but I will cheerfully submit to any inconvenience to which this cir- cumstance may subject me, in the firm persuasion that, of all the candidates who may personally come forward on the day of the election, the one who shall be found, upon a full and fair examination, to be the best quahfied for the office, will be appointed to fill up the approaching vacancy. — I am, Gentlemen, Your most obedient servant, A. N. Carmichael.'
The Directors met on the 1st of April to meet the candi- dates and consider as to the next step, and at that meeting no fewer than twelve gentlemen appeared and paid £50 each in order to qualify as Directors. Maclachlan and Carmichael were also in attendance and produced their testimonials. Now Carmichael was a comparatively young man, who was certainly neither so erudite a scholar nor so well known in the world of learning as Maclachlan, and it is therefore not surprising to find Glengarry's factor moving that both candidates be remitted to the Professors of Latin and Greek in the University of Glasgow, ' to take trial of their qualifica-
EWEN MACLACHLAN AND INVERNESS ACADEMY 35
tions and to inquire into their mode of teaching, and to report their opinion on both these points to the Chairman of the Directors with the least possible delay. That motion was carried by twenty votes to nineteen, and by a further vote of twenty to seventeen it was decided that the decision of the judges should be final. The candidates consequently repaired to Glasgow, but the Professors declined the task allotted to them, and conveyed their decision to the Chair- man of the Directors in a letter which is a model of delicate irony.
'Glasgow College, 9th April 1820. ' Sir, — Yesterday morning we had the honour of receiving your letter of the 4th inst., and also an inclosed minute of the Directors of the Inverness Academy, from which we find that by a narrow majority of one they have committed to us the examination of two candidates for the office of classical teacher in that distinguished institution. We feel ourselves much gratified by the confidence they repose in us, and through you we beg leave to convey to the Directors our assurances of the high consideration in which we hold them, and the valuable seminary over which they preside, and our thanks for the honour conferred upon us by referring their present differences to our arbitration. If we had any prospect of being able to execute the duty proposed to us in a way which would be advantageous to the purposes or satisfactory to ourselves it would give us the greatest pleasure to undertake it, but as this is not the case, we beg you will take the additional trouble of informing them that we feel constrained to decline with all due respect the office of arbiters by numerous reasons, a few of which we humbly submit to their candid considera- tion. In all cases when other evidence can be had we think the examination of an hour or two a very incompetent and unsatisfactory mode of ascertaining the pretensions of literary competitors, as it is liable to be disturbed by so many accidental circumstances. The best scholar, for instance, may not have the best nerves. If he stumble at one of the first questions his attention may be impaired during the whole trial, and he may be pronounced inferior merely because his rival had more recently been studying the passages offered to both. Owing to causes such as these even in the disposal of a trifling bursary by comparative trial we are seldom secure that we have selected the most meritorious candidate ; and we therefore should be far from recommending so doubtful and fallacious a test
36
THE CELTIC REVIEW
for determining who should hold the highly important and respectable
station which is at present vacant in your Academy. If even with
boys, and boys who exhibit considerable disparities, this test be
hazardous and fallible, it must be far more so when appUed to scholars
of such maturity, excellence, and regularity, as both the candidates
appear to be on the present occasion. In the case of such men we
believe that no one who knows what classical literature is would, after
two hours, have the rashness to declare " This is the better scholar
and this the worse," and the examinator whose learning was most
profound would, in all probability, be most backward to pronounce
such a judgment. On these and similar grounds we really feel
ourselves much less capable of appreciating the comparative merits
of Messrs. Maclachlan and Carmichael than the Directors themselves,
holding as they do in their hands the reports of gentlemen who have
been long and intimately acquainted with the personal and literary
character of both the candidates. To have used our full power and
decided finally is what, with means of judging so circumscribed, we
could not have conscientiously done, and to have sent a qualified
and perhaps unintelligible report of the questions put and answers
given would have been of little service in bringing the Directors to
greater unanimity. It appears to us, therefore, a more fair, manly,
and honourable proceeding, instead of trifling with the serious duty
to which we are invited, to decline it altogether and to replace the
commission with which we have been honoured in the hands from
which it proceeded. With earnest wishes for the prosperity of the
Academy, and with sentiments of much respect for yourself and the
Directors, we are, sir. Your most obedient servants,
(sgd.) 'Jo. Young, L.G.P., Josiah Walker, L.H.P.*
' If necessary, we shall return the minute in the way you may direct. We observe that the small majority alluded to in our first sentence is not mentioned in the minute transmitted by you, but in a fuller copy which we received from a different quarter. — J. W.'
The Directors were to meet on the 1st of May to receive the decision of the Professors, but long before that date the terms of the letters they had addressed to the Chairman leaked out, and the controversy was renewed in the columns of the newspapers. Then Glengarry took an extraordinary step, which again shows what manner of man he was. He instructed his factor to write to both Maclachlan and
EWEN MACLACHLAN and INVEKNESS ACADEMY 37
Carmichael instructing them to repair to the University of St. Andrews, there to undergo their trials before the Pro- fessors of that University. To Maclachlan Glengarry's word was, of course, law, and he obeyed the chief's mandate, while Carmichael, needless to say, entirely disregarded it. It subsequently transpired that Glengarry had himself written to the Glasgow Professors immediately the reference to them had been determined upon, and that Mr. Peter Ander- son, Solicitor, Inverness, had written to his brother-in-law, Professor Cooper of Glasgow, on Carmichael's behalf. Glengarry alleged that Professor Cooper in Carmichael's interest had persuaded the two professors to refuse to undertake the task, a charge which a letter addressed by Professor Cooper to Carmichael does something to justify, but looking to all the facts in the case, and especially to Glengarry's own interference with the Professors, it is probably safe to say that these gentlemen saw they had been invited to mix themselves up in a squabble which they were better out of. At all events at this distance of time there cannot be any doubt that they took the only sensible course. The correspondence which took place in the papers in the interval prior to the meeting on the 1st of May provides entertaining reading, and throws some side lights on the question. Glengarry's letters to the Journal are couched as a rule in the most violent language, and could have done little good to the cause of the man he was championing. One of the Directors, a supporter of Carmichael, writing to the Courier in reply to a letter in the Journal, observes, ' The rage of feudal patronage, lately displayed in the bare- faced attempt to thrust Mr. Maclachlan down men's throats before they got a moment to prepare themselves for swallow- ing a compulsory morsel, has roused the feeling of inde- pendence among the gentlemen of Inverness, which has unfortunately no other mode of discovering itself than in opposition to Mr. Maclachlan,' and that was undoubtedly true. In a letter written in February, before Mr. Clark had withdrawn his application, another writer remarks, ' The
38
THE CELTIC REVIEW
conduct of one of the Directors has also, I am afraid, induced more of individual passion to bear upon this point than ought in fairness to mingle with any question to be determined by the pure and stern dictates of justice. The rash conduct of his friend should not, however, be allowed to obliterate the recollection of Mr. Maclachlan's acknowledged merits. It may be his misfortune, but cannot be his fault, he is so patronised, nor would I have the modest claims of Mr. Clark overwhelmed beneath the imperial frown of any Highland chief, who may make a very respectable chief for all ordinary needs and purposes, and yet not be very eminently qualified to pronounce on classical literature.'
The meeting which had been called for the 1st of May, and at which the fate of the candidates was to be decided, was the Annual Meeting of the Directors, and was usually largely attended, as the meeting of the Commissioners of Supply for the county was held on the same day, and the Circuit Court about the same time. Thus a large number of the County Directors were usually in Inverness at that period. A week or two prior to the meeting Glengarry inserted in the Inverness Journal an address couched in grandiloquent terms and freely interlarded with italics, ' To the Free-Holders, the Heritors, Commissioners of Supply and Justices of the Peace, etc. etc., of the County of Inver- ness,' giving his own statement of the case, and asking them for their support. The address, which is too long to quote, begins as follows : ' Gentlemen, — the arduous struggle made by the independent men having the interest of the Highlands at heart, in order to obtain the best qualified teacher to the Inverness Academy, must be known to all of you, and I trust uninteresting to few, if any, among us.' In the following issue of the Courier, published two or three days before the meeting of the Directors, a Director of the opposite faction published a manifesto in reply to Glen- garry's, which, after referring to Glengarry's action com- manding his factor to issue a mandate to the candidates ' ordering them to repair to St. Andrews, there to be ex-
EWEN MACLACHLAN and INVERNESS ACADEMY 39
amined at his bidding,' concludes, ' It must give an additional impulse to that teeling of independence which has made the body of Directors resolve at all hazards to defend their own rights and rescue the Academy from the power of a would-be dictator.'
The contest had now resolved itself into a question as to which party could bring forward the greater number of votes on the 1st of May, and no stone seems to have been left unturned to find gentlemen willing to qualify themselves as Directors. Glengarry's controversial methods, and par- ticularly the manner in which he hurled the most unfounded charges at the head of what he termed the Burghal party, that is. Provost Gilzean, and other Inverness citizens and their supporters, who had managed the affairs of the Academy since its foundation, excited strong resentment, and probably had as much to do as anything else with the manner in which a large number of citizens of Inverness came forward and qualified as Directors. In particular Glengarry, or Raigmore, it is difi&cult to say which, as the letters which appear in the Journal are usually written over a nom-de-plume, though from the style they are quite clearly the work of one or the other, accused the agent of the Bank of Scotland, in those days a man whose position gave him great power in the town, of having used his power and his knowledge of the financial position of several of the Directors to threaten them with financial embarrassment if they supported Glengarry. Accusations of that sort did nothing to sweeten the contro- versy, and they would certainly never have been made by a man possessed of a spark of common sense.
When the 1st of May arrived the excitement in the town was intense ; but the meeting had to be postponed to the following day on account of the meeting of the Commissioners of Supply. Accordingly at twelve o'clock on the 2nd of May the Directors assembled in the Court House, a dirty, ill- furnished, ill-lit room at the corner of Church Street and Bridge Street, reached by a narrow flight of stone steps, and adjoining the equally dirty prison. Into the meeting-
40
THE CELTIC REVIEW
place, we are told, the Directors had difficulty in making their way owing to the great number of citizens who had assembled. The room was packed to suffocation, and it was not until it had been partially cleared several times that the Directors could get admission to their seats, or the work of the day be proceeded with. When order had been some- what established the Chairman reported that ten gentlemen had qualified themselves as Directors since the former meeting by the payment of £50 to the funds of the Academy. Eleven others immediately made similar donations, and were admitted Directors accordingly. In all, therefore, since the beginning of the contest forty-two new Directors had qualified, and the Academy funds had benefited to the extent of £2090.
When the roll was made up it was found that sixty-three Directors were present, and in the final divisions only one of those, Macleod of Macleod, did not vote. He probably left the meeting before the crucial division was reached, as in the early divisions he voted against Glengarry, which, seeing he was the chief of the Macleods, was only to be expected.
At the Annual Meeting the first business was always the election of a Chairman, and Baillie of Dochfour, seconded by Eraser of Relig, moved the election of Provost Gilzean, who had served the Academy in many capacities since its foundation. Grant of Corymony, seconded by Glengarry, proposed Raigmore, and on a vote being taken Provost Gilzean was elected by thirty-five to twenty-five, a result which made it pretty clear how the voting for the Classical mastership would go.
The meeting afterwards proceeded to the election of the Greek and Latin teacher, and the two candidates who had appeared at the former meeting, Mr. Ewen Maclachlan and Mr. A. N. Carmichael, appeared. The Chairman reported the result of the remit to Professors Young and Walker of Glasgow, and read their letters to him, whereupon a very long discussion ensued, which terminated at last in the
EWEN MACLACHLAN and INVERNESS ACADEMY 41
reading of the testimonials produced by the respective candi- dates. Glengarry then inquired of Mr. Carmichael whether he had gone to Glasgow with a view to be examined in terms of the remit. Mr. Carmichael replied that he had, and described the particulars of his visit, and then produced a letter addressed to him by Mr. John Hood, factor for Glengarry, requiring him (Mr. Carmichael) to proceed to St. Andrews for the purpose of being examined by two of the Professors in that University. Carmichael explained that he had not obeyed this mandate, while it appeared on the other hand that Mr. Maclachlan had obeyed it and had submitted to an examination the result of which, we are told, was very creditable to him, as was expressed in a certificate to that effect produced by Glengarry.
The fat was now in the fire, and a long and warm dis- cussion took place on Glengarry's behaviour. A motion was moved by Eraser of Relig, and seconded by Sheriff Fraser-Tytler, 'that it is irregular, and unjustifiable, and highly disrespectful to the meeting that an individual Director should assume a power (as has been in this case) of giving a mandate to the candidates to repair to St. Andrews for examination without any authority from a General Meeting of the Directors, a power which belongs to the whole body alone. ' Glengarry replied that it might have been irregular, for he was no regularly bred man of business or lawyer. He had acted on a resolution of the majority of the Directors, with the knowledge that there was no time to summon a second meeting, and he had had no inten- tion of giving offence, or offering disrespect to the Directors. With this explanation the meeting expressed itself satis- fied, and the motion was withdrawn.
Provost Robertson — Dr. Robertson of Altnaskiach — then moved the appointment of Carmichael, a motion which was seconded by Sheriff Fraser-Tytler. Mr. George Mackay, merchant, Inverness, seconded by Grant of Corymony, pro- posed Ewen Maclachlan, Mr. Mackay in a long speech pointing out the various qualifications of Maclachlan, and
42 THE CELTIC REVIEW
describing the advantages which the Academy and the country at large would derive from his appointment to the vacant post.
At this stage of the proceedings the Rev. Donald Eraser of Kirkhill suggested that it would be advisable to clear the meeting of strangers, as they were about to proceed ' into an investigation of a very nice and delicate nature, in so far as it might regard the personal character of one of the candi- dates, and it were best that such disclosures should not attain any greater publicity than was absolutely necessary to guide the Directors in the performance of their duties.' A long discussion followed. Glengarry and Raigmore opposing the suggestion, and eventually Mr. Eraser withdrew his motion upon the understanding that whatever vote he might give ' he would stand excused for assigning for it any reason whatever.'
Dr. Nicol, in later days a very well-known citizen of Inverness, then proposed that as the remit to the professors at Glasgow had failed, it would be still proper to remit the candidates for trial somewhere else, a motion which received the support of Glengarry and Raigmore. A counter motion that the meeting should at once proceed to elect was, how- ever, carried by thirty-six votes to twenty-six. The vote was thereupon immediately taken and by a similar majority Mr. Carmichael was elected.
The vote was apparently taken by calling the roll, for in the report in the Courier it is stated that several of the Directors prefaced their votes by speeches explaining the grounds on which they voted. Of these speakers Raigmore, Glengarry, Corymony, Mr. Shepperd, and Mr. Macandrew, the two latter solicitors in Inverness, embraced the part of Mr. Maclachlan, while on the other hand Mr. Anderson, banker, Mr. Edwards, a solicitor in Inverness and after- wards Sheriff-Substitute of the County, Eraser of Culbokie, and the Rev. Donald Eraser of Kirkhill (the latter gentleman in a long and argumentative speech, delivered, apparently, in forgetfulness of his former intimation that he would
EWEN MACLACHLAN and INVERNESS ACADEMY 43
assign no reason whatever for his vote) 'espoused the pretensions of Mr. CarmichaeL'
That Maclaehlan's supporters were by no means satisfied with the result is evident by the fact that Glengarry, John Macandrew, Dr. Nicol, Dr. Gray, James Beaton, solicitor, Inverness, and two others stalled that they voted for Mr. Maclachlan under the express reservation that it should be competent for them to resort to any legal means which they might deem advisable for setting aside the decision of the majority to avoid a competitive trial of the candidates. Evidently they were of opinion that the competitive trial was as essential to the appointment of a teacher as was a Presbytery examination for a minister, a view of the law which, needless to say, had no foundation in fact, and which when they had recovered from the effects of their defeat they did not venture to put to the test.
Subsequent proceedings are best told in the words of the Courier report : ' When the election had thus terminated. Provost Robertson, after passing some remarks on the distinguished genius and the great literary attainments of Mr. Maclachlan, the unsuccessful candidate, moved that a sum of £100 be paid to him out of the Academy funds as reimbursement for the travelling charges to which he had been put during this contest. This motion was seconded by Relig, and carried unanimously. Mr. Fraser- Tytler moved that the thanks of this meeting be given to Mr. Maclachlan, with the assurance that this meeting considers it a circumstance highly creditable to the Academy of which they have the charge that two gentlemen of such high distinction for their literary attainments should have presented themselves as competitors on this occasion. This motion was seconded by Mr. Eraser of Culbokie, and was finally adopted as speaking the general sense of the meeting.'
The business of the day was not yet done, however, for before the meeting separated Mr. James Lyon, merchant, Inverness, one of Maclachlan's supporters, moved that ' an additional £20 should be made to the salary of Mr.
THE CELTIC EEVIEW
Clark as assistant Latin teacher and teacher of drawing in the Academy, that is, that £10 be added to his salary as assistant Latin teacher, and £10 to his salary as drawing master,' which motion was seconded by Glengarry and carried unanimously.
These grants to Maclachlan and Clark show that the Directors were in a generous mood, as indeed they could well afford to be, seeing that the contest had enriched the Academy to the extent of £2090. Perhaps they felt in voting them that they were in honour bound to make some payment to Maclachlan, as if he had not come forward there would have been no contest and, in consequence, no £2090, and that similarly an increase of salary was due to Clark for the benefits his application had conferred upon the institu- tion. It is at all events pleasing to reflect that it was Glengarry who was really responsible for the suggestion that Clark's salary should be raised.
It was now eight o'clock in the evening and the business for which the meeting was assembled was not yet finished, but eight hours of discussion in that crowded, dirty, ill-lit room had proved more than enough for the Directors, and the meeting adjourned until the following day, when it was resolved to meet in the Town Hall. The contest was now over, but two small episodes which occurred at the adjourned meeting on the 3rd of May have to be recorded in order to complete the narrative. ' It was moved by Glengarry,' I quote from the Minutes, ' that the whole testimonials produced by both candidates be entered in the Minute Book, concluding by a letter from Drs. Hunter and Jackson, Professor of Humanity and Philosophy and Teacher of Greek in the College of St. Andrews, upon the examination of Mr. Maclachlan,' which was seconded by Mr. Beaton and agreed to, ' with this explanation, that no reference was made to the Professors of St. Andrews by the Directors of the Inverness Academyr' That is how it is worded in the Minute Book, and whatever the underlying reasons may have been for Glengarry's motion, it has proved of value not only to the
EWEN MACLACHLAN and INVERNESS ACADEMY 45
Historian of the Royal Academy of Inverness but also to all lovers of Celtic language and literature, to whom Maclach- lan's testimonials can hardly fail to be of high interest.
The second episode was a motion by James Grant of Bught, seconded by Eraser of Relig, ' That the thanks of the Directors of the Academy be given to Professors Young and Walker of the University of Glasgow for their letter to the Chairman of 8th April last, and that the Chairman be requested to communicate the same to the above gentlemen,' a motion which was as fuel to the fire of Glengarry's Celtic spirit, and caused him indignantly to move as an amend- ment, 'That the Glasgow Professors having been simply requested to examine the candidates, and having refused to do so, it does not appear how they can be consistently entitled to the thanks of the Directors,' an amendment which sufficiently explained itself, and received the support of Glengarry's impulsive friend Raigmore. It was, however, lost by thirteen votes to twenty-one.
From the facts I have stated several things are, I think, clear. In the first place it is evident that Ewen Maclachlan was in every sense a most distinguished scholar, and in the second place that in a comparative trial such as his friends desired his opponent would simply have been overwhelmed. But as was more than once pointed out during the course of the contest, scholarship itself is not the only requisite for a successful teacher, and it is quite clear that Maclachlan suffered from some drawback or handicap which made it undesirable for the sake of the Academy that he should be its classical teacher. It may have been his age, which was forty-five, or it may have been some personal failing, which, though indignantly denied by his friends, is hinted at more than once in the course of the correspondence, or it may have been that those who really directed the fortunes of the Academy did not consider it advisable to have as its classical master a man of so many wide and divergent interests.
The really deciding factor in the case was, however, none of these. The appointment was decided, I am convinced.
46
THE CELTIC EEVIEW
by the action of Glengarry. To gain his end he threatened and cajoled in turn, and even let it be known that if Mac- lachlan were appointed he himseK would take a house in Inverness and send his family to the Academy. Surely that would settle the matter. Perhaps it did. Glengarry in far Lochaber was bad enough, but the mere thought of Glengarry in Inverness, ' Tail ' and all, was sufficient to send worthy citizens flying to invest £50 to keep him at a distance. We are told in Mackenzie's Beauties of Gaelic Poetry that Maclachlan deeply felt what he considered the unworthy treatment experienced at the hands of his Norland countrymen ; and frequently expressed himself to the effect that he was resolved never again to expose his peace of mind to the machinations of ' ambidexter politicians.' As a Highlander I must confess that my sympathies are, to a certain extent, with Maclachlan, and it undoubtedly would have been an honour to the Academy to have had him on its staff ; but I must also confess that as regards the actual contest my sympathies are all on the other side. Glengarry attempted, as one of his opponents put it, to ram Maclachlan down the throats of the Directors, and there is little doubt that if he had succeeded it would have been an evil day for the Academy, not on Maclachlan's account, but on account of the interference it would have been subjected to by Glengarry and his friends. The contest, in other words, was not a contest between Maclachlan and Carmichael, but between Glengarry and Raigmore on the one part, and the men who had made and managed the Academy on the other. An analysis of the voting gives some interesting results, and shows clearly how determined Glengarry was to have his own man appointed at all costs. At the meeting of 2l8t February three out of the four faggot Directors, as for want of a better name I may term them, were supporters of Glengarry, while out of the twenty who had qualified by 1st April twelve were of Glengarry's party. Of these one was his own factor, another, Macdonald of Barrisdale, was a cadet of his own clan, while of the remainder some were
EWEN MACLACHLAN and INVERNESS ACADEMY 47
solicitors and merchants in Inverness, who had business or other relations with Raigmore or Glengarry. The voting at the meeting of the 1st of April showed those who had the real interests of the Academy at heart that they would have to bestir themselves if they wished to prevent Glengarry's dictatorship, and accordingly of the twenty-two who qualified as Directors between the 1st of April and 2nd of May twelve were opposed to Glengarry. These twelve were well-known citizens of Inverness, while the ten who quaUfied to support Glengarry included only four resi- dent in the town. But the voting list reveals a still more striking fact. Of the twenty-six Directors who voted for Maclachlan only four were Directors before the beginning of February 1820, the remainder were Directors manufactured for the occasion. Of the thirty-six who voted for Carmichael sixteen were old Directors and twenty faggot Directors. Many deductions could be drawn from these figures, but it is sufficient to point out that they make it perfectly clear that the real Directors were opposed to Maclachlan in the pro- portion of sixteen to four.
The four old Directors who voted for Maclachlan were Glengarry himself. Mackintosh of Mackintosh, Raigmore, and Grant of Corymony. The sixteen who voted for Carmichael were George Inglis of Kingsmills, Baillie of Dochfour, James Grant of Bught, Provost Robertson, Phineas Mackintosh of Kinmylies, Hugh Eraser of Eskadale, Affleck Eraser of Culduthel, Lewis Grant, Alexander Ander- son, Hugh Eraser, Ness-side ; William Eraser-Tytler, William Eraser of Culbokie, Eraser of Relig, Eraser of Balnain, Rev. Donald Eraser, Kirkhill, and Provost Gilzean. The mere recital of these names will convince any one who knows anything of the history of Inverness that the sixteen old Directors who voted for Carmichael were men who in their day and generation had served Inverness and the High- lands wisely and well. And that I think is a sufficient judgment on the rights and wrongs of the controversy.
A few notes may be added on the two principal char-
48
THE CELTIC REVIEW
acters in the contest. Maclachlan only survived for a year or two, dying on the 29th of March 1822. His dying request was that his body should be laid with the ashes of his fathers at the foot of his native mountains in far Lochaber, a request which was religiously complied with. His body was conveyed out of Aberdeen by what Mackenzie calls ' a great concourse of respectable citizens in and around Aberdeen, including the Professors of both Universities, the Magistrates of the City, and the Highland Society of Aberdeen.' Glengarry, accompanied by a large number of his clansmen dressed in their native garb, paid a last tribute of respect to his departed protege and friend by meeting his remains and escorting them through the Lochaber country. We are told that when the funeral reached Fort WiUiam the crowd was so dense that it advanced with diJBfi- culty, and that the body was eventually laid to rest to the wail of the pipes in the presence of an enormous assemblage. Carmichael remained in the Academy until 1824, when he was appointed classical master in the newly opened Edinburgh Academy, and there he remained until his death in 1847. He was born in 1794, and received his education at the Royal High School of Edinburgh, where he was a contemporary of Sir Robert Christison, and dux of the school. He was in his day a well-known Greek scholar, and pubhshed several books which had a considerable vogue. He married, in 1821, a daughter of John Macdonald of Garvamore, Badenoch — evidently in spite of Glengarry he bore the Clan Donald no grudge — and had five sons and five daughters. One of the former, James, in his turn became classical master in Edinburgh Academy, and is still affec- tionately remembered by many Edinburgh Academicals and his memory kept green by the Carmichael Class Club. Another son, John, became classical master in the Royal High School of Edinburgh, where his memory is perpetuated by the Carmichael Club and Medal. John's wife also was an accomplished classical scholar, as is shown by her graceful translations of Horace.
THE VISION OF MAC CONGLINNE 49
FROM THE VISION OF MAC CONGLINNE ^
Aniar Mac Conglinne (TweKth Century)
Versified by Alfred Percival Graves
Unto a vision of amaze,
That met my eyes in bye-gone days,
Let all be listening now ! A mighty Coracle of Cake Lay ready launched on New Milk Lake,
Well stored from stern to prow.
We strode on board that Battle Ship ; 'Twas meet a Warrior Crew should rip
The Great Sea Dragon's scales ! Upon the monster's back she leaps And 0 ! our oars' tremendous sweeps Uptear from out his weltering heaps,
Like honey, his entrails.
At last a Koyal Fort we reached ; With custards solidly impleached
Were all its barricadoes ; We safely crossed its butter bridge. Its rubble dyke — a wheat-flour ridge —
And porky palisadoes.
A fortalice compact and good — In pleasant stateliness it stood.
I opened, on my word, A hung-beef door of priceless cost. And then a bread-crumb threshold crossed,
'Twixt walls of white cheese curd.
Smooth pillars of ancestral cheese, And, alternating well with these.
The sappy bacon prop, And silver post and stately beam Of yellow curds and mellow cream The roof held safely up.
* Founded on Professor Kuno Meyer's prose rendering of the twelfth-century burlesque of this name on pp. 20-22 of his Ancient Irish Poetry^ Constable and Co., Ltd.
VOL. VIII. D
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Behind it wells of pleasant wine And frothy ale and bragget fine,
Each full pool to the taste ; And malt with smooth and wavy drip, Over an oil spring's lazy lip,
Flowed through the floor to waste.
A lake, no less, of pottage juicy Under a layer of dripping oozy,
Lay 'twixt it and the tide. Its fences were of margarine. And suet, with white-mantled screen,
Crested the walls outside.
Great apple-tree of fresh perfume Protected it, in pink- tipped bloom,
Against the mountain blast ; While grooves of leek and onion And carrot shield it from the sun
With vegetation vast.
Within, a welcome generous, Red, firm-fed folk accorded us
Unto their glowing hearth ; Around the necks of each of these. Seven strings of tripe and seven of cheese
Hung heavy to the earth.
The Chieftain, cloaked in beef-fat good, Beside his fair plump lady stood ;
While, posted for attack. Below the lofty cauldron's spit I saw the Food Dispenser sit.
His flesh-fork on his back.
Wheatlet, Milklet's Son I am. Who was Son to Juicy Ham
By my pedigree. Honeyed Butter Roll his name, Who by long ancestral claim Bears my bag for me.
Since of sheep-flesh he 's a glutton. This my hound is Haunch of Mutton —
Lovely leaps hath he l- With her spoon, beneath her nose, Lard, my wife, across the brose
Sweetly smiles on me.
THE LITERATUKE OF THE SCOTTISH GAEL 51
Curds and Cream, my daughter beauteous, Round the jack, for service duteous.
Constant praise has won. Bigger than a brewer's vat. Beaming out through folds of fat,
' Corned-Beef ' is my Son,
' Spice-of-Spice,' with breath of bliss, Is my wife's maid, well I wis.
At the peep of day, Out o'er New Milk Lake she went For the larder, well content,
Dainties to purvey.
Suet is my steed of steeds. Where 's the Sire that so succeeds
At increasing studs ? From his toil to give him ease. See, a saddle of Cream-Cheese
From his back up-buds.
Then what necklaces delicious
Wrought of curds most large and luscious,
Round his shoulders flutter ; While the halter and the traces, So befitted to his paces.
Are best Irish butter.
THE LITERATURE OF THE SCOTTISH GAEL
Rev. Donald Maclean, Edinburgh
(Continued from p. 360, vol. vii.)
II
1745-1830
The debacle at CuUoden which terminated the wasteful devotion of a splendid fidelity was more inglorious, and less beneficial, to the victors than to the vanquished. The genius of the people that had hitherto expressed itself in wars and conquests, in feats of personal valour, and in charging ' the enemy as fleet as the deer,' now found room for expansion in other spheres. The feuds and conflicts.
52 THE CELTIC REVIEW
the jealousies of ruling chieftains, and the restlessness incidental to aU these, were not fitted to foster an interest in literature and art. After the collapse of the Stuart cause, the Highlanders, with the rest of Scotland, gradually- awoke to a true appreciation of their new opportunities, the wider outlook afforded by these, and the possibilities for asserting their power in other domains of life than those in which it had already excelled. The power of the chieftain was broken, the clan system was largely abolished, and with it slowly disappeared the pupilage which was its peculiar feature. Improved means of communication brought the north more in touch with the commercial centres of the south, the standard of living was raised, cattle gave way to sheep, tillage was improved, and agriculture showed signs of prosperity.
As early as 1770, there were large emigrations from the Uists and Skye to the Dominion of Canada. These people carried with them the traditions of their homeland. They were knit together by that almost indissoluble bond of blood, which attached them not merely to one another, but to their common traditions — hence the origin of the Gaelic printed literature of Canada.
Of all the factors that helped to develop literature, none is perhaps more worthy of grateful recognition than the work of the teachers of the S.P.C.K. and the Bounty Schools. In a Report of the former, of date 1729, it is stated that the teachers of those schools must be persons of piety, loyalty, and prudence, having a complete know- ledge of literature, and that in that year there were not less than seventy-four teachers having under their care three thousand scholars. One of the directions given to the schoolmasters was that as soon as the scholars could read comparatively well, the masters should teach them to write a fair and legible hand, and also instruct them in the elements and most necessary rules of arithmetic, that they might be rendered more useful in their several stations
THE LITERATURE OF THE SCOTTISH GAEL 53
in the world, but that they teach no Latin nor Irish. Although for political purposes, the Gaelic language was barred as a study, and Latin probably from ecclesiastical reasons, there is good cause to believe that Gaelic ^ was made the medium of instruction, and that in this way phraseology was stereotyped, and the language of the Catechism and the Bible became the language of the common people. Zimmer shows that a deadly blow was given to the Irish language by the Catholic Church, inasmuch as the faithful children of the Holy Father were robbed of their most sacred possessions through the ignorance of their priests, who thought themselves too good to speak the language of their people. The opposite, however, holds true in regard to the Gaelic of Scotland, inasmuch as preaching holds a most prominent part in the order of the Protestant service. Further, the reading of the Bible, the Catechism, and other religious books, and the catechising of old and young individually, were carried on in the language which the people could best understand. Quietly, amidst the many turmoils of political convulsions, these teachers of the church were sowing the seeds of religion and helping to retain and perpetuate the language of the community, until, as in the Highland glades the spring flowers show their heads after the winter's snows have thawed away, a luxuriant crop of national litera- ture blossomed with the most seductive hues after the long and cloudy day and the dreary night of political imrest.
It must not be forgotten that James Macpherson, during this period, like a brilliant meteor, shot across the literary firmament, dazzling the eyes of the European litterateurs with the Epics of Ossian. His writings were the subject of a stern and bitter strife. They were exhaustively scrutinised and subjected to a most critical analysis, which had the effect of drawing the attention
^ This authentic example from the old-time schoolroom may serve to illustrate the point. * Ciod is ciall do " generation" Chailein, arsa maighstir Sgoil. Sron daimh na tairbh arsa Cailean.' * What is the meaning of generation, Colin, said the schoolmaster. The nose of an ox or a bull, said Colin.' The answer was prompted by a wag.
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THE CELTIC REVIEW
of many scholars to the possible sources from which Macpherson had derived his writings, and in creating an interest in, and an enthusiasm for, the ancient language and literature of the Gaels, which have not yet ebbed out.
The Reformed Faith was established now, not merely in the State, but also in the affections of the people. The waves of religious revival that sprang up in the south rolled onwards to the northern counties, and to the utmost limits of the Lewis, Skye, Easter Ross, and Caithness, which were all more or less affected. An enthusiasm for the Bible, and for religious books containing the doctrines of grace, sprang up with these awakenings, which could only be satisfied by providing a suitable literature for the people. The Gaelic Bible, the Catechism, and Confession of Faith were in their hands ; excellent translators were busy ; and from the native soil itself sprang up men of repute, who were able to sing in the vernacular devout songs of encouragement and warning to anxious believers. These are the chief features in the development of the literature of the Gael in this period, which is the richest in the history of the Gaelic language ; and in view of the circumstances of the times, and the large part which religion held in the thoughts and lives of the people, it is not to be wondered at that religious books greatly predominated. The entire literature of the time is approximately classified as follows : —
Theological. — Baxter's Call to the Unconverted, 1750, and three other editions before 1830 ; Sum of Saving Know- ledge, 1767 ; Menzies's Christian Doctrine, 1781 and 1815 ; Alleine's Alarm to Sinners, 1781, and five other editions before 1830 ; and the Saints Pocket Book, 1823 ; Guthrie's Great Interest, 1783 and 1832; the Christian Soldier, 1804 ; Thomas A Kempis's Imitation of Christ, 1785 ; Rev. David Campbell's Sufferings of Christ, 1786 and 1800 ; Shepherd's Christian Pocket Book, 1788 ; Duncan Lothian's the Pope and the Reformation, 1797 ; Dodsley's Economy of Human Life, 1806 ; Boston's Fourfold State,
THE LITERATURE OF THE SCOTTISH GAEL 55
1811 and 1825 ; Doddridge's Rise and Progress, 1811 and 1823; One Thing Needful, 1811 and 1812; Salvation by Grace, 1813; Covey, An Account of, 1813; Gilfillan on the Sabbath, 1813 ; Dyer's Christ's Famous Titles, 1817 ; Newton, Life of, 1817; Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, 1812 and 1819 ; Hannah Sinclair's Letter on the Christian Religion, 1819; Richmond's Dairyman's Daughter, 1822; Bunyan's Barren Fig Tree, 1824; Bunyan's Death of Mr. Badman, 1824; Bunyan's World to Come^ 1825; Bunyan's Sighs from Hell, 1825 ; Faith and Salvation, 1825 ; Brook's Apples of Gold, 1824 ; Beith on the Antibaptists, 1824 ; Colquhon's Covenant of Grace, 1826 ; Flavel's Token for Mourners, 1828 ; Fraser on Baptism, 1828 ; Dunn's Life and Conversion, 1829 ; Munro's Life of Dr. Love, 1830 ; Heavenly Footman, 1829 ; Gospel Compulsion, 1830.
HoMiLETiCAL. — Crawford's Sermons, 1791 ; Sermon to Women, 1795 ; Isaac Watts's Sermon to Yoimg People, 1795 ; Broughton's Sermon, 1797 and 1804 ; Rev. Hugh MacDiarmid's Sermons, 1804 ; Dr. Dewar's Sermons, 1805, 1829-30; Blair's Sermons, 1812; Burder's Sermons, 1821 ; Rev. Malcolm MacLaurin's Exhortation, 1822- 1826 ; Spence's Sermon on Infant Baptism, 1825 ; Seventeen Sermons, 1827 ; Rev. Duncan Grant's Address to Children, 1829 ; the Gaehc Preacher, 1830.
Devotional. — Church of England Book of Common Prayer, 1794 and 1819 ; Office of Communion, 1797 ; Dr. John Smith's Prayers for Families, 1808 ; Rev. William Smith's Sacred Lessons, 1810 ; Saints' Pocket Book, 1823 ; Earle's Sacramental Exercises, 1827 ; Innes's Instruction for Young Enquirers, 1827 ; Peter Macfarlane's Collec- tion of Prayers, 1829.
Catechetical and Confessional. — Shorter Catechism, Synod of Argyle's (five editions before 1745 and forty-eight other editions before 1830) ; William's Shorter Catechism, 1773, 1779 and 1820 ; Isaac Watts's Catechism for Children,
56 THE CELTIC REVIEW
1774 ; the Reformed Catechism, 1779 ; Yoimg Communi- cant's Catechism, 1798 and I81I ; Mother's Catechism, 1798 (and eight other editions before 1830) ; Brown's Catechism for Children, 1799, 1802; Shorter Catechism with Proofs by Morrison, 1800 (and six other editions before 1830) ; Gray's Catechism, 1813 ; Thomson's Sacra- mental Catechism, 1813 and 1825 ; Dr. Ross's 1820 ; Mac- Kenzie's Church Catechism, 1821 ; Campbell's Catechism on Christ's Kingdom, 1824 ; Key to First Initiatory, 1827 ; Beith's Catechism on Baptism, 1827; Dr. MacDonald's, 1829 ; MacBean's, 1829 ; Confession of Faith, 1756, 1757, 1816-1821.
Anthological (Sacred). — David McKellar's Hymns, 1752; Hymn of Praise, 1752; Dugald Buchanan, 1767 (and fourteen other editions before 1830) ; Duncan Mac- Fadyen's Spiritual Hymns, 1770; Duncan Kennedy's Collections of Hymns, 1786 ; Duncan Macdougall's Spiritual Hymns, 1800 ; William Gordon's Spiritual Songs, 1802; Hymn of Praise by a Christian in Argyleshire, 1803 ; Alec Clark's Christian Hymns, 1806 ; Dr. Dewar's Hymns, 1806 ; Angus Kennedy's Hymns, 1808 ; Rev. Peter Grant's, 1809 (and seven other editions before 1830) ; Margaret Campbell's Spiritual Hymns, 1810 ; John Rose, Collection of Hymns, 1815 ; Donald Matheson's Spiritual Hymns, 1816, 1825 ; Inverness Collection of Hymns, 1818 and 1821 ; Archibald Maclean's Spiritual Hymns, 1818 ; John Munro's Collection of Hymns, 1819 ; Dr. James MacGregor's Spiritual Hymns, 1819 and 1821 ; Ronald MacDonald's Hymns, 1821 ; Donald Macrae's Spiritual Hymns, 1825 ; Donald MacKenzie's Spiritual Poems, 1827 ; Hugh Fraser's Spiritual Hymns, 1827-1830 ; John Morrison's Spiritual Hymns, 1828 ; John MacDonald's Embarrassment of the Church of Scotland, 1828 ; John MacDonald's New Year Gift of Hymns, 1829.
Anthological (Secular), — Alexander Macdonald's Poems, 1751, 1764, and 1802 ; James Macpherson's Temora,
THE LITERATURE OF THE SCOTTISH GAEL 57
1763 ; Duncan Ban Mclntyre's Songs, 1768 (second and third editions in 1790 and 1804) ; Ronald Macdonald's CoUection of Songs, 1776; 1782 and 1809; Forrest's Mirthful Songs, 1777; Lothian (D.) Poems, 1780; GiUies's Collection of Songs, 1780-1786 ; Smith's Ancient Songs, 1780 ; Peter Stewart's Songs, 1783 ; Hill's Ancient Erse Songs, 1784 ; Angus Campbell's Songs, 1785 ; Brown's Congratulatory Poem, 1785 ; Alexander Cameron's Songs and Poems, 1785 ; Margaret Cameron's Songs and Poems, 1785 and 1805 ; Smith's Dargo and Gaul, ancient poem of Ossian, 1787 ; Young's Ancient Gaelic Poems, 1787 ; Kenneth MacKenzie's Songs, 1792 ; Alexander Macpherson's Songs, 1796 ; Duncan Campbell's Songs, 1798 ; Allan MacDougall's Songs, 1798 and 1829 ; Donald Dewar's Songs, 1800 ; Inverary Ballads, 1800 ; Christian and Donald Cameron's Poems, 1800 ; MacGregor's Songs, 1801 and 1818 ; John MacKenzie's Green Book, 1801 ; Robert Stewart's Songs, 1802 ; George Gordon's Songs, 1804 ; Duncan Cunningham's Songs, 1805 ; Inverness Collection of Songs, 1806 ; Ossian's 3 vol. edition (H. S.), 1807 ; Donald Macleod's Songs, 1811 ; Peter Macfarlane's Songs, 1813 ; Turner's Collection of Songs, 1813 ; Donald Macdonald, A Song on Napoleon, 1814 ; Alex. Campbell, Albyns Anthology, vols. i. and ii., 1816-1818 ; Macallum's Ossianic Poems, 1816 ; E. MacLachlan's Metrical Effusions, 1816 ; Walker's Songs, 1817 ; John Maclean's Songs, 1818 ; Macgregor's Melodious Warbler, 1819 ; Rev. D. Macallum's Songs, 1821 ; Alex. Mackay's Songs, 1821 ; B. Urquhart's Song to H. S. London, 1827 ; James Munro, The Songster, 1829, The Jewel, 1830; Translated Songs, 1829; Rob Donn's Songs, 1829; Allan Mclntyre's Songs, 1829; WilHam Ross's Songs, 1830.
Educational. — Macdonald's Gaelic Dictionary, 1741 ; Shaw's Grammar, 1778, Dictionary, 1780 ; Rev. Patrick Macdonald's Gaelic Airs, 1781 ; Mackintosh's Proverbs, 1785, and 1819 ; Franklin's Way to Wealth, 1785 ; Robert Macfarlane's Gaelic Vocabulary, 1795 ; A. Stewart's Gram-
58 THE CELTIC REVIEW
mar, 1801-1812 ; Rose of the Field (periodical), 1803 ; Robert- son's Gaelic Dictionary, 1803 ; MacLaurin's Text Book, 1811 ; Peter Macfarlane's G. and E. and E. and G. Vocabulary, 1815 ; School Books, Class 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions, 1816 ; Elements of Gaelic, 1816 ; Rational Primer, 1819 ; Rev. F. MacBean's Spelling Book, 1824-25-27; Four editions (Class n.) S. P. C. K. School Books, — General Assembly School Books, 1824 ; Armstrong's Gaelic Dictionary, 1825 ; Carrie's Gdehc Grammar, 1828 ; Highland Society's Dictionary, 1828 ; Dr. Norman Macleod's Collection for Schools, 1828 ; Neil M'^Nish on Preserving Gaelic, 1828 ; Highland Messenger (periodical), 1829-1830.
The Bible. — N. T. 1767 (and several other editions before 1830), 0. T. in four parts, 1783-1801 ; O. T. and N. T. 1807 (and various other editions before 1830) ; Pulpit Bible, 1826; Synod of Argyle's Psalms in metre, 7th ed. 1751 ; Macfarlane's ed. 1753 (and twenty other editions before 1830) ; Macfarlane's version with Brown's notes, 1814 ; Smith's version 1787 (and twenty-two other editions before 1830) ; Smith's Psalms, 1801 (suppressed) ; Ross's version, 1807 (and four other editions before 1830) ; General Assembly's version, 1826 (and four other editions before 1830). The Bible (O. T.), ed. 1783-1801, fixed the standard of Gaelic orthography, and it can be safely said that what the authorised English Bible was to English literature, even more than that was the Gaelic Bible to the literature of the Highlands.
The rehgious literature arranged under the above cate- gories is largely translation. The theological books are translations of classical puritanic compositions, and the number of editions through which these passed is suffi- cient proof of their wide circulation, and of the interest of the Gaelic community in them. The evangelical doctrines were new and fascinating to the people as a whole. Scottish theology did not occupy the prominence which English theology did, yet Boston's Fourfold State was
THE LITERATUKE OF THE SCOTTISH GAEL 59
a hoi|sehold work among the Highlanders. It was such books as these that formed the staple food of the mind of the devout Highlanders, and their attitude to religious movements and creeds was defined for them by the theo- logical opinions therein discussed. It is surprising that none of the Highland clergy, who had full mental and educational equipment for the work, did not systematise and formulate their religions doctrines in the language of the people. No effort is discernible to discuss theologically the great doctrines of the Atonement, Justification by Faith, and others, which entered into the basis of the religious thought of the time. When Daniel Campbell of Glassary published his book on the Sufferings of Christ, which passed into fourteen editions before 1851, it was in the English language this was done, even though this devout and earnest Christian minister was, in the esteem of his brethren, capable of translating the Confession of Faith into Gaelic^ and also the Psalms and Paraphrases.
The department of Homiletic literature shows the same sterility as far as native ability is concerned ; yet it is only here we have the few original books there are in circulation about this time. Of these the Sermons of MacDiarmid are understood to be translations from a Scottish divine, while the Popular Sermons of Dr. Blair are also translations. The latter served as valuable pulpit aids to the indolent and indifferent clergy, of whom there are many in every age. Of this class, the minister of Lochalsh, who was a greater expert in the chase than in the pulpit, is a striking example. While in the homiletic literature we have largely the ethical teaching of the old and new moderates, in the theological literature, circulated by the directors of the society schools, only evangelical thoughts, conceptions, and doctrines have been put in cir- culation, a fact which seems to indicate that the reading public differed from their preachers in matters of faith and doctrine.
The Devotional literature comprises prayer books and
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communion addresses, and is not extensive or important. The striking feature of the Catechetical literature is the vast number of editions through which the Shorter Cate- chism passed, and the variety of these editions. This little book, which circulated perhaps more than any other outside the Psalm Book and the Bible in the Highlands of Scotland, was the great medium of instruction in the schools and in the family.
It was at this period that the first attempt was made at a scientific study of the language, and now we have the beginnings and development of grammars and diction- aries, both of which passed through the printing presses, and with these unquestionably began a real and successful application of scholarship to the scientific study of the Gaelic language. Dr. Stewart's grammar still holds its own, while the dictionaries are still consulted with benefit by students. That monumental work, the Highland Society Dictionary, which owes much of its value to the erudition of Dr. Mackintosh Mackay, is not likely to be superseded. The books issued to the schools are numerous and largely contain rehgious pieces, well printed, in good idiomatic Gaelic, while the dawn of the rich periodical literature is ushered in by the appearance of the Rosroine. The literature which is comprised under this group con- tains very little of a purely secular character, and nothing of a philosophic nature. Even the social and economic move- ments of the country found no expression in the literature of the Gael, beyond a translation of Franklin's (Dr. Benjamin) the Way to Wealth. This booklet, which created con- siderable stir in the English-speaking world, and formed the basis of Adam Smith's introductory chapters to the Wealth of Nations, was translated into Gaelic at the instigation of the Earl of Buchan, who writes a preface to the book. The Colonies were attracting the interest of statesmen as weU as opening up fields in which the Highland population could find happy settlements. Whether this pamphlet was in the interests of emigra-
THE LITERATURE OF THE SCOTTISH GAEL 61
tion or not, it is difficult to determine, but it is interesting as being the only one of its kind of which any copies are now known to exist. In Dr. W. L. Mathieson's recently published book the Awakening of Scotland, p. 124, the statement is made that Paine's Rights of Man was translated into Gaelic and distributed in the North. This statement cannot be verified for the good reason that the book was not pubhshed. If it were translated it is not at all Hkely that a book which caused such commotion in the English-speaking world would have been unknown in the Highlands. Copies of the English edition, how- ever, circulated as far north as Stornoway. But it is interesting to record that on 16th October 1824, Thomas Hardy, formerly Secretary of the London Corresponding Society, wrote to Francis Place, the well-known reformer, as follows : ' At the same time you will receive a copy of the Declarations of Rights of Men and Citizens adopted by the National Convention of France, 23rd June 1793, translated into Gaelic by the Rev. Dr. Shaw, and printed at my expense. Some of the copies have lain by me for many years. It has now become a curiosity.' — (Place's Collection, British Museum; addl. MSS., No. 27816 F. 233. ) This hitherto imknown Gaelic work cannot be found among Place's collection. Yet in view of Hardy's direct and clear statement it is impossible to doubt that the translation was effected, though probably never circulated. The translator, ' Dr.' Shaw, is in aU probability the Rev. William Shaw (1749-1831), the lexicographer and grammarian. But Shaw, though an M.A. of Glasgow and B.D. of Cambridge, is not known to have been a Doctor of Divinity, Medicine, or Law. Shaw, who was ordained at Ardclach in October 1779, demitted his charge in August of the following year and removed to London. There he came in contact with the famous men of letters of the time. Among them was Dr. Samuel Johnson, who bade farewell to Shaw, as the latter was proceeding north to collect for his Dictionary, in this characteristic fashion :
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* Sir, if you give the world a vocabulary of that language, while the Island of Great Britain stands in the Atlantic Ocean your name will be mentioned.' Shaw, influenced by Johnson, renounced Presbyterianism, and entered the Church of England as Rector of Chelvey, Somerset, 1795. He graduated B.D. of Cambridge, 1800. It should be noted that Paine co-operated with Condorcet in drawing up the famous Declaration.
It is in the field of poetry that the Highland literature shows the richest products, of which Highlanders can boast neither vainly nor unjustifiably. Among Gaehc religious poets, Dugald Buchanan (1716-1768) occupies a position of incontestable supremacy. In the lucidity of felicitous style, in the majestic flow of sublime concep- tions, in the vivid realism of personified abstractions, in the impressive grandeur of massive imagery, and in the graphic and dramatic effect of intense fervour, his poems not merely excel the best efforts of the creative power of religious Highland poets, but they can bear comparison with similar classics of other languages. If one reads his Day of Judgment with a painful feeling of harsh and overawing severity, it must not be forgotten that the poet was under the dominion of an overmastering passion for the salvation of men, which he expresses in an effort to produce on the mind a deep impression of the issues of good and ill, and the reality of the judgment of God. He aims at quickening the mental torpor of his countrymen with startling conceptions of the magni- tude, the variety, and infinite shapes and degrees of sin, the efficiency of the Sacrifice of Christ, and the faithful- ness of His free and sovereign grace, borrowing from the Bible and from nature the figures and images necessary to emphasise his central theme — the awful demerit of sin. Demons and unbelievers in hopeless misery are depicted with the clear realism of a visible procession. The doom of the world and the destiny of the race, the being and attributes of God, the atonement of Christ,
THE LITERATURE OF THE SCOTTISH GAEL 63
and the ineffable glory of the Judge moving in stately majesty to the last great assize, the eternal bliss of the blessed, and kindred themes, which hitherto were hidden in the turgid sentences of the various theological schools, are now brought by this poet of faith and genius, in his grand bursts of imagination and feeling, within the circle of the common thoughts of the people, and translated into their language with the first perfect accents of modern Gaelic speech. The kind of criticism that condemns the poet as if he cherished a perverse severity, is an ungenerous appreciation of the closing appeal of his prologue to the Day of Judgment : —
' And bless to every one this song Who will in love its lessons learn,'
and of his tenderness and suppressed emotion as he recoils from entering on the painful duty of describing the state of the lost : —
' We may put down their grievous cry In such harrowing words as these.'
Though at times his imagery may be uncongenial, and even fantastic, no one can read the poems of Buchanan without a feeling of wonder at the sublime proofs of undeniable genius that accumulate with a closer study of the serious vehemence of his deep thoughts on the world that is, and the mysteries of the world unseen.
Dr. James Macgregor (1759-1830), the pioneer-missionary of Nova Scotia, who was also a Perthshire man by birth, ranks perhaps next to Buchanan as the poet of the sublime. The great doctrines of grace formed his themes. In spontaneous heart gushings, overflowing with tender affec- tion for his expatriated countrymen, in vigorous harmonious verse, he succeeds in adapting these great themes of revealed religion to the attractive melodies of the people. The best and most polished of his poems are : On the Transla- tion of the Bible, The Gospel, The Complaint, The Last Judgment, and The Righteousness of Christ. Most of
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his poems were composed, he says himself, ' when travelling the dreary forests of America.' In addition to a collec- tion of hymns, he translated into Gaelic but did not publish the Confession of Faith, more than one hundred of the Psalms of David in metre, and most of the Scottish Paraphrases.
Next in popularity to the poems of Buchanan are those of the Rev. Peter Grant (1783-1867), Baptist minister of Grantown-on-Spey. Though lacking the imaginative power of the Rannoch poet. Grant nevertheless succeeded in a marked degree in clothing the brighter aspects of the evangelical faith in such winsome and felicitous verse as touched the tenderest chords of his countrymen's hearts, and kindled their devotional feeling into a burning flame. Grant showed unmistakable signs of being influenced by Isaac Watts.
The output of Gaelic verse was very considerable and of varying merit. These poets were all didactic, and rhymed utterances were the usual vehicles for ex- hortation and warning. They were a valuable adjunct to the Church. Their themes, which were nearly always borrowed from revelation, were developed with an in- tensity of feeling, severity of tone, penitential sorrow, and self-depreciation, as reflected not merely the sternness of environment, but also the deep religious convictions of the writers. The mystical element in the religion of the Highlanders has not been reflected in their poetry in proportion to its prominence in their mode of thought and severe introspection. This is due undoubtedly to the influence of Buchanan, the founder of modem sacred poetry. His themes were borrowed, and his method was followed by nearly all his successors. The phenomenon of mysticism did not find a place in the practical teaching of that poet. Mackay of Mudale, Matheson of Helmsdale, Mrs. Clark of Badenoch, John Maclean of Caolas and Nova Scotia, and some others show traces of it, but unques- tionably its best exponent was the illiterate weaver and
THE LITERATUEE OF THE SCOTTISH GAEL 65
poet of Petty, Donald MacRae (1756-1837). Amongst the works of God in providence and grace he moves softly and solemnly, delicately tracing as he proceeds the unfold- ing of the Divine purposes, interpreting their meaning, and causing his picture to glow with his own warm and earnest mysticism. As if afraid of the vagaries of the imagination, he proceeds to express his own experience in this striking description and definition : —
' She, flying and soaring Like a bird in the skies, Spurns the restraining Of her fleshly desires.
Eggs for quick hatching In her presence I found ; By an hour of her brooding Her chicks chuckled loud.
Quick hatching, I said. But what gain I thereby. If the least trifling word Sets my passion on fire.
She, flattering and kind. Drags me unwilling aside, And drugs my poor mind With world shadows that glide.'
He was quick in repartee, and his humour and happy disposition always served him to good purpose.
Elegiac verses form a considerable proportion of the large output of the poetry under review. Men and women of piety, who left a deep impression on the age, are idealised in fluent language, subdued by touches of moving pathos, and vague, indefinable sorrow, so characteristic of the intense concentration of the Gaelic bard, continuing entrenched in the seclusion of his own isolated world, quite unaffected by any external developments. Satire was also freely used by those religious poets as a moral corrective. MacLauchlan of Dores (1729-1801) with right- eous anger vigorously lashed the abuse of card-playing,
VOL. VIII. E
66 THE CELTIC EEVIEW
with its baneful associations, and succeeded in largely uprooting the practice. Donald Matheson of Kildonan (1719-1782), whose reproving satires were popularised by their sprightliness and chiming melody, wielded great influence as a purifier of his countrymen's morals. The burning ecclesiastical questions of the period, such as the abuse of patronage, the religious apathy, and the worldli- ness of the ministry, have received the attention of the satirists. Unhappily an element of fierce vindictiveness is painfully evident, but it is wholly confined to the satires which celebrate the conflict between the separatist section of that unlicensed order of pious religious speakers known as the ' men,' and the organised ministry. ^
The religious poetry was to a large extent discursive and argumentative, and many of the poems are theological dissertations, which were intended and fitted to instruct the people in the doctrines of the Reformed faith. For the poets wielded a great influence, and they were useful auxiliaries to the Church in disseminating evangelical doctrines, and in formulating the religious views of the community. At times the poetry rises to a sublime height, and although pieces of adoration and devotion are not too conspicuous, a spirit of deep devoutness moves through the whole. As a part of the literature of the
^ Peter Stuart (1763-1840), catechist in Strathspey, Strathdearn, and Strathnairn, a native of Caithness, thus attacks the ministry in his song ' Oran na Cleir ' ' Biad sud na ciobardan bronach truagh A thog an stiopan as an luath. Air sou biadh is eudach is onoir shaoghalt, GiiMbh craicin chaorach gu mealladh sluaigh. The Rev. John Macdonald, minister of Alvie from 1806 till his death, fulminates against Peter Stuart, whom he describes as Graidhean in a long anonymous poem entitled The Wolf Unmasked, of which the following verse is a mild example : — ' Feumaidh muilt-fheoil as cearcan Bhi gle phailt air a bhord an ; Feumaidh bior a bhi lainih ribh 'S toil le Graidhean feol rosda ; Feumaidh buideal le siucar, Air son fliuchadh an scornan Measg a chuideachd is fiughail Mar am burn bhi 'ga dhortadh.'
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times, it is the most valuable and interesting, not only as proving the genius of the bards, but as reflecting phases of religious thought which, with the changing times, have fallen into abeyance.
It was during this period that secular poetry reached the zenith of its imaginative brilliance and the nadir of pernicious suggestiveness. The poets reflect the spirit of their age, and the dark stains on the beauty of their wonderful creations may only be the reflection of the con- ventions of their time. WiUiam Ross, who was restive under the moral restraint of the ' Pauline Creed,' was a precentor in the parish church of Gairloch, an officer whose moral character should defy the finger of scorn. Yet the minister of religion here condoned the moral delinquencies of the local laird, the sire of a numerous progeny (not all born of wedlock), in the local presbytery, on the ground that the delinquent had presented a ' mort- cloth ' to the parish. Members of that same reverend court had on another occasion their gravity disturbed much more than their moral sense by the rehearsal of an obscene song by WiUiam Mackenzie, the cripple Catechist of Gairloch, who appeared before them in his own behalf. Alexander Macdonald, who could apparently with equal facility, and with as little remorse, forsake his wife as his creed, poured out his wild and coarse effusions in the ears of a people whose spiritual guide dared to publish a pamphlet on adding to the strength of Britain by fornication. While acknowledging that the ethical code, by which high and low regulated their lives, had not yet attained to that lofty standard by which indecency in speech is condemned as a breach of high moral principles, an indiscriminate lauda- tion of all the poets of this period would be a distinct disservice to the literature of the country. Without minimising their rude defects while treating of human nature, it could not be forgotten that they could control the baser passions of their own, and its great resources served them nobly in translating nature and life into those
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glowing and fascinating literary achievements that have won for them a fame that will die only with their race. In forming a true estimate of this poetry, without having regard to the unimpeachable or impeachable morals, or other extraneous merits or demerits, of the authors, the task must be undertaken with sympathetic interest and an intelligent knowledge of the music and meaning of words which form the external expression of the poets' intuition, rapture, and swift vision. Any effort at classi- fying those poets under the categories of Jacobite, Amorous, Bacchanalian, Ethical, etc., is more pedantic than precise, and ignores the patent fact that all poets were the exponents of the race spirit that incarnated in the family tie which stifled all political expansion, opposed alien ideas, and invincibly resisted foreign rule. They were amorous, like most people, by an instinct, which is not confined to them alone. They were Bacchanalian by reason of an inherited trait of character by no means accurately described as sordid. The poets, in fact, embodied the genius of a nation which they expressed with such intensity, passion, and force, in those wonderful images of their creative power as truly claims for this period the name of the golden age of Gaelic poetry. This lyric poetry is more accurately designated under the heads of descriptive and interpre- tative. It was in the power of vivid description that the poets rose to the full measure of their stature. Foremost among the secular descriptive poets is Alexander Mac- Donald (aVca 1700 — ?). With a nature composed of the dual elements of ferocity and tenderness, his poems show equally striking contrasts. Sugar Brook is the anti- thesis of the Birlinn of Clan Ranald, and the Elegy to the Dove is an arresting contrast to the Song to the Clans. The Birlinn is generally acknowledged to be the masterpiece in Gaelic poetry. The description is truly wonderful. The fierce conflict of the elements seemed to appeal to his turbulent spirit ; while the ' lusty and sinewy, stout and stalwart callants,' who strain their
THE LITERATURE OF THE SCOTTISH GAEL 69
' knotty muscles ' in a defiant venture with the challeng- ing tempest, could never have been drawn by a physical derelict. The creaking of thafts, the cracking of spars and pins, the snapping of cordage, the boiling rage of baffled waves, and the deep yawning sea troughs, are perhaps the counterpart of a violent mental agitation, and an inward alertness and rapidity of motion and action. The scene has a distinctness and realism that is ever faithful to the reality of the borrowed images. The poet projects his own personality into his work through the medium of a vigorous imagination so . successfully, that his thrilling achievement has a vitality and naturalness that secure it a permanence independent of its merit as a skilful adapting of musical and picturesque phraseology.
But none of the bards has so effectively woven the elements of pathos into their versification as John Roy Stuart of Strathspey (eighteenth century). Nor is he excelled as an interpreter of the feelings of pain, resent- ment and remorse. The gloom of the caves and fast- nesses of his native land is transmuted to a mournful dirge piquant with sorrow. Baffled and battered, he, true to the Celtic character, resigns to destiny, and translates the depressed mood of the pensive soul of defeated Jacobitism into angry growls of no hope.
Keenly sensitive to the feelings that nature can inspire, Duncan Ban Macintyre (1724-1812), that unsophisticated child of nature, caresses the Ben with all the affection of real filial attachment. He smooths her wrinkles and decks her with resplendent glory. Never did a bride go forth to meet the bridegroom bejewelled and spangled as she. Coire Cheathaich and Ben Dorain reflect idealism as weU as that close affinity between man and nature which characterised the youth of the Celtic people. Nature's mystic voice vibrates on sympathetic chords, and the dulcet notes, in perfect harmony of sounds, are lilting to the outer world on waves of choice words without a jarring note. Not less successful is he in his description
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of woman. Woman had slowly come to her own under the external influence of civil and religious laws. Impelled by the Celtic spirit that ever seeks after the ideal, the poet pursues the eternal illusion, beyond his reach and grasp but not beyond his thought. The ideal woman — ^Mari bhan Og, for example — is drawn with great delicacy and intimacy, and with a wealth of detail, fittingly arranged, with the aid of apposite similes from nature, into a perfect image intermediate between man and the supernatural world. Not only in her external aspect is she depicted, but also in her inward life of emotions and feelings, and always flawless. When the bard's spirit had been liberated from its confinement within the circle of the family of the chieftains, it spread abroad and idealised heroes of the common stock with equal vigour and effect. The elegiac poetry is full of this.
William Ross (1762-1790) is unrivalled as an inter- preter of the emotion of love in its ecstasy and depression. Though less original ^ in his descriptions than many poets
^ William Ross was apparently a copyist of William Mackenzie, the Lochcarron poet, who preceded him by at least a generation, as can be seen from the following comparison : —
(a) ' Gur bachlach, dualach, casbhuidh, cuachach
T-alt mun cuairt an ordugh ; 'San tha gach ciabh mar fhainn air sniamh 'S gach aon air fiamh an oir dhiubh.'
(Mackenzie, Nighean Fhir na Comraich.)
* 'S bachlach, dualach, casbhuidh, cuachach, Caradh suaineas gruaig do chinn,
Gu h-aluinn, boidheach, faineach, or bhuidh An curaibh seoghin san ordugh grinn.'
(Ross, Feasgair Luain.) (6) ' Do sheang shlios fallainn mar an eala
No mar channach sleibhe.' (Mackenzie.)
' Sheang shlios falhiin air bhla cannaich, No mar an eal' air a chuan.' (Ross.)
(c) ' Siunnailt t-eugais 's tearc ri fhaotainn
Gur tu reul nan oighean.' (Mackenzie.)
* 'S tearc an sgeula siunnailt t-eugaisg
Bhi ri fhaotainn 'san Roinn Eorp.' (Ross.)
Besides these, there is a whole verse borrowed by Ross in his ' Praise of the High- land Maid ' from Mackenzie.
THE LITERATURE OF THE SCOTTISH GAEL 71
of less repute, in accurate analysis of the tender passion, as well as in elegance, fluency, grace of diction, and pene- trative notes that go to the very heart, he occupies a place all his own. Behind his rapturous ecstasy ' a tear is not slow to glisten.' In Feasgair Luain the one follows the other in quick succession. The buoyant hope and gleaming eye give place to pining love and leaden-eyed despair. In all his love-songs he is always at his best as an interpreter.
Ewen MacLachlan (1775-1822) described and inter- preted the seasons. Though his classic lore occasionally stiffens verses otherwise flexible and smooth, his poems deserve the high place they have held among his country- men. His adaptation of the melody of the Swan on the Lake to a theme different from that to which the music was first set, shows a susceptibility to, and a fine appreciation of, the beautiful in nature characteristic of the true poet.
In the poetry of this period, the strictly pastoral falls short, both in point of quality and quantity, of what might be expected of poets with a quick eye to catch the simple scenes and events in pastoral life and nature. Still the life in the sheiling, the milkmaid, and the reapers, have been represented with the vividness and simplicity of real idyUic charm.
The bottle, the bowl, and the cup have been decreed worthy of the praises of those that invoked the muses. The so-called BacchanaHan poems are numerous, and as literary productions merit high praise. Wild carousals and noisy scenes round the drinking-table are features of the social life of the eighteenth century of such common occurrence that the poets, as faithful chroniclers of all phases of life, are valuable moral statisticians. Is there anything in the character of the Celt that fairly explains this ? Has his environment anything to do with it ? Have we here a craving for that form of gaiety which produces a forgetfulness of hard conditions and sad destinies?
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If it be true, as Renan alleges, that ' the essential element in the Celt's poetic life is the adventure — that is to say, the pursuit of the unknown ; an endless quest after an object ever flying from desire,' then the marked tendency to quaff the cup can be partially at least accounted for by ' an invincible need of illusion innate ' in the race. One poet, so far removed in religious thought from Renan as Dugald Buchanan, gives a definition of the drunkard's heaven in striking accord with that of the Breton critic, when he declares that it consists in the joy of
* The dizziness of drink in the brain.'
It is not the sordid appetites, or gross sensuality, that are being satisfied, but the cravings for the illusion of an unreal world.
At a time when every clachan had its poet, and every poet was a reflector of the hard conditions of his age, it is not surprising that a sad solemnity should pervade the mass of poetry under review. Yet there are bursts of brilliant raillery to be met with here and there. Life and manners are seldom attacked in the unkind spirit of cold cynicism, though frequently with irony and sarcasm.^ Vice, foUy, and hypocrisy met with trenchant and railing exposure. The harshness of even the vindictive pieces is smoothed by a mocking use of wit and humour. John Mac Codrum (1710-1796) holds a high place as a humorous satirist. His song on the Widows and on Donald Ban's Bagpipes, are perhaps the best of their class. But the greatest of the satirists is undoubtedly Rob Donn (1714-1778). Though not lacking in the power of clear and accurate description of nature and human life, he showed the best aptitude in searching analysis of character
^ This is how the famous Rev. Lachlan Mackenzie, minister of Lochcarron from 1781-1819, humorously bids farewell to bad lodgings : — * Tha tinn fo'm, fo'm, fo'm, Tha tinn fo'm eirigh 'S fagam lite thana phlucanach, Bhios aca 'n tigh na h-eigin.'
THE LITERATURE OF THE SCOTTISH GAEL 73
and motives. Faults, defects, and even physical infirmities, are lashed by him with a severity, and even irreverence, that appear at times to be unnecessarily cruel, and in language that occasionally savours of vulgarity and even borders on blasphemy. Reid, the bibliographer, manifestly ignoring Dr. Mackintosh Mackay's magnificent tribute to Rob Donn's character and worth, fastens the stigma of unpopularity and immorality on the poet — a stigma that is both unjust to the poems, and to the devout and pure- minded scholar who edited them. As writers since Reid's day, following the unhappy lead, have been inclin- ing to an estimate of the poet's character by no means flattering, it may not be out of place to record this hitherto unpublished narrative. ' The late Dr. Gustavus Aird of Creich took great pleasure in relating the following fact, to which he attached much importance, as showing how Rob Donn was regarded by some of the outstanding Christians of his day in the Reay country. Dr. Aird's father, when a young lad, was in the habit of spending some time with his maternal uncle, the Rev. George Munro, the saintly minister of Farr. When Rob had occasion to be in the parish, as was often the case, he seldom or never passed without calling at the manse, where he was always pressed to stay for the night or longer. At family worship he was invariably asked to take part, and he and his host alternately engaged in prayer. This information Dr. Aird got from the lips of his father, who had frequent opportunities of meeting the famous bard. The inference is plain. Rob must not only have con- ducted himself with propriety, but was also looked upon as a pious man, at any rate in his latter days, otherwise the godly Mr. Munro would never have asked him to lead the devotions at the family altar.' ^ Rob Donn's satire on the two miserly brothers, who lived together, died together, and were buried together, would by itself
^ I am indebted to the Rev. Donald Munro, Free Church minister, Ferintosh, for this interesting narrative.
74 THE CELTIC EEVIEW
immortalise his name. For where in any language is the span of worthless human lives so contemptuously and efiFectively compressed as in this neatly drawn cipher ? —
' At least, as far as others knew,
They never went the pace, But neither did they anything
That folk would reckon grace ; Begotten, born and bred, they grew
Together side by side, A stretch of time passed over them.
And in the end they died.'
FULACHT NA MORRIGNA Professor Mackinnon
[This very interesting piece of lore is found on folio 106 of MS. v., one of the oldest in the Scottish Collection. The text is fairly clear, only a letter or two being illegible. The subject-matter is little known. Fulacht is in the glossaries usually rendered ' cook- ing,' * cooking-hearth,' but in several passages, as also in some cases here, the word must import the ' gear ' or * apparatus ' for cooking. A short paragraph with similar heading but different text is found in the Yellow Book of Lecan, p. 419a. There are also a few sentences on the same subject in the British Museum MS., Egerton, 1782. The indeoin, or * anvil ' of the Dagda, is described in MS. H. 3.18., p. 433 (Trinity College, Dufclin), and this text is printed with comment in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. xviii. Part ii. p. 213.
Our text is more detailed and, if one can say so, more historical, than any of those mentioned. The diction is in some cases obscure to me, and the translation of several words is in consequence uncertain. The Morrigan, I need hardly say, is the wife of the Dagda, the famous king of the Tuatha De Danann,—D. M^K.]
Fulacht na Morrigna, and so .i. crand a roth 7 crand a mol edtir teine 7 uisci 7 iarand a corp 7 da nai rethlen as an moil sin. Foluath athlam ic impo h-e. Tricha bir dobid ass 7 tricha drol 7 tricha fertas. Seol foai 7 fo h-ingnadh a cruth re luth a drol 7 a retlen. Fnlucht na Morrigna do
FULACHT NA MORRIGNA 75
gres. . . ger ur goband do. Indeoin an Dagdai (MS. da gai) dogres. Grinde mac luchair do [rinde ?] .i. tri noai (m-bera] 7 tri noai tuill indtib. Aoen bir ro fuilnged re fuin 7 focer Eochaig Ollathar de. Aen sgiath ro cuired ar luth e 7 aen fer ro h-inledh. Bir Deichen, imorro, o Goibnend fouair Deichen an bir sin ; an glinn Treichen fouair Deichen an bir sin. Ar seilb loga, imorro, rotaisged in bir sin attireib Nuagatt. Aen fer deg, imorro, do clanduib Eithlend ised ronidh an fulacht sin .i. Lugaid, Aengus anbroga, Cermat, Midir, Mac Sgail, Cu, Cian, Cethen, Uar, luchraidh, lucharua. Re hnd Eremoin, imorro, ix.nur do clanduib Miled donid an fulachta .i. Lubair, Tubar, Tenfa, Confa, Caither, Enna mor, Enna becc, Gola mend, Cesron. Re lind Ugaini viii.ur fo tualaing bir D(eichen) doimcoimet .i. Aidid, Lugaid, Crom, Arc, lUann, tri meic Glais a glind in Sgail. 7 re lind Eachach F(eidlig ?) fo tualaing b(ir) D(eichen) d(o) c(oimet) .i. Eogan, Eochaidh, Cobtach, Lugaid, Fiacha, Merorand, Daire. Cuiger laech 7 aen ben re lind Conchubuir donid an fulachta .i. Naisi, Cethernd, Conchubar, Cuculaind, Mesdega, Felim nocrothach. Ceth- rur isin Fein oca innill .i. Find feisin, Oissin, Diarmait, Cailte. X. slesa 7 x. faebuir ar in m-bir sin o aimsir Logach CO h-aimsir Eathach F(eidlig ?). O aimsir Eathach co Concubar 8 slesa 7 8 faebuir fair. 6 slesa 7 6 faebair fair iarsin co Find. 4 rinda 7 4 faebuir oc Find fair. Finit.
* The Fulacht of the great Queen here. Its wheel was of wood ; and of wood its shaft (axle ?) between fire and water ; its frame was of iron. Twice nine pulleys (?) were in that shaft. Smoothly and swiftly it revolved. Thirty spits projected from it, thirty hooks, and thirty spindles. It had a sail, and wonderful it looked when its hooks and pulleys were in motion. The Fulacht of the great Queen had always a fresh ... of a smith. The anvil of the Dagda thus : Grinde son of Luchar (made it). Thrice nine spits it had, and thrice nine holes in them. One spit it carried when roasting, and E. O. perished by it. One wing set it in motion, and one man put it in gear. As to the spit of
76 THE CELTIC REVIEW
Deichen now, D. had that spit from Goibniu, and it was in the glen of Treichiu that D, found it. The spit was, more- over, lodged, because of its value, in the lands of Nuadu. Now there were eleven men of the race of Eithliu who did that cooking(?), viz., L., Angus of the (fairy) mansion, C, M., Mac S., C, C, C, U., L, and I. In the time of Heremon, nine men of the Milesians did the work, — L., T., T., C, C, big E., little E., G. the stutterer, and C. During the time of U. eight men had the charge of tending the spit of D., A., L., C, A., L, and the three sons of Glas from the glen of S. In the time of E. F. seven men looked after D.'s spit, — E., E., C, L., F., M., and D. Five heroes and one lady performed the work in C.'s time, — N., C, C, C., M., and Felim the ever-blooming. Four of the Fiana attended to it, — F. himself, O., D., and C. That spit had ten sides (faces ?) and ten edges (angles ?) from the time of L. to the time of E. F. ; eight faces and eight angles from the time of E. to that of C. Thereafter, until Find's day, it had six faces and six angles. Find had four points (faces ?) and four angles upon it. It ends.'
BOOK REVIEWS
An Etymological Dictionary of the ExigUsh Language. By Alexander MacBain, LL.D. Stirling: ^neas Mackay, 1911. IO5. 6rf.
The new edition of Dr. MacBain's great work, we are informed in an editorial note, consists of the text of the original edition with interposed additions, amendments, and corrections drawn from the author's 'Further Gaelic Words and Etymologies,' extending to about twenty pages, printed in the Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, from the three pages or so of Addenda et Corrigenda at the end of the first edition, and from written jottings on interleaved copies of these books. The Rev. Dr. George Henderson, Lecturer in Celtic Languages and Literature in the University of Glasgow, it is further said, found it necessary to abandon his intention of seeing the Gaelic Etymological Dictionary through the press, after reaching the sixteenth page of the ' Outlines.' No one having been found to fill Dr. Henderson's place, the editing has been left in the hands of Mr. Malcolm Macfarlane, who was associated with Dr. Henderson to begin with to relieve him of the clerical drudgery. In format the work has been
BOOK REVIEWS 77
well designed, copying, and if anything improving, upon the excellent model of the first edition. The care that was bestowed upon the designing of the work has been relaxed in the execution of the design, and easily avoidable blemishes have been allowed to appear in the letterpress. On the first sixteen pages of the * Outlines ' prefixed to the Dictionary there is a series of twenty-five references to a 'Supplement to the Outlines' that was in course of preparation by Dr. Henderson, but the Supplement is wanting. The Supplement has been completed so far as those references go, and has even been printed. It extends to less than three pages, with a note of Corrigenda at the back, and it might very well have been included. Otherwise the first sixteen pages ought to have been reprinted without the references. Letters have been allowed to drop out of Middle Irish in the table of Abbreviations, from kridion in the third, and from ballons in the eleventh lines from the foot of p. xxxiii, from ceaba, p. 75, and from dijudicare and separate in the last line of p. 311. In the pagination the numbers 48, 165, 215, 224, 344, 358, 376, have each lost one, two, or three figures, and 167 appears in place of 176. In more than a dozen instances between diobair and dithreabh an i belonging to a different fount has been used, and in the less than a line and a half devoted to b6c a q turned upside down has been used five times, and once also under the following word in place of a h.
The whole of the matter that has been dealt wdth in the preparation of this edition was contained in an interleaved copy of the former edition of the Dictionary plus an interleaved copy of 'Further Gaelic Words and Etymologies,' and was therefore, in a way, within easily manageable compass and by no means formidable in amount. The work of editing the matter contained within those limits, however, if done in a competent manner, would be of a very exacting kind. Besides the usual correction of the press it would consist, of course, in the main of the insertion into their proper places of the additions and the corrections, and the omission or indication of matter that was cancelled or superseded by the corrections. It would be highly desirable also that etymologies and corrections ad- vanced or accepted elsewhere by MacBain of words coming within the scope of the Dictionary should be gleaned from the publications in which they appear, and should be given the place to which they are entitled in this edition. Forming part also of the editorial work to be done, and calling for some remark here, are the decipherment of the autograph jottings and the correction of any misprints or errors discoverable in the original texts.
It may be said at once that great care appears to have been bestowed upon the Gaelic text, and most of the former misprints have been corrected. Several, however, of the old errors have been reproduced and others have been added. Feobhas, notwithstanding that feobharan had to be inter- posed, is still misplaced, as is also now this additional word, after fe6cullan, and 6ran comes two places before its alphabetical order. Creatrach, a
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THE CELTIC REVIEW
spelling perpetuated from Lhuyd, should be creathrach, as Lhuyd's reference to criathrach, a wilderness, shows. The word is to be com- pared with crathrach, a plashy bog (Shaw), crathrach, a boggy place or marsh (Armstrong, etc.), and is properly creathrach, a dialectic pronunciation of creathrach or criathrach, a clayey place, from ere, clay. Smiodan ought to be, or at all events is better known as, smiodam, and sgairm under sgairneach should be sgairn. New misprints are brcac under bricein, iubrach under iubhar, sibhleadh under f^ile, kilt, and sioblach under siobail for breac, iubhrach, eibhleadh and siobladh re- spectively. The accent mark has been omitted from bi, high, cre6nadh and ne6nagan, and has been placed on sgionabhagan in opposition in the last three cases to the correct forms in 'Further Words.' In the case of te, tea, insipid, etc., the second form ought to be te^, or perhaps better still tekth. These errors are not more in number than might escape the most vigilant editing in a book of such dimensions. Less care is evinced in the English letterpress. Post instead of port under ceannard easily escapes notice, but joke for an English cognate of cuing, a yoke, might have been expected to arrest the attention of any editor, and to suggest the obvious correction yoke, while the Eng. skinn under boicionn, a goat skin, is fitted to suggest that its reproduction arises not from carelessness but from fear of the unknown. New misprints in this department are more numerous : show for shows, fourteen lines from the foot of p. xiv, Heuce for Hence under bdsdan, creeking for creaking under brag, crum for crumb under broineag, pitch for pith under cloidhean, appearace for appearance under fiamh, for in place of from under fore, villian under garlach, burdoch for burdock under seircean, whild under sith (fairy), Mac-allan under Allan, Holden repeatedly (p. 2, etc.) for Holder, Leiden (p. 42) for Liden, 1134 for 134 under astar, and such omissions as ' Lat.' from 'Lh's Lat. Celt.' under bealaidh, and 'of ' after ' form ' under man. The correction required in ' cugar, mab or wild cat,' presumably is not ' mad ' for ' mab,' but ' male of ' for ' mab or,' though the term is also applied to the domestic tom-cat.
In other languages, of which some thirty, not counting dialects, are laid under contribution, new mistakes are committed and the correction of old mistakes has been pretermitted. In Irish words the accent is omitted from miinigh under b^inidh, ag dr^im under dreimire, and f hele under f^ile, while M. Ir. m^in under mein, and seomuirlin under seamarlan have the grave accent in place of the acute, and luighean and luitheach both under lugh, a joint, should be luighedn and liiitheach. Under ealach, alchningi repeats a mis- print of alchuingi. The Irish buafanan under buadhghallan and cd,bhluighe under cabhladh and the Norse fyrir under stamhnaich and Ragnhildr under Raonaild, for example, show new misprints and such old misprints as those of Manx pleaysc under plaosg, Welsh blwydh under bliadhna, neidr under buadhghallan, ymenydd under eanchainn, las under fallus, ffrewyll under sroghall, Breton gelaouen under geal, a leech, Old French croupion under gurpan, Norse Hrorekr under Ruairidh are repeated, as is
BOOK EEVIEWS 79
also ' key ' in place of * lock ' as the rendering of the Welsh word under cl6, a nail. To these add debntus for debitus under dii, proehendo for praehendo under eidheann, h^-res for heres under g^bhadh, sternno for sternuo under srann, <^vAAa for <^vA.Xov under bail, /SpeXu} for jSpexin under braon, Kopv^a for Kopv^a under carrasan, aXo<f>vppLoaL for oAo^vpo/tai under leanabh, and the word that appears as Sapelp under dearna and as Sapup under dorn and is given as Sdpelp in Stokes's Urk. Spr., p. 148, not to mention the many in which Greek accents and aspirates are wrong or misplaced or wanting. At the end of ^iridh, agio should be agia both times. Under alp, imper is a mistake for some form of Sc. imp, a graft ; ymp, Middle English impen, to graft. Ir. J. under amhas should be Ir. J. vii. Under aoibh the comma after pleasant should be deleted. We have Wh. St. (Whitley Stokes) under bail- ceach in place of Ch. SI. (Church Slavonic), Gl. for Cf. under b^th, fen for f em. under beam, *f ulgeo under boillsg where root of f ulgeo is meant, Persson for Pedersen presumably under cadal, Ger. omitted before rotz under carrasan, *grsiko- for qrsiko- under curcais, dvei-penge for dvei-penqe under deug, erroneous asterisks before domail under domhail and rapay^rf under dragh, an accent mark on *vedes-men- under feum notwithstanding the Corrigenda of the first edition, and the circumflex wanting from vodilo- under fuidheall, ad-com-bangim and bang under theagamh for ad-com-bongim and bong, queries in place of compares under ubhal, etc. Even in the quotations from the Gaelic authorities mistakes and oversights remain uncorrected. For example, Armstrong and not Shaw is the authority for biolar, dainty, spruce, and though Armstrong, as is said, does not have sgiot, scatter, he has sgiut, a Perthshire form of the same word. MacAlpine may imply that faire means hole in Islay, but what he says is that it means a link, or land sometimes covered by the sea in Bute Is., and though he writes modhar, as he writes mod, moine, mor, etc., he pronounces m6dhar and quotes 'An gleann m6dhar nan sruthan lubach,' *in the still vale of the meandering streamlets,' and so affords no support to the deriva- tion from modh, which would make mddhar to have for its primary mean- ing mannerly and to be therefore very inapplicable to a glen. The word whose meaning MacAlpine gives as an * enchantment to make one's friends prosper' is not seamh, as affirmed under that word, but seamh with a short vowel.
What has been said points to the conclusion that the editor has not gone outside of the boards of the interleaved copies of the books dealt with, and such knowledge as he possesses of Gaelic and of English in order to secure correctness, but more remains to be said to the same effect. A derivation of bearach, dog-fish, quoted from Meyer, is reproduced from ' Further Words ' but with the omission in the Dictionary of the name of Meyer. There are similar omissions for no apparent reason in other instances, but in this instance the dropping out of some letters at the place in the off-prints of 'Further Words' presents a plausible reason for the omission ; but if that be the reason, the very simple and obvious expedient
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of consulting the easily accessible Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness would have met the difficulty. There are other instances that are involved in no uncertainty of the neglect of the simplest and easiest expedients and they are connected with the reading of Dr. MacBain's handwriting. Over the leaf from bearach, it may be remarked in passing, we come upon beisear, plate-rack on dresser. This Gaelic word was given orally to Dr. MacBain as beiseal. It is written beiseil by Armstrong under shelf in his English-Gaelic part. Two supplementary lists of words, one from the Sutherland dialect per Kev. Adam Gunn, and one from the Perthshire dialect per the present writer, are given at pp. 391 and 392 of this edition. In those two pages are more misprints and errors than we can even point out, not to say correct, here. Some of the number may have existed in MacBain's autograph lists, others are without any doubt misreadings of the manuscript by the editor. In either case, the editor could easily in this instance verify or correct the lists or his own reading of them. Take for example 'draichd, stallion (Arms.), drudge,' in the second list. How could the same word have two such unlike meanings ? Why not turn up Armstrong and discover that what MacBain had written was not * stallion ' but ' slattern ' ^ But the originals of those lists were printed elsewhere, the one in the Celtic Monthly and the other in the Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, and if those publications were not in the editor's possession they could easily be consulted in Glasgow. By neglecting that easy expedient, the editor has simply dotted those two pages with errors that shake the confidence of his readers in the accuracy of his reading of his copy. The errors cannot be accounted for by unwillingness to alter the copy. The opposite of such unwillingness has been evinced, as we shall see, under ' tubaist.'
If we inquire how the interposition of the additions, amendments and corrections has been accomplished, we find matter misplaced, matter that ought to have been included omitted, and matter that has been cancelled still retained. The additions under gaorr ought to have been placed before and not after 'Hence gaorran . . . glutton.' On sithionn, venison, * Further Words ' says, ' Add M. Ir. sideng, deer ' ; and this has been done in such a way as to make it appear that all the other Irish forms cited have the same meaning as sideng, instead of the same as sithionn. ' Cf . Ir. buann^cht, soldiers [sic] billeting from a tenant (Joyce) ' has been placed under buannachd instead of under fbuanna, and an entry scali from the Book of Deer relating to sgalan, hut, has been placed under sgalain, scales. The addi- tion, ' Arran G. tiompaiste, Ir. tubaiste ' to tubaist, evinces other editorial defects than the inattention and incomprehension so often in evidence. In 'Further Words' the entry reads, 'Ir. tubaiste, Aran tiompaiste,' mean- ing as plainly as could be that the latter word is from the dialect of the Irish Aran Island of which so much has been written ; but the editor, transposing and altering the entry arbitrarily, has substituted the Scottish Arran Island. Of the retention of cancelled matter there are two
BOOK REVIEWS 81
had instances on a single page. Under taom, the rendering *let go,' given of the root sem in the first edition, is reproduced despite the fact that the further etymology now advanced gives the root a different meaning and despite the additional fact that the rendering, naturally, does not appear in * Further Words.' Under tanaiste for ' root at [go Skr. at^ also at-s-men, of ^m, time, q.v. (Strachan)],' ' Further Words ' substitutes * root at of ath-ie ' ; but the matter within the square brackets, rendered irrelevant by the changed view of the root and omitted in ' Further Words,' is all excepting the first word reproduced in this edition, there being somehow a failure to perceive that with the meaning *go' all that relates to that meaning is cancelled.
More serious every way as well as more numerous are the omissions of matter that ought to have been included. The omission of the note, * Stokes suggests from kurvo — allied to Lat. curvus ; but this would give corbhan,' on corran, sickle, in 'Further Words' is scarcely warranted, all things con- sidered, by the rejection of the proposed derivation. In contrast with the reproduction we have noticed of cancelled matter under tanaiste is the omission of '*veikO'S; Ger. Weihe, kite, 0. H. G. wiho', root veiy hunt,' following O. Ir. fiach under fitheach, raven, where the superseded analysis might have been retained if only to explain the concluding sentence, ' It is still distantly allied to Ger. Weihe.' Under mein, meinn, disposition, the first edition with its, ' A root Tneiuj mind, mean, appears to exist in Eng. mean, Ger. meinen ' is followed and the definite assertion in ' Eng. rnean, Ger. meinen (Stokes) ' of ' Further Words ' of a connection between the Gaelic and the English and German words has been wholly missed. Under murrach, able, in '[Ir.] murtha, successful [(O'B.) murthadh, much wealth (O'R.); cf. mur] the words within the square brackets have all been omitted. Upon oil, vexa- tion, offence, ' Further Words ' has, ' Ir. is oth liom^ I regret ; really oth before prep, pronouns with le : oth a short form of uath ' but not one word of this appears in the new edition. In fitting into the article on Kennedy at p. 402 the corrections and additions from 'Further Words,' the last sentence of the original edition has been dropped, with the result that the words within the square brackets are wanting from this sentence and * G.' appears in place of *Ir.' — '[The Highland Kennedys are] also called [in G. M'Uaraig or] M'Ualraig from Walrick Kennedy (16th century), who first settled in Lochaber : Walrick may be Ir. Ualgharg [proud — fierce],' etc. ' Amarlaich, blustering (M'A.)' of the first edition was corrected 'Amarlaid, blustering female ; not amarlaich ' in ' Further Words ' ; in the new edition the erroneous entry is retained and the correction follows as an independent entry. The reference under bainidh, madness, to ba is rendered meaningless by the new derivation from Lat. mania. In the sentence under draoi 'Thurneysen analyses the word as [dru-vid-, roots] dru, high, strong [and vid'] (see truaill [and fios]),' the words within square brackets ought to have been re- tained, while ' also ' in the sentence that follows should have been omitted. The new matter ' 0. Ir. trebus, breeches, L. Lat. tubrucus (Isidore), tribuces VOL. VIII. F
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(Du Cange), *' thigh breeches " (D'Arbois) ' under triubhas makes nonsense of the derivation from So. trews reproduced from the first edition.
When words dealt with in the Dictionary, either in the text or in the
* Addenda et Corrigenda ' at the end, were reconsidered in * Further Gaelic Words and Etymologies,' only so much of the entry in the former as was needful for identification was in certain cases repeated in the latter. In a new edition it is obviously the full statement that a careful editor would reproduce. Here we have too many instances of the contrary. Under aoine, fast, for example, following ' Further Words,' ' I ' before ' hunger ' and
* Lat. penuria ' after it, have been omitted. Under ars, arsa, quoth, where we should read, ' the root ver verdh [speak, seen in Gr. ipeo), speak], Eng. [rhetoric] word,' the words within the square brackets are wanting. Under balla, 'Latterly from Lat. vallum' have not been reproduced, nor under barpa, ' where the Gadelic love of c above p again appears ' in reference to An Carbh, the Lewis form of Am Parph (better Am Parbh), the Gaelic of Cape Wrath, nor under 6ran 'Stokes compares W. afar, mourning.' One or two minor omissions are ' from reir ' after O. Ir. areir under raoir, ' dog- wasp 'after connspeach under speach and 'Northern G.' before M'Bheathaig under MacBeth. Piocach a saith, etc., also is followed here by '(Wh.)': only in place of the '(Arg., M'A.) cf. Eng. pike.' of 'Further Words.' The largest single omission has not yet been noticed, and relates to ceannard, commander, chief, explained in the first edition by comparison with Irish ceannard, arrogant, commanding; 'high headed/ from ceann and d,rd. The ' Corrigenda et Addenda ' have ' ceannard : Manx kiannoort. The Manx and Sc. are discussed by Khys (Manx Pray., ^, 94). His ceannabhard is unknown to the present writer ; but his derivation of it from Eng. ward could be supported from M'Vurich's bdrd, garrison, if we were sure it was not M'V.'s classic style, for the word is good Irish'; but not a word of this has been reproduced, while the incorrect Manx kinnoort of ' Further Words ' has been repeated. The form ceannabhard, or rather, ceannabhart, is common for ceannard in the island of Jura, and no doubt further afield.
Several of the words on which the author's latest views are not incor- porated were thought by him to be possibly of Pictish origin, and are perhaps of special interest on that account, and may, with some others, be more fully noticed.
Abhag, terrier, Ir. abach, is taken as before from abh, bark of dog, an onomato-poetic word, but with the addition ' Cf . E, Ir. abacc, dwarf ; W. afanc' MacBain does not translate the Welsh word, and one recalls the lively soliloquy in Borrow's Wild Wales as to whether the word properly means crocodile or beaver. ' 0 who can doubt,' thought I, ' that the word was originally intended for something monstrous and horrible "? Is there not something horrible in the look and sound of the word afanc, something connected with the opening and shutting of immense jaws, and the swallow- ing of writhing preyT Khys in his Hibbert Lectures on Celtic Heathen- dom writes the Welsh word as avanc and defines it as ' the name by which
BOOK REVIEWS 83
certain water inhabitants of a mythic nature went in Welsh, such as the amnc of the lake killed by Peredur, and that other dragged out of the Conwy by Hu the Mighty and his two oxen,* and adds in reference to the oldest known version of the latter story that * in some respects the avanc in it behaved like a Scotch kelpie.' Henry gives the Breton avank, at all events, the meaning of beaver, and connecting it with the Irish abac, derives it from the same root as Breton aven, Gaelic abhainn, river.
The various forms of the word bealaidh, broom, in the Celtic speeches are perplexing. In the article on the word in this edition there are two errors in addition to one noticed above. The old French balain is given twice and the dot over the y of Lhuyd's Irish beallyi, owing doubtless to its being badly rendered in the former edition, is now made a distinct accent mark. MacBain says it is possible that bealaidh is borrowed from the Pictish, and adds, * The word does not appear in the Irish Dictionaries, save in Lh.'s Lat. Celt, part, which perhaps proves nothing.' The word appears in O'Neill Lane's English-Irish Dictionary, published in 1904, as beallghaoi, along with two other terms for broom, the three being grouped together also by Lhuyd. By beallyi with a dot over the y Lhuyd means beallaoi, a form that represents apparently an unusual pronunciation, and that, wherever found, is therefore presumably genuine. The pronunciation varies, however, in Scottish Gaelic in different districts, mealaidh, mealaich, bealach, bealthaidh, and bealthach being all met with. In Shaw's Dictionary 'beali' and *a mheali ' are both given in the Gaelic-English and the English-Gaelic parts. Mac Alpine says under bealaidh, ' See Mealaich ; bad mealaich, a tuft of broom,' from which he would appear to think mealaich the more correct form. Mealaich may be simply mealaidh, a form met with in Skye, with the sound of slender ch given, as so often happens in the West, to final slender dh. An m in place of a 6 is found in other instances, as binid and minid, rennet, and may well be due to the article in the case of a noun of the masculine gender, as am bealaidh, the broom. The word occurs as a feminine, however, in East Perthshire, as bealaidh Fhrangach, laburnum, and is so in the Gaelic Names of Plants, by John Cameron, whose native district of Fortingal is in West Perthshire. Shaw's a' mheali also, already noticed, is feminine. Bealach occurs as an Argyll form in E. MacDonald's Faclair Galdhlig. It is met with in Mid- Argyll. Its explanation, and this applies of course to bealthach also, we take to be that bealaidh or bealaich with ch for dh as in mealaidh and mealaich above, was mistaken for a genitive, and that bealach obtained currency as the supposed nominative from which such a genitive would have come. In many districts there is a tendency to disregard the inflections of nouns, but in Argyllshire there seems reason to believe that a tendency to err in the opposite direction has been in operation, inflexions and case forms being supplied erroneously, where, under the influence of grammar and analogy, they were supposed to be wanting. Bealthaidh is heard in Islay and Jura- Here I has the lengthened sound associated with this liquid when followed an by aspirated or vocalised consonant. If the respective initial letters be
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left out of account bealthach sounds like dealbhach or sealbhach when the sound of V is not given to bh. It is impossible to decide from pronunciation whether the consonant ought to be written bhj dh, gh or th as it is vocalised. The only explanation that presents itself of this sound after the / is that this is an instance, though of a somewhat different kind, of the tendency which gives to dail, a dale, and sail, a beam, for example, such plurals respectively as dailthean and sailthean, and to mala, eyebrow, a plural mailghean along- side of malaichean and malaidhean, as well as an adjective mailgheach, beetle-browed, etc. Bealthach has been taken, but with a correction of spelling, from a list of Gaelic plant names from the island of Colonsay, in which it figures as beala'ach. The list gives ' Bealaidh, broom,' and then together, * Conasg, beala'ach, whin, furze.' The meaning of this we take to be that bealaidh is known from literature and that beala'ach is the native insular pronunciation of the name, but that the plant being extremely rare or even non-existent in the island for some time beala'ach, both name and plant, has been popularly confused with the common gorse or whin.
All this uncertainty as to the form of the word, found as it is more especially in Argyllshire, goes to confirm MacBain's conjecture that bealaidh is not a native Gaelic word and that it was borrowed by the Gaels on their settlement in Scotland from the Brythonic speech of their Pictish pre- decessors in the land. MacBain starts consideration of the Brythonic forms by comparing Breton balan, Middle Breton balazn, which has been borrowed by French as balai. Old French balain, a broom or besom. But the Welsh is banadl and the early Cornish is banathel, which have been connected by Ernault with the root of Lat. genista, broom (ban- = gen-). MacBain says the Breton balan may be a metathesis, and Breton has banal as well as balan. Henry, according to whom consonantal metathesis is found with great frequence in Breton as compared with Welsh and Cornish, explains balan as having come through its old form balazn by metathesis from an old form banazl of banal. Gaelic bealaidh. Middle Breton balazn, Old French balain when opposed to Welsh banadl and Early Cornish banathel may well leave us in doubt which of the Breton forms, banal or balan, it is that shows the metathesis. Henry does not mention the Gaelic bealaidh except to point out in a footnote with the mistranslation ' balai ' (a broom) in place of ' genet ' (broom) that it cannot be the French balai. We have seen the unusual variations of the word in Gaelic but there are unusual variations of the Welsh and Breton forms also. Besides banadl, Welsh has banad and banal and to the Breton forms balan and banal Ernault's Dictionary of the Vannetais Dialect adds benal, bonal, and belann. All the variations we find in the case of anail, breath, for example, are Welsh anadl, anal, and Breton alan and hanal or henal. If it is possible that Gaelic has borrowed the word for broom from Pictish, do not the variations of the word in the Brythonic languages suggest that Pictish and Welsh and Breton themselves may have borrowed the word perhaps from some pre-Celtic tongue 1
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Before the first edition was long published the view left unmodified here that * dail,' a dale, meadow, is a loan from Norse ' dalr,* was abandoned, and the view, of which the latest enunciation was as follows, was adopted : 'The word "dul" or "dail" is exceedingly common as a prefix [in place- names] ; as a suffix it shows the genitive " dalach," both in ordinary speech and places called Ballindalloch. The word does not appear in Irish, ancient or modern ; but it is clearly allied to the similarly used word of similar meaning, W. "d61," pi. "dolydd", Corn, and Bret, "dol." Many place-names in Wales and Cornwall bear this prefix. The Perthshire parish name, Dull, G. Dul, bears it in its naked simplicity, and the form " dul " is the usual one along the Great Glen, especially in Glen-Urquhart and Glen- Moriston. The modern spelling, however, is almost always "Dal-" in these last cases. The Wardlaw MS. (seventeenth century) always writes "Dul-" however. The root seems to be "dul," and therefore not allied to Eng. "dale" or Norse "dalr" ; but it is likely allied to the root "dul," bloom, as in Gaelic " duilleag." ' That gives only a partial indication of the amount of evidence furnished by place-names as to both form and usage of * dail ' and showing the inadequacy of the derivation from the Norse 'dalr.'
Geal, a leech, is referred to as in the former edition without any change to the root gel, devour. Henry, in discussing the Breton equivalent gela- ouen, compares Sanscrit jala, water, and German quell-en, to gush, and goes no further than to say that the word is obscure and is sometimes referred to a root gel, devour, suck. Kluge has referred the German quellen, with its derivative quelle, spring, source, to a root gel (gol) related to Sanscrit jala, water ; gal, to curl. Discussing the term geall- met with in the name Pityoulish and in Geallaidh, a common stream name, as in Abcrgeldie, Innergeldie, etc., MacBain says, ' The root is " geld," as in Norse " kelda," a well ; Ger. " quelle," already mentioned in connection with St. Kilda. A shorter form of the root is found in G. "geal," a leech, root "gel," water. Compare Welsh Abergele.'
Peasg, gash in skin, chapped gashes of hands, cranny, is compared with Welsh pisg, blisters, and said to be possibly of Pictish origin. No ety- mology is offered, but the author orally suggested *ques-c-, the root of Lat. quaero, quaesivi.
The derivations of peighinn, a penny, and of feOirlig or fe6irling, a farthing, from Anglo-Saxon, though given up in favour of derivations from Norse, are still retained. A hint of the change is now given, however, under birlinn, a galley, formed from Norse byrdhingr, in the addition, ' Cf. fe6irlig = fj6rdhingr.' The parallel forms to fe6irling, Manx farling, Irish fedirlinn, and Welsh ffyrling, or ffyrlling, seem to have been overlooked. The Welsh word certainly must be set down as formed from the Anglo- Saxon feorthling. The Gaelic words, Scottish, Irish, and Manx agree in form more nearly with Anglo-Saxon feorthling than with Norse f j^rdhingr, but the comparison of birlinn, formed from byrdhingr with a developed I leaves the two derivations in equipoise. The question has to be decided by
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other than phonetic considerations. Both fe6irling and peighinn appear to be better known and more frequently used in the Hebrides than in the Eastern Highlands in common speech. More significant is the fact that both terms are met with in the place-names of the south of Argyll and of the Hebrides many times, and very rarely outside of those districts. In the place-names of Skye, for example, there are a dozen instances of peighinn and one of fe6irling ; in those of Perthshire not a single instance of either is known. Such distribution of the words makes it very clear that they are not to be ascribed to Anglo-Saxon influence or to the Anglo-Saxon speech, and that their connection is with the Norse kingdom of Man and the Isles, and their derivation from the Norse tongue.
The only additions made by MacBain to what is said here and in the former edition on ' preas, a bush, brier,' are that in place-names the word has the meaning of *a brake,' and that the Welsh *prys,' a brake, etc., *is evidently allied to the W. "perth," brake, whence the names Perth, Logie- pert, Larbert, Partick, etc' The name Perrack, it may be remarked in passing, about which a correspondent has been inquiring lately, is borne by a long ridge in Dollar hill, and, resembling as it does so closely the Gaelic form of Partick, is doubtless to be connected with that group of names. ' Sprios,' a twig, or wicker,' which we meet with in Shaw's and O'Brien's (2nd ed.) Dictionaries, and with an alternative form * spreas ' in Dinneen'a is evidently a variant of ' preas ' with a prosthetic s.
Some other derivations proposed or accepted by Dr. MacBain may be briefly noticed. Daor, dear, is not borrowed from English as supposed by Whitley Stokes but is native, i.e. the same word as daor, enslaved, cf. saor, free, cheap. Breac-sheunain is given not once but twice, pp. 47, 309, without etymology, and once more at p. 321, followed by ' from sian, foxglove 1 ' the interrogation mark taking the place here of the name given in 'Further Words' as the author of this etymology, but another suggestion was accepted by MacBain saying 'this in Argyllshire is breacadh-seun, literally, "freckling of blessing " ; it is . . . from seun, sian, a blessing, luck, for freckles are counted lucky. The superstition supports the derivation.' Siobhalta, civil, peaceful, Ir. sibhealta, is referred to Ir. siothamhuil, peaceful, E.-Ir. sldamail, whereas the two latter are our sitheil, and the two former are from Eng. civil. On this being pointed out, MacBain wrote, ' Feccavi ; it is from Eng. civil even to being used with lagh in " civil law," lagh siobhalta.' On Mac Alpine's sbise^ a ball of fire in the sky, a portent, he said with needless caution, it ' is likely from soUlse.' On slaman, curdled milk, he wrote, 'There is an old Irish loimm, gulp, Cornish lommen, mess of flesh, Breton lomm, a drop, from the root lap or laky to lick, Lat. lambo.' This is also Henry's derivation for the Breton word. On another word or words MacBain says, ' There are four words for knuckle : utan, utag, nudan, riidan. These seem all one word ultimately, possibly allied to Lat. nodus.' If the four are really one the variations in form are great for the word to be native, and the difficulties in regarding it as Icel. kniita, knuckle-bone, borrowed, are no less great.
BOOK REVIEWS 87
* Rutan, the horn of a roebuck,' seems to rest for its sole authority on a passage in Duncan Macintyre's Coire Cheathaich : —
* Tha mhaoisleach chul-bhuidh' air feadh na diislainn
Aig bun nam tiuran 'g an rusgadh lom,
'S am boc gu h-iitlaidh ri leaba chuirteil,
'S e 'ga btirach le rutan crom. '
In any case the word here is only another variation of rudan. The two last lines mean that the roebuck was in the covert making his noble bed and scraping it with his bent foot.
Riidan and iitan are in the Dictionary, but without any reference from the one to the other. There is the same absence of cross references in the case of breac-sheunain already noticed, and in not a few other instances, e.g. fiirlaich and urlaich, iibhla and iimlagh.
The Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language when first published immediately carried the author into the foremost rank of Celtic scholars throughout the world. Though the present edition has not received the editing that the author wished and meant his work to receive, and though its practical utility has suffered in consequence, its intrinsic excellence and value remain as qualities too long known to need commendation.
C. M. R.
Miss Tolmie's Collection of Gaelic Music. The English Folk-Lore Journal. Annual subscription 10s. &d.
The Folk-Song Society of London issue this book in the latest volume of their Journals. They are fortunate in having the opportunity of publish- ing Miss Frances Tolmie's collection, and all Celts have occasion for warm appreciation of the excellent manner in which the work has been produced. Miss Tolmie has had the advantage of the collaboration of two of the best authorities on folk-song in Britain, Miss Lucy E. Broadwood and Miss A. G. Gilchrist, while notes on literary and historical points have been contri- buted by Dr. George Henderson of Glasgow University. Illuminating articles and suggestions from each of these writers, as well as from Miss Tolmie's own graphic pen, appear almost under every song. All this ministry of talent has been dedicated to the musical and literary interpre- tation of the folk-songs of the Isles. It would appear that Highland folk- song is at last coming into its kingdom and receiving the recognition it deserves.
These songs were learned by Miss Tolmie from humble folks, dwellers in the 'lone shieling and the misty island,' and she well remarks that 'the songs make their truest effect when heard in the tremulous tones of age beside the smouldering peat fire under some lonely roof.' In the notes many romantic and touching stories associated with the songs are related that create an old-world atmosphere and prepare our minds to receive deep impressions from the words and music, and to realise the sincere, unartificial, yet poetic life of the old folks now fast passing away. Redolent of the
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soil, they are naturally healthy songs expressive of deep, simple human feeling. Those attracted by the history, folk-lore, and the human interest of the songs will find a feast of good things in the notes by Miss Tolmie and Dr. Henderson. The musical reader will gain much knowledge of the latest and soundest views regarding folk-song from the pens of Miss Gilchrist and Miss Broadwood. Miss Gilchrist has classified every air under its mode, and her introductory study on the model system in Gaelic music is very valuable, and has the approval of Mr. Fuller Maitland, the editor of Grove's Dictionary of Music. Peculiarities of melody or rhythm are pointed out and references given to variants in other collections or to parallel instances in the music of other nations. The editors show an astonishingly intimate acquaintance with the folk music of every nation in Europe, and frequently point out similarities between a Gaelic air and popular airs in other countries, as well as in the songs or ballads of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Specimens of Russian and Danish songs are given in the book.
The Gaelic words we note with regret are not invariably given in full, but references occur to the collections in which they may be found. English translations of the whole song are given in good prose. We suppose that the exigencies of space was the reason for this economy in Gaelic. But it would have been a great convenience to Gaelic readers to have had the words in full. Some of the songs have been published before in the Gesto Collection, Carmina Gadelica, and the Songs of the Hebrides, but here Miss Tolmie has gathered all her gleanings together in one full sheaf. She gives in her preface the credit of the bulk of the collection to two friends, who are natives of the Hebrides. So that Miss Tolmie's collection may be looked upon as a second instalment of the wonderful song treasures of the Western Isles, some of the best of which Mrs. Kennedy Eraser gave to the world in her delightful volume a few years ago. It is remarkable to find the persistence of these songs in such large mass in the West all through the centuries, in spite of many adverse influences. It is possible that little of value has been really lost as regards the music, though there are many regrettable gaps in the words. Our modern bards should endeavour to fill in the gaps with suitable verses. A wonderfully large number of tunes are now preserved from the tooth of time. This book alone contains a hun- dred and five tunes — quite half the number in P. M 'Donald's great book. P. M*Donald was evidently mistaken when he said in 1781, * In less than twenty years it would be vain to attempt a collection of Highland music' He did not give full value to the Highland ear and the Highland heart that ever clings to its past. Yet he says truly in another passage, ' that among an illiterate and sequestered people living at their ease the memory is amaz- ingly tenacious, especially when the matter to be remembered coincides with the ruling passion.' ^
* In passing, it may be remarked that some one should write a biographical sketch of the Rev. P. Macdonald. He lies in a nameless tomb at Kilmore. The Clan Donald should see to the erection of a monument before the position of his grave is forgotten.
BOOK REVIEWS 89
The introduction and notes are full of fresh and valuable ideas and suggestions regarding Gaelic music, and Miss Broadwood, who has herself collected melodies in the Highlands, emphasises the interest and importance of Gaelic traditional music. * We have in them legend, history, and lore which owe nothing to broadsides, chap books, or other printed matter. Fragmentary as the legend and history preserved in them may be, we find, therefore, that Gaelic traditional songs put us in touch with a long and romantic past, with verse and music of an older and more untouched type than is found elsewhere in British folk song.'
She attributes the origin of the ' Scottish snap ' to the misunderstanding by Lowland Scottish and English musicians of the proper form and force of the strong accent and weak ending in Gaelic Words. * It is these manu- facturers of "Scottish music" who are responsible for the invention of the odious " snap," which arouses the indignation of the true Scot, if he have anything of music in him.' The practice came in in the late seventeenth century.
The songs themselves reflect great credit on the poetic instinct and musical genius of a particularly intelligent and thoughtful people. They are full of sincerity and can compare favourably for literary grace and emotional power with the songs of any peasantry in the world. The airs are of great variety and beauty both in rhythm and melody. Yet they are generally short and simple in their construction.
Miss Gilchrist says that almost all the tunes in this collection are in gapped scales, and she affirms that * There is not a single tune in the whole collection corresponding with either our modern major or minor scale.' She rightly concludes that the highly artificial scale of the Scottish bagpipe has exercised little influence on Gaelic folk-song. ' A pentatonic basis has been claimed for the bagpipe scale, but this seems very doubtful. It appears more probable that this curious scale belongs to an ancient seven note system of Eastern origin.'
Miss Broadwood possesses a melodious bamboo pipe made by a Sicilian peasant which has a gapped scale precisely similar to a certain Gaelic pentatonic mode. She hazards the suggestion that the scale of the Hebridean folk may have been handed down from a primitive Mediterranean- Iberian people, who in the opinion of some ethnologists formed the aboriginal population in the Western Isles.
Miss Gilchrist has had a rather difficult task in classifying all the songs into the various modes, and sometimes one is inclined to doubt her results. But she is probably quite right in sometimes counting the last unaccented note as negligible, and rather basing her conclusions as to tonality on the last accented note and the general character of the melody. She points out acutely that the final syllable unaccented of the words is often ignored in rhyme. The rhyme cadence falls on the accented syllable, and it has an important connection with the musical cadence.
The volume is specially rich in cradle songs and songs of labour. ^ There
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are forty songs suitable for crooning to children, many of them truly delightful. There is a fine collection of waulking songs thirty -two in all. They are classified into four distinct types. The reaping and rowing songs, also used as waulking songs, are, some of them, fresh and interesting. It will be seen thus that the bulk of the collection are cradle songs and songs of labour. The book closes with fourteen songs of love, clan songs, nine laments, and six ancient heroic lays.
The book as a whole is one of the most important and instructive collections of Gaelic Folk-song hitherto published. It is without doubt the most ably edited volume of Gaelic music we have in print. Its production has evidently been an enthusiastic labour of love to all concerned. The talented and gracious lady to whom the chief credit is due will have the satisfaction of knowing that now, contrary to what her fears suggested, these songs will receive a new lease of life, and instead of being ' never more sung in this world,' will surely become again popular even over a far wider area than the isles of their origin.
Perhaps it should be noted that the songs are given in staff notation only, without piano accompaniment. They may be had from the secretary of the Folk-song Society, Mr. F. Keel, 19 Berners Street, London, by pay- ment of 10s. 6d. — one year's subscription to the Society. The volume under review forms the sixteenth part of the Society's Journal.
M. N. M.
Songs of the Irish Harpers. Collected and arranged for Harp and Piano. By 0. Milligan Fox. Bayley and Ferguson, Glasgow. 45. net.
In the preface the editor states that the melodies here given were preserved in their purity by the wandering minstrels of Ireland. They are fitted with accompaniments for either harp or piano in a simple but effective style. The harp at one time played a great part in Irish music. It is a pity that skilled performers on the Irish or Highland harp are now so rarely met with. Even in Wales the harp from various reasons is falling into disuse though in former days choirs of harpers were wont to play together in the halls of the chieftains and even on the battlefield. Among modern instruments there is no accompaniment for the voice so sweetly sympathetic as the harp. It is to be hoped that this interesting volume will materially help in reviving the art of harp playing. The harp is no doubt a difficult instrument, and costly. Tuning the strings is troublesome and it is said that practice is painful to the fingers, especially in the case of beginners.
Five fine melodies from Bunting's unpublished manuscripts are here given, along with eight other songs. The Gaelic words are printed when obtainable. The English verses by Miss Alice Milligan, Miss Bunten, and others are of high quality. Some verses are original and others free trans- lations, breathing the simplicity and sincerity of Gaelic folk-song.
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The harp songs given are supposed to have the characteristics of the genuine ancient style, previous to Carolan, who was looked upon in his time as a modernist and corrupter of the ancient music. One piece is given which is assigned to Rory Dall O'Cahan, a great harper and composer, who spent most of his life in Scotland between 1601 and 1650. It is interesting to find a version of ' Ceann dubh dileas ' in this book very similar to the air * Cuir a chinn dileas ' in Fraser of Knockie's Collection of Highland music By changing the key signature from C natural to 3 flats (E^) the tune would be practically identical. Is the Irish Major or the Scottish Minor from the original ? It is a rare thing in Gaelic poetry to find a song to a red-haired girl. Here is a good English one on that unfairly neglected theme, by Miss Bunten. We cordially commend the volume to all nterested in the beautiful tender songs of Ireland. M. N. M.
Monumenta Historica Celtica, Notices of the Celts in the Writings of the Greek and Latin Authors from the tenth century B.C. to the fifth century A.D., arranged chronologically, with translations, commentary, indices, and a glossary of the Celtic names and words occurring in these Authors. W. DiNAN, M.A. Vol. i. London : David Nutt. 1911. 15s. net
This work when completed will extend to three volumes. The plan is good, and the format is all that could be wished. The faults of execution, however, are such as seriously to diminish its anticipated usefulness as a means * to safeguard the student against the egregious errors which disfigure too many of the works of our Celtic scholars.' The words of the title, 'from the tenth century B.C.,' are apt to raise overhigh expectations, for Homer, the author referred to, says nothing of the Celts, the first mention of whom (if we exclude one or two bare references ascribed to Hecataeus of Miletus) occurs in Herodotus, who wrote in the latter half of the fourth century B.C. The value and utility of the book depend on its accuracy in respect of text and translation, and of these it can only be said that the text is by no means as accurate as it should be, while the translation, except in the case of the first few pages and the passages from Polybius, is about as bad as it could be. The case of Polybius is explained by the fact that Mr. Dinan has, wisely, given us 'the excellent translation by Mr, E. Shuckburgh, in which Polybius expresses himself more clearly than he does in his native Greek,' which naive appraisement is unquestionably true for Mr. Dinan, but is a libel on Polybius, who is quite as clear in his native Greek as Mr. Shuckburgh is in English. Mr. Dinan's translations speak for themselves. One or two stray curiosities may be noted first. For ' Xenophon of Lampsacenus ' (p. 78), read ' Xenophon of Lampsacus.* On p. 95 for ' crossed Mount Etna,' read ' crossed Mount Oeta.' * Athena of Itonia' (p. 98) should be 'Athene of Iton.' On p. 109 'Boeotardis' should be ' Boeotarchs,' and ' Megareus ' should be ' a Megarian.' * Enor-
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mous shields' (p. 325) should be 'huge (funeral) pyres,' and 'fair hair' (ib.) should be 'white hair.' 'Deprecating' (p. 321) read 'depreciating.' On p. 313 ' for a cask of wine they get a young slave,' should be 'for a jar of wine,' etc. On p. 310 for ' straw ' read ' chaflf.' For ' intrepid ' (p. 99) read 'audacious.' On p. 63, for 'loses his suit,' read 'wins his suit,' 'The nights are lightsome' (nox clara), on p. 66, should be 'the nights are bright.' On p. 80, * the inhabitants (of Ireland) lead ... a primitive exist- ence,' should be ' the people are absolutely savage.' This page contains other things even worse. ' Some are said to show a savage nature, and to boast that they would not sell a head even for its weight in gold ' (p. 319), should read, ' And report goes that some of them (the Gauls) boasted that they had refused for the head its weight in gold, thus displaying a certain rude magnanimity.' ' He would give a banquet every year to all the Galati ' (p. 147), read, 'He would feast all the Galatians for a whole year,' — a very different thing.
For the full appreciation of the following passages it is unfortunately necessary to give the original in each case. The italics are mine, p. 32. rbv yap irepl 'AfSdpios X.6yov rov Xeyo/xivov en/at '^Yirepj^opkov ov Al-yco, Acyooi/ 0)5 rov otcrrbs 7r€pu(f>€pe Kara Tracav rr^v yrjv ovSev CTLreo/xivov. ' For the tale of Abaris, who is reported to have been a Hyperborean, I do not vouch for : how the arrow carried him while fasting from all food about over all the earth.'
Herodotus might well be excused from ' not vouching for ' such a tale. The text as given above is untranslatable. The text of Stein (who indicates no variant readings, but brackets Acywi/) is rov oiarov — o-treo^itevos, giving the meaning : ' that he carried the arrow over the whole earth fasting.' p. 34. /xera Se Tvpprjvovs ^lo-f- KcAroi 4'^ros, d7roX.€i(l>deuT€S rrj<s (TT/aarcias, eVi (TTevtjjv p-^XP'' 'A8/0ioi> Si>^KOi/Tes* kvTavBa. 8' kcxrXv 6 p.v\os tov 'ASpiov Kokirov. ' After the Tyrrhenians are settled a Celtic people who were left behind in a predatory expedition, after following as far as the head of the Adriatic'
The meaning of the Greek is : ' Next the Tyrrheni are Celts, left
behind after the expedition [which culminated in the sack of Rome].
They live in the narrow strip, and border on the Adriatic. And
here is the inner end of the Adriatic Gulf.'
p. 46. Kot KaKojBioL 8e irdvTes eiVi, /cat ^lovvvvraL ras KOiAias ^(ovais 7rAaT€tais,
oTttv TTivaxriv. ' All are of loose morals. They bind their thighs with wide girdles,' etc.
The passage should run : ' They all live hardily, and when they drink, they gird their bellies with wide belts.'
p. 64. Trap' oh 8e criTos Kal /xeAt yLyverai^ Kal to vro/xa evrevdev ex^tV ' And that of corn and honey they make a drink.'
Read : ' And such of them as have corn and honey, make their drink also from these materials.'
i
BOOK REVIEWS 93
ib. ' They thresh their corn and store it in vast granaries.'
Read : ' They bring the corn-ears into great houses, and thresh them there.' The contrast is between the indoor threshing in Britain and the open-air threshing-floors of the sunny south, p. 73. Dispecta est et Thule, quia hactenus jussum, et hiems appetebat : ' Thule was seen, which up to this had lain concealed in winter.'
Read : * Thule also was sighted, but only from a distance, because their orders were to go no further, and winter was at hand.'
The rest of this chapter from the Agricola of Tacitus is badly